If you're reading this, you already know that a PhD is the highest level of degree a student can achieve. As a PhD student you have already graduated with a degree and this might have been some years previously. Many PhD students are mature students looking to add a doctorate to underline their academic success or rubber stamp their proficiency in a certain area.
A PhD is a major commitment. Many take a career break to do their doctoral research and going back to school after holding down a successful job can be a major culture shock. Many things about college or university may have changed from the time you were an undergrad. One thing that hasn't changed though is the requirement to successfully complete written assignments - the most important being your final dissertation. If you have been away from studying for a while you might struggle in areas of dissertation writing you never imagined when you embarked on the course.
If you are a PhD student who has come all the way to end and seems to have hit a wall when it comes to writing your dissertation, then do not fear, you are definitely not alone in your stress and anxiety. There are certainly things that you can do help yourself, starting with taking note of these brief but helpful tips on how to write the best dissertation possible.
- It goes without saying that you really need to pick a dissertation topic that holds genuine interest for you. A PhD dissertation is probably the longest piece of work that you are ever going to have to write, and the more interested and passionate you are about the chosen subject matter, the much easier it's going to feel to write. You will be more motivated and more inspired to complete an essay that really has a piece of your personality and soul in it.
- Along with something that interests you, you should also try to avoid picking a subject that is too niche or unconventional. This is simply because there is going to be less secondary information about it and it will be harder for you to form an academic argument because there will be less evidence to cite and professional opinions to share.
- Commit an extended period of time to doing nothing but writing your dissertation. Your social media presence and family and social life really needs to take a backseat during the weeks and months that you are completing this assignment. Your friends will always be there afterwards, but once the deadline for your dissertation has passed, there is no going back to rectify it!
- Always sit down and write a detailed plan before you move on to the real thing The more detailed and structured your plan is, the more detailed and structured your dissertation will be. It will be filled with more significant sources and it will be much less likely to go off on tangents and eat up a lot of important word count with non-scoring fluff.
