Due to the Commonwealth Games here in Melbourne, we have had three weeks of classes and now we have two weeks holiday. The second half of this semester is going to be very loo-oo--oonnng. (That's the sound of teachers and students moaning). I am glad that Meg Files is going to be our guest writer/teacher at the beginning of June. This will be the second half of our teacher exchange.
This week has been full of bits. Bits of paperwork, bits of writing, outlines and sketches. I am going to spend as much of my two weeks holidays as possible working on the historical novel. Few distractions, apart from some fishing if the weather is good, and partying (a significant birthday has arrived for me and I intend to party until it leaves me alone and picks on someone else).
Time also to type up my picture book drafts and look at what I have. And to read. I have the urge to bury myself in reading again, instead of dipping in and out of my book when I have time.
I have now got into the habit of having a book to read at the gym (the cycle and treadmill are incredibly boring without a book) and am choosing things I can pick up and put down when I go, books that don't require a huge amount of concentration but are entertaining. Last week's was a Gary Paulsen novel, set in the 1930s. This week is Nicci Gerard. Funny how we choose books depending on our mood and mindset. I remember it took me a very long time to read "The God of Small Things" - I felt I was waiting for the right time, so I'd enjoy it. And I did.
I received the contract this week for my book "The Too-tight Tutu" to be published in Spanish by a Mexican publisher. Now I want to find out what too-tight tutu is in Spanish. Yes, this is a children's book! Not a memoir as such.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
I've just been to a book launch for a picture book - "Doodledum Dancing" by Meredith Costain, illustrated by Pamela Allen. If you are familiar with pbs in this part of the world, you'd know Pamela Allen's work. I still have my copy of "Who Sank the Boat?". But the best thing about this book is Meredith's poems. Long live poems for kids!!! It's aimed at littlies, from say 2 to 4, and is a real read-aloud, have-lots-of-fun book. Of course, my favourite poem is the pirate one.
My writing this week continues on the small theme - 250 word articles and stories. For some reason, I am continuing to also write new picture books, and completely rewrote an old one. It must be because I am teaching picture book writing again this year and reading all those pbs is inspiring me. Read small, think small, write small.
The rewrite was interesting. I had been thinking about this particular story, along the lines of "Darn thing, how come I've rewritten it a zillion times and it still isn't right?" Then one night I got a new line for it - not at the beginning but about a third of the way through - and kept writing, and came up with a whole new concept for the story. And I stopped myself from going back and referring to the previous draft because I didn't want to fall back into the old version.
Of course then I had to turn around and rewrite the first third. I haven't dared look at it since. Haven't even typed it up from my fevered scrawl. But I keep thinking about it, tucking it away in my brain for another simmer. Soon ... soon I will type it up. I even have a brand new title, which is great because the old title was too similar to two other pbs out there.
One of my students asked this week, "What do you mean when you say a story 'isn't right'? How do you know?" That's hard to answer, and maybe comes from experience - reading, writing and critiquing. You just know. It's close, but it doesn't create fireworks when you read it. And a pb has to create some kind of fireworks for everyone who reads it - child, parent and, of course, publisher/editor.
In the meantime, I continue to diagram scenes from the historical novel and ask those crucial character and plot arc questions. My writing group is using a new workshop method (new for them, created by my fabulous writer friend, Tracey, for teaching in her class). It uses de Bono's 6 hats, and has been a great shot-in-the-arm for our workshopping. I have now given them some pages of the novel to pull apart. It should be fun. Excruciating fun.
My writing this week continues on the small theme - 250 word articles and stories. For some reason, I am continuing to also write new picture books, and completely rewrote an old one. It must be because I am teaching picture book writing again this year and reading all those pbs is inspiring me. Read small, think small, write small.
The rewrite was interesting. I had been thinking about this particular story, along the lines of "Darn thing, how come I've rewritten it a zillion times and it still isn't right?" Then one night I got a new line for it - not at the beginning but about a third of the way through - and kept writing, and came up with a whole new concept for the story. And I stopped myself from going back and referring to the previous draft because I didn't want to fall back into the old version.
Of course then I had to turn around and rewrite the first third. I haven't dared look at it since. Haven't even typed it up from my fevered scrawl. But I keep thinking about it, tucking it away in my brain for another simmer. Soon ... soon I will type it up. I even have a brand new title, which is great because the old title was too similar to two other pbs out there.
One of my students asked this week, "What do you mean when you say a story 'isn't right'? How do you know?" That's hard to answer, and maybe comes from experience - reading, writing and critiquing. You just know. It's close, but it doesn't create fireworks when you read it. And a pb has to create some kind of fireworks for everyone who reads it - child, parent and, of course, publisher/editor.
