Time for bed and a spot of writing

Apparently Proust and Twain wrote in bed, and so does MJ Hyland author of the brilliant This Is How. She hasn’t written anywhere but from her bed for 15 years. So to get into the spirit of things I am writing this post from bed after attending MJ Hyland’s Fiction Masterclass (as well as attending a screening and talk about Paul Cox’s moving Innocence film and his beautiful talk of which more later, and the Festival opening night party. There I met Rob Carlton who played Kerry Packer in the recent ABC programme, Paper Giants, The Birth Of Cleo and is now working on PJ Hogan’s new film. Carlton is not at all like the character he played. He is one of those people who takes a genuine and inquiring curiosity in the people he meets.)

MJ Hyland’s masterclass really required participants to leave their egos at the door. Before the 14 of us arrived we’d each been asked to read then write short critiques of work by all of the other writers. Then we sat in a round table setting and discussed each work in turn. It was fascinating. Oops, I shouldn’t say that. MJ Hyland would tell me to specify how it was fascinating. We need to stamp out cliches.

Getting yourself comfortable matters if you are going to stick with writing. But start even if it’s just for 10 minutes, says MJ Hyland, because 10 minutes always becomes more, then more again.
But, if you write in bed, the other thing that might happen is that you will sleep…

And awaken to the festival, Day One!

Marian Edmunds