The Viva

I’d like to say it went well, but there was an issue…

In the writing world there are many different types of genre; historical fiction, science fiction, horror, non fiction, to name a couple. I wrote my thesis describing how I had created a piece of historical fiction because there historical record was lacking in some areas. When you have documents and they can be ten years apart, I made up stories to cross those gaps, so it never crossed my mind that I was writing anything else but fiction. I was creating stories that may not have happened.

Except there was a problem. One character stood out. A servant and a man who was sent to the asylum because he would talk to a wife that was not there. He was in Vernon House for a set period of time. I adhered to that time scale.

Why – they asked.

Because of the historical record – I answered.

Ah – they said.

You see the fact that I made this character leave when he could have been a tool to ‘see’ into the asylum meant that I was more interested in the history than creating fiction. I maintain I was and am interested in the story no one knows about. And yes, that it has to be accurate.

So… The viva… Well, I have a postponement. Essentially I have got to rewrite the critical essay so it explains that is isn’t fiction, as I had imagined, but creative non-fiction.

I was upset. The fact it has taken over a month to write this shows how upset. In my eyes I failed. In the universities eyes I was postponed. Who knows… What I do know is that the PhD is still attainable but it is going to take a little longer. Give me another six to nine months and a lot more reading.

At first I did think about giving up – after all the title of Doctor has become something of a personal quest rather than one that I have to do. But that is the point. I need that quest. I have to get to the end. Yes, sure, there may be a point in the future where they will say that I can’t get the PhD. But I think it has to be those in the know that have to tell me. I can’t make that decision. If I do then it is quite likely that I will always see may see myself as not trying.

So, I will try.

Creative non fiction – I guess I just became a writer in that genre.