Once again, and far faster than I'd imagined it, here we are at the end of the year. As I write, we have another sixteen hours until we'll all be wishing each other a happy New Year.
I find it interesting and funny that because of the calendar we use, we have this arbitrary date that ends one year and starts another, and because of this we feel impelled to look at improving ourselves and making resolutions, many of which we'll have broken within a few days.
In 2015 I intend to do more of the things that make me feel happy, positive, creative and content and less of the things that don't.
By my standards (and they're the ones that count for me), I've had a productive 2014 in writing, which makes me feel good, and I want to keep on feeling that way. I think it's been productive because I set some reasonable goals that also stretched me. I didn't set them at the beginning of the year, but chose a time that worked for me - part-way through November last year, if you're interested!
It felt good to achieve those goals, and feeling good about yourself is a great thing. We need to do it more often. Because I achieved those targets I've made the stretch a bit more this time. I'll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime have a great end of 2014 and happy New Year.
Note: If you're interested in previous posts about goals you can read them here and here.
31 December 2014
22 December 2014
Things I Love About Summer
With just a few days to go until Christmas this may seem like a funny post, but here in the Southern Hemisphere we're enjoying long summer days, and so I thought I'd write down a few of the things I love about summer (in no particular order):
Strawberries (and other summer fruit, but strawberries are my favourite)
Sunshine
Outdoor gatherings with family and friends
Long lingering daylight evenings
Pohutukawa trees in bloom
Ice cream
The luxurious feeling of cruisy days because it's too hot to rush around
Wandering around the house and garden (or beach) barefoot
Out door films/events
Walks on the beach (they're great all through the year but especially in summer)
Sandals
Daisy chains
Driving around with all the car windows open
Reading at the beach or park (reading anywhere to be honest!)
Smell of freshly cut grass, honeysuckle and jasmine
Cool breeze on a hot day
Easy BBQ and salad meals
And lots more.
Last night we went to a carol service being held in a local reserve (park). It was wonderful to sit out on picnic rugs enjoying the sunset and singing together.
Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere takes some getting used to if all you've known is Northern Hemisphere snowy celebrations. At the moment all the windows and doors are open, and it's still hot. I feel a little sorry for the shopping mall Santas dressed in their warm red robes while the rest of us are in t-shirts and shorts.
The schools have just shut down for the long summer break, which means Christmas and New Year holidays tend to stretch well into January as families head off to the beach. We have to wait longer in the evenings to enjoy the Christmas lights and many of the words to traditional Christmas songs don't really make too much sense for Christmas here, but I can handle that as I enjoy summer.
Sunshine
Outdoor gatherings with family and friends
Long lingering daylight evenings
Pohutukawa trees in bloom
Ice cream
The luxurious feeling of cruisy days because it's too hot to rush around
Wandering around the house and garden (or beach) barefoot
Out door films/events
Walks on the beach (they're great all through the year but especially in summer)
Sandals
Daisy chains
Driving around with all the car windows open
Reading at the beach or park (reading anywhere to be honest!)
Smell of freshly cut grass, honeysuckle and jasmine
Cool breeze on a hot day
Easy BBQ and salad meals
And lots more.
Last night we went to a carol service being held in a local reserve (park). It was wonderful to sit out on picnic rugs enjoying the sunset and singing together.
Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere takes some getting used to if all you've known is Northern Hemisphere snowy celebrations. At the moment all the windows and doors are open, and it's still hot. I feel a little sorry for the shopping mall Santas dressed in their warm red robes while the rest of us are in t-shirts and shorts.
The schools have just shut down for the long summer break, which means Christmas and New Year holidays tend to stretch well into January as families head off to the beach. We have to wait longer in the evenings to enjoy the Christmas lights and many of the words to traditional Christmas songs don't really make too much sense for Christmas here, but I can handle that as I enjoy summer.
20 December 2014
The times they are a changin'
At the moment I'm back working in the city in one of the high-rise office blocks. High-rise in Auckland isn't as tall as many other cities, and usually equates to around thirty floors. I'm on a floor halfway up with a great view of the harbour. The building is close to St. Matthews church, and from my window I look out at the top of the tower.
