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Journal as a friend: that's the greatest value for me

Would you like to start journaling? Come to my Introduction to Journaling Workshop on Saturday 28 March 2020) This is a photo of my journals.I show it in my workshops when we're talking about journaling as a regular, long-term practice. Some of the writers nod knowingly as they have similar piles of notebooks at their place. Others will say, 'Oh gosh. Is it worth my starting a journal now? I should have begun journaling years ago.'First of all, 'should' is not a good word to use: ...

The value of keeping a journal

Would you like to start journaling? Come to my Introduction to Journaling Workshop on Saturday 28 March 2020) This is a photo of my journals.I show it in my workshops when we're talking about journaling as a regular, long-term practice. Some of the writers nod knowingly as they have similar piles of notebooks at their place. Others will say, 'Oh gosh. Is it worth my starting a journal now? I should have begun journaling years ago.'First of all, 'should' is not a good word to use: ...

Writing practice - it only takes 3 minutes

We've all heard that old maxim 'practice makes perfect'.Maybe your Mum said that to you when at age 13 you were struggling with an out of tune violin, trying to learn the latest piece for the school orchestra and even though the squealing and shrieking of a bow without enough rosin was driving her to the brink of insanity, she still had the supportive motherly nature to reassure you that you'd get there in the end.'Practice makes perfect!' she said, quietly closing your bedroom door and going to...

Life writing about birth

Writing about the day you were born can be tricky because we have to rely on the stories - and truth -  of others.Unless, that is, you've had some kind of regression therapy that has taken you back to the magic moment you emerged into the world.In my first life writing workshop on 15 February, we'll be looking at the day of our birth, the stories handed down by family about that auspicious occasion, what was going on just before, or after, and what might have been happening in the fami...

It's a new year so let's get writing

What are your writing goals for the new year?Finish the romance novel languishing in the bottom drawer ... tackle the blank pages of the gorgeously bound journal you bought last year and have been waiting for just the right moment to fill ...  start pounding the keys for a thriller or supernatural horror story...Whatever it may be, the advice is simple: get writing.Is it that easy?​Sure it is - and with the renewed energy and enthusiasm that infuses us at the start of a new year (and...

Souvenirs of life inspire great stories

Objects and items from our lives that have meaning for us can provide inspiration for some great life writing and we'll be looking at the power of 'life souvenirs' in my series of life writing workshops in February.I wrote in an earlier blog about Susie, a doll my Mom had when she was a child. Susie accompanied Mom through her entire life and kept Mom company in private hospital care during the last months that she was with us. When I look at Susie, who now resides with me, a...

Three ways to kick self-doubt into touch

“Our doubts are traitors,and make us lose the good we oft might win,by fearing to attempt.” - William Shakespeare, Measure for MeasureYou see? Even William Shakespeare had something to say about self-doubt and the threat it poses to our creativity.  American writer Suzy Kassem goes a step further saying, 'Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.' Are you getting the message? Don't you want to look in the mirror and see the King of the Jungle looking back at you?&nb...

Why you should write your life story

Maybe you're sitting around with friends and family and you're telling then how you sailed around Cape Horn in a 32 foot sailboat and the waves were towering over the mast and the rails were under water and you thought to yourself, 'This is it - I am not going to survive.'Your audience is riveted, hanging off every word as you describe the wildness of the seas and the shrieking banshee-wind, the heaving and pitching of the boat, the drenching sea-spray and rain, and all the while the sun was try...

Write. It's the write thing to do.

My writing mentor, Mrs. M, took no prisoners when it came to my excuses for not writing.This was a challenge for me as I was in high school at the time and had plenty of other things I wanted to do, like going out with friends, swimming at the beach, shopping ... having fun. So there were many times when I resented her being pushy, telling me that in order to write, you actually had to write (surprise surprise) and writing was a discipline.And of course in those early years I quite fancied mysel...

Writing workshops: to go or not to go?

A writer I knew once said, "Workshop smurkshop. Who needs them. Workshops are a waste of time and money."I use the past tense 'knew' meaning that I don't know him any more.OK, pretty definite opinion there and when he told me this, I'd been to a few workshops myself. Some had been great, others not so flash, but I always got something of value from them. We had quite a heated argument and in the end, he grudgingly admitted that he'd only ever been to one writing workshop, one about poetry, taken...

The company of not-so-strangers

I've attended enough breast cancer support groups to know that there will be people there you don't know, have never seen before, they are strangers to you and yet by the end of the meeting, you feel like old mates.It's the kinship of common experience.It doesn't really matter if it's a cancer group, or a writers' group because the intent is the same: the support given by and shared with your peers.It's the sharing of stories, the narrative of challenges faced and overcome, the brightness o...

For the love of books

My Mom loved books and we had plenty at home, all of the time.Those we owned snuggled up in their bookshelves and guests from the library perched here and there during their visit, on table tops, chair arms, kitchen counters, and other places where they were safe from water, dirt, the fireplace, and the cat who liked to sit on them.Mom taught us not to read with sticky fingers, nor were we to 'break the spine' by folding back the covers and under no circumstances was it acceptable to fold down p...

