THE AUSTRALIAN BABY BOOMER PODCAST

Yes, folks. I'm owning it. I am a Baby Boomer and a couple of years ago I decided to do a podcast that enabled people, not necessarily of  that specific generation (I actually don't like the way that labels pin people down to a particular thing and conceal their true identities) - what was I saying? The podcast enables people that I interview to talk about their own stories, tell stories, or talk about things that are dear to their hearts. 

From time to time I put something on there just to keep it ticking over, but I have been so lucky in having many generous people allow me to interview them about... well, take a look, and have a listen. 

Here is the link:

The Australian Baby Boomer Podcast

My Writing

Selfie 😛

I continue to plug away. Having written a couple of new novels which were not coming together in any sane or cohesive manner, and having started a  couple of others (works in progress), I decided to work on some shorter pieces where I could achieve some sort of completion. 

Why? You might well ask. All I can say in my own defence is that for me, as for many people who do this activity, writing is some sort of weird compulsion, part desire to communicate, part desire to tell ourselves a story, part way of thinking something through, and the major part, wanting to create something nice.  

So, in the spirit of smaller projects, I've been writing poetry, short stories, and over the Christmas break a book of song lyrics and writing prompts which I have impulsively published on Kindle Direct Publishing. 

If you are curious, follow this link to take a look. 

No, I haven't written the music (I have much too much respect for musicians to attempt such a thing) but I have made the lyrics available royalty-free for anyone who wants to try putting anything to music. Yours to play around with if you feel so inclined. There's also a print version (Print on demand).

Again, why do such a thing? The answer: fun. to free up my writing and shake things around. to cater for a diminishing concentration span (mine).

And a plug for another compilation. I attend a writing group at KSP in Western Australia. Each year the group puts out an anthology of work by group members. If you want to check it out, follow this link. This year's anthology is called "When There's a Moment" and I can boast three (very) short stories in that one.  

So that's what I've been up to. 

Also, I will be getting back into interviewing for the podcast this year. The last few months of 2019 was tough and sent me and a few others spinning off-course, so here's hoping for a better time for all of us in 2020.

New Episode of The Australian Baby Boomer Podcast

In a new episode of The Australian Baby Boomer Podcast, I speak with Kath Moore. Kath has always had a love of making art, of drawing and of seeing the beautiful colours of the world. Her artistic expression has formed the background of her work right through the time she spent in the teaching profession, and now since her retirement ten years ago, it has again come to the fore. As soon as she retired, she enrolled in the Claremont School of Art, and then travelled to Florence to the Angel Academy of Art for an intense Summer School. I was fortunate to be invited to her home to see the beautiful range of artwork that she has made and to talk to her about her art.

Podcast

Just a short one today to let you know that The Australian Baby Boomer Podcast is now available on Spotify.

Action on climate

At a time when the window is closing on our ability to stop our rush to the tipping point on climate change, I thought it would be timely to remind you of one of the great prescient science fiction writers who described a world where people had taken to living underground because the surface no longer supported their lives.

Here is the link to the E.M. Forster short story, The Machine Stops. I read it when I was a kid and it has stuck with me all these years.

Here is the Wikipedia summary posted on the site where you can get a free download:

The Machine Stops is a short science fiction story. It describes a world in which almost all humans have lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual lives in isolation in a 'cell', with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Most humans welcome this development, as they are skeptical and fearful of first-hand experience. People forget that humans created the Machine, and treat it as a mystical entity whose needs supersede their own. Those who do not accept the deity of the Machine are viewed as 'unmechanical' and are threatened with "Homelessness". Eventually, the Machine apocalyptically collapses, and the civilization of the Machine comes to an end. --Wikipedia

Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre in Flood                     

Today the land is singing.

She sings with rains from the North

filling river-beds boiling with fish

guiding the clever pelicans

following the first trickle down

singing through the channel of

water, bird, insect, wind

a haunting, meandering song

drifting across and through

her long desert dreaming.

She has been slow to stir, but when she does

she smiles and welcomes the flow

as it funnels-in and spreads

painting a fresh scene

on an ancient theme

free from cruel and ugly shackles

trappings of modernity

seeking to control her music

She opens her heart

her voice rising to crescendo

giving thanks

giving back

giving, and giving

and giving

New interview on The Australian Baby Boomer Podcast


The new episode is in two parts. The first part describes a time at the Royal Military College of Duntroon in Canberra in the late nineteen-sixties and early nineteen-seventies. It includes a personal account of a young man's experiences with hazing or so-called 'bastardisation' that was practised at the time.

