Wait for It

I usually post something here on Sundays, but I have a special post going out tomorrow so I'm just dropping by now to say hi and ask you to come back then.

But in the meantime, if you are a Talking Heads and/or a Kermit the Frog fan, I urge you to look here.

Poetic Lessons

I have spent a rather blissful couple of weeks revising my new poetry collection which I'm calling (at least for now) "Her Life Collected." It's been edited by the poet Katy Evans- Bush (aka Baroque in Hackney) and what an exhaustive job she's done.  She's managed to highlight all my old bad habits and make me question many of my poetic assumptions.  It's absolutely true when I say it's been fascinating taking this time to rework these poems -- all 55 of them -- and really great fun, too.

I've always said that there's no difference between poetry and prose.  What I've meant is that the best prose should strive for the same qualities of language that are found in the best poetry.  But what does that really mean? After this latest batch of revisions I have come to realize that perhaps the most important "quality of language" is precision.  What does a word really mean? Does it really carry the same meaning as you think it does or are you importing your own meaning onto it when you use it? Are some words actually markers for more concrete thoughts that you haven't taken the time to uncover? We English speakers are blessed with an enormously rich language. We have all the words we need to say exactly what we mean.  The first challenge is to figure out what it is we mean to say, and the second is to find precisely the right word with which to say it.

This certainly must be true for prose as it is for poetry.  But I know that I am sometimes guilty of rushing, of laziness, of sloppiness in my word choices.  But during this revision process I sat with every word and asked myself, "what does this mean?" "Does it mean what I want it to mean?" "Do I know what I want it to mean?" "Do I even know what I am trying to say in the first place?"  As a writer, there are many types of work that I do, tasks I perform.  But this one, practicing the high art of precision, is the most difficult, and most crucial.

For example, in one of my poems I wrote "deafening defiance."  Now I have to ask, what the heck does that mean? Does it mean anything at all?  Did I just like the sound of it? Well, sound counts for something, but it isn't enough.  So I cut it, along with many of my other "darlings." And did it feel good!

Many More than 10 Rules

I love to collect inspirational quotes.  I really do find them incredibly, well, inspirational.  But I usually hate articles that ask writers for their lists of do's and dont's.  So often those articles do little more for me than make me feel discouraged or even depressed -- and I'm quite capable of doing that on my own, thank you very much.  But yesterday's Guardian ran an article that, despite being called "10 Rules for Writers," was funny, interesting and extremely useful. It was four full pages of advice from almost every writer you could name writing in English now: Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Geoff Dyer, Anne Enright, Richard Ford, Jonathan  Franzen, Neil Gaiman, David Hare, Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith...and many more. ( You can read the article in its entirety here). This article was so long that I couldn't help but wonder who the Guardian thinks its readers are -- is its circulation made up of nothing but writers and wanna-be writers? Regardless, I thought I'd pass on some of these pearls of wisdom, and many of them are just that, pearls.

First and foremost, the 2 rules that most everyone agrees with is that if you want to write (1) you must actually do it and not just talk about it and (2) read a lot and widely. Here is a very digested sampling of some more:
Diana Athill: You don't always have to go so far as to murder your darlings...but go back and look at them with a very beady eye. Almost always it turns out that they'd be better dead.
Margaret Atwood: Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine.
Roddy Doyle: Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.
Helen Dunmore: Finish the day's writing when you still want to continue.
Geoff Dyer: Never worry about the commercial possibilities of a project. That stuff is for agents and editors to fret over - or not.
Anne Enright: Have fun.
Richard Ford: Don't have children.
Jonathan Franzen: It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction (*this one comes up a lot!)
Esther Freud: Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained.
Neil Gaiman: Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
David Hare: If nobody will put your play on put it on yourself.
PD James: Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.
AL Kennedy: Remember writing doesn't love you. It doesn't care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.
Hilary Mantel: Read Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you think are impossible.
Michael Moorcock: Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel.
Michael Morpurgo: It is the gestation time which counts.
Andrew Motion: Decide when in the day ( or night) it best suits you to write, and organise your life accordingly.
Joyce Carol Oates: Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.
Annie Proulx: Proceed slowly and take care.
Philip Pullman: My main rule is to say no to things like this, which tempt me away from my proper work.
Ian Rankin: Get lucky. Stay lucky. (*That's 2 from him).
Will Self: Stop reading fiction - it's all lies anyway, and it doesn't have anything to tell you that you don't know already (assuming you've read a great deal of fiction in the past; if you haven't you have no business whatsoever being a writer of fiction).
Helen Simpson: Shut up and get on with it (actually a quote from Flaubert)
Zadie Smith: Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.
Colm Toibin: No going to London. No going anywhere else either. (*Again, a twofer).
Rose Tremain: Respect the way characters may change once they've got 50 pages of life in them.
Sarah Waters: Pace is crucial. Fine writing isn't enough.
Jeanette Winterson: Enjoy this work!

