Washington Green Apples

Saw an interesting announcement of a NAWE course to help new writiers make a career in writing.

It so happens that you have to be a recently qualified Masters or PhD student in Creative Writing from a Scottish university, already be published etc.

Surely if you’ve gotten this far already why would you need this course / workshop!

See http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/events/turning-the-next-page.html to read the full story.

I’ve had to re-examine how I live my life. This means moving toward a more healthy and active way of life. Not only poping pills but eating well, losing weight, and exercising more regularly and for longer – endurance not intensity. I’ve also become more aware of my mortality. i suppose that will happen to most people at some point in their life. It’s that time for me.

What is means to me is taking pleasure in the small things of life; taste, smell, sounds, all the comfy sensual things like the smell of an apple tart baking; the company of friends where all that is needed is to be in their company; no points scoring or arguments, nice to be with them, family and pets. The usual suspects you would most likely say. Nothing unusual there. I would take that as a compliment. It’s always reassuring to be NORMAL. 

But there are some big things that I want to do that I’ve been dancing around talking rather than doing. Now is the time I must do. I wish I had appreciated this sooner before I’ve gotten this sense of panic. Time or the lack of it is my own cattle prod…

It’s in its tenth year of happening and the numbers continue to grow. But what is it about NaNo that attracts so many participants or more importantly from my perspective what attracts me to it?

I sometimes think, given my history of non-completion, that it is an ego issue. I bring baggage to the event and it’s that which distracts me from the idea of merely putting down on paper words. After all is that not the definition, or at least part of the definition of the process of writing. And it’s the distraction of what technology to use and what techniques to do or what genre to embrace. In some ways the success of and the resultant flurry of activity and the overwhelm of advice, problems, lateral distractions like national and regional groups all detract from the essence of writing and that is, writing is a solitary activity, at least that’s what novel writing has been from its inception.
So my idea for this year is to approach NaNo with an ecological mindset and only carrying out a minimal interaction with the site.

Remember, the point of NaNoWriMo is to WRITE A 50,000 WORD NOVEL IN 30 DAYS. It’s not to make buddies, or raise money for charity no matter how laudable that goal might be, nor is it to be in competition with some other group or any other of the myriad possibilities that the web can offer.

You job, should you accept it is to WRITE TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALL OTHER INESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES PERIOD. Leave all the distraction and baggage in an other place.

In spite of what I said in this blog a few months ago about doing Nanowrimo 2009, I NEVER DID IT. I did not start in spite of doing this time an immense amount of prep and outlining. I’ve concluded that novel writing, even long short stories are not for me, at least not for the current time.

I’m more comfortable with poetry and script writing. It’s more fun and rewarding for me so there you go. So Nanowrimo has helped me clarify my thinking on my writing practice and that’s a good thing. Doing what you want rather than what you feel you should.