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How to
Write
a
Thesis
How to
Write a Thesis
Rowena Murray
Murray
How to Write a Thesis provides a down-t o-
earth guide to help students shape their
theses. It offers valuable advice as well as
practical tips and techniques, incorporating
useful boxed summaries and checklists to help
students stay on track or regain their way.
The book is the culmination of many years of
work with postgraduates and academics and
covers all aspects of the research, writing and
editing involved in the process of successfully
completing a thesis.
In this book, the author moves beyond the
basics of thesis writing, introducing practical
writing techniques such as freewriting,
generative writing and binge writing. This
edition now deals with the range of different
doctorates on offer and integrates more
examples of thesis writing. Building on the
success of the evidence-based approach used

University of Strathclyde
Praise for the previous
edition:
“Rowena Murray's down to
earth approach both
recognises and relieves
some of the agony of
writing a PhD. The advice in
this book is both practical
and motivational;
sometimes it's ‘PhD-saving’
too.”
D
R CHRISTINE SINCLAIR,
Lecturer in the Centre for
Academic Practice and
Learning Enhancement at the
University of Strathclyde
S ECOND E DITION
S ECOND
E DITION
SECOND
E DITION
Write
a
Thesis
How to
How to Write a Thesis
SECOND EDITION


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Poland by OZ Graf. S.A.
www.polskabook.pl
This book is dedicated to
Jimmy Walker
And to anyone who’s thinking about writing a thesis out of irrepressible
enthusiasm for a subject – do it!
Chapter 8 is for Morag.

Contents
Preface to the first edition xiii
Preface to the second edition xv
Acknowledgements xvi
Overview xvii
Introduction: How to write 1000 words an hour 1
The need for this book 1
What the students say 3
A writer’s ‘toolbox’ 5
Principles of academic writing 11
The literature on writing 12
Disciplinary differences 14
Thinking about structure 18
Prompts 19
Enabling student writing 20
Writing in a second language 21
Grammar, punctuation, spelling 22
Goal setting 24
Lifelong learning 27

Primary audience 75
Secondary audience 76
Immediate audience 77
The role of the supervisor 78
A common language for talking about writing 82
Writing to prompts 86
Freewriting 87
Generative writing 99
Checklist: starting to write 102
3 Seeking structure 103
Revising your proposal 104
Outlining 105
Finding a thesis 107
Writing a literature review 108
Plagiarism 121
Designing a thesis 123
‘Writing in layers’ 125
Writing locations 127
Writing times 128
Checklist: seeking structure 129
viii CONTENTS
4 The first milestone 130
First writing milestone 131
The first-year report 131
From notes to draft 132
Dialogue 135
Monitoring 137
Pressure 138
What is progress? 139
Work-in-progress writing 140

7 Fear and loathing: revising 204
Why ‘fear and loathing?’ 205
Repetition 206
Forecasting 207
Signalling 208
Signposting 209
Conceptualizing and reconceptualizing 209
Managing your editor 212
End of the second phase 215
Look back to the proposal 215
Checklist: revising 216
8 It is never too late to start 217
Step 1 Take stock 221
Step 2 Start writing 222
Step 3 Outline your thesis 224
Step 4 Make up a programme of writing 227
Step 5 Communicate with your supervisor(s) 230
Step 6 Outline each chapter 231
Step 7 Write regularly 232
Does the fast-track mode work? 233
Step 8 Revise 234
Step 9 Pull it all together 235
Step 10 Do final tasks 235
9 The last 385 yards 237
The marathon 238
‘Done-ness is all’ 239
Concentrated writing phase 239
Well-being 240
Peer support 241
Discussion chapter 242

Was it really worth it? 284
Recovering 284
Getting your thesis published 285
Audience and purpose (again) 285
Looking for topics 288
The end 289
Checklist: before and after the viva 289
Bibliography 291
Index 299
CONTENTS xi

Preface to the first edition
In 1995 I wrote a personal statement about my motivation to teach and
write about thesis writing. The urge to write this book originated in my own
experiences as a student in Scotland, Germany and the USA:
As a graduate of a Scottish university I made a deliberate choice to enter
a PhD programme in what is often disparagingly referred to as ‘the
American system’, as if there were only one system in the USA. As a
‘graduate student’ in the English Department of the Pennsylvania State
University I had the opportunity to take courses, and be examined, on
research methods, two foreign languages, a theory course, three years of
course work (before starting a thesis, a major piece of original research,
on a par with PhD theses in the UK system, a fact which will surprise
some academics), with teacher training for higher education, mentoring,
observations and evaluations of my own teaching . . .
On my return to the UK in 1984, I felt strongly that there was a need, in
the UK system, for postgraduate training of some sort. There was also
demand for such training among students; when I offered a thesis writing
course at Strathclyde University in 1985 it proved very popular . . . we
now have a programme of . . . courses for postgraduates. Some faculties

page 98 of the first edition (page 104 in this edition) to draft papers at an early
stage in their projects.
However, some students and reviewers requested new material, and I have
added this for the second edition: new examples of different sections of a
thesis and further definition of features of thesis writing.
Two important topics covered in Chapter 10 – the examination of the thesis
and publishing from the thesis – are retained here, and are covered in more
detail in my two other books: How to Survive Your Viva (2003) and Writing for
Academic Journals (2005).
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my editors at Open University Press and the reviewers of
the first edition. I must also thank those who advised on the first edition: Liz
McFarlan, Gilbert MacKay, Graeme Martin, Professor Portwood, Beth McKay,
Pavel Albores, Lorna Gillies, Veronica Martinez, Betsy Pudliner and Alan
Runcie.
Chris Carpenter, Carolyn Choudhary, Ellie Hamilton and Enkhjarkhlan
Tseyen gave me important insights for the second edition.
Dr Morag Thow provided support, insight and humour.
Overview
Different chapters are constructed in different ways: for example, Chapters 1
and 2 are long and discursive, teasing out ambiguities and subtleties in thesis
writing, in order to demystify the thesis writing process, while Chapter 8 is
much more compact. It lists steps in a concentrated writing process and has
checklists and tasks instead of definitions and explanations. It is also more
directive in style.
The Introduction, ‘How to write 1000 words an hour’, sets out the theory,
practice and assumptions that underpin the approaches to writing proposed in
this book.
Chapter 1 helps you think your way into the thesis writing role.
Chapter 2 has strategies to start writing right away: writing before you ‘have

