Hi Luziat, congrats on getting the studentship! During two spells of househunting in London over the past 18 months I used a site called www.intolondon.com to find places to live. There is all range of options on there, its easy to post an ad, and out of the 20 or so places I looked at only two were total duds (one was some dodgy sublet arrangement and the other was for a bedsit which the landlord organised for 20 people to see at the same time!). Other than that though the site works really well.

Good luck

Much better day of writing today. Thanks again for all your suggestions. In the end I just put all my notes and books in another room and began redrafting everything I've written so far without them. Each time I was tempted to reach out for notes/books I forced myself not to and that has really helped me get into the writing 'zone'. It's also reassuring to see I do understand the material I'm working with and can explain it without relying on the words of authors x y and z.

======= Date Modified 28 Apr 2011 12:31:07 =======
Also re-drafting today - aiming for 5,000 words in a presentable form. But that's looking ambitious as I only have until 3.30!

Update: I'm half way there and stopping for lunch

Thanks for all your suggestions people - this really is a great little community. And Hiccup, in the nicest possible way its reassuring to hear I'm not the only person stressing over these things!

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for how to write in your own voice. I'm dealing with some very complicated political theory at the moment which I feel I understand, but when it comes to writing a synthesis of the literature in my own terms I'm struggling.

I find that I start to rely excessively on the literature I've been reading. Part of the problem I know is because the literature often already explains things very well, and its difficult to re-write in my own words. I then end up writing things in their terms and following their structures rather than my own, ultimately taking me away from the questions I've set myself to answer.

Anyone else suffer from this sort of problem or got any tips for overcoming it?

After wasting my morning 'getting back into it' post-Easter break I am determined to spend the afternoon drafting out the next 2000 words of the paper I'm currently writing.

======= Date Modified 26 Apr 2011 12:21:20 =======
I've applied for a CASE studentship and been told I'll find out mid-May. Good luck!