The first part of the podcast episode was posted this morning, and the second part will follow in the next day or two. Please follow the link above if you would like to check it out.

Just a little more about the new podcast. There are now six episodes up, an introduction from myself and five interviews with different people, each choosing a part of their life to talk about.

To give an idea, here are the summaries:

Introducing The Australian Baby-Boomer Podcast - Episode 1

August 28th, 2019

In this episode you will be introduced to this new podcast series that will be by and about Baby-boomers, their stories and reflections, and to Baby-boomer Iris, its coordinator. The first episode provides a brief rundown on what you can expect in upcoming episodes. Watch this space.

The Builder

September 11th, 2019

Today's interview is with Trevor. After finishing his carpentry apprenticeship, Trevor found work in the north-west of Australia, a place where the heat is extreme and desert stretches across the continent. At times, the days can reach 50 degrees centigrade. It was the late sixties. He'd just begun his working life when his number came up and he was conscripted into the army.  He was facing the prospect of being sent off to war in Vietnam.

Then Gough Whitlam's Labor Party came to power and conscription was ended. Trevor was able to leave and return to work in the building industry. He'd met a mate in the army and together they formed a successful building company that went on to build in remote Aboriginal communities. This was a pivotal time in his life. Trevor learnt much from this work, and his love of the desert country and people has never left him.

The interview ends with reflections on the way in which the drawing up of building regulations and checking jobs has changed over time, and perhaps not always for the better.

The Storyteller

September 5th, 2019

Once upon a time there was a storyteller called Bea. In this episode, Bea talks about her many years of experience as a professional storyteller, travelling all around Australia and to other countries sharing her stories with children and adults alike. Enjoy!

Reflections on life, death and living a meaningful life

September 2nd, 2019

In this discussion Maarten reflects on how he created a full and meaningful life once he retired from his long-term workplace. It seems he did not so much retire as step back to consider the bigger picture, before choosing to throw himself into those things that provided the most meaning for him. Central to this endeavour are community, enjoying life, and doing useful work. 

A childhood in Perth in the 1950s

August 31st, 2019

In this episode, Geraldine talks about her life in Perth, Western Australia in the years that followed the second World War. As a returned serviceman, her father barely spoke of the war, except for one memorable occasion that Geraldine remembers here. Geraldine's childhood was not trouble-free, but she recalls it as a free and happy time. It was also a time when Australia was opening up to immigration from a range of European countries for which English was not the first language spoken. The new immigrants brought with them their skills, cultural and culinary traditions, and friendship, expanding the horizons of mainstream Australians of the time. 

A childhood in Cue in the 1950s

August 28th, 2019

In this episode a retired teacher, Norm, reminisces about his childhood in the tiny desert goldfields town of Cue. Freedom was the order of the day and he reflects that it was as much by good luck as it was good management that he survived to tell the tale. 

I have recently started up a podcast called The Australian Baby-Boomer Podcast.

If you want to check it out, here is the link:

https://theaustralianbabyboomer.podbean.com/

Exciting new times for the Book Length Project Group and a name change for this blog

Well the time is right for a changing of the guard for the Book Length Project Group. A lovely new team (old friends and members of BLPG) will be taking over the coordination of the group, which will continue to run as usual on the third Sunday of each month at Mattie Furphy's House in Swanbourne, Perth, Western Australia. The new coordination team consists of three wonderfully talented writers, Dr Louise, Emily and Kristen.

Louise

Emily

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the lovely Kristen. 

To save any name confusion, I'll be changing the title of this blog in the next few days. I still have to think of a good name but it will probably be one that defaults my own name (or I'll be the one defaulting to my own name!). I'll maintain all the old posts for those who want to look back.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who has attended the Book Length Project Group during my time as Coordinator and a very special thank you to all the generous and talented guest speakers that we have had over that time.

Also thank you to The Fellowship of Australian Writers WA, to Pat, Trisha and Peter for their hospitality and for providing the Book Length Project Group access to the wonderful venue of Mattie Furphy House over the past two years, and into the future.

And my very best to the new team. Exciting, creative, productive times ahead!

The poet and the crime fiction writer

The Book Length Project Group is fortunate is having two wonderful guests along to our next meeting on June 15, 2014. It will be interesting to see what sort of cross-pollination occurs when Poet Rose van Son and Harper-Collins Crime Fiction Writer and Writer in Residence at the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Felicity Young, meet with the group to discuss their writing process and share their knowledge.

A little about these two highly accomplished writers:

Rose van Son’s poems, stories and articles have appeared in The West Australian, Westerly, Landscapes, Cordite, Australian Poetry, Indigo and more.

