• Use a standard wordprocessing, database, spreadsheet and bibliographic program.
  
  
• Set up a style sheet, or use the templates that come with your wordprocessing program, and save it as a master PhD style sheet. Do this before you begin to write and use it for every piece of writing connected with your PhD. (Make sure that you remember to include paragraph spacings between various level headings.)
  
  
• Make a writing guide so that your writing is consistent. The writing guide should contain information on: which words are capitalised; how certain words will be spelled (specially important with -ise and -ize endings) and which acronyms you will use; how dot points will be laid out and what, if any punctuation marks you will use; where and how you will label tables and figures. As you continue to write you will find yourself adding more and more information to this guide. You can also use it to show others, such as an editor, what consistency rules you have been following.
  
  
• Use a bibliographic program such as "EndNote" from the beginning for all your references.
  
  
• If you know that your writing is bad, or if you are an English second-language user, then you may want to think about buying the services of a professional editor. (Supervisors and examiners are not editors and should not be expected to do this job.)

By following these tips you will save yourself hours of tedious work checking and editing - apart of course from the many hours you will spend reading and correcting drafts anyway!