Hey girls :) How is everyone? I was so pleased to see that this thread was going strong!

Things are getting back to normal here. I managed to track down one family friend, who has been evacuated but otherwise ok. Still can't find another friend, but I am sure she is somewhere safe. University has been kind and granted me a month off, so I am still on track to finishing this summer, 31st of July!

I am fully back into writing mode now, have been writing for two weeks and got another chapter out of the way. I just have the intro, first lit review and the conclusion to write. I think I will be working on the conclusion next. I am doing things so backwards because I just don't know how to structure the first lit chapter. gggrrr. Must've written that chapter about 4 times now and it never seems right.

I am so glad to see that everyone has made so much progress, I am looking forward to being part of this thread again :-)

Hey, Pink_Numbers, great to hear from you again and am so glad that things in Japan are okay (hope you hear positive news about your other friend soon). Sounds like you're steaming ahead with the writing - brill (up). Dunni has submitted so hopefully the rest of us in this thread will start to submit one by one 'til it's empty!!

Hi Ady, lovely to speak to you again! How have you been? How's the writing going?

Wow Dunni, congratulations for submitting, I'm so proud and happy for you! I do hope you hear about your viva date soon.

Hey Pink- really pleased to hear that things are okay at your end, it must have been such a horrible time for you. Glad the uni have been understanding and that you are now able to get back into the swing of things again. Best wishes, KB

Hi Keenbean, nice to hear from you, how are things with you? I see that you are super busy writing 4 papers simultaneously! I wish I was as good at multi-tasking as you are. How are they all coming along?

Hey Pink! Yeah, not too bad thanks, the results papers are getting there slowly, although I'm trying not to think about them over the Easter week! Got another paper accepted for publication last week, so that's given me a bit of a boost on what seems to be a long and slightly tiresome journey! Two of the other three results papers are nearly done but one is proving difficult as the results are so contrary to expectations and I cannot dream up an explanation for them as yet. Things are a bit better with my sup now, so that's making things a bit less stressful too, although all of that can change at the drop of a hat! You got much left to do? Must be strange coming back to it after a few weeks off- it sounds like you've gone from one stressful situation to another, although I'm sure everything happening in Japan has put things into perspective regarding the PhD. It did for me, and I have no connection to Japan at all. Best wishes, KB

woooo congratulationss keenbean! That's great news! and I am so glad to hear that your supervisor is behaving better again. I really hope things stay well with her for you, because it's the last thing you need. I have one set of data that is like yours, totally unexpected and I have no idea how to explain it... so you have my sympathy!

It did feel a bit weird coming back, like, I felt guilty for 'moving on' when people are still suffering so much. But I realised that me completing my phd is the best thing I can do for my family, because they want the good news that I finished. So I guess I have to plough on.

I still do have a lot to get done, my intro and 1st lit review chapter is still in pieces with absolutely no direction. A few chapters needs a good editing & additional bits written. My conclusion chapter is so weak at the moment I am worried that it might just curl up and die on me while I'm not looking!! I have no idea how I am going to get it done on time.

Hi All!
Congratulations KB on getting a paper accepted! That is fantastic news! And great to hear that you are getting on better with your sup.

Pink it is really good to hear that you are getting back into it, and awesome to hear how supportive your uni has been.

Things are going ok for me. I had a few days off for easter, and now I am working to have a full draft, except for the discussion, to both sups by the end of next week. I am away for 1 month, so that should give the sups enough time to have a look, and then we'll see where I am when I get home. At the moment, I'm working on the chapters that go between my papers, and it is really fun. To give it all a little context, I'm writing about why I chose specific journals, and how hard some parts were, and how easy some other parts were. To bring it all together, I'm putting my Gantt chart in each of these chapters but highlighting the relevant parts of the chart.

Hi everyone,

Just caught up on this thread and it is great to hear how everyone is going! Huge congrats on your paper KB and good to hear you have been getting through such a difficult time pink numbers. I can't imagine the stress. I hope that you continue to get positive news from your friends and family in Japan.

As for me - writing has been going really well. I now have a final draft of everything and am just working on my conclusion. I had a meeting with my supervisors today and got some really positive feedback on two chapters. They have said I will be submitting in 9 weeks! I just need to do some editing as it is too long, and add missing references, then obviously some glorious formatting and final proofing. So relieved that the end is near!

Hope everyone has a good week. Bye for now!

Morning summer submitters, how is everyone getting along? I have to say that the two long BH weekends have really got me out of studying mode, too many days out shopping, bbq'ing, taking babies to the beach etc lol. Ok really must start working on my viva prep although difficult when I have no viva date to work to :-( I plan to have a skype tutorial with my uni sup soon to help motivate me, must get that arranged.

It is good to see progress happening in this thread, Slowmo and Fm, really not long now - well done. KB well done on your publication, a geat motivator! It will be fab to see everyone gradually submitting over the summer, perhaps a viva thread needed then :p

How is everyone these days?

I have one good new this afternoon, I've finally drafted all my chapters!! wooot!

okay, so they all still need a lot of work (particularly the research method chapter, I'm still very lost on that), but I don't have to write another chapter from scratch again! That makes me feel so good.

Well done to slowmo for finishing her first draft too, it's such a relief isn't it?

Fm - your gants chart scare me! one of the negatives of my thesis is lack of diagrams and charts. My supervisor says 'you're not the picture types are you?' when reading my chapters, which is not true!! I just don't know what charts and diagrams to put in. So I admire you for being able to create very useful charts for your thesis.

Dunni - I'm sorry to hear that you still have no viva date. I can understand how hard it'd be to get into work mode after the many BHs and no goal date. I hope that skype meeting with your supervisor will be useful for you :)

Wow, well done Pink Numbers on your draft chapters. It is a relief to have everything drafted as the task of editing, modifying and finalising it all is much easier if a little tedious. Just check your word counts and limits now the chapters are drafted so you know if you need to edit should anything be added! On the final road to submission now then (up)

Well done finishing your draft pink numbers - that is awesome and really impressive given all of the additional stress you have been dealing with. Not long now!

Hope you get a viva date soon Dunni.

As for me - I have got off to a reasonable start editing. My supervisors are now approaching examiners which is exciting if a little daunting!

Hope everyone gets a little bit of a break over the weekend.

Thought I would check in here as I haven't in a while. Congrats Pink, Slowmo and Fm (and anyone I am missing) on your full draft. I reckon I'm about a week away from that. I won't bore you with the details but I'm not really that happy with how it's gone. My thesis is way, way too long for my liking. I trust my supv (he has a great reputation) but every time I show him something his reaction is 'great, just expand'. It's not too long to submit as it's still under the word count, just about, but I think it reads like it's too long. Anyhow, on a positive note I am looking forward (if that's not a contradiction in terms) of revising, editing etc rather than writing from scratch.

Let us know when you get your viva date Dunni.

Well done Ady, sounds like the thesis is progressing well with support from your sup too.  I have to say with my thesis, there were areas I wasn't happy about but felt I could procrastinate no more, so it was submitted. My sups didn't raise any concerns about these areas so I was probably being a perfectionist :$  Hopefully, you will have your full draft very soon which then won't be long to submission. I am looking forward to hearing your update!