And now for a little haiku break. I am a writer of extremes. From plunging deep into novel-land of 60-70-80-90,000 words. To plunging deep into haiku, 12-13-14-15 (17 is too many) syllables. The ridiculous to the sublime?
barring my entry
the gatepost spider
its gossamer strength
An autumn haiku I’m adding to my haiku page. It and other seasons, here.
From kitchen table to bookshop — here’s an exciting chance to get going on your creative writing dream in a fun private writing class in Chiswick, west London. My colleague Diane Chandler, author of Moondance and of The Road to Donetsk is running an introduction to creative writing session. With her, @Blackbird_Bks publisher and author Stephanie Zia. They’ll be using some exercises and ideas from Creative Writing: the Matrix. And if you can’t make the November date, there’s December and January too! #amwriting Kitchen table writing class, click here for info
This cheeky chappy was my other companion on my @retreatsforyou week of toil and bliss last month. Wrestling a finished draft into something better. ‘Slay that dragon,’ said my brother. ‘It’s a carp,’ said I. ‘Slay that carp doesn’t have the same ring to it,’ came the reply. Sounds like our editor-father speaking. Back in residence at my desk, the struggle continues. Looking for crevices and loopholes in the draft whereby to layer and develop characters and incidents = plot = a better story.
Meanwhile, nice boost, extra orders of Creative Writing: the Matrix, 95 exercises, 21 mini-lectures for creative writing teachers. Back to school in full swing. More here.
Pardon me, I didn’t identify the mystic owl lady of the last post. The painter is Remedios Varo, title Creation of the Birds (Creacion de las aves), in the Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. 1957.
In this post, Utagawa Kuniyoshi in a colour woodblock: Sakata Kaido-maru wrestles with a giant carp. From the British Museum. 1837.
What helps you through? This was one of two companions I brought to Retreats for You to help me through a week of re-writing. Thank you Leonora Carrington. And resident tutor-editor Jayne Watson, and RfY hostess Debbie Flint. And fellow writers — even if you did go off to yoga or running through the lovely countryside as well as writing. More power to your elbow!
Teaching creative writing — it’s fun, it’s nurturing others, it’s encouraging and supporting voices. So many ways to spark and fan the writing urge, and right about now you are planning your first day of teaching… your first term. Here’s support for you: 95 exercises and mini-lectures based on experience of teaching over 29,000 student hours of creative writing.
Catch a vision on BBC4 TV this Tuesday 9pm Utopia: In Search of the Dream. Amazingly it features haiku and a bit of me and other British Haiku Society poets. Over 3 programmes: Utopia for a fairer world, does utopian vision work, is it an inner state? Guess which is the haiku one. For me utopia could be a week’s writing retreat — already booked for it in Devon, Retreats for You. Meanwhile click here for BBC TV listing. And here for my most recent haiku.
Which way to go? This really IS a discovery draft. SO wanting to go back and make the scenes meet, connect the narrative flow. So many things to juggle, can’t hold them all in my head at once. But must-must-must go forward. The three glued sheets of timelines are helping but… then I get into one voice or the other. Or one storyline and get so into it that the rest doesn’t matter. But when I pull back the rest does matter. I have just finished a crucial scene: things are getting difficult between J and M. Interesting! So much unknown ahead, coroner etc…
The photo’s from a recent trip to Polperro, Cornwall. Wonderful country, as Poldark fans know.
