What was the first section of your PhD that you wrote/drafted? Was it the literature review or a chapter, or does it depend on the nature of your subject?

Science:

First thing I did was my literature review (and therefore the first thing I wrote).

ask your supervisor. its their job to give you this kind of advice.

I'm social science

Started writing the lit review first (although it is also an introductory chapter as well). It will help you develop your ideas about the literature and make sure you have found as many of the relevant publications as possible (prevents you finding all your 'original' ideas in articles later on). It will also help you work out where the rest of thesis is going and how it will be original.

I'm another one for social sciences and literature review

Thanks all - I have already spoken to my superviser about this, and was told it would be best to start with the lit review, so I just wanted some other opinions.
How many words did your lit reviews amount to??

Ask your supervisor for an approx word count to work to (they'll probably say somewhere between 5,000 - 10,000 for each lit review chapter). This won't be the first time they've had this question asked!

Mmm - I suspect 'delay tactics' are at work here (we've all been there) ... just write!!!

Unfortunately, when it comes to word limits everyone will tell you 'it depends'...but they're right. Everyone's project is different. I was told 8,000-10,000 per chapter and that has worked as a good guide for me. A lot of academics I've spoken to about this say anything beyond 10,000 words per section is too long (and you should really be thinking that you're trying to compress too much into one section). You'll probably find your first draft is much longer than that, but when you're forced to narrow it down you start to focus on what's important. If it helps, my lit review is going to be around the 10,000 word mark (although it started off more like 20,000!).

I'm currently battling with my final draft of my lit review before I submit. It's at 16,000 at the mo and trying (desperately!) to cut it down to 10,000... Sixkitten - any tips to make this process less painful?

It's horrible isn't it! I've found that as I rewrite and rewrite that I've been able to find whole paragraphs that simply don't add anything to my argument and that I've been able to condense sections of the literature together to form a shorter analysis. I've taken out quotations that, while very nice and support what I'm trying to say, really don't do anything more than a reference would. Also, as I've started to think about the rest of thesis, I've found arguments that have been 'moved' elsewhere - otherwise I'd end up repeating myself later on. Think you just have to be a bit brutal, but I guess part of the PhD is about being able to condense ideas and explain them in a limited word count.

Did anybody else write their foreword first? I began my literature review last month then stopped and decided to write a short foreword as my sup wants me to think of the thesis as 'a story'...I have to say I think it has helped. I used this section to clarify the root of my early ideas so I can now work from there and return to them when necessary.