I spent this weekend in the company of the wonderful Kaite O'Reilly and fifteen other equally wonderful artists, as we explored creative writing for performance. It was part of a larger event run by UCC's ArtWorks in association with the Theatre Development Centre.
A few themes came up for me during the weekend. The first thing I was struck by was the quality of the writing being produced. Kaite worked with us using various exercises to get us writing. At different points participants could volunteer to read out their pieces. As the weekend developed we moved into performing the text. Participants came from a variety of backgrounds; some had never written before while some did not consider themselves to be creative. Others were theatre professionals; some experienced with writing and devising, others not. Across the board great work was produced.
Which got me thinking. I didn't think "Oh dear, why am I even doing this? Some of these people have never done this before and are producing stuff as good as anything I can do. I should just give up" No I didn't think that. Instead I thought about how innate creativity is to humans. How if individuals are given care, encouragement and a few tools that they can come up with the most wonderful creations.
Then I got to thinking again. (Oh dear!) If we are all so innately creative, or talented, what is the key to anyone's work being produced eventually, or not? And I came back to it again, like I usually do; Audacity! I like to call it being bold or boldness now for a variety of reasons. Or lets put it another way; Courage. If I have the courage to put my work out there or to take a leap and produce it myself then there is a good chance my work will be seen. If I leave my work on a hard-drive, there is no chance!
And that is a tragedy! I think of all the characters I write. I imagine them lurking about in soft-copy land, peering out through abstract file names, hoping that today might be their lucky day. "She will come back today, finish me off, or add someone in for me to play with. Maybe just maybe, she might print me off and let her friend's bring me to life!"
Which brings me onto to my other big insights from the weekend. Kaite generously shared not only her experiences as a writer but also as a mentor to other writers. She talked about working with a group of writers and a theme came up for them time and again. "I can only write when when I am inspired" I cringed; How many times have I heard myself saying that? Kaite advised that if you aspire to be a writer then you need to write even when you are not inspired.
Sometimes when I write it flows. Sometimes it feels like vomiting onto the page, like its coming out in massive violent spurts and I have trouble keeping up! That sounds unpleasant but its not, its just intense. I also experience writing where I start something with great intentions and enthusiasm only to become stuck. The "guards at the gates of the mind" (Quoting Kaite, quoting Seneca) rush in and ambush me. They whisper "It was a shit idea anyway", "This has all been done before", and eventually "Who do you think you are anyway? You are not a writer".
So what do we do then? According to Kaite - we keep writing! But how do we do that when the terrifying faces of our old blocks are closing in? We trick the mind, we out-manoeuvre the censor. Kaite brought us through a variety of exercises that could aid us in this area. She focused us on not worrying about perfection as we had such a limited time anyway. Kaite helped us to find inspiration, to work in ways many of us had not experienced before, and then to get it down on paper.
So to recap here are my big lessons from the weekend
1. Write even when you are not inspired
2. Trick the censor, find and use exercises to fuel your writing
3. Get it down
4. Keep it all
5. Finish it off
6. Be Bold: Get it out there!
