A discovery of skill, talent and passion.

We all have our strengths in life.
Some people were born with athletic skill. Fit, energetic, competitive with a passion for the game.
Some people were born with a passion for science, mathematics and the world as a vast organism, living and breathing at this very moment.
As for me, over this last year and a half I have been discovering what my strengths are.
Turns out I always had them, I just didn't know.

A celebration that is more than just me.

If you're a regular reader (even though I usually only post once or twice a month) you'll know that quite often my posts are about topics of writing and language, some of which include work of my own. The amusing thing is that no matter what I write about, the point is that I'm writing and that still makes it relevant.

Today the topic is a little special; one that serves its purpose for what is to come at the end of the week.

A space in the creative cosmos.

We all have that space where we work that's OUR space. It works effectively for us because of its location, the surroundings or sounds, maybe even how it makes us feel. It may in fact be that there is a particular computer room at uni that just works better for you. It has a feeling of productivity.

The beauty of writing.

I have recently started reading the book The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde - as I figured I needed to catch up with some canon texts I never got around to reading over the years.
Now, this isn't a review at all. I just wanted to tell you about something that really stood out to me. There was this one quote that put everything I'd ever written into perspective and made it seem amateurish. I felt like it even explained to me what I was perhaps doing wrong with my writing.
And today, I am going to share it with you. Perhaps you may even know what it is.

An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them. We live in an age where men treat art as if it were meant to be some form of auto-biography. We have lost the abstract sense of beauty.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Why hello there.
Sorry for my absence of 17 days. My world is just full of stuff (for lack of a better word right now). Haha.

I've just finished three weeks of shows; seven all up in the mean time.
I've been studying my ass off and meeting deadlines (I'm so proud, no extensions!)
Aaaaaand, I am also in the both fortunate and unfortunate position of being courted by two young gentleman.
Busy life, I know!

I figured I'd update, and leave you with a piece of my writing from the archives -
A textual intervention piece I recently just completed for my Professional and Creative Communications class. I essentially extended one of Aesop's fables - The Labourer and the Nightingale and added another bird - The Mockingbird!


Until next time,

♥

Drawing by Aneta

You know you're a writer when...

You know you're a writer when you turn everything in your life into a potential piece of writing, but it just ends up being an exaggeration of fact:

"Well, this one thing happened to me once. It was pretty serious. Hmm. That could make a good book."
"How do you do that..? (Googles) Aha, now I know, I might make it into a blog post and sound like an expert." 
"OH! That's emotive. I'll write a poem about that. Even though it was just really someone who said something insignificant I didn't like."
"Whoops, that was real stupid of me. Lets tell everyone on Facebook about it!"

My history succeeds me.

So, here's a little bit of history for you, readers.

Let me just preface this post with informing you how much I love history.
Discovering the origin of something, the deeper meanings, the reasons why we are who we are today just makes me so enthralled.

My heart is in my writing, but what kind of writing is it?

So, I have been reading about a wonderful blogger  writer named Jeff Goins, and I have found that a lot of his works really resonate with me.
I guess I wanted to share that with you.

The Truth Beneath

Hey all.

This is just a poem I wrote last night after a friend had mentioned something to me. 

T'was then I realised something and then wrote this -

Jessica

The Truth Beneath

Brainstorming on a stormy day.

So today, I am taking the abundance of time I have to sit down and write. Well, to at least think about it. At the moment I'm brainstorming concepts I'd like to see put together. It seems almost so far fetched to think that all of these concepts could embody a book I could write myself. I have to try sometime! Maybe, I'll work on the stage play I have ideas for.

What is the stage play about, you wonder? 

So far, I want it to be a hybrid of fairy tales. Yes, I know it's been done before, but a new perspective on an old story could always create something totally different. That and writing about fantasy and fairy tales is really something I like.

Wish me luck! 

Perhaps I'll come back with a scene or some of my ideas for you.

Perhaps.

Love and peace,
Jessica

Simple writing is best writing.

Hello!
I guess I've put off my first post a bit because, well... I thought it needed to be somewhat special. However, this isn't a love letter, or a university thesis, so I guess I'll just get right on it!

So, right now I should be writing up my first assignment for my Communications class. It's a simple summary assignment - 400 words, with a critical review of the article - also 400 words. But here I am, reading this article and all I can think is "when will this end.......?" Then it hit me; the reason why I am so turned off by this article. It's the style of writing - something I have been learning about in my Professional Creative Writing and Communications class. We've discussed how highly academic articles are so convoluted and full of big words with lots of syllables and long sentences. These are the sentences that you generally start reading and never finish - you look away and then come back and start it again, and again... and again.
The article by David McCooey, called The Public Life of Australian Poetry is essentially a discussion about its decline in public culture. Now, I picked this article from the list given because I like poetry. I actually happen to dabble in a bit of it myself. But this article is just turning me off.
Anyway, it's not simple. It doesn't flow. There are odd sentences that are too long and have big words that just make the sentence even longer. I don't enjoy it at all.

This brings me to the point of this post - I want to be the type of writer who doesn't write long, wanky sentences just because it makes me sound all posh-like. I want my writing to flow; not to be childish in terminology, but clear and concise with a gentle air of complexity. The sort of style that adds another dimension to writing, but doesn't take it as far as 'out of this world'.
You know, the irony of this is I probably already have written some terrible sentences. But it's okay. I'm still only learning.

Just remember,

Less is best.

Love and peace,
Jessica