How to Write Your MFA Thesis in Fine Art (And Beyond)
Published 11/10/2014 -> wow, a lot has changed in the world of technology since the original publication of this guide! (I revisited here on 6/11/24)
*For a revised version of this original publication – please visit my public paper here on the CUNY Academic Commons – https://commons.gc.cuny.edu/papers/53657/
I enjoy writing, and I find the process to be fun. Do you? I know that writing takes regular practice and it’s an essential part of my learning process. Writing helps me see and organize my thoughts. This allows me to edit and become clear about what it is I am expressing. Practicing writing helps me identify mistakes as well as further emphasize what I really want to explore and write about. When a topic of interest strikes me the process is effortless. I notice how I feel about the topic and this is a key factor as to how quickly I will get working on as essay, blog post or tutorial. This is something I have identified in myself over time and through repetition, how about you? Writing induces and activates new awareness. In my experiences as a college art professor, I have taken notice of a few consistent patterns when it comes to more formal writing. Especially a final thesis deadline.
For some, the thought of generating a final graduate thesis can be a daunting thought in and of itself. Associated with that thought may be an outdated feeling that your body still remembers. This outdated association can be especially frustrating to the point of extreme procrastination. If you are unaware that you are the cause of this feeling then you will continue to perpetuate it. Sound familiar? If you choose to enroll into an MFA program you will be required to write a final thesis. This will be an in-depth description of your concepts, process, references, discoveries, reflections and final analysis. The best part of writing a final thesis is that the writer gets to create, format, define and structure the entirety of it. Throw away any pre-conceived and or outdated perceptions of what you think you should do. You must take responsibility for your writing the same way that you discipline yourself in the creation and production of your art work.
Where do you begin?
Your final thesis is an official archival record of what you have completed, explored and accomplished during the duration of your MFA program. Not only will your thesis be written for yourself, but also it will prove and back up your convictions, theories, assessments and statements for other people. It should be known that the content in this tutorial could also be applied to other writing needs that may be similar to the MFA thesis structure. An MA thesis or undergraduate BFA thesis can also easily follow this format. By all means, you can share it and remix it.
A regular writing practice must be established. This means, you will need to create a plan for how and when practice will take place. The calendar on your mobile device or the computer that you use will work just fine to remind you of these dates and times. Thirty minutes of practice twice a week can work wonders in the installation of a new habit. Are you up for that? Perhaps there is a way to make this decision seem effortless, keep reading.
You can get started right away. Technology in this area is very accessible and helpful. With use of a blogging platform such as word press one can privately or publicly begin their writing practice and archiving process. Even setting up a basic default blog will do just fine. You can always customize and personalize it later. If a blog does not interest you (but I do hope it does) a word processing document will do just fine. Either way, choosing to wait until your final semester to get started is a really bad idea and poor planning. Are there exceptions to this statement? Of course, and perhaps you will redefine my outlook, and prove me wrong, but until I experience this from someone, let’s make some longer-term plans.
I teach an MFA and MA course at LIU Post in NY that puts an emphasis on content and exposure to help students generate their final thesis. The course revolves around several exercises that contribute to the process as a whole broken down into individual isolated parts. Much like your thesis itself, this process is modular, meaning many parts will come and work together to make up the whole. One of the first exercises that I do with this class is identify a thesis template format. This is the basic structure that I have students brainstorm via a series of questions that I ask them. Keep in mind; you most likely already have a default version of this template. This could be the writing format that you learned in high school and had redefined by a professor in college. You may have been forced to use it or suffer the consequences of a poor grade solely on that formatting restriction. This feeling and program may still be running inside of you. So how do we deal with this? Together as a class we discuss and record the answers directly onto a chalkboard (a dry erase board or word document will also do just fine) I ask one of the students to act as the scribe to record the list manually while notes are individually taken also. I later put the information into a re-capped blog post on our class blog. Are you surprised that I use a blog for my class?
