PERSONA PERSPECTIVE: Creative Writing Workshop in the Ekphrasis of Art by Rosie Cunningham with Ruth Snell.

PERSONA PERSPECTIVE: A Creative Writing workshop in the Ekphrasis of Art by Rosie Cunningham with Ruth Snell.

On Saturday 7th January 2017, Rosie Cunningham and Ruth Snell will be working in collaboration on an arts event regarding Rosie's paintings which will be on display in the Gallery of Devonport Guildhall, Plymouth. The exhibition runs from 6th January to 25 February 2017.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/persona-perspective-creative-writing-workshop-tickets-30439437176?aff=es2

This will be a colourful start to the New Year.

As some of you know, I rarely venture in public creative writing circles these days but I found Rosie's art work very therapeutic when I was recuperating from surgery.  It gives me great pleasure to thank Rosie by presenting this workshop at the launch of her art collection in the Gallery of Devonport Guildhall Plymouth.

Persona Perspective - giving a voice to something or someone otherwise silent.

Some people in Plymouth always have their faces in the newspaper for any old event. That doesn't interest me but real art and caring creativity does interest me. Substance over show.

Therapy in Creativity

Those sharp eyed followers of my blog have already contacted me to say they noticed my change of title heading.  Ruth Snell Creative Writing is now re-labelled as Ruth Snell Creative Arts. The simple reason being that painting has formed a large part of my life lately and I've found it easier to reach people through my painting than my writing.  Not that my book has fallen into the mire.  A lovely message came in only today to say how much someone enjoyed the story, so it is warming to know people out there are reading it.

When you create a painting and show it to a viewer, what you see is what you get.  When you write a book, people are aware the creative process is more of a two way street.  They have to acquire a copy of the book and then engage some of their spare time to read it. It may not be what they expect or it can give them a few surprises.  Paintings aren't like that. A split second of viewing will either draw someone in or they will walk on by.  Their appreciation is more instantaneous.

Perhaps then it is time to consider the importance of a book cover.  What sort of judgements do you make on browsing in a book shop? Do you have expectations of how a book cover should look or does it not worry you?  The official line from those who conduct studies into such observations say that the cover of a book will firstly make a browser pick it up. This can occupy some four to six seconds and if the 'blurb' on the back cover is attractively written, you have another hook in on a possible purchaser.

Is it all about hard sales? Well, the general idea in writing a book is that you want your 'message' to get out there. You have spent tremendous amounts of time writing the thing. Imagine if someone was paying you by the hour ...

For me the creative process must make me feel better about myself.  That is why for me, designing - and painting - the cover of my books is important to me. The reader will hopefully have 'more of me' in what they take from the bookshelf. The package must be more rounded.  I read several years ago that the singer/songwriter, Kate Bush, was very serious about record covers. Before she made it as a hit in the music world, as a young teenager, she would take a train into London on Saturday's to browse the shops.  If she bought a record (LP to us oldies) she would sit on the train back to Kent pouring over the record sleeve, absorbing the design.  At this point she didn't know what all the songs on the record sounded like, aside from the one perhaps she'd heard on the radio, but for her it was important to take in the cover design as it led her to understand more of what the music was portraying.  Occasionally there were surprises but more often than not, the design emphasised the audio effect.

So if you are a writer and plan to publish, think carefully about your book cover.  You may not be artistic but that doesn't matter.  The point is that you know what you want your cover to be like. And, painting is a very therapeutic occupation.  Writing can be extremely stressful. Even if you have the most perfect plot in the world and stunning characters, time for editing could be tight, your laptop may be playing up or even worse, crash losing your work. Painting (or drawing) may even help you understand what you are trying to say.  Art, in all its forms is highly enjoyable but it can help the mind to cross over to another discipline.  Think carefully about your book cover and make it intrinsic to the text. Make it ... you ...

