Trevor's Writing

Hand me a (poetic) pencil

4 Comments »19th February, 2011; Category: Poetry, The Writer's Life

I love pencils.

I always have a good supply of 2B pencils on my desk, and a back up supply in the drawer of my desk. I love the feel of a pencil in my hand as I write. This is especially so when writing poetry.

I almost always use a 2B pencil when composing poems. The sensuality of holding a pencil generates a creativity I rarely get using a pen or a keyboard. After the poem is crafted and has morphed through several drafts, a final copy is then typed up on my computer. Very little changes once I’ve typed it, perhaps only a little formatting and minimal changes to punctuation.

For most of other writing I now use the computer keyboard exclusively. This includes stories, novels, essays, articles and blog posts. I just do not have the time (or the patience) to compose in pencil or pen first. I may occasionally jot down notes or an outline in pen or pencil, but I’ve also done that on the computer. It’s a necessary part of being productive.

What do my readers use when writing?

I’d be interested in hearing your comments.

Good writing.

Colour me green

1 Comment »18th February, 2011; Category: General

Warning: This post has nothing to do with writing.

We’ve gone green in our household.

Let me explain. Three days ago we had a series of solar panels installed on our roof. It’s something we talked about for many years, probably as much as 20 years ago. At the time I even did some serious research into the matter. Trouble was, I didn’t have the ready cash to install such a system. Besides that, in those days there were no government rebates available to offset the enormous cost.

Prices of solar panels have plummeted in recent years due to competition and their efficiency has vastly improved. Add to that the very generous Australian government rebates at present and the whole exercise becomes relatively affordable. Under present conditions the panels should pay for themselves in about 5 years. This is due in part to rapidly increasing electricity prices here in Australia, estimated to rise about 60% over the next few years; we’ve already had one big rise recently.

Talking about power costs, one of the motivating factors in getting the panels this time around was the power bill I received last November. It was about 20% higher than anything we’d had ever before. After the initial shock, the motivation to do something about it created its own momentum and we did our research and chose a good company in the forest of companies offering installation. We also changed providers because we discovered we were being ripped off big time.

The day after installation we kept checking the readout on the inverter to see how much energy it was generating. It was like having a new electronic toy to play with. Most of the time it was generating about 90% of capacity which is about as much as one can expect. It did briefly rise to 97% (3.2Kw of a potential 3.3Kw) but that was short lived when cloud came over the house. On our first day we exported a nice amount of energy back into the power grid so we are actually making a little money. Making money on it is not our intention; we just want to break even and save money. Avoiding rapidly rising energy costs is also a reason.

On the down side, yesterday was 100% cloud cover for half the day and today it’s been raining all day. You get that. I guess we’ll have to be content to only make hay while the sun… let me rephrase the old saying: we’ll only make a lot of energy when the sun shines.

Now back to writing.

Is patience really a virtue?

No Comments »17th February, 2011; Category: Goal setting, Master of Arts course, Novels, The Writer's Life, Writing a novel

I am waiting, waiting, waiting.

I am trying to be very patient. If patience really is a virtue, I must be very virtuous indeed. You see, I’m waiting for the results of my Master of Arts Creative Writing thesis paper. Regular readers will know that over the last 18 months I’ve been writing a children’s novel set in Nepal during their recent civil war. I submitted the novel, along with a 10,000 word exegesis essay on the writing of the novel, about mid-December. We were told we might wait 6 to 8 weeks for the results. Two days ago the 9 week mark was reached, so I am trying not to get impatient. Two of my fellow students have heard their results but they submitted the week before me.

This experience has got me thinking about the patience that all writers need. Here are some of my thoughts:

Why writers need patience:

Some writers need to patiently wait for writing ideas.
Writers need patience when a story or novel is not going along as it should.
Patience is needed when life gets in the way of writing schedules, especially if the writer has another job, or a family needing attention.
You need patience when waiting to hear if a publisher is going to accept your story or novel.
Once an acceptance is offered by a publisher, patience is needed when waiting to see the work in print.
When a story or novel has been published, one needs patience waiting for a payment.
Reading through reviews of one’s work can severely test a writer’s patience.

