What ever happened to the art of writing? The penmanship licence I got from Primary School has all but disappeared and I feel kind of sad the I don't practice my handwriting as I did when I was a girl! I remember being so proud to have been given the opportunity to write with a ballpoint pen, so I got some sticky tape and stuck it to the inside of my desk. Oh! that reminds me; those old wooden desks we had which opened up to reveal all our books; pens; pencils and of course our lunch. Even though I don't think I could sit in one today, it only takes one trip to the antique store to jolt my memory! Oh No, they are considered antiques!
What ever happened to writing a letter to someone you care about? I know! It has been replaced with the impersonal yet very handy email and I think we should all be taking a moment to reflect on what we have lost. Now that we have a letter sent to us every second via fibre optic cable, without even thinking about it, it saddens me that there will be several generations who won't even know what a posted letter looks like! They won't experience the personal pleasure one gets when someone you know took the time to write something about their life for you to read or come to think of it, viewing someones beautiful structured handwriting!
I was at my computer, AS I AM NOW, writing away when I had an epiphany. Why isn't the art of communication taught in schools? You know that art of being able to converse with our fellow man, not only face to face or on the phone but also by the writing and posting of thoughts. Considering all we see is the younger of our species with their heads buried in their mobiles texting illegitimate words and not paying any attention to the world around them. When did the achievement of one's first piece of handwritten work become irrelevant? Oh that's right, it was when the first computer entered our lives! Don't get me wrong, I love my laptop, I think it has become an extension of my brain - Yes scary! I just wish that I could receive a letter that didn't consist of key-pressed lettering or uneven printed words because the paper wasn't positioned straight.
Stamps! Oh yes they are those things that people used to put on letters! They are almost obsolete now and it seems the only time that they get used is when we send out invoices or the yearly ritual of Christmas cards! Maybe I am the only one who still does that but I think it is nice to receive them. There is a line in the movie You've Got Mail where Mr Fox says "Mail, you know stamps; envelopes!" It is kind of poignant to think that when this movie was released, the computer generation was only in its first stages and even then it was expressed that they thought they were losing something of their culture; a part of their heritage. You are probably thinking, what is your point? Well I think we have lost a part of ourselves when we cannot even express our love for one another without it being a typed message on a screen!
Yes, I am guilty of this too! I just wish it was an art that was not on the verge of extinction!
"There is no lighter burden, nor more agreeable, then a pen"- Francesco Petrarch
Friday, February 17, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
'Desire to Accomplish'
The desire to be successful cannot be described easily, however sometimes it takes an epiphany of sorts to make you think about your chosen career path; one of those moments when you are watching the world go by; especially on a Monday morning!
I was sitting in my car while waiting for my local pharmacy to open, when I realised that the hustle and bustle of the morning peak hour somehow seemed irrelevant in the scheme of things! Yes this could be considered a clique, but for that split moment I couldn't understand why anyone, including those suit-cladded individuals, would want to spend hours in their day just trying to get to their small cubicle-like offices, where of course they would drudge away at mundane tasks. Everyone to their own I am sure, but isn't life about doing what you like to do? When did we go from the idealistic teenage view of living our dreams to just finding a job to pay the bills? I can hear you all screaming, no maybe these people are doing what they like!Well maybe, but I do not think the frowns on their faces show that they are happy to be off to work.
For me, the risk to do what I love, is of course a high price to pay. Do I live my life writing because I get paid a fortune for my wonderful words? I do not think so! Although in my dreams it is true! I do it because I cannot see myself doing anything else; not even for a pay check. I guess that is idealistic and somewhat naive but if I cannot imagine my life without writing a single story; a single article, then I feel I would not be living my own truth! (Oh! That is so Oprah!)
The great thing about being a writer is that the dream of being published is always there, no matter whether you have had a hundred books under your belt, and you still feel a sense of accomplishment with every new one. Every new story and every new novel will be another challenge; there is that moment of sheer exhilaration when you are looking for the right publisher for the piece and hoping for someone (the Editor, hopefully) to love what you have written. To always desire more from yourself as a writer is exciting, and I hope that this feeling never ceases because I like the anticipation of buying that newspaper and seeing my review in print or having my story published in an anthology!
For me this is not a job but a personal journey to unknown worlds; one which continues giving me butterflies!
