No doubt, dissertation writing is a difficult task. Many students feel like they are not good enough in this regard even when they are good at normal studies. They look for ways in which they can improve this skill too. After all, no student can clear his final year of university without submitting a dissertation. And the competition in the universities is very tough these days. Everyone wants to score more. But how to score better in a dissertation? What tips a student may employ to write better?
Here are 7 tips that will surely help you polish your dissertation writing skills:
Read a lot of academic papers
Studies have shown that knowledge from reading can add new dimensions to writing (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1984). A dissertation is essentially a long journal article. One can observe that the overall format of a dissertation, which is usually divided into Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Analysis/Discussion chapters, is much comparable with that of a journal article. As a result, you can use academic papers in your subject as inspiration to help you arrange the flow and language of your dissertation.
You should not only the information when reading a paper, but also how it is written, formatted, and presented. Obviously, you want your dissertation to follow a certain academic tone, be easy to read, and adhere to the same style and language rules as other academics in your field. The more you will read, the more your dissertation writing style would enhance.
Develop a strong command of basic grammar and the academic jargon
If you want your study to be understood and taken seriously, grammar, style, and punctuation are critical. Make sure you understand fundamental grammar before you start writing a dissertation.
Verb and subject agreement, proper article and pronoun usage, and well-formed sentence structures are all examples of grammar basics. Make sure you understand how to utilize the most frequent punctuation marks. Be aware of when to use a comma and when to use a period. Also, voice is crucial in academic writing. Make sure your language is clear and simple. Use academic jargon, however, avoid needless wordiness that detracts from your point and transition words that don’t contribute anything to the phrase.
Practice often
You can never master any skill without practicing it. There is a 21/90 rule, where if a student manages their time and work on that for 21 days, it automatically turns into a habit (helpwithdissertation, 2021). Similar is the case with academic writing too. You may think how can you write dissertations again and again?
Dissertation is assigned to students only once in a final year. While that is true, you still have to practice it in some way. Obviously, you cannot write a whole dissertation. But what you can do is that you can work on individual points. Select a specific point and write about it. The first sample wouldn’t be good enough. But keep practising if you want your skills to improve.
Always choose appropriate topics
One of the main problems in dissertation writing is the choice of the wrong topic. Sometimes students choose very vast topics and then they are unable to complete them within a given time. Always narrow down your research topic and then conduct thorough research on a specific focal point. This will help you write better as you will have specific relevant information which then you would not jot down in a haphazard manner. You can also ask academic services to suggest you a topic. For example, a law student may seek law dissertation help available online and ask them to provide contract law topics to him.
Make a rough outline
Before you start writing, figure out what you’re going to write about.
It is critical to know what you want to communicate before you begin writing a dissertation. Making a basic outline before you start writing your dissertation is the easiest approach to focusing on a subject and developing a proper argument.
Make a rough draft and revise it regularly through a reader’s perspective
Never start working on your actual dissertation directly.
If you want to improve your dissertation writing skills, always sketch a rough draft first from the outline that you have constructed. Now keep going back to it after a while. Read it again and again. The best way to improve your skills is by assuming the role of a reader rather than remembering that you are its writer. In this manner, you are able to recognize more shortcomings and hence eliminate them next time.
Ask people for their feedback
Never be afraid to seek criticism from your teacher or peers.
Your writing will almost certainly require a lot of technical information, yet it should still be legible to a wide range of people. Asking a diverse set of individuals for as much feedback as possible is a wonderful method to figure out how you’re doing in this area and suggest areas that may need modification.
Conclusion
Even if you would follow only one of the enlisted tips, you would definitely see a difference in your dissertation writing skills.
