Bang!

And just like that a whole lot of things fall into place.

Last weekend I was on a writers retreat with SuperNOVA writers, my writing group. Somewhere between the red wine, the fun and the fellowship, I edited and rewrote a few stories. A few days ago I posted about this process, about looking back and seeing an improvement in my own writing. Since then, a matter of only four days, there's been a shift in my paradigm.

Theories, ideas, rules, structures and comments about writing short fiction all clicked in my brain. It's like the scales have been taken from my eyes. A new understanding.

Along with some other great stuff that's happening around me, I feel re-inspired. I really can't wait to sit down and get some new words out. I feel like I've just lifted from that plateau of which I wrote, and am climbing onward and upward. Of course, I'm still in the foothills.

Writing! Soon!

But first, I have some home maintenance to do. Sigh.

Plateaus And Progress.

I rarely recognise my progress as a writer. It often feels as though I'm stuck on a plateau.

When I was living in Japan I visited home about once every eighteen months. On such trips I would comment on how much my nieces had grown. My sister was usually surprised by this, as she'd not noticed it to the same extent I had.  But then she'd been with them daily and not noticed the gradual growth.

Recently I've had to edit a piece I originally wrote a couple of years ago. Sure, it had been through a couple of rewrites since then, but I'd not read it since last year. I was amazed at how many flaws I found in the piece. Since it is slated for publication and had already been accepted (and been through an editor), I had to resist the urge to rewrite entire chunks of the story.

Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a good story. But I was able to recognise exactly how much I've learned in the past six months or so. And how my current writing has improved.

It is worth revisiting your past.

The World Is Round.

And BANG!, just like that I had an epiphany.

I'm in the middle of a writing workshop and yesterday, while doing an exercise, a whole lot of things suddenly made sense. Structure, character, setting, opening. I can suddenly see how these things need to work together.

I'm all re-energised about my writing. A half-completed story is no longer a problem. I have more ideas than I know what to do with. I expect my writing will improve leaps and bounds over the short term.

Today is the second last day of the school year. I should soon have some free time in which to let my imagination roam free.

Learning From The Past.

I often read other people's work and wish I could write as they do. I recently realised that I can't - I can only write as I write.

I can, however, improve my own writing and develop my own voice.

I've been reading some twenty year old SF magazines and anthologies - part of my current goal to become more familiar with Australia's SF heritage - and I'm really enjoying it. But I sometimes wonder what happened to some of these writers. They appear to have been the 'next big thing' at the time, or at least headed for continued publication success - but here in the 21st century I've never heard of them.

I'm reasonably active within the Australian SF scene, and am familiar with most of the names currently publishing, but these writers seemed to have dropped off the map completely.

Did they just decide writing wasn't for them? Did life get in the way? Was their career a priority? Perhaps they had kids who ate up all their time.

On the other hand, I have read first published short stories from writers who are now established names. And I was amazed at how 'average' (sorry guys) some of these stories were. I could see the potential, for sure, but I also saw a lot of flaws in their work. And that gives me hope.

Sometimes we think some of these writers, because they've been around the scene for so long, were always superb. That somehow they were born with this gift.  There's no doubt they had the talent, but they also had the determination and the drive to persevere and improve.