Composing a PhD dissertation - a list of tips

Any graduate student who has got to the stage of composing a PhD dissertation will know that this is a major undertaking. This is not a simple essay but rather something which will take a great deal of planning, preparation and creation. Those last three words are the key to your success. The better you plan and prepare the easier and more effective will be the thesis writing help. Probably the best way to go about explaining it is to break down the planning, preparation and creation into various sections.

It goes without saying that the theme or topic of your PhD dissertation is vitally important. Never has it been so relevant as far as interest in the topic and desire to write about it are concerned. This is a major piece of prose and you need to have your heart in the right place. And alongside your choice of dissertation topic will be your choice of supervisor. This needs to be an academic who strongly supports you in your goal and the topic you have chosen. You will be working with your supervisor over a lengthy period of time and the easier your communication channels and ability to get along, the more successful you are likely to be. If your mentor is not knowledgeable, it would be better to look for another one.

Throughout your high school and college years you will have used an outline in creating an essay or research paper. This is doubly important now. You can spend a considerable amount of time in the planning or outline stage. In fact the outline becomes a mini work in itself. Make sure in the creation of your outline that you run it past your supervisor on a regular basis. It is better to create something simple and have it approved rather than go hell for leather and create the whole outline only to find that you've made a number of mistakes along the way.

Making sure you have the right physical equipment is seriously important. How will you find the files of your research material? What software program will you use to type the actual dissertation? Check all of these things before you start working because there may be better programs or better equipment which will make your task easier.

You must have a timetable and a professional dissertation editor by your side. This needs to be detailed. This needs to show in specific detail where you should be on what particular day or in what particular week. The best way to start is with the final date, the time when you will hand in your PhD dissertation. Now you work backwards. You insert the milestones such as when you will start and finish your research, when you will write the first draft, when you will begin the editing and proofreading and all the other tasks associated with your dissertation. You can make different versions of your timetable putting one on the wall. Stick to your timetable.