tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793626993023783142024-03-12T23:43:06.986-07:00Author on the Edge"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ConfuciousAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-90217152780785501512015-07-14T05:10:00.000-07:002015-07-14T05:10:18.116-07:00Over the Rainbow<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
A few weeks ago something happened
that I had worried would never, ever happen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I signed a publishing deal with Oxford
University Press for my children’s fantasy adventure book –</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mold and the Poison Plot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Gosh. Even writing that seems
bizarre!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I feel a bit like Dorothy when she woke up in OZ - dazed and stunned and
wondering if it's all a dream. Weeks later I'm still wondering if
I've had a bump on the head! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Getting the very thing I’d been
dreaming of for years is an amazing thing. But it has actually,
properly, REALLY happened. During a meeting with my soon to be editor at OUP HQ
in Oxford last week it finally sank in. A whole team of wonderful, talented
people would be working with me to publish MY story! WOW!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4AdZDHeWxj85GAPxPbMlilzdMZpnS1b57XBiVYsAikGf74y16dduSJLdsbNzASIPpCFwQScmrHuVU-J-cWkqDfvy4QOAckw9nCx0jnZxacFr-RFKv3tPRVkJ5mtsQjv6IiKqUd_axnFB/s1600/IMG_0188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4AdZDHeWxj85GAPxPbMlilzdMZpnS1b57XBiVYsAikGf74y16dduSJLdsbNzASIPpCFwQScmrHuVU-J-cWkqDfvy4QOAckw9nCx0jnZxacFr-RFKv3tPRVkJ5mtsQjv6IiKqUd_axnFB/s320/IMG_0188.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Myself and my agent Kate Shaw outside OUP</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
suppose you might be wondering how I got to this point so let’s Cue The Backstory
and vanish back in time…</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
As soon as I began writing in 2010
it became clear just what a difficult and competitive industry I was trying to
enter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did my best and followed all
the advice: Writing draft after draft, joining SCBWI, setting up a crit group, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>writing another book, going to events and
conferences and workshops, reading books on craft and writer blogs and then
writing some more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I finished several projects, was
rejected many, many times and kept on going regardless. I felt I was making
progress but just not enough to break through. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I had been writing for over three years
when the idea for this book popped into my head. I spent the next three months furiously
writing the first draft and then, took a leap of faith and sent the first three
chapters to The Golden Egg Academy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Although I felt I had a plot and a
voice and a story worth telling I also knew it wasn’t at the level it needed to
be, not yet and I hoped GEA would help me get it there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
In January 2014 I met Imogen Cooper
for the first time and our discussion sent sparks of inspiration flying in my
head. I was lucky enough to be recommended for mentoring and my subsequent
meeting with Maurice Lyon gave me such a clear path for the redraft that it
almost didn’t feel like editing! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I did more work with Imogen until I
finally felt it was ready to be seen by agents and in October 2014 I met and
signed with the marvellous Kate Shaw from the Viney Agency.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
More edits with Kate followed where
I had to lose a full 10,000 words and then the hardest stage of all –
submissions to publishers!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
It was this part that felt the most
terrifying. This was the make or break. Either someone would buy it or they wouldn’t
and if they didn’t then I was looking at having to say goodbye to my much loved
story and start again with something new…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Holding my nerve and staying
positive through rejections was much easier with the help of my lovely
supportive agent but it still tested my very sanity at times. (big thanks to my
writer friends who put up with me and managed to make me laugh when I wanted to
cry!) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
And then the interest from
publishers began and I held my breath, wondering if that interest would become something
more concrete… and oh frabjous day it did! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And
so, we can return to the present day –</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Summing up then, it’s taken two
years since first beginning Mold and the Poison Plot to secure a book deal with
OUP <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that will lead to its publication in
Spring 2017 – nearly FOUR YEARS after starting it and SEVEN YEARS after I began writing!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
The years of scribbling away may have been
long and often arduous but they have given me so much more than a publishing
deal;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve learned what makes me really
happy (stories and writing), discovered I have more strength and grit than I
ever imagined (who knew?), found supportive and wonderful friendships that I
hope will be part of my life forever ( I’m not giving them
any choice in the matter.) and a whole host of wonderful things to look forward
to in the future from launch parties to school visits and hopefully more books! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I feel very lucky indeed and I'm going to do my best to enjoy it all, keep learning and try to remember always that the journey is just as important as the destination. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Feel free to ignore the next bit everyone!
It is a bit Oscar speech I’m afraid but I wanted those included to know how very
much I appreciate them all. I could have waited for the book acknowledgements
or my launch party speech but that is far away and life is uncertain so I just
wanted to get it out there now – </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
I will be forever grateful to -</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The Golden Egg Academy, most especially Imogen
and Maurice - for offering not just insightful editing advice and instruction
on story but never ending support and the most wonderful writing community of
which I am so happy to be a part of. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>My agent Kate Shaw for believing in me and my
story.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My crit
group past and present who have been clever and funny and marvelous over the
years <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Thank you - Miriam, Allison, Meira,
Gail, Karen, Tania, Paula, Larisa and Michelle)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4) Vashti and James for being the best writing chums a girl could ask for. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5) Jude for knowing me forever and loving me anyway.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
6) My mum who took me to the library every week, sat
and listened to me read endlessly and always believed I could do anything.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>My dad who told me such good stories about the
pet crocodile he had as a boy in India that I believed they were true for
years! Still kind of wish they were. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Steve – who supported me in every way possible,
never grumbled about my new obsession and took his own joy from seeing me
happy. Love you.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Luke – my heart, my reason for writing, my
sounding board, my harshest critic and always my baby boy. Sorry for the mushy
stuff.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 20.25pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-82084083042443613962015-04-29T08:57:00.000-07:002015-04-29T08:57:19.853-07:00Forgetting is Easy<br />
It's been a while since I posted, nearly a year in fact. (oops)<br />
<br />
There's been plenty going on but the urge to blog has been strangely absent, perhaps because of the dangerous amount of time I spend on twitter where my thoughts can appear as I think them and without the unnecessary need to plan and focus and edit in the same way that a blog post requires.<br />
<br />
If you have missed me on twitter (how?) or indeed if you never go near it then here is a very brief update of where I am with my writing -<br />
<br />
<i>I finished my MG fantasy adventure after much work (and some frenzied hair pulling) with the help of Imogen Cooper and Maurice Lyon at <a href="http://www.goldeneggacademy.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Golden Egg Academy</a> and sent it out to agents in September. In October I signed with my fabulous and amazing agent, Kate Shaw from the <a href="http://www.thevineyagency.com/" target="_blank">The Viney Agency</a> (pause for whooping and excited dancing)</i><br />
<br />
So with one book finished and out of my hands I did as had been recommended and started my second book. I was confident that after learning so much from the Golden Egg experience and going through such a rigorous editing process that my next book would be sufficiently easier to write.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Dear reader I must tell you now...</i></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> THAT I WAS WRONG.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
The first draft of my new book has driven me half mad.<br />
<ul>
<li>It has been MIND NUMBINGLY HARD WORK. </li>
<li>I have questioned whether I could write at all.</li>
<li>I have questioned my sanity.</li>
<li>I have wondered whether it might be better to try something easier? Perhaps scuba diving with great white sharks? </li>
<li>I've thought seriously about giving it up entirely and admitting that writing was just not for me.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Maybe my first book was just a weird fluke? </b></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
But, BUT...somehow with the help and support of lovely writerly friends I slashed and hacked my way through a first draft and I now have something really quite rubbish. <br />
<br />
And I know what you're going to say - <b>"first drafts are supposed to be bad" </b>and I know that's true but I had forgotten exactly how BAD they were. I'd forgotten in fact just how much work went into the early part of novel writing, of getting the meat and bones onto the page in some semblance of a story.<br />
<br />
For nearly a year I'd been polishing and revising and editing my previous book, but I'd been working on something that did at least <i>resemble </i>a book. The plot, the structure, the basics were already there - I just had to refine them and polish them up.<b> I had forgotten the bit before. </b>Almost entirely in fact. And yet the first draft of my last book had been just as bad, possibly worse, but all I remembered was the beautifully polished version...<br />
<br />
At this point<b> I had an epiphany.</b><br />
<br />
I realised that all those references to birthing a book were not just about the visceral love and attachment you have to your baby book but also about the strange tricks your mind plays on you after it's all over. Just as women forget the pain of childbirth, <b>so writers forget just how terrible their first drafts were.</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Selective amnesia has it's reasons of course - the continuance of the human race for one but also, and even more sneakily, to trick writers into starting another book.</b></blockquote>
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And of course I'm glad for it. Perhaps if I'd remembered I never would have started at all. Now I have a first draft, however horrible it is, I can get on with the art of making it better. And no doubt when it comes to book three and book four I'll be just as innocent and forgetful as before.<br />
<br />
But at least editing is easy right? I'm sure I remember it as being easy...<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-70473969543641549122014-05-16T06:19:00.000-07:002014-05-16T06:19:51.097-07:00Levelling up<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I like video games.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I play them fairly often and I have done for years, my current favourite is the Uncharted trilogy which combines great story with well developed characters and has lots of shooty, climby type action to keep me entertained.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The thing I've noticed about all video games is that in order to complete them you have to level up. Games have different ways to help you with this, some start off with tutorial levels to show you exactly how to control and use the game, all of them tend to start off easy and gradually get harder and most will have different difficulty settings such as: Easy, medium, hard or beginner, advanced and expert.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The reason I mention all this is that there are a fair few similarities here to writing. In order to get better and have a chance of getting published you have to constantly improve or level up.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The easiest way in both gaming and writing is to practice. The more you play/write the better you get. So you put in the hours and the work. You read books or internet articles on how to improve/succeed.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>But that's not always enough.</b></div>
