And Another Thing...

Not only am I writing a novel for my dissertation, I also have to write a 5,000 word 'Writer's Journal.' This includes everything from my inspiration to the choice of setting and the relationship to other published works of fiction. At first I thought this was unnecessary pressure but I'm changing my mind. Since I started drafting the novel last summer, I made sure that I had a framework for the journal saved on the computer. Whenever I had a significant thought or came across a useful quote, I squirrelled it away under the relevant heading. Today I started to draft each section. Research notes, character profiles, the novel plan etc all have their home on my computer but without this journal there would be no place to store all those other key thoughts regarding not the content of the novel but how it is actually written. As writing a novel is often the result of years rather than months of work, it is difficult to remember those thoughts you may have had about an approach to a particular character's voice or why a particular setting was chosen. These may have a subsequent impact on redrafting/revision way off in the future but if its not recorded the meaning of this may be lost. I intend to keep a journal for the novel I write for my PhD even though it is not a requirement. In addition, having those headings on an otherwise blank screen will help identify where the gaps are and where key decisions need to be made.