NEW WRITING LIVES ON

I've been impressed that since I opened up the New Writing page to submissions from non-students, I've received several very publishable pieces from you - WL Students no less - which are scheduled in the queue (yes! A queue!) for display in the next few months. I'm saving the Christmas slot, 18th December to 8th January 2006, for WL Students’ Christmas contributions. (Is that the kiss of death?) Aim for less than 500 words and write something Christmassy which isn't directly about Christmas. You know what I like: lively, uplifting, packed with visual images . . . As with all submissions it's a first come, first served basis so get thinking and writing....

Bernie
~ ~ ~ ~

CHIC LITTLE RESTAURANT by Colm Keenan

In the first issue of Playground I suggested a finishing point for a story. Colm Keenan rose to the challenge and sent me his piece called Water Rush. I liked it so much I decided to put it on the NW page - watch out for it and read it after 30th September. He also sent me 'Chic Little Restaurant', originally for the NW page, and I'm publishing it here instead. Your comments will be very welcome.

CHIC LITTLE RESTAURANT by Colm Keenan

She sat in the soft leather seat of this chic little restaurant.

'I'm just going to the "gents", Katie. I have to drain the lizard.'

Katie blushed a slight pink, and started laughing. 'Ok, Derek.Go!'

He walked clumsily with several glasses of South African wine swirling somewhere in his stomach. Derek was tall and built like a stick. He wore a pair of thick spectacles. Sometimes he didn't even have to open his mouth to make her laugh. He always looked comical, even when he was tired; he had a kind of Lesley Nielson face - not ugly but just plain funny. He was a lightweight when it came to drinking also. She found it really cute when he tried to walk and act more sober than he was. When he had that drunken concentrating look - 'I'm as sober as a pioneer judge' - she felt that her ribs would literally collapse. Katie zoomed out her focus and took a trip down memory lane; a dark, chilly road. Bill! Damn him! Why does he still come back to me now? Oh yeah, he was the sweetest man when they were dating. Sure, even then he was a bit of a power freak. But it was easy to say when in love that he was the same as any man - the odd weakness; nobody's perfect, right?

The magnetic, cinematic roll of memory tape started to spin. Ah yes, the first time. 'Hey, why didn't you tell me you'd be late,' growled Bill. 'My sister, Anne, was very sick tonight. I think she's coming down with some sort of fl-'

WALLOP! Right on her left jaw. She was sent reeling back against the wall, and slid down on the floor in a semi-lifeless state.

When she opened her eyes, he was standing over her with a tattered left slipper pressing her chest. He repeated the question in a replica tone of the first one.

'I told you,' she whispered, 'my sister -'

'Go on! Try me!' he bellowed.

This was her 'two roads diverged in a yellow wood' stage. She thought for a moment. Then, almost in a whimper, 'I'm sorry! ...It w-w-won't happen again!' Bill gleamed; helped her up to her feet; brushed some dust off her blouse.

'Let's catch a movie Katie! You can choose. I know you like them romance movies. I don't, but hell, I'd do anything for you....You know that right?'

'I know', she said like a zombie.

And that was how the whole thing had started. The beatings. The rape. The indignity. His sweaty ignorance. . .

A hand waved under her eyes.

'Penny for your thoughts madame?' asked Derek in a real cockney accent.

'I was thinking about nothing, Derek. A nobody!'

Derek changed his accent to Gollom of "Lord of the Rings". 'C'mon my precious. We must go home, master. Master will help us. Master is good to us.' He changed back into his own voice: 'I'm looking forward to this picnic bomorrow, I mean tomorrow.'

Katie tilted her head back and boomed out a laughter that filled the small room. 'Cmon Lord-drunk-too-much. Let's get you home!'

The couple helped each other with their coats. The 'bill' was paid. And the memory of Bill began to fade; just like the glass of ice was melting in the candlelight of that little chic restaurant.

© Colm Keenan

Colm is currently working in South Korea. He says, "Throughout my teens, I lost a lot of the magic of my imagination, getting caught up in the tangible. When I turned 19 I found myself. I would sit at the back door of a rough student house sipping a hot cup of tea, astonished by the rain. I started to see the beauty in simple things that most people would overlook and I started writing poems from this period."
~ ~ ~ ~

MINI-BIOGRAPHIES AND THE MESSAGE BOARD

by Bernie Ross

The 50 word mini-biography is a treasure to have in your writer's toolkit. Once created to a point you feel happy with it you can pop it into all sorts of situations without having to rack your brains for 'the right thing to say'. Your mini-biog can go under a short piece of writing that's published; it can be slotted into a covering letter when you're submitting an article and it can be a handy nugget to use if you're in conversation and want to give a brief overview of where you're at. 50 words isn't very long: Colm's (above) is 79. Mine is 57.

