I have only skimmed this as it is 12:30 at night, oops. And my tendonitis is acting up. But I will say that your dissertation troubles sound like what, in novel-writing-land, is called "the muddle in the middle." Where it seems like it's all crap, none of it hangs together, you doubt yourself. And you keep going, and one day you finish. And then, whatever you do next, you know for the rest of your life that you did something f-ing amazing.
Molly Gloss (if you haven't read her, go for The Dazzle of Day if you're feeling ambitious, the Jump-Off Creek if you want pioneer stuff, or the sasquatch novel if you want something delightful (but I think maybe a little tragic)) talked about this in her novel-writing workshop, which I took a while back. During one novel she was totally stuck so she had her character get up and use the bathroom. That did it.
One day I will even take my own advice with my own novel.
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Date: 2009-11-24 08:42 am (UTC)Molly Gloss (if you haven't read her, go for The Dazzle of Day if you're feeling ambitious, the Jump-Off Creek if you want pioneer stuff, or the sasquatch novel if you want something delightful (but I think maybe a little tragic)) talked about this in her novel-writing workshop, which I took a while back. During one novel she was totally stuck so she had her character get up and use the bathroom. That did it.
One day I will even take my own advice with my own novel.
Good luck & lots of good thoughts going your way.