Change

I am two people when it comes to change.

One person jumps up and down and says "Yippee how exciting when can we go can we go now what shall I bring shall I bring my bucket and spade will there be ice cream will there be ginger beer and lashings of it will there be puppies and rainbows and I am going to wear my BEST striped socks."

The other says "But what about the polar ice caps and the swine flu and the decline of civilisation and what if it gets cold and what if I forget my umbrella and have a hole in my shoe and maybe I will lose my favourite blanket and maybe I will never be able to find a brand of yoghurt I like EVER EVER AGAIN."

I know this. I am at peace with this. Both people are necessary, and there's nothing wrong with either. It is naive to pretend everything will be wonderful all the time, and it is silly to always focus on the problems. I hope you can bear with my likely-to-be split personality over the coming months!

Comment of the day

"Change is always tough. The older I get, the more my relationship to change is shaped exactly the way you described here. When I was younger I just went for one or the other, which wasn't always healthy and got me in trouble often. Just embrace the process, and you will work it out!" - The Waves

Why writing is like sex

"Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process." - Isabel Allende

Now, darling, when a writer and a story love each other very, very much ...

Just kidding.

So, sex isn't something that comes up often here (thank goodness, I say). I started thinking about it today when I said to a friend that I feel frustrated. With my writing, I mean (get your minds out of the gutter). I feel like I have lost the ability lately to sustain periods of deep, concentrated thought and focus. I am not particularly engaged with the world. I am far more engaged with my to-do lists and my red pen. My body and emotions, all those hormones sloshing about in glands, seem to have disappeared, and I am left with the analytical part of my brain and a diary full of appointments and reminders. In a way, I think this might be a self-protection mechanism - clearly it is a difficult time, as we prepare to move countries. My brain is shutting off some of its more emotional and visceral responses in order to focus on the Things That Need Doing. I understand that. But it doesn't make for great joy in creativity. Writing is an activity that needs the involvement of your body and emotions, and the suspension of the critical, analytical self. Like sex. And it resembles sex in other ways, too.

You might not feel in the mood initially ...

... but once you get started you'll usually get into it.

It works best when you go with the flow

If it seems to be working, and it feels good, it's better not to analyse. Just carry on ... er ... writing.

For it to feel good, you need to be in the moment

Worrying about your next appointment or the bill that was due yesterday is not conducive to losing yourself in creativity.

You have more fun when you're uninhibited

It might seem crazy, but try out that wild idea that occurred to you in the shower. You're not landing a plane in a snowstorm. No one is going to die if you try something different and risk failing. More often than not, the weird idea or unexpected detour will result in something great.

Trying new techniques can lead to good (and unexpected) results

Work outside of your normal style now and then. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what turns up.

Sometimes toys can help

I get really excited when I have a new programme to play with, or a sparkly new notebook to scribble in. And one of the most effective techniques I have ever tried is cutting and pasting everything I've written into a scrapbook to shape a new novel. If props help you think in different and exciting ways, go for it.

It's really satisfying once you've finished

Enough said.

Comment of the day

"Great post! And yes *holds hand up sheepishly* I did have to pull my mind out of the gutter. The problem is I think my mind likes it there, rolling around getting all dirty. *stares hold at sentence* AGH!" - Jayne

I passed! And googled myself! (Sounds dodgy)

IpassedIpassedIpassed.

(PASSED).

Also, look what I found here:

Harvill Secker Acquires Exciting Zimbabwean Debut Novel

Posted at 4:35PM Monday 10 May 2010

10 May 2010
Harvill Secker, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, has bought World English rights to Andrea Eames's first novel The Cry of the Go-Away Bird. Rights were acquired from Vivien Green at Sheil Land. The novel, based on the author's experiences growing up in a white farming family in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s, will be published by Harvill Secker in hardback in February 2011 and in Vintage in 2012.

The narrator of The Cry of the Go-Away Bird, Elise, comes of age during the souring of Mugabe's rule and realises that her idyllic and privileged life is built on past wrongs and that violence is an inevitable part of her future. Liz Foley, Publishing Director, said 'I'm delighted that we will be publishing The Cry of the Go-Away Bird. Andrea Eames has a bright future ahead of her and the accomplishment she shows in handling the tension and characterisation in this gripping novel is incredibly impressive.'

The author

Andrea Eames is a second generation Zimbabwean. Her grandfather moved to Zimbabwe in the 1950s to work for the British South Africa Police and later became a government agent. Her parents grew up during the Second Chimurenga (also known as the Bush War) in the seventies, and she was born in 1985, five years after independence was declared and Mugabe was sworn in as president. Her father died in a car accident while her mother was pregnant, and she and her mother lived in England for a few years before moving back to Zimbabwe when Andrea was four. In Zimbabwe, Andrea attended a Jewish school, a Hindu school, a Catholic convent school, and then the American International School in Harare. Her mother worked on a farm. Andrea has worked as a bookseller and editor in publishing and now lives in Christchurch with her husband. The Cry of the Go-Away Bird is her first novel.

Eee!

Comment of the day

"Congratulations on passing your full licence! I had heaps of trouble getting mine. I passed the test in the early 1970's, but never drove, and by the time I wanted to I'd lost all confidence and forgotten how! I finally passed it again in 1980 and have been driving ever since!

And it's great to read about your novel being another step closer to being published. I can't wait to read it. Writing a novel must be worse than having a baby combined with a huge uni assignment - a thesis or something!" - Kay