#dolly garland

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Top 5 Creative Writing Books to Inspire You

Whether you need to recover from a writer’s block, or just want to keep your creative instincts finely tuned, these five books will teach you and inspire you, and most importantly, make you want to write.

A Way of Being Free – Ben Okri

A collection of essays gathered in this volume, on creativity and story-telling blew me away. The writing is awe-inspiring, and the contents make you think about creativity and story-telling from a much deeper perspective. It makes you ponder about the relationship between creativity and humanity. And it makes you want to keep writing, and keep getting better.

  Stephen King – On Writing

You don’t have to love King’s fiction to love this book. A combination of his autobiography as a writer and advice on writing, this book has been a classic amongst writers for years now, and for a good reason. It will inspire you, to emulate a hard-working, commercially successful writer.

  Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg

Goldberg’s book is excellent to practice creativity, to be inspired, or simply to have fun. Her creativity is different than King’s. It is more playful. It often focuses on the process itself rather than the end result, but sometimes, particularly when you are just testing ideas, it may just be what you need.

  A Writer’s Diary – Virginia Woolf

This is the book I keep on my bedside table, and keep it in a continuous re-read mode. I read a few entries at a time, and each time, I am awed by Woolf’s dedication to her craft as a writer. You also learn, in minute detail, how the process of crafting her novels worked, as she tried to figure it out herself. This is a great book, even for those who simply love to read Woolf’s novels.

  The Writer’s Journey – Christopher Volger

A modern version of Joseph Campbell’s A Hero’s Journey. The writer’s journey takes the hero’s journey, uses it specifically for writers, and is a much easier read than Campbell’s original. It will teach you, or re-familiarize you with the important elements most successful stories have.

[cubmagazine]

Fantasy Faction’s Grim Gathering

Last Wednesday evening, on August 13th, in the Waterstones on High Street Kensington, four fabulous authors of modern fantasy combined with Fantasy Faction (a website that reviews modern fantasy books, and brings the fantasy community together) gave the fans a chance to meet up for a casual hangout without the price tag of LonCon or NineWorlds.

The event was free to attend. Marc Aplin (the overlord of Fantasy Faction) and his sister Claire moderated the panel. The format was questions and answers for thirty minutes, followed by questions from the audience, then the book-signing. The end, as all British endings must be, was off to the pub, where the two American authors were most excited to order cider.

Considering the personalities of the authors concerned, I was expecting it to be a fun event (despite the title: Grim Gathering), and it was. Marc started things off by getting the authors to introduce one another, rather than themselves. Mark Lawrence’s introduction for Joe Abercrombie was, “Joe needs no introduction,” which for anyone who is familiar with the modern fantasy genre, is true.

Topics ranged from the apparently sudden popularity of grim-dark, how dark is too dark, the best compliment and the worst criticism authors had received, to what inspired them as writers to put their work out there.

Regarding the popularity of the grim-dark genre, I liked Peter V. Brett’s answer that he grew up reading pretty much only fantasy, but felt that books didn’t grow up with him. He was disillusioned with the genre until he read George R. R. Martin and realised how much more could be done with fantasy.

When answering the question of how dark is too dark, Myke Cole said, “When I’m writing right, when I’m writing the way I want to write, I’m not thinking about anyone else.” That’s the advice all aspiring authors should follow.

Mark Lawrence’s answer to the same question was, “When I’m writing, I’m not thinking about offending people. I’m just following the story.”

Joe Abercrombie was his funny, charming self. Myke Cole, whom I met for the first time, has to be one of the friendliest people on the planet, and considering he is a member of the NYPD and the coast guard, also pretty tough (in a nice way). Peter V. Brett and Mark Lawrence were also both incredibly friendly and mingled happily with the readers.

All four authors were extremely patient, and hung out to sign the very last book, including extra copies for Waterstones, and then joined us in Kensington Arms.  It was a well organised, well attended event, which drew readers from not just across the UK but even as far as Romania, not to mention two authors from across the pond.

The modern fantasy genre is an enriched field of story-telling, and all of these four authors have made their mark in it. I’m hoping that Fantasy Faction will make this an annual event. If  you are looking to try some modern fantasy reads, I highly recommend all four of these authors.

