Write a Chapter a Day - no script / suitable for thesis?

[Laura]

Hello

I hope Shannon will see this message.

I've been listening to 'Write a Chapter A Day' for three days now. I've purchased it because I hope it'll be helpful with completing my thesis. However, I'm not sure it's suitable for thesis writing because the script is not published in the store.

So my first question is whether it's suitable for thesis writing or whether I should rather listen to something else that either is supposed to help me more with my thesis or with another part of my life.

Also, I would like to know whether it's a good idea to combine it with another program or whether it's better to stick just with this one.

Here's my situation: I'm 37 and I still haven't finished my master's. It's not my first education and I also work as a teacher, but still it's annoying and sometimes embarrassing that I'm not done yet. I did well till it was time for my master's thesis. I started with it about 6 years ago and worked on it on and off. I'm not lazy - however, until recently, I made my job my priority and not my thesis (even though many people told me to do otherwise). Another problem is that I didn't have a clear outline. A third problem is that I tend to waste time with getting into details. Right now, I'm in a phase where I'm doing more research plus I'm working on an outline. I hope once all the research, the outline and the analysis is done, the thesis can be written relatively quickly - with the help of 'Write a Chapter a Day'.

I believe I can focus (now that I teach less) on my thesis work quite well and I have good habits in place.

Another thing is that I'm in debt - as a result of still not having finished my master's. Not funny. Other people I know that are my age own property by now... Being in debt should give me motivation enough to get my master's done as quickly as possible and that's certainly the idea - only this has been the idea for a long time...

So, here's my second question: Should I listen to another program in addition to 'Write a Chapter a Day'? If so, would that be another writing program - for example 'Write Now - Edit Later'? Or maybe one of the fear subliminals? I was wondering whether one of the 4G fear programs might help me with lots of things in my life - including my thesis. But then, right now, what really needs to get done is my thesis - as quickly as possible. However, I also want to hand in quality work - in particular after spending more than 6 years on it...

Any advice is welcome!

[Shannon]

Hello, Laura. Welcome aboard!

Write A Chapter A Day was created and scripted with standard books in mind. Instructional or perhaps fiction. If you are writing your thesis as a book, and it is of an instructional nature, the program should be suitable for you.

You can use that program with Write Now, Edit Later if you wish, since they're both 3G programs. Several people have reported good results using those two together in the past.

I'm not sure if Overcoming Fear might help, it's not focused on writing or getting a thesis done.

[ShanghaiKiwi]

If you're anything like me, you might profit from the 'stop procrastination' sub.

[Laura]

If you're anything like me, you might profit from the 'stop procrastination' sub.

Thanks, Brad. I wouldn't call myself a procrastinator regarding my thesis. It's more that I don't focus on the important stuff - I get sidetracked with details. Basically, busy work instead of priority work. At least in the past. I think I'm dealing way better with that right now.

I have a great support/accountability system in place that helps me working on my thesis and getting other things done. I check-in with people on an hourly basis. It's not for everybody, but it definitely helps me! That way I can even get work done when I wouldn't usually be able to motivate myself.

Are you using or have you used the Stop Procrastination sub? If so, what's your experience with it?

[Laura]

Write A Chapter A Day was created and scripted with standard books in mind. Instructional or perhaps fiction. If you are writing your thesis as a book, and it is of an instructional nature, the program should be suitable for you.

You can use that program with Write Now, Edit Later if you wish, since they're both 3G programs. Several people have reported good results using those two together in the past.

Thank you, Shannon!

My thesis will be bound as a book. It needs to be highly structured (chapters/sections and subsections) - similar to a good 'how-to' book. It's not instructional - I need to present and discuss an analysis in the main section. If you still think that Write a Chapter a Day could be helpful in this case, I'll continue listening to it.

I'll go ahead and purchase Write Now, Edit Later. I'm certainly a person who tends to go over and over a paragraph and or section again and again, and I'm wasting my time with it because sometimes I don't even end up using that paragraph or the whole section!

One question, Shannon: Is it OK to loop the 2 programs one after the other (program 1 - program 2 - program 1 - program 2...)? I know I've read somewhere if you use more than one program you should listen to them at different times of the day or one during the day and one during the night. However, in my case the two are related and it might be OK to listen to them 'together'. The reason I'm asking is because that way I won't forget switching programs. Also, I can't listen to a program every night - it depends whether I'm at my or at BF's place.

BTW I'm not sure whether this has to do with the sub I'm listening to, but just a few minutes ago (before writing this post), I had the thought that it should actually be possible to write my thesis quickly once the analysis is done. Over the years, I've taken tons of notes related to my thesis and those will come in handy and help me getting things on paper quickly once the analysis is done. However, whatever I've written in the past always took me a long time and I've been programmed that writing takes me a long time. I don't know whether I just want my mind to switch ('This can be written quickly. I can write my thesis quickly.') and make this work or whether it's the effect of the sub. I'd be thrilled for sure if I can write my thesis quickly and I will for sure continue listening to the sub! (Part of it is written (but some sections need reviewing/deleting) - the other part will be written once the analysis is done.)

Another thing I'd be thrilled with is to find out that subs work for me. That would be FANTASTIC!

[Shannon]

Laura, as a published author, I can assure you that writing does not take a long time. In fact I wrote 13,000 words of my 52,000 word (300+ page) book on how to write, edit and self publish a book in 12 hours of nearly straight-through work. That was my record for a day, somewhere around 13,000 words.

If you type 25 words per minute, you can write a 50,000 word book in about 34 hours worth of typing. Make that your job, and do it even just 4 hours a day, and that's only 8 and a third days to type up a 50,000 word book. Not very long at all. I type 72 words a minute, hunt and peck. I can therefore write a 50k word book in less than 12 hours of actual typing at full speed.

That it takes a long time to write a book is a myth. It's not the writing that takes the time, it's the editing. Writing is a cakewalk in comparison, once you get past the fear of "It's so hard!" and "What if I make a mistake?"

Fear paralyzes most writers into a cycle of perpetual note taking and micro-editing.

The fact is, to get a book written, you need to do the research, know what you want to say, have a good outline, and then just fill in the outline. Either leave the editing and formatting to someone else, or use a program like LyX that formats for you as you fill in the outline, and schedule your editing time just as you would writing time.

For me, it usually takes about 7x longer to edit than to write. That's because I have a tendency to edit seven times, and because I have a tendency to add more than I cut during my edits.

It's worth it to hire an editor.

And, I highly recommend LyX. Just remember that most editors will need the manuscript in a .doc format. Formatting a 50,000 word book using LyX, however, can be done in under 3-4 hours.