I am rapidly approaching deadline day for my MA in Creative Writing and have found myself researching, in depth, some of the strangest things.
I am currently writing the good old ‘first novel’, the first 15,000 words of which will form part of my dissertation. Despite it being a science fiction piece I have spent several hours googling the following things:
- Vintage lawnmowers – specifically those powered by a two-stroke Villiers engine
- Past and present members of the Rolling Stones and full band history
- How to spell ‘balalaika’
- Moons beginning with the letter ‘D’
- Popular types of tea
- John Coltrane
A fellow student recently told me that she had spent a full day researching Victorian underwear.
So, as well as working towards finally getting the first draft complete, I feel I can now hold my own in the world’s strangest conversation.
W R Daniel 
And here I thought myself an odd duck hunting down hot air balloons of 18th century warfare for a short story of magical imprisonment. You’ve got me intrigued!
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Sounds great fun! I’m enjoying reading about Mer’s adventures. Good luck with Stolen.
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Thank you! Mer’s a treat, totally inspired by the likes of Diana Wynne Jones. I’m hoping Channillo will agree to the whole Shield Maiden series–I’ve 3 more books planned, what with some nasty sorcerers, insane carnivals, evil people battlin’, etc.
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And thanks for stopping by! It’s so cool to have these connections in the writer-verse. 🙂
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You’re very welcome! Thank you too. I’m still working on the first novel but just coming to the end of my MA in Creative writing. YA is an area I’ve overlooked and am taking more of an interest in. It’s really important that writers support each other. It’s a great community.
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Indeed!
Honestly, I’m amazed you can still write for fun while in the midst of your MA. I grew to hate writing during my years of graduate study, so much so I wasn’t sure I’d ever write a story again.
Yeah. I hated it THAT much thanks to school.
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It’s not too bad. A lot of my writing forms part of my MA anyway, plus being a teacher means I’m in the middle of a nice big holiday! Also, with my next ‘big birthday’ being my 40th, it has been some time since I finished my BSc, so it’s actually pretty nice to be doing some learning again.
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