Writing a Dissertation - Helpful Tips

Writer's block? How the dissertation writing process begins from the professionals, i.e., getting that first sentence down on paper?

First: get organized. Know what you need to write, and why you are writing it. Limitations section? Problem Statement? Hypotheses? You cannot write a dissertation without planning what you are going to say. Make a list of the points you plan to cover- a single word or two words are enough-and then organize the research materials and notes you will use.

Second: look at samples. You cannot write a section of Chapter I such as the Problem Statement if you do not know what a Problem Statement is, or what goes into it.

Third: get it down, then edit. Your writing not perfect the first time. Get the words down, and then go back and refine where necessary.

Fourth: save your dissertation writing work. How discouraging to find that the dissertation page or chapter your worked so hard to write has disappeared when a power surge hits your computer or in a hard disk failure. Always save your dissertation writing work in multiple places: hard drive, CD, floppy, zip drives. Also, print your dissertation writing work as finished so you can see what your work looks like on paper.

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