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| This is equally applicable to readers and to writers |
What do writers feel about the process of writing –
generally most writers describe it as a very lonely thing that they do.
Andrew J. Borkowski, whose Copernicus Avenue won the 2012 Toronto Book Award had a contrary view.
In his acceptance speech, he said for him writing wasn’t a lonely process for
him at all.
On his website Borkowski says “writing is rewriting”.
I remember Isabel Huggan telling a group of wannabe writers
the same thing at the summer program at Humber School of Writers.
My friend Farzana Doctor gave me the same mantra when I met
her recently to discuss my manuscript.
Farzana’s second novel – Six
Meters of Pavement – was shortlisted for the award that Borkowski’s Copernicus Avenue finally won.
She also told me to be patient when reworking on the
manuscript.
I recently met Jaspreet Singh, author of Seventeen Tomatoes: Tales from Kashmir,
a collection of short stories and Chef, a novel (and a forthcoming novel Helium) wryly remarked that has a lot of
experience in being patient.
I had gone to his reading a couple of years ago at the North
York Central Library when I was new in Toronto, and nobody knew me, or took me
seriously.
I don’t know too many people even now, and absolutely nobody
takes me seriously as a writer.
But that’s not the subject of this blog post.
It’s about the writing process.
Some writers prefer to keep their writing under wraps and
prefer not showing it to peers.
I’m sure they’re in a small minority. Most writers prefer to
seek peer review and are open to making changes based on feedback.
I’ve got some exceptional feedback to my manuscript from my
friends.
I think peer review is vital.
Also vital is feedback from one’s mentor.
At a lively discussion last week Anand Mahadevan and Kristyn
Dunnion emphasized the importance of seeking peer and mentor review.
Mahadevan narrated his experience (re)writing his first
novel The Strike, based on his mentor
MG Vassanji’s feedback , and how finally when he had worked on the manuscript and
incorporated nearly all the suggestions that his mentor had made, the
manuscript had acquired a reached a completely different realm.
They were at the Impossible Words.
Irfan Ali and Emily Pohl-Weary curate Impossible Words. The
Academy of Impossible website describes Impossible Words thus: “Impossible
Words is a unique literary salon that presents culturally and stylistically
diverse Canadian writers in conversation with young writers from the Toronto
Street Writers. It takes place on the second and fourth Saturdays.”
I’ve attended two sessions so far, and I’ve liked the raw
energy and the in-your-face quality that the young writers from the Toronto
Street Writers bring to these sessions.
So, basically, writing is rewriting, review, patience, and
then I guess prayers. I’m teaching myself the first three, but as an agnostic, it’s
going rather difficult having to pray.
