What I am writing: a writing journal
Over the last few days I have been focusing on expanding a journal I am writing for one of the units in my Master of Arts in Creative Writing Course.
This journal is for the Creative Writing: Prose unit. In this unit we have a set text book called Writing Fiction by Australian writer Garry Disher. Most weeks we have a chapter to read which links to the topic of the lecture. We also have a unit reader consisting of short stories gathered together by our lecturer Rosanne Hawke. We are expected to read one or two of the stories each week. We then discuss the techniques used by the writers of the stories. In our journals we are expected to respond to the text book and the stories, commenting on how useful we found each one.
Each week we also have writing activities in the workshop part of the lecture time. This is a very valuable exercise because we have to write on a set topic or theme or a set activity and it is under the pressure of time, usually no more than ten minutes. We are then expected to share these short pieces in a workshop situation. The feedback from the lecturer and fellow students is often very valuable. We are expected to include some of these writings in our journal, commenting upon the activity and including any second drafts if done.
While this journal may not appear to be actually writing fiction as the unit title suggests, it is still a very valuable assignment. It has forced me to consider each element of the lecture and the writing activities, and analyse how useful each one has been. One of the interesting things about some of the writing exercises is that I now have a resource of more than a dozen (I haven’t bothered to count them) short stories which can be developed from 100 – 150 words into longer stories of 2000 words or more. They are great short story starters. All I need now is the time to do that! With seven essays and assignments due in the next 25 days it will be heads down getting everything finished and submitted.
Good writing.
What I am reading: picture books
Earlier in the year I wrote about the Master of Arts in Creative Writing course I am undertaking this year. I am currently on a five week break between semesters, hardly enough time to catch my breath. My main interest in writing is books for children, in particular picture books. Over the duration of the course so far I have been regularly reading vast numbers of picture books, just to get a feel for what is being published these days.
There are other benefits too. Writers are readers, first and foremost. If you are not a reader you will struggle to be an effective writer. Period. The picture book genre is a particularly demanding one. A very restricted word count means that every word is important. There has to be balance between the text and the illustrations. Some publishers require a strictly limited vocabulary while others have restricted themes or topics. It is a very competitive field and one that is hard to break into.
Half way through the first semester I had to write and submit the text of a 700 word picture book to the lecturer. The title changed several times during the editing period but it eventually became “Brave Alice,” the story of a little lamb who pretended not to be afraid. The idea came from seeing a flock of lambs frolicking in a paddock in the mid-north of our state (South Australia) about four years ago. The concept simmered away happily until crunch time came; I had to submit a text as an assignment. Would it be good enough? The lecturer – and my fellow students – were a part of the development process, all giving valuable feedback as I developed the text.
The final day came and I submitted the manuscript to the lecturer. A few weeks later I received it back: Distinction. I should not have worried. While that result was very satisfying for all the work put into the text, it counts for very little. The big test is to submit it to a publisher. The frightening prospect of the manuscript being returned still awaits me.
Perhaps I should be like Alice in my story: Be Brave!
I’m still here
No Comments »17th July, 2008; Category: General
Hi there everyone. I haven’t disappeared, nor have I given up blogging.
Truth is – I haven’t been able to post for quite a while due to several factors. First – I was extremely busy getting all my assignments finished for the university Creative Writing course I am doing. Secondly, we were away for a few days. The third reason for not posting was the massive computer problems I was having – this has persisted for over a month and I was too busy to get it all sorted out. I hope that this will be resolved in the coming days so I can get back to normal again. I have so many things to write about before the next semester commences in a few weeks.
In the meantime, how about going to the various categories listed on the side bar and finding some interesting articles to read about writing. Or perhaps read some of my short stories or poetry. And don’t forget to leave a comment or two here and there. Your feedback is much appreciated.
Writing Poetry
One of the units I am currently studying for my Master of Arts course in Creative Writing includes writing poetry.
Since my teenage years I have often written poetry. Over the years I have written many hundreds of poems, many of dubious quality. Some of the better ones have been published in magazines. One was even a runner up in a poetry competition. (The prize was an extra copy of that issue.) So you could say I’ve always had a keen interest in writing poetry.
It was with eager anticipation then that I commenced the unit of study on writing poetry. This study has taught me several things.
- Some my earlier poems need a great deal of rewriting; they are truly appalling, especially those written in my teen years.
- The second thing I learned was that any poem, no matter how good, can probably do with at least some reworking, rewriting, editing, tightening or general improvement of some sort.
- The third thing I have learned is that I cannot afford to be too precious about my writing. Each poem we wrote was work-shopped in a tutorial group. This included reading the poem aloud and then getting constructive feedback from the group. It was so confronting yet very stimulating and helpful. At times I realised that I had not entirely grasped the exercise requirements. I learned quickly.
Having learned what I have about poetry this last term, I hesitate to make a link to the poetry pages on this blog, but if you are game you might want to read some of my poetry here.