Write what you know...or not

Seeing Marina Abramovic's 512 Hours

Many creative writing experts/books tell you to "write what you know!" Seems a logical idea doesn't it at face value anyway. But if you unpack it and think about it seriously, it is really quite limiting because how much do you actually know and how interesting would it really be to another person? To be honest if people had only written what they knew a lot of the best books would never have been written. For example, if J K Rowling had written only what she knew could she have written the fabulous Harry Potter series that purportedly got so many children back into reading? My glorious nemesis and friend Foucault says there is no point writing anything unless the author is going to learn something. Well you're not going to do that if you already know it and I have to say I agree with him With all four novels that I have written so far I have learnt something new from the research I have undertaken, whether it was from sleeping on the streets, visiting drug rehabilitation centres or doing all the incredible research with horses or looking into the past for my latest WIP.

So let's be real and take that phrase for a walk and expand it a bit just like Cec Murphy suggests by saying 'write what you know, write what you want to know more about; write what you're afraid to write.' Now to me that seems far more sensible and reflects what we really do. It challenges you as the writer to expand your ideas and actually gives you so many options to write what you want. Now more recently I came across another idea which was once again a variation on a theme and that was 'writing what you feel.' Another interesting idea which seemed to open out all sorts of possibilities.

However, what they all seem to forget to mention is one vital factor. Not once do they mention story. And to me that seems quite a crucial element. It doesn't matter what you don't know, do know, want to know or even how much research you've you done if you have no story, nothing will really happen. Get that story first and then think about what you do or don't know. Be open to respond to where the story takes you.

The photograph is an example of being willing to respond to the story. 512 Hours was Marina Abramovic's durational performance in 2014 at the Serpentine Gallery. You went in and had to leave everything outside, bags, watches, phones. Inside you were given headphones so you could hear no noise and were taken in to the rooms. Nobody spoke unless you were the priviledge few that MA spoke to (yes I was one she had a couple of conversations with moments I will treasure) There were some chairs and benches in some rooms. In one room you could separate black rice from white rice and count it. MA would walk amongst the people occasionally taking people's hands and placing them at various places in the room. Sometimes even making them face a wall. At other times walking up and down with them.Always in silence. I had read about the exhibition. I knew what to expect. Or put it another way, (and this is slightly tenuous but trust me you'll see what I mean ) 'I'd write what I know' but actually when I was in the room and I opened my eyes and took in everything, I started to open my mind, I stopped just knowing and started being. The stories then began to flow. In other words, for me, writing what you know is not enough, if that makes sense.

 Just because it is 9 o'clock on a Saturday...

Write What You Know...Really?

A child's shoe found at Auschwitz
Seen at the Museum of Peace, Caen

Write what you know is something you often hear being told to aspiring writers. But I believe if writers wrote only what they knew we would have a very limited number of books, which are likely to be very boring. For example did JK Rowling attend a school for wizards? Did Stephenie Meyers have an intimate knowledge of Vampires? Of course not, what could be argued is that JK knew about school stories and Meyers knew Dracula. There are many others I could list too but that is not the point of this post.

My dearly beloved nemesis Foucault suggests that it isn't worth writing a book unless it teaches the author something. This I can empathise with. All the novels I have written so far have taught me something. Even subjects I thought I knew inside out I have learnt more while researching. Milan Kundera develops this idea further when he states  in his Jerusalem Address: The Noel and Europe that 'great novels are always a little more intelligent than their authors.'  Sounds surprising and unlikely doesn't it? I have a very lively group of second years with whom I had a very interesting debate about this comment yesterday. I suggested that perhaps it could mean that as novelists we make our stories more intelligent by leaving questions on the page (yes a Blanchot idea that I have previously mentioned) for the reader to answer because as writers we should withdraw from the text and leave it as 'witness not authority' (Foucault). The moment we step into the realms of it being an authority means a story is going to be didactic, which will cause the reader, more than likely, to switch off. I believe a book should be a challenge to write and you leave, having written the story, knowing more than you did before, something the reader should also experience.

