Even the best of PhD academic writer have faced the dreaded writer's block when working on their important PhD thesis. Writing a 100-page thesis can be demanding for most PhD students, and can be a constant source of stress with the approaching of the submission deadline.
Listed below are some tips or strategies that you can use to overcome the Writer’s block, or even prevent it from happening the first time.
- Start writing.
This is particularly true for students, who have written very little in their school and academic years. Before attempting your phd thesis writing, start writing on any topic that you are familiar with, or find interesting. Regular writing practise, on a daily basis, can keep away the dreaded writer’s block.
- Read plenty of dissertations and academic papers.
Reading dissertations and academic papers of senior students or scholars can familiarize you with writing styles and prepare you well when writing your own thesis.
- Write on a daily basis.
Set up a weekly schedule where you can spare time to write daily. It does not matter even if you write only for 15 minutes daily, as long as you do it daily. This strategy can also help when you are in the middle of a writer’s block and want to start writing again.
- Write continuously for a fixed time.
Do not interrupt your thesis writing with other computer-related tasks. Start writing continuously at first for at least 15 minutes, before building it gradually to 45 minutes (or more) as you approach your submission deadline.
- Develop a thesis outline first.
Before filling in the data and the information that must go into different sections of your thesis, develop a broad outline of your thesis, and fill enough content into each section that will capture its objective and relevance. You can skip between sections and do not need to complete any section, before moving on to the next section.
- Get help when needed.
No research project is simple enough that you will have all the answers when you write the thesis. Gaps in research papers (even published ones) are normal, and the only way to resolve that is to get help from your project supervisor.
- Do not worry about the English.
A common reason for the writer’s block is that students worry too much about their language writing skills and grammar. Getting the research content on paper should be the first priority, followed by document editing and readability improvement.