Back from a short holiday
My wife and I have just arrived back from a short holiday on Yorke Peninsula here in South Australia. We stayed in a holiday unit in the coastal town of Edithburgh. Despite the weather being wild with gale force winds and heavy showers of rain, we managed to get out and about and have a good time. While I’ve done quite a deal of reading recently, I have not had the chance to do a great deal of writing.
On the positive side, the short break has recharged the batteries and I’ve taken lots of interesting photos, some of which I will be sharing on my other sites. You are welcome to have a look at what we saw here:
- Trevor’s Birding – about Australian birds
- Trevor’s Travels – stories about our travels with plenty of photos.
The recent reading I’ve been doing will result in some interesting reviews coming up soon in this site, and the magnificent and rugged scenery of the peninsula has inspired me to get back into writing some poetry.
Stay tuned.
Good writing.
I have graduated
After three challenging and difficult years I have finally graduated.
I now have completed my Master of Arts (Creative Writing) degree.
It has been an interesting journey of discovery. I’ve always regretted not having a higher degree to go with my basic teaching qualifications. I had resigned myself to the fact that such a lofty degree was beyond me. I limited my thinking, putting myself down in the process.
On reflection, I probably thought the same about my writing. I’d never be good enough to get published. I’d never make it as a writer. No one would want to read what I wrote.
Through sheer determination – and the encouragement of family and friends – I’ve proved myself wrong on all counts.
- I have passed my degree – and with a distinction too.
- I have a large and growing readership of my three blogs.
- I have been published in recent years in a range of magazines, journals and anthologies.
The best is still to come.
Good writing.
Is it time to burn your manuscript?
Early last week I travelled from my home in Murray Bridge to Clare in the mid north of South Australia. I drove there to support my daughter who was having trouble coping with a health issue (she’s on the mend, we hope).
As I travelled through the beautiful wine growing region of the Barossa Valley I revelled in the wonderful autumn weather. Almost felt like stopping many times to write a few poems. As I moved away from the valley into the wheat and sheep country to the north the atmosphere changed dramatically. There was smoke everywhere. Every second farm was shrouded in smoke from paddocks being burnt by the farmers. This burning off occurs at this time every year as the landholders prepare their fields for sowing a in a few weeks’ time. The rubbish has to be dealt with first, hence the burn off.
It reminded me of how we must treat our manuscripts. Now, I guess we all have those moments of despair with a story, poem, article or novel when all we want to do is scrunch up the paper and heave it into the fire. The farmer is not burning the good earth into which he plans to sow the seed. The burning is to rid the area of weeds and other rubbish. Our first (and often subsequent drafts) usually contain a great deal of “rubbish” writing – words, sentences and paragraphs that need to be “burned off” to allow the good seed – the best of our writing – to grow, thrive and produce a bumper crop.
The first draft – with all the accompanying rubbish – needs to happen. In later drafts through careful editing and rewriting the beautiful words will grow unhindered by weeds and other rubbish.
Good writing.
Where will your writing end up?
I find it fascinating where my writing ends up.
Let me explain. Most writers, myself included, desire for our words to be read by others. Sure, some people write only for themselves and that’s fine. I would contend though that the majority of writers dream of having an audience for their words, preferably a large one. I like to know from my readers that I have written something that has intrigued, challenged, entertained, inspired or instructed them – not all at the same time , of course, though that would be great.
It always amazes me where my writing ends up being published. Sure, I’ve have had some small publishing successes. My stories, poems and articles have appeared in books, anthologies, magazines, newspapers and I’ve performed some of my poems in public too. One of my plays was featured on a national television programme. Last year one of my poems was set to music and performed at the ANZAC Day ceremonies in Belgium. Cool.
My latest publication success is intriguing. It’s always nice to be invited to submit something and that is what happened earlier this week. A simple little haiku I wrote some years ago has been published on the Ocean Portal site of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Why not head over there and have a look. They are celebrating National Poetry Week by inviting readers to submit their own poems celebrating their love of the ocean.
Links:
- Ocean Portal site – Your Ode to the Big Blue
- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
- National Poetry Month
And if you are interested in reading some of my poetry, click here.
Good writing.