The Funny Side
Dragged myself out of bed, and with cup of coffee in hand, went to The Funny Side, which was a session about writing comedy in novels. The authors interviewed were Liam Pieper, a freelance writer from Melbourne and author of 'The Feel Good Hit Of The Year', 'Mistakes Were Made', and 'The Toymaker', and Toni Jordan, a Melbourne based author: 'Addition', 'Fall Girl', 'Nine Days', and 'Our Tiny, Useless Hearts'. These two authors were very different in terms of their backgrounds, the content covered in their novels, their countenance, and their senses of humour. While Liam Pieper was a bit more reserved a quiet, occasionally throwing out a self-deprecating one liner, Toni Jordan was bubbly and loud, dominating the conversation for the majority of the session. The first major question was whether or not you could 'define humour'. Toni Jordan replied that "humour is subjective", and that she was a "big defender of silliness", while Liam Pieper stated that "humour is the side effect of depression". These stances are both reflected in their novels. While Toni Jordan's novel, 'Our Tiny, Useless Hearts', is a bedroom farce and tailored to be silly and outrageous, Liam Pieper's novel, 'The Feel Good Hit Of The Year', is a memoir about addiction, family, and learning to live with yourself, but all the while still maintaining elements of comedy. Coming back to Liam Pieper's idea that comedy and depression kind of go hand in hand, I would tend to agree. Sometimes the funniest people alive suffer from depression and have lived lives that haven't been easy. Robin Williams, considered one of the funniest men in the world and committed suicide after a lifelong battle with mental illness. Jim Carey, who came from a background of poverty and homelessness. It seems that hardship and sadness breed the need to make others laugh. That maybe what you're going through or what you've been through won't be as bad if you can make someone laugh. Because who understands the importance of happiness and laughter more than people who suffer from an absence of it? Liam Pieper spoke briefly on using comedy as a vehicle to deliver more serious themes and concerns to an audience. This seems to be a common theme in the comic novel and in stand up comedy. I feel that my opinion on the matter of comedy is best summed up with this quote...
"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."
- George Bernard Shaw
A Dramatic Life
Hannie Rayson is a Melbourne based author and prolific Australian playwright. She recently published a memoir called 'Hello, Beautiful'. I was excited, even though it was quite chilly and the chairs were hard. I arrived early, just so that I could snag a front seat to listen to Hannie Rayson talk. I studied her play, 'Hotel Sorrento', in my Australian Drama and Theatre subject at La Trobe University and I was to listen to someone with a theatrical background speak. This is what I'm interested in, theatre. I also did a subject on Writing Autobiography, so I was also interested in listening to someone talk about writing a memoir and seeing if I could draw parallels to my own studies. When Hannie Rayson entered, she had a rapport with the room immediately. She was personable, warm, funny, and incredibly intelligent. She read an excerpt from her book, and you could tell that she has a background in theatre as her delivery was amazing. It was nice to listen to an author who could also speak and hold the attention of a room, as by this point I had come across some authors who couldn't speak half as well as they could write.
One thing that really stuck with me in regards to memoir writing was something that Hannie said. She stated that she had difficulty toeing the line between truth and the urge to tell a good story through embellishment. This is something that I came into contact frequently with my Writing Autobiography class. With a memoir, you owe it to your audience to be truthful. But, you also owe it to your audience to entertain them. It's hard straddling that line between embellishing or lying to make a story more interesting than it really is. Hannie Rayson also encouraged authors to consider the audience within their writing, and think about what the audience is interested in hearing. Reading is all about entertainment and making someone think, while also about being open and honest. People can smell a phony a mile away.
After the session, I raced out with Chloe and we immediately purchased copies of her memoir. We were first in line for the signing, and had the pleasure of spending a couple of minutes in conversation with Hannie, as no one else had arrived yet. She spoke to us about theatre, acting, and writing, as we had shared that these were pursuits we were interested in. She was encouraging and open, listening, giving advice, and urging us on to chase what we wanted to do.
Favourite quote of the session:
"My inner romantic will tell you that you cannot write unless you are in love with the writing."
- Hannie Rayson
Stone By Stone
This session was about the process of writing a novel, and the guest authors were Kate Mildenhall, a Melbourne based author, mother of two, teacher, employee State Library of Victoria, and author of first novel, 'Skylarking', and Toni Jordan, who we met in the earlier session about comedy. I must admit that I developed a little bit of a crush for Kate Mildenhall, which was immediately extinguished when I discovered that she was happily married with two children. Damn. Can't win them all. Heartbreak aside, it was an excellent session. It was interesting to listen to the process of, and the seemingly insurmountable achievement that is writing a novel. Toni Jordan stated that books are "marathons of creative endeavor", and I would completely agree. Writing is overwhelming, but wonderful, and the idea of tackling a novel seems all at once brilliant and terrifying. One of my personal difficulties with writing is the pressure to get it write the first time. I become so crippled with anxiety and self-induced pressure for perfection that I end up stewing by my computer for hours on end and never achieving anything. One thing that Kate Mildenhall and Toni Jordan stressed is that you need to stop being precious about the words, to just get something down on paper and write 1,000 words at a time. Write what you can, and then edit. Nothing is ever perfect the first time, and not to compare your first draft to someone else's finished product. They also talked about ideas, and how writing a book and being a writer is about determination and work ethic. You need to sit yourself down and force yourself to write at times, something that I identify with completely - especially when it comes to assignments and school work. Procrastination is the devil.
As I sit in these sessions, the idea that writing a book is a possibility becomes less and less ludicrous. It's something that I've always wanted to do, and something that I'm interested in doing, but have never attempted due to self doubt and the idea that I don't have enough time to commit to the novel. But looking at these women, juggling so many parts of their lives and still managing to create something beautiful, I have no more excuses. Time to do something brave.
Favourite quote of the session:
"Fiction is an empathy machine."
- Toni Jordan
Julian Assange
To be completely honest, I only really knew about Julian Assange from the movie 'The Fifth Estate', which was released in 2013. (Closet Benedict Cumberbatch Fan). For those of you who don't know who Julian Assange is, he is a computer programmer, publisher, journalist, and the founder of WikiLeaks. He was born in Townsville, Australia, and - Fun Fact - after a bit of research I discovered that he once hacked into La Trobe University's system. Streamed live from his room in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Julian Assange appeared on the screen to cheers from the audience. Long winded and fast paced, Julian seemed like he was trying to get as much information out to the audience as he could, using the platform he had been given. He completely hijacked the Q&A from the host, talking about how leaks could change the nature of the political world. Due to his involvement in the releasing of "sensitive materials" to the public, Julian Assange is considered a terrorist and a person worthy of being killed. He has spent the last four years of his life in the Ecuadorian Embassy, and knows that if he ever left the confines of the embassy, he'd be arrest and possibly killed. I have to wonder how it is possible that one person can cause so much trouble... Even though I've never really had much interest in Julian Assange, it definitely was a novelty and a once in a lifetime experience to be an audience member in the session. I could understand and appreciate the gravitas of the situation, and how this might've meant so much to the people sitting in the audience, and to Julian Assange himself, having been so estranged from his home country for many years.
Whether you love him, hate him, or really don't have much of an opinion on him, you cannot deny that Julian Assange is an interesting human being.
Favourite quote of the session:
"Courage is contagious."
- Julian Assange
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