Just Write - Catherine Sercombe

I was enjoying a program called Bargain Hunt the other day. Contestants purchase antique and/or collectable items at one location then sell them at auction hoping to make a profit. One of the objects was an autograph book from the 1930’s which had a series of sketches and illustrations spread across its pages. It was both personal and share-worthy. I confess, I felt a tinge of jealousy – the most advanced drawing in my autograph books was a heart, drawn over a folded corner, with the instruction, ‘Do Not Lift’. When you lifted the corner, (as of course you were meant to do) the heart split in two as the words, ‘Now youf broken my heart’ appeared. Spelling was not the author’s strong point. Then again, he was only seven years old at the time. And yes, with or without his signature, I still remember his name.  

It is a long time since I have seen autograph books for sale. They are not so fashionable these days. As a child, I received three of them, from three different people, for the same birthday. Must have been a sale! I decided to invite everyone – family members, friends, even friends of friends – to write in the blue one. I made the brown one more exclusive, inviting contributions only from those people who were very special to me, mostly members of my family. I put the pink one away to use later.

The thing is, an autograph book is meant to have things written in it, so I wasted no time ensuring that happened. In two of them at least. Because of that, I have some wonderful gems of encouragement and inspiration and a whole lot of silly ditties that still make me smile – like this one:

1 1 was a race horse,

2 2 was 1 2,

1 1 1 1 race 1 day,

2 2 1 1 2.

(Hint: read one, one, two two etc)  

The pages in that book are well-worn and falling out. The one I put away for later? It’s still pristine. And mostly empty.

What’s the takeaway from this?  In the blue and brown books, I have good writing and bad. I also have a whole lot of wonderful memories. Some of those words are the only link I have now to childhood friends. The pink autograph book that I put away for later? It reminds me that, when it comes to writing, good intentions that are not acted upon create a whole lot of blank pages.

So we write. We write good stuff. We write important stuff. We write silly stuff. We even write stuff that seems pointless until, when we least expect it, the words remind us of something worthwhile from a moment in time that cannot be retrieved… oh but wait, yes it can, because you wrote it down! A lifetime later that moment is with you to relive and enjoy. 

My dad wrote this in my autograph book: ‘As you travel through life, try to make the things that could be, the things that are, lest at the end of your life you look back with regret and see only what might have been.’ 

I took his advice to heart. When it comes to being a writer, I was a late starter. But at least I’ve started. It’s no longer a ‘might have been’. Sometimes it’s hard work. Sometimes it is pure delight. But at least it IS.

So I encourage you to write. Good stuff. Important stuff. Silly stuff. Stuff for others to read. Hey – this is a blog for writers. I’m supposed to do that! But not as a harsh taskmaster. I encourage you to write because you love it. Write because it’s fun. Write because it fulfills you. Write because one day, someone might read what you wrote and discover a wonderful gem of encouragement or inspiration. Or perhaps they’ll burst out laughing at something silly and their day will be less tedious or trying. Or maybe they’ll say, ‘Well if she can do it, so can I,’ and something positive is perpetuated. Give your ‘might have beens’ a chance to germinate.  Haul out those blank pages… and just write.

Catherine Sercombe is a wife, mother, grandmother, creative writing graduate and published author from Queensland, Australia. She also manages an education business where she tutors and encourages students of all ages to meet their academic goals.

Pondering Punctuation

by Catherine Sercombe

That paragraph – the one I have just written – is pristine. Perfect. Pedantically precise even. Or so I thought. My computer program disagrees, emphasizing its point of view with a bright, green underline. I right-click the mouse. The computer’s angst shouts at me, declaring in no uncertain terms that my carefully chosen words are but a mere

FRAGMENT! (consider revising).

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating with the exclamation mark. It exists only in my imagination – something my computer lacks. I don’t blame the computer. It is locked into a particular set of parameters. It obeys the rules of grammar, or rather, the rules of its programming. It cannot interpret the context. It cannot see the big picture; the one where I, the author, have chosen to shorten the sentence to a fragment.

FOR IMPACT.

A computer’s expertise extends to punctuation, not creativity. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a die-hard fan of perfect punctuation. It is the body language of the written page. What's more, punctuation's power to prevent cannibalism is unrivaled. For example:

‘Shall we eat Grandma?’

vs

‘Shall we eat, Grandma?’

Yep. Punctuation can be a life-saver.

My contention is that knowledge and intention based on the ‘big picture’ may also influence an author’s selection and placement of punctuation marks. A wild example of this is Tim Winton's Cloudstreet, with its minimalist take on punctuation and complete absence of quotation marks. Who cares! His word choices have such beauty and impact at times that his unconventional punctuation style seems moot. But I bet both his computer and his editor had a bit of a whinge about it.

Here are a few punctuation marks I placed in a document this morning:

Let's see my computer dispute that creation according to its programmed punctuation rules!

As I ponder the power of punctuation to clarify meaning or to create nuances that improve the way a story unfolds, I realize something: Our Creator punctuates our personal progress according to His intentional, creative plan.  And,

The divine Author of Life punctuates perfectly.

I, on the other hand, am inclined to operate at this level like my unimaginative computer; I get frustrated when God shortens my plans with a divine ‘full-stop’.

I can be impatient with His ‘semi-colons’ too. I don’t want to look or wait for additional information; I want to know it all now! As for colons… oh boy! When faced with a list of several things He wants to complete in me before we move forward, I'd rather skip a few in my eagerness to embrace an exciting new ‘sentence’. I want a green light so I can race ahead. I’m all too inclined to frustrate my Author by flagging a green underline and whinging, ‘fragment (consider revising)’.