You get a different perspective of the city from that height, and I guess when the church was built in the first few years of the 1900s it would have been one of the tallest buildings in the city. Now, the church is dwarfed by many of the bland office blocks.
The only constant is change, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but change nevertheless.
Language is another of those things that is constantly evolving. Flicking through an Enid Blyton book recently, I was reminded of frocks and sixpences, and a world that no longer existed even when I first marvelled at the Faraway Tree and wanted to go on adventures with the Famous Five.
Text talk and abbreviations seem to be a totally different language, but I remember comments my parents made about my teenage-self and friends and our conversation, and then I think of some of my favourite Shakespeare quotations. It's the same language, but very different.
You get a different perspective of the city from that height, and I guess when the church was built in the first few years of the 1900s it would have been one of the tallest buildings in the city. Now, the church is dwarfed by many of the bland office blocks.
The only constant is change, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but change nevertheless.
Language is another of those things that is constantly evolving. Flicking through an Enid Blyton book recently, I was reminded of frocks and sixpences, and a world that no longer existed even when I first marvelled at the Faraway Tree and wanted to go on adventures with the Famous Five.
Text talk and abbreviations seem to be a totally different language, but I remember comments my parents made about my teenage-self and friends and our conversation, and then I think of some of my favourite Shakespeare quotations. It's the same language, but very different.
16 December 2014
Book Launches and Writing Events
At this time of year most social events seem related to Christmas, but I've been fortunate to have attended two great events over the past few days that had absolutely nothing to do with bearded man in the red suit.
On Thursday evening I had the pleasure of attending a book launch for Vivienne's Blog, written by a good friend and critique buddy. It was a brilliant evening and actress Penny Ashton was in amazing form as she read three extract's from the book. Graham Beattie wrote about the launch and also reviewed Vivienne's Blog.
Several weeks ago, through the NZ Society of Authors, I heard that Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn would be visiting Auckland and would like to meet up with some local writers. Was I interested? Oh yes! I've followed Joanna's blog and podcasts for some time and also have some of her books, and am in awe of her energy and output.
Joanna modestly said she expected to meet up with about five or six people in a coffee shop. Today's event was held in Auckland's Central library and was attended by about 75 people (total guess but it seemed about that number!) Joanna is a lively presenter with a great sense of humour and lots of information and advice on this amazing publishing adventure that soaks up most of my waking hours.
In addition, there was a talk and demonstration by Craig from Booktrack on using their software to add soundtracks and effects to books and short stories. This was fascinating and definitely something I'll be investigating over the Christmas holidays.
Huge thanks to Joanna, Booktrack and Auckland Central Library for a great event. Afterwards there was time for questions and networking - it's amazing the amount of noise that a group of introverted writers can make!
On Thursday evening I had the pleasure of attending a book launch for Vivienne's Blog, written by a good friend and critique buddy. It was a brilliant evening and actress Penny Ashton was in amazing form as she read three extract's from the book. Graham Beattie wrote about the launch and also reviewed Vivienne's Blog.
Several weeks ago, through the NZ Society of Authors, I heard that Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn would be visiting Auckland and would like to meet up with some local writers. Was I interested? Oh yes! I've followed Joanna's blog and podcasts for some time and also have some of her books, and am in awe of her energy and output.
Joanna modestly said she expected to meet up with about five or six people in a coffee shop. Today's event was held in Auckland's Central library and was attended by about 75 people (total guess but it seemed about that number!) Joanna is a lively presenter with a great sense of humour and lots of information and advice on this amazing publishing adventure that soaks up most of my waking hours.
In addition, there was a talk and demonstration by Craig from Booktrack on using their software to add soundtracks and effects to books and short stories. This was fascinating and definitely something I'll be investigating over the Christmas holidays.
Huge thanks to Joanna, Booktrack and Auckland Central Library for a great event. Afterwards there was time for questions and networking - it's amazing the amount of noise that a group of introverted writers can make!
02 December 2014
Recipe for a Dinner Party
A short note to point you in the direction of the lovely Amy Spahn who has written an essay on the style and narration of my short story Recipe for a Dinner Party.