In the meantime, I continue to diagram scenes from the historical novel and ask those crucial character and plot arc questions. My writing group is using a new workshop method (new for them, created by my fabulous writer friend, Tracey, for teaching in her class). It uses de Bono's 6 hats, and has been a great shot-in-the-arm for our workshopping. I have now given them some pages of the novel to pull apart. It should be fun. Excruciating fun.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
I've found a great new stress reliever - it's called a mulching machine. After cutting down what seemed like a mountain of bouganvillea plant (complete with giant thorns that snagged me every minute or so) I was able to feed a lot of it into this machine that chewed it up into little bits. Never mind that I now have mulch for my pitiful garden (I'm afraid gardening comes way down the list from writing, teaching and reading), I got rid of my bad mood via a great amount of vicious, thorny plant fed without mercy into a munching machine.
Seems like a great remedy for one too many rejection letters too! although we won't mention that the plant got me back with a huge thorn stuck in my finger which took me three tries to get out. Ouch.
Still working on the novel (historical middle grade) and after two critiques, I've now started on an analysis of my own. Specifically, chapter by chapter, I am working out: 1) what happens in each scene, 2) what the purpose of the scene is, 3) does it move the story forward?, 4) what are the character motivations in the scene, 5) how does this scene fit into the overall story/character arc.
See, ARC is one of those words that I'd never heard of up until about 4 years ago, when a critique person (not an editor or agent) at a SCBWI conference in LA tore the first 40 pages apart and kept rabbitting on about ARC. Character arc, plot arc, 'why don't I get a clear sense of this character's arc from Chapter One? Seeing as how it was the first time I'd heard the term, I couldn't answer (and she, unfortunately, didn't bother to explain it to me - which is why I nearly threw the novel in the bin when I got home, and it took me nearly two years to return to it).
But enough whining. Ultimately she was probably right, she just didn't provide any help or suggestions or directions to make me feel that another few drafts would see me right.
Still, here I am, and it's Draft Nine, and I think I'm finally seeing the light. I sure hope so anyway. I'll get this novel right, any way I can.
In the meantime I have other writing to do. Finished my short story for a competition in the UK and nearly forgot to email it off (got too excited about finally finishing it!). Have written an article - too short and not sure yet how to expand. Was planning a book review but haven't got there yet. Too much mulching going on.
And finally (yaaayyy!) got a copy of Best American Short Stories 2005. Went right to the Joyce Carol Oates story first - really good letters story. It's hard to use that form these days and do it well, but then JCO, well...
Have read 3 other stories so far, and they've all been good. I especially like the bit in the back where the writer says what inspired the story. I never read that until I've read the story first.
I see there is a Kelly Link story - must read that next! Have heard a bit about her.
Seems like a great remedy for one too many rejection letters too! although we won't mention that the plant got me back with a huge thorn stuck in my finger which took me three tries to get out. Ouch.
Still working on the novel (historical middle grade) and after two critiques, I've now started on an analysis of my own. Specifically, chapter by chapter, I am working out: 1) what happens in each scene, 2) what the purpose of the scene is, 3) does it move the story forward?, 4) what are the character motivations in the scene, 5) how does this scene fit into the overall story/character arc.
See, ARC is one of those words that I'd never heard of up until about 4 years ago, when a critique person (not an editor or agent) at a SCBWI conference in LA tore the first 40 pages apart and kept rabbitting on about ARC. Character arc, plot arc, 'why don't I get a clear sense of this character's arc from Chapter One? Seeing as how it was the first time I'd heard the term, I couldn't answer (and she, unfortunately, didn't bother to explain it to me - which is why I nearly threw the novel in the bin when I got home, and it took me nearly two years to return to it).
But enough whining. Ultimately she was probably right, she just didn't provide any help or suggestions or directions to make me feel that another few drafts would see me right.
Still, here I am, and it's Draft Nine, and I think I'm finally seeing the light. I sure hope so anyway. I'll get this novel right, any way I can.
In the meantime I have other writing to do. Finished my short story for a competition in the UK and nearly forgot to email it off (got too excited about finally finishing it!). Have written an article - too short and not sure yet how to expand. Was planning a book review but haven't got there yet. Too much mulching going on.
And finally (yaaayyy!) got a copy of Best American Short Stories 2005. Went right to the Joyce Carol Oates story first - really good letters story. It's hard to use that form these days and do it well, but then JCO, well...
Have read 3 other stories so far, and they've all been good. I especially like the bit in the back where the writer says what inspired the story. I never read that until I've read the story first.
I see there is a Kelly Link story - must read that next! Have heard a bit about her.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Being a bit short of spending $$ (the kind that don't have to go towards bills), I've been a regular visitor to my local library lately. And found it very disconcerting to try out a new crime writer, whose book is apparently their fifth, and put it down after less than ten pages because the writing was so bad.
