Update: just finished upgrading chapter four. Next up the final chapter, #5 -- although that may take a bit more time since I've spent the least time on that chapter. But my notes are in order (I think!), so hopefully it will go quickly. Currently, I am on page 162 of 181 -- or 90% complete (because chapter 5 is shorter than the other chapters), and as before these numbers don't include the currently 36 page bibliography.

I just finished "rounding-up" chapter three from a zero draft to a first draft -- now on to chapter four, which should not take long in that it is mostly transcripts of my Communion Meditations. A first draft is a form that can finally be given to someone else to read and offer comments for improvements -- whereas a zero draft is mostly in a form only I can comprehend. So, my hope is to quickly get comments on my first draft chapters to continue on toward submitting my work to the committee.

I'm on page 137 of 191 -- or 71% through the zero-draft-to-first-draft process, not including the currently 35-page bibliography.

My first chapter is finally off to my advisor, and chapter two has now been officially upgraded from a zero draft to a first draft -- and, thus, is ready for proofreading. Tomorrow: chapter three. I wasn't kidding when i said that I had most of this material almost ready months ago. Essentially I am now on page 103 of 200 -- or 52% finished, not including the Bibliography which currently weighs in at 30 pages, double-spaced, of course.

Starting a new job and moving cross country has meant that I haven't worked on my dissertation in approximately seven months. If I had stayed at my former job, I think I would have had a good chance of getting an advisor-approved draft to the committee by the December 1 deadline of 2010. Now my goal is to carve out some time each week in order to meet the December 1, 2011 deadline. Ultimately, I have until December 1, 2013, but I would love to be finish with this project this year -- which would put me on track to graduate in May 2012. We'll see. Currently I am 40% through rounding-up a "zero draft" into a solid "first draft."