The big dream - Finish writing by Dec 09 8-)
The achieved reality - Only 2 chapters done
- 400 words today after 3 weeks of no writing :-(
Tomorrow's dream - At least 800 words

Had to get this out of my system, don't feel respectable enough to join the accountability thread. Will keep myself updated, otherwise my dream will not be a reality by Dec

Hi Sheena, I'm the same!!!
Want to be done by Dec. Have had a dry spell of 2.5 weeks. Feeling a bit better, and wrote a little yesterday. Today is going to be better for both of us, let me know how you get on.

Hi Sheena

No need to be so hard on yourself, I'm aiming for December 2009 as my writing up finish point.........and I also only have 2 chapters done, although am probably about halfway through 3 more, and still have a few experiments to finish.

Mostly I feel as if i'm on target, give or take a few days, given that i've been writing up since about June, whilst also doing lab work, this looks achievable to me.

Peaks and troughs are fairly natural in the writing up process, and it could be different if your actually trying to be creative, as a cell signalling/pharmacology PhD, i don't really have this problem. My advice is try to mix things up, so if you get bored writing, do something else that really needs to be done, i.e. job applications

Good luck

Hi Sheena,

I agree with the others, you're probably experiencing things which others in this situation do, so don't worry too much.  Firstly, have you got Joan Bolkers book? It's excellent for getting through low motivation phases and ideas for overcoming writers block and generally making things seem more achievable.

I am hoping for a complete draft by early january alongside other commitments, including more data collection.  I also only have two reasonable done chapters, with a third reasonably close to a rough draft. It feels like I have hundreds more to write after that!  How many chapters do you hope to have in total?

I'm sure it's an achievable dream - and there are plenty of other people on this forum trying to make similar dreams a reality, so you're in good company! 

How did today go for you? Any luck with those elusive words?  It was a slow day for me...trying to get a few more bits done before sleep time...

Hope you're feeling a bit better, you'll get there in the end :-)

thanks for the support, not a bad day but not on word count (just one para of 30 words:-(. I had to sort out some results mistakes I have written and that took almost all day. better luck tomorrow I guess. anyway I did sort that problem, which is a good thing.

thanks for the support, not a bad day but not on word count (just one para of 30 words:-(. I had to sort out some results mistakes I have written and that took almost all day. better luck tomorrow I guess. anyway I did sort that problem, which is a good thing.

I know writing up's horrible sometimes, but don't beat yourself up about it when you don't reach your daily goals. I used to do that, then I felt like I'd failed myself and it made me even less likely to get writing. It's best just to get on with the same thing again the next day, but if you can't write then do something else useful that'll feed into the thesis as a whole. Some days are just a bit useless, but hopefully good ones make up for them!

My worst wordcount killer was perfectionism, setting out to write the perfect chapter and then slipping over my deadlines. Sounds obvious, but it took me ages to realise there would always be flaws or things I could do differently, and I didn't have the time for perfection anyway if I wanted to submit!! My supervisor got worried about this and set me very strict deadlines when I had to get chapter drafts emailed off. I found having to write quickly rather painful because I was so aware some days of writing semi-crap woffle, spotting gaps in my references etc, but I just had to leave them in order to get the whole chapter done, albeit flawed! I kept inserting footnotes to myself about errors I knew about that had to be addressed before submission, then moved on to the next chapter. I felt like a chapter production line, churning them out one after another in a short space of time, but at least it got me writing and got the first draft done and there was something to build on.

Are things any better today? Good luck anyway, plod on and you'll get there eventually!!(up)

one advice to you guys ahead of me (sorry!)

From a person who has written volumes in her first year, and taken on twice as much as one person could/should, *and* has now been found with early beginnings of RSI, rendering her left arm *absolutely* incapacitated...

please take breaks from the keyboard every 20 mins, as you write up, pl dont let your hands type away for hours on end... and please domnt let your wrists touch any surface or your palm even as you type.

RSI is unfortunate and emotionally dificult for you have to stop typing at all....

Good grief Bug! have you taken that time off yet? You really should... in IMO

Just some advice from someone who has been there and done it...

1) Don't think too much in terms of word counts. Number of words is not the point. Think about the concept/main point you want to address that day, and work towards getting that down in writing.

2) Don't worry too much about perfection on a rough draft. Getting ideas on paper is most important. Once the ideas are there it is relatively easy to clean up. When you turn on the hot tap, you have to let the cold water flow out before you get to the hot. Writing is very much like that. Let it flow, even if it isn't brilliant at first. The good stuff will come once you get warmed up.

3) If one chapter is really not coming along so great, change tactics and work on a different part. A thesis doesn't have to be written Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. In fact, sometimes it is better to start in the middle.

4) Everyone who has ever written a thesis has felt stuck at some point. You are normal.

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Thanks everyone for those encouraging words! :-) I can see the end but its the journey that seem harder these days.

Many things are true to my work, I like switching into things & when I dont think too much I write more & finish chapters. For the past 2 days I've been stuck on a stat problem, :-S which now I've decided to put on the back burner. It has to wait as I'm getting no where with it. Maybe I need to sort this with someone else.

Today going back to some editing before starting ch-3 writing.

cakeman & siwee how r u both doing, remember that you were on dec 09 deadline as well. (up)

Phdbug, so sorry to hear abt the RSI, hope it will get better soon. (I never get more than 1-2 hrs at one time to write, which is a problem for me

update-
finished some of the editing needed. useful day but need to do a bit more each day. Try finish the editing by tomorrow so I can start writing the new chapter.

Had a productive day, finally coming to an end with the editing but 10 more pages to go. Spent some time reading articles and making notes for future writing also. Hope tomorrow will be another one of these..(up). Aim to start a new chapter by weekend.