Dear Blog,
I only bought one book from the entire writers festival and that was Alice Pung's "Unpolished Gem". I bought the book because she stood out for me. I didn't realised how much I related to Alice till I heard her speak. She was humble and gentle and came from a world that I understood. In her session "Culture, Class and Conflict" I finally connected with one of the authors in a way I never had before. I am an Indian Australian and my life here was very different from the Australian friends I have, from the simple things to taking my shoes off in the house to the more complicated situations where I had to explain to my parents in my teenage years that it is ok for me to go out at night, that boys were not going to attack me from every corner and that my best friend Patrick, despite being a boy did not want to have sex with me and defile my body. Alice explores this culture of being Australian as it says so on your passport and by your accent yet also looking different, having a rich overseas cultural background and being from a foreign world. She explores the topic of class which I think many Australians think of as a dirty word. Many Australians believe that we live in a classless society but I know thats not true. As soon as I learnt what class was I soon figured out that I was in the middle class. My parents both had relatively good jobs but there was nothing about us that was exceedingly wealthy and that after my parents divorce my mum struggled financially.
Alice had a few good pointers about this, something that I could connect to. She said that you are not your job and you are not your status. At the moment I am unemployed, this doesn't mean I am lowly junkie rather just looking for a new job, something invigorating.
After her session I went to go get my book signed by her and for the first time had a question for an author. I thought "Rasphal, you have finally been totally and utterly inspired by someone. Say something, anything to them and then take away their words and keep it with you." I walked up to her my nerves reeking through my body. As I spoke I felt myself settle, she looked so nice. Her smile was warm and rose gently on her face. I can't remember the niceties I stuttered out but then I gazed at her and said "I want to write a memoir and I was wondering if there was any advice you had for me?"
"You're interested in memoir?"
"Yes,"
"Well then the advice I have for you is that it's not necessary to start at the beginning, write where you feel the story is. You can start at the end if you want and figure out the beginning later."
"Yeah, I've actually had trouble with that, I get stuck in the middle,"I said
"Yeah, just write down a whole bunch of stories and put them together later." She said.
Since getting back to Melbourne I have taken Alice's words with me and started on my bits and pieces memoir, writing when I can and what I can. Skipping the memories that didn't mean much and drawing on the ones that changed me, that made me who I am.
Sunday, 6 September 2015
Storyblasting
Dear Blog,
Storyblasting was a session that involved high school kids reading out their stories and it was then expertly critiqued by writers, Hazel Edwards and Adam Wallace. However they settled into the roles of bad cop and good cop quite quickly. Wallace being much gentler on the students and using the sentence "I like the imagery" over and over again. Yet I had to admit that I was little jealous, I wish that when I was in high school that I had such awesome authors helping me out with my work.
"Imagine you're painting it with words," Hazel Edwards says to one of the students, they stand there holding their work tightly in their hands, their fingers probably sweaty with nerves, gripping on to so not to let it fall. They are all excited, but you can see the nerves in their faces as they get up and stumble upon their title and then realise through the bright lights the can't see the crowd, their confidence rises. The proudly pour through their story, some of the kids hardly pause for a breath, racing to get off the stage not wanting to be the centre of attention any longer. Some of the kids don't mind the spot light though, relishing in their moment of glory, pausing at all the right places and reading effortlessly. These are the stories the audience enjoys more, we smile and clap at the kids. They are brave, braver then some of us could ever be. As they receive their praise from their mentors, I wonder about my own stories, where they need improvement and who could advise me. It seemed unlikely that I would be able to kidnap either Adam or Hazel and force the to read all my work. I guess I had to trust, trust myself that whatever work I did, after all the planning, writing and editing that it would be ok. I had to believe in myself like how these kids believed in themselves, knowing that once the audience clapped and you took your bow that it would be ok.
Storyblasting was a session that involved high school kids reading out their stories and it was then expertly critiqued by writers, Hazel Edwards and Adam Wallace. However they settled into the roles of bad cop and good cop quite quickly. Wallace being much gentler on the students and using the sentence "I like the imagery" over and over again. Yet I had to admit that I was little jealous, I wish that when I was in high school that I had such awesome authors helping me out with my work.
