CW study help - I need to be brave.

[elfycat]

Hi.

I'm taking the OU's CW MA for the next year.

Plan A is to write a novella length story, extending a short story I wrote during the undergraduate courses. It follows an elderly lady who will be having a stroke and dying in the week the story takes place. It's set in my small town and I'll be researching the WWII, 1970s and 1990s in flashback scenes. I'm learning loads about the town and its people. The town has a distinctive feel even now (I'm from elsewhere) and I want to get that feeling across. It is all do-able.

For most of my OU study I have written stand alone short stories which have been inspired by and developed out of the course materials. This would be the case with this idea.

However:

My heart belongs to sci-fi and fantasy. I've been watching, reading and writing in this genre for 35 years. My best OU CW score was from turning my children into robots in a 'what if' for a short story. It's how my inspiration works.

So plan B: I have a 60k second draft of a Greek myth modern tale already written. It's set in modern day London. I'm using some Olympian Gods and also lesser known ones with modern day implications; exploring a power shift and how the usual-suspects like Zeus would cope with others eclipsing his power. Examples would be: the concept of karma, and it's current popularity which allows people to shrug away slights and let the universe sort out any negativity, and the enduring belief in the afterlife.

I want to write sections of this fantasy story, but am having doubts if it's quite the OU's cup of tea. It's aimed at adults, not at teens so it should pass the not-for-kids rule. I can't help but think this course is an opportunity to get feedback on a piece that I want to submit at some near point - the first piece of longer work I've felt that about.

So I need to make a choice. Head over heart. I want a pass on the MA of course and can put my fantasy novel on hold if needed. I know my genre can be well written, but it is under-represented in literary awards etc. It's neither encouraged nor discouraged by the OU, as long as it meets the other requirements. I can afford to drop a few percent (say up to 10%) and still be comfortable in passing, though I'm not a distinction level scorer by any means.

The question:

In your opinions, for the purposes of passing the MA, should I go with my small town literary idea (A), or with my fantasy novel (B)? I need to be brave and drop my fantasy love for the rest of the year, or I need to be brave and put in work that might make the tutor roll her eyes so far back in her head that she can inspect her hippocampus.

Always go with your heart. You need to write the story that won’t let go of you.
Perceived genre snobbery should not put you off. There is a prize for sci-fi I believe. Sci-fi can be very clever and well regarded. Authors such as Ursula le Guin spring to mind.
Will the OU really only be interested in literary fiction?
Having said that, have you heard of an author called Marie Phillips? A few years ago she wrote a novel about Greek gods on earth (haven’t read it, just know of it). You might just want to check it out before you start, to check it’s not too similar!

Thanks Nuffaluff.

And I'll look at the synopsis for Marie Phillips and check I'm going in another direction.

The OU course learning outcomes include 'rigourous research methods' and also a big bit about engagement with other materials (historical documents, literary texts etc) which I should be able to demonstrate, though perhaps not as well as with option A.

If you write a book with Greek gods that gives you ample opportunity for literary references. It’s perfect! The most classic literature upon which nearly all other stories are based.
I must admit I’m really jealous- the course sounds great. Maybe I should start saving up for it.

Always go with your heart. You need to write the story that won’t let go of you.

Yes this.

Nuff- you can now get student loans for PG study 

I would choose A.
I'm on year 2 of the OU MA (are you?), for commentaries the material would fit idea A better. Also I would choose A because the stage you say you are at with writing and researching lends itself to development using OU input. Reworking an old draft to fit strategies in the OU materials can make it feel stale I think.
Or ask your tutor - they will be the one marking most of it.

Hi FaFoutis Yes I am on the 2nd part of the MA. I took the first part on the first run and had a year off and didn't want to leave it any longer and lose the momentum.

Hi elfy, I think I lost the momentum over the summer. I'm finding it very difficult to start again although I have read the full course for year 2(probably as a way of avoiding writing). I'm doing creative non-fiction so our paths probably don't cross in the OU forums.
Have you decided what to do? TMA 01 due soon (argghhh).

I think I'll put in a scene from the story I love as TMA01. I always feel the first assignment is a litmus test of the tutor and their marking anyway (through all undergraduate courses as well). I'll put it in and if it comes back with any 'this is a difficult genre to get strong marks in' hints I can switch to A.

I'm ploughing on with A in any case because I'm making it my NaNoWriMo novel and discovering my characters as I go. The focus of the fiction course work at the moment is on strong endings of each part/chapter/scene and I can do that with my time-hopping flashbacks very well.

Good point about the litmus test of tutor. Whoever marked my EMA did not like my writing at all, this was a bit of a shock after getting high marks in TMAs.
Strong endings bit sounds good, I think I'll venture over to fiction and have a look at that.

I'd go with your Greek gods plan -- I don't think any MA can afford to be genre-snobbish any more. There's now a UEA CW MA in crime-writing.

Tbh, your smalltown old lady death story sounds like a difficult sell in other ways -- I had to rework an entire novel with two narrators because it was based on real-life characters and one of the POV characters died young in childbirth during the timeline of my novel, and it's very hard to do that without it feeling like a massive let-down to a reader.

Do you know Neil Gaiman's American Gods, in relation to the Greek gods project?

Hi Swanhild. I haven't watched American Gods (though I am a fan of Neil Gaiman in general) but I did check out the synopsis to ensure I was doing something new with this old concept.

That was the problem with the old lady idea. I would write it to tick many boxes and then dump it ( As I have with many short stories written for assignments, they serve their purpose and then I'm done). It's not something I would try to publish. It's barely something I would read. I am good at passing assignments though

Well, fuck it, so -- write what you want to read, elfy. Don't invent some module-passing story that makes you want to go to sleep! Challenge your tutors' prejudices (if they have them) about sci-fi /fantasy. If they pick up something and think from your premise that your concept is going to be let down by too much world-building and too little characterisation and plot (as some tutors do), then don't fall into that trap!

I agree with the fuck it. Writing something you are not excited about is dull.
It's the commentaries that might be a challenge with an unexpected genre. I'm struggling with that as the module materials don't reflect the kind of thing I'm writing at all.

MN rebels on the OU site FaFoutis!

I'll sent the TMA I wasnt this time. I can return to dull but good for commentaries if needed.

OK that sentence chopped and changed...
I'll sent the TMA I want to this time

Will spell check my work more carefully I promise.

Well, you have inspired me now. I'm going to do what I want too.

I have no time and only a vague outline written so TMA 01 is going to be very experimental indeed. I'll justify it using 'genre-bending' or something.

I hope neither of us have the tutor who marked my EMA, the feedback was so harsh I could only read it once.

FaFoutis, I'd better warn you that I'm considered a bad influence

But it's litmus test time, and if the test is negative we have time to get the experiment right overall.

And I do hope we don't have that tutor. The best guidelines for feedback is that it should never make the writer despondent. That's a failure of the feedback process. The critiques should always make you strive for your best, and your vision; not theirs.

I know it's different when it needs to be scored but still...

I'm a needy pleaser when it comes to the writing so bad influence is good.
I monitor OU tutors in my day job, they are 99% fantastic. That one hadn't got the hang of feedback and yes, it was their (boring) vision they were on about.

I entered the Greek Myth based story, I got a lower mark than I'd hoped for but I think I know where the tutor wants me to go for the marks - litmus test result.

I don't think I'd have done any better with the other story. Genre snobbery didn't seem to be an issue though I might need to make more of a point about the relevance of my modern story/ancient myth arc. Second assignment in a named document for titivating.