Just finished being mesmerised by...

"WALL AND PIECE" - Banksy (UK 2006)

        I needed a distraction from the heavyweight book I'm currently reading (more soon), and Banksy fell into my lap courtesy of Smudge and the bookshop she works for, who have a brilliant policy of culling shelves periodically, cutting out the bar codes, and putting them aside for the staff. For free. This is one of them.

        What can you say about Banksy? - more myth than substance, a true enigma, at times quite an anarchist, anti-authority, anti-Establishment, but has made millions (so the rumours go) and given away millions. But how much is true? There's plenty on him online if you just Google "Who is Banksy".

        Anyway, it's not the guy so much that gets me, it's the mind of the guy, and his art. I personally hate the shitty no-talent scribble that's no better'n a dog pissing up against the wall just to mark its territory. Even those huge panels that "spell out" something in garish colours don't do a lot for me, although they do fix a lot of otherwise deathly ugly walls. And I'm a pretty conservative type myself, but I find Banksy's stuff just brilliant. And I particularly like his - I presume it's his - comment in this book - "All artists are prepared to suffer for their work, but why are so few prepared to learn to draw?" Geez, amen to that.

        I particularly like his attack on that abomination of a wall that the Israelis put up around Gaza - the world's biggest open air prison. How he managed to get it done - he uses a lot of pre-made stencils as I understand it - and take the photo before he's caught and it's cleaned off is hard to comprehend. A lot of middle of the night work I guess.

        If you can track down a copy of this book then do so, it's a surprise-a-page, not just the unique nature of his art, his comments as well. The guy is a force of nature.

        Cheers....

                Trev

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Just finished reading

 "THE SHEPHERD'S HUT" - Tim Winton (Aust 2018) 

        As I said the other week when I was only part way into this very readable book, other than the fact that it's a great read, this is an object lesson in how to write a novel. By the time you're about ten pages in it has hold of you, and as the action unfolds the narrator (set in current day and told in the First Person) steadily drip feeds you the back story.

        Jaxie Clackton - even Winton's truly brilliant choice of a name says a bundle, it sounds so edgy and so bloody prickly! (and godknows that's Jaxie! - a 15 year old going on 40 with excesses of angst and attitude) is from a dysfunctional home north of Perth somewhere, and he's on the run, living off the land and his wits, telling his story in retrospect.

        Out in the hard country in the north of Western Australia, Jaxie runs into a strange old coot (an exiled Irish Catholic priest with a past that doesn't get entirely explained) living on his own in a deserted hut, and the two of them create a rough sort of a relationship, which provides Winton with the opportunity to explore philosophy and ethics and survival, with a brutal ending. But the rest you need to find for yourself. This copy - from an Op Shop - is definitely a keeper, added to my Tim Winton collection.

        And what can I say, if you aspire to write both well and marketably, get hold of a copy and digest it whole. It'll do you a world of good!

        Cheers....

                T.R.E.

ps - I forgot to add this classic bit of back blurb, great lesson in that as well...

    "For the first time in me life I know what I want and I have what I want to get me there. If you never experienced that I feel sorry for you. But it wasn't always like this. I been through fire to get here. So be happy for me, and for fucksake, don't get in my way."

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Passing thoughts...

            (A couple of scrawly notes on the desk.... )

        "There is so much more yet to put into words, because if I can't see them on the page I can't make sense of them."

         "Seek out good writing. You'll know it when you see it. If you don't then you're stuffed as a writer. Good writing makes you want to DO good writing."

        "WHY do we write fiction? - make up stories? - fabricate something with a beginning and a middle and an end that's meant to communicate. But communicate what?"

        This last one - I'm actually tempted to Google up the question, see what the Cyber Gods have to say about it, about our eternal obsession to make up stories. Maybe I need to be a touch daring and have a go before I check what the experts say, go out on a limb with my own slant on it. Okay, here goes....

        Primitive people, around the fire, told stories to help make the Great Unknown out there less threatening, by coming up with their various notions of what the hell it was all about. Which evolved into Religion.

