Writing for joy

Although I'm very glad I did my Masters, and I'm looking forward to the future challenge of a Phd, nothing beats writing just for the pure joy of it.

In my current project I'm moving away from issue-based realism, letting go of the logic and just letting fly - mostly with luminous greeen vomit! (not mine, the characters...)

I'm finding the words are flowing more easily as I focus on action-based scenes. Even though some of the scenes are quite tense, and the main character is struggling with memory loss and trauma, approaching these themes from a speculative fiction approach is very different. I'm finding that it's giving my writing a freshness and immediacy with an added dose of zing (kinda like a triple shot of espresso).

The speculative fiction genre gives me more freedom to express a character's internal tensions. There's nothing like gross bodily functions to illuminate how you feel inside!

It seems that, when I get down to basics of what I really love to write, that I don't care as much for the constraints of realism as I thought. What perhaps I need to do is to use what I've learnt about the brain, about resilience, about trauma and memory and to mould and stretch that within the context of speculative fiction writing.

Who knows, I might create a whole new sub-genre hybrid in the process!

Craziness ensues

Perhaps this isn't a good time to be making big decisions. But I seem to have inadvertently made one anyway.

I had a chat with someone at uni last week and at the end of the conversation the outcome seemed to be that I had decided to do a Phd.

According to myself, I loved doing the research on brain development and trauma so much that I've decided to wade into the mire once more and go even deeper.

Oh well, why the hell not. The timeline for having a long and illustrious career in a field that would give me an honorary doctorate has pretty much passed me by.

If I'm ever going to get anyone to call me 'doctor', a Phd looks like the only way.

It's a big call. And I'll need to get some words down and get my head around it to make sure that deciding to undertake a Phd is not just an over-reaction to the devastating rejection.

Stay tuned...

PS if anyone is willing to offer me an honorary doctorate, now would be a good time.

Home stretch

Although it appears I abandoned this blog months ago, it's probably worthwhile noting that I'm finally about to submit my masters research for examination. Yep, not only did I finish the manuscript, but I actually managed to write & finish the exegesis (short thesis).

In September last year I thought it would never be done. My research & my manuscript had taken me in an entirely different direction from when I first started my master's work. Jung's shadow was no longer even relevant.

Instead, my focus was now on resilience and coping strategies in teenagers, as well as mental illness and the impact of trauma on brain development.

I'd travelled a long way in my work but it was an incredibly interesting (although at times painful) journey.

But the work is now done & it's time to put it to the test & see if it's worthy of a master's degree. Then of course the next step is finding a publisher!