Somerset Celebration

I've just been to the Somerset Celebration of Children's Literature (and slept for ten hours last night!). For those who haven't heard of Somerset, it's a large private school on the Gold Coast (about 1-1/2 hours south of Brisbane) that holds a huge festival every year. This year around 30 authors gathered for 3 days of talks and workshops with students from about 70 different schools. Although Somerset is the hosting venue, and lots of their students attend the various sessions, schools from all over the place send groups of students in buses too.

Some authors had 400 kids in their sessions. I had one session with 206 and another with around 250. I can tell you that 250 first and second graders make a lot of noise when you get them to practise their pirate talk! Arrrrrrr. The great thing about Somerset is that you have plenty of opportunities to listen to other authors (while madly making notes about what worked for them and getting new ideas for your own presentations - not stealing, just thinking 'I could do that but I'd do it like this'). I listened to Pat Flynn, Lee Fox, Michelle Taylor, James Roy and P.D. Martin, among others, and everyone had a completely different approach.

The bookshop has signing tables, so after your session, you went along to the bookshop and sat a table and signed books and talked to the kids. This was such a contrast to the Sydney Writers' Festival a few years ago, where I sat at a table next to Sam Wagan Watson and we signed one book each! At Somerset, lots of kids bought books and brought them over for signing, but also lots were collecting autographs. You could almost pretend you were famous (I said almost!).

The festival is incredibly well-organised, with a great bunch of parent volunteers who did everything from driving our shuttle bus to working on the food stalls and in the bookshop, plus managing the sessions and seating, and getting us all to the right venue at the right time. We also had student volunteers who helped us set up and fetched water and introduced us. Somerset has been running for 16 years, and it shows. A really huge thank you to all who helped to make it an amazing experience.

On another tack, the news came in while we were there that the 2010 Children's Book Council conference has been cancelled, citing financial problems - another victim of the current global crisis. This is very sad news, as the conference is a vital national meeting place for writers, teachers and librarians, as well as lovers of children's literature. There were many people who commented that maybe moving the conference (and its organisation) to a new city every two years is a mistake, and that a central group needs to build on experience, year after year (like Somerset and other long-running festivals), rather than start anew each time.

No doubt over the next few weeks there will be many opinions and ideas flying around, but mostly I think everyone is just upset that such an important conference has bitten the dust. Time will tell whether anyone else steps forward to create an alternative, or whether we'll have to wait until 2012 for the next one...

Writing Deadlines

The big news around the writing scene at the moment is that Audrey Niffenegger, who wrote The Time Traveler's Wife, has just sold her second novel for over US$4 million. In these dire economic times, that's big news. And no doubt the kind of news that will make many novelists grind their teeth. But, as some bloggers (such as Kristin Nelson the agent) are pointing out, she sold it on a fully completed manuscript. A great manuscript. Not a chapter and synopsis and a wish and a prayer. She apparently knows that the dreaded second novel can sink you, as can its deadline.

Writing to a deadline can be a great incentive. Or a lead weight around your neck. I know two children's writers who have signed deals for series in the past couple of years, and agreed to insanely tight schedules for Books 2, 3 and 4. Book 1 is already done. Book 2 is half done. How hard is it going to be for Books 3 and 4? Strangely enough, they get harder. They get worse. They start to inhabit your nightmares. The due date for the next one draws closer and closer, then it whizzes past. You struggle. And really, to be honest, the pleasure and enjoyment has gone. The characters you invented are now people you'd like to strangle.

Audrey did incredibly well with her first novel. I have a copy here somewhere but I haven't got around to it yet. I might just dig it out and read it now, and the editor and agent are saying her second one is terrific, better than her first. When was the last time you heard that about a second novel? Usually the knives are out, one way or another, before the second novel hits the printing press. Second novels are always a let-down (that's if you can even finish your second one after the trauma of your first one either hitting the best-seller lists unexpectedly - therefore making you temporarily famous - or sinking without a trace).

But the series deadline? It makes you think twice, once you've heard a few horror stories. You write a novel and think - this could be series! That's what everyone wants. But you have to really believe in your heart that you love your characters enough to write another five or ten. And then you have to resist the super-tight deadline, if you can. Easier said than done, especially in today's climate.

I remember a few years ago that Sue Grafton dug her heels in (after a couple of Kinsey Milhone novels that weren't too good) and said she would write them when she wrote them and not before. She'd either take the time necessary to make them the best possible, or she wouldn't write them at all. She had eight novels behind her already, so it was a lot easier for her to say no. Some people can churn a series out, but most of us can't, because we do want our books to be the best they can possibly be. And that takes time and patience.

Who Buys Picture Books?

I guess the answer to the above question is fairly obvious - 99% of the time, adults buy picture books. Parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians. And then small children get to read those picture books with the adults. And then eventually by themselves. But the person with the money in their hand gets to decide what goes on the bestseller lists, simply by virtue of the $$ they spend. What interests me is how the same old books end up on those lists, year after year, when I know there are absolutely wonderful new picture books being published every week.

One of my current favourites is Wolves by Emily Gravett. Check out her website, too. And Mo Willems' books are great. But there are many picture books that never seem to get a look in, because adults are too busy buying into nostalgia (literally). There seems to be a whole market now for picture books that appeal to adults, that are reprints of the books they had when they were little, or are books that have a definite adult perspective (e.g. stories about harrassed mothers with kids that never give them any peace). I guess I understand why The Very Hungry Caterpillar is still around after 30+ years - it's a simple story with a great concept to engage littlies (the holes in the pages, the rhythm of the words).

But I don't really get why Possum Magic is still selling heaps after 20 years (sorry, but I don't - it's a nice story, but...). And although Where the Wild Things Are is certainly a classic, I know plenty of littlies today who hate the pictures. Now I hear that not only are they bringing back Captain Pugwash, but also Horrid Henry! Come on - surely there are plenty of great current picture books that would be just as good to promote, if not better?

Except, of course, I'm forgetting about the person with the money in their hand. The parent for whom Captain Pugwash was a favourite when they were little. And Horrid Henry? Hilarious! I remember reading that ... well, no, I didn't actually read either, nor did my daughter. No, our favourite was The Paperbag Princess, and that has als

o been reprinted, but I still have our copy. I have to admit I have asked people who work in bookshops the "oldies on the bestseller list" question, and received an answer that dismayed me - lots of people have no idea about books for children. They roll into a bookshop, look puzzled, and ask for help. And because most booksellers in large stores are not familiar with kid's books, they inevitably recommend the ones they recognise themselves. Thus perpetuating the cycle.

I listened to a talk recently by a person from the Australian Booksellers' Association. It was great to hear her talk about training booksellers in how to find out about children's books in order to sell a wider range, but it sounded like her training sessions were reaching about 2% of the staff in stores. How can we encourage buyers to try new authors and illustrators? To give all those wonderful new picture books a chance? Any ideas?

If You're Not Writing, Are You a Writer?

This topic has come up several times in the past few days. It's strange how something you barely think about from one week to the next suddenly jumps out in front of you. When I was doing psychology/philosophy stuff years ago, the theory was that "the thing" was always there - the difference was that something in your life made you notice it. Today, it was our second year novel writing class. One of the students had only written 15 words this week, and seemed to think that was OK. Nup. Not if you want to be a novel writer.

I haven't been writing for a few weeks now. I needed a healthy break. Of course, what happened was I ended up writing poems instead of fiction, plus I did some journalling. I still felt like I wasn't really writing, because I wasn't producing 3000-5000 words a week. Now I have started again, simply because I couldn't stand not writing anymore. The urge got bigger and bigger, and finally I opened the laptop and began. Feeling, as usual, like what I was writing was awful, but words on the page are words to work with.

Today my email newsletter arrived from Margie Lawson and Mary Buckham. (It's free, by the way.) It included an interview with a writer called Lois Faye Dyer. I'd never heard of her before (I don't read her genre) but she said something that rang a bell to clang along with the other things I've been thinking and hearing. "Too many writers don't spend enough time writing. A writer writes. Full stop. ... Finish a book a year, a whole book, not just the first three chapters and a plot synopsis."

I know there are literary writers who regularly take 2-3 years to write a novel. That's not the point. The point is - they are still writing regularly, and probably every day. Andrea Goldsmith has been a full-time novelist for many years. I've heard her talk about her writing life - it includes reading, thinking, planning and writing, as well as lots of rewriting. All the time. It's her career. Those of us who have day jobs have to fit our writing around what pays the bills. But we still write regularly, we produce words - lots of them - and we rewrite lots of them.

That's how a book gets written. And the next one. And the next one. By writing, regularly, by giving up other things in order to put words on the page, by understanding that only by writing are you a writer. Thinking about it doesn't count.

We Love School Librarians

All children's writers love school librarians. Why wouldn't you? They love kid's books, they love getting kids to read, they love talking about books. The photo above is from the Northern Sydney School Librarians' Conference I spoke at last week. There were many there who are designated "teacher-librarian", which means they teach classes as well as run their school library. I have never met a school librarian or teacher-librarian yet who wasn't dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working.

Why am I telling you all this? Because over the past few years, various state and federal governments have gradually taken away many librarians from schools, especially primary schools. If you don't have a special person to look after your library, who manages to buy the books, get them on the shelves, talk to the kids about what they might like to read (with knowledge, because the librarian usually reads as many as s/he can)? It falls back on teachers, who are already totally over-committed with classroom work.

At the conference, I talked to the attendees about poetry. When I suggested that they shelve poetry in with the fiction (instead of the 800s) some of them clapped!! (I thought they might boo me for that one!). It was great to talk to a room full of people who understood what I was saying about encouraging poetry reading and writing, and I talked to many of them later about other ideas. I also sat in on a couple of their sessions, and was astonished at the complexity of library admin these days. I used to be a librarian many years ago, and have things changed!

Now it's barcodes as well as Dewey, and wrestling with a records system that makes the one I use at work look like the easiest thing in the world (but that won't stop me complaining). The sheer physical aspect of keeping books in good condition by covering and repairing is a job in itself. It used to be my least favourite job back in the old days, although I eventually came to see it as kind of meditative and quiet. So three big cheers for librarians in schools, and let's join the CBCA in campaigning for their restoration and maintenance.

Flying Home From Perth

I think I am becoming an inveterate plane sleeper. It amazes me when people say, "Oh I can't sleep on planes." And I think, Why not? It's like sleeping in the car when you're a kid. I'm almost to the point where I sit down, buckle up my seat belt, we take off and zzzz...... Something about the hum and the quiet (unless there's a screaming kid). Although I can't say the seats do much for the comfort level. This amazing sunset photo was taken after I woke up!

When I look back now on the Poetry Festival (seems like ages ago although it wasn't, but I've been to Sydney since then), this is what stands out for me:

* the keynote address by Fay Zwicky, not least of all because she had just been to see Gran Turino with Clint Eastwood and referred to it many times in relation to her life as a poet. I loved the movie and totally understood what she was saying, although no doubt some others might not have. She was very inspiring.

* the keen interest that everyone had in listening and contributing, and in writing and reading poetry.

* the opening party of the Perth Writers' Festival, in the grounds of the University of WA - and me getting lost looking for the bus back to the hotel and discovering a spooky sunken garden.

* the opening of the poetry festival by an Aboriginal person named Sean (sorry, Sean, I should have asked someone who you were!) - it was the most eloquent, stirring welcome to country I have ever heard, and from now on, anyone who just does the "lip service" thing will just be annoying! He brought tears to my eyes and raised goosebumps.

* the rain - I got soaked to the point of dripping onto the carpet on my walk back to the hotel one day, and it was wonderful. I'd almost forgotten what rain felt like.

I'll report on the Northern Sydney School Librarians' Conference shortly - it was terrific!

Writing in Perth

Back from the Apropos Poetry Festival in Perth, and feeling zapped. The time zone difference is fairly small - two hours - but enough to disrupt sleep patterns, and then suddenly you're home again and still sleep-tardy. I got really sick of waking up at 4am and then at 6am, and not being able to get back to slumberland again. On two mornings, I went to the hotel gym instead, thinking it might help. Wrong. I would have done better using the "pillow talk" form next to my bed and asking for a better pillow from the multitude of choices available (this was a 5 star hotel).

The poetry festival was rich and varied, and gave me much to think about. By the time I came home, I'd written at least ten poems. I attended sessions on publication, new trends, performance, the influence of country/place, community arts, poetry in schools and whether you can pursue poetry as a profession or not. Plus I ran two workshops myself, and spoke on the schools panel.

It was a great pity that only four teachers came to the schools panel discussion. The fact that they made the effort was wonderful, and it would have been even better if another 20-30 teachers had attended. Because the ones who were there ended up feeling a bit like they were manning the barricades! Not intentionally, of course, but those of us who do school visits and workshops are very aware of the woeful situation of poetry in schools, and the discussion tended towards the gloomy. With good cause, but that didn't make the teachers feel any better, I guess.

I ended up compiling a long list of great suggestions for encouraging poetry in the classroom, most of which were contributed by those teachers who came along. A big thank you! I added some more of my own the next day, because I really couldn't stop thinking about it. I still can't.

Why is poetry given such pathetic lip service in so many schools? For every school doing wonderful things, there are 50 where the teachers avoid it. A report I was given from the UK pointed out that if teachers don't like poetry, don't read it, don't know how to teach it, of course they won't include it in their English studies. Our panel members talked about being poetry evangelists, of starting a poetry virus. I still think a lot of it has to do with resources and good training. You get anyone excited and interested in something, they'll be happy to pass it on and create equal enthusiasm.

I often meet poets who talk about being brought up in a household or attending a school where reciting and reading poetry was an everyday occurrence. That wasn't the case for me. I came to poetry late, but I just figure I have lots of great reading still ahead of me. But all the same, if 98% of our kids, especially those in state schools, are not being introduced to the joys and thrills of poetry, who will be reading or writing it in twenty years time? Only the kids who went to private schools where poetry was given room to grow? What was your experience at school? What is your kids' experience right now?

Poets Poeting

I'm about to fly off to Perth to take part in the Apropos Poetry Festival, which is a lead-in event to the Perth Writers' Festival. I'm really looking forward to it, not least because it seems like an awfully long time since I've been able to focus on some poeting, i.e. writing, reading, talking, thinking and dreaming poetry. The program looks interesting, and tackles some of the current "issues" such as whether you can or should make a living out of poetry, poetry in schools, and simply studying how to write better poems.

I'm teaching two workshops - one on writing poetry for kids, and the other on "what poetry can do for you". This latter class sounds a bit vague perhaps, but I see a lot of writing for kids that goes for the basics, getting the story moving fast, the plot pacy and the characters snappy. I'm going to try to encourage participants to look at how to write fiction more poetically, how to take a first draft and apply some great language skills as part of revision. Writers of all genres and forms might find it useful. If you live in or near Perth, come along and join in!

I will no doubt have to admit to those who live in WA that I haven't been to Perth since 1976. And even then, it was a stopover on my way to South Africa. My friend and I stayed in a hotel for one night, and it happened to be the night the hotel caught on fire (somebody's air conditioning unit blew up). I have never been known for my elegant clothing, least of all where nightwear is concerned, and for some reason I'd bought what I considered to be a "sensible" nightie. As I filed down the stairs and out of the hotel, a kindly fireman told me "Gee, you'll be able to write about this at school tomorrow." Hmph!

On Thursday afternoon, I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on Poetry in Education - what are we doing about poetry in schools? Anything? I've been doing some research this week and the answer seems to be Not Much. But I've heard about some great projects happening in WA so hopefully I'll report back on this next week. I can't wait to fill my head with new ideas and inspirations, and fill some pages with writing.

Structure in Stories

Teaching has started where I work, and I'm spending a lot of time reviewing all my materials on mythology for one of my subjects. But I'm doing the same for Story Structure, bringing in some new information and ideas. I team-teach this with a scriptwriter, and we learn from each other as we go along. This week we wanted to look at shorter stories and films, such as Tropfest, but we're also going to analyse some TV drama.

I've got plenty of books on my shelves about scriptwriting - very often the structural stuff they talk about relates just as well to fiction writing. But I had little on TV writing, so today I bought a new book, Successful Television Writing by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin. I have no intention of writing TV drama myself (however, if they were still making NYPD Blue, I might have a go at a script for that!). But it was fascinating to read what these guys had to say about how a one hour drama works.

They start by saying "Every TV drama series is the same." And go on to explain the four acts, how each one works, and what each act needs in terms of building tension. What is even more interesting is the next chapter where they talk about why audiences watch. Not for the plot (which usually has the same elements, depending on the genre and setup), but for the characters and their lives. If we care about them, we will want to tune in every week to see how they're going.

They also talk about the key scene in any episode, and how the whole story of that episode is about leading up to that key moment. Inevitably, I started thinking about how this relates to fiction writing. What is our key moment? The climax. How often do I talk to students about the narrative drive, the main character's intense need or desire that propels them through the story, the fact that you need to continually increase the tension to keep the reader turning the pages?

And how often do I see people start writing a novel and come to a grinding halt after three chapters or 10,000 words? Because they don't really understand where they're going. They haven't worked out what the key scene or climax needs to be about, what needs to happen in it, and how everything you write in the novel should be leading up to that. And all of that still comes back to character, 98 times out of 100. The other two times are, I'd say, in movies or novels that are thrillers (think James Bond) where the climax is about saving the world.

Even if you resist writing any kind of outline, even if you are a "seat of the pants" writer, don't you still know somewhere in your writing gut what that thing is that your main character wants? And if you don't, how much writing do you have to do before you work it out? 50,000 words? 100,000 words? One chapter? What works for you?

One Week Later

Last night, we were watching TV and our front door was open. Suddenly I noticed this large bright red rectangle on the wall inside the house. It was the setting sun, casting a bright red glow over everything. This is the best my camera could do to capture it before it went down.
Meteorologists say that when there is so much smoke in the air, light naturally filters through and as red is the "strongest" in the spectrum, this is what we see. An eerie reminder of one week ago.

Today we drove north of Melbourne (not near the fire areas, unlike some people who apparently are treating it like a tourist attraction!) and encountered quite a bit of smoke haze. It disappeared later when the wind changed yet again. I wonder how many of us are numbed now by the relentless media coverage. It has been amazing, overwhelming and confronting - and has certainly led to a huge outpouring of welcome donations. But are we nearing saturation point? According to some newspaper reporters, the survivors certainly are. Many are now refusing to be news fodder, and want to be left alone.

I remember seeing a show last August (by accident) - Ellen de Generes, who has done a huge amount of fundraising for New Orleans and its rebuilding. The show I saw was about reminding everyone that it is still a disaster area, that people are still fighting every day to rebuild, and that long after the media has been and gone, the city is still nowhere near getting back to finding out what normal is. Will this be what it's like for our bushfire survivors in a year's time? Fighting to get the funds that were raised for them? Fighting to regain some semblance of a normal life again? Media spotlights come and go. It's what we do to help after they pass that counts.

Among the Remainders

Before Christmas, an empty shop at my nearby shopping centre turned into a remainders book store, and I picked up several reference books on mythology, plus a fabulous Beisty book on castles (one for me, one as a gift for a friend). But we now have a chain of stores that regularly have remainder sales - Dirt Cheap Books. Much of what DCB has is of no interest to me - biographies of people I've never heard of, self help books that are last year's fad, mass market kid's books and those pretty gift books of sayings or quotes that sit on your coffee table and only get read when someone is totally bored.

But they do have novels. This is where I picked up my copy of Prep. Where I discovered authors like Peter James and Caro Ramsay. The novels of theirs are ones that didn't sell here, probably because they are not well-known crime writers in Australia. I guess publishers or book distributors bring in books in big numbers sometimes and they just don't leave the shelves. There are often piles of books by people who are well-known. Did someone vastly over-order? One day, I'd love to know the story behind how some of the books end up with DCB.

The thing is, even though I venture there when books are all $4.99, I've learnt that a cheap, enticing book is not necessarily a book I will read. Some of my earlier impulse buys sit and sit and sit, and then go to the charity bin. So now I'm firmer with myself. I read blurbs, and then I read first and second pages. Often I put books back. Sometimes I put them back after the first paragraph.

Of course, this is what editors do. The fact that all of these books were published meant that an editor somewhere kept reading and paid money to the author. The fact that I read a page and put a book back just means I didn't like it. What is it that makes us keep reading? The voice? Often, this is an important factor for me. The way the words sound, the way the writer has put them together. The way the character feels, acts, speaks. What happens on the first two pages. If nothing happens, or something happens that doesn't interest me much, I put it down. You could say it's indefinable - it's the "feel" of the writing and the story being told.

But it's also that whatever you read on pages 1 and 2, you'll get another 300 pages of it. Do you want another 300 pages? Do you want to spend the time and money on it? Now that books are around $35-38 here, it's an even bigger question. What makes you keep reading?

Scribblers Unite

I've just returned from the Scribble Children's Writing Festival in Canberra, and by the time I arrived back in Melbourne late Saturday evening, the cool change had arrived and it was down to 29 degrees. Not that I really noticed. Canberra had been 40 both days, and I felt so parched and sweaty (yes, at the same time) that I thought I'd never be cool again. Today I went for a walk in a mild 24 degrees and saw how many gardens and trees in the neighbourhood were scorched by the sheer air heat yesterday - 46.4 degrees, Melbourne's hottest ever.

Although it's mild today, all over our state bushfires continue to burn. There is a huge one that has destroyed over 57,000 hectares so far, and is still going. If you have never seen what a bushfire can do, or how fast it can move (much faster than you can run or even drive when it has gale force wind behind it), then Google Victorian bushfires and find some footage. It is truly terrifying, and the CFA volunteer firefighters are amazing. Already we have 14 people who have died, which is almost unbelievable, and many firefighters injured.

The festival, although hot in temperature, was full of keen writers who came to listen to a variety of speakers talk about a variety of topics. Mark McLeod, formerly a publisher at Random House and Hodder, did manuscript consultations all day Friday and spoke on Saturday. Jackie French was there, as was Randa Abdel-Fattah (her talk was fantastic), Anthony Hill, Jack Heath and Mark Carthew. We discussed picture books, educational publishing, our own books, and our writing and publishing experiences. In the last session of the day, I taught a workshop on how to get started on your children's novel.

The participants must have felt they were in an endurance race! Two jam-packed hours of information (I even made them write something) under a madly spinning ceiling fan and with copious amounts of cold water. But it was two days of good value for all, I think, and everyone seemed to go away feeling like braving the heat had been worth it.
Here in Melbourne, lots of things were cancelled, especially outside sporting events. Most people stayed inside where it was cool - that would've been me, too! But it was great to get out and meet so many interested writers and just plain talk about writing.

Time Out

When you've been working on a project for a long time, it can feel very weird when you click on Save for the last time and close the file and think, There, it's done. (Well, it never is, is it? But it's done until the next revision, or maybe when you work on it with the editor.) What next? A new book? A short story? A few poems perhaps? One part of your brain is urging you to keep the momentum going, get into something new, keep those words coming.

But this is the time you need to back away and go somewhere else, physically and mentally. Physically because if you're near your computer or your writing space, you'll start to feel guilty. Hey, I have a couple of hours spare today. I should go write something. I'm a writer, aren't I? And mentally because that book is still clinging to the inside bits of your brain like a big cobweb and it won't really let you focus properly on anything else.

My favourite place to go after a draft is finished is the movies. I love to let someone else's story and hard work sweep me away into another world. Watching a DVD at home is not the same. I'm still close enough to the laptop to start feeling like I should be writing, not wasting time on a movie. But at the movie theatre, I'm in front of the big screen, surrounded by sound, and I can just give it all up and dive into the story. I can't get up and wander away (I just paid to be here!) so I can freely indulge.

One place I've discovered is not a good excursion option is a large bookshop. By the time I've wandered around for a while, the sheer number of books on the shelves (they all got published, so there'll be no room left for mine) becomes mind-numbing and sometimes depressing. Even a nice strong coffee doesn't dispel the gloom. No, it's the movies for me. And this week I'm leaning towards Pride and Glory or The Changeling. It'll depend on my mood...

Writing Alone

I'd heard a strange noise out in the backyard several times, and thought it was machinery, or a squeaky door. Then I realised it was these two, sitting in my apricot tree, pigging out on what was left of the apricots. And having a good chatter together while they were at it. Probably thinking they'd better eat up before dusk and the arrival of the fruit bat (who can't be photographed because he's fast and dark).

