John Lacey » Experience

Gary Reef On Expectations

John Lacey — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:03:03 +0000

I’ve been watching Gary Reef‘s videos for days now. He posts on YouTube as CapricornArtist73. He does some extraordinary work.

This advice seems like a double edged sword – on one hand it seems quite encouraging to know you’ll improve over time, on the other hand it seems depressing that it will take such a long time. But it is true, I’m sure.

It’s the mark of a seasoned artist actually, at least as far as I can ascertain, to not be so hung up on judging their own output. In my experience I am always wary of being judged, I invariably preface posts with my artwork with words like ‘beginner’ or ‘amateur’ in part because I want to give context but also because I’m hoping random passers by will be gentle.

Wayson Choy: Your Story Is Absolutely Worth Telling

John Lacey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:16:04 +0000

I thought after yesterday’s rant, we should have something slightly more inspirational and upbeat.

Wayson Choy:

In all my writing, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, my feeling is I’m building a bridge. I’m a unique person in my way, as other people are unique in theirs. And when I read a book I always say to myself, “I want to understand this particular uniqueness that’s not me but that is part of the range of human behaviour.” And so when I write my books I hope that somebody reads my book, crosses boundaries that they hadn’t thought of before and explored, and was empathetic to a human being that really is an awful lot like them.

[...]

I would say your story is absolutely worth telling. Don’t even hesistate to think otherwise, but remember you can only tell your story if you have the craft and learn the craft of writing. Because it is an artform and having said that, I think you deserve the chance to tell your story and you should. I think some people say, “Nothing happened to me.” But if they really think about – especially when they realise how they got to where they are now, and they are honest – they have much to tell and they should tell it.

Wayson Choy is the author of Not Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying.

Choy almost died. Twice. After suffering multiple heart attacks and a severe asthma attack in 2001, he literally had to learn how to relearn how to speak, write and walk.

So whether I write 50,000 words this month or not, I take great comfort in the knowledge that I didn’t die… or almost died.

Write What You Know. Write What You Feel.

John Lacey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:52:22 +0000

Write what you know. Write what you feel. It’s classic writing advice. Here screenwriter Bill Grundfest and Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. offer their thoughts on the importance of writing from your own perspective and from your own personal history.

Bill Grundfest (whose credits include writing and producing Mad About You) on The Writing Show:

So it comes from writing not from your head, but from your guts and from your pain and from your humiliation and all that stuff. And I see a lot of scripts where it involves, ‘And then the police get them in the interrogation room and they interrogate them!’ And I’ll ask the writer, I’ll say, ‘How many interrogations have you been in?’ And they’ll say, ‘Well, none.’ I’ll say, ‘So why are you writing about interrogation rooms? There are people actually who have been in interrogation rooms who are writing about interrogation rooms. But I’m gonna guess that there’s a lot of stuff that you have experienced that only you know. And you can put that stuff in any genre.’

Berry Gordy Jr. talking about The Motown Legacy on Motown 50 podcast:

When we were in the creative business my feeling was ‘Wait a minute – what is the human element?’ And rather than write what somebody else I think they would like, I told the writers and all the people ‘Write what you feel. It’s about YOU. What do you feel? Because you’re a normal person, I’m a normal person.’ So if we write what we feel then we’re not gonna look down on those people and say, ‘Well, wait a minute, we feel this way, we’re gonna write this for these people over here. Or we’re gonna write this ’cause it’s commercial. Or we’re gonna do this…’ I said, ‘No, always stick with what you feel.’

To what extent do your life experiences inform your writing?

John Lacey » Experience

Gary Reef On Expectations

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