Lecture by Benjamin Law

My favourite lecture for WRIT3050 so far has been by a guest lecturer Benjamin Law- I love that he is published in one of my favourite magazines Frankie.

TIPS I LEARNT FROM LAW ABOUT WRITING NON-FICTION AND INTERVIEWING:

- - - Research, research, research!

- --Questions, even just with friends.

- - - You Don’t have to be an expert, but be interested and curious and then become an expert.

- - -You don’t just need facts, but need a story behind it.

- - - What you learn in fiction bleeds into your non-fiction work too.

- - - Have to recognise your own biases- so you can question and doubt them- or you will never be an objective observer.

- - - Don’t use editorialising voice.

- - - Let people speak their minds and let the reader figure out what they think about it themselves without pushing your own thoughts.

- - - Can’t write about yourself unless you write about people you know- need to be sensitive in comedy when doing this but also need to get good material.

- - - Can include doubt about what happened in memoir- doesn’t have to be definitive.

- - - Screenwriting- think hard about the theme you are writing. This can be applied to non-fiction.

- - - Ask yourself- why am I writing this piece?

-- - What are the ramifications for yourself- you bear the consequences of what you write.

- - - Interviewing- memoir and biography require you to talk to people too.

- - - Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance!

- - - Ask open-ended questions.

- - - Use add on questions- really? Can you explain that in another way? Or just be silent and they will often continue their train of thought.

- - - Don’t feel inadequate if you don’t understand what they’re talking about.

- - - Ask them to expand on this.

-- - Don’t be afraid to follow up.

- - - If you are writing someone's story you need sensual images.

- - - Tragedy + time = comedy.

- - - If you can get someone to laugh they will want to read the rest of your work.

- - - If you can’t write through the grimness, people will struggle to read it.

- - - Ask youself- Is this too much information? Will I regret writing this about myself?

- - - If you write something that reminds you of something else you have to stop- cliché.

- - - Description – switch around words that always go together.

- - - Pitch lots of story ideas at once.

- - - Have to know the magazine you want to write for inside out- and submit writing examples.

Thank you Benjamin Law!

Images:

http://ebooks.readings.com.au/product/9781921825507

http://natashadarlingstylist.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/frankie-magazine.html

http://andrewmcmillen.com/2010/06/06/the-courier-mail-story-benjamin-laws-the-family-law/

Writing the Right Way

Can words arrange themselves around my life, or do I have to arrange my life around words?

I often wonder, is there a right way to write? Of course every person has their own style, but how does one know when they have perfected their style so it is exactly right for them, expresses exactly what they want to say, and can convey all kinds of emotions from their readers. How does a poet know they are meant to be a poet- that their ideas wouldn't be better suited to a short story, memoir, or novel? I guess passion and inspiration choose their own form; even a shopping list can transform into a poem if it really wants to.

Sometimes I dream that I have a hidden talent waiting to be unleashed. Maybe I am meant to be a journalist in Africa, a screenwriter with a pen behind my ear, a novelist in lonely mountains-the Cliché's always reel me in. People say you can be anything you want, but it that really true? I think people are born writers. They have it in them. From the moment they first hold a pencil it has begun: a future of clean white sheets being smudged with ink. But of course there is always the hope that if you find how to write the right way that future can be yours too, if you really want it.

Image:

http://www.content-writing-india.com/blog/tips-to-get-inspired-while-writing-2/