It’s the wind-down time of year for many of us.
Wishing you all a season that contains enough rest, joy, creativity and love to sustain you into the new year. May your words be magical.
See you next year. 😊
Summer – Raumati
“Be you – it’s the only truly original thing you’ve got.” – Kyle Mewburn #100 Words of Wisdom, 100 Kiwi Writers
Finding your voice – an authentic, original voice that makes your writing stand out from the crowd – is both the hardest and most rewarding part of writing.
– Kyle Mewburn
It requires a degree of self-belief plus the bravery to try new things and push boundaries. In the short term it will also likely result in a lot of rejections.
But hey, there are a million writers out there trying to get published. So why try to write like one of them? Be you. It’s the only truly original thing you’ve got.
Kyle Mewburn, Millers Flat
“My passion is picture books though I’ve dabbled in almost every genre. I have won so many awards it’s hard to keep track. My two biggest brags would be my Book of the Year award for Old Huhu and my Flicker Tale Children’s Choice Award in North Dakota.”
“Don’t hang out with writers.” – Michael Steven, #100 Words of Wisdom, 100 Kiwi Writers
Don’t compare yourself to other writers. In fact, don’t even hang out with writers.
Stick to people who don’t write—safecrackers, tow truck drivers, barkeeps, gangsters , arborists, mechanics and midwives.
You will learn more about the mechanics of the world by observing these people.
Also, stay away from writing schools and cliques. They are only breeding grounds for debt and mediocrity.
Read an essay called ‘The Talent of The Room’ by Michael Ventura, apply its lessons, and you’re halfway there. Writing is hard graft, but not impossible.
—Michael Steven, Poet
Winner of the Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award 2021, poet Michael Steven’s Night School explores the gap between fathers and sons, the effects of toxic masculinity, how power corrupts and corrodes, and whether weed, art and aroha can save us in a godless world.
Steven is an Auckland-based poet. He was awarded a Creative New Zealand Todd New Writers Bursary in 2018, and his collection Walking to Jutland Street (OUP, 2018) was longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award For Poetry 2019. His collection The Lifers (OUP, 2020) was in the Listener Top 10 Poetry Books of 2020. Night School is Steven’s third collection of poetry.
Creative Spaces
Many writers are introverts – better in our own worlds of words and scenes and rhymes.
We refill our tired brains in the empty spaces – bush and beach and river. People are OK – they help us make great characters with their idiosyncrasies and problems – but they drain the well.
This is my creative space – the Pukenui Forest.
Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the door, and there are NO people!
For the extroverts among us – I hear you – a noisy cafe is the best place to write.
Where does your imagination flare? Can you fit more of that place in your life?
Reviews…
Many of us know the feeling. We’ve posted something online, or submitted it to a beta reader. Then we wait, and wait, and wait for feedback.
No reviews, not a word. No likes – perhaps the writing, the plot, the characters are so so dead that no one has the heart to tell you.
It’s more likely that life has got in the way for the readers. But still, our confidence takes a knock.
Then, if a bad review comes, that’s a whole different thing. Here’s a recent request from a UK author.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2019/jul/01/why-should-authors-read-your-bad-reviews
Please write your bad review if you mean it.
Please publish it; that is your right. But please, please, don’t tag the author every time you do so.
“Attend open mics and listen to how words sound off the page” – Jeremy Roberts, #100 Words of Wisdom, 100 Kiwi Writers
On Charles Bukowski’s tombstone are the words: Don’t try. I was never a big talker, never a motormouth in social situations, never much of a writer at school. Thinking was the propane that ultimately blew that wall of dull, social discourse to pieces – at age 20. Thinking and reading. Falling in love with writers – poets – who rejected the factories of conformity and careers that spelled death for creativity. Inspiration isn’t a dream, it’s a gift. Use it! And stay healthy – don’t just submit to journals. Attend open mics and listen to how words sound off the page. Your own included.
– Jeremy Roberts, Winner – Earl of Seacliff Poetry Prize
Widely published; MC at Napier Live Poets; interviews poets on Radio Hawke’s Bay; has performed with musicians in Aotearoa, Austin, Saigon, and Jakarta; posts poem recordings and videos on YouTube and SoundCloud. In 2022, he published a prose/poetry memoir The Dark Cracks of Kemang – The Bajaj Boys in Indonesia.
