Hi all, I'm writing :-) and I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on writing chapter intros? Obviously I dont just want to lauch into a huge results section, but my intro just seems to come out quite dull and uninspiring (I dont want people to stop reading!). What should go into the intro? does the rule of thumb for intros generally still apply i.e. aim for at least 10% of the total word count? Should I be trying to get the reader interested in the chapter, or tying up any loose methodoloigal ends that will help them to understand the following chapter easily?
Cheers!

Hi Siwee,

A smiley about writing!  You are motivated!

I've always been told to do the "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them" approach to Chapters. So, I would start an introduction by saying what you said in the last chapter which was pertinent, then what you're going to say in this chapter.  Then outline what will be discussed in the chapter. If  you're introducing the methodology or writing a lot about it I'd have that as a section of the chapter, if you're just recapping from a methodology Chapter then you could just include it in the intro.

Hope this is of some help but all just my opinions and second hand advice.

A

Ok, brilliant, thanks!

(PS the smiley was because I seem to be past my not writing phase - have a nice day :-))

Well to be honest I wouldn't worry to much how exciting it is as realistically only your suprvisors, you and your examiner will every read it. if you are lucky and working in a hot field then a couple of people will get it out of the library to read. But, well done on writing!

I take your point about who will read the thesis :$ but surely you a) want to write something that doesnt make you need a gallon of coffee just to finish typing, b) please your supervisor with the standard of your work, and c) interest the examiners? I want a job afterwards and I'm going to choose to show this to people that I might want to work with! I certainly dont want the big shots in my field to remember me as the girl that wrote the dull thesis!