In
my sitting room I have a large desk, a small settee, and no carpet. Outside,
there are few houses and no shops. It is an eight mile round trip to get a pint
of milk and distractions are few and far between. I have returned to the Orkney
Islands in the North of Scotland and now live with the tidal patterns of island
life and weather fronts. A year ago I was living in Vietnam.
While
I am lucky in that I have silence, solitude, and scenery, I also miss and need the
ebb and flow of daily life. The friction of busy streets, long journeys, new
faces and new places. For me, place is as important in my ‘writing life’
as it is in my fiction, influencing not only productivity but what forms my
writing takes. For example, here in Orkney time can move slowly, almost
generational, and this can inspire more meditative writing.
I
am an online ESL tutor so my hours of work follow Beijing Time (early
mornings!). While the kettle is boiling I sit at the desk and record any dreams
I had, or, failing that, any ideas that may come to me during that half dream
state.
On
mornings when I have no fresh ideas I will work on my current poem or piece of
writing which in turn allows the ever trustworthy subconscious to do its magic
while I’m teaching. Sometimes it throws out the perfect word/sentence/narrative
twist much in the same way delights are to be found on shorelines after a
storm. It is important for me to do this before the internal editor/critic
interferes. I need to write something, anything, before I talk myself
out of it or get distracted. I need to feel that momentum and sense of creative
accomplishment otherwise a sense of failure and frustration follows me
throughout the day.
Afternoons
are usually a dead zone for me. This could be down to so many years working
split shifts as a chef or just the fact that I’m a lazy bugger. Whatever it is,
I know I won’t accomplish anything decent on the page. I try to use this time productively but naps
can be too big a draw for me. Reading and napping are part of a writers job –
aren’t they? I am studying and experimenting with Haikus so I try to use some
of this time to learn about/practice the form. I also read for a couple of online
magazines so I try to look through the submissions during the afternoon. If the
weather isn’t too bad I will go for a walk.
Since
returning to Orkney I have been taking the time to organise about three years’
worth of unfinished writing and this is something I will dip in and out of
throughout the day. This can be finishing stories, poems, or organizing notes
for longer projects.
I seldom type first drafts, and as a heavy
drafter (especially of poems), this results in an ever increasing amount of paperwork.
I have folders, notebooks, and drawers full of drafts that I am making my way
through.
I
have a group of poems that I think work well together so I am revising a lot of
those at present. I also have my Vietnam journals that I am attempting to edit into
something with a more cohesive narrative arc that would draw a reader in. I
usually work on these in the evening if I get my second creative wind.
Obviously
not every day follows this pattern. Low mood, lack of self-discipline or confidence,
as well as the normal intrusions of daily life can interfere and add to the
anxiety of not writing. I try not to stress too much about not being productive
on a daily basis and tend to look back over a week to see what I’ve
accomplished. The anxiety of not writing every day is common so I am learning
to let go off it.
Andrew Velzian holds
a BA Hons in Creative Writing and has several stories and poems published both
online and in print. He has been a reader for various magazines and
competitions including The Cambridge Short Story Prize 2018, and is currently a
fiction reader for Blanket Sea Magazine. He recently returned to Orkney
after living in Vietnam where he now teaches English as a second language.