Almost without exception, Writing Life students say on the introductory questionnaire that they'd like to be in touch by email or letter with other students. The message board doesn't reflect this but it's the only obvious facility for inter-student communication at the moment. Can you, anyone, tell me how else it can be done? I believe the 50 word biog followed by your email address and first name, published under anything you submit would be a step in the right direction, telling others who you are. Why not put your mini-biog on the MB? Or should I put them all here along with photos? It's possible you know.
~ ~ ~ ~

FINISHING WORDS FOR A FLASH FICTION PIECE:

'. . . She held the knife ready, her fist clenched, her wrist rigid.'

~ ~ ~ ~

I CAN DO IT!

by Lynda E. Blake

Those four little words mean so much. But while it's hard for me to imagine life after Writing Life because I only recently discovered Bernie and her knack for motivation, I'm hopeful that "Life After Writing Life" will be full of opportunities and will see my writing really bloom. Because I can do it!

Yes, that is what we need to believe because often it is all we writers have - the belief. But determination is the key, and I long to pick up a magazine and find it contains one of my very own stories. Surely that would be a treat for the eyes of any author to feast on?
And hopefully I shall make it because yes, I can do it!

We all have our own way of getting through the bleak times, times when writing seems to be our worst enemy rather than our friend, but when the words fall into place out of the blue I find myself thinking: yes, I can do it!

So thanks Writing Life for giving me this chance to try things out and discover my strengths and weaknesses. It's good to play, and yes, I can do it!

© Lynda Blake 2005

When Lynda Blake was fourteen she had a devastating cycling accident, but far from this ruining her life she has since earned many Home Study certificates, and a BSc Honours degree with the Open University. Her joy in writing is a reminder that anything is possible if we want it badly enough.

[Lynda is visually impaired and does the email-only WL course at http://www.writing-in-a-nutshell.net/ using a screenreader called 'Jaws'. You can contact her through Bernie because she can't easily get to the message board, as Jaws doesn't seem to like it. He can, however, read this Blog.]

Lifelines September 2005 - Coax Your Creative Confidence

Quote: "As it stands, the Perrier Award is a divisive and damaging exercise. It
sets one performer against another and creates thousands of losers for every
winner. It sours the comedy programme of the festival and stifles innovation and originality as performers search for lowest common denominators to appease competition judges." - Tommy Sheppard, Leading Comedy Promoter at Edinburgh Festival.

So there you have it from someone 'up there' that competition creates losers.

The analogy of treating your writing life as gently as a flower still in bud, used in Creative Writing the Organic Way, is a serious piece of advice. Rejection is hard to bear and you have to be ready for it but never expecting it. The only way to become immune and therefore learn from it is to experience it: been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. The first step is the hardest. If you're not prepared for rejection then it can demolish your reason for living but if you expect rejection then it's probably what you'll get. So learn to cope with your own creative emotions, nurturing the positive and avoiding the downers.

Although magazine editors and competition judges will tell you to send your best work, don't. Send your most appropriate work for their market or the competition specifications.

Your best work is nearly always your very latest work. If you're onto a particular style and smooth run of experimental, exploratory stories, preserve them like gold dust. If any of them gets rejected at this stage in your tentative development then you'll want to abandon the project and will probably find yourself writing stuff that you hate. Then you might feel torn between writing for money versus for love and it stops you in full flow of a brilliant idea that never again sees the light of day.

It's useful to listen to visual artists' experiences for equivalent advice on fostering confidence as a writer. At a local exhibition of work I was talking with a well-seasoned artist on the subject of whose work had been rejected. He was fairly deprecating about one painting of his, which was accepted. He said, "I always say to people, don't put your best work in for something like this." Clearly he was 'into' another series of works that excited him greatly. "You see," he went on, "this selection panel simply grab what they think looks good. It has nothing to do with artistic vigour or even favouritism for that matter. It's all done on a whim and what fits on that wall next to this or that. If you put in your most precious, passionate work, the project you're working on, and it's rejected - it could destroy you."

The same applies to magazines and competitions. I'm not referring to Writing Life competitions because where I'm the judge I'm seeking the same qualities that I try to teach. (But remember how losing can make you feel like you're a loser.) Every competition or application for a grant requires a submission and every submission is at risk of being rejected.

