Did I really write that?

I re-read my first year literature review in full for the first time yesterday. It’s pretty dire – not only are my sentences convoluted, but several are nonsense.  I’ve scribbled notes-to-self all over it and will be rectifying some of these glaring problems as I add in new research uncovered this year.

I probably should not have left it so long, but it was a salutory lesson in re-reading one’s own work when one is less invested in it. Or indeed had forgotten all but the major themes.