Cory Doctorow at the Melbourne Writers Festival

This was the first Melbourne Writers Festival session I’ve been to this year and boy was it mind-blowing. Cory really does have a deep understanding around the issues of copyright, distribution and how it affects creators. The thing that impressed me about him was how he totally ignored the paranoia around free content and just made available his novels online for free whilst still selling print copies.

It has me thinking about how best to distribute things such as my zine, The Red Pen.

On Afghan asylum seekers protesting

I was so inspired today to see asylum seekers break out of immigration detention in Darwin. And I completely stand beside them in their struggle just to exercise a basic human right to flee persecution.

The television footage and some of the video posted on ABC News is incredibly moving and I really have to question people’s humanity if they’re not affected by it. One Afghan man said, “Please help us. I am human, I am a human being.”

I was immediately reminded of the riots and protests inside detention centres around Australia when Liberal Prime Minister John Howard oversaw one of the most brutal immigration policies. People were locked behind razor wires for years and years – or worse, deported back to where they fled from only to disappear and presumed killed.

It was those riots and protests inside detention that inspired ordinary Australians to take to the streets in support of them. The struggle in and outside those hell holes fed off each other and spurred people on to fight for basic human rights.

It is by doing this again that these asylum seekers are bringing their plight to people’s attention and should move to people to get off their asses and do something.

God help us if Abbott gets in because he will so quickly go back to the worst of the Howard years and condemn people to rot in detention, to drown in the ocean, or be sent back to places where they’ll be killed. And Gillard’s policies aren’t much better either.

But it was those movements last time that meant Howard couldn’t get away with using racism as a distraction and it will take those movements again.

Poem: Septic Tank

This poem was written in response to the hung parliament and is dedicated to Tony Abbott. I read it last night at The Brunswick Hotel and will post a recording at the end of the post tonight.

—

Septic Tank

Shit rises
to the top,
so they say

But before that,
a German
philosopher said:
capital comes dripping
from head to foot,
from every pore,
with blood and dirt

This filth
comes dripping
from head to foot
with blood
and dirt as it floats
to the top

This septic tank
hangs in the balance
and we wait for them
to count the muck

Same shit,
different smell,
they say as if it means
nothing at all
but
The alternative
reeks more than
before

Stands over us
Threatens to
rob us,
poison us,
pollute us

And we all
thought
we’d digested it
long ago

Didn’t expect
this again
the bile
on the back
of our throats
choking us
again and
again

We’ll fall to
our knees
before we have to
rise up
again

—

Update: Two pieces for the price of one (which is none). The first is a recording of the above poem ‘Septic Tank’ and the second is an edited spoken word version of a flash piece I wrote called ‘Chasing Cages.’

What do you do with exhausted submissions?

I’ve impressed myself this year with how diligent I’ve been with my submissions. I think I’ve submitted more writing this year than in all years before this one combined. And I’ve not been discouraged until recently.

Probably the best advice you can get as a writer trying to be published is to just submit, submit, submit. You can’t let rejections get you down or slow your determination. When you get a rejection, you just need to get it back out there as soon as possible.

And for the most part this year, I’ve done that. I’ve sent something out and as soon as I’ve gotten it back, I’ve either sent it straight back out or given it another look, made some edits, and then sent it back out.

Often I’ve found rejections come in groups – possibly because I submit in groups too – but even getting a few rejections in the one day hasn’t discouraged me, until now.

There have been a few pieces that I’ve been shopping around the place, a few shorts and some poetry. They’ve all been to a fair few target markets but now I’m running out of places to submit them.

The question has become: What do I do with them now?

I could keep looking for increasingly obscure or markets that don’t quite fit but I’m beginning to feel that this era of work has exhausted its potential and it’s best to step up to my latest stuff.

I’ve gotten some good feedback and some near misses. Perhaps the next stuff I start sending around will hit the mark.

But I don’t want to just bin this current work. I feel that it’s still good, still worth something and still worth reading. It might not be good enough to be published but that doesn’t mean a piece has no value.

I tried to get ‘3 Minutes’ published before the election but ended up just putting it on my blog so it would at least be read. I could possibly do that with some of this poetry or short fiction.

Or do I keep submitting? Perhaps I could find markets that are just worth it for the exposure and will mean a piece gets read more than it would if it was on my blog.

What do you do with pieces of writing like this? Do you publish it on your blog? Do you bin it? Or do you keep submitting in an endless cycle?

#FridayFlash: Mist

So, I wrote this…thing, about…something. I’m not sure where it came from, what it’s about or what it means. But I wrote it. Perhaps you could all try and interpret it for me or something, or just enjoy it for what it is.

—

Mist

“Guess you’re stuck with me for a bit then, ay?” whoever was under that enormous hat chuckled, “Might as well start acting a bit kinder. You’re only gonna make it harder mate.”

“I’m not your mate.”

“How do you know? You could give me a chance.”

I ignored him. I closed my eyes and wondered if he’d be gone when I looked again. When I opened my eyes though, all I saw was my hand, now a fist. I snapped my eyes shut again; thought peaceful thoughts hoping that the tension would unwind me.

I opened my eyes and the hat was still there, bobbling on one chucking head. I had taught myself to be tolerant, even of those that weren’t tolerant of me. My own values always seemed to hit these brick walls.

I looked around us. The edges blurred as if we were surrounded by fog. I didn’t dare glide my hand through the mist though, feeling a heat close in on us.

“Is this my mind testing me? Perhaps it’s a mind game to keep me on my toes.”

“You don’t believe that hippy crap do you? You’re in purgatory.” The hat tilted upward, revealing an ebony smile crumbling under red cracked and puffy flesh. His eyes were bright red, burying into that tranquil bubble that was thinning around me.

“You’re not real,” I lied to myself.

The fog around us turned green, and that warmth around me seemed to gather in the bottom of my gut.

