eek.eke

I've moved!

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:22:00 +0000

I've started a new blog: www.onethousandlights.com !

Check it out and let me know what you think!

UTS Anthology Launch

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:27:00 +0000

Look! It's the cover of the anthology that my short story "Wide-eyed" will be published in!

So, um, wanna come to the book launch? The first one will be at the Sydney Theatre Company on 20 May 2011, as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival. The second launch (because one is never enough) will be at Gleebooks, 3 June 2011. Oh what a thrill!

4 reasons to expose your draft

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:35:00 +0000

Do you share your unfinished work?

I've always hated showing my story drafts to people. Thinking about someone's (potentially critical) eyes roving through my tentative words made me feel sick. I feel like they're reading over my shoulder as I'm trying to work it all out. It's a kind of vulnerability that I've avoided for a long time.

That is until I started workshopping my writing in my classes. I can't believe how much I've been missing out! In the right environment, with sensitive, encouraging and insightful people sharing and drafting creative writing can be the best thing for your work.

You gain so much from sharing your silly little drafts with others. Here are 4 reasons to unveil your unfinished baby:

1. Develop an awareness of the pace of a narrative and the dialogue. I highly recommend reading your pieces out loud to someone or to a group. It can be nerve-wrecking, but it gives you and your audience an opportunity to... well to hear the story. Are your beautiful descriptions just a little too wordy and maybe (gasp) boring? Do your characters sound as stiff and phoney as Ridge Forrester's chin implant? Hearing yourself read it all out can give you great insights!

2. Work to your strengths. You may spend so much energy on your sparkling metaphors, when people really enjoy your narrative voice or your characterisation, which comes so naturally to you. Being able to identify your strengths means that you focus on those, rather than trying to write like someone you're not. You'll also know exactly which bits of your story to keep when it comes time to edit.

3. Find what's not working. No-one likes hearing specific criticism of weaknesses in their work, but being able to pinpoint issues in plot, character, structure is invaluable. It will save you hours, days, weeks of pouring over a manuscript wondering why oh why it's just not working!

4. Keep the writing process from becoming an isolated and scary thing. Once you share you realise how common your experience really is.

Do you share your work? Will you start to do so? What other things have you learned from exposing your unfinished work?

play time

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

via Tim Walker

I've just begun the busiest time of my year with 14 weeks of uni - essays, fiction pieces, readings. Add to that work as usual, job seeking, interviews/hope/rejection, writing the 2nd draft of my novel and of course my usual pumping social life (maybe not pumping, but you know I do stuff). Yeah it's bizay! And yet, all I can think of is play time. What am I doing that's just for kicks? That's just creative and not necessarily wrapped up in some intense goal or expectation.

Fun is always the first thing to go when life gets full, but it's the very thing that makes life worth living. I think I kid myself into thinking I don't have time for it. But truth is, it's just easier to zone out on fruit ninja for 20minutes rather than actually think about something interesting to do.

Play time may eat at time that I should spend on that assignment or editing my novel or searching literary journals to send my stories to. But without it, I know that in a few months I'm going to feel dry as stale toast. Stale mouldy sad lonely toast.

So though I don't think I have the time, I'm starting salsa dancing classes with Mat. I'm going to those dinner parties, I'm going on adventures with my little brother, I'm playing with the dog, I'm lying on the grass and making shapes with clouds, I'm marvelling at the colour of a flower, I'm writing love letters, I'm keeping a smile on my face and some joy in my heart.

What do you do for fun? Any tips?

Pick Me Pick Me!

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:11:00 +0000

Sometime in late November I ever so casually submitted a short story for the 2011 UTS Writers' Anthology. AND well, my story has been shortlisted for the publication, which "showcases the best new talent from UTS"!!

This is potentially my first publication since my high school magazine published my short story about crashing into a rock face on a flying fox.

I'll be working with one of the anthology editors for the next few weeks to polish it up for final selections and then who knows I could be at Gleebooks and then the Sydney Writers' Festival sipping champaign at my very first book launch! I may even get up in the middle of it all to start thanking my various fans (mainly mum and Mat) for always believing in me (sniff).

Wait what just happened?

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 03:10:00 +0000

It's December! I am in shock and also... excited!

I'm not going to apologize for not touching this space for an entire month or two, because I'm really not sorry! I have had the most amazing, full, inspiring couple of months!

