Week 3 - Balance

A week of dichotomies and finding the balance.

The third week of my Master’s degree had been a week of dichotomies.

This photo was taken on Friday night, at the end of said dichotomous week, of a fancy hot chocolate with a cocktail umbrella. We had some left over from the little cocktail party we hosted (‘hosted’ being quite a generous word, considering the only guests live in the venue), and have been using them up in everything we drink for the past few days.

There’s been a lot of high-energy fun this week, but a lot of intimate, soft moments too. I’ve been an active participant in some classes, and a silent observer in others. I’ve taken time for myself, and given my time to other people in equal measure. The importance of balance has been a really prevalent theme in my life this week.

For the students, the writers, and the academics.

Creative Writing

This week we read Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones in my creative writing module. I haven’t actually sat and read many writing theory books (at least not as many as I should’ve), but this one is definitely a favourite. I’m a sucker for a short, snappy chapter, and Goldberg does this really well. Writing Down the Bones manages to wonderfully navigate the balance between creativity and education, in a way I see all to infrequently nowadays. The learning is seamless, and happens without you noticing.

We focused especially on the chapter 'Man Eats Car’ and the way metaphor is discussed in writing. The anecdote in question discussed a man on the news who actually ate a car, fully digesting every piece of metal, rubber, and leather the vehicle had to offer. Goldberg relayed a time she discussed this with a creative writing group, and used it as a tool to curate a reverse metaphor — wherein something so absurd is the fact in the scenario, and it is up to the reader to devise a deeper, more metaphorical meaning.

We were given this exercise to attempt ourselves, and I was overwhelmed with how seemingly tricky this was to do. On the surface it seems so easy — think of the most outlandish thing you can, make it real, and let whoever finds it next decide what it could mean. But I’m a very logical thinker, and I found myself skipping a few steps ahead and trying to find the ‘truth’ in my own absurdity. And thus, we come back to balance. Doing enough to give the reader the clues they need, but not so much you dictate or spoil the ending. Trust your reader to understand the nuances of your writing.

Publishing

We covered the first step in the publishing process this week — the Literary Agent. As flashy as it sounds, the modern day writer must have an agent, who, essentially, does all of the important, serious jobs that the author finds tedious and intimidating. The negotiate with publishers, draw up contracts, and handle the ‘selling’ of the book to the people that actually want to create it.

The importance of the literary agent in this cycle absolutely cannot be understated. Any publishers bigger than independents will rarely consider anything for publication that isn’t sent by an agent, or through a trusted agency. It’s a high-intensity atmosphere, and one that four-year-old me who just wanted to be an author never considered.

We did an exercise in small groups where we were given a random, well-known book and told to pitch it as if it was new to the market, capitalising on current literary trends, themes, and tropes. We were given The Lord of the Rings, and as someone who is not a fantasy fan, I found it quite hard to pitch it as a must-read. Luckily for me, it really sells itself, and finding comparative titles when the majority of high-fantasy media can, in part, attribute its success to Tolkien made it easy. We were picked as one of the winners, alongside a historical fiction reimagining of Pride and Prejudice and a group that managed to make Prince Harry’s Spare into more than a charity shop staple.

For the family.

There isn’t a lot to say about me this week.

At least not to my mum, because, for once, I have managed to maintain a semblance of regular contact.

This week I found out I’m going to receive the Subject Prize for Creative Writing at my graduation in November. I achieved the highest overall grade on my course for the class of 2025, and I spent the rest of the day I found out waiting for a second email to say they made a mistake. The last semester of my undergraduate degree was harrowing to say the least. Four days before my last assignment was due, I hadn’t even started planning the piece, and I wrote it in such an incredible daze I couldn’t remember anything about the writing when I received my feedback. To not only emerge from that with a first-class degree, but with the highest grade on my course, is so unbelievable. I feel so grateful, and so proud, yet remain so firmly in denial.

I also have a few exciting opportunities popping up, but I don’t want to jinx it by telling you. Any well-wishes are very welcome!

But, the other end of that incredible high is my lack of motivation. I have no desire to write creatively, and I’m giving no time to that part of myself, and I am starting to miss it. This week I’m going to start planning my dissertation, and I’m hoping a new focus will bring the spark back.

There’s little more you can do than write to fix writer’s block, which is unfortunate, as it’s the only thing you don’t want to do. Maybe writing a little something around a reverse metaphor might make things better.

But write. Write something, write anything, and write lots of it. It’s the only way forward.

Laura x