Grief can be like the snap of a wet tea towel or a slow burn

You know how you can whip a tea towel at someone, especially if it's wet from drying the dishes, a quick flick of the wrist and that towel snaps against a vulnerable part of the body - usually exposed skin is best for maximum effect but that snap of pain can be felt even under clothing.When we were growing up, my sister and I used to do the dishes every night after dinner. I always dried and so I perfected the art of the tea towel snap. Of course the tables often turned and I was on the receivin...

Write what you know .. and then some

You've heard that old adage, 'write what you know', and there are differing opinions on whether that is good advice or not.Some writers say 'yes indeed!' and others toss it right out the window, saying it restricts you as a writer and you'll never venture past it into the unknown, because writing is a voyage into those unfamiliar waters. They say, 'take the leap!'My sister and I grew up in Seattle, Washington, until I was 7 and she was 10, then we moved to New Zealand. We were often thrown ...

Be curious and pay attention

We have to cultivate the habits of curiosity and paying attention, which are essential to living rich lives and writing.'So says Anne Lamott in her book Almost Everything: Notes on hope.And how right she is. How can you write if you're not curious about something?  And how you can write if you don't pay attention to what's going on around you? Curiosity leads as to introspection. What makes us tick? Why do we do the things we do and think that way? Why did one of your friends...

When the going gets tough ... pick up the water blaster

I love using my water blaster. This is the time of year when I get it out of the shed and tackle all of the concrete stairs leading up to my house. The high and hot suns of summer have been replaced by the low, mellow winter light without warmth that barely makes it over the tops of the trees. Slimy stuff darkens the outdoor stairs, slippery stuff, a recipe for disaster. Even the cat slips. I have a special outfit I wear: an old blue raincoat, a pair of my Dad's old sou'wester foul wea...

Writing about secrets? It could be a best seller

In her book Inheritance , Dani Shapiro writes about the time in her life when she innocently submitted her DNA to a genealogy website and found out that her deceased father was not her biological father. The book is about secrets - those kept within families, secrets too shameful to reveal, or kept hidden out of love to protect others. Dani writes, '... secrets, particularly the most deeply held ones, have  a way of leaching into everything surrounding them.'We all ...

If you want to be a writer ... you have to write

The Greek philosopher Epictetus said,'If you wish to be a writer, write.'  Simple as that! I'll add to this by saying, 'If you have a story to tell about your life and times, then I'll bet people will want to read it.' Tell it well and compellingly, and you may just have a book that will not only sell but will touch the hearts and minds of the people who read it.You may ask: 'How does she know this?'Because we all have a built-in curiosity about others, a hard-wiring that goe...

Objects can tell a story

A colleague attended a breast cancer support meeting recently. She said they had been asked to bring along an object that they treasured, something that had a story attached, an item of personal significance. They would then tell the group the story behind that special object.I'm sure those stories would have run the gamut of emotion from hilarious to tearful, poignant to pleasing, and frightening to calming.As I sat here at my desk, I can see plenty of things roundabout. I confess I am a bit of...

My summer day

Wow, it's hot.Dry too. We haven't had a good rain in ages here. I don't have to do much weeding because the intense heat is shriveling them up and it's too hot anyway to do more than pull up a few pieces of ginger and sweep the steps.So my day is pretty much like this right now.I work in the morning. I've been getting up earlier and earlier to enjoy the cool and to prevent the computer from blowing up. Its little fan or whatever is in there to keep it from overheating is working like a son of a ...

Write about your car

When you're thinking about your life, think about your car.We often take our cars for granted. They get us from A to B, sure enough, and we spend inestimable hours in them over a lifetime: strapped into car seats as youngsters, learning to drive in our teens with a white-knuckled parent or pale-faced driving instructor beside us, and then when we're old, the moment we're told 'you can't drive any more' - how does that loss of independence feel?Our cars, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles - any form of...

Writing a ripper first line - is it easy to do?

'Once upon a time ...'Stories read to us in childhood often began this way and when I heard those words, I was filled with a delightful anticipation of what was to come, snuggling down even closer to Mom as she read from the picture book before my bedtime. Even now, I find myself going, 'Yes? OK? What is going to happen?'Beginnings are everything in our stories. They hook the reader in, entice us to read on, we want to find out what happens. Even that classic clanger, 'It was a dark and sto...

Stretch your writing legs in 2019

My cat Betsy has water bowls positioned all around the house so she doesn't have to go far, or exert herself too much, to get a drink on these hot summer days. ​She's going on 19 now so I try to make things easy for her.In spite of the convenience, Betsy likes drinking from the bird bath on the front lawn.It's a real stretch for her. She has to stand on her tip-toes, battling her arthritis, to get a drink. Writing is a bit like that.It's easy to go round and take from the usual sourc...

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth ...

... and a Tonka car carrier truck.Let's face it. Christmas is for kids and wow, if you were anything like me, as a youngster you'd be beside yourself right about now with The Big Day less than a week away.  The tree is up, some of the presents are already under it and you can tell there are more to come because the extra special ones you had on your list (that you delivered to your parents ages ago and have badgered them over ever since) aren't there yet, and you know that because the ...

Nostalgia, loss and separation: be a collector of experiences

Isabel Allende is one of my favourite writers. In November she was given yet another award, honoured by America's National Book Foundation for her distinguished contribution to American letters, the first such award given to a Spanish-language writer. Allende gave an acceptance speech for her award and mentioned how being 'chronically uprooted' has inspired her creativity. Themes of 'nostalgia, loss and separation' can be found in all of her books and also define her writing ...