How to Write a Thesis Step by Step (Part 2)

Writing a thesis is one of the most demanding jobs you will ever have to do and for many people, it is a nightmare. But it doesn't have to be.

All you need to do is divide your workload into smaller, simpler parts that are logically following one another. Sticking to these strategic steps will help you stay organized and not to go insane during a stressful period of your student life.

Make sure to check out the first part of this guide, with the initial four steps.

If you are ready to actually start writing your thesis, after you have done a great deal of research, the following steps may come in handy.

Step 5: Get familiar with the norm.

Before you seriously start writing, you need to make sure that you are familiar with the formal requirements set by your faculty, and write your thesis accordingly.

This means not only things like spacing, font size, and formatting of text. Most importantly, you should find out what system of referencing you are supposed to use, because as you may know, there are more different kinds. If more options are allowed, make sure you only choose one of them and stick to it throughout the whole thesis.

Also, find out what minimum of pages your thesis must have, and learn to determine what a page is (what is a standard number of characters/words that make one page).

And one last thing: don't forget to check your deadlines!

Step 6: Start writing.

As we learned in step 4, you might want to start writing down your ideas and putting together your first chapters as soon as you have done a certain amount of research. It is definitely a good idea to start writing every time you think of something interesting and meaningful concerning the issues you are dealing with.

Nevertheless, here are some basic tips to consider at the beginning of the writing process:

• Don't start with the introduction. This tends to be something you may want to leave for the end, when you actually know what your thesis managed to discover. The introduction is also a space where you summarize what the thesis will be about, which you may not know for sure before you finish writing it.
• Start with the chapter you know most about, or for which you have the most resources. The most important thing is to start writing. More ideas will come to you while you're doing it.
• !!!Start citing your sources from the beginning!!! If you are not sure what the citations should look like, at least note the information about the publication you are referring to in the text (author, year of publication, page number) at the end of the paragraph and you can edit later.

Step 7: Keep writing.

Well, you know this part. You simply have to keep the process going and keep up the good work.

It is certainly a good idea to make a plan to divide your workload and set some smaller deadlines for yourself. For example, resolve to finish a chapter by the end of the week and the next one in the following week etc.

Plan ahead and make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to deal with the more difficult parts of your research. Especially, make sure that working on your thesis won't clash with your other responsibilities, such as studying for exams.

Repeat the process of writing, doing more research and writing, until you are happy with the result. If you are stuck at some point, try to find more references in the texts you have already read (see step 3), or simply ask your supervisor or some other "wisdomous" person for help.

Finally, don't forget to take some time to relax as well. Sometimes it is best to take a day or two off, in order to clear your head a bit. After that, you will feel refreshed and ready to come up with new great ideas.

Step 8: Proofread.

Give yourself plenty of time to proofread what you've written.

Obviously, you should do that continuously as you are writing, but it is always better to wait some time after you finish a chapter, or several long paragraphs, and return to the text after at least a day. Then, you may notice mistakes you overlooked before because you were overwhelmed by writing all the pages.

Repeat this process after finishing every chapter and you won't be suffocated by proofreading the whole thesis in the end.

If you can, give the text to a friend or somebody you trust to proofread it for you. Other people may spot mistakes we ourselves didn't notice in our own writing. Also, make sure you reward your proofreaders and make them feel appreciated! You know what a tough and annoying job proofreading is.

Finish it!

What awaits you at the end is the fun job of polishing and formatting your text according to the requirements of your authorities, and getting it ready for print. I'm sure you will find a guide on how to do that somewhere else.

In terms of the contents of your thesis—don't be afraid to consider it "mission accomplished". After you have done all your research, examined all the outlined topics and come to conclusions, and after you have proofread the whole text, it is going to be just fine. Nobody is perfect, and after all, you are still a student, not a scientist, so your efforts with this thesis will surely be appreciated. You got this!

Good luck.