“If you want to get out of here, you’re gonna have to cooperate.” The cracked sounds that expressed what he thought were humour echoed off the ocean-coloured mist. I closed my eyes again, to block it out but it only managed to trap it in my skull, bouncing it around. I snapped my eyes open to make the sound evaporate.

“So if I yield to whatever it is you want, whoever or whatever it is will let me out of here?”

“Too easy isn’t it?”

“And where do I go if I don’t? Where do I go if I do?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, kid.”

“I’m not a fucking kid.” My fist snapped closed again.

“Easy now. All I want is my horse back – and a triple berry banana split with that processed whipped cream on top.”

I raised my eyebrow and then grabbed my gut. The thought of cream disturbed that little bit of now bluey-purple mist floating in my gut, now rising a little bit.

“And how am I supposed to get you that when I’m stuck here?”

Another laugh, like a rock, swung in from my right and rattled my head.

“Your guess is as good as mine – mate – kid,” he said, chucking as he stood over me. I knelt in amongst the mist at our feet, trying to stop the blood from spilling and turning it redder than it already was.

“Fuck you!” The calm reminders in my head were ceasing to slow me.

“That’s not going to get you anywhere.” I hated his hat. I hated how big it was; how it shook his head around under the weight, like a bobble head as he spat out how fucking delighted he was.

Both hands were fists now and they wouldn’t unwind. Buddhist chants of pacifism couldn’t creep in they were so tight.

“Where’s my damn horse, kid?” His jaw snapped shut. Black spit – tar, tobacco, I don’t know – jumped on my face.

I sprung from my feet, fists lunging out, desperate themselves to unseat that hat from his head. But I only landed on more mist. He was gone. Snapped out of existence as if my anger had turned a key.

I felt the crimson fog rumble underneath me. It dropped like a trap door. My body shot down back over earth.

Under me, Thai forests covered to the horizon. None of it made sense but it was where I wanted to be, where I’d always wanted to go.

And I had always said violence and anger achieved nothing, but now I wasn’t so sure.

—

For more flash fiction search for #FridayFlash on Twitter today or every Friday.

Writing Lifestyles: Samantha Van Zweden on Studying and Writing

After writhing around on Monday coming face to face with the idea of becoming a student and living a writer’s life like that, I was lucky enough to have a chat with student and writer, Samantha Van Zweden of Little Girl With a Big Pen and ask her all about writing, being a student, and how it all works out for her.

Benjamin: Firstly, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions Sam. I was wondering what you were studying and where and what motivated you to choose that, was it straight out of school or did you do something before that?

Samantha: Glad you asked me to interview! I didn’t come to university straight from school – people who do are a bit of a mystery to me in terms of stamina… I took at year off, took time to find myself and have a second adolescence. I’m currently studying Creative Writing at RMIT, having previously spent a few years at Swinburne and utterly hating it. I guess the decision to go to uni at all was a bit hard to start with, as all my high-school friends were absolute over-achievers, but when I took some time for myself and had enough people asking me why I was wasting my time in a call centre, I eventually found the confidence I needed to go back to school.

BS: Was it kind of wanting something more than a regular 9-5 life? How did you come to choose creative writing, was it something you did well before deciding to study it?

SVZ: Absolutely, it was a huge part of my life before I chose to return to school. My regular 9-5 life started to eat away at my soul, I just couldn’t hack it any more. I felt like I was backed into a corner with no way out, when in reality you have so many more options than just “making do”.

Having always written, it made the most sense to see where studying writing could take me

BS: If I could stick with your 9-5 life for a bit, how did you find fitting in writing before choosing to study in terms of time and head space?

SVZ: Head space probably played a huge part in it – I was at the same call centre for 3 years, and it was a really negative space. Internal politics, losing multiple staff every day, and the actual WORK besides. So at that stage a lot of my writing happened in the form of song-writing and playing, and I did that most evenings and weekends. I was so drained at certain points that it was the only thing I cared to really make time for, occasionally it won over seeing friends and so on. But apart from that, I think it’s about making writing a priority for you, understanding that if you take it seriously then it can be as full-on as a second job. Or it can simply be something you like to dabble in. Both are valid ways of doing it, but I think it’s a decision that needs to be made.

BS: I totally agree about making it a priority. I guess choosing to study is a sign that you were taking another step in taking it seriously.

I’m curious about how people transition from work to study, and I know it can seem like a side issue, but financially, because it can be a bit different straight out of school, where you’re living or lived with parents, less expenses etc. How did you go about doing that? Did you have to pay off debt, take another job – and how do you make ends meet whilst spending a lot of time at uni?

SVZ: When I first went back to studying at Swinburne I was working full-time and doing a 75% work load at uni. It was tough, I ended up really messing up my job and I didn’t enjoy the experience at all. Full-time study is what’s working well for me. I now work a casual job on the side, and pick up some extra money from a once-a-month hospitality gig too. I’ve heard say that 19 hours a week is what’s recommended before it impinges on your study, but for some people it’s just not possible to work less than that. I only work about 9 hours each week, then 2 full days at this once-a-month thing. It’s pretty far from making ends meet comfortably though. Financial strain is a very real reality for students living out of home on Centrelink – I fit into that category, unfortunately.

BS: Did you find working more took a lot out of the experience?

SVZ: It’s really hard to tell. There are so many other things that might be a factor. Swinburne have no idea what they’re doing with Literature, for example. I started mid-year so never really fit in with any of the really cliquey groups that had formed. Swinburne has no community feeling. My situation at RMIT is entirely different. So the comparison between the two institutions might be more about those factors I just mentioned, rather that working full-time versus working part-time. It’s hard to tell.

BS: Yeah, I can see how those kinds of factors might affect things. How do you find fitting in writing around so much study and work then? Or do you still have more time compared to when you worked full-time?