I’m sure most writers could add many more examples. What can you do while all the waiting is going on?

Waiting productively

While waiting for a idea for a story, read, read, read and do other creative activities to stimulate the mind.
While waiting to hear from a publisher, go on with other writing projects to maintain momentum with your writing.
While waiting for your work to be published, be sending out more work to publishers. Keep your momentum going.
Remember that waiting is inevitable and a part of the writing process. Use the waiting time productively.
Don’t give up.

Good writing.

Do you really want to be published?

1 Comment »18th January, 2011; Category: The Writer's Life, Writing Hints

It is my guess that most writers want to be published in some form.

Not all, of course. There are some people quite happy to pen their thoughts purely for their own pleasure – or perhaps just for a small circle of family and friends.

There are many others who are striving hard to gain the nod of approval from publishers and desire to see their words in print. I’m one of them, and have enjoyed the thrill of seeing my stories and poems in print. To this point my success has been modest. I also get great pleasure in the knowledge that I have many hundreds of readers of my three blogs, including this one.

Fiona Maddock on the site Write for your life has written a thought provoking article called Unknown and unpublished: enjoy it while it lasts. She explains that the unpublished writer has freedoms not enjoyed by a published author and I’d agree. Unpublished writers can write whatever takes their fancy, have no set deadlines and can write as much or as little as they wish.

She doesn’t leave the article there, of course, going on to outline some basic but essential things to remember to do on one’s journey to becoming a published writer. We should not forget the basics of grammar, spelling, punctuation, editing and rewriting.

Sound advice.

Good writing.

My latest writing endeavours

1 Comment »14th January, 2011; Category: Blogging, Master of Arts course, The Writer's Life

My regular readers would be aware that over the last few years I have been very busy working on my Master of Arts Creative writing degree. I finished the requirements for this last December and submitted my thesis paper for marking. I am still waiting for the results from the examiners.

Over Christmas and New Year I took a few weeks’ break from the intensive writing I did in the latter half of 2010. It certainly drained me emotionally and physically. Now I am steadily getting on with other writing projects. Most writers I know or have read recommend that once you have finished a major writing project, have a short break then get on with the next project. This is especially true if you have submitted a book manuscript to a publisher.

I haven’t yet submitted my thesis paper (a children’s novel) to a publisher, but submitting it to the examiners is similar, I guess. I could spend every day sitting by the phone waiting for a call from my supervising lecturer telling me of the result. That wouldn’t achieve anything, nor will it hasten the process. I will hear in due course, probably in the next 3 or 4 weeks. In the meantime, I’m getting on with other projects.

Some writers make the mistake of sitting by the letter box, or checking it every few hours, waiting for a letter from their potential publisher. That will not make an acceptance (or rejection) letter come any faster. Get on with the next project while you are waiting.

So – how am I using my time?

Birding: I’ve been doing a little birding which is my favourite hobby. You can read about it on my blog called Trevor’s Birding. This site shows hundreds of photos of our beautiful Australian birds.
Photography: I’ve just treated myself to a new camera and I’m having fun playing with it. Over coming months you’ll see the results here and on my other two sites.
Reading: I’m aware of the ever increasing heights of the piles of unread books and magazines in my office and bedside table, and I’ve been steadily working my way through them. My reading during my studies was very focussed on what I had to read, not what I wanted to read. That will change.
Swimming: Now that the weather has improved here in South Australia I’ve been making good use of our swimming pool. Having a solar blanket heats the water to very acceptable temperatures, even first thing in the morning.
Writing: My writing has not been totally neglected, and after the Christmas break I’m steadily getting back into it. At the moment I am concentrating on writing articles for my web sites. I’ve written many of them for my birding site mentioned above, as well as for another site called Trevor’s Travels. This one is about my travels here in Australia and overseas. Then I am planning a series of articles for this site about writing, so stay tuned.

Sounds like my holiday is over and I’m back to writing again.

Good writing.