Whilst I don't know exactly what else I'll need to put in, the focus of mine will be a 'chapter' ie. one area that I'm working on at the moment and will write up as though part of the thesis as a whole. The area I'm addressing (beginnings and endings in the work of the poet I'm currently looking at, the first of two) was suggested by my supervisors following a piece of work I did earlier in the year. I need to have a draft of this done by week two of term... :-(

If he thought you were a promising student and he's a decent guy then I expect he'll be delighted to find out that you're managing to pursue it after all. You need to view this as a positive experience to show him that he was right and although it's been hard you're managing to make it work! Good luck.

I completed my MA last year and to be honest I wasn't putting in full working days each day, although it was definitely like that when I was in the write up of my dissertation and in the few weeks before each deadline. On the other hand, things are different for different people and in different institutions. There were definitely people who were working longer hours and different patterns from me on the course, yet I still got a distinction so must have done something right! I was once told that my MA would be the hardest year of my life and yes, it was hard work but not all that bad Are you actually using all of the 8 hours or would fewer hours but more intensive focus work better? I would recommend talking to the director of grad studies or your dissertation supervisor about your concerns. You may find that this is normal for your institution and I certainly doubt that your clear commitment and conscientious attitude that you are doing something wrong. However, I think that there is probably a way out of this and you need to address it in your department. Good luck.

Ouch...that sounds like a long evening - good luck! :-)

Your department handbook should have referencing details but I would say you always need to page number provided you're not just referring to the whole book in general. Certainly for a quote or close reference to a section you need pages. However, Google is definitely the place to start. That was even recommended to me as a strategy in research training!

The feeling of success when you suddenly see you're getting somewhere. And the fact that when I'm ill (like the last two days) I can get on with getting myself better without having to justify it to anyone! By the way, I'm truly envious of your desk: mine is fine but it faces a wall and I spend much of the day looking at the Greek Keyboard Layout diagram pinned to the noticeboard. Oh and if only there were room for flowers...!

As I see it these 'friends' of yours have two different arguments here. On the one hand we have the argument that you don't need a degree to get a job. I would argue that in this day and age that is simply not true, not that it's necessarily a good thing. Even vocational careers now require degrees in a way that didn't used to be the case, and there are so many graduates around that the degree itself isn't enough - what matters is the other things you've done AS WELL. However, what is obviously harder to justify to people with no background experience of any level of academia is why you are doing a PhD. I come from a family where one parent has a degree but it was an MBA taken after an army career, and the other only took vocational qualifications having grown up in New Zealand where, at the time, hardly anyone went to university. However, my sister and I were always going to go university and that was totally acceptable. My parents then supported my MA and are about to support my sister's. This is in part because my father, who employs a lot of new graduates, understands that although it's not all about your degree, an MA at least shows an element of dedication and is better than endless gapping before you fall into a career, as can be the case for many new graduates at the moment. Unfortunately, in spite of their huge support of my education so far there is no way my parents are really ever going to understand why I'm doing a PhD but when they see how passionate I am they question it less. Obviously that's not so easy for you to show people, but I think that you shouldn't have to justify what you're doing. At the end of the day research is essential in all areas (even in mine which, let's face it, isn't ever going to change society or bring the world any great benefit) because the provision of an intellectual background will drive forward human progress, and that has to be positive. If everyone in the world was a do-er and there were no thinkers, I don't think we'd have got to where we are now.

Hmm, thanks, might mention it to my supervisor although if no-one's said anything yet I probably don't need to panic that they'll chuck me out following my end of year review for lack of literature review! I worked in this area for my BA and MA dissertations (there's hardly anything written on it but a general acceptance that it needs doing and that my period is one of the next areas that needs serious work in Classics) so I'm pretty aware of what has, or mainly hasn't, been done. My major concern would be having to produce a major piece of writing on it at remotely short notice as there's quite a bit of stuff written in German which I'm aware of (ish) but can't yet sit down and read, owing to the primitive nature of my German! The Italians are posing me similar problems but with my Latin that's rather more manageable.