 

She has won places in the Tom Collins Poetry Awards, the W.H. Treanor Poetry Awards, the Peter Cowan Patron’s Prize, the Fremantle Press Tanka Prize, City of Perth National Haiku Awards, paper wasp haiku and The Heron’s Nest.   She is Creatrix editor for Creatrix online.

 

She won first prize in the KSP Short Fiction Award, 2000.

 

She has read at the Margaret River Writers’ and Readers Festival and has judged the 2009 Julie Lewis Poetry Prize and the ECU Talus Prize.

Her poetry collection (Sandfire) was published by Sunline Press. 

Felicity Young is Writer in Residence at the Fellowship of Writing WA in June. She has seven novels published and is working on another. I am currently reading her latest novel, The Scent of Murder, and finding it engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable. Look out for a review of the book here in the coming weeks.

With her permission I have copied her bio from her website:

Felicity was born in Germany and attended boarding school in the UK while her parents travelled the world with the British army. She thinks the long boring plane trips home played an important part in helping her to develop her creative imagination.

Felicity settled with her parents in Western Australia in 1976, became a nurse, married young and had three children. Not surprisingly, it took ten years to complete an Arts degree (English lit) at UWA.

In 1990 Felicity and her family moved to a small farm 40 kilometers NE of Perth where she established a Suffolk sheep stud, reared orphan kangaroos and embarked upon a life of crime writing.

Felicity will be holding two workshops on writing while she is  at the Fellowship. What a great opportunity for the local writing community!

Writing tip 27 - a cop-out

The truth is that, offhand, I can't think of one for this week, but I did have a quick scan of the Internet to check out other writers' blogs and found this one that provides "21 harsh but eye-opening tips from great writers".

I'd suggest a visit. You'd have to love some of these from the likes of Hemmingway, Twain, Orwell, Vonnegut, Parker, Gaiman and others.

Now I'm going to stop using semi-colons. Again. What are they for anyway? We've always had an uneasy relationship!

Writing tip 26 - Embrace constraints and set limits

Embrace Constraints

If you are not in the habit of seeking out TED Talks, I'd recommend that you do so.

In a talk called "Embrace the Shake" Artist, Phil Hansen, talks about how an unexpected limitation, and what he calls 'thinking inside the box', ultimately freed up his creativity.

 

Sometimes having unlimited choices is not the best for creativity. Imposing constraints on the project might encourage the artist into experimental or problem-solving mode, so that s/he is forced to create within that self-imposed set of rules. The rules provide walls to push against. No form, no freedom.

It's worth considering. If nothing else listen to the talk by clicking on the "Embrace the Shake" link here, or above. Hansen has made some fascinating art by embracing his limitation.

Set limits

Slightly different, but there are a couple of things I want to mention here.

The first I learned when I was researching and writing up my PhD thesis. That is to set limits around the size and scope of the project. You probably have enough ideas for several books. If you stick to one idea at a time, it will help you to keep control of your project.

Another way of setting limits is to try imposing time limits on daily writing. Set yourself an hour, five hours, or half an hour of regular writing time (or any other number that contains the writing as your time allows) and work within the constraints of that limitation.

Writing Prompt

Choose and impose a strict limitation on a small (or large) writing project as an experiment to see how this changes things.

Writing tip 25 - pursue ignorance - ask questions

Does the most interesting writing ask questions, or provide solutions? Or...

Is the sky the limit?

Like this Tip section of the blog, it's possible that too much advice can be quite annoying.  Why? It might be because providing answers generally implies particular assumptions, and closes off other alternatives. It might be that it assumes an uneven distribution of expertise between the giver and receiver of advice.

So, sorry about that, and a caveat - I know nothing! Next to nothing. Moving on...

I listened to a couple of TED talks on science this week, and they both suggested that opening up, rather than closing off, was the way to go. Science is not so much about proving what you know, as discovering what you don't know. It's not so much the pursuit of information as the pursuit of ignorance. As I listened, I thought that the same could apply to storytelling.

The pursuit of ignorance could well be another way of growing intelligence. Check out the links. In this model, entropy is useful. Chaos is productive. Certainty might well be less  productive - at least if there is too much of it. It can slow down discovery and close off possible responses to difficulties.

Is this why advice is so stultifying - because it closes off possibilities and attempts to provide a single solution to a problem that we might have created precisely so that we can explore the possibilities? That's just one idea, and like all these 'tips', everything written here is simply an idea which may or may not be useful. It can be taken, or leaven (that is to say, inflated like bread!). From a pragmatic point of view the more we learn, the more we understand that we don't know. And I guess this is a good thing.