SVZ: No, certainly not, I think I have less time. When you work 9-5 your “work time” is more clearly set out. The reading load for my course, this semester particularly, is so full-on that some weeks I literally have no time or brain function left to work on my own stuff, and that gets frustrating. However, the people in my course are all helping each other with this, helping edit each others’ work between classes and that kind of thing which means sometimes it works out despite the workload.

I’ve also found that working on my own writing is a fantastic procrastination, so at times when I have lots of assignments due I’m generally incredibly productive with my own work.

BS: I was thinking that at least with work you can come home and switch off from your job until the next morning.

SVZ: Exactly! It takes incredible amounts of self-discipline to get your homework done in the amount of time you THINK it will take. In reality, allowing for procrastination, it always takes much much longer!

BS: Do a lot of the assignments translate to pieces that you could consider your ‘own work.’ I mean, is it an avenue where you get produce work that you can then use to submit somewhere else?

I remember all that from high school.

SVZ: Absolutely, I’ve actually just had a piece picked up by Page Seventeen, which comes out in November, which I wrote as a final assessment piece for a subject I did last semester, so you can absolutely use uni as an avenue to create pieces that can double as ‘your own work’. I wouldn’t say that a LOT of assignments are that, there are of course always the academic essays that have to be done, but of all the assessments I’ve had to do thus far, probably about half have been creative pieces.

BS: Congratulations! It sounds like a good way to keep you writing.

Do you find that studying fuels your writing and inspires you to create – or is there a feeling that when you’re forced to do it, it becomes like a chore and you avoid it?

SVZ: A bit of both. Sometimes it’s about ten times as hard to start because you know you’re being assessed on whatever you create, there’s pressure there and the blank page becomes a thing that nightmares are made of. But at the same time that pressure is good, because as professional writers we need to learn to write under pressure and overcome that “chore” feeling.

BS: And then how does that relate with your own writing outside of study? Do you relish the chance to write something without the assessment pressure? Or is it a bit of a buzz-kill?

SVZ: Haha! I do love the feedback that comes from assessed pieces, but I guess that whatever I write aiming for publication is in a sense “being assessed”, and with submission deadlines there’s still pressure of a sort.

BS: Does it then prepare you for submission then. Perhaps you’re more conditioned than us lesser trained writers?

SVZ: Haha, I don’t think school’s a necessity for it, you’d get the same experience by committing yourself to submit something of quality every so many weeks or whatever. I’m part of a zine, Ex Calamus, who give out a theme each Thursday night and expect submissions by 6am Sunday, and that’s probably a more effective training tool than assignments are. So I don’t think the ability to write to deadlines is the biggest lesson you’ll get from school, or that school’s the only place you can get that skill, but it’s a handy part of it.

BS: And in terms of the quality of the work? Does being given feedback on assessment make you look harder at your own work? What do you think the positive and negatives of that are, especially in terms of turning off that ‘inner editor’ for your first drafts?

SVZ: Again, I think it’s something you can teach yourself through a bunch of different outlets, but school makes learning these things a necessity. You can’t wriggle out of learning those skills if there’s a pass or fail riding on it.

BS: That’s true. So do you think learning these skills were accelerated through going to school?

SVZ: For sure. I had a terrible eye for editing before my current course. I think now that I’m exposed to a lot more of the work of my peers, WHILE it’s in the making, that it rubs off or something

BS: And I suppose the feedback from tutors and such would be a bit more useful than a lot of rejection letters.

SVZ: Occasionally. At least rejections harden you the fuck up.

BS: Totally. So your teachers aren’t as critical?

SVZ: They are, but sometimes you need to remember that school’s not the real world. Academic standards aren’t necessarily what will get published.

BS: I see, I’d never thought of that before. I wanted to ask about your peers and how student life in general affects writing. Do you work with other students, offer feedback and such?

SVZ: Absolutely, and that’s a huge part of what’s made RMIT so great for me. I’m part of a group that’s really motivated to make shit happen, which has resulted in some amazing things. Our zine and micropoetry which I spoke about before, Ex Calamus, that’s great because it keeps us all writing outside of the graded stuff. We meet between classes for a slam one day a week. We have meetings to decide what we can do publication-wise to get ourselves out there as Ex Calamus. We have feedback sessions where we pair off and help each other work on WIPs. This is all outside of classes. I’m incredibly lucky to be part of such a motivated bunch of like-minded people!

BS: That sound excellent. You certainly can’t do that working full-time. And how does student life in general inspire your writing? Do you find you write in those settings or about those general experiences?

SVZ: For sure, I have no choice but to immerse myself in what’s happening around me and excitement about work rubs off.

BS: And any short stories with characters as students? I know I often have office workers as main characters. It’s just a natural thing.

SVZ: Ahhh… Not yet actually, at the moment I have an obsession with old people, so maybe I’m subconsciously rebelling about my innate desire to write about students, haha.

BS: Haha, I sometimes do that, try to stop writing about workplaces. And is there anything else that makes studying better for being a writer than working full-time?

SVZ: I guess just the fact that if you can commit yourself to being poor for a few years, but incredibly happy, then you have an opportunity there to plunge into what you love, absolutely and totally. And you probably won’t have that chance again. So grab it!

(*cue inspirational music*)

Chariots of Fire

BS: I think I can so long as I can still find time for politics; I could get by so long as I can live somewhere and eat. Thanks for answering my questions!

SVZ: No worries at all, I hope it makes your decision a little bit easier! And thanks for having me.

BS: It does shed a lot more light on the whole thing. Best of luck with your writing and I’ll be looking out for your name in Voiceworks, Page Seventeen and Ricochet Mag.

Contradictions in the Vampirism to Homosexuality Analogy

The rise of vampires in popular culture being used as an analogy for homosexuality or alternative sexuality can often be looked upon favourably but can it lead to homophobic conclusions?

Vampires in literature and film at the moment come in a variety of forms stretching from the traditional dark and evil vampire to the new, romantic, sexy vampires that you sympathise with.

