Welcome to The London Law Student’s Guide to Writing a First Class Dissertation. I remember the feeling of being overwhelmed when I realised I had to submit a 6,000 word dissertation alongside a 4,000 word portfolio by the end of April, but don’t fear! Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series on how I went from a blank page at the beginning of March 2016, to handing in an award winning first class final essay and portfolio on time by the end of April.
For this series, I will be going through my experiences then leaving some top tips for each part. So what to expect? This will involve roughly six parts.
THE LONDON LAW STUDENT DISSERTATION WRITING SERIES:
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LAYING THE GROUND WORK
- I will outline how I organised myself. This was crucial in helping me to maintain a balanced schedule. Being able to follow a well thought out framework/timetable also allowed me to realistically measure my progress by benchmarking and setting realistic expectations from the start. Even in the busy moments, I had a sort of essay lighthouse to keep me on track.
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CHOICES!
- Here, I will go through the process of picking your topic/area of law and then, picking your question.
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BE PICKY
- I will go through my initial method of picking apart my question and how to iteratively develop good ideas that eventually shape a good essay.
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Finding and Reading the Right Materials
- I will go through the techniques and steps that I used to find the relevant readings based on the initial ideas I had picked apart in the previous step. I will go through how I used this to then springboard and find other relevant materials.
- Secondly, I will go through how I collected this reading, the quotes and how I pulled it all together to write my final essay.
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Writing the First Draft
- I will go through the method of goal setting that I used and how I approached writing that first draft in order to go from a blank page to one filled with random quotes, to a draft that was further fleshed out with my own ideas.
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Fleshing Out the Skeleton
- Writing a dissertation is a process. Remember that and it’s easier to not get frustrated with it. You are not going to write your final version straight off the bat. It took me nine versions before I got my final version.
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The Final Step
- I will go through my final handing in procedure. This involved leaving enough time to proofread, collate the bibliography and running it through Turnitin
By the end, I hope to have offered an insight into the process that I used to write essays and the process that got me that 1st, so keep an eye out for further posts. And finally, good luck! If I can help in the meantime, please do message me: law@lifeofalondonlawstudent.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can!