A dissertation is a short word which makes students tremble. It is always associated with long hours of taking notes in the library, slaving over the formatting as well as the fear of the defense of the dissertation when the day comes.
Many students have experienced the same things as you do today. So, don’t worry, it is entirely doable once you pass the stages of procrastination, panic, and despair.
The only problem is that young people spend so much time worrying about writing it, that in the end, they have almost no time for quality work on their thesis.
So, in order not to suffer from despair or panic as well as to avoid sleepless nights because of this one paper, here is a list of tried methods which will help you avoid troubles in the process of writing this work.
If you think that you need some help here, read on and utilize our practical recommendations for creating the best thesis.
10 Tips on Writing a Dissertation:
1. Pick a Good Dissertation Advisor:
There is magic in choosing the right person to help you with the dissertation. When the right person is there for you, giving tips, asking questions, and helping you to see a better way of solving the problem you write about in your dissertation, then everything seems to work perfectly well. Since you do not have much experience with this, you need someone who will assist you at different stages.
Therefore, if you see that your advisor has no interest in what you are doing or is of no help when you seek assistance, then it might be the right choice for you to switch them for someone who will really care. Even though you are the one responsible for the quality of the paper, having a good advisor is vital!
2. Pick an Interesting Theme:
Whatever your specialization is, you can always opt for a good topic. The dissertation will take a long time to write. So, instead of selecting themes which will bore you to death, choose the ones which you find interesting.
You should enjoy the process of searching for new exciting facts. And a good topic is key to that. Also, pick something you can make a discovery in. If the topic has already been studied from all possible sides, then you are likely to get stuck. So, pick something both exciting and open for research.
3. Move at a Pace You Like:
You don’t have to keep up with your peers working on their dissertations. If you need more time to conduct thorough research, take your time. Otherwise, there will always be someone who is doing their job faster and better. And if you start comparing yourself to those people, you will feel discouraged to move forward. Therefore, take all the time you need, and remember that you have deadlines set by the advisor and that is all that matters.
4. Gather All the Notes:
The whole writing starts with organizing all the notes. Ask the advisor for recommendations on what to read and study before you start your own research. Take notes of everything you find interesting or relevant to the study. Organize all these notes in particular categories as it would be easier to work with them later. Save them, as you will need them for the outline.
5. Don’t Expect to Use All of the Research Materials You Acquired:
Most of the notes students take are left outside the thesis as it is too much information for one paper. So, don’t get disappointed if something you found in one of the sources you used for the research, is not included. It is not your task to add as much information as possible, so keep it short and don’t pack your research with quotes. It is not the quantity that counts but the quality.
6. Your Friends Might Not Understand You:
The thing is that the dissertation might take almost all of the time you have, so there will be little to no time for social life, friends, and other things you used to enjoy in the past. Therefore, you should understand that not all of your friends will be supportive of it.
However, don’t sacrifice the time for the thesis for spending time with friends, as you might end up writing it nights and days. And this might hinder its quality. So, be ready for this, as forewarned is forearmed. Thesis writing should be your biggest priority at that point.
7. Take Breaks:
On the contrary, one should not spend all of their time slaving on the paper. Work breaks are essential, as your brain needs time to recover and gain new energy. So, consider doing more sports activities during this time.
The professionals say that when we exercise, new neurons emerge in our brain and this stimulates our creativity. So, if you feel like you are stuck on a particular point of your dissertation, take a few minutes to exercise and relax.
Even though doing sports might be tiring, our body needs to switch from mental to physical activities from time to time for better performance.
8. Be Ready to Spend Lots of Money on Printing:
It is better if you have your own printer as if you print on campus, it might cost you a fortune. You will have to redo it so many times that printing might become a separate point in your budget.
All in all, we highly recommend students to be ready to print a lot or get a personal printer. Alternatively, always print on both sides, utilize used paper with printed information on one side only. It will save you a lot of money.
9. Revise Your Paper:
It is important to edit your thesis, as, in the course of editing and proofreading, you will find a vast number of mistakes. It is not new for students to find grammar errors, misspellings, or punctuation mistakes. However, it is also common to change the text of the thesis too. So, you should save some time in your writing schedule for editing and proofreading, as it will take hours if you aim for better results.
10. You, Will, Start Living Only After You Finish It All:
That is when a new life begins. No more nightmares about your thesis or sleepless nights spent on elaborating on one of the aspects of the central issue. Once it is all left in the past, you will feel as free as never before in your life. So, if you already feel exhausted, don’t give up and wait for the thesis defense. The social life and all the fun you missed will wait for you there.
Dissertation writing is a huge deal. It requires time and skills but it is entirely worth it in the end. You will become a specialist with a degree. Since the whole writing process is about demonstrating your level of expertise, focus on your career prospects when working on a thesis. And use our tips for a better writing experience. It will surely be worth it in the end and we wish you good luck with that!
Author’s Bio: Kevin Nelson started his career as a research analyst and has changed his sphere of activity to writing services and content marketing. Currently, Kevin works as a part-time writer at the BreezeWriting. Apart from writing, he spends a lot of time reading psychology and management literature searching for the keystones of motivation ideas. Feel free to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin.
