The process of becoming aware of your writing style, and more importantly, your mistakes, can take a while. Like poker players with tells, errors and odd phrasing, or word tics, can follow any wordsmith through their works. I have fall back phrases, and repeated words I make the effort to eliminate, even if I have … Continue reading Writer: Know Thyself
Random Short Thoughts
Taking advice as directed
Last week I attended the Emerging Writer's Festival Criticism Masterclass. The main thing, absolutely the main thing I got from it, was to pitch. Write and pitch, imitate and make contact, read and practice. But mainly, pitch ideas. I'd never really done that before, but, reader, I did. I pitched one idea to one place … Continue reading Taking advice as directed
De rigueur Degas
I thought I would have more to say about seeing the works of Edgar Degas at the National Gallery of Victoria and maybe I will. However, more time is required to mull viewing more than 200 pieces all together in the first major retrospective since 1988. It's true that I learned things, both from the art and … Continue reading De rigueur Degas
Circle of Writing
The endless round of editing, pulling apart and putting back together continues. With writing, there's always more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than can ever be done, in between life and work and the required commute and chores and sleep. If you've been following along, you may recall I had a collection … Continue reading Circle of Writing
Darkness & then Light
If the work of Jan Sensbergs was heavy with the portent of industrial annihilation, across the corridor at the National Gallery of Victoria (Fed Square) it was all feathery lightness. I wanted to see Sensbergs, but the bonus was remembering Luminous: Australian Watercolours 1900-2000 was also on display. It was a welcome contrast. The art … Continue reading Darkness & then Light
Sensbergs & Observability
Just before it closes I finally got around to seeing Jan Sensbergs' exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (Fed Square). His lines and perspectives appealed to me and his vision of cities and interior spaces are not bleak exactly, but not happy. I feel like he and William Blake could agree on the damaging modern … Continue reading Sensbergs & Observability
Admiration x 3
I'm not into certain kinds of inspiration. I'm not on Pintrest for the words across artist landscapes or landscaped bodies encouraging me to be all I can be. I'm not a Just Do It person. In fact if you instruct me to Just Do It, I won't. Probably. I'm contrary and often, resistant. Sometimes I'm … Continue reading Admiration x 3
Ugly House
Close to where I used to live, there was the ugliest house in its long street. It was a small square single storey weatherboard, marooned on a slightly bigger square of uneven, greying concrete that filled up almost the entire empty yard behind a rusting wire fence knit with straggling weeds. That old home, with its … Continue reading Ugly House
Poiesis-ly speaking
Poïesis is derived from the ancient term which means "to make". First I decided to attempt art for the Sketch Book Project. In (re)making the book it sent out, albeit a 16 page one, I made space for further creativity. Yes, there was commentary, yes there are sketches and doodles over water colours, and collages and colouring … Continue reading Poiesis-ly speaking
X Millenials
I seldom remember dreams, but this morning my dream woke me and continued to entertain as I dozed. It was a full colour, authentic setting, millennial version of X Files where young hipster Mulder and Scully resolved spooky meme mysteries using encryption and through posting on Reddit threads. Deputy Director Skinner texted them saying as 'digital natives' … Continue reading X Millenials
Writing Bec 