ACCEPTING THE BANANA...
Was one of the phrases recently stated during the LRW Christmas breakup. It's always a fun meeting, even if we do have to do some serious business....it is a time to unwind...to have a laugh or two....share some great seasonal food....and of course look back on the year.
This looking back is fantastic. Often so much has been achieved...so many exciting new publications....great opportunities taken.
We head off in new directions, sometimes surprised by where we end up. This year the group has once again done well----between the eight of us many short stories and many more poems written, awards have been won, pieces sold, picture books making their debut into the world, other picture books have been translated and sold into many more countries world wide, Nanowrimo and it's cousins featuring writing a blog or a flash fiction piece each day were given the go ahead....pieces were written, then re-written, then edited, then re-edited, then workshopped, then re-written yet again.
If we counted all those words that we slaved over during the year, it would be staggering.
For me, personally, I have not been impressed with my year. Trying not to focus on the negative I think of what has been achieved. I have written, therefore I have more to work with than I began the year with. I've said it before, but it is so true---you can not edit nothing.
However even when I was feeling so negative about my achievements (or lack thereof)- we did a writing exercise. And the first step, was the part that really caught my attention.
You had to write down three things that you learnt this year. Not merely things that happened, or pieces you worked on.....what three things really made you sit up and go YES.
My first was the realisation after the Travel Writing Masterclass I did with Claire Scobie up in Ballarat. It reinforced the idea that my India trip is something different, something interesting and something definitely worth writing about.
Second was to never, ever, compare myself to anybody else. Every one of us is different, have different options in our lives, different family situations, different ways of writing, different times to write----some of us work full time, some part time, some make their writing their job and only focus on this. Comparing myself to anybody else is only going to create stress, and this I can do without.
Third, and this was a hard one for me to totally comprehend, but it's okay to stop and smell the roses. Cliche definitely, but there are times when a break is good. Sometimes necessary. It doesn't mean that I have given up totally, stopped writing and will never put pen to paper again (even in this ho-hum time I still have jotted down ideas for a poem or two).
What I will take away most from this yearly celebration is the fact that I am part of a great group. Supportive and understanding, always there with a laugh when needed, a shoulder when that is needed....ready to listen to rants and vents, to offer suggestions of what to do next, what options to take.....to pop open the champagne when celebrations are due....to remind each of us of all that we have achieved (often overlooked when one is feeling down).
So I'm raising my glass to my writing group---cheers girls!
Vicki
This looking back is fantastic. Often so much has been achieved...so many exciting new publications....great opportunities taken.
We head off in new directions, sometimes surprised by where we end up. This year the group has once again done well----between the eight of us many short stories and many more poems written, awards have been won, pieces sold, picture books making their debut into the world, other picture books have been translated and sold into many more countries world wide, Nanowrimo and it's cousins featuring writing a blog or a flash fiction piece each day were given the go ahead....pieces were written, then re-written, then edited, then re-edited, then workshopped, then re-written yet again.
If we counted all those words that we slaved over during the year, it would be staggering.
For me, personally, I have not been impressed with my year. Trying not to focus on the negative I think of what has been achieved. I have written, therefore I have more to work with than I began the year with. I've said it before, but it is so true---you can not edit nothing.
However even when I was feeling so negative about my achievements (or lack thereof)- we did a writing exercise. And the first step, was the part that really caught my attention.
You had to write down three things that you learnt this year. Not merely things that happened, or pieces you worked on.....what three things really made you sit up and go YES.
My first was the realisation after the Travel Writing Masterclass I did with Claire Scobie up in Ballarat. It reinforced the idea that my India trip is something different, something interesting and something definitely worth writing about.
Second was to never, ever, compare myself to anybody else. Every one of us is different, have different options in our lives, different family situations, different ways of writing, different times to write----some of us work full time, some part time, some make their writing their job and only focus on this. Comparing myself to anybody else is only going to create stress, and this I can do without.
Third, and this was a hard one for me to totally comprehend, but it's okay to stop and smell the roses. Cliche definitely, but there are times when a break is good. Sometimes necessary. It doesn't mean that I have given up totally, stopped writing and will never put pen to paper again (even in this ho-hum time I still have jotted down ideas for a poem or two).
What I will take away most from this yearly celebration is the fact that I am part of a great group. Supportive and understanding, always there with a laugh when needed, a shoulder when that is needed....ready to listen to rants and vents, to offer suggestions of what to do next, what options to take.....to pop open the champagne when celebrations are due....to remind each of us of all that we have achieved (often overlooked when one is feeling down).
So I'm raising my glass to my writing group---cheers girls!
Vicki
Cheers!
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