Happy creativity!

http://www.devonartistnetwork.co.uk/artists/ruth-snell

New Book Release: Galene by Ruth Snell (ISBN: 978-1-5376-6225-1)

Many of you won't be expecting this new book Galene by Ruth Snell  (ISBN: 978-1-5376-6225-1).

     "Dartmoor is a shadowy, mist-shrouded frontier largely unknown to Isabella Cole, a young woman who resides in Plymouth and is employed as a valuations clerk to a local auctioneer.  It is 1898 and her occupation is uncommon for a woman.  Her employer is invited to a working weekend at Hazelwood Grange, the moorland country house of Sir Sholto Lelawne, a reclusive scientist and world traveller, who extends the invitation to Isabella.  Entering a world far different to the one she grew up in, Isabella encounters the elusive Galene, a beautiful young woman with spiritual powers who is introduced as Sir Sholto's sister.  Isabella begins to uncover a complex web of lies and mysteries.  Not all is as it seems.

     Meanwhile in Plymouth, under the foundations of his valuations business near Charles church, her employer, Thomas Northcott, while renovating the building, uncovers an extensive chamber filled with antiquities from Roman times.  Isabella finds herself wrapped up in an intrigue of both ancient and Victorian power struggles involving Freemasons and the churchmen, who will stop at nothing to claim the highest prize of all - and she is key to its discovery."


Why has this come out of the blue? Very few people knew I was writing it.  Was there any deliberate secrecy? Only to the point I do freeze if people ask what I'm writing, when I'm struggling to get a plot organized in my head. It can be hard to explain 'what I am writing' when even I don't know where it's going.  I gave up Writer's Group's a year ago when I became tangled in two necessary operations for breast cancer.  The good news on that front, is the prognosis is favourable and the surgeon seemed to catch it on time.  That does however, have a profound effect on your outlook to life.  You withdraw (and I've never been a hugely outgoing person).  Then you get your priorities in order.  Health is paramount.

Aside from the very small family unit I have, my next priority is my job.  Most people I know who write, either professionally or as a hobby, don't work full time.  I do work full time. Forty-two hours a week and sometimes more. I'll repeat that.  I work full time so my spare time is precious.  I have to work, I have no choice. What spare time I do have often involves the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, garden or DIY. My weekends are valuable. I discovered through detriment to my health that through throwing so much time and energy into helping others with their writing activities, my health took a bad knock. 

There is also an element of nastiness in the writing world in Plymouth (as the poet laureate Michael Sullivan discovered) and I don't want to be part of it.  I will occasionally run a Writing Workshop if requested but aside from that .... I also paint. I am not a good artist but I find working with colour hugely relaxing.  After two operations I re-aligned my scant spare time.  Yoga has been hugely beneficial and painting largely therapeutic.  I painted the front cover for Galene  (in fact I painted several different scenes) and my daughter Rebecca had the final choice of my painting 'Peacock on Dartmoor' to finish the book cover.  To create a work of art, inside and out, is the most rewarding thing.

Where did the idea from Galene come from?  A mixture of elements viz: a picture I passed in 1981 and a discussion with my grandmother who came from a very old Plymouth family, a couple of years before she died in 1984.  The outline of the book was written circa 2008, just before my father died but never left the computer due to the complexities of life at that time.  When you think your life is running out of time, you take remedial action and now the final result is out there.

American Publishers in the depths of Cornwall

Over the summer leave break, we did a 'staycation' and spent some lovely days around Devon and Cornwall looking at various sights we hadn't seen for some years.  As some of you know, I occasionally dabble in family history (although apart from my daughter I have no family left now) and after locating the birth and census details of one great-grandfather (Mark Snell) we found ourselves in St Neot, Cornwall after a walk around the nearby Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor.  This particular great-grandfather shows up in the 1871 Census as living with his parents, Richard and Elizabeth Snell in Lower Newton Farm, St Neot, Cornwall.

