I never used to think of myself as a creative person, yet here I am talking about creativity. Well – not here but over at Honest Speaks. Thanks for having me, Rachael!
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Category: Books
I can do this. A week on my own is manageable. Any more and I’d go crazy. How do people do it?
I spend a whole day in and out of shops, first in Boscombe and then in Bournemouth. After finally finding two tops that I like, I don’t want to visit another shop. I’ll do without the other clothes I wanted. I buy a 99 and consume it in the Bournemouth Gardens, while watching the world go by. Then I walk back by the sea.
In the evening, I do some writing. It’s good to get back to it.
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An Amazing Contest
I’m supposed to be getting ready to go away, but I had to come back to tell you about this contest. You get a brief review of and suggestions for ways to improve the first three chapters of your manuscript whether you win or not. Can you resist it? I can’t.
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I feel honoured
That’s what it says here. Sounds good to me!
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Writing Quotes
Some great quotes about writing, via Yeda:
This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.~Winston ChurchillWriting is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent elimination.~Louise BrooksWrite without pay until someone offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this as a sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.~Mark Twain
Three years? Ahem. Does anyone have a wood saw?
I took Nick Hornby’s About a Boy out of the library. Yes, I know it’s from the last century, but it looked as if it might be interesting and it was – most of it.
As the blurb says, it’s really about two boys, one of twelve who acts too old for his age and one of thirty-six who needs to grow up. I identified with the twelve-year-old, but not because I ever acted older than my age. It’s because the boy didn’t fit in at school and was therefore bullied.
I enjoyed following the characters of this story, and especially the two main characters. I found their motivations believable and interesting. And I enjoyed the humour throughout. But I was disappointed by the ending.
Firstly, on page 265 out of 278, there is a typo. It says “Ruth” where I’m pretty sure it should say “Katrina.” Not very important, but that seems to herald the bad ending.
What happens at the end is what’s supposed to happen in all good stories. The characters change. The man becomes an adult and the boy becomes a normal boy who is no longer bullied. For me, it all happens too quickly. I don’t believe that the boy’s life could have changed so fast. I want to see how it happens. I want the author to show me the process.
But he doesn’t and I’m disappointed, even though I enjoyed reading 264 278ths of the book. That’s 95%.
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A well-timed book
At the end of April, I won a book.
The book that I won is Kwaito Love by Lauri Kubuitsile. It’s a romance novella published by Sapphire Press, a new imprint of Kwela Books.
The book took a month to arrive. I was beginning to wonder whether it would ever come. But, as it turned out, its timing was perfect. Because the morning after its arrival brought news that heralded a difficult week for me. It was so hard that by the end I decided to take two days off from my connection to the world – my computer. (More about that tomorrow.)
With all the extra time, I sat in my garden and relaxed with this sweet story that’s completely removed from anything I know. It’s set in South Africa, and describes a world where traditional food includes vetkoek or makwinya – depending on the language being spoken, where women of twenty-four are too young to marry, where family ties are very strong and where the worst problems are caused by misunderstandings.
No doubt the last item in my list is not always true of this place, but in the world described in this story, that’s all there is. And that’s what drew me to this beautiful, well-written story: its ability to distract my mind from all my worries and transport me to a world where the love between two people is the only thing that really matters.
The heroine of this story is called Mpho (pronounced M-Po) and Lauri tells me the name means a gift. The book was certainly a beautiful gift to me. Thank you, Lauri!
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Helpful community of writers
Since getting interested in the business of getting published, I have discovered several published writers who genuinely want to help other writers to achieve this status. I’m going to mention four of them. There are others.
Tania Hershman has compiled a list of UK & Ireland Lit Mags that Publish Short Stories and often blogs about upcoming short story competitions.
Nicola Morgan has posted lots of helpful advice about writing and getting published.
Sally Zigmond is posting a ‘hands on’ short story tutorial.
Karen Gowen is holding a contest and has something to offer to everyone – published, non-published or reader.
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Dear Agony Aunt
I don’t know what to do and I’m hoping you can help me. I’ve been with my partner for four years. It’s been wonderful to have him by my side, supporting and encouraging me, urging me on. But recently he hasn’t been around so much. And sometimes we arrange to go out and he cancels at the last minute. I miss his support and encouragement. So I’m thinking of looking for someone else online, either instead of my partner or in addition to him. Is this a good idea?
Actually this is about my writing group. (If my husband is reading this, you can relax now.) I’ve been going to it for four years and it’s been wonderful. Some members have come and gone, while two others and the mentor have stayed. But sometimes people can’t come. Sometimes I can’t come. So we reschedule the meeting or postpone it. When this happens at the last minute, because someone can’t make it and we don’t have the quorum of three members plus the mentor, I get frustrated. The group forces me to write. If we don’t meet, it’s hard to continue. And I want to write more, not less.
I don’t think there is a similar English-speaking writing group in Jerusalem, so I’ve been wondering about online groups. Are they a good idea? How do you find them and how can I find one that suits me? I know I’d miss the social aspect of our fortnightly meeting if I left my group and wonder whether I could manage to belong to both.
Does anyone have any advice? ~Frustrated Writer
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Proactiveness
I was surprised to discover that this word existed before I was born. It certainly wasn’t part of everyday speech in my youth, but I think it describes what I want to talk about.
I’m reading Stephen King’s book: On Writing. I’ve found it’s a good book to read in small chunks, whenever a moment appears. King himself advises reading in waiting rooms, theatre lobbies, while working out on a treadmill and elsewhere. I keep his book next to my computer and pick it up when I’m waiting for the computer to finish some action or waiting for my brain to catch up. If I can’t decide how to continue what I’m doing or what to do next, I read a bit and somehow the decision becomes easier.
On the subject of writing, King says, “Don’t wait for the muse.” He says we should get into the same writing routine every day with no distractions and the door closed, and sooner or later the muse will show up. Proactiveness.
And so it is in life. I’m reminded of a joke. You must have heard some version of it. I found one here.
It was flooding in California*. As the flood waters were rising, a man was on the stoop of his house and another man in a row boat came by. The man in the row boat told the man on the stoop to get in and he’d save him. The man on the stoop said, no, he had faith in God and would wait for God to save him. The flood waters kept rising and the man had to go to the second floor of his house. A man in a motor boat came by and told the man in the house to get in because he had come to rescue him. The man in the house said no thank you. He had perfect faith in God and would wait for God to save him. The flood waters kept rising. Pretty soon they were up to the man’s roof and he got out on the roof. A helicopter then came by, lowered a rope and the pilot shouted down to the man in the house to climb up the rope because the helicopter had come to rescue him. The man in the house wouldn’t get in. He told the pilot that he had faith in God and would wait for God to rescue him. The flood waters kept rising and the man in the house drowned. When he got to heaven, he asked God where he went wrong. He told God that he had perfect faith in God, but God had let him drown.
“What more do you want from me?” asked God. “I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”
* or London, or Jerusalem… well, maybe not.
So, don’t wait for it to happen. You have to make it happen. Proactiveness.
Miriam Drori, Author 