On Writing
Without Prejudice
I don't write to hurt others, some may be hurt about things that make them uncomfortable but I can't censor my memories by thinking of what others might think. What would be the point???
These are my stories, as I see them, and I try as hard as I can to remember in detail. Some details may be wrong but I play the music from the era and I remember. I don't write it, it writes itself, me, merely the conduit between the past and now. And I have to write it, have to. My brothers David, George, Ian, sister Jackie and Helen and his sister and Mum, sis in laws and nieces and nephews and friends and acquaintances all urging me on. I didn't realise people were reading them, sometimes I dedicate a story to a family member on Facebook, remembering...
I was always a story teller, starting when I was about 6, I was usually the "Reader" at school, the voice off the stage, the narrator, the reader to small children of stories, because I read with inflection in my voice. I loved being the "Story Teller" from afar, I was painfully shy and preferred my own company to that of rowdy kids. I always read in my room, Enid Blyton, Little Woman, What Katy Did, Tom Sawyer, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Billy Bunter, The chimney Sweep, little match girl and my favorite The Wind In The Willows, I lived in my imagination. And I must have started my writing then.
I write about the past to put it behind me first so I can move on to the future and what an exciting future it is. Should be great Grand Mother by next year. all being well. Although I tell everyone I am already a "Great Grandmother" Ha ha, So enjoy the stories, some I will never tell, some I have bled all over the keyboard to write, some retiring to the tissue box as I write. I never write without profound forethought. My biggest goal to convey feeling to the reader. And to tell my story to my Children and grandchildren, the hardest part to do the stories justice.
Stephen King says never come lightly to the blank page. That is probably why I have to wait so long to get back in the writing mode, because I have to take it seriously. Another tip he has is to sit at the same place, every day, ready to write and the muse will show up. It's hard to write with no noise so I load up my favourite songs on youtube and let them play,it helps with the zoning out,
every computer I seem to take out to my unit will not work, unless with time and effort and patience, of which i have none, so i sit in the kitchen of Yvette's house and type at the old dinosaur as the boys call it. It always works but towards the end of the month, like now, slows down. There are teenage boys downloading movies and games etc who are impatient and can't stand it when their computers slow. A 7 year old who likes garfield Games and telling people he loves them on facebook, such an innocent little boy. An almost 3 year old intent on destroying the house and the garden, my unit if he can get in, and anything else within climbing, walking range.
Then there is Cruz, the last of 7 boys, crawling standing up, grinning, cooing, drooling. Yvette has the most gorgeous kids and they want for nothing, mainly because of her. But you have no idea of the logistics of running a family this big. The fathers, two of, one for the oldest 5 and one for the youngest two are largely absent. And that is all i am saying on the subject. It's all too tedious and boring and there is no short term solution so we do it ourselves. just easier that way. We get tired out with all the tooing and frooing, but very Mother does that. its just we have 3 times the 2 kid average, the kids are great and worth it so we don't complain, much.
So I wait till the chaos dies down and then I write. Then with the music and the peace I can recall things as they were and the scents of times past. i can remember Mandalay, Bob's parents farm in Gippsland. The smell of the dairy and warm cows milk and cow shit. the stifling hay stacks and insilage when its been "Cooking', My Mother in Laws roast dinners in the middle of summer with the old convection stove going to heat the hot water and The sunday wrestling on Tv, droning on in the background. And My Father In Law Tiny would be there feinting at the screen and believing it was all legit. And there would be loads of us sitting around the small lino covered kitchen table with edges where if you ran your knife along squiggles of dirt would come out of the gap like tiny worms.
Jackie my sister said today,
"How can you remember all that"
And i reply I don't know, it just happens.
I told her today how i had to write about Lauren first. I had to get that out. her story. Then when I believe I have done it justice I can put it down and get on with something else.
They taught me something beautiful like that at camp Eden. That if you are carrying a burden, like grief or a terminally ill person in your life or whatever battle it is you are facing, that sometimes, it's OK to put the burden down. And just live. The burden will still be there waiting patiently for you to pick it up again, but in the mean time laugh,sing, frolic, enjoy the rich moments of life and savour them. Life is beautiful with all its pains and sorrows and great joys. bless Janette, oh and thanks for the feedback about my blogs, glad I amuse x
I don't write to hurt others, some may be hurt about things that make them uncomfortable but I can't censor my memories by thinking of what others might think. What would be the point???