        But they also needed to recount the heroic stories of the past, to inspire each other, but especially the next generation of hunters and warriors. Which evolved into Myth and Folklore. And I guess there was, and still is, a grey area where Religion and Myth blur together.

        And without TV and Facebook to amuse them I'm sure the whole entertainment factor came into play, long dark nights over a community roasted caribou and all that, any accomplished Storyteller would be, not just damn popular, but essential. Storytelling would be a great socialising tool, helping to bind the tribe together, and I'm sure often used by some to underscore Rules and Ethics and all that. Steer the group towards something better. (Or maybe something a touch more self-serving?)

        And that's what I reckon we're still doing. "Telling" fictional stories for the benefit of the tribe, telling them to variously entertain, titillate, stimulate, enlighten, amuse, uplift, whatever, but always intending to elicit a reaction, otherwise we think the story is just boring. (I guess that's a reaction too, but the one we all try to avoid at all costs).

        Okay, that's enough, now I'll see what the boffins have to say. A quick selection....

Why are stories important to humans?

We construct internal narratives to help us make sense of the world. Storytelling is a fundamental part of being human. Stories let us share information in a way that creates an emotional connection. They help us to understand that information and each other, and it makes the information memorable.

 Why do our brains like stories?

The first is that the neural activity in our brain increases fivefold. Stories illuminate the city of our mind. Essentially our brains run on electrical pulses, and when we hear stories our brains light up. Neuroscientists have this saying that neurons that fire together, wire together.

 

Why are humans obsessed with stories?

Stories have been used to educate, entertain, and inspire, and have played a critical role in shaping human beliefs, values, and culture. One reason why humans are so drawn to stories is that they provide a way to make sense of the world around us.

        There's heaps more about human storytelling, so you could do worse than have a browse. And click on the picture above, it's worth a bigger version.

            Cheers.....

                    Trev

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The HOW and the WHERE

        In the last few weeks I've had three people ask me about how to get "creative" words down onto the page, like they couldn't find the start line. Two were women, 45-ish, and one bloke about 75. The women were together and had read a couple of my novels, and one wanted to dabble in short stories, and the other aspired to a novel or two, while the old fella just wanted to get his life captured in an "interesting way", referring to how I'd done some of my stuff on "The Workshop", as he'd rightly picked that I often do memoir but make it look like fiction, standing behind an invented character. Way to go!

        I guess I'm fairly single-minded when it comes to handing out this kind of advice. I love to help people find in themselves what I've found, that joy of creating life right there on the page, but I can only give them my own approach. I suggested they check out the re-jigged stuff off here to the right, but they wanted to talk about it, about - how? But mostly where? How do I start and where do I start?

        So I - as always - pointed them at short stories. But the thing I always can't get my head around, is how can they NOT be writing. I mean, once my switch was turned on, I just couldn't stop. Back before then I felt as though I simply had nothing to say. But afterwards, there were stories at every hand and I felt - still do - the need, the compulsion, to write them down. So, now I think I expect every wannabe writer to be the same and therefore shouldn't need to ask.

        But they ask what I do. So I walked through the life of my current short story.

        You get an idea, "inspiration" I guess. Something grabs you. For me this time it was reading that book "Blokes & Sheds" (below somewhere). But it's often something I hear or see or remember. So I mull it around for a couple of days, "write" stuff in my head, take a pad and pen, scribble it out, type it up, print it off (using Courier New font with double line spacing for editing), put it in a project folder, get back to it as often as I can, edit, scribble more ideas. Things I hadn't thought of spring off the page. It takes on a life of its own, comes alive. From then on I do endless "head writing" as the thing evolves, get impatient to get them onto the page, but when I can't I scribble them down on a scrap of paper, stuff them in the folder till I can get to them. And so it grows.

        Only this way can I "see" the possibilities, see what it's REALLY about. Because you are writing down LIFE. The choice and arrangement of the words is only about the entertainment factor, making it enjoyable and stimulating for some stranger to read. But it's in that choosing that you need to let go of your controls and your shackles and concerns, and take CHANCES. One of the best things to read to understand taking chances is Dylan Thomas's "Under Milkwood". Geez I love that piece. He let his pen loose. To the point of arrogance. As it should be.

