All entries for July 2011

Writing in the face of adversity

Writing about web page http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Raj-K-Lal/179694012067222

Within the last three months, there have been four close family deaths, and the first anniversary of my father's death. Needless to say, it's been a tough time for my ability to do any creative writing.

When disaster strikes and life gets in the way, how do I continue to write? I asked A. L. Kennedy this question during my last tutorial with her. Her advice was to see writing not as a chore to be performed during that difficult time, but to see it as an escape from it. So I'm going to see if I can use the writing to escape into a different world, an escape from the misery into a world of this real world to one that I've created, where trying to let the characters exist as only I can will help me to write my own story, set in a world that only I can make real.

So I think I'll ask my characters to help me. To help me to escape this death-ridden reality I find myself in. To help me to finish my academic work. To help me to finish my MA. To help me to fulfil my Dad's dream in gaining this qualification. To help me to overcome this hurdle as I have managed to overcome others. To help me to remember that I managed to finish my degree course work even after travelling to Dad's hospital bedside for seven weeks, then surviving through the aftermath of losing him.

To help me remember that if I could do that then, I can do it now.

: 10 Jul 2011 01:37 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem