Preconception's Pretty Wrong

Aside from my day of editing scheduled for tomorrow (I say "scheduled" but really I mean that's the only day left available to me), I am done with my papers.

Yes, as of two minutes ago, my final paper (an extended and annotated bibliography) was completed.

When I originally started it, I thought that that particular paper would be the easiest of the three to complete. However, I quickly learned that just absolutely was not the case.

It seemed to me the more I researched, the shorter my paper became. At one point 1,000 words, then down to 600, then up to 800, then down to 400 before it steadily began to climb back up.

It was a process of refinement, and a necessary one at that, as most processes of refinement are.

I had in my mind this grandiose concept of what I wanted my dissertation to be and how I wanted to get there. Then, when I started working out the details with Eamonn, it started to look less plausible than I had imagined, especially within my 15,000 word limit.

When the actual research part came around, then, I discovered that only so much was available to me in the area I had chosen to pursue. That's kind of normal for me, as my papers are usually a bit on the "eccentric" side, but you have to have something to work with.

What I've finally structured my dissertation around and outfitted with appropriate research bears resemblance to my original idea but it is also a new creation altogether.

The outline, the subjects, and the primary texts have all changed but one.

However, what I've ended up with is better than what I'd originally mapped out for myself.

And, thanks to the intensity of the research I've had to do, my actual dissertation writing shouldn't be that hefty at all. In fact, I'm not certain that I'll have to do any further research at all, aside from completing a couple books I've started on the matter.

I thought this class was a joke and an annoyance.
I thought this project would be a breeze.

I was wrong on both counts, but I'm also very glad I was. My next step doesn't seem so scary now.