Month: February 2021

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Poetry and Getting Over ‘Issues’

carolyncordon

This is serious stuff, and the current Mini ‘Me Too’ times currently happening in Australia shows how widespread this ‘issue’ my poetry helped me to get over is. But getting over things, isn’t really a thing, is it, not necessarily. I know the poetry collection I’ll say more about soon, may have felt like it helped my top ‘get over’ something I’ll refer to soon as well, didn’t actually help me to ‘get over’ just to hold at bay.

So to bring clarity to this all, the poetry collection is titled “damaged children Precious Gems”, which is a collection on the theme of child abuse, particularly sexual abuse. I put together this collection at a time when I was facing other bad, but very different things in my life, a medical related thing. But anyway, the writing of poems, and putting together of the collection helped me feel far more in control of my life, regarding the abuse I had suffered at the hands of various men.

At that time, I launched the poetry collection, I was married, being a ‘stay at home mum’ and working through my sexual abuse issues with a community worker who’s held a workshop for women with problems of abuse. That was around twenty years ago, and I was feeling in control, as I said. The book is a good one, and I’ve had plenty of praise for it. I was happy with how I was going.

But then, this week, I hear of, see, read, about the rape two years ago, of a young woman at her workplace, an awful thing, not unusual really, sadly, terribly, but that workplace was parliament house in Canberra, and her abuse was ‘allegedly’ working for the government, as she was, and the whole thing seems to have been covered up by a member of parliament, and others in the Liberal party too.

This, I hope this young woman, and another one who seems to have suffered in the same way, will get the proper treatment, and this abuser is charged with the two rapes, so the wheels of justice can do what they should do at such times. I can’t do much about this process, apart from offer support on Social Media, and watch to ensure it doesn’t get swept under the carpet again …

This has finally shown me what the concept of triggering is about, I’m feeling edgy, and things I’d thought were finished, have been hitting me this week, over and over, memories I hadn’t thought about, and had in fact forgotten, have been right there in my head, telling me that even though I’ve been full of inward praise for myself for going from victim, to survivor, and on to thriver, I’m still that victim, at least to some extent. Yes I am thriving in my life, I have eight published books, I’m involved in the poetry ‘scene’ in South Australia, I have family and friends who love me, and a good marriage with a fine man (35 years, with a fine son doing well in his life).

But the memories, oh if only I could wipe them out forever … But if I could do that, would I still be the me who was able to write such a fine book of poetry on the theme of sexual abuse? Who knows. We are all made up of the things that happen to us, and the ways we manage, or don’t manage them. I am who I am, because I have survived what has happened to me, and that medical thing I mentioned (the diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010), well there’s a possibility that may have something to do with trauma from my sexual abuse, who can tell?

But I’m actually doing well with the Multiple Sclerosis (MS), going through a long period of remission, and no real relapsing, only pseudo ones from too much heat, readily resolved by getting cooler. I’m very aware of the dangers to people with MS of getting too much stress, and I work hard to manage my life so stress isn’t there, as much as I can. It’s working well for me, but this current situation has me spending far too much time of Social Media, following the story, to see that it is properly dealt with. In reality, what can I do, but be witness, and offer support …

Maybe it’s time to resort to writing some more poetry about all of it, put my thoughts into words, and share it with others, or perhaps writing about it in prose, rather than poetry, who knows, but I know I am connecting and supporting other victims, and together, may we collectively make changes to ensure this doesn’t get cleaned up, and ignored, but gets the weight of the law applied to it, and if anyone is found guilty, they get exactly what they deserve, a jail sentence.

Us victims have had our penalty paying the price in so many trauma related ways, and we were the victim, not the perpetrator!

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Visiting a Town, or Scouting for Settings?

carolyncordon

Today I am heading off to a town I know of, and have visited previously, but don’t know really well. And because my novel is set in a town quite close to the one I’m visiting, I may well find some way to get some of what I do in my visit, into my current novel-in-progress …

And because I will be going to something, a strawberry fete, that I haven’t been to before, I’ll be looking carefully at what happens at this event, so if I every decide to run one (in my novel series), then I know what happens at them. Or if I decide to have one myself, of course! Haha, that will not happen!

I imagine doing this successfully requires lots of hard work from dedicated volunteers, and an ‘official’ who gives lots of support for the event. As I type this, I’m thinking about the characters in my “At Talloola” Cosy Murder Mystery series, and how they would fit into such an event.

The joys of writing a novel, nothing experienced is ever wasted, no matter how it goes, because you can use everything, to make it seem real. So yes, the Owen Strawberry Fete, here I come!

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Ways To Write A Novel

carolyncordon

I am a writer and at the moment I am writing a novel, not my first, but I expect the current one is more likely to actually have some chance of being a publishable book. The first novel began as a NANOWRIMO project, where I wrote the first draft of at least 50,000 words on one month. I can’t remember if I wrote it in November, but know it was just one month, whichever month it was.

I am the editor of this community newsletter, and some of my writing group members help me get each issue out every month, by writing their own page their own page.

NANOWRIMO refers to National Novel(or November) Written in a Month, if you are interested in this, google it and you will find much more information, I am only an interested onlooker really. But certainly writing 50,000 words in one month, if you can dedicate your time to it, is a fine way to get a novel on the way, and ready for action!

So that’s one way. But the way I am currently working on my next big novel project is happening in a different way. I am writing a novel in a particular genre (Cosy Murder Mystery), and I am using prompts given at my writing group, to get some of the novel written. I have setting and characters, and with one third of the novel written so far, I have a fair idea on what is going on, and needs to go on in this first novel in my “At Talloola” Cosy Murder Mystery series.