I hope it does the same for you!
'I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish'- Michelangelo
I was sitting in my car while waiting for my local pharmacy to open, when I realised that the hustle and bustle of the morning peak hour somehow seemed irrelevant in the scheme of things! Yes this could be considered a clique, but for that split moment I couldn't understand why anyone, including those suit-cladded individuals, would want to spend hours in their day just trying to get to their small cubicle-like offices, where of course they would drudge away at mundane tasks. Everyone to their own I am sure, but isn't life about doing what you like to do? When did we go from the idealistic teenage view of living our dreams to just finding a job to pay the bills? I can hear you all screaming, no maybe these people are doing what they like!Well maybe, but I do not think the frowns on their faces show that they are happy to be off to work.
For me, the risk to do what I love, is of course a high price to pay. Do I live my life writing because I get paid a fortune for my wonderful words? I do not think so! Although in my dreams it is true! I do it because I cannot see myself doing anything else; not even for a pay check. I guess that is idealistic and somewhat naive but if I cannot imagine my life without writing a single story; a single article, then I feel I would not be living my own truth! (Oh! That is so Oprah!)
The great thing about being a writer is that the dream of being published is always there, no matter whether you have had a hundred books under your belt, and you still feel a sense of accomplishment with every new one. Every new story and every new novel will be another challenge; there is that moment of sheer exhilaration when you are looking for the right publisher for the piece and hoping for someone (the Editor, hopefully) to love what you have written. To always desire more from yourself as a writer is exciting, and I hope that this feeling never ceases because I like the anticipation of buying that newspaper and seeing my review in print or having my story published in an anthology!
For me this is not a job but a personal journey to unknown worlds; one which continues giving me butterflies!
I hope it does the same for you!
'I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish'- Michelangelo
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
'Flowery Fresh'
Today, I was lucky enough to have a kind of DeJa Vu experience when I met a friend (you know who you are) at her home and was confronted with the best vegetable garden I had seen in a long time. Clearly it had a bit of growing to do but it made me think about how my grandparents and my parents had veggie gardens in their backyards. Or if they weren't growing anything in particular they would grow flowers of all colours and shapes; they even combined flowers with the vegetables.
Just at the moment I found myself telling my friend about a combination of flowers with veges to deter certain bugs including snails. I cannot believe I remembered that tiny bit of information that I am sure my mother or grandmother had told me. I was astounded to think that even though I am not much of a gardener, I would be able to, maybe in a future life, grow something as delicious as tomatoes, lettuce, beetroot and corn as my gardening friend was doing.
This experience got me thinking about our somewhat lost art of backyard veggie gardening and not to mention the very indulgent yet barely visible flower gardens. I think the only thing we are growing now is our population and an example of its impact is the smaller blocks being sold. The days are gone where a twelve square home sat in the middle of an acre block, surrounded by gardens full of flowers and of course the amazing vegetable garden out the back that took up more than half of the yard. I don't know about you but I miss being able to crouch down in the garden bed and feast on pea pods and rhubarb sticks. I can almost see myself now, digging in the manure fertilised dirt to drag out a beautifully formed carrot to chomp on.
What happened? Did we trade our homegrown lifestyle for enormous boxed existences that keep us indoors and the outdoors 'out'? I don't know about you, but I kind of regret that we have forgotten what it was like to sit in a garden at six-years-old and eat the fruits of our homely labour. Where the grass once stood and the flowers once fluttered in the breeze stands pockets of stone monuments that resemble the homes that shadow them. I am guilty of being one of those people, one who has traded a family existence for a convenient existence. Where we once spent our weekends harvesting our veggies, we now spend the majority of our time in front of the 'idiot box' (as my Dad used to say).
I was completely envious of my friends beautiful garden and for just a small moment felt like that six-year-old little girl who loved nothing better than to eat a whole tomato just like an apple straight off the bush.
A small message to my friend; keep the memories alive (if only for those of us who cannot) and always remember what it was like when you were a child sitting in dirt and eating beans!
"Flowers are the hieroglyphics of angels"- Lydia M. Child
Just at the moment I found myself telling my friend about a combination of flowers with veges to deter certain bugs including snails. I cannot believe I remembered that tiny bit of information that I am sure my mother or grandmother had told me. I was astounded to think that even though I am not much of a gardener, I would be able to, maybe in a future life, grow something as delicious as tomatoes, lettuce, beetroot and corn as my gardening friend was doing.
