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Speed Writing: Essential Techniques to Write Your Thesis Fast

Embarking on the journey of thesis writing can often be a daunting endeavor, filled with complexity and high expectations. However, with the right techniques and strategies, it's possible to navigate this academic challenge efficiently and effectively. 'Speed Writing: Essential Techniques to Write Your Thesis Fast' is a comprehensive guide designed to help you streamline the research and writing process, enabling you to craft a high-quality thesis without the stress of looming deadlines. Drawing from the expertise of Research Rebels, this article offers practical advice and actionable steps to accelerate your writing while maintaining clarity and precision.

Key Takeaways

• Adopt a structured approach to literature review and data management to save time and enhance research efficiency.
• Develop a consistent writing routine, utilizing techniques like the Pomodoro method to boost focus and productivity.
• Compose your first draft quickly, focusing on getting ideas down on paper, and then refine it in subsequent revisions.
• Incorporate feedback from peers and utilize targeted revision tactics to improve the clarity and precision of your thesis.
• Stay motivated and reduce anxiety by setting realistic goals, managing your time wisely, and seeking support when needed.

Strategies for Efficient Research and Organization

Mastering the art of speedy literature review.

To write your thesis efficiently, a swift literature review is crucial. Begin by conducting a comprehensive search across databases, academic journals, and other relevant sources. This ensures you have a broad spectrum of studies related to your research question at your fingertips.

When evaluating sources, consider the following steps:

• Search for relevant literature, such as journal articles or books on your topic.
• Evaluate and select sources based on credibility and relevance.
• Organize your sources systematically for easy retrieval.
• Identify key concepts and arguments that align with your thesis.

By critically evaluating the literature, you not only understand the existing body of knowledge but also pinpoint where your research fits within the academic conversation. Remember, the goal is to integrate these findings into your work seamlessly, providing a solid foundation for your arguments. Utilize technology to manage your data efficiently, which can significantly speed up the process. With these strategies, you'll be well on your way to a literature review that is both thorough and time-effective.

Optimizing Note-Taking for Quick Recall

To enhance your thesis writing, it's crucial to develop a note-taking system that allows for quick recall of important information. Start by categorizing your notes according to themes or chapters of your thesis. This will help you retrieve information efficiently when you need to reference it in your writing. Use templates or tools designed for academic note-taking to save time and maintain consistency.

When you're immersed in research, remember to focus on key resources and main ideas rather than getting lost in the details. A bulleted list can help you distill complex information into digestible points:

• Identify the core concepts of each resource
• Summarize findings relevant to your thesis
• Note down any questions or gaps for further investigation

By keeping your notes organized and prioritizing the most relevant information, you'll be able to maintain a clear structure and uphold academic integrity in your work. Additionally, employing the test-study-test sequence can optimize learning and retention, ensuring that you're not just collecting information but truly understanding and integrating it into your thesis.

Utilizing Technology for Streamlined Data Management

In the digital age, the ability to manage your research data efficiently can significantly accelerate the thesis writing process. Choose the right statistical software with features that cater to your specific needs, such as rich reporting systems and seamless integration with other tools. This will enable you to analyze your data with precision and ease, saving you invaluable time.

When considering technology for data management, look for solutions that offer flexibility and scalability. This ensures that as your research grows, your system can adapt without the need for time-consuming data migrations or learning new software. A well-chosen system can also facilitate collaboration with peers, allowing for shared access and editing rights to data sets.

To further enhance your productivity, break down the thesis writing process into manageable sections. This approach not only helps manage time effectively but also allows for a more focused and methodical progression through your research. Below is a list of steps that can guide you in streamlining your data management:

• Identify the main types of data you will be collecting.
• Select a data management platform that supports these data types and your research methodology.
• Establish a consistent naming convention and file organization structure.
• Regularly back up your data to prevent loss.
• Utilize data analysis tools that integrate well with your chosen management system.

Remember, the goal is to minimize the time spent on administrative tasks, so you can devote more energy to the actual writing of your thesis. By leveraging technology effectively, you can transform the daunting task of data management into a smooth and efficient component of your research journey.

Developing a Productive Writing Routine

Setting realistic goals and deadlines.

Embarking on your thesis can be daunting, but breaking down the work into manageable chunks can transform an overwhelming task into a series of achievable steps. Start small and set mini-deadlines for each segment of your work. This approach not only helps maintain a steady pace but also keeps procrastination at bay.

Write down all your goals to free your mind from the burden of remembering each task. This simple act can conserve your mental energy for the creative aspects of your thesis. To ensure you stay on track, consider using a reverse outlining process to set realistic goals and deadlines. Here's a quick guide to help you plan effectively:

• Identify the main sections of your thesis.
• Estimate the time required for each section.
• Set mini-deadlines for these sections.
• Regularly review and adjust your plan as needed.

Remember to reward your progress. This not only provides motivation but also acknowledges the hard work you've put into your thesis. Lastly, stay accountable by sharing your goals with a peer or mentor who can offer support and ensure you don't veer off course.

The Pomodoro Technique: Maximizing Focus and Minimizing Burnout

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that can transform your thesis writing process. By dividing your work into short, focused intervals—traditionally 25 minutes in length—followed by a 5-minute break, you create a rhythm that can enhance concentration and stave off fatigue. Embrace this technique to balance work and wellness , ensuring you avoid burnout while progressing steadily through your thesis.

To implement the Pomodoro Technique, follow these simple steps:

• Choose a task to be accomplished.
• Set the Pomodoro (timer) to 25 minutes.
• Work on the task until the timer rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper.
• Take a short break (5 minutes is the standard).
• Every four Pomodoros, take a longer break (15-30 minutes).

This approach not only aids in maintaining a high level of productivity but also aligns with research-backed strategies for academic success and well-being. Remember, consistent routines for productivity and task management, such as the use of the Pomodoro technique, are crucial for focusing your working self and remaining productive throughout your thesis journey.

Harnessing Peak Productivity Periods

Understanding your own circadian rhythm —your body's natural wake-sleep cycle—is crucial to identifying the times of day when you are most alert and capable of productive work. Leverage these peak periods by scheduling your most challenging writing tasks during these windows. For instance, if you find mornings to be when your mind is sharpest, dedicate that time to writing sections of your thesis that require deep concentration.

To ensure effective time management , create a personalized schedule that aligns with your productivity peaks. This may involve shifting your day to accommodate early morning or late-night writing sessions, depending on your individual preferences. Remember, a productive writing environment is essential; minimize interruptions by informing colleagues or family of your dedicated writing times.

Lastly, utilizing tools for writing and revision can significantly streamline your process. Academic Project Planner s and other software can aid in a smooth transition to project mode, helping you combat procrastination with clear goals and innovative strategies. Embrace these tools to maintain a mindful study habit and ensure a stress-free thesis journey.

Drafting Techniques for Rapid Composition

The power of the first draft: embracing imperfection.

When you begin to draft your thesis, understand that the first iteration is not about perfection; it's about progression. Allow yourself to write freely , capturing all your thoughts without the pressure of accuracy or completeness. This approach aligns with the concept of 'Naked and Unashamed: Embracing Imperfections as a Writer', where the value of imperfections adds depth and authenticity to your work.

As you embrace this imperfection , remember that the goal is to get your ideas down on paper. You can refine and polish later. This mirrors the advice to 'Write your first draft fast. Then go back and fix it.' It's easy to fixate on mistakes or the inability to find the perfect word, but the first draft is simply a starting point. Here are a few steps to guide you:

• Begin with a rough outline of your thesis structure.
• Write quickly, letting your ideas flow without self-editing.
• Don't worry about grammar or style; focus on the content.

Once your first draft is complete, you'll have a foundation to build upon. It's a process that encourages creativity in the early stages, as highlighted in the 'Guide for thesis revision', emphasizing the value of multiple drafts and precise language. The first draft is your creative playground where the seeds of your thesis take root.

Structural Strategies for Logical Flow and Cohesion

To ensure your thesis is coherent and logically structured, begin by outlining the main points you intend to cover. This will serve as a roadmap, guiding you through the writing process and ensuring each section transitions smoothly to the next. Create an outline that includes your thesis statement, key arguments, and a conclusion that ties everything together.

Employing cohesive devices is crucial for maintaining the flow of your text. These linguistic tools help to connect sentences and paragraphs, making your argument more persuasive and readable. Consider the use of synonyms, pronouns, and transitional phrases to avoid repetition and enhance cohesion. For example:

• Firstly, secondly, finally
• However, moreover, therefore
• In contrast, similarly

Remember to refer back to your research and organization strategies. Utilize the resources at your disposal, such as worksheets and templates from academic websites, to streamline the structuring process. These tools can provide a solid foundation for your writing, allowing you to focus on the content rather than the form.

Lastly, review your work with a critical eye, looking for opportunities to improve text cohesion. Analyze your writing for the use of content words and linguistic sophistication , as these elements contribute significantly to the overall quality of your thesis.

Eliminating Distractions for Uninterrupted Writing Sessions

In the quest to write your thesis swiftly, eliminating distractions is paramount. Begin by creating a conducive environment for writing. This might mean changing your workspace to minimize interruptions or using tools like noise-cancelling headphones. Mindfulness and stress reduction techniques can also play a crucial role in maintaining mental clarity and balance.

To ensure uninterrupted writing sessions, consider the following steps:

• Establish consistent writing hours to build a routine.
• Separate the writing and editing phases to maintain momentum.
• Utilize techniques like the Pomodoro Technique to keep writer's block at bay.
• Set realistic daily word count goals to measure progress and stay motivated.

Remember, the key to efficient thesis writing is not just the absence of distractions, but also the presence of a structured approach that fosters productivity. Assign utility-value to your writing sessions by reflecting on the educational activity's importance, and break tasks down into manageable segments for better focus and success.

Revision Tactics for Clarity and Precision

Critical analysis for content refinement.

When you embark on the journey of revising your thesis, it is crucial to engage in critical analysis to refine your content. This process involves a meticulous examination of your work to ensure that each argument is robust and each piece of evidence is pertinent. Begin by familiarizing yourself with the data , identifying key points, and assessing the overall coherence of your thesis.

To systematically refine your content, follow these steps:

• Generate initial codes from your data to categorize information effectively.
• Search for and define clear themes that support your thesis statement.
• Review these themes for consistency and relevance, ensuring they contribute to your argument's strength.
• Transform the Text by paraphrasing or summarizing to represent your understanding and analysis, rather than merely copying the original material.

Remember, the goal is not only to polish your thesis but also to chisel your argument to its most compelling form. Check for consistency in structure and flow, and employ concise language for impactful writing. This strategy will not only enhance the quality of your thesis but also ensure that it stands up to rigorous academic scrutiny.

The Role of Peer Feedback in Enhancing Quality

Peer feedback serves as a critical component in the refinement of your thesis. By engaging with the perspectives of your colleagues, you gain invaluable insights that can transform your work from good to excellent. Incorporate their feedback diligently , focusing on areas that enhance clarity and coherence in your writing.

When you share your work with peers, you're not just seeking approval but also constructive criticism . This process is a normal part of academic life and is akin to the peer review processes found in academic journal submissions . It's essential to approach this feedback with an open mind and a willingness to revise. Remember, the goal is to improve your thesis, not to defend it against critique.

To make the most of peer feedback, consider the following steps:

• Review comments and suggestions carefully.
• Prioritize feedback based on its potential impact on your thesis.
• Discuss any unclear points with your peers for further clarification.
• Implement changes that align with your research goals and academic standards.

By embracing peer feedback, you not only enhance the quality of your work but also prepare yourself for the rigorous scrutiny of academic evaluation.

Grammar and Style Checks: The Final Touches

After diligently crafting your thesis, it's crucial to engage in an iterative process of writing, revising, and aligning with your thesis goals. This final stage is not merely about hunting for typos; it's about refining your scholarly voice and ensuring your work reads as a polished masterpiece. Pay close attention to grammar, spelling, and the overall flow of your document. Utilize tools like Microsoft Word's 'Grammar & Refinements' or explore the best grammar checker tools available online to aid in this process.

Remember, the clarity and precision of your writing directly impact the reader's understanding and the credibility of your work. Here's a simple checklist to guide you through this critical phase:

• Review your thesis for any grammatical errors or awkward phrasing.
• Ensure consistency in style and formatting throughout the document.
• Seek feedback from peers or mentors to gain fresh perspectives.
• Make use of academic writing resources for additional support.

By methodically addressing each of these points, you can elevate the quality of your thesis and present a work that truly reflects your academic rigor.

Striving for excellence in writing requires constant refinement. Our section on ' Revision Tactics for Clarity and Precision ' offers invaluable insights to hone your skills. Don't let temporary setbacks hinder your progress. Visit our website now for comprehensive strategies that will elevate your writing to new heights. Embrace the power of effective communication by exploring our resources today!