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It can take us a fair way, maybe move us from beginner to advanced but most of us need more help to really improve.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To advance to the next level may take outside imput. Playing against other people, judging your work against someone else's, asking for advice - the basics of a crit group, or one to one feedback from an agent or editor at a conference.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
I felt as if I'd done all of these things for the last couple of years - I'd written and edited three books, I'd read books on writing, I'd had feedback from agents and publishers, I'd been to events and conferences, I'd joined a crit group...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I had levelled up a fair amount but still, when I looked at my current w.i.p I felt that there was something missing, that despite it holding together as a book with a decent plot and interesting characters it wasn't as good as it could be.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I could recognise this because of everything I'd learned but as yet I hadn't learned enough to know how to make it better. Not really better, not the better that will transform it from a decent bit of work to something damn good.</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So at the end of last year I got in touch with the <a href="http://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/" target="_blank">Golden Egg Academy</a> run by Imogen Cooper and I asked for help. I knew I needed an expert eye and I hoped they might be able to push me to the next level.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I saw Imogen in January of this year and left that meeting feeling like I was finally on the right track. Imogen's homework was for me to read<b> "Into the Woods" by John Yorke </b>and I can't thank her enough for recommending it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's not a book I would have picked up for myself but reading it has made such a difference to my understanding of plot and structure. What I found fascinating about it was that he uses plots from popular films to illustrate his points and there were light bulbs going off everywhere as I read!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The next bit of homework was to write my bookmap, a patented device that Imogen uses with all her writers that forces you to consider everything about your book in detail and in relation to everything else. It made me realise how little I really knew about some of my characters so I spent ages working out their history and character and this sparked off new ideas and scenarios. I finally felt as though my book was coming alive, the world, the people, it was all finally, really, there.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It felt as if I'd been pushed up several levels already.<i> It was a heady rush of exultation, this was what I wanted, this new understanding</i> and already I could see huge areas in my work that could do with improvement </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
More excitement came when I was offered the chance to be mentored by Maurice Lyon and when he read my m.s he sent me comments and we met to discuss in March. Time sped by as we talked and discussed everything about my book in minute detail. I told him my ideas and he helped me fine tune what I needed to achieve and when he left I felt so motivated and more importantly even, I felt as if I had a clear idea of what I had to do now.</div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
The last couple of months have involved some of the most enjoyable editing ever. Enjoyable because I knew what I needed to achieve and because all those months of preparation had given me the tools I needed. And of course I now had a mentor I could ask for advice if I got stuck, knowing that made it even easier to keep editing.</div>
</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
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So the reason I've been so absent from this blog is because my brain has been exploding, it feels that since joining Golden Egg I've managed to move up several levels and although I may still be a fair way from the very top I think I may now have the tools to get up there one day.</div>
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<br /></div>
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First though I just need to scale a couple of walls, leap across a chasm and take out the baddie with my sniper rifle...</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-54505161205331894742014-01-15T08:31:00.000-08:002014-01-15T08:31:29.832-08:00Where's my motivation?<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Last week I was reading a book. An adult book (for a change!) by an author I know and love. It was a good book, intriguing with an interesting premise but about a third of the way through I got annoyed. The more I read the more annoyed I became until I was reading the book in a fairly angry manner. Cue grinding of teeth and agitated page turning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The reason?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i> Motivation.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> In my opinion the motivation for the main character to behave in a certain way was not reasonable. As the book continued and the protagonist carried on using this rather flimsy reason for their increasingly strange behaviour I lost my belief, my sympathy and my patience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I did finish the book, instead of throwing it out the window, because it was in part a mystery and I wanted to know what happened. But I was not happy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I felt let down.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> It seemed to me that the author needed a reason for their protagonist to behave in a fairly stupid, dangerous way in order to furnish the plot but the motivation she'd settled on was not good enough. No one would behave in such a way for such a reason. It was ludicrous. Ludicrous!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> While grumbling under my breath the writer part of my brain switched on and I started thinking about my own work. Were <i>my</i> characters properly motivated? Or was I simply pushing them into certain behaviour I needed for my plot?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Luckily at this point I had some input from an editor who flagged up a particular character in my m.s. I looked up my notes and saw that I had written nothing about this person despite their relative importance to the story. Instead I'd simply slipped them into a standard role without even knowing in my own head who they really were and why they would behave like that. This was bad.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I went away and thought about it. About all my characters in fact and I started imagining little cut scenes for them from their past. They became very quickly more well rounded because I understood them more. I worked out their relationships with each other, the dramas that had shaped them. Of course I don't need to put all this backstory into my m.s but I <b>need</b> to know it because <b>plot comes from character.</b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> I now feel that my story will become stronger and richer with this added knowledge, the characters will live and breathe and behave the way they're supposed to, NOT just because it's the way I want them to. This also resulted in a few eureka moments, created by my new understanding, so much so that I'm quite excited about sitting down to my next draft.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Of course then I started wondering why I hadn't just done the character analysis before I started writing, so that all that deeper understanding was already present in my first draft. But on reflection I think the understanding in many ways COMES from writing the first and second drafts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Anyway, it was a useful lesson to me. Readers will not accept flimsy reasons. They need to feel the motivation for behaviour is reasonable, compelling even. Otherwise they can get quite cross and lose belief in your whole book and that as I have seen first hand is not the response we want.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-88196191740129855332014-01-06T04:13:00.000-08:002014-01-06T04:13:25.680-08:00Stock TakingSo here we are. New Year. January 2014. A good time to take stock of things, to consider what we learned in the past year and how that can help us in the new one.<br />
<br />
I'm going to go back a bit further though, just to remind myself of a few important truths.<br />
<br />
<b>Four Years Ago...</b><br />
<br />
I was in pain every day. Practically housebound and surviving on an ever increasing amount of painkillers. A disc in my lower back had prolapsed and was pressing on my nerve causing every movement to be agony. After two years of living like this, with ever worsening episodes of pain I was losing the will to live. Depressed, worried and miserable, only my family and friends kept me sane. Them and the little notebook in which I was writing a silly story for my son.<br />
I remember clearly thinking that if only the pain would go away I'd never ask for anything again. I would appreciate every pain free second of my life. Do all the things I wanted to. Be happy all the time as long as the pain would just go away...<br />
<br />
The pain did go away. Finally. After an operation on my spine to remove the offending piece of disc. The relief was almost instantaneous but having been weakened for so long it took me about six months to fully recover.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Three Years Ago...</b><br />
<br />
I was fit and healthy. I was happy. I started writing in earnest. I joined scbwi. I went to events. I met new people. I started planning a trip across America with my family.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two Years Ago... </b><br />
<br />
I started a crit group and met some lovely writers who helped me with my work. <br />
I got lucky with my first book. people liked it. Agents liked it. I even met one who gave me detailed notes on how to improve it.<br />
I went on my amazing month long trip and saw the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and Florida and New York. I went white water rafting and trekking and all the things I thought I might never do again.<br />
<br />
Then the agent turned my revised book down. It was a huge blow but I learned a great deal from that experience so I brushed myself down and carried on writing. Somehow though I could feel a desperation leaking into my life. And I had all this angst inside me. I was angry that I'd wasted so much of my life NOT writing. It seemed hugely important that I got an agent and a book deal as fast as I could. ...<br />
And I forgot how very lucky I was. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>One Year Ago</b>...<br />
<br />
I was still writing, still going to events, still meeting with my crit group but the angst was easing. The desperation was gone. I was calm. It was a wonderful feeling. And before I got to the end of my third book I was overwhelmed with an urge to begin my fourth.<br />
And this book has been a true pleasure to write. A joy from start to finish. It pretty much just flowed from my head onto the screen with the minimum of fuss. It made me wonder if I'd been too busy forcing my stories onto the page in my headlong rush to publication and that was why they'd been so much more difficult to write.<br />
Perhaps it was a mixture of relaxing into my writing AND the experience I'd gained over the previous years? I now knew so much more about the mechanics of plot and character, I understood how to plan and layer my story and my brain was doing all that WHILE I was enjoying the process of writing.<br />
Perhaps I just got lucky. Either way I finished the second draft at the end of the 2013.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2014</b>...<br />
<br />
I don't know what this year will bring. I could hope for agents and book deals but they may still be very far away and that's fine.<br />
I may have to spend this year reading (and writing) about everyone else's success stories while I'm once again facing rejections and failure.<br />
What is most important to me though, is that I don't let those things bring me down. That I don't forget again how very lucky I really am simply to be living my life every day without pain. How fortunate I am even to be able to spend time doing what I love. And how blessed I feel to have met so many wonderful people in the process.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-5087700874440978672013-12-22T07:55:00.002-08:002013-12-23T05:03:08.827-08:00Goodbye 2013<h2>
First of all Merry Christmas to everyone!</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMW3XxdxZGwdMoysl54Ta83IrP1o7iBGJhWmGCknZUJIzS6i-iZkKc3ruz4DMYAOaIajE6I1An18sIfecjzpfmOoWp4NW_lAn-JMxDi-F0q8DYZtTM4BciGur8hLUejM5LkiPU1ifqNX4M/s1600/dancing+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMW3XxdxZGwdMoysl54Ta83IrP1o7iBGJhWmGCknZUJIzS6i-iZkKc3ruz4DMYAOaIajE6I1An18sIfecjzpfmOoWp4NW_lAn-JMxDi-F0q8DYZtTM4BciGur8hLUejM5LkiPU1ifqNX4M/s320/dancing+girl.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<br />
I apologise for being a bit lax about posting lately. I really used to try and post weekly but the problem is I don't want to blog just for the sake of it. I want each piece to be either interesting, useful or reflective otherwise what's the point?<br />
