Conversation with my supervisor

H: "The voice is working, but the novel so far shies away from intimacy."

S: "So I need more...intimacy?"

H: "Exactly."

S: "Does that mean that I should write a scene where they have sex?"

H: "Not exactly."

S: "But sex would fix the intimacy problem, wouldn't it?"

H: "Well, that's one way to fix it."

S: "They're both from incredibly repressed backgrounds; if they have sex they'd probably die from guilt."

H: "Still. Intimacy."

S: "Right. I'll think about it."


~Later that day, while meeting with the other degree candidates~

A: "What are you doing tonight?"
S: "Drinking whisky and writing sex for Henry."
A: "...That sounds wrong on so many levels."

Big secret: Everyone's already had the Big Serious Earth-shattering conversations, and I'm probably not going to revolutionize the novel through my supervision discussions. But they certainly make me do things I wouldn't do otherwise.

In other news, my critical supervisor suddenly adores the three thesis chapters I've given her, and I submit for my upgrade in a few weeks. So, yay return of sanity, however fleetingly you may grace me with your divine presence!