Weeks 1–4
High-Touch 1:1 Support
Begin with four weeks of weekly 30-minute private Scholar Support Sessions with Dr. Dana to identify priorities, work through challenges, strengthen your writing process, and build momentum.
For Doctoral Scholars Ready to Move Forward — With Support
A supported path from stuck to submitted.
You can be the one who always figures it out—and still feel stuck in the dissertation. The Just Write Proposal Lab™ gives you the structure, writing support, feedback, and community to move your proposal forward without carrying it alone.
FOR THE SCHOLAR WHO IS USED TO FIGURING IT OUT
You can be accomplished in every other area of your life—and still feel stuck in the dissertation.
You manage responsibilities. People depend on you. You're accustomed to getting things done.
But the dissertation feels different.
You open the document. You read another article. You revise something you've already revised. You tell yourself, This week I'm really going to get back on track.
And underneath all of that may be the conversation you haven't said out loud:
I should be further along.
I should know how to do this.
I should be able to figure this out.
So you keep trying harder when what you may actually need is support.
Scholar, you do not have to keep carrying this alone.
THE JUST WRITE PROPOSAL LAB™
What if you didn't have to figure out the dissertation alone?
The Just Write Proposal Lab™ is a 12-week dissertation coaching experience designed to help you move your proposal forward with structure, writing support, feedback, accountability, and community.
Book a Dissertation Clarity CallWeeks 5–12
Group Scholar Support
Continue moving your proposal forward through group coaching, dedicated writing time, feedback, accountability, and a community of scholars who understand the work.
THE PROPOSAL LAB EXPERIENCE
You bring the dissertation. We build the support around it.
The Proposal Lab isn't another course to complete. It's an ecosystem of support designed to help you keep moving your dissertation proposal forward.
Private Scholar Support
Four weekly 30-minute 1:1 Scholar Support Sessions with Dr. Dana.
Group Scholar Support
Coaching to work through dissertation challenges, strengthen your writing, make decisions, and identify clear next steps.
Weekly Scholar Reset
Create a realistic writing plan around your priorities, available time, responsibilities, and deadlines.
Just Write in Community
Protected writing time with structure, accountability, encouragement, and scholars doing the work alongside you.
Written Feedback
Thoughtful feedback to strengthen your writing and guide strategic revision.
The Just Write Vault
Writing resources, tools, templates, and trainings to support your dissertation process.
THE ROADMAP
A roadmap, not a syllabus.
You don't need another course telling you what a dissertation is. You need support applying what you know to the dissertation you're actually writing.
01
The foundation of your study
Research questions, problem statement, purpose statement, and theoretical or conceptual framework.
02
The conversation your study joins
Relevant scholarship, synthesis, and the theoretical or conceptual framework guiding the study.
03
The plan for finding answers
Research design, participants or data sources, procedures, and approach to analysis.
SCHOLAR TRANSFORMATION
From “I don’t know if I can continue” to proposal defended.
“When I began working with Dr. Dana, I was at my wits’ end—unsure whether I should take a leave of absence or continue that semester. Her support gave me a safe space to grow, rebuild my confidence as a writer, and turn complex ideas into clear, powerful academic writing. With her guidance, I strengthened my proposal, moved past writer’s block, and ultimately completed and defended my dissertation proposal—with no revisions. Dr. Dana wasn’t just my coach; she became a thought partner in shaping my proposal.”
— Becoming Dr. Dorcas
THE JUST WRITE APPROACH
The Just Write Success Cycle™
Dissertation progress isn't created by writing harder. It's created by having the right support around the writing.
Scholar Planning Scholar Writing Scholar Feedback Scholar Development
Scholar Transformation
We repeat the cycle as you move through your dissertation—so you're not only producing pages, you're becoming a more confident, capable, independent scholar along the way.
We disrupt. We write. We progress.
We disrupt
the perfectionism, avoidance, isolation, and writing resistance keeping you stuck.
We write
even when the writing isn't perfect yet.
We progress
by creating meaningful movement toward the dissertation you're ready to finish.
SCHOLAR TRANSFORMATION
From “I feel so stuck” to “the end is in sight.”
“I felt alone, frustrated, and lost. I was trying to figure everything out myself and didn’t have the guidance I needed to write my dissertation. Working with Dr. Dana gave me confidence in my ability to write in a scholarly manner, a sense of joy in my writing, and freedom from the fear of judgment. Now, even when I get stuck, I can go back to the methods she’s taught me and know what to do next. It finally feels like the end is in sight. I’m actually going to finish this degree.”
— Becoming Dr. Laurel
MEET DR. DANA
I know what it feels like to be the one who always figures it out…until you can't.
I'm Dana A. Gathers, Ph.D.—Dr. Dana—and before I became a dissertation writing coach, I was the doctoral scholar who struggled to write. I knew how to achieve. I knew how to work hard. I knew how to figure things out. But when I got to the dissertation, the strategies that had always worked for me stopped working. What eventually changed my dissertation wasn't becoming smarter or simply trying harder. It was support, structure, accountability, and learning how to write through the process instead of hiding from it. That's why I created Just Write Dissertation Coaching—because I believe the dissertation journey was never meant to be carried alone.
SCHOLAR PROGRESS
From a year on Chapters 1 & 2 to moving forward.
“I had been working on the introduction and literature review—Chapters 1 and 2—for over a year. I felt overwhelmed and was receiving very little feedback, so I kept trying to figure it out on my own. Dr. Dana helped me focus on one thing at a time. She modeled what to do, broke the process down step by step, and worked through it with me. After about three months of working together, I completed both chapters and got the go-ahead from my chair to move forward. The personalization, encouragement, and support made all the difference.”
— Dr. Phyllis
YOUR NEXT STEP
You don't have to keep figuring this out alone.
Your dissertation can move forward from here.
Book a 30-minute Dissertation Clarity Call with Dr. Dana. We'll talk about where you are, what's keeping you stuck, and the support you need to move forward.
Book My Dissertation Clarity Call
No pressure. No shame. Just clarity about your next step.