Writers Journey

Back to the writing – going for gold

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:47:23 +0000

In Australia February is the month of going back to school, back to work and why not add – back to the writing. Of course it is always ‘back to the writing’ for us especially if we are having trouble setting goals and keeping them. Simply making a commitment to come back to the writing every day and write something, anything – without worrying about lofty goals. Like a zen monk or nun who sweeps every day simply for the sake of sweeping, we must clear our mind of the useless chatter of ‘how do I start, will I ever finish, will my writing be good enough?’ These are the demons that block, the little gremlins whose prime task is to distract us from our important goal. Unlike an Olympic athlete who must train for four years for a shot at gold we have a shot at it every day. Even if it is a single word, expression, sentence, paragraph or idea, it will soon add up to something; like the single sheets of gold leaf that cover the famous gold pagoda, Shwedagon in Yangon, Myanmar, where I visited recently. The impact of being in the presence of so much shimmering gold is extraordinary and reminds us of the potential we all have to ‘go for gold’ in our work, our relationships, our spiritual lives, our writing. Every day, a tiny speck of gold can contribute to the deeper expression of our selves. Every day we go down to the mines and drag up another fine filament, pound it into shape, fashion it into gold leaf and add it to our own shrine – the temple of our creativity. If I seem to be am waxing on a bit too much, let me take you to Shwedagon so you can have the experience yourself. I guarantee you will never forget it. ‘ Mystic Myanmar’ is in planning as we speak. More details will be available soon.

Mean while get a kick start to your writing year in with Breakthrough Writing in Fiji, March 10 – 17. Booking now! Don’t miss out!

Making a resolution to write when you can!

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:21:44 +0000

When New Year comes around it’s always a good opportunity to renew your writing resolutions. However we all know how hard they are to keep. With the best intentions we may set our goals too high then give up too quickly when we find they are hard to keep. It is better to set a modest goal like writing for ten minutes a day than promising to write 3000 words a day, seven days a week. 500 words a day is always my target. I know once I start I will always do more and I have the satisfaction of achieving it easily. Of course you have to remember to give your self days off and pace yourself so you don’t expend all your energy in your first burst then have nothing left. Making writing part of your daily rituals like cleaning your teeth is good. Sit down with your morning tea or coffee and write for five or ten minutes. Write in dot points if you have too then make an appointment with yourself to write them up later in the day. The Write When You Can method is good for busy people with unpredictable schedules but requires a commitment to use any spare moment for your writing.

You also need to make sure to have some solid time blocks pencilled on the weekends for consolidating your weekly snippets. If weekdays are a complete wipe out you can always set aside time on the weekends. If you need some extra guidance I’m pleased to announce the revised edition of the WRITE YOUR BOOK ON A WEEKEND Workbook is now available as an E book. If you follow the WOW plan in three to six months you could have your draft finished! Get your copy now at the Writers Journey Shop.

BOOKING NOW! Fiji Island Lab, Desert Writers, Backstage Bali, Mekong Meditations, Moroccan Caravan.

Finding writers nirvana

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:24:32 +0000

We all have moments of finding writer’s nirvana – those times when there is no separation between you and the page, when the writing flows in one continuous stream of inspired imagery, language and metaphor, when you know without a doubt that all you ever want to do is to write.

‘Who cares if my writing never sees the light of day’ you find yourself thinking in these windows of pure clarity when the distractions of the mind are vanquished in the sheer joy of entering so completely into the creative flow. The nagging questions of ‘will I ever finish, will I ever publish, will I succeed brilliantly or fail miserably,’ become irrelevant.

It just doesn’t matter!

Of course we know such moments won’t last, something happens to interrupt you and you bemoan the fact it may take you days, months, even weeks to get back in the flow again. Like wanting to dive back into a wonderful dream before it is over - if only you could work out how to recreate the conditions that got you there.

