The Space Between by Annie Try

 

         It’s that gorgeous season of year when the garden is full of yellowing leaves, red berries and the wonderful aroma of fallen fruit. A time for cosying into an armchair to read or write, with a hot drink within reach, and to become excited about the ACW Autumn Gathering!  

It is coming up very soon - 24th and 25th October to be precise. The Friday evening will be something very special with Adrian and Bridget Plass there. And CAKE. And laughter plus the joy of meeting up with writerly people. I hope - no, I know - there will be fun on the Saturday as well.

The overall subject is ‘The Space Between’. Now that could mean the unwelcome spaces in our writing - perhaps from various other pressures or an inability to concentrate or even a waiting time when your wonderful manuscript has disappeared off for scrutiny by prospective publishers. (A nail-biting time, I find, when all faith I had in my writing skills and confidence in my calling  evaporates.) Or it could be a planned pause, the equivalent of a gap year. I hope you’ll be there to find out our take on it.

Jane Walters and I are busy writing our talks for the Saturday. In an unusual twist for a clinical psychologist (retired) I am responsible for the practical nitty gritty of dealing with ‘the space between’, so my talk will draw together many bits of wisdom from my MA in Creative Writing, and personal  experiences of bringing myself back to writing, which are equally useful for those who write facts, poems or fiction. I have given it a rather too cumbersome temporary title: ‘Knowing the Space and Finding Your Way’.  Jane will handle the more gentle task of looking differently at ‘the space between’, addressing some of the spiritual and emotional aspects that she usually includes in her writing retreats. She has a really snappy title which I shall leave her to reveal.

At the moment, my presentation consists of five closely packed slides plus various notes. I still have eleven days (is that all?) to make the slides more visually pleasing/legible and add in some ‘More about’ information to draw out some salient points. I love creating a talk like this.

Maybe I will include a task for us to do together. Only maybe, but there will certainly be a list of resources just as soon as I’ve gathered them.

That is the morning - but after lunch there will be more to come, including the opportunity to have a 1:1 session with myself, Jane or others.

But we’re not quite there yet. I still have work to do to equip and encourage other writers. When the talk seems to be complete I will time it - and find it’s too long or short so will edit it and reshape it. Just like any other writing task. Then I’ll rehearse it. And rehearse it …

Of course, there’s the small matter of a decent title for my talk. I’m working on it even now and have a few ideas:

‘From space to earth’

‘Outa space’

‘Space to Scribbling in 55 Minutes’ (That’s how long I have to speak!)

‘From Resisting to Writing’

Ah - I think I’ve got it:

‘From Mists to Mellow Fruitfulness’

There’s nothing like a famous poem to inspire. Thanks, John Keats! Such a great first line, sorry to distort it.

I’m praying I’ll see you at the gathering. Don’t forget to bring your books to sell, an inquiring mind, a pen and a notebook.

Annie

Annie Try is the pen-name of Angela Hobday. She writes contemporary fiction and is published by Instant Apostle and Kevin Mayhew Publishers.