Amy has done an amazing job of making me sound a lot more intelligent than I feel, and for that she earns my heartfelt thanks.
Pop over and take at look at this and many other thought-provoking posts.
Amy has done an amazing job of making me sound a lot more intelligent than I feel, and for that she earns my heartfelt thanks.
Pop over and take at look at this and many other thought-provoking posts.
25 November 2014
Writing Weekend Report
Often the best part of a long-awaited event is the anticipation and excitement before the actual occasion. I’m so thrilled this wasn’t the case for our writing group weekend. We had an amazing time.
Our group has been together for almost five years. In that time one has moved to Australia because of work, and another down to Christchurch. They skype into our critique meetings, and if either are in town for any reason we rearrange or add meeting dates.
Like some others of the group, I hadn’t been to Christchurch since the big earthquakes, and I was interested to see what has happened since then. There were two things that struck me. One was the feeling of space. In the city centre a huge number of buildings were completely destroyed, or so badly damaged they were dangerous. Over time the rubble and buildings have been removed and while there is now building going on there are still many empty lots, hence the feeling of space.
Christchurch is flat, so it’s always been a little difficult to get your bearings, and when we first arrived in the city I wasn’t sure where I was until we came to Cathedral Square. Suddenly everything slotted into place, and I was utterly shocked at the change. Yes, I was expecting it as I’ve read a lot about the work and changes going on and friends had told me their reactions, but nothing quite prepares you for seeing something yourself.
The other aspect you notice is the ingenuity shown by people. We often glibly say that life has to go on, and it does. You need somewhere to live and if your business premises are destroyed you still need to earn money. Much of the city centre and shops were destroyed and in their place is the Container Mall. Amazing!
Really glad to see a bookshop.
After the city centre we visited Sumner and Lyttleton, both badly damaged in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 on our way to Diamond Harbour.
The sightseeing was both sobering as well as fascinating, and we also had an opportunity to talk with each other and catch up on news. In addition the weather was wonderful, a beautifully clear and hot Canterbury day.
This was the amazingly creative view from the house at Diamond Harbour.
Over the weekend we spent time on writing exercises and critiquing our current works in progress. As this was a weekend jaunt, we decided that everyone would have a critique rather than taking it in turn with two or three per meeting.
Our format is to email our extract (usually around 20 pages) to the group one or two weeks prior to the meeting. This means we are able to have a longer piece of work critiqued, and everyone has time to read and note comments before the meeting. However, as we were all having a critique this time, we agreed to a maximum of 5,000 words, which is still about a chapter of a WIP.
The weekend was such a success; we've decided to make it an annual event!
If you are part of a good writing group, I'd certainly recommend this kind of weekend. Here are some of the reasons why:
Our group has been together for almost five years. In that time one has moved to Australia because of work, and another down to Christchurch. They skype into our critique meetings, and if either are in town for any reason we rearrange or add meeting dates.
Like some others of the group, I hadn’t been to Christchurch since the big earthquakes, and I was interested to see what has happened since then. There were two things that struck me. One was the feeling of space. In the city centre a huge number of buildings were completely destroyed, or so badly damaged they were dangerous. Over time the rubble and buildings have been removed and while there is now building going on there are still many empty lots, hence the feeling of space.
Christchurch is flat, so it’s always been a little difficult to get your bearings, and when we first arrived in the city I wasn’t sure where I was until we came to Cathedral Square. Suddenly everything slotted into place, and I was utterly shocked at the change. Yes, I was expecting it as I’ve read a lot about the work and changes going on and friends had told me their reactions, but nothing quite prepares you for seeing something yourself.
The other aspect you notice is the ingenuity shown by people. We often glibly say that life has to go on, and it does. You need somewhere to live and if your business premises are destroyed you still need to earn money. Much of the city centre and shops were destroyed and in their place is the Container Mall. Amazing!
Really glad to see a bookshop.
After the city centre we visited Sumner and Lyttleton, both badly damaged in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 on our way to Diamond Harbour.
