This is my final article in the Starting to Write series. I wrote the first two articles before I went back to the UK for Christmas as I didn’t want to return at New Year and be rushed. Consequently at the beginning of January I was ahead of myself and feeling smug. The feeling didn’t last. Before long I was e-mailing my weekly articles at the last minute and on one horrible occasion a few days late. During the past eight weeks I’ve learned about timing; writing a prescribed number of words; being consistent and coherent. It’s been a great experience, if rather scary on occasions

What have we done?

The content of the series has been varied and we’ve covered the following topics:
Characterisation
Mini sagas
Plotting
Haiku
Sonnets
 
We’ve also used list writing, artist’s dates, colour, music and the Morning Pages as stimuli. And we’ve touched on the infrastructure of writing by looking at why we write, where we write, how to store our work and how to promote ourselves through readings and competitions.
The nature of the column, no more than 800 words once a week, has demanded a light touch. My aim has been to provide a taster as an introduction to creative writing. Now is not the time to deviate from that aim – instead let’s look at extending what should by now be a familiar topic: the Morning Pages. By this time, you may have lots of material that you can mine for themes. Read through your pages and, armed with two coloured pens, highlight any special insights with one colour and any actions you need to take with the other. Don’t be judgemental about your writing or yourself. Some pages may seem boring while others may surprise you with their resolutions or conclusions. Make a note of the parts that still fascinate you as they could provide fuel for future writing.

To read or not to read?

During this series I’ve mentioned Julia Cameron a lot. Today I’m going to mention her once more in the context of reading. In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia sets a task each week for 12 weeks. One of the most difficult weeks for me was when she banned reading. It’s amazing how much time is freed up by not reading. Flicking through newspapers, magazines and reference books on gardening, building and other topics takes a lot of the day. Add to that time spent reading a novel, the backs of sauce bottles or food jars as well as the internet and e-mail. When I stopped reading I found there were many more hours available to write. Try it for one day and see if your writing output increases.

Writers’ groups

I wonder if any of you have started attending a writers’ group yet? The VT group is still going strong. Some weeks I wonder if I can spare the time but I always make the effort and am rewarded by the stimulation provided from being with like-minded people. One of the exercises we did this week is shown below. You might like to try it.

Exercise

Think of a person. They can be imaginary, a historical figure or someone you know and answer the following questions:
If this person was a car/ an animal/a colour/ a time of day/ a film/ a piece of furniture/ a meal/ a flower what would they be?
When finished, describe yourself using the same questions.

I was upset to find that I described someone I know as a BMW car and myself as a Nissan Micra! Not that there’s anything wrong with Nissans, they just don’t have the same cachet as beamers.

Use your answers to create a short poem. You never know, it may be the future winner of The Sofia Echo Poetry Competition! See details below.
For me, writing is a mixed blessing. It’s something I want to do but don’t find easy. I have to work at it. However, on those occasions when I choose a word that truly expresses what I feel, the sensation is incomparable. Thanks for reading the Starting to Write articles. I’ve enjoyed writing them. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them.

The Sofia Echo Poetry Competition

If this column has motivated you to write, you might consider entering the Sofia Echo Poetry competition. Send a poem of no more than 40 lines to features@sofiaecho.com by March 20 2008. The competition will be judged by the poet Kapka Kassabova and the top two poems will be printed in this space in the Sofia Echo.

[www.kapka-kassabova.com]

The VT Writers’ Group meets weekly at the  Veliko Arts Centre, 36 Ivan Vazov Str, Veliko Turnovo.

For more information, call Eileen Sutherland on 089/ 989 64 42.