Interesting. From my personal experience, I spent a long time feeling like my undergraduate dissertation was the best thing I had written so far in terms of style. I was trying so hard with PhD stuff that it all felt very stilted and I couldn't get the sense across that I was actually excited about anything I was saying. Eventually, I have started to feel like my writing has progressed and is better than UG. Maybe it's because I'm more comfortable with my subject, maybe because I've focused so hard on writing techniques and it's eventually started to seem natural? I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I think a 'natural' style of writing needs to be nurtured. Not that I'm saying I'm there yet, by any stretch of the imagination :-)

Me too Emmanki, scary how fast time flies, isn't it?

Hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride...

I can make it to Manchester fairly easily and would love to come but this month is very busy for me- I'll have to see what dates etc. :-)

Do you get jealous of them?

I've recently been introduced to a girl I'm going to a conference with in September. She is doing a PhD at a very prestigious university and is incredibly beautiful. She's also lovely, and modest. I know these are far from the only things which make somebody an excellent person and I’m not sure good looks should even really count, but anywho...
When meeting people like that do you just think ‘well, mustn’t grumble, I’ve got all my own teeth and hair etc’? I seem to have recast her as some kind of goddess in my own mind. Maybe I’m in love :-x

How to write your PhD in 15 minutes a day by Jean Bolker. Invaluable.

I hate to say it, but you will probably encounter this kind of attitude a lot during your PhD, whether you’re a mother or not. PhD’s are massively misunderstood and undervalued in this country, currently. How to change people’s attitudes- Who knows? Maybe there’s a PhD topic in there ; )
As an anecdotal aside, last night I watched Mastermind and then University Challenge with my flatmate. He is incapable of watching UC without making some disparaging comments about how the team members must have no life and no friends and what’s the point in knowing all this ‘useless’ stuff. Yet he is enthralled by the Mastermind contestants and thinks they’re great. He admitted that he is probably biased against the UC contestants purely because they’re students whereas the Mastermind contestants usually have ‘proper jobs’. At one point I would have been fuming...For better or worse, I don’t really care now. I enjoy what I do and I hope to contribute to a body of knowledge and teach my students some interesting things. Aside from that, you can’t please everyone

Honest, self-deprecating and likes a drink...you sound great to me Maria! :-)

I’m not sure I have a consistent style, but from first draft to ‘’finished’’ would probably look something like:
1. Re-read primary materials (literature) and read as many secondary sources as possible in the time I’ve given myself making lots of notes as I go along, no matter how inconsequential and random they seem at the time.
2. Stop and read through everything written during 1), work out what the different parts of my argument are even if they don’t all fit together yet
3. Organize into some sort of logical shape and add in references.
4. Send to sup with lots of notes like ‘need to expand upon this’ and ‘waiting for this book to turn up’ : D
5. See what he comes up with. Look up all the extra references he inevitably suggests and start trying to integrate them, work on any style issues he’s highlighted.
6. Send it back. At this point there’ll either be a major flaw in my argument which needs hammering out over a period of time or I can stop and just focus on wording/style.
7. Check references and it’s good to go.

All in all, a long and messy process!

I love Teek's idea for a title! I think that could really work.

It really makes me angry when reviewers make such unhelpful- and frankly unprofessional- comments. It’s one thing to say ‘have you considered that this area is already well researched’ and another to say that it’s ‘new wine in an old bottle’. Sadly, it happens though. Take my little story as encouragement- I was rejected from a very minor journal with some comments which knocked me for six, but I took them on board, re-submitted to a much better one and it’s now getting published : ) Give yourself a little bit of time to regroup and then go to the conference and knock their socks off. Use this opportunity to explain to people exactly why new research is needed in this field. Thinking about it, what’s wrong with new wine in an old bottle anyway?!

Oh, EV, I’ve been there so many times. In fact I’m struggling with a similar thing right now. I know how hard it is when you’re desperately trying to piece things together to make an argument. I agree with Sim’s ideas, changing location can really help sometimes, as well as switching from working on a pc to pen and paper or vice versa. Can you incorporate the difficulties you’ve been having into your paper somehow? What I mean is, instead of trying to create a completely integrated paper in the next 2 weeks could you present it as a series of observations and talk about some of the benefits and difficulties of the research you’re undertaking? Some of the best papers I’ve heard have been like this as audiences can really engage with them and you might get some genuinely useful feedback.
Either way, definitely take some pressure of yourself and don’t think of it as trying to write the world’s best conference paper.

I just wanted to add my thoughts to those below as you are such a lovely, supportive poster and have helped me many times in the past. I imagine you have already tried this but have you thought about some meditation? I've watched a couple of Youtube videos about mindfulness and it's a nice way of saying 'it's ok that I'm feeling like this, it doesn't make me an incapable person.' And you will certainly, certainly get through this, but try not to think about the future for now and just concentrate on enjoying your week. Best of luck x

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