Any tips on writing a chapter for PhD, the process from start to end? I am doing a first draft and my supervisor said to just 'write it out' and not worry about the word count for now. I am at triple the final word count which is ok because it has helped me to make sense of the key material and some of my arguments-so good advice from my supervisor. But I realise so far I am leaning heavily on a small handful of sources. I now have a massive document, some clear ideas, but on minimal sources and need to do a lot of editing and more reading. Any advice about how you would go from here or how you would have done it differently? It's all learning I know! But I am a bit on my own as a PhD student in my department so I'd love to hear about other peoples processes or how they'd manage this mammoth document and reading task ahead!

I agree with Pjlu. I have realised you have to force yourself. It helps when there are pending deadlines but if you are at the start of your PhD it might be harder because getting it ready might feel so far off in the future.

I am currently writing so to make it less daunting I set myself two hour stints with a little reward after and then back to it. I use Clearfocus app to help me and then when the timers up I feel like I have done something. To be honest it can be slow going if you really feel resistant but I tend to find after 15 minutes or so I have zoned in and I am focused-I think it can be that first stint that's hard, once you've done a bit of work it's easy to commit to more. So my advice, is to sit down, set that timer and try your hardest to get in to it, and then the resistance should ease off.

Also I remember someone saying to me at the start of my PhD use as much time as you can now, seriously!!! But I found that really hard because I wasn't really sure what I was doing and I needed some exploration time. So I am not going to make you feel really bad for not nailing out ridiculously long days already. But I would maybe think about reading around your subject area in a way that helps pique your excitement/interest and will be useful for a future literature review. Who knows it might even not feel like work...yet.

Hi, thanks Ephiny. When I'm thinking rationally I feel like I've got things well planned time wise. It's just those niggling demons that get at me. Pjlu, thanks to you too. I think sometimes it's hard to realise how much you have picked up. My partner often says that I don't realise how much I do know and my supervisors often also say that it's clear how much my knowledge has developed by the way I can speak about things. I guess because it's quite organic and in some ways unconcious the way research infects your thinking, perhaps it's hard to realise how much the thinking has refined. I hope the writing process will make that clearer for me perhaps. Feeling a more reassured guys, so thanks!

Hi, I'm a PhD candidate studying over 6 years. I have 2 years of study left which I see as my final year (in full time terms). I am doing a phd in art and have a final showcase coming up and then a final work which I hope to have done by December.

I'm currently trying to write the first draft the actual chapters for the written component of the PhD. I'm having a couple of struggles. I have had to work nearly full time during the last four years, and as I try to write these chapters I am constantly reminding myself how I should know a lot more at this stage and therefore this should be easier to write. So while I am slowly chipping away at the writing day by day (doing some reading then doing some writing), I am also writing in order to understand the material and trying to pull out potential arguments and hoping that by the end of this first draft period I will have have some clear ideas for myself about this area of the PhD. I'm hoping THEN I can refine it, chop it down and add to it through further reading. I guess my questions here are, is this how other people experience writing their chapters and also should I be seriously worried about where I am in terms of being at final year point and still not being clear on my arguments?

And just in general I feel so behind, I have been reading and writing during the last 4 years and obviously making the work, but I haven't had to pin anything down until now and I think this has meant that my arguments and level of insight hasn't been developing in a focused enough way. I keep having this thought haunting me as I'm working. I wondered if anyone has experienced this sense of 'failure' or 'guilt' through their process or has any advice to help me move on without having a freak out?!

Thanks!