Writing tip 5 - Live, look, listen, learn. Love. = le livre

What is it about words that begin with the letter 'L"?

Personally I think these impact quite a bit on what is produced. Especially the first one. Important to get out and live life as we go along. Funny thing about writers (big generalisation coming up!) is that we tend to be introverts.

I was born an introvert and grew into one strange combination of someone who is alternately happy to hide away, while at the same time committing myself to activities that force me into the social sphere. I have never regretted the latter. Not wishing to be crude, but let's just say that if I hadn't done that, and if I hadn't kept doing that, I might well have disappeared up any one of my own apertures, a tendency that, even now, I must constantly fight in my own writing.

So my tip is this: don't forget to live. I mean to really engage in living, not to be a fly in the wall, or always in the kitchen at parties (remember the old refrain). On the other hand, sometimes it's good to be a fly on the wall, so this doesn't mean never stepping back. It's just that most of us are already quite good at stepping back.

Look; find new ways of seeing. As writers we need a certain flexibility of mind - a willing suspension of disbelief - just as readers and audiences do. I think this is about taking time to try on the other person's shoes before rushing into judgement. I doesn't mean characters can't be judgemental, but the writer needs to stand back from the character (along with the reader) and know them as separate from self. This also protects the writer from being too distressed when people don't like what they write, or don't like a character.

This is because the writing is not the same as the writer - it is a product of thought, plot decisions, character decisions and play. The process is captured as a product, but by the time the product is produced, the process has moved on. At the same time, the writing can only come from the writer, so the writer needs to constantly grow as a person.

Listen. It takes patience and humility to really hear what another person is saying, especially if that person is very different from oneself. Language is imperfect and we all do our best to express what we mean, but there are so many things that interfere with this. This is such fertile ground for the writer - the stumbling imprecisions of communication. I have recently read Graham Swift's Last Orders (yes, I am a late bloomer in every way - like a Dixie Chick - taking the long way around). If you want a book that brilliantly illustrates the difficulties that people have in reaching out to one another through language read Last Orders.

Learn. Never stop. Everyone has more to learn and much to impart. If writing isn't about learning about the many possibilities of life, then what do we do it for?

Love. Write with love. Keep going until you love what you write. Find a little love and understanding for each of your characters, even (especially?) the villains.

Writing Prompt:

Do something you have never done before; visit a place you have never visited before. Anywhere. Engage, observe, talk to people, listen and learn. Then, as soon as possible, write down your observations either as notes, stream-of-consciousness, or creatively as a poem or scene.

Merry Christmas and love to all...

Three little words for this Christmas - Mercy, Harmony, Transformation

I picked these words at random from a little pack of Inner Beauty cards. It's a nice little pack of cards, each with a single word, coloured to represent or invoke the feeling that goes with the word. There's no explanation as to what the word means, so in that spirit, I will leave it to mean whatever it does to you.

They're good words for this time of the year, I think. Good words for any time of the year.

Thank you for reading the blog this year. I have been posting for just over a year now, and have really enjoyed sharing my thoughts, and sharing in your thoughts for that time. My greatest joy has been to provide an indication of some of the work that others are doing in this local writing network.

I have more writing tips scheduled for the coming period, and I hope to entice more people from the group to provide tasters on their writing projects throughout the year and links to their sites (if they have them). I'll be putting out some of my thoughts on books I read as the year goes along. And probably more things from left field. So if this kind of thing interests you, I hope you continue to pop in when you get the chance.

Merry Christmas!                                         Buon Natale!         Melkm Ganna

Joyeux Noël!                         शुभ क्रिसमस                      Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia

Frohe Weihnachten!                                                                 Рождество

¡Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo!       メリークリスマス

圣诞快乐普通话                          Glædelig Jul                                                                 聖誕快樂

Writing tip 4 - Play. Have fun.

No, not me, but those are my brothers

Now I'm thinking this one should have come before the editing tip, but then again, it should come afterwards, as well. It's one of those things that it's good to remember all through the writing process, because it's play that keeps the spark alive.

Whenever I get stuck, or lose faith in what I am doing, I take some time off and when I come back, I come back to play.

