Fiction and hindsight

by Claire Bell

I often think about whether spending time writing imaginatively is time well-spent. Is it worth doing? Is it likely to be fruitful?  And to be honest, it’s probably not the writing time that I struggle with so much as the time spent trying to get the book into the hands of readers. I visit this question often: is this what I should be doing with my life? What does it contribute to the kingdom of God?

A tablecloth?!

I was remembering recently the last gift my mother chose for me. No longer able to shop independently, she pored over direct buy catalogues in the lead-up to Christmas. On the day, she was obviously pleased with what she was giving me – a brightly flowered, square vinyl tablecloth with plastic lace edging.

It was impersonal, garish and something I didn’t have a use for as our outdoor table was oblong and we had plenty of covers for it. I think I tried to be appreciative but I recall feeling disappointed. Mum loved giving and was pretty good at choosing apt gifts. This gift seemed pointless.

My outlook has changed. Since that Christmas we learned that Mum has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). If I had known the not-so-distant future that Christmas Day, I would have valued the gift more highly as I understood the challenge Mum experienced in choosing a gift. Hindsight makes us wise after the fact. Fiction can lead to wisdom too, rather more usefully than hindsight and without regret.

Equipping readers for life

It seems ironic that ‘pretend stories’ can equip a person for life in the real world, and, of course, it depends on the kind of stories and the skill of the telling. But it seems to me that unlikely things often turn out to be useful. I like the title of a book by John Dufresne that teaches fiction writing: The lie that tells a truth. Good fiction tells a truth – something honest and valid in the way of human experience. We can only write out of our experience (with some research, perhaps, to ensure accuracy of detail) and, if we are being ourselves as we write, truth will emerge. It might not be factual truth (the talking animals of Narnia aren’t ‘true’ in a way that can be verified by science), or biblical truth (if by that we mean ‘as appearing in the Bible text’), but it will be a truth. When truth meets an open heart, something good happens. Who wouldn't want to be part of that?

Storysight

Not only does the hindsight of understanding Mum’s mental health change the way I see the gift of the tablecloth, but now that we have a square outdoor table, the gift has proven useful; that was something I hadn’t anticipated. Fiction, too, can make an unexpected contribution to a reader’s life. We write, send our stories out and trust that the truth God has invested in us will become wisdom to readers, proving useful to them. Perhaps we could call it 'storysight' - wisdom gained through story. So I encourage myself to value the output of time spent in imagination, wrestling with words and investing in promotion, so that storysight might prove fruitful to a reader.

There are many other reasons to value fiction. In your experience as a reader and a writer, what encourages you the most? Why not jot it in a comment?

Author bio

Claire Bell writes as Claire Belberg, and has published two short YA novels in a genre she calls ‘speculative realism’. She also writes poetry and is currently finalising a collection of poems about the impact of her parents’ dementia (Unravelling: A story of dementia). She has had poems and short stories published in various anthologies, including inScribe, and in the independent Adelaide news service inDaily. She writes an occasional blog called The Character Forge loosely exploring the development of personal character through the act of writing. Claire lives in the Adelaide Hills and loves to watch birds wherever she can find them.

The Typical Teenager?

If you write for teen readers, how do you imagine them? How do they interact with their peers, their parents, other students at school? What do they like to think about, what struggles do they have, what temptations do they face?

My first novel was published in 2017, with a male protagonist who was just shy of 18 years old. The Golden Hour was written in first person so we are in James’ head as he wrestles with uncertainty about how to relate to girls, his sense of being overlooked by his parents in favour of his younger siblings, and ambivalence about his work future. James is keen on graphic art, but his parents don’t value it, so he’s trying to study computing.

One of the few spontaneous reviews the book attracted was by a male reader who declared that James was not like he was as a young man and therefore the character was not credible. Apart from issues of males reading female authors’ work and whether or not I had managed to portray a male believably, I was struck by the assumption that we can know what all male teenagers/female teenagers are like by our own experience.

My adult daughter commented on how many of her friends had been recently tested for autism and/or ADHD. They perhaps had always felt ‘different’ from their peers and decided to find a non-blaming reason for it. My own children always felt ‘different’ too, but put it down to the family having Christian values, or not having grown up with a television. How many young people feel ‘different’? Are they any more different than their peers, or are they simply different from the common narrative we perpetuate in fiction and media of the ‘typical teenager’?

