When it comes to dissertation writing, master's students are old experts, albeit there's no denying it can be a stressful and time-consuming process, resulting in the stressed student being relieved to see the back of it before making a beeline for the next drinking establishment! 

Going deeply into a topic and generating a bound copy of your findings/arguments, on the other hand, carries with it a major sense of accomplishment that can be the pinnacle of your academic career.

Unless, of course, you go on to complete a Ph.D., which is a whole different ball game!

Choose your topic early on

With a lengthy endeavor such as the dissertation, time is important. It may appear like you have several months ahead of you to get it done, but deadlines for submitting your title/first draft/final draft have a horrible habit of sneaking up on you.

Consider potential subjects in the first few weeks of the course, or even before, to give yourself lots of leeways if your original ideas do not pan out.
 

Check out your sources

The availability/presence of sources, both primary and secondary, is an important factor in obtaining approval for a dissertation topic.

Finding out which ones you'll need and whether there are enough of them to support a 10,000-word essay is a bit of a task in and of itself, but it's necessary before you can move on to the reading/writing step.

Once you've established their existence and compiled a detailed list of those that are relevant to you, it's worth attempting to contact them well in advance.

If, as is the case with most primary sources, they cannot be carried outside the institution where they are stored, set aside time to go and read them (taking into account potential travel time), again in good time if at all feasible.

Getting some dissertation work done before you need to worry about it means you won't have to worry about it as much!

Make a timetable – and stick to it!

Be realistic about the amount of time you have and what you need to/can accomplish. Making a timetable that ends with a hand-in day is the greatest approach to staying on track.

Although it may wind up being more guidelines than structure, if followed to a certain extent, it can keep you from anxiously hoping for 7,000 words to come out of thin air with only 48 hours to go!

Find fresh eyes!

It's critical to stay on the right side of the clock at every point of the process, so make sure you finish a draft with enough time for you and your supervisor to thoroughly review it.

It can be difficult to get a critical distance from your dissertation after working on it for so long, so the feedback of others is crucial in finding mistakes or inconsistencies in your thesis.

The more fresh eyes that see it, the better, thus family and friends that adore you should be persuaded to read it.

Time is of the essence

So, the takeaway message (in case it was unclear...) is: ALLOW YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME!

Dissertations are both tough and gratifying, and it would be a mistake to suffocate the fun you should derive from them in a haze of worry and lamented regrets about not starting sooner.