The Format-
The format for an MFA thesis in Fine Art (applied arts & digital) will in almost all cases coincide with a final thesis exhibition of completed works. This formats fits accordingly with the thesis exhibition in mind. This is a criteria break down of the structure of the paper. It is a simplified guide. Add or remove what you may for your personal needs.
- Description/Abstract: Introduction. A detailed description of the concept and body of work that you will be discussing. Be clear and objective, you need not tell your whole life story here. Fragments of your current artist statement may fit in nicely.
- Process, Materials and Methods: Here you will discuss the descriptions of your working processes, techniques learned and applied, and the materials used to generate the art that you create. Why have you selected these specific materials and techniques to communicate your ideas? How do these choices effect how the viewer will receive your work? Have you personalized a technique in a new way? How so? Were their limitations and new discoveries?
- Resources and References: Historical and cultural referencing, artists, art movements, databases, and any other form of related influence. How has your research influenced your work, ideas, and decision-making process? What contrasts and contradictions have you discovered about your work and ideas? How has regular research and exposure during your program inspired you? Have you made direct and specific connections to an art movement or a series of artists? Explain your discoveries and how you came to those conclusions.
- Exhibition Simulation: You will be mounting a final thesis exhibition of your work. How will you be mounting your exhibition? Why have you selected this particular composition? How did the space itself dictate your choices for installation? How will your installation effect or alter the physical space itself? Will you generate a floor plan sketch to accompany the proposed composition? If so, please explain, if not, also explain why? What kind of help will you need to realize the installation? What materials will you be using to install? Do you have special requirements for ladders, technologies and additional help? Explain in detail.
- Reflection: What have you learned over the course of your graduate program? How has the program influenced your work and how you communicate as an artist? What were your greatest successes? What areas do you need to work on? What skills will you apply directly into your continued professional practice? Do you plan to teach after you graduate? If so, what philosophies and theories will you apply into your teaching practice? Where do you see your self professionally as an artist in 3-5 years?
Individual Exercises to Practice-
The following exercises below were created to help practice and expand thinking about the thesis format criteria above. It is my intention to help my students actively contribute to their thesis over the course of the semester. The exercises can be personalized and expanded upon for your individual needs. I feel that weekly exercises performed with a class or one on one with a partner will work well. The weekly meetings in person are effective. Why? Having a classroom or person-to-person(s) platform for discussion allows for the energy of the body to expose itself. You (and most likely your audience) will take notice as to how you feel when you are discussing the ideas, feelings and concepts that you have written. Are you upbeat and positively charged? Or are you just “matter of fact” and lifeless in your verbal assertions? Writing and speaking should be engaging. Especially if it is about your work! The goal is to entice your reader and audience to feel your convictions and transcend those feelings directly. Awareness of this is huge. It will help you make not only edits in your writing but also make changes in your speaking and how you feel about what you have written.
- The Artist Interview– Reach out to a classmate or an artist that you admire. This could also be a professor, faculty member, or fellow classmate. It should be one that you feel also admires or has interest in your work if possible. Make appointments to visit each other in their studios or where ever you are creating current work. This can even be done via video chat on Skype, a Google hang out or face-time if an in person visits cannot be made. In advance prepare for each other a series of 15-20 questions that you would like to ask each other. Questions can be about the artist’s concepts, materials, process, resources and references about their works. Questions may be about how they choose to show or sell their work. Personal questions about the artist’s outlook on life, business, and wellbeing may come to mind and may also be considered. Record and exchange each other’s responses in a written format. You will make a copy for yourself to retain. Re-read and study your responses to the questions that the artist asked you. This will be helpful for you to read your spoken words coming from another format of communication. Do you find that speak the same way that you write? Where do these words fit into the thesis criteria format above?
- The Artist Statement & Manifesto– Of course this will change and evolve over time but it is a necessary document that you will update each year as you evolve and grow. In one single page generate your artist statement or manifesto. Who are you? What is your work about? What are you communicating with your current work, projects and why? Who is your audience? How is your work affecting your audience, community and culture? Manifestos are usually published and placed into the public so that its creator can live up to its statements. Are you living up to yours? Keeping this public is a good reminder to walk your talk. Where do these words fit into the thesis criteria format above?
- Reactive Writing– Create a regular online space, document or journal to generate a chronological folio of reactive writing. Visit museums, galleries, lectures and screenings regularly. If you live outside of a city this may require a bit of research, but if you are in NYC this is all too easy. Bring a sketchbook and take notes! For each experience share your impressions, thoughts, feelings and reactions. Describe what you witness. Be objective down to the smallest details that have stayed with you. Reflect and find similarities and contrasts to what you are working on. Use this exercise as a free writing opportunity. Write without editing or without any formatting restrains, just express yourself in the immediacy that you feel about your experiences. At the end of each month (or designate a class for this aspect of the exercise) sit down and re-read your passages. Select the reaction(s) that you resonate with the most. Edit and format this selection into a more formal essay paying proper attention to a formatting style, grammar, punctuation and spelling. Where do these words fit into the thesis criteria format above?
- Tutorials & How To Guides– Writing tutorials and how-to guides are great ways to practice getting really clear about what you are doing. It helps you cultivate your vocabulary and describe the actions that you are performing with specific detail. It puts you in a position to list your steps, process, materials, and references and explain what the contributing contextual aspects are. Try this with a specific project or with the art that you are currently creating. Are you painter? Explain how you create a painting from start to finish. This includes the very first spark that inspires the idea for the painting, as well as how it will be installed, packaged, transported and exhibited. Details matter. Are you sculptor working in woodcarving? Explain the process from start to finish. Ask a fellow artist if you can sit in on his or her process and record what you experience. This is a really fantastic and fun exercise. It also contributes greatly to creating lesson plans for teaching. (I’m actually obsessed with this exercise a little bit.) Where do these words fit into the thesis criteria format above?
- Reviews & Critiques– Much like the reactive writing exercise above, generating reviews and critiques will foster great ways to find insight into your own work. With regular practice you will find common threads of thought and subject matter. You will discover similar referencing and contrasts. This can easily be done in two ways. You can visit specific museums, galleries, lectures and screenings to write about that excites you. This already puts a positive charge on the act of writing itself. I also suggest that you contrast this with subject matter and content that also does not agree with you. We want to be able to fully express what we do not like as well. Understanding why helps us become clear in our choices. Understanding this helps strengthen our position on what we do want to write about and what we want our audience to understand. It allows us to explore dichotomies. The second way to further exercises in writing reviews and critiques is to speak about them. Speaking about art in person is a great way to further the clarification of you writing. Where do these words fit into the thesis criteria format above?
Further Experimentation-
The spoken word versus the act of writing? I have come across many students and colleagues who find that they write much differently than they speak. I feel that writing needs to have a consistent flow and feel fluid to keep its reader engaged. Speaking well and articulating oneself clearly is also something that takes practice. I have found that sometimes recording my words and thoughts via a voice transcribing application is helpful to get ideas out and into a more accessible form. A lot of transcribing software is free for most mobile devices. Much like voice recording the powerful enhancement is to see your words take form after you have said them. You can simply copy and paste the text and edit what is valuable.
This essay is also a work in progress. It’s an ongoing draft in a published format that I will continue updating with new content and fresh ways to simplify the exercises.
I appreciate your feedback!
Thanks for sharing this. I have 3 semesters to go and was already beginning to panic over the idea of writing a thesis this will help me to begin to organize my thoughts. I have promised myself I wouldn’t procrastinate.
Sounds good Chris Ann! I will see you in the ART550 course this coming fall!
I will definitely make use of your template when trying to organize my thesis draft that I will be sending you this weekend! Thanks again for posting this and for making is straight forward and simple by narrowing it down to the most important stuff. I think what at least I suffer from most is that I find it hard to break apart the paper and instead I see it as a big scary one, which doesn’t exactly make it easier to write. So, thanks! 😀
Thanks Sofie! Glad to help!
Thank you for making this public! I enjoy writing, but “written thesis” is so daunting, especially without any sort of guidelines. I feel empowered.
Thanks so much Elyse!
Thank you so much for this! I’m only entering my second year as a BFA student and thought that I should start practicing when it comes to writing a thesis. I stumbled upon your article and I find that your guidelines and exercises helpful.
Greetings from Malaysia. 🙂
Thanks so much Jessieca! Good Luck, keep me posted if I can help further.
Thank you Ryan,
I am in my final semester of a low residency MFA program. It is a brand new MFA and we had lots of growing pains. While I have been “journalling” all along, we did not get any guidelines for our thesis until a few weeks ago. The panic is real. Your article is very helpful.
Thanks so much Anita. Im glad you have found this essay as I wrote it to offer help, and create dialog here! The beauty of writing the MFA thesis is the freedom one gets to really dig into their 2-3 year specified process and format the structure itself. This structure can be transparent and also retained. I believe that many programs follow a similar format as they encourage their students to cultivate self-motivation and also the inventiveness one needs to stand out in contrast to the other 25,000 plus people who complete MFA degrees each year. This is my opinion, but how uninteresting would it be for everyone to follow the exact same format? What would be learned that way? Perhaps we all need to re-write our thesis every few years to measure our growth as we expand and evolve. 🙂
Thank you so much for this. I’m only in my second semester of the MFA program. However, they’ve been urging us to start early. They haven’t given us any tools for actually HOW to do this besides the technical format. I find this article to be super helpful. Do you have any tips for how to incorporate the writing into a blog? It would be an interesting way to document my growth over the next two years.
Thanks so much LaKaye! Indeed, this seems to be a common concern as programs tend to give a vague or limited “technical abstract” of what they may want but don’t seem to clearly offer techniques and exercises to help achieve this. Perhaps this is intentional, and or a metaphor for students to take action. Im sure your professors would help you if you were to approached them specifically with this in mind. You could be the one who helps generate a template (like this one above) for other incoming students. Let me know if I can help you and your classmates do this? The idea is to get the student pro-active, and to take inspired responsibility for creating and crafting the final thesis in their personal style. One thing is for sure, waiting for your final semester to get started would be a terrible idea.
I highly suggest starting a blog to use as a means of practice, exercise, assessment, promotion, discussion and archiving! My friends at reclaim hosting ( reclaimhosting.com ) have a great rate for students to register a unique domain name and host their websites for less than $35.00 for the year. This is an incredible rate! Setting up a self hosted wordpress blog is a powerful tool. (I can share a video tutorial with you on how to do this as well) Blogging is a great way to get into the practice of consistent, free and expressive writing. Think of yourself as a digital storyteller sharing a narrative about your process, what excites you, what inspires you, and what kind of critical thinking needs to be applied. The how’s and why’s of our experiences are where we dig into the core of understanding our intentions and what we are communicating in our work. Perhaps, making your MFA thesis an actual blog is an asset because it shares your transparency in the process and helps others see your example. I intended for this tutorial do that 🙂
I’m loving the idea of keeping record on my blog! Thank you for your very kind and thoughtful reply. I plan to share this information with my classmates.
My Pleasure! Thanks so much for reaching out and sharing!
While reading your words I kept answering “yes” to your questions. Yes the thought of writing a thesis is daunting and yes I have been procrastinating because of it. After reading the post in its entirety I feel relieved. I also feel empowered and ready to tackle this. Thank you, Ryan!
Excellent, Meghan! Lets do it!
Thanks so much Meghan. For many years I was greatly affected by bad past writing assignments and experiences that stayed with me. Especially the ones where bad grades were given. It wasn’t for the lack of grammar or punctuation but the lack of interest in writing about topics that were not interesting. Discovering and creating a technique for oneself is a big part of what has helped me. There is an abundance of contrast out there. Example after example of what to do, and also not to do. Ultimately one must create what works for them, and in the process be able to explain the story that led up to the changes that were made. Im not saying this template will work for everyone, it wont, but I do hope it will be a supporting contrast for those seeking to improve their writing skills. Step by step, with practice.
This outline doesn’t take the edge off for me. While the guidelines to creating a body of literary documentation are quite helpful, this also creates more anxiety as my mind spins in conflict. I understand the reason for documenting a body of artistic work. It makes sense to journal in some way as to make new discoveries and reflect on choices, purpose, and motivation. What I am troubled by is the structure of the paper itself and the expectation of the reader. For me, it is not about the audience primarily. I hope to convey my intention through art and words if only to understand myself and track growth. A critique on what I write about and in a format that is not natural rather imposed, triggers feelings of unease. I myself do not wish to become a corrosion of conformity.
So well said! And the growth will be so very present! The beauty of this kind of paper is the writer’s journey to create the structure in the process and make the needed revisions over time. My template is the one that I created to help myself while in my own process, and I hope it also helps anyone else who may resonate with it. I would never suggest that anyone follow one specific template. We must discover and feel it out. I love the idea of making connections to things via our feelings. We will talk about this in class much more too. The first time I wrote a thesis it took me about a year to understand how I thought about my work. I then discovered when the thesis paper was completed and turned in, time would pass, and it would no longer represent the work I was doing. Change and growth found me in such a graceful way. The paper was a tool and learning metric of growth. It taught me that I would grow, and I would be able to watch that growth. I also taught me that re-inventing ourselves can be done through creating exercises and challenges set up for ourselves. And, if we help others in the process we all learn so much more about ourselves and each other.
Thanks so much!
친애하는 교수님께,
먼저 감사의 뜻을 보내고 싶습니다.저에게 큰 용기와 힘을 주셔서 온 마음과 정신을 다하여 최선의 노력을 할 각오를 주셨습니다.저에게는 예술의 학문을 전진해 나가는 것이 저의 절실한 희망이며 최대의 성취고 사회를 돕는 사람이 되려고 교수님게 저의 소망의 의지를 보냅니다.
다시금 감사합니다.
Chie 대단히 감사합니다. 최대한 많이 도와 드리겠습니다. 당신은 훌륭한 일을하고 있습니다! 웹 사이트 번역 기능이 잘 작동합니다. 곧 뵙죠.
Because English is the second language of many international students, learning to write properly for me is terribly difficult. Im very grateful to you Ryan, your article gave me many hints to writing paper. It lets me know where to start, and how to write. In fact, I usually write essays feeling afraid and not getting the main idea across to the reader. I also often write in subtitles, I think this is my biggest weakness, I cannot find my own writing direction. It seems that I need to first outline an outline to write the thesis properly.
Yes! Writing your MFA thesis in your second language is ambitious and wonderful! I am happy to help and we will work hard on this together! Lets first discuss the main idea surrounding your thesis work this week! See you soon!
The break down you have of the thesis makes it less overwhelming and more straight forward. It creates an organization that allows me to really focus one piece at a time. It also allows me see that I still have some figuring out to do but I am excited and hopeful to figure it all out!
Thank you Grace! Simplifying and then continuing to simplify over time has been my greatest asset. Organizing fragments into short lists helps me put a focus of specific points. I build from there and edit after. Less can pave the way for more in some cases. This guide is still in review and I continue to add and reduce from it.
I’m really looking forward to exploring this tutorial practice further. I’m used to jotting ideas and steps in different notepads and iPhone notes but pushing myself to sit and focus and write a step by step practice is extremely helpful. Last night I wrote a tutorial on using acrylic paint after having used oil paint for so long. Breaking down my own process already has me thinking of new ideas I want to try out. I can already see this will help me explain techniques to students in the future in a more effective way too so thank you! I take for granted some small steps that others might find valuable. I myself love when an artist shares their process sparing no details! Formulating guides as a habit will hopefully help me understand my own goals as an artist and also serve as a reminder if I start working differently. As far as the thesis outline goes, I’m thrilled to have this template to stir up ideas to brainstorm while working on new projects. Breaking it down makes it far less intimidating, thank you!
