Air and light and time and space

I came across this wonderful poem today by Charles Bukowski, a reminder for me that any excuse I find to not write (or create) is not good enough...

AIR AND LIGHT AND TIME AND SPACE

”– you know, I’ve either had a family, a job,

something has always been in the

way

but now

I’ve sold my house, I’ve found this

place, a large studio, you should see the space and

the light.

for the first time in my life I’m going to have

a place and the time to

create.”

no baby, if you’re going to create

you’re going to create whether you work

16 hours a day in a coal mine

or

you’re going to create in a small room with 3 children

while you’re on

welfare,

you’re going to create with part of your mind and your body blown

away,

you’re going to create blind

crippled

demented,

you’re going to create with a cat crawling up your

back while

the whole city trembles in earthquake, bombardment,

flood and fire.

baby, air and light and time and space

have nothing to do with it

and don’t create anything

except maybe a longer life to find

new excuses

for.

My first two Kenyan creative writing workshops

Story Jars

I have finally set the ball rolling and have given my first two sets of creative writing workshops here in Kenya (because really, I can't sit around all my life waiting for my novel to be published, can I.)

Last week I went to a suburb of Nairobi called Kiserian where, in a low-income school, I worked with two separate groups of 9 and 13 year old's who created ideas to go into story jars, brainstorming lots of characters, places and situations which served as the inspiration for stories. This week, I went to a British curriculum school (about 90% non-Kenyan)  and worked with two groups of 7 year old's, using the theme of Halloween to write spooky poems (It is hugely helpful to have a 7 year old myself as I tested my workshop out on her the night before!). I loved both experiences, I really loved them. I feel like I have so many ideas and am very grateful to these two schools for essentially taking a gamble and letting me come in.

It was interesting as well to work in two such different schools because I obviously needed to think hard about subject matter relevancy to the vastly different life experiences of these children. But they all came up with some wonderful writing and now I'm just looking forward to being invited back and, hopefully, for more doors to open into other schools :-)

Kofi Awoonor

Kofi Awoonor

1935-2013

Killed in the Westgate Terrorist Attack, Nairobi

ACROSS A NEW DAWN

Sometimes, we read the

lines in the green leaf

run our fingers over the

smooth of the precious wood

from our ancient trees;

Sometimes, even the sunset

puzzles, as we look

for the lines that propel the clouds,

the colour scheme

with the multiple designs

that the first artist put together

There is dancing in the streets again

the laughter of children rings

through the house

On the seaside, the ruins recent

from the latest storms

remind of ancestral wealth

pillaged purloined pawned

by an unthinking grandfather

who lived the life of a lord

and drove coming generations to

despair and ruin

*

But who says our time is up

that the box maker and the digger

are in conference

or that the preachers have aired their robes

and the choir and the drummers

are in rehearsal?

No; where the worm eats

a grain grows.

the consultant deities

have measured the time

with long winded

arguments of eternity

And death, when he comes

to the door with his own

inimitable calling card

shall find a homestead

resurrected with laughter and dance

and the festival of the meat

of the young lamb and the red porridge

of the new corn

*

We are the celebrants

whose fields were

overrun by rogues

and other bad men who

interrupted our dance

with obscene songs and bad gestures

Someone said an ailing fish

swam up our lagoon

seeking a place to lay its load

in consonance with the Original Plan

Master, if you can be the oarsman

for our boat

please do it, do it.

I asked you before

once upon a shore

at home, where the

seafront has narrowed

to the brief space of childhood

We welcome the travelers

come home on the new boat

fresh from the upright tree

Bloody-minded persistence

'...the most significant difference between a writer and a would-be writer is simple bloody-minded persistence.' Melissa Benn

I've had a surprise full day to myself as the children have gone to a friend's house for the afternoon and I've spent the whole time (apart from writing this blog, of course) re-drafting my novel. Sometimes - actually, quite a lot - I ask myself the question why I am still working on this novel. I first had the idea for it in 2004 - that's nearly ten years ago, and here I still am, slogging over the same story, the same characters, the same words. Am I flogging that figurative dead horse to death? 

There's no real answer to that question, other than the fact that I can't let go of it. It has been rejected by countless, countless agents but despite that, I believe in it. I was very heartened to read an article in the current edition of Mslexia entitled 'Survival of the fittest,' written by writer and journalist Melissa Benn, all about just that: that if you really believe in your work, keep going. Keep re-drafting. Keep learning from rejection. What is wrong with it? How can it be improved?  It's tough, it really is, but I can't believe I won't get there.

Back to school & writing

Back in beautiful Kenya, and september often feels like a time of new beginnings, probably because of all those years of starting a new school year around now. The children go back to school tomorrow and I get my mornings back. I've started to make some enquiries about going in to schools to do creative writing workshops, but it seems it may not be as straight forward as I'd hoped, namely because of the difficulty of getting hold of a work permit and also the relevant head of literacy even agreeing to have a meeting with me. However, I'm not going to be deterred easily. I'll keep pestering until the school secretaries are fed up with me and agree to meet me. And even if nothing comes of it this way, I shall definitely go in to lower income schools and give the workshops voluntarily (am presuming they are less concerned about work permits - hope I'm not wrong there.)

