Misrule - This Writing Life

Writing retreat in Bali with Phillip Gwynne

nospam@example.com (Judith Ridge) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:12:00 +1100

Hey, here's an amazing opportunity! Phillip Gwynne, multi-award winning author of books for children, teens and adults, has moved to Bali with his young family. (Don't be Facebook friends with him—the photos will have you pea-green with envy.) Phillip is offering one-on-one writing mentoring for serious writers who like the idea of getting away and concentrating on their work in a seriously beautiful place.

Phillip's calling it Wrestling with Crocs and here's everything you need to know. Contact information at the end. Have fun!

________________________________________

Wrestling
With Crocs is not a workshop, it is not a place to explore your
feelings in a group setting with writers at various stages in the
process. This is concentrated, intense one-on-one time with a published
and acclaimed author.

It’s about getting your work to the stage where no editor can put it down. It’s about getting published yourself.

As
a professional writer himself, Phillip takes a hard-nosed attitude to
his craft. To him writing is about getting words down on the page, and
then redrafting, redrafting and more redrafting.

At Wrestling
with Crocs, Phillip will be present to mentor, to inspire, to edit and
to advise, making himself available to guests each morning and each
evening and with follow-up communication after departure. He will be
tough, but honest, in his appraisal of your work. It’s constructive
criticism that moves a work forward not kind words from well-meaning
friends.

Throughout the retreat guests will be accommodated at
Villa Kacang, an ideal location for writers, providing a tranquil space
in a lush tropical surrounding whilst also being in walking distance to
great cafes. As you sit at your desk, wrestling with crocs, it is with
the knowledge that just over the wall there is somebody else doing
exactly the same thing.

If you seriously want to write then work with a serious writer. In a seriously beautiful place.

What Are The Costs?

$1280 for a 7 day retreat.

What Does the 7 day Wrestling with Crocs Retreat Include?

5
days intensive writing workshops mentored by Phillip Gwynne including a
daily intense morning and evening session of approximately an hour
each. Plus follow up communication via email or phone should you
require. If the work is at a stage where it can be shown to publishers
Phillip will put you in touch with the right people.

2 free days for sightseeing, shopping, day spa, surfing, yoga, or relaxation.

Accommodation
at Villa Kacang, an inspiring and tranquil villa ideally suited for
writing. (Though the villa has 2 bedrooms and can accommodate extra
guests, it’s important to remember that this is a rigorous writing
program so distractions should be kept to a minimum in order to benefit
fully from the workshop).

Daily continental breakfast delivered to the Villa.

Optional delicious lunch and dinners to be delivered to the Villa at an extra cost of $20 USD per day.

Airport
transfers. The workshop does not include airfares however we look
forward to picking you up from the airport and taking you back again for
your return flight.

What Do I Need To Do Before arrival?

Email your idea/synopsis/manuscript to Phillip Gwynne so that the workshop process can begin immediately upon your arrival.

Tell Me More About Villa Kacang?

Villa Kacang is the Villa adjoining Philip’s home. You will share a common wall and a passion for writing.

It has:

2 air conditioned king-sized bedrooms both with ensuites with tropical indoor/outdoor showers

speedy
WiFi throughout the villa (though Phillip has some strong views on the
deleterious affect unfettered Internet access can have on the writing
process!)

Indovision (cable service with news and movies)

Flat screen TV & DVD player (with an excellent array of DVDs)

writing desk

safety deposit box

a tranquil water feature Buddha (perfect for staring at whilst thinking up plotlines!)

swimming pool

Visit the Villa Kacang facebook page at www.facebook.com/villakacang for photos and other guest’s feedback.

Additional
nights can be booked at the Villa should you wish to have a holiday
prior to your arrival or at the completion of the workshop.

I Need More Information & How Can I book?

Phillip
is based in Bali so workshops are being run throughout the year. To
find about availability or for more detailed information please send us a
message:

Email: WrestlingWithCros@gmaol.com

Phone: +62 81 999 88 6438

CAL NSW Premier’s Western Sydney Writers’ Fellowships

nospam@example.com (Judith Ridge) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:14:33 +1100

The CAL NSW Premier’s Western Sydney Writers’ Fellowships are offering
Three Fellowships of $7,000.

The Fellowships are open to
writers at all stages of writing practice and experience, including emerging or
established writers. Writers working
in genres including fiction, non-fiction, journalism, poetry and song lyrics,
writing for performance, writing for online or new media and other forms of
creative writing, are welcome to apply. Illustrators and graphic designers with
a demonstrated interest in narrative through visual media may also apply.

