Crazy English

Have been sorting through some old Writing Magazines and found an interesting article on Richard Lederer's Crazy English (see:www.verbivore.com/arc_ceng.htm).  Richard's book argues that English is a Crazy Language - in case you didn't know - and Writing Magazine: July 2009 (www.writingmagazine.co.uk) reproduce the list 'Reasons why the English language is hard to learn'.  I have highlighted some of my favourites below:

• The bandage was wound around the wound.
• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
• We must polish the polish furniture.
• I did not object to the object.
• The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
• The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
• Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
• They were too close to the door to close it. 

Poetry and Motherhood

Was interested in a recent interview in Mslexia (Mar/Apr/May 2012) with Alice Oswald.

Part of the article reads; It's clear to me that being a wife and mother as well as a poet is an incredibly important aspect of Oswald's writing practice. She describes being 'determined from the start that motherhood would help my writing, and that I wasn't going to resent childcare. I thought: I've chosen to do this and I'm going to make it a positive contribution to poetry, by bringing that kind of unusual world into it.'

I could not have agreed more when she said; 'One of the main features of motherhood is interruption'. Her solution? 'I incorporate interruption into the structure of a poem. Poems are all about intermittency and interruptions, so that became a kind of aesthetic for me.'

'If I'm beginning a new poem, my best way of attacking it at the moment is to get up at around 4 or 5am and go to my shed with an extremely strong cup of coffee. My life is so scattered with children, that is the only time I know I will not be interrupted.' I know what she means, but working as well, I think 4am is far too early - even for an early bird like me!!

She does say that 'Every task - cleaning, cooking, walking the dog - is exercise for the non-literary side of my mind', which she hopes feeds into how she writes.

Poetry....Part 2

Took the poem (revamped) which I had taken to the Lindum Scribes (http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/poetry.html) to the Poison Pens group on Saturday. This week Richard was in the chair and he was good enough to give me enough time to share three of my poems. I read 'New Job', 'Funeral Poem' and the revamped poem which is currently called 'New Beginnings'. The group were a lot more poetry friendly and made some useful comments; including asking what New Beginnings was actually about! Following the first reading I had gone back and changed it considerably. This meant I had lost sight of the original meaning of the poem. One more go I think!!

Reaction was mixed to all three poems and, as usual, there was a lot of discussion with regards to punctuation etc. Everyone there agreed that 'New Job' was the best poem - except Barbara who liked 'Funeral Poem' the best. All three still have work to be done on them but I am happy with the reactions so far!

But it just goes to show; in the words of the poet John Lydgate (see: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-lydgate), later adapted by President Lincoln - and appearing in various permutations: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

Job Applications as Creative Writing

Must have done a good job on the application I spent so long completing, as not only did I get an interview but I also got the job!!

Yesterday was my last day working within Payroll. Am off to the bright lights of Choose and Book next week - also within the NHS. Although I am nervous about moving jobs I feel it is the right thing to do. Payroll have only been able to offer me contracts of 3 and 4 months. The new job has a contract of 12 months. I am hoping this will calm my worries about money; while at the same time giving me a few more hours to concentrate on my writing. The old job was 20hrs and the new one is 18.5hrs. This means I will have a Wednesday morning to myself; as Jamie will be in nursery, before starting work at 12.30pm

McKenna on Procrastination

Most people who procrastinate aren't lazy - they're afraid of failing. You can mitigate your fear of failing by always calculating the upside and downside of any decision.

One of the keys to making good decisions is being in a good state. If you are upset, nervous, angry or frightened, its not a good time to make a decision.

Paul Mckenna www.paulmckenna.com
I Can make You Smarter, Bantam Press (2012) www.rbooks.co.uk/

I can make you smarter....??

Have just skim-red 'I can make you smarter' by Paul McKenna. I am afraid that, at the moment, I don't really have the time to practice what he preaches but I can see where he is coming from.

Intelligence is not something we are simply born with, it is more about how we view our own intelligence and of course practice, practice, practice.

He says; We have all been programmed to believe certain things about how smart we are, how smart it is good to be, and what we are and aren't capable of learning. These unconscious programs are like hypnotic suggestions, limiting our behaviour until they become self-fulfilling prophecies.

There are only 3 reasons people fail to learn new things - they are in an unproductive state of mind, they are using an ineffective strategy, or they give up too soon.

Poetry...

'Poetry is the music of being human. A good poem is a gift to the world.'

Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate quoted in Writers' News: April 2012 www.writers-online.co.uk/

Unfortunately, not everyone understands poetry. I took a 'work in progress' to the Lindum Scribes on Tuesday night and a number of the members commented that they did not see it as a poem but rather as prose as it did not rhyme. Luckily some of the others members made a few constructive comments and I know what I need to do - cut it back and tighten the images.

I still feel I am loosing out by attending a mixed writers group. I mean mixed in the sense of all types of writing accepted. One of the members read out a piece of over 2000 words and mine - including the title - was 144 words. I got to read out one poem and had all of about 10 minutes in the spotlight compared to a lot longer for some of the others.....