"Imagine you're painting it with words," Hazel Edwards says to one of the students, they stand there holding their work tightly in their hands, their fingers probably sweaty with nerves, gripping on to so not to let it fall. They are all excited, but you can see the nerves in their faces as they get up and stumble upon their title and then realise through the bright lights the can't see the crowd, their confidence rises. The proudly pour through their story, some of the kids hardly pause for a breath, racing to get off the stage not wanting to be the centre of attention any longer. Some of the kids don't mind the spot light though, relishing in their moment of glory, pausing at all the right places and reading effortlessly. These are the stories the audience enjoys more, we smile and clap at the kids. They are brave, braver then some of us could ever be. As they receive their praise from their mentors, I wonder about my own stories, where they need improvement and who could advise me. It seemed unlikely that I would be able to kidnap either Adam or Hazel and force the to read all my work. I guess I had to trust, trust myself that whatever work I did, after all the planning, writing and editing that it would be ok. I had to believe in myself like how these kids believed in themselves, knowing that once the audience clapped and you took your bow that it would be ok.
The Road From Ignorance
Dear Blog,
"Every character starts off with ignorance and then gains wisdom. We are all born at this station called ignorance but we don't have to stay there, it should be a crime to stay there." -John Marsden saying what many people would say was the quote of the festival. I even saw a drawing of this quote.
It reminds me of my life, of any life I guess, a characters life. In the "Tomorrow" series Ellie is ignorant, she believed she was safe but then grows into a whole new person when Australia is invaded. She learns how to handle herself in a war like situation and leaves ignorance behind. As for myself, no I haven't faced a war but I feel like in certain aspects at least that I have departed from the station of ignorance and have grown, which is why while listening to John Marsden talk I decided then and there that I wanted to write a memoir. Or a story based off many aspects of my life.
It would definitely include my former relationships. If there was anything that was what I known for between friends, my love life or as my title would say: Rasphal's list of dating disasters. Just kidding, I wouldn't name it that but it would include some catastrophic love stories. My first real true grown up love story would be included obviously, the boy who tore me away from ignorance, innocence and showed me what a disastrous romance could be like, as he left me to return back to India. The next love story would be of a guy who looked like him, he introduced me to what it was like to be used. Till him I believed in noble men and love, but he ripped me apart wanting to marry me only for permanent residency in this country torturing me emotionally when I backed out of the relationship and proving to me that not all people in this world were good, I was bound to run into some bad people. The memoir however would end up with my personal growth, a happy ending. It would show that after all the poison ivy I would finally choose to reside with rare flower, my husband, the man I recently married whose spirit was wild and heart kind, whose passion was for life and love true. I fell off the platform of ignorance and nearly got run over by a train, I ran on the tracks exhausted and he picked me up and put me on another platform, one where I learnt from my mistakes and was finally safe.
"Every character starts off with ignorance and then gains wisdom. We are all born at this station called ignorance but we don't have to stay there, it should be a crime to stay there." -John Marsden saying what many people would say was the quote of the festival. I even saw a drawing of this quote.
It reminds me of my life, of any life I guess, a characters life. In the "Tomorrow" series Ellie is ignorant, she believed she was safe but then grows into a whole new person when Australia is invaded. She learns how to handle herself in a war like situation and leaves ignorance behind. As for myself, no I haven't faced a war but I feel like in certain aspects at least that I have departed from the station of ignorance and have grown, which is why while listening to John Marsden talk I decided then and there that I wanted to write a memoir. Or a story based off many aspects of my life.
It would definitely include my former relationships. If there was anything that was what I known for between friends, my love life or as my title would say: Rasphal's list of dating disasters. Just kidding, I wouldn't name it that but it would include some catastrophic love stories. My first real true grown up love story would be included obviously, the boy who tore me away from ignorance, innocence and showed me what a disastrous romance could be like, as he left me to return back to India. The next love story would be of a guy who looked like him, he introduced me to what it was like to be used. Till him I believed in noble men and love, but he ripped me apart wanting to marry me only for permanent residency in this country torturing me emotionally when I backed out of the relationship and proving to me that not all people in this world were good, I was bound to run into some bad people. The memoir however would end up with my personal growth, a happy ending. It would show that after all the poison ivy I would finally choose to reside with rare flower, my husband, the man I recently married whose spirit was wild and heart kind, whose passion was for life and love true. I fell off the platform of ignorance and nearly got run over by a train, I ran on the tracks exhausted and he picked me up and put me on another platform, one where I learnt from my mistakes and was finally safe.