I’ve been particularly interested in one strand that’s emerged that sees Vampirism as an analogy for homosexuality, the obvious example being the TV series, True Blood.

I’ve only watched a few episodes but I’m already enjoying the strong characters and am impressed with the plot pulling no punches with its political references. You can quickly see the resemblance to various civil rights struggles including that for gay rights.

And on a superficial level, I think this works. The portrayal of the anti-Vampire bigots works quite well, as do the people sympathising with them.

But I’ve run into doubts after trying to extend the analogy further in some of my own work. I had an idea for a piece of short fiction centring on a vampire that’s forced to hide his vampirism, get married and dissolve into normal society.

The main problem I find is that LGBTI people don’t eat people. We don’t suck people’s blood. We might bite, if you like it that way, but we don’t go about to cause harm.

So much of the analogy is about hiding your vampirism, suppressing innate desires in order to fit into society. The conclusion could be drawn that this lifestyle is harmful, preditorial, and in order for equality to be achieved you have to push aside these innate feelings and become normal.

I feel that delving into the analogy too deeply can lead to conclusions that there is something wrong with homosexuality, but it just needs to be tolerated or controlled, not that it is a perfectly natural and positive lifestyle that people should be free to explore and be open about.

It’s for this reason that I feel my piece of short fiction might not work, but it doesn’t mean that things like True Blood fail in what they’re trying to do, just that I think there are contradictions that if explored, present problems.

I’d be curious to hear people’s thoughts but bear in mind that I’m not saying vampirism is always an analogy for homosexuality but this is in specific reference to some cases like in True Blood.

Writing Lifestyles: Student Writer

The other week I had a look at the pros and cons of writing with a day job, and then asked Jim last week what he thought as well. Now, I’m looking at my options and one of them is to enter the world of university and become a student.

Out of high school, I applied to get into the University of Wollongong to do a Bachelor of Creative Writing. Whilst my portfolio and interview seemed to go well (aside from their upturned noses at the thought of me reading Stephen King!), it was my marks that let me down and after some night-classes in journalism and a bit of uni by correspondence, I eventually gave up on the idea of studying and looked for full-time work.

I kind of got used to living on a full-time wage, despite hating all the time it sucked, and now with all these expenses and liking being able to buy things, I guess one of the main concerns is income.

I’d have to look into getting some kind of government benefit in order to study full-time, as part of the appeal of going to university would be to immerse myself in the student life, student politics and such. AusStudy etc. isn’t that easy to get (and perhaps more so if Abbott gets in), it’s below the poverty line, and I might even be ineligible for it due to living with a partner that also earns a full-time income.

I’m open to the idea of working casually as well to supplement my income, but so long as my life then doesn’t become just taken over by study and working, which would kind of defeat the purpose of quitting my job to go study.

I have been told that even a full-time study load is still considerably less than full-time work. You have to then add in assignments and homework as well though so you’re “free-time” becomes more blurred compared to full-time work. Doing a creative writing course might make that less of a problem though.

I think I’d only do creative writing though, which makes sense, but I did once consider doing something like arts or history. The problem with that might be taking up a bit too much brain space which could drain any enthusiasm for writing.

Quitting my job and going into study rather than quitting to live on the dole would be better because it would also keep me in the ‘real world’ to some extent, give me fodder to write about, to meet new people, and with a creative writing degree, a boost to my writing skills too.

Working out how to manage time and income would be the problem though so it might take some further research so these are just my initial thoughts on the matter.

And in order to get an insider’s look into the writing lifestyle of a student, I’ll be chatting to Samantha van Zweden, who writes the blog Little Girl With A Big Pen and studies creative writing at RMIT. So look out for that!

Abbott could be PM?! Don’t flee; fight!

Most left-wing people in Australia either woke up this morning with a hangover or a bitter taste in their mouth – or both. The possibility of an Abbott government ought to piss people off, if you’ve got an ounce of humanity in you.

Now it’s all a bit up in the air at the moment, with all the dealings with independents, the newly elected Green MP, and the undecided seats, but it’s time to face the music and look at what we need to do with the party of big business back in power.

A lot of people I’ve talked to have expressed many things at the thought of Abbott in power from being pissed off to being thrown into a fit of depression. People have expressed desires to move overseas or commit suicide rather than live in Australia under Abbott. I’m not one of these people.

Despair is disempowering and it doesn’t actually achieve anything. It’s no good giving up and drowning your sorrows. What we really need is to jump out of the blocks with our fists clenched ready to fight.

If Abbott attacks, and I assure you he will, we need to be there to defend and resist every move he makes whether it be reopening Nauru, pushing though outrageous industrial relations reforms, or hand out more millions to the mining companies.

The fact that the swing away from Labor went more to The Greens than the Liberals show there is a core of people disappointed with Labor from the Left, that people wanted something better than a clone of the Liberal party. These people are likely to be sour at a Liberal government so we need to turn this energy into action.

And if Labor does manage to form a minority government, then that doesn’t mean we breathe a sigh of relief either. If we want to ensure this can’t happen again, we can’t let them race to the right unopposed.

[Fiction] Friday: You Decide

I’m back to #FridayFlash this week after a bit of a break. I’m not going to continue with my Coup d’cash series for now but may return to it. This week I thought I’d grab a prompt from Write Anything’s [Fiction] Friday: “The note taped to the door said: See you at Wild Notes Karaoke Bar.”

—

You Decide

I had less than 24 hours to decide. Oh why was it so hard for me to choose? I always left it for other people to sway me. They all sounded so passionate, I thought they must be right until someone argued the other side with just as much force.

Without a clue, I’d decided to put my choice in the hands of a strange old man who said he had a secret. See, I can make decisions sometimes.

Now I was running late. I couldn’t decide whether to take the train or tram so missed both of them. I always did that. He said to meet me by 10 but now it was 30 minutes passed that.

I arrived at house hidden behind a wall of tomato plants and stood facing a door in dead silence. I thought I’d been tricked, before I saw the little slip of yellow paper flapping in the wind.

