If you want to impress your professor with your dissertation proposal and subsequent dissertation then read on…
When you begin writing your dissertation you need to organize your sections. Most dissertations are organized as follows:
- – Abstract
- – Introduction
- – Literature review
- – Methodology
- – Results and analysis
- – Discussion
- – Conclusion
- – Bibliography
- – Appendices
If your dissertation is not scientific or research based and is instead based on texts or a theme then the following outline is best for your structure:
- – Introduction
- – Text or theme 1
- – Text or theme 2
- – Text or theme 3
- – Conclusion
- – Bibliography
- – Appendices
Your final structure most likely will not be finalized until you have completed the preliminary research and determined what texts or theme you want to focus on for your paper.
As you write your dissertation it is best to create an overall plan that will outline everything you have to cover in your aforementioned sections or chapters. Try and conceptualize your dissertation as a series of essays that are all linked. Every chapter or section should be self-contained a serve a unique purpose but they should all be connected and contribute in some way to your overall argument.
Bear in mind that your chapters do not have to stay the same length. Some of the chapters can be longer than others because they require more detail. Many academic institutions will give you a rough outline as to how many words or what percentage of your overall dissertation the various parts should be.
As you start writing you need to be aware of one big thing: this will be the longest piece of writing you have ever completed in your academic career. But you can approach in a way that ensures it is not too overwhelming.
Write a little bit each day. In fact it is best to set aside some time every day to write. This does not have to be a large chunk of time. It is better that it be a smaller time frame such as one hour. Your brain can really only focus on a single task for that duration of time anyway so it is the perfect amount of time you need to get your daily thoughts out. Doing this will keep the topic and thesis fresh in your mind at all times. This will help you to clarify your thoughts and better develop your ideas.