Words Unlimited

Quote of The Week No 6

"Whatever the subject I try to get myself out of the way so that the truth of that subject can come through me into the work. As Brancusi said: It's not difficult to make a work of art. The difficulty lies in being in the right state to do it."

Artist Maggi Hambling

This quote comes from a book, The Aldeburgh Scallop, which charts the making of Hambling's wonderful piece, Scallop, that sits on Aldeburgh beach.

Scallop, a piece of public art enjoyed by thousands, emerged from a very private vision and engagement with the sea.

If you’ve never seen Scallop you can check out my photos of it, here. 

More on the book, here. 

Helen Dunmore - A Fiction Masterclass

A novel gets written by accumulating thousands of tiny incements to build a scene and then another scene and so on ... shaping and revising ... seeing more with each draft. Perhaps not seeing the story in any logical order intially, simply following what tugs, what seems to want to get written

The best words come when you don't so much think of the words but instead write what you see on the 'film' that runs in your mind's eye. 

'Fiction involves so many thousands of subtle and delicate exchanges between reader and writer,' says Helen Dunmore in her Guardian Book Club article on the writing of The Seige.

Dunmore's piece takes you inside that process of writing the images that flicker in the mind - a fiction masterclass. Read it, here.

Quote of The Week No 5

"You collect images and thoughts until

they become necessary"

playwright Edward Albee

Apparently he saw the words - who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? - written as graffiti on a mirror in a bar in Greenwich Village, New York, long before he wrote the play.

 

He doesn't begin to write a play until he knows the characters and he does this by writing a scene that won't go into the play.

Novelist might well try the same exercise ...

Books on The BBC

 

So many good book programmes on the BBC at the moment

- a useful list of them here.

Calling All Women Poets

Do you live in the UK?

Have you published a pamphlet or a full-length collection of poetry?

If so, poets Jackie Wills and Ros Barber would like to hear from you as they are planning to compile a comprehensive list of contemporary woman poets in the UK to publish on a dedicated website.

They are particularly interested in less well-known writers who haven't been included in the big anthologies etc.

You can contact Jackie Wills at

wills . jackie @ googlemail . com

making sure you close the gaps in that email address when you use it!

For starters, send them your book/pamphlet title + publisher + date of publication +  a one paragraph biography.

Quote of The Week No 4

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal"

T. S. Eliot

"Art is theft"

Picasso

 

Time to cut and paste?

Is plagarism or collage the new literary form?

So argues David Shields in his provocative book, Reality Hunger

 

 

Cover Story

Ever wondered about the kinds of decisions that go into creating an eye-catching book cover? The kind of cover that makes you want to pick up the book and is also true to the story inside?

This is the hardback edition of Emma Donoghue's Booker shortlisted novel, Room.

This is the paperback edition:

So, what's the big deal?

Read here, the story of how Picador tried out other versions.

You can view the images they rejected. You'll learn a lot about the marketing of books! You can also let Picador know if they got it right.

Atwood on the Terror of Writing

I’m at the stage with my fourth novel where I need to take stock. I need to read through what I've produced so far – where is this going? 

It’s a scary moment. What if it doesn’t add up?

Keeping going as a writer seems to have as much to do with managing the doubts as creating the stories.

Does being a global success over four decades help in the doubt department? Hear what Margaret Atwood says about that, and look what she does with the books [yes, plural] she abandons! 

You'll need to paste this into your bowser, it won't let me upload as a live link. http://www.charlierose.com/view/clip/9503

 

 

Random Prompt No 1

“Bullet in The Brain”

Want to test out a character for your novel or short story?

Try this:

1. Listen to the story, 'Bullet in The Brain,' by Tobias Wolff. It's a New Yorker podcast, here. It takes less than 20 mins and includes an interesting discussion at the end. Or read this pdf version,  Download Bullet
2. Pick out a point of irritation for your character - something everyday like the bank teller closing her position when there’s still a long queue waiting to be served.
3. Write for twenty minutes about this moment. Have your character react but then escalate the reaction to a full-blown outburst. Push the idea until your character is under extraordinary pressure. Watch what happens…
4. After 20 minutes what has this revealed about your character? Could you make a short story using this material? Might it add a point of tension in your novel?

Quote of The Week No 3

"Read, read and read. You can’t be writer unless you are a reader. So if you don’t like reading, forget it."

Simon Armitage

It comes about half way through this short video, all of which is worth watching. Though he's talking about writing poetry, much of what he says applies equally to writing ficton.