The sightseeing was both sobering as well as fascinating, and we also had an opportunity to talk with each other and catch up on news. In addition the weather was wonderful, a beautifully clear and hot Canterbury day.
This was the amazingly creative view from the house at Diamond Harbour.
Over the weekend we spent time on writing exercises and critiquing our current works in progress. As this was a weekend jaunt, we decided that everyone would have a critique rather than taking it in turn with two or three per meeting.
Our format is to email our extract (usually around 20 pages) to the group one or two weeks prior to the meeting. This means we are able to have a longer piece of work critiqued, and everyone has time to read and note comments before the meeting. However, as we were all having a critique this time, we agreed to a maximum of 5,000 words, which is still about a chapter of a WIP.
The weekend was such a success; we've decided to make it an annual event!
If you are part of a good writing group, I'd certainly recommend this kind of weekend. Here are some of the reasons why:
- We were fresher for giving and receiving feedback as we hadn't just finished work and struggled through commuter traffic.
- We did some writing exercises rather than working on current stuff which gave us a different creative outlet.
- It was great to be able to talk about books, writing, publishing, marketing etc. without the other person's eyes glazing over within 30 seconds!
17 November 2014
A Writing Weekend
Today I'm flying down to Christchurch, which in itself makes it an exciting occasion, but the reason for the trip is that I'm spending the next four days with the other members of my writing group. We've been planning our own writing retreat/getaway for some time and it's finally arrived.
As a group we met about five years ago when we joined a writing class run by John Cranna of The Creative Hub. John founded the AUT University Centre for Modern Writing and designed the Masters Level writing course. I'd been considering applying for this course when in 2010 I discovered John had founded The Creative Hub and one of his initial courses was an advanced writing course. I applied to join and after submitting some of my writing, and then an interview with John I was on the course.
We met at the Michael King Writers Centre in Devonport each week for a year. It's a great place to meet with fabulous views over the Hauraki Gulf. John ran the meetings, but we also had some great workshops on specialist subjects by New Zealand writers and publishers.
Some of the notable ones for me was one on dialogue by Roger Hall and an absolute standout by Judith White.
Judith's topic was writing with emotion without it turning into sentimentality or melodrama, and as usual there was a writing exercise to do with the topic. There are a huge range of emotions we could have chosen, but we all wrote about sadness on some level. At the end of each workshop we would share our writing and this one was no exception. It says much about the belief and trust we had in each other that we all shared what we had written even though it was very emotional. I don't think I've ever seen John so worried as he was when he returned towards the end of the workshop and saw that most of us had been crying.
The thing that made the course so special for me were the other eight participants. We write in different styles and genres, but as individuals and a critique group they are incredibly supportive and always give insightful and constructive feedback. Almost five years after that course, we're still together as a writing group and looking forward to spending time together.
As a group we met about five years ago when we joined a writing class run by John Cranna of The Creative Hub. John founded the AUT University Centre for Modern Writing and designed the Masters Level writing course. I'd been considering applying for this course when in 2010 I discovered John had founded The Creative Hub and one of his initial courses was an advanced writing course. I applied to join and after submitting some of my writing, and then an interview with John I was on the course.
We met at the Michael King Writers Centre in Devonport each week for a year. It's a great place to meet with fabulous views over the Hauraki Gulf. John ran the meetings, but we also had some great workshops on specialist subjects by New Zealand writers and publishers.
Some of the notable ones for me was one on dialogue by Roger Hall and an absolute standout by Judith White.
Judith's topic was writing with emotion without it turning into sentimentality or melodrama, and as usual there was a writing exercise to do with the topic. There are a huge range of emotions we could have chosen, but we all wrote about sadness on some level. At the end of each workshop we would share our writing and this one was no exception. It says much about the belief and trust we had in each other that we all shared what we had written even though it was very emotional. I don't think I've ever seen John so worried as he was when he returned towards the end of the workshop and saw that most of us had been crying.
The thing that made the course so special for me were the other eight participants. We write in different styles and genres, but as individuals and a critique group they are incredibly supportive and always give insightful and constructive feedback. Almost five years after that course, we're still together as a writing group and looking forward to spending time together.
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