TMA01 is almost finished. An inspired pieced culled from my memory and imagination, the result of which is part life writing part fictional story. Like all stories I guess. I shall demur from describing it too much on the basis that it's just too early.  But I'm happier with it  than I thought possible. I seriously couldn't think of a damn thing to write at the start.

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The question I have to ask myself as I progress with it is, can this be dramatized?  If so how would I go about it?  And how will I refer to this and other developmental ideas and means of progression? perhaps i should have asked myself these thing prior to writing it, but that's not really how I roll. On a positive note i put together a little piece on commentaries in answer to someones query about why they should be done, and what a commentary actually hoping to show and achieve.  This is my response.  Not too pompous I hope.

'I think for me I see the commentary as something that provides an opportunity for the OU to see students showing an element of academic proficiency (as it is a component for certain suitable academic degrees,) how the learned techniques of successful writers as discussed in the (degree level) course book and other material, and how your own individual inspirations and creations can all come together to help you  create a ‘what works for you and how’  writer’s mind-set,  with the creative work submitted as a demonstration of this.

The commentary then is a series of parts synthesised into a whole which would include the likes of:  I had an idea from this; I thought I would try that.  I tried this technique (on page?) but didn't like it. I tried this idea from my notebook and thought it better, then realised it was similar to a technique discussed (on page?) so really went with it.  I liked the technique used by this writer (on page ?) which made me think of a dream I had or line I read I which prompted me to write this sentence, paragraph, poem,  or about that theme or in this manner.  Etc.  etc.

To that end, for the commentary to be valid as an integral part of a university course in creativity, it has to focus on the process rather than the work. You could say that it puts an academic spin on the fictional nonsense we write. Which sounds unkind, but I guess that’s the way students of physics, geology and mathematics might put it. The commentary pulls us back closer to their world by actually suggesting that there is an academic drive behind the creative arts and if you can’t always see it in the creative work itself, it’s because its primary focus is probably one of entertainment. 

So, here is the explanation of the work, also known as the commentary, which shows the inspiration, the research, the experiments, the successes, the theories, the highs, the lows, the laughs, (and particularly for me!),  the sweat, and the tears behind its creation.  Having to write the commentary and then looking at what it should include shows that being creative on a creative writing course is no picnic.'  

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Well it got me thinking at least. I didn't post it as a reply though because it seemed a little bit too swottish and  made me sound like an agent working for the OU, rather than someone who probably should be seen and heard taking an adversarial view point more often. But I think I can see the point of commentaries.