The dissertation motivator

Kazby

Hi,

Is anybody else out there writing their dissertation at the moment?

I'm just in the final year of a part time Masters and I've got a 20,000 word dissertation to write by next May. That sounds like a long time off but for the sake of my sanity (and to try and stop my friends and family from completely disowning me for being buried in research) I'm trying to speed things up a bit a get the majority (i.e. everything except the results and conclusions) done by Christmas.

I've been doing bits and bobs over the summer but not really started to have a go at it properly until a week ago. Starting writing has not been too much of a problem and I'm up to 640 (mostly terrible) words at the moment. They'll need to be re-written but that fact that I've started is the most important thing. Unfortunately I know myself all too well and I'll end up spending far too much time surfing the internet (reading the forums!) etc if I'm not careful. So I've decided to set up the dissertation motivator - the idea being that I've got to share some progress details before I'm allowed time off to browse.

This might possibly be the dullest thread ever! It would be great to hear from anybody else in a similar position - I could really do with some peer pressure to keep me on track. . .

scottishblondie

I'll join in here, not sure how motivating it'll be tho!! I'm in the final 6 months of my PhD - I'm probably looking at about 100,000 words for my finished thesis :eek: I'm at just over 30,000 so far in my finished draft chapters (the rest are still more or less empty), but I also have a lot of very rough notes and material to work with.

It is a real struggle at the moment to feel like I'm making any progress with it, and I'm also very easily distracted. But 6 months really isn't long left for finishing the draft, redrafting and polishing and at this point I really just want to get it over and done with and graduate, so I'm trying to keep pushing on.

Everyone keeps asking how I'm getting on with my thesis, which helps because I feel guilty if I'm not working hard enough! Plus having to hand stuff in to my supervisor regularly for comments and criticism is a good motivator for me.

Good luck with keeping motivated, and please keep us updated

bebewoo

Have you spoken to your tutor yet and given him/her an outline of the dissertation contents? I found that to be a great help, as the tutor can guide you on how to break the subject down into chapters/sections. It's mandatory that you know, or at least have some idea of, what your opposing ideas are going to be. I had a 20,000 word one too.
As soon as I had chapter headings and an idea of where the dissertation was going it was just a matter of getting my head down and writing like a dervish to fill in the gaps. Then going back and revising to make it shorter!

lucylollipop

I only had to write 8000 words, and was handed in back in January, for my dissertation - but it was a nightmare! I'd done all the plans etc by this time last year, had all the research complete and ready to start writing from by about the end of September... And yet I was still writing like a mad-woman in mid-January! So much for all that planning lol. Good luck to all of you who are writing now - I'm thanking everything I can think of that my PGCE is assignment based, rather than one large submission!

Absinthe_Fairy

I just handed in my 20,000 word dissertation on Friday! I just wanted to say good luck - it seems really daunting right now but once you get going with it you'll see it slowly come together and feel more motivated. Gathering the results is the hardest part - writing up is comparatively straightforward!

dmg24

Mine is due next September, but I should have done half of it this summer. Not very practical when the area I am studying will change significantly in October! I have been using my time looking at different research styles, trying to improve my critical analysis skills etc ... or at least that's what I'll be telling my supervisor!

7mag

I appreciate any comments on the following. I'm a distance learning student doing an MA. I submitted my 20K word thesis following lengthy feedback and amendments sought by my tutor. It was at the point where he stated it was a 'clear pass'. On submitting it, the work was then failed!
This is an extremely summarised version of the events, which are now the subject of the complaints process. The point of the post is, I would welcome comments as to what the situation is at other universities on this matter. Do they typically state, in the 'small print', that they will not be obliged to take any responsibility for the advice given by the tutor? It hardly seems very fair to me!!

BeckiP85

I am currently finishing my PhD thesis and it has been going on for so long! I wish I had done more in the beginning and then I would be finished by now. Hindsight is a wonderful thing...
I am starting a job on 1st October though so it is a lot easier to concentrate knowing I have a more definite deadline. The internet is a terrible procrastination tool but at the same time I think I would have gone crazy by now without it!!
The only advice I have is set yourself deadlines and actually stick to them (I did not!!) and keep thinking of the light at the end of the tunnel!
Good luck!

Wiggynut

hmm... can I join?

My dissertation is piddly compared to everyone else
I'm on a practical course (BA) so it's only 4,000/5,000 words but in my head a dissertation is huge and I keep planning for a huuuuge project... lol.

I have 3 weeks to do the proposal and I'm having trouble deciding on what to do it on... Stop Motion Animation and Digital Media.

As this course is practical it's meant that we've only done a couple of short essays and one research methods (which most people failed... I didn't though... phew!) so I feel slightly ill equipped - left school 20+ years ago and never did an essay then anyway but then I have to remind myself that it's a shorty dissertation so I'll be fine... just deciding on what angle to go from.

but I still need motivating

Jonahmaul

I am just coming to the end of my full time Masters & have to hand in my 15000 word dissertation in two weeks although I need to have it finished by a week tomorrow as I have to attend a wedding the weekend before it's due. There's no definite advice to give people about them really as people work in different ways. I only have 5000 words written so far so need to write a lot by next week. However, this is just the way that I work (get stressed, panic, get it written & hope for the best!).

Having said this a few things I would advise are that writing it is a lot quicker than doing the research so make sure you've given yourself plenty of time to do all the necessary reading and empirical research if you are doing any. On this note also realise that when you start writing you will find that you need to do more reading so don't leave it too late. Finally getting down your ideas even if the construction of the sentances is not great is a good idea. Once everything down you can easily edit it or fill in missing bits with quotes/ideas but getting it down in the first place is the hardest step.

Also, search this (as new user I can't post a link) - 'forget creative writing, Charlie Brooker' - it's quite a useful & reassuring article!

deptfreemoneytart

Every student, in my opinion, should be given a pre-uni course in both money management and time management.
My wife had to write a 30 session course handbook in a short period of time and she didn't believe she could do it.
I set out a timetable for her, using a daily calendar in which I wrote every session that she should have to work on the book. I took into account everything that was a regular event in her week and included downtime so that it didn't take over her life. The only rules were NEVER change a scheduled time for something/somebody else, and NEVER do more than the allotted time per session.
I then got her to work on the book for 3 hours solid to discover what she could achieve in that time. With this result I worked out how many 3 hour sessions she would have to work to achieve her goal of completing the book.
Once she got into the routine of working to a programme she started to do more than 3 hours, this is when I stepped in and stopped her, as once you have started a programme DO NOT deviate from it. I factored in some free days at the end of the programme just in case something unexpected came up but she didn't have to use these except for tarting it up and preparing it for printing. Using this process completely removed the stress from the project and left her feeling that she could do anything if she just managed her time.
Good luck and enjoy your free time once managed.