        So that's what I told them. Every writer must pick an idea, then explore it on the page, without inhibition. Make your pen sing. Get your feelings down on the page, you can always edit it later, find a better way of saying it, but get the inspiration down while it's fresh, in any words you can find.

        I hope this helps you as well.

            Cheers...

                    T.R.E.

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WHO is reading WHAT ?

        I was curious about who was reading, and what they were reading in Aus, and came across this 2016 Macquarie University (Sydney) major survey of reading habits in Australia. It's well worth ploughing through if you're serious about getting published, as it looks at the consumer from just about every angle.

        If you're like me and writing fiction is your thing, there's a heap of data on market groups and genres, as well as print vs ebook, and has a look at buying vs borrowing, stuff like that.

        A few quick points (all Australians, over 14, of group surveyed) -

        66% read a book at least once a week
        41% are regular readers
        61% of Frequent Readers are female
        47% of Frequent Readers are aged 30-59

        49% (of Fiction read) are crime/mystery/thriller
        36% historical fiction
        33% general/contemporary fiction
        32% sci-fi/fantasy
        31% classics

        When it comes to choosing a book to read, they consider...
        90% go by topic, setting, or style
        70% read and enjoyed previous by the author
        63% because it's in the format they want
        60% because it was recommended by a friend
        45% consider the price

        60% mostly prefer print
        31% mostly prefer ebook

        And lastly - almost as many people borrow books as buy them.

        Check out the Survey in full....

THE WHO AND WHAT OF READING

        Hope some of this helps...

                Cheers...

                        T.R.E.

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Just finished

 "RAMBLING MAN" - Billy Connolly (2023 USA)

         This was a great read, about one guy and his time "on the road", who runs into extraordinary people, places, and experiences that not many of us will ever manage. I mean, it's not many people who can say that they played elephant polo with Ringo Starr in Nepal, or that good mate Mark Knopfler introduced them to Brett Whiteley - it was a while back and at which point Billy politely asked Brett what he did! - and then became good friends. As he always seemed to do, collecting up mates as he went along, and always finding something to laugh at. Often himself.

        I'm a big Billy Connolly fan, of his standup comedy, (most of) his movies, and especially of his hugely diverse travels on TV, which is where he picked up the material for this book. And always with such an insight into the human condition. And I'm not just talking about the "names" he ran into, but the myriads of us ordinary folk, each of whom he embraces equally. And he writes up what he finds in such a laid back manner. Find a copy!

        And before I put this one away, look for the art of Robert Lenkiewicz, clever stuff, and some of it just a touch erotic. Just a touch. He's the guy who painted Bill's portrait (on his "World Travels of England, Ireland, and Wales" TV special), down in Dorset, while Bill rabbitted on about everything under the sun, because the remarkable thing about this painting, is how Lenkiewicz has captured his subject's hidden persona, that part of the man that his comedy front hides behind. "Vulnerability" was the only word I could find for it. See what you reckon.

        Cheers...

                Trev

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Re-thinking "purpose"

         The other day I had a pick through all the gear over on the right hand side, the "WRITE STUFF" material, and realised it was just taking up space, which made me ask myself what I intended in the first place. I mean, what's a blog supposed to do anyway - mainly entertain, sometimes inform, sometimes enlighten. But I think I originally meant that "side" to be of help to any wannabe writers, pass on titbits that have been of use to me.

        But it just became stuffy and overloaded and even a few of the tags didn't work anymore. So I cleaned it all out. Bit by bit I'll either review the old stuff and bring it up to date, or find something new. More relevant. And godknows I was never the expert in anything literary, just a touch experienced.

        So, what first?

        I will re-do all of the tags that I've found useful (and yes, these will probably all be Australian, as my overseas following has dwindled over the years, while the Aus hits have grown steadily), such as Publishing, Agents, and Competitions, which are still the most important other than actually writing. But the rest could be anything, as in truth I mostly have no idea who you are or what you might be looking for here, but I'm sure there's a few out there who are simply looking for encouragement. I surely was when I set out. And in the ideal world we'd sit down over coffee and have a decent one-to-one chat. But it's never an ideal world.