And to be honest much of the angst that I had when I first started this blog two years ago has gone. I don't feel the need to rant or moan or whinge about the fact I'm not published. I've changed. A huge amount. And my need to blog has faded slightly because of it. <br />
I'm not giving up blogging entirely however, I hope that I can keep up writing about events and even some progress in my personal journey now and then.If you miss me too much you can find me on twitter <complete id="goog_1690973756">@authorontheedge </complete><br />
I am looking forward to next year with great excitement. I hope to see you there. :)<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-90240907738960685052013-12-02T06:14:00.000-08:002013-12-02T06:14:11.218-08:00A year in the life. Looking back over 2013 I realise that I've spent nearly ALL of it writing!<br />
To sum up briefly -<br />
After a small submission round of my second book at the beginning of the year, I started writing my third book in<b> February. </b><br />
I finished the first draft of that book in<b> June</b> but before I had the chance to revise it I was overwhelmed by a voice in my head that forced me to start writing my fourth book. (That may sound weird but hopefully other writers will understand!)<br />
Last week, at the end of<b> November</b> I wrote the final word on the second draft of that same book. Hurrah!<br />
<br />
After all that it's no wonder I feel exhausted. Drained even.<br />
But I'm also slightly euphoric. Why? Because a year spent writing is a year well spent in my opinion.<br />
And because the changes I've noticed not just in my writing but in myself are heartening.<br />
<br />
<b>On Writing.</b><br />
<br />
I've FINALLY learned not to rush. Whoop!<br />
I've discovered that many plot problems can be overcome by just letting them sit for a while. The answer will come. Eventually. <br />
I've found there is a happy medium between planning and pantsing.<br />
I know when something works and when it doesn't and have found the courage to rewrite as necessary.<br />
I can take criticism and use it effectively and I can also ignore advice I don't agree with.<br />
I've figured out that I really need the VOICE to spark the narrative. Not the other way around. <br />
I know what works for <i>me</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>On Myself.</b><br />
<br />
I have discovered the following ;<br />
<br />
Writing makes me happy.<br />
Writing is<i> part </i>of my life, not all of my life.<br />
Spending half my life in a made up world is remarkable therapeutic. <br />
The writing community is somewhere I feel happy and enjoy being. I am lucky to be part of the warm and welcoming community that is SCBWI BI and also to belong to a wonderful critique group that's been going for nearly two years.<br />
Optimism is more fun than Pessimism. <br />
Giving up is not an option.<br />
<br />
<br />
So there we have it. My thoughts at the end of another writing year.<br />
I'm hoping that the things I've learned will be enough to help me cope with the inevitable traumas of submitting in 2014. Fingers crossed people!!<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-75659788661956038852013-11-06T05:57:00.000-08:002013-11-06T05:57:14.497-08:00Philosophy for Writers<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Writing isn't easy.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting published is even harder.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But never fear people, I am here with a whole list of ways to help </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">you be philosophical about a writing life.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pick one of these and all your troubles will be over!*</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(*the author accepts no responsibility for any harm that comes to you or others through using these techniques. Nor are any actual promises made as to the success<b> </b>or failure of your writing or the trouble freeness of your life)</span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philosophy Number One</span></h4>
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Confidence Arrogancius Pluribus Maximus - </span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Perfect if you think your work is stupendous and the whole world needs to read it. After every rejection you receive simply rail at their sheer stupidity, write aggressive blog posts and send furious emails. The best part of this philosophy is that you can die convinced that you've been unappreciated in your own time and that only when you've gone will your genius be discovered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philosophy Number Two</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Goddicus Fateicus</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Take the view that nothing is in your hands or in your control. Don't worry about whether your book is any good because it doesn't matter. If it's meant to be it will happen. If it's not then it won't. You have no influence on any of it so why worry?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philosophy Number Three</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Superstitious Extremus</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You control everything. Your lucky knickers and special bendy pen can make the difference between success or failure. As long as you follow your special routine of writing on a Wednesday between three and four in the morning while wearing your wellies and singing "Paperback Writer" by the Beatles then your work is guaranteed to be lauded by all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then all you have to do is send it off on the 3rd Tuesday when the moon is rising in Pluto, to any agents whose names begin with the letter P and are born in September while chanting Celtic nursery rhymes and you're bound to be snatched off the slush pile.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If not then it must have be the fault of that black cat that crossed your path or the ladder you walked under. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philosophy Number Four</span></h4>
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Superious Stalkerific</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Basically if you have stalker tendencies this is the one for you. It's based on the idea that what you write isn't as important as who you know. What you must do is use the internet and social networks to find every agent and publisher you can. Then ignore their submission guidelines.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Instead find out where they are, hang around outside their offices, gatecrash parties, linger around the loos and whenever possible force your manuscript into their hands. That way they're bound to read it and hey presto you'll be published before you know it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Your other option in case they all take out a restraining order on you (and they probably will) is to try meeting other writers and telling them how brilliant your work is in comparison to theirs. They're bound to realise (after you harass them for long enough) that their real purpose in life is not to write their own books but to help you get published by passing your manuscript on to their agents and publishers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philosophy Number Five</span></h4>
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<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Optimism Overloadus</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course you'll be published! Your mum and dad said so. And you got a gold star for your story in year five so that proves how good you are. You don't need to read any books or go to any courses. And you don't need feedback from others because you know you're destined to be a writer. All you need to do is keep writing. You've already made it to number seven in your twenty three part series. When you've finished them all you're sure someone will be desperate to publish them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <b>That's all I'm covering this week but I hope you find something there that catches your eye. Remember, the right philosophy can make all the difference to your writing life!</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-7335746146132627432013-10-28T03:37:00.000-07:002013-10-28T03:37:24.137-07:00Mastering Middle Grade<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Yesterday I attended my very first SCBWI masterclass and lucky me, it was run by the wonderful Sara O Connor from Hot Key Books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Twenty eager scooby people turned up at the Theodore Bullfrog Pub in Charing Cross hoping for a practical workshop on writing the best middlegrade fiction and that's exactly what we got!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> For those of you who couldn't join us Sara has very kindly allowed me to blog about the day, so here we go, Halfway to the Middle by Sara O Connor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We started off by looking at the basics -</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> How do you define Middle Grade?</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Age of the main character (between 10 and 13 usually)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Level of violence (do what you want to monsters etc but not so much with people) and romance (not beyond hand holding)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Length (around 40 000 words)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Contains innocence and optimism and isn't cynical</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. Earnest with a sense of justice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> We then moved onto talking about character and Sara encouraged us to find our inner ten year old. Most importantly;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do Not Condescend or Underestimate </span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure there is Authentic Depth to your character - </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Know what they Want, Think and Need </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ensure there is True Motivation.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Writing Exercise One</b> -<br />Read your first two pages - what do you learn about character? Underline everything you learn about them.<br />(Remember - Physical description isn't character - we need to find out what they believe, see authentic motivation for the plot as early as possible.)<br />If we don't find out enough, why not? Is backstory or secondary characters getting in the way?</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Remember the Less is More adage. Everything you tell your reader must be worth it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Imagine that your reader has to carry a backpack from page one to the end of the story. The backpack holds everything you tell your reader so make sure they NEED to carry it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If they don't need it - CUT IT OUT and remember small details often matter most.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Writing Exercise Two</b><br /><br />To make space for the essential details go through your first page and CUT twenty unnecessary words.<br />(Yes, 20 words!)<br />Now Cut twenty more. (Yes I know, it's hard. We moaned as well but No Pain No Gain!)</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Main Character Essentials</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We have to love them in order to want to spend the next however many pages with them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They need Conviction - we have to believe in them and what they want and need.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Their Motivation must be in sync with the plot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They must be in the drivers seat, make decisions and drive the plot forward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For more help with this Sara suggested we check out the <a href="http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/shadowingsite/watch.php?authorid=2&questionid=123" target="_blank">Carnegie Shadowing site</a> and specifically Roddy Doyle talking about Greyhound Girl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Writing Exercise Three</b><br />Ask yourself these questions;<br />What is the first thing your character does that will make the reader care about them? (how early or late does it happen?)<br />Why should the reader want to be your main character? (reading is aspirational)<br />What is memorable about your main character in the first chapter?<br />What is the worst thing that could ever happen to them?<br />What is the one thing they will do anything to avoid admitting to themselves or others?</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sara used examples from published books and participants submissions to highlight her points and the whole group was buzzing over lunch as Sara's ideas inspired us all to think differently about our work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plot Basics</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plot should be inseparable from character.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plot should be <i>because</i> of character.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ask big questions to develop the plot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ask questions again and again - how far will your character go to get what they want?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Each answer should complicate your plot and test your character.