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!

Hi Latte,

I can relate to the stage which you are in writing your chapter. I've been in similar situations for all my chapters I think, and I found the best way to tackle it is this...

First, don't worry about the length for now, but try to do your reading and looking up more sources now. Add these in to your already massive document! Once you are comfortable you have the all the information and sources you need in there, then it's time to start editting.

What I find helps at this point, is opening up a new blank document and having it side by side with the massive document. I then work through from the start, copying and pasting paragraphs/sections in one at a time and editting them as I go along. I find it much easier that way to tackle the large document, and its good to know everything in that document is already in editted form. In the original document, I usually end up with sections/paragraphs/sentences that I decided weren't good enough, but I keep them just in case I change my mind or need them later on!

I hope this makes sense and helps?! Good luck with your writing!