Dissertating

I've written a lot this past month, and the chapter on Geneva is nearly finished.  I've been struggling, though, with keeping the dissertation interesting.  My first drafts are always very rough.  Writing leads to thinking for me, which is often reflected in what these drafts look like.  My argument doesn't really emerge until the end of a section or chapter, because it takes me going through all of the background material, all of the archival work, to realize how the puzzle all fits together.  So, I've got good drafts that get to the argument kinda late in the game.  There's nothing inherently wrong with these chapters...they're just boring as hell to read.  I'm working on that now--the second draft requires overhauling the structure entirely to make the story interesting.  And I do have an interesting story--I just sometimes forget that as I'm slogging through the minutiae of theological debates (anyone care to know the differences between orthodox Calvinism and Amyraldism?  I thought not.)  

Right now, I'm back at work on my Edinburgh chapter.  I'm letting the Geneva chapter breathe a bit, in the hopes that I can see the boring bits for what they are when I return to it in a few weeks.  I'm really enjoying the revision process. I'm not overwhelmed by getting everything onto the page, and I'm not starting from scratch...this is the real creative point in the process.  I'd forgotten that writing is fun.*

I really do enjoy this...I need to remind myself of that more often.

Here's to hoping it stays fun.

Love you all,
Ashley

*I was going to wax eloquent here about how much fun I've had reviewing some grammatical points, but, wow, that's incredibly nerdy.  But, seriously, y'all, ellipses and colons are exciting!