Thinking about what writing is...

Each year the Novel 2 students have a look at F Scott Fitzgerald's quote "All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath" and reflect on its meaning. Here is what this year's class make of it:


Writing is an immersive process that you must submerge yourself into. It distances you from reality as you are viewing the world through the eyes of an outsider, not an active participant. The breath is that part of you that still exists in the real world; it keeps you stable and grounded so that you can always return and catch your breath. If you stay submerged too long  you run the risk of drowning.
-- Sam H


I think that what Fitzgerald means is that to be a good writer you have to take a leap into the unknown, to go into a new place. I think that to be a good writer is to do new things that you've never done before; in terms of your writing it's about taking a risk because you'll never know what you're fully capable of until you've attempted different things. Writing for new genres expands your horizons, and if you truly believe that it's not for you, you can live wth the satisfaction of at least trying.
-- Caroline


It's a battle. You fight for ideas, for words, for something that will work. Then the struggle continues as you write it, flounder to keep it going and push through to the end. But when it's finsihed, you feel the relief, and it is like coming up for air.
-- Rose


I think that this quote relates to taking chances, taking risks in order to succeed. That the only way to write a good piece of work is to just 'hold your breath', and do it.


To be successful in life, we have to take a risk. We have to go that little bit further in life. In order to get somewhere, we have to move. We have to stop being afraid, and just be courageous, be brave for once.


Most of the time we're too afraid to do anything because of the consequences that come with it, but what if those consequences are the ones that will get us exactly where we want to be? What if they're not? In order to succeed in life we need to fail. So we hold our breath, take a chance, becaues there might be something good that comes out of it -- there will be something good that comes out of it.
-- Carla Maraventano


All good writing is swimming within your mind, and it is up to you to hold your breath, dive in and catch it. Good writing comes with good ideas; therefore, it's watiing for you to reach out and grab them.
-- Steph


In terms of producing a good piece of writing, I guess you could say that with both experiences you reach a point where it's really hard to go on, and you think it might kill you.
-- Lauren Brown


I think it means when you read good writing you have a feeling of weightlessness, that the world can wait as you experience the writing. Or maybe because you're about to die, your brain is running out of oxygen and is releasing chemicals to try and get you to react, but your subconscious is misinterpreting it as euphoria brought on by a good story. Something like that, anyway. 
-- Doc Holland


Good writing is not easy to achieve.
Good writing can only be achieved through hard work.
Good writing is tiring.
Good writing is suffocating.
Good writing affects both physically and mentally.
Good writing takes effort.
Good writing isn't easy.
Good writing is thoughtful and suffocating.
-- Anon


I really hope that this isn't the case as I can't swim and holding my breath isn't always easy as an asthmatic. But being a good writer isn't easy, which I guess is Fitzgerald's point. The worst thing I find about swimming underwater is that you can't see ahead. There is no way of knowing what you're approaching, whether it be good, bad or nonexistent. As is the same with writing. You can put in the hard work and swim blindly through the sea of words, but until you come up you can't know if you have accomplished anything.
-- Ash Marks


Your mind is constantly churning around ideas, and if you take too much time thinking about an idea and not committing to it, your 'initial' raw energy is lost, and your story is overworked and overwrought, and the entire initial concept gone.
-- Maria Vavala


In my opinion, good writing can take a lot of time and effort. It's not just about getting or having an idea, but about being able to expand it in the best way you can using your own best voice. When a writer sits themself down to write, it can be as though they are holding their breath under water because it's as though they are holding their pen to paper and mind to the writing, concentrating on nothing but what they will write. To hold your breath under water is one of the hardest things to do, in the hope that you won't die. Writing a good piece of work is one of the hardest things to do in the hope you won't let your writing die.
-- Rebecca Zakkour


If the writing is good it will rise to the top; if not it will drown. You should know when your writing is good, just as you should know that you can only hold your breath under water for so long before you have to surface or drown. you have to know when to let go.
-- Denise


Let your emotions spill onto the page.
Breathing life into words is a rare gift.
Giving birth to a good piece of writing
is a rare gift.
-- Lynette

Book Review: The Wide-Awake Princess

The Wide-Awake Princess

E.D. Baker

Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2010

Cleverly written and incorporating many classic fairy tales, The Wide-Awake Princess, is an original recant of Sleeping Beauty.

It’s Princess Gwendolyn’s sixteenth birthday and in keeping with the myth of fairy tales, the Royal family is on high alert for anyone trying to ‘sneak’ in a spinning wheel that would put the Princess into a deep sleep. Measures are taken to ensure that this does not happen, though as much as caution is taken, of course, in fairy tales, as in real life-things don’t always go according to plan.

Blessed with stunning looks and mannerisms, Princess Gwendolyn is the most beautiful Princess in the land. Her sister, Princess Annie, has not received these blessings, however, she holds a power that she soon discovers will render her just as important as Gwendolyn, if not more so. Perhaps, finally the King and Queen will believe that their youngest daughter is just as viable to the kingdom, as their eldest.

Magic has no hold on Annie, and those who do have magical powers, lose those powers when they are in Annie’s company. Although, Annie has not thought much of this before, she soon realises that everyone is special in their own way and for the first time, she is more important than her sister Gwendolyn. After all, it is up to Annie to save her sister and seal the kingdom’s fate.

Despite everyone’s attempts in keeping Princess Gwendolyn safe, a minute spinning wheel conspicuously hidden in a jewel brings the myth to life. The entire castle is put to sleep and it is up to Annie to save not only her sister, but the entire Royal family and entourage.

With the help of a fairly plain Royal guard, who hides his true identity, until the right time, he and Annie embark upon a quest to bring back Princes from different kingdoms, with the hope that they are Princess Gwendolyn’s true love. Upon that kiss-Gwendolyn will awaken and seal their ‘true love’. Only with true love’s first kiss will the entire castle return to normal.

Their adventure is spurted with mini adventures that they solve along the way. Hansel and Gretel are still held captive by the evil witch, but are rescued by Annie and soon reunite with their father. The frog Prince although has been turned back into a Prince, still awaits for his true love, after his Princess ran off with another and Princesses really can tell when they are sleeping on a pea stacked upon a heap of mattresses. The most important thing we learn though and that is typical of a fairy tale, is that true love is found, but that it can be found in the most unlikely of places, certainly the cliche’-’right beneath your nose’ runs true for this story.

A fairy tale ending wouldn’t be a fairy tale ending, but in The Wide-Awake Princess, it is lovely to see that not only the beautiful Princesses have their dreams come true, but, that beauty can come in many different ways and inner beauty leaves a much more lasting impression on people and is rewarded accordingly.

The Wide-Awake Princess is a refreshing young adult novel that does leave you with the feeling that anything is achievable with a clear mindset, a desire to help others and most importantly that you should never doubt the power, strength and determination you have, as it is just as important as anyone else’s.

by Maria Vavala

Welcome

Welcome to Victoria University's Professional Writing and Editing blog for 2012. It hardly seems any time since we were congratulating and seeing off our graduating students from 2011, and here we are with a new batch of students, raring to go. We hope they will enjoy our time with us, and that you, our readers, will enjoy reading their and our blog.

So, what can you expect to find here? We'll sometimes publish writing and publishing opportunities, information about writing competitions, book reviews by our students, and other student writing, especially from our Writing for New Media and Poetry students. So, stay tuned!

Tracey