The Main Stages Of Writing A Dissertation: Tips From A Professional Writer
Depending on your course of study, your dissertation will range in length from 40,000 to 50,000 plus words on average. At the end of this gargantuan endeavor, it is possible you will have a few hundred pages in your dissertation. In order to finish, you must begin - which can be a challenge. Here are several tips to keep you on the path to a completed dissertation.
- The Conceptualization and Planning Stage
- The Researching Stage
- The Writing and Editing Stage
The first stage of your dissertation is choosing a topic. This step is the most important because the wrong topic will leave you abandoned half way through your research and writing. If your topic is too broad, then you will not be able to cover the issues in a significant manner. If the topic is too limited, then you will find that you have substantially covered the pertinent issues with very few pages or research conducted.
This second stage is the largest part of the process. It will require absorbing as much information on your chosen topic as is available. You should compile a comprehensive list of all the materials that are relevant to your research and begin reading. Make notes as you read other research that has been conducted or literature on the topic. Focus your research to questions that you formed from reading the material from your list. These questions will create your research plan, so make sure that you have exhausted the relative material associated with your dissertation topic.
As with writing any large volume work, you will need to focus on organization. There is no perfect place to begin, and worrying about where to start is a classic manifestation of procrastination. Jump right into writing by putting on paper an outline of what you plan to accomplish. The most important part of this stage is that you begin writing and keep writing. Once you have written the first section, questions will be exposed that must be answered in following chapters creating a writing momentum. You should be editing each section upon completion. If you wait until you’ve compiled all your sections, then you will need to conduct a final edit. It's ill-advised to wait until you are finished before editing your document for mistakes. Editing a large volume can be daunting and will require more time than editing as you complete each section.