I know that all sounded a bit highfalutin didn't it? what I suppose I really mean is that whatever you are writing you must make sure you write the best you can and that you research your piece. I marked an historical piece recently that had a phone call in the middle of it. The piece was set about 30 years before the phone was even invented. It is slips like that that can really destroy a piece for the reader. They stop 'suspending disbelief' as they start thinking if that's wrong what else is. Research is so important. The photo above comes from a trip to Caen that I took while researching my PhD novel. Little did I know then that some of that research and, in particular, the visit to the Museum of Peace, would be so useful for my latest novel. I love doing research but am also aware that you have to know when to stop. I have known several people who were so busy researching every detail of their story they actually never got round to writing it.

As those of you who follow this blog will know a month ago I typed 'The End' to my latest novel. It has been sitting in a metaphorical drawer. I will be going back to it very soon to add in the light and shade, fill in the colour. Part of that will include the research I have done which will mean I can add tiny details that just add credibility to my story and make it more intelligent than me, while leaving questions on the page for the reader.

What I would suggest is a better recommendation for writers is not necessarily to write what you know but to write what you are interested in. Paul Klee suggests that drawing is taking a line for a walk, I would suggest with writing it is taking your words for a walk. See where they take you, you might be surprised. Have a fun weekend everyone.

This week's sound track is Reel Big Fish with Take On Me. It is a song I very much associate with my sons as this is a band they have been to see many times. There used to be a lot of car singing and dancing to this song many moons ago. They are grown and flown leading very happy lives that is still surrounded by music. I know this would form part of their sound track so it is for them and for their future.

Born to be a writer?

Books - a shining light for a writer

This week JW pointed me in the direction of some interesting pieces of work: Maria Takolander's 'On not being born to write' and Dallas Baker and his critical work. Both of which got me thinking and I  intend to explore more. Here are some of my initial musings which I will develop over time but am currently thinking out loud or 'out blog'!

How many times have you heard that saying 'I was born to write' - numerous I imagine. Of course we are born to write because we are all born and with that birth comes the ability to learn to use language. It is up to us how we do that and what we do with that ability afterwards.  What happens to us and our writing often develops out of socio cultural identities not out of genes. Inevitably I find writers are often vociferous readers. One seems to feed the other. The love of reading could be a catalyst which both informs and encourages the aspiring writer to be brave and put pen to paper. I thought Takolander's statement 'good writing comes out of good writing' to be very pertinent.

I have sisters who say to me, 'I don't know how you do it, how do you come up with ideas. I couldn't do it.' But I actually think they probably could given the time, the space and the encouragement to do so. When I say space what I mean is 'head space' not necessarily 'a room of one's own' Woolf style (though I can't deny that does help). Space away from life and all its pressures allowing your brain  time to stop, think and create.

Talking of that space to write, Takolander goes on to discuss creative writing degrees where she highlights how courses often state they cannot teach the art but they can teach the craft. Art as she pointed out is such a loaded term. There is an element of elitism attached to it while the term craft seems more accessible.This begs the question though who decides what is art and what is craft? When does craft become art? I have no answers yet but am working on it.

I have said this before, creative writing degrees are an opportunity to find your voice. Try on others until you get to the one that fits you the best - as per Al Alvarez quote which I know I have used numerous times before. If you are a writer on your own you rarely take risks or dip your toe in different styles of writing. You make a decision about what sort of writer you think you are, often based on your favourite books to read, and only focus on that. Sometimes that can be a big mistake. The number of times my students have come to me and said that they had done 'X' module which they thought they would hate but instead they have fallen in love. Particularly in their first year where they have a chance to explore four genres: fiction, scriptwriting, poetry and creative non fiction. They might have preset ideas about what they will and won't like. It is interesting to watch those ideas being tipped upside down. I did it myself. I had a very set idea what sort of writer I was until I did my degree. It had never occurred to me to write for young adults. Now I can't imagine writing for anyone else. That all happened because I had the opportunity to try the YAF voice on.

Another thought came out of one of the many tangential conversations I have with IC. We were discussing the fact that if you are a musician, a dancer, sportsperson, artist etc you are likely to have spent many years training (often costing thousands in money and time) so that you can become the best you possibly can. Why should this be any different with writers? A creative writing course is certainly a way of undertaking some of that training. There are a myriad to pick from.

Briefly I will touch on Baker who made some fascinating points where he relates creativity and critical reflexivity with the Foucauldian idea of the aesthetics of existence and self-bricolage. A bit like my idea above of your writerly person being created out of your socio cultural moment. It would make this blog too long to explore that here but I will do at some point because I have been doing some work on web of identities and gyres that I would like to relate it to - watch this space.

It has been a long old week and I know it is only Thursday but that should tell you everything. We are heading towards the summer when I can focus more on my own work and make some pretty heavy decisions but hopefully I will have that head space that will allow me to be creatively critical and critically creative.

How about a bit of Cohen?

Morphine Blues!

Still trying to write...

I don't normally take photos of my legs and my laptop but there was a specific reason. A call went out by the Notes from the Slushpile lot of photos of us writing for their 12 Days of Christmas blog....it seemed a good idea at the time. Check it out here: http://networkedblogs.com/Gg1yz

Anyway, in case you hadn't guessed, I have just undergone some surgery and because of the amount of pain I have been taking huge amounts of drugs including morphine. I kept thinking of all those amazing writers who produced incredible stuff whilst consuming vast amounts of laudanum and wondered when my moment was going to come. When were these amazing words going to fall out of my fingers onto the screen? They didn't, they have stayed resolutely buried within my grey matter, which has got greyier by the day.

I have been reading (and rereading as the drugs seem to make taking anything in an impossibility) an essay by Zadie Smith entitled 'Rereading Barthes and Nabokov.'  It is a good essay and I intended to write a highfaluting response - again mega fail on my part - one day I will but not yet. What I did keep getting attracted to was an idea of Milan Kundera's that she mentions: 'Great novels are always a little more intelligent than their authors.'And I believe this is no less the case with children's books when you write them. They should take the author beyond what they know and understand in the same way. My great friend Foucault talks about this too when he says 'it would probably not be worth the trouble of making books if they failed to teach the author something he hadn't known before.' This flies in the face slightly of 'write what you know' but if we only wrote what we knew a lot of books would never have been written - how may of you went to Wizard schools, have ridden on the back of polar bears or have fallen through the back of a wardrobe to find a Narnia....

Writing is in fact all about challenging everyone - not just the writer but the reader too. Taking them to all sorts of new places. Opening the reader's eyes and giving them a chance to dance in new worlds.  The point with children is they often understand far more than they can articulate so the books you write for them need to be a challenge too. 

...and that's as far as I can go with my response to the essay. And my dreams of amazing words dissolved in the morphine blues. Maybe next week will be better I will see the world clearly again and in the meantime something for me to escape into:

Foucault and teaching

Just a few of my Foucault books

'I'm no prophet. My job is making windows where there were once walls.' This quote is attributed to my friend (and nemesis), Michel Foucault. It has not appeared in print but apparently was said by him and overheard by Hubert Dreyfus who then used it in a talk that was heard by Lewis Hyde. He then used it in his book Trickster Makes This World: How Disruption Imagination Creates Culture.(2008) A long winded way of saying I am not positive whether Foucault did say it or not, but it is a quote I find very inspiring particularly when thinking about teaching.

Today is the 1st September and my personal deadline for when I can no longer focus solely on my own work/research, now it is time to start all the planning for next semester. I am hoping that by doing 12 weeks of lesson plans and writing lectures now I will have time to continue with my own work even whilst teaching. Otherwise it is too easy to have the life sucked out of you as the academic whirlwind, that is all encompassing, consumes you then spits you out lifeless and exhausted at the end. Plus there is a new job in a different area to apply for, which if I get will take even more of my time, and a wonderful new project that I am involved in that, excitingly, is right away from academia. Then of course there is the new story idea I have which will need lots of research before I can start it. Lots of positives but all will need my time. Time is such a precious commodity that we rarely appreciate until we have none left.

Oops went off on a tangent there, anyway back to the quote, as I said it made me think of teaching and, no, I am not claiming to be a prophet but I did think that teaching is all about 'creating windows where there were once walls.' Particularly in creative writing where we are giving students the chance to try on and fall in love with different voices. As well as exploring their writing styles and techniques whilst finding out who they are as writers. They learn to hone their craft and knock through their own walls to create those windows on the world which welcome the light in. It is a privilege to watch students develop through their degree and become confident in who they are as writers.

I think this week might also contain a trip to get new pens and pencils and notepads. Who says you have to be a student to experience that bit of excitement? For me it is just another excuse, but so many writers I know are  stationery addicts too - comes with the territory I think.

This seemed appropriate for knocking windows in walls and the forthcoming start of a new semester. Pink Floyd's ' 'Another Brick in the Wall'. Good luck to all teachers and lecturers for the forthcoming onslaught, particularly those of us in Higher Education who are facing our first year of 'those fees'.

Balance #2

I know I wrote about the idea of balance a few weeks ago but this week I came across a wonderful quote by my mate Foucault, which said: 'I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning.' I love this idea, particularly as I am a woman has undergone many changes in my life regarding 'who I am'. I have been a business woman, a wife (which didn't last long), I am still a mother and now a grandmother. I have become an academic but I have always been a writer. Ever since I can remember I wrote stories. Places to escape into probably. Even that has changed, as I spoke about in my post on doing creative writing degrees, I am not the writer I thought I was. I have become a writer of young adult fiction who dabbles in short stories and a bit of poetry.

The fact that I have been a writer for most of my life should tell me something about myself. But it is something I have only just worked out (I can be a bit slow) - I need to write.  This idea was further reinforced when I saw another quote this morning which says 'writing is about being alive.' (Roselle Angwin, Writing the Bright Moment, p.15) You will know from my recent posts that I have some more major rewrites to do but I haven't been able to get to them, work has got in the way. There have been several meetings and conferences. I have pulled together the latest edition of Write4Children  and rewritten an academic book proposal, but none of this has left me time to write what I need to write. My own stuff. During this time I have been having various conversations with Jen Webb and Nicky Schmidt (check out Nicky's blog http://absolutevanilla.blogspot.co.uk/) about feeling disaffected and almost feeling 'poisoned'. And though it feels a physical thing it is not, I need to answer that itch to write and to stop feeling guilty about it. Just go on do it, Ness!

But I don't think this just happens to me. I think if you have a creative bone in your body you have to ensure you  do whatever it is that makes you creative otherwise you lose balance in your life. I can see it in colleagues and good friends. I know so many in academia who are currently struggling with ill health. Often they will have to do a huge amount of academic writing rather than their own. I have watched colleagues and friends become increasingly stressed as they produce the necessary academic 'outputs' which must then be disseminated on a world-wide front and, therefore, suitably REF-able. Those in academia will understand exactly what I mean here. REF means Research Excellence Framework which is the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK universities. The pressure is huge. It is worth noting that often creative outputs do not count! When they are given the chance to take a step back and start doing their own work again there is a noticeable difference, their stress levels reduce and their spirits lift. They start to smile again.

Maybe there is a lesson in this for us all and I know it is one that both Jen and Nicky agree with - it is important to find balance. To create those moments to do your own work. To stop and breathe and remember why you do what you do - for me it is what makes me who I am these days, I write because it makes me feel alive.

Seems appropriate to play one of my favourties: Goyte's 'Somebody That I used to know'

F**king Foucault!

Here is a collection of some of the books I have on Michel Foucault. A man who used to be my nemesis but is beginning to turn into my secret lover as I flirt with his work. I don't think I will ever be able to claim I am an expert on him as I find just as I think I 'get him' the concept slips out of my grasp. Let's hope he doesn't turn back into my nemesis at the final viva! This new 'understanding' has come about due to a very patient friend and an equally patient DoS! I admit I can be very thick at times...

The song below is by Labi Siffre,someone I hadn't thought of for ages until I saw a post by Alan Gibbons on facebook this morning - thank you Alan. The title of the song is 'Something inside so strong' and that is what you need to have when you are doing a PhD. Many may call it madness but you have to have something that drives you towards the end and keeps you going. At times it would have been too easy to give up but there was always that voice from inside that said 'I know I can make it'.

It is a song that I would also like to dedicate to all those who marched against the cuts yesterday and all those throughout the world who are currently fighting to get their voices heard. Stay strong

it is a clear day

I would like to be walking along a beach today because the fog has gone. Everything suddenly has become clear as crystal. Isn't it good when that happens? When all the discordant pieces fall into place making sense of the world...or rather the PhD. And all it took was listening to W H Auden's 'Night Mail':

That sense of rhythm, the undulation of tone....oh and a really useful supervisory meeting. As I said in a previous posting I wasn't sure whether a supervisor should be an editor too but the meeting this morning proved that they can be both. It was a good balance between critical theory, creativity and editing. I left with threads of Foucault's Panoptican and Bakhtin's Carnivalesque forming a web of fiction that will draw any teenager in.I love it when a plan comes together (who said that?)

I got told off for a red gingham cliche so as a foil to that here is a suitably naff but self explantory song lol