Kristina Olsson

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.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling, Ian ankin, Join Alexander the McCall Smith, ranks Malcolm Gladwell, of writers Ernest Hemingway, who Petter Altenerg, Aharon Appelfeld, Natalie Goldberg, Sophia Myles, Joe Sacco, Evangeline illy, Sadie Jones, Zoe Kravitz, T.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. produce their best work in cafes cott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Malcolm ladwell, Ernest Hemingway, Petter Altenberg, Aharon Appelfeld, Natalie Goldberg, ophia Myles, Joe Sacco, Evangeline Lilly, Sadie Jones, Zoe Kravitz, T.S. Elliott, ranz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, Alexnder McCall Smith, Malcolm Gladwell, Ernest Hemingway, Petter Altenberg, Aharon ppelfeld, Natalie Goldberg, Sophia Myles, Joe Sacco, Evangeline Lilly, Sadie ones, Zoe Kravitz, T.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerld, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Malcolm Gladwell, Ernest emingway, Petter Altenberg, Aharon Appelfeld, Natalie Goldberg, Sophia Myles, Joe Quiet café work space t Private meeting rooms for hire t Flexible training room for hire acco, Evangeline Lilly, Sadie Jones, Zoe Kravitz, T.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gerrude Excellent Stein, F. coffee Scott and Fitzgerald, tea t Book-inspired J.K. menu Rowling, t Word-themed Ian Rankin, gifts Alexander t Free wi-fi McCall mith, Malcolm Hosted Gladwell, events t Ernest Admin Hemingway, services t Facilitation Petter Altenberg, services t Aharon JP site Appelfeld, Naalie Goldberg, Sophia Myles, Joe Sacco, Evangeline Lilly, Sadie Jones, Zoe Kravtz, T.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling, Where to find us: When we’re open: t 110 Windsor Road, Red Hill t 7am—5pm, Monday to Friday an Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Malcolm Gladwell, Ernest Hemingway, Petter Alenberg, Aharon Appelfeld, Natalie Goldberg, Sophia Myles, Joe Sacco, Evangeline t Phone: (07) 3368 1088 t 8am—2pm, Saturday t Email: info@northsidemeetings.com.au t Closed Sunday and public holidays illy, Sadie Jones, Zoe Kravitz, T.S. Elliott, Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. t Web: www.northsidemeetings.com.au t Room bookings available evenings and cott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Malcolm t Social: www.facebook.com/northsidemeetings weekends ladwell, Ernest Hemingway, Petter Altenberg, Aharon Appelfeld, Natalie Goldberg, ophia Myles, Joe Sacco, Evangeline Lilly, Sadie Jones, Zoe Kravitz, T.S. Elliott, Writers, Editors, Readers, Thinkers, Conversationalists and Coffee Lovers are always welcome ranz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, Alex- Conjuring stories Melaina Faranda When I give a creative writing workshop, I’ll sometimes break the word imagination into three: I for the self; MAGI being an archaic term for a magician, wise man, or sorcerer; and NATION representing a country or terrain. Put them together and we might consider that each of us contains a kind of inner magician able to roam through infinite internal realms and conjure from these—images, characters, possibilities, stories… One question that preoccupies anyone interested in the business of story making is—where does creativity come from? I’ve heard it suggested that creativity is moonlit, penumbral, that seeking to pin it down can be likened to chasing a shadow of light. For me it also entails a certain kind of leaning into a cerebral darkness. In particular, when I’m not being inundated or even inspired by a story insisting to be told, finding story requires the courage to continue to lean into that darkness and keep reaching with my inner senses, against the threat of nothing being there. In this instance, it truly is a case of the 16 WQ
threat of the empty rather than the empty threat. Sometimes creative courage entails a discipline of simply undertaking to remain there, to not skive off with a mundane achievement, or answering emails or staring into the fridge, but instead to ease into the nothingness a little deeper. And often from that darkness some part of us, an inner magician, appears to conjure the best type of writing—the things we didn’t know we knew. One question that preoccupies anyone interested in the business of story making is—where does creativity come from? So how does this work in practice? How is it possible to approach writing in a way in which we have an opportunity to conjure rather than contrive? I literally stumbled upon one of my favourite writing exercises in my children’s playroom. Before giving creative writing workshops, I’d often raid their toys to see what might be useful as a springboard for story. One day, while rootling through the lowrelief soft sculpture that was their playroom floor, I stubbed my toe on a blue plastic telescope. Into the bag it went, with the thought: this might be good for a five-minute activity—only to be intrigued when that five minutes stretched into two hours… I’d like to share the bones of this process with you now. There are only two caveats. The first is to refrain from rejecting what appears in your imagination. Regardless of whether anything you encounter feels like something you wouldn’t have consciously chosen, go with it. Also, not everybody visualises as such. Sometimes we see pictures in our mind, other times we tend more to feel or hear or simply know what it is that is there, and each or all are fine. Naturally, it’s also always helpful to close our eyes when imagining, to help shut out the clamour for attention from our external world. Imagine now that you are gazing into the distance at a far-away place or landscape that’s hazy and indistinct. Just take a quick note of what you see. Now imagine that you are holding up a telescope and training it on a specific spot in that landscape in which everything becomes clear within its circumference. There’s a person there. Don’t reject the person who appears. It might not be who you’d ordinarily be interested in writing about. In many ways this is even better. However, if it’s someone you already know, calmly move on and find someone else. The next thing to do is note and write down: what that person looks like, what they are wearing, any significant or noticeable facial or bodily features, any jewellery, tattoos, scars etc. This can feel like a process of observing as well as fabricating. In either instance there’s a deliberate looseness in our approach so that it can be a fusion of both. We then move to the question: how does that character feel about what they are wearing? And here begins the dance from the external to the internal and back again. Ideally we want to segue back and forth from describing our character’s external world, to describing from their internal perceptions. It is the same for all sensory observations. What sounds can they hear in this place? What sounds do they most long to hear, or most dread hearing, and why? This equally applies for sights, textures, smells, tastes etc. Questions can be asked about objects, about recurring dreams, what they care about most, secrets, loves and fears. ... and from fathomless creative darkness another story is conjured. All this can be done in a spirit of ease of discovery. The telescope serves to protect us from overwhelm by delineating a clear circumference of specificity within our own infinite sense of imaginative possibilities. Rather than feeling an onus to ‘write a story’ from start to finish, we can embark on an exploration of a character revealing how they think and feel, their sensory world, and the specific artefacts that comprise their existence—and from fathomless creative darkness another story is conjured. Melaina Faranda is the author of forty YA and children’s books, published nationally and internationally, as well as being a qualified teacher for over twenty years. She gives numerous creative writing and self-editing workshops and masterclasses in schools, writers’ centres and at literature festivals throughout Australia and can be booked through Speakers Ink. WWW.WRITINGQUEENSLAND.COM.AU 17
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