Three Published Writers Who Helped My Writing

Dear reader

This will be my last essay post for 2023 as I take my annual year-end break from long-form writing. (I will however still attempt a weekly poem when I can cos, what can I say? Poetry’s my jam!)

As a fitting adieu to a busy writing year, I will share about three writers from three different countries I met this year. They helped me understand writing more and to write better. I had met them through courses and seminars I attended between March and November.

I’ll talk about each of these writers in reverse chronological order. (For more information about them, click on the name in each header)

Writer #3 Author & Teacher: Jeanette Winterson (Nov 2023)

Author Bio:
Born in Manchester, England in 1960, Jeanette Winterson graduated from Oxford University, and published her first novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit at 25. She is an award-winning writer who has written 13 novels for adults, two collections of short stories, as well as children’s books, non-fiction, and screenplays. Jeanette also teaches creative writing.

How We Met:
This was the second year in a row Jeanette participated in the annual Singapore Writer’s Festival which took place over the past fortnight. During her time here, Jeanette also took part in the ACWP (Asia Creative Writing Program), spending precious time last week teaching budding writers the art and craft of writing.

As a regular subscriber to ACWP’s e-newsletters, I found out about this and decided to register. As required, I submitted my bio and a writing sample to book a seat at her two-and-a-half-hour in-person teaching session on 24 November.

What I Learnt:
During the session, loosely divided into five 30-minute segments, Jeanette talked in turn about what writers wish to write, the structure necessary to frame the writing of the story’s characters, and what voice writers have to carry the story. She ended off with the usual Q&A for the attending audience (there were about 20 of us).

She spoke non-stop for the first two hours. When the Q&A session commenced, I immediately jumped in with the first question of the day — what to do when stuck in my current manuscript rewrite (since completing my first full draft three years ago).

Her response? Maybe I’m done and this manuscript is now what it is. Stop trying to put more but accept, even embrace it. And then, set it free! At first, I thought it all sounded really abstract, even ethereal. Set it free? Whatever could she mean?

After some reflection, I realized that maybe it’s true. I’ve been agonizing over the details of my manuscript but not enjoying the fruit of my labor. I’m still fussing over minor details when really I just need to let the story breathe.

As the advice was only given recently, I’m still unpacking it. I hope to arrive at a conclusion in good time to wrap up my rewrite and decide what to do next with my manuscript.

Writer #2 Author & Professor: Darryl Whetter (Apr – Jul 2023)

Author Bio:
Born in Canada in 1971, Darryl Whetter is a novelist, short-story writer, poet, critic and professor. His debut collection of stories, A Sharp Tooth in the Fur, was a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book. Darryl has taught creative writing and literature at four Canadian universities and was the inaugural director of Singapore’s first creative writing Master’s program.

How We Met:
Needing to get feedback for some of my chapter drafts, and to improve my skills in editing, I signed up for not one but two memoir writing online courses (each eight sessions long of between two and three hours per week) in April and June this year. Darryl was the trainer for both. He was even in town during one of the weeks so I was able to catch him to take a picture together!

What I Learnt:
One of the most important things I learnt in Darryl’s courses was the art of line editing. Every week, he painstakingly went through each student’s work (there were about six to eight of us regularly submitting essays). He pointed out everything from grammar to context to sentence structure to coherence.

From Darryl, I also realized that my writing really wasn’t half bad! I know that can sound all kinds of arrogant. But the reality of writing is that it’s always a lonely process. Many times writers just don’t know if they have what it takes to keep writing.

So to get verbal confirmation from a published writer like Darryl makes me feel really grateful, not to mention vindicated about my decision to make writing a central part of my life these last five years.

Writer #1 Author & Visiting Mentor: J.C. Hallman (Mar 2023)

Author Bio:
Born and raised in Southern California since 1967, J.C. is an author, essayist, and researcher. His work has been widely published in Harper’s, GQ, The Baffler, Tin House Magazine, The New Republic, and elsewhere. He is the author of six books, and his nonfiction combines memoir, history, journalism, and travelogue, including the highly acclaimed B & Me: A True Story of Literary Arousal, a book about love, literature, and modern life.

How We Met:
ACWP often brings experienced writers from overseas (like Jeanette) to our shores, offering workshops and one-to-one sessions with writers like me who have manuscripts or ongoing writing projects to talk about. So when the opportunity came in March this year to have an hour-long one-on-one online session with J.C., I decided to apply and submit a wish list of questions to bounce off him.

What I Learnt:
I picked up several things from J.C. (which is also why I find one-to-one sessions my favorite when it comes to picking up writing advice)

One of the most memorable things J.C. said was that when first writing, it’s better to write a lot about one thing, than a little about many things. I recall my initial writings attempted to pack too much in a few lines. Almost like a non-stop stream of consciousness that refused to shut up. For my current manuscript rewrites, I’m reconsidering if I might have packed into it more themes than necessary.

Another thing I learnt from J.C. was how, especially with non-fiction writing, it’s often critical to consider what to leave out as it is what to include. No point giving away a hundred and one details, if 99 of them don’t help move the tale forward.

Finally, J.C. taught me that, just like in fiction, there are also three persons at play when we write creative non-fiction. The author, the narrator, and the character. But unlike fiction, all three of these in creative non-fiction (such as memoirs) are one and the same! As such, more care needs to be made to ensure I understand how each informs the other so I’m not messing up my writing by lumping all these together in my narrative.

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Okay, I’ll admit that last one begs further elaboration.

In fact, the stuff I’ve learned from these three wonderful writers beg for further elaboration. There’s also more I’ve learned from them than what I mentioned in this post. I just haven’t figured them all out yet! Perhaps I will in the new year, whereupon I shall certainly attempt to expound on these learnings in future posts on my blog.

Meantime, thanks for being my loyal readers. Wishing you a blessed end of the year.

Do visit here again in 2024 ok? May my writing be even better in the new year, and worth your wait.

God bless!

kelvinsmusings