3, 2, 1: I’m Back in the Blog

Dissertation done. Wow. How does it feel? On completion of the dissertation I have not grown cleverer. I feel surreal. I feel relieved. I did feel sad for approximately seven minutes but pulled myself together with a glass of wine. I have been steadily headily celebrating this week. I wrote a lot of words and I’ve given myself a week off intense writing.

   So if I’m not cleverer, what did I get out of the MA? I got tenacity, I got myself to commit, I broke my 10K limit. I got it to begin my novel. I got friends, I got inspired. I got a lot of gots!

   The marks come out in December. I anticipate disappointment; I wish to be distinct, I expect merit, it had better bloody pass. It’s so subjective and I know from working at a University that one marker’s first is another marker’s third. And effort doesn’t always pay off. I remember well my school Metalwork report, where I got an A for effort and an E for ability: Katherine tries very hard, but is not the most practical of students.

   So what next? After the week of enforced relaxation I am ready to jump back on my novel horsey. I’m excited because the bit I like best is the splurging of words, the rough first drafting, patchworking the plot, the feverish capturing of conversations that flutter into my mind. Oh yes, I’m back in the room.