Friday, November 30, 2012

Write what you know

Okay, so that's almost the worst advice ever. What does it mean?

Write a story about tying my shoes, making Kraft Dinner, drawing a blood sample from the femoral artery?

I know how to do that stuff. Am I therefore limited to writing only about those things?

What about fantasy and sci-fi? I'm certain Frank Herbert never drank bile from the sand worms of Arrakis. Yet when he describes a Bene Gesserit sister writhing in the throes of spice agony, we feel it, we believe it.



Write what you know is an oversimplification of a complex idea. I think it means write with resonance.

Stories that resonate strike universal chords within the most defamiliarized of experiences.

A story about learning to tie your shoes might be boring. However, that universal experience would resonate with me in a description of a feral child having his feet horned into shoes for the first time, and staring in apprehension at those straggling laces. It would throw me straight back to kindergarten. I'd recall my own childish uncertainty in the face of shoelaces and adult expectation.

The spice agony described in the Dune Saga might strike a chord of familiarity within those of us who've recreationally/medicinally consumed mind-altering substances (I'm not pointing fingers, you know who you are).

So that's what I'm thinking about these days.

Resonance, universality, and sand worms.

The little truths that bind us all.








Monday, November 26, 2012

Open Mic On Wednesday November 27th

Come on down to Owl's Nest books for the last AWCS Open Mic of 2012.

Bring 5min worth of reading or just come to listen and enjoy some wine and goodies in a beautiful bookstore.

Where: Owl's Nest Books 
815 - 49th Avenue SW (Britannia Shopping Centre)
www.owlsnestbooks.com

When: November 27th @7-8:30pm

Everyone welcome!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Notebooks: where stories are born

This past Monday, in anticipation of the U.S. election media freakshow, I committed to a two day internet black out. I still had email, and maybe that's cheating, but the point is I didn't tweet, Facebook, wiki, tumblr, YouTube, CBC, Cracked, Onion for two whole days. Let me tell you what happens when you sever yourself from the massive decentralized information network that you've grafted your brain to.

1. You look outside to see what the weather is like.

2. You wonder if people you don't know will care or notice that you haven't tweeted what you ate for breakfast.

3. You decide to read, and become annoyed when your interest is piqued by the mention of a Russian tradition called 'Green Week' and you aren't allowed to wiki it. 

4. You watch TV and wonder if Stana Katic (Castle) is pregnant because she's wearing puffy shirts and you can't check to see if it's true. (FYI, she's not)

The other thing I did was dig out a tattered stack of coiled notebooks. I read through, oldest to most recent. There were notes for stories I've written and since published, stories half-finished and languishing in hard drive hell, ideas for stories I may never write at all, and   lots of bizarre, unclassifiable stuff.

One page is entirely blank, but for the following. "I don't smoke. Well, I do…but only when I binge drink." To my knowledge I've never used that line anywhere. But hey, I still might.

I've also got notes going back five years for a novel I'm working on now. Reading those early notes reconnected me with the germ of the story. The idea in situ. Sure, the writing is wretched and I appear to be using an alien style guide for comma usage, but there's a crackling energy embedded in that sloppy scrawl. I remember the words pouring out of my brain faster than my hand could take them down.

I didn't write at all during my internet blackout, but I learned something about my creative process. Coiled notebooks are where my ideas take their first gasp of outside air, where my characters take their first steps. There are all kinds of unrefined goodies that pour out when I put pen to paper. I think I'll unplug more often.


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Halloween week events!

Cool things happening this week

October 31st

AWCS Open Mic

7pm@ Owl's Nest Books

Dress up if you like, and bring a couple pages to read. Everyone welcome!

http://www.facebook.com/events/485010938205240/

November 1st

Come on out to either Memorial Park Library, or Owl's Nest Books to hear some great readings and support local writers.

Literary Vaudeville: Loud in the LIbrary

7pm@ Memorial Park Library

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Literary-Vaudeville-Loud-in-the-Library/282383785194421?fref=ts

Writing in the Works

7pm@ Owl's Nest Books

http://www.facebook.com/events/403346169718993/


Friday, October 19, 2012

New Courses!


Greetings, writers! new AWCS courses and workshops are live. There's something for everyone, so check it out!

Whose Story is it? (Point of View, Ownership and Telling It Like It Is)

J. Jill Robinson
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 25
10AM-4:30PM
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
Some writers say that choosing the right point of view through which to tell the story is the most important decision a writer makes, and that most problems encountered in the writing process can be traced to p.o.v. concerns.  Changing point of view can certainly can have a startling impact on your narrative, and can often help get you unstuck when you’re stuck.   Come and find out more, through discussion and exercises, with novelist, short story, and creative non-fiction writer Jill Robinson.  For writers at all levels. 

