Author: Elspeth Duncan
Story: Sending Letters
1. WHEN DID YOU WRITE YOUR STORY?
I wrote 'Sending Letters' when I was attending a 3-week Cropper writers' retreat on the Balandra coast in 2008. At that time I was a raw foodist and had recently met a 'kindred spirit' who lived abroad. It was one of those connections that is sudden, intense and meaningful. We communicated with each other a lot in various ways . . . hence the title of my story ('Sending Letters') and the trip to the post office that started the whole adventure.
2. YOU WROTE THE STORY EIGHT YEARS AGO. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT NOW?
It is a true story, with events and conversations recounted as they had unfolded . . . so nothing in it is 'made up'. Now it's like reading a diary entry and remembering the experience and the feelings of that time. My current emotional connection to it is not what it was then, so I see that part with more objectivity, but still with fondness for the memories. Had the same thing happened now I don't think events would have proceeded as far as they did. We were very trusting, but others on the retreat (participants and facilitators) who didn't accompany us into the forest thought we were crazy. In fact, we found out after that they had been very worried about us.
3. WHEN WRITING DO YOU GET AN IDEA AND LET IT EVOLVE NATURALLY—OR DO YOU WRITE FROM A PRECONCEIVED PLAN?
I don't have a plan. Stream of consciousness and allowing words to flow naturally without much 'interference' from me is how I approach writing—or any form of creativity—or even life. Maybe because I'm also a musician, there is a rhythm I get into with words and that moves me along. If I'm writing about something that really happened, it feels like painting—the subject is recognisable, but my treatment of it may be slightly abstract, shifting the perspective on the 'real' to magnify the 'magical'.
5. WHAT DO YOU LIKE/DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS?
I like my characters because they are us. No one is/was fictional—yet it could seem that way to a reader who didn't know otherwise.
6. WHAT DO YOU WANT THE READER TO FEEL?
I want each reader to feel whatever he or she feels naturally. The intention in writing this story wasn't to make people feel anything specific . . . although it could remind people about the beauty of simplicity and trust.
7. PLEASE SHARE A BRIEF EXCERPT FROM YOUR STORY.
Excerpt from 'Sending Letters' by Elspeth Duncan
“That will be $3.75, dear,” says the woman at the post office/restaurant/bar/
“This will go out tomorrow when the mailman comes,” the woman says of the stamped letter. All enveloped in her hands now, pieces of me and things from the sea to go by air to you: to have, to hold, to touch, to smell—secrets enclosed until you open.
“I think I’m going to write a letter, too,” B pipes. She recalls floral paper, fountain pens, scented envelopes, intimate sentiments—when she was my age and penned epistles often. She has a homesick friend, N, who would love a letter now, more than the bills and bank statements that stuff her red winter mailbox.
Letters. Faraway places on pieces of paper. Things of the past until we make them presents, with time taken to gather the paper, pick up the pen, handwriting shaking to be steady because it hasn’t been used since computers were invented. Part the envelope, slip inside, lick the sugar, seal the moment, away to the post office, count the money, purchase the stamps, admire the images on those sticky little pieces being submitted for this traveling exhibition—flora, fauna, faces, landscapes, architecture, abstracts.
8. IN CLOSING, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR BEING A PART OF THE ANTHOLOGY: 16?
I knew one or two of the other authors before, but most of them I met when we all attended a UTT writing workshop with Professor Elizabeth Nunez (2008). During the workshop we decided it would be a good idea to create an anthology. I'm not really someone to conform to 'rules' for a creative process and had never been to a writers' workshop before. However, I do appreciate that 'rules' exist and can be of benefit. One thing that remained with me was Elizabeth Nunez telling us that what authors first write is like 'vomit' . . . and that we need to go back and clean it up. Since I mainly write in stream of consciousness, what I produce is what comes out at the first go. I never used to spend time reworking, because I liked the raw output. However, I learned (especially subsequently with editor Jeanne Mason who helped subtly refine my first novel 'Daisy Chain' without changing the essence and flow of the original stream of consciousness output) that refining can sharpen and tighten and give more power. Elizabeth Nunez also introduced us to a South African writer called J.M. Coetzee (through one of his novels: "Disgrace"). I was impressed by his sparse, precise language—his ability to capture in a few exact words what someone else would try to say in a paragraph. He writes in the present tense (which I also prefer to do) and this, accompanied by the brevity of his sentences, compelled me. Over the years since then, when I write something, I like going back over it and cutting out as much as I can to make it more sharp and powerful.
In closing, I want to highlight Jeanne Mason, the editor of '16', who worked with full heart and soul on this project—to finally make it happen eight years later. Whenever someone is writing a book and they ask me if I know a good editor, I unhesitatingly recommend Jeanne for her knowledge, professionalism, passion and commitment. The publishing of the anthology was made possible by Jeanne and the local publishing house, Royards, who also put/are putting a lot into the process—both the book and the upcoming launch on Monday 25 April 2016 at Kaiso Blues Cafe, POS.
