Hello all, how are you all doing? Tearing the remaining folicles off your heads yet?
Well I have a year left...and only about 20,000 words (unrevised) written and Im not happy about that.

But heres the thing, where are you all at with your word counts?
One of my friends who finshed his PhD swears by 1000 words a day, he says the word count keeps rolling if you do that.

Are you where u want to be?

Thoughts or suggestions or rants all welcome, I love the communitas that goes on on the forum, finally some honesty away from the lies of the department!
So for someone who is bored of where 'ideally' she should be, could you give me the reality?

xx

I have, I think, too many words, and am somewhere within 4-6 months more or less until I submit. I don't even know the total word count because I am gutting and revising every chapter, and a couple are only rough drafts, not yet fully written, but nearly there.

The word count will come. I would not worry too much about it. I don't even keep track of how many words a day anymore, I might reel off 3,000 in a day after two or three days of reading and thinking and taking notes, and drafting some things by hand.

1,000 or 1500 words a day is not that much, if you are in the flow and feeling comfortable, other days it can be a stretch. But think of it this way, if you wrote 1500 words a day for 30 days you would have what ( I cannot do the math, heading for calculator) 45,000 words. So you could have 90,000 words in 60 days...if you were ready to write that much.

I'm at 50000 words (have to reach 80000), but as a part-time student, and a seriously ill one, I'm not rushing to submit anytime soon. Better to get there more slowly in my case. But I started writing early on, partly to see how much material I already had, partly to identify gaps that need to be plugged with a bit more research. olivia's advice is really spot on. The only thing I'd add is that mini deadlines can really help encourage progress. Agree a thesis writing plan with your supervisor (when you'd like to have drafts of specific chapters and sections), and see how you get on with that. It's likely to fluctuate, but should help. But the words will come on their own.

Yeah, I think well done you firstly for doing so totally well, I wish I was in your position. I think a smallish word total a day which must be reached, and can be surpassed if you are filled with inspiration might be the most helpful thing.
Have you found it an easy process to keep writing?

Re daily totals I'm often happy with 250 good words to be honest, though I do have the luxury of time. 1000+ is even nicer, and what I'd easily manage if I'm on a roll. I once managed 7000+ in an all-nighter. But 250 good words that don't need drastic editing and my supervisor won't rip to shreds will often do for me, particularly when I'm working on the trickier sections. Re keeping going I find deadlines are the key, as I said above. Oh and working on two chapters simultaneously: lets me switch from one to the other as I get bored, fancy a bit of a break.

Lots of people up late tonight!!

Your word count (and production of), will for the most part depend on your discipline. I also try to knock out 1,000 words a day when I have deadline approaching, but to do that wordcount day-in day-out is probably too ambitious, and you'll end up with lots of waffle and not a lot of substance (at a rough guess, you'd end up with 250k in one year!).

I like to read and make notes in a structured form for about 3/4 days then write about 3,000 words (like Olivia says). Some PhD students will write 150-200k and then distill it down, and other write v. condensed and then have to flesh out the text later one (I'm in the latter category) - so wordcount varies greatly.

^ excuse the typos.

my word count so far is zero. i'm approaching the end of my second year. i want to start writing this summer.

i'm definitely behind schedule, for various reasons including, but not limited to, some serious procrastination.

I would say in my experience 1000 words (that will stay in) a day is a good achievement.

That was the pace I wrote up at (but I was in a bit of a rush.

I guess you could possibly write more, but if you sustain that level of writing, with quality material and keep at it consistantly, you will be done in no time

Good luck

S

I am writing up my PhD and have written about 50,000 words and feel like I am running out of things to write...the word limit is 100,000. Is 50,000 way too short? What is a normal length or does it vary? My topic is Psychology.......

Thesis length varies by subject/university. I'm humanities and have been told to aim for 80000-100000. Like missspacey I tend to write compactly so need to stretch to reach the minimum word limit. That's partly why started writing early: so I might have time to do a bit more research and plug gaps rather than end up waffling

Dear all,

isn't the structure far more important than word count? I mean it is fairly easy to write a massive report, yet if there is no good structure it may be meaningless.
I am used to word max and the difficulty is, in my opinion, to write condensed but clear. Therefore the main thing I am doing at the moment is make drafts and trying to set up a structure including only the relevant bits, leaving out issues that are less important.

Structuring well is indeed harder for me, and that's what I focus on getting right most in my chapters. But if I have to submit a thesis between 80,000 words and 100,000 words in total then at some point I have to produce all those words. And since I write concisely that's not easy, and I'll be stretching rather than condensing.

I think its important to keep in mind that people write differently; and the process is very different between individuals. I can sit down and write anything, anytime, anywhere, for a first draft phase, and then must do the ( tedious) work of structuring and editing. Other people like to write in a planned linear style, working out a structure before hand. Others can only write when the planets are in the right alignment, the degree of heat and cold balanced just so, the sunlight at the right angle, etc--that is they are very environment sensitive. I like to draft and edit by hand and if struck by an idea, can scribble it down on the back of an old receipt in my purse and then later try to turn it into something.

I think its important for people to know what works for them...I am fussy about the kind of pen I write with, for instance, the wrong one puts me off. The main thing is to know what works for you, even if its vastly different than what other people do, and stick with it. My style would put a linear thinker into fits. And since its been awhile since I mentioned it, the "Flowers Paradigm" is a process that works for me.