I’ve taken a slightly different path for an English literature student, and chosen to write my dissertation as prose instead of a typical essay; something which I’m constantly questioning as I begin to write my dissertation and find that I’m constantly stuck with writer’s block. At least with an essay, you have secondary sources and a novel to base ideas off. With prose, I have a completely blank canvas and a whole lot of discarded ideas.
But I know where I want to begin- at least, sort of. I’ve always been fascinated with the world of sport: the addiction to winning that athletes base their lives around, and the relationships and social life that they sacrifice to be the best at their field. I find that feeling of exhilaration to be the same high that people associate with drink and drugs. I wanted to create a character that has the same dependency for a chemical high as a runner’s high, and how those compulsions collide throughout her search for success.
Without someone to push me to write, I can forget that I even have a dissertation to complete at all.
Easier said than done, really. With a prose dissertation, the contact hours you get are extremely limited: this semester we’ve had one lecture where they lectured us on the importance of writing commercial fiction in order to get published, instead of writing something you actually enjoy. To add to this incredibly inspirational talk, we are expected to do most of the writing on our own- something that I can definitely struggle with. Without someone to push me to write, I can forget that I even have a dissertation to complete at all.
But my dissertation supervisor meetings are my saving grace. Not only did she offer me hot chocolate (thanks Sarah) but she gave me feedback on what I’d already written and offered recommendations for other television shows and books that were similar to the vibe of the prose I was writing. As someone who needs someone to let me know what I need to alter, it keeps me on track to know that there’s always something about my work that needs to be improved.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint...
It’s still too early to tell how well my dissertation will end up going, but at the moment I’m feeling better about it than I thought I would. Creating a world through words can be intimidating, but getting a headstart instead of waiting for the second semester to start is the way to go. It’s a marathon, not a sprint- even if the idea for my diss might suggest otherwise.