I try my best when I'm away from my girlfriend. It is difficult though when I'm working on a computer connected to the internet with no one around at home. I mean I'm sure she'd be annoyed if she knew. I wouldn't like the idea of her sitting there on her own tou.....

....ah, read the title of the thread wrong there.

It wouldn't happen to be Cambridge Scholars or Peter Lang by any chance? I've had these spam emails, I mean notifications of interest in the last 6 months. Obviously someone has sold my info to them. Sucks ass.

Right after starting last chapter on June 14th I think that's my final draft of it written on the 17th July. It is 20,000 words so I will maybe have to cut off a couple of thousand but I think it's generally good quality. Sending it now to my sup and will get feedback when we meet Tues next week.

I'm looking at redrafting and formatting to strict MLA style the other 4 chapters now. I have chapter 1 finished and chapter 2 looks like it'll need a good bit of attention. Still I'm happy enough that I'm on track. Meeting the deadline of 15th Sept will all depend now on sup's comments on final chapter. Yikes.

I'd say "practical things" = money or lack thereof. Tread carefully.

Is this another character from the guy that created Heidi?

I never read these posts as my answer is always the same. Unless you have a job lined up don't quit.

Well I have finished a first draft of my final chapter. 19,514 words in 23 days (19 writing days). It's a first draft but the overall structure is sound. Some areas need (theoretical) development but my argument is laid out and followed through. Need to write conclusion though but that will come when I can reflect on what I've written. The chapter is slightly descriptive in places (telling rather than evaluating) but that will develop with a little distance from the chapter for a day or two. Now is my favourite part: printing it out like an article and getting the red pen out and starting "thinking" it. Editing is my fav part of the process. I'll then present it to my sup (who's all holidays now lucky bugger) and see what I need to refine.

This leaves me 8 weeks for redrafting chapters 2 to 5. (I've just finished the revisions of chapter 1). It's doable, isn't it? Some days I think I'll definitely do it and somedays I think I've got so much to check over.

Keep going people!

Done.

"Originality" is the biggest red herring in the world of academia. There is no such thing as originality.

There is such a thing, however, of an original voice - and that is what the Phd is: three years to develop your original voice.

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Congrats!!!!

Hearing the success stories is the best thing in this forum. Hope to hear a run down of the experience some time in the future. Have a balst this weekend and get royally hammered. LD

The only input I can offer is that it took me about 9 months to write my opening 15,000 chapter. I was labouring over every paragraph and it seemed like such an uphill struggle. Chapter 4 of the thesis I wrote from start to final draft in 3 months and had to stop myself. I could have gone on for another 10,000 words. Chapter 5, which I'm writing at the minute, I've done 17,000 in 3 weeks. Granted this might not be brilliant writing at the moment as it is not final draft yet - but the point is 17,000 words was an effort but not a great physical effort. I just take it as a sign of development of the core skills in the PhD - reading, thinking and writing.

To me it's simple. If your total income covers all your monthly costs then do the PhD.

I am just about to finish the Phd in the next few months and we have had 2 children during those 3 years. It's not easy. There are drawbacks about being a Phd student with a baby (sleep, sickness, teething, etc) but there are also many benefits. For me, I found that it kicked my ass into gear and got me focused on finishing on time (which I will).

The first one is the hardest so stick together and you'll both be fine.

This might be a stupid question but did you refer back to earlier points in the thesis when using certain terms related to your area of expertise. Is it enough to expect the reader to be aware of a concept in chapter 4 if you analysed that concept in chapter 2 and are using it again? Would a footnote with "Refer to the analysis of 'chronic constipation' in chapter 2" be enough.

(Sorry I know these are question I should ask my sup but he's on holidays at the minute!)

This is all great advice. Thanks do much.

Is two months or 6 weeks enough time for all of this? How long did you guys all give it?

Hello

I am currently in the final stages of writing this thesis and looking to submit in mid September. I am in the humanities so my thesis is 5 chapters of 20,000 words per chapter. Throughout the process I have written each of these chapters to a "final draft" standard before moving on to the next one. That said I know I want to go over them again and tighten them up. I am 15,000 words into the final chapter and I am wondering how people on here prepared their thesis for submission.

I know that I am going to struggle with resisting the temptation to change everything. But apart from that are there any housekeeping tips to make sure that everything appears as polished as possible? How much did you consult with your sups at this stage? I want to start redrafting now but did you consult your sup over every change or did you just do it and then show the changes to him? I would like him to look over each chapter again but I know this might be possible and that's what worries me.

Thanks. Have some broccoli. (sprout) *It says it's a sprout but it looks like broccoli to me!