        One thing I do intend to do though, is put up a SCRAP HEAP.

        I read a book in the early 1980s, by a long term author who was nearing the end of his days, and simply wanted to do something with all the bits he still had, which he thought were all too good to be chucked away. So he published a whole book of them! Made it clear it was all in the public domain and un-copyrighted, and invited any reader to use any bit they wanted. It was a brilliant read, some bits inspired the hell out of me so I re-jigged them and made them into short stories. Not a single pang of guilt.

        Okay, I'm not feeling the creepy guy with the scythe particularly close, but I like the idea, and I have heaps of stuff I'll never get to. So, be my guest, steal whatever you want out of THE SCRAP HEAP once it's up, do something with it. If a bit triggers an idea in you, grab it and run. That's what Inspiration is all about.

        You see, it was the book (below) of "Blokes & Sheds" that brought all this to a head. It gave me a paroxysm of Inspiration! Just after I'd sworn NOT to start any new writing projects, as my creative time is limited and I already have way too much half done. But you can't ignore Inspiration. Geez no! It's one of the most powerful forces in the literary universe.

        (Oh shit, head getting woozy, time out, bugger!!!)

        (20 mins later!) Had a walk up and back, swore profusely at Old Age and bloody Nature, better wind this up. Stay tuned.....

        Cheers....   (and thank you for sticking with me for all this time, I love doing this and I wish and I wish that we could share that cup of coffee.)

                T.R.E.

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Just finished wallowing in

"BLOKES & SHEDS" - Mark Thomson (Aust 1995)

        I'm an old bloke, an Aussie, I've always had sheds, I come from a male line of engineers and farmers, all shed-lovers, so what can I say? - I LOVE this book! Best $2 I've ever spent! Bless you Salvos.

        Mark Thomson is an Adelaide bloke, and this simple book from Angus & Robertson has been reprinted at least 8 times and deservedly so.

        If you want to look inside the head of a traditional Aussie male over the age of 30, read this book, a collection of photos of shed interiors (with shed-blokes attached) accompanied by a short text on the "shed philosophy" of the owner and what goes on in there. Shed and head. Simple truths told simply, of sheds big and small, some tidy some chaotic, every one of them a retreat and a haven and a secret-men's-business place.

        But each one still a place where things are made (including beer, wine, olive oil, bread, even some illicit gin and stuff for smoking - not featured) and repaired, where tired male spirits are rejuvenated, footy listed to, and where kids (and a few grandkids) are inducted into the arcane world of fix it and make it and collect it because it might come in handy one day. And usually does.

        I grew up with bloke's sheds, my Dad's was a picture of order and engineering, my city uncle's was a hobbyists dream, my country uncle's was quintessential farmer's workshop-cum-blacksmith-cum-farm stuff heaven that evolved over several generations and endless changes in technology, examples of which were still to be found in or around the shed. And I loved them all. Men and sheds.

        But I think I love farmer's sheds the best. Back in the mid '60s I was Field Serviceman for Chamberlain Tractors on Eyre Peninsula, so I saw a lot of farmer's sheds, came to respect the chaos and the longevity they each had, where men had to learn to be self-sufficient, fix anything with a length of fencing wire and a chunk of 4" x 2". Farmers' sheds are an institution and rightly so. Cherish them.

        I've had a bunch of sheds myself, big, small, new-ish, old-ish, and within two weeks of moving in they all looked pretty much the same. Not that the untrained eye would've picked it. But they each had my handprints on them, and populated by tools (some I made myself in 1956) and bits of stuff of forgotten origin, and an array of nuts bolts nails screws grommets computer parts radio parts car parts and in my current one the world's best collection of crown seal bottle tops.

        I think I want to write my own Shed Story. Hmmm - why not. And it would be more than the sum of the parts. As all bloke's sheds are. But, I realise that I actually have three sheds now - my shed where I go to fix things and make things from scrap, my study where I go to create with scrap words, and the one in my head, where I go to make ideas. Something like that.