In conclusion, the journey of thesis writing is a formidable endeavor, yet with the right techniques and guidance, it can be navigated with confidence and efficiency. Research Rebels champions this journey, providing a nurturing environment and comprehensive resources that cater to the diverse needs of students. By embracing the essential techniques outlined—such as writing swiftly and revising meticulously, eliminating superfluous content, conducting thorough research, and avoiding procrastination—students can significantly accelerate the writing process. Moreover, the holistic and engaging approach of our blog ensures that the content is not only informative but also accessible and enjoyable. As students embark on their thesis adventure, it is crucial to remember that the path to academic success is paved with dedication, practice, and the willingness to seek and accept help. Research Rebels stands as a steadfast ally, ready to empower students to write their thesis with speed, clarity, and a touch of rebellion against the academic status quo.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is research rebels and how can it help me with my thesis.

Research Rebels is a student-centric academic support platform that provides step-by-step guidance, resources, and a supportive environment to help students navigate the thesis-writing process. It's designed to reduce anxiety, offer comprehensive guidance, and share real-life insights to empower students to write their thesis with confidence.

What unique strategies does Research Rebels suggest for speed writing a thesis?

Research Rebels advocates for writing the first draft quickly to maintain momentum, then revising for precision. It also suggests cutting unnecessary content, doing thorough research to avoid writer's block, and avoiding procrastination to maintain a steady pace in thesis writing.

How does Research Rebels make thesis writing more engaging?

Research Rebels employs storytelling, humor, and real-life examples to transform the typically dry academic material into engaging content that's easier to understand and more enjoyable to work with.

Can Research Rebels help students from diverse academic backgrounds?

Yes, Research Rebels takes a holistic approach to avoid overwhelming students with complex concepts, ensuring that the content is accessible to students from a variety of academic disciplines.

What if I need urgent help with my thesis?

Research Rebels offers fast delivery options for urgent orders. You can find a professional thesis writer on the platform who can assist you with your thesis, ensuring that you meet your deadlines without compromising on quality.

What kind of topics does Research Rebels cover in their blog?

The Research Rebels blog covers a wide range of topics related to thesis writing, including research topic selection, literature review, research proposal, methodologies, time management, ethical considerations, and writing techniques, among others.

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Strategies to Maintain Focus while Writing Your Dissertation

By  Danielle Marias

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Danielle Marias is a Ph.D. candidate in Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. You can find her on Twitter @danielleemarias or at her website .

With the majority of my data collection completed, I elected to take a dissertation writing course in the OSU writing program with Dr. Vicki Tolar Burton . Initially, I thought this would be a good strategy for setting aside chunks of time to devote to writing my dissertation. The course did provide a protected block of time to write, but it did even more for me, my writing, and my productivity: it taught me strategies to maintain focus.

Today, the internet and Google and social media are flashier and more distracting than ever before. Our professional and personal lives are strewn with interruptions as smart phones enable us to take our distractions with us wherever we go. This makes it incredibly challenging to maintain enough focus to write a book-length dissertation.

The strategies I learned in this class are invaluable and I felt compelled to share them with fellow grad students who also may feel overwhelmed by the daunting task of writing a thesis or dissertation. To this day, I still use many of these tips, which have served me well for the entirety of my dissertation. By the end of the one-month course, I completed a solid draft of my first chapter (my most difficult chapter, to get the ball rolling!). I am tremendously grateful for Vicki’s wisdom and support and I attribute much of my writing success to her. Here a few of my favorite tips from her class:

1. Freewriting for 15 minutes per day . Prior to the class, we read “Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis” by Joan Bolker . Although I quickly learned that only writing 15 minutes a day is insufficient for completing a dissertation, it was a great way to get my thoughts flowing and written down by hand on paper (not typing on a computer full of distractions). Freewriting was great because I was encouraged not to worry about grammar, word usage, or even quality, which often interrupt writing. I prefer revising over writing a rough draft so the only way to do that was to have something, anything, down on paper first. By writing down any thought or idea about the manuscript, including worries and insecurities, I was able to craft a more comprehensive final draft while also calming my mind.

2. “Only writing produces text.” This was the mantra of our class. The dissertation is full of words and I learned that writing does not magically happen—I had to make it happen and put the words down on paper. Prior to the class, I had procrastinated on even starting to write because of my own insecurities including worrying about the strength of my project, getting it published, completing a Ph.D., etc. However, writing was therapeutic.

3. Meditation . We ended each class meeting with 5 minutes of meditation to help us prepare for and focus on our writing tasks that followed. This was a great way to clear my head and let go of the rest of the day and just focus on my main priority—writing. I echo several GradHackers who have shared the benefits of meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction in grad school.

4. Intentions journal . After meditating, we wrote down specific intentions and goals to visualize what we were going to accomplish that day. Similar to making checklists , which I enjoy, this exercise helped me to feel organized and motivated to check off that goal on my list of intentions for the day.

5. Identifying our most productive times of day for writing using heat mapping . This enabled me to make the most of the day by doing tasks that matched my workflow. I learned that I write best in the mornings when my mind is clear. I would write in the mornings and do tasks that required less of my focus and brain power in the afternoons, such as formatting or catching up on emails (rather than starting my day by checking email, which I used to do).

6. Write first . It is easy to procrastinate on writing and do menial tasks instead, such as checking email or social media, or cleaning the house or reading the news. I would “reward” myself with these distracting indulgences after I completed my writing for the day.

7. Email & Smartphone . As mentioned above, I refrained from checking emails and turned off my smartphone until the afternoon after I had completed my writing for the day. I realized that the world will go on even if I don’t respond to an email until the afternoon.

8. Scheduling meetings in the afternoon . Again, I protected my mornings, my most productive times of the day, and scheduled meetings in the afternoons.

9. “Park on a downhill slope .” This comes from Joan Bolker’s book that was mentioned above. I learned that much of our time is spent re-focusing on what we did the previous day and remembering where we left off. This can be distracting and make it difficult to jump back in. Therefore, before ending a work session, I’d write down specifically what I needed to do next so I could easily pick up where I left off when I returned to it. No energy was used up to remember what I needed to do next.

10. Gain momentum . I found that focusing the majority of my efforts on writing my first chapter was a great way to gain momentum for constantly thinking about my project and my writing as it evolved and came together. Proving to myself that I could produce good writing by prioritizing my ability to maintain focus, I was able to apply that confidence and those strategies to writing the rest of my dissertation.

Congratulations to those of you who have reached the writing stage. What strategies do you use or have you used to maintain focus and accomplish your writing goals?

[Image by Flickr user UnknownNet Photography and used under the Creative Commons license.]

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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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8 Most Effective Ways to Increase Motivation for Thesis Writing 

Writing a master’s or doctoral thesis is a tough job, and many students struggle with writer’s block and putting off work. The journey requires not just skill and knowledge but a sustained motivation for thesis writing. Here are eight essential strategies to help you find and maintain your motivation to write your thesis throughout the thesis writing process.

Know why you lack motivation

It’s important to understand whether you’re just avoiding writing (procrastination) or if you genuinely don’t feel interested in it (lack of motivation). Procrastination is when you delay writing even though you want to finish it, while a lack of motivation for thesis writing is when you have no interest in writing at all. Knowing the difference helps you find the right solution. Remember, not feeling motivated doesn’t mean you can’t write; it just might be less enjoyable.

Recognize external vs. internal motivation

In the early stages of your academic journey, things like job prospects or recognition may motivate you to write your thesis. These are external motivators. Over time, they might become less effective. That’s why it’s important to develop internal motivators, like a real passion for your topic, curiosity, or wanting to make a difference in your field. Shifting to these internal motivators can keep you energized about your thesis writing for a longer period.

Develop a writing plan

As you regularly spend time on your thesis, you’ll start to overcome any initial resistance. Planning and thinking about your work will make the next steps easier. You might find yourself working more than 20 minutes some days. As you progress, plan for longer thesis writing periods and set goals for completing each chapter.

Don’t overwhelm yourself

Getting stuck is normal in thesis or dissertation writing. Don’t view these challenges as impossible obstacles. If you’re frustrated or unsure, take a break for a few days. Then, consult your advisor or a mentor to discuss your challenges and find ways to move forward effectively.

Work on your thesis daily

Try to spend 15-20 minutes daily on tasks related to your thesis or dissertation. This includes reading, researching, outlining, and other preparatory activities. You can fit these tasks into short breaks throughout your day, like waiting for appointments, during commutes, or even while cooking.

Understand that thesis writing motivation changes

Realize that thesis writing motivation isn’t always the same; it changes over time. Your drive to write will vary with different stages of your research and life changes. Knowing that motivation can go up and down helps you adapt. When you feel less motivated, focus on small, doable parts of your work instead of big, intimidating goals.

Recharge your motivation regularly

Just like you need to rest and eat well to keep your body energized, your motivation for thesis writing needs to be refreshed too. Do things that boost your mental and creative energy. This could be talking with colleagues, attending workshops, or engaging in hobbies that relax you. Stay aware of your motivation levels and take action to rejuvenate them. This way, you can avoid burnout and keep a consistent pace in your thesis work.

Keep encouraging yourself

Repeating encouraging phrases like “I will finish my thesis by year’s end” or “I’ll complete a lot of work this week” can really help. Saying these affirmations regularly can focus your energy and keep you on track with your thesis writing motivation .

Remember, the amount you write can vary each day. Some days you might write a lot, and other days less. The key is to keep writing, even if it’s just rough ideas or jumbled thoughts. Don’t let the need for perfection stop you. Listening to podcasts where researchers talk about their writing experiences can also be inspiring and motivate you in your writing journey.

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For most college essays, you need a thesis statement that captures the argument, or central claim, of the essay.  It will usually appear at the end of the first or second paragraph of the essay and will include the basic argument and its implications. Your thesis will often change from early thinking (to accommodate your evolution in thinking as you write) once you’ve got a whole draft, and a strong working thesis will adapt into a well-considered, well-supported articulation of your ultimate argument. The takeaway? Creating a strong thesis goes hand-in-hand with creating a strong argument in the overall essay.

General Considerations

A strong thesis should do the following things:.

• Go beyond announcing a subject – join an ongoing conversation by taking a stand on an issue or offering an interpretation of something (a text, a policy, a new scientific discovery, etc.)
• Get specific – rule out most of the broad material pertinent to your topic and zero in on a clear claim that focuses more narrowly on some specific aspect of your topic.
• Indicate the “what, why, and how” of your argument – what are you claiming, why you believe this to be true, important, etc., and how you will approach your topic.

A strong thesis will apply to your issue/text and only to your issue/text

Thesis statements that are too broad often could be transplanted from one paper (even one subject!) to the next without anyone noticing. If what you claim in your thesis could work equally well for an essay on Mrs. Dalloway and an essay on the virtues of capitalism, you have more focusing and tightening to do.

In Practice

Start with a working thesis (revise it later).

A working thesis is often different from a final thesis. A working thesis will help you get started writing by keeping you focused on the general sense of what you wish to argue, even if you don’t have all the details in place; those details will usually work themselves out in the writing.  Often after you’ve finished writing a complete draft, you will realize that you’ve actually argued something more interesting and complex than your working thesis could express. At that point, you should revise your working thesis into a final thesis that accurately expresses your argument.

The first step toward writing a strong thesis is taking a stand or offering an interpretation of an issue related to your topic.  Sometimes an essay assignment might ask you a question that will prompt an argument, and other times you will need to come up with an argument on your own.  Either way, your position can be simple at first, as the process of writing the essay will most likely lead you to develop a more complex thesis. The following are samples of possible working theses:

• American politics relies too heavily on the two-party system.
• Jane Eyre does not align with feminism.
• The potential use of stem cell research should be explored.
• The continuous stream of news coverage undermines the quality of the news.

In each of these statements, the writer has taken a position that will allow them to start writing, even though these statements could be seen as too simple to truly make a strong thesis.  These statements could be referred to as the basic argument (the “what”) .  A strong thesis will also require justifications (the “why,” sometimes referred to as implications ) and/or a method/framework (the “how”), which can be explored later once the basic argument is in place.

Look for Signs that Your Thesis is Weak

On occasion, writers will be hindered early on by statements that seem like they will make a good basis for arguments, while in actuality they prevent an argument from being strong.  For that reason, it’s good to know what separates a strong thesis from a weak one.

A strong thesis is NOT

• just an observation (Example: Jane Eyre relates to ideas about feminism.)  This may be true, but this statement is simply an observation about the book—it doesn’t take a stand on how feminism is treated in the text.
• a statement of fact (Example: Many people are opposed to stem cell research.) Fact-based statements can be easily checked by asking yourself if anyone could reasonably disagree with you.  If everyone would agree that your statement is true, then your statement is only a fact, not an argument.
• a broad generalization (Example: Politics are working for the people.)  It may seem as if using broad terms allows for more possibilities for things to include in your essay, but broad issues because contain too many specific arguments within them, and making a broad claim will mean making a shallow argument.  In this example, “politics” and “people” are both too broad.  The “American two-party system” is a more specific category that will allow you to focus on one argument and discuss the complexities within it.
• a list of examples (Example: The continuous stream of news coverage causes lack of depth, focuses on superficial issues, and results in information overload.) While your essay may include examples of all of these issues, using a list for a thesis doesn’t allow for deep investigation of one topic nor does it show the relationship between ideas.  The items in the list may be points of evidence you can use in your essay without naming them.

Make It Complex

A strong thesis needs to make a complex argument, meaning it needs to show that the complications or contradictions of the issue have been taken into account in the essay and that the argument matters —or that there are implications to the argument.  The complexity of the argument, and therefore the thesis, can be explored in various ways that can help evolve the working thesis into a complex thesis.

Explore counterarguments

What reasonable claims have others made that contradict your argument, and how might taking those into consideration help you justify or strengthen your own? If you were to launch your own rebuttal to your argument, what would that look like? How does that help you complicate your ideas?

Consider a variety of angles

There are more than two sides—often far more—to any argument. For instance, people might argue the same thing for different reasons, might agree on a common problem but feel differently about how to solve it, might see the same problem as being caused by different things, etc. If you seek out as many stances on your topic as possible, you might be able to shape your argument in a way that fills a void in the conversation.

Ask yourself why the argument matters

Ok, you may be writing about the Two-Thirds Compromise because your instructor told you to. But beyond that, find a way to consider why you (and we) should care about it. What is important about your topic (whether historical or contemporary, out of the STEM fields or music and dance) here and now? Who are the stakeholders in your argument? Is there anyone whose voice hasn’t been heard on this that you could bring to light? In other words, “so what?” If you can find a legitimate reason why the argument matters, you can argue it from a stronger, more complicated place.

Consider starting with the “magical thesis” template, at least as a working thesis.

“By looking at ______________, we can see _________________, which most [readers, scientists, politicians, actors, etc.] don’t see; this is important because ____________________.” This thesis template asks you to articulate your object of study, what you can reveal about it, and why your revelation is important.

Think about the project you’re working on, and answer the following questions:

What is your topic?

What is your stance on the topic? State this as a complete sentence.

Why do you believe this? State your reasons in a “because” clause.

Why would someone disagree with this? State the opposing opinion in an “although” clause.

Now put it together to form a working thesis: “Although” clause + Stance on topic + “Because” clause = Complete (working) thesis statement

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7 tips for efficient thesis writing

Writing your thesis isn’t always a walk in the park, so here are some tips to help you out.

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It’s no secret that writing your master’s or doctoral thesis is no easy task. Writer’s block and procrastination haunt many graduate students. Nonetheless, Geneviève Belleville, psychology professor at Université Laval, has a few tricks that can help make things easier. Back in 2014, she compiled her advice into a book: Assieds-toi et écris ta thèse! Trucs pratiques et motivationnels (Sit Down and Write Your Thesis: Some Practical and Motivational Tips).

At the most recent Journées de la relève en recherche held by Acfas, the association of French-speaking researchers, Dr. Belleville gave a presentation on seven keys to writing a thesis efficiently and (almost) worry-free.

1. Set specific times for writing

To start off, Dr. Belleville advises that you set aside short periods of time each day to write. She encourages you to regularly re-evaluate how long these blocks of time last. Why choose shorter writing periods over longer ones? To prevent procrastination and to reduce the eventual pressure to write. While it is important to write each day, she also recommends taking complete breaks from it. “The kind of person who succeeds in graduate studies is someone who also manages to do other things in life,” she says. “It’s a bit of a paradox, but [people who are successful] are invested in their studies but are also able to do other things, for example, on evenings or weekends.”

2. Set goals

Dr. Belleville says there are different types of goals that apply to writing a thesis: long-term, specific and weekly goals, as well as time-bound or project-driven goals. “You can’t expect a master’s degree or a PhD to be easy — you have to set goals and define motivations,” she explains. She suggests taking inspiration from the concept of SMART objectives to help with this stage. This method prescribes setting objectives that are s pecific, m easurable, a chievable, r ealistic, and t ime-bound. For example, don’t take on a literature review when you have 35 minutes left at the end of a long workday!

3. Distinguish the different writing stages

There are three main stages to a thesis: planning, writing and editing. A well-thought-out plan makes it easier to start writing while reducing stress and hesitation. When it comes to writing, she recommends tackling this task without overthinking it. Writing ideas quickly without thinking about every word choice accelerates the process and prevents you from getting bogged down in one spot for too long. The editing stage is where it’s important to carefully consider the relevance of each sentence, spend more time on your structure and argumentation, correct typos and refine your style. Dr. Belleville reminds us that “We’re writing for others — not ourselves.”

4. Inspiration is a rationalization

Dr. Belleville adds that waiting for inspiration to start writing is just an excuse to procrastinate. “Writing doesn’t need inspiration, it needs structure,” she says. She believes that the best ways to get motivated are to write each day, for example, or to keep a notebook of ideas, vary your tasks, or talk about the subject with the people around you.

5. Avoid procrastination

“Scientific writing is one of the jobs most likely to be put off to the next day,” she explains. One of the reasons this happens in thesis writing is the anxiety it causes. The last stage of a PhD is also the most important, as it determines whether or not you earn your degree. More often than not, procrastination only causes more anxiety. Dr. Belleville has advice for fighting this tendency to postpone work. First, she emphasizes the importance of planning short, daily writing periods. You also need to create a pleasant, functional space that’s conducive to writing. Lastly, you need to remember that everyone procrastinates from time to time, so there’s no need to get hung up on it when you do!

6. Resist perfectionism!

Dr. Belleville argues that perfectionism and productivity are not the same thing. She says that while it’s a good thing to have high standards, having unrealistic ones is just shooting yourself in the foot. “Perfectionists are often unproductive because they are paralysed by their perfectionism.” She sees perfectionism as kind of cult “where the ideals we aim to achieve are attractive but unrealistic.” Perfection can come with certain nuances. Wanting to perform and excel is not the same issue as taking on too much, and both have very different outcomes.

7. Stay connected and talk about it with others

She concluded her presentation by stating “you have to make sure not to get lost in the thesis writing process.” Shutting yourself in, away from everyone else, is far from a good idea, and you shouldn’t hesitate to discuss any problems that come up. It’s important to remember that this kind of project will always come with setbacks.

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How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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Essay Papers Writing Online

Top strategies for writing essays quickly and efficiently.

Are you struggling to meet your essay deadlines? Do you find yourself spending hours on a single paragraph? Writing essays can be time-consuming and challenging, but with the right strategies, you can significantly speed up the process.

In this article, we will share some effective tips to help you boost your essay writing speed without compromising on quality. Whether you’re a student working on an assignment or a professional writer tackling a project, these tips will help you become more efficient and productive.

Plan Your Essay Structure

Before you start writing your essay, take some time to plan out your structure. This will help you stay focused and organized throughout the writing process. Start by brainstorming your main ideas and key points. Then, outline how you will introduce your topic, present your arguments, and conclude your essay. Creating a clear structure will make it easier for you to stay on track and ensure that your essay flows smoothly from one point to the next.

Consider using bullet points or numbered lists to outline your main ideas and supporting details. This can help you visualize the flow of your essay and identify any areas that need further development. Additionally, make sure to include a clear thesis statement in your introduction to guide your reader through your argument.

By planning your essay structure in advance, you can save time and energy during the writing process. It will also help you produce a more cohesive and well-organized essay that effectively communicates your ideas to your audience.

Research Efficiently and Gather Sources

Research is a crucial step in the essay writing process. To speed up your essay writing, focus on gathering sources efficiently. Start by clearly outlining your research question or thesis statement to guide your research. Utilize online databases, scholarly articles, books, and reputable websites to gather relevant information.

Make use of advanced search techniques and keywords to quickly find relevant sources. Take notes, highlight key points, and organize your sources methodically. Consider using reference management tools like Zotero or EndNote to streamline the citation process.

When gathering sources, prioritize quality over quantity. Select sources that are relevant, credible, and support your argument. Be critical of the information you find and ensure it aligns with the requirements of your essay.

By researching efficiently and gathering sources strategically, you can save time and produce a well-researched essay that is structured and supported by credible sources.

Write a Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement is crucial for any essay as it serves as the main point or argument that you will be making throughout your paper. To create a strong thesis statement, you should clearly state your position on the topic and provide a brief overview of the main points you will cover in your essay.

Make sure your thesis statement is specific and concise, avoiding vague or broad statements. It should be debatable and invite discussion or analysis. Additionally, your thesis statement should be located at the end of your introduction paragraph to provide a roadmap for your readers.

Remember, a strong thesis statement is the foundation of a well-structured essay, so take the time to craft it carefully and ensure it accurately reflects the purpose and message of your paper.

Use Outline Method for Writing

One effective way to speed up your essay writing is to use the outline method. Before you start writing, take some time to create a detailed outline of your essay. This will help you organize your thoughts and ideas, making it easier to write the essay quickly and cohesively.

• Start by brainstorming ideas and key points for your essay.
• Next, arrange these ideas in a logical order, creating a structure for your essay.
• Write down a brief summary or main idea for each paragraph in your outline.
• Use headings and subheadings to further organize your ideas.
• Refer back to your outline as you write to ensure you stay on track and cover all the important points.

The outline method can save you time and make the writing process more efficient, allowing you to focus on developing your ideas and arguments rather than getting stuck on how to structure your essay.

Edit and Revise Your Essay Carefully

Editing and revising your essay is a crucial step in the writing process. Here are some tips to help you improve your essay:

• Read your essay out loud to catch any awkward phrasing or grammatical errors.
• Check for consistency in your argument or thesis throughout the essay.
• Remove any unnecessary or repetitive information to streamline your essay.
• Make sure your essay flows logically from one paragraph to the next.
• Proofread carefully for spelling and punctuation errors.

By carefully editing and revising your essay, you can ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and engaging for your readers.

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How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.

When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.

You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus. 

Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.

Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point. 

The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.

Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:

• Argumentative: The United States needs a viable third political party to decrease bipartisanship, increase options, and help reduce corruption in government.
• Informative: The Libertarian party has thrown off elections before by gaining enough support in states to get on the ballot and by taking away crucial votes from candidates.
• Analytical: An analysis of past presidential elections shows that while third party votes may have been the minority, they did affect the outcome of the elections in 2020, 2016, and beyond.

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:

• What impact did reality TV have on American society?
• How has the musical Hamilton affected perception of American history?
• Why do I want to major in [chosen major here]?

If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that. 

If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:

“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:

“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”

Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves. 

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.

If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.

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#61: Ten hacks to quick-start your thesis writing!

July 21, 2020 by Tress Academic

OK, it’s dissertation writing time. But how do you get started? Which sections are best to begin with? Are there any steps that should be completed beforehand? Is there any technique that helps speed up the process? The answer is yes, and we are happy to introduce you to ten simple hacks that will help you make major progress with getting your dissertation started.

We know, you’ve come a long way in your PhD study when you decide to finally get started with dissertation writing. It has probably been an exhausting and painful journey so far but now you are committed and want to get this thesis done. You realise that you need to get started now because otherwise you could risk delaying completion of your PhD. So let us suggest here ten hacks that are helpful when you’re really at the beginning and have no idea what to do next or what to write.

1. Identify your dissertation requirements  

It sounds obvious, but you better check what you are required to produce in order to say “I’m done with my dissertation”. Are there any specific requirements you need to fulfill? Do you write a monograph thesis or several journal papers? Check out our blog post #6 “Dissertation dilemma? Hand in a monograph or papers?” to understand the pros and cons of both options. 

2. See writing as a process 

Writing is not an activity you do once and then the text is done. This means when you write something, it will most likely not represent the best version of the written text. So don’t set your expectations too high. When you write something, it is not perfect yet, but it is a start and it can always be improved. To see writing as a process also means that it is fine that you first produce a draft that doesn’t look good and that is not complete or logically organized. The important thing is you’ve written something you can build upon and this is the trick of writing: you need to produce something in order to improve it later.

3. Define your dissertation goal

Describe in a few sentences what the central argument is that you want to make in your dissertation or in each paper. Find in your project proposal or description what you have to deliver or what you promised to deliver. What makes most sense as the overall focus of your work? Write it down in a few sentences and make sure you focus only on this one goal.

4. Start from what you’ve got

 Don’t start planning your dissertation from what you want to do in your entire PhD project. This could be far too much. If you wait until everything that you had in mind is done, your funded project time could be over. Instead, focus on what you have already done and try to write about this. It might already be more than enough to get started and you’ll probably realise it is also enough to get your dissertation done. You don’t need to do all the things that you had originally – and with best intentions – in mind. To start, begin with writing what you’ve got rather than waiting for better or more stuff.

