325,000 words and no thesis

Published 3 months ago • 1 min read

Hey Reader.

A little story today.

S. came to me six months before her submission deadline.

She had written 325,000 words. For context, a doctoral thesis in the UK runs to around 80,000 to 100,000 words. S. had written more than three times that. The problem wasn't that she hadn't worked hard enough. The problem was that buried inside those 325,000 words was a thesis - and neither of us could see it yet.

So that's where we started. We took everything she had written and sorted it into chapter-shaped piles. Not elegantly. Just practically. What belongs here, what belongs there, what belongs nowhere at all.

Then we went looking for her golden thread: the single line of argument that should run through the whole thing and make it cohere. It took time. It was uncomfortable. But it was there.

Once we had it, we could edit aggressively. Cut what didn't serve the argument. Strengthen what did. Build something she could actually stand behind.

It really was this exchange on the day of submission 😞

She submitted two weeks before her deadline. Minimal amendments. She has her PhD.

That's what four months of focused, structured mentoring can do.

I'm taking four people onto Get Progress this term. If you've got the words but lost the thread, I'd like to hear from you.

Always in your corner,

P.S.: Book a discovery call if you want to chat it through first.

Dr Gina Holmes Ltd
gina@drginaholmes.com

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