Recently I was entranced by a photo in an exhibition. The close up shot of a delicate leaf had a cloudy quality. My mind rifled through words to describe it, and ‘opaque’ jagged me out of the trance. It was a word that I had once used in a short piece that was critiqued by my first foray into a writing group.
One of the mainstays of the group was a retired teacher who had a sharp eye for errors and indulgent word use. It was beneficial to my continuing education as a writer to be exposed to that level of exactitude. But what caught in my mind was the challenge I received about using the word opaque in a piece. The work had been prepared as part of a monthly activity of writing up to 300 words on a theme. This could be prose, poetry, fictional or memoir. I had checked the definition of the word before I presented the piece and maintained that my word use was correct and as I intended. It was, after all, my work.
In the same group was a writer of many years who operated with a different level of intensity. She was encouraging and had visions of developing the group so it appealed to more people, with workshops and guest speakers and the like. I found her to be supportive and she read one of my early attempts at a short story, taking the time to do a line-by-line critique and talk me through various suggestions to strengthen the piece. When I later submitted a short story and received a prize in a competition, my mind flew straight to her as I felt that her encouragement and support had given me the confidence in my writing work.
There have been several people who I would consider to be influencers on my writing. They are not all writers – nor do they have to be – and sometimes it is as simple as someone providing encouragement or insight at the time that you need it.
Who has been influential in your creative output?
[Photo: prison entrance at Norfolk Island]
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