'What if the trying was so much fun that no snarky voice could possibly derail you?' What an amazing thing to read at the start of another week :-) thank you for this, Daisy xxx
I don't know if it's advice, exactly, but here it's often assumed that books are meant to Represent Canadian Identity, usually very earnestly. I suppose the more generalised equivalent is the pressure to write 'serious literature', but I don't think it's a coincidence that my story didn't get anywhere until I set it somewhere else. So I appreciate all the encouragement!
And such an important point that the rules come after the stories. We look for rules because we want certainty, but that's how you get all those dull films where everything happens on the exact page recommended in 'Save the Cat'.
Oh! That's fascinating, I need to read more contemporary Canadian fiction - but I can absolutely see how that would be inhibiting, too. (I love Miriam Toews so much, and I wonder if she's rebelling against Mennonite culture and having a fixed national identity!) And that's such a good point about the Save The Cat films! (Although I think In A World with Lake Bell might be a classic STC, and it's one of my all time faves) X
Another beautiful essay brimming with nothing but positivity. Something I always arrived for when I was teaching. I didn't want to the be the awful English teacher who told me "you DO ask a lot of questions don't you?!" Erm I thought that was the point, to ask, to discover, to learn? And the Art teacher who only knew how to tell us it was wrong, wrong, wrong and killed me love of drawing for almost 20 years. "There are many theories about storytelling, but all those theories have been developed as a way of understanding art, not necessarily as a prompt to create art. The rules of writing stories were written after the stories themselves." A lightbulb moment I'll be taking forward in all walks of life but especially in helping my daughters. Thanks Daisy ❤️
Carly, this beautiful, generous response has made me so happy, thank you! And I'm so sorry about the awful teachers. It makes me wonder what awful incident happened to them, in order to turn them into self appointed gatekeepers. The buck stops with us! XXX
Actually, I need both advice and encouragement- heavy on the latter! I've started and stopped on my current bookwriting journey at least 6 times in the past 10 years. And that was after 3 or 4 attempts at writing a sequel to my first book, Forbidden Fruit.
I enjoy meeting and getting to know my characters and weaving them through a shared storyline.
I'm new to this group and look forward to cultivating my craft with all of you.
Hello Nancy! Thank you so much for joining us, and welcome! We're delighted to have you here! It's so challenging, isn't it - how do we listen to ourselves, how do we sit with ourselves, how do we trust ourselves - and what do we do when the whole road feels lonely and long...writing characters is my very favourite part of all of it, I think. X
'What if the trying was so much fun that no snarky voice could possibly derail you?' What an amazing thing to read at the start of another week :-) thank you for this, Daisy xxx
Thank you, I'm so happy this landed! X
So much here!
I don't know if it's advice, exactly, but here it's often assumed that books are meant to Represent Canadian Identity, usually very earnestly. I suppose the more generalised equivalent is the pressure to write 'serious literature', but I don't think it's a coincidence that my story didn't get anywhere until I set it somewhere else. So I appreciate all the encouragement!
And such an important point that the rules come after the stories. We look for rules because we want certainty, but that's how you get all those dull films where everything happens on the exact page recommended in 'Save the Cat'.
Oh! That's fascinating, I need to read more contemporary Canadian fiction - but I can absolutely see how that would be inhibiting, too. (I love Miriam Toews so much, and I wonder if she's rebelling against Mennonite culture and having a fixed national identity!) And that's such a good point about the Save The Cat films! (Although I think In A World with Lake Bell might be a classic STC, and it's one of my all time faves) X
Another beautiful essay brimming with nothing but positivity. Something I always arrived for when I was teaching. I didn't want to the be the awful English teacher who told me "you DO ask a lot of questions don't you?!" Erm I thought that was the point, to ask, to discover, to learn? And the Art teacher who only knew how to tell us it was wrong, wrong, wrong and killed me love of drawing for almost 20 years. "There are many theories about storytelling, but all those theories have been developed as a way of understanding art, not necessarily as a prompt to create art. The rules of writing stories were written after the stories themselves." A lightbulb moment I'll be taking forward in all walks of life but especially in helping my daughters. Thanks Daisy ❤️
Carly, this beautiful, generous response has made me so happy, thank you! And I'm so sorry about the awful teachers. It makes me wonder what awful incident happened to them, in order to turn them into self appointed gatekeepers. The buck stops with us! XXX
I apologise for the numerous grammatical errors, I blame chubby thumbs
"Being drunk on that delicious sense of growing and hoping that your ‘good’ might lead to ‘great’." Ooooh I love this, I loooooved this piece xxx
Actually, I need both advice and encouragement- heavy on the latter! I've started and stopped on my current bookwriting journey at least 6 times in the past 10 years. And that was after 3 or 4 attempts at writing a sequel to my first book, Forbidden Fruit.
I enjoy meeting and getting to know my characters and weaving them through a shared storyline.
I'm new to this group and look forward to cultivating my craft with all of you.
Thank you, Daisy, for this avenue!
Hello Nancy! Thank you so much for joining us, and welcome! We're delighted to have you here! It's so challenging, isn't it - how do we listen to ourselves, how do we sit with ourselves, how do we trust ourselves - and what do we do when the whole road feels lonely and long...writing characters is my very favourite part of all of it, I think. X
I love this!
Thank you so much! X