The note taped to the door said: See you at Wild Notes Karaoke Bar.

My mind swirled with the next step in my puzzle. I had to make another decision. If I’d made the first decision, I wouldn’t have had to make others but they kept chasing me, one on top of the other like dominoes.

I flipped a coin. Tails said I gave up. Heads said I’d go to the Karaoke bar.

Of course, it said heads. The Queen mocked me and beckoned me to go on like she did when I couldn’t decide in the referendum on the Republic.

I covered my ears as I stepped into a wall of smoke, leaving me blind and 180 minute decisions for on where to turn. I went straight ahead.

Someone screeched ‘Black or White’ at the back of the bar, going between high and low notes as if he couldn’t decide what sounds less terrible. I couldn’t see much more than a figure though. It all looked grey to me.

I found him sitting at a table near the front with a beer sitting in front of him barely touched. I sat down opposite him in silence, not sure what to say.

“You gonna get something to drink, kid? I’ll get ya one. What will you have?”

“Um, um.” I squirmed in my seat, “What you’re having is fine.”

I flicked my eyes to the table after he got up and saw a thin book: Song Book.

As soon as I opened it, my head seemed to go dead. Lines and lines of songs filled the pages. I’d never get up at one of these things because I’d never be able to pick a song. Even the thought of having to decide began to turn the frozen cogs into my head into a whirring frenzy as if about to burn me out.

I just wanted him to make my choice so I can get on my way.

He rested the beer in front of me, but before he could even take a seat, my mouth is moving.

“So, who should I vote for?” I resisted the urge to get up and shake the answer out of him.

He looked at me blankly as if he wanted me to do it. “How should I know? I just wanted someone to drink with. You seem to be easily swayed, fucking swinging voter.

“Now are you gonna pick a song?”

I grabbed my chest at the riot in my heart and everything suddenly went blurry. And the first thought to enter my head was, at least I don’t have to decide who to vote for.

Writing Lifestyles: With a Day Job – Interview

Following on from last week’s post discussing the writing lifestyle of doing it with a day job, I’ve interviewed fellow #FridayFlasher (that sounds wrong doesn’t it?) and #SpokenSunday sidekick, Jim Bronyaur about how he fits in writing around having one of those darned day jobs.

Benjamin Solah: Firstly, what do you for a living and how often do you work?

Jim Bronyaur: I work in accounting/finance. My schedule is supposed to be Monday – Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm but that of course varies on the projects. Some days I’m answering my phone at 6am and some night taking calls until 11pm.

BS: Did you choose to work like this or is it necessary?

JB: Right now, it’s necessary. I was lucky enough to receive a job offer right out of college and stuck through being laid off for six months and through the big messes. However, it’s a double edged sword because during the time I was laid off, I realized my passion for writing and have never looked back! I now wish I could have (dare I say it) skipped college and focused on writing so that now I’d have a lot less debt and more time/options.

BS: If you were able to quit your job and write full-time would you? Or would you continue to work full-time?

JB: I would love nothing more than to quit my job and write full time. It’s probably number one on my list of things to-do right now… and my number one dream.

BS: Are you able to write whilst working?

JB: One of the few perks I have at my current job is that I do have the ability to get some writing done at certain times. I have my own desk, own computer, and share an office with one person. BUT I am hidden in a corner (which I like) and always have a notebook handy or a Word document open, ready to go. Every day, my lunch consists of writing and any breaks I can squeeze in, I write, write, write.

BS: How do you fit writing in outside of work?

JB: Writing outside of work is tough. I have two kids – two boys under the age of two – and my wife is an awesome stay-at-home Mom, but the second I walk in the door, it’s Daddy time! And I try to make sure I can help with dinner, diapers, baths, bottles, and bed. I do not for a second envy any of you stay at home moms… that is the hardest job in the world!

Once the boys are in bed and the apartment is semi-settled, I start to write. I have a super supportive wife who is behind me 110% with my writing. She manages my Facebook page(s), among other little things and is usually editing something I’ve written while I’m writing something new.

I’ve also trained myself that sleep doesn’t need to exist in life… my youngest son is 3 months old and he does great through the night. He takes his last bottle at around 8pm and sleeps until 4-5am. I usually get up with him, feed him, change him, and put him in bed with Mommy… and then I’m up for the day! I write in the morning before the gym and work and then I write at night.

BS: Creatively, how does work affect your writing?

JB: Well, it gets in the way! But seriously, I really don’t use my “expertise” in accounting or finance in my writing. I know many authors who have been lawyers write court stories, etc. but for me, I just write what I want to say. I’ve very rarely used accounting or finance terms in my writing, mostly because it seems out of place and cliché when I read it. And also because I write horror stories and material geared for young adult too. I really can’t picture, you know, a horde of zombies discussing why the second quarters financial statements are a week late… but then again, that would be an interesting story, huh?

BS: What are the benefits and negatives you see with working full-time as a writer?

JB: I think the biggest benefit everyone thinks of in terms of a full-time writer is making your own schedule and being “free”. No bosses. No super tight ties. No uncomfortable clothing. No dealing with co-workers… however, I’m sure there’s always a downside to everything. If I’m a full-time writer meaning I make a full-time income and can support my family, my dream has come true. I think it would be great to be able to be comfortable and be focused on writing. Right now at work, for example, if I’m in the middle of a project and a story pops into my head, the best I can do is take a quick note where as if I was home, I may have the opportunity to stop and write out the idea a bit more.

The negatives could be less social interaction – say you’re a fiction writer tearing through the pages of your new manuscript. There’s no “break room” where everyone eats lunch together. Then there’s always the “real world” things such as health insurance and making enough money to cover your bills.

And too there is the pressure of actually being a full time writer. I’m sure there’s a whole different mindset from being a full time accountant and part time writer to just a full time writer. It’s like, “Ut-oh, no excuses… time to really REALLY write…”

BS: Are there other things about your lifestyle that affect your writing?

