Hoa

I’ve been reading Margaret Atwood’s Curious pursuits for a second time. She ponders over what is the purpose of the novel. I say that the purpose of the novel is transformation. Either transformation within the novel or to transform the reader and take them elsewhere. I’ve also been reading Julia Cameron’s Walking in the World and she makes an important point- that art as the business is seperate from art the creative process. It’s so easy to mix up the two, especially when thinking about what you want to achieve and looking back at what you have achieved. I have had a long lull between books and I think I’ve needed it- I still have yet to conquer the novel form- I have been writing Digging up the bones in bits and pieces and maybe that is the way I work, to work in pieces or smaller stories and then tie them up into a whole. That’s different from people who have larger capacities to tell stories I think- or more room in their minds!
I’ve also had a long supervision session with Kathleen Fallon about Bones. I have been struggling with the voice of the grandmother and she pointed out that it is harder to write about people that we know- they can come out two dimensional- it’s easier to fictionalise. I have decided to try and fictionalise Bones more so it will be easier- never let the truth get in the way of a good story! Another thing that Brian Castro said in his masterclass was- just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s good. I think he may have a point there…

Went to a Donna Jackson workshop on CCD and it was great! She postulated a model in which you are u pfront about ex ploring challenging issues and getting commitment from participants, and with the foresight of flagging that the director stops being consultatitive and starts being artistic ahead of time to avoid tension. This would avoid some of the tensions that emerged during Children of the Dragon. DonnaJackson also postulated that you have to put making great art as the first priority and art cannot save people, social change would come as a secondary effect. I think there is an interesting tension to be had there. I think participating in the arts can empower people and validate them as per David Nguyen’s response to my interview questions.
Otherwise I’ve been busy lately- moving house and preparing to be a full time writer (rather than saying I’m unemployed- that’s too depressing).

As you can tell from the time of this blog I have been hit by restlessness and inspiration has struck. Pearl a novel I have been working on since 2000 and the last draft is dated 2003 is up to about draft 3 and still hasn’t quite worked. I’ve hit on a way to rewrite it from scratch to include my reflections on asylum seekers and how Australia’s asylum seeker policy and attitude towards international students etc with the punitive stance of DIMIA is a repeat of history from the late 1800s (as far as the Chinese-Australian diaspora goes). It’s taken me a long time to come up with this reframing and rewrite (2 years to be precise) and that’s without working on it. The catalyst has been me reading up on fairy tales and myths and trying to tell stories that way using the heroine’s journey amongst other things. This bolt of lightning gives me faith in the creative process I needed the gestation time and now I need the patience to redraft it all- which I’ve never done before. (Vixen was a series of short stories and I only needed to revise the stories and add a narrative backbone to it to morph into a novel).
Having read Tom Cho’s blog on the creative process I have now realised that I have been gestating what I teach in writing process as well. I’ve been reading Margaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin and a biography of Phillip K Dick and its been helping me formulate how to teach writing in a way which emphasises telling story and is more organic than just the tools teaching I’ve been doing at CAE.
I’ve been wanting to return to fantasy writing for a long while and have been unable to because of my health. I have been writing but stuff that relates more to my experiences rather than the flights of fantasy I used to have. But it’s all grist for the mill as they say and maybe I needed the hiatus as part of my development as a writer.

Just watched Viet Boys Down Under another Huu Tran and Tony Le Nguyen production from a few years back. Dominic Golding’s character ponders “am I 90% Australian and 10% Vietnamese or 90% Vietnamese and 10% Australian”? Rad Rudd’s character ponders “why can’t I be just Australian? Or can I become full blooded Vietnamese and become more pure?” (Rad is half Vietnamese Half Australian). Huu Tran once asked me whether I was going to become more Vietnamese in the future. The answer is I don’t know. Learning the language is one thing, then choosing which culture influences me is another. I am a hybrid and being a banana split means these things can change.

Last night had feedback from a forum about the Children of the Dragon script we’ve been working on. Again there was pressure to be representative this time that the project reflect all the issues that face generation 2 of Vietnamese-Australians. Almost impossible I say. There was some very good feedback about through lines and what the 2nd generation wants to say to the 1st generation. But I’m very aware that we are again being asked to sugar coat it a little, some in the audience wanted to see healing (which is a point but healing may be a long time in coming and not covered in a 2 hour production!) We do have to watch stereotyping which is an issue that has come up in the drafting process. I had a chat with Tony Le Nguyen who told me that Community Cultural Development is heavily contested and challenged and I can see why. Is it more truthful to leave things open ended and not given closure or for the sake of artistic representation to close things and give a positive spin?