5. Don’t wait for input from co-authors

If you want to get your thesis and papers done, you need to lead the writing process. This means don’t wait until you hear from your co-authors or supervisors on what you have written before you make your next writing step. Move on and keep writing. Of course, you want to get feedback from co-authors and supervisors but don’t let this slow you down. Write a section, and while you give this section to others for comments, you continue writing the next one. Show others and show yourself that you’re committed to writing.

6. Don’t wait for all experimental and empirical work to be completed

If you wait for your work to be completed before you start writing, you are slowing down the writing process and you’re delaying completion of your PhD. Start the writing process as early as possible. The dissertation is the main outcome of your PhD and, therefore, the earlier you start the better you will progress. The writing process is a fruitful and creative one, it is not only about reporting what you have done. Writing can also inspire some of the research activities you’re busy with. While you are drafting sentences and trying to make sense out of what you’ve got already, you feed back to the research and bring ideas back to your work. If you can, start drafting sections as early as possible after your experimental work has begun.

7. Get the literature review out of the way 

The literature review is the section in any thesis or paper that can be done very early, so don’t waste time and think you’ll do it later. Everything you need to write this section is available to you. It is also a very good section to get into the writing flow as it is not about your own work but about synthesising what is known, what is not known and it gives the context for why your work is needed. Trust us, figuring out what to write here is not difficult. Check out our blog post #50 “Mastering the literature review” for detailed instructions on how to write this part. 

8. Read other literature and take notes  

Reading other stuff is essential to understanding your own work better and embedding it into a context. But it takes time and in order to save some time, do it as efficiently as possible. You don’t want to have to read a piece of literature several times in order to eventually include it in your dissertation. It would be better if you just studied the literature once. To do this effectively, you can download our literature review notes sheet to help you sort out the literature you review. It helps you to write down notes about a piece of research right away so you don’t need to go back to it several times.  

9. Don’t get lost in editing

If it’s your task to get the dissertation started, focus on producing text. Get into the writing mood and surprise yourself with how much you know about your topic and what you can write about it. Don’t let yourself be interrupted in this flow by searching for typos, thinking of better expressions, revising sentences and paragraphs or cleaning up mistakes. Of course, you need to edit your text, this is no question, but first produce the text, the editing can come later. Don’t stop your writing flow.

10. Schedule your writing and don’t get lost in it

If you want to bring your dissertation forward in big steps, you need to take it seriously now. It is no longer a side activity but one of your core projects, thus you better start scheduling writing sessions. Don’t be too ambitious and think you can schedule entire days or weeks for writing – it won’t work out this way because you’ve got other business too. Schedule your writing but also take breaks from writing. Set a time for how much you will write and then stop for the day. You’re done for now and you can continue next time. This will allow you to celebrate the small progresses you make, to reward yourself by having time for something else and therefore keep up the mood for writing.

Congratulations on coming so far that you’re seriously thinking about getting your dissertation writing started. Don’t let yourself be guided by the many myths you hear about dissertation writing but take action yourself. With the 10 simple hacks we presented to you here, you will be able to get started early and get started well. Once you’ve cleared the first hurdle, you will see the writing flow almost automatically. Good luck with your dissertation and check the resources below for further help.

Relevant resources: 

• Worksheet Literature review notes
• Blog post #5: How to get started with writing papers?
• Blog post #6: Dissertation dilemma? Hand in a monograph or papers?
• Blog post #38: Why you need a publishing strategy
• Blog post #47: Plan your project – save your PhD!
• Blog post #50: Mastering the literature review during the Corona lockdown
• Blog post #56: Breaking these 5 habits will speed up your thesis writing!  
• Blog post #58: Why you should not leave dissertation writing until the end!

More information: 

Do you want to successfully complete your PhD? If so, please sign up to receive our free guides.  

© 2020 Tress Academic

#ThesisWriting, #DissertationWriting, #PhD, #Doctorate, #WritingHabits

How to Write a Thesis Statement: 3 Tips

Learn how to craft a strong thesis statement for your academic papers and essays with these essential tips and insights into the writing process.

Kate Windsor

Jun 19, 2024

The Importance of a Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is the cornerstone of any well-written academic paper or essay. It is a concise summary of your main idea, argument, or claim, and it sets the foundation for the rest of your essay. Crafting a good thesis statement can be challenging, but with these three tips, you'll be well on your way to writing scientific papers and essays like a pro.

Tip 1: Make your thesis statement specific and focused

One of the most common mistakes students make when writing a good thesis statement is being too broad or vague. A strong thesis statement should be as specific as possible and focused, narrowing down your topic to a particular argument or claim.

For example, instead of saying, "Climate change is a problem," a more effective thesis statement would be, "The increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes is a direct result of climate change caused by human activities." This paragraph demonstrates a clear and specific main idea that can be developed throughout the essay.

Tip 2: Ensure your thesis statement is debatable

A good thesis statement should present an argumentative position, not a fact or an obvious truth. If your thesis statement is something that everyone already agrees with, there's no point in writing an essay about it. Instead, choose a topic that allows for debate and discussion, giving you the opportunity to present evidence and citations to support your position.

For instance, "The death penalty is a controversial issue" is not a debatable thesis statement, whereas "The death penalty is an ineffective deterrent to crime and should be abolished" is. A debatable thesis statement invites readers to disagree or propose alternative viewpoints, making your essay more engaging and thought-provoking.

Tip 3: Place your thesis statement strategically

The placement of your thesis statement is crucial. It should typically appear at the end of your introduction paragraph, setting the stage for the rest of your essay. In some cases, your thesis statement may require more than one sentence, but try to keep it concise and to the point.

A well-placed thesis statement acts as a roadmap for your readers, guiding them through your argument and helping them understand the main idea of your assignment.

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The Writing Process: From Working Thesis to Final Statement

Developing a strong thesis statement is an essential part of the writing process. It begins with a working thesis, which serves as a starting point for your academic writing, helping you focus your research and outline the main point of your paper.

As you  write your paper for your thesis and go through the writing process, developing a strong statement often begins with a working thesis. This initial idea serves as a starting point for your academic writing, helping you focus your research and outline the main point of your paper. 

In the process of choosing your topic and/or as you've chosen your topic, use this working thesis to guide your research and draft the first paragraph of your introduction. Remember, there are different types of thesis statements depending on your paper's purpose – whether it's to analyze, contrast, or persuade the reader. 

Avoid relying on a thesis generator in writing a paper, as these often produce generic statements. Instead, formulate your own ideas and cite sources appropriately to avoid plagiarism.  

Your thesis sentence should summarize and encapsulate the subject of your paper, serving as a roadmap for the rest of your paper. As you progress through the body of your essay and revise your work, don't be afraid to refine your thesis.

Often, the writing center at your institution can help you transform a weak thesis statement into a persuasive and strong one that effectively sums up the main argument and helps your reader understand what you want to say. 

Remember, crafting a final thesis statement is often the first step in ensuring the rest of your paper flows logically and coherently.

A strong thesis statement is essential for any successful academic paper or essay. By making you write a thesis statement in a specific, debatable, and strategically placed manner, you'll be setting yourself up for success in your assignments.

As you continue your academic journey, remember to apply these tips to your writing, whether you're  writing an academic book proposal or using AI for research . And when the time comes, make sure to prepare thoroughly for your thesis defense .

We encourage you to put these tips into practice. Happy writing!

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9.1 Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement

Learning objectives.

• Develop a strong, clear thesis statement with the proper elements.
• Revise your thesis statement.

Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following his train of thought as he jumped around from point to point, either being too brief in places that needed further explanation or providing too many details on a meaningless element. Maybe he told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle. His ideas were probably scattered, and the story did not flow very well. When the story was over, you probably had many questions.

Just as a personal anecdote can be a disorganized mess, an essay can fall into the same trap of being out of order and confusing. That is why writers need a thesis statement to provide a specific focus for their essay and to organize what they are about to discuss in the body.

Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. It tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. It is like a signpost that signals the essay’s destination. You should form your thesis before you begin to organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops.

Elements of a Thesis Statement

For every essay you write, you must focus on a central idea. This idea stems from a topic you have chosen or been assigned or from a question your teacher has asked. It is not enough merely to discuss a general topic or simply answer a question with a yes or no. You have to form a specific opinion, and then articulate that into a controlling idea —the main idea upon which you build your thesis.

Remember that a thesis is not the topic itself, but rather your interpretation of the question or subject. For whatever topic your professor gives you, you must ask yourself, “What do I want to say about it?” Asking and then answering this question is vital to forming a thesis that is precise, forceful and confident.

A thesis is one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. It is specific and focuses on one to three points of a single idea—points that are able to be demonstrated in the body. It forecasts the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. Remember that a thesis statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it.

A Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities.

Specificity. A thesis statement must concentrate on a specific area of a general topic. As you may recall, the creation of a thesis statement begins when you choose a broad subject and then narrow down its parts until you pinpoint a specific aspect of that topic. For example, health care is a broad topic, but a proper thesis statement would focus on a specific area of that topic, such as options for individuals without health care coverage.

Precision. A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to remain focused on the topic. If the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage, then your precise thesis statement must make an exact claim about it, such as that limited options exist for those who are uninsured by their employers. You must further pinpoint what you are going to discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is.

Ability to be argued. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. A factual statement often is not considered arguable. Be sure your thesis statement contains a point of view that can be supported with evidence.

Ability to be demonstrated. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your opinion. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. A worthy argument is backed by examples and details.

Forcefulness. A thesis statement that is forceful shows readers that you are, in fact, making an argument. The tone is assertive and takes a stance that others might oppose.

Confidence. In addition to using force in your thesis statement, you must also use confidence in your claim. Phrases such as I feel or I believe actually weaken the readers’ sense of your confidence because these phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do. In other words, your stance has insufficient backing. Taking an authoritative stance on the matter persuades your readers to have faith in your argument and open their minds to what you have to say.

Even in a personal essay that allows the use of first person, your thesis should not contain phrases such as in my opinion or I believe . These statements reduce your credibility and weaken your argument. Your opinion is more convincing when you use a firm attitude.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a thesis statement for each of the following topics. Remember to make each statement specific, precise, demonstrable, forceful and confident.

• Texting while driving
• The legal drinking age in the United States
• Steroid use among professional athletes

Examples of Appropriate Thesis Statements

Each of the following thesis statements meets several of the following requirements:

• Specificity
• Ability to be argued
• Ability to be demonstrated
• Forcefulness
• The societal and personal struggles of Troy Maxon in the play Fences symbolize the challenge of black males who lived through segregation and integration in the United States.
• Closing all American borders for a period of five years is one solution that will tackle illegal immigration.
• Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet spoils the outcome for the audience and weakens the plot.
• J. D. Salinger’s character in Catcher in the Rye , Holden Caulfield, is a confused rebel who voices his disgust with phonies, yet in an effort to protect himself, he acts like a phony on many occasions.
• Compared to an absolute divorce, no-fault divorce is less expensive, promotes fairer settlements, and reflects a more realistic view of the causes for marital breakdown.
• Exposing children from an early age to the dangers of drug abuse is a sure method of preventing future drug addicts.
• In today’s crumbling job market, a high school diploma is not significant enough education to land a stable, lucrative job.

You can find thesis statements in many places, such as in the news; in the opinions of friends, coworkers or teachers; and even in songs you hear on the radio. Become aware of thesis statements in everyday life by paying attention to people’s opinions and their reasons for those opinions. Pay attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future essays.

Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, take a look at the pitfalls to avoid when composing your own thesis:

A thesis is weak when it is simply a declaration of your subject or a description of what you will discuss in your essay.

Weak thesis statement: My paper will explain why imagination is more important than knowledge.

A thesis is weak when it makes an unreasonable or outrageous claim or insults the opposing side.

Weak thesis statement: Religious radicals across America are trying to legislate their Puritanical beliefs by banning required high school books.

A thesis is weak when it contains an obvious fact or something that no one can disagree with or provides a dead end.

Weak thesis statement: Advertising companies use sex to sell their products.

A thesis is weak when the statement is too broad.

Weak thesis statement: The life of Abraham Lincoln was long and challenging.

Read the following thesis statements. On a separate piece of paper, identify each as weak or strong. For those that are weak, list the reasons why. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the requirements of a strong thesis.

• The subject of this paper is my experience with ferrets as pets.
• The government must expand its funding for research on renewable energy resources in order to prepare for the impending end of oil.
• Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who lived in Baltimore during the nineteenth century.
• In this essay, I will give you lots of reasons why slot machines should not be legalized in Baltimore.
• Despite his promises during his campaign, President Kennedy took few executive measures to support civil rights legislation.
• Because many children’s toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, it is clear that not all children’s toys are safe.
• My experience with young children has taught me that I want to be a disciplinary parent because I believe that a child without discipline can be a parent’s worst nightmare.

