23rd-30th November 2020: The best week of my writing life.

I packed my bags and made the hour-and-a-bit drive from Western Sydney to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains to take my residency at Varuna, the National Writer’s House. I’d won the Copyright Agency First Nations Fellowship shortly after landing my first book deal in what was a string of good fortune. Of course, then the bushfires happened and Covid happened and the residency was pushed back to November 2020. Somehow, this worked out positively for me in the end – I had more time to work on my next Young Adult manuscript and I was also able to get all the editing for ‘The Boy from the Mish’ out of the way, so when the time arrived, I could focus solely on the next project.

First Nations Fellowship group 2020 at Cahills lookout.jpg

During my seven days, six nights at Varuna, I felt like I really matured as a writer – particularly as an Aboriginal writer. Here are three things I learnt during my time at Varuna:

1. Writing is more than writing

One of the great things about Varuna is that you have your own private space to write for the whole day until dinner time. I used to think that writing meant actually writing the words – putting words and sentences and paragraphs together – but at Varuna, I found that writing is more than that. Writing is also thinking, planning, surrounding yourself with nature, listening to the birds and the trees and watching the clouds as they roll over you. Writing is taking a walk and finding inspiration in the beauty of the world. Writing is the time you spend letting the ideas come to you, thinking them over and trying to make sense of the story that is forming in your mind. Writing is reading the works of others to find inspiration. Writing is getting to know your protagonist better – learning things about them and making notes. Writing is speaking to other writers about writing.

2. Varuna is real magic

Arriving at Varuna on the Monday, I was late for the opening of the new accessible studio (which I stayed in). There were a whole pack of people in suits and dresses, who I figured were important in some way, but I was more keen to meet my fellow writers (who had gone to their rooms to unpack). When the visitors finally left, I only got half an hour of unpacking and settling in before meet-and-greet drinks with the other writers. I didn’t sleep well at all the first few nights, which I put down to sleeping in a new bed in a new place.

On Tuesday morning, I conquered Katoomba’s hill from hell when I went to the shops for a walk. There were moments when I considers using my hands as well as my legs to climb the steep hill and I was still catching my breath by the time I had filled my shopping basket.

I got a little bit of writing done over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but on Thursday night, we had a reading session after dinner. I count myself lucky to be able to listen to some really exciting writing and I shared the new opening scene from my next YA project. There was something about that session that really stirred the magic of Varuna. I got a good night’s sleep, woke up at 6:30am on Friday morning and was immediately in the zone. In my undies, I made my morning coffee and got to work. I got 2000 words down before I had breakfast at 9:00am, and the momentum only continued through the day and over the weekend. I really got to know my next protagonist and found the spirit of my next novel during my stay at Varuna. And I know that during that writing blitz, it really felt like magic. I finished with around 10000 words for my stay at Varuna and have since finished the next draft of my work-in-progress.

3. The power of sharing a meal

While I’m so pleased with the amount of words I wrote and the progress I made on my novel at Varuna, the most powerful thing I experienced at Varuna was being able to share time with my fellow writers which included sharing dinner every night. Each dinner was cooked and served by the magnificent, absolutely incredible Sheila, who I believe has been cooking meals for writers at Varuna for over 20 years! The things I cherish most about my stay at Varuna are those dinners and the conversations that came with them. Whether we were talking about writing or Indigenous issues, whether I was just listening to the conversations or taking part in them, they were truly powerful and intelligent, and I think those conversations will have more of a lasting impact on me than anything else.

When it was over, it took me about three days to accept that I had to come back to the real world, where I have a job and need to do laundry and shopping. At Varuna, I had a conversation with a fellow writer, who is also very new to the publishing world. We both felt like we didn’t belong there, like we didn’t deserve the fellowship we had won. But I know I can confidently call myself a writer. Writing is one of the things I do. I’m a writer and I didn’t truly feel like one until I experienced the magic of Varuna. The staff were so welcoming and the writers were so amazing to be around, I can hardly find the words to explain. The environment is build on support and encouragement and the sharing of ideas, and that’s where I think the magic comes from. I’ll be hoping to stay at Varuna again soon.

Gary