Category Archives: Uncategorized

Your Responses: Why You Write Poetry

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Why haiku? So glad Charlotte asked. And I’ve added this summer season’s haiku to the ‘so still’ page.

Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog

This post is in response to my question to readers and followers on why they write poetry. I hope you enjoy it and that it gives you insights and inspiration.

And, to those poets who took the time to respond, many thanks.

Susan Lee Kerr

 When a haiku moment arrives, that is a heightened or deepened awareness, I need to catch it, a kind of mindfulness-in-action. And I want to convey it, to share that moment. Then the crafting into words, the catching and conveying itself, is an inner finding, deeply renewing, regrounding, calming. I used to write other poetry too, but now it’s haiku only. And prose — have just published The Extraordinary Dr Epstein, the true life of a remarkable 19th century immigrant, told as a novel… he’s my great grandfather, physician, farmhand, ship’s surgeon, founder of South Dakota University. From my long time as a…

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Creative Writing Short Session

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Many thanks for this Lynn, delighted the Matrix book helped you. Hope it’s a brilliant session — share how it went!

Hop Aboard

I am about to give my first ever Creative Writing Session, as part of the staff development day at work. I have been using the wonderful Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix: Selected exercises & ideas for teachers by Susan Lee Kerr to help me prepare. Even though I have been at the chalk face for 30 years,  I am still apprehensive about starting a new training session.

Ms Kerr has produced a wonderful book which is full of great tips on how to set the classroom up, limit the amount of extra work you do, deal with students and get started on your creative writing course. Reading through chapter one has proved very instructive. I like her ideas on how to structure the course – they are very informative and helpful.

Following her advice, I am going to start with a brief introduction of myself as a writer.Then do…

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What I Learned from Famous Writers at London Book Fair

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Good stuff right from the coal-face of writing, from Jaq Hazell.

JAQ HAZELL

IMG_4276 (1)London Book Fair always buzzes with big names and LBF16 was no exception. Meg Rosoff, Deborah Levy and Judith Kerr were all interviewed at the English PEN Literary Salon (a designated area away from the publishers’ stands). Sadly, I missed all of the above but I did manage to catch appearances from other successful writers: Jeffrey, Peter and Jeanette. But can you learn anything useful by listening to a half-hour slot from an established name?

First up, I happened to be sitting in the PEN Literary Salon area (meeting a friend) when who should show up behind a wall of press photographers than Jeffrey Archer in a novelty tie (it may have had books on it, but I wasn’t close enough to see).

Archer is brash (often dismissive of press and underlings) and irrepressible. He talked about book promotion rather than writing, and declared himself a “storyteller” rather than a…

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Writing is re-writing

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Writing is re-writing, you know that, yes? You’ve got to keep on keeping on to get it just right. Without beating yourself up. Will devote more time to that when I am actually in the throes of writing. Meanwhile I am in throes of book promoting and here I am below with local-author-buddy — the power of two.  Also websites are re-websites too. I found this new theme and like its clean calm look. Hope you do too. So, gone is the header with my newly installed office bookshelves. That’s another reason for posting this photo showing lots of books…

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Susan Lee Kerr & Diane Chandler at The Chiswick Bookshop

 

 

Writing from Life

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Fascinating ancestor? Fantastic life experience? In a convivial evening, two local authors in conversation reveal decision paths, sources and insights into weaving together fact, memories and imagination.

That’s me for fascinating family story into gripping novel. And buddy local author Diane Chandler for fantastic life experience, the journey of an overseas aid worker from idealism to realism. A friendly new bookshop is kindly hosting this evening next week, 15 March — a new angle, new double act. Now we are calculating how much wine to supply… click here for where and when

Aids to refreshing creativity? See my new page here on Sculptural Papiermache… I’m so glad to be a member of the wild and wonderful PapierMachistas.

Writing How-to books giveaway

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There it is above, my new sleek shaped-up office book shelves — my insides feel all glad seeing books and binders-ful of notes stand up straight. That row of neat white on the left is haiku journals (and another half-shelf below). When feeling at a loss, I just pluck one at random and browse: space, uplift, senses, escape. For the season now between winter and spring click here for a new haiku on the ‘so still’ page.

Such a weeding out of books and papers! Honestly, several trees’ worth of weight went out to the paper recycle. And boxes of books await trips to the charity bookshop. If anyone reading here would like giveaways of How to Write books collected over the years to aid teaching creative writing AND my own creative writing, contact me via Comments below. Of course I’ve kept my favs, but I’d love the others to find homes among those who want to write (for the price of postage).

The project also provided a review of my last ten working years, both sobering (how time flies!) and heartening (I’ve done more than I give myself credit for). And look, there’s even shelf-space for… more books.

Oooo, notice the pink. I have discovered the text colour facility on WordPress. Cue to reveal that the repainted walls of my renewed office are very pale pink. Now: on with the self-publishing adventure, a new ISBN on an IngramSpark p-o-d. If that’s gobbledygook to you it shows me that I have learned a lot in the last year…

 

Writer interrupted

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Clearing and sorting still underway. But my space is now painted and in process of becoming itself again — only renewed.

Meanwhile, a writer must continue to promote her published book whilst brewing on her next one. So it’s a joy and privilege to be on a panel on the subject: How to Publish Your Book with three other authors at the college where I was creative writing team leader for twelve years. Here’s what it’s all about.

 

Writing as clearing

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Really I should say clearing as writing. Or even better, clearing as pre-writing. It’s not easy, coming off the five or even ten years of writing the novel of my great grandfather’s life. It’s like he’s been riding me, on my back all that time. And now — whooph! Loose ends. Shouldn’t I be plunging into the next idea? Turns out, no. Well, yes-and-no. Love the idea, have done bits of writing, some research, but I feel, I KNOW it is too soon. I find I am at this stage, described by Eric Maisel,

When you choose an idea to work on, what is appropriate to know is that you largely do not know what is about to happen… the artist who is more interested in creating deeply than in ridding herself of anxiety will refuse to know too soon. She will remain with doubts, worries, questions, and the burning desire to realize herself… This is the chaos working, the necessary chaos…

I found that quote in the Mslexia magazine diary of 2006 (how loyal I am, a subscriber from the start! And the diary is a great aid, every year.)

Instead of writing I am clearing my bookshelves. It is a psychological and mythological truth that sorting is a psychic task. So, my physical urge and my inner state are definitely together in this. Out they go, years and years of teaching materials, winnowing them down to one or two… maybe three binders. Many of the how-to-write books that helped me write and teach, clear out! Clippings and Good Ideas (from ten years ago?!), gone! Goodness knows the quantity of trees the paper represents. All I do know is that my heart is delighted, satisfied, with the empty plastic pages and the binders, and it loves sticking blank labels over the written ones. What does it want? What do I want? Space.

Time for a tiny bit of the constructive to balance this: I’ve added an autumn haiku to so still, my haiku page.