My sup is a great guy and expects me to have written work for him each week for him to correct. The first few pieces were 4000 words each week but now I'm in a new area that I had no prior knowledge of and I'm struggling for the word count.

I guess that I'm finding this part slower than the previous mini-project and getting the phd guilt.

Maybe you need to have a discussion with him about the structure of your work and thesis. It does seem odd that he expects written work each week - my work hasn't progressed like that at all. In the beginning there'd be some weeks where I wouldn't write very much at all, as I was reading or doing field work and then be busy transcribing. And soon you should be writing full chapters, which are definitely not doable in a week. Can you suggest that rather than hand in work each week, you hand in more work each month? Then you could hand in a decent sized chapter of, say, at least 10,000 words, in, every few weeks.

It sounds to me as if he's supervising you a bit too closely - you need a bit more flexibility, with deadlines that are task related rather than being weekly. Maybe you could also suggest less meetings - I meet with my sup monthly, or less.

I agree with Sue, 4,000 per week is quite tight. I used to feel guilty about not handing in a good work too, but found out that it is better to keep handing in the best work that you can do (even if it is less than the word count and quality that you expect) than to wait to produce the perfect work. As you continue handing in more work and getting more critique, your work will get better and better. I guess its the sacrifice that our supervisors have to go through. Keep working at it and dont give up. All the best

That's pretty brilliant. Just do the best you can do but keep handing up all the time. My sup left me to float after the first mini project and we lost loads of time. Really wish I'd had your experience, especially with writing. My sup is quite erratic. Sometimes leaving me for months and then expecting me to have new results for meetings practically every second day. I think for first year or two once every week or every fortnight is perfect.