I'm also really enjoying working on a short story I'm going to submit to Mslexia, the theme being 'foreign parts' so no prizes for guessing where my story is set. And, difficult a decision as it's been, I'm going to put my new novel aside for now so I can sort out In the shade of the orange tree and get it ready for e-book publication. Kindle Direct Publishing, here I come!

Morning re-think and Vintage Script

Visiting favourite old haunts in London

Back in England, people have been asking me how I'm getting on with my writing and I've been responding, truthfully, that I'm getting on really well, enjoying my new-found morning time in Nairobi to write. What I'm starting to think, however, is that I may be spreading myself too thinly. I have the whole morning to write, and that is four hours a day more than I had before, but I may be trying to pack too much into the morning (preparing book no.1 to be published as an ebook, writing book no.2 and getting organised to go into schools to do creative writing workshops).

If I'm not careful, this Spanish Civil War novel may drag on for another five years if I'm investing minimum time into it each day. So. This is a tricky decision as the Matala book is gathering steam, but I think I need to put it aside for now and focus on getting 'In the shade of the orange tree' sorted out.

On another note, I was very happy to have a short story called Trafalgar Dusk accepted for a print publication named Vintage Script , a magazine which focuses on historical articles and fiction. You can't read the story online, but click here for a little more info.

Back in Nairobi, I think I need to use my morning hours a little more wisely and get this novel (which I love, but it has dragged on for too long) nailed, once and for all.

How children can help (and not hinder) the creative process

I'm really pleased today to have had an article published by US based writing site Women Writers on creativity and motherhood. Click here to read the article. I meant every single word that I wrote, but I must admit that now with eight weeks of summer holidays and three lively young children to entertain, I am having to employ even more creative means to carve out time for myself and my writing. 

Not long ago, I went to a talk at the school my kids go to, given by a specialist in early years education. One thing in particular that stands out from his talk was when he said that we should never, ever underestimate the importance of getting down on to the floor and really playing with our children. This may sound obvious, but the truth is that there are many times (too many times) that my kids ask me to play with them and I'm 'too busy' making their dinner or cleaning up. Something I am really trying to focus on over these holidays is not being too busy and sitting on the floor with them - and I'm not just talking about five minutes, but proper amounts of time - and really engaging with whatever they're doing. It's harder than it sounds as my mind is too often jumping ahead to what I should be doing next, rather than truly being present with them.

The other thing I am aiming for this summer is that, when I do have a little time for myself - even if it's only five minutes - using that time wisely. I am being helped in this respect by this wonderful book:

The illustrations are stunning and there are a number of mindfulness exercises which help you trust your inner wisdom and deal with stress and difficulties more wisely, compassionately and in many ways, more creatively. I love this quote on the back of the book:

'Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.'

Roger Miller, Singer / Songwriter

Wise words from The Little Prince

'Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.' 

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I love these words from the second page of 'The Little Prince.' This has to be one of my favourite books of all time, a book ostensibly for children but so rich and multi-layered that it's really an adult's book. I love it so much that it's the only book I own in three languages: The Little Prince, Le Petit Prince & El Principito. For the first time last night, my children asked me to read it to them before they went to bed (obviously not the whole thing; it's too long) but I was so delighted that they loved the pictures and the responded to the poetry of its language, asking for more this evening. It just goes to show how many levels this book can be read on and can appeal as much to a five year old as an adult.

Summer on Kindle

                                                        

            Edith Wharton

I've just finished reading a wonderful book called 'Summer' by Edith Wharton. The prose and characters were beautifully drawn and the tragedy of the love story, moving. Here's a little phrase I liked:

'Now and then a lurch of the train flung her against Harney, 

and through her thin muslin she felt the touch of his sleeve.

She steadied herself, their eyes met,

and the flaming breath of the day seemed to enclose them.'

But the big thing for me is that this is the first ever book I read on ...a kindle! I found myself out here in Nairobi without books as my container's not yet arrived. This being a slightly disastrous state of affairs for me, as I always need to be reading, I finally downloaded this free e-book on to my mac. Ok, I couldn't take my mac to bed with me and if I was out and about, I couldn't just pop it into my bag as I would have been able to with a book. But still, it's good to know that next time I find myself book-less (I have since discovered a source of second hand books at one of Nairobi's many matumba's / second hand markets), I can browse through the kindle selection.

Also, it's good for me to start looking at e-books in general, how they are formatted & presented / front covers etc if I'm going to be publishing an e-book. I must admit that I thought I would hate reading online and whilst it wasn't as enjoyable for me as physical book, it definitely didn't detract from the wonderful writing. On that note, I'd highly recommend Wharton's novel to anyone. Her books are always a bit tragic, but the prose is just stunning.

A taste of the next book

I am absolutely loving writing my new novel. The characters and plot are shaping up nicely and this one seems to be more dialogue based so I'm having lots of fun with the conversations. To give you a little visual taster, the novel is mainly set in Crete in both 1967 where young people flocked to live in caves seeking an alternative, utopian lifestyle and then forty years later, in 2007. Unlike the last novel, I have lots of LIVING people to talk to about life there, my mother being one of them! Here's what it looked like back in 1967 (picture taken from the caves):

And here's roughly the same view now:

A present day picture of the caves...

...and four previous cave dwellers reunited last year, in reminiscent mood (my mother is second to left with the hat)