When we were kids we used to use the word 'say' to explore the possibilities of where stories could go.

Kid one: "Say there's this girl called Merry-go-round, and she's always dancing around in circles..."

Kid two: "Yes, and say her brother tries to stop her and say he keeps getting knocked over, and he keeps getting back up and trying to stop her, but say he keeps getting knocked over..."

Kid One: "And say his mum comes in..."

Kid Two: "And say..."

By wandering down the side streets of the imagination - by daydreaming (play dreaming) - the story is progressed. Play can take the project in surprising directions.

So I often give myself a good talking to. And I answer back! My advice to myself is: be foolhardy, be playful. Follow the white rabbit to see where it leads.

Writing prompt

A play conversation without restriction. Really go for it! Take two characters and have a Kid One, Kid Two kind of conversation between them. Play. Have fun. Be as silly as you like.

Summer Lovin' over the holidays...

Yes, this is just a little promo. There are some great stories in here, and also an excerpt from my debut novel. To be read on the beach or by a warm winter fireplace (if you are more towards the top of the world). It is available through Fremantle Press. Oh Molly, do yourself a favour ;-)

Writing tip 3 - avoid imposing interpretation - sometimes

Editing the sky

Well, of course, all tips are made to be untipped - there are exceptions to the rule - but I have often reinvented this one for myself: the more I cut away , the stronger the writing seems to become. This is nothing new. Any course on writing will tell you not to preach, but it's easier said than done.

The key is to let the bald story do the work and to relinquish control over manipulating the theories the readers might want to form. I don't want to tell the reader what to make of a character, or a story. I figure that's their job. Risky business, but what can you do?

First draft, of course, is open slather. Write whatever you feel like.  I'd go so far as to say it's necessary to overwrite the first draft. Throw everything at it; all the purple prose you can dream up. You never know - you could just come up with the perfect, original metaphor.  Plus, it gives you stuff to cut out. What is edited out forms a kind of subtext, a feeling of depth - that something has been left unsaid. I think that it's in these spaces that the story really starts to live.

Once I have an idea of what the story is going to be, I start cutting back, but not before. That stage might take a year, or a couple of months. It doesn't matter. At this point I really try to start sticking to the what, rather than the why. This means dialogue, actions, body language, thoughts - but exercising restraint in developing fully formed, or fully explored thoughts too soon. It takes patience, and self-discipline (two attributes not particularly well-formed within my own personality). Gradually a picture emerges as characters get to know one another, and readers reassess their original perceptions. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Writing Prompt

Take an old story or piece of writing, save the original copy and a new copy and edit the new copy within an inch of its life. By comparing the two side by side you will be able to tell how much cutting the writing can take before it ceases to make sense.

Check out this blog

Here's another blog address to put on the list - relevant topics around writing dilemmas: a couple of good ones, one on self-publishing, and another on the e-book.

I'm learning French...

Apologies for my accent - or lack of accents! Not sure how to put them up on this English-speaking blog. The spell check doesn't help.

Apparently learning a language other than one's mother tongue is very good for the brain. My tutorial sources - a couple of well-known phrasebooks accompanied by CDs.

Je suis etudiante. Je suis desole je suis en retard. J'ai besoin de trouve une nouveau tete. Je suis seulement australien. J'ecoute le CD dans la voiture, mais je ne comprend pas. Les autres pense que je suis folle. Peut-etre je suis folle. Au secour!

I have so much respect for people who come to an English-speaking country without the language, and who then set about learning enough of it to actually make themselves understood and to understand others. Hats off to you!

One of the things that has occurred to me as I try to get my mouth around the language, is just how difficult it is to engage the equipment needed for speech. It's such a complex skill. The mechanics are difficult, and the tendency is to hear what we expect, and not what is actually there. I actually did do French classes when I was at school, so I thought I would have a basic platform to work from, but it occurs to me that immersion is the only way - hence the constant soundtrack in my car has become the sound of (is it?) an English woman speaking French, and me copying her, trying to get the words right. I spend my drives talking to myself. No Bluetooth.