Competition is diametrically opposite to the nature of the artist. As Writing Life students you're artists in the making, not journalists. This is not to say that competitions are bad for you or that you shouldn't go in for them, but do handle with care. The good thing about them is that they make you give a final polish to a story for a deadline. They provide a destination where once there was a black hole or brick wall. If they provide critiques or scores then they give you an indication of where you might be doing something wrong and doing something right.

At the end of the day every masterpiece is in the eye of the beholder and as such your baby is in the lap of the gods. It's okay to ignore rejection in all its guises, to continue with your art in the way you know you must express yourself. Send the lesser pieces to be mauled by competition judges and critics but keep what's precious under your hat until you're confident and ready to present it to the world, so very resolutely that if it’s demolished it won’t be at your emotional expense.

© Bernie Ross 2005

Bernie has been writing since she was eight years old and though life has taken many twists and turns', writing has remained her fortress, her sanctuary and her life-support. She's been published widely, anywhere she was able to get a foot in the door and now publishes herself and others, all within the philosophy of Writing Life.

Something New

An experimental so-called ‘Review of Contemporary Artists’ has come to my attention. It’s called Aesthetica and looks very promising. The hard copy is fabulous and you can see all about it on www.aestheticamagazine.com

Miscellany

POSSESSIONS = MEMORIES

He smelled of dope. He sat on our sofa, head bent forward, elbows on knees. Jokes were going over his head; he was intermittently closing his eyes and swaying. Suddenly he fell forward onto the tin tray of empty coffee cups. He wasn’t hurt.


Thirty-one years later, a different marriage, I still have that tray: blue flower patterns on white, it went well with my décor of the time. No especial sentimentality: it’s now stored under the sink, used in the growing season for flowerpots. I hate the other memories, the tray is rusty, and it still has that dope-head’s dent. He's probably an ordinary old man now.

~ ~ ~ ~

DANCE OF LIFE:
‘Helping you discover what works for you’ by David Mills
This is the title of an excellent website, http://www.enmore.org/ which Writing Life student David says, “is where my writing started and ended up”.

“The idea of this website is to make available, without charge, resources which can be of help to people both in their ordinary lives and in times of crisis.”

David has been a Relate Counsellor for many years and has written hundreds of nuggets of wisdom that he initially considered submitting for mainstream publication. His most frequently quoted advice is to ‘use what works for you’ and he has found that the website – with buckets full wisdom published for you to read free - is what works best for him and his ideas. On the very first page he says, “Use the ideas that resonate with you. Ignore the ones that don't.”

Here’s an example of one of the many nuggets:“[Ask yourself] If I only had one hour to live and one call to make, who would I phone, what would I say, and why am I waiting?None of us lives forever and none of us can know when our time will come. So if there is something that needs to be said, particularly if it is loving and supportive, then say it. NOW! The partner, parent, child, brother, sister, towards whom you have loving feelings you have not expressed for a while... just tell them...why are you waiting?”

Don’t wait:- go to http://www.enmore.org and improve your emotional intelligence.
Bernie

DON’T THROW IT AWAY - Story of a Story

I’m always telling people to keep everything they write, however dire, because it will come in useful some time. Les Hausen sent in the following little story for publication in The Muse when he’d just joined Writing Life. Sadly it didn’t make it. Looking back on it now, he knows he could make this 250 word story much more meaningful. Read it here and see what he says at the end.


MIMI (November 2004)
It was just over seven years ago; I came home from work to find this black and white mangy kitten, no bigger than my hand, has taken residence in my kitchen. It has been called Mimi by the kids, they are much noisier than usual. They are in fact far too excited, running around pleased as punch, after years of asking, and me saying “NO WAY” they suddenly get what they want. I look at the wife in total disbelief.

Over the next few months Mimi continues to wreak havoc around the house. Our elderly dog is in need of therapy and so am I. Mimi sets about sharpening her claws on the carpet, the curtains, the sofas, in fact everything she can get them into; not that anyone notices, apart from me. For some reason she now insists on sleeping on our bed at night and won’t settle until I put my hand on her and gently stroke her. And what makes it worse is I now quite like it.

Then I get a call, “Come home quickly!”

As I pull into the driveway Mimi is not sitting on the Apex of the porch roof as usual and the kids and wife are sobbing. They take me to her, she is curled up as if she is asleep although of course she will not wake. The sadness is overwhelming. I feel sick and start walking away. They want to bury her in garden, so I tell them to go ahead, bury it wherever they want, I want no part in it.

© Les Hausen 2004

Les’s thoughts in July 2005: “I found the biggest difficulty at the time was restricting the word count to 250 words. Although the benefit was that it did make me think hard on how to get all the salient points included, but without the waffle.

