This thesis demonstrates, pragmatically rather than theoretically, that perceived dissonances between the critical and creative elements of postgraduate study in Creative Writing need not alienate the creative practitioner. To exemplify the opportunities faced by student writers, this thesis comprises two elements: a novel, Wake Me When It's Over, and a critical narrative, Will the Real Scarlett O'Hara Please Stand Up: A Critical Meditation on Creative Study. Together these elements emphasize the importance of creative discovery while embracing the indispensable benefits of rigorous critical exploration. Wake Me When It's Over is an American picaresque novel in which the main character, Rachel Bennett, takes to the road with a death wish and an unhealthy fixation on an incomplete collection of state spoons. Along the way Rachel examines the clichés and normative values that form the bedrock of her self-perception and finds that her will to destruction may be the very thing that saves her life. Will the Real Scarlett O'Hara Please Stand Up: A Critical Meditation on Creative Study continues this theme with Rachel's help. A tribute to Hunter S. Thompson and Lewis Carroll, this Gonzo-through-the-looking-glass critical narrative combines homage, parody, satire and humour to illuminate the relationship between the critical and creative, to dispel misconceptions about the writing life, and to examine ways that these myths manifest on the page and in the classroom.