TL;DR: Dissertations typically take one to three years to complete, but that length of time depends on your field of study and your personal life.
As you’re first starting to write your dissertation, you may be wondering how long it’s going to take you to finish writing. When can you move on from writing to your next phase of life? When can you plan to go on the job market to get a new, better job with your PhD in hand? I’ve worked with writers on over 100 dissertations (so far!), and these are a few of the factors that I’ve seen affect how quickly they’re able to finish writing their dissertations.
It depends on the length of your dissertation.
Ask around in your department—and ask your advisor in particular—how long you should expect your dissertation to be. Expectations for the length of your dissertation can vary widely based on what field you’re in. I’ve edited two dissertations that were close to 300 pages in length, in theater and in American literature. On the other hand, I’ve also edited dissertations, especially in clinical psychiatry, that were only 75 pages long.
If you’re measuring writing time based on how much time you put typing on a Microsoft Word (or LaTex or Pages) document, then obviously the number of pages makes a huge difference. The writer of whom I’m thinking in the field of American lit spent almost three years drafting his dissertation. The PsyD (psychiatry) dissertations were often written within a single school year.
Dissertations should usually be between 75 and 300 pages. A typical dissertation is 150 to 200 pages long. A dissertation that’s less than 75 pages long likely doesn’t have enough information in it. A dissertation more than 300 pages long should be trimmed. If you do trim your extra-long dissertation, though, be sure to save what you’ve cut out in a separate file in case you want to publish a full-length book later on.
It depends on the field you're in.
However, if you’re measuring time from when you first sit down at your computer to write the proposal to when you submit your final, formatted version to the graduate school, the length of your document makes slightly less difference. Proposing and performing research is a large time commitment. If you’re in literature or theater or perhaps theology, much of that time will be spent in the field-specific literature and teasing out your own thinking on paper. If you’re performing research, whether qualitative or qualitative, clinical or experimental or participatory, much of the time that you spend on your dissertation will be spent away from your computer.
As an example, here’s a typical month-by-month breakdown for a dissertation in the social sciences:
- Initial research: 2 to 3 months
- Literature review: 2 to 4 months
- Chapter 3: 1 to 2 months
- (4 to 7 months writing the proposal)
- Proposal approval: 1 to 3 months
- IRB approval: 1 to 3 months
- Collecting Data: 1 to 6 months
- Chapters 4 and 5: 2 to 4 months
- Revisions: 1 to 4 months
It depends on your personal life.
In addition to your field of study and your program, you make a difference in how long your dissertation will take to write. It goes without saying that if you’re comfortable writing in English, you’ll be able to write your dissertation more quickly. But I’ve seen many other factors impact how long the dissertation process takes, as well.
When a dissertation writer has everything working for them, that is, they write with ease, complete their research with no complications, and have no other time commitments, they may be able to finish the bulk of the writing within a semester. (I’ve witnessed it happen.) On the other hand, I’ve worked with a dissertation writer who had a series of health struggles and family difficulties and took nearly ten years to finish her dissertation. In a less extreme case, I’ve worked with a dissertation writer who took just over five years to finish because her advisor had health issues and because the writer herself, in that time, advanced from school principal to associate superintendent.
You should expect to take one to three years to finish writing your dissertation after you’re done with your coursework. Here are the four most significant factors, in my experience, to consider as you’re projecting how long dissertation writing may take:
- comfort with using written English to explain your ideas
- childcare or family responsibilities
- work responsibilities
- health issues or disabilities
Your dissertation-writing process is ultimately an experience that’s unique to you. There’s no shame in taking a long time to do it; you’re in good company. On the other hand, if you need writing to go quickly and can dedicate the time and energy to it, it’s possible.
Here's our advice:
- Don’t worry too much about grammar while writing your first draft. Ask a friend to read it when you’re done, or outsource the editing or formatting to us.
- Sign up for coaching sessions to clarify your thinking, outline your writing, and write more quickly.
- Use a references management software such as Zotero.
- Ask for help if you’re parenting and writing, and check out this story of another writing who finished her dissertation in seven years, during which time she got married and had her first child.
