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.
Sunday, 6 September 2015
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...
Monday, 31 August 2015
Writers Dinner
Dear Blog,
Imagine you are one of the first guests at a dinner, your two greatest passions are combined and in front on you; writing and food. Excitement bubbles and your tummy grumbles and your new friend sits next to you, nerves bounce from you to her and then back again and then someone you were discussing earlier that day, Susan Green sits across you at the table. A writer, a real writer, one with published books, well known books in Australia and she asks you who you are and you say a student and her face drops. She quickly changes it and smiles, you return a hopeful sappy smile, it's ok you may just be a student, but someone you admire is sitting across you. It makes your heart pound.
Well blog, this was the beginning of the writers dinner for me. And yeah maybe on the inside I was a nervous wreck, but on the outside I was excited. I was in this room with all these writers and also a nice meal was involved. I love nice meals! I also met a couple of other writers that night, Andrew Cranner and Hazel Edwards.
Hazel Edwards was a writer that intrigued me, one thing I learned from her was that she was not shy, I didn't ask her a single question but she seemed to answer all the questions in my head. I had heard of F2M, her novel but had no idea how she wrote such a work, it was only from listening to her that I understood how she personally knew someone who went through a transition like that. Something I learnt from her was how much researched it involved in writing a novel, I mean Hazel has gone to Antarctica just for writing. It shows the passion and the love for her career, for her life. It is truly inspirational.
Anyway that's all for now.
Imagine you are one of the first guests at a dinner, your two greatest passions are combined and in front on you; writing and food. Excitement bubbles and your tummy grumbles and your new friend sits next to you, nerves bounce from you to her and then back again and then someone you were discussing earlier that day, Susan Green sits across you at the table. A writer, a real writer, one with published books, well known books in Australia and she asks you who you are and you say a student and her face drops. She quickly changes it and smiles, you return a hopeful sappy smile, it's ok you may just be a student, but someone you admire is sitting across you. It makes your heart pound.
Well blog, this was the beginning of the writers dinner for me. And yeah maybe on the inside I was a nervous wreck, but on the outside I was excited. I was in this room with all these writers and also a nice meal was involved. I love nice meals! I also met a couple of other writers that night, Andrew Cranner and Hazel Edwards.
Hazel Edwards was a writer that intrigued me, one thing I learned from her was that she was not shy, I didn't ask her a single question but she seemed to answer all the questions in my head. I had heard of F2M, her novel but had no idea how she wrote such a work, it was only from listening to her that I understood how she personally knew someone who went through a transition like that. Something I learnt from her was how much researched it involved in writing a novel, I mean Hazel has gone to Antarctica just for writing. It shows the passion and the love for her career, for her life. It is truly inspirational.
Anyway that's all for now.
Thursday, 6 August 2015
Writers in Action
Dear Blog,
I have enrolled into this writers in action class that takes place in Bendigo as my last subject for uni. In this class I go around the Bendigo writers fest and pretty much get lost in a world of writing. I felt pretty lost today, and overwhelmed. I made a friend though, which was nice and in general country people are nice so thats good. Anyway....technically I arrived late last night, Aki dropped and after a nice Indian meal at a fancy restaurant it was good bye fiance and hello Bendigo.
The morning was hectic and I ended up in the wrong Latrobe. I ended up running waaaaaay late and took a taxi to class. I made it on time and was already daunted by the next few days.
The course seems interesting, but there are so many writers and authors I know nothing about, I'm scared of falling behind because I haven't heard of all these people before. However it also means I'm less starstruck and more just intrigued.
I went to the author dinner at night but more about that next entry because honestly, i'm so tired from the whole day. Learning is hurting my brain. It's like growing pains, it sucks at the time but in the end its got a pretty nice result, my mind is having growing pains.
Anyway, goodnight.
Rasphal
I have enrolled into this writers in action class that takes place in Bendigo as my last subject for uni. In this class I go around the Bendigo writers fest and pretty much get lost in a world of writing. I felt pretty lost today, and overwhelmed. I made a friend though, which was nice and in general country people are nice so thats good. Anyway....technically I arrived late last night, Aki dropped and after a nice Indian meal at a fancy restaurant it was good bye fiance and hello Bendigo.
The morning was hectic and I ended up in the wrong Latrobe. I ended up running waaaaaay late and took a taxi to class. I made it on time and was already daunted by the next few days.
The course seems interesting, but there are so many writers and authors I know nothing about, I'm scared of falling behind because I haven't heard of all these people before. However it also means I'm less starstruck and more just intrigued.
I went to the author dinner at night but more about that next entry because honestly, i'm so tired from the whole day. Learning is hurting my brain. It's like growing pains, it sucks at the time but in the end its got a pretty nice result, my mind is having growing pains.
Anyway, goodnight.
Rasphal
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