Wednesday 19 January 2011

Writing as Life Saving Meg Harper

First, the good news. Last time I was writing here, I was mid-struggle with a self-publishing project for the creative writing group that I teach. Well, the book has been published. ‘Oxfordshire Originals’ is a very respectable little collection of short stories and poems and we hope to launch it properly later in the Spring. My short biography of Elizabeth 1st for KS2 is all done bar a final edit and has received a terse ‘very good’ from my friend who is a professor of Tudor History. I’m up to my ears in work, all of a creative nature – so my work life is very happy.
On the domestic front, however, things are so bad that the scriptwriters of the Archers could find inspiration. I’m told Nigel has fallen off the roof and died! Well, no one’s died here but events in the last few weeks have proved equally unexpected and unlikely – so I am once again reminded that fact often proves stranger than fiction.
In the midst of this, there are things that have saved my sanity – my friends, my daughter introducing me to Michael Macintyre (who may be a Tory but at least he is a funny one), walking, swimming – and a wonderful book.
And that’s what I want to write about. For years, I have agonised over the value of my writing. Not in the ‘Am I great? Could I be the next George Eliot?’ fruitless sort of way but in the ‘Am I making a worthwhile contribution to the community?’ sort of way. Brought up by a disabled mother, I learnt to see doctors as god-like. To be a doctor seemed the most valuable thing anyone could be or do. But I was useless at sciences so there was no hope of a career there – and anyway, I wanted to be a children’s writer, a goal I have achieved. But there has always been a niggle. For me, as I despairingly explained to a friend once, ‘Just fun, won’t do’ - and writing is so much fun! I am learning to get over that – but I still struggle with the fact that there are just so many other books out there – what am I thinking of, trying to write yet another?
Talking about this to a friend recently, she told me how books for her had been a life-saver as a small and very troubled child in a broken home. Books had been her haven. They had saved her life. More should be written. Hmm, I thought, sceptically. And then I started reading ‘The Road Home’ by Rose Tremain.
It’s an understated story about Lev, an economic migrant, but it had me gripped. Something about Lev’s struggle to make his way, to pick himself up again and again from the blows that battered him, gave me hope. I kept returning to his story as haven and inspiration. I still think of Lev now and remind myself that if he could do it, so can I – even though he is a fictional character. It is not a story where all ends happily – but it is a story where grit and perseverance and love prevail.
I still don’t know about my own writing – how worthwhile it is compared with other things that I do. But I do know that Rose Tremain’s book has helped me – and I am sure there are innumerable people out there for whom a particular book has been a special help through a particularly traumatic time in their lives. Please do share any that have done that for you. Thank you.

www.megharper.co.uk

9 comments:

catdownunder said...

When I was having a really miserable time at a boarding school my English teacher gave me a copy of "Markings" by Dag Hammarskjold. I think she thought I might get some sort of religious comfort out of it. That is not my style at all.
What I got from the book was the courage to stop worrying about standing out from the crowd and the inspiration to end up doing something useful.

AnneR said...

In Memoriam, Pearl, Revolution, various poems (oh, all but one of those are poems... various shorter poems). Yes, life saving. It is both the recognition of the pain and the possibility of hope that they offer. And the knowledge that someone has gone through terrible times and produced something wonderful as a consequence.

Sue Purkiss said...

I can't think of a particular book that's helped me through difficult times - there have been so many - but just wanted to echo your endorsement of The Road Home. I've read this twice already, and I don't often re-read books. I also re-read one of her other books recently, Music and Silence, and loved that all over again too. For beatifully written books to take you to another time and place, I'd recommend The Glass Room by Simon Mawr, and The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer. Both of these were presents from my son - so well done Richard! Hope things settle down for you soon, Meg.

karen ball said...

I love Rose Tremain, though haven't read her for years. (So many children's books to read...) Novels can be an absolute solace in difficult times, reassuring you you're not alone in feeling the things you're feeling.

Sarah Taylor-Fergusson said...

For children, Jaclyn Moriarty does it well (and with understated humour) in Feeling Sorry for Celia, and Finding Cassie Crazy. In adult novels, for me, I'd say Dickens isn't bad at making your own life seems easier by comparison, and Dirt Music by Tim Winton for relationship ends and beginnings. But it's whatever fully absorbs you at the time to take you away from the grief. Right now, I'm not in a good place at home, and I'm erring towards new writing to transport me to other realms. The best of luck with your situation too.

Andrew Strong said...

Last week I read "You're a Bad Man Mr Gum" to a bunch of ten year olds. It is utterly throw away, and slightly unhinged, but it made us all laugh. Example: "Mr Gum had an old mahogany chest. Mahogany is a type of wood made of mahogany."

Lynda Waterhouse said...

As a child 'White Boots'by Noel Steatfeild was a comfort. Later it was 'Greenbanks' by Dorothy Whipple. Recently it was 'Tea Rose' and 'Winter Rose' by Jennifer Donnelly. They were novels to share with my Mum. I also find listening to murder ballads strangely cheering.

Penny Dolan said...

I do know that whenever I start to read anything - probably even a sauce bottle label - I feel stress & tension leaving me. Is it the sense of order, of someone else - the writer? the grammar & the layers of meaning & history within the vocabulary? the potential information or story? - taking control that calms? And so many books that do help and inspire, including The Road Home.

Meg Harper said...

I am so sorry not to have got back here again till now to respond to these helpful comments. I'm so glad The Road Home is enjoyed by others too and it's lovely to hear about other people's experiences. I agree with Penny - I become so absorbed so quickly that almost any reading is calming. Whether that is to do with associations from childhood or in the very nature of the process, I don't know - but it works! I too have found In Memoriam comforting, Anne. I've had to write to letters to bereaved people in the last 24hours and, as ever, I have reached for other people's words, so much better than my own. So often a book or a poem puts things in perspective for me. Sarah, I'm so sorry to hear that things are rough for you too and hope they improve soon. I recommend 'The Road Home.' Lev is so human - no super-hero, just someone who struggles through and survives - so very comforting to have in one's mental background. Thank you, everyone.