Many people have found the process of writing their dissertation is pretty much like a marathon. Both of them require diligence, patience, and a step-by-step approach. Just as a runner, who comes back every time to the side-lines the moment he or she realises that she has not achieved her goal of reaching the finishing line, a graduate student has to go back to the starting point the moment he or she realises that she has not planned a strategy.
Dissertation Writing Is Like a Marathon
Completing a 26 mile race can seem difficult for the marathon runner. However, the runner who sees only the crest of the next hill or some other obstacle and focuses on each of these obstacles would be able to see the race as manageable. The situation is similar when you write a dissertation. Similarly, when you focus on the individual chapters and the sections within them, you would be able to see the dissertation as a series of tasks that are manageable rather than as a 400 page long obstacle.
Focus on the Section
Several universities have defined what the ingredients would go into each of the sections of a dissertation. However, in case they have not been defined, a student can always go through a model dissertation and find a good organisational guide in it. The best way to decide what you should focus on can be determined by going through the table of contents and the names of the chapters listed in it. When you think of each of the sections in the dissertation as that “crest of the next hill,” you will not be able to see the dissertation as an obstacle in itself. You could also think of the sections in the dissertation as parts of the main research work, which are made of a few pages of ideas and information.