Hey everyone
A bit of a rant today. I was thinking about quiet and how in our industrialised society we have a lack of it. Radio, television, IPODs ( I have one) the gym even has television playing while you work out so we won't be bored for a minute (or to have time to think), we drive everywhere, go to shopping centres and hear advertisements incessantly, attend classes or jump our of planes or do anything rather than sitting and contemplating. There is something manic about how we live now.
I don't think there is anything wrong with doing all of these things. A balanced life exists with adventure and activity and relation with each other. But I find myself sitting impatiently waiting for my daughter's cross country to start and I wonder - why has waiting a few minutes become so disturbing? Patience and taking things a little slower, is a big challenge. We do have lots of demands on our time. And I do.
Two children, a PR business and doing the accounts for our business, trying to run everything that needs to be done for kids and having a husband as well. I am very busy.
However, I just know deep down, there is a need for more quiet. Catch some moments, don't be afraid of silence, or waiting. Writing has to be done in quiet, or at least sort of quiet. I can't really achieve the quiet thing for my writing, but at least I can think about it on my walks.
I do grab some moments and they have to be quick with all I have to do.
(As an aside: I am reading this book written by the man who started the novel in one month idea and he believes that busy people can get more creative work done. I don't know if this is always true. Look at Van Gogh who focused totally on his work for 10 years and how much he achieved, it was phenomenal. In the last 90 days of his life he completed a painting a day. However, I am hoping this is true (that people busy with life can achieve creative work) because like most of us we have to work for a living.)
Back to the quiet issue as Bob Dylan says (I can't remember right now which song), "they'll take your mind away from contemplation".
Even in places like church - there is little silence, in the place that was meant to retain the sacred and provide a place for people to contemplate and be quiet, there is a sad lack of this as well.
You see, wide ranging rant.
Also, I have gone back to my novel again and decided to try and just write intuitively. Does anyone know how to write back story? That is my problem currently. My goal is to keep on going to finish a draft. There is something in the writing that teaches us.
This morning I read a Hemmingway short story - The Nun, the Gambler and the Mexican (I think that's what its called) the narrator says that one of the characters didn't like to think much at all, except when he was writing. He relegated this sort of exercise to when he was writing, probably pretty true of Hemmingway himself, considering how he chose to live his life.
Do you think this post was rambling enough? Anyone's thoughts are always appreciated.
Next post I might talk about - some writing software I have had a look at. I can't recommend it totally, as I have not looked into the opposition to the product. But stay tuned.
28 Apr 2007
19 Apr 2007
Does a dog help you write a novel?
Hello everyone
I read somewhere if you are an isolated writer that you should buy a dog and have the canine provide some peaceful support of your pursuit.
So I bought one. Not for this reason, but because I love dogs and have always wanted one. The only problem is I have to take her out for ablutions constantly and feed and worm and bath and clean up poos and take her to the vet, so not a lot of creative activity is going on.
I have lots of other responsibilities as well.
However the other day I finished a really short story of 600 words at the park while we were playing with our dog - so that counts.
Anyway, here's a picture of her, just for the sake of it.
15 Apr 2007
Mourning The West Wing
Well, West Wing has only one show to go until it is finished. I have been meaning to blog about the greatness, writing wise, of The West Wing for a while now and I feel I should do it before it leaves Australian television. As a tribute thing, maybe. (I realise this has already happened in the US.)
I started watching it - when it started on ABC (I think it was more than 18 months ago, but I could be wrong) - I watched a couple on channel nine but I had the ads on commercial television. When it arrived on the ABC it was like an oasis in television. A literary sanctuary for me!
It is in my humble opinion the best fictional television show ever produced. It is so well written, the dialogue is witty and clever, subtle and real - yes quick, but that makes it really good because you have to follow it and find out where it is going. The characters never turn into schmulzville - they are sensitive yet not over the top.
Some have criticised it - calling The Left Wing, but I think it showed Arnold Vinick the right wing candidate as a decent person, a fair and balanced character who had great motives and an outstanding character.
For me, I like to think of it as "literary television" and if I was employed by a magazine I would write an article on this, (being a journalist, maybe I should).
