Choose and invite a chair and committee members. First, talk to the department chairperson about the required number of committee members and any other issues about which you may have questions. You will probably also have to register for six credits or more of "Thesis," "Independent Study," "Directed Study" or something similar for the semesters in which you plan to research and write your thesis.
Decide on a thesis. It should be original and narrow enough to allow you to give it an in-depth treatment. You also need to find a topic for which you can either conduct original research or otherwise obtain scholarly information. Additionally, it must make a worthy contribution to the professional community. Discuss your idea with your committee chair before committing yourself. Your university will require you to receive approval for your thesis topic.
Develop a timeline that includes research time, writing, committee meetings at university-required intervals, revision and more committee meetings. Thesis committees don't always meet together. Often the student visits each committee member individually until the committee finally convenes as a group for your thesis defense, so allow time for that. You will have to give each member a copy of your work in progress a few days to a week ahead of time. Committee members need to prepare for the meeting.
Conduct your research. Keep careful records of lab records, sources you consult and sources you will actually cite. You need to know the point of origin for every idea or passage that is not your own.
Begin drafting your thesis. Expect that you will revise it and continue to develop it over the course of the research and writing period.
Meet periodically with your committee members to discuss your thesis project. Your department will require a specific number of meetings at prescribed intervals. Use these meetings to ask questions and collect feedback and constructive criticism from your committee members. You want to know if you are headed in the wrong direction, using unacceptable resources or making any other errors long before you go to your defense.
Make it your business to know your university's formatting and filing requirements, including a series of dates that concern library approval, Graduate Studies department approval, declaring your intent to graduate, binding, and filing copies of your thesis.
Keep track of thesis filing dates, and plan ahead. Some universities require that you submit a preliminary copy of your thesis to the library within a certain number of days before your defense. A librarian will check it for formatting and other issues. This check may be detailed and include measuring the page margins. If the formatting is off, you will have to reformat the entire document. Then you can have it bound in accordance with university specifications. You will have another date by which you must submit a final bound copy to the library. At that time you should also have given a bound copy to your thesis chairperson.
Give all committee members a copy of your final thesis enough time before your defense to ensure that they can read it carefully. Your university may have a prescribed date by which you must have submitted copies to committee members. These copies probably do not have to be cloth bound unless your department requires it.
Attend your thesis defense on the appointed day and time and defend. Your committee members will sign a certification that they accept it.