Category: Writing

Writing

The Dog in My Head

carolyncordon

Three of my published books are written by Buster the Dog, with my assistance. Buster the Dog is the dog who lives inside my head. That is, Buster the Dog is in fact a figment of my imagination. He was created many years ago, as a part of the process of writing a book about gardening, as a dog would view the past time.

Dogs don’t do gardening in the same way people do. So to write this book, I had to think about the many dogs who’d been in my life, and look at how they would think about things such as compost bins, or fertilising the garden. I thought up a dog, made up of the two dogs breeds who were in my life at the time, and I called his Buster.

I enjoyed writing in Buster the Dog’s point of view so much that I wrote two more books in Buster the Dog’s point of view. Buster is a sassy critter, he does things his own way, and as I’ve discovered in the writing of the third of these books, he is a spiritual creature, up to a point, at least. Buster the Dog showed me, in that third book, the ways that a dog can have a life attitude very much in tune with Buddhism.

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I had so much fun with that book, thinking about ways in which a Dog Buddha, and a Buddha for humans, might be the same in some ways, and different in others. The process was a great follow on from the second book in the Buster the Dog series, which was about how dogs may consider Mindfulness, which was something I’d been learning about just before I had the idea of writing that second book in the series.

At this stage, I have finished with writing these books with Buster the Dog. I have no ideas about any new book or books in the series, and I am content with what I have done with it. Dogs and thoughts about how they may think will go on being of interest to me, but I don’t feel I need to do any more about writing books for them. Having written that, I just remembered Buster the Dog does actually have another book to be written.

This next book, to be written next year, will be another kind of collaboration. A friend of mine, another writer, is interested in writing a book with Buster the Dog and me, and a ‘cat’ – McTavish the Cat. McTavish is real in the same way that Buster the Dog is real – the cat lives inside my friend’s head, just like Buster lives in my head.

Putting myself in the mind of a dog in this way, is one of the things fiction writers must learn to do, inhabiting the mind of their various characters, so the character acts in accordance with the needs of the narrative. This is how fiction writers come up with characters and story lines their readers will believe.

So when I’m writing about a dog, I think on all of the dogs I have known, and make my story dog the most ‘doggy’ dog there ever was. Or at least as much as is needed to make the dog believable, for my reader. And surely that is an important role for a writer, to make aspects of your book believable, so that the reader believes the story the writer is telling them, so they will be willing to spend some time in the writer’s new world.

I know a lot a bout dogs, I try to think about things how a dog might, when I’m writing in the point of view of a dog. If I can get other people enjoying my dog books, with Buster the Dog and I, what a fun time all involved will have, Buster the Dog sure knows how to enjoy life. I love it when my written words have the ability to hook in a reader and keep them there in my story! I lice writing about Buster the Dog, people have enjoyed reading my stories about Buster the Dog, and Buster has lots of fun in my books.

Just don’t tell him he’s only an imaginary dog, please?!

Writing

Most Recent Published Book

carolyncordon

I am extremely proud of my most recent book. I wrote it and (self) published it last year. This book is the third in the series that began with “Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs”, then went on to “Doggone It – Mindfulness from a Dog’s Point of View” and ended with the most recent book “Dog Buddha’s Thoughts”. I began a blog about that first book a long time ago – it is here.

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As you can see in the photo of the book, I claim this book was written by Buster the Dog, “assisted by Carolyn Cordon”. I am Carolyn, and I have to confess that there is no Buster the Dog, not really. Buster the Dog, I always say, lives in my head. and of course that is true, because Buster is a figment of my imagination, a combination of all of the dogs I’ve lived with, and my thoughts and imaginings about those dogs.

I’ve been a dog exhibitor and dog breeder in my past, so there have been many, many dogs there for real. I don’t show or breed dogs these days, but I’m still very interested in dogs, and we still have a dog, one we bred, and showed (once) – Missy. We gave up the dog show world not that long after Missy was born, and then some years later, we gave up breeding dogs too.

The purpose of this blog post is to talk about where writers might get their ideas from. This recent book, about the thoughts of the Dog Buddha, is a good one for this for many reasons. Firstly, it is about dogs, and as I have written, there have been many dogs in my life, and Missy is still here (sitting on the dog sofa, just across from me, as I type, actually).

So I see think about dogs, and live with a dog. Missy does funny things sometimes, she ‘gardens’, she hunts, she rolls on the grass in the backyard, she eats food that falls on the ground, as well as doing many other things that appear in my recent book. I have a friend who is a Buddhist, and the idea for this book flowed on well from the second book in the Buster the Dog series. Mindfulness and Buddhism go together well, and I go the idea that dogs could have their own ‘God’ who they revere, as humans may have their own God or Gods.