My first semester of my Masters was INCREDIBLE! Working full-time, studying part-time and having a life all-the-time sounded scary (I had many an anxious cry in preparation for this season)... But what I found was that when you're doing something you love, I mean really L.o.v.e you find the resources, the strength, the time, the creativity, the ideas etc to make it work! And if your lucky, you get to meet some amazing people whose advice and encouragement helps stoke the embers of enthusiasm and a firestorm of dreaming that keeps you going well into the wee hours of the morning. Thanks to passion and some structure I survived!

I have learnt so much by generous and positive lecturers and fellow students and I'm full to the brim with ideas and techniques and so many colours!

I made some changes to my work situation and I'm currently slowly moving away from full-time work (in an industry I'm not so thrilled to be in) to what I expect will evolve into more freelance, writerly work.

I've started working one day a week in an organisation I love and truly believe it!

I've ripped my novel in half and will commence working on the half that I actually like this month.

I am considering sharing some of my pieces from the semester with you.

I have read so many beautiful articles and books that I need to share with you, or I'll sure die a thousand sad selfish miserable deaths!

What did your last month look like?

Overwhelm

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:33:00 +0000

via Miss Aniela

I've read a quite few books and articles about writing, drafting, redrafting and finishing my manuscript. All inspiring, all packed with great advice and so on. And I was going great guns for about a year. I finished draft one and started work on draft two. Cutting back on all the rubbish (there was a lot of that), refining plot, developing characters...

Then I stopped.

I got busy. Life's varied and incessant demands for my attention have kept me away from my WIP. Oh yes and then I lost my laptop (who does that?).

Now I'm in a place where I loath to even think about the novel. A year of my life is in it, but I can't bear to even look, because I'm afraid that laying eyes on it will unleash one of the two possibilities that I secretly fear...

1. That it's a useless piece of trash. That there's no point in editing any further, that the story will never be what I want it to be.

2. (Perhaps a far worse fate) That it's not a useless piece of trash. That there is a point in editing it futher, that it can and will be what I want it to be if I give it disciplined focus and time.

Losing momentum is a difficult problem to come up against. You feel unstoppable when things are good, when you have good habits and your blazing a trail of righteous creativity. When you're not moving forward, the realisation that you are very very stoppable is incredibly painful.

So here I am working out how to restart the urgency to see this novel to the end (again). I have a feeling it will involve deep breathing and little steps and perhaps a little more writing...

Blooming hell!

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:33:00 +0000

This week in my Theory class we looked at Modernist writers and James Joyce's Ulysses in particular. I have to be honest, I tried reading this book for about 7 months last year and got as far as chapter 6. I think I'd read each of those chapters 3 times because I was sure that if I could just get under the language I could work out why this book had been labelled the most important text of the C20th!

Then one day I read the following Joyce quote: "I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality" (R.Ellmann). Read completely out of context, this confirmed a suspicion I had that Joyce is an immortal narcissistic psycho whose sole purpose in life (and death) is to play sinister mind games with me. I rolled my eyes when I saw the Ulysses chapter on the course reading list. Of course it was! Joyce has single handedly hoodwinked the entire literary academia into believing that he "meant" anything at all.

But then, in class we looked at something I had not seen before, the deliberately incomplete Schema for Ulysses:

LOOK AT THIS! It makes sense! There is so much detail, meaning, richness in every chapter. He wasn't just messing with us... he wasn't exclusively messing with us! He was doing something deliberate and meaningful. And so, with my faith somewhat (though shakily) restored in there being a point to reading Ulysses, I will attempt to complete it in my end of year break. Not because I think it's going to enlighten or inspire me, but because it's important. He is described as forerunner, a leader in literature. Any author who invests so much into their experimental work, with no real chance of ever being recognised in their lifetime, is worth a closer look, right?

This is never going to be a pleasant read - any one who says that they love it are lying or mental. The last chapter, Penelope, is made up of 8 HUGE sentences in stream of consciousness - oh what delirious fun! (Serious question, would reading such a thing disturb the delicate molecular structure of the my eyeballs?) And if these supposed fans start throwing around terms like "subversive work of art" or encourage you to join them on a trip to Dublin next June 16th for Bloomsday, you may want to gently back out of the conversation OR point over their shoulder, yell "Look, half priced sheep kidneys" and then run away.

