2. If you are writing on a few works, have a firm rationale for why you chose those works instead of others – especially if you are examining only two of, say, Charles Dickens’ novels. 3. Get to the point. You should be well into your argument by page 10. If you’re not into your argument by page 25, it looks like you are running away from argument. 4. Plot summaries and biographies (though sometimes necessary) are usually tedious. Work on the assumption that your reader is familiar with the plot of Waiting for Godot. (I’m thinking of page-long summaries and chapter-long biographies that are solely factual.) 5. Make sure to add clear argument and analysis to every single paragraph – i.e. don’t write something that’s irrefutable and just as easily found on Wikipedia. 6. A rule of thumb: Quote from the literature in every paragraph. 7. Comment on every quotation. 8. Do not quote critics just because they are famous (of course, no critic is Hollywood-famous!). If you do quote them, take a stance on what they say. Do you agree with them? Why? Why not? 9. Write something every day. When you don’t feel like writing and when the ideas aren’t flowing, at least play around by searching for words you use too often or vague words such as “thing” and “somehow,” fixing the bibliography, verifying those little typographical things that take up too much time, making sure that the details are right (i.e. that poems you refer to are in fact poems, not novels; that Harry Potter is not referred to as “Harvey Potter”). Diploma thesis advice: technical details and citing A few notes: 1. Get rid of the hyperlinks. They are: a) unsightly; b) potentially embarrassing if a mere click on “Shakespeare” sails the reader to where you found your information. 2. Try not to refer to anything you do not know. If you have never read a Hemingway novel, don’t discuss his influence on “your” author. 3. Lists are almost boring. Try to avoid epic lists. 4. Learn where to place the period in in-text quotations.
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