I’m honoured to be joined in the attic today by Amanda Curtin. Not only does she know how to turn a beautiful phrase, and not only is she one of the most beloved writers in the country, and not only have I long admired and respected her work, but she’s also one of the kindest people you could hope to meet. She’s always there, quietly supporting writers at their launches, offering encouragement in the face of disappointment, sharing her knowledge and experience, and offering a hand up to new and emerging writers. Indeed, she’s done all of the above for me.
So, it’s with the greatest of pleasure and pride that I hand over to Amanda.
Amanda Curtin is the author of novels Elemental(shortlisted for the WA Premierโs Book Awards) and The Sinkings, short story collection Inherited, and a new work of narrative non-fiction, Kathleen OโConnor of Paris.
In 2018 she was nominated for the Alice Award, a biennial award honouring Australian women who have made a long-term contribution to Australian literature. Amanda has a PhD in Writing and has worked as a book editor for many years. She lives in Perth with her husband and an opinionated Siamese cat, and works in a backyard studio among magpies, doves and old trees.
You’ll find Amanda on her fabulous blog, where she features her own writing as well as interviews with authors for her ‘2, 2 and 2’ series. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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On Knowing Your Own Name
When I was a child, my family called me Mandy. But I never felt like a Mandy. When I looked in the mirror, nothing remotely Mandyish looked back at me. And so I asked to be called by my given name. To my familyโs great credit, they agreed to try, and try they did, but it wasnโt easyโespecially for my grandparents. Eventually we settled on a compromise: Iโve been Manda to my family ever since, and Amanda to everyone else. (Everyone else, that is, except the dentist. Whoโs going to argue with a guy with a needle in one hand and a drill in the other?)
Learning who I am as a writer has not been as easy as just knowing. Itโs come through a lifetime of reading and analysing, and a longish process of formal study, listening to writers talk, experimenting, workshopping, surviving crises of confidence, taking my own pulse.
After trying many of the strategies recommended by other writers, Iโve come to understand that itโs as important to know whatย doesnโt work for you as it is to know what does. For example:
The concept of โvomiting a first draftโ (a horrible expression for an approach used by many excellent writers to get a story down quickly on paper) is, for me, more likely to kill an idea than help me move forward.
I canโt write first, research later. I need to immerse myself in the subject/s first, and itโs in that (usually lengthy) preliminary stage that I start to get excited about ideas, and where I feel the first shivers of character and story.
Iโm not a plotter. (Things would beย so much easier if I were.)
I rarely write first thing in the morning. (I rarelyย talk first thing in the morning. Just ask my husband.) I do, however, walk and take photographs, and have found that these are part of my creative process.
I donโt like talking about my work in progress. For me, giving voice to inchoate ideas seems to drain the life out of them.
I donโt keep a journal. I was forced to do this at university, and Iโm grateful that it made me more observant generally, but I prefer just scrawling words and phrases on scraps of paper to a formal practice of writing daily thoughts.
I donโt write every day, but I probably think about my work in progress every day.
I donโt necessarily value word count as a measure of progressโ(a) because Iโm a slow writer, and counting words is disheartening; and (b) because I might make more progress in a day by reading or thinking than by writing 2,000 words.
I do try to scare myself at least once a year. Sometimes that means saying yes to something Iโm not confident about doing. Sometimes it means trusting my instincts, knowing my own name. And sometimes it means knowing, and challenging it anyway.
In late 2015, having published two novels and a collection of short stories, I knew myself to be a fiction writer. That was who I saw when I looked in the mirror. And then I was asked if had any interest in writing a work of narrative non-fiction. To my great surprise, I knew instantly that I did.
Context, of course, is everything. Kathleen OโConnor (her fame generally eclipsed by that of her father, C.Y. OโConnor) has been part of my life for more than three decades, ever since I became enchanted by her artโand her lifeโwhile working in a minor editorial role on the first book about her. It probably needed a connection as deep and as longstanding as that for me to have leapt into a new genre.
Kate left Perth in 1906 to study and forge a career for herself in Parisโa pretty radical thing to do at a time when young women in conservative Perth were usually destined for a domestic life. She became a well-respected artist, an โAustralian Europeanโ in the French impressionist/post-impressionist style, and exhibited for six decades in Europe and Australia.
Narrative non-fiction struck me as a perfect genre for telling the story of a woman who was notoriously guarded about her private life, who deflected questions, who left no diaries or revealing correspondence. It gave me the flexibility to move between fact and speculation and a kind of fictional rendering, while being absolutely transparent about what I was doing.