This experience got me thinking about our somewhat lost art of backyard veggie gardening and not to mention the very indulgent yet barely visible flower gardens. I think the only thing we are growing now is our population and an example of its impact is the smaller blocks being sold. The days are gone where a twelve square home sat in the middle of an acre block, surrounded by gardens full of flowers and of course the amazing vegetable garden out the back that took up more than half of the yard. I don't know about you but I miss being able to crouch down in the garden bed and feast on pea pods and rhubarb sticks. I can almost see myself now, digging in the manure fertilised dirt to drag out a beautifully formed carrot to chomp on.
What happened? Did we trade our homegrown lifestyle for enormous boxed existences that keep us indoors and the outdoors 'out'? I don't know about you, but I kind of regret that we have forgotten what it was like to sit in a garden at six-years-old and eat the fruits of our homely labour. Where the grass once stood and the flowers once fluttered in the breeze stands pockets of stone monuments that resemble the homes that shadow them. I am guilty of being one of those people, one who has traded a family existence for a convenient existence. Where we once spent our weekends harvesting our veggies, we now spend the majority of our time in front of the 'idiot box' (as my Dad used to say).
I was completely envious of my friends beautiful garden and for just a small moment felt like that six-year-old little girl who loved nothing better than to eat a whole tomato just like an apple straight off the bush.
A small message to my friend; keep the memories alive (if only for those of us who cannot) and always remember what it was like when you were a child sitting in dirt and eating beans!
"Flowers are the hieroglyphics of angels"- Lydia M. Child
Monday, January 30, 2012
'Character Driven Stories'
I was thinking about character driven novels today; alternatively plot driven novels do not really entice me to read, and I was wondering what it takes to write about a protagonist who can speak to and for a reader. I get really excited by a central characters flaws and how that writer or author is able to develop realistic behaviours that make a reader want to continue the journey. I guess it takes a lot of hard work to produce a hero that, with all their difficult faults, can entice an emotional response from the audience.
What do you think? Are heroes important in a character-driven story or do they belong in a plot-driven narrative (such as crime or science-fiction)?
Do not get me wrong, every story needs a plot or it is not worth reading but do character's make the story or do plots make a great story? I think the elusive participant is the one I love; you know the one character that sits in the background and all of sudden appears with the most poignant thing to say. Somehow good writing really can make you sit up and take notice and even though I read from many genres I would say that the hero I like best is the one with all the problems; the one who isn't perfect; the one who can make me want to scream at them or the one who pries a virtual hug from my arms.
As it seems, I am continuing my journey to develop a character such as this; a hero of the human experience; an emotional wreck and completely and utterly self-absorbed to the point that they provoke tears in a fellow bookworm. Currently I am writing a novel with all these traits and hoping that one day it too will capture the heart of someone who spent their hard-earned dollars on my risky book!
So I ask the question again, Do you like a hero to be conceivably flawed or do you like it to be plotted with a little characterisation mixed in? While I wait for you answer here is my new quote, it may just help you make up your mind!
'We are the hero of our own story' - Mary McCarthy
What do you think? Are heroes important in a character-driven story or do they belong in a plot-driven narrative (such as crime or science-fiction)?
Do not get me wrong, every story needs a plot or it is not worth reading but do character's make the story or do plots make a great story? I think the elusive participant is the one I love; you know the one character that sits in the background and all of sudden appears with the most poignant thing to say. Somehow good writing really can make you sit up and take notice and even though I read from many genres I would say that the hero I like best is the one with all the problems; the one who isn't perfect; the one who can make me want to scream at them or the one who pries a virtual hug from my arms.
As it seems, I am continuing my journey to develop a character such as this; a hero of the human experience; an emotional wreck and completely and utterly self-absorbed to the point that they provoke tears in a fellow bookworm. Currently I am writing a novel with all these traits and hoping that one day it too will capture the heart of someone who spent their hard-earned dollars on my risky book!
So I ask the question again, Do you like a hero to be conceivably flawed or do you like it to be plotted with a little characterisation mixed in? While I wait for you answer here is my new quote, it may just help you make up your mind!
