Friday 25 October 2013

Going Bananas!



Bananas are great. They come prepacked, are flavoursome and visually appealing. They are also easy eating, healthy and versatile. This brings me to the conclusion that bananas provide a great model for writing!

No, I’m not going fruity on you! The simple banana draws out some great points

Being prepacked, they are clean. This, to me, equates safe for eating with no hidden lurgies that can make you feel unwell post-consumption. I think that after-effects are a really important consideration for a writer. What will we deposit in the heart and mind of a reader of our work?

Like a banana, a writer has a distinct flavour (or voice) of their own. This is something a reader comes to recognise. A writer needs to be committed to honing and developing this trait and allowing their voice to mature. Just as a green banana leaves a tart set to your teeth, an underdeveloped voice can miss the mark and leave a distasteful tang. Developing our writing skills is not only a commitment to bringing out the best in our craft, but providing the best experience for our readers as well.

Is our writing easy eating? This could be interpreted in a number of ways, but I’m going to take the angle of ‘choreless’ reading. Some writers do this so well! Their writing immediately engages their readers, and no matter how short or long the text, it provides an experience that leaves you feeling grateful for having read their work. Definitely something to aim for!

As a writer, are we versatile? If you’re anything like me, there are certain styles of writing you prefer over others. It can be easy to invest solely in a familiar, comfortable style. This is fine, but if you are called upon to make a banana split instead of a smoothie, it helps if you’ve challenged yourself creatively in the past. A great way to do this is by joining a writers’ group, especially one that sets frequent writing challenges. (Don’t you always see bananas hanging out in bunches? :) ) Writing courses are also a great way of challenging our comfort zone and providing valuable opportunities to have our work critiqued by fresh eyes, enabling us to become more proficient at our craft.

All these things can increase the health of our writing – just like eating bananas, really. :)


Adele Jones lives in Queensland, Australia. Her writing is inspired by a passion for family, faith, friends, music and science – and her broad ranging imagination. To find out more visit www.adelejonesauthor.com

16 comments:

  1. Adele, what a great blog. Original, funny and a great message. I always thought you were a little bananas. Now I know why ;)

    I especially like the bit about trying to find our own voice. It's tempting to think we have to sound like someone else, as if there's a "proper" way to write. But if we try to sound like someone else, it just won't have that authentic twang to it. Perhaps one of the reasons God gave each of us a different voice is because not all readers are going to respond to the same style. I can also attest to the benefits of being versatile and trying different things. It can be scary, but we may find a talent we didn't know we had.

    Looking forward to spending many more quirky writing moments with you. Though I've always thought of myself as more of a pawpaw :)

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    1. Hit the nail on the head, Nola (about being a little bananas, I mean ;-) ). Great point about holding to our own voice/style in relation to authenticity, whilst allowing ourselves to explore new horizons. BTW am enjoying the deeper insights of pawpaws, too.

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  2. Another great post Adele. Now I am hungry - both for breakfast and for writing.

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    1. Thanks, Cathie. I hope your morning hunger has satisfied with both breakfast and writing. :)

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  3. An entertaining blog, Adele--I especially enjoyed the bit about hanging out in bunches! And Nola, I absolutely LOVE pawpaw! When we were in Qld recently, that was one of my favourite eating treats. Yes, you can get them here, but they're not quite the same.

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    1. Jo I have friends from the other states who really don't like them. I guess they're an acquired taste if you're not used to them. But if you're a Queenslander, there's nothing like a sweet juicy pawpaw. You can come to my place for one anytime :)

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    2. Yep, I'm a Queenslander, Nola! Mind you, we have lived interstate for over forty years now--but I still think of myself as one.

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    3. Thanks, Jo. As a self-confessed fruit bat, a fresh, sweet pawpaw is definitely a treat. (Oh dear, I've been distracted from my banana focus!) In my reply to Jenny (below) I suggested we start a fruit salad. I'm sure there's an analogy in that, too, with all those delicious flavours blended together. :)

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  4. As I said in the CWD FB page, I'm so allergic to bananas it gives me the heebie jeebies just looking at them. My arms were covered in a itchy rash at the Caleb conference a couple of weeks ago - just because everyone else was eating them at morning tea and obviously they touched things during and afterwards which then came in contact with me. In fact bananas are banned from my house and my kids think they are a bigger treat than chocolate when they sneak one at the grandparents (when mum's not around).

    So I'm ignoring the photo and taking Nola's suggestion "Pawpaw's provide a great model for writing" - they have their own distinct flavour, are nutritious and help digestion and hang around in bunches on the tree - maybe need a bit more prep to eat (cutting, scooping out the seeds and trimming the skin, using utensils) - but hey writing can be hard work too .

    Great post though Adele. Supporting each other, having our own individual voice and being versatile are all great points to remember.

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    1. Thanks for being a banana braving trooper, Jenny. A conflict of taste/experience RE bananas was bound to happen - a little like the unique tastes of readers for specific genres, really. ;) I think the pawpaw angle works great, too. Maybe we can make a whole fruit salad (excluding the banana for you).

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    2. That's no fun Jenny. My mum and grandmother are both allergic to bananas as well (also egg).

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  5. That was a great post, Adele. We're like a fruit salad. I do love bananas but my daughter, while not as sensitive to them as Jenny above, does have some sort of intolerance. But now that we're using the writer analogy, I've come across a few lemons in my time, too.

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    1. This discussion is getting fruitier by the moment - LOL

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  6. I love bananas and I loved your post, Adele. You must be a Quirky Quill since it sounded very nice and quirky! :) Being versatile in our writing is needed isn't it? Thanks for the great reminder wrapped in a beautiful banana skin!

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  7. Fun post, Adele, though have to say the bananas in your pic would be too ripe for me. Good points in the post.

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  8. Fun post Adele. I like your analogy of using bananas for writing. I aim to write material that is easy to eat.

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