[cubmagazine]

5 Ways to Avoid Writer's Block

Writer’s block doesn’t have to be a crippling vacuum for your creativity – but it does make us want to throw our laptops or notebooks out of the library window. Dolly Garland has five ways to avoid the dreaded writer’s block below.

Write Yourself Out

Set a timer for twenty minutes and try a free writing exercise. Write about anything that comes to your mind. You could pick a title of an existing story and start writing from that. Write a poem. Write an article. Write in your journal. Just keep writing, until writing feels like something you do, instead of something you have to think about doing.

Read Stuff That Inspires You

Get your favourite books out. Re-discover them. Feel the joy of getting lost in beautiful writing. Read about writers from other writers. Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ is a great example of a book that rarely fails to inspire, whether or not you like reading his novels.

Watch a TED Talk

TED Talks are great for inspiration because you can see people all around the world, doing amazing things, and be encouraged by their passion and enthusiasm. Watch a TED Talk when you need a motivational kick and you’ll feel like you can do anything.

Make a List

List-making is a fun and easy way to get into a creative mode. Make a list of potential titles for your articles, poems or stories. Make a list of character names and traits. Make a list of phrases you could use. Make a list of random words. Use these lists as stepping stones and you’ll be inspired to use material for your writing projects.

Move Your Body

Your body and mind are connected. Keep your body active and healthy and keep the blood and oxygen flowing - and your creativity will get a major boost. If you can’t get into writing, go for a long, brisk walk and think about your projects or listen to music, and when you get back go straight to your desk and start writing. Words will flow.

Which methods do you use to avoid or overcome writer’s block? Share it with us in the comments below!

[cubmagazine]

Review: QMTC @ Edinburgh Fringe

QM's Deprescos

Queen Mary Theatre Company’s Production of Deprescos highlights the world most of us are familiar with: the world of low wages, a desperate job market, people who want to lay the blame at someone else’s door - and Tesco. The “frolic through the microcosm world of the supermarket” shows the reality of a considerable portion of the British population. The scenes where the cast sort the boxes in a zombie-like state brilliantly depict people who find themselves stuck in difficult jobs or situations.

The strength of Emer Mary Morris’ script lies in the representation of grey areas. The manager, Trevor, is trying to win the award for the best store; he is a man trying to make his way up in the world. Beverly, a terrible customer service assistant, is a clichéd character but an accurate one nonetheless. She is the figure you have no doubt met in most supermarkets or retail chains, reminiscent of the characters of Dinner Ladies. Jason, the security guard, is interested in stunts and action and sees himself as a film star. Lucy and her boyfriend Pen wanted revenge on capitalism, while at the same time helping themselves by stealing a holiday from the Tesco head-office manager they hold hostage.

It’s a story of desperate, lonely people, imagining themselves to be revolutionaries or Robin Hood – and ultimately trying to be braver than they actually are. The performance made an excellent use of sound and lightening and the set was really well done.

This play had me laughing out loud, and the use of modern props, such as Tesco Clubcards and social media, only served to make the play even more poignant.

See this performance at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at theSpace @ Venue45.

Click here for show times and details.

  Darkly Comic and Sexy: QM and Splutter Theatre’s Old Gristle

Queen Mary Theatre Company joined forces with Splutter Theatre for this production of Old Gristle. Unashamedly sleazy with sexual overtones (and a bare-bottom spanking), darkly comic, and at times graphically revolting, this is an interesting story of filthy inhabitants of a town called Old Gristle.

The frequency of people carrying their dead loved ones – including a dead dog – in black bin bags is quite disturbing. The revolting nature of it all seems deliberate, enhanced particularly by Pam and Sam, siblings, who eat their parents’ ashes and cover themselves in it.

It’s a story of a town that is steeped in decay and dying and the inhabitants are trying to save themselves. They think they know how, so they set about it, with no care for the consequences. The morality of their actions, while present, seems to exist only in the background as an afterthought, as if it’s something that the people of Old Gristle were aware of only vaguely.

The cast acted as one in a seamless whole. Their chemistry made things creepier, which I believe was the intended effect. It’s a bit of an odd story, which is set to entertain and disturb all at once. Expect to laugh and to be shocked in equal measure.

