This is a good tip for any part of the dissertation. Always aim to draft as quickly as you can, and then take a break for a few days before revising/editing. This will keep your progress steady and your interest at peak levels.

Nothing becomes harder to finish than a paper you never stop working on.

Your proposal should begin with a statement of what you propose, should follow with relevant examples, and research, and should end with a restatement of your objectives.

This form of tell, re-tell is one key component of scholarly writing.

Focus on making your proposal easy to read and easy to follow. Focus mainly on your conceptual creativity, your methodological rigor, and important, useful content.

Keep your writing style clear, direct, and straightforward. Avoid being verbose, pompous, or unnecessarily complex. Remember, the hallmarks of an expert scholar are that they can make even the most complex subjects easier to understand.

Demonstrate your expertise.

Examples should illustrate your view point. Build the main points of your argument and then focus on supporting details and facts to bolster them. Be clear and definite. Avoid being abstract, "kitchen sinking" or using too many obscure references.

Good examples are clear examples.

Good methodology means that you have selected the best method to answer your primary research question. The choice of best method will vary by discipline. Methodology refers to the process of collecting, evaluating, and analyzing information to answer your research question.

For qualitative work, you may need to define your personal methodology for evaluating information as this is likely to have an impact on how you perceive, report, and explain the data. The reader should understand, in general, your background and experiences which lead you to treat the data as you do. Remember, research must be replicable (or at least understandable) by other people.

A good rule of thumb is to pick the most relevant 3-5 citations for every main point. Relevancy is defined as being some combination of coming from a primary text, being published in an well respected journal and/or being presented by a well respected researcher. You don't need to find 100 citations saying the same thing. Pick the best ones to focus on in your proposal.

This is especially critical if you must write a pre-proposal, as these are normally shorter (20-25 pages) and lay out the foundation for the full proposal. Be sure to focus on the most relevant research to adequately persuade the reader.

"Selling" is a bad word in academic circles. But we use it as a quick way of saying "persuading". Your entire proposal (and dissertation) is, essentially, one long persuasive paper.

You are trying to present facts and information to persuade the reader to adopt your viewpoint. Remember this. You don't have to be fair in presenting all the sources. You have to be persuasive. Sometimes, there is a difference.

Be able to "sell" your topic in your proposal. Be able to "sell" your research methodology. You have to believe in it, and understand it, and articulate it in order to get others to accept and approve of it.

You should have at least a basic idea of your question and how you will study it. Try to keep your research as simple as possible. While you want to impress with your knowledge and overly complex research designs, simple is better.

Why? Because if you propose a very complex research design and it doesn't work out (which you won't know until you try it), you may have to scrap the whole project and start over. (Bad outcome)

So, from the beginning, construct a clean, simple, DOABLE research plan. This will minimize the chances of having to start over.

In any research project, there will be voices for and against your scholarly position. This is expected. It is easier to 'combat' these voices when you are clear on what your scholarly position is.

More simply: what do YOU believe about the topic, and why? Who agrees with you? Who disagrees with you? Why?

Knowing your own position before you begin will diminish the intensity of feeling confused in the process..... Not that it won't happen, but it probably won't be as bad.

What other writing, analysis, or research have you completed which you could apply to this proposal? The easiest proposals to work on are those which come from earlier work. If you haven't looked recently, go back through your comps questions and completed papers to see if there is any work on which you can base your proposal and build from.

Tip #1: Get clear on your project focus, topic, and relevancy. Place your topic within current literature and research.

Spend some time outlining your project's main focus, purpose, and contextual relevancy.

Be clear on what you want to study and why it is important. Be able to articulate how your project will add to existing knowledge. Be able to explain how your projects fits within the current research and literature climate.

Remember, you came to this topic for a reason. Be clear on what those reasons were before committing yourself to this topic.

It can be a useful technique for jumping into the writing, too. It's a good way to get out of the editing/revising/perfectionistic mindset and into the place of pure creation.

Try it for yourself.

You might pick out your outfit for defense, daydream about your doctoral robes, plan for your graduation party.

Even though this isn't strictly about the dissertation, taking time to brainstorm or dream can keep the momentum going so you keep moving ahead.

It's too easy to become insular in our writing and lose track of our audience. By regularly seeking out feedback, you increase the chances that your project is going in the right direction. If your project is going in the right direction, it makes sense to think that you'll finish much more quickly.