I am meeting my supervisor on Monday and she wants a month by month writing plan linking in with my thesis but I'm not sure about timescale for anything so don't really know how to go about this. At the moment I feel like she wants all my chapters written by the end of the year - but I will still have a year to go after that. I have done chapter outlines but the later ones will definitely change but until I have analysed my data I don't know exactly what the content will be but she seems to think I should know this and be able to tell her when I will be writing them.
I've done my lit review and have a draft to work from, so I suppose I can give her an introduction chapter next, then I will be analysing the data so a results chapter, but after that it depends on the results as to which path I follow for the subsequent chapters although I have some idea of what to expect. Does this all make sense? If anyone has any advice on writing timescales half way through a PhD I'd be grateful.

I gave my supervisor a work plan that listed the chapters by a tentative title, ie Methodology or Final Results or Interview Results, and a very brief notion of what would be in them. Its hard to know whats going to be in them until the research is done, you write, and no doubt as you write, you think of places you need more information or research, etc...I did a chapter submission per month to my supervisor, whether it was brand new or a revised one. Sometimes a written one would be revised several times back and forth, or as I found new things I wanted to focus on with the research, and I myself would initiate the changes...

I think there is a danger in getting too locked into something that won't fit as you point out, as you get results...Can you also build into your plan a plan to change it

or revise it as you go? Say, every three months, re-visit the plans, and discuss them, agree changes, etc? To me the thesis work plan is an active document that needs constant attention and revision and weeding!

Olivia is absolutely right; the work plan/ time table will constantly need altering. As a guide it's great but it will definitely change accordingly. I have just done one myself, where I have to hand a chapter monthly but my supervisor and I are fully aware that it’s just a guide which will certainly get massive revisits.

I did mine on a spreadsheet, put the months along the top and the chapters down the side,with slots for writing the final thing. I then started at the end and blocked in a section with one colour, about 6months I think I started with (I'm psrt time)I then looked at the rest of it and decided when I was going to tackle what. For example the lit review is spread over most of the length of study, because of the nature of the research. The chapter on labour process is one of the first to be tackled, so I blocked in a section for that, starting a few months into the whole thing, and ending with a month or so of the writing up colour.

As the chapters are not following one on the other the methods chapter which is second on my list, overlaps a good portion of the labour process chapter and extends beyond, ending again with some writing up time. There is time nearer the end to do the abstract etc. On each row there is time built in for review. Don't know if I will be keeping to it, but my supervisor liked it!

My writing plan was pretty plain--just a list! I am not skilled in doing charts and graphs, so I just put down what I was going to do in a list...and update periodically and send it to my supervisor.

I just came up with a list too and emailed it to my supervisors: a list of each chapter's number, summary purpose, and when I'd aim to finish it. I allowed generous time because I'm seriously ill + part-time so can't go at this too intensively. In the end I've ended up writing 2 chapters simultaneously (1&2, then 3&6, now 4&5, and 7 and bibliography to do at the very end), so the plan altered a bit, but generally I've stuck to the deadlines as agreed. I started that half way through the PhD, having completed almost all the research, but keen to write up to see what I had, identify gaps, and hopefully allow time for a bit more research in addition to revising chapters. It helped when I started writing that I already had a literature survey (written 3 months into my part-time PhD) which formed the basis of chapter 1, and a published journal paper and drafts of another 2 papers (all sole authored) that I could adapt to the thesis chapters.

Joyce, I like the idea of a spreadsheet. I think I'll have a look at doing something like that tomorrow. I have been brainstorming with notes on paper and it worked really well - I have come up with my basic chapters and what I think will go in them (completely different to what I originally had)depending on what the results of data analysis are although I am hoping to find particular things.