World Building

Elaine Morin
SATURDAY
10AM-3:30PM
NOVEMBER 17
MEMBER PRICE: $75
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $95
Whether it’s your backyard, a Hong Kong market or an alien starship, the world you write should be believable. But which details are necessary to carry a story? How do you make those descriptive passages zing? For both fiction and creative non-fiction writers, this workshop will explore world building through already published works, discussion and lectures, and writing exercises.

Dynamic Dialogue

Susan Calder
SATURDAY
10AM-3:30PM
NOVEMBER 3
MEMBER PRICE: $75
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $95
Dialogue is one of the strongest tools for portraying characters in fiction and creative non-fiction. When do you use dialogue in a story? What makes dialogue effective, interesting and full of tension? How can dialogue move your story forward? Through writing exercises, discussion and the study of published works learn how to make your dialogue sparkle.

Weekly Courses (8 Weeks)

Short Story

Elaine Morin
THURSDAYS
7-9PM
JANUARY 24, 2013 (8 WEEKS)
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
What makes a short story successful? Intact story world, compelling inhabitants, an inciting event or events, rising tension, climax and resolution. These are just some of the short story elements we will examine through handouts, video clips, discussion and writing exercises. Expect to complete at least two short stories over the duration of the class.
Please note: There will be no class on February 7. Course will run one week longer.
Elaine Morin Bio
Elaine Morin is a Calgary writer, editor and teacher, and a recipient of the Brenda Strathern Writing Prize. She has been published in Wascana Review, Prairie Journal, The Victoria Times Colonist and CBC Alberta Anthology. Her work has been adapted for broadcast on CBC Radio.

First Person Fiction Writing (Daytime)

Rona Altrows
TUESDAYS
12PM-2PM
JANUARY 22, 2013 (8 WEEKS)
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
The principal objectives of this course are to give you, the writer, the  opportunity to write; to allow you to take yourself  into the mind and body of another person, a fictional person who will emerge naturally from your own creative core; and to let you write that fictional person’s reality.
You will be making extensive use of the freefall writing method for releasing subconscious thought. You will also learn from the Stanislavski System (the theory behind method acting) and from the instructor’s experience as a writer and former actor. You will enter your fictional person and become as one with her or him, without denying your own existence. In giving yourself to the process of merging with your fictional person, you will hear that person’s voice and that person will speak authentically and every part of that person’s self will come through in your writing.
The writing exercises themselves are practical. There will be lots of time to work on them and to discuss, and have a few laughs along the way. This course celebrates process, not product. It is about creativity, not technique. Imagination, invention and recollection will all have roles to play.

Introduction to Creative Writing

Vicki Chatham
WEDNESDAYS
7-9PM
JANUARY 23, 2013 (8 WEEKS)
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
In this eight week course, you will learn about the free fall method of writing and how it can be a useful tool for all writing. Then, using short story as a model, you will be introduced to the basics of character, plot, dialogue and setting through discussion, free fall writing, practical writing exercises and mutual feedback.

The Artist’s Way

Caroline Russell-King
MONDAYS
7-9PM
JANUARY 21, 2013 (8 WEEKS)
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
For all writers and artists. As a group we will work through Julia Cameron’s’ book The Artist Way. We will engage in exercises and activities that spur the imagination and capture new ideas while unblocking obstacles on the path to inspiration and creativity.

Our Stories: Personal Essays with Public Appeal

Ellen Kelly
THURSDAYS
7-9 PM
JANUARY 24, 2013 (8 WEEKS)
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
Does your writing say what you want it to say? Is there a deeper significance to your personal writing? Learn how to expand your written work into a clear and concise essay by examining style, focus, audience and purpose. Applicable techniques used in fiction will be discussed and some published essays will be studied. There will be a work shopping component to this course.

Weekly Courses (10 Weeks)

A Novel Idea

Susan Calder
TUESDAYS
7-9:30PM
JANUARY 22, 2013 (10 WEEKS)
MEMBER PRICE: $160
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $210
Are you working on a novel-length manuscript or have an idea for one? Learn the steps involved in writing a novel, such as choosing point of view, setting up a structure, planning out the plot and characterization. Learn and discuss the foundations involved in writing quality novel-length fiction. Students will submit portions of their novel and receive critical feedback from the instructor and other students.
This course is a pre-requisite for A Novel Approach, the year-long novel course.