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don't force it! You can't make people do what you want and you can't overlay plot onto character.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Create the situation bring in your character and see how they react.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Before the workshop Sara asked us to write a two line chapter summary that gave the most important points. It was a really useful way to get the whole picture of your novel and check whether the following points all work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Each chapter should be able to lead on to the next with the word</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> because </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">not </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and then.</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Each chapter should move the story on in terms of plot or character. If it doesn't - Cut It!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With each chapter get in late and leave early.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Remember your backpack and make sure only the essentials are going in.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Writing Exercise Four</b><br />Write a two line summary chapter summary for your book.<br />Now cut out three chapters.<br />(Don't shout at me, Sara made me do it!)<br /> </span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Our last instruction came in terms of making our story meaningful in some way. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We talked about the Obligatory Scene which should almost have been set up in the early chapters. It is what readers have been expecting from the beginning and therefore it MUST happen!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>Writing Exercise Five</b><br /> Do you have your obligatory scene?<br />Does your protagonist meet the antagonist?<br />How does the scene change both characters?<br />Is it the biggest, best scene in the book?<br />Where does it occur? Would a different setting make it more dramatic?<br />If the scene isn't as good as it could be look at the buildup before.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And here's what Sara thinks makes great middle grade -</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brilliant idea</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Vivid characters</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don't condescend.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make it meaningful.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Embrace revision.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have fun! </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I want to thank Sara for giving such a great masterclass. Everything in it was useful and can be applied to my w.i.p so I'm very glad I came along and as always I had a brilliant day with my fellow scoobies and the very lovely Sara!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you found Sara's ideas useful and would like the chance to work more closely with Sara and three other great editors do check out her new venture <a href="http://www.bookboundretreat.co.uk/" target="_blank">Book Bound</a></span>.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-86732410862879896302013-10-16T02:48:00.000-07:002013-10-16T02:48:13.433-07:00The Big Book World As you know, if you read this blog regularly, I am often out at events for writers. The last few weeks have been particularly busy, culminating in the wonderful SCBWI agent party.<br />
As much as I enjoy going to these events I do occasionally wonder if it's actually worth going out in to the Big Book World and if I'd be better off staying in and, you know, writing.<br />
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I decided it was worth analysing in more detail, what do I really gain by going to these events that justifies the amount of time, money and effort that I put in?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Connection with other writers.</span><br />
You've heard it said before but writing really is a lonely business. At times the self doubt and the revising and the rejections are enough to send you quietly mad. Which is why I've put this as number one on my list. Going out and talking to others, finding out you're not alone, the giving and receiving of sympathy, the drinks, the chats, the laughs, the bonding of people who all want the same thing. Who all understand. It is priceless.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Pulling back the publishing curtain.</span><br />
Like many writers when I first began to think about publication I was desperate to find out more. I trawled the internet, read blogs and books and tried my best to educate myself in the art of writing and submitting. The one thing that was really hard to find though was what the agents and editors were actually like.<br />
My first submissions were made using the Writers Handbook and based on a very short paragraph. It was hard to imagine them as real people and when the rejections came in it seemed as if they were the gatekeepers. Barring my way into publishing, stopping me achieving my dream.<br />
The first events I went to gave me the chance to see the people in the publishing world as actual human beings. All of the ones I've met, without exception, have been passionate about what they do, giving up their free time to attend events and talk to would be authors. They are unfailingly kind when we flub our pitches, they excuse our stammering attempts at conversation, they know how hard it is and they do our best to help.<br />
It helped me understand that they are all looking for something fabulous and that what that was would differ from person to person. It enabled me to tailor my submissions, to prove that I was serious about what I was doing and to accept the rejections as a business situation, not a personal reflection of me.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> 3. Managing Expectations</span><br />
Meeting with professionals and other writers has helped me understand so much more about the process, the hard work, the difficulties, the things that can go wrong.<br />
I know now just how long it could take to find an agent and get published, I know how much work is required, how much patience and perseverance. I understand much more about what's involved in being an author, the school visits, the deadlines, the marketing and social networking, the economic instability, the bad reviews, the bottom line.<br />
And I know that being published will not change my life. I will not become rich or famous. I will not be happy forever more.<br />
But somehow knowing all that and still wanting it makes me quite philosophical. I'm doing it for the love of it and that is a wonderful thing.<br />
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Are there any downsides to going to events? Well, I'm not the most sociable person nor the most confident so I've had to push myself to talk to strangers, to pitch to agents, to mingle with the crowds. If anything though it's all been good for me. For example, my ability to converse with five agents at the last agent party with some modicum of dignity and to give a decent pitch at the same time is only because of the previous stuttered and embarrassing attempts of previous years.<br />
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The other aspect that can be hard is that being at publishing events moves your focus from the actual writing to the process of submitting instead. It often makes me want to send things out even when they're not done, I feel rushed into submitting so I can make use of the contacts I've made. I feel pressure to just get on with it, to get published now damn it!<br />
I've learnt to my detriment that this is always a bad idea so now I refuse to give into the feeling and after a day or two it tends to fade and I can get back to writing.<br />
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Overall then I'd say that going to events has helped much more than hindered. I've learnt huge amounts about writing, submitting and the mechanics of publishing. When I'm finally ready to go into my next round of submissions it will be with an understanding of what I'm doing, an idea of who might best be suited to not just my work but to me as a person and with a few hard earned personal contacts.<br />
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Best of all though, because of the events I've gone to in the past I will have a group of people who will be there to help me through the inevitable rejections, to encourage me to keep going and to help me improve for next time. Best of all is knowing you're not alone.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-36938073534000458502013-09-30T12:04:00.000-07:002013-09-30T12:04:04.566-07:00Four editors, one weekend.I know I should be waist deep in revision but I have to admit to being out and about in the world of publishing again this week. Bad news for my W.I.P but good news for any of you who missed it!<br />
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On Saturday I joined twenty four other writers in London at a free event run by the lovely people at <a href="http://bookboundretreat.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Book Bound Retreat</a> to find out a bit more about what they're offering.<br />
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The four editors running the event were Sara O Connor, UV co founder and editorial director at Hot Key Books, Karen Ball from Little Brown, Jasmine Richards from OUP and UV co founder Sara Grant.</blockquote>
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They met while working at Working partners and since then they have all published their own childrens' and YA books which gives them a unique perspective when working with writers. As well as knowing what publishers are looking for they also understand the authors point of view.<br />
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Book Bound has been in the works for a couple of years but was delayed due to a surge of baby making! They are all now very excited about launching their new venture which will offer a weekend of workshops to twenty four writers at a beautiful location in Kent.<br />
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The retreat takes place from<b> 9th to 11th May 2014 </b>and includes accommodation, food, workshops and an in depth one to one with one of the editors. You will also have the chance to pitch your work (after a handy session on how to pitch) to four agents - </blockquote>
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<b> Zoe King from the Blair Partnership, Julia Churchill from A.M Heath, Claire Wilson from R.C.W and Polly Nolan from the Greenhouse Agency. </b></blockquote>
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As a little taste of what to expect each editor gave us a few tips based on the workshops they'll be running over the weekend.<br />
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<b>Sara O Connor </b>talked about how to make the most of your opening pages by using details. She said we should bring our characters to life with concrete, character defining details that paint a vivid picture and root us immediately into the story.<br />
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<b>Karen Ball</b> will be running a workshop on character and suggested we use Pinterest to make up a mood board, we can use it to deepen our understanding of the character and make them more three dimensional. Stalking our characters through the story from beginning to end was another tip she offered and can help us to see changes and ensure they are learning something during the story.<br />
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<b>Jasmine Richards </b>gave us some input on plot and the rather excellent quote<br />
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<b>"Conflict is plot. Plot is conflict"</b></blockquote>
Another good pointer was to describe each scene and see if you use the word "and" to connect them or "but/therefore". If it's the former then it may be that the scene isn't moving the story on and should be changed.<br />
She was also quite keen for us to be as mean as possible to our characters and offered us a few ways to add conflict to our story;<br />
<i>1. deception</i><br />
<i> 2.search and rescue, </i><br />
<i> 3.different setting,</i><br />
<i> 4.death of a minor character,</i><br />
<i> 5.enemies</i><br />
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<b>Sara Grant</b> is well known for her revision workshops and offered us some basic pointers that should help us all with revising.<br />
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<b>MOST IMPORTANT - "Don't get it right, get it writ!"</b></blockquote>
<i>1. Don't revise as you go.</i><br />
<i>2. Finish the 1st draft then revise it.</i><br />
<i>3. Macro edit first, look at the big picture, - conflict/voice/plot</i><br />
<i>4.Focus on what's best for the story</i><br />
<i>5.Great story is more important than great writing.</i><br />
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It was a very enjoyable event and all the editors showed huge enthusiasm for the project. A big thank you to everyone involved for sharing a little of their expertise with us. It gave a real indication of how useful the weekend could be.<br />
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If you would like the chance to go on this retreat then you need to submit per the guidelines on the <a href="http://bookboundretreat.wordpress.com/booking-information/" target="_blank">website</a>. The writers will be chosen based on potential and what the editors feel they can offer you. They want everyone to be at the same stage so that they can make full use of the weekend. They aim to let writers know within two weeks as to whether they have been accepted or not. Full payment will be required on acceptance but if you sign up to their newsletter now you can claim a £50 discount.<br />
