and i too have low confidence and feel intimidated when people around me are spurting out things.. but a friend of mine told me that confidence comes from actually knowing something and understanding it. so if you know in your heart you understand something, even if you cant explain it eloquently, understanding it and explaining it any which way you can , is what really matters. and then your confidence will grow from that.

but yah, i totally feel like a fake! and that someone will point out and arrest me for impersonating a phd student lol. but then i think i am just doing it for me. it doesnt really matter what other people think. if they want to walk around thinking they know everything then so be it. i know the limits of my knowledge, but i am always wanting to learn and understand more, and thats what is more important.

angie, i dont speak academic either, i feel exactly the same way. i hate doing presentations, and i never went to conferences. i am an introvert and very shy.

i use very simple english when i am talking about my work. almost conversational and zany! kinda like a preschool teacher explaining it to kids haha. but thats just me, i think if you understand the fundamentals, it doesnt matter how you explain it, no need for fancy dancy language, if thats not your style. thats what i think anyways.

good luck!! you can always find support at this forum

exactly, give it your best shot, then you know in your heart you tried.
and that is all that really matters, trying your best, and letting the cards fall every which way they do.

thanks dawn, you're so right, understanding is more important

i finally finished the last section of the results section of aim 1. lol took the whole day.

i am gonna take a break now, and then start again in an hour or so.
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i used to love curly wurlys lol. i do that sometimes, have tv on in the background when i am really getting bored with something in my thesis that doesnt require much concentration.
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olivia - LOL!

my brother's friend has the cutest shitzu they are so adorable like little dog teddy bear toys. so loveable and affectionate, you cant help but love them :) i was never a dog person, till i met those babies. i missed them so much after i came back home, from spending the weekend with them.

i love how dogs are unconditionally loyal. and give unconditional love. ahh bless.

hey Dawn

that sounds great what your aiming to do this evening. i'll be joining you. it's past my 8.30pm deadline, and i still havent finished the last section of my results section, but i am progressing slowly and actually understanding it now, but keep rewriting it and moving it around. the pains of doing a 2nd draft. but once it's done, its done.

okay new deadline, 10pm. once i've done it, i can take a break.

Silly billy, i know what you mean, that you want to get stuff done, so you can report something at the end of the day lol.

zylynn, don't worry about it looking ugly, an ugly draft is infintely better than a draft that is blank.
always easy to improve on something. it will come together slowly. you're just making 'mud pies' at the moment, you can build the nice sculptured sand castles later on

Anthropologa, oh dear, sounds like a madhouse in your apt. yah i think it's going to be a late night for me too! i got loads to do.

see you tonight for confession time.

so far the chapter is now at = 3437 words.

which means today i have done= 1345 words of 2nd draft quality, from my 1st draft/zero draft/and my published paper.

okay i must complete the results section in the next 2 hours. deadline 8.30pm.

(there was this one section, that is really tricky, that i have labelled as (pending/incomplete for now).. it will take AGES, and disrupt my flow...

so i have put it in grey saying pending. it is better to spend these 2 weeks and get most of my chapters of my thesis completed in 2nd draft format, and one tiny section incomplete. than focus all my time and energy on one little section.

i am also making table of contents of the chapter as i go along, just because i like updating the table of contents and seeing it grow, haha i am sad like that

okay break over. back to work!

Just came back from a break, I had dinner, so I thought I would confess with what I have done so far:

still working on aim number 1. i am on the last section of the results section though.

the last section, is abit complicated - but am reading my zero draft, and 1st draft - which is full of conversational writings, which is actually helping me 2nd time around! i can see in the writing, i am having conversations with myself lol.
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wow SillyBilly, those were some heavy duty aims you got there! well done, 2 out 3 is excellent! well done you
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Anthropologa
you started, and that is the MAIN thing. so good on ya! remember what JB says
"everyday is more important than how much time you spend, or how many pages you produce or the quality"..

even if you just do 15minutes of work on your thesis, it's infinitely better than nothing.

good luck with your aims today, see you tonight for the update and confession time!
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zylynn, you are very welcome I am glad to hear that you managed to sift through your zero draft, well done! that is a fantastic!

okay great see you tommorow then!
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Hey Silly Billy! lovely to have you join the A team hehe

the JB book we're all referring to is

"writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day - a guide to starting, revising and finishing your doctoral thesis" by Joan Bolker. I came across it from a blog that I read. you can read the blog, which resonated with me, that I always used to say to myself, "right i am going to WRITE ALL DAY LONG" and never managed it ! most of the time, i would just keep procrastinating.
using the concepts in the book, helped me to overcome my fear of writing and writers/thinking block.

and it's nice to see that this Acountability thread is helping!

Hey Jojo, how's it going?

*clocks in*
my aims for today:

complete final first draft of chapter 3:

1. results section of extended study
2. discussion section of extended study

3. results section of pilot study
4. discussion section of pilot study

5. overall conclusion of chapter 3.

6. intro to pilot study
7. intro to extended study
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"try writing repeatedly in 5 or 10 mins spurts of freewriting,and answer the qs: "what am i REALLY trying to say in this (paragrah) arguement/chapter/section?" and write it in plain simple even coversational language. doesn't have to be eloquent at this stage. it's always easier to IMPROVE on something.

good luck!

also read this link, olivia told us about the Flowers technique, it really helped me!!
release the madman inside you, and let the judge wait his turn! and even the architect and carpenter.

https://webspace.utexas.edu/cherwitz/www/ie/b_flowers.html

and refer to page 51 of the Joan Bolker book : the section -"getting to your first draft" to help you wade through your rough freewriting stuff.

she writes "if you have an accumulation of freewriting...turning out a first draft is a matter of finding ways of building on or fleshing out ideas you have already put down in writing."

she then lists strategies like:

"pick out workds..sentences" that are interesting

ask yourself, what point am i trying to say? is this true what i just wrote?