Weekend Writing Intensives

How to Write a Killer Thriller

Mike Harrison
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
10AM - 4:30PM
MARCH 2 AND 3
MEMBER PRICE: $140
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $190
This course covers the A to Z of writing a first-class mystery. All great stories take you on a journey and this course shows you how to build yours to a shattering climaz. It teaches character development from a unique perspective and shows how to keep your story entertaining. It also deals with the pitfalls of over-plotting and answers the writer’s nagging questions about descriptive narrative: how much is enough and how much is too much. It’s great fun and you’ll learn more than you ever thought possible.
Mike Harrison Bio
Mike Harrison is the author of All Shook UpWild Thing, and Ruby Tuesday. He has worked in advertising for much of his life and has an eclectic mix of interests that include motorcycling, hiking, cooking, and hypnosis. He lives in Okotoks, Alberta, with his wife and two cats.

One Day Writing Workshops

The Book Review

Robin van Eck
SATURDAY
10AM-3:30PM
NOVEMBER 24
MEMBER PRICE: $75
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $95
Book reviews are more than a summary of a book. It’s a craft, like any other writing. In this workshop you will learn ways to artfully craft a review so that it stands out above others. Through examples and writing exercises you will learn how to make a review unique to you, the writer, how to write a balanced review, as well as where to publish.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Fleas & Tics: Writering is hard

I've been 34 for ten days. I've done my two hours of writing every morning. And it's HARD, you guys.

It's also cool, because I'm figuring stuff out. I'm paying attention not only to what I write, but how I write. When it's working, why is that? When I'm stuck, what's going on there?

So far, this is what I've learned about how to make the most of my 2-hour block of writing time.

1. Avoid the unholy time suck that is the internet…even for research purposes

I'm quite serious about this. Writing time is writing time. Research time is a whole other animal that needs its own cage and special food.

When writing, if there's something I need to look up, I'll leave myself a note in the text like this [Look up D. Hasselhoff's astrological sign]. Then, when writing time is done, research time can begin. I can look up the Hoff's sign and feed the rest of my day to Twitter/Facebook/The Onion/Cracked/my Nabokovian butterfly obsession (shameless plug here, check out my website www.nabokolia.com) .

2. Decide ahead of time what you will work on

I have multiple projects on the go, and it's not like kids. Some I love more, some less, and I'm fickle in my affections. So I plan. My two hours today are going to be spent wringing out the rough draft of this story, or outlining that story, or editing this chapter of my novel. That way I don't waste the first half of my writing time rummaging through files trying to decide what I feel like working on.

3. It's not about the word count -- but it kinda is

National Novel Writing Month starts November 1st. You challenge yourself to pound out a 50K novel in thirty days. Your novel might not be very good, in fact it's probably full of terrible problems, like any first draft of a novel. The point is you made yourself write. You didn't obsess over every word. You powered through and got it down.

I'm not sure about this either way. Will having a daily word count goal help me, or will it result in a bunch of awful words I need to kill with fire?


Obviously this is ongoing. I'll post updates from time to time. If you want to share your struggle, or give me advice, or talk me out of barbecuing my manuscript, drop me a line at awcswriterscorner@gmail.com