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I am off now to do some actual writing but will be out again on Thursday night for the marvelous SCBWI agents party! No doubt I will report back on all the excitement in a week or so.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-2817488796516433482013-09-18T05:34:00.000-07:002013-09-18T05:34:35.633-07:00Reasons to be Cheerful<h2>
<b><br /></b></h2>
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<b>Number One - </b>I don't have an agent!</h2>
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<b>Number Two - </b>I don't have a book deal!</h2>
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Why would that make me cheerful you might ask. Surely those are things I've been yearning for? And yes it's true, I DO want a lovely agent one day in the future and a book deal would be a most marvelous thing but, rather than bemoan my lack of either, I decided to try a change of perspective and see what happened.</div>
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A couple of things have occured that set me on this path and one of them was talking to a friend who has an agent and had been given a deadline. That's not a bad thing of course, deadlines can be very useful and they become part of the job when you have an agent or a publisher.<br />
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But the thing is that I don't. I don't have anyone's expectations to fulfil except my own and that is a freedom I intend to enjoy while I still have it.<br />
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It means I can write if I want to but if I don't, if I'm busy or not in the mood then that's fine. It doesn't affect anyone else and that let's me balance my writing in to my life in a way that's stress free. It means that writing can always be a pleasure rather than a chore.<br />
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I can also write exactly what I want. I don't have to factor in the opinions of others, market trends or publisher preferences. If I want to write a book about a girl who discovers she's a witch and falls in love with a vampire then I can do that. I don't, funnily enough, but the choice is mine for now.<br />
<br />
And, because there's no book to market, I don't have to worry about reviews or think about sales. I don't have to do school visits or book festivals. And much as I will enjoy promoting any book of mine in the future I think it's important to appreciate the fact that for now, for this little part of my life, I don't have to work at anything except writing the darn thing. That thought fills me with cheer.<br />
<br />
<br />
The second thing that altered my perspective was reading a blog by the very talented and refreshingly honest <a href="http://www.notesfromtheslushpile.com/" target="_blank">Candy Gourl</a>ay called The Pursuit of Happiness. She talked about the publication of her second book <i>Shine </i>and how she sometimes misses the days of being on the slushpile. I have to admit that surprised me.<br />
<br />
Candy had achieved what so many of us long for, she had escaped the misery of rejection and toil that the rest of us pre published authors have to suffer and yet she looked back on that time with affection! Why? What could possibly be good about the slushpile Candy?<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #eedcac; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px;">"it really was lovely when the dream hadn't come true yet." - she said</span><br />
<br />
And that is the key! Hope is a wonderful thing. I <i>might</i> still have all that to come. One day in the near or distant future I <i>might</i> have the joy of running around telling the world that I have an Agent! A Book Deal! A Launch Party! A Million Pound Film Deal...okay, I got a bit carried away there but you get my drift.<br />
<br />
I could, if I'm very lucky, have some of that to look forward to one day and that thought, that idea, that <i>dream</i> makes me cheerful.<br />
<br />
Now then, back to the editing.<br />
And the hoping. :)<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-60051507380977311882013-09-02T13:28:00.000-07:002013-09-04T04:03:24.814-07:00Chickens, eggs and editors.I have been following the development of The Golden Egg Academy since it first began last year, after all how often can you expect editors the caliber of Imogen Cooper (Previously Head of Fiction at Chicken House), Beverley Birch (Previous commissioning editor at Hodder) and Bella Pearson (Previously at David Fickling) to be available to help up and coming authors?<br />
<br />
Therefore as soon as the opportunity arose to meet Imogen in person came up I jumped at the chance and headed off to a <a href="http://www.meetup.com/londonwriterscafe/" target="_blank">London Writers Cafe</a> event at a pub near Liverpool Street last Tuesday night. I wasn't the only one either as the room was packed with hopeful writers all waiting to hear Imogen's words of wisdom.<br />
<br />
She began with a brief introduction and told us how much she enjoyed working with Barry Cunningham at Chicken House. She said that the small team of seven led to a very exciting environment, with plenty of creative ideas and a fair few arguments as they all worked together towards the same goal. However Imogen saw so many manuscripts from the slushpile with potential that just needed the help of a good editor she decided to take a step back.<br />
She moved from the position of Head of Fiction at Chicken House to the role of Senior Editor and set up the Golden Egg Academy with Beverley and Bella.<br />
<br />
They are now offering their skills and support to writers in the way of workshops, in depth reports, one to one sessions and mentoring. Imogen is also planning to set up a course for editors with Winchester University that will provide training for up and coming industry professionals.<br />
<br />
Next, Imogen began to talk about the three things that make a desirable novel -<br />
<br />
1. Strong Concept<br />
2. Driving Plot<br />
3. Universal Themes<br />
<br />
<br />
When she became an acquiring editor she had to start looking at manuscripts in a different way. She needed to be able to explain to a whole team of people from different departments why the novel she wanted to buy was so great and back it up with solid reasoning. This meant that she had to have a real understanding of the novel, she needed to be able to find the essence and heart of the story so she could explain why children needed to read this book and what made it so original.<br />
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Imogen was firm in the idea that knowing the heart of your novel will make it stronger and enable you to edit it effectively.<br />
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She asked us if we knew what our book was about, was it different to others and could we describe it in one paragraph? Imogen suggested we all try to distill our work into one paragraph that we could then use when submitting or pitching to agents and publishers.<br />
<br />
What is the backstory/skeleton upon which everything else hangs?<br />
<br />
Who are the main characters and what are their motivations? (You should be able to see these in every scene).<br />
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The story must come first with any themes supporting the story and being shown subtly within the motivations.<br />
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She said it was very important to be able to break your story down and be objective. Of course it isn't that easy as any writer could tell you and one of the reasons why an editor can be so important. She quoted one of her mentoring clients as saying her book was a beautiful jigsaw puzzle until Imogen helped her turn it into a 3D picture. A bit like connecting the left and right sides of your brain or turning a written play into the stage version.<br />
<br />
Most importantly she said the paragraph should be about the BIG PICTURE and not the detail.<br />
<br />
To give us some ideas Imogen brought along some advanced information sheets on a few Chicken House Books like Poison Boy by Fletcher Moss and Muncle Trogg by Janet Foxley. On one side was a copy of the book cover and on the other some info on the author and the all important blurb.<br />
It was very useful to see how these books had been distilled down to their essential parts and I understood just how hard it could be as during my submission to Undiscovered Voices I'd been forced to write a fifty word blurb for my entry.<br />
<br />
Imogen suggested we all try to write that paragraph and then keep it written up near our writing space so that we never lose track of the heart of our story.<br />
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Next we were lucky enough to hear about the Book Map which Imogen sees as an essential tool for use with editing. After the first draft has been written she suggests writing out some or all of the following -<br />
<br />
Chapter info<br />
Plot summary<br />
Dramatic incidents<br />
Backstory<br />
Main characters - including their involvement and motivations. You could divide these up into fore, mid and background characters.<br />
Setting<br />
<br />
You can add or take away from this but however you do it she believes it helps you to take a step back from your story and view it as a whole.<br />
It's a little bit like storyboarding where you make the whole thing come alive.<br />
<br />
You can then use this method to see the whole novel, all of it's important elements and then try to weave everything else through during your second and third drafts.<br />
<br />
The whole room was buzzing by the time Imogen finished speaking and she very kindly agreed to answer some of our questions. One of which was on the biggest problems she sees in submissions.<br />
Imogen said it was mainly plot related and often involved authors not seeding the clues throughout their book and not signposting enough.<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed hearing Imogen speak, her enthusiasm for her work shone through and I'm sure motivated many of us to go away and start working on our manuscripts! I imagine it would be a real pleasure and privilege to have her keen and exacting eye focused on to your own work and with the Golden Egg Academy you might just get that chance.<br />
<br />
Thank you to Imogen for such a useful and informative talk. You can find out more about what the Golden Egg Academy offers <a href="http://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/" target="_blank">Here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-42611567595557196122013-08-30T05:32:00.000-07:002013-08-30T05:32:06.226-07:00Unofficial updateHello lovely peeps!<br />
<br />
It's not quite September yet so I'm not officially posting but I thought I'd write a quick update and let you know what I've been doing with my time for the last six weeks.<br />
<br />
1. There's been a Glamping trip in a Tipi with my lovely friend Jude, the highlight of which was sitting outside in front of a log fire, chatting and staring into the flames for hours. No wonder fires are called natures T.V!<br />
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2.A family holiday in Wales which involved fishing, plenty of trips to the beach, a musical production of Little Shop of Horrors and vast amounts of scrummy fish and chips!<br />
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3. A trip to the West End to watch Horrible Histories Barmy Britain show and learn some new and amusing songs.<br />
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4. A large amount of boring and necessary chores like buying school uniform and looking after a recuperating spouse.<br />
<br />
5. Still to come this Sunday is a trip to Kellermans Holiday Camp where I will be reliving Dirty Dancing all over again with the lovely Jude and Kez.<br />
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<br />
All of this excitement has meant that I haven't done any writing of course but weirdly, in many ways it's felt like a very creative period.<br />
Ideas for the revision of my latest story have been flooding into my head, revelations about my characters, possible twists, ways to add depth...<br />
And rather than trying to edit when the house is full and busy and my time is short instead I've been making notes, drawing maps and making up a history and timeline for my storyworld.<br />
<br />
Somehow without even trying my brain has been working and after such a long rest I'm really excited about getting back to work and editing my book.<br />
<br />
So next week I'll be beginning revisions and getting back to blogging. Join me then when I'll be writing up a recent event I went to with the lovely Imogen Cooper from Golden Egg Academy.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-36630152444136559262013-07-05T08:12:00.001-07:002013-07-05T08:12:13.347-07:00It's my blog and I'll skive if I want to, skive if I want to...You would skive too if you wanted toooooo!<br />
<br />
Sorry about that, for anyone not around in the 80's that was a blatant rip off of "it's my party and I'll cry of I want to."<br />
<br />
I'm feeling rather dizzy with all the SUNSHINE and have a distinctly summery vibe going on so I've decided to take a break from blogging.<br />
<br />
I will of course be writing, trying to polish up my U.V entry and start work on a new series idea I've been hatching but after 18 months of nearly weekly blogs I've decided to have a summer break and forget about routines while I have the chance<br />
<br />
