# The first draft of my dissertation is finished. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181 "2011-05-17T04:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/1 "2011-05-17T04:31:40Z")
The first draft of my dissertation is finished! I am so very, very relieved, and a bit proud of myself. I’ve never written a book before. It was a lot, a lot of work, but now it’s done. Done. Done. Done. Except for editing. But that’s not till later. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/2 "2011-05-17T09:49:18Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > The first draft of my dissertation is finished! I am so very, very relieved, and a bit proud of myself. I’ve never written a book before. It was a lot, a lot of work, but now it’s done. Done. Done. Done. Except for editing. But that’s not till later. Congratulations! I’ve got one of my own to do in the next couple of years, so I have a pretty good idea of just how much blood, sweat, and tears is involved. You should be very proud of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Eel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/977dab/32.png) [@Old\_Eel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Eel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/3 "2011-05-17T10:11:26Z")
Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/4 "2011-05-17T11:21:48Z")
Congratulations! One of the things I’ve been wanting to do for a long time is re-electronify my own “undergrad thesis”. Thanks to Microsoft’s policies re. document formats, the electronic originals were worthless, as they aren’t recognizable by more modern versions of MSWorks. Today I finished scanning it and bundling it into a pdf. So much work for 84 skimpy pages! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/5 "2011-05-17T11:57:15Z")
Congrats! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/6 "2011-05-17T12:47:22Z")
Woohoo! Congrats and good luck. ---
**Author:** ![MobiusStripes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@MobiusStripes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MobiusStripes)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/7 "2011-05-17T12:49:11Z")
Congrats! (And make a backup, or five) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/8 "2011-05-17T13:11:18Z")
Remember the first commandment: Thou shalt make backups, early and often!!! Conga-rats of finishing, by the way. What’s your topic? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/9 "2011-05-17T17:00:59Z")
Congratulations! Now make a backup on someone else’s computer so you don’t have to worry about something horrible. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/10 "2011-05-17T18:46:08Z")
Congrats! What’s the topic/Ph.D field? ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/11 "2011-05-17T20:18:26Z")
I am very impressed! Nice work. To examine a topic, form a hypothesis, investigate, and then set it all down is a monumental task. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/12 "2011-05-18T06:31:08Z")
**Nava** , I’m glad you got an electronic copy of your thesis. 84 pages is no quick note. That reminds me, too, to save a copy of my dissertation as a plain text file. Or maybe RTF. **MobiusStripes** and **Clothahump** , Let’s see. . . . I have a printed copy in my office, one at home, it’s saved on my hard drive, my flash drive, and I’ve emailed it to two separate accounts. I’ve heard too many horror stories to do anything else. **etv78** , It’s hard to pin the discipline down. The title is _Equality and Liberty in the Materialist Philosophy of the French Enlightenment_, and it is part moral philosophy, part intellectual history, and part literary criticism. I really can’t believe no one’s done anything like this before. Almost always when people study both equality and liberty, they tend to pick one of the two as more important instead of seeing how the two interact. Thanks to all for your comments. Tomorrow, I am not going to do a damn thing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/13 "2011-05-18T07:16:40Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > **MobiusStripes** and **Clothahump** , Let’s see. . . . I have a printed copy in my office, one at home, it’s saved on my hard drive, my flash drive, and I’ve emailed it to two separate accounts. I’ve heard too many horror stories to do anything else. Good, very good! > [@](#): > > Tomorrow, I am not going to do a damn thing at all. _Makes sure **•π** is, indeed, doing only those activities necessary for basic life support_ Better, even better! ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/14 "2011-09-08T21:56:32Z")
Just an update. I defended my dissertation yesterday, and I will file it tomorrow. Thanks to all the Dope for keeping me laughing and intellectually limber. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/15 "2011-09-08T23:26:41Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > Just an update. I defended my dissertation yesterday, and I will file it tomorrow. > > Thanks to all the Dope for keeping me laughing and intellectually limber. Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![Post\_Miss\_Post](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Post\_Miss\_Post](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Post_Miss_Post)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/16 "2011-09-09T04:27:45Z")
Congratulations **RadicalPi**! I’m truly envious with another year left on my PhD and the monumental task of getting a decent draft written. Enjoy the achievement! ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/17 "2011-09-09T17:19:30Z")
Congratulations! That’s a quick turn around time from defense to filing. Around here, people usually have to spend a few weeks making small changes and formatting. It must be a great feeling to be DONE! ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/18 "2011-09-10T00:05:20Z")
> [@Post\_Miss\_Post](#): > > Congratulations **RadicalPi**! I’m truly envious with another year left on my PhD and the monumental task of getting a decent draft written. Enjoy the achievement! Monumental is right. I’m not sure you need any advice, but if you do: Persistence is the key. You have to hack and hack and hack and hack and hack at it. Keep at it, and if you need someone to look at a draft (even if it’s not decent), just let me know. > [@BetsQ](#): > > That’s a quick turn around time from defense to filing. Around here, people usually have to spend a few weeks making small changes and formatting. It must be a great feeling to be DONE! Well, there was a deadline. And, yes, I am very relieved. Now, off to listen to Pomp and Circumstance and to go to my online banking and to the power company and so on to change my title from “Mr.” to “Dr.” ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-draft-of-my-dissertation-is-finished/582181/19 "2011-09-10T23:26:00Z")
Yay, Dr. RadicalPi! Have you entered the post-partum academic depression phase yet? Don’t! Go have a drink.