Fiona Wood

Why I don’t rank fellow-writers out of five

Since I’ve had one book published, and have another in train, the idea of sitting in judgement and ‘scoring’ a fellow-writer’s work makes me queasy.

It’s got nothing to do with being annoyed by the limitation of five-star ratings: they are, perforce, reductive, but we’re all accustomed to living in a cultural space that spits out these summary assessments of theatre, films, music, books, aren’t we? Apparently we might not be able to attend for more than a nanosecond. Grab that rating and run.

I read widely, I have my own taste, I’ve got a decent critical platform on which to base my opinions. I’ve served as a judge for the AWGIES, the writers’ guild awards, a couple of times. I’ve been in a reading group for twenty years, at which we have full and very frank discussion about everything we read. So it has nothing to do with having a critical by-pass.

It has everything to do with knowing how hard it is to write a book. Each person who manages to get a book published deserves a hug and a cup of tea and possibly a garland of some sort. It is heroic and painful and difficult and often under-appreciated or taken for granted, a bit in the manner of childbirth. And it’s definitely under-remunerated. In other words, it is hard enough, so to write about the limitations or the less-than-five-star-ness of a fellow-writer’s work in a public forum is something I just do not want to do. Whereas I do occasionally blog book love. So I’m guilty of inconsistent practice; I’m happy to sing praises, but don’t want to dis. With no logical reason really other than some sort of raw, amplified empathy.

Overall, I think a forum like Goodreads is a wonderful idea – a big public conversation about books and reading. What’s not to like? But it still gives me such a WTF smack in the forehead – sit down, strong beverage, shoulder massage, palm frond creating calming breeze – when I go onto Goodreads and see people throwing Lolita, A Visit from the Goon Squad or Pride and Prejudice three stars. Or fewer. Be still, my horrified heart. I do realise there are people in the world who don’t like the same books I do, but to see them out there in their zillions does my head in some days.

The idea of people rating my work is one of the things that didn’t even occur to me before my book was published. Coming across a dud rating is depressing, but I’ve found that if you avert your eyes really quickly, it’s sometimes possible to pretend you didn’t see it. The same strategy can work during scary movies. On the other hand, I love it when people give ‘Six Impossible Things’ a five-star rating. I will nevereverever get sick of finding out that it really hit the spot with an individual reader.

But I won’t be rating other writers out of five. Not while we’re out there in the arena together and they’ve just released the lions.

the strangest planting in the whole world

Walking home from the city today I saw the strangest planting in the whole world.

‘Let’s Beat Bowel Cancer’ Did the headless horseman – The Marquis of Linlithgow – ever imagine he’d be prancing over a public health message in this manner?
Poor blog has been neglected for so long. I blame facebook. It’s not that I’m posting on fb, it’s just that when I visit, there’s such a lot of buzz and jitter, it feels like I must have done something.

This is how my brain feels after fb visits, photos, links, articles, youtubes, etc. For why?
I need more galleries and less fb – could use it as an excuse for going back to Paris…

…though we have plenty of wonderful galleries here. In Albury recently I saw the beautiful wallpapered drawings of sport by Richard Lewer.

I loved this work; it was tense and playful, affectionate and critical.
Staring out of windows is also good for a brain detangle.

Melbourne laneway artist, sorry I don’t know your name.

The end.

A thousand words festival

This Friday and Saturday the Northcote Town Hall will be full of words and thoughts and talk about reading and writing. A thousand words festival. It’s going to be great fun. Read all about it here. If you haven’t already got tickets, you can get them here. On Friday, Cath Crowley and I will be talking about how we build characters – and we’ll have two actors helping to illustrate our processes. If you come along, you can help us develop the characters. Steph Bowe and Cath and I will be talking about engaging reluctant readers with Bec Kavanagh, Simmone Howell will talk about literary diaries and the diary as a literary form. Michael Pryor and Leanne Hall will construct a story on the hop, with help from the audience. You can talk books and writing with Tim Pegler, Aimee Said, Andrew McDonald, Sally Rippin, Sue deGennaro and many other wonderful people!

congratulations for turning up at the page

In the spirit of Steven Soderbergh’s gorgeous acceptance speech from many years ago, this post sends love and congratulations to every writer who keeps turning up at the page (Julia Cameron’s beautiful, trusting phrase, which has held my hand so many times). To everyone writing poems, scripts, novels, plays, lyrics, short stories, creative non-fiction, memoir, reportage – and any other thing that requires the courage to tackle blank pages – congratulations! To unlisted, longlisted, shortlisted, winning, published and yet to be published writers who keep doing that great thing – to writers who are spewing out huge daily word counts, to writers who’ve thrown it all away and started again, and again, to writers who’ve survived the battering of another rejection, and lived to face the page again – to writers who are enjoying success and those yet to share their work with other readers – congratulations, stick with it, you are amazing, and thank you,

yours sincerely,

A reader.

ps. Moira Buffini, thank you for the perfect screen adaptation of one of my favourite books, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, serious legend.

yum

Teeth chattering in Melbourne again, so here is a perfect wintery desk-side lunch recipe from Charlotte Wood-no-relation for spinach dahl. Charlotte’s blog ‘How to shuck an oyster’ is compulsory reading for anyone interested in food. She posted this recipe a few months ago – it’s simple and completely delicious – although I confess to skipping the step giving stems special treatment. (I don’t think they deserve it.)