Uncapping the volcano : Malcolm Lowry, literary creativity, and writer's block

Literary creativity and its shadow, the phenomenon popularly referred to as writer's block, have historically been accorded little attention by literary studies. In my thesis I seek to redress this oversight, illustrating my argument with reference to the creative life and works of Malcolm Lowry. I begin by arguing for a model of literary creativity that takes seriously the roles played by plans and intentions in motivating, sustaining and appropriately terminating literary creative action. I employ this model in order to provide a basis from which to clarify Lowry's own creative method.I go on to rehearse and evaluate definitions and theories of writer's block from a variety of research paradigms. From these accounts I distill some important general features of writer's block. I argue that writer's block typically occurs as an intervention between stages of the literary creative process.Finally, I return to detailed consideration of Lowry's creative method. I investigate three critical periods of writer's block in Lowry's later life and examine these interventions with reference to circumstantial, methodological and goal-based considerations. I conclude by drawing attention to the importance for literary studies of an accurate and comprehensive understanding of both literary creativity and writer's block