So, recently I handed in my dissertation. This was the biggest piece of work that I have ever done. I wrote 10,000 words on the topic of women’s friendship in the early modern period as presented in letters. And let me tell you, it was tough. Incredibly so. But it was manageable! And it can be for you too! If you plan to go into higher education, writing a dissertation, thesis, or project, is inevitable. So I’m here to tell you how to plan and execute a huge piece of work. As my background is primarily History, this will be more about humanities than sciences. But I hope that I can help you out!
Choosing a topic:
Choose something you like. Because by the end of it, you’re going to be sick of it. And, trust me, it’s better to be sick of something you’re actually interested in.
Look at the stuff you’ve done in the past and think about what you liked about each module. Gender? Politics? Semantics? The great thing about a dissertation is that you can explore which ever topic you feel like.
Research. Read everything you can on the topic. When you think you’ve read enough, read some more. The more you research, the better idea you’ll have as to whether your topic is viable. Google scholar is awesome, use it! And Jstor. And your university library. You have so much material at your fingertips, you just gotta find it.
Look at which sources are available to you. I stupidly chose a question which was very difficult to research. This was okay, as I was passionate about the topic and willing to travel to archives. But if you can’t think of anything to write about, maybe see what primary material is available to you at your university/college.
Originality is key for a huge piece of work like this. This is the most difficult part of choosing a topic, in my opinion. Think of something that hasn’t been done before, or come to a new conclusion. Trust yourself, your opinions are valid!
Primary sources are the most important thing here. Read them before you read too much secondary material. This way, you can find your own opinions on the subject without just appropriating what has been already said.
Talk to people who know what they’re talking about. Your university pays lots of professors whose job it is to advise you. Go and talk to them! They may be able to give you some new perspective.
Planning your essay:
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
This is the most important thing I can say to anyone planning a huge piece of work. If you do a little bit every week, then you’ll be fine. You DO NOT want to find yourself a week from the deadline, with still 5,000 words to write. I know some people who did that, and they suffered. Badly. So keep plugging away at it, and you’ll get it done in time. Here are a few tips which I learned the hard way…
Give yourself plenty of time to research. I spent 3 months just reading before I even thought about making a solid plan. Only after doing loads of reading and thinking can you come up with a way to tie together everything you’ve learned.
When making a plan, decide how many words to devote to each “chapter.” This means you won’t go over the word limit. And editing is the worst.
I made quite a long detailed plan in order to structure my thoughts. That plan became my bible. It might not work for you though.
This is my favourite way of planning my essays. It’s such a useful guide, so simple, and so helpful. Give it a look! I’ve been using a similar technique since I started uni, but this is better tbh.
When researching, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, write down where you found the information. Page numbers, author, publisher, date of publication, editions, chapter titles, chapter page numbers. I spent 4 days after I had written the whole thing just trying to find this one God damn article which I had read nearly a year ago. It was a nightmare.Please. Record the bibliographical information.
Write all the important dates in your diary/phone. I also used “monthly reminders” so I was constantly aware of how long I had left.
Give yourself a week to edit and create your bibliography. It’s nice to edit at your own pace, not at a rush.
Give yourself lots of room for disasters! When I was planning my essay, I had no idea that I was going to break my arm, and be in cast for half of the year. I obviously did not predict that. But I had an adaptable schedule, which really helped me.
And make sure to regularly back everything up! I lost a load of work and it sucked so bad. Don’t let that happen to you.
The Writing:
Give yourself your own deadlines. Say that you need to have written the first chapter three months before the deadline, or something like that. This means that you won’t be rushing at the end, and you might be able to give drafts of chapters to your supervisor to read over.
It’s alright if you don’t write perfectly on the first try. Splurge your ideasall over the paper! Freewrite everything you want to say. And then, after a cup of tea or a nap, come back to it. You’ll feel much better for it.
You don’t have to start at the beginning. Maybe write the chapter that you have the most information for first, to give yourself some confidence. Or, maybe start with the worst first, to make the rest seem less daunting. It’s up to you, both strategies have merit.
Daily word counts are great when you’re reaching the deadline. I knew I had to write 150 words every day in order to hit the deadline - I exceeded this every day, which made me feel awesome about myself and gave myself loads of confidence.
Talk to people about it! I find that talking about my opinions out loud really help me formulate my ideas in my head.
Do loads of proof reading. I discovered two days before the deadline that I had been spelling “amicitia” wrong consistently. It was pretty embarrassing.
Ask your friends/family to read it through. Even if they don’t understand everything, they should be able to help with grammatical errors and such like. When you’re sick of reading your own words (which is very quickly for me) you’ll be thankful for the second opinion.
TRUST YOURSELF AND YOUR ABILITY, YOU CAN DO IT.
