Blending Biography with Psychogeography
The Genesis of my Masters Dissertation
I’m told that my genesis document, which was an important element of my Masters Degree in Creative Writing with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), is being used (with my permission) as an exemplar for current postgraduate students.
The requirements for the dissertation, which I submitted in 2020, included a 15,000-word sample of creative writing (ideally the first chapters of a draft book) and a genesis document of around 1000 words; the latter is intended to contextualise the creative work and explain the ‘how’ and the ‘why’.
Since my genesis document is ‘out’ in the academic world, I thought I’d extract a copy from my files and share it with you here on Substack. I hope you’ll find it interesting—it might be especially useful for anyone in the midst of, or thinking about, doing a Creative Writing Masters Degree.
Having paid thousands of £s in university fees in order to undertake postgraduate work in recent years, first with my Masters and then with my PhD, I’m sure you’ll appreciate my reasons for pay-walling this particular post. I appreciate your support—paid subscriptions not only help me with my research for this newsletter but they subsidise my work as a writer and as a mentor to new writers. Thank you so much!
‘Rhythmic metallic squeaks accompanied much of my childhood summer reading; the rusting garden swing at our maisonette offered sanctuary as I ploughed through batches of books from the children’s section of the public library. By the age of twelve, and at the height of my obsession with Georgette Heyer, I wrote a play based on one of her novels. Since then my writing has been task-based according to my role as a student, an employee, and latterly as an interior designer. Fifty years on and I trust this Masters Degree will launch my career as an author.
For my dissertation I have submitted the first 15,000 words of Bells, Beeswax, and Bones (a working title) which is about a 19th century furniture dealer, Edward Holmes Baldock. I first learned of his existence in 2018 after noticing the Baldock family vault in the crypt beneath London’s St Pancras Church where I had buried myself both literally and figuratively as a Writer in Residence. When I discovered that Edward had worked in interiors, and traded in furniture, I thought it a serendipitous connection to my own life.
In my first term with MMU Dr David Cooper asked me to draft an imaginary book proposal, one that blended biography with psychogeography. Edward’s life interested me and it fitted the brief because I regularly walked along the Euston Road past St Pancras church and on into Tottenham Court Road in search of furniture—a route Edward would have been familiar with; though separated by two centuries his life and mine were melded geographically and professionally. There was no commitment to writing the book but the exercise generated something within me that was released in the following term.
Dr Rachel Lichtenstein invited us to think seriously about a book project and a plan for Bells, Beeswax, and Bones materialised. I experimented with structure and incorporated my contemporary story with the historical facts of Edward’s life. I hesitated at first because, as a new writer, I wondered if it was appropriate for me to have a high profile and be visible as a narrator. I was encouraged, and after reading Stuart - A Life Backwards by journalist Alexander Masters, I wrote myself into the book. His book is a biography about a homeless drug addict. After tracking Stuart's life over a period of time and conducting many interviews the two men developed a mutual respect for each other. It was clear that the personal relationship between author and protagonist can be a humble affair and this gave me confidence.