Saturday, 5 September 2015
John Marsden's writing tips
Dear Blog,
By time the third session with John Marsden came along I started to feel my magic star struck fairy dust flicker away and started to think of him more as a teacher. This man was such a successful writer and his most famous and his most well know book "Tomorrow When the War Began" had been turned into a movie, a movie I loved so much, I felt like Ellie was my soul sister. She was a leader and knew how to handle herself and I loved that. Furthermore he was a teacher and I bet he could give teach me a thing or two on writing. And so he did, heres some tips according to John Marsden:
(Note; I just wrote these down they aren't official tips or anything).
1. "The more you write the better you get."
2. The word "yet" is very important.
3. Find the time to write.
4. Don't edit as you go, if it doesn't work for you- find what works for you.
5. A lot of young writers lack detail in their stories- add more detail
6. Find the right amout of dialogue
7. Voice is important for characters; they should all have their individual voice.
8. Whatever is important in real life, is important in the story.
There you have it. The tips I learnt from a writing guru himself. I have more to say on him but that will have to wait.
By time the third session with John Marsden came along I started to feel my magic star struck fairy dust flicker away and started to think of him more as a teacher. This man was such a successful writer and his most famous and his most well know book "Tomorrow When the War Began" had been turned into a movie, a movie I loved so much, I felt like Ellie was my soul sister. She was a leader and knew how to handle herself and I loved that. Furthermore he was a teacher and I bet he could give teach me a thing or two on writing. And so he did, heres some tips according to John Marsden:
(Note; I just wrote these down they aren't official tips or anything).
1. "The more you write the better you get."
2. The word "yet" is very important.
3. Find the time to write.
4. Don't edit as you go, if it doesn't work for you- find what works for you.
5. A lot of young writers lack detail in their stories- add more detail
6. Find the right amout of dialogue
7. Voice is important for characters; they should all have their individual voice.
8. Whatever is important in real life, is important in the story.
There you have it. The tips I learnt from a writing guru himself. I have more to say on him but that will have to wait.
F2M
Dear Blog,
Hazel Edwards was a hot topic of the writers festival. Her novel F2M is a piece of fiction, a coming of age novel about a female who is going through transition to become a male. She based it and pieces of her story from a young man she knew named Ryan. Ryan was a family friend.
This was a recent topic of interest because of the whole Caitlyn Jenner transition. It's funny how because someone is famous their journey is of utter importance, it ticks me off sometimes. However Hazel said something about this that I completely agree with, she said " Some people are incredibly brave but quiet about it," she referred to these people as "the real quiet heroes". I think writing is all about the real quiet heroes. I don't think that heroes have to be super human and have the ability of tackling the whole worlds problems on their own, rather those of us who are brave. Brave enough to be ourselves no matter the outcome.
Hazel went on to say something else that I found inspiring "You have the experience to live the loves of the characters for the length of the book." I don't know why this quote caught me. Maybe because of it's truth behind it or maybe because it was something I never thought. My favourite books of all time would have to be the Harry Potter series. Yes, I am a classic kid, it's what I grew up with, what I can reread and what I love but I never thought I was living their lives. Therefore this adds a whole new layer to my reading, I use to get lost in Harry Potter but now rather than loosing myself to a world I feel like I am happily stepping into it. Maybe I make sense, Maybe I don't.
Hazel Edwards was a hot topic of the writers festival. Her novel F2M is a piece of fiction, a coming of age novel about a female who is going through transition to become a male. She based it and pieces of her story from a young man she knew named Ryan. Ryan was a family friend.
