Sunshine and flowers

In 2015, I published a post called Japanese wisdom for writers about an article in a writing magazine that quoted a Japanese saying about the power of quietly repeating the same activity. I have been exploring a number of Japanese concepts, including ikebana, haiku and the concept of ma (more in a future post) so thought it seemed a good time to repost...…...

継続は力なり
Continuance is strength

It got me thinking about how daunting many tasks and projects can seem,  to the extent that we can become so overwhelmed we don't actually start, or give up halfway through.  I've been working on some really big, ambitious projects over the past few years - mostly non-writing related - and this saying really hit home.  Of course, as the author of the article, Robert Paul Weston, points out, feeling overwhelmed can be especially relevant for writers embarking on a novel.  

"Typing that last sentence can feel so far away, you may as well be trying to scratch it out in the sands of Mars. As such, dwelling on that ultimate goal can become an intolerable distraction, perhaps intolerable enough for you to give up. If you believe in this old saying, however, the only thing to do is forget that the end even exists. Just keep going."

A profound insight, and one that we should apply to life itself. 


Article: Japanese Wisdom for Writers by Robert Paul Weston in Writing in Education, issue 65, Spring 2015
http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/wie-editions/articles/japanese-wisdom-for-writers.html
http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/wie-editions/editions/nawe-conference-collection-2014.html

A nice cup of tea

Essential for writing! I like the mantra too!

Trick Riding

Trick Riders

It's that time of the year, when I look back, reflect and then look forward.  In January 2015 I was hopeful - I was a full time writer, and had struggled to make a freelance living for the previous year or so.  (see http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/im-dreaming-of.html.)  By February, I was getting disillusioned, with the VAT changes and Amazon moving the goalposts for authors (again!), making it harder than ever to make a living. So I vowed to write just 3 more pony books to self publish by the end of 2015.  http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-last-pony-books.html

Did I achieve this?  Well, no unless I can write said books within the next 4 days.  So what have I done?  Not much blogging or book marketing.  I've been trying, voluntarily, to fundraise for a big arts project, and put on 2 concerts this year, which was a real learning curve and very tough but worthwhile. What else? I completed my MSc Science Communication and Society, with Merit.  I do love learning new things.  I eventually got another part time job to pay the bills. My 2 short novels, Trick Riders 1 and 2, set in the world of equestrian vaulting, have appeared in print in Norway, Sweden and Finland, and I thoroughly enjoyed researching the topic. I've had fun writing some short stories for Pony magazine, and recently finished a children's novel, Pony on the Trail, which had me researching Western riding and skateboarding, which was also fun. It will be published in summer 2016, in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Maybe I will get to try Western riding in 2016.

So I suppose 2015 has been mostly about learning.  Lots of learning.  Not succeeding in the goals I set myself but achieving other things instead.  And, to my surprise, after becoming disillusioned with my self publishing adventures, I now have a hunger to write those final pony books!  Roll on 2016....

Japanese wisdom for writers

A while back, I came across an article in a writing magazine that quoted a Japanese saying about the power of quietly repeating the same activity. 

継続は力なり
Continuance is strength

It got me thinking about how daunting many tasks and projects can seem,  to the extent that we can become so overwhelmed we don't actually start, or give up halfway through.  I've been working on some really big, ambitious projects over the past few years - mostly non-writing related - and this saying really hit home.  Of course, as the author of the article, Robert Paul Weston, points out, feeling overwhelmed can be especially  relevant for writers embarking on a novel.  

"Typing that last sentence can feel so far away, you may as well be trying to scratch it out in the sands of Mars. As such, dwelling on that ultimate goal can become an intolerable distraction, perhaps intolerable enough for you to give up. If you believe in this old saying, however, the only thing to do is forget that the end even exists. Just keep going."

A profound insight, and one that we should apply to life itself. 


Article: Japanese Wisdom for Writers by Robert Paul Weston in Writing in Education, issue 65, Spring 2015
http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/wie-editions/articles/japanese-wisdom-for-writers.html
http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/wie-editions/editions/nawe-conference-collection-2014.html

Are you a book snob?

In January I posted a blog piece entitled Literary Fiction V Genre Fiction which stimulated lively discussion in various book groups online, so I suspect it is a topic of interest to many writers and readers. 
There's also an interesting post on literary versus genre fiction over at Jane Friedman: http://janefriedman.com/2013/07/11/writing-on-the-ether-98/

So when I came across this post by Matt Haig at the Booktrust, I wanted to share it. Called 30 things to tell a book snob, this is a contentious subject, judging by all the comments on his blog post. What do you think?

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/writing/online-writer-in-residence/blog/558/

Along the same lines, I have just read the blurb for the University of Kent’s Creative Writing Centre and it made me growl!  For example:

“You won’t write mass-market thrillers or children’s fiction on our programmes.”  
Why not?  What’s wrong with children’s fiction?   Or thrillers?  Are they not worthy of study or creation?   

And,  “We don’t want our students to write inside genre and formula but outside, where real art is found.”  Really?  And a definition of real art? 

Click below to get annoyed. http://www.kent.ac.uk/english/research/centres/creative-writing.html

Rant over........for now......

Related posts: 

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/literary-fiction-versus-genre-fiction.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/on-books-and-reading-and-pony-books.html

http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/on-ways-to-read-book.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/reading-bigger-books.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/readers-does-size-matter.html