Dissertation Progress
I'm the queen of procrastination...it's just so freaking hard to make myself write this stupid dissertation. Grrr...it seems the closer I get the farther it seems and the harder it is to write. I do draft after draft after draft and it just seems to never end. I can write 20 pages of notes on one piece and it ends up being less than one page typed after all the edits...that's hours of work and it looks like nothing...
My family keeps saying...haven't you been working on this all year? Well, ummm, the topic was JUST approved last Thursday - I'm still undergoing edits on that step...I did maybe six drafts (the first three were complete re-writes) before I submitted it in April, more re-writes and officially submitted in October...more edits and re-submitted and defended in February...and after the defense it needed still more edits. I spent four long days doing those edits...was really proud of it, and last night learned it needed even more edits. This is just chapter one...
I worked on that for about three more hours tonight - one hour with my mom - HUGE help that her background is as an English major and she's an excellent proofreader and non-musician, so she asked really great questions and finds things that no one else finds.
I just added up my pages and I'm over 40, but since they are in so many different files (each chapter is separated at this point) it doesn't really feel like much yet. Maybe after the weekend I'll print it all out and put it in a binder so I can feel like I've actually accomplished something.
I see a very clear path to how I'll finish - I understand what I'm doing and I feel like the mystery of has been revealed (the defense was very helpful for this) but it doesn't make it any easier. This will be one of the hardest months of my life - I'm about to see just what I'm made of...and I'd much rather be sitting on the beach, drinking fruity drinks and laughing with friends.
Now, back to work I go.
My family keeps saying...haven't you been working on this all year? Well, ummm, the topic was JUST approved last Thursday - I'm still undergoing edits on that step...I did maybe six drafts (the first three were complete re-writes) before I submitted it in April, more re-writes and officially submitted in October...more edits and re-submitted and defended in February...and after the defense it needed still more edits. I spent four long days doing those edits...was really proud of it, and last night learned it needed even more edits. This is just chapter one...
I worked on that for about three more hours tonight - one hour with my mom - HUGE help that her background is as an English major and she's an excellent proofreader and non-musician, so she asked really great questions and finds things that no one else finds.
I just added up my pages and I'm over 40, but since they are in so many different files (each chapter is separated at this point) it doesn't really feel like much yet. Maybe after the weekend I'll print it all out and put it in a binder so I can feel like I've actually accomplished something.
I see a very clear path to how I'll finish - I understand what I'm doing and I feel like the mystery of has been revealed (the defense was very helpful for this) but it doesn't make it any easier. This will be one of the hardest months of my life - I'm about to see just what I'm made of...and I'd much rather be sitting on the beach, drinking fruity drinks and laughing with friends.
Now, back to work I go.