Writing at Work

Often in your career, you will need to ask your boss for something through an e-mail. Just as a thesis statement organizes an essay, it can also organize your e-mail request. While your e-mail will be shorter than an essay, using a thesis statement in your first paragraph quickly lets your boss know what you are asking for, why it is necessary, and what the benefits are. In short body paragraphs, you can provide the essential information needed to expand upon your request.

Thesis Statement Revision

Your thesis will probably change as you write, so you will need to modify it to reflect exactly what you have discussed in your essay. Remember from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis statement , an indefinite statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process for the purpose of planning and guiding your writing.

Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form new opinions and reasons for those opinions. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have expressed in the body of the paper.

The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask questions about it and then examine the answers to those questions. By challenging your own ideas and forming definite reasons for those ideas, you grow closer to a more precise point of view, which you can then incorporate into your thesis statement.

Ways to Revise Your Thesis

You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps:

1. Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as people , everything , society , or life , with more precise words in order to reduce any vagueness.

Working thesis: Young people have to work hard to succeed in life.

Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence in order to find and maintain a stable job in which they can use and be appreciated for their talents.

The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. The original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. By replacing those general words like people and work hard , the writer can better focus his or her research and gain more direction in his or her writing.

2. Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis.

Working thesis: The welfare system is a joke.

Revised thesis: The welfare system keeps a socioeconomic class from gaining employment by alluring members of that class with unearned income, instead of programs to improve their education and skill sets.

A joke means many things to many people. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. This expression may also be too informal for the selected audience. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and appropriate explanation for joke . The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the 5WH questions. (See Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” for more information on the 5WH questions.) By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.

3. Replace any linking verbs with action verbs. Linking verbs are forms of the verb to be , a verb that simply states that a situation exists.

Working thesis: Kansas City schoolteachers are not paid enough.

Revised thesis: The Kansas City legislature cannot afford to pay its educators, resulting in job cuts and resignations in a district that sorely needs highly qualified and dedicated teachers.

The linking verb in this working thesis statement is the word are . Linking verbs often make thesis statements weak because they do not express action. Rather, they connect words and phrases to the second half of the sentence. Readers might wonder, “Why are they not paid enough?” But this statement does not compel them to ask many more questions. The writer should ask himself or herself questions in order to replace the linking verb with an action verb, thus forming a stronger thesis statement, one that takes a more definitive stance on the issue:

• Who is not paying the teachers enough?
• What is considered “enough”?
• What is the problem?
• What are the results

4. Omit any general claims that are hard to support.

Working thesis: Today’s teenage girls are too sexualized.

Revised thesis: Teenage girls who are captivated by the sexual images on MTV are conditioned to believe that a woman’s worth depends on her sensuality, a feeling that harms their self-esteem and behavior.

It is true that some young women in today’s society are more sexualized than in the past, but that is not true for all girls. Many girls have strict parents, dress appropriately, and do not engage in sexual activity while in middle school and high school. The writer of this thesis should ask the following questions:

• Which teenage girls?
• What constitutes “too” sexualized?
• Why are they behaving that way?
• Where does this behavior show up?
• What are the repercussions?

In the first section of Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , you determined your purpose for writing and your audience. You then completed a freewriting exercise about an event you recently experienced and chose a general topic to write about. Using that general topic, you then narrowed it down by answering the 5WH questions. After you answered these questions, you chose one of the three methods of prewriting and gathered possible supporting points for your working thesis statement.

Now, on a separate sheet of paper, write down your working thesis statement. Identify any weaknesses in this sentence and revise the statement to reflect the elements of a strong thesis statement. Make sure it is specific, precise, arguable, demonstrable, forceful, and confident.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

In your career you may have to write a project proposal that focuses on a particular problem in your company, such as reinforcing the tardiness policy. The proposal would aim to fix the problem; using a thesis statement would clearly state the boundaries of the problem and tell the goals of the project. After writing the proposal, you may find that the thesis needs revision to reflect exactly what is expressed in the body. Using the techniques from this chapter would apply to revising that thesis.

Key Takeaways

• Proper essays require a thesis statement to provide a specific focus and suggest how the essay will be organized.
• A thesis statement is your interpretation of the subject, not the topic itself.
• A strong thesis is specific, precise, forceful, confident, and is able to be demonstrated.
• A strong thesis challenges readers with a point of view that can be debated and can be supported with evidence.
• A weak thesis is simply a declaration of your topic or contains an obvious fact that cannot be argued.
• Depending on your topic, it may or may not be appropriate to use first person point of view.
• Revise your thesis by ensuring all words are specific, all ideas are exact, and all verbs express action.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Apr. 12, 2021

Writing your thesis: tips for successful, self-directed progress, by emily elia: words of wisdom about how to stay productive when your work schedule is self-directed..

For many Ph.D. students, the first few years of grad school look quite different from the last few years. In the beginning, grad classes take up a lot of time and structure much of the work and research. But Ph.D. students are not in classes throughout their entire degree. Eventually, you'll complete classes and focus solely on research. This change from more structured to less structured time can be difficult for many students. You know you are supposed to be working on your dissertation over the next few years, but how? When?

Without the more structured schedule of classes, managing time and staying organized can be difficult. However, this challenge is one that most (if not all) Ph.D. students have faced! There's a lot of advice out there about how to stay on top of your research and writing. Below, I outline some words of wisdom about how to stay productive when your work schedule is entirely up to you and undoubtedly daunting.

Some say to write every day.

No matter what field you are in, all Ph.D. students dedicate time to writing. We have to write in order to synthesize and convey our research to a larger audience, and we certainly have to write to produce a dissertation. Writing advice from all kinds of writers, from fellow academics to authors of novels, frequently includes this tip: work on your writing every day, even if only for a brief moment. Many writers state that they carve out a specific time in their day that is dedicated only to writing, and they commit to getting something down on paper during that time.

Pick a time during the day that you think is your peak time for writing. For some, it’s early morning right after they wake up. For others, it’s just before bed, or perhaps just after lunch. Whenever the time, dedicate it to writing every day. Of course, some days you will be writing far more, but on the days that feel especially sluggish, having this little bit of time tucked away for writing can help you chip away at your writing tasks, even if that chipping is miniscule. Remember that getting your Ph.D. is a marathon, not a sprint!

Also remember that writing every day does not mean you have to contribute to your research writing every single day. Writing other things (such as papers outside your dissertation, blog posts, notes for readings, etc.) can have a positive impact on your writing productivity in general. Writing skills are like a muscle; the more you work at them, the stronger they will become. Just as there are many different exercises that can help you build muscle strength, there are many different forms of writing that will help you become a stronger writer overall.

Take advantage of university resources!

The Center for Academic and Professional Communication at Rice is a great resource for all your writing needs. The CAPC offers various ways to help you improve writing and help you get your writing done. You can set up one-on-one consultations to go over your writing with CAPC staff and get individualized feedback. To help stay productive, you can go to the (virtual) Graduate Writers’ Lounge on Zoom for some writing group motivation, or even participate in more field-specific writing groups with other Rice grad students. If you want guidance about how to improve your writing as well as some helpful tools for staying on top of it, visiting the CAPC is a great place to start.

For more helpful writing guidance, check out CAPC’s resources page .

Figure out what motivates you to work.

Some people have no problem getting work done. They say they will do X and so they sit down and do it. Unfortunately, not all of us have that much laser-focused will power! Many of us need some kind of motivation to get our work done that goes beyond the sheer desire to get our work done. It may be a deadline, a reward for finishing a task, or social support, to name just a few motivators. Understanding what motivates you to work is an important step in being a better manager of your time. For example, if you know that deadlines do absolutely nothing for your motivation, then don’t think setting a deadline for that dissertation chapter is going to impact your progress significantly. In contrast, if you know external incentives are a big motivator, then commit to buying yourself a reward only when that dissertation chapter is finished.

Accountability groups can be a big help.

In the same vein as understanding your motivation, it is also important to understand how you best hold yourself accountable. Many people find accountability groups to be extremely helpful in staying on track with work. Having a tough time making yourself work on that paper? Get together with some of the students in your grad program to form a writing group. Pick a set time every week to “meet” (this could be virtually over Zoom!) to work solely on writing. At the beginning of each meeting, everyone in the group states what they are working on. After a set amount of time passes, everyone updates the group on the progress you have made. Nobody wants to be the person who says, “Actually, guys, I didn’t write anything during this past hour because I was scrolling on Twitter.” Accountability writing groups are a popular tool amongst writers of all kinds, and there is a lot of advice out there about how to set up a successful group. You can check out how to make a successful accountability writing group here , here , and here .

Make SMART goals.

Writing a dissertation is a daunting task. Writing one paper can feel overwhelming oftentimes! While the goal of “finish my dissertation” is well and good, it provides you with absolutely zero guidelines. Instead, break up your big goals into small goals that can actually be crossed off a to-do list frequently.

Many people swear by the concept of SMART goals . What are SMART goals? They are:

SMART goals can help you chop up big goals into smaller, doable pieces. Think of your goals like Russian nesting dolls. You have your big, main goal: finish your dissertation. That is a two or three year goal, but it isn’t a SMART goal. It contains no criteria that guides you on how to complete it. You have to store your SMART goals within this big goal—that is how the big goal gets done. So, within your big dissertation doll, you have a series of subsequently smaller dolls that represent SMART goals (that get SMARTer and SMARTer). Within that goal, you have your goal for this year: complete all data collection for the dissertation, for example. Within that goal, you have your goal for the next six months: run your first experiment. Then, your goal for the next few months, the goal for this month, the goal for this week…

Having big goals is important, but you need to have small goals that can actually get done. These are the goals that move you closer to that big goal! Making sure your goals are specific and doable will help you make progress. Like the old saying goes, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at time!

Take time off to recharge.

You know what is not good for your productivity? Working all the time! A lot of grad students believe that they must be working 24/7, but that mindset is not practical or healthy. That constant grind is also not inherently improving the quality of your work. In fact, taking time off can make you more successful at your work. If you sit down at your computer and feel only exhaustion and frustration, you may be burnt out and in desperate need of a break. Burnout will probably look a bit different for everyone, but here are some common signs that you’ve been burning the candle at both ends for far too long.

Make sure you allow yourself to step away from work, whether that be in the form of a vacation to a favorite destination, or long weekend visiting friends and family nearby, or a weekend where you do not touch your work at all (no, really -- hands off the laptop!). Combating burnout can also be helped by having a consistently structured work schedule that separates work time from relaxation time. However, even if you are somebody who does a good job of balancing work and play, taking a vacation every now and then can still help you feel recharged and recentered.

Staying current with the latest research in your academic field

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Grad School 101: My journey to grad school

About the author: Originally from Massachusetts, Emily Elia is a third-year Ph.D. student in political science. She graduated from the University of Alabama in 2018 and currently studies comparative politics with a focus on Latin America.

How to write a PhD in a hundred steps (or more)

A workingmumscholar's journey through her phd and beyond, concluding the thesis.

I am co-supervising a PhD student who is handing in her thesis for examination in November. She is currently revising her whole thesis, working towards the conclusion (and finally, the introduction).  Conclusions can be tricky things to write – pulling something as big as a PhD dissertation together into a final, clear chapter is not easy. It is both an intellectual and an emotional challenge, as conclusion-writing comes towards the very end of the process, and you are so tired, and probably feeling like there are no more coherent words or sentences in your brain. This post reflects a little on what a thesis conclusion is for, with some thoughts on how to construct one that does justice to your meisterwerk .

To begin with, let’s think a bit about what conclusions are for in a piece of written work. In undergraduate studies, students are typically taught that conclusions are summaries . You restate the thesis, or main claim, of your paper, reiterate what each paragraph has said that contributes to that argument, and then bring it all together with a firm final sentence or two that says something about the relevance of the paper, or argument. There should be no new information, just a summing up of what has already been said. Sometimes you are allowed recommendations, depending on the discipline. It makes sense, then, that we progress into postgraduate studies believing that we are writing summaries whenever we conclude (a paper, or a journal article, or a thesis). I have seen many conclusions like this in postgraduate, postdoctoral and early career writing. But, unfortunately, at these levels conclusions that merely summarise a paper the reader has just read are not adequate, or suitable . A shift is needed.

As Pat Thomson usefully argues in this post about writing a thesis conclusion, the conclusion to a thesis (or journal article) is not a summary of the whole . The summary part of a thesis conclusion should ideally be quite brief, and used rather as a springboard to the real work of the conclusion: using the preceding writing and research to show how the study has addressed the research questions, and in so doing, how it has made a valid, and useful, contribution to knowledge .

A strong conclusion shows your readers what your research means within the context of the field you have referenced in your ‘literature review’, and how in answering your research questions you have been able to speak back to this body of research in which you have located your own study. It answers your research questions, succinctly and clearly, so that your readers understand the overall claims of your study, the focus of your argument, the basis upon which you have advanced your argument, and the significance, meaning or value of that argument to your (their) field. It discusses – argues – for the place of your research within your field, and the contribution it is making.

