a brief hiatus
Tomorrow morning I head off for a week’s residency at Varuna Writer’s House; a writer’s retreat nestled in Sydney’s blue mountains region.
I’m absolutely thrilled to get the chance to stay, but I am a little nervous about how it will all turn out. My last self imposed stint of creative exile was tough work. Even though the outcomes were worthwhile, much of the time was spent nursing something akin to a nervous breakdown of the authorly kind.
Let’s summarise my lack of confidence by saying I’m cautiously optimistic about the coming week. Ready to be challenged, recognising the potential for frustration, and open to unexpected outcomes. Hell, it’s better than a week of 9 to 5. I have my camera, so at worst I’ll come back with some pretty photos of the garden.
Not that many will notice, but while I’m away things will be a bit quiet here on the blog and twitter. So why not leave me some thoughtful comments to come back to? That would be nice…
on flying
A solo business trip away can be a meditative experience. The focal point – a meeting, workshop, job interview – draws you out of the everyday processes and sends you on a structured trajectory for self reflection.
On a solo business trip you become as close to a single atom you have ever been in your life. When you are travelling alone, you are transmitting. Transferring. When you are travelling as a group, you are part of a compound. Your actions are determined by relations; the taxi is too small, the child is hungry, the friend needs the toilet. Alone, at the airport, you stand on a horizontal conveyer belt instead of walking. When else have you been able to do this? Nowhere. No matter where you are in an airport you are moving forwards. You are on your way. Read more…
#writing: creative audit
A while ago I discovered daytum – an online dashboarding system that lets you track, simply and quickly, just about anything you can think of. Figuring I was about due for some creative procrastination, I got to applying daytum to my writing habits.
I thought it might be interesting to look back at the stories I have on file – pretty much everything I have written since about 2002 – and look for some common characteristics. What I found was a less than spectacular summation of my creative energies, with some surprising trends. So let’s get this going. Read more…
#coffeebreak: seagulls in kalasatama
Was very pleased to hear the other day that Dan Simpson entered one of his first #coffeebreak challenges into a recent short fiction writing competition and got shortlisted. And all from a spontaneous creative prompt!
Here is today’s #coffeebreak challenge for all those still playing. Write for 10 minutes against the picture below. As always, post an excerpt in the comments at the bottom.
Seagulls in Kalasatama, originally uploaded by neiti_frilander.
#photos: the dark night
It’s probably something I say every year, but I really can’t remember being this cold. The temperature has really plummeted here in Perth over the last two weeks so much so that for the first time long johns have made an appearance on my winter wardrobe menu.
On the plus side, when it’s cold the air seems to crisp up making for some unique photo opportunities. I took a walk through a nearby park in Subiaco to shoot some of the last remaining remnants of autumn with the Canon 5d MKII.
I must say, even after a year now, the blacks that this camera pushes out still make me go all gooey. I hope they have a similar effect on you. Taken with 50mm f1.8 and 28mm 2.8 Nikkor lenses.
