Wednesday, October 01, 2008

the way of the thesis

Indirectly, I've been writing this thesis for years. Every word added to an article or note scrawled out on paper, does contribute towards the final product. That's what you tell yourself anyway, and what you put on your application for extension form. I have to say though, nothing truly feels like thesis writing, except .. well ... writing a thesis.

There was no ceremony or event to mark the start of official thesis writing. It was simple really. I opened a blank file, and named it 'thesis.tex'. I then proceeded to copy and paste every digitised word I have ever written on the subject of computer vision. An hour later, I had added 120 pages of the most incomprehensible mish-mash to my empty thesis document, and so it began.

It is somewhat disconcerting that a month or so later, the number of pages hasn't really increased. On the other hand though, a hell of a lot more has gone into it. The process of adding new content, and then refining the words to say the most you can with as little use of the English language as possible is the way of the thesis. I know I will begin to hate this process, particularly when I realise there is nothing else left to do except write, but for the moment, it actually feels kind of good to be at this stage. Actually seeing it take shape, ever so slowly, and forming into something that represents the four years of work I have put into this is quite a motivator. Of course, having a baby due in three months, and desperately wanting to end student life and get a real income is another.

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