July 26, 2010

Writing Days

Sometimes you get to a point in the story you’re working on and you can’t figure out where it’s going.  The computer screen stays white and empty – all that blank page waiting to be filled (or setneces getting all tangled up on the page), your head full of ideas but the words not coming.  The best advice for this, I think, is to stop and go and do something else.  Martin Amis talked about this at the Dubai literature festival.  He said when he was a younger writer he’d tackle problems at his computer for hours.  Now when he gets to a tricky part, he stops and goes to do something else for a bit.  He walks or changes rooms or SOMETHING.  (I nap!)  When he gets back his unconscious writing mind seems to have solved the problem.

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1 Comment

  1. Patti Sherbaniuk August 3, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    Hello Ms. Kuipers, August 3, 2010
    I was wondering if you would be interested in coming to the Edmonton Public Library in 2011 to talk at our monthly Writer’s Corner, plus do one other reading at either another branch at EPL or with one of our partner library systems/organizations VERY close to Edmonton.
    I (along with another colleague) am currently filling out an application to the Canada Council for the Arts for funding to bring authors to the Edmonton Public Library in 2011. The Canada Council asks that we contact the authors that we would like to host (and we really like your work) and get confirmation from the author that they will come to Edmonton to do a reading/presentation. We then send in the completed application, the Canada Council reviews it and then lets us know in late December which authors they will fund to come to Edmonton. For both readings we would be happy to have a local bookseller come in and sell your books.
    We then contact you to let you know if we were successful in our request to bring you in as one of our authors. It is kind of a tedious process but the funding does allow us to host authors that we otherwise could not afford to bring to EPL. The combined funding between the Canada Council and the Edmonton Public Library covers airfare, accommodations, meals, and local travel, and provides the author with a $250 honorarium per reading.
    The Writer’s Corner is held the final Sunday of each month with the exception of July, August and December. The other reading would be held on the Friday or Saturday prior to the Writer’s Corner talk, or the Monday following. We were hoping that the October Writer’s Corner (October 30th) would be convenient for you to visit us.
    If you are interested I would appreciate it if you would get back to me at your earliest convenience.
    Many thanks,
    Patti Sherbaniuk

    PATTI SHERBANIUK
    LIBRARIAN (SMART SEARCH)

    INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION
    7 SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL SQUARE
    EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA T5J 2V4

    T: 780.496.8369 F: 780.496.7001
    psherbaniuk@epl.ca Spread the words.

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