Hey Tetris!

Thanks so much for your kind and encouraging words :) so nice of you!

Thanks for the advice!! that's really so helpful. You're so right, that's what i will do. thanks so much. i feel much better now.



i will just concentrate on the stuff i have, and if he says im not ready, i will ask him, how can i get ready. good idea!

finding that person's blog, was a life saver for me!

i still re read it, whenever i start to panic..

liminalplace, i am thrilled to hear that my diary has inspired and motivated you! you're so kind to say that.

hey it's not crap! after i finished my lab work i had 0 chapters written! and so far, i just have a couple of rough drafts and i have to submit in september!

but it's never too late to start.

my favourite quote is:
"whereever you are, it is the place to start. the effort to expend today DOES make a difference"..
"one day plus another has an accumulative effect".

well you're in company, because i have 7 chapters to write!

good luck, and feel free to update on your progress on a daily basis. it will help me too, it will keep me company..

..."...DO NOT PLAN TO WRITE IN EIGHT-HOUR MARATHONS.* Honestly, I was never as relieved as I was the day that I read Joan Bolker's words: "There are not a lot of people who can just write - not stare into space, not get up to make five pots of coffee, not talk on the phone, but write continuously - for more than about two hours a day. You can write for a very long time on any given day, but the trouble is, you can't then do it again the next, and again, and again - and writing daily is the pattern that's best suited to finishing a dissertation." (pp. 53-4, if you're curious.) I mean, it made me realize how utterly wrong-minded I'd been with all my plans to write all day long, but it was nice to realize that I couldn't do that because it was an unrealistic goal, not because I was an undisciplined slacker."

And the same schedule would occur.

But I'd feel even worse about it, because I had the previous day of no work to make up for.

So the next morning: "I HAVE TO WRITE ALL DAY TODAY!!!"

No dice. "

i loved when she wrote: http://newkidonthehallway.typepad.com/new_kid_on_the_hallway/2006/03/writers_block_a.html

"Getting up in the morning.

Saying to myself, "Right, today I am going to write ALL DAY."

Then all of a sudden it was lunchtime, and I hadn't done anything. Well, one has to eat lunch, right? So I'd eat lunch.

Then all of sudden it was about 2 or 2:30, and I hadn't done anything. Well, that's okay, there's still plenty of time left in the day, right?

And then all of sudden it was about 4:30 or 5, and I'd accomplished nothing, and there wasn't enough time left in the day to do what I'd planned.

It must not be my day. There's no point in trying to work now - the time isn't right - I'll start again tomorrow.

And the next morning I'd wake up and say to myself, "Right, today I REALLY DO HAVE TO write all day." .....

hey Liminalplace,

thanks for stopping by !

no need to apolagise, you're most welcome to message away on this thread! if you like you can join up and start writing up at the end of the day, what you have done. another forum member does so, BB. although haven't heard from her awhile. I hope she's okay.

i had writers block for about 3months! but then the book saved me! i'm so glad you're buying it. its been my constant companion. and has really helped me! can't wait for you to get it, you will be so inspired and will stop being so hard on yourself.

i came across the book from a person's blog, that made me feel better, than not many people can write for 8 hours a day, and still do it everyday..

read this blog, it really helped me! and put things into perspective and made me feel that i wasnt the only one that did this and felt like that!!

http://newkidonthehallway.typepad.com/new_kid_on_the_hallway/2006/03/writers_block_a.html

Hey cakegirl! always a pleasure to hear from you :)

thanks for reading my posts, you're so sweet.

hey that's great, you're getting back to writing!

thanks for your support regarding the fear of my sup meeting. i really appreciate it!


hey another fan of spider diagrams! i've stuck them to my wall! lol

i need to make one for my current chapter though. at the moment just did an outline on the computer. but making spider diagrams on huge pieces of paper with thick markers, is fun. lol

and i organised and made an outline on the next chapter i am planning on writing. which is going to be the biggest one yet. and the most difficult.

i have 2days left now, to write this chapter.

my next deadline is: monday midnight - zero draft of chapter 6. (minimum words 6,000)


so far, i have pulled out all my lab books, and notes, and papers, relating to this chapter. it's abit of a mess. but 1/3 of the chapter, will be what i wrote in my mphil thesis. hurrah for mphil thesis! at the time, i hated writing it. but now i am thankful for having it

it's always good for one's confidence, having something to work on and expand on.

update: yesterday:
wrote a detailed thesis outline (chapters, and headings etc)..to show my supervisor when i have the dreaded meeting.

wrote approx 300 words, describing my thesis. (Which you have to send along with your entry examination forms!).

filled in all my examination forms. (thanks to miss spacey for sending them to me and telling me all about the submission procedure, you are an absolute star!)...

she also told me about the procedure. so feel better about it.

and then i attached little post it notes, next to the bits my supervisor needs to sign, so that there's no delay if he's missed a signature or what not.

wrote an email to my supervisor, asking him nicely to please arrange examiners for me. and to arrange a meeting when he is free to discuss my thesis chapters.

i wrote him an email yesterday, telling him the chapters i am including in my thesis. and to ask him when he is free to have a meeting, so i can get his "approval" on the chapters and content i want to write.

you know it's so funny. when you need their help, they basically say, you're a phd student, its your job -figure it out. and you're left on your own trying to understand a certain concept.

and then when you show independent thought, they then throw the whole "you need your supervisor's approval"

although i read in the examination forms, and it clearly says:

"candidates are reminded that the decision to submit a thesis in any particular form rests with the candidate alone and that the outcome of the examination is determinded by the examiners only"..

he's basically making me feel, that i might be wasting the examiners time with my "thesis"

whether that was his intention or not, thats how i feel.

if he's too busy to correct my thesis. then i can just do it on my own and take my chance with the examiners. and let them either fail me , or tell me to rewrite it.

lol i really ought to re-read my posts, the grammer is all messed up.

im feeling stressed about it. they think i dont know enough about my subject. but i have 3 months, to write my thesis and learn everything there is to know about subjects by then. i just need to be given the chance

i'm just worried if he really can stop me from submitting my thesis.

and to think, he always used to say to me. write papers first, it will be so much easier to write your thesis then and pass your phd. because you have papers published. and now that i have this ultimate deadline. he's basically made me feel like i will fail because i havent written my thesis, and he thinks i cant defend my work. and thinks i write badly.

sorry i just had to let that out. it's been on my mind.

is it possible he can prevent me from submitting my thesis. even if i get it completed by sept. if that's the case, i should go to my own university, and tell them right?

and what if i fail their mock viva and they thinks i cant defend my work in the real viva, then thinks its not even worth submitting my thesis.

but id rather just submit, and then take the chance. and fail because the examiners fail me, not because i failed his mock viva. or do you think he wants to prevent me to submit. to save the examiners from reading my thesis, and wasting time on a thesis that will fail?

thanks Shani, thats what i was thinking too! i really wanted to say NO. thanks thats made it easier for me to decide.

you know i am feeling worried. his email is still troubling me.

his threat that the decision to submit isn't just mine. really p****d me off. after he always used to say, write papers first on your studies than you will have a greater chance of passing your phd. the ONLY reason i worked on the papers, was because i wanted to pass my phd. and now he turns around and says, he thought i wasnt going to submit! it's like what the h*ll..