Hi Faye,

I don't usually reply to posts but when I read yours I felt compelled to let you know that I am in pretty much exactly the same boat as you! I am due to hand-in in about 4 weeks, and I'm struggling to keep the momentum going. I have a substantial amount to do still too, but I am taking each day as it comes and making sure I only have short-term goals. So I have a plan for the day, and I definitely reward myself every time I meet my goals. Small things like buying something online at the end of the week actually helps! I recently rewarded myself by buying some fiction books that I am planning to read after hand-in! Just try to keep going, getting small things finished really helps and you don't notice the bigger things coming together. Nearly everyone I have spoken to agrees that it all comes together at the end.

Just keep going! Good luck!

Hi, I'm kind of new to here (read a lot but haven't posted much) and I've found it really helpful and comforting to know that there are a lot of people in the same boat. I am currently in my 3rd year and *supposed* to be writing up (submit Aug). However I'm floundering slightly. I have 3 papers that I am currently working on, one of which recently got rejected from its first submission. I'm not too bothered about this as it was a very good journal and I just submitted it in an aim-for-the-sky kind of way. But now I have a three papers to work on, two of which require a lot of work and the third needs revisiting, and no thesis writing on the horizon.

What are other people like in terms of thesis writing? I am under the, perhaps false, assumption that I could write it fairly quickly once I start. Also we are really encouraged to have something published by the time we go in for viva, so I'm concentrating on the papers. Is this a bad idea? Does the thesis actually take a lot longer than expected (I mean I know it takes longer but does it take a lot lot lot longer)?

My supervisor is not helping things, and is being a bit of a....well his supervising style is getting old fast. He also overcritical of my writing style, saying that it is too wordy and not scientific enough. He also constantly changes his mind about what I should focus on, and often doesn't provide any helpful comments as to how I can make anything better. I know that sometimes I use 10 words when I could use 3 (I like President Bartlet's style) but I wrote a lot in my undergrad degree and I think my supervisor is trying to stamp out my individual style to make me a science robot. Although my subject is science based, it is a life science and there is room for individualism.

Finally, does anyone else keep getting switched between student and colleague?? I have recently realised that I am getting treated like a student sometimes (i.e. professors talking over me in meetings, often not listening to me and sometimes just ignoring me completely) and a colleague (i.e. expecting me to do 100% of the work and then lambasting me for not doing something three other ways, when most other phd students are just getting the statistician to do their work!). This is quite recent but I wondered if anyone has had similar experiences and what I could do to get a bit more respect?

Ok, that was a bit of a rant. Really any help/advice/knowledge that there are others out there having similar issues would make me feel way better about it all.

Thanks!!

I'm really sorry to hear the situation you have found yourself in. However I think it is actually a more common situation than most students think. I am currently in the final year of my phd and the relationship between me and my supervisor has really taken a turn for the worst. He has always been very laid back and allowed his students to be very independent. Initially we liked this freedom and felt it would enable us to take control of our work. However I now believe that, at the end of the day, doing a phd is supposed to incorporate a large amount of training for life as a researcher, and I think often supervisors forget this. I feel like I am on my own when other people are being helped a lot more.

The fact that your supervisor is new to this and you are his first student should be taken into account by your committee. He is learning too, so maybe you should ask him if you could get another professor in your supervisory team? I have 3 supervisors, which means there are other people to go to when your primary is driving you mad! But my main advice is talk to someone else. Any other professor, even if they have nothing to do with your project. Find someone who you know can listen and will provide real advice. A friend of mine has been through a lot of problems with her supervisor, and because she spoke to other people in our department they now have a good relationship, and she's further on than any other student!

I hope you get this sorted, but remember that it is quite common and the other professors will have dealt with similar situations in the past.

Hi, I am new to this website and stumbled across it because I am experiencing a massive writer's block :-( I am on a similar deadline to yourself, money runs out on 1st October so I am planning to get my thesis finished by the start of September.

I have a couple of major issues. The first is trying to get papers out for publication, which seems to be taking waaaay longer than it should, and I can't really begin to get stuck into my thesis until they're out of the way. Second my writing completely sucks atm. I have a good undergrad and masters, and have been taught to write well. So the fact that I can't seem to write anything half decent is making me freak out a bit.

Both of you seem to have a lot of work already done. I haven't really started my thesis, except ~5,000 words of intro material which will be edited heavily. So far I have been concentrating on doing my individual studies, analysing data etc.

Any advice for getting over writer's block??