However, I will mourn the loss of The West Wing - it was a light in the darkness of mindless, unintelligent, senseless, gratuitous television. It was for me a literary sanctuary where I could see some great characters, watch some complicated and engaging plots and marvel at the writing and acting ability of those involved.
I don't know why they are not continuing, but - maybe they think it had its life. Anyway, I will stop now, because I do not want to be considered loopy about this.
If anyone else has a similar opinion on west wing, please drop me a line, I'd appreciate it.
I started watching it - when it started on ABC (I think it was more than 18 months ago, but I could be wrong) - I watched a couple on channel nine but I had the ads on commercial television. When it arrived on the ABC it was like an oasis in television. A literary sanctuary for me!
It is in my humble opinion the best fictional television show ever produced. It is so well written, the dialogue is witty and clever, subtle and real - yes quick, but that makes it really good because you have to follow it and find out where it is going. The characters never turn into schmulzville - they are sensitive yet not over the top.
Some have criticised it - calling The Left Wing, but I think it showed Arnold Vinick the right wing candidate as a decent person, a fair and balanced character who had great motives and an outstanding character.
For me, I like to think of it as "literary television" and if I was employed by a magazine I would write an article on this, (being a journalist, maybe I should).
However, I will mourn the loss of The West Wing - it was a light in the darkness of mindless, unintelligent, senseless, gratuitous television. It was for me a literary sanctuary where I could see some great characters, watch some complicated and engaging plots and marvel at the writing and acting ability of those involved.
I don't know why they are not continuing, but - maybe they think it had its life. Anyway, I will stop now, because I do not want to be considered loopy about this.
If anyone else has a similar opinion on west wing, please drop me a line, I'd appreciate it.
29 Mar 2007
Beach house escape
Hey everyoneI have just returned from a holiday on the Northern NSW coast, a little town just outside Yamba. Our view was the dark green of the national park and rolling white waves breaking in vivid magnificence not too far away.
We stayed in a gorgeous bungalow wooden house filled with French antiques and interesting quirky things like a room outside with a looking tower and a rustic wooden cabin below with double bed and television.
It was quiet in this tiny town. Not school holidays yet. The pristine beach and the clear cool waters were virtually deserted. A luxury I revelled in, living in Queensland, I hate how there are crowds on every beach possible. We played and boogie boarded in the waves.
Apart from this I read Bob Dylan's Chronicles and loved it! It was great to read about an artist and how it all happened for him. In this little cottage with the wind whistling through the spaces in the wood - I could see myself writing a novel here. It was so still and serene - I lay out in the sun on the wooden deck. (I did get sunburnt by accident). I don't know if any of you have retreated to write a novel or anything as glamourous as that, I have not had the opportunity yet, but here - with the French atmosphere inside (and French surfing magazines as the owners were French) - made me feel as though I was living in my own little cultured oasis. A beautiful one, where you could have peace and write a piece of work you'd be satisfied with.It was great. As everyone always says, refreshing to get away. Especially with interesting reading matter.
So I am a little more inspired for my novel now. Have started thinking about my main character again. There is a great quote in the notes from the YON course that says: "If you're novel doesn't keep you up at night, then it won't keep your readers up either." Something to that effect anyway. It is starting to interest me again, maybe its because I had mental space again. Anyway - I think the pressure of the novel course is good too, because now we are getting down to talking about our novels and I am wanting to get back into it and use some of the things I am learning.
Does anyone else have any novel frustrations or triumphs? Thanks for reading. More later.
19 Mar 2007
Year of the Novel first workshop
Hello everyone
My first Saturday session of Year of the Novel was on the weekend. It was really great! The mini lectures we had were great about character, structure, narrative ideology, how to create characters.
We did a cool little acting session where we created a character in groups and we got to ask the player out the front various questions about this character. Needless to say there were stitches of laughter! A cross dressing man in a bikini, a womanising politician who said he loved a "good shag" and the King of the Bear Clan, Urs. It was very interesting and funny and we learnt a lot about all of the things we need to think about when creating characters.
Especially, mannerisms are a good thing to remember in creating a character.
It was really great to meet other authors, or would be authors. It was a tad depressing hearing how long it takes even for established authors to produce their final drafts of published novels. It was good to be reminded that the "pros" are still struggling with the craft even after they are well established for 25 years.
I am going to go through my notes and pick out some great quotes for you, in my next post.
