I have always wanted to write, but somehow never found the inspiration as to what to write about.
During my schooling we had an excellent English teacher. Well, he was a good teacher although as a person was not one of the most popular. And while he stands out as far as teaching, there were other great teachers who left us with excellent writing skills. Still, for me, nothing happened until we moved to Benalla.
One night I had a dream. Quite often we do not remember much about dreams after we wake, but this one stayed with me. It stayed with me so much that for a few nights afterwards I could not sleep, thinking about this dream. In the end, I decided to write it down to see if that way I could start sleeping. It worked as far as sleeping was concerned. And it became what could be considered a full-length book.
Then I saw in the Ensign an article on U3A, and a new course in writing. While the format in that year did not really suit me, it was here I met a friend. We started walking around the lake several days a week. Then we entered into a challenge. Write a paragraph a day on any subject and share with one another. What a great exercise this was! Some of these paragraphs have led to short stories. One has even given rise to another close to full length manuscript.
It was a couple of years later that I joined the memoir writing class. I have enjoyed this journey, but I wanted to also write fiction. So started the Creative Writing Class at U3A. It had not been my intention convene the class. After all, I am not a trained teacher of creative writing. I just enjoy writing. However, the class has developed.
I have signed up for the Australian Writers’ Centre newsletter and have entered their monthly Furious Fiction competition. They have an occasional class called MOJO month which provides daily motivational ideas, online references and challenges and I have joined twice. And this year I have also enrolled in some of their online creative writing classes. Some of the content is familiar to me, but some is new and I think I have learnt a lot.
The only thing I still need to think about is what to do with my short stories and manuscripts. But my life has certainly become a ‘writing life’.
Joy Shirley
October 2020
During my schooling we had an excellent English teacher. Well, he was a good teacher although as a person was not one of the most popular. And while he stands out as far as teaching, there were other great teachers who left us with excellent writing skills. Still, for me, nothing happened until we moved to Benalla.
One night I had a dream. Quite often we do not remember much about dreams after we wake, but this one stayed with me. It stayed with me so much that for a few nights afterwards I could not sleep, thinking about this dream. In the end, I decided to write it down to see if that way I could start sleeping. It worked as far as sleeping was concerned. And it became what could be considered a full-length book.
Then I saw in the Ensign an article on U3A, and a new course in writing. While the format in that year did not really suit me, it was here I met a friend. We started walking around the lake several days a week. Then we entered into a challenge. Write a paragraph a day on any subject and share with one another. What a great exercise this was! Some of these paragraphs have led to short stories. One has even given rise to another close to full length manuscript.
It was a couple of years later that I joined the memoir writing class. I have enjoyed this journey, but I wanted to also write fiction. So started the Creative Writing Class at U3A. It had not been my intention convene the class. After all, I am not a trained teacher of creative writing. I just enjoy writing. However, the class has developed.
I have signed up for the Australian Writers’ Centre newsletter and have entered their monthly Furious Fiction competition. They have an occasional class called MOJO month which provides daily motivational ideas, online references and challenges and I have joined twice. And this year I have also enrolled in some of their online creative writing classes. Some of the content is familiar to me, but some is new and I think I have learnt a lot.
The only thing I still need to think about is what to do with my short stories and manuscripts. But my life has certainly become a ‘writing life’.
Joy Shirley
October 2020
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