What books did you force yourself to read from start to finish, because it was important?

depraved bubble popper

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:42:00 +0000

I was popping bubble wrap today and it made me think about art. About how great art changes the way you see the world.

Amelie (one of my favourites) changed the way I think about people who secretly pop bubble wrap. In the movie, almost every character has their "likes" and "dislikes" presented just before they enter the storyline. A neighbour who plays a mean trick on Amelie as a little girl only likes one thing: "popping bubble wrap". From memory, there is short scene where the man sits alone at his diningroom table, his shifty eyes scanning the empty room as the camera pans down to his hands which are vigorously popping a sheet of bubble wrap.

That short scene about a minor character, made me giggle to myself as I sat at my desk surreptitiously popping away. I remembered Amelie, and suddenly I associated the act with repression and depravity. Suddenly I wondered if my popping may be something I might like to bring up in consultation with a therapist?

Great art does this! Great art finds and presents connections that, if executed cleverly, make you smile (or sigh) with recognition.

NB. The paintings above are by Michael Sowa, one of which hangs above Amelie's Bed.

What movie, painting, book, character changed your perception of something you do?

Opening lines good and bad

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:08:00 +0000

via beehives

I've just finished re-reading one of my favourite books: White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Please do yourself a favour and read this book; it is intelligent, colourful, rich and hilarious! Among the multifarious (I learned a new word, you like? You don't do you? I sound like one of those first year university kids who use the word "erroneous" instead of "incorrect" or "wrong" in their tutorial oral presentations. We all know that no-one actually talks like this!) things that I love about White Teeth are the opening lines:

Early in the morning, late in the century, Cricklewood Broadway. At 0627 hours on January 1, 1975, Alfred Archilbald Jones was dressed in corduroy and sat in a fume-filled Cavalier Musketeer Estate facedown on the steering wheel, hope the judgment would not be too heavy upon him. He lay in a prostate cross, jaw slack, arms splayed on either side like some fallen angel; scrunch up in each fist he held his army service medals (left) and his marriage license (right), for he had decided to take his mistakes with him.

Before learning anything else about Archie, these pathetic and but cheeky first lines convince me that I'm going to like him, or at least chuckle at the tongue in cheek melodrama of his life. I want to know more about Archie, what has brought him to this place, what's up with his marriage, why does he choose to wear corduroy to his suicide? Now that's a great opener to a novel!

I wonder how long it took Smith to craft these opening lines? Do the rest of us plebs have any hope of being as clever with our own openers? If not, do you think perhaps that we should aim for the opposite and craft the most awful opening lines know to man? If you plan to do so, I suggest perusing www.bulwer-lytton.com for the worst opening lines in published novels, updated annually. Here are some of my favourites from the 2010 winners:

For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss--a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest gerbil.
Molly Ringle

(Hmmm, nothing says passion like water guzzling gerbils.)

The dark, drafty old house was lopsided and decrepit, leaning in on itself, the way an aging possum carrying a very heavy, overcooked drumstick in his mouth might list to one side if he were also favoring a torn Achilles tendon, assuming possums have them.
Scott Davis Jones

(If you squint you can almost see the metaphoric connection... almost)

Wearing his new slacks from L.L. Bean, and entering the pen to feed his three big dogs their usual three cans of dog food, some of which ended up on his new pants, Kevin then left the house to attend a revival screening of ‘Serpico’ with Alpo chinos.
Greg Homer

(Greg, awful puns are never acceptable)

She purred sensually, oozing allure that was resisted only by his realization as an entomologist that the protein dust on the couch from the filing of her crimson nails was now being devoured by dust mites in a clicking, ferocious, ecstatic frenzy. Jonathan Blay

(I'm sorry, what?)

Happy crafting!

what does he look like?

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:37:00 +0000

Source unknown

Why is it that so many protagonists have attractive hips, a strong jawline, full lips and breasts (What does that even mean? "Full breasts"? Full of what? Are they going to breast-feed someone soon? How is this helping me to understand this character's motivations?), strong arms, eyes shaped like almonds and the colour of deep mysterious pools of dark water? Why are so many protagonists either extremely attractive or passably pretty at the least? And why despite all the pretty, are they such well-rounded, humble, non-arrogant, moral people?

