Letter from a counselor

Award-winning researcher and activist Debora Diniz shares her insights on research and academic writing.

With the rigor and tenderness that characterize her award-winning professional career, in "Letter from a Mentor ," Debora Diniz shares suggestions on how you can discover yourself as a reader, researcher, and writer. In this letter, both intimate and public, don't expect universal formulas, but rather an attempt to connect with your own reality.

Subverting the solemnity of traditional methodology manuals, which dictate standards for research and writing, Debora Diniz acts as a listener , editor, and companion, offering you ways to navigate with ease through tasks that often seem difficult, such as finding your research topic, approaching your potential advisor, organizing your time and work schedule, and overcoming blank page block and impostor syndrome . In addition to the practical aspects, Debora Diniz presents information on ethics in the academic environment, including ways to deal with difficult topics such as abuse of power, advisory conflict, and ways to avoid plagiarism.

Mentoring involves communicating through stories, knowledge, and experiences. It involves reading attentively and listening gently. It also helps us transform the ways we "inhabit academic power and prestige." It reminds us that we are part of a collective construct. You'll find all of this in "Letter from an Advisor ," this concise book written in accessible language.