I've been invited to be part of the 'Writing Process' blog tour by the fabulous Lady Salsa herself; Karen from Karen-Ology. Karen writes with heart. She's a spiritual and caring person who gives much of herself for other people, and her blog is something she writes for herself. She also writes at A Compulsive Story about her battle with food addiction.
My writing process
I was supposed to post this yesterday - which is within itself telling of my writing style. Need I say more? Ok, ok, indulge me.
What am I working on?
Most probably too many things. And that's entirely my style. I wouldn't recommend it. Focusing on one thing at a time is most probably a better strategy if you ever plan on actually finishing anything, but, what can I say, I get bored and there are far too many characters in my head demanding my attention. Ok, so really what am I working on? Poetry, lately a lot of poetry. Some rhythmic, some free verse, some just plain observation as I see it. A play - slightly controversial in nature but meant to be funny and possibly drawing a small amount of inspiration from old comedian Bob Downe. Two book projects (and not getting particularly far just yet) - both loosely based on two short but significant parts of my life. The first, adapted from my family's experience of living on an Aboriginal community in the late 80s/early 90s and the second, a story of what children get up to when left to their own devices, set in a small seaside/bush town across the harbour from Mandorah where I grew up. Ofcourse I'm blogging here and also occasionally writing at Weekend Notes Perth. I've also recently discovered the unique power of writing crap... but there'll be more on that in another post coming up very soon.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Hhhhmm how does one answer this question without sounding completely up one's own arse? I mean really? Hhhmmm, well I think because it's honest to my style. Everyone's writing is so unique, everyone's ideas are so unique and if your writing is an honest representation of your idea then it's unique to anything else. I think especially with the two book projects, these are unique to my experience of a life journey that not a lot of people get to have and that's what makes them different.
Why do I write what I do?
Because I couldn't not write it. I think writers write what they write because the story smoulders inside of them and getting it on the page truly sets it alight.
How does my writing process work?
Well sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes all I have time for is blogging and that makes me proud that at least I get that far. But my writing process starts with an idea. An idea I just absolutely have to write down (for fear of forgetting the bloody thing) and usually pops up at an entirely inappropriate time (when I'm at work is the worst because I don't have time to explore the idea right there and then, which is the best moment to harness it). And then there's a cup of tea. Or a glass of red wine. Or a gin and tonic. Either way there's a beverage. I write down all the bits that are in my head and then I usually walk away from it for a bit. It's then that it becomes an infatuation. A love affair. I can't stop thinking about it but I dare not speak of it. I dare not even write it. There's usually wine involved. I just think about it for a good amount of time. This could be a few weeks or a few months. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator. I didn't say this actually works in any successful way particularly often, but it's how my brain works. With a full time job and all those other wonderful things of life, I often don't make the time I should make to dedicate to my writing. Often I come back to an idea after a period of time and rework it. I find I work really well under pressure and with a deadline; it's how I got through uni. All my best ideas happened the night before it was due. When there's no deadline, my motivation to finish it any time soon melts away. And this is something I need to work on. Something I will work on. Also, talking to people about my ideas makes them more real and this often gives me the push I need to just bloody well get on with it.
Who's next?
So this is the bit when I'm supposed to pass the baton onto someone else for the tour. Problem is, while I read a lot of blogs, I don't actually know that many bloggers :/ So instead of completely dropping the ball, let me refer you on to a few lovely bloggers I've been following for a while.
First of all another local Perth blogger, Shannon Meyerkort from Relentless. Shannon is not your average 'mummy-blogger'. She has three young girls and her blog is a combination of all those relentless life that is parenthood. Her writing is honest and honestly hilarious. It is writing without fear or that internal female sensorship. Shannon says the things about motherhood many women are thinking but none are actually brave enough to say.
Allison Tait is a freelance writer slash author slash blogger from the East Coast. Alison writes books for writers including Get Paid To Write, Career Mums and So you want to be a writer. On her blog she writes writing tips and advice for writers, snippets of life and features many a Q&A from other wonderful writers. If you need some inspiration or some information to take your writing to the next step allisontait.com is absolutely worth stopping by.
And now for something a little bit different, but altogether fabulous from Matthew Sharpe, an American novelist with several successful books on his nightstand including The Sleeping Father and Nothing Is Terrible. But his writing at Very short stories r us has got me hooked. What started as an experiment in self publishing to post one very short story per week has now gone on for a total of 48 weeks to date. Now if that's not commitment to the craft, I don't know what is. I love short stories, especially when they are done this well. When something can be delivered so succinctly and have an impact in such a short time, it's almost perfection.
Thanks for dropping by and I hope you stick around. If you want to join in the Writing Process tour - do it! And then comment here with a link, I'd love to know how you go about it!