We have exchanged email addresses and I think that will be really great to keep in touch with other writers in this sometimes frustrating and hard to continue process!
Having two children myself and having to work as a copywriter - to make a living to feed my children, I know what it is like to get distracted by life! Surviving and general living.
Anyway - more later. It was a great day. Highly recommended next time this course comes around if you live in Queensland or if the other states offer this kind of thing, just to keep some kind of focus happening the whole year round!
Happy writing or reading whatever your thing may be!
My first Saturday session of Year of the Novel was on the weekend. It was really great! The mini lectures we had were great about character, structure, narrative ideology, how to create characters.
We did a cool little acting session where we created a character in groups and we got to ask the player out the front various questions about this character. Needless to say there were stitches of laughter! A cross dressing man in a bikini, a womanising politician who said he loved a "good shag" and the King of the Bear Clan, Urs. It was very interesting and funny and we learnt a lot about all of the things we need to think about when creating characters.
Especially, mannerisms are a good thing to remember in creating a character.
It was really great to meet other authors, or would be authors. It was a tad depressing hearing how long it takes even for established authors to produce their final drafts of published novels. It was good to be reminded that the "pros" are still struggling with the craft even after they are well established for 25 years.
I am going to go through my notes and pick out some great quotes for you, in my next post.
We have exchanged email addresses and I think that will be really great to keep in touch with other writers in this sometimes frustrating and hard to continue process!
Having two children myself and having to work as a copywriter - to make a living to feed my children, I know what it is like to get distracted by life! Surviving and general living.
Anyway - more later. It was a great day. Highly recommended next time this course comes around if you live in Queensland or if the other states offer this kind of thing, just to keep some kind of focus happening the whole year round!
Happy writing or reading whatever your thing may be!
12 Mar 2007
Received Self Published Book!
Hello there!
Today I received my self published little collection of short stories. It was nice to see my stories published and presented with some images from my Europe travels in a book format.
Something you can keep. Also I found myself reading the stories from a new and fresh perspective. I was (does this sound vain?) actually drawn in by the stories because I hadn't read them for ages. Does that ever happen to you, where you feel like you are reading your story as if someone else wrote it?
There's this great quote from Bob Dylan where he turns to his then girlfriend in the early 60's Joan Baez and says when he hears a song on the radio, "Hey, that's a pretty cool song, who wrote it?" and she says to him, "you did, you mug." Apparently he wrote so many songs that he forgot some of his own songs, that were being covered on the radio. I AM NOT COMPARING MYSELF TO BOB DYLAN! I just thought it was a funny anecdote.
On another note, the Year of the Novel at QWC is on this weekend and I have homework before I get there! Woe, Veny, who's a task master. No, I think it is great to have homework, it means we will go there prepared and be able to learn heaps more from our time together.
So, I recommend some form of self publishing to keep your creative juices flowing (to use a cliche, sorry). It really helps to see your work in a final form, to help you (and maybe others, who knows, but that's not really why you do it) respect your own work and keep going for more publication goals. Until one day, people will read your more major works published.
I agree with Barbara from the Queensland Writing blog, we do not do this for money. Some of us do it to communicate to the world. We write to experience to reach out, to empathise and help others to empathise.
There are a myriad of reasons why people write. I don't write for money. Even though I am a journalist, that is how I get paid for my professional words, but creatively, I hope one day people enjoy, get something out of and benefit from my books or stories and thus I may eventually make some money. Money the necessary evil, to survive, who was it that said "being published buys us time to write" basically, money allows us to keep creating.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
www.blurb.com
www.lulu.com
Today I received my self published little collection of short stories. It was nice to see my stories published and presented with some images from my Europe travels in a book format.
Something you can keep. Also I found myself reading the stories from a new and fresh perspective. I was (does this sound vain?) actually drawn in by the stories because I hadn't read them for ages. Does that ever happen to you, where you feel like you are reading your story as if someone else wrote it?
There's this great quote from Bob Dylan where he turns to his then girlfriend in the early 60's Joan Baez and says when he hears a song on the radio, "Hey, that's a pretty cool song, who wrote it?" and she says to him, "you did, you mug." Apparently he wrote so many songs that he forgot some of his own songs, that were being covered on the radio. I AM NOT COMPARING MYSELF TO BOB DYLAN! I just thought it was a funny anecdote.