See this performance at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Space @ Venue45.

Click here for show times and details.

  QM’s Coping

Queen Mary Theatre Company’s production of Coping: A Bittersweet One-Act Musical is a heart-warming and realistic performance of handling breakups, heartbreaks, loss - and a tale of haunting could-haves and should-haves. It depicts imperfect people in imperfect relationships, trying to find their slice of happiness and coping with unexpected losses.

The cast came together as a unit and the chemistry between them enhanced the overall strength of their performance, which was already strong as individuals. The laugh-out loud moments were often the ones that struck a chord – and often the moments which produced introspection, giving us chance to recognise stark truths from our lives, such as Olivia deluding herself of the things she can do to win her ex-lover back and Ana regretting all the things she did not do and the affection she did not show.

Better use of lighting, to create more shadows and spotlights would have enhanced the drama. However, the intimate setting of the Pinter Studio on Queen Mary’s campus worked well.

It’s a beautiful, independent musical that will take you through a touching and poignant journey in just forty five minutes.

See this performance at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at theSpace @ Venue45.

Click here for show times and details.

[cubmagazine]

How To Nurture Your Creativity

Like any good habit, your creativity needs to be nurtured. Particularly if you expect your muse to show up on demand. Following few simple ways will keep your muse nourished, and keep the creativity flowing.

Keep an Idea File

Keep a file or a notebook where you note any ideas you have. It doesn’t matter if you never use them, but write them down. Every couple of weeks, or at least once a month, review this file. Human brain works in mysterious ways. Creativity is a fusion of ideas, and you never know which ideas are going to connect together. So give them a place to mingle. Enjoy Alone Time

You need space to be able to listen to your brain. If you are always chattering away to other people, there is no room for your muse to talk to you.  Make sure you give yourself regular alone time. Learn to cherish solitude, and learn to be more aware of yourself, and you will be more in tune with your creativity.

Expose Yourself to a Lot of Different Ideas

For your creativity to reach depth, you need to expose yourself to a lot of different things. Read different things from books to blogs, go to museums and look at art, go to opera and theatre, go to sports events. Give yourself an opportunity to experience different ideas, even the ones you don’t agree with. Your muse taps into everything you know and learn, and uses them to create your personalised brand of creativity. So you need to make sure that you are giving it plenty of food.

Keep Your Body Moving

A healthy flow of oxygen and blood does wonders for the brain. Don’t expect your creativity to flourish if you are just sitting in your chair all day.  If you are not very athletic, go for walks or dancing or play games with your friends. Keep your body moving, and your brain will work better.

Use Setbacks and Failures

Setbacks and failures are a part of life, but as a creative, you can feed them to your muse. Personal experiences add emotional truth to your work. It doesn’t mean you should kill someone to know how a murderer feels, but rather that you use emotional truths available to you – such as being dumped, failing a class, or falling out with a friend – and then heighten it to express it through your work. Look at every setback in life, particularly the ones that make you cry a lot, as something to explore and tap into.

Use Your Ideas

Collecting ideas, and fusing them is just a part of nurturing creativity, but you need to apply them. Whether it’s for traditional creative mediums such as writing, painting, dancing etc. or in more mainstream life – such as using creative techniques to become a better parent, or a better employee, or a better student – apply your creativity. Application is essential when you are trying to acquire a skill, and creativity is a skill.

[cubmagazine]

Performance Review: Monkeys and Typewriters

Queen Mary Theatre Company’s production of Monkeys and Typewriters managed to make me laugh at the absurd, feel sad for the souls lost in uncertainty of the Greater Continent, relieved that somehow humanity finds a way to connect, and ponder about the importance of truths, lies and the big area in-between – all in forty-five minutes.

It was a clever, beautifully written play performed with minimal props. The intimacy of Actor’s Temple, with only twenty seats, worked really well as one felt involved with the actors at all times. The cast of four actors performed brilliantly, from Hugo’s fearful portrayal to Miss Pearl’s impressive talking speed, and Bigby who came across as slightly more aware than Hugo of all the things they did not know. But for me, it was undoubtedly, Mr. Prophet who stole the show. His projection, his mannerisms, the way he carried himself and the way he commanded the stage were outstanding.

