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> From: R I Caddel <[log in to unmask]>
> To: british n irish poets <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: practice
> Date: 15 June 1998 09:26
>
> So tell me how you write, you writers - on the wild moorside?
>
> 1. Do you write daily?___ weekly?___ irregularly?___ Is the writing a
> fixed part of routine, or does it follow other pressures/dictates? Please
> specify:
irregularly
usual when I have a sudden quiet moment
even when surrounded by noise
> 2. These days do you write in the same place e.g. in the kitchen/bathroom
> etc; on the bus to work? Is the workplace in any sense a protected space?
> Please specify:
on the bus
on a park bench
sometimes while sitting at the computer
> 3. Drafting: notebooks, scraps of paper, word processor or what?
pen and paper - usually the backs of junkmail
else straight into the word processor
> 3a. How are drafts organised - in linear/sequential mode, or in a more
> complex structure? Please describe:
>
> 3b-e. Why? How long has it taken this practice to evolve? Are you
> consistent in this? How aware are you of other writers' strategies in
this
> respect?
depends on the work
but usually I write things on paper
or often they'll swim around in my head for days
I'll often edit as I'm copying the draft work into the computer
never happy until I've printed out a copy
to see how it looks on the page
> 4. A route-to-work question: what, in general terms, is the relationship
> between draft and completion?
>
> 4a. Does your motivation/intent change during this process? If so can you
> say how? An example might help.
quite often the original idea/intent
can be discarded in the editing process
but since I wrote across genres
it varies a lot
> 4b. What do you mean by "completion"?
generally I consider a work complete
once it has been published somewhere
but I'm not averse to making subsequent changes
in the light of constructive criticism
> 5. Input: is there a way of generalising your raw materials? Are there,
> for instance, groups of books, musics, other artworks, or people in your
> life, which you plunder repeatedly? Name the most significant:
>
> 5a. What conditions input? Weather? Nation? the Sports pages? Rejection
of
> all of these?
having the time to remove ones brain from what is happening around
creating a small space in which to write
a particular piece might span across several short spaces
> 6. How open to mistakes are you? What steps do you take to encourage or
> discourage them?
depends what you mean by mistakes
typos can often be serendipititous
> 7. Roadtesting your writing: on a few friends? at readings? read to the
> cat? leave in a drawer for 6 weeks? Not at all?
these days posting a writers mailing list
that offers critiques
> 7a. Does this process transform the work? If so how?
sometimes
you can valuable feedback
> 8. Do you have lots of pieces of work on the go at the same time? Are
they
> separate or all part of the same fabric? Or do you work methodically at
> one piece, then the next, then the next? Or in none of these ways? Please
> specify:
usually one at a time
although I have a number of
collaborative works ongoing at the same time
> 9. How do you plan/prepare for performance? To what extent is this
> incorporated in the drafting? Is performance a fixed point in your
intent?
until now unsociable work hours have prevented me getting involved
in performance.
now, lack of mobility due to eye problems preventing driving
has same effect
once I've got my eyes sorted and can drive again
i'd like to get involved in readings
> 10. Are you obsessive about the practices you've described? Or could
> you stop and do something else?
I not only can stop
I often do
Gerald England
Gerald England's Home page - http://www.nhi.clara.net/gehome.htm
New Hope International - http://www.nhi.clara.net/nhihome.htm
Aabye's Baby - http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Cafe/9091
NHI Review - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1735
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