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Making it up as I go along

Making it up as I go along

Tag Archives: Workshops

Writing in the margins – somewhere in between

06 Sunday May 2018

Posted by Carol Lovekin in Uncategorized

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Editing, Ghostbird, Not Writing, Poetry, Snow Sisters, Word Birds, Workshops

Island Life, Word Birds & Process

In spite of a lush sun trying to burn it off, the mist sticks. The swallows are back, Mistress Crow is in her tree & all’s right with the world. My bit of it at any rate. And for that I’m grateful.

With Book 3 still resting in the Dark Drawer, I’ve been busy Harassing the Hovel & restoring ten months of disorder. Apart from general cleaning, I’ve been decluttering, frightening the filth into submission & chalk-painting furniture. Larks galore! And not much writing done, frankly. I’m between [drafts], so to speak.

I don’t believe writers ever stop writing mind, even when they aren’t physically wielding a pencil, they’re at it in some form or other – ‘not writing’ their little socks off. ‘Not writing’ takes many forms, from actually not doing it to scribbling in your head. This is what I’m currently doing. With a Big Fat Edit looming, I’m already harking back (& forth) to scenes I know I’m going to play with (aka: mutilate.) The word birds are in whisper mode – they know how this works far better than I do. As I paint & clean & tidy, they slip notes into the mental chaos in the margins of my mind.

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I slipped in a few of my own too, last Sunday. As part of the Llandeilo Lit Fest I attended a poetry workshop run by the poet Kathy Miles. My admiration for Kathy’s work is huge. And the title of the workshop – The Changeling Poet: Writing Out the Narrative Voice – intrigued me enough to sign up. As did the description: A workshop which explores the persona poem, and how we can write ‘out of ourselves’. We will look at different ways in which the poet can write as animal, object, ghost or mythical figure, some of the techniques used to transform the narrative voice, and use these techniques to produce a piece of writing.

The persona poem form wasn’t unknown to me – it was absolutely not a motif I’d ever explored. (My forays into poetry pursued the patriarchy & shouted, ‘Watch out, the feminist is cross! Again!’) I wasn’t mistaken in my certainty that Kathy’s workshop would be useful. It exceeded my expectations & not only did I leave with ideas galore, I even wrote a poem that wasn’t livid & snarky.

A goodly number of the whispered words in my head involve my ghost. She’s different from Angharad in Snow Sisters & nothing at all like wee Dora in Ghostbird. Her voice has a quirky edge & I like the idea that I can play with it, perhaps create something unusual. The workshop definitely gave me food for thought – mine & my ghost’s.

I’m still working on it – Kathy has kindly offered some tips & I may one day be tempted to share my poem. Then again, I may not… In the meantime, I’ll keep writing in the mind margins, translate the whispers. Once the painting & housework are done, I’ll delve into the Dark Drawer & dig out Book Three.

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Milestones

18 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by Carol Lovekin in Uncategorized

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Editing, Ghostbird, Honno, Workshops, Writers, Writing

Island Life, Word Birds & process #13

Yesterday I embraced two milestones. It was four months since Ghostbird was published and I submitted the third draft of my new story to my editor. The reasons I failed to mark the day here (as my Sunday blog post) are also two-fold: I was finalising said draft and then attending another splendid workshop under the auspices of Honno – my publisher.

Regarding the first – let the nail-biting commence.

The second part of the day  involved one of the most useful workshops I’ve been to in a while. Led by Katherine Stansfield (author of The Visitor & a poetry collection  called Playing House) it focused on editing. At this stage in my own process, timely to say the least. Having been through it once, as the workshop progressed I realised it was less about learning anything new (although I absolutely did!) and more about affirmation. Recognising that the way I’ve been doing things is pretty much okay, because there is no ‘right’ way.

There are however a number of useful guidelines which as a writer I have learned I would be a fool to ignore. Not least, if you have a good editor, listen to her.

Even before I properly understood what copy edits or line edits were, I knew what kind of a self-editor I was. (Those of you familiar with this blog know too: I ‘edit-as-I-go’ and #pfft frankly!) In the first instance, each writer has to take a great deal of responsibility for her own editing process. And if she is fortunate enough to have a generous editor on her side, it makes the experience one of discovery and learning. So it proved for me throughout the superb editing of Ghostbird. My fledgling story emerged – a small bird with her wings fluffed up, ready to fly.

Yesterday, Katherine’s major gift to us was her generosity. It takes a brave author to expose the more daunting aspects of her road to publication in order to illustrate a workshop. Although her third book has now been accepted by a well-known house, it hasn’t been an easy road. She shared the ups and downs (including scary emails from her agent!) and gave us the nuts and bolts of her process.

I recognised a lot of what Katherine shared. This is the other strand of the affirmation. Knowing the slog is worth it and throughout the editing process, from pitch to publication as it were, most writers have similar experiences.

Your Moment of Cliché: It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.

Huge thanks to Katherine and as ever to Honno – the Welsh Women’s Press.

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My novels

Wild Spinning Girls
Wild Spinning Girls
Snow Sisters
Snow Sisters
Ghostbird
Ghostbird
Only May
Only May
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