I've been thinking a lot this week about writing alone - or why writers need to be alone when they write. Kristi Holl commented on headspace and thinking space. What happens when you're on a deadline and have to give up precious thinking and planning time, simply to get the words on the page and off to the editor. Or whoever is waiting for it. To me, this really is the difference between full-time and part-time writers. Not the writing time, which is often typing time, but the hours you get to spend just thinking about your story and all its possibilities.

I used to kid myself that I could write when my husband was in the room. He wasn't talking to me, so I should be able to block him out and write. No. I might have been typing words into the laptop, but I wasn't writing, not really. Mothers talk about waiting till their kids go down for a nap and then racing to the computer. People talk about waiting until everyone in the house is in bed before they can truly write, or getting up at 4am. It's about silence and solitude.

Not the physical silence (who has that these days?), but the silence inside your head. The quiet space that opens up when you no longer have to answer questions, fetch or find, or just be present for someone. The solitude you feel allows new people to enter the space - your characters. They might hover during the day, they might nudge you with a new idea, but they won't truly appear until you are alone, and belong totally to them.

It's taken me a long time to realise the difference between writing - because I have an hour or two and I know what comes next in the story - and writing alone, just me and the story. It's like being out in the middle of a huge field, flinging your arms out wide, breathing in the air and sunshine, then folding it all inside yourself, creating a space that becomes a world that becomes filled with your story and your people. Your people. Then the writing truly happens. The story is allowed to inhabit you, you can hear what the characters think and say, how they feel, who they are.
Unfortunately the experience only makes me want to throw in my day job, run off to a desert island (with power, of course) and write 7 days a week. I guess that's why I keep buying Lotto tickets!

Reading by the Fire

No, not this week. This week in Melbourne we are reading IN the fire, that's if we can concentrate in this horrible, awful heat. It's easier just to lie in front of the air conditioner and spray yourself with water. For me, it's even too hot to go to the beach. Who wants to fry on the sand? So reading becomes an activity that is something you do when your brain doesn't feel like thick, hot mud!

Writing becomes even harder to manage. Computers overheat, for a start. I've lost my internet connection a couple of times because somewhere in the house, or outside it, the cable has gone pfftt and nothing works. The router gets so hot that it goes off too. I have been only turning the computer on when I need to do something. Two nights ago, when I had to email off two things due on deadlines, and my internet connection died, I was beside myself. But that was also heat-stress! I did eventually send things a few hours later.

I have even been grateful to go to work this week, or I was, until the air conditioning there conked out!! Still, amongst all the sweat and sticky chairs and iced water, I have been editing. Somehow, pages on my lap, one sentence at a time, pen in hand, I can focus enough to delete and amend. And later at night, when I can bear the heat of the laptop, I transfer edits into the manuscript. I am one chapter from finishing the edits, three chapters from transferring to the ms. And then the revision is done. For now.

I have already warned my agent, who will be the first to read this draft (my great writing friend K read a previous draft), that this is something different from me. More serious, a bit more weird. I could hear the nervousness in his voice! But this was one of those books I had to write, one that I had been wanting to try for a couple of years. The first attempt went nowhere because I tried to "nice-fy" it, which resulted in a bland yuck. Now it's done the way I want. We'll see what the response is!

Movie Week

I haven't been to the movies for quite a while, partly because the last time I went, I paid $16.50 for something that I now can't even remember what it was! At least if I've paid for a book, it's there on my shelf to remind me, although these days it has to be something I really want to keep before I'll pay out the $$. Trade paperbacks in Australia now are up around $36-38, so if I buy anything, it'll be when it's on discount. I'm regularly at the library at the moment, feeding my holiday reading habit. But also this week, I saw three movies - a record.

I chose to see The Tale of Despereaux first, because I'd loved the book. But it was also quite a while since I'd read it, so I had forgotten a lot of the story (I hate knowing what is going to happen next). I thought this was a great kid's movie, and had lots of funny lines - plus Despereaux was a very cute mouse, and a very clever protagonist.

Did I choose to see Underworld III: Rise of the Lycans? No. But it was my husband's birthday and so we went along in a group. Everyone, bar me, had seen the other two Underworld movies and were fans. I had a coffee beforehand to help me stay awake, which I didn't really need because the sound was so loud that I had to put wads of tissue paper in my ears. All I can say about this movie is it was mildly interesting to analyse the mythical story elements in it (distinct shades of Robin Hood, for example), and my husband enjoyed it.

Gran Turino? I loved it. I wasn't sure what it was going to be at the beginning, but as the story unfolded, the character of Walt grew and the layers revealed themselves. The other characters were also interesting - not stereotypes - and the story kept surprising me right to the end (no spoilers here). Clint Eastwood does this kind of movie so well, creating a character who is right in your face, but at the same time forcing you to constantly re-think your assumptions. And after you've watched the whole thing, you're still thinking days later. That's the kind of movie I like.

What Stops You Writing?

This has been a fairly regular topic of discussion among my writer friends over the past twelve months. Perhaps we've all been feeling time and work pressures more, or perhaps it was something we were all struggling with and felt we needed to talk about more. This is nothing to do with writer's block, not in the sense it's normally discussed. Usually writers talk about being blocked because they can't write - no ideas, no confidence, can't get the words or ideas flowing.

But our topic has been about wanting to write - having ideas, words, even deadlines - and not being able to. The reasons vary, but here are the ones we've discussed:

~ Emotional upheaval - the people around us have made our lives miserable, or stressed out, or full of pain and worry. These are people close to us, the ones we can't get away from, no matter how much we wish we could. (A desert island becomes a favourite fantasy.) Sometimes these people can't help it, sometimes they can. Sometimes we can move out of their sphere, but more often, we are inevitably distressed and/or super-stressed by them and/or their behaviour, and we simply can't concentrate our hearts and minds on our writing.

~ Work commitments - we are paid to work a certain number of hours per week. For most of us, that's what pays the bills. But work takes over. We are expected to do overtime, take on extra duties or projects, end up working at home for no pay because we feel we should. And we can't, for whatever reason, say no. Hopefully, this state of affairs will be short-term. Sometimes, the only way to stop it is to simply find a way to say NO.

~ Lack of sleep, or ill health - There have been many articles recently on the effect of lack of sleep. For a writer, the biggest impact is probably on concentration and energy. The same goes for illness. A long-term illness or injury can affect you differently on a day-to-day basis. Do you take pain-killers so you can write more? Or will they affect you too? For too long, the writer's stereotype has been hard-drinking, drug-taking, stay-up-all-night - most of us realise that any one of those things makes us write less, and write worse.

~ Lack of space - I've always loved the idea of Roald Dahl setting off down his garden path to his shed with the armchair and the lap board, on his way to a few hours or a day of writing. Some of us have a shed, or a room. But many writers have a corner of the kitchen table, or a desk in the corner of the loungeroom. One writer I know has a piece of timberboard spanning the washing machine and the drier in his laundry. More important is the headspace. Silence, if that's what you need. Nobody interrupting, wanting something. No phone. No one needing to be fed.

~ Obligations - they come in all shapes and sizes. They can be relatives, family, church, volunteer work, children, work, husbands, wives, paperwork like taxes - this covers such a wide range of things, and it'll be different for everyone. But what obligations do are suck up time and energy. They often require more than you are able to give right when you have to, so in a bad week, they'll cause you to slide three or four steps backwards. In a good week, you might whiz through them without a thought. But obligations usually mean leaving your house, expending energy and time, and they also often magically expand, so that you end up with more and more of them. You can't avoid some of them, but for many, the only solution is good old NO.

What stops you from writing?

Nit Picking Revision

Last year, in October, I worked my way through Margie Lawson's lecture packet on Empowering Character Emotions. While I'm sure it will all filter eventually into my first drafts, I spent a lot of time revising a manuscript using her techniques. It made a huge difference to some things I'd been struggling with for a while. I think we all have weak spots in our writing, and we spend a lot of time kidding ourselves that no one else will notice. And maybe if the voice or the story concept or the dialogue is fantastic, the weak bits do get overlooked.

