I have a lot of debt and I manage to cope just fine on my stipend. My friend manages a mortgage etc with hers. It is great! It is like a 15 grand wage in real life - and you can top it up with tax free earnings if you work under 6 hours a week.

No probs.

I have a similar problem! I know how I like my refs to look and can type them out without really thinking about it. ENdnote however, likes it different. I have tried the harvard and chicago methods and I just don't like how it looks... so I have to change them by hand... :((. Kind of defeats the object - i wish there was a way to customise endnote...

Doesn't help you though I am afraid! I sympathise though...

Whoop-ha!

Could you ask a PhD friend? Asking other people you don't know to read it is a big favour... But then I would think that because I am quite shy and rubbish at exploiting the 'research network'!! Personally I would depend on my Sup if I was new to it all. Otherwise I would just send it off as it is and see what happens!

Maybe we are being a bit harsh to you Luckydot. You are asking for advice and we are brushing you off a bit brusquely. However, you must think about the question you are asking. There is no 'formula' to getting a distinction in any work. Your Masters diss is a very personal and relative piece of work and so there is no way we could advise you on how to improve it (if it needs improving) without reading it personally. I would say go to your Supervisor and follow their feedback. Also, do you ot have a marksheet that explains to you what you need to achieve to get a distinction? like analysis, critique, good refs etc? Can't you depend on how you have been doing so far?

Also, this is a PhD forum - to ask advice on your MA you ought to be on the Masters forum... They are going through it with you and perhaps can share their experiences in a more useful way?

All the best

Jayney

work hard?! Good luck with it!

thinking about not thinking - I like that! Such a pointless drain of energy...

I want to bury my whole entire chapter and the notes and EVERYTHING in a big hole in the woods at the moment. I will happily stamp on the earth to make sure it is properly buried and walk off forever, job done. I have had an epiphany this morning: I know nothing.

Resolution: I aim to sit here for half an hour and do a bit of reading to feel in touch with the basic ideas, then I will go for lunch for an hour/hour and a half, and hopefully, hopefully, come back a bit more refreshed...

We're all in the same boat, see?

I don't know I have it until it is gone. I just sit feeling useless and guilty. roaming websites... Oh! Like this week perchance?!!

You are doing the right thing! You have confessed and been honest so you don't need to feel you are hiding any more. You are going to take some time out and get your strength up, then come back and try to work for an hour. Ease yourself into it reeeeeeeally slowly and, slowly but surely, you will get your mojo back.

Don't quit - what you are feeling seems to be pretty common amongst us all. Just come on here if you need a whine...

Good luck!

Very true - some people love a lot of signposting (like my sup) and others find it irritating and just want to get to the point asap...

...

When you are writing it feels like you are being really irritating and repeating yourself a lot but actually it isn't bad to read. And it helps cement to yourself, and the reader, where the heck this whole thing is going. They don't like to be kept guessing! In the intro's point out your main arguments and the conclusion that you are working to in that chapter so they can work it out with you - don't unveil your main argument as a big flourish at the end of the chap/paper.

I think that's all I can say for now and if I have stated the obvious I apologise... if you have a more specific issue I would be happy to help!

Hmmm

I imagine that I am writing for my boyfriend (or person of choice) and handholding them through my thesis, explaining to them in a conclusion what the chapter just examined/argued/introduced, then clearly explaining what the next one will generally examine/argue/introduce. Then, in the next chapter I would start by introducing that chapter and knitting it to the last one so it feels like a seamless transfer. Imagine they have put the thesis down and gone to make a cup of tea. Then they come and pick it up again and just would like a little refeshing on what it is you are talking about here again.

...

Ah, thanks Hairui. I will bear in mind that it is not useful to compare chapters and chapter times because, as you say, each one is different. How silly not to have thought of this before...

Also a heck of a lot better than 'grotesque', as the writing in my MA diss was described by my sup two days before the deadline...

I hope it has improved since then!