This was a recent topic of interest because of the whole Caitlyn Jenner transition. It's funny how because someone is famous their journey is of utter importance, it ticks me off sometimes. However Hazel said something about this that I completely agree with, she said " Some people are incredibly brave but quiet about it," she referred to these people as "the real quiet heroes". I think writing is all about the real quiet heroes. I don't think that heroes have to be super human and have the ability of tackling the whole worlds problems on their own, rather those of us who are brave. Brave enough to be ourselves no matter the outcome.
Hazel went on to say something else that I found inspiring "You have the experience to live the loves of the characters for the length of the book." I don't know why this quote caught me. Maybe because of it's truth behind it or maybe because it was something I never thought. My favourite books of all time would have to be the Harry Potter series. Yes, I am a classic kid, it's what I grew up with, what I can reread and what I love but I never thought I was living their lives. Therefore this adds a whole new layer to my reading, I use to get lost in Harry Potter but now rather than loosing myself to a world I feel like I am happily stepping into it. Maybe I make sense, Maybe I don't.
My favourite quote
Dear Blog,
It was in my second session that I realised I loved question time. I didn't ask any but I loved hearing what other people had to ask, their voices babbling with excitement, the sound giddy. Children were the most curious and they asked the questions that us adults thought stupid, or childish. Children would wave their hand in the air drastically, from side to side, reaching as high as they could, as if they were attempting to touch the sky and their very lives depended on it. They would leap out of their seats and then touch back down again so not to be told by the teacher to "sit down!" Up and down in this leapfrog moment they would be picked by the hosts of the sessions. Their questions were for the infamous legend of Australian teen literature, John Marsden or the gorgeous, delicate and clever Alice Pung. The microphone would be dropped upon the child like a prize and the child's smile would light up their face, their mind pausing just for an instance so not to sound unintelligent and then they would ask their question, their head held high, straightened stance and shoulders pushed back, confident and proud. " How many pages is a normal book?" I smile, and let out a small patronising giggle into my hand, it was such an innocent and childish question, however Alice was ready to answer. "There's no such thing as a normal book, theres no such thing as how many pages, just enough so the story is told," she said. There it was, the unexpected jaw dropping truth. I wrote it down as quickly as possible as she expanded on the topic. How silly of me to judge a child, its question gave me an answer I was longing to hear. The truth. I had always worried about my writing, about the length, about how long or short it was, but it didn't matter, the words on the page, the word count, that wasn't the point. The point was the story. As long as I was true to the story and told it to the best of my ability then thats all that mattered. Telling the story. Telling my story. It was at that moment, I knew, I can do it. I can fulfil my dream and be a writer!
Friday, 4 September 2015
Dear Blog,
It was like the most enticing game show ever, though pointless as I knew that winner didn't matter and it was more about how we got to know the writers but I had to give points to my lecture Sue Gillett and her partner in crime Sarah Mayor Cox for this idea, it was not what I had expected. There they were six writers all lined up on a couch, some of them so famous that I felt star struck just looking at them, even though I was situated at the back of the Ulumburra theatre. Some of them I hardly knew but they intrigued me just the same. There they were, my eyes were glowing, fixed upon the sight in front of me, there they were talking about Adam Wallace's bum! OK, so this wasn't the entire interview game show thing but it did show the casualness of the conversation. It was a fantastic opening. I was pleasantly surprised. But the intro was obviously just the beginning, is that too much of a captain obvious statement? the real moments of awe happened a bit later during the day...
It was like the most enticing game show ever, though pointless as I knew that winner didn't matter and it was more about how we got to know the writers but I had to give points to my lecture Sue Gillett and her partner in crime Sarah Mayor Cox for this idea, it was not what I had expected. There they were six writers all lined up on a couch, some of them so famous that I felt star struck just looking at them, even though I was situated at the back of the Ulumburra theatre. Some of them I hardly knew but they intrigued me just the same. There they were, my eyes were glowing, fixed upon the sight in front of me, there they were talking about Adam Wallace's bum! OK, so this wasn't the entire interview game show thing but it did show the casualness of the conversation. It was a fantastic opening. I was pleasantly surprised. But the intro was obviously just the beginning, is that too much of a captain obvious statement? the real moments of awe happened a bit later during the day...
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