Archive for the 'The Writer’s Life' Category

Some thoughts about writing from Tom Keneally

Adelaide Writer’s Week 2010

I had the privilege of hearing Australian writer Tom Keneally speak several times during this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week. On each occasion he was in fine form and proved to be not only a brilliant speaker, but also funny and instructive – often at the same time.

I didn’t take many notes during the week but preferred to just sit, listen and soak up the wonderful atmosphere while listening to such a fine parade of great writers. I did take a few notes for one of Tom’s talks.

“I am the one who needs my books – the world goes on perfectly well without them. I am no longer under the delusion that the world needs my books.” Tom Keneally, Adelaide Writers’ Week 2010

This is a sober reminder about the world and about books. He is perfectly right, of course. The world will continue functioning as it does without that novel or short story or poem you are slaving over. It will make no difference at all if that piece of writing is never published.

Tom is also wrong

At the same time, I believe that Tom is also wrong. The world may not need that novel, non-fiction book, sonnet or article, but there is surely someone out there – perhaps only one person, or a handful of people – whose lives can be changed, influenced or even enhanced by what you write. This is why we must, as writers entrusted with divine words, always strive to write the very best we possibly can.

Our writing can – and should – make a difference.

Good writing.

Tom Keneally opening Adelaide Writers' Week 2010

Tom Keneally opening Adelaide Writers' Week 2010


Writer’s block

I’m struggling to write.

Now this is a common problem experienced by most writers. Over the last three months I have had many distractions which have kept me from the key board.

  • Things like going away for several short holidays with family.
  • Things like spending wonderful time with my grandson – and his parents.
  • Things like catching up with family over Christmas.
  • Things like celebrating my wife’s birthday with friends – it was one of the big one! (Ssssh – I won’t mention her age)
  • Things like getting jobs done around the house that had been studiously ignored during the year.

Probably the most concerning, however, has been a deterioration of my health. Several things have made concentrating on my writing very difficult. This is where persistence comes into play. Over the last few days I’ve gradually pushed through the disappointments and difficulties and persisted with my writing. Sometimes it has been easy, sometimes very challenging.

As I see it now, my priority over the coming months will be to keep on steadily writing while being careful to pace myself and care for my health.

Good writing.


Getting back into writing again

It is time to get back into my writing again.

Over the last two months my writing has taken something of a back seat in my life. I worked really hard over many long hours over  an extended period of time in an attempt to get my novel finished before the end of November.

It didn’t happen.

As it turns out, my six weeks of illness in the middle of the year put me behind on my schedule and I never really recovered. The hard push to get it finished took its toll, and by the end of November I was well and truly cooked. So I decided to have a break from my novel writing.

I had actually finished the first draft well before the end of October. I then spent quite a few weeks editing and rewriting. The novel is now in its 6th draft, with at least two more drafts to go, perhaps more.

It has taken me fully two months to get back to the stage where I want to get back into the novel. I hope that the long, enforced break has distanced me enough from the earlier writing to give me fresh eyes for the novel as it now exists.

Many writers will agree with what I have done. Putting aside a story or poem or novel for a few weeks or even months can have a beneficial effect. Of course, sometimes writers do not have the luxury of giving their stories this kind of space, particularly if they are on a submission deadline.

Over the next week I will see how I go.

In the meantime – good writing.


I’m still here

It’s two weeks into the New Year and I haven’t posted here since Christmas Day. Some of you might have been wondering about where I’d gone over the last three weeks.

Truth is, I’ve been rather busy. It seems that the Christmas – New Year period gets busier every year, and more crowded with events. This time around it was family who took up a lot of my time. We had our son, daughter-in-law and delightful new grandson visiting from Sydney. We only get to see them once or twice a year so any time together is a precious. We also had three family gatherings in different parts of the state. This necessitated quite a deal of time consuming travel.

I’ve also been busy getting a few things done around the house and garden. Things I’ve neglected over the last two years while I poured myself into my studies (MA Creative Writing) and my writing. High on that list was cleaning the swimming pool ready for the hot summer weather to come. We’ve already had a good deal of hot weather, but I’m sure there’s more on the way. Then I replaced the pool safety fence, something long overdue. The old fence was not very safe. Over the last few days I’ve installed a new solar blanket on the pool, together with a new roller to store it when we are swimming.

Needless to say I have managed to do very little writing so far this year. I have managed to catch up on a little reading and more television than I’ve allowed myself for some time. All this time I’ve been planning my writing goals for 2010. I haven’t written these down yet; must do that soon. One major goal – I don’t like resolutions – is to get a little more balance in my life. 2008 and 2009 were far too frenetic with my studies and total focus on my writing with little regard for my physical, mental and spiritual well being. That will need to change this year. Sure, I’ll still write heaps, but it will not be the all consuming monster it has become in recent times.

Good writing.

Writing from your childhood experiences

Last week I enjoyed reading the collection of inter-connected short stories called The Turning written by award winning West Australian author Tim Winton.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it was all I had hoped it to be. I’ll review it on these pages soon.

One of the most obvious strengths of the collection of stories is how Winton has drawn extensively on his childhood experiences growing up in rural Western Australia. This sense of time and place is powerful, and it set me to thinking and reminiscing about my own childhood. I grew up on a farm in the Murray Mallee districts of South Australia. the more I thought about it the more the memories came surging back. Some good, others I’d rather forget.

I was supposed to be on holiday last week, but there are times when the writer in me just cannot switch off. I actually wrote several stories  and made notes for another one, all based on childhood experiences. At this stage I am too close to the stories to know whether they will stand alone as unique stories in their own right, or they will become a part of a much bigger work.

Drawing on childhood experiences is something all writers can do.

Flannery O’Connor said that anyone who has survived beyond the age of twelve has enough fictional material for the rest of her life.’ (John Dufresne in The lie that tells the truth)

What I have done with these memories of my childhood is to take a real incident – and fictionalise it. I changed the names – to protect the guilty – and often twisted or totally changed the  events to suit the drama of the story. I distinctly remember a classmate breaking his arm while we were playing football. His reaction astonished me. I changed this incident to a broken arm during a cricket match. That’s the beauty of fiction: you can change or make up whatever you like. The stories read almost like a memoir – but much of the content is fiction. I’ve drawn on just one incident – the broken arm, for example – and let my imagination soar.

Writing activity:

  • Cast your mind back to your primary (elementary)  school days.
  • Think of one incident that sticks vividly in your memory.
  • Write down exactly what happened – or as accurately as you can remember.
  • Now rewrite it in a fiction form, bringing in imaginary characters, new incidents, a different ending – just let your imagination have free rein.

Good writing.