Living Life Twice

W hen the Covid Pandemic spread across the world, I began a number of projects as a response to some of the pessimism that arose within my community and beyond. I became inspired by the incredible creativity and resilience that simultaneously arose at this time in various parts of the world. Some great diversionary tactics were called upon to stop a predictable descent into darker places.  I felt a need to act.  I began with an anthology of poems-'The Covid Chronicles' which have become part of an Australia Post time capsule. I shared many of those poems on social media platforms.   The Poet Tree   project commenced in August 2020. I decided to post a poem on a large eucalypt tree in the  Fisherman's Beach Reserve directly behind our house. We are able to access this greened space via a gate. Every day, people walk  along this greened, open area with their dogs, children, friends. The idea was to share a short poem sprinkled with humour and optimism in the hope it would lif

When talking to teachers and the subject turns to writing beyond the classroom, I urge them to encourage students to write beyond those four walls. -Write around the school. Write at home. Encourage young writers to consider their notebooks as travelling companions and write in wild, unfamiliar spaces. Challenge the notion that writing is something we just do at school. For many  years, I have encouraged young writers to try writing in different locations as a way of extending their personal view of writing. Hopefully it broadens not just their options but also their perspectives.  Some writers are fortunate enough to have a space in which they can freely write. Some writers need a special place beofre they can write. They can only write in that space, that particular location.  Some writers need absolute quiet while others embrace noise.   I once read American author, Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in his kitchen. Wolf, a rather tall man chose to write on the top of his refrigerator

  If we purposefully teach student writers the habit of  ‘re-reading’ their writing, we provide them with a powerful tool for improving the quality of their writing. This reading includes, re-reading as they draft,     and re-reading as part of revision. They begin to hear their words as a reader will hear them. It provides powerful feedback. Reading aloud to the walls & windows. When drafting a piece of writing the developing writer is commonly driven by the production of words across the page. The urgency surrounds the act of writing,  so the writer is not necessarily focusing on what the words are ultimately saying. The result is often- too many words or too many ideas. The writing may lack focus.  A decision is required at this point. What exactly do I want my words to say and mean?    It may be difficult to throw away words considered precious. Remember though, each word cut from the text may lead to preserving the energy of the overall piece. The writer should not retain word