I will be back in September, probably, if I don't decide to give it all up for a life of yak farming first, so enjoy the sun everyone!<br />
<br />
Lorraine xxx<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-11097793134978301382013-06-26T09:00:00.000-07:002013-06-26T09:00:05.113-07:00Self Publishing Report Part TwoAs promised, part two of my report on the CBC self publishing event on 18th June 2013.<br />
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<br />
Gareth Howard - CEO of <a href="http://www.authoright.com/" target="_blank">Authoright</a> was a confident and engaging speaker. Originally a lawyer he wrote his first book and had it rejected despite good writing because the publishers thought it wasn't marketable enough.<br />
Gareth disagreed and decided to self publish. This was in 2004 before ebooks existed but with the marketing campaign he ran his book became a bestseller and he was then signed by LAW agency.<br />
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He set up his own P.R company offering marketing services for authors and he works with self published and traditional authors.They also offer consultancy services for agents and publishers to help them adjust to the changes.<br />
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Gareth was very positive about self publishing and believes that authors are now mobilising and becoming extremely savvy about the business. He said that lines were breaking down and this was leading to the democratisation of publishing.<br />
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He followed up with the idea that self publishing is becoming quicker and easier and the benefits of marketing that used to be offered by traditional publishers are no longer available for all authors. This is why many authors with publishing contracts are paying for their own marketing campaign.<br />
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He believes that debut authors need to think of their book as a start up business and that S/P authors are savvier than their counterparts in trad publishing. Gareth also thinks that eventually the S/P system will work as an incubator for traditional publishing with authors proving the market is there for a book before being signed.<br />
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Authoright charge around £2000 for a marketing campaign and £400 for an original cover which he thought was excellent value.<br />
He also warned authors to beware the sharks and do their research before using any company.<br />
<br />
Two other company's that were recommended by Karen Inglis for authors were <a href="http://www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Silverwood Books</a> and <a href="http://www.troubador.co.uk/matador.asp" target="_blank">Matador</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The final speaker was Emil Howard, the digital editor at Random House. He was also positive about self publishing, he thought it would provide more culture, more niches and more routes to publishing. However this huge explosion of books is still facing a finite number of readers.<br />
<br />
He spoke a little about the role of trad publishers. The two pillars of a publishing company are -<br />
<br />
1. Efficient purchasing services or getting stuff cheap! Paper, designs, even editors are all cheaper when bought in bulk.<br />
<br />
2.Risk management - i.e the publisher takes all the risks and pays the author whether the book sells or not.<br />
<br />
Emil said that it was interesting to see authors banding together to pay for services and to manage any risk. Also, by talking about putting quality stamps on S/P work, they were almost taking on the role of a publisher!<br />
<br />
My favourite part of his talk was when he decided to take us back to the 19th century and related how expensive paper used to be because it was made from linen. This kept books out of the reach of most people, only the rich could afford them BUT when it was discovered that paper could be made from wood pulp it quite literally changed the world.<br />
<br />
"Pulp" fiction was the result or "penny dreadfuls" as they were called over here and they made stories available to everyone. Much of it was trash but hidden away in there were diamonds, a little like the S/P market today.<br />
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Emil likened the disruption that occurred at this time to what is happening now - ebooks are changing the economy but he's not worried about the competition.<br />
<br />
He thinks the changes will supply new literature, new niches and new genres and that's a good thing.<br />
<br />
He finished by saying that publishers needed to demonstrate their value every day but he thinks that the different areas of publishing can all co exist. With regard to Random House he informed us that they offer their authors twitter workshops and help them build a blog platform and coming up in the future they will have author portals where they can check their sales and royalties in the same way as a S/P author.<br />
<br />
<br />
Overall I found the event very useful, it has allowed me to consider self publishing with a little more knowledge and it gave me some idea of what to do if I decide to make the leap.<br />
<br />
I'm not quite there yet however but who knows what the future holds?<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-31335742154598271442013-06-19T06:24:00.000-07:002013-06-19T06:24:32.274-07:00Self Publishing - the good, the bad and the future I've always been slightly old fashioned when it comes to books, I like the real ones that come with covers and pages, that I can put on a bookshelf and stroke when I so choose but that's a personal reading choice. As a writer, self publishing is something I need to be aware of so I decided to find out what I could at the Children's Book Circle event last night in the Penguin Offices on The Strand.<br />
<br />
It is my intention to share what I learned with you all but there was so much interesting and important discussion that I've decided to split this post into two parts.<br />
<br />
Part one will look at Self Publishing from the point of view of LAW Agent Phillippa Milnes Smith and author Karen Inglis.<br />
<br />
Part Two will look at the perspective of CEO of Authoright, Gareth Howard and digital editor at Random House Emil Fortune.<br />
<br />
<b>Part One</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
Phillippa Milnes Smith from <a href="http://www.lawagency.co.uk/" target="_blank">LAW agency</a> was the first to speak. With a background in publishing and now working as an agent she thought that publishing at the moment was a very exciting world but also that it can be traumatic and disruptive and not somewhere that everyone currently writing will be comfortable with.<br />
<br />
She said that Children's digital publishing is slightly behind adult at the moment (except for YA) and that until devices become cheaper and stronger and perhaps a part of the education system it will remain that way.<br />
<br />
The Law agency is embracing the new but they think Publishers are still important, some of their authors like Stephen Leather and Kate Harrison are using both self publishing and traditional very successfully.<br />
<br />
She said that the best things about traditional publishing is the editorial work and the creativity that can occur with the right partnership, the worst was that it can at times be slow, stale and untargeted.<br />
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From an agent point of view she said their role had become both simpler and more complicated;<br />
<br />
Simple because they are doing what they always did, representing clients in all media, responding to the market, finding new income and opportunities and most importantly managing their clients.<br />
<br />
Complicated because authors now need certain technical skills, they need to be creative and yet savvy to marketing. For agents the contracts have become more complicated, the income strands and timescales have changed and they need new skills to help their authors compete in the current marketplace.<br />
<br />
<br />
The second speaker was author <a href="http://www.kareninglis.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Karen Inglis</a> who has self published three books for children - The Lake House, Eeek the runaway alien and Ferdinand Fox's big sleep. Having written the books ten years ago and had them rejected for being too traditional or not marketable she put them away in a box.<br />
<br />
With the digital revolution however the next time she got them out she decided to self publish and get her stories out there for children to enjoy. She thinks that it's very empowering for authors but for serious S/P authors the importance of hard work, professionalism and quality cannot be denied.<br />
<br />
Karen spoke about the newly launched <a href="http://allianceindependentauthors.org/" target="_blank">Alliance of independent authors</a> which champions quality, is an excellent resource and a great community also.<br />
<br />
After some serious editing Karen used Amazon Create Space and their free templates to design the layout of her books. She said it was very simple, fast and user friendly. The financial cost and risk of self publishing with print on demand is very low as you only pay for each book once it's been sold.<br />
<br />
She said uploading the finished book on to Amazon was easy and fast and up on the website within 48 hours. You can check sales and royalties plus control the pricing, adjusting it as often as you like to try and find the price bracket where your book sells best. You can also find out where your book is selling which is an interesting feature.<br />
<br />
Karen is a copywriter by day so she found it easy to do her own marketing for the book, getting features in her local papers and magazines and she said Waterstones love indie authors and she'd done several sell out signings there.<br />
<br />
She warned that there are many sharks out there who prey on authors desire to be published so do your research and be careful, but she finished with the belief that as the quality of self published books improves so too will people's attitude.<br />
<br />
It's all fascinating stuff and Gareth and Emil have some great insights to share so come back for Part Two available to read next week!<br />
<br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-86906561858271161242013-06-11T13:17:00.001-07:002013-06-11T13:17:26.736-07:00Are you cut out to be a children's writer? Find out today!<div style="text-align: center;">
Well are you?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Only one way to find out for sure - take my patented<b> superquiz!</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Yes, after months (minutes?) of research I have formulated a test that will tell you whether you have what it takes to be a children's writer. Just answer the simple multiple choice questions and discover if you're destined to hit the bestseller charts or if you'd be better off retraining in accountancy or yak farming.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>Question 1</b><br />
<b>How do you feel about children?</b><br />
<br />
a) I love and adore them, each one is a little miracle and I would be both honored and privileged to share my writing with them.<br />
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b) I'm a firm believer that kids should be seen and not heard. My books are designed to teach them the old fashioned values I myself grew up with.<br />
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c) They're horrid little monsters but they should be easy to write for because they're too stupid to know if something's any good or not.<br />
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<br />
<b>Question 2</b><br />
<b>How imaginative are you?</b><br />
<br />
a) Very! I'm always making up stories in my head and spend lots of time lost in an imaginary world.<br />
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b) Imagination! New fangled poppycock in my opinion that's led to the collapse of western civilisation. Discipline that's what every child needs and my books would provide it.<br />
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c) I'm very imaginative. I can imagine just what I'll do with all the money I'll earn when my children's books get published.<br />
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<b>Question 3</b><br />
<b>What's your favourite children's book?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
a) Oh it's so hard to choose! Something by Roald Dahl perhaps?<br />
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b) Enid Blyton. Although she was a bit lackadaisical on discipline. I'm sure I could do better.<br />
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c) Children's book? I've never read any. They're all the same aren't they?<br />
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<br />
<b>Question 4</b><br />
<b>Do you think it will be easy to get published in the current climate?</b><br />
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a) I could self publish if I wanted to but I'd like to try mainstream first if I can and see how I get on. It won't be easy and it might take years but I'm determined to keep trying.<br />
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b)Well, it should be easy if you have a quality product like my own. I just hope the publishers aren't too stupid to see talent when it's under their nose.<br />
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c) Climate? You mean like when it's cold outside? Can't imagine why that should matter, I'm bound to be published straight away summer or winter. My stuffs much better then most of the s**t around. Not that I've read any but still, how hard can it be?<br />
<br />
<b>Question 5</b><br />