And there's so much more: some of which you'll agree with, some of which you won't, some of which is very funny, some of which is  agonizing.  But this is an article, I am surprised to say, well worth reading.

Who Knew? I'm a Lyricist

A while ago, my friend Tasoulla Christou, asked if she could set one of my poems to music.  Tasoulla is a very talented musician and was studying advanced composition at The Royal College of Music after obtaining degrees in composition from University of London and Middlesex.  She was preparing a collection of her work and was looking to write a song for mezzo soprano and piano.  You can imagine how thrilled and honoured I was.  Time passed, as it does, and then suddenly a package fell through my door slot.  It was a cd called "Anthologia," filled with beautiful pieces composed by my friend, compositions for  a wide range of instrumentation from solo violin to solo flute to string quartet to trios.  And smack in the middle is a piece performed by Rosie Aldridge (mezzo soprano) and Hara Kostogianni (piano) called "Dreams of May."

The liner notes explain that the lyrics are from my poetry play, "Dreams of May," and are actually the words of the poem entitled "Curving Road" which is then printed in full (as it happens I posted the poem two years ago on my blog here).  The notes continue to explain:
     The mood of the poem is in three parts - Dark, Bright and Dark.  I have chosen a post-romantic style and harmonies, which I hope capture these moods in the music.
     The song starts in the minor mode at a slower tempo to express the despondent feelings of the woman. Gradually, the music accelerates and bursts out into major and happy mode as the words of the poem change from dark to positive...This section is the longest of the three. The third section falls back into the bleak mood of the beginning and ends up in loneliness and despair.

You can imagine how thrilled and honoured I am to have my work transformed in this way.  Thanks to Tasoulla, my poem has found a new life and a new audience.  It's quite a humbling feeling and a wonderful reminder, when so much of my writing life is concerned with the crap-shoot of getting  published, just why I do all this in the first place. You can hear an excerpt if you like here.

Jewish Book Week

This week I was asked to be an official blogger of Jewish Book Week.  From the 27th February through the 7th March, London will be hosting its largest literary festival of the year.  This year some very big names  will be participating, such as  Jonathan Safran Foer, Lionel Shriver, George Szirtes and Anne Fine.  There will be a day devoted to the literary life of Poland, both past and present, and everything from children's  hours to cooking demonstrations to master classes.  What has always delighted me about this event is that, although Judaism and Jewish writers are the may pole around which the festival dances, this is in no way an event for Jews alone.  The fact that it is so widely attended year after year attests to that.

This year they are starting a new approach to spreading the word and reviewing the proceedings, namely by asking selected bloggers to cover  a set of events and blog about them.  I'm thrilled to be one of them.  You'll be  hearing more about it over the next few weeks, but in the meantime I urge you to check out the schedule of events here, and book to go if at all possible.  It really is a great resource for all writers and readers.

And while I have your undivided attention, let me wish you all a happy Valentines Day.  Some have complained that this holiday is just a  way for the greeting card companies to make more money.  Well, maybe so.  But as Hallmark has surely said sometime over the decades, "it's always time to tell someone you care."  Love to you all!   (thanks to valsartdiary for this):

 

Being Two Years Old So Soon

It's my blog's birthday again.  How can that be? It crept up on me, unsuspecting, while I was hurtling through my life of airplane journeys and notebook scribblings.  Life and work get so intense sometimes that I forget to stop and breathe.  I think I spend too much time peering off into the future wondering about outcomes.  But these sneaky  blog birthdays give me the chance to stop, remember where I was this time last year (both physically and metaphorically), and look around at where I am today. 