These prompts are given to writing group members at each of our weekly meetings, for both a writing exercise at the meeting, and also another one for homework. So that is potentially two pieces of my novel written every week, based on those prompts received on the Thursday. This method has certainly been useful to me, and I hope it will go on being so.

But as I am not finished yet, and have been working on the novel for quite sometime, it may be getting close to another novel writing motivating method, and that is a writer lock in session, where I and other members of my writing group choose a particular writing project we’re working on, and spend a whole day at our usual venue, just writing. I may even have written some of this particular novel at one of these lock in, but I suspect not. Because of Covid, we haven’t been able to have a lock in at our chosen venue …

And of course, I also just sit down at home in my chosen writing place, and write. This has how most of this current novel has been written, but going back and finding previously given writing prompts can help me to get more of the novel moving too. Writing prompts are just random things, and the mind, or my mind for sure, takes the prompts to all kinds of places. And when we read our responses written, it is always incredible how far we all go in different directions, based on the same prompts.

We’re all writing in different genres, some prose, some poetry, and we enjoy hearing where other members have taken on the prompt …

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On Being Weird and Loving It

carolyncordon

This is a definition of the word Weird: very strange and unusual, unexpected, or not natural

Some of those things sound like me, to some extent, for sure. I certainly have a dislike of the possibility of being thought of as ‘ordinary’ … I’m not weird in a scary way, and I feel the ‘not natural’ aspect doesn’t apply to me.

But being ‘strange and unusual’, and doing unexpected things, these could certainly apply to me, I think. Not ‘very’ strange, just a bit strange, I wear that label with pride, for sure. I am a poet and writer, with eight published books so far, with a couple more on their way, a Cosy Murder Mystery and a poetry collection.

One of my collection of Unicorns, possibly the cutest one!

And at the moment, I’m the Writer in Residence at a cafe near where I live, and I hope being there, a little bit different to the norm, will help to bring in customers to the cafe, and also, of course, to come and talk with me about my books and writing. And I have a Chronic Illness too, a slightly unusual one, there are around 25,600 people in Australia currently living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). So that too, could be considered unusual.

I’m enjoying this new role in my life, and I know lots of other writers and poets, and creative people who also have been called ‘weird’. If you’re one of the weird ones, I call on you to embrace your inner weird, and be proud, Being unusual sure beats the heck out of being just the same as everybody else!

There are lots of other ways and things about people that may bring on a label of ‘weird’ but to right them off as being not worth while is a stupid way of looking at the label – I say wear that label proudly, and live your weird life, sharing weirdness, embracing other weird people with their unusual, strange and unexpected lives!

That bit about being ‘not natural’ I don’t agree with that, many weird people are far more in touch with Nature than ordinary people are! I love trees, and clouds, and I love watching birds!

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Research, Write, Retail

carolyncordon

When you get an idea for a book, you do a little bit of research, (perhaps), then you write the book, then the retail side of things comes into it, and you sell your book (or your publisher will do that side of things). For me, lived experience, random ideas, google, and reading books related to what I want to write about is my research. I don’t need to do anything too hefty, for the kinds of books I want to write.

The writing part, that’s where you get really serious about what being a writer is all about. You plot out your book, whether fiction or nonfiction (or you go the other way, and just write, and tidy up later). Either way, you have to get a books worth of words written and more, before you can have a book.

So you do the hard part, and a book comes into the world, then the other hard part comes to the fore, and you sell the book, sell the idea of having the book, sell yourself as a great writer, and sell your book as a must have item for your personal library, or bedside table pile of ‘books to read’. You tout your book to libraries, and book shops perhaps, and ;et friends and family know you have a new book out.

Writers can be shy and retiring types, and that can be a bonus in having time and inclination to huddle down and get your writing done, but once you have your book written, you have to come out into the whole other world, and get down and book/boogie, talking about your book to as many people as possible, in as many places as possible.

Being a writer is a many faceted thing, and if you’re not prepared to do the selling side of things, you might not do very well out of it, financially … My most recent ‘thing’ is being the Writer-In-Residence at a local cafe, once a week. Every Monday morning, I head out to Hamley Bridge, not too far away, with a pile of my books for people to look at, and perhaps buy. I sit there, chatting to anyone who wants to chat, ready to listen to them too, because for me as a writer, everyone may have a story I can use in my writing – with names and details changed of course, to make the story my own!

Some of my books on display at Gallery 14

I’m there for a couple of hours, chatting, and just being there, so that people will see me, and connect me up with that author, and perhaps even if they don’t want any of my books there, they may tell friends and others about me, and that could lead to that other person coming along and buying a book. My book sales so far are not anything to get excited about, but that’s ok, I love chatting to people, I have writing time if no-one is there to chat with, and my coffee is free! (It’s good coffee too, and the food looks excellent!)

If I go on enjoyng being a Gallery 14, as I am now, I imagine I could become a regular, for sure. It’s only fifteen minutes from home, the books aren’t too heavy for me to carry, and I’m having a good time, why would I not give up a morning every week to do this! If I eventually go on to selling more books, more bonus. I would only have been sitting at home letting the dog out and back in, and writing (maybe), anyway. No book sales happening there!

Being out in the community could lead to many other things, bigger things, who knows? Wendy Williams, who owns the cafe was willing to give me a chance to do this, and is helping with letting people know about it, so I’m going to give it my best shot!