ocelot, I was wondering why it's all soooo slow and then realised that after every sentence I am stopping and thinking: how can I prove this? Who can I quote to back this up or to say the opposite so I can refute it with my lame radically new research proposition?
And then there's all the hunting for the exact quote (especially those ones you 'remember' from before you were doing the phD, you know, when you were just genuinely interested in the subject 
which turn out not to exist, or aren't in the book you thought they were in.
or you've typed ibid in some footnotes then added a few new sentences and refs and all the effin ibids are wrong.
Etc.
Wine.
(Been up since 5.30 trying to wrench 10k into shape for AP before I go away tomorrow as well as doing holiday packing and taking DS2 to a two long hospital appt. And am 500 words short so need to bring it with me on holiday after all. Sigh. But tbh deep down I am still really enjoying it and learning loads from it.
msmoss are you ending your second year now too? It's normal to have a total crisis of confidence sometime in yr2 isn't it? I thought it was one of the tickbox forms on your annual progression progress report:
Has the candidate demonstrated a cogent argument for why she is dimmer than a 10 watt bulb and unable to complete due to temporary setbacks of domestic, hormonal and procrastinatory nature?
Has she managed to blow these minor issues out of proportion, shown a capacity for drink heretofore unrecorded and demonstrated an ability to extrapolate in a drunken and miserable manner to her partner, fellow researcher or friend until the small hours why she is not cut out for her research question?
Has she decided upon a different project that would have effortlessly and imaginatively written itself if only she'd had the sense to spot it in year one and demand a change of direction?
If not please ask for an extension form so she can move onto this stage in a timely manner. 
Hang on in there. You'll be so proud of yourself when you're done.