Will we not connect with or care for a heroine (or hero) if she has a figure like a over-ripe pear, upper arms with the jiggly bits underneath that you have to hold onto when you wave goodbye, tiny myopic eyes and unrelenting adult acne? What about if they are only of average intellegence?

I wrote in an earlier post about how I avoid writing about my protagonist's clothes. I've found that I'm just as reluctant to write physical descriptions for them too! I don't want to make them attractive and perfect, and I don't want them to be hideous so what does that leave?

"She was of average build, brown hair, with one of those faces that you recognise, not because you know her, but because so many other people have the same generic features as her uninspiring face." What's the point? I may as well say: "She's looked like a woman, ya know wha' I mean?"

Maybe it goes back to Greek mythology with Helen of Troy, beautiful goddesses and handsome gods. Their beauty, grace, powers made them awesome and facinating. Beautiful people are muses aren't they? They inspire adoration? They are the stuff of songs and sonnets.

Or maybe we just don't want our precious protagonists to be blighted with pain of having to squeeze into waist to knee control knickers or the distraction of having to comb their dense monobrows out of their eyes.

What do you think? How would you describe your protagonist? Does anyone have a supremely ugly hero/heroine?

something special in hand

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:07:00 +0000

source unknown

My mother has been talking about writing her biography for a LONG time. I was a little weary of the idea when she first mentioned it five years ago. Mum is unceremonious, audacious and straight up crazy at the best of times. Her biography seemed to me, at the time, like the fastest way to be exposed to enough overshare to necessitate intense psychological treatment and ongoing mental health care.

But that was five years ago.

Only a month ago I suggested to mum that we work on her biography together. I figured that I'd probably notch up enough reasons to need the afore mentioned treatment anyway - may as well get on with it. Also, I'd been thinking a lot about mum's childhood and all the stories that I'd always loved - truthfully, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather to work on!

Mum grew up in South Africa during Apartheid. The historical, social and political context of her stories alone are facinating. Add to that a bevy of crazy relatives, four displaced siblings, poverty, daily injustices and the challenges of being a "Coloured" but looking like a "White". Oh and also that fact that mother dear has a habit of talking herself into and out of the most bizarre and hilarious situations.

So we met at the library the following Saturday morning to plan the basic framework and chapter breakdown. And well, we laughed so hard that even the high school students attempting to study around us gave us dirty looks. At our next meeting (in a coffee shop) we began writing a chapter from her early childhood, living in an orphanage with her sister. Again we laughed a lot, but then there were these moments where we found ourselves overwhelmed by the sadness of those experiences and suddenly tears would spring up out of no where.

I started this journey with mum because I wanted to help her get these incredible stories out. I also thought it would be great to have another project to get my mind off my WIP novel, when it gave me grief. But in less than a month this exercise has come to mean so much more to me. To hear my mother talk about herself as a little girl, her feelings at climactic points of her life or in South Africa's history. To see the links forming between all the stories I grew up hearing. To talk about my father (who was murdered a long time ago). To talk about the history of my country and my family. It's a really beautiful thing and I feel incredibly lucky to be sharing it all with this wild, determined woman.

I'll keep you updated with our progress!

Do you have a writing project that means a lot to you? Have you written a biography? Do you think you'll ever give it a try?

The Hitchhiker

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:26:00 +0000

A short short film made by some talented friends of mine.

"Based on the book Roald Dahl - The Hitchhiker... Always interesting as to who you pick up or be picked up by when it comes to hitchhiking."

The characterisation is brilliant, great comic timing and a very clever script. But don't you kinda just want to wash, condition and comb Jimmy's golden locks until they resemble Michael Bolton's mane? (One day, jimmy, one day!)

Share the love :)

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:24:00 +0000

via lilpuddlejumpers

Last night you talked yourself half crazy with what ifs and impatient longings.

No matter how much you talk, think it through, hope wish sigh, there's no guarentee that what you're doing will move you somewhere good, somewhere close to what you want to be.

Dreams so fat they shine. Trying to squeeze their terrific potbellies into your smallness. Pushing and shoving, stretching your insides to make place. That hurts sometimes. They're so happy with themselves: Alive and Allowed Ha Ha! Smilng swollen dreams, banging around and laughing too much in your secret place. They tell you who you can be, ignore who you think you are.