Monday, October 1, 2012

Harvest



Submitted for our Harvest theme

Dug Up: Part 2
By: Gillian Zylka


They had to be planted. Neither one of us had ever planted a tree before. A kindly man at the garden centre provided us with all of the information we needed on how to plant them. He also suggested we buy Lois Hole’s gardening books. I found her book on shrubs and trees and perennials at fairs fair for ten bucks each. I read up for further detailed knowledge. We bought the shrub and tree root promoter recommended by our neighbour Marie, as she walked by with her King Charles Spaniel when we brought the trees home. I got out my little shovel from Lee Valley tools, and my husband got out his big shovel.
The next day, a hot July Saturday, we started to dig. We had carefully selected the spot where the weeping birch was to go, it had to be the perfect spot because we think we may someday put in a garage. My husband carefully measured all of the dimensions. We cut out the sod first in a perfect circle. It had to be measured with a long piece of string attached to a screwdriver in the middle. We took turns jumping on the edger pushing through the thick sod in pie shaped pieces, laying each piece aside. We dug and dug putting the earth onto a tarp carefully laid out.  The hole had to be three times as big as the tree ball. We added bone meal and the root promoter. I brought out jugs of iced water that we thirstily drank every fifteen to twenty minutes. We sweat through the heat and swore at each other that we had decided to take this on in the middle of the day. We thought we knew what we were doing. The tree had to be slightly elevated as we were told that when we added the earth we had bought at the garden centre, it would gradually sink. The tree had to go in at the precise right level. It went in and came out five or six times, each time we added more earth.
At one point I yelled in frustration, “would you put the fricking tree in and be done with it???”
It took us four and a half hours. But it was done. We watered it a lot and fertilized it. Every time I drive up to the house I look at the spindly little tree with it’s tiny little branches and small leave that are changing colour already. I wonder if it will survive the winter. The tree across the street mocks me a little, I question if I will even live to see my tree thrive to that extent, if it thrives at all.
The Amur Cherry went in the following Saturday, in the backyard in a circle where the deck had been burned. We were old pros by then, it only took an hour and a half. It looks happy in its spot.
 We found a healthy Dropmore Linden tree at the Superstore that was on sale for nine dollars. It had beautiful yellow blossoms that are good for making a tisane. We found another spot in our burgeoning backyard to plant it.
My garden is now fading into autumn, the flowers and herbs I so carefully planted the year before are in their final bloom for this year. The trees in the backyard stand stalwart though, protected by other mature trees. The weeping birch in the front yard will hopefully live.
Sundays are now days for visiting. The boys, all adults, come home, one of them bringing his laundry in tow.
As he says, “It costs four bucks at my condo…”
This summer we enjoyed the back yard together, having dinner and laughs with the neighbour’s dogs barking at our conversation. It felt good to visit and to create this year. Again.
I no longer miss the boys, we have adapted to being empty nesters. They come around to visit, and we travel to see our other son. He in kind comes home every Christmas.
 I now realize, everything has it’s season.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Harvest


Submitted for our Harvest theme

Dug Up: Part 1
By: Gillian Zylka

It’s all a muddle in my head. What went first, the deck, the old tree, the trampoline, or the kids?
 I think it was the deck; old rotten and graying, we sawed it up and burned it in the backyard. It took two days of huge bonfires with a garden hose nearby for safety, but the firemen showed up nonetheless. I was tending the fire, I almost got fined. The firemen were both impossibly gorgeous, and all I could was say “Did I do something wrong?” Yes, I had broken quite a few bylaws, but I had makeup on that morning, they let me off with a stern warning.
The trampoline was moved to the front yard,  sign went up down the street. “Free trampoline,” and our address. I couldn’t bear to see it go, we waited inside the house for half an hour, when we went outside it was gone.
The kids hadn’t used it in years, and every summer I would say, “I think I’ll get rid of the trampoline this summer, you guys never use it anymore,” to a chorus of protests… “No no,” they would say “…not the trampoline.”
First one of the boys went away to University, he did his first year came home for the summer, then told me, “Mom, I’m going back to school this fall, I won’t be coming home again, except at Christmas.”
We took him to the airport and he turned with tears in his eyes to board his plane.  We went home and I cried for a very long time…first one gone.
The other two announced their departure the same day a few years later, just before the University of Calgary school year began. That was it. I was on my own.
The following summer, I decided, this backyard was dominated by the trampoline now gone, time to do some work.
I dug out weeds in the  flower beds and planted gardens. I was very enthusiastic about it, it took a lot of hard work.
 Then the tree in the front yard had to go, it was thirty years old, a poplar and split up the middle, it was leaning precariously in the direction of our neighbours roof. It was on city property, they came and took down the tree. It was a sad day. It was a majestic old tree, large with branches extending to the sky. You could see it for blocks, easily the largest tree. We split the rounds into firewood, and consoled ourselves by burning it the following year. It wasn’t the best firewood, the old fireplace smoked and left the house smelling like fire, but we relished the experience. It meant something to us.
This summer, we decided to plant a tree; it started with one. Our neighbours across the street have a weeping birch that is quite possibly forty years old, also a majestic tree, with big long graceful branches that drape down with multitudes of small healthy leaves.
I announced, “That is what I want, I want a weeping birch on my front lawn…”

We went to the garden centre and found one. It had been wrapped up since it left the nursery, it was dubious if it had been taken care of properly, but it was on sale, we foolishly bought it. We also found an Amur cherry tree, which was undoubtedly healthy, and I thought would go well in the spot where the deck had been burned. We bought the two trees and brought them home in the back of our Van, with a red tag trailing. 

Check out Part 2 tomorrow...