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Who Do We Think We Are?

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An Artist’s/Writer’s Perspective

[New Year and for me at least a quieter time to reflect after a hectic end to 2023. Also a time when I have finally tackled the challenge of family history research. Almost thirty years ago, my auntie passed on the “mantel” of family historian. She also handed the box of research which she had done. For most of that time the box has been stored away in our closet, except for the early 2000’s when I took part in compiling my father’s mother’s family history. Then, after hitting brick walls in my research, back it went. Writing fiction was so much easier. And fun.

This last year, I have been working on a crime novel. Since a key part of the theme of this novel will include family history and using DNA to build ancestral family trees, out came the family history box again. You could say, I’m researching my novel by doing and experiencing. After only four weeks of exploring down the family history rabbit-hole, and believe me, it is a rabbit-hole, I’ve discovered tracing once’s ancestors requires methodical, critical brain power, and an OCD attention to detail…much like a detective, really. You wouldn’t believe how many of our ancestors have the same name but are different people.

I also have discovered that names, and dates of births, deaths and marriages get boring after a while. The family history books that stand out are the ones which give a brief, or not so brief, descriptions of people, their lives, personalities, interests and job.

On that note, I’m reminded of a blog I wrote way back in 2016 and how we are often defined and judged as a person by what job we do and how much we earn. So, below is that article which examines current day attitudes which may affect our motivation to become a writer.]

Census time!

As I filled the forms out online (two days after the due date—another story covered in the media), I had a Eureka moment.

I faced a dilemma regarding the work/employment section with questions: “What’s your main job?” and “How much do you earn?”

As an artist/writer I had a conflict of interest. I knew what the statisticians from Canberra were after. I understood by “your main work”, they meant “paid” work, or in my case, the work that paid the most dollars.

So, if I ticked my writing and proceeds from the novels I’ve published for which I’ve been paid a pittance, but on which I’ve spent the most time, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) would not be happy. In their estimation, work without the dollars attached to it, is not “work”.

If I put my Art, that is, painting, from which I earned a few hundred dollars in the last financial year, that also wouldn’t satisfy the ABS—even if I do sit down at Art Group and say, “I’m going to do some work now.” Besides, according to my accountant, my earnings from art is “hobby money” that goes back into painting supplies and equipment.

Well, then, that leaves the paper round. I inherited the paper-delivery-round from my son, who after he saved enough money for a computer, had no use for it. But I did. This “work” earns sufficient funds for a holiday every year or two. And I like the fresh air and exercise.

So I marked the paper-round as my main work even though I spend the least amount of time compared to painting and writing. How sad that my “work” according to the ABS is reduced to four hours a week delivering papers after having achieved a University degree.

[I might add here, that I no longer do this paper round. So, I am investing time into building up the Indie Scriptorium business and helping fellow writers in the process of publishing their books.]

The ABS will never know the other side of my life—my work of choice—the Arty Creative work, because there’s no money of any significance in it.

In our society, unless the “work” has dollar signs attached, it’s worth nothing.

So I mean to say, the whole spectrum of our culture, what makes our culture in fact, and enriches our lives: the writing, drama, music, art, doesn’t exist in the Australian story according to the ABS.

The reason? Artisans, be they writers, actors, artists, musicians and other creative people are not valued for their craft. To survive they must earn a wage—if they can find a job. How many of us “creators” are forced to choose between our craft, and food and shelter?

We become teachers, restaurant staff, cleaners, office workers, accountants or whatever while our passion to create becomes quenched by the need to survive. At the end of the workday, we are often too tired to create.

 ‘When we retire…’, we promise ourselves.

My Dad was an artist. He went to Art School after high school. He even sold a painting through the local newspaper as a young married man. However, he had a family to support, thus became a teacher, and his art was sidelined. ‘When I retire, I’ll get back to my art,’ Dad would say. He retired, but the paints and paper remained packed in a suitcase in the cupboard while he pursued his passion teaching and music.

Also, having come from a family of authors, he had dreams of writing a book, or maybe his memoir. Never happened.

I have inherited Dad’s 300gsm Arches paper, watercolours and brushes, and I feel that I’m carrying on the art tradition my Dad began. In the writing field, I am also carrying on the family legacy of authorship, albeit self-published, but published all the same.

So in the end, statistics are just statistics; they don’t tell the whole rich story. Statistics won’t reveal that the Fleurieu Peninsula (the area in which I live) has reportedly the highest percentage of writers and artists in Australia. Statistics only reveals the tip of the iceberg of artists and writers who have entered for the census information that they are a writer or artist because it’s their main source of income. However statistics will miss many other creators who do not put their craft as their main source of income.

For most of us creators, the line flung at us by well-meaning family and friends is: “Get a real job.”

Creating is not valued unless there’s a cost, and yet everyone wants to be entertained…often without cost.

The other side of the story those who push the “proper job line” don’t understand is that the rewards of creating for an artist, in the broad sense of the word, outweigh the monetary rewards one receives from the so-called “real work”.

© Lee-Anne Marie Kling 2016; updated 2024

Feature Photo: One of my ancestral stamping grounds, and behind it, a riches to rags tale (but that’s a story for another time), Lake Geneva, Lausanne, Switzerland © L.M. Kling 2014

Any Ideas? Need Inspiration?

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I’ve always been fortunate to have far more ideas for my fiction than I have time to write them into a story or novel. But some writers struggle to find an idea and inspiration. So how do you get inspiration and ideas for what to write? This was my experience.