But when you get to the point where you can't ignore your own weak areas in your writing, you have to do something about it, or the love of writing dissipates into continual dissatisfaction. So my weak area was deeper characterisation. Not all the time, mind you. But when I had novels I had written that didn't work, even after eight drafts, I had to find out what the problem was. Good readers will soon tell you. "Great read but ... felt a bit shallow." Yep. I needed to find a way to go deeper into my own characters and deepen also my writing.

So having worked hard on ECE, I decided to take the next step (revision was my goal again in 09 - I still have plenty to work on). I bought Margie's Deep Editing packet. It's like a book, except I can't read it on screen - I have printed these lectures out too. That way I get to use my highlighters and make my own comments. The result of this extra study? I am now working on the same novel, aiming to make a minimum of 25 improvements per chapter, and sometimes that can even be 5-10 per page, depending on my level of concentration.

I've learned to give each chapter a "going over" at least three times, and that if I can't find something to improve on the third pass, I'm not trying hard enough. Yes, it's time consuming, and yes, it's hard sometimes to apply that deep concentration and focus. I've developed strategies to help. One is to take a chapter to work with me, and do the editing in my coffee and lunch breaks. The change of venue helps. Another is to edit the chapters at random, not in sequence. It stops me getting caught up in the story, and has already helped me pick up an accidental duplication of some information.

Like writing, everyone revises in different ways. Some people do it as they write, others wait until a first draft is complete. How do you revise? Any tips to share?

The Novel That Announces Itself

Over the past couple of weeks, our daily newspaper has been publishing short excerpts from a range of novels and nonfiction books. I'm not entirely sure that this has done some of the novelists a service. Yes, it's good to be noticed, but if you compare the experience for readers to something like picking up a book in a shop and reading the first couple of pages, I haven't seen one novel yet that I'd even borrow from the library, let alone buy.

But the exercise did highlight something for me about what I don't like to read. The novel that announces itself, importantly and somewhat pompously (to me) in the first couple of paragraphs. Like this:

Michael is sitting with Madeleine in the lounge room of her flat. There is a guitar on the floor. Everywhere, Michael imagines, in all the houses, on all the floors, there are guitars. The guitar and the decade go together. Once, it was the Age of the Piano. Pianos, he imagines, marked the leisurely passing of time in a more leisurely age than this.*

Zzzzz. I know there are some of you out there who will have no problem with this as an opening. You'll be intrigued to know who Michael is, why he is imagining these things. Not me. But I think my big complaint about this is the "announcing" tone of voice, that says, "Look at me, I'm thoughtful and deep and literary. And besides, I'm in first person."

How about this one?

This story begins within the walls of a castle, with the birth of a mouse. A small mouse. The last mouse born to his parents and the only one of his litter to be born alive.
"Where are my babies?" said the exhausted mother when the ordeal was through. "Show to me my babies."
The father mouse held the one small mouse up high. "There is only this one," he said. "The others are dead."**

This is a story that definitely and deliberately announces itself. The storytelling tone is part of the voice and style, and I've read articles where the author says the tone was how she chose to tell the story. Mind you, there was some criticism of it, with comments that said it sounded too old-fashioned.

Tone is something that is not much discussed in fiction writing. We tend to talk about voice, which can be confusing. Whose voice? The voice of the main character? The voice of the author? The voice of the story or narrator? What voice do you get when you use third person omniscient? Will it always be a narrator's voice? Take a look at Hemingway sometime. How would you describe the voice in "Hills Like White Elephants"? I'm not sure there is one. But I could certainly describe the tone, how it sounds to me. Passionately dispassionate! So much emotion, kept rigidly at arms length. But I'm afraid, to me, my first excerpt above sounds like "Look at me, look at me!" writing. Feel free to disagree!
* The Time We Have Taken by Steven Carroll (and yes, I know it won the Miles Franklin)
** The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo

Moving the Story Forward

One of the hardest things to get right in a novel is the pacing. Going all the way through at break-neck speed doesn't work - you don't give the reader any breathing space and after a while, the constant high drama is like a plateau to skim across. You don't want a reader to skim. But taking it slowly and developing everything in depth all the time doesn't work either. The reader keeps nodding off. The obvious answer is that the dramatic scenes take longer and the reflection scenes are shorter. But it doesn't neatly work like that either.

Every story has its own pace. The pace will vary, it will soar and dive, it will increase to top speed and slow for thinking space. So how do you work out speed and slowness for yourself? I've been doing some research on this and a few important points have emerged. One is your main character, and who they are. A slower, more thoughtful character will create a story that reflects who they are (think Alistair McCall-Smith's series with Mma Ramotswe, set in Botswana). A forceful character who leaps in before thinking will make for a higher-paced, more breathtaking story.

The trap with characters, I have found, is this: mostly we create people who are going to grow and change in the course of the story. That's natural and desirable. But it is very easy to end up with a story where things happen to the character all the time, so that the plot is pushing the character and directing her, instead of the other way around. It was something I hadn't considered in depth before, until I was trying to rewrite a novel and felt like I was stuck in mud. Except it wasn't me, it was my character.

Lots of exciting, suspenseful things were happening in the story, but they were happening TO her, not being caused or pushed along by her. It's a fundamental error, and I think it is very easy to fall into if you are not aware of it. The trap, I think, lies within the "grow and change" principle - we write about all these things that occur and how the character reacts and what they learn, but really they are learning by example, not learning by getting out there and taking risks and ACTING, rather than reacting.

This quote is from Cynthia Lord's blog - she is also revising right now, and asking some important questions as she goes along. This is the first on her list:

Can I change this plot development so it's the main character's idea? Or a result of her actions? to keep the main character driving the story. Not having the story happen to her--have it happening because of her.

It's a handy reminder that I want to keep on a piece of paper in front of me as I work through yet another draft. What's your favourite (current) revision question?

All Goaled Out

Goodness, it's only the 5th today and already I am feeling quite overwhelmed by the huge amount of goal setting stuff that's being put up on the net via blogs and newsletters. And I freely admit to adding to it recently! I like Kristi Holl's idea of deciding what I WON'T do this year, simply because sometimes the hardest part of achieving your goals is saying No to the things that eat up your time. But I guess when I think about it, I can't imagine not having goals written down for the year. It's become a habit, and one that does work for me if I take it step by step.

So, having done all the right things - written down my goals, reviewed my year, organised myself around some upcoming deadlines - what is there left to do? Read, read, read, read, read! I've been to the library, the bookshop, the second-hand bookshop, borrowed from friends, and started tackling my lovely big pile of books midway through December. I was swallowed up by Ken Follett's World Without End for more than a week (it was over 700 pages), and after that, other books struggled to keep up the same level of depth and interest. But I persevered.

My recent reading list includes:
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (middle grade, Newbery book) - interesting to read something that has several viewpoint characters and no real driving central plot. It did hold my interest, mainly because the characters were engaging, and I was interested in their journeys.

The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner (crime, adult) - Gardner has got to be one of my current favourites, simply because of her characters and complexity of plots. Very little that is predictable here. I wish I hadn't read everything else by her already. Sigh.

Dirty Little Lies by Stuart Macken (crime, adult) - someone I'd never read before (the joy of second-hand - trying out new authors for a cheaper price). Good plotting, a different take on investigation with gene crimes twisted and turned, and even though I guessed the villain, the final scenes were still exciting. Good research that doesn't get boring.**

Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks (YA) - years ago I heard this author speak, and read her novel Bone Dance. This new novel is excellent - lots of layers in the plot and great character development.

White Hot by Sandra Brown (crime, adult) - OK, I guess. It has that core romance element (I hate you, I hate you, OK, I can't keep my hands off you, guess what, I love you) that I find pretty boring, but it was an average kind of read. A library book.

Memories Are Made of This by Swan Adamson - I read this because a couple of writers I know are writing for Little Black Dress (the publisher). So this was intended to be an information excursion - what kind of book do they publish? what should writers be trying to achieve? I expected a boring sort of chicklit/feisty romance thing, but it was good! Again, the background stuff was intriguing. Life in the world of magazine publishing. And a heroine who didn't just fall in love and out again and then get her guy. Nice.

Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper - can I comment on this if I couldn't finish it? Of course. I gave up around page 60. The premise (psychics working secretly for the FBI) was a tad far-fetched, but I could've run with it if it had been backed up with great characters and lots of solid detail. Nup. I would say 70% of the novel is dialogue, which really boils down to a lot of the story being told through characters talking to each other, and telling each other stuff. Boring. No engagement here because I really got very little sense of who the characters really were. But if nothing else, this is worth analysing with students. They might think differently!

This is about three weeks worth. I read fast. I do read literary fiction too, although crime is my first love - I have started Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones, and have Annie Proulx and Charles Frazier on my pile. Will there be enough reading hours in January to finish them all? And watch Series 2 of Rome and The Wire? Of course!

** A recent review criticised Patricia Cornwell's new novel Scarpetta for having too much technical autopsy stuff in it. Um... isn't that why she's got so many fans? The depth of detail makes the novels real. That's what setting and detail are all about!

1st January - New Day

Today is a new day, the first in a new year. According to the calendar I'm using. What's the door knocker about? I guess it's symbolic, and seeing as how I'm teaching a subject called Myths & Symbols this year, as well as writing some fiction materials on symbols, it's on my mind a little at the moment. Symbolic of what? To me, it's about finding closed doors and knocking on them. Or at least imagining what's behind the door and, if it's something you want, find your own way of getting it.

It's also about noticing and enjoying the small things. While in France, I took many photos of castles and cathedrals and landscapes. But I also love photos of small things that catch my eye, like this door knocker. I have another photo of one shaped like a hand. I love taking photos for my bush blog of very small things like flowers and bugs.
I like to put things on my goals list that are both big and small. Big dreams, and small things that I know I can achieve and feel positive about. Setting huge goals that are unachievable is a good recipe for failure and depression.

I'm not sharing my goals with you (one reason is because I've realised half of them are just deadlines for things I have already committed to this year!). But also I like to keep my dream goals just for me, because they act like a guiding star. They might be way up in the sky but you never know, one day I might get that rocket built!
So instead of goals, here are some things that I think might make your year a better one:

1. You have hands, so use them. Don't sit back and wait for things to happen, or the chips to fall your way. Don't bother reading the kinds of books that say, If you want, you will get. Pfftt. As if. You want to achieve something, work out how to go about it and make a start. Then keep at it. You want to get a book published? Write it. Rewrite it many times. When you think it's good enough (truly) then research your markets and keep sending it out. And keep writing, and rewriting.

2. Forward is good. If you keep getting the feeling you're standing still, or even sliding backwards, work out why. And then make something happen to fix it. Take a class. Engage in some serious study. Do whatever you need to do to keep moving forward. Improving.

3. Rest and reward is good, too. Very often we just try to do way too much, and then beat ourselves up over it. Take time to stop, and you'll also find that's a good time to reflect and maybe make changes. Reward yourself for achievements. Set smaller goals so you can have some rewards along the way. Give up using Wonder Woman as your idol.

4. Enjoy the small things. Take time to stop and look for them. The door knockers. The flowers. The way the breeze is wafting the scent of the neighbour's gardenias your way. The huge helicopter flying over your house like a giant orange insect. The last piece of Christmas cake. The first seedling that pops its head above the soil. The chicken fluffing its feathers in the dust. Your small pleasures are yours alone. Enjoy.

5. Friends are wonderful. How many times have you thought, I must get in touch with X. Haven't seen them for years. And then you don't get around to it. Do it now. Even if you take just five minutes to say "Hello, I was thinking of you." People give our lives great meaning and joy, and you can't say "I was thinking of you" to someone who's gone.

6. Practise saying Please and Thank You. I read a column in the newspaper the other day where the writer had decided not to say please and thank you for his coffee in the coffee shop anymore because the person was just doing their job. Oh, for goodness sake! The pleases and thank-yous, the smiles, are what makes that job bearable. How hard is it to acknowledge a service, paid for or not? How hard is it to be generous with your thanks?

7. Try some shoe imagining now and then. Some people already know how to do this, lots don't. Instead of judging straight off, imagine what it's like to be that other person. Walk in their shoes for a couple of minutes. Instead of using media labels like dole bludger or rich celebrity, take some time to imagine their lives, imagine them as real people with feelings rather than stereotypes. See yourself on a leaky boat with no family left, or in a village with no food and water. Imagine having photographers stalking you every day. Or living in a country where to speak out is to become a target. I'm not asking you to donate money, just open yourself up to what other lives are like.

8. Try harder to be happy with what you have. The big buzzword is frugality, but that's only part of it, and it is fast becoming just a meaningless media term. Yep, it'll be a hard year for lots of people this year. That's why they all spent millions of dollars in the after-Xmas sales. Getting ready for having less. Good one. I have a house, a car, a fridge full of food. I'm doing OK. If in doubt, see (7).

Am I being boring and didactic here? Oh, quite possibly. But after a week of enjoying peace and quiet in my house and, at the same time, reading the newspaper every day, this is what I've written on 1 January 2009.

End of the Year

I'm still cleaning out here - up to garbage bag Number 5, and am impatiently waiting for the recycle bin to be emptied so I can put more stuff in. Does my office look any better yet? Not really, until you look closely. The huge set of shelves in the corner, which previously groaned under the weight of tons of paper and stuff, are now almost empty, and all that is going back there will be in labelled boxes. It's a case of making room in order to create order!

I'm also still considering my goals. Yesterday I read the post on J.A. Konrath's blog - he has compiled his suggested goals for the past four years, and they make very interesting reading. And he is right - we should focus on things we have control over, and keep moving forward. Kristi Holl has posted on her blog about her planned study program for 2009. She's going to be doing her own MFA at home, a great idea and something that is in reach for everyone.

We all need to create our own path to follow, and work out what will take us further along it. I'm like Kristi - I'm in the mood for more study, although I don't want to spend the time on an MA (especially the academic exegesis side of it). I have just received the second Margie Lawson lecture packet - this one is on Deep EDITS, and will take what I've learned so far and extend it into language and crafting sentences.

I see many knick-knacks on the internet that are about helping you set goals and create mission statements. A lot of them also want you to set a financial goal to aim for. Various studies show that the average writer earns about $6000 a year from their writing. It's not like a weekly pay packet you can depend on. One year you could earn three times that amount, the next you might be lucky to earn half. Maybe the goal for a writer is to increase their yearly earnings by a percentage. Aim for a 10% or 20% increase each year, and part of your strategy needs to be to work out where that money will come from. I feel tired just thinking about it!

But I will be thinking a lot about my 09 goals this week, because I'll be sharing them with my special writing/crit partner next week. Deadlines are good! I'll also be looking over my 5 year plan (I still can't get beyond Year 3 but I'm trying), which I created after doing Randy's seminars. More importantly, I'm going to be looking at what I can do right now, and over the next two months, to set it all in motion for 09. All the goals in the world are pointless until you get started on them.

Wombat Wish

This has nothing to do with books! Apart from the fact that I have written two wombat stories (unpublished) and included a wombat in the new Tracey Binns story, due out next May. I have a "thing" about wombats. Have had for years, long before Jackie French made them famous with her picture book, and there have been other picture books about them too. But in the six-and-a-half years we have owned some bushland north of Melbourne, I have never seen a wombat there, despite mountains of wombat poo, and many scratchings and holes everywhere. (I don't count the one in the distance on the hill because I didn't have my glasses on!)

Yesterday, I finally got my wish. I went for a long walk, and decided to venture up the other side of the dry creek for a change. I walked along an animal track (usually made by kangaroos or wombats or both) and followed it down to the creek bed where I scared a little swamp wallaby into madly hopping away. I stopped for a moment to pull grass seeds out of my sock, headed back and heard more thumping. Another wallaby? I froze. Waited. Looked. And there was a wombat, not twelve feet away.

It's unusual to see them out in daylight. They usually come out at dusk to graze for food. I think I caught this one unawares. It froze too, waiting. I edged around to get a better view through the bracken. It sniffed the air. Luckily, the breeze was blowing towards me. I took lots of photos, and waited, finally sat on the ground. Watching and marvelling. The wombat scratched some fleas, sniffed around, couldn't seem to decide what to do, but as I was being as quiet as I could, it stayed.

Then a small branch fell from a nearby gum tree, and it bolted down its hole, which was just three feet away. I heard its feet thumping as it escaped underground, probably hoping I'd just go away and leave it alone. Which I did. Feeling very lucky and very special. And hoping among all my photos that at least one would do the experience justice. I'm happy!

