Approaching the Dissertation Marathon One Step at a Time

For many, writing a dissertation or thesis can seem like running a marathon. Both require a great deal of patience, diligence, and a step-by-step approach. Just as the runner who has failed to plan in the face of great distance will soon find herself back on the sidelines, the graduate student who simply starts writing without a strategy will also find herself starting over.

Writing a dissertation is like running a marathon

For the runner, completing a 26 mile race can seem insurmountable. But the runner who limits her focus to the crest of the next hill, the large tree in the immediate distance, or the management of her fatigue will put enough of those hills and trees behind her to finish the race. Writing a dissertation is no different. By focusing on individual chapters, and the relevant sections within those chapters, the student turns the dissertation into a series of manageable tasks rather than experiencing it as a 300-page obstacle.

Focus on the section

Many programs have established guidelines as to what kind of sections go into each individual chapter. Even if they do not, the student can always find a good organizational guide by following a model dissertation. The best way to decide what task to focus on is already present in the form of the headings listed in the table of contents for each chapter. By treating each section in the chapter outline as a "the crest of that next hill," the writer can make substantial progress and gain the confidence to tackle the next goal... and the next, and the next to completion.

A section can be thought of as a brief paper, in some cases less than a page in length, in other cases only a few pages. The goal is to write that paper. As an example, take the "Purpose of the Study," a section typically found in Chapter One of a dissertation or thesis. The first task would be to figure out what kind of information such a section should contain. By doing research on the nature of the purpose statement, by reading examples of other purpose statements, and by thinking about such a section in relation to the student's own dissertation topic and what the student has written so far, the student can, with confidence, approach this single writing task. And that is all it is-a writing task, not a marathon, not a mountain, not War and Peace. It is simply one leg of the journey. One leg follows another and soon, what seemed like an impossible journey begins to feel like a manageable one. Eventually, the "next mile" will become the "last mile," as the finish line comes into view.