Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. I'm going to try and enjoy it and I definitely think I can talk about my work in the way you describe above, in the broader sense of where it sits in the field and what contribution I've made... I'll revise the key texts I've used as back-up just in case. And the typo/amendments idea is great too

Well done Cherub for your recent success, and Glowworm for yours back in September!

I have my viva next Monday afternoon, and I haven't done any prep yet. I'm in the humanities - any tips for what I need to focus on this week?

I'm worried that I don't know the literature very well... I have been doing my PhD part-time for 9 years so some of the things I've referenced only a little bit were read a looooong time ago, and my memory is not brilliant. Are they likely to ask me specific questions about the contents of literature, or more about where my work sits within the field? If it's one of the key texts then I can say more, but I'm specifically talking about things that I've not looked at in huge detail..

I know it's the traditional crisis after handing in your thesis, but I'm really unsure whether to stay in academia... I have my viva in January and I currently have a teaching fellowship until June 2016. In a sense there's no hurry to decide, but similarly, if I can just do my teaching and not feel pressured to write/publish etc. then that would be a weight off... but is this just exhaustion speaking? I have no time to take a break until Christmas...

If you jump off the tracks of academia, presumably it's really hard to get back on again...

I just see how stressed and overworked my colleagues are, working every evening and weekends, tons of admin. I don't even particularly enjoy the teaching side of things. I like research and writing. Perhaps I should just try to be a writer instead (though heaven knows how I'd be able to make any money doing that...)

Thank you!!! It's the last day of editing/proofing today (and a teeny tiny bit of writing, just three paragraphs really) and I can't believe I've got here!

Off to the binders in the morning! EEEEEEEEEK!

Unfortunately I have two lectures to give this week, which I haven't prepped yet, so there won't be a chance to enjoy myself properly until Friday...

Hope yours is going ok Cherub

Yay! Getting off the sofa is goood, and small steps is totally what makes a thesis I reckon. I've had quite a productive 4 hours or so, so I'm allowed to watch the rest of my film from last night :) and that will keep Mr Boakster happy too! Full day of work tomorrow - just. got. to. keep. goinggggggg....

'Knowing you're almost at the finishing line doesn't make the last mile of a marathon any less painful.' Kelpie, that makes SO much sense right now! I thought that too, that if I can finish everything else bar the conclusion, then I think I'll feel much more nearly finished in some strange way!

Oh cherub, I know totally that feeling. I watched a film last night, didn't do any work at all, then had to work this morning, all the time there's a tick tock tick tock going on in my head. I just had some advice from a colleague to 'stick a cover on it', which I thought was good... I just need to get a PhD, I don't need to write a magnum opus, and I seriously need to finish this thing. Today I'm powering on, just doing what I can. Doesn't need to be perfect, but it DOES need to be done! Ten years part-time, and I'm totally done with it.
We totally can do this!

I am just HATING this last bit of writing up. I have still got quite a bit to do, thesis has to be at the binders in 9 days. I feel so resistant, I just want to eat cake and watch films and do anything, ANYTHING but this.

How do I get some motivation to finish and feel good about it, or do I just have to accept that this last bit is excruiating and painful?

I still have to finish writing my conclusion and show it to my supervisor who is poised to give feedback I'm really avoiding that, but it needs to happen pronto!
Everything else is very very nearly there, should be all done in the next day or so.

I know I'm so close, why am I being such a sulky dufus!!! :S

ps sup doesn't seem too bothered about its shortness so far, though she's been seeing it in parts... she does know it's not the longest...

Hahaha!
And I also figured, if it's short I might get a viva before Christmas ;)

Seriously?! Loving you guys right now!!! I was worrying SO much.

The writing is pretty good I think... so....short, but polished is what I'm going with!

I'm having a panic about word count. I'm quite considerably under the maximum, which is 75,000. There is no guidance about minimum but I think I'm going to end up with 55,000. The guidelines say that the maximum isn't a target, and that examiners will like focused prose much better than waffle... but 20,000 under seems like a lot.

Any thoughts? I'm in the Humanities. Oh, and I have 22 days left until submission (and I'm only at 50,000 words right now)

Good luck to you! I'm right at the end and have a really too short thesis... I'm hoping to get what I have written in really good shape, so I'm paying another PhD student who has already submitted to proofread it for me. I just think that if I can make it polished enough, and with the arguments in my main chapters being pretty good, then I'll be in a stronger position. They may ask me to write some more, but at least what I have won't be unacceptable!

Though today, I looked on our thesis repository and opened up a published PhD thesis from my department. I noticed a mistake in the first line of the abstract!! So, I guess the odd thing doesn't matter too much ;)

That is so encouraging!! Thank you :)

The end feels like it might finally be in sight and I've had a pretty good day's writing today. Got to keep going...

Yeah I did wonder about that Barramack - I have rewritten my main chapters quite a lot already, so they're pretty much ready to go I think. I don't think I can bear to rewrite them much more, and I think your advice about 'Just ensure that your arguments are sound and people can understand what you did, how you did it and why'' is spot on. I'm fine with Word, so that should all work ok :)

Peppa - yes, that's where I'm at, still with conclusion to do. My conclusion is long too (10,000 - argh!) and I'm only 1,000 words in. But if I wrote solidly for a week I reckon I could get a good draft together. Problem is I also have three jobs at the moment (oops! didn't plan this well then, did I!). But I'm trying to prioritise writing over everything else. Fortunately I stocked up the freezer with a few home made dinners and my son is back at school :D I haven't thought about a celebration at all, but I guess it's a very big deal so I should have one. Any excuse ;)

Ogriv - yep, I reckon we are, I have more writing to do but a bit more time. Good luck, good luck! I shall be thinking of you! My full list is this:

* rewrite poorly written intro
* update main 3 chapters following supervisor's (very light) comments
* write 9,000 words of a conclusion
* have a good look at bibliography and references, which might be a bit higgeldy piggeldy
* proofread (I've got someone lined up to do this for me too)
* print and bind

I've actually only got 3 weeks until I want to get it as finished as I can, to give my proofreader some time, but I'm not sure that's realistic because I'm working too... so it may be more like four. So... I'd better go get on with it then!
Target for today is another 1,000 words of the conclusion

I have about four weeks to go to submission date, and still have most of my conclusion to write, lots of editing and rewriting to do. I just wondered, what most people's experience of the last four weeks of their thesis was. What took the most time for you? Were there things that you weren't expecting to take lots of time that did?
Did anyone still have a lot of writing to do in the last four weeks?