Thesis writing after a break.. is not a good idea!

Xenomorhic

I finally got things squared with the university, and my MPhil draft came back to me just before Xmas with notes and comments all over it.

Was pleased to finally see it- it had been gone just over a year, but oh my goodness, sitting down and trying to work on it is HARD HARD HARD! See I sent in the draft and waited for it to come back, and waited, and waited, and waited.... so I barely looked at what I'd done and got so frustrated that I took up a completely different course in the meantime!

I never quite had my head fully around all the theory, so trying to add little explanatory details in that my supervisor has requested has not been fun. I can't remember the basic rules of what we did, never mind all the little logical arguments! I have a creative, not mathematical brain, and the suggestions are stubbornly 'refusing to compute'.

I've forced myself to do just a little bit daily. I've made a lot of revisions as recommended and tried to reassure myself that I'll speak with my supervisor when she comes back from her trip away and I can do this.. but when I try to conceive of finishing, I feel rather panicked- there just seems to be so much to do.

I THINK the best thing I could do right now is set aside an afternoon to sit and got through the most important papers and try and go back to the basics and remind myself of what we were babbling on about in the first place, but tearing myself away from doodling about on the 'real thing' on the PC and picking up a pen is difficult.. can anyone understand that? It's like, whatever tiny little change I make to that matters, doodles on notepaper... not so much!

Anyway, how can I stop panicking. I'm also worried about my finances cos I stayed out of debt all through uni, but now I don't want to worry about looking for a job (want to leave that to the agency really!) when I only have a few months to finish this.

Looking for people who can relate really and who've been there. Supportive words or tips are very much welcomed!

aurora_borealis_2

I can absolutely sympathise with you but won't be much use.

The thought of mine still makes me feel physically sick - I just can't go there yet. I'm very touchy about it and haven't even started writing for publication. It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

All I can say is keep slogging away - keep in mind the alternative. That's what kept me going.

Xenomorhic

aurora_borealis wrote:

All I can say is keep slogging away - keep in mind the alternative. That's what kept me going.

The alternative makes me want to cry just considering it .

After all these years, all that work- all those WEEKENDS spent there! The thought that I might not pull anything out of it, not even the MPhil I've back tracked to from my PHD aims makes me feel so sick.

I am about to send an Email begging for a long evening meeting with my supervisor. Hopefully she can do it. Just need to work out what to go for first.

Thanks for letting me know I'm not all alone.

melancholly

the thought of writing up makes me feel sick...... i can't imagine writing for months at a time..... i was meant to write stuff up as i went along but clearly that barely happened....

sounds like a day reading key papers would save plenty of pain in the long run. then getting a list of things you need to edit/re-write/add etc. it helps me to have a check list so i can tick things off when i do them, even if the list is monstrous to start with!

good luck!

MsFit

I know how you feel,
thats how it is for me too,
lol

lipidicman

aurora_borealis wrote:

The thought of mine still makes me feel physically sick - I just can't go there yet. I'm very touchy about it and haven't even started writing for publication. It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

I know this one.

My PhD thesis was the hardest thing I ever did..........until my recent attempts to write it up for publication. 'The thought of mine still makes me feel physically sick' How do we get over this?

DrFluffy

lipidicman wrote:

I know this one.

My PhD thesis was the hardest thing I ever did..........until my recent attempts to write it up for publication. 'The thought of mine still makes me feel physically sick' How do we get over this?

Time! It took a few years before I could even think about my DPhil days fondly!