If you can't find time, then make it

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Stephen King
     Nowadays, with so many distractions in the world, it can sometimes seem hard to find the time to read. It's also difficult to sum up the will to read if, for example, you've just got home at midnight from a twelve hour shift, or if you feel a teeny bit tender from the heavy night before... I know that recently (I say recently, maybe even so far back as my 3rd year of uni), I haven't nearly as much as I should have or would have liked to. I ended up viewing it as a chore sometimes. Never a punishment, but something that wouldn't go away until I faced it. 

     So recently I've been reading a lot more. And I feel brilliant for it. I finished The Savage Detectives, reading the last 300-odd pages in 4 days. That's a lot for me. Believe me. 

     But I don't just feel good- I want to read more. And with this comes the will to write. 

     Writing can be especially difficult when you feel like you don't have the time or energy to face it, but the longer you leave it, the harder it will be. It's like hiding something from a parent, knowing they'll find out the truth, but you bury your head in the sand in the hope that it will just go away. And then you lose the passion for it. Writing doesn't seem fun anymore, and how can you ever write a great story or poem if you don't enjoy it?

     I've found a number of things useful when I've not felt like reading or writing, when it's all too easy to just (insert mind-numbing/socially destructive activity here). These are pieces of advice that most writers would give, and I'm not trying to pretend I've always followed them, but if you do then you're enjoyment of reading and writing will improve dramatically.

     First and foremost, force yourself! I'm not the most self disciplined person in the world, but even if you feel tired, or rough, or you're mind is wandering to what you're going to have for tea in three days, just get a pen and write. I did a half hour session of free writing last week and ended up coming up with an idea for a new short story. I also wrote a load of rubbish that I'll never look at again, but that's not the point. It got me writing. The same applies to books- you'll feel much better afterwards knowing that you did it! Maybe consider rewarding yourself for every 500 words you write, or for every chapter of a novel you read. 

     Secondly, set targets and stick to them! Be realistic with your targets though. Don't aim so high that you feel like you're constantly missing your goals- you'll end up feeling like you're not good enough. On the other hand, don't be lazy and set yourself a target you know you'll hit within half an hour so you can go the shops. If you know you have a busy day ahead, then get up an hour or two earlier than usual and get some reading or writing in then. Take a notebook/book with you everywhere and use any chance you get to bury your nose into them! You need to be able to get into a habit, and if you're constantly hitting targets- raise them!

     Thirdly, don't let yourself get distracted by others. It can be very, very easy to give up if a friend calls and asks to meet for a drink, or if your flatmate wants to play FIFA (mention no names...:P) But if you haven't met your target then stick at it until you do. Even if what you write is no good, it's better than the feeling that you gave up and are now 50 pages short of where you wanted to be in your book. The same goes for Facebook, Twitter etc. I understand that lots of people type work up directly rather than freehand first (which I do a lot myself), so consider disconnecting your internet while you're working. You need to get into a flow!

     Finally, have fun. It's simple. Let yourself get carried away by a book, and if you're desperate to read onto the next chapter to find out if she really did kill him with a breadstick, then do! If you're in the mood then go with it. Never put a book or a pen down if there's a big wave- ride it (no cliche left unused here). If there is a such a thing as a creative spark, and it only shows up every now and then like an elusive little creature...then catch it while you can.

Hopefully some of this advice might help in times of need! I should also point you in the direction of this blog, The Writing Reader, which is full of little prompts for when you're mind is blank, and empty pages look huge! http://www.thewritingreader.com/blog/

Now, please get in touch! Have you ever been especially proud of making time to do it when before you insisted you didn't? Or is there any advice you'd like to give fellow book-worms? I'd love to hear from you!

