Excuse this self-indulgent post, but I would like to update hillyg, my new favourite forum member who gave me a kick in the pants and helped me get out of a terrible writing slump, on how my writing is going.

hillyg, I talked to my supervisor and confessed my problem (my name is Piglet and it has been 13 days since I wrote a word of my thesis) and together we agreed on a deadline (October 14) for the draft of my next chapter. It is achievable, but will require some dedication to my computer for the next 10 days. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for your motivational post. You rock!

Hi Piglet, no problem. Motivation is such a fickle state of mind! I think honesty is the best policy when it comes to PhD research. Honesty with yourself and with your supervisors. I would advise keeping something back from your colleagues as stressing over where you are in relation to your peers can be very de-motivational. I have just handed in a draft chapter and hope to have my lit review and intro drafted by end of Nov. Be realistic and don;t beat yourself up. Go for it! We have come this far...

Good news you're feeling better. I hope you have a better time over the next few weeks -really good luck.

As an aside I totally agree with HillyG about moaning with peers. Its easy to get into that habit of all wallowing together without a solution, or bringing each other further down, if you're teetering towards a bit of a slump.

I am glad the future looks a bit brighter