“I have a long and complicated personal history which I am in the process of turning into a huge memoir; crucial facts are that I was reared Catholic but got over it, was born male but got over it, stopped sleeping with boys about the time I stopped being one and am much happier than I was when I was younger.” Poet, novelist and critic Roz Kaveney’s iography on her Glamorous Rags website is a brilliant beginning for anyone wanting to understand the struggles and celebrations of becoming the writer you are and the person you are. In this episode of The Writers’ Gym podcast, Dr Rachel Knightley talks to Roz about her novel Tiny Pieces of Skull (winner of the Lambda in 2016), her recent novel Revelations and a poetic memoir The Great Good Time. In 2018 she published original versions of the complete poems of the Roman poet Catullus with Sad Press.
self-knowledge of what it is you want your writing and your writing life to be.
Find out more about Roz:
https://glamourousrags.dymphna.net
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roz_Kaveney
https://university.open.ac.uk/arts/research/pvcrs/2023/kaveney
Join the Writers’ Gym for more writing and creative confidence workouts at www.writersgym.com or sign up to our mailing list at drrachelknightley.substack.com
Get in touch with us at thewritersgym@rachelknightley.com
Writing Workout based on Roz’s interview
Warm-up: “I have a long and complicated personal history, which I'm in the process of turning into a memoir. Crucial facts are that I was really Catholic, but got over it was born male but got over it, stopped sleeping with boys about the time I stopped being one, and I'm much happier than I was when I was younger.” Roz Kaveney biog, Glamorous Rags Imagine you’re looking back at your writing and personal growth, not just what’s happened so far but what will have happened. What have you ‘got over’? What have you claimed as part of your newer, truer identity
Main Exercise : “Research more than you need, and then throw half your research away.” Roz Kaveney
Choose an area of interest you don’t normally get to spend much time with. Go to the British Library website, or Google, and let yourself wander. Keep everything that fascinates you.
Choose a scene to create in that world or around that idea. Include what you like. Exclude what doesn’t fit or feel relevant. And know that whatever is still there has had that research support it – even if it doesn’t make the final draft.
Take a blank sheet of paper and choose one of these questions:
- Who have I been told I am?
- What do I agree is true?
- What do I not agree is true?
- If I were to take one step towards something truer today:
-what would it be towards? -what would that step be?
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