Last week book doctor and creative writing teacher Andrew Wille joined Words Away for an invigorating new year session on mindful and holistic approaches to writing and publishing. We heard about Andrew’s background as a senior editor at Little, Brown London followed by freelance work for all the big British publishing houses and many of the Indies. He’s also studied and taught at the pioneering Buddhist-inspired Naropa University in Boulder Colorado which has informed his approach, as a book doctor, to working with writers and developing new manuscripts. Our discussion addressed perennial writerly concerns like quelling imposter syndrome, calming the monkey mind and dealing with rejection. We also talked about how to get the most from feedback, submitting manuscripts to agents and publishers, as well as ideas for sparking our energy into action on the page.
Andrew Wille
Andrew defined mindfulness as “being present and paying attention.” It’s about finding a quiet space where you can open up this awareness. He emphasised that it isn’t “just about meditation but how we live our lives. It’s about engaging with the world and well as retreating from it from time to time.” He’s interested in instinctive ways of doing things, closing down the chatter and seeking authenticity. We heard about mindful compassion and how we might apply this to ourselves and our writing.
There are lots of different styles of meditation and ways to awaken or locate a sense of compassion in ourselves (see links below for some suggestions). It’s a matter of seeing what works for you. As writers we often strive toward outcome, it’s always worth remembering that there’s value in creative expression for it’s own sake (as championed by Natalie Goldberg in her seminal book, Writing Down the Bones.)
Andrew touched on Buddhist philosophy and the idea of the manuscript as a site of suffering. By using mindful techniques we may be able to free ourselves from the three root poisons; envy, anger and ignorance which can get in the way of our writing. We also talked about the concept of ‘gnarlyness’ - an expression Andrew borrowed from a writing friend from the surfing community and shorthand for the challenge of a difficult and dangerous wave. Think about that gnarly problem in your manuscript…you know deep down you have to write your way through it with as much honesty as you can muster. A mindful approach can help. Try doing some writing exercises around the edges of your writing. Gnarly issues, compounded by the monkey mind, are full of tension. Try and stop this way of thinking and seek out the light in your work - identify and write down three things or gifts that speak to you (see Andrew’s writing experiment: a gift on every page - link below*)
Thank you to Andrew for bringing his sunshine and contemplative ideas to light up a rather grey January & also for providing all the links below! It was a thrill to start the year with over seventy people in attendance. If you missed the zalon but would like to explore the topic further check out the links below.
Here’s wishing you all well as we ride this gnarly COVID/lockdown wave in these gnarliest of times…I’ve found the writing community to be a great source of support and inspiration over the last few months and wanted to flag up a couple of brilliant organisations offering online workshops and courses, namely the Arvon at Home courses and London Lit Lab - lots of good stuff to dive into with a glorious range tutors. And just to remind you on Monday, February the 8th, I’ll be in conversation with the dynamic and innovative PR specialist Ronke Lawal discussing Social Networking for the Reluctant Writer. Then on 15th March our guest is novelist and screenwriter, Courttia Newland talking Writing Speculative Fiction: unlocking the art of storytelling. Hope to see you soon!
Kellie
LINKS AND RESOURCES
* Writing experiment: A Gift on Every Page
Books on the craft of writing: Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guin, On Writing by Stephen King, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
On mindfulness practices:
mindful.org – magazine on mindfulness and related matters
Lion’s Roar – Buddhist magazine
Shambhala Publications – online courses as well as a variety of books
Mindful U podcasts from Naropa – interviews describing mindfulness in many areas, including writing
Welcome: A Compassion Training – a self-paced version of an online Naropa class Andrew took recently: highly recommended
Three Turnings of the Wheel – another course from Naropa for anyone interested in exploring Buddhist practice and philosophy more deeply
And keep an eye out for the next time Shambhala runs Natalie’s online course Writing Down The Bones: it is excellent
Elaine Kingett runs weekly drop-in Zoom workshops on mindfulness and writing (we love Elaine)
The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions by Christopher Germer
From Andrew’s site wille.org
Links to various teachers I admire
Working With Feedback On Your Writing