Story: Sending Letters
1. WHEN DID YOU WRITE YOUR STORY?
I wrote 'Sending Letters' when I was attending a 3-week Cropper writers' retreat on the Balandra coast in 2008. At that time I was a raw foodist and had recently met a 'kindred spirit' who lived abroad. It was one of those connections that is sudden, intense and meaningful. We communicated with each other a lot in various ways . . . hence the title of my story ('Sending Letters') and the trip to the post office that started the whole adventure.
2. YOU WROTE THE STORY EIGHT YEARS AGO. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT NOW?
It is a true story, with events and conversations recounted as they had unfolded . . . so nothing in it is 'made up'. Now it's like reading a diary entry and remembering the experience and the feelings of that time. My current emotional connection to it is not what it was then, so I see that part with more objectivity, but still with fondness for the memories. Had the same thing happened now I don't think events would have proceeded as far as they did. We were very trusting, but others on the retreat (participants and facilitators) who didn't accompany us into the forest thought we were crazy. In fact, we found out after that they had been very worried about us.
3. WHEN WRITING DO YOU GET AN IDEA AND LET IT EVOLVE NATURALLY—OR DO YOU WRITE FROM A PRECONCEIVED PLAN?
I don't have a plan. Stream of consciousness and allowing words to flow naturally without much 'interference' from me is how I approach writing—or any form of creativity—or even life. Maybe because I'm also a musician, there is a rhythm I get into with words and that moves me along. If I'm writing about something that really happened, it feels like painting—the subject is recognisable, but my treatment of it may be slightly abstract, shifting the perspective on the 'real' to magnify the 'magical'.
5. WHAT DO YOU LIKE/DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS?
I like my characters because they are us. No one is/was fictional—yet it could seem that way to a reader who didn't know otherwise.
6. WHAT DO YOU WANT THE READER TO FEEL?
I want each reader to feel whatever he or she feels naturally. The intention in writing this story wasn't to make people feel anything specific . . . although it could remind people about the beauty of simplicity and trust.
7. PLEASE SHARE A BRIEF EXCERPT FROM YOUR STORY.
Excerpt from 'Sending Letters' by Elspeth Duncan
“That will be $3.75, dear,” says the woman at the post office/restaurant/bar/
“This will go out tomorrow when the mailman comes,” the woman says of the stamped letter. All enveloped in her hands now, pieces of me and things from the sea to go by air to you: to have, to hold, to touch, to smell—secrets enclosed until you open.
“I think I’m going to write a letter, too,” B pipes. She recalls floral paper, fountain pens, scented envelopes, intimate sentiments—when she was my age and penned epistles often. She has a homesick friend, N, who would love a letter now, more than the bills and bank statements that stuff her red winter mailbox.
Letters. Faraway places on pieces of paper. Things of the past until we make them presents, with time taken to gather the paper, pick up the pen, handwriting shaking to be steady because it hasn’t been used since computers were invented. Part the envelope, slip inside, lick the sugar, seal the moment, away to the post office, count the money, purchase the stamps, admire the images on those sticky little pieces being submitted for this traveling exhibition—flora, fauna, faces, landscapes, architecture, abstracts.
8. IN CLOSING, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR BEING A PART OF THE ANTHOLOGY: 16?
I knew one or two of the other authors before, but most of them I met when we all attended a UTT writing workshop with Professor Elizabeth Nunez (2008). During the workshop we decided it would be a good idea to create an anthology. I'm not really someone to conform to 'rules' for a creative process and had never been to a writers' workshop before. However, I do appreciate that 'rules' exist and can be of benefit. One thing that remained with me was Elizabeth Nunez telling us that what authors first write is like 'vomit' . . . and that we need to go back and clean it up. Since I mainly write in stream of consciousness, what I produce is what comes out at the first go. I never used to spend time reworking, because I liked the raw output. However, I learned (especially subsequently with editor Jeanne Mason who helped subtly refine my first novel 'Daisy Chain' without changing the essence and flow of the original stream of consciousness output) that refining can sharpen and tighten and give more power. Elizabeth Nunez also introduced us to a South African writer called J.M. Coetzee (through one of his novels: "Disgrace"). I was impressed by his sparse, precise language—his ability to capture in a few exact words what someone else would try to say in a paragraph. He writes in the present tense (which I also prefer to do) and this, accompanied by the brevity of his sentences, compelled me. Over the years since then, when I write something, I like going back over it and cutting out as much as I can to make it more sharp and powerful.
In closing, I want to highlight Jeanne Mason, the editor of '16', who worked with full heart and soul on this project—to finally make it happen eight years later. Whenever someone is writing a book and they ask me if I know a good editor, I unhesitatingly recommend Jeanne for her knowledge, professionalism, passion and commitment. The publishing of the anthology was made possible by Jeanne and the local publishing house, Royards, who also put/are putting a lot into the process—both the book and the upcoming launch on Monday 25 April 2016 at Kaiso Blues Cafe, POS.
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