There are a few ways in which you can approach writing such a conclusion (and Pat’s post above is very helpful here). There are also a few guidelines to consider in writing this vital part of your thesis.

To begin with, you do need to bring your reader up to speed with the thesis thus far . Examiners and other readers are unlikely to read your whole PhD in one go, so ending each chapter with a brief summary, and starting the next one with a short section that connects the present chapter to the previous one is a good idea for creating coherent connections between chapters, and is helpful for your readers. Thus, you should begin your conclusion with an overview, or brief summary, of the argument thus far.

Then, consider your research questions : what did you set out to do in this project or study? Your research questions could make useful sub-headings here, at least in a first draft, to help you organise your thoughts. Starting here, you can begin to pull out the answers you have found (in the ‘analysis chapter/s’) so that you can discuss the implications of your findings, their relevance in relation to your overall argument, and the way in which what you have found relates to the body of research to which you have connected your study. No new information : just an analytical discussion of selected aspects of your findings that are useful for answering your research questions, and further consolidating your argument.

Perhaps you have recommendations , on the basis of your findings and their implications for practice, and/or further research. You could include a section on these, discussing a step further the possible implications of your research in relation to your field. Something else that may be relevant to include here could be  limitations to the size or scope of your findings: are there any that your readers need to know about, so that they don’t expect your study to have done something other than what it has done? Don’t just list all the things you could have done but didn’t do: think carefully about pertinent limitations that may represent counter-arguments you could defend or mitigate against.

At the end of the end, consider your argument again : what has your thesis claimed and to what end? Try to end your thesis with a paragraph that reiterates not just what your thesis has argued, but WHY this argument has relevance, or import, for your readers. What do you hope the outcome of your research will be? Why are you so passionate about it, and why do you think others should care too? Read a few thesis conclusions to get a sense of different ways of doing this, and check out Pat Thomson’s posts on conclusion writing , too. Then write a draft and share it with your supervisor for feedback.

It’s worth really taking your time and not rushing this chapter, even as it comes at the end when you are tired, and really just want to be done. End on the highest note you can: you owe yourself that much after all your hard work getting there.

Share this:

I am at exactly this point with my thesis so your very helpful suggestions couldn’t have been better timed. Pretty sure I would have most of the mistakes mentioned otherwise, so many thanks!

I’m so pleased that this is helpful – good luck with the conclusion and submission 🙂

You have a great blog! I didn’t reall of the posts, but all the titles of the posts seem to apply to me right now! I’m trying to finish up my PhD, which means, a lot of writing. This is very helpful!

Thanks for the comment, and all the best with the final push!

Timely. Half way through writing mine!

Swapped university with a few years to run on my candidature, got really sick and was struggling. Employed in aviation so COVID-19 has been great fun!

This summary is very timely!

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Writing a PhD Thesis in Half the Time When You Don’t Know Where to Start

June 11, 2022 by Dora Farkas, PhD 16 Comments

Does Writing a PhD Thesis Have to Be Painful?

“Writing a thesis is probably so stressful,” said the kind doctor at the emergency room, as he examined my elbows throbbing with pain.

“You may be able to avoid surgery because you are young”, I heard him say, “but if I were you I would strongly consider it.”

He diagnosed me with “tennis elbow,”a condition common among tennis and golf players due to the repetitive motions in these sports.

However, it also affects people who use computers or work in the laboratory for extended periods of time.

“That would be me,” I said.

“I am a graduate students, writing a thesis, working 60-70 hours a week.”

He nodded in sympathy.

The doctor had seen enough grad students, and understood how much pressure I was experiencing.

Since I was in so much pain, he injected cortisone into both of my elbows to reduce the inflammation.

While the injections hurt, hearing the recommended course of treatment over the next few weeks (or months) was more painful.

First, I had to stop working out and go to physical therapy instead.

Second , I had to take off two weeks from work, and restrict my work hours afterwards.

I was scheduled to present my research to our sponsors in a month.

I could not imagine what PI was going to say when I told him that I could not work for two weeks.

Would I lose funding from our sponsors, and be kicked out from grad school?

I felt more stuck than ever before.

I could not imagine how I would ever graduate with such limited work hours.

But, what I learned during my time off from work literally took my breath away. 

It wasn’t the amount of work that led to my painful condition.

I had been sabotaging my own progress, without realizing it, for years before my physical pain gave me a wake-up call. 

My physical pain was a result of working to the point of burnout for years, always feeling like my work wasn’t “good enough.”

If I wanted to finish writing a thesis, I had to embrace and appreciate any progress I was making.

I accepted that I would graduate on my own time, and it didn’t matter how many of my peers graduated before me.

The idea of not beating myself up (when everyone else around me was beating themselves up), seemed heretic.

If you keep beating yourself up, is it any wonder that eventually writing a thesis becomes a painful experience?

But, the scariest part of writing a thesis is not that you need to let go of your expectations of being best.

The really scary part is confronting everyday all the things you don’t understand about your thesis, and then writing anyway. 

Once you can do that (and I know how terrifying it feels), that’s when you will start to believe that despite everything you had to overcome until now, you WILL finish your thesis.

How I Became More Productive When I Reduced My Work Hours 

After a two week break due to my injury, I was allowed to return to work, but with very short  work hours.

I could only type for 15 minutes at a time, followed by 5-10 minutes of stretching.

Depending on my pain, the total time of typing could not exceed 1-4 hours a day.

My limited work hours forced me to plan out my day very carefully, and this was the key to my success.

I would spend these short blocks of time on things that seemed like a high priority for my thesis.

I no longer had to option of working to the point of burnout. 

Instead, I started noticing the progress, and I realized how much time I had spent in the past “thinking that I was working.”

I also had a lot of “free” time, and I had to fill it with  something, and I took several walks a day.

These daily disciplines helped me to structure my day and prioritize very deliberately, so I actually completed all the important tasks by the deadlines

I remember how grateful I felt during my doctoral hooding ceremony.

I could hardly believe that after years of pain, I actually finished writing a thesis, and I had 3 first-author papers in progress.

The best part, however, was that I did not need surgery, and I was able to recover 100% from my injury within a year.

5 Types of Negative Thoughts That Will Sabotage Your Progress While Writing Your PhD Thesis

I thought I was doing all the right things while writing a thesis.

I spent a lot of time at work.

On weekends I caught up with reading journal articles so I would learn all the things I thought “I should know.”

I kept myself busy for years, thinking that all this busyness would eventually lead to a thesis.

But, I was actually sabotaging my own progress, without realizing.

Every time I experienced any level of success, I was immediately fearful whether I would live up to the expectations others had of me.

I worked harder.

And, when things didn’t turn out the way I planned, I beat myself up.

I was in a vicious cycle of guilt and burnout for years, with no idea of what I was doing wrong. 

If this pattern sounds even remotely familiar, you’re not alone.

As humans, we have a tendency to sabotage our own success. 

So, what’s the solution?

Below are the 5 common mistakes that sabotages students while writing a thesis.

But, you can avoid them if you make a conscious effort.

#1: Putting Yourself (and Your Work) Down

Anti-dote: Feel proud yourself as a researcher (…say what?)

If you grew up in a family where the expectations were high (and the bar kept getting higher), this mistake may be second nature to you.

“I got a lot of work done in the morning, but then I felt guilty about not working in the afternoon,” is a phrase I hear too often from my students when they become more productive.

Putting yourself down (regardless of how much you worked), seems to be the norm, but it is the quickest way to sabotage any progress you have made. 

How many times have you heard someone say: “I got a lot of work done in the morning, and I felt so proud of myself”?

My guess is, probably not a lot of times.

While I encourage you to be ambitious, if you never value the progress you have made while writing a thesis, you feel frustrated (and possibly hopeless) most of the time.

You don’t have to brag about your success to others, but do take a moment everyday to appreciate how far you have come.

#2: Beat yourself and apologize profusely for your mistakes

Anti-dote: Own your mistakes and move on

The reality is that nobody cares why you made a mistake.

Unless the mistake is very costly to them (i.e. they lost a lot of time or other resources), others will soon forget that you made a mistake.

What people do care about is how you handle your mistakes.

Do you make up creative excuses?

Or, do you learn from your mistakes, and do things differently moving forward?

Remember that you are in graduate school to learn, not to look smart. 

While “learning” and “looking smart” may sound similar, they are actually opposites.

If you are preoccupied with looking smart (and try to avoid or deny your mistakes), you are getting in the way of your learning process.

However, when your focus is on “learning”, mistakes become opportunities for growth and creating better relationships at work.

To build trust and respect, have the confidence to own that you made a mistake, and then show how you have learned from it to improve your work in the future.

#3: Not writing because you feel like you don’t know enough (or have too many notes)

Anti-dote: Write anyway, and trust that you will figure things out as you write

When I was working on my first literature review (which was also my first publication) I agonized for weeks not knowing where to start.

I read over 100 papers, but I didn’t feel like I understood them well enough to start the “real” writing.

So, I kept reading and typing up my notes on the articles.

After I amassed over 40 pages of notes, I felt completely overwhelmed, and I didn’t know how to incorporate them into a coherent literature review.

Finally, as the deadline neared, I mustered up the courage to organize my notes, and my literature review started to look like a real manuscript. 

I thought that I just got lucky when my supervisor sent me positive feedback on my paper.

But as I wrote more literature reviews (on topics I had almost no experience with), I realized this is how most papers are written.

In fact, it is one of the most practical strategies if you want to speed up your progress while writing a thesis.

You just start somewhere, keep writing, and figure things out along the way.

#4: Trying to “make up” for not writing the day (or week) before

Anti-dote: Start every day fresh and focus on “today”

Does this pattern sound familiar?

You get motivated and start writing a little bit every day.

Then something happens (you get sick, you computer dies etc.) and suddenly you realize you haven’t written anything for a week.

At this point you may try to figure how to “make up” for all the lost days of writing by doubling the amount of time you will work daily for the next week.

This approach will almost surely lead to a burnout (you may have already experienced this first-hand).

Instead, take a breath of think of how to “reprioritize” your work.

What can you do today to make the most progress on your thesis?

Is there any way to simplify what you need to do so you can get it done quicker?

Progress is not linear, and if you create a sustainable daily work schedule, that will allow you to make consistent progress without burning out.

#5: Thinking that you have to do everything by yourself (or that you are alone in this)

Anti-dote: Get accountability and inspiration from a support group

Did you know that feeling isolated is the #1 reason that students drop out of grad school?

In retrospect, thinking about my own experience in grad school, this isn’t surprising.

Due to the unstructured nature of grad school it is easy to think that you haven’t been making progress or that you’re not as smart as everyone else.

However, once you feel connected to students, who are facing the same challenges as you, your confidence will soar. 

In fact, joining a support group is the #1 advice that PhD’s give to current graduate students.

While first-year students usually start out enthusiastically, their motivation usually wanes as the years go on.

You may even be tempted to put your thesis off until “things calm down” or you feel ready to write.

The longer your thesis is on the back-burner, the tougher it will be to get motivated again to work on it. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way for you.

If you join a support group, you can get accountability to keep writing, and strategies to overcome the challenges you’re facing.

Just knowing that you are not the only one going through these tribulations, can already take the pressure off that has been keeping you from finishing your thesis.

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How to structure your PhD thesis

Organising your PhD thesis in a logical order is one of the crucial stages of your writing process. Here is a list of the individual components to include

Shama Prasada Kabekkodu

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The task of writing a PhD thesis is top of mind for many aspiring scholars. After all, completing one is no small task. And while these pieces of writing often share a standard format, this can differ slightly based on the requirements of your institution or subject. So what elements make up a PhD thesis?

A doctoral thesis usually contains:

• A title page
• Declarations from the candidate and supervisor
• A certificate from the candidate and supervisor
• A plagiarism report
• Acknowledgements 
• A table of contents
• Abbreviations 
• An abstract

Chapters typically cover:

• A general introduction 
• Literature review
• Analysis of the gap in research with aims and objectives
• Materials and methods
• Summary and conclusion
• References or bibliography. 

You should also include a list of papers you have published and any relevant achievements at the end. 

An explanation of each of the components of a PhD dissertation 

Title page: a PhD thesis starts with a title page that contains the complete title of the research work, the submitting university, names of the candidate and supervisor, affiliation and month and year of submission.

Abstract: this serves as a concise synopsis of the dissertation, covering the research context, purpose of the study or research questions, methodology, findings and conclusions. This section is usually one to two pages in length. 

Table of contents: this page lists the thesis content and respective page numbers.

General introduction and literature review: this component is usually 20 to 40 pages long. It presents the readers with the primary material and discusses relevant published data. It provides an overview of pertinent literature related to the thesis such as texts that critically assess the existing literature to identify the gap in research and explain the need behind the study. 

