======= Date Modified 01 Feb 2012 14:56:34 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============
I've just finished the 3rd chapter of my thesis but I'm really struggling to let it go.

I'm in the humanities and write just about every day in some capacity (not like you science people only writing up in the last 3 weeks before submission!) I enjoy the writing process: the free writing, structuring, redrafting, redrafting, and redrafting some more.

But I'm finding it difficult to let this chapter go. I'm thinking the must be a point when you have to say enough is enough - I could pack in more interesting(!) footnotes but I have to s$%t and get off the pot basically. At the minute the chapter is 28,000 (incl. footnotes) - obviously I will have to cut it at the final redrafting stage when I have all 5 chapters written.

Is there a point when you just have to except what you've written and be proud of it?

I think you need to at some point. I had no problem letting go at write up but am finding the corrections much harder and keep going over and over them but without making changes. I made the decision earlier tonight to let the examiner be the judge as that's their job. I think everyone wants their work to be the best it can be but that can be difficult without objectivity and objectivity comes with time and space. Don't be afraid to move on and come back to it with fresh eyes at a later date, if necessary.

Advice I was given by an academic at my uni was: A PhD is never finished, it is merely abandoned at its least damaging point.

I think that's right - it is time to let go, at least for now. A PhD thesis is never going to be perfect, and is never quite going to feel finished to the author. My supervisors talk frequently about not trying to produce the 'best' thesis, but one that is 'good enough' - it doesn't have to be the definitive word on the subject, it just has to be enough for the award of a PhD. The important work, the stuff that will actually be read and have an impact on the world (!!!), is the stuff that makes it into journals and is actually (hopefully!) read by other people.

Sometimes I find it hard to move on from one part of my work when I'm kind of dreading the next thing. Is there an element of that involved too? It can be comforting to keep working on one area, even when actually it's mostly about avoiding working on another area. I find that if I acknowledge this is happening, I can form a strategy to move on past it - identifying what is the sticking point and how to deal with that. That may not be what's going on with you, of course, but I think it's worth considering.

I think you're on to something with that in general terms. For me, though, the next chapter of the thesis is an expanded/improved version of my MA dissertation; so nothing too taxing (or at least not compare to the final chapter! I just think I've enjoy this stage of the 3 year journey and have produced a piece of work that is actually "original" (sarcastic quotation marks!) and which does add something to the research field I'm in. I do think sometimes though you can coast in a certain period and need a jolt to get you looking to the future and moving on.

Sounds like you're on the right track there with all the advice already given.

On a more practical side, I was just wondering if you could tell yourself that this is not the final thing. This way you'd be 'giving yourself permission' to leave it unfinished knowing that you'll be able to come back afterwards. You could make notes about any important points you may wish to add at a later date (or anything that you may think of later) so you don't forget as well. Just a suggestion...

Good luck!

======= Date Modified 01 Feb 2012 14:56:59 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============
I'm afraid I can't offer any real advice here as I'm nowhere near this stage of my PhD yet, but can I just say that I LOVE that phrase 'to s%&t and get off the pot'! Ha, that's totally made my day. 8-)


*goes off to analyse what it might say about self* :$