I've read a number of books about writing a thesis/dissertation; this is by far the most useful and pragmatic book on the market. While Lipson spends sometime discussing the "softer" aspects of writing a thesis (how to not become discouraged, why you should really pick a topic you think you would enjoy writing about, etc.), he also provides incredibly helpful suggestions when it comes to the actual writing of the thesis, including a detailed checklist and timeline for your thesis. And his section on "pre-writing" is the best advice I've gotten yet as to how to actually start getting words down on paper. This book's practicality and concreteness is a refreshing change of pace from the almost self-help quality of other writing books.