Good But Not Right
One of the greatest challenges of a creative life, I think, is learning to handle the stuff that’s good, but not right. What I mean by that is the material that works, that has potential or that would be interesting to develop — but isn’t right for this particular project. It happens a lot, especially in…
Dress Rehearsal
Ever heard that saying, “Life is not a dress rehearsal”? It’s the kind of snappy aphorism that makes for very Pinterest-worthy wall hangings and chintzy crocheted cushion covers. And while its cloying oversimplification irks me deeply, the reasons aphorisms stick so hard is that there is usually some truth in them. There’s no denying we…
Magic Binoculars
One of the hardest things about writing about your own life is choosing which chunk of it to tell. There are some amazing memoirs that tell the whole dang thing. Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime, Open by Andre Agassi and Becoming by Michelle Obama are just a few wonderful examples. Then there are others that focus on just a sliver…
The Other Side Of Fear
It might not be a big surprise to you that I was a massive teacher’s pet when I was a kid. … and also when I was a teenager and also when I was a university student. And maybe for a while as a grown-up. For my whole young life, I lived for knowing the right answer.…
We Will Remember Them
It’s Remembrance Day, you see. It’s not often I get homesick or nostalgic for that far-off sunburnt country, but two days I can count on to make me weepy for Australia are ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.I’m not from a military family and I don’t have lots of military friends. I haven’t lost anyone in…
Write From Your Scars, Not Your Wounds
Today I wanted to write about love and marriage (and my conspicuous lack of a baby carriage).It’s no big secret that this part of my life has seen some flux over the last years. While I’m happier than ever, more settled in my spirit and more quietly confident that I’m on the right path, navigating…
Rewriting Is The Job
Something I think that has become obvious this year is that while we think of numbers as objective, empirical data points that tell a specific story, they can be twisted to tell any kind of story you so choose.All year, Covid reporting has been plagued by which data is being highlighted.Is it the R number, tracking how…
Here We Go!
Now: as it turns out writing about your own life and work is much harder than writing about someone else’s, so I’ve hired the FABULOUS Jacqueline Burns from London Writers Club to coach me through this new genre. She’s already pulled off that wonderful trick of understanding what I wanted to do better than I did. It’s amazing to…