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The MA Dissertation Nervous Breakdown Club

Please tell me I’m not the only one losing my marbles! It’s just so many words, and I am starting to doubt my ability to write in actual, coherent sentences.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my subject, and I think I have a pretty interesting title. But there is something about this one mammoth essay being 1/3 of my degree that is just frying my brain and causing indecision paralysis!

Reply 1

University of Bath

Official Rep

Original post

by Han_DD

Please tell me I’m not the only one losing my marbles! It’s just so many words, and I am starting to doubt my ability to write in actual, coherent sentences.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my subject, and I think I have a pretty interesting title. But there is something about this one mammoth essay being 1/3 of my degree that is just frying my brain and causing indecision paralysis!

Hi Han,

I did not do a Masters if this is what your MA refers to, but I remember feeling exactly the same during my Undergrad at Bath!

Its perfectly normal to feel the pressure with your dissertation, but I would encourage you to try not to overthink it - you CAN write properly because you've written dozens of probably very high-quality essays before - this diss is just like one of those, but longer.

Something which helped me - draw an elephant. Sounds daft, but I drew an elephant in my academic diary, split it up into sections, labelling them as 'intro,' 'para 1,' 'para 2,' etc, 'results,' 'discussion,' 'conclusion.' When I'd written and finalised each section, I would colour that part of the elephant in.

Seeing the elephant slowly get coloured in showed me psychologically that I was making progress. Treating my dissertation as bitesized tasks rather than a big elephant was very helpful and helped calm my nerves and get some perspective.

I hope this helps. Best of luck with your MA diss - you 100% can do it 🙂

University of Bath

Reply 2

Kingston Zhi En

Official Rep

Original post

by Han_DD

Please tell me I’m not the only one losing my marbles! It’s just so many words, and I am starting to doubt my ability to write in actual, coherent sentences.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my subject, and I think I have a pretty interesting title. But there is something about this one mammoth essay being 1/3 of my degree that is just frying my brain and causing indecision paralysis!

Hi there @Han_DD , I am so sorry to hear about your distress regarding your dissertation, however I can assure you that it is a completely natural to be overwhelmed during this process🥲! Given how big a task it is, it is always important to start early and keep a consistent schedule of writing to complete it. Try to break it down into different parts each week and write in point form first if it helps. I prefer to create a skeletal outline of all my points first before I start trying to write cohesive sentences 🤧 it is natural if this outline changes as you will find better ways to structure and edit your dissertation the more you write. Do reach out to your tutor or uni's academic writing support services when you are feeling stuck or bounce ideas with your peer, it's always good to have a second opinion 😗 I wish you all the best in the academic year ahead🥳

Zhi En
(Kingston Student Rep.)

Reply 3

UEA Rep Grace

Original post

by Han_DD

Please tell me I’m not the only one losing my marbles! It’s just so many words, and I am starting to doubt my ability to write in actual, coherent sentences.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my subject, and I think I have a pretty interesting title. But there is something about this one mammoth essay being 1/3 of my degree that is just frying my brain and causing indecision paralysis!

Hi Han,

Totally in the same boat with my MSc. I know it's not the same as a MA but I have an 8,000 word dissertation to write and I feel all my writing ability has gone out the window! 😶*🌫️

We can do this!!!

Reply 4

Han_DD

Original post

by UEA Rep Grace

Hi Han,
Totally in the same boat with my MSc. I know it's not the same as a MA but I have an 8,000 word dissertation to write and I feel all my writing ability has gone out the window! 😶*🌫️
We can do this!!!

Glad to know that it isn’t just me, and other people are feeing the same doubts! We’ll be okay, I know, it’s just feeling like an unassailable mountain right now!

Reply 5

OxfordBrookesRep

Official Rep

Original post

by Han_DD

Please tell me I’m not the only one losing my marbles! It’s just so many words, and I am starting to doubt my ability to write in actual, coherent sentences.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my subject, and I think I have a pretty interesting title. But there is something about this one mammoth essay being 1/3 of my degree that is just frying my brain and causing indecision paralysis!

Hi @Han_DD,

Thank you for your message 😊.

We are sorry to hear that you feel overwhelmed, but please know you're definitely not alone! Many students feel exactly the same way when completing such a big project, especially when it counts for so much of your degree.

As others have said, try breaking the work into smaller, manageable chunks and take regular breaks to avoid burnout. It might also help to use the Read Aloud function in Word - hearing your writing read back to you can really help with sentence flow and clarity.

If you're feeling really stuck, don’t be afraid to take a short break to reset, or ask someone else to read over your work with fresh eyes. Sometimes a small pause or outside perspective can make a big difference!

You’ve got this 💪

Best wishes,

Clare
Admissions
Oxford Brookes University

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