We forget that all you have to do is enter into the present, wherever you are – be still, observe, describe what you see, begin again from this moment, not the one you had once before or the one you long for again, but this moment, now.

We have been remembering this on our Mekong Writers Lab in Luang Prabang, Laos. The great river flows by with all its strength and power, just as our stories flow on (regardless of whether we want to listen to them or not), in the deep underground recesses of our hearts and minds. With a little help and support from each other we remember how to step into the canoe without capsizing, how to take the paddle and stroke confidently until we are far enough out into the current to let go, to give in to the force of the river and find our way back to writer’s nirvana, realising that it was there all the time and all that had happened was - we had just lost our way up the proverbial creek.

Coming up

December – Cambodia Workshop Tour

March - Fiji Writers Lab

June - Desert Writers

July – Backstage Bali

and check out our new trip for Jan 2013 – Moroccan Caravan

Seize the moment – the best time to write is now

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:12:12 +0000

My students are always coming up with great reasons they can’t write – I’m waiting until I get a break from work, finish the renovations, til the kids start school, til the kids grow up, til the kids get married (substitute your own sequence of excuses) …then I will sit down and write this book.

I say Seize The Moment, the best time to write is now, even just for ten minutes, if that’s all you have. Ten minutes a day adds up. Say you can write 300 words in ten minutes and you did that every day for one year, you will have written 109,500 words. That’s a whole book! If you wrote 500 words a day in one year it’s 182,500. That’s two books! In this month of NaNoWriMo when people are writing like mad why don’t you make a pact with a writing friend to write 500 words a day and see how it feels. I guarantee you will forget to stop when the month is over. Renew your promise and go again for the next month and on into the new year. You won’t want to stop.

That’s what we’ll be doing in Cambodia this December. After our two weeks in Luang Prabang, in partnership with some new found collaborators, I’ve lined up Seize the Moment Workshops and Author Events in Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh. I have plugged into a vibrant network of artists dedicated to supporting local communities in a myriad of ways. Like the Grace House Community, the Ponheary Ly Foundation, Cafe Kinyei, Hotel 1961, Java Arts and many more.

Then I’m taking some time off to work on my book. Oops, see I’m doing it too. Ok, that’s it. Ten minutes now. I will, if you will …. pens, keyboards ready - go!

And don’t forget to check out our new journey – Moroccan Caravan and the new FREE TIPS and WRITING PROMPTS PAGE.

How to write your book on a weekend

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:58:45 +0000

The writing itself, once you get down to it, doesn’t take long. It’s everything you do to avoid writing that takes up all the time. If you put your mind to it you could write a book on a weekend!

So I wrote sometime last decade in a workshop manual for my workshop of the same name. The manual was written on a weekend so I know it is possible. It’s around 10,000 words long and shows you how in the first weekend to make a story map, write your synopsis, chapter outline and start on Chapter 1. Then if you set aside a weekend per chapter, in three to six months you will have your first draft in your hand! I’ve taught this workshop many times over since then, in fact I’m teaching it this weekend in Sydney at WEA. Keep your eyes peeled for soon I’ll be bringing it out as an e-book so it will be available for all. Here’s another quote…

When you finally allow yourself to be in the writing zone, everything else will fall away; there will be just you and the writing, and you will wonder what took you so long.

Entering the doorway of your writing

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:10:06 +0000

‘Narrator voice is the doorway through which the reader enters your story’ – so I have been telling my students all week. Gary Disher mentions this in his great little book Writing Fiction. I’d never thought of it in that way before and that’s why I love the teaching process. ‘The teacher teaches what the teacher needs to know’ is an idea I’ve always agreed with so I love it when I discover these pearls in the process of encouraging others. The idea of the doorway is one I use often when discussing finding the the way into the writing and the world of our story. Of course this portal is always there just waiting to be opened but too often in our busyness we walk right past and don’t even notice it. We need to slow down a little and not be so intimidated by its power and beauty ; find ways to approach it, open it just a crack, put our toe inside, then a whole foot, a whole leg, venture in for a while, play around, no pressure to produce, just frolic in the wonder of this new world we want to create but are still a little afraid of.