'We are the hero of our own story' - Mary McCarthy
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
'Unorganised Versus Organised'
I don't know about you but I always thought of myself as organised. What does that mean? Well in terms of writing, I have a diary in which I keep dates accurate; my life is somewhat calendar driven; the house is tidy; I am already preparing for 2012 classes and to the observer I appear to have my life together! So why do I think I am not organised? I would have to say that it bothers me if I cannot get what writing I want to do down on the page. This happens often and I think it is because I find it difficult to shut out the world and get working! Clearly I can do it, but for the past two months that I have been on break, I would have to say that I have written about 3000 words of my novel. Not enough to be considered as such but I have been busy reading most of the time. I love to read, don't get me wrong, but it seems that what I proposed to achieve hasn't come to fruition.
Where do I go from here? Well I keep telling myself that I will write when no one is around to bother me, but that isn't happening and even if I make a date with myself to sit down at the computer and splurge words, that doesn't happen either. I would love the key to stifling the world because one: I would be praised for being the 'key holder' to silence and two (the most important): my book would be written!
So I guess that even if I do not get it down on paper soon, it will be there and when I finish studying I will I hope have more time to explore and write my book. They tell me that organisation is the key! Well where is this magical and elusive key!
I hope you are having better luck at silencing the world!
"Organising is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, its not all mixed up" - A.A. Milne
Where do I go from here? Well I keep telling myself that I will write when no one is around to bother me, but that isn't happening and even if I make a date with myself to sit down at the computer and splurge words, that doesn't happen either. I would love the key to stifling the world because one: I would be praised for being the 'key holder' to silence and two (the most important): my book would be written!
So I guess that even if I do not get it down on paper soon, it will be there and when I finish studying I will I hope have more time to explore and write my book. They tell me that organisation is the key! Well where is this magical and elusive key!
I hope you are having better luck at silencing the world!
"Organising is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, its not all mixed up" - A.A. Milne
Saturday, January 21, 2012
'Life's Lessons'
When I was a child my grandmother use to say things that seemed profound including 'Don't live your life for a man; live you life first, then include him in the journey' I loved how she would make me laugh and as a teenager she would surprise me with her wisdom, just by expressing something she believed in. I loved her advice, although she would never have agreed that she was giving any; her rich sense of humour and her strong will for independence inspires me more now. I guess as a grown woman I can appreciate her character.
In 1931, my Gran (who was 19) gave birth to her son out of wedlock (the father ran off) and as an independent woman she went off into the world and forged her own life, job and finally a marriage on her own terms! She did what worked for her including eventually having a daughter (my mum) who she adored and brought up with a sense of bravery and a knowledge of the real world, which was not seen in a typical 50s girl. Unlike my mum I grew up in the 80s, with an alcoholic father and a mother who, although didn't deserve the ill treatment, had forgotten the bravery she possessed and instead lived serving him. As for me, I spent twenty years as a stay-at-home mum and then ventured off into the world and became a student of writing; which is an interest I have always had!
You are probably wondering where I am headed with this conversation, well I wanted to let you into my life so you can see how one strong woman left a legacy of experience, not always acknowledged by my mother and myself, and made us think we could do anything; if we wanted to! Finding the strength to make a life worthy of one's ambition stems from how you were brought up and in my case, I had a strong role model who up until her passing in 1989 was a strong advocate for living life.
So, take my Grandmother's advice and make a life for yourself before you include someone else in it. At least then you would have created who you are meant to be and therefore can share a little or lot of what you have become with that person. Or, you could find the right one, get married, have children and twenty years later go to University for the first time and write a novel! I like the second one; because that is what I did and I wouldn't have it any other way!
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself" - George Bernard Shaw
In 1931, my Gran (who was 19) gave birth to her son out of wedlock (the father ran off) and as an independent woman she went off into the world and forged her own life, job and finally a marriage on her own terms! She did what worked for her including eventually having a daughter (my mum) who she adored and brought up with a sense of bravery and a knowledge of the real world, which was not seen in a typical 50s girl. Unlike my mum I grew up in the 80s, with an alcoholic father and a mother who, although didn't deserve the ill treatment, had forgotten the bravery she possessed and instead lived serving him. As for me, I spent twenty years as a stay-at-home mum and then ventured off into the world and became a student of writing; which is an interest I have always had!