My latest novel, Evernow, has several characters who are atypical according to that narrative. Emilia is a ‘good girl’ and model student; her boyfriend Doran willingly stays within the boundaries set by Emilia’s strict mother; and Doran’s brother Bailey is an emotionally intelligent 15 year old. In an early version of the novel, a friend commented that no reader would believe Emilia’s lack of sexual temptation when alone with Doran. That may have been my friend’s experience as a teenager, but Emilia represented mine. My characters face all sorts of challenges and temptations but they are not necessarily the ones of  the imaginary ‘typical teenager’.

Teenagers struggle with as wide a range of issues as anyone else. They have in common the developmental and social challenges of moving between childhood and adulthood. But how that plays out will be influenced by a wide range of family, community, educational, spiritual and personality differences. How could they all be characterised in the same ways?

There are far more obvious differences between some teenagers than the ones my characters face, but I write what I am familiar with. There are issues-based stories that deal with ethnic stereotypes, gender bias, educational and social disadvantage, disability, atypical neurology and more. These stories give us the opportunity to become aware of the inside view of externally evident difference. I would also like to see more stories that challenge the narrative of the ‘typical teenager’ among characters who are otherwise indistinguishable from their peers – because all of us are unique, more different from our peers than we feel comfortable acknowledging. Wouldn’t it be great if every reader found more than one book which made them feel like someone understood them? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they all gained freedom to be their unique selves because of the books we write and they read?

CWD Member Interview – Claire Bell

 

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Claire Bell

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

1. I grew up in the Adelaide Hills but, like previous generations on both sides of my family, I was born in a different country (in my case, the UK).

2. I aim to live a ‘slow life’ – time to reflect, to live in the present, and to enjoy the extraordinary ordinary gifts of life. 

3. I’m hopeless at genres – identifying them and writing them. Which is ironic, as I once worked as an occupational taxonomist (i.e. assigning categories to the world of paid work).

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I have never been able to settle to one form of writing. I have so far published a YA novel (Evernow, published in March 2022) and a crossover novel (post-secondary teens). I made up a term to describe the genre: speculative realism, meaning that it’s realism with a twist in time or space.

I also write poetry, and occasionally short fiction, creative non-fiction, and devotional articles.

I write to work out what’s going on in my head and heart, and to try to integrate it with what’s going on in the world around me.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

I was thrilled when a friend bought a copy of my first novel, read it on his way to Manus Island, and gave it to a refugee friend there. My second novel is also currently being read by a refugee friend who is settling into Canada after 8 years of detention in Australia. He quoted a favourite line to me recently and that made me think more about those words than all my editing had.

When writing cover letters to publishers who want to know whose my work is similar to, I struggle. Not working in recognised genres leaves my work out in left field! But I think it’s a bit like Brian Caswell’s early writing (Australian YA author of Meryll of the Stones and other great books) and I would love him to read it – and see if he can recognise any similarity.

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I worked hard to develop a writing practice, and succeeded for a few years after completing a masters degree in creative writing. But I’ve lost that habit now, and my writing tends to be just one of many activities I attempt to weave into my eclectic days. 

Having a deadline helps me to prioritise writing. After a few challenging years with ageing parents and health issues, my recent novel was only completed because Mark Worthing of Stone Table Books pressed me to have it ready for publication. Competitions, anthology and writing journal deadlines help to keep me writing with purpose.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

I read craft books when I have a writing problem. The one that most recently helped with plotting and pacing was Dara Marks’ Inside Story: the power of the transformational arc. It’s a screenwriting guide but I think the directness of film shifted me from being overly focused on the characters’ inner lives to create more outward action.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

Rosanne Hawke has been more influential in my writing journey than she realises. Not only her fabulous teaching, her highly enjoyable stories and her belief in me as a writer; Rosanne’s diligent writing practice has been an example and a goad. She’s like the Duracell bunny – she just keeps writing, keeps sharing her stories and herself with young readers, and keeps working to improve her skills. She’s my writing hero.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

My goal this year is to gather stories from my relatives about my larger-than-life grandmother, Mirabel Cobbold. It’s a labour of love as I don’t expect it to be published beyond family copies. But her story needs to be preserved for future generations as she shaped much of our family identity, which is shared across four continents.

How to gather those stories is a challenge. Given that almost all my relatives are not in Australia and I’m not able to travel to them any time soon, I’m trying to work out how to have the non-writers share their memories of Grannybelle. I’m thinking of creating an informal set of questions that might prompt anecdotes, and maybe try different media so those who want to talk rather than write can do so. I’m open to suggestions on how this might be achieved…

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

To be honest, I’m not really sure how it does. I assume that the way I relate to Jesus and feed myself spiritually becomes evident in every aspect of my life.  I write largely for the mainstream – that is, I don’t often write about faith or God – so I trust that as my values and thinking are being shaped by God, it shows. Occasionally someone says something to make me think that’s happening.

I put time into writing and seeking to publish because I think God has a reason for making me passionate about the written word. I see my role as pre-evangelistic: using story to help readers envisage love, integrity, hope and the spiritual side of human existence. That’s why I write speculative realism. 

Claire Bell writes as Claire Belberg for her mainstream works of fiction and poetry. She is the author of two speculative realism novels for young adults (Evernow) and older teens (The Golden Hour). She has had shorter work published in inScribe journal, inDaily (Adelaide’s independent digital news service), and various anthologies. Claire lives in the Adelaide Hills where the abundance of native birds is a constant delight. She blogs occasionally at The Character Forge. 

CWD Member Interview – Marc Z Jeffrey

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Marc Z Jeffrey

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

My mother is a published author and a librarian and my father was a prominent scientist in defence and a sci-fi book nerd, so writing was something that was always going to happen – it was just a matter of when.

I have had a number of careers, through ocean science and IT and I worked in the Australian Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Offices (now known as IP Australia)… So I was pretty exposed to crazy ideas. I am sure some of these have fed into my creative works

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I write what I am interested in, usually in fictional form. I probably only started thinking about writing seriously when I heard about NanoWrimo in about 2001 and thought I’d take it on and write something of length. However, it was 2003 before I first actually took up the challenge. Before that, it had mainly been abandoned attempts plus short stories articles and articles for a staff magazine that I was editing – and usually ended up writing most of, as I got so few contributors.

Oh yeah. I edit too. Probably do way more of that. My skill is shooting down a wandering apostrophe at a hundred paces. My wife tells me I am a good copy-editor, too.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

a) My wife, Susan J Bruce (aka Sue Jeffrey), who is an admin of CWD. Members of my writing group, Literati. Probably my day job bosses, though if they have remote access to my personal computers, I am officially worried. Anyway, in that case I hope I’ve entertained them thoroughly and taken their minds well away from digging for dirt.

b) Editors from major publishers, major movie companies. More realistically, the person who needs to dream more, to believe more and to act on their beliefs more. Other than me, that is…

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

What helps me most? Getting reminded mainly by my wife that I won’t remember much of my current office job when I retire; (I already know that).

Challenges. Finishing. Yep, probably finishing and knowing when to stop finishing and do something about publishing… But seriously, it’s not the sum total (think word count) of what I produce that matters most – (I say as I while away too many hours on silly word games) – but who I influence and what I do on the way. 

I prefer the writing process to be organic, but to be organic I need to be diligent in collecting and mulling over facts, thoughts and observations. I think faith works in a similar way.

Published books would be great but the process, not the product, is the thing of substance.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

Stephen King’s ‘On writing’. One of the first books I ever read ‘on writing’ and it has stayed with me. It is short – good advice and to the point.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

(Am I allowed to pick someone other than my wife?) Claire Bell. Author. She has a keen sense of how things are, not just how they appear to be, and is able to bring that out in prose.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

A year. Well, it was a full year in January. I thought of it as a long time then. I told myself I would write something fresh – but I really want to knock into shape a trilogy that I started way back in 2007 (no, really) and has been waylaid too many times. Nearly half the year has gone without really starting, but who knew about COVID in January? We knew too much about bushfires back then. But the wet, cold weather has arrived – so no more excuses.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

As I write mainstream, I will borrow an analogy used by website developers when determining how to make the site easy to use; be able to access information and submit forms without problem. The analogy used is ‘baking in’ those features that make the site easy to use in the initial style templates, long before the developers get to play and ‘pretty it up’. 

Similarly, I don’t intentionally go about inserting faith blueberries into my story right before it is sent off to beta readers. That would be gauche. The flavour will be there in the mix to start with and be ‘baked’ into the finished product. The story will be faith-flavoured regardless of who is going to read or assess it.

Website: www.alignedcreative.com.au

This is my editing website, launching soon. Special introductory rates will apply for members of Christian Writers Downunder 

Work in Progress: Watch this space.