How to write 1000
words an hour
The need for this book
•
What the students say
•
A writer’s ‘toolbox’
•
Principles of academic writing
•
The literature on writing
•
Disciplinary
differences
•
Thinking about structure
•
Prompts
•
Enabling student
writing
•
Writing in a second language
•
Grammar, punctuation, spelling
•
Goal setting
•
Lifelong learning
•

Writing a thesis is a completely new task for most postgraduate students. It
brings new demands. It is a far bigger project than most students will ever have
undertaken before. It requires more independent study, more self-motivation.
There is much less continuous assessment. It is likely to be the longest piece of
continuous writing you have ever done.
However, writing a thesis is not a completely new experience. It does build
on your previous studies. Skills you developed in undergraduate years – and
elsewhere – will be useful. Time management is a prime example. The subject
of your thesis may build upon existing knowledge of, for example, theoretical
approaches or the subject itself. The discipline of study, or regular work, is just
as important as in other forms of study you have undertaken at other levels.
Early writing tasks
• Noting ideas while reading
• Documenting reading
• Writing summaries
• Critiques of other research
• Draft proposals
• Revising your thesis/research proposal
• Logging experiments/pilot/observations
• Describing experiments/procedures
• Sketching plan of work
• Explaining sequence of work (in sentences)
• Sketching structure of thesis
• Outlining your literature review
• Speculative writing: routes forward in project
• Design for first-year report
2 INTRODUCTION
Passively accepting that a thesis is one of life’s ‘great unknowns’ is not a sens-
ible course of action; like any other writing task, it can – and must – be defined.
One of the first – and best – books to outline the whole process for the PhD is

improve their ability to make solid arguments supported by empirical evidence
and theory.
(Caffarella and Barnett 2000: 40)
This is an interesting dichotomy. Then again, why would we expect two very
different groups to have formed the same expectations? Presumably research
students are still learning what it is they have to learn.
WHAT THE STUDENTS SAY 3
Even when the subject of writing is raised in discussion between student and
supervisor or among students – as it should be – there is no consensus about
what they need to know. What do those who have started or completed a
thesis say, looking back, that students need? The answers to these questions
are multifaceted; they may even be contradictory:
These responses show how writing is related to, and can be influenced by, all
sorts of factors:
Students report that they look for lots of different kinds of advice and help.
Many, if not all, of their concerns can be related to their writing. Some will
directly affect their writing practices and output. What is provided in the
way of support and development for writing seems to vary enormously, from
institution to institution and even from supervisor to supervisor.
Some of these problems can be interpreted as the result of students’ lack of
awareness: of what’s expected, of what is involved in writing and of what the
educational experience involves. There is, often, the additional problem of
lack of research training, although formal training is commonplace in some
higher education systems and is becoming more common in others (Park
2005).
We must assume that supervisors want their students to complete their
theses on time (as long as the work is up to standard). They are not out to put
barriers in your way. However, their role is complex and is sometimes left
Looking back
• It takes a long time to strike a balance between what you want to do and

ing’. They want to be directed to good writing style. They want to develop the
skills of argument. Students may not be able to say this right from the start;
they may not know what they need. They may only understand that this was
what they needed when they get to the later stages in their projects, or right at
the very end.
This book aims to help you develop your understanding of the writing pro-
cess – not just the finished product – through reading, writing and discussion
with your peers and supervisor(s).
A writer’s ‘toolbox’
. . .there was a view among the student writers . . . that good writing came spon-
taneously, in an uprush of feeling that had to be caught at once . . .
I want to suggest that to write to your best abilities, it behoves you to construct
your own toolbox and then build up enough muscle so you can carry it with you.
Then, instead of looking at a hard job and getting discouraged, you will perhaps
seize the correct tool and get immediately to work.
(King 2000: 62 and 125)
These two statements reveal the journey on which this book hopes to take
readers. Your point of departure is the popular misconception that good writ-
ing happens when it happens, that writers should wait till they are inspired
and that, if they do, the writing will ‘flow’. Your destination is the develop-
ment of a ‘toolbox’ of skills that writers can use for different writing projects
and for different stages in any writing project. By the end of this journey you
A WRITER’S ‘TOOLBOX’ 5
should be able, using these skills, and with the confidence they bring, to ‘get
immediately to work’ on any writing task.
Stephen King’s toolbox image chimes with what writers say in writing
groups, as they are developing their writing skills over a six- to twelve-month
period. They find that they procrastinate less, and they certainly do not wait
for any kind of ‘uprush’ of inspiration, but are content to get something down
on paper immediately and then work on that to produce a finished piece. This

will surely lack the qualities expected in the final polished product. Writing
that is sketchy, incomplete, tentative and downright wrong is an inevitable
part of the research and learning processes. This is why you have
supervisors.
Writing is as good a way as any of testing your ideas and assumptions. Learn-
ing strategies for and developing a facility for generating text have, in them-
selves, proved to be important processes, more important, some would argue,
than learning the mechanics of writing (Torrance et al. 1993). Being able to
6 INTRODUCTION