Roberto Bolaño and 'The Savage Detectives': A lament for lost youth

When The Savage Detectives was recommended to me, I'd never heard of it. I'd never heard of Roberto Bolaño either. When I was told that he was a Chilean author, and the book began in Mexico City 1975, I didn't believe that I would enjoy it. I've read some translated literature before- the short stories of Guy De Maupassant, Anton Chekhov, and poetry by Rimbaud, Neruda (my only previous encounter with Latin-American writing) and Frenaud. Whilst I've found great inspiration from a lot of this work (especially Maupassant, whose 19th century work could have been written last week), reading nearly 600 pages of fiction translated from Spanish seemed a daunting experience. With Neruda's poetry in particular, I've found some words and lines to jar slightly, that is, they are obviously literal translations of a Spanish phrase. It can make reading work like this less enjoyable, less spontaneous, and maybe a little more distant. Aside from this, mid 1970's Mexico was not a setting that I wanted to visit, or rather I felt that I didn't need to go there. So, perhaps slightly stubbornly, I didn't immediately set out to read The Savage Detectives.
     Last month, I came across a collection of Bolaño's short stories titled Last Evenings On Earth in a charity shop. What I read had me instantly hooked to Bolaño's unique and uncompromising way of writing.
     After that, I finally bought The Savage Detectives, acclaimed as 'the novel Borges might have written' and 'part road movie, part joyful, nostalgic confession'.
     Now, three hundred and twenty one pages in, I cannot recommend the book and Bolaño highly enough. The novel begins with a section called 'Mexicans Lost in Mexico' (where I got the blog name from, see?) and is written as a series of diary entries by aspiring 17 year old Mexican poet Garcia Madero. We are shown very early on is that he has been looking for sense of belonging in a place where 'literature is bread and water, sex and death'. He joins a group of fellow young poets who call themselves the 'visceral realists', and who set out to change Latin American poetry and politics. He meets two particularly important characters- Arturo Belano, who is possibly the author himself (a common trait of Bolaño's work), and Ulises Lima. Without revealing too much of the story, the narrative leaves Garcia Madero after 124 pages and becomes 'The Savage Detectives', a series of 'memoirs' from many different perspectives, including characters from the first section. The narrative crosses continents and so far has moved ten years on from the events of Garcia Madero's diary entries.
     What stands out here as one of Bolaño's greatest skills is the fleshed-out realism of his characters. Set in a world so far from my own, I still feel a connection to them. It might be pity for some, admiration or envy (even jealousy) of others whose lives revolve around literature. Bolaño's writing can be gritty and hard-hitting at times, but it is all presented in a very matter-of-fact way that is reminiscent of Hemingway. Characters often seem at odds with themselves, struggling to show their feelings. The same was true for the short stories of Last Evenings on Earth, which I now see as a blueprint or draft of The Savage Detectives.
     Further along the timline, there is a genuine feeling of nostalgia, and as more and more of these characters lives are shown to us, there is a growing sense that the youth, happiness and blissful ignorance that was abundant in 'Mexicans Lost in Mexico' is never recaptured. Accounts from one era are juxtaposed with  another from say 15 years before. There is also no mention so far of a character introduced in the first section, so I am now holding my own kind of 'where's Wally' hunt along the way, looking for clues that might show me where they are.
     I should also point out that the English translation, by Natasha Wimmer, is the best and most precise example of translated fiction I've ever read. I felt so close to the streets and laguage of mid-70's Mexico, yet I was never confused by their slang or insults. Creadit has to be given to Wimmer for taking on such a mammoth challenge and pulling it off brilliantly.
     Although I'm just over half way through the book and still have so much to discover, I feel like I have travelled back in time to places I've never been before. The Savage Detectives is so evocative, affecting and just bloody brilliant that I do not want to put it down. What may be viewed as Bolaño's masterpiece takes on love, sorrow, loss, joy, memory and passion. The result is a tragic and thought provoking insight into the politics and aspirations of a generation that was looking for it's place in the world. Maybe Mexico 1975 isn't so different from our own world.

Finally up and running...

I've been meaning to set up a blog for quite a while now, and I'd be fibbing if I said that I didn't do it earlier because I didn't have the time. Truth is, I've been quite lazy when it comes to getting my thoughts, feelings and ideas down into writing.
But I'm passionate about anything creative. This blog will be a kind of notepad where I'll post my reflections on recently read books or poems, any music I've discovered (or rediscovered), and ideas I've had for my own work. There may also be the occasional rant when I'm feeling especially poetic. 
I don't want this blog to be boring, so all feedback (however honest or harsh) would be very appreciated. 


I'll be putting up my first real post later tonight- a critical look at what I've read so far of Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detectives.


Thanks for reading :)