Gella... :-(

[No Imagination]

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I have 2 more sections to write before I can defend - and I can't get myself motivated to even start it... Say something nice to get my ass moving - or at least tell me how you motivate yourself.

I'm really really really tired of sitting in front of a blank word document

(I say Gella, but anyone else who is/was in a similar situation, please chime in...)

 

[DVMorBust]

Holy freakout batman. Next time put an 'Attn:' in front of a username to clarify! I just thought something horrible happened!

 

[GellaBella]

Awww...hi!!! 🙂

I totally feel your pain! Writing is seriously the worst. Which chapters are they?? For me, I feel like the actual data chapters are not SO bad to write (they are still tought just not AS touch), probably mostly because I can put figures in and it makes the length so much longer that way. Writing the Introduction/Literature review is a killer. I've started and stopped many times. I haven't even attempted conclusions yet. ugh

I guess the only thing that works for me is just doing it (I know, helpful right?!). But I mean, just writing anything...don't worry about how great and smart it sounds, just put the idea on paper in whatever jumbled form it comes to in your brain. Then later you can go back and move it around and make it sound intelligent. Sometimes thats the only way I can get around writers block.

Good luck!! You can do it!! Just think, the sooner you get it written the sooner you will be done!!! Like done done!!! Done with your PhD-thats amazing! and then you can relax for a bit before you go off to MSU. So seriously, get your butt in gear. You don't want to be defending right before you go off to vet school! You need time to relax!

Bottom line: you can work now or you can work later. But you're going to have to do the work sometime. (I wish someone would just write everything up for us at the end!!) Get it done soon and enjoy some of the summer! Good luck!!! 👍

 

[No Imagination]

Is it bad that I want my Introduction/Lit review to be ~200 pages - so no one reads my data chapters?

But your right on about the just 'writing' - I've resulted in copy and pasting my proposal, and now I'm editing to reflect how much smarter I am now... Only problem - as I read what I wrote 2 years ago... I'm like "Damn, thats pretty darn good - How did I come up with that?" I think i've regressed.

Not to mention I have an unofficial deadline of Aug. 6 (Vet school happens)...

 

[GellaBella]

I am constantly feeling like I've regressed. I always think about this graph and how sad but true it is..at least for me

 

[Caninerepro]

Pathetically true, and I myself have WAY overshot my mark! If it makes y'all feel any better I am doing my defense THIS WEEK. Ug my mind is going to explode!!! 😱

 

[nyanko]

Pathetically true, and I myself have WAY overshot my mark! If it makes y'all feel any better I am doing my defense THIS WEEK. Ug my mind is going to explode!!! 😱

for your non-thesis masters?

 

[sumstorm]

For my thesis (for everyone who will tell me it is different) I got through sections I didn't want to write by just writing sentences that needed to be in those sections.

The sentences wouldn't necessarily flow or be in any order. They would just be key points that I knew I needed to get it. If I was really desperate to write, I would just put in phrases. I wouldn't worry about the niceties of writing. I found that once I had puked all the key parts on the page, I could start shifting things around and forming paragraphs that worked well, re-writing sentences, etc. I have another friend who does a similar techniqure but she writes the key points on index cards, then organizes, then writes.

I also, when I was really desperate, set my alarm to wake me up at odd times, at which point I would rush through a paragraph as quickly as possible so I could go back to sleep. This didn't produce the best quality, but it gave me revisable text.

 

[No Imagination]

I also, when I was really desperate, set my alarm to wake me up at odd times, at which point I would rush through a paragraph as quickly as possible so I could go back to sleep. This didn't produce the best quality, but it gave me revisable text.

Nice idea -

What ended up helping me out today, is a committee member had me write a detailed outline for the section in working on, then told me to go home and fill in the blanks later.

That not how I normally write - i know i'm 'supposed' to form an outline, but usually I just write from beginning to end, then edit... a lot. For this - its too MUCH, so outlining it, it is.

I have a feeling I am going to defend the week vet school starts... and to think, I've been saving to get away for a week to recoup...

 

[nyanko]

The sentences wouldn't necessarily flow or be in any order. They would just be key points that I knew I needed to get it. If I was really desperate to write, I would just put in phrases. I wouldn't worry about the niceties of writing. I found that once I had puked all the key parts on the page, I could start shifting things around and forming paragraphs that worked well, re-writing sentences, etc.

This is the strategy I use and have used in the past, as well, for what it's worth. For me, it's easier to make connections and bridge gaps between random ideas than it is to try to plan what to write about one thing at a time.

It does take me forever to write something, though. That's a pretty major drawback. 🙄

edit: Also I wrote my undergrad honors thesis in LaTeX instead of MS Word, because at least with all the code in the file I wasn't ever staring at a blank page.

 

[twelvetigers]

The sentences wouldn't necessarily flow or be in any order. They would just be key points that I knew I needed to get it. If I was really desperate to write, I would just put in phrases. I wouldn't worry about the niceties of writing. I found that once I had puked all the key parts on the page, I could start shifting things around and forming paragraphs that worked well, re-writing sentences, etc.

I do this too! It makes it easier to spit out what I want to say in the end. 👍

But, you know... just papers. No thesis here!

 

[jglovicz]

Awww...hi!!! 🙂

I totally feel your pain! Writing is seriously the worst. Which chapters are they?? For me, I feel like the actual data chapters are not SO bad to write (they are still tought just not AS touch), probably mostly because I can put figures in and it makes the length so much longer that way. Writing the Introduction/Literature review is a killer.

I completely agree...lit review is the worst--but that's before attempting my discussion. As others have mentioned, for my lit review I made as specific of an outline as possible...that way I can just plug in my sources (or look them up) based on very specific criteria. This is a painful process...I would so much rather be doing benchwork 🙂. But what I do every day is freak myself out by saying "it's *May 27th*" (*insert today's date*). I know that I'm presenting my research at a conference in the middle of July, then I'm moving halfway across the country with my kitties and horses....I just want to be so far done by that point! That motivation gets me to the computer pretty quickly! Good luck! I feel your pain!

 

[TSUJC]

I definetly feel you pain! I am defending in 5 weeks! I have found the discussion to be the hardest part for me. Even though I didn't realize it at the time I actually got lucky. My PI made me write my proposal like a lit review, I was pissed at the time because I thought geeez this is just a proposal but in the end all I had to do was copy and paste it as my lit review.

When I had writers block I would go back to some journal articles, usually that would trigger some inspiration.

Good luck, that is a pretty tough deadline! I hope it goes well.

 

[Caninerepro]

for your non-thesis masters?

Hey, I have gotten a FEW PM's about this. My appologies. My buddy apparently replied with my account, not his. I am indeed doing a non-thesis MS. His is thesis based. 😳 Sorry for the mix-up.