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[thegrader]

If you decide that your dissertation is not going to be published as a book, how do you find a new niche as a researcher?

I have already published the best chapter of my dissertation as an article. I think making the whole dissertation work as a book would require rewriting it from scratch. And I don't need to write a book in my current position at a university where the focus is mostly on teaching. Can I really just put my dissertation aside? How do I figure out what to research next? My efforts to begin a new research project have led to individual conference papers disconnected from each other, not a coherent intellectual project.

[histchick]

I'll be very interested to read the responses, as our positions are similar.  Good luck to you!

[msparticularity]

The advice that I have been given is that a single coherent area of inquiry is really not vital for those who are not in a book field--at least until one goes up for promotion to full. Certainly one wants to do research that is coherent with one's background, but that could conceivably involve strands in a variety of sub-areas of the field. Given that you already have conference papers, thegrader, I would suggest that for the moment you just focus upon revising those for submission. At a certain point, it seems likely that one or more of those inquiries will give birth to something larger and more compelling, too. However, given the focus of your institution, I don't think you need to try to force that; just stay current in your field and allow yourself a chance to explore.

[offthemarket]

One of the beautiful things about our profession is that we can choose what we want to do.

Work on what you want to work on.

[flotsam]

There are a few different issues here.  If you have published your best dissertation chapter as a journal article (congratulations!), that doesn't mean that it could not still be included in an eventual book.  In the literary humanities, at least, its not uncommon to have one or two chapters of a book that are based on previously published work.  (One publisher told me to limit it to 20%, and another said the ceiling is 30%, although this would vary depending on lots of factors, I'm sure.)

If you are in a book field, then I really think you ought to consider turning you dissertation into a book, even if -- maybe because -- it means starting from scratch.  First, you've already put in so much work, it really would be nice to have the actual book in hand.  Second, rewriting will allow you to improve things, and perhaps rediscover or reignite those thoughts that initially made you want to study this thing in the first place.  (I speak from some experience here; I wrote a thesis, then left it for a few years, and when I returned I realized that I needed to do a lot of new work -- nearly starting from scratch -- but the book is much, MUCH better than the underlying dissertation, and I'm glad I did the work.  Also, two of its ten chapters appeared [in different forms] as journal articles.)

Alternatively, perhaps you could rework other dissertation-chapters as new journal articles.  As I said, you've already done the research, so you might as well publish it.

As for your new projects, why not let your interests carry you along?  If you're doing conference papers, you must have ideas.  They don't all have to fit together into one article/book.  Focus on one or two and see where it leads.  If it is worth presenting in public at a conference, it is probably worth presenting in print as an article, or maybe as part of a book project.  Start small, and see where your research takes you.

If book-publication does not really matter at your teaching-oriented school, then you don't really have any pressure here (other than what you place upon yourself), so enjoy the freedom to explore these ideas.  Some conference papers might lead to entire books; others may form only part of an article.  But as long as you're still thinking of things you want to say or write, you're in good shape.  I certainly don't mean to sound glib, but it sounds like you're in a great situation.  Good luck with everything.

[seniorscholar]

Although most of us, I suspect, finish a dissertation (often having published a chapter) and really don't want to ever see the thing again, I wonder if there aren't pieces missing . . . things you really wished you were researching instead that struck you while bogged down in a particular chapter . . . problems you regretted not having time to solve. When I finished mine, I had a whole file folder of torn-off notebook pages with names, sentences, ill-informed "topics," and so forth. Only one of them has actually led anywhere -- but until somewhere well past tenure I fully "intended" to go through that file and work on those things . . . but other things came up. Can you recapture some of the vague ideas/intentions that struck you while writing -- because these would be things for which you have the contexts and research tools to get started.

Another reasonably common habit among junior faculty at teaching schools in my field (or so I judge from looking at tenure dossiers as an outside referee) is simply reading carefully the calls for papers for journal special issues, or conference panels with a certain focus, and finding something that goes 'click' and sets you off. This means coming up for tenure with four articles on widely scattered topics, but then, in a small department, range as much as depth can be valued.

[sagit]

Just because you are happy in your current position, don't assume you will always want to be there.  Do what you can to make yourself mobile by publishing (as appropriate for your field).

[jerseyjay]

Here is what I did (I am in history).

1. I finished my dissertation and never wanted to see it again.

2. I wrote an article on something completely different yet somewhat related. (Imagine a dissertation on French policy toward Algeria, and then an article on how Camus dealt with Algeria in his novel. Related yet completely different.)

3. Revised a portion of my best chapter of my dissertation and published it.

4. Wrote two more articles related to article in number two above with an eye towards turning this into a book.

5. Wrote two articles on a completely different subject, with an eye towards turning this into a book.

6. Revised another portion of my dissertation's best chapter, and wrote a new article on a related but new subject.

7. Decided I wanted to publish the dissertation after all, submitted it, got it accepted, and have spent the better part of a year updating my archival research.

8. When I finish that, I plan on pursuing one of the book ideas in numbers 5 and 6.

Of course, this all depends on what type of position you have, what field you are in, how comfortable you are in learning new material (and in my case, a new language).

[cc_and_grad]

Can I really just put my dissertation aside?

Sure. As the others pointed out, it's your choice. If you don't see your dissertation becoming a book, you are free to pursue other topics. You put a lot of work into your dissertation, and some of that work may be useful when you start on new projects or it may not. People do abandon their dissertations and start over. Many people don't because they are under a timeline pressure for tenure and the dissertation converted to a book is often (not always) quicker than starting over. You don't have that problem.

How do I figure out what to research next?...how do you find a new niche as a researcher?

How did you decide what to write your dissertation about? Do that again using your greatly improved skills and knowledge.  You need to start thinking about bigger, book-length themes. Flotsam and Seniorscholar both offered excellent suggestions as to where you can start looking for them (in the presentations you have been making, in the CFP's you run across). I will add that interaction with others in your discipline will help a lot too.

[supersecret]

In terms of my scholarly life, the best thing I ever did was put down my diss with a decision to never touch it again.  Scholars mature at different rates, I  think, and when I am honest with myself, I know that my dissertation is just not very good. 

I wrote an article on a loosely related--but very different--topic--and that snowballed into a book that has recently been accepted by my top press. 

Take this with a grain of salt--I'm a lecturer and have had very little success on the job market.  I am very happy with my current research though.

[larryc]

You have our permission to put your dissertation in a file drawer and never look at it again if you don't want to do so. Do you enjoy research and writing at all? It is OK to admit that you do not. Maybe there is not a book in your future. What is your field?

[thegrader]

Thank you, belatedly, for your excellent advice about finding my way as a researcher after the dissertation. Seniorscholar's suggestion that the dissertation must have left some unanswered questions is perceptive. I do feel like I should not give up on the project completely, although answering those questions for a larger audience than my dissertation committee would require a different approach and new research. So maybe I am not finished with it after all.

I understand why flotsam would say that the freedom not to revise my dissertation is enviable. Obviously, it's important to weigh my heavy teaching load against this. But I have colleagues who have written impressive books in spite of it, so it is possible.

Incidentally, to answer larryc's question, I am in the "literary humanities" (to steal flotsam's elegant phrase).

[pournelle]

There are way too many books in the literary humanities. People should write books only if they absolutely have to--if they truly have something awesome to say, or are driven to it by the misguided book-for-tenure model that's killing the presses, the libraries, and would-be readers.

All responsible literary scholars should be working to reduce the number of books published in their field by ninety percent. The truly powerful and worthwhile stuff is buried under an avalanche of material published in search of a credential.