Little did he know it, but my dear blogging friend Jamieson Wolf was actually giving me a blog birthday present when he awarded me this "Over the Top Award." The instructions are to answer the following questions with one word answers.  Let's see....
    1. Your hair?  Brownish
    2. Your favourite food?  Chocolate
    3. Your hobby?   Violin
    4. Your fear?      Explosions
    5 Your pets?      None
    6. Something you aren't?    Tall
    7. Where did you grow up?  Suburbia
    8. Your life?    Blessed
    9. Your mood?  Variable
   10.Your favourite colour?   Spectral
This was much harder than it looks.  I'll now offer this award to all my blogging friends, old and new.  I know we're all "over the top" in our own ways.  Consider it my blog's birthday gift to you all.

There's No Place Like Home

It's been a wonderful and productive trip. I've spent lots of time with family and friends, I've gone to a few museums, seen a movie ("Crazy Heart" which was fantastic) and a concert (the incredible South African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo), eaten in terrific restaurants, avoided a huge winter storm.  But since I've been traveling so much over the past several months, I knew I needed this to be a working holiday. And l must admit I've accomplished quite a bit:
          finished writing a short story
          started to think about what I'll need to do to edit my poetry collection ( a lot!)
                        kept up with my blogs
                        kept up with my emails
                        worked on organizing the CurvingRoad fundraiser
                        critiqued a friend's play

Not bad.  But although it's been a fun and productive trip, I'm looking forward to landing back in London tomorrow.  I need to be home.  I need to settle down again and get back to my (new) regular routine.  I suppose I'm very lucky to be able both to love when I travel and love when I go home.  So, as I prepare to brave the incredible Boston cold one more time and see Number 2 Son again before I head off, I'm thinking about:

Taking Steps on The Next Curve

CurvingRoad, the arts charity I founded several years ago with my friend, Sonja Rein, is in a very exciting mode which I can finally discuss!  Some may remember how  our efforts brought us into the West End in 2008 with our production of Leo Richardson's play, Sh*tM*x.  Building on that production, Leo's career has gone from strength to strength, with a series based on the play commissioned by big-time tv, another pilot being discussed, another play being readied for the stage.  Certainly, our job has been successfully done with our dear Leo.  And now, we're doing it again.

In 2009, we publicized a Call for Submissions for plays written by playwrights over the age of 40 whom have never been professionally produced.  We received nearly 100 plays from all over the English speaking world and spent months reading and discussing.  We finally made our decision which I announced here, namely that we would be producing two new one-act plays: J.D. Smith's "Dig" and Michael Hart's "No More, Salvator." (Discerning readers may realize that Michael's play has had a name change).

Over the past few months we have been working on the plays with our playwrights, holding readings with our director, Ellie Joseph, and various actors to see what works and what doesn't.  More and more, this is how plays are readied.  It is such a collaborative exercise and the writer is just one part of the creative process.  But we can now announce the details of the run:

          The Next Curve: Two One-Act Plays        
          The Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington, London
          Tuesday June 8th until Saturday June 25th, 2010

We are putting together our Creative Team, continuing our work with our writers, preparing for auditions.  And we are fundraising.  On March 4th we will be holding an event for supporters from 6.30-8.30 pm at 1901 Arts Club near Waterloo in London.  There will be food, drink, entertainment and surprises.  Tickets are £100 per person. We'd love to have anyone of you join us if you'd like.  And  for those who can't join us then but would like to support the efforts of CurvingRoad to help find and launch the careers of new artists, we have set up a Pay Pal function on our website.


It is always difficult to fundraise, especially in the arts.  But bold ventures require bold efforts.  Any support, in either sterling or US dollars, from 10 to 10,000 is important and will help insure that we will be able to take this "next curve" and help other writers and artists to navigate the curves after that. If  you'd like to help, you can go here for Pay Pal or you can leave me a comment after this post about writing a cheque.  Thanks!!  And stay tuned for more details about how we take a play from the page to the stage.....