<b>Are you prepared to promote your work using social media like facebook and twitter?</b><br />
<br />
a) I'd rather be able to spend my time writing but I understand how important it is to self promote so I'm prepared to give it a go.<br />
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b) Facebook? Isn't that what they use in police stations so you can pick out the criminals?<br />
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c) Why should I? The publishers should do all that b******s for me. I've got better things to do with my time. Like spending all the money I earn!<br />
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<b>Question 6</b><br />
<b>How do you think you'll cope with rejection?</b><br />
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a) I'm sure it's not very nice but it's something every writer has to cope with so I'll just have to get used to it because I'm not giving up.<br />
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b) I'm sure that no one will reject me after I've turned up at their office, barricaded the door and read them my entire manuscript. If they're too stupid to see quality when it's pointing a gun at them then it's their own fault.<br />
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c) What rejection? I keep telling you my stuff is quality. It took me hours to write. Like, at least two.<br />
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<b>Question 7</b><br />
<b>Would you be interested in joining a critique group to help improve your writing?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
a) I think it would be great to meet like minded people and have their input in my work.<br />
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b) No. Other people are generally idiots and I wouldn't waste my time on their paltry efforts.<br />
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c) You mean let other people nick my ideas? No way. besides there's nothing to improve I keep telling you!<br />
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<b>Question 8</b><br />
<b>Why do you want to be a children's writer?</b><br />
<br />
a) It's been my lifelong dream!<br />
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b) Because children need to be taught how to behave. Their parents are obviously too stupid to do it so my books will give them a chance of turning out halfway decent.<br />
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c) So I can earn millions and become famous of course. What other reason is there?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Finished?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Okay then, count up and see if you've answered mostly a's, b's or c's and then check your results below.</div>
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<br /></div>
<b>Mostly A's </b><br />
<b>Congratulations, you have a great chance of getting published one day!</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Mostly B's </b><br />
<b>Umm, accountancy might be fun?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Mostly C's </b><br />
<b>Just go away please, you're very annoying and would benefit from ten years yak farming in Timbuctoo.</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-81573806994911603202013-06-05T06:52:00.001-07:002013-06-05T06:52:22.593-07:00Book MemoriesThe SCBWI Ning group has been aflutter with nostalgic memories of the first books people have read and this has inspired me to compile my own list of books.<br />
These are books that I can still remember reading, where I was, how I felt at the time and so these books contain memories, yes, it feels as if the book contains an actual nugget of my life and by re reading it or sometimes simply sniffing the book in question those memories are re awoken. One reason of many why I will always love books more than a kindle however useful and space saving they may be.<br />
<br />
1. Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.<br />
This stays with me because it was one of the first books I ever bought for myself. Purchased proudly from the charity shop when I was six or seven I read it all by myself and gave it pride of place on my very first (but definitely not last!) bookshelf. I still love the story, devastatingly simple but completely brilliant. How can you go wrong with quotes like "Boggis, Bunce and Bean, one fat one short one lean."<br />
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2. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr<br />
I was a few years older when this book landed in my lap and how I devoured it. The childlike perspective of a young girl whose family flees the Nazis it is so involving, I was utterly gripped by it all. I felt the pain of leaving Pink Rabbit behind and even if I didn't understand the background of the war completely when I read it I understood that little girl and I loved her. Recently I read the continuation of the series which I never realised was the first part of a trilogy. The sequels are great reads but don't have quite the same resonance as that book did.<br />
<br />
3. Deenie by Judy Blume<br />
If I'm honest all of Judy Blumes books belong on this list because each one affected me. "Are you there god it's me Margaret?", "Blubber", "Tiger Eyes", "Forever" how I loved them. So entirely honest and true I re read them all a hundred times. Going through puberty without them would have been almost impossible and I will be eternally grateful to Judy Blume for her skills. I picked Deenie in particular though because I remember how much I wanted to be her, the cover design showed a stunning young girl with long blond hair who was picked to be a model but ended up in a back brace due to scoliosis of the spine. As a not very attractive teenager I longed for beauty and all it's trappings but this book made me understand that looks aren't everything and accepting yourself and all your flaws is the only way to go. Thank you Judy!!<br />
<br />
4. Twopence to Cross the Mersey by Helen Forrester<br />
I was given this book by my mum when I was a teenager and was immediately drawn into Helen's world. An autobiographical tale of her growing up as part of a large family fallen on hard times and forced to move to Liverpool and live in the slums. I lived all of it with Helen, the bedbugs, the hunger, the shame, the anger at her parents for their inability to cope, for spending money on furniture they couldn't afford just to make a good impression even thought their children were cold and hungry...sorry. I can feel a rant coming on so I'll just say the injustice and hardship that she suffered and how she coped with it all was an honour to read and<br />
I still have the original boxset containing all three volumes of her life on my bookshelf now. In fact i might just read them again!<br />
<br />
5.Firestarter by Stephen King<br />
Due to the lack of YA available in my youth I started reading adult books I found on my parents shelves and Stephen King was one of my favourites. I love his writing, the characters come alive and leap off the page and they're always completely memorable. Firestarter was one of my favourites because it has a young girl in the lead role, her parents were part of a secret government experiment that gave them psychic powers and Charlie as a result ended up with a very powerful ability, she could start fires with her mind. Just writing that reminds me how completely cool it was!<br />
<br />
6.Stranger With My Face by Lois Duncan<br />
One of the very few authors for teenagers around Lois Duncan had a fabulously creepy way of writing and this book kept me up at night, devouring each word and then being unable to sleep because I'd scared myself. The tale of identical twins separated at birth and how one girl learns the art of astral projection and takes over the life of her much luckier sister it was so thrilling to my young self I remembered it for years and finally got hold of a copy from ebay.<br />
<br />
<br />
There are many more books I could list of course but these six give a flavour of what I was reading growing up and from here you can almost see how my taste developed. I'm now a huge fan of historical fiction, fantasy and YA and it's been a huge pleasure reliving all those memories once again. A great reminder of why books are fabulous and how amazing it must be to touch someone's life as those authors touched mine.<br />
Thanks for reading.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-49772519963211242402013-05-28T03:02:00.002-07:002013-05-28T03:02:53.373-07:00Not Going Out So, did I survive my critique?<br />
The simple answer is yes, I did.<br />
I spent fifteen minutes with an editor from Macmillan who basically liked my book.<br />
Yes, she liked it.<br />
The writing, the idea, the synopsis, she liked it all.<br />
There were no major plot holes, no glaring problems, nothing of the negative persuasion so we spent a bit of time discussing the use of certain words, what was suitable for my age range in terms of blood and violence and a little bit on the motivation of certain characters and the rough word count this type of book should aim for.<br />
It was a pleasant fifteen minutes and I left reasonably happy that I seemed to be on the right lines with this book.<br />
<br />
BUT,<br />
<br />
I had made the mistake of going out and jumping back into the whole arena of publishing after months of relative hermitlike behaviour where all I thought of was the writing and now the beast was back.<br />
The desire to get published.<br />
It's easy to keep it at bay when I stay at home and tap away at my keyboard, my mind full of character and plot. Easy to feel smug and say "No, it's the writing that I love, I don't need to get published."<br />
Going out and meeting editors, brought it all back and I must admit to a tiny meltdown afterwards as the longing for external validation returned big time.<br />
Luckily my friend Tania was with me to talk me back down from the ledge over pizza and wine (thank you Tania!) but I felt quite bad that night.<br />
I felt weak for wanting it so much, for not being able to keep that desire down and just focus on my craft.<br />
What was wrong with me? Was I a bad person? Why couldn't I love my craft for craft's sake and not need the validation of publication?<br />
My epiphany came a couple of days later when I realised that that passion was good. That longing would be the thing that kept me going long after any normal person would give up. That desire to be published would make me slog on with my writing and submitting until I got somewhere.<br />
If I could give up easily on my dream then maybe it wasn't really my dream?<br />
<br />
But I do think it's important to keep control of this desire, to want it and work quietly towards it rather than career about in desperation trying to achieve it any way possible. I know how easy it is for the wanting to take over everything and that is not a place I want to go to again.<br />
So I'm doing my best to stay focused, calm and patient.<br />
Good things will come.<br />
Eventually.<br />
I've also decided that the best way to manage it is to time my forays into the world of agents and publishers to when I'm ready to submit. While I'm writing I'm going to focus on that and when the writing is good enough then I will step into the arena once again.<br />
So I'm off to hermitville for the next few months, I have a first draft to finish and some editing to do. I hope to come out and play in the autumn.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-33062944725921416132013-05-22T06:28:00.001-07:002013-05-22T06:28:32.948-07:00Highs and Lows Starting a new project is exciting. There's a spark and a buzz and the joy of creation. I watch the words fall onto the page, the voice emerge, the plot take shape and I'm full of hope.<br />
This could be the one.<br />
The project that finally works.<br />
The book that someone loves.<br />
The kick into the world of publishing.<br />
<br />
When I'm in my bubble I love my work and my characters and my story.<br />
It's a happy place. It is the cusp, the moment before anyone else reads it and points out all it's flaws.<br />
<br />
Eventually of course, the bubble is burst and the reality sinks in.<br />
Usually it's my lovely crit group that have the honour of ruining my life (Did I really tell them to be honest? Why??) but this time, with my very newest project I did something rather stupid.<br />
Of course it seemed like a good idea at the time but really, sending out the first five pages and synopsis for a critique with a proper, real life editor?<br />
What was I thinking?<br />
Was I mad?<br />
Well, unfortunately I must have been because that's exactly what I did and tomorrow night I have to go and hear the results face to face.<br />
<br />
The Children's Book Circle run their Meet and Critique every year and last year I went for the first time and found it really useful. But then, last year I went with a completed manuscript and was ready to start revisions, this time I've submitted my work while still in it's infancy. While I'm still deeply attached to every word.<br />
<br />
I usually submit work for crits after I've finished a first draft and when there's been a bit of distance. This allows me to take negative comments far more easily.<br />
<br />
I'm worried that having a professional opinion at such an early point could quite literally be devastating. If she hates it that could stop me in my creative tracks and plunge me into misery.<br />
BUT, I guess I'm hoping that the editor will tell me, right now if the idea I've got is good enough and also show up any glaring problems in my synopsis. I'm hoping that she might be able to steer me in the right direction, inspire me and save me from months of work later on.<br />
<br />
It could go either way.<br />
<br />
It made me think about the difficulty of being an editor, I am in awe of their ability to look at a m.s and see where the strengths and weaknesses are but most of all, their skill in dealing with people.<br />
