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If you are in graduate school, you will need to write a thesis. A thesis project is an independent study on a topic of great interest. The most common thesis is a written thesis. Writing your thesis at times may seem like a daunting task. With some practical preparation techniques: you can confidently climb this "paper mountain". Before long, you'll have your graduate degree and those impressive letters of M.A., M.B.A. or M.S. behind your name.

There is a popular old saying "a stitch in time saves nine" and many of us don't even think about what this means, even though we've heard this repeatedly. This saying is quite true when it comes to writing your thesis. The first step to writing your thesis is to create a thesis statement. The ideal thesis statement is one that intrigues you and makes you want to research it further.

It is also quite important that your thesis statement have enough research to support it: you can come up with a fascinating thesis statement that simply does not have enough research to write a strong thesis. Begin by finding the thesis statement and then delve into your preliminary research to understand if there will be enough facts to support what you believe.

When doing preliminary research it is important to use every resource available to you. Try books, journal articles, magazines, newspapers and also the Internet. Depending on your thesis statement, you may discover unique sources available on the Internet that support your statement that you'd like to include. Many thesis programs will accept online sources as long as they are credited appropriately. Cast a wide net when looking for other sources including books to try for out-of-print books you may be able to locate through an out-of-print bookseller. This preliminary research will assist you in deciding if this thesis is the one you wish to pursue.

Your thesis adviser will either approve or disapprove of your preliminary research and your thesis statement. If you receive approval, then you are ready to enter into deeper research on your project. If you receive disapproval, then you must create a new thesis statement and begin once more with your thesis preliminary research. Keeping your thesis adviser "in the loop" about what you are doing is critical: without their approval, you cannot move forward. The entire goal is to be able to move forward to the next step.

Assuming you have approval, further research will be done at this stage. Some that write a thesis find it most useful to actually begin writing their thesis and to research at the same time. Others feel that they need to do all of the research first. Do what you feel would be the most practical. Even if you feel you are completely done with all of the research, you may discover once you begin writing that you need another source or two.

In writing your thesis, it is critical that you stick to the format that you have been given by your thesis advisor and/or committee. One of the most popular writing formats is the APA format. While learning a writing format is not difficult, if your thesis is not presented in the proper writing format it will not be accepted. Writing a one hundred to three hundred page thesis can feel simply overwhelming at times.

The little details sometimes may escape you as you work on this large project. Finding a fellow student or friend to edit your thesis is quite valuable as they can insure that you have followed the format. If your thesis is handed in and does not follow format this can delay your graduating on time. Consider hiring someone to edit your thesis if no helping hands volunteer for this task.

Writing your thesis is a task, which you should be quite proud of accomplishing. Not everyone can say that they have written a thesis. Writing a thesis is very much like taking on a "paper marathon" and often it is about simply covering the miles. This is not a task that can be done quickly; your thesis will take you months and perhaps even a year.