Cleaning Out

Early in 2007, I signed up for a series of teleseminars run by Randy Ingermanson and Alison Bottke called Clean Up Your Act. Originally, it was Lecture #1 that interested me - how to de-clutter your office. Did I ever need that! But in the end, the office went on as usual, I kept stepping over and around things and writing on the kitchen table, and my focus shifted to the strategic planning part of the seminar series. It was very helpful and made quite a difference to how I approached and planned things.

But ... the office. Eighteen months later, it's worse. And to make things even worser (Craig said I could use that word), I have a room out in my backyard that is also full of all sorts of stuff. Some furniture, some of my daughter's things, but mostly mine. Boxes of magazines, boxes of papers, old files, research materials, books, old clothes, old computer bits - you get the picture. Where on earth was I to start? In fact, that's really what's stopped me from making any headway with it. Every time I looked at how much there was, I felt like crying, and had no idea where to start.

Well, I finally worked out that starting point. It's a shelf. Any shelf. One shelf at a time. Doesn't matter which one - they're all bad news! And the floor. I had to clear at least half of the floor before I could start on a shelf, because otherwise there was nowhere to put the stuff on the shelf I wanted to keep, or the garbage bag. On the other hand, it doesn't pay to clear too much of the floor because that's a big incentive to keep more of what I should be throwing out.

So, in true Craig Harper style, I'm making myself accountable. To everyone who reads this. I'm posting a photo of my office, and I'm admitting that it got worse after I took this photo, so you really understand how desperate I was beginning to feel! But this time, with a Christmas and New Year break coming up, I have no excuse. I'll have time to spend at least an hour every day on this until I have conquered it. We've cut right down on gifts this year, so I won't be adding a whole pile of new stuff either. This is not a resolution thing, it's simply a commitment to making my life easier, and better for writing.

Standing Back From the Words

My friend K and I have just swapped manuscripts this week, and are currently reading and critiquing. We'll talk in a day or two about our feedback - so much better than trying to do it all on the page - but both of us are asking for a critique that focuses on the big picture. Fiddling around the edges, copyediting, strengthening verbs, smoothing out sentences - these are all things we can usually do ourselves, although it does help when someone points out the clunky bits.

It's one of the hardest things to learn as a writer, I think. The ability to be your own critic, to see what is not working, to pinpoint plot holes, inconsistent character stuff, stilted dialogue ... and then to know how to fix those things. We get too close to the words we write, we fall in love with them when we re-read, or else we are so self-critical that everything sounds like rubbish and we want to throw the manuscript in the bin. Some of the other things that can happen are being too nice to our characters, because we love them and we don't want bad things to happen to them. The result is no conflict and no tension. Or we confuse real life with fictional life, and include a whole heap of detail and action that has no purpose other than filling up the page.

I've been working on this particular novel for several months, and have just completed an intensive rewrite. While I was rewriting, I was right up close to the characters, and trying to get closer. At times, this meant the plot changed, and I know I didn't always keep track of those changes. And I also left some threads hanging, plot elements that were unresolved. I couldn't think about those things while I was focusing so much on character.

But once the manuscript went zapping off into cyberspace, via email to my critiquer, it gradually retreated from me. I had no desire to go back and read it again. Instead, I have been mentally reviewing the story - from a distance. I've been thinking about those plot holes, about those hanging threads, and about the minor character whose role was one I couldn't work out. I knew I didn't want to lose her, but neither did I want to build her up into a bigger role. Why was she in the story?

I'm keeping a notebook by my side, and every time a new question about the story, or anything else that I think is a problem, pops into my head, I write it down. And sometimes (it might take two minutes, it might come two hours later) I can see a solution and how to fit it into the narrative. I'm also thinking about character arcs, about how the main character changes or grows, and whether I've shown that strongly enough. I'm thinking now about theme - what am I really trying to say with this story? Have I shown it, or is it still vague and unsatisfying?

Distance is the key for me. Finding a way to stand right back and just consider the story with a critical eye. The overall story, not the actual words. If you're facing a busy Christmas period where you're not going to get much writing done, maybe you could keep a notebook handy and do some daydreaming/thinking about your novel while you're stirring food or washing dishes or slumped in an armchair, recovering from over-eating. Don't watch the same old horrible Christmas shows on TV - give your brain some writing work to do!

A Writer's State of Mind

How many times have you heard it said that a writer needs to read lots, and read widely? I've talked before about reading as a writer - today on someone's blog I was reading about how if you do a lot of analysis of plot and story structure, you can predict what is going to happen in most movies. (I try not to. Predict, that is.) But the edict is, in fact, true. The more you read, the more you read as a writer, the more your writing benefits.

Trouble is, my brain often isn't in the mood for certain books. When I'm very tired, when I've read a lot of student work, when I'm totally engrossed in a current project - I often can't read literary fiction. My concentration isn't up to the task. I have books that I keep on a reading pile for months, knowing that I'll manage them one day - just not right now. I indulge in what I love - crime fiction - instead.

So this is a good time of the year for me in terms of reading. I've been working up to it. A couple of months ago, I read The Spare Room by Helen Garner. I don't care if people are arguing over whether it's fiction or not. I just wanted to enjoy her evocative, cutting prose. I also read An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, and some literary short fiction. Now I'm reading Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. Every time I pick it up, I fall into a different world, and while I'm not reading it, I wonder what it is about literary fiction that makes it such a different experience.

A lot of readers talk about style, about voice, about language. Yes, it's all of that, but I've read (or tried to read) many literary novels that are nothing else but style and language, and it's been like watching paint dry. Endlessly pointless and mind-numbing. With a literary novel that draws you into the world of the story, there's more than language. Yes, it's a big part of it, but there is such a sense of rich detail, of depth of character, of the skill of being able to make small things and events so fascinating. I've never been to a prep school in the US, but while I read this novel I understand two things - what it's like in that kind of school, and what it's like for this viewpoint character, who is unlike any other character I've ever read about. And above all, I still empathise and understand and want to know what will happen to her.

Is there a plot? I would say it's a chronological, coming-of-age kind of story. No major crisis (so far) but there is growth and change. It gives the reader the satisfying experience of seeing a character evolve before she is aware of it herself. Yet she is aware, and is not that far behind. Will this end up being one of my favourites? Maybe not. But it will be memorable, and when someone asks me what I've read this year that I enjoyed, Prep will definitely be on my You Should Read This list, especially for writers.

Goal Setting Strategies

Everyone has a different method for goal setting - mine pertains to writers and writing projects. Rather than try to cover all the possibilities, I thought I would tell you what works for me, along with some added ideas. The first thing is to look at time frames - do you want to set goals for the year? Is this too much like New Year's resolutions? If so, shorten your time frame to three months, starting on a certain date (the sooner, the better).

Next, write down a list of everything you are working on at the moment, or want to work on in the near future. For some people, this will be one thing, probably a novel. For others like me, this may be five or six things. I probably won't work on them all, but this is my starting point. Then I look at my list and prioritise. What has a deadline? What am I most passionate about? For a three-month period, I then list my top four. For twelve months, I list the top four, and then if there are others, I number them in order of current importance to me.

Then I add other things that will be important for me to achieve in the time frame. This might be editing or proofreading that will be due on a new book. It might be a conference or two, a trip overseas, or perhaps I will decide I want to focus more on poetry writing and I decide to aim to write a poem a week. For everyone, this list will be different. If you begin by writing everything down, even more personal goals, you will at least then be able to make decisions about how you will spend your time. There's nothing worse than constantly feeling there are so many things that you want to achieve, that you have no idea how to organise yourself or where to start.

As I have said in my last post, there is also something about making this list that helps your goals to become more concrete and real, rather than hopes or dreams. (I often have a dream goal, by the way, something that is probably out of my reach in the near future but it's nice to hold out as special.) When you have decided on your top four, or perhaps decided that there is one major project you want to focus on, you can move to the next step.

For each goal, what do you need to do in the next four weeks to start working towards it? A long time ago, I attended a session where the person running it said: "If you are not prepared to spend five minutes per day on something to do with working towards that goal, then take the goal off your list". That sounds harsh, but it is valuable advice. If you are writing a novel, then maybe you can't write every day, but how about spending five or ten minutes on non-writing days either editing a page, or doing some research, or reading a writing book about an aspect you are struggling with?