The setting of the stage, with the sounds and the lightening techniques – particularly the use of torches to portray the fear, and the uncertainty of the greater continents, where there are more truths but less words, worked really well.

Toby Jones’ direction was flawless, and brought the cast and the crew together in a cohesive whole that made this a little gem of quality, independent theatre.

In the words of a writer friend of mine, Dev Agarwal, “There’s truth, dramatic truth, lying, beautiful lies, lies that expose truth.” This performance of Monkeys and Typewriters did all that.

See this performance at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Space @ Venue45

Click here for show times and details.

[cubmagazine]

Top 10 Writer Quotes About Creativity

Feeling an oncoming spell of writer’s block – or do you just need a kick of encouragement? Either way, we turn to some of our favourite writers for a healthy dose of motivation and inspiration to get your pen on the page again.

1. ‘You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.’ – Neil Gaiman

2. ‘Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.’ - John Steinbeck

3. ‘To live a creative life we must first lose the fear of being wrong.’ – Joseph Chilton Pearce

4. ‘People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in the back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.’ – Harlan Ellison

5. ‘Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labour, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer.’ - Ray Bradbury

6. ‘Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.’ – William Faulkner

7. ‘Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.’ – William Shakespeare

8. ‘If you can tell stories, create character, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.’ – Somerset Maugham

9. ‘Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.’ – Jane Yolen

10. ‘First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!’ – Ray Bradbury

[cubmagazine]

QM Creative Talents: Dolly Garland

Dolly Garland is studying for MA in English Literature. She is a freelance writer, a soon-to-be published short story author, a poet and an aspiring novelist. She is the founder of Kaizen Journaling, where she teaches people how to use journaling for personal development. You can follow her on Twitter here (@DollyGarland) and her work can be found on her website here: www.kaizenjournaling.com.

When did you first develop an interest in creative writing?

I developed an interest in creating writing since my early teenage years when I started writing poems and short stories. It just never occurred to me at the time that it could be a career choice, so I went and got a business degree instead.

Who are you go-to writers for inspiration?

It really depends on the mood, and what I need inspiration for. But Virginia Woolf’s “A Writer’s Diary” and Ben Okri’s “A Way of Being Free” are two things that never fail to inspire me.

How do you generate an idea for a poem?

Sometimes I write a poem because I have a theme in mind, something I want to talk about, or express through poetry. At other times, it’s imagery: something as simple as looking at an old, broken chair or river rushing over rocks. I also use a word or a phrase that strikes a chord with me and write a poem around that.

  Here is a selection of Dolly’s poetry:

The Mask of Respectability

It was custom-made,

The mask of respectability,

Passed down to each generation

Like a treasured heirloom.

We were all taught to keep the mask on,

At all times, until the curtain fell.

It was like a second skin

Protecting our status, and

Family name, earning us

The deference that was our due.

Then the curtain fell,

And the mask came off.

The respectability went for a brief

Hiatus, as naked bodies slithered

On beds that didn’t belong to them,

As husbands beat their wives,

Mistresses paraded through

The house in saris more expensive

Than what the wife had ever gotten,

As the sons learned from their fathers,

And set back progress for another generation;

The daughters were taught to accept it all,

Because it was their fate, to be

A good daughter, sister, wife, mother;

Live to serve, obey, and follow the men,

And earn a trip to heaven from the funeral pyre.

I ripped off my mask before the curtain fell,

Accepted the prospect of a future hell,

To enjoy the freedom of being me

That is available now.

Pretentious Sophistication

Sunshine streaming over the

Washed-up wooden tables

Of the little café, attempting

To make the suburban street

Trendy; couples sit on the deliberately

Mismatched chairs, holding hands

And sipping gingerbread lattes;

Families with strollers stop in

For a bite to eat;

The wannabe bohemians

Sit for hours, ordering Americanos

And olives, talking about

Books and politics,

Arguing with opinions not their own.

The owner bustles behind the counter,

Serving smiles and small talk

As a bonus, and the cash register

Rings, ch-ching, ch-ching,

As the suburbanites pretend

The city sophistication,

Through over-priced coffees and Paninis.