Are you burning the midnight oil, trying to write a brilliant thesis paper?
At this point, you may feel like you are barely holding on to a raft in the middle of a vast ocean. The process of thesis writing can be intimidating for many of you, and the mere mention of it is enough to send you in a tizzy.
Now, there are multiple ways to cope with the issue. You can either hire a thesis writer online to work on your papers, or you can choose the daunting task of working on your thesis paper all by yourself.
7 Riveting Ways to Cope With the Process of Thesis Writing
If you fall under the second group, these are some tips to simplify the process of thesis writing.
1. Persuade with appropriate literature
It is vital you justify that your research is necessary and authentic. This is where the importance of literature review comes in.
Those brownie points aren’t going to come easily if your examiners aren’t convinced with your research. They need to know that your research will contribute to your field by offering evidence from relevant literature.
Use your literature review to present your observations about the themes and main ideas. Do not forget to establish each of your conclusions.
Don’t just present who said what. Elaborate on the main observation that the reader needs to know and then use the references to support it.
2. Redraft for readability
Begin by writing what you want to convey. This may not be coherent, so after writing the draft, you should rewrite to make sure that it is legible. It lets you ask for feedback.
Find out the areas in your write-ups that are confusing and use the knowledge to refine your work.
Before you hand over your thesis, you should also check the areas that your examiners are likely to notice first like the abstract, literature review, introduction, and the conclusion.
Always carry out proper proofreading to ward off any persisting sign of errors in spelling, grammar, formatting, and references.
3. Learn everything you must know about the subject
It would be wrong to assume that the topic you have chosen is new because you haven’t heard or read about it. This simply indicates you don’t have sufficient knowledge about your chosen field of study.
It may seem convenient to invent the wheel after spending innumerable sleepless nights over it. However, you need to check whether or not it is an authentic contribution before submitting the paper.
This will also make your professor’s life easier when you evaluate the original arguments before asking for their views.
4. Talk to other people, but don’t draw parallels
Let’s face it, your supervisor will know which of their students aced their thesis and viva voce, and which students hardly scraped through with their wits intact.
It would probably be wise to ask your professors if it is alright to read the previously written thesis. Then you’ll have clarity on what you should, or shouldn’t be doing.
In fact, talking to your peers may also be helpful. It is often a great source of stress. But, it’s also possible for you to become anxious because you think your idea isn’t as clever as theirs and you are far behind compared to others.
You must keep reminding yourself that everyone has their system.
You also need to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are and try to focus on those instead.
5. Don’t aim for perfection at one go
When you begin writing, you may have the tendency to rehash the same sentence, phrases or section over and over.
However, this will only cause you more anxiety when you begin thinking about the time you are spending on the same sentence, paragraph or section.
At this point, take a step back and redirect your energy and remind yourself, “finished is better than perfect.”
Compel yourself to prepare your thesis with the same rule. This means you can’t resort to rephrasing, just maintain an unrestricted flow of thoughts on paper.
Put down the idea on a paper before you start editing. This allows you to keep up with your planned writing schedule.
6. It’s normal to hate working on your thesis at times
Ever had that annoying feeling when you no longer feel enthusiastic about working on something?
Well, you will certainly get this feeling while working on your thesis.
You don’t need to fret because it’s common for most students who have a thesis to get through. Most of you will feel the sudden pangs of indifference after you are done with two-thirds of the paper.
This is absolutely normal and expected, and this is your cue for taking a break.
Considering the hard work you’ve been putting into, you deserve a holiday too, even if it’s just a break from all the mind-numbing processes to do something else.
When you come back to it, your brain will automatically provide clarity on some of the issues you have been struggling with while writing the thesis.
7. Viva-voce shouldn’t overwhelm you
You must enjoy the process of the viva. Yes, you read it right.
This is your chance to convey insightful ideas about the topic that you feel so passionately about.
Well, it does sound scary at first, but the examiners you meet at the viva will be genuinely interested in what you have accomplished.
Most examiners are intrigued to know about your papers, despite the numerous horror stories that are popular amongst students.
However, in most cases, they have already decided what will be the fate of your thesis paper. So, you might as well enjoy the process, rather than cowering under pressure.
Final thoughts
There is no denying of the fact that your academic progress rests on how well you present your thesis paper.
However, you must not let the overwhelming process of preparing the document affect you to the point of losing your sleep.
These tips will come handy in such situations.
Earleen Brown is a writer and content editor.
