Thesis Work

I suppose I'll post here since I'm having trouble concentrating on a visually boring word doc.
Right now, I'm analyzing my own retelling of the Scottish ballad "Tam Lin." How does one distance oneself enough to do that? The coursework of my major, anthropology, has taught me that human beings can never be truly objective. It also just seems...cocky, somehow. Nonetheless, I'm trying anyway.
The biggest thing that is the difference between the traditional ballad and my story--actually a novella now--is the setting. While I thoroughly enjoy historical fiction, I think it should only be done when the writer has enough time to conduct an in depth study of the time period she chooses to write in. Well, I didn't have that kind of time on my hands. Besides, the whole point of my thesis is that ballads are retold (well, orally over centuries, duh), and that when they are retold by contemporary authors (or really anyone, in any form), those authors (or in some cases, traditional and musical artists) always operate under the cultural practices and influences of their given time period and environment. This obviously comes from my anthropological background--as I said, no one is ever 100% objective. It's something we do without realizing it. So I set out to tell the story knowing that my culture would color how the story took shape, and I even embraced that by trying to realize my subjectivity.
So anyway, back to the setting. I am familiar with rock bands and shows, having played in one myself and played shows on tiny sticky stages in nasty crumbling buildings that smelled like piss and beer. I even won some money and studio time once. Therefore, that's what I chose as my initial setting. I decided that Jenna Carter would be the daughter of a music venue's owner. It starts out in Carter Hall, and even has scenes in which people are dancing and jumping and all that good stuff. Colored, flashing lights, sexy vocalists, the whole nine yards. You get the gist. I wrote a story for a workshop about a year ago, and my music scenes were what stood out to people the most, so I wanted to embrace that and give it another go.
Anyway, that's all. I'm just proud of myself for writing a complete story that is over 28k words. :)