In the first episode in the Character season of Elements, I talk to Rachel O’Neill about character and how it relates to their writing. We use Andrea Arnold’s film Milk as a starting point for this discussion.

CW: Please be aware that Milk contains the death of a baby and deals with the grief resulting from this. Here’s a link where you can watch Andrea Arnold’s film Milk

I just wanted to say a big thank you to Rachel. I have found her work incredibly inspiring over the years and I always seem to talk to them at exactly the right time. This chat was so helpful for my own writing and helping me fall a bit in love with writing again. Thanks Rachel!

Some of the things we talk about are:

Rachel’s new book Requiem for a Fruit is out with We Are Babies soon. Here is a link to read about Requiem of a Fruit and to pre-order

Here’s a link to Miranda Harcourt’s connection exercise

Rachel mentions Discwoman and their slogan Amplify Each Other. Here’s a link to their website

Rachel talks about the film Waru and Vai. Here’s a link to some information about Waru and here is a link to some information about Via

Keep an eye out for for the upcoming anthology film Kāinga that will be helmed by Pan-Asian female directors. Here’s a link to information about Kāinga

Here’s a link to Proudly Asian Theatre

Here’s a link to Rachel’s blog

Here’s a link to Rachel’s Instagram

Exercise:

Describe a person from only the outside. You have no access to their thoughts or feelings. You can only use image and sound.

Thank you Copyright Licensing New Zealand for funding the Elements series.

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