Sometimes the only way out of the pain, is to go through it.
Hemingway knew that:
spoken word
What Inspires Me: Anne Sexton
A writers life can be a solitary undertaking but it doesn’t mean you are alone…
A Witch’s Life
When I was a child
there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch.
All day she peered from her second story
window
from behind the wrinkled curtains
and sometimes she would open the window
and yell: Get out of my life!
She had hair like kelp
and a voice like a boulder.
I think of her sometimes now
and wonder if I am becoming her.
My shoes turn up like a jester’s.
Clumps of my hair, as I write this,
curl up individually like toes.
I am shoveling the children out,
scoop after scoop.
Only my books anoint me,
and a few friends,
those who reach into my veins.
Maybe I am becoming a hermit,
opening the door for only
a few special animals?
Maybe my skull is too crowded
and it has no opening through which
to feed it soup?
Maybe I have plugged up my sockets
to keep the gods in?
Maybe, although my heart
is a kitten of butter,
I am blowing it up like a zeppelin.
Yes. It is the witch’s life,
climbing the primordial climb,
a dream within a dream,
then sitting here
holding a basket of fire.
by Anne Sexton
Tell Your Story
Go Read Something…
Other than my mother who greatly influenced my love of reading, growing up – I was surrounded by people who didn’t read for pleasure or personal growth. I, however spent a significant amount of time reading for the love and knowledge.
I know people who say they haven’t read a book since they were forced to in school and that boggles my mind because I couldn’t imagine that myself. A couple of these same people have then gone out and read the Twilight or 50 Shades trilogies due to the hype in the media and think its the best literary creations they have ever come across (simply because they haven’t exposed themselves to reading anything else). I completely disagree but the way I look at it is that at least they are reading SOMETHING!
I personally believe you need to exercise your brain and reading does that.
Regardless of the book being good or not according to best seller lists, reviews, recommendations or the like – just do it – read a book and expand your mind as its never too late to do that!
See You Next Tuesday
See You Next Tuesday
Never-mind untruths meaning why
Actuality a passive aggressive error
Spit upon your venomous sly
Cult of the abhorrent phrenic wearer
—
Reaking of uneducated contempt
Willingly forgotten and buried en-mass
Bad behavior you aren’t exempt
Carnivorous bark justified lack of class
—
Unrepentant as coffin bearer
Bride to the death throws
Always siding with internal terror
Backhanded lamb skinned clothes
—
Image-less facade will fade and crack
Cackling before compassionless mask
Aberrated head placed upon the rack
Stolen lips and forged task
—
Guilt trips heavily taxed
Resent razor blade tongue
Heart fence wrapped and waxed
The dance is done we’re stung
—
The song, the verse, the key
Gemini spilled lies granted
I am free – but you will never be
Your place with me transplanted
(C) T. Georgitsis 2016
Melbourne Writers Festival 2016
The Melbourne Writers Festival is happening in Melbourne, Australia next month.
Victoria’s premier annual literary event. The Festival connects writers and stories to celebrate a world of literature, explore universal ideas, and inspire a global community of readers.
The Festival invites thought-provoking discussion at events exploring the hottest topical issues. For those who prefer to focus on life’s pleasures, there’ll be events for foodies, travelers and connoisseurs of culture. We’ll also invite adventurous readers to join like-minded lovers of literature for a range of relaxed social activities in unexpected places.
For all sessions and workshops check out their website here:
What Inspires Me: Old Photos
Have you ever looked through your family’s old photo albums or gone to a market or antique store and seen old photos for sale?
These photos can be very useful for character development or inspiration in your fictional stories.
You can use them for historical fiction as well as flashbacks within your contemporary story.
So next time you come across some old photos – look again as they might inspire you to write something which never crossed your mind.
A Poem: Dropping Anchor
Dropping Anchor
Shifting seas
Drifting aimlessly
Uncontrolled rudder
Moving where taken
Monsters subdued below in darkness
Quiet whilst dreaming of disobedience
Spotting the shore
Commanding the wheel
Steering towards safety
Monsters wake and cause a storm
Keep going or drop anchor
(C) T. Altman 2016
What Inspires Me: So You Want To Be A Writer – Poem by Charles Bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
When can you start calling yourself a writer?
tinaaltman.com 