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[synecdoche]

I feel like I've forgotten how to write. I can put a sentence together and I have some ideas, but I can't seem to put what I have together coherently. I think it is an organizational issue. I have no clue how to structure this chapter in an effective way and I'm not letting myself get through the material as a result. I feel like I have two sections that are codependent on one another and I can't get them to jibe.

[reener06]

I feel like I've forgotten how to write. I can put a sentence together and I have some ideas, but I can't seem to put what I have together coherently. I think it is an organizational issue. I have no clue how to structure this chapter in an effective way and I'm not letting myself get through the material as a result. I feel like I have two sections that are codependent on one another and I can't get them to jibe.

I've felt like that with all 3 data chapters. Each time I think it will be easier, but it seems harder. The only thing that worked for me was just doing something for the chapter each day, even some days as little as writing a sentence. I've written multiple chapter outlines, each one needing revisions as I move forward in the chapter. I've also found that reading a lot on that particular topic tends to get my juices flowing. Really detailed outlines show me what I need to do at each step, but don't have the finality of actually writing, so it frees me up more.

[monita]

Warning: vent ahead....

Has the culture of dissertating changed so much since our professors did it?  I'm wrapping up revisions for a January defense, and so I'm probably just abnormally cranky.  A professor just told me that he was too busy to evaluate my teaching because his course load this term was so heavy and he doesn't have any TAs.  This professor has the EXACT SAME COURSE LOAD AS ME (writing-heavy senior course and a gen ed intro course with a new prep).   Arrgh!?!?!

I know professors have advising and service commitments too, but do they really not realize how much we're doing?  I think my department believes that ABD students sleep til noon, watch cartoons, then roll over and write for about 1/2 hour a day.  Between family commitments, teaching, dissertating, job applications, and poverty, the stress is starting to wear me down.

Is this normal, or am I just whiny today?  I can handle tough love, but a pat on the head is nicer. :-)

Vent over.  Thanks for listening (reading? whatever).

[thundering_m]

Warning: vent ahead....

Has the culture of dissertating changed so much since our professors did it?  I'm wrapping up revisions for a January defense, and so I'm probably just abnormally cranky.  A professor just told me that he was too busy to evaluate my teaching because his course load this term was so heavy and he doesn't have any TAs.  This professor has the EXACT SAME COURSE LOAD AS ME (writing-heavy senior course and a gen ed intro course with a new prep).   Arrgh!?!?!

I know professors have advising and service commitments too, but do they really not realize how much we're doing?  I think my department believes that ABD students sleep til noon, watch cartoons, then roll over and write for about 1/2 hour a day.  Between family commitments, teaching, dissertating, job applications, and poverty, the stress is starting to wear me down.

Is this normal, or am I just whiny today?  I can handle tough love, but a pat on the head is nicer. :-)

Vent over.  Thanks for listening (reading? whatever).

Is this a professor on your committee, or for some reason would have an obligation to read through a hundred plus pages of dense writing? And was he saying he just couldn't read it yet or that he wouldn't read it at all? Were you asking for a general opinion about the structure of it, the logic of it, the format of it, the eloquence of it, or the timeliness of it? And what feedback have you gotten from other sources on it?
If you are considering tough love as his rationale, and were hoping for approval or encouragement, then perhaps you are being unrealistic about what a fellow instructor has time to share.

As far as culture, this sounds more like a personality than a trend. The culture at my doctoral program was to seek only the opinions of the chair who was pretty strict about what he did and did not do, and never never never repeated himself. Had absolutely no patience with someone who didn't take advice the first time or connect the dots. By this I mean that if a criteria was already shared, it was up to me to figure out if I had met it.

As far as workload, it sounds like you are needing some validation on that front as well. However, it is fair to expect this professor to be equally swamped with his own scholarship. Is he tenured yet? If not, there is an even bigger crunch to prepare that dossier than the dissertation process. Believe me.

[monita]

Thanks, thundering_.  This professor is on my committee, but I wasn't even asking him to read my dissertation - my advisor has been involved throughout the drafting/writing/revising process and has been great.  I had asked the professor in question only to stop by my classroom to write a short teaching evaluation, since I'm applying for jobs and haven't been observed in years.  This professor is active in the teaching development programs and is on my committee, so he seemed like the logical person to ask.  It didn't seem like that big of a request to me.

[minorleaguer]

Would the wisdom of the fora share how far along their chapters were before first being shown to a dissertation advisor?  Mine would prefer to see chapters before the entire committee views the first completed draft.  Fair enough. 

This said, it occurs to me that I could spend months and months editing, rewriting, adding, complicating, etc.

Did you share draft chapters early on, or did you simply describe your progress to your advisor before showing them chapters that were further along?

[prephd]

I shared mine with my chair when I had the first three full chapters. They've been back and forth a couple times and are almost ready to go out to the rest of the committee. Something tells me the last two chapters will play out similarly.

[merope]

I gave over my chapters when I couldn't stand to look at them anymore, especially the last one. You have to weigh the value of revising/editing/etc. (which you probably could do forever) vs. having a fresh set of eyes look over the work. Also, consider whether you would enjoy redoing the work of months if it turns out there's a serious problem in the chapter, according to your adviser. I would probably recommend earlier submission on the initial chapters, while you and your adviser are assessing each other; once you understand their reading process, and they understand your writing process, you might adjust your timetable to compensate.

[monita]

My advisor wanted to see each chapter individually (which I think is WAY less stress than professors who want the whole dissertation at once).  I turned the chapters in when I really felt I couldn't go any further, but if I got stuck along the way I stopped by and we talked it out.  My advisor would then DESTROY my chapter with his big red pen, I'd do a re-write, he'd read it again, and then we were both happier with the finished product.   After doing this on the first few chapters, the revisions became less extensive since I had a better idea of what he wanted. 

[minorleaguer]

Thanks for the above replies.  I'm in history and in the archives.  My advisor and I agreed that I would write as I moved through my materials and I've finished two very, very rough draft chapters.  I'm trying to decide how much to edit them before passing them off to him. 

Spending time editing the chapters takes away from my time in the archives, yet I'm also hoping to have something to show for my time away from my home institution. 

[prephd]

Gearing up for what (I hope) is the last or next-to-last meeting with my advisor before I head out to collect data. Fingers crossed!

[zardock12]

It is as though you read my mind verbatim.

[kraken]

So very close.  Prospectus defended.  Criticism accepted.  Methods revamped using entirely different method.  I just found my high school valedictorian on Facebook already running his own law practice in San Diego.  That's depressing. 

Come March, I will be done.  Or divorced, so I'm told.  It should be an entertaining ride. 

[promovenda]

My adviser, who is not well and not able to work too much this year, is happier if I produce an entire rough draft. So I'm trying to get everything together by June. Hu has seen some chapters, but will understand and be able to help better when it's all in front of hu, I hope.

However, I'm still trying to squeeze in some archive research in between writing. Still a few things on the list.

[stanwyck]

I just submitted my first chapter (well, second chapter of the dissertation, but the first will be a revision of my proposal) to my advisor.  I am now going to eat an apple with caramel sauce in celebration.