~ Written by Danielle N. Bilski ~
The last six months have been filled with the words of others and it has been difficult to find the time and the right words to express myself creatively. Studying Literature at university is a wonderful learning experience and an invaluable one I am so grateful to be living through. I am confident that when I complete this chapter of learning and accessibility to infinite knowledge, I will be a better writer than I was when it began. The only difficulty – which I wouldn’t say is a problem; more so a challenge – is that I have been spending so much time reading and listening to other people’s words that I haven’t accomplished many words of my own.
Since the course started in August 2011, I have read 19 texts (13 novels, 2 epic poems, 1 short story, 1 Shakespeare play and 2 textbooks). I have listened to 24 audio lectures, read pages of study guide notes, dozens of Australian poems and additional readings. In response to what I have read and heard, I have written four academic essays, created a complete website using HTML and CSS, written a sociology journal, three progress reports, a case study and a reading analysis. Amongst all of this learning, I have inadvertently neglected my own creative project and my time with you.
Last week I finished reading my first ‘personal choice’ novel of the year – ‘Songs of the Humpback Whale’ by my favourite author, Jodi Picoult. It was wonderful to read a text that had not been prescribed for me to study and to apply the skills of analysis that I have learned. I am so inspired by the depth of emotion and realism that all of Jodi Picoult’s novels encapsulate. I have read 7 of her novels, I have just started my eighth ‘Harvesting the Heart’ and there are another 7 on my bookshelf waiting their turn.
Nonetheless, with so much knowledge at my disposal, I am now having to sort through what is relevant to my own writing. I love to read and learn; I couldn’t be happier than I am doing this course. It is now up to me to take initiative and tell the story that all of the effort I have put in up to this point has been contributing towards.
I love my characters, I love the plot, I love the setting and the pace of the narrative. I am eager to share it with those who will read it, appreciate it and hopefully enjoy it. I am still trying to figure out the most practical way to be able to devote quality and consistent time putting the right words on the computer screen, while continuing my study towards my degree.
The reading list for this year currently stands at five:
1. My Brilliant Career – Miles Franklin
2. Jonah – Louis Stone
3. Coonardoo – Katharine Susannah Prichard
4. Inventing Adulthoods – Henderson, Holland, MGrellis, Sharpe and Thomson
5. Songs of the Humpback Whale – Jodi Picoult
Right now, I am making my way through 24 books or more than 12,000 lines of ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer for the new literature subject that commenced last week. Last Friday I withdrew from a sociology unit I was also enrolled in for this term, so I can focus on rising to the demands of ‘The Odyssey’ and the other great books we are studying in this unit.
I have spoken about fitting the pieces of the narrative puzzle together for my manuscript, in previous posts. The last few weeks, I have been trying to work out the best way to fit the puzzle pieces of my own narrative together. It has not been easy and it remains an ongoing process.
In another person’s famous words:
‘We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.‘ – T.S Eliot, 1942-1943, ‘Little Gidding’ in Four Quarters, ll.239-42
In my own words:
‘Together we stand
On this land
Of opportunity
Never too far
From the end or the start
Everything behind reflects in front of me.
Given the chance
To experience
What I had secretly dreamed
What will I do today
To make it a reality
Will it be as easy as it once seemed?
Yesterday I thought
What is all of this for
When will I ever get to the end?
Why such a rush
When there remains so much
Of the journey to be appreciated, instead?‘ – Danielle N. Bilski, 2012
My time with you
©2012 Danielle N. Bilski