Jeremy Roberts (@jnrpoet) • Instagram photos and videos
Books you must check out:
Roaring Forties – Sam Hunt/Gary McCormick/John McDermott
A Coney Island of the Mind – Lawrence Ferlinghetti
“Don’t quit before the miracle” – Steff Green, #100 Kiwi Writers, 100 Words of Wisdom
“I had a publishing deal fall through and I self-published four terrible books before the fifth one found any kind of audience. I published 33 books before I had one REALLY take off. If I hadn’t have written those first 32 novels, I never would have the amazing opportunities I’ve had or learned the skills to create that winning book. You learn something from every piece of writing, so keep going because as long as you’re writing, your miracle is coming.”
— Steff Green, writing as Steffanie Holmes –
Paranormal and gothic romance novelist; USA Today bestselling author, winner of the 2018 Attitude Award for Artistic Achievement
Steffanie Holmes is the USA Today bestselling author of dark, gothic, and sinful romance. Her books feature clever, witty heroines, secret societies, creepy old mansions and alpha males who always get what they want. Steffanie lives in New Zealand with her husband, a horde of cantankerous cats, and their medieval sword collection.
Read A Dead and Stormy Night: http://books2read.com/adeadandstormynight
“Read anything. Read everything. Read it all.” – Simon Sweetman #100 Words of Wisdom, 100 Kiwi Writers
“You have to read. Read anything. Read everything. No same. Read it all.
– Simon Sweetman, essayist and critic
Copy the style you like, read and regurgitate, shamelessly copy the style of your heroes, and through that you will find your voice. Keep writing. Keep reading. Keep honest. If it makes sense to you, and feels right, it is worth doing. If someone reads and likes, then that’s one hell of a bonus.”
Simon Sweetman, Wellington
Poetry, Short Fiction, Criticism, Features and Interviews, Blogs and Essays
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Simon Sweetman wrote about music and culture for newspapers until Robbie Williams canceled him, thus killing music journalism in New Zealand. Prior to that, Simon had published “On Song”, a book about NZ music and contributed to several websites, magazines and publications, providing commentary on RNZ as well. Now he writes short stories and poetry, a Substack newsletter and still blogs most days at his Off The Tracks website.
www.offthetracks.co.nz and simonsweetman.substack.com
Sweetman recommends Stephen King’s “On Writing” and Bob Geldof’s “Is That It?”
“Write like no one’s watching” – Nikky Lee #100 Words of Wisdom, 100 Kiwi Writers
“Write like no one’s watching.”
– Nikky Lee, Award-winning short story writer and novelist
‘Turn off your internal critic when you draft. Lean into whatever weird and wacky idea that calls your name. Follow that rabbit down the rabbit hole, portal to a fantasy land through a wardrobe, imagine animals running the farm or a world where clocks strike thirteen. Great stories often begin with the absurd, so don’t let fear of being judged water down your creativity. Write the story for you first. Write in the knowledge that no one has to see it until it’s ready. Write to enjoy the ride unhindered. There will be plenty of time to critique later.’
— Nikky Lee, 2x Aurealis Award winner for Best Fantasy Novella and Best Young Adult Short Story.
Nikky Lee is an award-winning author who grew up as a barefoot 90s kid in Perth, Western Australia on Whadjuk Noongar Country. She now lives in Aotearoa with a husband, a dog and a couch potato cat. In her free time, she writes speculative fiction.
Check out:
- The Rarkyn’s Familiar – the first of an epic fantasy trilogy about a girl bonded to a monster.
- Dingo & Sister – Award-winning novelette (available for free to Nikki’s newsletter subscribers).
‘Write what you love; write what you don’t love.’ – Renee Liang #100 Kiwi Writers, 100 Words of Wisdom
‘Write what you know. Write what you don’t know, but do the work to get to know it first. Write what you love. Write what you don’t love – the ideas that burn in your brain, evolving and wanting to burst out. ‘
– Renee Liang
‘How to never stop writing: Write what you know. Write what you don’t know, but do the work to get to know it first. Write what you love. Write what you don’t love – the ideas that burn in your brain, evolving and wanting to burst out. Never let fear stop you from writing what you want, but get advice from more experienced friends and find an editor you trust. If you write from a place of passion, you’ll never stop writing. If you write from the heart, people will stop and listen.’
— Dr Renee Liang, MNZM 梁文蔚
Poet, Playwright, librettist, essayist, community arts activist.
Renee Liang, a second-generation Cantonese New Zealander, works on theatre, poetry, fiction, visual arts works, dance, film, opera, community events and music. Her major works include eight plays, three chapbooks of poetry and a memoir on motherhood. The Bone Feeder (2008)was commissioned by Auckland Arts Festival as an opera in 2017 (music by Gareth Farr). In 2018 she was appointed a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the arts. Her book When We Remember To Breathe can be seen at https://www.dashedit.com/when-we-remember-to-breathe.
Photo by Rosetta Allan
Write Up North 