Make Way! Major BIG Decision, Coming Through!

As the title up at the very head of the blog may suggest to those of you who actually pay attention to your surroundings (I suspect that's most of you), I am a graduate student. My area is creative writing. I have a life. Scratch that last one--that section of the title is misleading. In any case, one major portion of the degree I'm scrounging after and genuflecting for is a THESIS. This document (book length, I hear) is to be DEFENDED in front of whoever decides to show (I'm hoping for a small crowd). I have to do about six hours of thesis work as a part of the degree. This was to be crammed together for ease. The plan has changed. (That plan, I now know leaves me TWO MONTHS to write a book.)

Next semester, I begin writing my novel. Like, for real. Like, must be done. Like, people breathing down my neck and growling menacingly. Like, oh holy shit, what have I done!?!?!?!?!?

But I'm calmer now than I was a few hours ago, and feel ready at this point to actually start formulating a plan of action concerning this little detail in my degree. You all remember IT from the summer, where there was a horrible "weekend" during which I disappeared. This is ... wait for it ... Mother of IT. Read Beowulf some time. Observe Grendel, nasty little pricklette determined to eat all the Thanes (and who was marginally successful, excepting that arm thing). Observe Grendel's Mother, so unmentionably and evilly impressive that she gave the hero of the story a sound beating before he lopped her head off. I squeal in terror.

I can only hope my skills are up to par with Beowulf's, and that in the end, I will be lopping off Mother of IT's head, instead of the other way around. Even if I do prove to be ultimately triumphant, I will be sorely trounced into the mud before the final victory. So bear with me in this upcoming semester, as I struggle mightily against Mother of IT, whose name won't be in bold in subsequent entries.

On happier notes, I've signed up for classes, and get to do twice the GPTI work for ... not twice the pay. Ah well. Chances are I'll be in the classroom next semester. Um. Yeah, that's about all I have. I'm still recovering from the sudden change of plans (I mean, it took all of three minutes for the carpet to climb the wall and dump me on my ass), and will be spending the next week trying to convince CW faculty that they want to be my advisors. Lots of writing between now and Thursday to do so. Have to have many samples, and they all have to fit, and and and...

I'm going to stop this before I get so nervous I spin my wheels to no purpose.

End.