Write it all down...

When it comes to writing up your PhD thesis (or any other thesis for that matter) it can seem a very overwhelming & daunting task. "Where do I start", "how do I start" & "how do I put off actually starting" are common threads that enter your mind.

I have a simple piece of advice for all PhD students, write up your results as if you're writing a paper BEFORE you start writing your thesis (i.e. within the first 2-3 years of your PhD). Take a few hours every couple of weeks to put together your results, be they positive or negative, into the same format you would use for submission to a journal. Not only does this save time when it comes to putting your thesis together, it makes sense of your results, can help you to see where you need to go next experiment-wise, and is great practise for paper writing. I mentioned this to a few of the girls in the lab, who are currently about half way through their studentships & they looked at me like I'd told an offensive joke. "Why would we put ourselves through the torture of writing now, when we don't have to start for another year?" they asked. All I can draw from is my own experience; and I found the pages I had put together as a potential review invaluable for my introduction section. Not only was all of the information I needed right there (including the time consuming references) but it was in the correct format, suitable for a dissertation. I had also attempted to write a paper based on some of my results, this ended up turning into chapter 6 of my thesis. Of course more work was needed, I had to change a few things around & add more to it, but the bones of it were there, and I had a few nice paragraphs that I could literally copy & paste in.

Take it from me, writing up a research thesis is one of the toughest & most draining things you have to do in science, especially at the start of your career. Anything that makes it a little easier can only be a good thing! Let me know if you've had a similar experience when you were writing up or going through your PhD.

Rachel xxx