Thesis editing advice wanted.
I'm now about to embark on the last year of PhD, and the suffering has begun. I have to edit and re-write and generally haul my thesis into shape in the next 8-10 months or so.
Any general editing pointers are welcome, especially in the matter of how to provide enough hand-holding' for prospective future non-specialist readers without being patronizing.
Also welcome would be someone with past personal experience sharing what sort of timescale they used for the editing task, eg. How many man-hours did you budget for?
Naturally everyone will have had a different experience, and that's fine.
Also tricks and tips for overcoming a particularly stubborn case of writer's block would be especially useful at the moment.
Cheers.
O.
Any general editing pointers are welcome, especially in the matter of how to provide enough hand-holding' for prospective future non-specialist readers without being patronizing.
Also welcome would be someone with past personal experience sharing what sort of timescale they used for the editing task, eg. How many man-hours did you budget for?
Naturally everyone will have had a different experience, and that's fine.
Also tricks and tips for overcoming a particularly stubborn case of writer's block would be especially useful at the moment.
Cheers.
O.
Many thanks Neil, I particularly like your block removal suggestions.I'm at the 85,000 words on paper with 30,000 more left to write and all of it needing an overhaul once I'm done stage.For me my main eiting and re-write issues will likely be style related, and also adding some hand-holding for readers unfamiliar with my topic. My Prof. says to keep in mind a target reader, he suggests a German Masters student, almost fluent in English but unfamiliar with British archaeological writing and of course my own topic, but who must read and understand my thesis as part of his own research. I undersatnd what he means in theory....but understanding and doing are proving very different things, and I don't always hit that spot just right!I'm budgeting a couple of months rather than weeks, because I'm anticipating a lot of sub-chapters needing complete overhauls.Must also kill all wooly expressions.