Laura, excellent! I would love to see the tutorial! And indeed, you should share the tutorial online! Transparency is a great teacher, it helps consider that there is always someone who can learn from our sharing!
I have also learned that sometimes all it takes for getting more transparency out of people is by simply asking! I have reached out to quite a few of my favorite artists and online personalities and asked them for a description of their process, most of the time it has worked!
“Thrilled” is a great word to apply to Thesis writing! Awesome! Looking forward to your work Laura!
This outline has made my life so much easier! I am less nervous about starting my thesis. Thank you so much for posting this, it will definitely be something that I will keep coming back to as I prepare my thesis.
Writing something like a thesis is very overwhelming to me because English is my second language. I’m worried that I will not be able to share my thoughts exactly, but at least now my format won’t be wrong!!
Excellent! Thank you Hyon! Yes, we will be able to express all of thoughts and ideas perfectly. It will take practice and we will work on this together and in our class! Exciting times!
Thank you for sharing this invaluable content, I am presently doing my MFA at Ulster University. As fine art students we are taught to think subjectively and think reflexively. When I approach my thesis I really struggle with the concept of writing objectively and constantly find myself writing in the first person. Do you have any advice with regards how I can write more “academically”, my subject matter is extremely personal and I am finding due to the nature of the contentious issues I am trying to process, I cannot convincingly depersonalize my writing and thought process.
Thanks so much Gerard, I will respond back with some more info soon! Yes I can advise further.
Hi Ryan,
Sorry to bug you. If you could spare a moment and send me any literature that could help me with writing in the third person it will be most valuable.
Regards
Gerard
Hi Gerard,
Thanks for the note, Im super curious as to how you will use the info? Would you be writing your MFA thesis from a third person perspective? Shoot me an e-mail to discuss a bit more. ryan(at)ryanseslow.com
This was much needed! I am beginning to write an abstract for a conference about one of my works. After I began I was wondering if the outline for a standard research paper would even really apply for artwork? After doing some searching I came across this article. Thank you!
I know it will come in handy when I have to write my final thesis too!
Great! Thanks, keep me posted if I can help further. 🙂
Thank you so much for giving world such important and valuable information.
i am right now working on my thesis work in fin arts diploma and i really needed this 🙂
once again thank you.
Fatima from Pakistan.
Thank you so much Fatima! :))
I am procrastinating on MFA thesis writing as I type! The reminder to treat my writing as I do my art practice is so needed, as is the breakdown of what to include. Thank you!!!!
Excellent! Thanks so much and let me know if I can help further!
Reading this post put my mind at ease about writing my thesis. Previously, I had thought of it as page after page of new ideas i would have to come up with. This post showed me that those ideas are already there, I just have to get them out there on paper. This post showed me where to look for inspiration and how everything can fit together to make a final product.
Excellent! Our class will help via the exercises for sure! You will enjoy the process and the commitment to a single idea.
Writing for me has always been a terrible experience. I am not good at using grammatical rules and just forget about spelling. I am so thankful that spell check is in almost every operating system now. So in short I have always hated writing and would have much rather drawn a picture of what I needed to report on.
When reading through your essay I found that your introduction really brought me in. I don’t really think of writing as a way to organize my thoughts. I have always done that through a picture, so thinking about it that way was very interesting to me. I also did not think of my thesis as a way of documenting and recording my MA program until now. I think that having this paper will be a good way of keeping a record of what I have accomplished during my time at LIU Post. Additionally, it will be helpful to use the thesis as a guide. Rules and clear instructions help me work better and faster. Breaking apart the entire paper into smaller sections is very helpful in providing direction.