        Okay, that's enough self-indulgence. Find a copy of this book if you want to know what makes a shed-bloke tick, or if you are one.

        Cheers.....

 

                T.R.E.

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Culling

        My library shelves getting a touch overloaded, so the other day I decided to have a cull. But how do you pick which books to keep and which to recycle? I ran along the rows and for each I asked myself - "Will I ever read this book again?"

        I found that even when the answer was clearly "No" I was still reluctant to chuck it on the heap, mainly because - (a) some years back I had the routine of giving Toots a Xmas pressie list of well-reviewed books and she'd put a copy or two in my stocking because she's a great daughter so now I hesitate to chuck them out even though blah blah blah! - and (b) I bought them overseas in some op shop in a good-memory place and wrote as much on the flyleaf so sentimentally attached.

        But I gritted my teeth and dumped some of each in the first round...

Blackberry Wine - Joanne Harris (UK 1999)
        Don't remember what this is about so clearly it didn't make an impression even though it had big reviews.

About A Boy - Nick Hornby (1998 UK)
        Seen the movie a couple of times, and still worth a look, but don't need the book.

Heart Songs - E. Annie Proulx (1994 USA)
        Collection of her short stories that disappointed acutely, came across as someone with a big name cleaning out her offcuts.

The Longest Crawl - Ian Marchant (2006 UK)
        Some reality thing about a nation-wide British pub crawl that I skimmed and dropped.

The Paperchase - Marcel Theroux (2001 USA)
        Ditto comment "Blackberry Wine"

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (2003 UK)
        Ditto comment "Blackberry Wine"

Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt (1996 UK/Ire)
        Ditto comment "About A Boy"    

Bitin' Back - Vivienne Cleven (2001 Aust)
        A not bad story I think, aboriginal, narrow subject matter

Eucalyptus - Murray Bail (1998 Aust)
        A big review at the time, pumped up by the critics, but didn't do it for me, something about a bloke having to name a hundred gum trees to get the girl of his dreams. Or something.

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        Ahhhh, then there's these three! In a special category. The category named "The Literati Say This Is A Classic And You Have To Read It Or At Least Say You've Read It And Totally Understand It To Be Considered As One Of The Literati"

Illywhacker - Peter Carey (1985 (UK/Aust)

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (1995 UK)

Ulysses - James Joyce (1922 UK/Ire)

        I'm sorry folks, but I tried and I tried but never got all the way through these even once and in Salman's case only got to page 35 on both tries. The other two I did manage to get to about page 732 before I gave up. In all three instances not understanding what the hell it was all about and what they were trying to say. And didn't care.

        So they've all gone into street-side libraries with my blessings and I hope someone gets a good read out of them.

        That's all, just though you needed to know that. (Do you chuck books out that have passed their use-by date?)

        Cheers....

                T.R.E.

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Just finished reading

"DEEPWATER" - Judith O'Neill (Aus 1989)

        I have 4-5 of those small "Roadside Library" things around the place that I frequent regularly, to drop off books that I'm finished with, and maybe find something to take away, although mostly the former as they seem to be mainly populated with "popular" pulp (endless endless copies of "Fifty Shades of..."). 

        But every so often I come across a modest gem like this one and, needing to get back to some fiction, I dived into it. It looks a bit of a lightweight cheapie, but the back blurb got me in, so home it came.

        At only about 60k words it's short-ish, but by page 3 it'd sucked me in, of a Victorian farm community in the early days of World War I, as seen through the eyes of the 14 year old daughter of one family, as she navigates growing up in that weird time of anti-German hysteria of seeing neighbour set against neighbour, of catching a young female teacher (who she thought she wanted to be like) secretly sending white feathers to the young men of the district, of sons not coming home from the carnage of Anzac Cove, and all the while the district wrestles with drought and broken families.

        I totally enjoyed this well-researched, well-draughted novel, an easy, satisfying read. If you fall over a copy, don't pass it up. And Google "Australian author Judith O'Niell", she has an interesting life story, and several other novels to her name.

        Cheers...

                T.R.E.

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