Writer’s Therapy

Almost a year has passsed; I have published; I am older; no beauty without mortality; birthday DVD marathons; poetry.

Reading: 'History Among the Rocks' (from Kentucky Mountain Farm), by Robert Penn Warren.

A dark night of the soul has me questioning many things: my life, my writing, and my output – but not necessarily in that order.

Reading: 'WHITES WASTE PAPER' (unpublished), by Joseph Hunter

I remember the joys of creative collaboration from years gone by. Writing is an inherently solitary pursuit, but that doesn't mean there aren't consolations to be had within that solitude.

Reading: Extracts from '10 Rules for Writing Fiction', The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/20/10-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-two)

Writing is habit-forming, which is the good news. The bad news is, that habit is a slippery thing that can be elusive and untrustworthy.

Readings: Extracts from the journals of Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Hero's Body (2016) by William Giraldi

I explore the relationship between the physicality in fiction, and the physicality of the actual flesh-and-blood reader engaging with that fiction. Sometimes the intensity of that relationship has made me want to devour things...

Reading from: A Moveable Feast (1964), by Ernest Hemingway

A recent experience with music makes me reflect on the apparent impossiblity of trusting one's one judgement in relation to work you have created. The way it seems one day changes with the weather: something that seems to click now becomes discordant later.

Reading: 'There are no essential differences between things' (unpublished), by Joseph Hunter.

Maybe specific words are only ever an attempt to fix a pattern in the mind that is originally formless. And then, too, this grey area between form and formlessness can be captured in writing.

Reading from: Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

Following on from thinking about memoir, I explore the idea that 'story truth' in fiction is something beyond fact, a way of organising and even doing justice to the meaning that is usually buried in the messy stuff of real life.

Reading: Tim O'Brien, 'Form', The Things They Carried (1990)

Having recently written a draft of a memoir, I compare writing fiction to creative non-fiction. In terms of drawing from your everyday life, are there perhaps similarities?

Reading from Failure: A Memoir (unpublished, work in progress), by Joseph Hunter

A sudden loss of vital energy due to a brief illness triggers longer term paranoias, so I try to cheer myself up with words of wisdom from an unfashionable old patrician.

Reading from: The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing (2003), by Norman Mailer

There is a kind of music that lives in langauge that can be brought out in certain passages of writing. As somebody who also dabbles in music, this is a quality I look for in good fiction writing.

Reading: extract from Blood Meridian (1985), by Cormac McCarthy.

Who'd have thought you could rediscover reading when you were already a pretty regular reader? But there's reading, and there's reading. In this episode I think about the language landscapes of good literature, and the visions they can offer.

Reading: 'It will come back' (unpublished, 2023), by Joseph Hunter.

A little success, in the form of my first published short story.

Extract from 'Somewhere Out at Sea' (Fairlight Books, 2022): https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/short_stories/somewhere-out-at-sea/

What have I been doing these many years?

Writing, and rewriting. In this episode I talk about how it feels to do a PhD. To dig things up over and over and start again, again and again.

Reading: 'Clogs' (unpublished), by Joseph Hunter.

Comparison is inevitable, and it can be good or bad. Bad, in that it can lead to jealousy. Good, in that it can also mean inspiration and catharsis. We think about the nuances of comparison, and discover that Betty (my dog) is a dog celebrity.

We consider the importance of routine, and the way that a satisfying structure can give your life meaning and purpose. But does a routine mean we can't enjoy the beauty of each moment as it deserves?

Includes a reading from The Philosopher and the Wolf (2008), by Mark Rowlands.

We consider if Oscar Wilde was right to assert that 'All art is quite useless', or if there are uses for art such as fiction writing - to be uplifting, perhaps, or to provide escapism.

Quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm

Jealousy, envy, is part of any creative pursuit. There will always be others who have the success you're looking for. The trick is not to let envy wear away at you and compromise your work.

Quote from Othello III.iii

Writing is a cerebral process, but that doesn't mean that physical fitness is irrelevant. We think about the connection between creativity and bodily exercise, especially when it comes to discipline and the avoidance of malaise.

Haruki Murakami interview in Der Spiegel (2008): https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/spiegel-interview-with-haruki-murakami-when-i-run-i-am-in-a-peaceful-place-a-536608.html

All writers tend to have a daily minimum word count that helps them stay productive. We think about the virtues of this race-to-the-line approach versus putting aside a set number of hours in which to write, instead. Perhaps by creating a set space in which to work we can feel out the story better, with less self-imposed pressure.