On another note, the Year of the Novel at QWC is on this weekend and I have homework before I get there! Woe, Veny, who's a task master. No, I think it is great to have homework, it means we will go there prepared and be able to learn heaps more from our time together.
So, I recommend some form of self publishing to keep your creative juices flowing (to use a cliche, sorry). It really helps to see your work in a final form, to help you (and maybe others, who knows, but that's not really why you do it) respect your own work and keep going for more publication goals. Until one day, people will read your more major works published.
I agree with Barbara from the Queensland Writing blog, we do not do this for money. Some of us do it to communicate to the world. We write to experience to reach out, to empathise and help others to empathise.
There are a myriad of reasons why people write. I don't write for money. Even though I am a journalist, that is how I get paid for my professional words, but creatively, I hope one day people enjoy, get something out of and benefit from my books or stories and thus I may eventually make some money. Money the necessary evil, to survive, who was it that said "being published buys us time to write" basically, money allows us to keep creating.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
www.blurb.com
www.lulu.com
7 Mar 2007
Self Published on Blurb.com
Hello again everyone
I recently used www.blurb.com to design and put together a collection of my short stories. You know when you get sick of being rejected by journals and competitions and you think, "insert appropriate word here" I just want to see my stories presented nicely, together in a book, because you like them and think they are the best work you have done to date.
Well, I felt like this recently and stumbled upon blurb.com that allows you to download some software and design your own book. Then when you have finalised it and checked it and printed it out you can order the book through the website. Of course it is not cheap and you have to pay a courier from the US, but at this point I thought it was worth it for me.
Sometimes we need to see our work presented in a form where others can access it, purchase it even, definitely where it can be read in a nicely designed and attractive way. That was what I was craving.
I believe I will most likely do this with my novel I am working on at the moment as well. Maybe with www.lulu.com that has a bit more freedom of where you can put the PDF of your book etc. But for authors like me who have not been able to focus on their work seriously for a considerable amount of time (due to having to work for a living and support a family, at times) it is necessary to keep the creative flow happening.
If we simply write in anonymity then we do not value our work and thus it does not go out into the world and we do not discover the strengths and weaknesses of our work!
That's what I believe anyway.
Unfortunately, due to my recent moving and work commitments and family I have not put much time into my novel, which I plan, now that my time is bit more free, to rectify.
Sometimes we question whether our creative output is worth anything in the end. But we cannot deny our unquenchable desire to create. We can reflect the Divine when we create and that is why I wish to continue creating and why I think it has value in our universe, even though everyone seems to want to put a bottom line to everything!!!
Enough rambling from me. Happy creating.
I recently used www.blurb.com to design and put together a collection of my short stories. You know when you get sick of being rejected by journals and competitions and you think, "insert appropriate word here" I just want to see my stories presented nicely, together in a book, because you like them and think they are the best work you have done to date.
Well, I felt like this recently and stumbled upon blurb.com that allows you to download some software and design your own book. Then when you have finalised it and checked it and printed it out you can order the book through the website. Of course it is not cheap and you have to pay a courier from the US, but at this point I thought it was worth it for me.
Sometimes we need to see our work presented in a form where others can access it, purchase it even, definitely where it can be read in a nicely designed and attractive way. That was what I was craving.
I believe I will most likely do this with my novel I am working on at the moment as well. Maybe with www.lulu.com that has a bit more freedom of where you can put the PDF of your book etc. But for authors like me who have not been able to focus on their work seriously for a considerable amount of time (due to having to work for a living and support a family, at times) it is necessary to keep the creative flow happening.
If we simply write in anonymity then we do not value our work and thus it does not go out into the world and we do not discover the strengths and weaknesses of our work!
That's what I believe anyway.
Unfortunately, due to my recent moving and work commitments and family I have not put much time into my novel, which I plan, now that my time is bit more free, to rectify.
Sometimes we question whether our creative output is worth anything in the end. But we cannot deny our unquenchable desire to create. We can reflect the Divine when we create and that is why I wish to continue creating and why I think it has value in our universe, even though everyone seems to want to put a bottom line to everything!!!
Enough rambling from me. Happy creating.
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