Lately...

Well lately everything has changed, but once I've established a routine I can pick out the things that matter most to me and one of those 'things' is writing.

So my new verse novel 'Foot prints on the Moon' has been undergoing lots of re-writing, cuts with polish, until the main character Sharnie, is truly the focus.  This novel has a multitude of themes but now with some wonderful suggestions from my publisher and editor the story line is tighter.  A bit tricky with a verse novel as there is a fine balance between the poetry and the narrative.

But the subject matter and the time frame demand a poetic touch, an extra dimension as the story unfolds.


What else have I been doing?  Going through very, very old journals- my first writing journals as a teenager and scanning or feeding to the compost bin.

A surprise is that some themes then are the themes I still embrace now.  And look at the wonderful covers of my journals- I have saved them and will re-use maybe as junk journals which I am itching to try.

Writing still matters greatly to me and its the humming line, the breathing line, the joyous line through each day.

What matters to you at this Covid-19 time?

Writing by the river

What a great request from Meg Doller to take poetry workshops across the age ranges to inspire an affinity an appreciation of the Campaspe river at Elmore!

So I took three age groups- prep to year 1 and even two four year olds through a rhythmic two word poem looking at different sensory surrounds of the river itself.  When I talked about the title for the poem one girl said 'Done!' and that became the title- very creative!

It was a windy day but perfect for writing.  Along the banks are the evidence of a wet winter and spring with plenty of grasses and plenty of seed heads for the children to really look at.

I liked to think of our writing as a slow savouring of all the nature around us- something we don't stop to appreciate enough and poetry is the perfect vehicle for this.

Well done to Meg for organising and to everyone who came and wrote!

So it's a 'Finish' word for this year...

I've seen a few blog posts at the start of the New Year all about focusing on one word and for me when I reviewed where I am with my writing and other creative passions, I realised that my word is to 'Finish'.  To actually cross that finishing line and say I completed that story, that sewing project, pushed that idea to its final conclusion...

So the tally so far is an historical novel completed and yesterday submitted to my publisher, working on a fantasy novel I started um... three or four years ago, but this is a hard slog.  As a poet my work is mainly short and succinct, so turning to a work that requires 30,000 and 40,000 words is a major test.
Wish me well.

As well my first Aussie Nibble has been translated into Chinese and I am beginning the publicity for my new book.

Here is a link to a post I wrote about the back story to 'Celebrating Australia, a year in poetry.'
Always good to reflect on the journey and know that through many twists, turns, roadworks and detours a finish line is acheivable.

Benefits of tidying files and a book fair

Over Easter I have been tackling a huge mound of papers and files- kept from many years of sending poetry out to literary journals, teaching notes and ideas…

It's been huge and dusty, tiring and sometimes exciting few days.  But one idea came to me as I looked at snippets of poems typed from my farming years.  They had an essence which could be distilled and made anew.  A type of poetry refashioning.

I simply cut out the poem, pasted into my writing book, took what were the key words to me and the idea and re-wrote.  I've done this with several poems now and have an idea of where to submit them.

Other treasure has been an editor's comments on a rejection slip- enough to inspire me to find that manuscript and re-work.

And the books found at my annual trek to the Bendigo book fair as part of the Easter festival… well I didn't have much success in the children's section, but found some great books I can use for my workshops and always a bit of nostalgia.

Who can resist the second in the series of the Magic Eye?  Not me and the wonderful book whose author is remembered in the Eve Pownall category of the CBCA wards.

Treasure indeed.

Poem tally

I've had a busy half year writing new poems. My next collection due out in April 2013 is full of new unpublished work.  I've tried for heartfelt, original imagery- some poems have taken a long road to become a polished piece, others have just needed a pen to record as they unfolded on the page.

I still have one or two to create but nearly done- over 60 new poems.  But as always once I begin writing, re-writing I am amazed at what comes.  That is the intangible  tingle of creating.

First drafts, journalling, notes,

Lately I've been working on my new poetry collection and to kick start the base load of 50 poems, I've been snatching my old journals off the book shelf and flicking pages, seeing if lines or ideas jump up at me.

Every time I do this I make a mental note to write more in my current journal- I can't believe the little gems just waiting to be discovered again.  Of course not everything I write has a future in permanent ink, but its the cardiac workout to something in the near future which might attain that dizzy height.

I also read collections of poems for children/adults/text books on poetry and try my hand at different styles of writing also.  But there is nothing like observation, being outside allowing one's senses to be open to the palette of micro and macro happenings that make up a day.

Lately I've even collected little gifts to record in my journal.  And yes there is a poem attached to it- but that one is currently on my editor's desk.

There is no substitute for sitting and writing- it's the delectable surprise that comes, the joy of seeing the world in a tiny shard.   How do you garner ideas?

Writing in London

I've had rest time today- time to write 1250 words of that fantasy- its been rewritten, revisited, reshaped for the last three years.  Now after my May Gibbs residency, I've ditched the latest 20,000 words and just taken the secondary character and the most exciting elements of that fantasy to begin again.

The Victoria and Albert museum gave me further inspiration, confirmed, re-fired the ideas that had been smouldering.  Still nothing is wasted- my secondary character is now the main character and one minor character so far has made his re-appearance. 

notebooks

I have a new collection of poems due out in August this year with Walker.  Now this is where my note books come into their own- they put me back on our farm, back into unusual situations that only happen on a farm.

I've been trawling some note books, amazed by  the strength of some jottings- jottings that maybe when I wrote them I didn't realize their value- concrete details recreated for a non- farming sector.  I wish I'd written more, more.  But hang on- I had six young kids then, a farm, community commitments, a big garden to feed us, calves to feed, a husband to help and a long distance to travel to shops, services.

But the funny thing, is I found time to write at the busiest time of my life.  Every day, several poems, entries- now?  Hmm, not so.  But then nothing is wasted.  The training I did then has stood me in good stead.  This morning I have just written three poems based on specific memories and photos.   A farm life makes one explore and value the surpring minute gems of life.  It counterbalances the isolation, the loneliness.

well crafted

I am a hoarder- it is a problem, but it's also a delight. Take for example this hand knitted ball- my grandmother always knitted gifts- I had baby clothes and toys in storage for my grandchildren. Now they are happening- up to three, a fourth one arriving in January. But this ball I wanted to give to one of my daughters but the yellow wool had rotted away- I reknitted the section and discovered little pieces of yarn as the stuffing inside. It's back to new, with a bell inside and working- I love the creativity that my grandmother has passed on- it survives in all the craft I love to tinker with and the creative solutions to my writing- hoarding scraps of memory to be sewn into a new manuscript.

what a hill

There is something about trees, hills, grass, parrots. Very conducive to writing, relaxing, dreaming, surely all ingredients of a writer's tool kit. New settings help towards writing momentum also- here's a glimpse of what Adelaide has to offer.

How to write a poem

Drop Tail Lizard


Drop tail lizard
on the grey leaves
and grey bark
garden mulch,
swimming like a sardine
like a tadpole
silver pin with a jeweled eye.
Tells me the day is warmer,
summer that much closer

until that white cat running
running with a small under belly and back legs
of lizard humming
from its hunter's throat.

Drop
it
cat.

© Lorraine Marwood


Idea for writing a poem

Using a poem as a format or starting point for writing a class poem or an individual poem is a great idea.

'Drop tail Lizard' is just such a starting point.

A poem is often a simple observation of life, a detailed observation. A poet looks and mulls and captures such a detail in a word picture.

So grab a word camera and observe.
Look outside.
Watch a car, a neighbour, a tree, a bird, the clouds, the way the dog chases a squeaky toy.
Now you have your subject matter – here's a simple format.

Line 1 Name the object of the poem- use my poem as a template

Line 2 and 3 Bring in location or setting ' on the grey leaves/grey bark/garden mulch'

Line 4 and 5 action that the object is doing

Line 6 and 7 Tells us something about the world around me

Line 8 and 9 now for the conflict- what happens to upset this slice of life?

Line 10 and 11- make the last words of resolution have more impact by sitting one word on one line, like stepping stones.

(c) Lorraine Marwood