Not knowing if they'll ever come out of the secret place, you just hold tight to whatever fleeting hope comes low enough to grab. That you can be someone better and bigger, that you are that someone already.

The White Tiger

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:26:00 +0000

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I've recently finished reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. I think this may be the author's first novel and he won the 2009 Pulizer Prize for it - seriously, where do you go from there Aravind??

Wickedly funny and at times very dark, this novel presented as a series of letters, written from midnight to 3am, by self profressed entrepeneur extraordinaire, Balram Halwai to a Chinese ambassodar visiting India. In his letters Balram sets out to give an account of his rise from the slums of "the darkness" to the servant of the rich to the glorious success he now has as an Indian businessman. Oh and did I mention he killed a man once.

Balram is an extremely rational and intelligent man. And when he begins his autobiography he depicts himself in a sympathetic light as a young boy and a resourceful but naive young man. This characterisation, combined with the present day Balram's matter of fact references to his act of murder make for an intriguing story. You find out pretty early on in Balram's letters who his victim was, but his close (at times almost intimate) relationship with this man only adds to the intrigue!You know how it ends, so what you really want to know as you read is why?!

Balram's blase account of shocking behaviour of the wealthy classes in modern India communicate how common corruption and tragedy are in that country. My facination with Indian authored novels can probably be boiled down to this baffling acceptance of daily injustice and humilation that a COLOSSAL number of people face.

The representation of Indian society, the characters and the narration of this book are all equally impressive. There is a great depth to Balram. Though he depicts himself as an obedient, lowly and at times fearful servant, you get the feeling that this narrator is too calculated. This makes his account of events unreliable, but that's just part of the fun of this book.

If you're interested in India and you like heroes with dirty hands you'll enjoy this book. If you're a writer it is worth the read just to see Adiga's narrative style. I'm sure it's not revolutionary, but he puts a clever twist on story telling and has created a brilliant character.

Favourite quote: "You were looking for the keys, but the door was always open."

Do you like your heroes to be noble or do you prefer that they have a dark side? What's the protagonist in your current WIP like?

do the clothes maketh the man (or dog)?

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:00:00 +0000

via BeanTownHandmade

I read a blog post today about characters' hats. This got me thinking. None of my characters have ever worns hats! I don't think I really think about their clothes. In fact I think often I deliberately avoid describing them altogether!

I think I'm always far more interested in what's going on internally for my characters rather than what colour their shirt or knickers are, and whether or not they match.

I detail articles of clothing and appearance if they are deliberate (ie. a disguise) or if it says something specific about the character. One of the characters in my WIP, Pig-nose Pamela (age 10), wears a pair of old yellow ear-muffs - rain, hail or sunshine. It's a part of her persona: "She lives in the school library, reading and re-reading the two books available on flesh eating insects. She was plagued with a fear that a bug would crawl into her ear one night, and eat her brain." (More here.) The ear-muffs also make her look crazy and augment her position as an outcast.

How about the dog in the picture above? Lets call him Pablo (am I the only one who imagines that if Pablo could speak, it would be in Spanish with a haughty Mexican accent?). Yes his hat is entertaining and definately worth describing, but it's the combination of the hat and the look in his eyes that are most interesting.

To me his eyes speak of deep resevoirs of wisdom, dignity and also a peaceful resignation to fate. Pablo knows his intellectual superiority to his owners full well, but he has resigned himself to the fact that others are in control of his destiny. A destiny which, it would seem, mainly has to do which wearing cutie-pie hats.

While I find descriptions of articles of clothing tedious. I do think that they matter, but how to do them well?

Would it help if we thought of clothing as another characterisation tool, rather than an arbitrary commentary. Clothes can denote social status, the time/era the story is set in, how a character sees herself - insecure, ugly, confident - or the way they want to be seen - seductive, superior. It may be a case of exercising a bit of restraint and only describing articles of clothing that help or hinder the character, or that reveal something about the character.

How do you describe clothing in your writing? What other ways can clothes be used as a tool rather than a report? Also, if you have a contemporary character who would just wear jeans and a t-shirt, would you describe this? How would you do it in a way that was not boring? What do jeans and a t-shirt tell us about your character?

I'm in!

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:23:00 +0000

via kwilson

So it's about time that I shared my good news...

I've been accepted into the UTS Master of Arts in Creative Writing course!! Woot!! Wait this is not quite communicating my level of excitement...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!

