Hello all,

I am so stressed about my dissertation. I have less than 2 months to finish it, and I am only just starting the introduction. I wasted so much time and now I cannot write because I keep thinking of the deadline and keep telling myself I won't make it! :(

What do you do when this happens?


What prevents me from working is the fact that I hate anything I write. I think it all sounds meaningless and stupid and I think my markers will be so unimpressed.

I wrote mine over the summer, saw my supervisor and it was clear it needed massive changes. I practically re-wrote the whole 17 thousand words in about 5 weeks just during evenings and weekends as I work and have two very young children so it is do-able. Just think that you can do this thing, if you feel you are really way off the mark with deadlines can you speak to your supervisor about possible extension? What are they saying about the work you have done so far as the usual process is you submit each chapter in turn at dates agreed between you and your sup exactly just so you don't get into the state. What do you need from your MA, will a pass do? If so, don;t kill yourself trying to get it finished to distinction level. Good luck. x

Hello. Thanks for your reply! :)

I only have 11 000 words to write, it is totally do-able but I cringe at every sentence I write because I hate them all so much. So far, I have 700 words. I really do not want to ask for an extension, just want to be over with this asap.
I am not sure contacting my supervisor would be a good idea: he did not give me feedback whenever I sent him something, so I think we are probably not allowed to send them work. We are only allowed to send 3000 words before August for them to look at, but I really do not want to: I',m just upset that he ignores my emails, and he will probably ignore all future ones too.

I reallllllllyyyyy want a distinction overall as I averaged a mid-distinction in all my modules (I got 76% overall for my three other units, this is the only remaining unit).

I keep procrastinating, but if I don't finish this, I can say bye bye to the Phd! :(

Those are amazing grades, you should be proud of yourself. There is no evidence then to suggest you cant write at distinction level for this, have faith, stop being so precious and just do it. Youve done it before, you can do it now. Just start typing and let it flow, you can edit afterwards. Xxx

Hi Politics, I think you are describing a phenomenon that is quite common. I tend to hate my writing after any major writing task for PhD (and this was also true for Masters thesis). It all seemed to be boring, mundane, clunky, confused, repetitive- you name it-as I wrote and revised, these sorts of thoughts were slipping through my mind constantly.

But finally, i told (or tell myself) to 'just do it!' So what...in the end it needs to be functional, legible, logical prose which outlines a hypothesis, or tells a research story or explains some data within a given context from a new perspective...that's it.

Later on when reading things after a long break, some of the writing doesn't seem that bad. My Master's supervisor told me she hated her PhD and left it in a cupboard for more than a year before she could bear to look at it. I'm sure others feel the same at times...remember you are not writing the next Pulitzer Prize winning novel or submitting for the Nobel Prize for a ground breaking idea (even if we all secretly hoped for this once upon a time in our niaive youth).

There are many academics in the world and many writers and finally most of us would just hope that we have made sense, that our ideas are clear and valid and that some (or many) people read what we have to say and it wasn't a waste of time for them to do so.
Don't be to harsh on yourself...just do it!