Writing tip 23 - write about something meaningful to you

On the weekend I went to a book launch for Swamp - Walking the Wetlands of the Swan Coastal Plain. This is a compilation of poetry by Nandi Chinna, published by Fremantle Press.

Nandi is a dedicated campaigner for the preservation of fragile ecosystems, and her beautiful and deeply moving poems reflect this. Here is a taste of Nandi Chinna's Manning Ridge from this remarkable collection. The black birds mentioned refer to the Carnaby's cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris). There is some evidence that these gorgeous birds are under habitat threat if the proposed Roe Highway extension goes through:

At 6pm

the black birds flew over

so low I could see into

the dark shafts of their eyes.

They were all coming in.

The sky was filled

with what I have always known.

Then everything began to recede.

I was the last person left,

the black bird bursting

inside my chest,

squalling and flapping against my ribs. 

This volume of poetry, like almost all books, represents years of dedicated work and passion, and in this case an undoubted love of the life dependent on the wetlands around the Perth metropolitan area. It is passion combined with talent and writing skill that makes this volume so special.

I would suggest that a level of passion, or belief in the subject matter of a book (or short-story), is absolutely needed to maintain the impetus to bring a work to publication standard. I believe it is this passion and enthusiasm that transfers to the reader and encourages him or her to care enough to read on. So, this week's tip: write about something that is meaningful to you.

Writing prompt:

Make a list of all those things that are important to you, and those things that fire you up with indignation. Which is most important to you at this time? If what you are writing is boring you, ground yourself in your values and start again in a place that rekindles that spark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing tip 22 - attend writing workshops

Well, the strategy of writing myself out of a hole seems to be working, although I don't want to jinx it by overanalysing. For me, creative writing is a bit like my road sense. I'm good at getting lost, but have managed to find my way back. So far. Getting lost has the advantage of seeing things I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't diverted from the track representing the shortest distance between two points, or getting off the track, full-stop. I often think, that looks interesting. What would happen if I followed that thought? Or thought-words to that effect. (I have to say I am also attracted to shiny things in shops!)

The other thing I did this last week was to attend a workshop run by Jaki Arthur from Hatchette and funded through the Australia Council, facilitated by writingWA. I gained a number of positive spin-offs from attending this workshop.

First of all it is a very good thing to gain an understanding of the publishing industry from the perspective of people like Jaki Arthur, who work so hard to promote and present the writers that they represent, and to remember that this will work so much better if the writers are pulling in the same direction as their publishers, once the book is ready to go. It is also heartening to know that the industry is full of such committed and talented people.

The very fact of attending a workshop that supports and challenges existing ideas is stimulating, and gets the brain back into doing what it needs to do to get that book written, and out there. This one was a market development workshop, but the sentiment applies to any other writing workshop, especially if it is able to provide a good balance of new information and participation.

It's inspiring, and encouraging, to meet other writers and to share ideas, stories, letters and cards. Many of these talented people are generously sharing their knowledge through teaching. They conduct workshops and creative writing courses through schools, universities and writing organisations. (And they are excellent value for the cost.) Check out UWA Extension courses, courses advertised through writingWA, the Fellowship of Australian Writing WA, KSP and Peter Cowan Writing Centre - to start. I have included links for all of these.

So that's this week's writing tip. If you are stuck, go to a workshop or two.

Writing tip 21 - if you get stuck, simply write

This is where I found myself over the last month. Writer's block. A loss of faith in my own ability to produce that second novel. 

I had two responses (more than two) to this.  One was to (virtually) stop writing new material. The other was to over-edit. It's not the over-editing on the page that is the problem so much as the over-editing inside my head. Going over things too much might suggest a good work ethic (in my own imagination), but it's not always the way to get the best result. I began to lose the bigger picture altogether.

So this is what I've done about it. Yesterday I got up and started writing. I had another thousand words by 9.30 am. Made another cup of coffee. Wrote more words. Today? The same. I'm going to keep writing forward for as long as I can. Let's see where it leads.

So here is this week's tip, for a first draft. If in doubt, forget about that inner critic and simply write more scenes. More chapters. Whether or not you will use these is largely irrelevant. Sometimes the key to writer's block (or writers' block) is to simply write whatever comes to mind. I am repeating myself, but it doesn't matter. I am relinquishing control. Contrary to one (now relatively common) perception, this doesn't necessarily mean opening a vein and bleeding onto the page. Thoughts might, or might not, reflect habitual patterns of belief, or character, but they are, after all, only fleeting electrical impulses, or chemical signals, and they can be changed.

Someone once said to me that you can often only work out what you are thinking when you say it, or write it down. Or maybe the words are a way of making some sort of sense of various physical sensations, impulses and emotions.

Alternatively, what you put on the page can be seen simply as words that can be used to shape a story. This is how I'm thinking about it today. Whatever I produce is material to be mined, whether that material is made up of my actual beliefs, or is a thought experiment, or something that the story suggests because of the decisions already made and what has already been written down. Ultimately, those words don't work for the story can be changed or deleted.

But I'm leaving that for later.

Writing Prompt: Yes, see above... write something new.

Writing tip 20 - Find your peer group

While writing is a largely solitary activity, it can be helpful to meet up with one or two (or a few) writing friends from time to time, to discuss progress, read, or simply connect.

If you look at the list of acknowledgements in any debut novel you will get a sense of the collaboration that takes place throughout the process.

Finding your group is not necessarily as easy as simply linking up with a couple of others who are writing. One of the functions of the Book Length Project Group is to bring a wide range of writers of various levels of experience together. As they network they can talk and get a feel for who they might like to link up with on a more regular basis.

There are groups on the internet that discuss issues related to writing, and blogs, many of which go into far more depth than this one. They can be helpful. Writers festivals are another way to meet up with people seriously interested in writing. Consider volunteering at your local writer's festival.

Each needs to decide for him or herself if, how much, and what kind of group contact, is helpful, but I think that some regular peer contact might be worth considering.

Prompt

Consider the kind of work that fits best with your own. Seek out writers who are like-minded. or not like-minded, if this is what works best for you. Try meeting on a regular basis. Attending a regular workshop might be one way to do this.

Writing tip 19 - When you get stuck, read.

I was at a poetry workshop on Saturday and poet Jackson said that she had heard that writer's block was not so much a case of the writing being stuck, as the writer being stuck (sorry if I have that wrong Jackson!)

Maybe that's why I find reading helpful when I get stuck - especially if it is a novel that hits the mark. This week's tip is one that many writers suggest (and just as many seem to ignore) and that is to read, read, read. For me it's part of my self-imposed professional development (to use that lovely bureaucratic term).

When I have been trying to solve a particular problem of how to lift the text, or help the pace, or avoid the cliché, a good book often brings back that old experience of recognition. This is why I do this! Because this is possible.

Besides novels I like to read poetry, and compilations of interviews with writers such as those in Ramona Koval's Speaking Volumes - Conversations with remarkable writers, and The Paris Review Interviews - Volumes 1-4. Another good one is Graham Swift's Making an Elephant - Writing from within.

Writing prompt

Put your writing aside for a few days and read a good book, all the way through, then get stuck back in.

The trouble with flying ... and other stories

Glen and Kristen from BLPG each have stories in this new compilation edited by Richard Rossiter and Susan Midalia. 

You can pre-order a copy at this link up to April 30 and receive a 10% discount. I've just pre-ordered mine.

April poetry month prompt

Choose a line from one of your favourite poems and use this to start your own.