JANET STAPLETON
Five
points I now know after completing my writing course — that would have made
life infinitely easier at the start.
1. There is a
naturally progressive order to learning how to write — ignore it at your peril.
I scanned the timetable for subjects that would ignite my upward trajectory to
the dizzying heights of fame in the least amount of time. Novel writing? Tick.
Short stories? Tick. Wrong — so very wrong! Okay, what is the main thing a
story has? Hello — a plot! And what does a plot have? A premise, a theme,
characters, dialogue, scenes, point of view, grammar and punctuation. I could
go on, but I’m breaking out in a sweat just remembering it all. A story is a
whole made up of the sum of its essential parts. Get a firm grip on those
essentials from the start. Choose your order of subjects with as much care as
you would take to edit a selfie!
2. I found it
almost impossible to write an assignment unless I was under the pump, deadline
looming, when I, having exhausted all other excuses, could quite possibly
self-ignite to avoid the chore! What I realised was the fear of failure was
stopping me from even beginning. ‘It’ll be crap! Why start?’. And just to
compound the issue, my editing voice would take charge as soon as the first
sentence was down on paper. ‘Seriously? That’s your opening sentence? Open that
Thesaurus stat and let’s spend ten hours looking for a better adjective!’ In
the end, I had to work with my
deadline addiction and had ideas, notes and research completed for that last
minute race to the finish line. Begin as soon as you can — don’t wait for the
optimum time, it’s exhausting!
3. Finding my
voice. I tend to write the way I talk and initially I felt I wasn’t writing
properly. It didn’t seem ‘writerly’ enough — literary enough. I doubted its
veracity. ‘I’m just writing down what I’m ‘seeing’ and thinking, how can that
be enough?’ Now I know if my voice could be recognised simply through my
writing, if no-one knew it was mine, then I’ve nailed it. It has a distinct
character, its own personality, as does everyone’s, but if I can find that
point of difference, that EDGE that makes it unique, then I have a chance of
success. Find your voice, find your power.
4. Like many
students of the course, I have the unfinished novel. At the time I thought it
was great. I enjoyed writing romantic comedy and found a natural fit with
dialogue. Perfect — straight to the big screen adaptation. Rose Byrne and Kristen
Wiig, you’re on my list! Four chapters in, I had no idea where it was going,
how to write a sub-plot, have more than two characters or avoid the typical
RomCom recipe. Fast forward to my first encounter with creative non-fiction. At
last! I didn’t have to find ideas, they’re everywhere. Memoir, essay, reviews,
blogging, listicles — the list is long. Here I am finding a way to explore my
own interests combined with my writing. And what about my penchant for RomCom
you ask? Well, I did write about a comedy of romantic errors — my ‘romantic’
trip to America to meet an online love interest!
5. I am proud of
finishing the course! Good on me. I don’t have the best track record when it
comes to finishing things, so the completion of my diploma says as much about
the course as it does about me. I loved the learning, the exploration of themes
and ideas that truly interested and excited me. It also went deeper than that.
It helped with depression, with structuring a new life in Melbourne, introduced
me to a great group of people and I am missing it already.
And from LUCIA NARDO, one of our great writing teachers!
Five things I've learnt
about writing in the past 10 years
1.
Strengthen my writing muscle
Any muscle is built by
repetitive action and the right nutrition. In my writing world, that repetitive
action means regular writing, even if I have to do it five minutes at a time. I
leave my PC on then come-and-go into the piece I'm working on. Sometimes I'm
lucky enough to get a long stretch of time, which is a luxury but not essential
to production. Everything is written one word at a time. I don't need to be fast,
just steady. My writing nutrition includes reading widely, attending literary
festivals and author talks. Mixing with other people interested in books and
writing is my best sort of soul food.
2.
Be part of a workshopping/writing group
After point 1, a workshopping
group is the thing that has improved my writing and confidence the most. At
first, it was daunting showing my work to others but I gathered my courage and
dropped my defences. I learn most when I allow myself to be vulnerable to
feedback. The rhythm and trust didn’t build overnight and there were a few
early bumps. These days, I know that my group has the best interests of my work
at the core of their comments and a bonus is that my development as a writer flows from this. Their constructive feedback
is the thing that propels my writing forward. It would be poorer if not for
them.
3.
Stay a curious observer
Overheard
conversations, interactions, events, news items all sparks story ideas and
questions. Curiosity about what is behind these fuels my imagination be it one
sentence in a conversation or an observation on a walk. Being an observer means
paying more attention to the world around me than focussing on my own. That
inquisitiveness has ever left me short of inspiration.
4.
Persistence and patience
Being published is a
challenge. Where creativity meets commercial reality can be an uncomfortable
place. It's easy to become dejected and want
to give up. Rejection is never pretty and when it happens, it's hard to remind myself with any conviction that it’s the work,
not me personally facing the thanks but
no thanks message. Each time I tell myself it's too hard, I take a breather,
come back to it, polish the work more and send it out into the world again. If
I stop, I will have failed for sure.
5.
Remain gracious
When I see
"everyone else" around me being published and celebrated, it can
erode my confidence. I wonder if I will ever be "good enough". The
antidote is to be gracious. Their journey to publication might have been fraught
too. There is rarely a true overnight success. I've seen envy drain all the
creative energy from some people when
it's better spent on continuing to write. I try to learn what I can from
successful writers and remind myself that if I work on points 1 to 5, I might
find myself in the same place as they do.
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