Kate Grenville - The Writing Book -exercise 1.2 Self Portrait

The act of putting words on the page is by no means a controlled activity. From idea to text, these words have a mind of their own.

This is a fact I am well aware of, most of my writing surprises the hell out of me. This is one of the reason's I am so enamoured with writing, when I sit down at the computer I often experience the same thrill as sitting down with a new novel by a much loved author (yes, I do love my work, I do think I am brilliant, and I do get excited about what I will write next and no, I will not apologise!).

Generally I have some idea of where I am going with a particular piece of writing but more often than not the story takes twists and turns that I do not expect.


This very thing happened when I sat down to tackle  Kate Grenville's The Writing Book exercise 1.2 - Self Portrait.

I fully intended to write a self portrait of my self, that is what the exercise instructed and really, if not a portrait

 of my self, then it would not be a self portrait no would it?

Other than the name--which was added after the exercise took on a life of it's own--what follows does indeed start of as reflective of what my mirror tells me most mornings...

@jax #theinceptionofchaos

*first draft

**jax excerpts may or may not appear in chronological order and may or may not make the final cut.

 

Self-Portrait

If someone asked you to describe Jax, the first thing you would say is ‘Oh you know, she’s average looking.’ And she wouldn’t mind because it’s true. Jax is of average height, if a little on the short side, 162cm, not tiny but not tall. Slim but not skinny nor chunky, light brown hair bleached by the sun. Her mum calls it honey blond when she’s trying to lift her spirits, Jax appreciates the effort. Her eyes are sometimes green, sometimes grey and sometimes blue, depending on her mood and the time of day. She has straight-ish teeth, a few freckles, a normal sized nose, average smile, and an average figure. The second thing you would say is ‘Be careful what you say around her, she hears and see’s everything.’ She’s not nosy, you would reassure your listener, no not at all, in fact she tries her hardest not to pay attention— she just can’t help it. You see she has 20-20 vision and 100% hearing accuracy, acute attention to detail and a memory to boot. And if those things don’t make her stand out in the crowd, then her smart mouth and quick wit certainly make you take notice. In a strange twist, she actually enjoys her talents but hates the attention people pay to them. For the most part she wishes everyone would leave her alone – people rarely do. Kids in school flocked to her, parents love her, teachers tried to tame her, and the government has their sights set on her.
copyright 2010, Tanya Bell

Happy writing!