JB: I’m a very artistic person. I play a lot of instruments and write and record my own songs. That helps me stay open minded creatively when I’m working on a new story. I’m always VERY picky, VERY organized, and probably borderline OCD. I have folders for all stories, I carry ten notebooks with me at all times (and yes, each one serves a purpose). I have three different things on the wall near my desk to jot ideas (in case I get more than one… the dry erase board only holds so much…).

I also think that I’m still very much a kid at heart. I still let myself go and get scared when I watch horror movies, I still love the innocence in movies/books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the greatest story EVER written is and forever will be The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

I refuse to let the “real world” get to me too much. I know there’s a lot of bad shit in this world… but there’s also just as much good if you find it. I’m sure it seems a little contradictive since I am a horror writer but my taking the good in life I’m able to create good people in good places who can over come bad things.

Finally… and above all… I don’t give up. Ever. I’m Polish. I’m stubborn. And I’m a writer. End of story.

Poem: 3 Minutes

This is a poem I wrote mostly about voting with reference to the current election. I’ve read it a couple of times at some open mic nights and might do a voice recording of it, hopefully before it kind of expires on Saturday. Let me know what you think.

—

3 Minutes

Just 3 minutes of
democracy
Give me more than that

please!

3 minutes
every 3 years

but I also take

3 minutes to
brush my teeth

every day

3 minutes to
take a shower

3 minutes to
go to the shop

3 minutes for
an ad break

3 minutes to
make a coffee

Flat white or latte
Two sugars

please!

That’s the choice
at least it’s every day

And at least
Flat whites don’t break promises
Lattes don’t back flip
And cappuccinos don’t screw me over
when I take a sip

If they did
at least I could change
the very next day
Don’t have to wait 3 years
till I next get my say

Is this the choice?
Flat white/latte
Coke/Pepsi
Work or dole
both shit for me

Stop the boats/turn the boats back

Same-sex marriage ban/
same-sex marriage ban

Moving forward?
Just a slogan
Don’t you see?!

There’s no difference
except
for a little more
froth
from cup
or mouth

Spill this
burnt
bitter
shit coffee

Mop it right up
we need to start again
with a fuck load more than
3 minutes of
democracy

Pre-election Protests: More power on the street than in the ballot box

Apologies for the late reports and no photos but I still have no internet at home so have to do this from work.

On the weekend, I was part of two demonstrations in Melbourne one week before the federal election – for refugee rights and same-sex marriage rights.

These were important to cut against a campaign that has been about personalities rather than policy, and of what policy has been discussed, it has been a long way from the kinds of policies that maintain human rights and dignity for ordinary people.

On Friday night, around 500 people marched under the banner ‘Stand Up for Refugees’ which you’d have to call a success given the tide of racism is pretty high at the moment and the aim was to get a concerted minority out to cut against that.

During the Howard years, the refugee campaign started from such small numbers and ended up representing a majority against the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers.

And then I was up again on Saturday morning to protest for same-sex marriage rights. 5,000 gathered at the State Library at the same time as thousands of others around the country in what represents the majority opinion in Australia.

The highlight was when Cath Bowtell, Labor’s candidate for Melbourne, spoke and was booed from a large portion of crowd. In recent weeks, both Julia Gillard and Penny Wong have answered questions regarding same-sex marriage and gone on to defend Labor’s support for the ban. Bowtell echoed this and so it’s not surprising that someone who defended the ban on same-sex marriage received a hostile reception at the rally.

These protests and the act of getting out on the streets side by side with other people who agree with me on these positions felt for more empowering than when I turned up to the polling booth on Friday afternoon to cast my early vote.

It took me three minutes or less to number some boxes for candidates that are horribly underwhelming. I find the act of delegating decisions for the next three years to someone who won’t represent what I’d like to see, or the majority would like to see, extremely disempowering.

One day I’d like to live in a society where democracy is a reality and people can really decide on things that benefit ordinary people. I’m fighting toward this and in the meantime, I’ll take a demonstration over the polling booth any day.

Why You Need to Protest: Mainstream parties open door to homophobia from Family First

In the lead up to the election, and more importantly, Saturday’s National Day of Action for same-sex marriage rights, two usually irrelevant parties have (justifiably) pissed people off with their comments in regards to homosexuality and same-sex marriage rights.

Family First candidate Wendy Francis started it all by claiming that same-sex marriage was child abuse because children have the right to a mother and a father. This was followed up by a One Nation candidate backing her up and tweeting that he was up for some ‘poofter bashing.’

These kinds of comments are rightly condemned and really come from the extreme end of homophobia, but it must be said that both mainstream parties are responsible for creating a climate where these kinds of views are seen as acceptable in society, just like discrimination from the top of society gives a green light to homophobes on the street that want to bash gay and lesbian people.

The Labor Party try to hide their discrimination and legitimisation of more explicit homophobia behind tiresome bullshit about how equal they’ve made all these other laws – except for marriage. They can’t even justify why, other than the lie that the community doesn’t support it.

But after the Rooty Hill forum last night, Phillip Ruddock was quizzed about this on Sky News and basically echoed what Wendy Francis said, claiming that children have the ‘right’ to be raised by a mother and father and marriage is for nurturing children.

Not only is this an example about how our society tries to enforce strict gender roles on society through the family, they miss the fact that not every married couple has children. This ideology of the monogamous heterosexual family is becoming further from the reality of peoples lives but remains an ideal to aspire to which leaves those outside of this norm feeling less legitimate.

With both parties refusing to lift the ban on same-sex marriage, they’ve given a voice to fringe opinions like that of Family First of One Nation and ignored majority opinion in favour of full equal rights. If you want that voice to be heard, if you want to put it beyond doubt that there is mass support for same-sex marriage, then you need to lend your voice and your body to march on the streets on August 14, on the sixth anniversary since Howard explicitly banned same-sex marriage.