I modelled this book on the first two books, where each chapter was about a certain ‘thing’ and I then expanded more about that ‘thing’, as a dog might consider it. So in the first book, “Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs” these are chapters about such things as composting, fertilising, and so on, and in the book, it is obvious that dogs and humans look at these matters in quite different ways, with humorous results. With the most recent book, I spent some time considering the thoughts of the Buddha that humans hold dear.

I then thought about possible wise thoughts that could be attributed to a canine Buddha, and then how Buster the Dog might try to live his life in accordance with such wise thoughts. When I first began writing this book, I was the Writer-in-Residence at a particular cafe, and I would sit there thinking about the Dog Buddha, about dogs, about the ‘real’ Buddha, and about Buster the Dog. It was fun, and come up with a new thought always made me happy! I was certainly feeling inspired at that time in my life.

Inspiration can come from many things, as I’ve indicated. I write poetry, as well as prose, and today, I was inspired to write a short poem, a haiku, by two very different things I saw. I was on my way to our vet to pick up some medication for Missy. ON the road just down from our house, I saw a dead lizard, and thought, ‘Oh, poor lizard’. Then, getting closer to the vets (Roseworthy Veterinary Clinic), I saw a better view of some smoke I’d spotted earlier in the day. There seemed to be a fire up in the hills to the south-east of Gawler.

When I got to the vets, I got out my mobile phone and wrote the haiku poem that was sitting there waiting for me. It may not be a great haiku, but I’m happy I was inspired enough to record the sad moments. This is the haiku I wrote. Feel free to comment about it, whether you liked it or not. I always appreciate getting feedback, no matter what. Here goes:

Lizard dead on road
fire in the hills nearby –
early Spring sadness

 

Now that I’ve thought about this poem, I’m wondering whether or not the final word should be there. What do you think? Leave a message to let me know!

So that is a small look at how some of my writing has been inspired. There are also the five word challenges I’ve written about, and many other things. Life is there to think about, and be inspired by, always – live your life, and remain open to finding the inspirations available!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized, Writing

Matsuo Bashō | The Art of the Haiku — Art Subtext

carolyncordon

An analysis of the haiku of Matsuo Bashō.

via Matsuo Bashō | The Art of the Haiku — Art Subtext

I too write Haiku at times, and I often sit out on my back veranda, looking at the clouds, the grass, the trees, the birds, and I think on Nature. Sometimes small, haiku style poems come from such contemplation.

Other times no such writing may come from it, in terms of the writing of poetry, but such peaceful contemplation is a good thing in itself, calming and stress free, bliss … Anything that can bring feelings such as these into your life, that is surely a good thing? Life is good, or at least should be, yes? Yes.

Haiku written when paying attention only to the ‘rules’ is not the best way to go. It can lead to an understanding, but paying attention to Nature, rather than rules, that is the way to gain a deeper understanding of what haiku can be.

 

Writing, writing exercise

Creative Writing Exercise 1

carolyncordon

This first creative writing exercise is all about finding something to write about. Often when you want or need to write, the best thing for the creative writing won’t pop into your mind, and you can’t write.

I have certainly felt this problem, but these days, I can write about anything at all, because I have trained up in writing using totally random writing prompts.I’ve done this in writing groups, and at home, using given words, and using words I’ve found for myself.

This is what we’re going to do in this creative writing session. You will need something to write on and with (pen and paper, laptop, whatever is best for you). You will also need a timer of some kind, and you will need a book of fiction. :

  • Take up your books, and turn to a random page, or if there are enough pages, turn to page 28.
  • Write down five words from that page, three nouns, a verb, and two adjectives, two  adverbs, or one of each.
  • These are the words you will be working with. Give yourself ten minutes and write a poem, short story, creative non fiction, using your five chosen random words and any other words as needed. Don’t think hard about it, just write.
  • Buzzer goes, time is up, now is the time to look at your amazing new piece of writing!
analog binder blank book
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This is a simple writing exercise, and it is an amazing way to turn off your inner critic, and just get the words down. I am finding the more I do five word challenges, the better what I write is getting.

I’ve also noticed the same about the writing of other people who do these exercises too. Writing often leads to writing well. And writing in this way, opens up the mind to all kinds of amazing things! The only pressure on the writer is to get words written, quickly, no time to make them lovely, just write. The brain is an incredible tool!

Uncategorized, Writing

At last, my own Writing site!

carolyncordon

This new blog will be about me and my writing life. This includes the writing groups I’m involved in, my writing related things – events, ideas, inspiration, and of course my books – those already ‘out there’, those in the process of becoming books, and those that may be written in the future.

I published my first book around twelve years ago, and am proud to have been able to publish or have published, more books. I write about different things, and have poetry collections as well as prose books. Words bring me joy, writing them, playing with them, and reading them.

I will post links to my other blogs, and to anything I feel is relevant to me as a writer, which of course, is everything, as a writer, the entire world and beyond is ready for my words to bring it to the notice of others. So this blog will have inspiration, ideas, news, books, hints, and who knows what else – words, lots of words about words!