In the local pub, beside the charming St Neot church, we came across two Americans looking for fairies.  Once further into the conversation we quickly established they were publishers of a beautifully presented magazine called Faeirie Magazine  see http://www.faeriemag.com/  and had made a special trip from New York to Cornwall to investigate the West Country legends.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet Paul and Laren of the Faerie Magazine.  We discussed many aspects of creative writing, ideas, imaginations, literary form, poetry and magic.  They are now back in the United States.  We have kept in touch and here, on 11 September, a particularly difficult day for the American people, let us look forwards to the positive energy of good growing out of evil and take stock of all that is beautiful in the world.


N.B. Dozmary Pool, St Neot, Cornwall:  legendary resting place of King Arthur's Sword which was rumoured to have been thrown into the middle of the water by Merlin.  To this day, nobody knows the actual depth of the water.

Creative Writing Workshops at Whitleigh Community Hub in Plymouth

To mark the opening of the new Whitleigh Community Hub, a wide variety of events are being compiled for everyone at a Taster Day on 25 August 2016.  I look forward to seeing the wide range of activities on display and talking with other artists, writers and musicians.

After this event, I will be running two creative writing workshops - dates and times to be advised.  Keep an eye on my Blog and on the Facebook page for Sandy Wager Arts and Crafts.  Sandy is closely involved with the new hub and will be advertising events as they are announced.

Poets and Painters

Poets and Painters ...

We think of poets and painters seperately yet quite a few were multi-talented.  The two names of William Blake and Dante Gabriel Rossetti should resonate with you even if you cannot immediately place their work.  After the steam of the EU Referendum (aren't we all glad that is out the way?), I wanted to set out a stall on Britishness (note I didn't say Englishness) and our unique ability to absorb other cultures while still impressing the rest of the world with our own home-grown talent. 

William Blake (1757-1827) is probably most recognized for his words to the resounding song 'Jerusalem'.  We recognise it immediately:  'And did those feet in ancient times walk upon England's mountain green.'  Yet few actually realise he was a hugely respected artist and was at one point considered '...one of the greatest artists Britain has ever produced.'  Blake started his career as an engraver and was apprenticed to James Basire of Great Queen Street in London.  Closely observing the Gothic work of many churches, I personally feel much of his artistic style was affected by the impressions he was working with.  Blake later went on to become an art student at The Royal Academy where interestingly he did not take to the work and style of Plymouth's home grown artist, Joshua Reynolds.  There was an interesting antagonism between them.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) was British born and the son of an Italian scholar.  He was born in London and although his friends called him Gabriel, he used his first name of Dante through preference.  He painted in oils using water colour brushes which drew a great curiosity from his artistic observers.  Nevertheless, aside from some unique paintings, his poetry has become classic in our tome of the very best.

In both men there is plenty for us to see - and see again. Both born in Britain yet one with links abroad and the other as British as a stick of rock. Note their work: There is a close correlation between painting and poetry.  The mind of the artist is relaxed through a brush; the mind of the poet drifts like a conduit through the pen.  Find and compare works by both Blake and Rossetti.  There are many differences but similarities too. 

Writer's Groups - 'Is the Squeeze Worth the Juice?'

I'm doing a synopsis this month on Writer's Groups after an expression I overheard a short while ago: 'Is the Squeeze Worth the Juice?'  In other words, for tremendous effort, do you gain much from it?

Make no mistake, if a Writer's Group is properly organized the organizer won't have much time for anything else viz:  arranging meetings, setting up venues, updates to members (including those not on e-mail so envelopes and stamps are needed), advertising competitions, marshalling the slots at the regular meetings - not to mention producing coffee and biscuits from thin air!  Well - great fun if writing is the passion for you but after a few years, the novelty can wear off and you can be left exhausted.  It is even worse if you are the only one who hasn't read out your work at a meeting because everyone else has used up the allotted time.  I grew pretty cheesed off with that one.

There is a lot to take into consideration as to whether a Writer's Group is for you.  I knew little about how they operated until I joined the St Budeaux Library Writer's Group in 2007.  It ran well but due to various restructuring of Plymouth Library Services, it was closed down, much against the will of the attendees.  At that time I was a member of Plymouth Proprietary Library so asked if I could start a Writer's Group there.  By 2012 we had some 35 members on the books and were struggling at meetings to accommodate everyone.  We even ran out of chairs on one occasion.