Demonstrations are happening all around the country and you can find more information by visiting http://equallove.info.

Writing Lifestyles: With a Day Job

This will be the start of a bit of a series on writer’s lifestyles and how they earn an income and fit in writing. I’ll be looking at writers from those that have a day job other than writing to those who write full-time.

I thought I’d start with my own circumstances and how they affect my writing. At the moment, I work full-time, and my income comes solely from this job. I fit in writing during work and outside of work.

Being previously long-term unemployed, the secure income is the main benefit of working full-time, and the main problem with it is the lack of time for writing.

Though, how working full-time affects your writing can very much depend on the specific job. For instance, my job at the moment is pretty low demand and so I have a little time to write at work and I’m not so drained after work that I don’t feel like writing then.

Also, I probably write more working full-time than when I was unemployed. Being busy makes me get things done where as being unemployed left me depressed and lazy. Working forces you into a routine and to fit things in when you can rather than putting it off because you have all the time in the world.

The other thing is that writing things about capitalism and our society means that my job has been a source of inspiration for my writing, not that work is inspiring; it’s just that it puts me in the coal face of working life and gives me horrors to write about. I could imagine writing from home would remove you from outside stimulus as well as detach you somewhat from society.

Of course the down sides are how much time it takes out of your day. Whilst I can write a little bit, it’s certainly not pure and free writing time and the open plan office makes it hard to find privacy and just work. Then you add things like work-stress and this can have an adverse affect on writing.

Then there are other jobs that are less conducive to the writer. I worked for a bit doing data entry. The hours were odd and it was flat out, mind draining work. I couldn’t write at work, but I also couldn’t write after work because my brain was so fried.

So I guess it can depend on the specific job as to how good or bad it is for your writing. Also, often this option can seem like the only one, with other forms of income unavailable to you. The main reason why I continue to work full-time is I need to pay rent and bills as well as have some extra income to improve my quality of life.

In the next few days, I’ll post an interview with another writer who also has a day job.

Writing, income and living

I’m back at work this morning after three quick and busy weeks off, first for two weeks on stress leave and another to move house. Whilst it allowed me some time to cool off from the current work-related tension, I’m now looking into how to live in the near future, namely issues of income and writing time. Perhaps my research will become the subject of multiple blog posts.

Everything is largely up in the air at the moment. Moving house means no internet at the moment as well as no writing space set up yet so I’ll need to get that all set up before I can try and establish some sort of regular writing routine at home.

I’ve also worked out a way to ease some financial burden i.e. a fuckload of debt so that I can afford to survive on a lower income. This opens up my options considerably.

I’m looking at study funded by welfare, welfare, grants, part-time work, or some sort of combination of those with the addition of money from writing and blog related income, even if small, and including donations.

I think capitalism puts up a heap of barriers to artists being able to pursue their craft because it doesn’t produce a ‘profit’ to ‘society’ but I think there is room for some artists in some ways to get by and pursue their craft. I just need to find a way that best suits me.

I’d be interested to hear from other writers on how they live, how they earn an income and how it affects their writing. And perhaps other options for doing so.

My writing process and political intervention through fiction

A week or so ago, with a story idea floating around inside my head, I sounded off a bit about my writing process on AudioBoo and specifically in relation to how I approach political fiction. I think there is a general hostility to conscious political fiction which has led me to be unsure about how people might see my approach.

Recently, submissions have opened for a new anthology, Red Dead Heart. It’s a collection of Australian-themed vampire stories and immediately it struck me as something that would be worth writing something for.

Now the way in which I formulate what kind of story I want to write may seem a bit mechanical or dogmatic. I think writing in the horror genre also pushes me in this direction because there is such a premium on originality, especially when writing within common tropes such as vampires or zombies.

So my angle is as a ‘Marxist horror writer’ and I consider how to distinguish myself and my writing from that angle. In this case, what I want to say about both the vampire genre as well as something that is Australian-themed, and hopefully mixing the two.

It feels almost like a comment on the genre as well as a story, which leads me to feel like people might see this approach as dogmatic. It is in this vein that I’ve come up with my idea, one that I think is original, or takes the vampire trope in a new tangent.

From here, I have a direction to go with my research where I’ll find details to fill in my world and little anecdotes to illustrate where I’m going.

I think for political fiction to work, it has to relate to people. It has to relate to people on the level of their material reality, how the world appears to them. It also has to relate to how they view the genre or literature, which is why I think it’s important for my ideas to relate to where a trope or angle originates from, a lot of the time from a socio-economic origin.

This is opposed to just thrusting whatever analogy you want into your story because if its disconnected from everything before it, I think people are more likely to dismiss it.

I’m not sure this approach would make people want to read my work or make them feel like they’re being preached to. If people felt preached to or the politics was being ‘shoved down their throats,’ it wouldn’t necessarily make me shy away from this approach because a lot of people feel hostile to any kind of explicit politics. It might just mean my audience is a little smaller which isn’t automatically a bad thing.

I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts.

Writing Goals: July to August

I gave myself a lot to do in July, especially the eBook and finalising The Red Pen zine, but didn’t foresee that I’d take two weeks off work for stress leave which should’ve given me more time to write but derailed my month some what.

July Results

1. Release Sanity Juxtaposed as an eBook – I worked a lot on Sanity Juxtaposed in July but didn’t get the eBook released. It is almost ready to go once the proof reading comes back and I do the conversion. This is all largely out of my control.

2. Finish ‘dress rehearsal’ copy of The Red Pen – Finalising The Red Pen has also been largely out of my control but we made good progress on it this month and am nearing completion hopefully for a late August/early September launch.

3. Continue refining Somewhere to Pray, my Chinese Whisperings short story – This has been the main goal in the later half of July, refining the story as it needs to be finalised by early August. I’ve done a lot of rewriting.