“If writing again I don’t think I would want to restrict the word count, but write a similar story line and fill it out, develop the background more and explore the emotional strings that are attached.

“To me the story is about how we humans develop relationships, some we are willingly drawn into and others so very reluctantly. To explore the foundations from what makes our initial pre-conceptions to how these change over time. The effects on us as they die.

“In the case of Mimi it was weird, even though she was so very naughty, rebellious over a six month period she took over the whole house. She was a cat with attitude, however she was also adored by the whole family and neighbours both male + female and of course myself.

“Since writing this I feel that I have honed my skills on the structure and format of the storyline to be able to write this more fully without the waffle.”

Les, July 2005.

Bernie: I agree. You can give Mimi all sorts of mischief; make it very descriptive and full of characterisation with the conflicts presented. Keeping even the worst pieces means you not only see what great progress you’ve made with practise, but you can use each one as a starting point for something much bigger and better. After all, it’s often the lack of an idea that stops you writing.

Two minutes, Silence

Stubborn. Unable to conform. It used to be like anti-magnetism, dipolar repellence: I really couldn’t join the throng. I couldn’t bear the two-minute silence on Poppy Day. I used to look away, carry on what I was doing, say ‘I have my own silences’ and I did, I do.

But now if I conform – and I do, if I’m out there with people – I’m choked with compassion because that united silence stands for so much. So very much. It’s also symbolic of all that I lack. Bravery. Misfortune. Strength in the face of inhumanity.

Until a disaster strikes we forget the human suffering, the grave and honest detail of death in any family. We too easily forget the very innocence of young men and women who are swept into a labelled box when the media calls them ‘troops’. (Have you ever noticed they say, “50,000 troops have been despatched to war . . .” and then later, “396 men and women died or were injured . . .”.) How many people constitute a troop? Only one.

I was going to place here an excerpt from an account from a prisoner of war (POW) in Germany, to be published in 2006. But hearing today of an ex-soldier’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, which described him as ‘a shadow of his former self, suffering flashbacks, panic attacks and paranoia about strangers’, it’s enough to know this much. And this man was doing it as a career; many of our 1939-45 war veterans had no choice. Young men not long out of school. No surprise, therefore, that men who survived when their friends were tortured and killed in WWII concealed their shocking experiences, some for 40 years and more. They were the lucky ones.

Two minutes silence is all it takes to think in depth about how lucky we are to be so safe today.

Two minutes is all it takes to jot down a thought that will later start an important piece of writing for you.

© Bernie Ross

LIFELINES – August 05 – WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

This rule, so often spouted in popular writing magazines, makes you groan with boredom or admonish yourself for having such limited knowledge. I know it does that to me. But wait.
What is imagination if it doesn’t begin with what we know and move on into realms of delight and scenarios that stem from the words ‘What if?’

Did Adam Thorpe live in the 15th Century to write his novel about Ulverton through the ages? Did Yann Martel sail across the ocean with a tiger especially to write his novel, Life of Pi? No. It’s true that both of these authors researched their subjects; and their reason for doing so was a passion for the idea. That’s the key.

Research? I hear you shudder. Not everyone wants to do research and in my opinion it isn’t essential in order to write an engaging story. It’s true that you’ll want to – and *should * do so - to ensure facts are right but it’s perfectly possible to build new, imagined, material into a story without research and still make it completely believable. There are plenty of examples in my collection of stories entitled Rebuilding Heaven. Do you think I know more than anyone else what it’s like to be a cardboard box? In the past I’ve written from the viewpoint of a prostitute (Mrs Gillamore, published in Homegrown, 2001) and a good number of other unlikely characters – I won’t give them away here because some of the fun for the reader is working out who’s narrating.

The difficulty in writing something you don’t know is in getting started. Research can kill a passion if you do it too soon. Once you’ve got into (really into) the character in your story then all kinds of things can come from within yourself that you had no idea would come out. Get it written! Write it from your heart and polish it until you feel passionate about it. *Then * do a spot of research to check it’s believable. You’ll be surprised at how much you want to learn this way. You’ll also find you research more knowledge than you need to; and who knows, it might stimulate another, completely new story: starting of course, with what you know.

© Bernie Ross 2005

This is the place to play, right?

We can do what we like here, it's free. I will post/paste the two first issues of Playground and after that I will see how it goes, update it with new work submitted to me for use on Playground. If we're lucky it will become an interesting online magazine, and there's space for 'comments' if anyone should feel like instigating interaction.

There's space for pictures too.

Bernie