Aims and objectives: this section of the thesis is typically one to two pages long and describes the aims and objectives of the study. Structure them as three to four bullet points describing specific points that you will investigate. Approach this by thinking about what readers should understand by the end of the thesis. Ensure you:

• Give a clear explanation of the purpose and goals of your study 
• Outline each aim concisely
• Explain how you will measure your objectives
• Ensure there is a clear connection between each aim
• Use verbs such as investigate, evaluate, explore, analyse and demonstrate.

Materials and methods: this section briefly explains how you have conducted the study and should include all the materials you used and procedures you implemented. For example, if your research involves working with chemicals, list the chemicals and instruments used, along with their catalogue numbers and manufacturers’ names. This section should also explicitly explain the methodology you used, step-by-step. Use the past tense while writing this section and do not describe any results or findings of the study yet.

Results: this section is sometimes called the “findings report” or “the experimental findings” (referring to data collection and analysis). Write the results concisely and in the past tense. Include text, figure and table infographics created with tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator and BioRender to visualise your data . 

Discussion: this is a chance to discuss the results and compare the findings of your study with the initial hypothesis and existing knowledge. Focus on discussing interpretations, implications, limitations and recommendations here.

• Resources on academic writing for higher education staff 
• Tips for writing a PhD dissertation: FAQs answered
• How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Summary and conclusion: this section should be shorter than the discussion and summarise your key findings. The summary and conclusion should be brief and engaging, allowing the reader to easily understand the major findings of the research work. Provide clear answers to the research questions, generate new knowledge and clarify the need for the study. 

Future perspective: this section of the thesis (which is often combined with a summary or conclusion) talks about the study's limitations, if any, and indicates the directions for future studies based on your findings. 

References or bibliography: the last section should include the list of articles, websites and other resources cited in the thesis.

Always remember that, depending on the department, university or field of study, you might have to follow specific guidelines on how to organise your PhD thesis. Ensure you consult your supervisor or academic department if you have any doubts.

Shama Prasada Kabekkodu is a professor and head of cell and molecular biology at Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India.

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How to make thesis-writing feel less tedious?

I'm about to finish my master's thesis on a TCS topic (algorithms). I'm quite happy with my results; the most engaging part of the thesis was grappling with getting up to speed on the state of the art, then taking that and developing new and/or more efficient algorithms for the specific model I'm working on. Proving that the algorithms actually work has been very satisfying as well.

However, I'm having a hard time sitting down and TeXing it all; it feels very tedious. I did write out the most important bits very soon after I had them figured out so I could give them to my advisor. Yet for the better part of the past two weeks, every day I considered getting down to it and putting it all together into a presentable thesis, eventually deciding to put it off for another day. As I'm hoping to do a PhD afterwards, I thought I should nip this in the bud so I won't be wasting time like this for too long.

What are effective methods to motivate myself to do what is necessary in research as efficiently as possible so I can focus more on the actually interesting, creative parts?

(I could not figure out how to tag this; feel free to edit tags)

There is a number of great answers speaking to organization and extrinsic motivation by now; I was wondering if anyone has had any success in finding/improving their intrinsic motivation with regard to writing? Possibly a change in attitude, maybe a point of view that may not have occurred to me that makes writing appear more useful?

• time-management

• 1 If you burn out easily from writing, take breaks every hour to do what you want to do and after you're done, get back to writing. Sometimes, it's just tedious, but it can be mitigated. –  Compass Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 21:06
• What do you mean by "tedious"? Is it just boring? Or do you have writers block and find that even after sitting in front of the computer for hours nothing gets done? I'm assuming the latter, as the former really doesn't sound like a serious problem ... –  Szabolcs Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 0:58
• 2 It is more a motivation issue than one of not being able to produce new results. I would prefer to only work on ideas and not having to give them a presentable form (which is of course not how this works). Obviously, proofs and algorithms need to be thought through and noted down formally to a sufficient degree to be sure they are correct - but that's a long shot from putting everything together publication-ready, so to speak. I have strong intrinsic motivation to do something new. When I try to do the necessary labor of documenting it tidily, I get little done (except in infrequent bursts). –  G. Bach Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 1:30
• 1 There is a lot of hard and frequently tedious work in getting from notes written on napkins to a finished product accessible to others. Learning this is a very important part of your education as a scientist. Also practice helps. A lot. –  Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 11:47
• 1 It's the writing itself; I actually find latex itself to be quite fun. –  G. Bach Commented Jan 24, 2015 at 0:04

11 Answers 11

tl;dr: Divide and conquer. – aeismail♦

The Balloon Analogy

I used to hate writing with a passion. Trying to squeeze a 5 page paper out of me was like trying to juice a rock.

Eventually, though, I figured out the root cause for my procrastination.

The biggest sense of daunting I found when writing a paper is that you start with nothing , and have to end up with a significant something .

So, let's look at what you have set up. You create a new Word/TeX document, and it's there. Page 1 of 1 . A blank page with that blinking cursor .

Pretty intimidating and most likely the reason why we push it off till tomorrow until it's due next week and then we've wasted forever. This is basically like us trying to inflate a big weather balloon. You do a little work, and it doesn't seem inflated at all.

I eventually got over this intimidation by reducing the size of the problem to its individual parts. Imagine trying to fill up a dozen individual party balloons with the same amount of air as the weather balloon. Each bit of inflating goes a long way, and a fully inflated mylar balloon is much easier to achieve.

Transforming one Big Balloon into a Bunch of Smaller Balloons

A strategy that we all learned in K-12 is outlining, which actually helps more now than it did then. Now, it doesn't have to be a formal outline. However, the idea behind the outline is that it can transform into a full-sized paper much more easily than a blank slate, for little actual effort in.

Stub out each individual section of your paper. If you have a glossary, add that. If you have a bunch of subsections, create them, and add the titles. Don't be afraid to dedicate an entire page to a chapter with no content, if you feel that eventually you will need it.

For basically 12 or so lines of typing, you've turned a single blank sheet into perhaps 8 or so pages with a rudimentary summary of what you're going to talk about. Filling out a single page or two is much less daunting than that previous 20-page paper we were fretting about before. This dividing and conquering of pages has turned 1 very large paper into 8 relatively easy to populate short papers.

Inflating the Balloons

After that, pick a section, any section, that you want to write. It doesn't have to be the introduction if you're drawing a blank. That's perfectly normal. I rewrote my introduction all the way to the end of my paper because the rest of the paper was evolving to include additional topics. Some sections needed more meat or could be expanded, others could be shortened or removed.

Now, type away at the keyboard on the section you've assigned to yourself until you fill it up or have run out of ideas. Wanted to write Chapter 5: Potatoes in Artwork? Go for it! Chapters 1 to 4 can wait until you're sufficiently inspired to do them, or have enough information from Chapter 5 to help give substance to the other chapters.

When you're done with the small subsection you're working on, you should evaluate whether you feel you can do more. Sometimes, after doing a relatively easy section, I enjoy tackling a somewhat harder piece and getting that out of the way. Other times, I'll need a break, and take one.

Basically, my strategy is that one shouldn't plan to, or even reasonably expect to, write the paper front to back.

Breaking the paper into parts, giving them sufficient weight so that you can see the progress as you go, and slowly but steadily inflate and become a full paper.

Author's Note: Yeah, for some reason now I write really long posts even when I don't mean to.

• 32 tl;dr: Divide and conquer. –  aeismail Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 21:46
• 4 On the first day of a new writing project I only plan to set up compilable Latex document with all the sections. The next day it is a lot easier to start. Then the next day, if I have figures I'll add them too. –  afaust Commented Jan 22, 2015 at 22:04
• 2 @aeismail That's boring q.q –  Compass Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 0:07
• 1 Of note: this works for pretty much anything where lots of words need to end up on a screen. I program by writing what I want to do in comments first and add in the actual methods and logic later. –  Graph Theory Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 0:23
• 9 For people doing anything with geometry: if you have figures on napkins or scratch paper, go ahead and take a snapshot with your cell phone and put that in. You then have something to write about right there in your document which makes writing that section much easier. You can replace the snapshots with the real figures later - this will save you from sinking too much time into improving your figures before you write anything. –  Sumyrda - remember Monica Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 14:12

If you often get stuck with writing, you can try two things:

Try free writing . Forget about your thesis for a moment, and just start writing. It doesn't matter what you write, just keep writing. It doesn't need to produce usable material. It doesn't even have to be on the topic of your thesis, if you feel you just can't do that at the moment. But do keep writing. This helps overcome writer's block for many people.

When I first heard about this, I considered it very silly, but it turned out to work for me. Very often I end up with a text that turns out to be usable after all, or relatively easy to polish to the required quality. Not having the pressure of having to write good quality material helps me be more efficient.

Sit down with your colleague and explain to him or her what you are going to write before you write it down. This will help you organize your thoughts and write in an easier to understand manner. It also helps eliminate the tedium and get you more excited about your work.

I'd recommend talking to someone first (2.), then sitting down right away and writing down your thoughts, without the intention to use the text as-is in your thesis (1.).

I don't like writing either. It feels very clumsy. And it is hard, especially if you haven't done much writing. Sometimes it felt that I learned a lot more about writing during my PhD, than actual subject.

I did find that some sections are easier to write than others. I find that describing results easier than describing the method. And describing the method is easier than writing introduction. So, I work backwards sometimes.

Now, this is a funny thing, I cannot start an introduction of a new paper by just typing in. I found that using good-old paper and pencil, away from the desk, are much more productive in creating the first paragraph or two. Then it starts flowing from there.

• 7 The introduction is typically written last. –  Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 11:49
• 1 @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen wouldn't the last thing to write be the abstract? –  Gimelist Commented Jan 25, 2015 at 7:00

I have run into similar cases where I had to deliver written evaluations of my team members. I typically knew what each person had accomplished, their strengths and weaknesses, and areas for improvement. I could sit down with them and talk to them 1:1 and give the feedback. However, it needed to be captured in written form.

I tried several approaches to getting the write-ups done, but found unless I physically put myself in an environment that offered no opportunities to do something else I just couldn't get it done.

Using my laptop to draft the write-ups never worked as the laptop itself offers too many ways to get distracted (an email in instant message comes in, playing with formatting in a Word document, browsing the web for correct spelling of a word and then ending up searching for other things).

Two things helped my get the task done:

Isolate myself from everyone and everything that may interrupt or distract me. A local library in the middle of the day is typically fairly deserted and quiet, and was ideal for me.

Hand writing the initial draft with pen and paper. This allowed me to avoid the distractions a computer offers, and I didn't worry about perfect grammar/spelling/sentence structure/formatting/etc getting in the way of being "creative."

Once I had the hand-written draft, I was able to work much more mechanically to type up the evaluations.

The divide and conquer approach applies to time management and writing location as well as content, in my experience. For instance, when writing up my PhD thesis I found myself rotating between my home office, work office, and the "coffice" (starbucks!), usually any two in any given day. I also gave up trying to write in the late afternoon, because I noticed that it always felt like even more of a drag, and rested instead, often having a productive evening session as a result. I probably got about 5-6 productive hours a day with this approach, but I found that to be plenty to make encouraging process day by day. I think that being encouraged by one's progress is an excellent motivator!

So, in addition to all the other good advice here, try changing scenery during the day and think carefully about how you work at various times of day.

Have you tried the " pomodoro technique "? It's just a form of what's called time boxing: you set aside a limited amount of time to work on something (in this case, 25 minutes) followed by a short break (5 minutes). You use a timer to tell you when the work and break times are up, and periodically take a break. There are tons of online timers, phone apps, and so on for the actual timing part.

I found all the extra rules and writing down goals and stuff to be too much, but the basic method of telling myself that I only had to work on this for 25 minutes and then I could go do something else was really useful.

A small percent of the overall effort is the creation, say 5%. The bulk of the effort, perhaps 95%, is what it takes to adequately describe the work so others can understand. The 95% is our payment for the joy of creation and for the privilege of doing it again and again.

What is the form you're most comfortable with ? mind maps can be turned into text with less effort than writing text right from the start. Reading out loud powerpoints can be recorded and then written back.

• 1 Welcome to Academia SE! I assume you are somewhat familiar with the SE format, but what makes a good answer here can be a little different. Please read through this meta question for some tips about writing good answers for Academia SE. –  dionys Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 12:55

Perhaps you need a different mental image/metaphor... If you were on train-tracks, and you could hear a train coming in the distance, you'd move... You'd not linger, as a pedestrian, crossing a busy highway. Now, yes, these comparisons seem to miss the long-term grind aspect of "writing a thesis", but they do aptly convey the failure-mode. The "problem" is that, happily, many people in grad school have a relatively easy-enough life that day-to-day there's no connection between sweat and food, or sweat and rent-payment, etc. I'd not advocate that people be so stressed that they see every day as a battle to merely survive. However, the (happy!) opposite extreme does seem to subliminally confuse many people, unsurprisingly.

