Ian Gouge's Blog, page 39

My writing journey to the performance of “Crash”…

Ever since I wrote my first story aged five – an illustrated tale about a boy’s adventures in space – I wanted to do nothing other than write. In my early years this was an ambition fulfilled merely in fits and starts, and even then only in a minor way. This changed at the turn … Continue reading My writing journey to the performance of “Crash”… →

Yesterday & Today: 16th April

Often a fantastic thing happens on the last evening of our writers’ retreats – and yesterday was no exception. We always finish with a ‘read-around’, where delegates share some of their work by reading it to the rest of the group. This can be something they’ve been working on during the retreat or something else … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 16th April →

Yesterday & Today: 15th April

The most rewarding elements of the retreat yesterday came after the ‘Character Building’ workshop when at least three of the attendees tried out my character profiling suggestion on their works-in-progress. They said they found the exercise very useful, and that the profiles will help them build their final stories. That really as all I could … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 15th April →

Yesterday & Today: 14th April

The retreat at which I’m now mentoring kicked-off in pretty standard fashion yesterday – apart from a little local ‘colour’ which doesn’t really warrant any further explanation here, but one day has to make it into a story! As usual, there are a variety of writers here who I’ll be getting to know over the … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 14th April →

Yesterday & Today: 13th April

The great news from yesterday was how well Andy thinks my performance of Crash is coming along. Indeed, we are likely to reduce formal rehearsals to bi-weekly until just before the June event. One of the beauties of the piece – and the performance – is that I can practise at home, something I’ll have … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 13th April →

Yesterday & Today: 12th April

Given what was on the agenda, yesterday was always going to be pretty busy – yet I even managed to fit in something unplanned! The library session was quiet (but only in terms of people wanting to see me), so I cut it short half an hour early. During my time there (and at various … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 12th April →

Yesterday & Today: 11th April

I’m not sure which is more satisfying: a day where you work on things exactly as you planned, or a day where you find unexpected projects taking up your time. Of the two, yesterday felt pretty much like the former: a decent chunk of time on “C” (though not sure the quality was quite there); … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 11th April →

New Podcast Episode!

A really short one – just three minutes! A selection of six Haiku which, one day, may end up being part of something larger. Find it on Audible, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music or here. #podcast #poetry #reading #amwriting

“C+nto”

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that as a heterosexual white male of some maturity I didn’t really ‘get’ much of Joelle Taylor’s somewhat visceral C+nto. Yet that didn’t stop me from being able to appreciate the raw power of it, the seduction of the drumming incantation, the occasional brilliantly poetic phrase. In its relentlessness, Taylor unwraps … Continue reading “C+nto” →

Yesterday & Today: 10th April

In spite of a pretty productive day yesterday, it proved to be a tough one mentally. There were lots of positives: a Crash read-through and work on its sequel; drafting “C”; planning work on a possible companion project; various other bits-and-pieces including prep for tomorrow’s Stanza meeting; deciding TikTok isn’t for me (regardless of BookTok). … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 10th April →