Writing the Dissertation: Learning how to do something you didn't know how to do, Part 1 When and how do we acquire the skills, voice, critical perspectives, and confidence needed for successful writing?   Specifically to write successfully a dissertation and, for that matter, the book that follows the dissertation? Years ago as a first-year college student, I tested out of composition class, but all students at my university were required to take at least one semester of writing, so I took an advanced writing class.  It's possible that I may have been required to write an argument, but I don't remember any such formal assignment.  Maybe I've conveniently forgotten it since it would have been a painful process for me.  I came to the university understanding only vaguely what would be required in the demanding, competitive world of a good, large university. I think I was a decent writer at that time, but not very analytical.  I had a lot to learn. I recall a few assignments from that class -- two had to do with describing a place.  I suppose I remember those assignments because it was the kind of writing that I had always enjoyed, but I wonder if in that class I was ever assigned to do something I didn't already  know how to do, something that would help me write an extended argument. Throughout my undergraduate years, I never felt confident as a writer, and years later, when I was ready to write my master's thesis,