Lara's Writing Up Diary - inspired by Jojo

L

Thanks Jojo!! I really appreciate that.

okay i kinda fell asleep early last night, at 11pm, it was meant to be a nap, ended up just not getting up again ooooooooops.

i finished the results section of the 2nd part of chapter 3.
i didnt realise it was going to take a whole day to finish the last section of the results section. but i guess you cant tell these things.

total words yesterday = 1438 words.

L

update yesterday

worked on results of chapter 4.
total words in 1st draft format: approx 2000 words (inc 1 table and 1 figure).

learnt how to change the margins. someone told me it is better to fix the margins NOW because it will be harder to fix it later. so fixed it according to the UOL regulations. binding is left heavy.

also learnt how to automatically do bullet point numbers
and learnt about how to wrap text around pictures, making sure it stays on the top and bottom.

L

my margins for page setup are as follows:

top = 2.8cm
bottom = 2.54cm

left = 4cm
right = 2cm

BUT when the page is in landscape setup: the margins are as follows:

top is now = 4cm
left is = 2.54
right = 2.8cm
bottom = 2.5cm

S

Lara- I didn't know you were UOL same as meeee!!! Nice to find a fellow London student! Seems like you are getting on really well with your write up! Keep up all the good work!

L

AND make sure its A4! it sounds obvious, but you must select it. if not already.

L

hey silly billy! ahh you submitting your thesis to senate house too then i see

i wasted a few hours this morning, figuring out how to change page numbers on a landscape page! it was annoying me, but figured it out using tutorials on the internet.

now i have spent almost3 hours, on 2 sentences in my results section, and making 1 figure! but i suppose these things take time, and once its done, its done.

eeeek i hope i meet my deadline. 4th of july, first full draft. i have so many sections to do. but just gonna do my best. that i physically can do.

L

update from yesterday:

1. spent a couple of hours figuring out how to add page numbers to a landscape page, it was bugging me! as some of my pages in my current chapter are in landscape mode.

finally figured it out using the following webpages. i learnt how to do "section" breaks properly. and how to use header and footers.

http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/sections.htm

http://www.castlejb.com/webdesign/landscape/landscape.html

2. sorted out my table of contents and did proper numbering of titles of my sections of the chapter.

3. finished section 1 of my results in chapter 4.

4. total words done yesterday = 724 words, plus made 2 figures.

L

thanks billy for your kind and supportive words!

my desktop computer is being stupid again, refusing to connect to the internet, so i have to do system restore and hope it works. just dont know why it keeps doing that

E

E

lara, i am more confused than you.

E

hi Lara, i can see the success you have made so far. congratulations. my problem is getting to write. can you please advice. thanks

L

EMTEA, welcome! and thanks for stopping by my diary.

yes, I can help you you can be my little side project

okay, I want you to start the timer (10 minutes MAXIMUM) if you have an egg timer great! the buzzer that goes off, will remind you of when you used to sit in exams.

--

okay for 10minutes, i want you to do "free writing"

write anything on your subject. it doesnt have to be perfect, nor wholly relevant. even if you hate it, you can do it for 10minutes.

and then report back with what you came up with.

after the 10mins, read what you have with a highlighter, and circle key things that seem interesting.

okay your aim:

free writing, for 10minutes. let me know how you get on

you're deadline to do this. is 3.30pm. you have one hour. go!

L

freewriting as joan bolker describes is :

"first you make a mess than you clean it up later"..

"NO elegant sentences" almost write as if its conversational.

"when you sit down to begin a piece of writing, your first aim ought to be to make a mess, to say anything that comes to your mind, on the subject or off it. not to worry at all about whether your stuff is connected logically, to play with your subject the way you used to build mud pies, to do no fine detail work, to spell poorly, if you want and to generally forget about standards altogether"

" i suspect many writing blocks come about because people aren't used to playing in the mud when they write, they think writing is a neat clean endeavor, i dont".

"obsessing about technical details can slow it down or stop it altogether"

write in brackets look up XYZ and carry on with the flow of writing.

L

okay my final deadline for 1st draft of thesis is:

email my sup: 1st draft of my thesis by:
Thursday 3rd July 1600hrs:
(with some sections pending - that's okay, its my 1st draft of my thesis)

then taking a day off on Friday 4th of july, and spending the day at the cinema watching movies

I really want to see Hancock and that new angelina movie with the guy from atonement.

As Joan Bolker states, make rewards coincide with deadlines.

13 days left.

L

so from today until the deadline, work as many hours as i can, completing as many sections of my thesis that i physically can. and then spend the last few days proof reading and compiling it into one thesis document.

then my reward is a day off, watching films at the cinema

"when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully".

Joan Bolker: p130

"getting on with it....
"Back in chapter 5, I warned you to keep a sustainable pace. But now as you move into the final stages, you can afford to get wired, to overwork, to push yourself harder than ever before."

'you'll be amazing how much work its possible to accomplish in a (week or so)...'

"your work now is to keep up a stady perhaps even accelerating pace, and to get yourself over the last hurdles, psychological, intellectual or organizational. You also need to force yourself to revise your thesis up to a standard...'you can show your supervisor'".

9449