Although I turned out 10,000 words at Christmas my supervisor specifically asked me to give my latest work to her in the form of a presentation so haven't done any more proper writing since then, only detailed notes, and that seems to be fine for now - my first major written work will be for my upgrade. Incidentally, my supervisor hasn't mentioned a literature review at any point yet (nor has my secondary supervisor), I don't even know quite what it would entail, although I've heard plenty of other PhDs saying it's 'obviously' the first thing they do. Should I be worried?

At the university where I did my MA we had a work-in-progress seminar which was a PG only (and invited staff as appropriate) forum for people to present papers of about 20 mins or so, either for practice for conferences or just to sound out chapter ideas. I'm in Classics and there were also reading groups for Greek and Latin (which we also have bits of at the uni where I am for PhD) which addressed a text per term and broke it down for language practice and lit crit practice.

I haven't dreamed about the PhD yet but I did with my MA dissertation. I woke up filled with a knowledge of how my whole argument could actually fit together and told my boyfriend all about it. Unfortunately when I went to write this epiphany down later and asked him what I'd told him, he'd forgotten it all or blanked it out for being too dull! I saved some of it but it wasn't as coherent as when I'd woken up first. Now I always keep a notebook by the bed!

Whilst it's not always the easiest thing to do, I'd try and find a couple of academics whose writing style you like, decide what it is that you find likeable and the ways in which it differs from or is similar to other academics in your field, and then try to emulate it. Whilst you don't want to lose your voice in your writing, that might help you get some tips on how to change your style.

I think people may be right and you're treading a fine line. On the other hand, everybody works best in different ways, so whilst I don't think it's ever going to be helpful to allow sexual tension to get into what is always going to be a primarily working relationship, if you both feel that you will benefit most from a situation where you are friends as well as colleagues etc, then I certainly wouldn't step back too far either. It's not altogether surprising that, as two like-minded people, you get on very well socially as well as professionally. On the other hand, if you are being noticed by other colleagues for these reasons and not for your work and professional behaviour, I would worry that it could be damaging to you. And one more thing: remember his wife. Think about how she would feel about the sort of relationship her husband is cultivating with you. Not trying to blame you in any way (to some extent I would argue that this side of things is fundamentally his responsibility), just pointing out that if you become too close or 'like husband and wife' you could be being far more hurtful than you imagine.

I started in October too. I said my daily routine was 9-6 but I'm not going to pretend that always works; also I know plenty of people who don't work that many hours and certainly don't work that sort of rigid 'office day'. Some days other things happen and I take some time off. At the moment I feel I can generally afford to do that, although that may not be the case next year. I've definitely had time when I lost enthusiasm and it's hard to get out of the pattern of struggling to get things done as it just gets more demotivating. I would say it won't help to keep sitting at your desk for hours, knowing you should be doing something. One thing I've found is that you have to remember you're allowed to take holiday! I didn't take very much time off over Christmas as I had a big piece of writing to do, so after that was in I took a few days off and had some 'me time'. Didn't go away or anything, just got on with other non-work things. I came back to my work refreshed and having had lots of ideas about where I might go next. If you don't feel you can take a couple of days, I'd definitely cut back your hours in the office for a bit. Decide how long you can stay focussed for, choose an interesting or important bit which will take that amount of time, and just focus on getting that done. Then hopefully you'll work your way back in. Sitting at your desk not getting things done won't add to your motivation, it will just make it worse!

I have my own desk in the bedroom so even though we have a 1 bed flat I can work when my boyfriend's in without having to worry about getting in his way. I go into the university once or twice a week which is about an hour's drive when I have classes or supervision. I also go up to the library in London about once a week for the day. I'm in my first year so the other days I tend to start work around 9 with a coffee and check emails/do admin things, then I tend to work through (with occasional internet distractions/making food for dinner etc) until my boyfriend gets home after 6 when I tend to stop for the evening unless I have lots on. I often take up to an hour out for lunch. At the moment I still find I'm getting enough done!