You've just spent the last three, four, or more years carrying out the research for your PhD, and now the time has come to write the dissertation. For some, this will be enjoyable, but for most (including me), this is the worst and most laborious part of earning a doctorate. This blog will give an overview of the main parts of the dissertation writing process so that you can produce a manuscript that your examiners will enjoy reading. Begin with a strong dissertation outline. In the months before you complete your actual work, you should be thinking about how to best lay out your dissertation, such that you present your strongest arguments in the clearest possible way, especially if it involves a lot of statistics or figures. Drafting a simple plan is a good way to do this. This is just a list of what is going to go in the dissertation and where. It can be as basic as list of chapter headings and a couple of lines indicating the main themes.
This is your chance to sort out your ideas in a logical order, such that the gaps can easily be filled in at a later stage. This is invaluable because you can keep revamping over and over as more ideas and thoughts come through. The references are another section that some students think is not worth spending time on