Last year was the first time I had broken my yearly goals down into four-week blocks. It was useful for several reasons. One was it made larger goals (like writing a novel) not so huge and unattainable. Instead of write my novel, the small goal became write two chapters. It allowed me to take into account smaller jobs, such as submitting a picture book text, and make sure they got done. It also allowed me to vary my writing work during the four weeks - as well as two chapters, I might also have writing some poems on the list, or developing an idea I'd had for a short story.

One of my current goals for the next four weeks is a huge clean-out of my office (it's supposed to be a writing space but it looks like a monster has been in there and thrown every single thing up in the air). By giving myself four weeks, I've also given myself a deadline. A very necessary thing because I've been planning to do this clean-out all year! By including it in my four-week goal list, I also know that I will now devote regular small blocks of time to this goal, which makes it less like something that will give me nightmares. I can intersperse it with writing (a good way to stretch and get off the computer - lift and carry boxes and books!), as well as other small things on my To Do list. And every time I achieve another square metre of tidiness, I'll feel good.

My method may not work for you. Some writers need to set weekly goals of so many thousand words, or so many hours of writing. If you only have one project you want to focus on, another method may work better. I tend to have several things on the go, so my problem is focus and time management. If you have a method that works great for you, why not share it with us?

Setting Goals in Writing

Today, my writers' group is meeting for the last time this year, having lunch and relaxing (and giving back last-minute critiques!). Usually on this final day, I take along everyone's goals that they wrote down way back in March, and we read them out and admit how many of them we didn't reach. This year, we won't be doing this. Back in March, when we would normally talk about goals and then make our lists, it seemed everyone was prevaricating, saying how they didn't really want to, because they never looked at them again, or didn't do anything towards making their goals attainable.

Right now, you're probably thinking: If that's how they feel, then goal setting for them is a waste of time. You may well be right. But for me, not having a range of things to aim for, dream about, take small steps towards, would feel like having my left hand missing. I may not achieve all of my goals every year, but I know that at the very least, writing them down is an important step. Sometimes I may not refer to them again for months, sometimes I get to December and look at that list and think, Hey, I actually managed to achieve that!

This year I discovered that at the top of my list I had written "Work on finding a new method of revision for my novels". Back in February, I'd already been thinking about this aspect of my writing, and knew it was an area that needed some dedicated focus and effort. I remember reading several books on revision, and making notes that I then passed on to my students. Writing took over by July, and I wrote two children's novels in the following months. First drafts, that is. Then I embarked on Margie Lawson's lecture notes on Empowering Character Emotions, and that's where I found what I needed for my revision methods.

So when I read my list of goals, I said, "Aha, I achieved that without realising it was one of my main aims for the year". Was that coincidence? No. And that's where I feel people who dismiss goal-setting don't get it. The brain is an amazing thing. I have learned that if I put something inside it, add more material and ideas, add a firm mental commitment that this is something important and I need to keep working on it - my brain will quietly work away in the background (sometimes a very murky background!) and then come up with the goods when I'm ready.

It's not hocus-pocus, it's having faith that the instrument inside your head can actually work for you, even when you're not conscious of it. It works for solving plot problems, for finding that crucial last line of a poem, for developing your characters, so why shouldn't it work for more "practical" things? But you have to give it the opportunity and the "feeders" as well. And a list of goals, written down and reviewed every now and then, is a great starting point.

Books as Gifts

Over the past few days, there have been numerous articles in newspapers and magazines about the forthcoming (here already?) Christmas buying rush. Or the fact that everyone is expecting there will be no buying rush this year and many shops and businesses will go under, or at the very least, make huge losses. Here in Australia, the government has given people on pensions and benefits (but not the dole - obviously you are still being labelled bludgers and deserve nothing!) a big bonus of $1000+ to inspire you to spend up big as Present Day approaches.

Well, boring old me would be taking that $1000 (which I won't be eligible for) and putting it towards my house, rather than running out to KMart or Myer and having a little shopping spree, but it seems most of "those who are supposed to know these things" think everyone is going to go berserk and buy, buy, buy. When you add in the lower price of petrol and reduced mortgage rates, of course we all now suddenly have hundreds of extra dollars to splurge. (Never mind those whose Xmas present from their employer was a goodbye letter - even where I work, there are plenty of those letters going out tomorrow.)

Anyway, in all of these reports about what the predicters predict we'll all be spending our money on, every list I have seen so far has included books. BOOKS!!! Good gracious, they'll be telling us everyone is going to be reading them next. All jokes aside, I am pretty happy that books are finally being recognised, as one pundit put it, as a value gift. One that lasts. One that can be "used" over and over by different family members. One that gives hours of enjoyment, not just a couple of minutes before it breaks into twenty pieces. Yaaaayyyyy!!!

I have joined the "books as gifts" tribe (OK, I was a founding member from way back) and been buying them for little family members, as well as recommending my own - as you do - to others who might be interested. I'm also planning to donate some copies of my own books to the Wishing Tree. And to all of you who love children's books and already know you will be buying them as gifts this year, can I make a plea? Please don't wander into a bookshop and ask the assistant for a recommendation. It's 90% certain you will be handed something that is considered a "classic" or something by a celebrity. They don't need your purchasing power! Please either ask writer friends for recommendations on new books and authors, or take the time to sit in the children's section and do some reading.

My recommendations for picture books are: anything by Emily Gravett, especially Wolves or Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears; It's Not a Box by Antoinette Portis; anything by Mo Willems (my current favourites are Knuffle Bunny 1 & 2); anything by Bob Graham; Dougall the Garbage Dump Bear by Matt Dray; Dust by Colin Thompson and 13 others. And if you want a wider selection to amble through, look at the CBCA Notables List.
There really are so many wonderful picture books out there that never get a guernsey, never get even a small mention - all you have to do is spend a very enjoyable hour or two reading to find some new favourites of your own!

Blanket Marketing

We've just had local council elections here in Victoria, and it's been interesting to watch the various campaigns from those wanting us to vote for them. In my area, I've found it astounding to watch one candidate in particular, and his tactics. Every street in our area has a large poster of him on someone's fence**, there are even larger posters along the main road, I've had three letters from him personally addressed to me (one was hand delivered the day before the election and then the guy put another one in my letter box, not addressed to me or my street number!), more brochures in my letterbox, and then another one on my car windscreen at the local shopping centre.

I wondered several things about this guy - why was he so desperate to be elected, for a start? He wasn't promising anything much that was different. And where did all the money come from for his "waterfall" campaign? Every time I turned around, there was more stuff pouring out from him. I began to feel like he was the last person I'd vote for! But local council elections are weird. Lots of people stand as candidates, and because there's not much going on around here, they all sound the same. It's compulsory to vote, so how do you decide? Well, unfortunately it seems like a lot of people around here voted for the person whose name they recognised! Because they'd seen it on bits of paper every time they stepped outside their door.

Will he make a good councillor? Who knows? Probably very few of those who voted for him can predict this. Time will tell. But he sure ran the kind of advertising blitz/campaign that you couldn't avoid. It's like book publishing. We ask - why does Dan Brown need more publicity and advertising for his books? Why does James Patterson? Or J.K Rowling? Why can't the publishers stop spending marketing money on these famous writers and use it for less well-known writers? Many mid-list and newly-published writers fret about how they have to market their own books. Why is it so?

My guess is that a big publicity campaign for James Patterson is, first of all, already paid for by his earlier mega-sales. Nothing like investing in a sure thing. And a publicity campaign for his new book probably means a million extra sales. A big campaign for a mid-list author (especially if reviews and word-of-mouth don't add five stars) might mean an extra 10,000 copies. The more you see of James Patterson and his books, the more you hear about how great they are, the more likely you are to be tempted into buying one.

That's probably little comfort - OK, none at all - to the mid-list and new author. I read something today that said, in Australia, most mid-list children's authors are only selling around 1500 copies of their books. And that publishers rely on the best-sellers to stay afloat. It seems like a chicken-and-egg situation, doesn't it? What do you think?
** Needless to say, all the local kids had drawn Hitler moustaches on every picture of him!