Write Yourself a Masterpiece in Social Isolation
Well... What Do I Do Now? WORDS CHLOE O'SULLIVAN
Suddenly stuck in your house with no formal education training and having to teach your child. OMG… me too! At the start of the coronavirus story being on the news who would have thought this is where we would be. Millions of people unemployed, the places you would typically go to socialise and relax are closed for business and even though schools are still open, you are too scared to send your kid. I have always had so much respect for my child’s teachers, mostly because I know they do a job I am in no way qualified to do. We are fortunate to be in a very small school and have been so lucky with the teaching staff we ended up with. We actually made the final decision on the school after I met the Kindergarten teacher at orientation and fell in love with her. She just oozed passion, enthusiasm and I had complete confidence that she would be the person who would make my child fall in love with school, and she did. The thought that little old me who has been working full-time since I was 14 would need to take over educational duties is terrifying. So much so that when this was looking like it would need to be a reality, I could actually hear the theme from Jaws playing in my head Reading all the chatter on social media from people all over the country complaining about their school not giving them information about what you should be doing at home with your kids, and having done this for some weeks now, I thought I would share a few ideas. Educating your kids at home Firstly give yourself and the kids a break. You are not going to do everything perfectly. Your kid is going to snap at you the way they wouldn’t snap at a teacher because they can. You’re all in close quarters with 18 | www.intouchmagazine.com.au
limited or no outside stimulation for maybe the first time ever. Yes, get them to do some of the work sent home by the school but let them blow off some steam too. There are also so many great pages popping up with lots of educational resources you can access at home. One thing I found really helpful with mine (as she was in the right age group) was to actually get her to sit a practice NAPLAN test on the first day or so. Not because I cared about the score but because it showed me the concepts that we might need to work on.
Social schooling You need to stay connected with your friends but so do they. Set up some Zoom playdates so they can chat on screen and be silly. This week we were on facetime with a friend in Victoria we both had a deck of cards and played poker as part of a maths lesson, and they had a ball. I got them to watch a video about deforestation and palm oil and then they made a poster about how to protect the animals. Just keep them engaged. Your school They had no notice that something like this was coming. They work for the department of education, and they can’t give you information that they don’t have. This is an ever-changing situation and they are doing their best to catch up. While the rest of us are isolating where possible to keep our family safe, our teachers continue to show up, putting themselves and their families at risk. They are there for the families who have no choice but to keep sending kids to school. Health care professionals, those employed in the school supply chain - they too have families they are worried about and worried about how they will pay their bills. Just remember that before you say unkind things to them (or about them). This also goes for people in supermarkets and other service areas. The rule “Don’t be a wanker” should just apply across the board. Happy learning!
If you find yourself in isolation because of COVID-19, it could be the ideal time to write the novel you’ve always dreamed of creating according to New York Times best-selling science fiction author and Flinders University creative writing lecturer, Dr Sean Williams. Dr Williams offers these simple tips on How to Write a Bestseller (based on the 10.5 Commandments of Writing), noting that finding ample time to embark on such a big project doesn’t present itself very often. “These are simple but powerful steps that every writer should take, and while they won’t guarantee success, they will certainly help you along your way to completing a novel,” says Dr Williams. 1. Do you really want to do this? No amount of advice will work unless you do. Writing is hard and writing something that sells is even harder. You’ll go through ups and downs along the way. Wanting to complete this task will get you through the downs. 2. It’s great that you want to be a writer, but have you read anything? Anything recent? Anything outside your comfort zone? All great works begin with understanding the form, and if you don’t have that, you’re in real trouble. You gain an artist’s understanding by reading widely and being a discerning reader. 3. A lot of readers want to be writers (and some non-readers too; see above) and generally know what kind of story they’d like to write – so go ahead and do exactly that. If you write with passion about your subject, readers are more likely to respond positively. Write with cynicism or even disdain and readers won’t like it. 4. Write what you love, but if you want it to sell, be aware of the commercial marketplace. It’s not about what’s selling in stores right now - that information will be old news by the time your manuscript lands on an editor’s desk – but it makes good sense to avoid genres that seem over-saturated. The rest is guesswork, although you should remember that writers don’t have just one book in them: they have many. The trick is to pick the right one for publication at the right time. 5. Everything so far sounds pretty daunting, which is why you need a hefty
dose of courage to keep going. Anyone can sit down and write, but your aim is to write a bestseller. Therefore, be brilliant. Be bold. Be brave. 6. For some writers, the most bravery is required to emerge from your writing cave (metaphorically, if not literally) and meet people who already work in the publishing industry. This is how you learn what’s going on in the market and obtain necessary encouragement. Reach out and engage with these people by asking them questions. Their enthusiasm and advice could help you get over the finishing line. 7. When you find experienced people, listen to what they tell you. Even if their advice is harsh, be respectful of what they tell you. Act like a professional, even if you’re not one yet. Therefore, don’t lie, steal, cheat, grandstand or belittle in your work or your correspondence. You want people to remember you and your writing for the right reasons. 8. If you make it this far through the checklist, it’s time to devote your energy to write and finish the book. There are a thousand different ways to achieve this, but you’ll only discover what works best for you by getting your hands onto the keyboard and start typing. Try a few different timetables and methods until you find something that works well for you, and then keep exploring ways to make that method even better. Most importantly, work hard. The more you write, the stronger your work becomes: that’s how you know you’re doing it right. 9. Send your book out into the world. There’s no way of avoiding this confronting moment if you want it to sell. Yet again, you’re going to need to be brave. 10. And finally, start writing the next book. After all – we don’t know how long lockdown is going to last!
Dr Sean Williams’ book Impossible Music has been shortlisted for the Ethel Turner Award as part of the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. This prize is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level. Find out more at www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/ethel-turnerprize-young-peoples-literature