4. Write 2,000 words toward All Fascists are Zombies! and come up with a new title – I didn’t even get to think about the novella this month, but did come up with a new title – Dead in the Head.

5. Edit Playing with the Big Boys (formerly Abused Mind), add new ending and post it on critique group for feedback – I finished editing it and added the new ending but it’s still not in a condition that I’m ready to post it on the critique group.

6. Revise Evicted and resubmit – This was a pretty simple and easy goal, mainly because it was out in submission land for a while which forced me to gain some distance from it.

7. Write a new short story or rewrite an older one – I had a few ideas but never got a chance to work on them.

8. Perform a new poem at a new venue – I wrote two new poems, both of which I performed at Littlefoot slam. I also read an older poem at another new venue, The Spinning Room.

9. Organise paperwork, books and journals and clean desk – Organising my books, paper and cleaning the desk were all done pretty early on but I never got to find something to organise my journals and magazines in.
10. Finish Princesses and Pornstars (Political Research Goal) – I’m afraid my reading for this month got derailed for much more important reading so this was neglected. I started reading China Mieville’s The City and The City in preparation for an interview with him in September.

11. Finish Let the Right One In (Cultural Goal) – I did get a little chunk of this read, but as above, it’s been put aside.

12. Launch alternate theme for the blog (Blogging Goal) – The bare bones of the alternate theme are there but I never really gave myself some time to look at it.

It looks like from the results that I didn’t achieve a lot but I felt like I was constantly working on my writing, especially those first two goals which were pretty thick. I don’t feel like July was a lost month or anything.

August Goals

I think this month I need to finish off a few things as well as not neglecting getting down new words and continuing with old projects. And I need to do this all without overdoing it so I’m not left with all these goals I don’t even look at.

I also need to take into account that I’m moving this week, and that I’m involved in organising a major rally for refugees a week before the election.

1. Release eBook version of Sanity Juxtaposed

Once the proof reading and cover is in, I can finish off the text and format it for Scribd (PDF eBook) and Smashwords (text-based eBook i.e. ePub, Kindle etc.) to be unveiled to the world.

2. Finish The Red Pen and set a date for the launch



There are a few more pieces to copy edit, my editorial and then we can basically put it all together. With the election and some protests, it’s a bit busy to launch it this month unless it’s after the 21st but we need to set a date.


3. Finalise Somewhere to Pray for Chinese Whisperings



The deadline for the final version is August 10 so the first part of the month is going to be jam packed trying to do the final edits for this.


4. Write 2,000 words for Dead in the Head (fascist zombie novella)



I will try and find time for this. I’ve been watching some zombie movies lately too – and bought some more – so it will help to inspire me. I also watched Metal: a headbangers journey which is a documentary about Heavy Metal Music, which is part of the milieus the story is set in which helped.


5. Write first draft to Red Dead Heart short story



Read Dead Heart is an Australian themed vampire anthology. I have an idea for it so would like to get out a rough draft this month to get moving with this.


6. Set up new writing space



With moving house, it means a change of writing space; packing this one up and establishing a new one. If I’m going to get any writing done this month, this needs to be done quickly.


7. Finish The City and The City (Cultural Goal)



With the interview with China Mieville coming up in September, I need to finish reading this book, if not some more of his stuff, in order to ask informed questions. The novel so far is great and I’m reading it quite quickly. I’m also appalled at the number of novels I’ve finished this year: two.


8. Research Homophobia in Colonial Australia (Political Research Goal)



This is part of the angle I’m going for with my vampire story for the anthology so am going to look into this a little bit more. I know a comrade who has done a bit of research on this so will ask her.


9. Post an interview (Blogging Goal)



I’d like to practice doing an interview, in person, via email or whatever just to start thinking about asking questions and working with this format as I haven’t done a lot of it.


That seems a little more basic than last month, whilst not slacking off. I’m curious to see how moving house and to a new writing space will affect my writing as well as going back to work and what it will be like to work there if things change.

Movie Review: Survival of the Dead

Survival of the Dead is the latest instalment to Romero’s line of zombie movies and so it was a must-see when I saw it on the MIFF program. Playing with new genres and as always with Romero, social commentary, it really is a worthy addition to the series.

Firstly, on the venue. We went and saw it at Shed 4 in Docklands. It was quite an adventure getting there in itself, walking through the deserted docks and closed restaurants hoping walking down this pier was going to end up getting us to the film on time. It did and it was in a big creaking shed. The whole experience added the film I thought, though I’m not sure whether they did this on purpose.

Most of the movie takes place on an island off the east coast of North America and the main conflict is between two old nemeses locked in an age old battle. There’s a group of soldiers too that start on the mainland and work their way over with a teenage boy joining them.

There’s a bit of classic action, and classic zombie film as well as some old Western-style film grafted on to it so it was interesting to watch from a cinematic point of view. This one was also a bit more comedic and noticeable for an almost deliberate omission of tension.

But the main thing about the film are the various metaphors that appear later in the film. The image of the postman zombie kept alive and chained to the mail box as he repeats his same old task is powerful and could be interpreted as an image of alienated labour.

The wife chained to the kitchen to be kept alive as a zombie is a much more explicit metaphor that works well also.

I think the main thrust of the film is toward how right-wing Christians and pro-lifers would approach the question of a zombie epidemic so there’s a stab at the contradictions of the pro-life movement as well as its idiocy.

Romero is known for weaving metaphors with real world events and political ideas and with Survival of the Dead, he does this quite well, and all packed into an enjoyable feast of zombie’s munching and zombies being blown away.

#SpokenSunday: Devil’s Tim Tam

This Sunday’s #SpokenSunday is an older flash piece from the archives in light of me not having written anything this Friday. It was a piece inspired by a prompt: Tim Tams, which I wrote with my old housemate. We just timed ourselves and both wrote for 15 minutes straight and this is the result.

It’s also one the pieces included in my upcoming demo book, Sanity Juxtaposed. So it’s a little taster.