After reading Honeybee by Craig Silvey

 

I’ve just finished reading Honeybee by Craig Silvey and I am moved. I feel emotional and a bit teary about the journey that the main character undertakes and the pain and suffering that he endures almost relentlessly throughout the novel which make the glimmers of a hopeful future (or not, no spoilers here) even more powerful. The themes of self-belief and self-acceptance have really left their mark. And they come from a fourteen-year-old main character. Read the book, you’ll love it.  

I’m fifty-two, a yoga and meditation teacher, mum to two boys and a rescue dog named Rupert, and a writer. It’s this last descriptor that I’ve struggled with the most. I mean, writing is what I do, it’s what I’ve always done, only it feels presumptuous and a bit arrogant to give myself the label, writer. What sort of BS is this? Seriously, where is the rule book that says that I can’t call myself anything I bloody well want? That I can’t own a label that describes what I do, perfectly?

            Throughout my life, I have written stuff down. I have volumes of notebooks and stacks of paper that are full of my scrawled ideas and thoughts and facts and an endless stream of consciousness, transcribed. I have file upon computer file of stories and snippets and long and short pieces. I write when I’m confused and sad, I write when I’m happy and peaceful and I write at other times, too. A lot of what I write will never see the light of day, which is entirely appropriate, it’s for me only. My way of processing the world.

I have written two novels, myriad short stories and written, directed and produced a short film*. I have produced hundreds of blog posts and articles. I’ve written for children and adults and have composed some awful poems. I write as a paid job for others and I write for myself. I take writing birthday cards seriously.

I have completed dozens of writing courses and worked with writing mentors. I’ve done my apprenticeship and I am about to pitch my latest novel to agents after winning two prizes with it as an unpublished manuscript. I am a writer, and I’m soon launching a website that says so for all to see. Eeek!    

*Don’t ask to see the film, it is abysmal (aside from the acting, thanks Dan!)