The difficulty of understanding viscerally "passage-of-time" might be well suggested by thinking of "something slipping away". Sure, at any moment, the change is small... but every moment wasted contributes to a negative situation, etc.

If you're at all competitive, imagine that every moment you're not doing the write-up, your competitors are... or, at least, the best-self-disciplined of them are, and they will be the ones that get the post-docs... (??!!??)

Another tack: "it's fine to be demotivated, and it merely shows that you're failing a diagnostic test..." That is, depending on your motivation and worldview, you could castigate yourself by observing that the very failure to write is not merely inconvenient, but is a literal failure of a certain academic-survival(-ist) test. "The bear ate you."

Of course, among other issues, thesis-writing comes at an awkward time of many peoples' lives, among other awkwardnesses that of finding that "being smart and quick" is completely insufficient for thesis-writing, for example. A sort of smart-person's trap/disappointment.

And, in the latter context, if "find motivation in previous terms" is the goal, I think there is none. Maybe some fakes, but, srsly, at some point things are not so completely "kid games" as earlier school might have been for smart, quick people. That is, there is some heavy lifting to be done, and it can't be bluffed-through so easily.

A couple of points, which I thought might be helpful (despite being rather obvious as well as you having some great, albeit non-brief, advice in already posted answers and comments):

• What people in some previous comments and answers called a "divide and conquer" strategy or "the balloon analogy" strategy, I call an "extended plan" or, better, "extended outline" approach. IMHO, it's self-explanatory.
• For motivation , you have to feel excitement about the topic . If you don't have such or lost it, try to revive the enthusiasm for, at least, some aspect of the topic.
• I would recommend you to write plain text first for everything (maybe with simple formatting , such as Markdown or similar syntax) and only then convert the content into the LaTeX format.

Intrinsic motivation to write up your results can very well be a hard thing, especially if you're distracted with further consequences of your work. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Further consequences of your work will likely be addressed once you start your doctoral studies, possibly leading to good papers, so it might be a good idea to postpone working on them until then.
• Try to imagine teaching others what you've done using techniques you find the easiest (conversations, slides, blackboard banter, whatever). Did you like the feeling of them learning about your work? Use that feeling as a spark. (If you didn't like them learning about it, we might have pinpointed the problem.)
• Try to imagine you following your own work years later. You'll know the high points, sure, put perhaps some details will get fuzzy or the reasoning for certain choices you made may be unclear. Save your future self frustration and get it all down while it's still fresh in your mind. (Like commenting code you know you'll need to revisit later.)
• Sometimes the act of documenting helps you discover problems with your approach (okay, not the most desirable outcome, but better to find them now rather than later), as well as give you ideas for other directions you haven't yet considered.

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Inside Out 2 and the Deeper Meaning Behind the Pixar Movie, Explained

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Bigger emotions in inside out 2, growing up means feeling less joy, capturing the feeling of childhood, anxiety is an overwhelming emotion, inside out 2 teaches audiences to live with their emotions.

• Inside Out 2 is a box office hit, resonating with audiences thanks to its relatable exploration of complex emotions.
• New characters like Anxiety add depth to the film, showcasing the overwhelming nature of growing up and conflicting feelings.
• The movie teaches valuable lessons about living with emotions, finding balance, and embracing the complexities of life.

Inside Out 2 is a box office hit. Not only did it mark the first $100+ opening weekend of the year and helped turn around the doom and gloom of the summer box office, but it has also been a hit with critics and audiences as it has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and scored an A CinemaScore. With $155 million, it is the second highest-grossing film for an animated movie, behind only Incredibles 2 , and opening above sequels to juggernaut hits like Frozen 2 , Finding Dory , and Toy Story 4 . With good word of mouth and a light summer in terms of competition, this might be not only one of the biggest films of the season but the whole year, as word of mouth will likely support it.

Like the first film, Inside Out 2 looks at the complex emotions that drive humans and makes it easily accessible to both a young audience encountering these thoughts for the first time and adults who might have lived with this for years but never quite knew how to explain it. The core five emotions of Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) from the first film are joined by Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), a brief role for Nostalgia (June Squibb), and the main newcomer, Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Inside Out 2 delivers an important message about the complex, conflicting emotions we feel growing up and how our emotions do not define who we are but guide us.

Inside Out 2

Read Our Review

The main plot of Inside Out 2 kicks into gear when Riley's (Kensington Tallman) puberty alarm goes off , much to the shock of the core five emotions. Their new console is extremely sensitive, making every one of Riley's emotions even bigger despite them barely touching the console. Everyone who has been a teenager can relate to this, as the emotions one feels are heightened. Many people encounter new emotions for the first time, and they feel larger, almost world-ending. This is why high school dramas and romances have been popular in film, as they feel so relatable. Everyone at some point remembers when it felt like the world ended for something so minor because the emotions were bigger.

Does Inside Out 2 Have a Post-Credits Scene?

...and what does it all mean for the future of the series?

This also sets the stage for new emotions to take control . In the film, Anxiety tells the core five that Riley's life requires more sophisticated emotions, and in many ways, the new emotions are more complex feelings of four of them. Anxiety herself compares herself to Fear, where Fear keeps her worried about what she can see; Anxiety keeps her concerned about what she can't see and is looking to the future.

She later weaponizes Riley's imagination to create stressful scenarios in her mind, in what she thinks is preparing her but instead is keeping her up at night. Envy is the inverse of Disgust, while embarrassment is another form of Sadness (these two emotions later share a bond). Ennui, or as she describes herself, Boredom, is the opposite of Anger. Where Anger feels emotions very passionately, Ennui is resigned to everything. The only exception is Joy, which ties into one of Inside Out 2 's more devastating sequences .

Joy has been the emotion in control for most of Riley's life . When Inside Out 2 begins, she has learned her lesson from the first film and sees the value in all of Riley's emotions, even Sadness. So when Anxiety and new emotions arrive , Joy welcomes them but also wants to maintain a sense of control. She is used to calling the shots until Anxiety takes over, where she and the other five get repressed. Joy tries her best to keep everything together, staying positive and thinking to herself. All she needs to do is find Riley's sense of self, which will make everything better.

Yet when the tube to headquarters is shut down, and it seems like Joy can't help Riley, she has a moment to think. She looks down on all the negative emotions and memories she has repressed for Riley and is shocked at just how many there are. Defeated, she says, "I can't stop Anxiety. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up. You feel less joy.”

This line obviously will hit a lot of people very hard, particularly older audiences. It is hard to argue that when you grow up, sometimes the weight of various problems in life can become overwhelming. It feels harder to be happy, and people tend to look back on how joyful they were in their youth with less care in the world.

Sometimes, the things that make us happy no longer do; they are just part of growing up and dealing with more complex emotions. It is hard to return to that joy of childlike wonder. One could even say much of the negative criticism from certain fans of properties like Star Wars and even Pixar is from audiences who have grown up and are upset less with the individual projects but that they don't make them feel the joy they did as a kid.

Inside Out 2 , like the Toy Story sequels and Monsters University , might be an animated movie aimed at families. Still, it also acknowledges the passage of time and realizes the kids who saw the original film are older. This is likely an emotion they have been feeling, and in 2024, it feels like it is a sentiment everyone shares. Between inflation, rising global conflicts, and various other issues going on in the world, it feels like finding joy in anything is becoming harder. Luckily, Inside Out 2 shows that even though Joy never goes away .

One of Inside Out 2 's most clever bits of writing is the characterization of Anxiety. She is the antagonist of the movie, but she is not an evil villain like The Prospector from Toy Story 2 or Syndrome in The Incredibles . Anxiety is doing what she thinks is best for Riley to help protect her. Every action she does is not out of her own selfish interest but in service of helping Riley as she sees fit. As is the case with anyone who has anxiety, it can be a very powerful emotion. In the film, Anxiety quickly takes control of Riley's mind, suppressing the main five emotions and making big changes, creating a new sense of self while tossing the old one away.

In the film's climax, Anxiety's efforts to give Riley a new sense of self backfires , with Riley believing she isn't good enough. Anxiety tries everything to fix it but begins to overwhelm Riley's systems, giving her an anxiety attack. Anxiety begins to move in a whirlwind around Riley's console, where not even the other emotions can stop her. Envy even tells her, "You are putting too much pressure on her." When the main five emotions get back to headquarters, they, along with Ennui, Embarrassment, and Envy, try pulling the new sense of self out of Riley and replacing it with the old one, but it doesn't work.

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Joy enters Anxiety's storm, and while she initially tries to yell at Anxiety to stop, Joy notices something. Despite Anxiety moving around the console, she is also frozen, stuck in place, and overwhelmed, much like somebody having a panic attack . Joy tells her it is okay to let go, and she understands she is doing what is best for Riley. Joy also realizes she is making a similar mistake to Anxiety. Earlier in the film, Joy had been shoving the awful thoughts that would weigh on Riley to the back of her mind. Both Joy and Anxiety tried to control Riley instead of letting her be who she was. Anxiety lets go, and Joy's actions earlier in the movie of riding the negative thoughts back to headquarters begin to take form in Riley's sense of self.

This new sense of self is a complex web of conflicting thoughts . Joy and positive emotions mixed with Anxiety, as well as a whole host of others. Riley is growing up, which means her worldview and her own identity is not so simple. She can have conflicting ideas about herself because that is what growing up is like. Riley can be both a good person and sometimes a bad friend, and it is important to recognize those contradicting notions.

This settles Riley down, and she apologizes to her friends as she had been ignoring them for most of the movie due to Anxiety and wanting to prioritize future friends in high school so Riley wouldn't be alone. Like the first film's climax, Riley has a heart-to-heart with the people she loves. Yet in the inverse of the first film, where Joy needs to let Sadness take control, saying, "Riley needs you," Sadness gets to tell Joy that Riley needs her. It is a reminder that Joy always has a way of coming back if we just let it into our lives.

By the film's conclusion, all nine main emotions have found a balance in Riley's head . Even Anxiety has a place there. There are healthy and unhealthy anxieties, just like with all emotions. Joy is a valuable tool, but it can also create toxic positivity. As with all the emotions, she deserves a necessary function; it is all just in degrees. It is also worth noting that emotions do not make Riley who she is. They can guide her, but in the end, Riley is the culmination of her life choices, of which emotions are part. All of these aspects of Riley are an important part of growing up.

Inside Out 2 will hopefully be a helpful tool for young kids encountering these emotions for the first time. It will help them explain these difficult concepts while also acknowledging the good and bad parts of all their conflicting emotions. As for older audiences, they will likely relate deeply to the film's concepts and wish they had it when they were younger, but they can be grateful that future generations will have it to look to when they need help understanding their feelings. Inside Out 2 is playing in theaters now.

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FACT SHEET: President   Biden Announces New Actions to Keep Families   Together

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. As Congressional Republicans have continued to put partisan politics ahead of national security – twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades – the President and his Administration have taken actions to secure the border, including:

• Implementing executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when encounters are high;
• Deploying record numbers of law enforcement personnel, infrastructure, and technology to the Southern border;
• Seizing record amounts of fentanyl at our ports of entry;
• Revoking the visas of CEOs and government officials outside the U.S. who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully; and
• Expanding efforts to dismantle human smuggling networks and prosecuting individuals who violate immigration laws.

President Biden believes that securing the border is essential. He also believes in expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country. The Day One immigration reform plan that the President sent to Congress reflects both the need for a secure border and protections for the long-term undocumented. While Congress has failed to act on these reforms, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen our lawful immigration system. In addition to vigorously defending the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals) policy, the Administration has extended Affordable Care Act coverage to DACA recipients and streamlined, expanded, and instituted new reunification programs so that families can stay together while they complete the immigration process.  Still, there is more that we can do to bring peace of mind and stability to Americans living in mixed-status families as well as young people educated in this country, including Dreamers. That is why today, President Biden announced new actions for people who have been here many years to keep American families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy.   Keeping American Families Together

• Today, President Biden is announcing that the Department of Homeland Security will take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.
• This new process will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence – status that they are already eligible for – without leaving the country.
• These actions will promote family unity and strengthen our economy, providing a significant benefit to the country and helping U.S. citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together.
• In order to be eligible, noncitizens must – as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements. On average, those who are eligible for this process have resided in the U.S. for 23 years.
• Those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible.  
• This action will protect approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.

Easing the Visa Process for U.S. College Graduates, Including Dreamers

• President Obama and then-Vice President Biden established the DACA policy to allow young people who were brought here as children to come out of the shadows and contribute to our country in significant ways. Twelve years later, DACA recipients who started as high school and college students are now building successful careers and establishing families of their own.
• Today’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas.
• Recognizing that it is in our national interest to ensure that individuals who are educated in the U.S. are able to use their skills and education to benefit our country, the Administration is taking action to facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers. 

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