Write a final thesis.

Structuring your thesis Long writing tasks are easier if you break them down into manageable chunks. Think through how you are going to approach your thesis; what your main chapters or sections are likely to be.

Analyse existing theses to get an idea of typical structures. Theses will usually contain most or all of the following sections:  title page  abstract  acknowledgements  contents page(s)  introduction  literature review  materials/sources and methods (or this can be part of every chapter if these are different per chapter)  themed topic chapters  results  discussion or f indings  conclusions  references  annexes . Start to organise the material that you have already written into folders relating to each of your chapters. The following techniques may help you to decide upon a structure.  Talk through the structure with a friend, telling them the story of what you're trying to write. Either tape record it, or ask the friend to feed it back to you  Use visual techniques like mind -mapping  Create a storyboard for your thesis. This tells the ‘story' of the thesis in a small nu mber of panels that mix text and pictures  Use index cards for the key ideas and then sort them into a coherent structure  Write key ideas on post -its and then organise them onto a whiteboard. Make connections with lines and colours. Once you have got a seri es of chapters sketched out you may wish to assign a likely word length to each chapter or even go as far as setting a deadline for a first draft. Writing your thesis How you approach writing your thesis from this point on will depend on whether you ar e a planning or generative writer: Planning writers If you prefer a highly structured approach to writing you may find it helpful to take the following approach.  Under each chapter heading define a series of sections  Break these sections into sub -sections and keep breaking these down until you are almost at the paragraph level  This will give you a clear set of short sections that you can work methodically through as you work  Once you have completed a section or chapter check that you have followed your pl an. Generative writers Some writers prefer to get ideas down on paper and then organise them afterwards. If this approach suits you try the following approach.  Choose a chapter and just sit down and start typing  Then you need to do some work to impose a structure  Map out your writing by summarising each paragraph as a bullet point  Use this summary to gain an overview of the structure that you have produced  Re -order the writing and strengthen the structure by adding sub -headings and revising what you have written to make the argument clearer. Reviewing your structure You are unlikely to identify a perfect structure first time. As your research and writing develop you will probably want to revise and rework your structure. Try to review your overall struct ure on a regular basis and amend plans for future chapters as you become more aware of what the thesis must contain. Also ensure you leave enough time for reviewing and proofreading at the end of your thesis Source: http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1256/Structuring%20your%20thesis.html