Dear Dissertation Diary

 Hello dissertation diary,  Today was the end of another week and I've been trying to get through some actual dissertation diary. I write little bits of content here and there pretty consistently, but it's only been in the last couple days that it's all started to take shape into the ten pages my supervisor wants me to complete for Monday. I'm about halfway there and while it won't be great, it'll be something by the end of the weekend and I'm glad that I have a deadline so I can motivate myself to do more detailed writing.  I can make myself write something on most days but those little somethings don't necessarily add up to any broader whole. The ideas are random and they don't stick together quite yet. I have a hard time sticking to any self-imposed deadlines so I really need the external pressure to get myself motivated to connect all the pieces I keep floating around.  I also seem to be embroiled in a conflict with one of my students. She's ...

I was never good at keeping a diary.  I always thought that diary-writing was a romantic hobby that required pristine notebooks and delicate pens. That I would have to pour out my soul by candlelight and weave an intricate narrative of my tumultuous life. I had many pretty notebooks and prettier pens but they never lasted very long. The frustrations of messy writing and inconsistent formatting always made me lose interest and I could never keep a proper journal for more than a few days. Aesthetics aside, the usual diaries tended to remind me of all the ways that my life was uninteresting and unworthy of writing down and I never had anything salacious or exciting or witty enough to commit to paper.  When I entered grad school I realized that I hated writing but I was too committed to the bit to back out so I had to find a way to force myself to enjoy - or at the very least tolerate - a consistent writing routine. I had already started storing some of my course notes in a word p...