Maybe one of the reasons I like storytelling is because it presupposes that, even with the same characters, there are countless alternative stories possible - different choices and circumstances create different stories. Maybe the whole idea of fiction is about asking 'what if?' And 'what if' might be an even better question than 'why'.

The best question, if we want to really learn something, is an open question - one that does not lead to an absolute conclusion, a 'because', or a 'yes/no' type of answer. At its best, a good question - or a good story - opens up the space for even more interesting questions to be asked.

Feel free to comment and disagree.

Prompt: Read through what you have done and remove all solutions replacing them with questions.

Writing tip 24 - take whatever time you need, or have

While not everyone will agree with this, I am increasingly convinced that it is important to take all the time that is needed to write a book. Depending on the project, the time needed might be six months or it might be several years. Occasionally it might be decades.

At the Book Length Project Group yesterday Author, Ian Reid, talked about the value of writing slowly. He mentioned that he tends to edit as he proceeds, and that he is constantly reviewing the structure and the texture of the writing.

We have a slow food movement, with slow cooking arguably producing a more enjoyable and ultimately satisfying experience all round. I want to add my voice to the slow reading and writing movement.

My slow-cooked marmalade

To this end, Ian recommended a book called Reading like a Writer: A Guide For People Who Love Books, And For Those Who Want To Write Them by Francine Prose. I haven't read it yet, but it is on the list.

I think there is something important in this idea of taking time and care to consider different ideas and words.  If we want to enjoy a meal we might eat mindfully, savouring each mouthful and enjoying the context of our meal, the company and the setting. If we want to enjoy reading and writing, perhaps we could approach it in a similar way. When writing a book we might work carefully on a small section at a time, and finish that before moving on. Better to choose carefully than try to include every possible idea.

I wonder, is there a link between the way writing is changing, and the speed and superficiality that seems to be overwhelming modern societies? I don't know, but it is worth considering.

A tangential, but possibly linked phenomenon, was discussed in a recent episode of Radio National's All in the Mind. The program focussed on the increase in narcissism, and I have included a link here. It's well-worth listening to this program which also comments on the way in which point of view in novels has changed over time.

There is something about the phenomenon of focussing attention on the individual rather than the community that seems to encourage superficial, rather than more meaningful relationships. How does this relate to writing? The best books, I believe, are those which invite a deep engagement with the reader. For writers this means taking care to communicate as well as we can, and it means valuing the quality of the reading/writing experience over volume. It takes time.

Writing prompt

Try this as an experiment:

Allow an entire day to work intermittently on a single scene. Take time to let the mind wander around the scene. Write slowly and savour the process.

That Untravelled World - Ian Reid

I have just finished reading Ian Reid's most recent novel, That Untravelled World. For those interested in getting a feel for new settler, predominantly Anglo-Saxon Western Australian society in the first half of the Twentieth Century, this novel is a great place to start. It is beautifully written and eminently readable, a book in which the protagonist Harry begins the new century full of hope and excitement about a future which he believes is going to see the world transformed with flying machines and wireless communication, bringing people together across the world. As a young, skilled wireless engineer, he is full of optimistic anticipation about his own prospects in this imagined new world. As the story unfolds in the context of two World Wars and the Great Depression, we are guided through a single lifetime in which our hero's plans are progressively frustrated.

From the perspective of a reader/writer currently going through the joys and struggles of writing a second novel, there were a number of things that impressed me about this book. From the beginning it was evident that as reader, I was in good hands. I enjoyed the finely balanced structure of the story, its accuracy, restrained telling, and the way in which the era, age and physicality of the character, at various stages of his life, was so clearly evoked. Not once was Harry dropped out of character, or did the author flinch from portraying the less desirable mainstream social values of the time. At the same time, seen through Harry's eyes, there was compassion for each of the characters, damaged and flawed as they were, providing a way into what could otherwise have been difficult material.

Besides enviable fiction and non-fiction writing credentials, Ian Reid has the advantage of being a poet, a historian and a highly skilled researcher, and the depth of understanding is evident in the telling of this story. It's a satisfying read, and at the end I felt I had learned something about the early Eurocentric history and psychology of this part of the world.

Ian Reid will be meeting with the Book Length Project Group this coming Sunday to discuss his writing process with us. All welcome.

10am, Fellowship of Australian Writers WA premises, Allen Park Precinct, Swanbourne. Mattie's House.

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.