How to Write a Thesis Step by Step (Part 1)

Writing your thesis is one of the last tasks you need to undertake in order to get your degree. In most cases, it is also the hardest one, and something many people fear.

There is no doubt that the task is difficult—writing a thesis is a challenge. It will probably be the longest paper you will ever write in your life, and finishing it will be a huge accomplishment.

However, there is no reason to panic. If you follow some basic guidelines and use your common sense, you will save yourself a lot of sleepless nights and manage to finish your thesis without any unnecessary stress.

I have put together some ideas that might help you. They are mostly tips I followed when working on my theses, and I managed to successfully write and defend two of those—and also techniques I personally found helpful in the process.

Step 1: Choose Your Topic

Believe it or not, the first step may possibly be the most important, and something you don't want to mess up. I know people who had to change the topic of their thesis completely after spending months working on it, which doesn't sound like fun.

If you intend to only write your thesis once and well enough so that it gets approved, you need to think it through before you start.

Ask yourself these questions first:

• What do I know about this topic?
• Is the topic complex enough
• Do I have enough to write about?
• Is the topic not too complex? Do I know what aspects to focus on?
• Are there enough resources to cover this topic? Do I have access to them?
• Why is this topic important?
• What practical use does this topic have?
• What will be the aims of the thesis?
• Do I have enough knowledge to be able to comprehend and write about this topic?
• Is it something I want to spend the next few months / years with? Is it at least a bit interesting for me?

I know it is a lot to consider. If you haven't got the slightest idea what the topic of your thesis should be, the easiest thing to do is to look up what your professors concentrate on in their fields of research. They will usually offer some topics or areas they would like their students to look into.

My advice is: if you don't really care that much what your thesis will deal with, be practical. Simply choose your favourite professor; someone you respect and won't mind cooperating with for quite some time, and ask them if they would be interested in supervising your thesis. They will surely give you suggestions of what your topic could be.

On the other hand, if you kind of know what you want to write about, even if only very roughly, and you are just not sure how to grasp it—that's great! All you need to do is go to the library or on the internet and do a little bit of research. After you have developed your ideas a bit, don't hesitate to ask some of your professors for help—perhaps someone who knows most about the area you are interested in. They will be delighted you have come up with something original and using their lifelong experience, they will be able to give you some perspective and point you in the direction you need to go.

Step 2: Give It Structure

Everything is easier if you make a plan and follow it.

Writing your thesis can seem quite overwhelming and almost an impossible task to complete at the beginning, but if you give it some structure, break it into several smaller pieces, it won't be that scary after all.

I cannot stress this enough: this is also a very important step which will save you a lot of stress and prevent chaos, so you better take it seriously.

Based on the primary research you did when choosing your topic, define the aims of your thesis and consider what you need to do to achieve them.

This means outlining the areas you need to research into and coming up with subtopics your thesis will deal with.

At the end of this process, you will be able to write down the table of contents of your thesis. This will be of great help to you in the process of writing and you can always edit it a little bit if you come up with new subtopics while doing your research.

Step 3: Find Your Resources

If you don't want to find yourself feeling stuck and clueless in the middle of working on your thesis, you need to find as many reference books, scientific articles, and other sources as you can to help you elaborate on your topic.

It is a good idea to start with those publications recommended by your supervisor. You don't have to read every book from beginning to end. Try some skimming and scanning first and look for the parts that seem important and useful for your research. Read them through and you may find references to other authors whose work is cited there. Look them up and maybe you will find other interesting publications you can use as sources of your thesis.

It is always better to use more publications by different authors and compare their ideas. It will give your thesis more credibility.

Step 4: Do the Research Properly

Before you actually start writing, you will need to really dig into your books and get familiar with the issues you want to write about. Writing a thesis is basically summarising what is already known about a topic, comparing different viewpoints, and trying to come up with something new based on all that.

This part of the process might seem especially boring, but doing it right is crucial. Here are some practical tips to bear in mind:

• Make notes of everything you find useful for your research.
• Highlight.
• Mark the chapters/parts of text in your reference books with different markers, according to which chapter of your thesis they could support.
• !!!Always note the name of the author and the publication as well as the page you find the information on!!! (You will need it, trust me.)
• Write down all ideas that come to you while reading. (Before you forget, write it down. It might be rubbish, but it might as well be helpful when you start writing.)
• If you are not using books that you own - make copies, so that you can write and highlight in them, and so that you are always able to return to the parts you need. (It is really worth it, believe me.)

After researching a considerable number of reference books, articles and such, you may finally be ready to start working on your first chapters. The researching part and the writing part usually overlap, because while writing, you will perhaps discover new aspects of the topic worth looking into. Similarly, while reading, you may get inspired, and the words will come to you naturally. So, by all means, don't be afraid to do both at the same time. Just remember—YOU WILL NEED TO CITE YOUR SOURCES!

To be continued...

(Check my profile for Part 2.)