This November in Luang Prabang, Laos, in workshops by the Mekong River we will be stepping through doorways like this into the temple of our imagination. No pressure, no stress, just us and the handmade mulberry paper we gather from the paper making village across the river. Why not join us?

Mekong Writers Lab Nov 20 – 27

Mekong Meditations Nov 27 – Dec 4

Reading the signs when you write

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:37:51 +0000

If you have never been to Mission Beach you have to go. Forget the fact that Cyclone Yasi did its dance there early in the year and knocked it for a six. The famous (cyclone resistant) coconut palms still line the edge of this peaceful white sand beach and every where are signs of a close knit community pulling together to help each other back on their feet. The caring nature of this community is most evident roadside, where you see signs like this one, or smaller ones tied to posts that say – ‘ drive slowly, recent cassowary sighting here.’ Of course you slow down hoping to see one of these unusual creatures and wondering what magical land you have arrived in where people care so much about their flora and fauna and each other. I imagine a sign in my neighbourhood that says ‘ slow down, recent grumpy writer sighting here.’ Perhaps people might pull over, give me a hug, a massage even or a bowl of nourishing soup. They might offer advice like ‘take a break’, ‘what’s the rush’, ‘ how can I make it easier for you to write’. Even though writers like cassowaries may be an endangered species, it seems for now at least we have to learn how to read the signs ourselves if we are to avoid falling in a heap and never getting up again to finish our books. ‘Are you speeding’ is the crucial one, for if you are you will be worn out before the day has even begun. Reading the signs to look after yourself when you write is the first step. Writing the book is so much easier when you do, as twenty Mission Beach writers recently found out!

Feedback from happy Mission Beach Write Your Book On A Weekend Workshop participants:

Jan, I absolutely loved the workshop. You teach without appearing to teach and to me this is one of the most effective ways to empower others. An absolute honour to meet you. June Perkins Mission Beach, Aug 2011.

Jan’s workshop pulled the threads together to bind the pages and create an outline, chapters, title, ideas, dot points and a list of to do’s to create the story. The polishers – my group:(the ‘Novelle’s), supplied a soft landing for
the buttons pushed to land in a jumble and be sorted, gently swept away or saved and carefully placed for the first draft of ‘the book’. Fiona Croft, Mission Beach, Aug 2011.

Jan I have already written a little zine book about cassowaries, I love them!! Zine books I mean, my girls are madly making them as well, infectious! Danielle Wilson, Mission Beach, Aug 2011.

WOW workshop was sponsored by The Mission Beach Community Arts Centre.Thanks to organiser Laurie Trott. See June Perkins blog

You can see my latest photo poem set in a Mission Beach moment on my blog Readin Writin n Ramen.

The gift of writing

admin — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:34:40 +0000

When we get caught up in racing deadlines, striving for a result like pushing ourselves to publish our work, it is easy to forget the simple act of giving the gift of our writing. In Bali recently we practiced this daily in our small groups (mutual mentoring triads). After our morning guided meditation and writing exercise we would break into triads for reading and feedback sessions. Here writers were able to go more deeply into their writing and share the (sometimes very personal) background and ideas informing their work. The deeper you go into another persons writing and the more you allow others to do the same for you it is impossible not to feel this as a gift. On this writing retreat we also gave the gift of writing in another way, by sponsoring Indonesian writers Arizona Firgi (Java), John Waromi (West Papua), Made Suryadharma (Bali). Longtime Bali residents Jan Mantjika, Sarita Newson and Kadek Krisna joined us along with Bali poet Ketut Uliarsa (for one evening) bringing the gift of their work and opening our hearts and minds to stories of the country we were visiting for just a short time. Giving each other the space and encouragement to write (especially where this is not normally available) is a principle I am firmly committed to. Of course on the last day we set goals for finishing our drafts as usual, but as we said our goodbyes we were also aware that our pockets were more than full – with the gift each others writing.

