Well, how are we all travelling? Still tired, still being driven by The Fear?? ;-)

My 3 pages a day target is not working - I can't decide whether these are 3 1st draft pages, which means I don't get to count rewritten pages, or 3 final pages, which means I can't count the drafts!! Big things to occupy the mind! Anyway, am keeping a visual tally on the wall, getting some satisfaction as it grows, ever so slowly.

Writing is sooooo slow! Am motivated and coming up with what I think is good stuff, it just takes forever!

Morning all! How's it going? Midnight and determined to finish this chapter tonight. Everything aches but it's been a productive day and I'm determined not to have to finish the dregs tomorrow :-)

My timeplan has kind of gone out of the window, which does not help with fending off The Fear (oh yes, it's still there!). I'm on track with some parts of the plan but others have fallen by the wayside. On a positive note, the more I write (and read and think) the more the other chapters are forming when I'm not working on them. The story of my thesis is becoming more coherent, which is a kind of unplannable progress.

I don't use the writing certain amount each day for various reasons. If I have a day mostly reading then it doesn't count as progress but it is much needed! I also write in LaTeX which has no word count or sensible page measure which means I can't watch quantity - quite liberating! Similarly, draft or proper pages? Too many variables! It's all progress, drafts are as important as proper so I'd count it all - but maybe realise that some pages are quicker to achieve than others?

Speaking of which, I have some draft to make proper. And think it's time for a cuppa.

hi folks!! so far so good i guess. Had a short break away which really helped.  since returning i have been going to the library everyday except for Sundays which has been really helping. at home i don't concentrate enough... you know the normal snooze from time to time, not to mention the tea making business. Cakegirl - you are actually right, using words as a measurement can be tricky because sometimes you do a bit of reading and then tweaking. to top it up, engaging in models can be really tricky  and time consuming in comparison to just analysing something. For now the word count works for me because i am analysing some stuff. i generally feel much better because i cans see where its all going, hence its nolonger fear driving me but motivation to see how it all ends and off course, just the idea of finishing sounds good enough. been kind of dreaming of all the kinds of things i would get up to once i finish, like learning  a new language - the kind of job which will potentially feel rewarding enough after all these years of labouring like a slave....yes, i see the light for now... and now that i have this feeling i am making the most of it because i know that come tomorrow- it might be gone......chao folks

Hey! The following is a bit off-topic, but sparked off by this comment I thought it might come handy for some:

Not meaning to lure you into using it when you don't need it -- but just in case there's other people writing in LaTeX who want to check their wordcount -- there is an online way of counting words for LaTeX documents that filters out the code and counts the words:

http://folk.uio.no/einarro/Services/texcount.html

Either paste a section into the box or enter the filename as a whole. It also filters out the author-year references in the text, by the way.

There's also several other ways to count the words in LaTeX, a cheap way is of course copy-pasting it from the output document into word and use the wordcount button (but that's a bit of an awkward procedure). There's also a small programme that does the word count if you're using linux (a command line thing, very easy to use), i don't remember what it was called though as it's been a few years since I last used it, but all googlable I would assume.

Anyway, as regard the original topic -- good luck and strength to you all!

Thanks Apple - those links are really helpful. Much as it's one less distraction for me not looking at my word count the copy/paste/word thing is annoying. Word count is important for thesis structure as I could easily under or over write a section or chapter. Much appreciated.

How's everyone else? PinkNeuron have you overcome your tiredness or are you hectic coming up to the presentation?

I'm being slow, but moving in the right direction, speed is variable. Bank holiday weekend ahead so I will stock up on some food treats and chain myself to my laptop for three days! Anyone else doing something equally fun?!

Hello all

Well, I've just returned from a 4 day international conference (which was in my home country, so no nice overseas trips for me!). I gave a paper, which generated quite a good amount of interest, met people and discussed some collaborative work and visits, and had lunch with two of the world's experts in my area and we discussed my thesis. Wow!! They were really interested, gave great feedback and think my work is worthwhile. So, am on a definite high and raring to go!!

This, of course, has done nothing for my word count, but has been invaluable. Hope everyone else is also motivated at the moment!

And I'm now down to 7 months...

Nice to hear how others are getting on. Unfortunately I've just lost a month due to swine flu on top of existing serious illness. Doesn't help the nerves that! It's now just over 7 months to my university deadline and the tension is building. The research I'm working on to finish plugging a gap is taking longer than expected, but I've got back to it in the last couple of days. Just want it out of the way now. I'm building a massive database and it's slow-going. I think the subsequent analysis and writing will be fast though. I'm also waiting to hear my supervisors' view of my virtually-finished thesis, and hoping they don't want major rewrites. Aint got time! And did I mention the tension? :p

Hey Bilbo, sorry to hear you've been sick. It sounds like your work is going well though, and yep, we're all coping with parts being incredibly slow going. We'll get there!

Hi All
Glad to hear we are all on track. Good Luck Bilbo, wow, that is a blow, a month being sick. Glad you are better now.
8 months to go for me now, almost. We have got our conference next week and I finished the analysis, took 5 weeks, loads and loads and loads. Brain totally fried. Tried to carry on testing more people so I could 'just re-analyze' later. No way, I am doing all this again. The few I managed to carry on testing will have to stay as back up. Now trying to get my structural equation model to fit the data by mmmm, actually today! So my Prof can put together the presentation for me to view over the weekend. He is presenting, I have provided the donkey work, this time.
Struggling financially too now, no idea where I am going to get my final fees from and trying to tutor for the OU at the same time as all this :p
Let's hope I find a post-doc to pay back the debts which I think I will have by this time next year.
I start writing right after the conference. I hope I have enough time left. I also have to finish my sub-study to present it next April in the USA. I don't think there will be much Christmas this year!
We can do it (up).
All the very best, keep in touch...
PN

Thanks folks for the replies. I should have maybe added that I'm a part-time student, seriously ill long-term, and lucky if I have 5 good hours for the PhD total a week. So 7 months to go is a very short time in practical terms. I sent my main supervisor a panic email today. Want to arrange a meeting or something to reassure me. Just slightly freaked out over losing a whole month, and the research taking longer than planned. Must be positive though. Good luck everyone!

OMG...tomorrow is September.

Tempus fugit.

Quite! 7 months exactly to go for me now. Got an encouraging email back from my supervisor. We'll be discussing final rewrites soon. But I'm still feeling the pressure because I have so little good time a week. I'm not sure he quite realises just how bad things have got for me recently (progressive incurable disease).

Feeling more positive now. Have made progress with my database building in the last few days, so hope to finish off my final piece of plug-in research, analysis and writeup in the next couple of weeks (been at it since June). And today I got a summary of my supervisor's feedback about final rewrites/changes to be made to my thesis. Meeting tomorrow to discuss things properly, but much perkier. And matriculated again too. Better be for the last time!

Hi Bilbo

Glad to hear you're making progress - you're almost there!:-)

I've finished 5 chapters, have 7 more to go (groan - oh the pain!!!). It's taken me 3 months to write 5 chapters, which is really slow, considering I put in at least 8 hours every day. I've also rewritten a journal article, written a conference paper and presented at 2 conferences in this time. Still, would like to go faster. Just want it to be done!! Not that I know what I'll do next...

How's everyone else going?

Right, time to stop waffling and start chapter 6 - after this I'll be halfway through the first draft!

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