I normally quite enjoy the writing process, but I've been really blocked for several weeks now with the chapter I'm trying to write. I've researched and planned this section as much as I can, and I have plenty of ideas, but I just can't get the argument or words to work. Everything I write sounds trite or laboured. In an attempt to break through the initial period of paralysis I had a go at free-writing, and banned myself from stopping to think about my written style. Although this helped me to get some words on paper, it meant that I didn't incorporate my secondary material methodically, and it has a 'dashed-off undergraduate essay' feel to it. Now I'm working with a weak draft that I don't seem able to turn around, which is possibly worse than not having written anything at all. Has anyone else had this experience? If so, did things improve when you moved onto another piece of writing? If I continue to struggle like this I'll never submit.

How about blocking paragraphs and working on these individually? I would do that and only move onto the next when you feel you have 'turned around' that particular paragraph.

One chapter was harder to create a first draft and wasn't as good (although fine) based on supervisor feedback.
I tried just writing off the top of my head without structure/vocab(I think what you described). It's just been a hard slog and took longer. I handed in a version with gaps and problems to my supervisor after getting a friend to read it. I then worked through the corrections.

I find it easier to print things out onto paper and correct them. Also I think some of the problem was that it wasn't very readable so I started reading it and just lost the will to go on. I tried to create an outline of what I was trying to say overall and make it more readable. You should eventually be able to summarise into a few sentances.

try mindmapping? it will help you deal with some ideas without forgetting others or mixing others. it's not the mountain it seems once you break it down to bits in your mind map and deal with one at a time. am gonna be doing that tonight, so you're not alone.