WRITING PROPOSAL FOR UNI

With the help of a tutor, I’ve been putting together the proposal for the M Phil.

This is a document detailing the three things you propose to work on for the duration of the course.

Three areas. The Writing Project, the Critical Study, and the Writer’s Jurnal.

Its interesting to log my reactions to doing this exercise. The proposals have to go before a panel, who say ‘yea or nay’ to the proposals. And who typically, apparently, might not have anyone who writes themselves among their number.

The research element was nice to do. I could focus on the books I need to read, and was helped to identify the academic texts that will back up my own work.

The Journal… no problems. A diary, and looking at self doubt… and continuing to write things up as honestly as I can here.

But my reactions to setting out what I want to write (ie, the novel-in-progress outline), surprised me. I felt very protective of it. I didn’t want to expose it to possible rejection at this stage, from non-writers. But more than that, I was reluctant to write down too much as it seemed a dangerous thing to do. Like plotting too much…and setting things in concrete. And we all know what happens to things set in concrete. They sink.