The two weeks I spent at KSP Writers’ Centre would have to be the most intensely productive of my short writing life. From the moment I stepped into Aldridge cabin on the Monday afternoon, unpacked all my books and opened my laptop, I was entirely focused on turning the first full draft of my novel into a complete second draft. The final quarter of my manuscript consisted of some gaping holes that had been very hastily stitched together. While at KSP I wrote approximately 11,000 new words and edited many of the already existing words and substantially filled the gaps at the end of the manuscript.
It was so valuable to be able to create a little bubble of writerly productivity in the cabin, where everything was right there to ensure that I didn’t have to move very far from the desk, apart from the required daily walk up to the beautiful John Forrest National Park. Being inside this bubble enabled me to think far more deeply about the story I want to tell, and the novel as a whole.
In ‘emerging writer’ terms I am a mere chrysalis, but being at KSP for a fortnight, I felt like a writer. There I was, at an important, historic Writers Centre, with nothing else to do but write for two weeks. Just being there was so inspiring – soaking in the atmosphere left by all those writers for all those years, all of them striving for the right words, getting in the flow, dealing with the frustrations.
My fellow Fellows, Ashley, Christine were wonderful. Each night we took turns to cook and sat around the oval dining table covered in the polyester lace tablecloth with the old gas heater cranking, to talk about our days, our writing, and our writerly hopes for the future. Ashley – a much more experienced writer and employee of the NSW Writers Centre – was a fount of knowledge about the publishing industry, key professionals who could provide some assistance and next steps. Thankfully Christine and I were able to provide something in return and give Ashley a crash course in being Western Australian to help inform her manuscript. Thinking of all the quirky things about Western Australia to tell Ashley became our nightly routine, and going to the WAFL just topped it off.
If someone had thought to ask me ‘what might you do on your last afternoon at KSP?’ going to a football game would not even have got close to the longlist, given it must be thirty years since I last went, but we did go together, for purposes of research, all in aid of Ashley’s quest to experience all things Australian. It was a hilarious and unexpected ending to a sensational two weeks.
Thank you KSP for an unforgettable experience.
Find out more at: http://www.kspwriterscentre.com/fellowship-program-1