Jamie Marina Lau is a multidisciplinary artist and the author of Pink Mountain on Locust Island (2018) and Gunk Baby (2021).
What does a typical writing session look like for you?
I write best when I change environments often, if I walk a lot before and if its morning. My favourite moments of writing during lockdown begin in the earlier part of the morning without looking at my phone, energising myself through some form of movement and a cold black coffee. I like to go outside and read a snippet of something, then end up on a reading, listening and research tangent. Sometimes my automatic writing practice will happen from that, but not always. If I’m not able to write naturally then I’ll know my brain is more in the space to complete edits or do structural work. Overall I think it’s important to not put so much pressure on trying to pull certain ‘writing states-of-minds’ out of nothing. I’m learning you have to treat your mind tenderly in your practice, like you’re slowly untangling that ‘writing mind’ from within the barriers of well-practised anxiety and self-doubt.
What have been your best strategies to unlock creativity?
Fostering a safe space for myself to learn and be wrong and cringe. Writing fiction is a funny practice because it reveals so much to you about your subconscious workings, your deepest thoughts, your own character traits and your internalised biases. I think re-positioning the project to be something that teaches you and a reflection of the time spent discovering new ways of thinking feels good. Rather than trying to make it a perfect reflection of yourself as a whole. I think that can look like: reading widely, maintaining open-mindedness about what you explore and how you explore it, even if it moves you to a different form or medium. Harnessing the ‘not knowing’ by going too far into some research, beyond what feels comfortable or necessary to the work.
How do you define ‘play’ in your own writing process?
I guess just keeping the mind moving in a forward momentum. And asking a question and looking for an answer is a type of forward momentum. I’ve found that when I’m in a flow I have infinite tabs open, reading, watching and listening between things to ‘find something out’. Using everything as a resource. Making even the most mundane findings of research into a sort of answer for that initial question. Having writing exercises and writing games can also achieve this effect of asking and looking for an answer, almost like creating a puzzle for yourself to solve. I think the attitude of playing is important in keeping our writing processes growing. Writing processes need to be fluid because our psychological and emotional state is fluid. So I think whenever something starts to feel repetitive, use all the resources you have to keep up that momentum.
What is the best piece of writing advice you have ever received?
To write for yourself.
You can find Jamie’s latest writing course here:
