This is particularly accurate for me right now.
Over the last year I’ve done a hell of a lot on my own. I go to meetings, I’ve set up a business, I’ve networked and gone to meet clients. I’ve taken the train any number of times to other cities to do things that pull me from my comfort zone, force me into other folk’s orbits and then send me hurtling homeward again. This is a big deal for someone who, years past, would have stayed home in the dark rather than going somewhere unaccompanied.
“Never name the well from which you will not drink.”
Don’t tempt fate by saying Never…
Taken from this wonderful book:
I’ve been doing a hell of a lot of studying. Tomorrow is my final presentation for my business course, and Weds is my final presentation for my Uni course. I’ve enjoyed it, to some degree, but I’m really looking forward to it being over, too.
Thanks to my friend Amy Dunne, I was able to attend a lecture I would likely never have considered, with friend and author Andrea Bramhall.
Put on by the BBC, it was part of their Writer’s Room program, where they work with aspiring screen writers. Now, I’m not a script writer in any sense. It’s a genre I’m unfamiliar with, so i thought id learn something new. and all knowledge is worth having, right?
For three hours, with only one fifteen minute break, Phil talked about the elements of story. Because, after all, it’s all about storytelling. He illustrated each of his ten points with a bevy of film and tv clips. (The clip for surprise was particularly surprising). Although I hadn’t expected some of it to apply to my work, nearly all of it did. Story elements of character, arcs, emotion, clarity, coherence and, of course, passion, are relatable no matter what type of storytelling you’re doing.
I always enjoy attending writing lectures and workshops. Not only was this no exception, but it was also incredibly gratifying to hear some of what I spout at the authors I work with. Attending these things ramps up my passion for both writing and editing, passion I can forget about when I’m buried beneath deadlines or have every excuse under the sun not to write.
In May next year, I’ll be leading a writing retreat in Spain, and this lecture was a perfect reminder of the passion I’ll need to bring to it.
So tell me: What is your passion? Why do you do it?
Book: The Dragon Legacy by Ali Vali
Song: Still Into You by Paramore
Words matter. They can hurt or heal, cause joy and pain. They can ring with truth or undermine with lies. They can be cathartic. They can get muddled into a ball of suppressed rage. They can be published for the world to see, or stay in your own personal pages. They matter. And being able to work with them day in and day out makes me lucky indeed.
Today I’m thinking about my dissertation work.
Which is a combination of these two things:
Tomorrow I am going to a year 7/8 class to teach them about creative writing. Getting kids to think about writing as something fun rather than something their teachers force them to do can be a challenge.
So I break out the purple finger:
