I'd also echo the advice that things are likely to get tougher before better, and the PhD writing process (I'm just finishing mine) is a horrible thing to go through, with potentially much rewriting. I got devastating feedback from my supervisor 3 years ago (I'm a part-time student, doing a 6-year PhD), saying my writing style was totally not of the standard required. To make things worse this feedback was delivered in a letter since by then he was 500 miles away, and I couldn't talk to him about it in person. I worked very hard at improving things, but had to rewrite, and rewrite, and rewrite. It got easier to take the tough feedback over time, and I still get it. Main thing is to keep going.

And personally I don't see what's so bad about mentioning the Q word. I'm a big fan of being totally honest in a PhD. If you are that serious about potentially quitting then by all means discuss it, and try to find a way forward. Only if the supervisor knows that you might quit can the two of you probably discuss how to resolve the situation. Otherwise they're just skirting around the issue, through no fault of their own.

I've had to come back to the PhD after extended periods away (sometimes a few days, sometimes months) - many, many times. My trick every time is to draw up a list of things to be done, big, small, everything. A very long list usually by the time I get back to it. And then I start picking off the most appealing (or least unappealing?) items on the list, one at a time. And that way I build up my stamina/confidence again, and get going.

Send it. It will give them a chance to read it through before the meeting (reading this sort of thing at a meeting is a real no-no in my experience), and formulate their thoughts. It should move the discussion on no end. They will probably also be very pleased that you've prepared this.

Wow no corrections! Well done you. And thanks for the encouraging words for those of us still on the path.

Best wishes for the future.

I don't think that's too big a disparity. If your chapters were mainly 10,000 words and one was 20,000 or more I'd be concerned. But that sounds ok.

Most of mine come in at about 10,000 but a couple are either shorter (7,000 or so), or longer (15,000), so I've agonised over this question too!

I would have thought this was fine. You're sending it somewhat speculatively, so email is a good option, and the person can always print it out if they want to. They can also read it on the computer easily. My husband (a post-doc) has also sent his CV in this way before.

I'm part-time (in practice just 5 hours a week for most of the PhD), so started writing up 3 years ago, mid way through my part-time PhD. I didn't think in terms of a submission date, but rather setting myself deadlines for finishing individual chapters, and agreed those with my supervisor, and strived very hard to stick to them, or even come in early. And then I took it from there. In practice I had to effectively start rewriting part way through, because there were significant problems with my writing style. Lucky I started writing early then. Now I've nearly finished I'm going to come in within the 6 years registration period allowed by my uni, but that wasn't my motivating factor, and if I'd needed an official extension (particularly easy to arrange given how much time I lose on medical grounds) I'd have taken one.

I wrote 2 chapters at a time, mainly because I get easily bored and like to switch between different tasks. My thesis has 7 chapters and for the main chunk I wrote chapters 1&2, 3&6, 4&5, and then the final conclusions chapter 7. I would have both chapters open in my word processor at a time, 2 windows beside each other, and then frequently switch between them.

My main anti-procrastination tip is to draw up to-do lists of lots of things to be getting on with, then start picking off the most appealing (or least unappealing?), and take it from there.

Good luck.

Aren't there different lengths for different departments/disciplines at your uni? There are at mine. I'm a humanities student and have been told to aim for 80-100,000 words. I'm going to come in a bit short, but have been told that's ok. Also my supervisor said he'd always prefer to read a too-short thesis than a far-too-long one, and he'd look more kindly on the former.

If a quitting student is funded by a research council then quitting part way through (as I did 13 years ago, so know about this stuff!) does have implications for a department. It means they are likely to lose out on future PhD funding.

And by implication that would knock on to the supervisor who is likely to be blamed by his colleagues/bosses.

Not good. Having said that there can be very good reasons for quitting. But it can have implications. It can also make it much harder to get another funded place, should the student try again. Especially because funding applications can ask about prior funding, and reduce funding awarded as a consequence.

Good luck with it! Whatever you decide is fair enough, and your reasoning sounds fine.

Watched Dr Who, after eating a Thai red curry meal, and drinking white wine. Definitely not doing any PhD stuff tonight!