Life in Thesis-land : finishing line?

In andOver (not over and out)

Karen.Hall — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:24:00 GMT

Just over one week ago, I submitted my thesis for examination. The last month was a final flurry of filling up the gaps in writing, clarifying the expression, smoothing out the argument into (hopeful) coherency, and the endless finnicking of reference checking and formatting. I certainly wouldn't recommend this sudden immersion with a tight deadline approach to anyone wanting to retain their health and sanity, but still, it got the job done. Now, I'm deliberately not thinking much about the thesis in case I jinx the examination somehow.

Luckily, I've got plenty to think about instead. I'm coordinating a unit in Communication Studies this semester - called Cases Studies in Communication - which looks at cultural policy, creative industries and the intersections of theory and practice generally. The most urgent task is putting together the unit reader and unit outline, so I'm currently speed-reading my way through the relevant material to get a more solid understanding of the field. I'm also starting to think more substantially about the next research project, on the use of new forms of media to construct forms of medievalism. I've given conference papers on Victorian medievalist photography as afirst step into the project, but now I need to take time to define what I want to accomplish, the scope of the project and the best way to go about it. On a more frivolous note, I'm also planning to go to lots of Festival events in the next month - doing my bit as a consumer of creative industries. The rain today is also a reminder to stop reading through seed catalogues and start planning garden plantings going into autumn.

Incarnate

Karen.Hall — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 08:54:00 GMT

My thesis came to me last night in a dream. My thesis incarnate, I should specify, unlike other dreams about extra chapters in thesis related books or dreaming about the chapter I was writing. Somehow my thesis had taken on human form and was trying to talk to me. She looked like the Empress Jadis, from C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, and the assassin statues on Dr Who a few weeks ago, coming closer and closer. I couldn't hear what she was saying.

I'm pretty sure this is a sign I need to get this thing finished and handed in.

Good Habits

Karen.Hall — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:47:00 GMT

In the quest to find some way to balance the job-thing and finishing-thesis-thing while maintaining some shreds of sanity (don't laugh!) I've decided that the key is good habits. There is no point in pretending that I can manage to live on sugar and caffiene for the next five months, just writing and not sleeping, and doing well at either of the things. So I am aiming for sustainable but solid work practices and balance. So here are my new habits:

Going to the gym again. Having fallen into a gym slump in the absence of my gym buddy - because gossip can motivate me to get out of bed, but machines of torture aka circuit and pump classes cannot - I'm trying to reverse the trend and get to the gym 3 times a week.
Restricted TV watching. As some of my previous frivolous posts might have shown, bad TV has to get pretty bad indeed to stop me watching it. My current scheme requires me to register with Housemate Sister a weekly roster of shows I am allowed to watch, while she has total control of the remote and permission to be Official TV Doorbitch.
A tidy study desk, with all the resources I need on hand. Any junk that tries to move onto the desk has to go to a proper home or the bin.
Blocks of time. Thesis writing time is two hours each weekday evening. That means the two hours have to be done, but also that once they are done I can switch off the computer and go to bed.
Rolling Things To Do List. All the steps that need to be taken to get the thesis done get written down, and eventually crossed off. At the end of each evening's writing time, I select that tasks for the next day from the list. For example, tonight is two paragraphs of writing for Chapter 5, where I've blocked in the topic but haven't written the content, and one paragraph for Chapter 6. Small steps and attainable goals, that's my mantra.
And in a confession of potential New-Age wackiness, I've found that using an oil burner at my desk can help me get into writing headspace. I guess it is a sensory signal to myself to get to work, plus having the candle burning makes me feel like I shouldn't leave the room.

Heading Towards the Light...

Karen.Hall — Tue, 29 May 2007 04:43:00 GMT

I've been heading towards the light (ie, completing various tasks that having been taking over my life) for the last few weeks - hence my virtual silence and in-person whining. I like the 'light' metaphor, not only because it insinuates the semi-comatose state I've been in at times - almost oversleeping the bus stop when going to pick up my car on Monday was not a good sign! - but also because it is vaguely optimistic. Volume 13 of Limina has been launched, only one week of teaching left with the marking edging towards done, and maybe someday soon my current chapter will finally link up into coherence. So if you see me wandering around campus looking a little out of it, maybe it means I'm headed for a better place: head down into the final chapter in the semester break.

(metaphorical) nose back to the (metaphorical) grindstone

Karen.Hall — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:04:00 GMT

Today is my first day back from suspension. It feels a little like sitting in a rollercoaster carriage as it settles momentarily into stillness at the top of the slope before plunging downwards. From here it is - or should be - all down: finishing the drafting of the last two chapters, conclusion, editing, checking, formatting ... done. The 'done' is still hard to imagine, but I can feel the vertigo as I stare at the rest of it.

The morning started with a stall: literally, in that my car battery waved this life farewell with one last feeble splutter. I was left sitting in the driveway waiting for the RAC, then again waiting for a new battery. Autumn was in the air, I decided, sitting in the sun in a cardigan soaking up the warmth as through it was a transitory gift. Then uni, and the parking run around, and the computer run around (my SNAP snapped!), and the admin run around when I found I needed yet another form filled in.

But I have bombarded ILL with requests for the articles that I need for the writing that is slowly accreting into chapter shape, and written 500 words. Not a total write-off of a day. It's hard to find much enthusiasm at the moment, though: not much momentum behind me, I'm either over or was never that into the texts I'm writing about, and even the arguments I'm trying to make seem either too obvious or too hard. Nose to the grindstone, I tell myself. One word after another.