Living Life Twice

I feel a compelling need to revisit notions of what it means to use a writer’s notebook as a writing tool. Firstly, I understand, not every writer has a notebook in the traditional sense, but many do. I am one of the many. My relationship with writer’s notebooks winds all the way back to September, 1983. Across the intervening years, my notebooks have been various. I have an extensive collections of notebooks. Notebooks documenting my journey as a writer across more than three decades provide a rich paper trail from which I am able to mine some writing wisdom. Mu notebooks have evolved over time with respect to shape, form, and content. However, there are elements of that notebook/writer relationship which have remained consistently unchanged. Each notebook has been sturdy in its design. All my notebooks have had strong spines and hardy covers. Most have had ruled lines, but occasionally I have consciously chosen a new notebook with totally blank pages. I enjoy the variety such...

Some years back, I found myself talking to a group of enthusiastic grade one writers who were keen to commence their writing pieces. As they stood up from the carpet to return to their seats, I realized that the spark of imagination that would fire my own writing ideas, had suddenly snuffed out. The students all seemed fired up and ready to create the miracle of meaningful marks on paper. I felt completely blank and could not conjure up a single thing to write about. I was trying to will my brain into action. Writer’s block had descended upon me like a damp, foggy mist. An unexpected intrusion on my normal rich inner world of ideas. A boy stood beside me at this critical juncture and casually announced, 'I’m going to write about the first time I went fishing on Saturday with my Dad.' 'Oh thank you,' I said with a huge sigh of relief. The bemused child looked at me unsure as to what he had actually done. 'You have just given me a wonderful idea for my writing...

Writers must be readers –avid readers. They must also carry within them an enduring love of words and remain keenly interested in how other writers write as well as noticing what they write. For these reasons I scour book shops for books about writing and writers. It is where I found, ‘Writing The Memoir’ by Judith Barrington. A book which aims to provide a practical guide to the challenges and dilemmas in crafting a writer's own true stories.  In the book, the author makes the point that in order for the reader to care about what you make of your life, there has to be an engaging voice embedded in the writing –a voice that captures a personality and breathes life into the words. The author further states that memoir requires that the reader feels spoken to. A sense that a conversation is taking place becomes central to the success of the writing. This is such pertinent advice for those of us who teach writing.  It is a reminder that voice remains a critical element of...

The Gift of the Ironing Board Because today is the 21 day of March, I allowed myself to wander back in time- way back in time to the year I turned 21.  It was a big year as I recall. It was the year I began teaching. A year of significant change for me personally. I returned home that year after being away at college for my teacher training. Moving home was a re-adjustment too.   My football team, Richmond Tigers won the Premiership by a record margin. Momentous events all. But one other eventful thing occurred the year I turned 21 that has had implications right up until today. As part of my 21st birthday gifts, my parents in their collective wisdom, presented me with an ironing board. Yes, an ironing board. It left me quizzical. Head scratching bemusement was my response. The wisdom that comes with living had clearly not descended upon me at that time.  All my life I had watched my mother ironing for the entire family, myself included. The iron remaine...

Enjoyed the privilege of hearing iconic Australian author, Tim Winton talk about his writing life on Friday. He also discussed the writing of his latest memoir instalment, ‘The Boy Behind The Mirror,’ chronicling aspects of his earlier life in Western Australian and the influences on his writing life. My library has many of Winton’s books from the iconic fictional saga of ‘Cloudstreet’ to ‘Dirt Music’ and 'Blueback' to one of my personal favourites, ‘Land’s Edge,’ a coastal memoir, in which the author writes about his obsession with what occurs where the water meets the shoreline. It is a homage to the ocean and his childhood and the thread that links the two. It is for me, a book to which I regularly return, to experience the joy of discovering literary treasures. I hold two copies of this book in my library. The first copy came complete with a catalogue of colour photographs. It was reminiscent of a coffee table book. It was later republish...

In the early years of writing many teachers require young writers to create personal recounts of particular events and incidents in which they have been involved. The aim of the recount is to relate experiences or retell events. The writer is aiming to either inform, entertain or reflect. In the piece the writer needs to create a relationship between themselves and their reader. While recounts can also be factual and imaginative, generally  the teaching focus in these  initial years is on personal recount. In order to write a satisfactory recount students need to know: How the text is structured  How language features are used to achieve the purpose of the writing.     An awareness of consistently using simple past tense in conjunction with expression of time and place.  The use proper nouns or pronouns when making reference to participant The word choices the young writer makes should be influenced by certain factors: What do I wa...

Renowned Australian singer, songwriter, and story teller Paul Kelly was once asked where he found ideas, and he answered, ‘I steal them.’ Kelly was being somewhat self effacing, but he was also close to a truth all writers know. They know what imitation looks like. Such influences are unavoidable. At some stage in our writing journey we try on other voices, adopting, then adapting them. Such influences are important to our development as writers. We may find ourselves drawn to the rhythm, description or structure of the words. This influence on our ears and eyes is inevitable. The more we read as writers, the more we are exposed to the influence of our fellow writers. I read somewhere   - ‘Bad writers borrow, good writers steal.’ When you notice yourself influenced by the words of another writer you need to shape that influence to make it fit your writing intentions and your particular voice.   I have previously mentioned how I have been informed by the writing of Jerr...

Everyone has a story to tell. In this installment of  Stenhouse Publishers, Questions & Authors series, Kimberly Hill Campbell shares some great memoirs , followed by some ideas that support writing a memoir. Kimberly’s recent book Less Is More: Teaching Literature with Short Texts, Grades 6-12, explores a variety of short texts to engage a wide range of young writers. Enjoy! The Power of Memoir This fall I was asked by one of the graduate students in my language arts methods class to explain the difference between personal narrative and memoir. And I immediately thought of the personal narratives so many of my high school students had written. Stories of experiences that were often rich in detail but missing what I so appreciate about memoir: the why of the personal story. Personal narrative is the starting point for memoir, but it is in the selection of what to include and what it all means, that we move from narrative to memoir. As William Zinsser, ...