Since I still have another year before graduating, creating the exhibition simulation may be difficult to do, because I do not know what gallery it will be displayed in, how many pieces I will have etc. I do not know where my work will be placed yet but I can try to come up with an idea of what I would like and work from there. Furthermore, I have never written an artist manifesto. The thought of presenting one to a group of people is intimidating to me. As a teacher talking to large groups of people about general knowledge is something that I do frequently, but I feel like a manifesto is almost like bearing your soul to the world. I think maybe this can be a good way for me to become more confident in myself. Even though writing is hard for me I look forward to the critiquing process so I can improve my writing skills and convey my message through the written word.
Great, well said here! Practicing various techniques in both short and medium sized exercises works wonders!
Ryan first off thank you for being so thorough and creating almost a recipe for our thesis’. This entire process can really seem anxiety provoking but breaking it down into these terms makes it seem much more manageable. “By the inch it’s a cinch, by the yard its hard” is a quote that I love that reminds me of the reactive writing assignment. Taking sometime to write every month seems a lot more palette able!
I also enjoy the recommendation of using an app to write your thoughts. I think I am a much better speaker than writer… I think most people are! If writing were easy we would all have a couple books under our belt!
I have also been inspired, by “Resources and References:…” (under the format) into my current work. I have been almost working backwards thinking about the historical and cultural references of an idea i would like to convey to spring board into some art making!
I like the idea of doing the paper over the course of time, I feel like its a good way to stay organized and a good way to have it develop over time. When a writing piece is able to develop over time, rather than rushed it is able to reach its fullest potential; your able to think idea’s through and are able to go back and edit.
I was wondering, what if you don’t have any historic references?
Yes indeed! Practice and patience plays a big role in the process, as does revising the results. Historic references are your influences. What artists and art movements have affected you and your thinking? How have these artists and art works made you see the world in a new way? This is where brainstorming and researching plays a big a role. We can get very specific about this, step by step.
Thank you for creating a breakdown to make the task of writing a thesis paper a little less scary. Writing it section by section at a time will be more helpful than to just sit down and try to write it down all at once. I’m still apprehensive on some areas of the paper but this process will alleviate some of the stress and allow me to organize my thoughts better.
Yes, step by step, 🙂
Well said! Section by section with an emphasis on each specific section takes away the anxiety of the whole outcome.
I remembered in my undergraduate year, few graduate friends were telling me about how stressful about writing the thesis. I really can tell that they look more aged before they start writing the thesis. This is the biggest reason that why the thesis scared me. I am neither speaker nor writer, I am not good at any of these two things. I am more about the middle level. So if I have to compare these two, writing skill is better. I very glad to see in the first few paragraphs about the benefits of the writing process and strongly agree that writing can help me to see and organize my thoughts, and be more clear about the content I want my readers to have.
Also, very thankful to break the huge thesis into 5 small pieces in general. And fill these 5 small pieces with some little questions that can be easily answered individually. It really encourages me that maybe I can write a thesis too. I understand that I still will face many difficulties like language. But I know I will be very proud of myself that I using my second language to write the thesis at the end of this semester.
Yes! Writing your thesis in your second language is ambitious and amazing! I know that you will you do a great job. Plus, you are not graduating this comingMay of 2019, this will be a simulation and a great practice experience for you.
Thank you for this information. It is thorough and concise.
I have an idea about what I would like to do for my thesis show. The research is almost completed. The work is being created, so I can definitely describe the work and materials.
I am struggling with how to describe my space and the display. I feel it may be to far in advance to describe it. Or should I talk about how I wish I can display it, although that may change?
Yes, lets discuss it now and build off of the ideas that already come to mind. Even if they are a snippet of words and short sentences, we start by getting something into a tangible form. We can always expand from a result produced. You are going to rock it!
thank you for this article, I’m so glad that I found it as I am working towards my senior project in my undergrad.
I’ve been working on research and putting together the essay for some time now and found difficulty in formatting my words and ideas on paper. I’m a writer and process most of my thoughts on my computer, but writing about my artistic process and art is a completely different thing. In first drafts, I wrote too much of my personal life and the ways in which I have made art based on my experiences. I appreciate the way you have broken down the different sections of a thesis to include the aspects of art-making, from research to the methodologies.
Happy it helps! Best of luck!