The different shapes of love : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Communication in Expressive Arts at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

The work is an extract or part of a creative non-fiction book in the autobiographical genre. The book is based on the author’s romantic relationships throughout her life to this point. The book follows a developmental journey as the author discovers who she is, what qualities are most important to her and what type of person she wants to end up with. The book describes different stages of relationships and the emotions one experiences, such as being very in love or very heartbroken, and touches on the author’s experience in dealing with these emotions. There are three sections to the critical component of my predominantly creative thesis. The first part involves looking at conventions of female autobiographical writing, how it often, (through different time periods), includes elements from the romance genre, and how my writing fits into this paradigm. The second part explores an array of different academic sources on how writing about one’s own experiences can be therapeutic for the author. Lastly, the third and final part of the critical component highlights writing styles, techniques and approaches used in some recent successful non-fiction books that include examples of autobiographical writing on the topic of romantic relationships, as well as aspects of life journeys, bildungsroman or self-development. The section explains how I adopted aspects of these approaches alongside my own writing style to write my book.