In conversation with Campbell Jefferys, Writer in Residence at FAWWA

If you were to choose an object that could best tell the story of your life, what would it be? A box of matches? A toy car? A house that is falling apart? A glass of good red wine? 

What is in your refrigerator, your wallet, or your handbag?

Such was the nature of the conversation I had with FAWWA Writer in Residence, Campbell Jefferys this morning. Campbell is the author of True Blue Tucker (winner of the bronze in the Australian/New Zealand fiction category of the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards); Hunter (Winner of the general fiction category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and runner-up in the overall fiction category); The Bicycle Teacher (New edition due for release 2013); and Die Rache des Lords (A Lord's Revenge) A novella for English language learners.

Objects, and combinations of objects, their arrangement or lack of arrangement, what happens to them, what they do, are used for, their history, all provide layers of information about character, relationship, and story.

In tackling a lengthy writing project, the manuscript might contain an object which acts as a unifying motif. Think James Bond and his sports car, Batman and the Batmobile, Mr Bean's Teddy Bear, or a work that celebrates the importance of an object perhaps, placing it at the centre: The Hare with Amber Eyes. 

Campbell's novel, Hunter, employs a leather bound notebook to connect two ultimately converging stories. The object is incorporated into the book's cover design.

So, in practical terms, what are some of the things to try at home? One exercise is to take an everyday object as the starting point for an automatic writing exercise. When you stop writing, you stop. Within what you have written could be the idea for a story, a chapter, an article, or a poem. Another is to imagine finding a wallet. What do you find inside. List the things. Write a description of the person to whom the wallet belongs. Or try the exercise the other way around. Think about one of your characters. What is in his or her refrigerator? Write a list.

For the sake of this exercise, reading as a writer can involve looking for the way in which objects are used in stories, becoming aware of the purpose they serve. (I like to also read for pure pleasure, so the distinction for the sake of this exercise helps me to draw a line around reading for instruction versus reading for fun, although probably this is a false dichotomy.)

Campbell told me that he does writing exercises most days to limber up. We got up on our individual soap boxes and discussed how writing takes practice. It involves skill, something that we learn. The more skilled we want to become, the more we practice. Writing exercises are a bit like a musician practicing scales. Sometimes they are simply about developing proficiency. The exercise itself doesn't need to be any more than that. Other times, the exercise can lead to something more. It can grow into a beautiful, finished work.

Don't miss Campbell's next workshop at FAWWA next Saturday. Contact FAWWA for details.