This is a new initiative of the Copyright Agency Limited in partnership
with the Western Sydney Young People’s Literature Project.

There are two parts to each Fellowship:

1. Development of your work as a writer

2. Working with young people in Western Sydney

Applications are welcome from writers across Australia, however, a final
decision on non-NSW-based applicants may be dependent upon the availability of
funding to cover travel and accommodation. The successful applicants will be
required to work with young people in Western Sydney as part of the
requirements of the Fellowship.

One of the three Fellowships will be reserved for an applicant under the age of
30 provided the applicant also meets the other criteria at a high level.

Special consideration will be given to applicants from Western Sydney who meet
the general selection criteria at a high level.

For more information or to request guidelines and an application form, please contact:

Judith Ridge*

Project Officer, Western Sydney Young People’s Literature Officer

E: judith.ridge@blacktown.nsw.gov.au

T: 02 9839 6079

______________________

*that would be me.

The Writer's Responsibility?

nospam@example.com (Judith Ridge) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:25:56 +1000

I'd really like your comments on this one.

I had an interesting conversation with one of my students tonight. Tonight was Week 4 of the 5 week course, the week we talk about structure and plotting—not my favourite week, but it went really well tonight. Must remember what I did for next time!

Anyway, in the course of discussing resolutions and endings and when do you know the story has ended. (This last point was raised by one of the students who teaches Year 3 and it's something he pushes his kids to think about when they're writing. "Is it really The End?", he asks them, pointing out that Lucy's still stuck up the tree... It was great having him in the class tonight!) We talked about the need to fulfil the promise set up at the beginning of the novel, and knowing that, unless your character dies at the end, there's presumably more "story" for them to live. So how do you know when to finish?

We also had questions about the role of prologues and epilogues, and I spoke about how I rather wished EM Forster hadn't told us what happened to his characters after the end of A Room With a View (I think this must have been added to later editions, given it was published in 1908 and I recall the epilogue said George fought in WWI... anyone know?).

We talked about how too much information in the way of an epilogue
(referencing the last Harry Potter book, where JK expounded on what
everyone's future fate was), which can interfere with the readers own
engagement with the characters, their own idea of what might happen to
them, who they might (for example) marry. In the course of this discussion, I made reference to JK Rowling announcing to the world that Dumbledore was gay. (This was met with a loud exclamation from the Year 3 teacher who hadn't heard this news!)

After the class, one of the students stayed back because he wanted to explore the idea of the writer's responsibility to the reader a bit further. He explained that he'd always thought the writer's first responsibility was to themselves and their story, but that the discussion in class tonight had him thinking about the writers' responsibility to the reader. He cited the example of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy, which he'd read as a child, and the betrayal he felt when he read Tehanu, Le Guin's revisiting (from, if I understand it correctly, a feminist perspective). It was as if she were re-writing the world and more importantly, the characters, he said, and he felt, as I said, betrayed.

I explained my understanding that the novel was an attempt by Le Guin to address the gender questions that vexed her about the original Earthsea books, and curiously, he'd picked up on this. He said he recalled thinking, even as a child, that this was a world that was "really down on women", but nevertheless he formed an attachment to the characters and felt that the retelling in Tehanu had turned characters he had a "relationship" with into something weak and puny. That he appreciated her impulse to address those gender issues, but thought maybe she should have done it in a completely new fictional world.

I reckon he had a point. There is an implicit contract between writer and reader, and my student was arguing that maybe this needs to be respected above the writer's own "rights" to their story and characters. I told him that many writers argue that once the book goes out into the world, they don't own it anymore. He liked that idea.

Then we went on to talk about whether or not writers are always the best judges of their own work, and the role of the editor and so it went. I really appreciated that he was so geared up by all these ideas that he wanted to hang back and discuss them. I didn't even mind missing the start of The Gruen Transfer!

Sometimes, even when it's the class you feel the least confident about, you end up feeling you did a pretty good job after all.

Links

nospam@example.com (Judith Ridge) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:38:49 +1100

Well, just two. The first is to a really beautiful and moving piece about the bushfires, at the Barista blog via Penthe at Life or Books?

The second is to the westword blog, which I set up last year to document the Western Sydney Young People's Literature project (my day job). I was not a very good westword blogger, but I am resolved to be a better and more regular blogger this year, both here at Misrule and at westword. I started off today by posting links to a range of articles that I hope teachers and librarians will find of interest—as much as a place to document the project's development, I want it to become a resource and information hub. So today is a good start. Let's hope I keep it up!