neXtDRAFT 58. Write what you see

Published: Sun, 06/16/19

Welcome new subscribers. If this is your first neXtDRAFT you'll find poems, stories and pics about my life as an adopted mum (and freelance writer) living between Australia and the Philippines. Each edition I share my best tips for creating a writing business and working as a professional writer serving clients from all over the world.

Here in the Philippines I support about 20 kids from a rural municipality with food, books, uniforms and love -- it's my way of encouraging them to go to school and maybe one day out of poverty. You'll read their stories here too.

neXtDRAFT is delivered to your inbox every Sunday and I hope it will inspire you to get writing and create your own writing practice. Again welcome, I'm so glad to have you part of the neXtDRAFT community.

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Melinda J. Irvine

https://melirvine.com.au/

Good evening friends, and welcome to neXtDRAFT 58.

Write what you see.

I'm excited to send this edition out to you tonight. Jerry and I have spent the last few days of the 2019 summer vacation preparing his things for school, and (FINALLY) after what has seemed like an eternity to both of us, his school opens for classes tomorrow morning.

In anticipation he'd already showered and marched himself off to bed at 6.27pm but was back down the stairs 15 minutes later unable to sleep. A couple of chapters of me reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and he was happy to close his eyes to dreams of paddling canoes, wolves, sea otters, and wild dolphins.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell was one of the first books I ever read in high school, and the story of a spirited girl who was left alone on an island for more than 20 years has always inspired me. Instead of losing herself to despair she shaped canoes, dodged hunters, and tamed wolves. I was thrilled to find it on the shelves of the National Bookstore here in the Philippines a few weeks ago. Now I am able to share it with Jerry.

Because Jerry is still developing as an English speaker, when reading the story I simplify many of the words and stick to the nouns and verbs he knows well. That way he doesn't detach from the story trying to negotiate too many new synonyms and concept phrases. Instead we talk about some of the literary devices the author uses -- like simple phrases that deal with the passing of time.

I'll say to him ... "What do you think the author means here Jerry? ...

'I do not remember much of this time, except that many suns rose and set.'.

And after a talk he'll suddenly grasp that the girl in the book was sad for a long time after her little brother was killed by wolves. These are also great applications for my own writing practice.

Here's a few photos of the Estancia kids and their second week back at school. That's Jerry's half-brother Ryan taking some of the kids to school on his new motorcycle. Follow the links to read more on the blog.

This week's neXtDRAFT is filled with masses of little pink and red flowers. I first noticed them at a kid's waterpark last week, but now they are in my consciousness, have been noticing them in roadside gardens everywhere. I love the way taking a photograph of a raindrop on tiny red flowers can make your eyes feel like they are seeing for the very first time. Maybe they are.

As writers, we write what we see and about the things that interest us. And for me this week it's red flowers, the back-to-school frenzy, and english poet Ted Hughes. It's simple stuff but I do try to make it interesting.

Actually after reading and reviewing POETRY IN THE MAKING: A Handbook for Writing and Teaching by Ted Hughes, I'm feeling a whole lot better about my always-simple subject matter. Mr Hughes believes the only way to make our writing interesting is to write about the things that genuinely interest us. He calls it the infallible rule.

So this week if you're struggling to find words, take a walk about the room, about the house, about the garden, and the places familiar and close. Write the things you know and see. After all we usually only see what interests us.

Spend time in the seeing.

Till next week friends, happy writing.

Mel xx

PS: That's Jerry at Waterworld, a water park in Iloilo City that Jerry has been pleading to attend this whole summer. We visited last week.

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

Kid’s water park
excited shrieks
wet selfies.

Splashed with red flowers.

Have you loaned out books and never got them back?

Book Review: Poetry in the Making: A Handbook for Writing and Teaching

This excellent book by Ted Hughes is a collection of the programmes he wrote for the BBC Schools Department ‘Listening and Writing’ series. Tthis book get’s 5 stars from me — someone who wants to write more poetry and improve my writing skills across all genres. Read my full review on the blog

#amreading #writingbetterpoems

Seeing red flowers.
For the first time.

Seeing red flowers.
Everywhere. Seeing.

For the first time.

It’s amazing when you see something for the first time. It grabs at you and pulls you in, and you love everything that’s bright and wonderful and unique. Then you see it everywhere. Then you realise you’ve been seeing it for years and just never noticed. Sometimes you need a different heart to see things..

I’m a professional writer making my way in the world of business. The WritingBiz section is for anyone wanting to make writing a career (or at the very least make some money writing). Each week I share a few ideas on how to find writing jobs, work from a home office space, as well as how to setup your writing business and run it profitably.

Are you a freelance writer or paid employee?

If you’re considering making the transition from paid employee to freelance writer or consultant, make sure the working relationship you have with clients doesn’t breach the taxation laws in your country.

Some organisations try to dodge their tax, sick leave, and superannuation obligations by attempting to hire their employees as freelancers or contractors. If you are being paid as a freelancer but the tax authority in your country classifies you as an employee, you’ll be in breach of taxation and employment laws. Mistakes like this can land both you (and your client) in hot water with the taxation office — and both parties may be liable for hefty penalties.

#freelancelife #writingbiz

don't forget your personal writing projects

WRITINGBIZ TIP #20 don't abandon your 'pet' writing projects

If you’re a freelancer and driven to make money from your writing projects, of course spend 80% of your time working on the products that deliver the bulk of your income. But make sure you still set aside 20% of your time to work on the writing projects that really speak to you.

So if you worked a 10 hour day — spend 8 hours on your freelancing work and 2 hours on your poems, screenplay or novel.

It's terribly important to keep in touch with the creative projects that are at your core, and probably the reason you started writing in the first place. Spending 10-12 hours every day working as a freelancer with a plan to ‘get that novel done’ sometime in the future will likely render you resentful and unhappy.

Don't let another day, month, year, or decade pass without allowing yourself to write a silly poem (or a serious one), and scribble down the outline to that SCI-FI novella. Writing is fun and if you give yourself time to still write the stuff you love (but may not get paid for), you'll love your clients and your freelancing projects a whole lot more.

PS: this is why I publish neXtDRAFT every week.

Freelance Writing Q&A

Read my answer on Quora

Writing tips, poems and stuff on the blog

For more stories, poems, articles and book reviews follow my Wordpress blog. Please share with your friends too.

Back Issues of neXtDRAFT

https://melirvine.com.au/nextdraft-back-issues/

Use the password: luvdapeepsumeet

From the vault: June 2014

teacher from Tanza Elementary school using their new blackboard

Replacing school blackboards

When Typhoon Yolanda smashed the roofs off 12 out of 15 classrooms at the Tanza Elementary School, 11 blackboards were left either damaged or completely destroyed. For the next 7 months teachers used makeshift boards during lesson time.

It was 5 years ago I was in Estancia actively fundraising, and thanks to a significant donation from my friends up in Mission Beach and Tully (Queenslands, Australia) -- Roly Newton, Kristina Harej and Ross and Margaret Digman -- 11 new blackboards were constructed and installed at the school.

PS: the video below is of the school Principal Ma'am Frecie de Angel expressing her gratitude.

Ma'am Frecie talks about Typhoon Yolanda