I start this September! Wow! I'm going to be a uni student again. I'm going to have other people read and critique my work. I'm going to LEARN stuff 'n stuff!

Oh hold up I don't think I've accepted the offer yet! ARG! I'll be right back.

Inspire me

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:32:00 +0000

I'm still around the start of editting my first draft of my WIP novel and all is going well (read so so awful, I want to cry myself to sleep right now.) I've got to keep reminding myself that there is something good in this novel and that I am able to pull it together!

Yes, it's hard going, but it has also been a good time to distract my self with some beautiful novels like Tony Morrison's A Mercy and Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger - reviews coming soon. I'm also distracting myself with beautiful things. I'm currently putting together an inspiration board with images, textiles and objects that... well, inspire me. Really I should say, I've been fighting with the inspiration board ( it keeps falling off the wall)!

In anycase, here are a few collections that have delighted me...

via coco+kelley

via vee*

via steven's accidents

via fine little day

via jek in the box

via jessicab1992

via sandra

What do you use for inspiration?

Gold or grave

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:00:00 +0000

This is my first stab at writing a Tanka poem. Don't know if I've got it right?

I called it Gold or grave because I always wonder which to look for.

He's digging again.
His spade as burdensome as
A burly body.
Gold or grave, he wants no hand
I just watch, dodge wanton sand.

Have you written Tanka before? Any tips?

Lit Theory minus the Snobbery

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:52:00 +0000

Literary Theory, A very short introduction by Jonathan Culler

Thinking about study, I've gone back to an introductory book that I bought in my first year of university. This is a really refreshing and engaging little book about, let's be honest a pretty dull topic. Well I find it facinating, but I definately think I'm in the minority - you don't hear too many people raving about Lit Theory.

Anyway, if it is your cup of tea, or you're looking to start a Literature course, I highly recommend this book for the following reasons:

1. It's very very short (handy for those of us whose handbags, or manbags, are groaning as it is).

2. Culler writes incredibly concisely and is easy to understand despite the fact that he is explaining quite challenging ideas.

3. Culler has a great way of building on knowledge chapter by chapter.

4. Culler uses really simple examples - literary, pop culture or everyday language - to explain complex theories.

5. There are great resources at the back of the book, designed to explain differing schools of thought and terminolody and to inspire further reading.

Now saying all this, I did not get through this entire book when I was actually in first year. But this is due to the fact that I got by on an absolute minimal amount of effort in those days (quite shameful really). My second attempt at reading this book has been far more successful and rewarding.

Are you interested in Literary theory? How do you think Lit Theory helps writers? Also, out of interest, which novels do you consider to be literary?

Very big and very quiet

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:03:00 +0000

Did I ever mention that I used to be a poet? I began at the (not quite so tender) age of 8 but gave it all up at the (really rather awful) age of 14. Well, I've come out of retirement as of about 5 hours ago.

I called this one: "Very big and very quiet" because that's how starts :)

Very big and very quiet, in the park.
His two eyes carefully covered,

Sunglasses like

Two enormous teardrops.

I sit in his lap because
I am small - though not very.

I compare our hands.
Sniff at tobacco in his shiny black beard.

I peer into the teardrops.
My breath fogs the glass
But I see myself,
Big like him!

Then he moves,
And I am smaller than ever,
I wave goodbye because
I am very far away.

Do you write poetry? Do you have any favourite poets that I should read?

smarty pants

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:10:00 +0000

via presentandcorrect

Okay, I've not blogged for the last few weeks coz I been Bi-zay y'all. (Sorry, for a moment there I thought I was lil Kim...)

Doing what? Well, I shouldn't be saying this publicly, but I can't keep things to myself - I am after all a story teller, yes?

I applied for my Master of Arts in Creative Writing last week! I find out at the end of the month if I get into the course, or the Graduate Diploma (which eventually leads to Masters). If I never mention this again, you'll know that I did not get into either, so don't ask! But look, if I don't get in, I'm pretty set on doing this so I'll probably just apply again and again until I wear the admissions people down and they let me in, if only to end the ceaseless applications, which undoubtably will get longer and more passionate.

The thought of studying part time and working full time and having a life and functional relationships is rather daunting. I wonder what I will have to give up to make space for readings, assignments and such? I'm currently going through my old English Lit and Theory readings and notes (nerd), in the hopes of impressing everyone at uni with my vast intellect. I plan on dropping big fancy intellectual terms into everyday conversation (even when it's totally irrelevant and unhelpful).

Friend: Hi zz, how are you?

zz: I'm pretty down, my labour has no reward. It's just like Marxist theory posits that there are society is divided by those who profit from the labour of others and those whose labour profits others.

Friend: Um...

zz: "Um" is the vernacular utterance of uncertainty. It is a derivative of the onomatopoeia "Ho-hum" used by middle class men in the 19th Century. This reminds me of the uncertainty of Postcolonial discourse in the 21st Century.

Friend: Kay, got to go. (And by that they mean: Oh zz you truly are the most intelligent and beautiful person in the land, I wish I was more like you.)

zz: Kay bye.

Any of you study part time and work? How do you balance it all?

The first time…

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:18:00 +0000

via the trial

This post can now be found at my new blog: www.onethousandlights.com

Finished!

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:05:00 +0000

makeshift workspace

Sadly I have neglected blogging for a couple of weeks, but I assure you is was for a good cause. That cause being...finishing draft ONE of my first novel!

It is a fantastic feeling to finally be done with this sometimes joyful (largely painful) experience. Today I began reading my manuscript from the beginning for the very first time (!!). I am putting together a summary of each chapter and working out the kinks. In the next few months I'll be working on editing/culling scenes, researching the multitudes of details that I fudged my way through, expanding and colouring my characters, beautifying my at times utilitarian prose and giving it an overall spit and shine! I have an few friends and an editor lined up to read through it all and then who knows, it could be time to look for an agent or it could be time to take a vow of silence, curl up into the foetal position and cry myself to sleep every night using the awful pages of my failed novel as punishing, nose-scrapping tissue paper.

Look it’s possible that I am the most talentless person to ever attempt fiction writing and it's quite likely that this loosely structured, chaotic story is in fact unsalvageable, but I feel incredibly proud of myself for sticking to it!

Starting my first novel draft has opened my mind to the possibilities of creativity, it's sparked a hundred conversations with others who have an inkling of starting their own creative endeavours and it’s given me the confidence to aim bigger in my life. Finishing my first novel draft has taught me a lot about how I work and what kind of process I need to apply to completing big tasks and most importantly, it has helped me to apply discipline to my work habits.

I’m hoping that today you get a little bit more excited about your own novel (painting, song, poem, sculpture, short story, sewing project, photography…) and finish it!

What lurks in the deep

noreply@blogger.com (zz) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:00:00 +0000

via burgerdreams

Last night I wrote a pivotal chapter in my novel.

I’ve finally hit my relatively modest goal of 50 000 words since starting in November 2008 (!) The story has swelled and is continuing to grow despite me, though I’m eager to end it – even if it means writing a purely arbitrary finale – so that I can begin the very scary journey of EDITING! (eek!)

Anyway, last night I wrote a pivotal chapter. It was emotional, scary and at times I wanted to stop but I couldn't. I find that writing upsetting scenes come naturally to me. Most of the time I struggle to write even 300 words in one sitting. But when the content is distressing or moving and when I find myself asking the question "can I show this to other people", my writing becomes fluid, I can punch out 1000 words in under an hour and it is mostly coherent.

I have a few scenes in my novel like this. Scenes that I seriously question whether I have the stomach to edit, expand and prepare for a second/third/fourth pair of eyes to read. The scenes are not morbidly grotesque or terribly depressing, but they are dark and confronting. Sometimes they are themes that stem from dark times in my own life - though they are always fictionalised extensions of what I have experienced.

Despite the fact that it is fiction, sometimes the emotion of traumatic scenes, that my characters face, get to me. I've gotten emotional while writing about four or five key scenes while writing this piece. One of which I don't know if I'll ultimately include at all in my second draft. I feel like I can communicate the scene well enough and it defines the behaviour of one of the main characters... but I don't know if I want the content, I don't know if it has a place in the bigger story, I don't know if I can go back to it to improve and manipulate the first raw scribbling.

Have you experienced this? What do you do when your content gets too close to home? What do you do when it gets too far from home and you find yourself a little lost

Ps. If you want to read an extract of my WIP click here (1) and then here (2) let me know what you think!