I’ve just realised something.
I’m an observer.
I am the sort of person who engages socially by asking questions and hoping, in turn, that few are asked of me.
It would be completely and utterly wrong not to admit that I’m also occasionally oblivious and sometimes a little naïve.
But I woke up remembering an old diary I kept, maybe in Year 11 at school. It was a student diary — the kind meant to hold notes on homework and due dates for assignments. It was held together with a white spiral coil binding. And if I am not mistaken, it had come free with a magazine called Dolly, which was a teenage version of Vogue. Or perhaps my mum had bought it for me.
I had decorated it. I wrapped it in newspaper and stuck a picture of a band (maybe The Offspring) on the front. On the back, a Hare Krishna smile sticker beamed as I closed it. It was then covered in Contact to protect the surface. I had tried carefully to avoid the coil binding, but inevitably a small section at the top was determined to catch until it broke.
The diary never contained homework information — or maybe it did for a minute in the first week, or if a specific teacher had required us to show we had written it down.
What it contained was far more precious.
Written in it were observations. I would write down snippets I heard on the radio, quotes from books or movies, words that I liked, and phone numbers of boys I liked or was offered. My favourite thing written in that diary is a quote. Something I had heard on the radio coming back from the city. I cannot remember what the quote was in reference to; honestly, it did not matter. The radio announcer had said:
“Well, slap my bum with a pink serviette and call me Puff.”
Of all the things. It was something I really didn’t need to write down because I will remember it forever.
Being observant is important for a writer because you begin to understand nuance. In a genre of tropes, it is actually nuanced characters that make them stand out.
For those of you not here in the puddle that is Sydney. It has been raining here for the last six weeks or so. And I have to admit, the endless rain is getting me down a little.
But I had a weekend away in the city and spent time with friends celebrating the impending nuptials of my beautiful sister. It was so fun — we sang and drank and danced. Would highly recommend!
What am I up to this month?
Working on The Last Resort.
I asked my editor this week if it is normal not to be enjoying the process at this point, and she was so kind in reassuring me it is. Ha!
Okay that is it from me. I’m on holidays at the end of next month, so the next time we speak, maybe I’ll have a cover reveal!
Lots of love,
Amanda xx
