Strains and stresses at the final stages

I strain forward to prepare a final full draft for checking. I go through chapter by chapter, day by day, marking changes in the hard copy, adding new relevant reading, cutting, shuffling, organising, formatting, printing revised drafts, re-reading...

This pre-submission work is hard, with no limits since the dissertation can never be polished enough. I wonder all the time what the markers will make of it. Coherence and criticality are my standards as I sweep through the text. Every word counts to make the whole coherent and critical.

I lose heart, feel tired, worry about other things, sleep, do another stint, want to stop, keep going.

I strain forward to prepare a final draft.