Glad to hear our messages cheered you up :)

writing is more of a psychological thing, than anything else..

it takes a huge amount of positive thinking and determination to sit and write. not alot of people can just sit and write for hours on end, without getting bored or distracted.

Yeh, better to work on a chapter you enjoy, because you will feel better that you have something done.

You can always set yourself time limits for the horrible chapter, and say to yourself, you can ONLY spend 10minutes or 30minutes on the chapter, for that particular day and then your time is up, and you can't work on it anymore.

That's what i did yesterday, I spent 30minutes on freewriting about the chapter i hate. and then felt better afterwards.

my day was okay, will update later :) mostly reading papers and making notes verbatim. making a mess

I know what you mean, about being infront of the computer, and actually being "productive"

I have a timer that I set where I HAVE to work for 30minutes, and I can't do "anything" else, and just keep going, like as if I am in an exam. And ever so often i look at the timer and it's ticking away, and i think eeeek 20minutes left... I better carry on...because once the buzzer goes, then I can't spend anymore time on this. It sort of pushes me, in a weird psychological trick sort of way..because I know after the 30minutes are up, I have to write in my "physical writing diary notepad" that sits on my desk, what I actually did.

it's like having mini deadlines throughout the day.. and then after the 30minutes are up, I note down, what I actually achieved.
and then take a mini 5-10minute break.

maybe tommorow you can give it a try? we can do it together if you like.

"An outline
First make up a thesis outline: several pages containing chapter headings, sub-headings, some figure titles (to indicate which results go where) and perhaps some other notes and comments. There is a section on chapter order and thesis structure at the end of this text. Once you have a list of chapters and, under each chapter heading, a reasonably complete list of things to be reported or explained, you have struck a great blow against writer's block. When you sit down to type, your aim is no longer a thesis---a daunting goal---but something simpler. Your new aim is just to write a paragraph or section about one of your subheadings. It helps to start with an easy one: this gets you into the habit of writing and gives you self-confidence."

it's here if you're interested:

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html

"When you are about to begin, writing a thesis seems a long, difficult task. That is because it is a long, difficult task. Fortunately, it will seem less daunting once you have a couple of chapters done. Towards the end, you will even find yourself enjoying it---an enjoyment based on satisfaction in the achievement, pleasure in the improvement in your technical writing, and of course the approaching end. Like many tasks, thesis writing usually seems worst before you begin, so let us look at how you should make a start.

...

Awww I'm sorry to hear you had a bad day, I totally understand about the panicking!! I just spend half an hour reading how to write a phd, an article i found on the internet, about how if you're panicking about the whole thesis, try making a simple outline of the entire thesis... and then just think you have to fill in the sections, bit by bit...

wow thanks Shani, I'm sooo glad you told us about NOT having seperate endnote reference libraries. just tested it out, best to keep all references in one file. word does get confused, even though does manage to find it, but best not risk it.. phew, glad you told us!
i will do just that, have one big endnote reference file for entire thesis.

Shani, thanks for the advice about not having seperate endnote files, hmmm thanks for telling me that!!! I better start putting all my references into one endnote file for my thesis then, but keep the word documents seperate for now. :) thanks!!

Smildon, I would be happy with 50,000 aswell! i too have a max of 80,000 words. for my introduction chapter i am going to keep to 25,000 words, i have to set an upper limit to introduction, because i have a tendency to go over the top with literature reviews.

Danzig,
that is very reassuring to hear! i too am doing a phd in science , and my supervisors also go on about consice and to the point! and prefer shorter writings..

how many words does your thesis go up to ?

i would be happy if i reach 50,000 words for my thesis :)

Thanks Reda!

yeh, i think examiners care more about "content" than word count. so i am not focusing so much about word count, but more on the content.

Bilbobaggins, that's fantastic you have all those words written for a thesis already, you're well on your way! i wouldn't worry so much about word count. My supervisors are always saying, write consise.

But the thing is, her thesis was in science, and so is mine, and imperial and qmul have similar "rules"
i also read in the handbook that states, no more than 100,000 words, but no less than 60,000 words. and i read in a book about how to write a phd, that states to make a thesis at least 60,000 words, anything less will feel like a Mphil.

but just goes to show, sometimes the rules get overlooked!

Sheena, S's idea about testing it on a small scale sounds like a good idea.

I also at the moment have different word documents for my different chapters. I am just at the zero draft part, and I have seperate endnote reference files aswell, I do whilst I write my introduction for the different chapters, do the references as I go along.

I think S's idea of testing it out on a small scale is a good idea!

I was thinking near the end of completion, i will just copy paste all the different chapters from the different word documents into ONE big thesis document, and then copy paste all the endnote reference files into one BIG reference endnote file. and hope it works! i might test it out though on a mini scale though

hey girls, i haven't had breakie either, drinking this vile vegetable juice thing. i find that i am more alert when i eat later on in the evening.

i'm using my timer method... tick tock tick tock. feel like i am in an exam. just took a little break. starting the timer again. 30minutes, to read a paper and make notes than my time is up!

maybe we can do it again?

report back at 4pm, with what you have done. then you can have a break, or the day off. the whole you can't have dessert until you eat your veggies. even if it's just 10minutes of work. try it

Whenever I feel that I am just writing rubbish or don't understand something and am just copying things verbatim, that seem only vaguely related to my subject, I read what BB told me and makes me feel so much better Thanks BB !!

"this psycologist was arguing that the best way to write was to first write loads and loads of rubbish, be it copied and pasted stuff or stuff from the top of your head, and then edit it down. Aparently people who write like that are loads more productive than those who plan meticulously and try to write perfectly first time" (BB)

I have it on a post-it now on my wall..

BB if you ever find the article again, please let me know

You are a star for sharing this!

well it's a start, you did "something" and that's what's important!
if you're tired, take a little break and then come back.

i read a paper and wrote notes on it, words verbatim interspered with my own ramblings = "1067 words". haven't quite fully understood the paper though, but it's a start. onto the next paper.

Thanks S! I appreciate it

wow i'm so impressed by the work you have done on your thesis. well done!

i think for now, i will stick with the older version of word, and continue with my seperate word doc for each chapter, and when i have something concrete for each chapter, then will compile it together into one document. right now, i need to write a zero draft of each chapter.
thanks again for your help and advice.