You are probably wondering where I am headed with this conversation, well I wanted to let you into my life so you can see how one strong woman left a legacy of experience, not always acknowledged by my mother and myself, and made us think we could do anything; if we wanted to! Finding the strength to make a life worthy of one's ambition stems from how you were brought up and in my case, I had a strong role model who up until her passing in 1989 was a strong advocate for living life.
So, take my Grandmother's advice and make a life for yourself before you include someone else in it. At least then you would have created who you are meant to be and therefore can share a little or lot of what you have become with that person. Or, you could find the right one, get married, have children and twenty years later go to University for the first time and write a novel! I like the second one; because that is what I did and I wouldn't have it any other way!
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself" - George Bernard Shaw
Monday, January 16, 2012
'Something Good to Read'
It is nice to know that diaries have and always will be an integral part of a writer's life. Although we are aware of the importance of letter writing, it is also worthy to mention that many writers from the past have kept a notebook or two with intimate details of their lives. There are many famous writers whose diaries I would love to read including those of Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, John Keats or Fanny Brawne, George Bernard Shaw or Mrs Patrick Campbell and of course William Shakespeare.
I think I would like to find out firstly what Virginia was feeling during her disturbed life; how Jane dealt with not marrying at a time when marriage was almost imperative; Fanny's interpretation of her relationship with John; why George was compelled to write to a married woman and if Shakespeare did write his famous works! Clearly, none of this is possible but it would be fantastic!
The days are gone when we sit on a train or a plane and write something wonderful in our diaries. I remember when I was about ten I received a diary for my birthday and if anything I think I wrote who I had a crush for in primary school! Not exactly poignant writing but I think I didn't know what to write. The pink hardback cover with its gold metal lock with two tiny keys was marketed as something you put all your secrets in; where as if I had been smarter I would have written something tangible, something the forty-year- old Nicole would be proud of reading now! If anything I would have liked my imagination to have bloomed and maybe given me an idea for a story worth publishing!
It is difficult to imagine what important things some famous leaders from the past, could have to say to us today, if we had their diaries including Edmund Barton, Winston Churchill and George Washington and even some of the Royal leaders such as Queen Elizabeth I and King James I (King of Scotland). Maybe their diaries would reveal how they really felt about their important role in history!
Clearly diaries are important to those who keep them and I guess they could sometimes make a wonderful read, especially if you do not have anything else to do while you are travelling! The lesson here is to make sure you write something worth reading in your diary just in case you get stuck in traffic; travel on a plane, bus or train or you just don't have a book with you to read!
So, make what you write interesting enough for you to read over and over again!
Happy diary writing!
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train"-Oscar Wilde
I think I would like to find out firstly what Virginia was feeling during her disturbed life; how Jane dealt with not marrying at a time when marriage was almost imperative; Fanny's interpretation of her relationship with John; why George was compelled to write to a married woman and if Shakespeare did write his famous works! Clearly, none of this is possible but it would be fantastic!
The days are gone when we sit on a train or a plane and write something wonderful in our diaries. I remember when I was about ten I received a diary for my birthday and if anything I think I wrote who I had a crush for in primary school! Not exactly poignant writing but I think I didn't know what to write. The pink hardback cover with its gold metal lock with two tiny keys was marketed as something you put all your secrets in; where as if I had been smarter I would have written something tangible, something the forty-year- old Nicole would be proud of reading now! If anything I would have liked my imagination to have bloomed and maybe given me an idea for a story worth publishing!
It is difficult to imagine what important things some famous leaders from the past, could have to say to us today, if we had their diaries including Edmund Barton, Winston Churchill and George Washington and even some of the Royal leaders such as Queen Elizabeth I and King James I (King of Scotland). Maybe their diaries would reveal how they really felt about their important role in history!
Clearly diaries are important to those who keep them and I guess they could sometimes make a wonderful read, especially if you do not have anything else to do while you are travelling! The lesson here is to make sure you write something worth reading in your diary just in case you get stuck in traffic; travel on a plane, bus or train or you just don't have a book with you to read!
So, make what you write interesting enough for you to read over and over again!
Happy diary writing!
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train"-Oscar Wilde
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