It may be difficult to decide when to stop reading and start writing. You don’t need to have read everything ever published on the subject; on the other hand, you need to read enough to make sure that you are aware of the most important critical debates.

If you are writing a text-based dissertation, an important stage in the reading and note-taking process is to go back to your primary texts after reading the work of other critics. Re-read texts, watch films again or refocus on whatever forms of artistic or cultural expression you have chosen to work on. This will help you regain a sense of their scope and complexity, and encourage you to start thinking critically about how other people have engaged with these texts.