My first novel was easy to plot and plan. I wanted to set the novel in the Regency era because of my love of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. Then, women had no rights and little education and I wanted to promote my ideas about feminism and equality in that era. A Suitable Bride emerged from these basic ideas. I asked what would an intelligent and sensible woman do to ensure she made the best choices to achieve a fulfilled and happy life in a world where woman had no legal rights and little education? The answer informed the storyline of A Suitable Bride. The love that grew between my protagonists against impossible odds gave me the conflict required and the happy ending fulfilled the romance genre.

Family and friends who experienced the sad loss of a baby or suffered infertility inspired my second book A Suitable Heir. Again, I set the novel in the Regency period to capture the additional difficulties of upper-class woman whose main purpose in life was to marry and produce an heir. I asked how would a woman in a society cope with infertility in this era. In addition, I incorporated the issues of depression and loss when a couple remains childless and the joy of having children after a difficult time conceiving.

I’m currently writing my third book, which began when I watched the sad and senseless death of George Floyd. It appalled me to witness his awful murder and made me think what could I do to counter such extreme racism. I returned to my favourite historical period and I learned about the British slavery trade and its aftermath. This became the focus of A Suitable Passion. My protagonists appear to be on the opposite side of the abolition of slavery movement, yet my heroine is coerced into a marriage of convenience with a man she cannot respect. This book has been the most difficult to plot and plan as it required considerable historical research about slavery in the British colonies, a romance and a happy ending. Two rewrites later I am still attempting to incorporate an engaging story with a fascinating but sad history. I’m not sure I will achieve the right balance but love the challenge.

So, my inspiration for novels comes from social issues and themes, which I then incorporate into a favourite historical time to create fictional characters and storylines.  I find inspiration for short stories harder but thinking back these are some spurs that have helped me to create my short stories.

  • Writer’s group exercises. Some of my best short stories started out as a topic for a 10-minute writing exercise at the Woodcroft Writer’s group. Everyone wrote a sentence from a book, poem, article or from our imagination on a scrap of paper and then fold them up and put them in a tin. Each week we’d pull out a sentence and it would inspire us to write on the given topic.
  • If you can’t attend a group, just grab a book, pick a paragraph or sentence and use that as inspiration.
  • Some flash fiction web-sites provide topics for short fiction.
  • Reading is also a significant source of inspiration. You may enjoy a particular genre or author. Ask yourself could I also write like Stephen King, Agatha Christie or Jane Austen and start planning.
  • You can read articles in newspapers and magazines about actual crimes, daring rescues, sad losses, politics, sport, celebrities and unusual events and use these as inspiration. Change the time, place and names and start writing.
  • Just overhearing a conversation can inspire a story. So, learn to listen to people talking around you. It will give you ideas and help you create authentic dialogue.
  • Competitions are a great way to get inspiration. The Romance Writers of Australia have three anthologies published a year each with a particular keyword and theme that inspires the entrants. There are a lot of writing competitions that provide entrants with a theme or keyword.
  • Photos, films, social media posts can all provide you with ideas.
  • Research an area of history that fascinates you. As you learn more about the time, you can discover real life people and events that will provide a fabulous story. You can take an event in one era and put it into another. Change the characters’ names, the country they live in and then write it up as fiction.
  • Your own family or personal experiences can inspire as many a memoir writer will tell you.
  • Keep a notebook of ideas, or have a desktop folder with writing ideas so when inspiration strikes you can put the idea away for later consideration.

An important step in the creative process is to ask what if or how would? What if that hero in the paper later regretted his actions? What if that murderer wasn’t caught? What if that woman I overheard left her husband? How would a barren wife cope with a demanding husband in the 1800s. How would an abolitionist cope when her family are slave owners.

So, select a topic, make whatever changes you like and ask what if, how would and get writing.

Cheers Elsie

Elsie King©2023

Photo from Apple stock images.

Holiday and Writing

/ lmkling / 2 Comments

I needed a holiday.

The lead up to publishing a novel is time and energy intensive. You have to arrange covers, edit, format and upload your manuscript. Then do more editing and formatting until you get it right. Then it needs proof reading, ordering author copies and working out pricing for multiple markets.

In addition to releasing my first novel I also had a short story released in the RWA Sweet Treats anthology. This required editing and publicising. It was a fantastic experience and a great way to learn about self-publishing. I will provide a blog about anthologies when I’m back from holidays.

I also went to the RWA conference in Sydney. A wonderful treat and great opportunity to learn about all things to do with writing romance. I will provide a blog later about the conference.

My current holiday involves a long trip with the caravan from Adelaide to Northern Queensland, my husband’s favourite holiday destination. So, we packed the van and my computer and took off through Woomera and Alice Springs and took a right at Three ways. Five days later we arrived at Julia Creek, Queensland and the holiday began.

Yes we are having a wonderful time but writing on holidays is harder then writing at home. Finding the time, balancing the computer on you knees, no internet and getting distracted by friendly travellers and the wonderful scenery means writing goals go out the window.

But why write if you are on holidays you might ask?

I’m writing a novel and when its flowing I don’t want to stop. It’s a fear of losing the plot. Of forgetting your characters and having to start up again. So, I write when I can. There are some advantages of being on holiday in the wilds of Queensland, you don’t get e-mails, messages and other distractions. However, you have to remember to charge up your computer and find a place to use the internet so you can post blogs. It’s tricky but doable.

I’m enjoying my holiday.

Cheers Elsie King© 2023

Photo © L.C. Wong 2023