As a result, Kathleen OโConnor of Parisis part biography, part story of travel and research, part reflection on art, life and legacy, and in my exploration of Kateโs life, I often acknowledge the tension between fiction and non-fiction. It was a complex, and exhilarating, book to write, and I donโt regret my instinctive decision to fly against instinct.
As for whether I plan to continue writing non-fiction: I think probably not. Iโve returned to the novel I put on hold in order to write Kathleen OโConnor of Paris, and Iโm doing some very preliminary research for another novel. I still see a novelist when I look in the mirror.
But then, perhaps the most valuable thing Iโve learned about myself as a writer is that Iโm capable of seeing someone else, too.
And no, her nameโs not Mandy.
I so enjoy reading about the writing process of writers who are different from me. I’m a ‘vomit onto the page’ first draft type person, and prefer to write early in the day, first thing if possible but otherwise I resonate with so much of what you write here, Amanda, especially about the importance of knowing your own name, your own style and voice. Thank you.
We’re all so different in our processes, aren’t we? But however we work, it gets us to the end.
P.S. I’m so envious of people who can ‘vomit’ out a first draftโI wish I could work like that, then this second novel would already be written!
Oh, me too, Louise ๐
Thanks for reading, Elisabeth. We all have our own ways of getting there, and it sounds like you’ve a clear idea of yours. That, I think, is everything!
Lovely insights. Thank you for sharing them with us, Amanda, and for bringing them to us, Louise.
I’m so glad you enjoyed reading them, Susan! ๐
Thanks so much, Susan ๐
Thank you Amanda, and Louise. It is always so enlightening to learn about how other writers think, work, change and challenge themselves. Not just enlightening but inspiring, and comforting, too, because it reaffirms there is not just ‘one right way’ to be a writer.
The concept of knowing oneself as a writer and yet being open to letting that definition broaden seems crucial. Amanda you explained it so beautifully.
Many thanks again.
I agree with you that it’s comforting to read how others work and see that you’re not so odd after all.
I love the way Amanda has told this story, too, as a gentle meander starting with her name and discovering who she is, leading on to the way she writes and discovering the type of writer she is.
Many thanks for those lovely words, Fiona. And you’re right: there’s no one way, and no right way, just the way we find for ourselves.
This is just lovely, Amanda, thanks for sharing! Like you, I’m often in deep thought regarding a particular story, novel, or collection. Thus, I felt particularly heartened by the thought that thinking about one’s project is as valid as words on the page. That creative space (outside of literally writing) is vital in ensuring that one makes it to the page in an open and invigorated state.
Thinking and contemplating, as well as talking and listening and discussing, are all part of the writing, too. I find I do my best writing a few months, or even years, after I began ‘thinking’ about something.
P.S. I love your phrase about coming to the page ‘in an open and invigorated state’โcaptures the feeling well!
Thanks, Laurie. It took me a while to work that one out, tooโthe necessary work of thinking, how much I value it. We all need that. x
I couldn’t agree more. Such a wonderful post. I love the reassurance that thinking and reflecting is just as valuable as the actual writing.
That reassures me, too! It’s not just me procrastinating! ๐
Haha, Louise, it can feel like a fine line sometimes, can’t it ๐
Thank you, Karen. I’m glad you found something helpful here, and we all need that reassurance from time to time.
Many thanks Louise, for this terrific post on Amanda. Great to hear that your thinking time, Amanda, is as important as your writing time. I think, that thinking time is a very precious time. And a time which most writers need to protect from an ever increasing , noisy and intruding world. I go for an hour long non-negotiable walk every evening. . Not only to keep fit but to “defrag” my tired brain and to think.
You’re absolutely rightโwe do need to protect that time, because the world can be very intrusive! I also go for an hour-long walk every day, and for the same reasons. ๐
Oh Marlish, that’s such a good way of putting it. I don’t usually walk at the end of the day but I can see how valuable it would be. Thanks ๐ x
It’s such a pleasure to see this profile of Amanda… she is one of my all-time favourite Australian authors, and I confess to waiting impatiently for her next novel, just as soon as I’ve finished reading the last one!
She’s one of my favourite writers and people, LisaโI could write a whole blog post just on the many kindnesses she’s done for me and other emerging writers over the years.
I, too, am waiting (im)patiently for her next book! ๐
And a big thank-you to you, dear Louise, for your kindnesses and for inviting me to your blog. xx
Aw, that’s very kind, Lisa. Thank you! ๐
brilliant post, girls ๐
I agree, Robyn. Thank you for visiting! ๐
Thanks, Robyn ๐ x