aim 1 accomplished. hurrah! chapter 2 methods done: a good 2nd draft me thinks. but far from perfect and complete. but it will do for the monday deadline.

took about 10 hours.

going to take a break now

hmmm i am too tired to work on the discussion chapter tonight. i think i am going to have some dinner and chill for an hour or so and then work on the discussion chapter tommorow along with yukcy chapter 6. lol instead of working through the night. best to start fresh i think.

I thought of joining as well. The weekend looks dull and rainy so, I might as well do some writing rather than being a slave to TV and watching music videos in internet. So here is the plan:
Sat- Chapter-1 methods
Sun- Chapter-1 Results
will update on sun night abt how it went. (hope none of my friends plan to surprise me by dropping in)

Hey Sheena, welcome ! nice to have company on a weekend.
may i commend you for writing on a weekend. i know it's not easy. for some reason psychologically its harder to study on a weekend.
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well i've locked myself in my bedroom and not taking a shower or anything until i get my discussion chapter done lol. going to aim for a 1st draft.
and then take a break. like JB says write first!!! and working in my bed with my laptop like Winston Chuchhill used to do. i think he used to work from his bed till like 11am or something. i read that once.

Aim:
1st draft of discussion chapter by 1pm.
time starts now! eeeeeek.

*bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* the sound of the imaginery buzzer went off at 1pm, but i cheated and carried on working for additional 30 mins.

I have completed my aim, which was a rough sketch of chapter 7: discussion. very brief, mind you! mostly copied stuff from my discussion sections from my results chapters (yes i cheated). just so that i have *some text* to have in chapter 7: so gives the appearance of a full first draft for mondays deadline; even though the content is skeleton at best! and that is being very generous.

but looking forward to getting the meat attached to the bones in the coming weeks. for now, it's just a pencil sketch of some bits and pieces i just pulled and copied/rewrote from the discussion chapters from my *results* chapters. desperate measures! time is ticking. monday deadlins is looming.

going to take a break now, shower, lunch and then get cracking on my final chapter 6.

my aim is:

complete chapter 6 by tommorow morning.

chapter 6: also known as the appendage chapter/the yucky chapter, the chapter i would love to burn, the chapter that represents 4 years wasted working on something that just didnt work.. even though commercially you can buy it (buts its expensive) so sups thought it would be a *great* idea to make our own(ha! never go into development science work, its soul destroying when you just cant get it to work)..

chapter 6 - that has no business being in my thesis, i managed to get data from other studies, but my supervisors insist me including it in, because they think i dont have enough data. but the chapter is so different to the rest of the chapters. oh well will try my best to link it with the other chapters with some heavy duty glue and imagination haha. will worry about the linking for later.

*confession time*

i've been procrastinating *hangs head in shame* i cant get to work on my last yucky chapter. i am feeling overwelmed and lost by the task of this chapter. i now only have less than a day to write it. my deadline for a first draft is this monday.

finding it very difficult to write this chapter. i have no zero drafts no nothing to work on. just vague memory of what i did and my lab books.

i miss the luxury of more time - when i could have done a zero draft first and let the madman escape but the judge keeps pouncing on everything. cause of the deadline. i keep thinking, i cant write a zero draft first, because there isnt enough time to clean it up later, because there is *no* later, because i have to submit the full first draft on monday. i know it's very illogical. but thats how i *feel* and keep getting blocked and anxious that i lose concentration.

the challenge set by my uni graduate tutor was, 3 weeks: full first draft, to convince my supervisor i can write my thesis before the september deadline and submit it.

i've done 1st/2nd draft versions of 6 chapters out of 7 so far... i just have one more chapter to go. but as joan bolker remarks, i've hit the *wall* and i really dont like this chapter

i know why i have a mental block, because i know there is sooooooooo much to write and sort out for this chapter and everytime i start to work on something i think, but such and such still needs to be done, and there isnt enough time. and that it will take ages to have a zero draft done let alone a polished 2nd draft version.

quote from joan bolkers book:
p129 " hitting the wall - that is suddenly they feel that they can go no farther, that they've exhausted not only their second wind but all subsequent ones. its a paradoxical feelings, because you've already done most of the work. ......theres another kind of hitting the wall that somethings happens to thesis writers: you feel an impossible barrier between you and the finish line, the bottom falls out of your hopefullness and ambition and your spirits border on despair and collapse. ive more than once heard someone with less than 5% of her thesis left to write say "i've decided not to go on with this project"... this is a time when the demons can catch up with you..."

*sometimes happens to thesis writer

[correction]

Sorry to hear about this, Lara! But I know you will keep going, you have made so much progress and worked so hard, I think its only normal that from time to time you feel the effects of pressure and fatigue.

You might want to look at a book by Bryan Garner, on Legal Writing in Plain English. Even if you are not doing legal writing, I think his book is great. He gives some tips on time management on the writing process for busy lawyers, that I would guess might work for you--such as give yourself x number of minutes/hours for the madman, then move on to the next one, carpenter, architecht, judge, leaving only so much time for each. And where you get is where you get. At least you have a mostly done, mostly edited, piece of work!

Thanks Olivia!! for the book recommendation and for the great idea of certain amount of time for madman etc. thats a really good idea. i will try that :)

just made myself a batch of popcorn and will start cracking with egg timer in place and my team of workers ie madman architect and carpenter. judge will work tommorow.
thanks again!

and thanks for the kind words Olivia

Don't mention it, Lara. I like to read on your progress, it gives me a lot of inspiration to keep on going, and I REALLY REALLY want to see you be DR LARA!!!

I was feeling blocked and tired last night, but had to get something written. I had typed up this section before, but either did not save it, or saved it as something so weird I will never locate it again. After fruitlessly searching, I just decided to sit down and re-write--the concepts were in my head, and I knew which articles I wanted to refer to, so I just sat down and typed. I got about 1500 words done in about 2 hours--something that will ultimately be ( I hope) the piece de resistance in the PhD conclusion chapter--wrapping it all up sort of points.

In the end I think what I rewrote was better than what I could not find--and it showed me again the value of sometimes just typing, something, anything! Because then there is progress, and you might surprise yourself with what you have. And its always easier to edit than to start on a blank page!

First of all that is so nice of you to say that you find inspiration by reading progress! that is really good to hear and thanks for the positive thinking!!

--

and wow that is amazing you did that!! most people would have just falled in despair and spent days looking for the file. that is really inspiring!! thanks for sharing that with me. its really nice to hear about other peoples writing experience!!

and i want to thank you again for introducing us to the flowers paradigm technique, best thing i have learnt !

you're so right. its easier to edit. i will just unleash the madman for 45 minutes and see what i come up with!

i will be burning the midnight oil tonight!

and really good to hear that you wrote such a good piece. that is excellent! well done you