I have 4 months to write up my PhD - firstly for those who have written a thesis is that doable?

[Jazzicatz]

And secondly - if you see me on here kick me up the bum and tell me to get on with it!!!!!
Tia.

Anyone?

I finished mine in 5 months. That was intense but do-able. It depends how much you already have done. I had to write 2 chapters from scratch plus introduction and bibliography to get it finished.

oh, and was working part-time (but with very understanding employer!). 2 kids and very accommodating husband.

I am in a strange position in the fact I have most of the material, a structured plan for each chapter- but as of yet only about 5000 words written down!

It's intense, JGOWI is right. What subject area? I wrote as I went, it was just the conclusions that I had to do from new at the very end, but then mine was a bit social-sciency. Formatting the thing took an age - Word gets very funny with big documents with lots of sections, so factor in time for that, and the printing / binding...

As Justget says, it depends. I have had students who have written up in that time, but they knew what they were doing and what they were going to say. They had also got a lot of the lit review and methodology sections pretty much done already, and had already done their analysis. Obv it varies depending on subject.
You would be amazed how focused you get towards the end, though

Good luck.

Criminology - I am just stuggling with getting started I think.

So Jazzi, if you work out how many words you have got to write, and how many days you have got to do it in, how many words is that per day?

I did work 56 straight days at the end of mine - no weekends, no time off in the week, roughly 7 hour days (no chidren at the time, either!). But it so does depend on what you've already got done.

Works out at about 500 words a day!

you can do that! (are you having weekends off there? I really don't advise the 'no weekends' method)

Totally doable then! As long as you start now

Would not be able to work weekends. When put like that it is do-able - just wish I could get motivated!

Write yourself a timetable, factoring in time for proofing, binding etc, and stick it up next to your computer in case you are tempted to Mumsnet.

Good idea Kathy - all great suggestions thanks everyone x

Hi Jazz it looks like we have similar timeframes. My EdD thesis is due to be done by Aug as I am not going to pay another years fees (On 7.5 yrs too). I have to write 40-50K words so a 'baby' in some respects. I am currently on my final chapter so the end is getting nearer. I only started my write up in Jan. I had to get Chaps 1-3 in by the end of Feb and by the start of april i'd written 35K words.

Tips
Write every day but accept some days it'll whizz along (yesterday did 1.3K!!) and others not alot. When you find it hard to think do parts that don't require much thought but still need to be done eg References, acknowledgements etc.

Set a timer for Mumsnet down time so you don't get carried away. However it can help to run ideas pass us lot as I've found this a brill thing as writing up alone is really depressing at times

Grab any childcare offers and don't feel guilty. My DD (5) is now according to her 'working in the top group at school, like your studying Mummy'

Exercise to clear your mind...even if its something everyday like dog walking it helps get Oxygen into your system.

Keep repeating 'I will get this (Insert any adjectives required here!) Thesis done

Good luck...trust us we'll soon be doctors!!

I can write 60,000 of a first draft of a book in that amount of time so it is possible. The tips above are good.

I'm bogged down in the analysis but hope to write up June-Xmas. It feels a bit overwhelming right but I hope it's doable. Sunny - that's really good going!

thanks for the boost!! Had first draft returned and Prof really happy with lots of it. Major problem is clarifying things which is hard as cos I know what I mean I assume other do too!!

is your analysis quant or qual? Mine was qual so I kept re-reading it and scribbling notes in the margin with loads of lines and it actually wasn't too bad.

Keep going everyone!!

It's quant and it's just laborious and just can't go faster than it goes. And I keep having to reorganise the data to do different kinds of analysis which is mind-bogglingly tedious.

I really struggle, on the writing front, with the overall organisation. There are a number of subplots which I am struggling to knit together in a meaningfully coherent way.