These are my stories, as I see them, and I try as hard as I can to remember in detail. Some details may be wrong but I play the music from the era and I remember. I don't write it, it writes itself, me, merely the conduit between the past and now. And I have to write it, have to. My brothers David, George, Ian, sister Jackie and Helen and his sister and Mum, sis in laws and nieces and nephews and friends and acquaintances all urging me on. I didn't realise people were reading them, sometimes I dedicate a story to a family member on Facebook, remembering...
I was always a story teller, starting when I was about 6, I was usually the "Reader" at school, the voice off the stage, the narrator, the reader to small children of stories, because I read with inflection in my voice. I loved being the "Story Teller" from afar, I was painfully shy and preferred my own company to that of rowdy kids. I always read in my room, Enid Blyton, Little Woman, What Katy Did, Tom Sawyer, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Billy Bunter, The chimney Sweep, little match girl and my favorite The Wind In The Willows, I lived in my imagination. And I must have started my writing then.
I write about the past to put it behind me first so I can move on to the future and what an exciting future it is. Should be great Grand Mother by next year. all being well. Although I tell everyone I am already a "Great Grandmother" Ha ha, So enjoy the stories, some I will never tell, some I have bled all over the keyboard to write, some retiring to the tissue box as I write. I never write without profound forethought. My biggest goal to convey feeling to the reader. And to tell my story to my Children and grandchildren, the hardest part to do the stories justice.
Stephen King says never come lightly to the blank page. That is probably why I have to wait so long to get back in the writing mode, because I have to take it seriously. Another tip he has is to sit at the same place, every day, ready to write and the muse will show up. It's hard to write with no noise so I load up my favourite songs on youtube and let them play,it helps with the zoning out,
every computer I seem to take out to my unit will not work, unless with time and effort and patience, of which i have none, so i sit in the kitchen of Yvette's house and type at the old dinosaur as the boys call it. It always works but towards the end of the month, like now, slows down. There are teenage boys downloading movies and games etc who are impatient and can't stand it when their computers slow. A 7 year old who likes garfield Games and telling people he loves them on facebook, such an innocent little boy. An almost 3 year old intent on destroying the house and the garden, my unit if he can get in, and anything else within climbing, walking range.
Then there is Cruz, the last of 7 boys, crawling standing up, grinning, cooing, drooling. Yvette has the most gorgeous kids and they want for nothing, mainly because of her. But you have no idea of the logistics of running a family this big. The fathers, two of, one for the oldest 5 and one for the youngest two are largely absent. And that is all i am saying on the subject. It's all too tedious and boring and there is no short term solution so we do it ourselves. just easier that way. We get tired out with all the tooing and frooing, but very Mother does that. its just we have 3 times the 2 kid average, the kids are great and worth it so we don't complain, much.
So I wait till the chaos dies down and then I write. Then with the music and the peace I can recall things as they were and the scents of times past. i can remember Mandalay, Bob's parents farm in Gippsland. The smell of the dairy and warm cows milk and cow shit. the stifling hay stacks and insilage when its been "Cooking', My Mother in Laws roast dinners in the middle of summer with the old convection stove going to heat the hot water and The sunday wrestling on Tv, droning on in the background. And My Father In Law Tiny would be there feinting at the screen and believing it was all legit. And there would be loads of us sitting around the small lino covered kitchen table with edges where if you ran your knife along squiggles of dirt would come out of the gap like tiny worms.
Jackie my sister said today,
"How can you remember all that"
And i reply I don't know, it just happens.
I told her today how i had to write about Lauren first. I had to get that out. her story. Then when I believe I have done it justice I can put it down and get on with something else.
They taught me something beautiful like that at camp Eden. That if you are carrying a burden, like grief or a terminally ill person in your life or whatever battle it is you are facing, that sometimes, it's OK to put the burden down. And just live. The burden will still be there waiting patiently for you to pick it up again, but in the mean time laugh,sing, frolic, enjoy the rich moments of life and savour them. Life is beautiful with all its pains and sorrows and great joys. bless Janette, oh and thanks for the feedback about my blogs, glad I amuse x