See pics on Flickr to the right of this page.

Backstage Bali 2012 July 8 – 15 booking now!

Making the promise to write

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:36:15 +0000

At the end of our Desert Writers journey this year we arrived at Simpsons Gap. Over the week we’d walked from Inarlanga Pass to the Ochre Pits, into the mouth of Ormiston Gorge, along the dry Davenport riverbed and arrived in Tjilpa Country, looking out over the great crater of Tnorala or Gosses Bluff. We rode the rock ‘n roll river road along the Finke into Palm Valley and by night lay in our swags under oceans of stars, waking into a dawn lit by a playful paper moon. We walked, talked, wrote and dreamed our way through the West MacDonnell Ranges in a full circle arriving at Hermannsburg Community, the home of our guides, Nicholas and Genise, artist Clarabelle and Tnorala custodians Mavis and Herman Malbunka. Time stretched out in a rolling landscape where no phones rang, no computers beeped, no screens blared their inanities at us; only crows cawed, frogs plopped, fish plumped and a lone dingo howled. On the last day by the waterhole at the Gap we knew we needed a strategy for re-entry so in pairs we set our writing goals for the next week, month, three months, six months, a year. With the waterhole and red cliffs as our witness we made our promise; to write the stories we must write, without fear, distraction or attachment to outcome. To simply write for the sake of it, write for the joy of it, to write our way into trusting that yes, we have something to say and by hell or high water we will find a way every day to recall the lightness and brightness of the desert air as we enter into the writing zone – if only for ten minutes or even just a minute .

You don’t have to go to the desert to make this kind of promise, but it helps. Join us next year June 23-30. Booking now!

Next up – Backstage Bali, 24-30 July

Luang Prabang Writers Lab, 20 – 27 Nov

Mekong Meditations, 27 Nov – 4 Dec

Writing your way towards enlightenment

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 01:45:43 +0000

As I head out to our annual Desert Writers trip this week I’m also packing my bag for Bali. But I will be going the long way round – over-nighting in Beijing so I can visit the Great Wall (which I missed out on last time), on to Rome, then by train to the village of Arcidosso in southern Tuscany where I will take part in a three day festival celebrating 30 years of Merigar, a Tibetan Buddhist Retreat centre built near Mt Amiata. I was last there in 1990 when HH The Dalai Lama visited to inaugurate the gonpa (meeting hall). Merigar was the first centre of the Dzogchen Community which has centres world wide following the teachings of Tibetan master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. I have been a student of Dzogchen since 1988 and while I don’t use any specific Dzogchen practices on my writing retreats, I do notice that as writers we are already observers and whether we use the writing to bring us into the present moment, or the present moment to bring us into the writing without knowing it we might just be on the road to enlightenment.

Here is a simple observation exercise you can use. Find a place to sit, could be quiet or noisy and focus on an object or a patch close by. Examine it in great detail as if through a zoom lens, noticing everything you can about it – colour, shape, tone, texture, the play of light etc. When you feel the impulse, start to write, describing what you see. Keep writing for ten minutes at least without stopping, allowing yourself to go where ever the writing wants to take you but bringing it back in the end to your original observation.

Writing from the present moment is always powerful. We will be doing a lot of exercises like this in Bali in July as we follow the map of Balinese cosmology clockwise around the points of the compass, linking the senses and elements with essential aspects of writing craft. Based in Bali’s mountain village Kintamani, on the rim of a volcanic caldera, we will venture into the local landscape to immerse ourselves in the everyday creative and spiritual practice of the Balinese people.

There’s still a couple of places left if you would like to join us.

Find more info about Backstage Bali ( July 24 -30) on my Journeys page.