Past the Point of No Return: Writing your thesis

Ah, the thesis. The culmination of everything you’ve strove and worked for over the past four-to-six years. This is it. Your magnum opus. Your pièce de résistance. Your third metaphor for a big important thing. All the struggles, the countless hours of toil and research — all are to be broken down and described in this document. Now you just have to write the damn thing.

The thesis process can be a challenging and rewarding journey, but it can also be overwhelming at times. One important aspect of the thesis process is recognizing the tipping point — that critical point in the thesis writing process when a significant and often unavoidable change takes place. This tipping point can be positive or negative, depending on how it is managed. In this article, I’ll break down the stages of the thesis process, the challenges that may arise at each stage, and how to recognize and cope therewith.

The thesis process can be divided into four key stages: proposal, research, writing, and defense. The proposal stage involves developing a research idea and presenting it to an advisor or committee for approval. In grad school, this takes the form of your qualifying exam. Challenges that may arise during this stage include difficulty choosing a research topic, lack of clarity in research questions, or difficulty finding an advisor or committee member who is a good fit. 

After you’ve successfully made your proposal and passed your quals, then comes the task of actually executing the proposed research. This stage involves conducting a thorough investigation of the chosen topic, gathering data, and analyzing it, a process that takes years and entails a myriad of trials, challenges, and setbacks. This is where the bulk of the thesis process occurs and, consequently, where the majority of your troubles will befall you. Depending on the nature of your thesis project, these difficulties can manifest in a variety of ways, but rest assured, they will find you.

Once you’ve cleared the gauntlet of the research phase, it’s time to get writing. The writing stage involves synthesizing your research into a cohesive document. Graduate students are usually afforded a period of protected time — often around a month; to write their thesis. Having come hot off the research floor, this time may seem like an oasis of calm and tranquility, and herein lies one of its greatest perils. 

Your protected time is unstructured! It is just you, your computer, and a month or so of time. If writing is not your forté or you don’t do well without an imposed schedule, it can be very easy to get lost in the days and weeks and make little to no progress. You will need to find what works for you during this time. 

Whether that’s dedicated blocks of time at the library where you rigidly focus on writing or, as was my case, a caffeine-and-booze-fueled haze of skimming abstracts, cobbling together massive chronicles of citations, and writing up my summary, this is your show at this point. It is a rare moment in time in which you have virtually unlimited creative freedom, so try to enjoy it. Hell, I enjoyed it enough that I decided to essentially make a career out of it.

The official declaration of one’s intent to defend their thesis, which triggers the start of their protected time, often serves as the tipping point. Once this process has been initiated, the clock starts ticking, and you will be required to have written your thesis and provided an oral presentation and defense of it before that time has elapsed. 

The defense stage — or the firing squad, as I think of it, involves presenting and defending your thesis in front of your thesis committee. This is the final hurdle of your thesis, and after clearing it, all that remains is to collect signatures. It’s a nerve-wracking process. You need to condense your entire project into a coherent 30-45 minute presentation, then defend it, answering questions and satisfying criticisms over the next two or so hours. 

During this entire process, there are several things you can do to make life easier for yourself. It’s highly beneficial, for example, to keep a running bibliography throughout your entire grad school career. This makes finding the information you need during your protected writing time much easier. In addition, throughout your research phase, you must prepare regular written progress reports for your thesis committee. 

You will likely also need to have authored a publication or two related to your project. You can use language from these in your thesis. The same applies to slides previously prepared for any work-in-progress presentations you’ve given on your project. You can also start writing your thesis before you declare your intent to defend. In fact, it’s possible to have completely written it prior to the start of your protected time (just, if you do, make sure not to tell your PI unless you don’t want a month of free, unbothered time to yourself). 

As you’re writing, you may start to feel a bit cabin feverish, with your days beginning to blend together, feeling like you’re drowning under the weight of your thesis. In these times, it’s important to let yourself breathe. Take breaks. Go hang out with friends. Play a video game. Watch a movie. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s important to go through things at a pace you can manage. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, reach out to people and let out some steam. This is something every successful grad student goes through, so you don’t have to go through it alone.

In conclusion, while your entire thesis process will be filled with inflection moments, your declaration to defend will likely serve as the pivotal tipping point where everything comes to a head. Given what’s at stake, finally taking the plunge can be hard. Have courage, though; keep a cool head, work at it bit by bit, and remember the advice I’ve provided. Effective time management, organization, and coping strategies can help to overcome challenges and stay on track. With perseverance and determination, you can get through this.