It must be hard to give negative feedback and yet they have to do it probably every day and in a way that can be constructive and empowering.<br />
I'm sure they must vary in their skills and some of it must depend on the relationship between author and editor and even between m.s and editor.<br />
<br />
Personally I've had a few critiques now with editor and to be honest they've varied hugely. Some have been immensely helpful and I felt a real rapport with the editor, a couple have been a bit of a waste of time and I wished I'd saved the money!<br />
<br />
Hopefully I will survive tomorrow, m.s unsavaged and creative spark still burning but who knows? Critiques are a tricky business but luckily I have arranged to go out for a drink afterwards so perhaps I'll be able to forget anything harsh after a few pints of malibu and pineapple!<br />
<br />
I will report back next week and let you know. (If I'm not in my pajamas, eating ice cream and watching Les Miserables of course!)<br />
<br />
Wish me luck!<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-8253698458360191082013-05-15T05:30:00.001-07:002013-05-15T05:30:14.432-07:00The Voice I've been watching The Voice recently and before you scoff may I just say that it was purely due to research (and my love of tacky talent shows of course - sssh, don't tell anyone).<br />
The fascinating part of the program is that despite all of the contestants being good singers, whether the judges turned round for them depended entirely on their personal taste. Some singers appealed to everyone, some to no one and others to one or two of the judges. The thing is that no matter how much skill you show, how much work you put in, how talented you are or how desperately you want it, the opinions of others are not yours to control. Of course this is true for all creative pursuits. Whether you sing, paint, dance,cook, draw or indeed, write, the opinion of others is always subjective.<br />
<br />
One of the things agents and publishers are always asking for is "Voice". They want a great voice, a distinctive voice, a strong voice but as far as I can tell Voice is one of the most subjective parts of writing and therefore one of the hardest things to do.<br />
I can understand entirely why they want it however because it's hugely important to me in my own reading. All my favourite books have a fantastic voice that grabs me and pulls me in and makes the character and their world entirely real.<br />
<br />
The Twilight series worked for me not because of the vampire/werewolf romance but because I loved Bella's voice.<br />
Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger games trilogy again had a marvelous voice that blended perfectly with the chilling world of Panam.<br />
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner creates a stunning yet terrifying world with the simple, understated voice of Standish.<br />
<br />
All of these examples are in a first person narrative which is what I use and can be very hard to capture. I think it's one of the most difficult things we do as writers but while we all try to find a great voice that everyone likes, perhaps that's just not possible. Just as we all make snap judgments about people when we meet them, so do we when we read the first page of a book. It can be that quick - like/don't like. Read/ don't read. Sometimes of course it might be more of a - okay, give it a try, type of reaction but is that good enough?<br />
<br />
In my own writing I have found that voices can be a bit like Marmite.<br />
The ones that hate the voice will not want to read it at all, despite the great plot or strong characters which can feel harsh.<br />
But the ones that love it,<i> really </i>love it and sometimes enough to take a chance on it even if there are problems.<br />
<br />
But can we manufacture that? Can we sit down and decide on the perfect voice? Or is it a bit like magic? A voice that whispers in our ear, a vision from a dream, an idea like a bolt from the blue?<br />
Maybe, who knows?<br />
Finding the perfect voice can be just as hard as finding the person who will love it enough to take a chance.<br />
And yet we keep striving because you never know, maybe that voice or that person is just around the corner.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-21548613098373081622013-05-08T09:11:00.000-07:002013-05-08T09:11:31.510-07:00Fighting the Dragon<div style="text-align: center;">
The fabulous Beverley Birth, successful author and long time editor for Hodder ran a workshop at theVerulam Writers Club Conference last month called "Fighting the dragon" which explored ways to ensure your book had enough tension and conflict to keep readers hooked. </div>
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Many children's stories don't have enough tension in them to grab readers by the throat and keep them turning the pages according to Beverey. She said the crux of your novel was in delivering the point of tension fast and then sustaining the action throughout.</div>
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This needs to be done whatever type of book you're writing. If the conflict is internal it still needs to grab readers and take them on a journey. </div>
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She suggested asking yourself three questions about your m.s and answering them in one sentence.</div>
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<b>1. What is the conflict?</b></div>
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<b>2. What is the central theme?</b></div>
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<b>3. What is the essential dilemma/choice?</b></div>
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Beverley insisted that the core of your novel MUST be defined in order to shape the storytelling.</div>
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I found this exercise quite hard but it does force you to consider your book as a whole and think more deeply about what you're trying to achieve. It ties in with other advice that suggests we should be able to describe our novel in one sentence, if we can't then perhaps there's a problem.</div>
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Beverley told us that choices were the heart of creating tension because the reader wants to know that the decision will be and what the character is going to do. We need to think about the possible consequences for our protagonists and make sure that they are strong enough to capture our audience. We must also ensure we look at everything through our characters eyes and note not just their reactions but the processing they go through.</div>
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Beverley ended her talk with three more questions-</div>
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<b>1.Why do you think you are special?</b></div>
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<b>Come up with three unique selling points.</b></div>
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<b>2.Why would anyone pick my book? What's special about it?</b></div>
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<b>Come up with three u.s.p's.</b></div>
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<b>3.Are those u.s.p.s in my novel? Are they there on the first page and throughout the book?</b></div>
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I found Beverley's workshop very interesting and when chatting to her afterwards her enthusiasm for helping writers really shone through. </div>
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I hope you found these notes useful and you can make use of some of the points I've highlighted, I recommend you try and catch one of Beverley's talks if you can as they're very inspirational.</div>
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. 2013 will see Beverley stepping down from her fiction commissioning role<br />
at Hodder Children’s Books to concentrate on her author life<br />
and on mentoring new writers. She will be joining Imogen<br />
Cooper’s Golden Egg Academy team, to help run workshops<br />
and provide creative support for promising writers.<br />
<a href="http://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/" target="_blank">Golden Egg Academy</a> or follow Golden Egg<br />
Workshops for Children's Writers on Facebook.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-67868503460577148262013-05-02T13:44:00.002-07:002013-05-02T14:46:37.943-07:00HighjackedI'm afraid this post has been hijacked.<br />
I was planning to tell you all about the workshop I went to with the fabulous Beverley Birch and pass on some of her words of wisdom.<br />
BUT<br />
I'm not going to do that now because my brain has been hijacked.<br />
Yes, it's true.<br />
There I was working hard finishing off my novel. I was very close to the end and looking forward to a break from writing for a few months and then bang!<br />
An innocent comment sparked off an idea, the idea developed a voice and that voice refused to leave.<br />
"Look, I'm a bit busy now," I said politely. "Come back later when I've finished this book."<br />
But the voice wouldn't leave. It capered about in a diverting way and dragged my attention away from my novel.<br />
"Go away!" I said a bit more firmly now. "I can't talk now, I have to finish."<br />
Still no joy. It fluttered about my head, sending out possibilities and ideas and worming it's way ever deeper.<br />
Finally I realised I wouldn't be able to escape and found myself sitting at my laptop and opening a new file.<br />
I was writing the first chapter.<br />
Just the first chapter I thought and then I'd stop.<br />
I didn't want to though. The voice dragged me deeper...what could happen next?<br />
I was making notes then, fleshing out a story and about to embark on a new novel.<br />
<br />
But, luckily for me I was reined in by my son.<br />
I'd been reading him my current project and he'd been listening eagerly. When he realised I was thinking of not finishing it in favour of a new project he was furious.<br />
I had to finish it or face his wrath.<br />
<br />
So I did. I'm pleased to say that I managed to write the last few chapters and now I'm putting the first draft away so I can start on the next one. My month of rest and relaxation has gone up the spout because I've been hijacked by a voice in my head. I'll be forced to write now, to find out what will happen to him, to find out the truth hidden in his past, to find a way to shut him up and get some peace.<br />
<br />
Of course there are benefits to this method. Instead of fretting and worrying and rewriting my first draft before I'm ready, I can instead put it away easily and will be able to leave it there for a reasonable time.<br />
Also, it's much easier to have crits and rejections on a work that you've emotionally cut off from, when you're still invested it's much harder.<br />
<br />
And I'm hoping, of course, that this new voice that I couldn't resist will contain a story so special, so remarkable that not only will<i> I </i>not be able to help writing it but that<i> others</i> won't be able to stop reading it!<br />
<br />
I'm hoping I'm not the only one hearing these voices in my head, do you manage to ignore them or do they take over your life? Let me know!<br />
<br />
I'm hoping to resume normal service next week but no promises. I'll have to ask the voices first...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979362699302378314.post-85236018279348721322013-04-24T11:00:00.000-07:002013-04-24T11:00:53.090-07:00No Man is an Island<br />
And no writer should spend all their time alone. Every so often we should put down our laptops and enter out into the world in search of like minded people.<br />
This is exactly what I did on Saturday when I headed off to the Verulam Writers Conference in St Albans with my lovely writerly friend Tania.<br />
<br />
The Verulam Writers club is a long running writers club that holds a one day conference every year for the extremely reasonable price of £55 which includes lunch, refreshments AND a five minute pitch with a professional of your choice. For a further ten pounds you can also book a ten minute pitch where you can submit five pages in advance and then hear their feedback.<br />
<br />
The day offers a choice of workshops in a variety of genres but it focuses mainly on crime and childrens writing. (A strange combination but it seems to work!) and much like SCBWI it is organised entirely by volunteers. I had a workshop with the inspirational Beverley Birch on creating tension, one with Julie Mayhew (author of new YA book Red Ink) on finding your teen voice and another with Lesley Eames on beginnings. There was a very interesting panel on childrens writing with Beverley Birch, Julie Mayhew and Marianne Levy (author of the Ellie May books) with open question and answer time.<br />
<br />
The best part of the day was not the workshops or the pitches however but the sense of being surrounded by people just like me. And because of my recent epiphany (see my last post - Desperation Station) instead of being stressed and anxious and slightly desperate like I was at Winchester in November, this time I was relaxed and calm. I found it easy to talk to people, all the people, be it author, agent or editor and I wasn't worried about networking and getting requests for my work. I just wanted to chat. The freedom was simply glorious and I left the day feeling positive and happy to be part of this great writing community.<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone who made the day so fabulous and to Tania who not only recommended the day but drove me there as well!!<br />
<br />
Come back next week where I will discuss what I learned from the marvelous Beverley Birch!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00658027376908266092noreply@blogger.com2