ToL thanks - that's helpful. I did think that might not count as new. I just can't see what I've got to summarise being 10,000, but perhaps I'm just being too focused with my language! I should waffle more ;) I'm glad it wouldn't be major corrections, that's good to know

Windowsill - I've already got an introductory historical bit, about 3,000 words in my intro, but I can't really talk about what I want to talk about until they've read the main chapters, hence why I wanted to put it in the conclusion...so I think it's kind of like bookends, neatly tying up the work!

For quite some time now my supervisor and I have been working on a model of my Introduction and Conclusion being 10,000 words and then my main three chapters being 15,000 words. I've now pretty much finished my main three chapters, I have a full draft of the introduction and so I want to start on the conclusion.

However, when I've looked at guidance on writing conclusions they all seem to suggest that what I should be doing is not introducing any new material, but summarising what I've found in my main chapters, acknowledging what the original contribution is, and then discussing further avenues for work... and this should therefore be shorter than 10,000 words.

I was planning on doing the above, but also taking a broader historical perspective on some of the smaller themes I've identified... which I think kind of counts as 'new material'...

I'm stuck! I don't really know how to proceed, how to write a big conclusion like that, and I worry that if the examiners won't like it I'll get major corrections... I haven't written a single word today and I only wrote 268 yesterday. I have to write at least 500 a day or I'll not submit. HELP! :/

p.s. I'm in Music department doing a PhD on a gender and cultural studies related topic, so anyone who has examples of music/literature/gender/cultural studies theses with long conclusions, I'd REALLY appreciate hearing about them!!!

Thanks everyone!

I don't know anything about the specific disciplines, but it's surprising what a tenacious student can get despite 'rules'!

I didn't get the grades to do English at BA level, but was able to get on a Women's Studies programme where there was a large proportion of English modules available as options. I took as many electives and options in English as I could. There was no joint honours Women's Studies and English programme, but near the end of my degree I asked if they might be able to award me a joint honours, based on the amount of credit I have in English. They awarded me an ad hoc degree i.e. there was no official 'programme' but on my certificate I had 'English and Women's Studies'. I then could complete my MA in English.

Because I'm a practising musician, and really I'm an interdisciplinary scholar working in cultural studies, I wanted to register for a PhD in a Music department. I decided to take some Music UG modules, but not the full degree, and this was enough to get me on the PhD programme in combination with my MA from the other discipline.

I would say, you can probably re-do the compulsory module they want you to do (if it's first year, it's likely that you won't need the credit towards your degree, so you could always ask to do it without credit/without assignments if they were worried about you taking too many credits on) if you're pushy enough and can convince the uni you really want to do it. Do you have elective options outside your programme? Do all of them in History if you can. Is there a joint honours route? That would definitely be worth pursuing as you'll have missed less compulsory modules but you'd be able to do a Masters in either discipline. Arrange to see the History Head of Department and explain your thinking. I'm sure if you're passionate enough they'll help.

I'd like another PhD student in my discipline to proofread my thesis for me - they've been recommended by a close friend as someone who is meticulous, which I like the sound of! I want to pay them, but I have no idea what the going rates are. I've had a look around a couple of proofreading websites but there don't seem to be advertised rates.
Anyone paid to have their thesis proofread and wouldn't mind sharing how much they paid? You can always PM me! :)

(This is simply for proofreading - checking punctuation, spelling errors and referencing etc. - NOT copy editing)

Thanks Barramack - I don't really want to extend, as I'm way over what I should be anyway... I'm not funded so the timing has been easy to extend and extend.
I'm working in a University thesis template, so there shouldn't be much formatting work to do, and I've been pretty on the ball with my references and bibliography. My three chapters have been rewritten numerous times already, so it's just my Intro and Conclusion that will possibly need significant rewriting, and my supervisor has already commented on the intro.

Thanks kathryn15 - I'm glad to hear that about the conclusion, which is the thing that's the most worrying to me really. I don't have a separate literature review, as in my discipline we integrate the secondary literature throughout, so I guess that's why I'm constantly adding things in all my chapters!
An assistant would be wonderful... if only my six year old were old enough to make tea! Actually one of the reasons I'm panicking is that I've been working really well with a PhD colleague who was a writing buddy. We'd meet up a couple of days a week and work in 45 minute chunks together, breaking for lunch/tea/general support. I got a lot done on those days, but now she's moved to Rotterdam!

RinaL, that's good advice - that's what I was thinking, 400 words a day, but I just wondered if I was being to easy on myself and whether it would actually work! I guess the maths works, but it's just whether I'll also need to do editing, which will chop lots of words out and then I'll have more to write.
I submitted my last chapter after months of polishing it and my supervisor said the same thing, to try to get it 'good enough' not 'perfect'. I guess with this time limit that's the best thing to focus on...

I'm a part-time humanities PhD student with two jobs and a family, and I've been studying FOREVER it seems...

I now have to submit my thesis by the end of September, but I still have a good 24,000 words to write. I haven't written my conclusion yet, so a good chunk of that total (around 10,000) is that.
My introduction is written but needs completely rewriting as my supervisor told me it was the worst piece of writing they've seen from me, and it was full of ahistorical generalisations... :/
Chapter 1 is pretty much done though and my supervisor really enjoyed it, so that's the only positive.

I am still finding that I haven't done enough reading, and am having to go back and read things to insert more secondary literature.

Has anyone else here had the same thing where they have TONS to write in a short amount of time? I'm not able to totally shut myself off for 9 weeks as I have a family, so I'm only able to do it in shorter periods of time. If I wrote for 5 hours a day though, I don't think I'd get through it all.

Today I have just sat around and procrastinated because I just feel overwhelmed...

Any tips or advice?

(I should say that I have less work in the next 9 weeks, but have my kid around more as it's summer holidays - I'm trying to put him into as many camps and activities as I can afford!)