At least now I know how to say Stop thief! and Can I buy you a drink? What more do you need?

Writing Tip 2 - Establish a writing routine

Mark Twain: "The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

I find it helpful to work on my big writing project every day, even if it is only for half an hour. This keeps it ticking away in the back of my mind and encourages my imagination to take flight. I set myself a daily routine and stick to it, as far as possible.

I recently read an article in the Weekend Australian Review Magazine which reviewed a book by Mason Currey about how many of the great writers have had set routines and habits (some quite unusual) which have helped them in their work. Routines work.

Writing Prompt

He thought knew he could fly...


or

write for a few minutes, stream of consciousness, in response to this picture

Natasha Lester to speak at last meeting of the Book Length Project Group for the year, December 15.

Our last meeting for 2013 will take place on December 15. It promises to be a great day. We will be bringing food to share, exchanging 'secret Santa' books and sharing congenial conversation. 

As a very special treat Natasha Lester will be present to discuss her work and some writing tips with us.


Award Winning Author Natasha Lester

Natasha Lester is the award winning author of two novels, What is Left Over, After and If I Should Lose You. She has been described by The Age newspaper as “a remarkable Australian talent” and was awarded an Emerging Writers' Fellowship by the Australia Council for her second book, as well as a Publisher Fellowship at Varuna, The Writers House. She is also a recipient of the TAG Hungerford Award for Fiction.

In between writing novels and looking after her three children, Natasha blogs at http://whilethekidsaresleeping.wordpress.com and writes poems, short stories and essays, which have appeared in journals such as Overland and Wet Ink. She is currently working on her third novel.

Lucas North

I was very saddened by the news of the loss of author Lucas North from our Australian writing community. Lucas was a tour de force, a prolific novelist, and writer generally, and someone who contributed a significant amount to us all. He reviewed an early draft of my debut novel's manuscript and provided invaluable feedback. I first met him when I attended a workshop that he ran on dealing with rejection, which despite the obvious self-depreciating humour in the title, was one of the best workshops I have attended, and what I learned there often encouraged me to continue in the face of difficulties over the years. Really the workshop was about resilience. Lucas was incredibly resilient and hard-working in the craft. In fact he achieved a considerable amount in terms of writing success, but the most important thing is that he continued to make a contribution to us all. Our community will be the poorer for his absence.

Writing tip 1... understand what it is that motivates you

I'll be putting a tip up with an explanation on this day each week. The first is about writing motivation and clarity of purpose.

Try to clarify your reasons for writing and what it is that you want to achieve

This is my suggestion - spend some minutes jotting down what it is that has brought you to this endeavour, and what you want to get out of it. Discuss it with interested others in a relaxed, social situation. I hope this will help you to become clear in your own mind about how to stay on track with your long-term writing project.

I hope this is a useful tip.  It's about knowing your heart and mind and staying true to your vision. Your vision can change, but if it does, check back with yourself to ensure that it is a vision that continues to motivate you.

I think many writers, myself included, write for reasons that are not all that hard-headed, and not altogether within consciousness. If I write simply for the love of it, that's ok. Okay.

Personally, I'm still not entirely sure why I continue to write things down, but I know part of the story - the values that are important to me. Sometimes external factors (the changing scene of publishing; other peoples' perceptions; others', or our own, expectations of how long something should take, or other expectations) can send us off-track, and this can be demoralising.  Negative feedback on your work-in-progress can do this, especially if it cuts across your unique artistic vision.

If in doubt, return to your vision. With regard to feedback, be open to advice, evaluate it, and use what is useful to you - when people provide feedback on your work they are almost always trying to help, and often they do, but in the end the work belongs to the writer, and the writer has the final call on the direction it should go.   Whether this direction is likely to be commercially viable might (or might not) be a different question.

My feeling is that you will know if you are being true to your vision if you are continuing to enjoy the process.

Now for the writing prompt. Prompts are about exercising the writing muscle - bringing in an external impetus to get you started. Try this one, if you like:

Writing prompt:

Write (stream-of-consciousness - don't edit) about an incident or event shared with a childhood friend, or an incident that occurred with a childhood rival