Elements of 'life getting in the way' then certainly got in the way.  My father died, my mother immediately fell ill, passing away eighteen months later, I was tied into the library committee which had passed me a Poisoned Chalice of responsibility and my full time day job became more demanding.  Throw that in with running a house plus family life and creative writing went out the window.  You will be pleased to know though, that the group still thrives but is now located elsewhere in Plymouth and known simply as the Plymouth Writers Group.  I'm delighted it has continued so successfully.

What did I get out of it? (Apart from hours spent e-mailing members, co-ordinating meetings, representing the library at various literary events etc), well, it gave me writing confidence.  Reading your work aloud to a group of people brings interesting reactions.  Some are complementary, others more analytical but in the end - all critique helps.  You also have to gauge the personality of the other members: some stick with a preferred genre i.e. You know that George will always read a horror story or that Jenny will always read a romance. There are also a small number who only want to be heard but not really concentrate on the work of others.

Writing groups are increasing in popularity.  Why so?  Well, with reliable jobs in such short supply, people can find themselves unemployed and spare time doodling on a writing pad or keyboard can turn into something creative.  Many retired people always wanted to write but 'never had the time'.  With self-publishing now so accessible, others hope they can produce a block buster or a seismic collection of poetry which will set the world on fire.  There are also - dare I say it - more insidious reasons.  When it was realised I had a popular group where writer's paid the modest sum of £3:00 per session to a charity (the library), others saw a viable outlet for setting up their own money making venture. (And think of the Arts Grants that can follow ...)

Enter the journalists.  I don't like journalists that much as they tend to be like a Rubic Cube to everyone should they need them at some point in the future.  They are also a forest fire of gossip.  By levering themselves in with a charity of similar objectives (i.e. another private library), they are eyeing up opportunities for Arts Grants and other substantial financial hand outs.  That of course will give them publicity and they can then get invited along to the swankiest black tie dinners where - well I never - they can be nominated for awards and secure more cyclic employment opportunities for themselves.  Why?  Writing Groups are hotbeds of creativity.  From the most pedestrian mind can burst the most sparkling idea.  But remember, you can copyright a document but you cannot copyright an idea.  So, journalists, who are always looking for a scoop may not find some famous footballer with his trousers down on Royal Parade but will be gathering the brainstorming gems of some very ordinary folk for their own ends.

So, is the squeeze worth the juice? Is the juice worth the squeeze? For a novice writer, a good writing group with some friendly faces is great fun.  If you have a public venue (i.e. a room in a library, pub or church hall) then control access strictly.  If you find your ideas have wandered out the door and appear in a newspaper or magazine under someone else's name then that business of not being able to copyright an idea will haunt you for a long time to come.  Don't think it doesn't happen because it has happened to me.
Do you want to write on a set theme each month/each meeting or do you want to read the next instalment of your novel?  Some Writer's Groups uphold rules and regulations where bringing your novel along may either be encouraged or unwelcome.  You need to find out in advance.

You could test the water by collecting a few friends together around your kitchen table and reading out your work.  This is often the best way to operate as it is totally private and you aren't having to marshal about members of the general public who have wandered in the door.  You can also recruit by word of mouth and if you are in your or someone else's home, the rules of respect are far more enforced by osmosis.  One vital problem to watch out for are the 'poachers'; the people who turn up to scout for the best writer's to take to their group so they can built up their reputation.  I had this happen to me (both as a victim of losing people from my group and being approached several times to go to other groups).  There may also come a time when, due to 'life getting in the way', you need to drop out for a while.  Illness can certainly give you a different perspective on life.  Priorities change.

Good luck with whatever you go for.  I trust that you will gain a sufficient amount of juice to drink plentifully and won't expend too much energy on the squeeze.  It can be exhausting. Trust me.