But here’s the thing – we don’t get to do life over. No edits. No second or third or sixteenth drafts. Our life stories sit on the universal page, the book of life, exactly as we throw them down. Which could mean absolute disaster if they were ‘published’ as they stand. How could my life story possibly bring honour and glory to the Author of Life? Or reveal His ‘good news’story as is?

Praise God! Hindsight reveals He has been actively ‘editing’ my life's story all along, adding essential punctuation marks to slow me down, make me pause, emphasize the important things, stop me blundering on into danger, extend me, talk to me, shout a warning, cause me to question my actions and ideas, make me ponder... and His grace has coerced and confined my foolish detours into parentheses, rendering them irrelevant. What a relief!

My mother told the story of a letter she had written to my father when they were courting. At the end, she had added a postscript which contained a row of punctuation marks and the words, ‘I’m not sure where the punctuation marks should go, so I’ve put them all here. You can put them in the right places for me.’

I think I’ll take a leaf out of her book and trust God to punctuate my life according to His big picture. How about you?

Catherine Sercombe is a wife, mother of three, (they’ve grown up now), creative writing graduate and published author from Queensland, Australia. She manages an education business where she has the privilege of tutoring and encouraging students of all ages to meet their academic goals. Described in publication as a ‘writer whose work reflects an infectious love of language’, Catherine says, ‘From A to Z, surely the best writing begins and ends in God.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1-2). That’s an epidemic worth spreading.’   

Hats, Posts and Literary Landscapes

by Cathie Sercombe

A few weeks ago, my husband and I gave our garden some overdue attention. We felled weed trees, removed deadwood and spindly branches, edited the overgrowth and carted several trailer loads of green waste to the tip. Despite the hard yakka and the potential for danger implicit in our task, the only casualty was my gardening hat – brim and bonnet ripped asunder – an inevitable consequence of its age. I’ve had that hat for forty years.

Hat, Post, Landscape and Crow-bar

 

Writers wear many hats. After all, writing is not all we do. ‘What!’ I hear you gasp. Of course, you know it’s true. What we do, is landscape our texts with the experiences gleaned while we wear our other hats.

My gardening hat probably lasted as long as it did because it doesn’t get a work-out very often. I’m an occasional gardener, not a professional landscaper. You might be an occasional writer, or a professional one. Either way, I bet you’ve earned a few blisters and produced a few flowers – speaking metaphorically at least.

Another casualty of time is the post on which the hat sits – a tree root has displaced it. I’ll have to put my trusty made-to-measure crow-bar to work and dig it out so it can be replaced. It won’t be the first post-hole I’ve dug, or helped dig. I’ve hefted that crow-bar to hollow out holes in the ground for 88 garden and retaining wall posts on our property. Thinking about those posts prompted thoughts about this one – so here are a few writing principles flavoured by my landscaping experiences.

 

Preparation and research are necessary, but don’t get carried away. The corner post (in the above corner under the rose) was my first. Hubby measured, marked where to dig and I went for it. I dug a whole lot wider and a whole lot deeper than I needed to, wasting time, effort, and concrete. I applied moderation to subsequent digs.

The first written draft is rarely perfect. It requires extra time and effort editing. Practice leads to improvement, both in technique and end result. Even those first drafts seem to get better the more you write.

 

The wall at the front of our property was 600mm high, which meant post-holes needed to be 700mm deep to hold firm in our ‘plastic’ soil profile. Natural springs under the footpath moistened the subsoil there, making it easier to dig. Behind the house we had to dig 1200mm holes for our 1000mm high walls; the surface was already one metre below the topsoil. The only way we could break through that clay, was by first soaking it with water.

A short story is different to a poem is different to a novel is different to a magazine article; each requires materials, scaffolding and structure of the right type, size and shape for the genre. The lessons learned writing in one genre enhance writing technique and positively inform a variety of other writing formats.

As much as we loved the look of our round koppers logs, they were difficult to work with; they had to be planed and chiseled and shaped to fit together and to fit the curve of the uprights. It was easy to get discouraged when progress was slow and tedious. Being prepared to try something different for the side and rear walls of the property allowed us to finish the job sooner and worked just as well.

Don’t get stuck in a rut. If the current writing project is dragging on and going nowhere, try something different. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results. Being a great children’s writer during the week doesn’t preclude you from writing devotions on the weekend. Besides, varying the vista may bring fresh insights and enthusiasm.

 

Not everybody will appreciate the effort you put into your writing projects. They may abuse them or use them in a way you never intended. We didn’t plant posts to feed termites! Then again, your readers may get far more enjoyment from your writing than you ever expected. I may not be happy when the neighbourhood mutts water our front retaining wall, but my dog just loves neutralizing their efforts.

Any writing project can seem daunting and overwhelming at times. Don’t get so stressed by the size of the project that you forget to enjoy the process. One day, you’ll look back and think, ‘Wow! I did that. And I enjoyed myself! I am awesome!’ and you’ll be right.

Have your gardening or landscaping experiences informed your writing? If so, why not share the nuggets of wisdom you’ve unearthed in the comments section below.

Catherine Sercombe is a wife, mother of three, (they’ve grown up now), creative writing graduate and published author from Queensland, Australia. She manages an education business where she has the privilege of tutoring and encouraging students of all ages to meet their academic goals. Described in publication as a ‘writer whose work reflects an infectious love of language’, Catherine says, ‘From A to Z, surely the best writing begins and ends in God.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1-2). That’s an epidemic worth spreading.’