I see problems with tense changes in students' writing all the time. They don't even see half the time when they've done it. Usually they slip from present into simple past and vice versa. Now when I see this in a published novel - and there was no way it was any kind of style thing or neat device - I cringe. A lot. It was so awful in this novel that I kept wincing, and wincing doesn't encourage me to keep reading.
Forty winces later, I chucked it. In case you're interested, the book was "Broken Bodies" by Sally Emerson. Maybe someone out there who has read it can tell me what was going on. It just looked very sloppy to me, or at the very least, a style thing that did not work.
Only writing this week was the rewrite of my friend's fantasy novel - one scene that I cut from about 8 pages down to 4, just like she did for mine. The first thing she said was that I had taken out a lot of her description and she was right. I had felt that the problem with the scene was it was too long and the tension was not maintained, nor did I feel inside the viewpoint character's head and emotions. It was too distant. Again, just what she'd said about mine!! A very interesting exercise to do, and to see the outcome when someone else does it on your work.
Classes start on Monday. Prep continues.
I see problems with tense changes in students' writing all the time. They don't even see half the time when they've done it. Usually they slip from present into simple past and vice versa. Now when I see this in a published novel - and there was no way it was any kind of style thing or neat device - I cringe. A lot. It was so awful in this novel that I kept wincing, and wincing doesn't encourage me to keep reading.
Forty winces later, I chucked it. In case you're interested, the book was "Broken Bodies" by Sally Emerson. Maybe someone out there who has read it can tell me what was going on. It just looked very sloppy to me, or at the very least, a style thing that did not work.
Only writing this week was the rewrite of my friend's fantasy novel - one scene that I cut from about 8 pages down to 4, just like she did for mine. The first thing she said was that I had taken out a lot of her description and she was right. I had felt that the problem with the scene was it was too long and the tension was not maintained, nor did I feel inside the viewpoint character's head and emotions. It was too distant. Again, just what she'd said about mine!! A very interesting exercise to do, and to see the outcome when someone else does it on your work.
Classes start on Monday. Prep continues.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
From 78,000 words to 2,000 max. From a full novel to a short story. A nice, challenging change of pace. It's always a shock to come back to half a short story started two months ago and suddenly see that it is really, really bad. 1100 words written and maybe two lines of dialogue in the whole thing - a ton of telling and no showing, no action ... OK, plenty of character but again, mostly told. Well, at least I can recognise it now when I see it. And I didn't want to slit my wrists. In fact I saw right away how to fix it. That's a step forward!
After several hours of fixing and adding more story, now I have no ending. So I'll leave it to vegetate again and see what grows or dies in the time-out. Yes, a mixed metaphor. I can see them too. Sigh.
For a complete (sort of) change of pace, this week I read the new Dean Koontz. Now I know why I haven't read him for at least 15 years. My reading has moved on. I still love crime novels (didn't he used to write horror?) but they have to be great crime novels that are involving, entertaining and have strong characters. DK goes to the bottom of my list, even from the library.
I've gone back to a collection of short stories from Andre Dubus III (he of House of Sand and Fog). I must have read 60 short stories or more over the past few weeks, trying to find good ones for my class reader. Then I realised I only needed 10 for them to study, and that made it easier. I finally found the Alice Munro story I wanted and included it.
Classes start in one week. Arrgghhh! I'm not ready. So this week very little writing will get done as I madly create three weeks worth of class prep.
A writer friend and I are doing an experiment that we've talked about for ages - we are taking 4-6 pages of each other's novel and rewriting it the way we would write it if it was our work. The kind of thing everyone says you must not do if you are in a workshop - never, never rewrite people's stuff for them! But she did some for me first and it was such an eye-opener! Of course, the voice changed and she cut it by about 60%, but there was lots for me to think about. Now I am about to do it for her (after telling her that her scene felt too slow - out with with hatchet).
Half of last week was spent on sending out manuscripts and creating good cover and query letters. That is an art in itself, I think. And sending out feels like fishing, always hoping for the right fish, nice weather and not too many waves.
After several hours of fixing and adding more story, now I have no ending. So I'll leave it to vegetate again and see what grows or dies in the time-out. Yes, a mixed metaphor. I can see them too. Sigh.
For a complete (sort of) change of pace, this week I read the new Dean Koontz. Now I know why I haven't read him for at least 15 years. My reading has moved on. I still love crime novels (didn't he used to write horror?) but they have to be great crime novels that are involving, entertaining and have strong characters. DK goes to the bottom of my list, even from the library.
I've gone back to a collection of short stories from Andre Dubus III (he of House of Sand and Fog). I must have read 60 short stories or more over the past few weeks, trying to find good ones for my class reader. Then I realised I only needed 10 for them to study, and that made it easier. I finally found the Alice Munro story I wanted and included it.
Classes start in one week. Arrgghhh! I'm not ready. So this week very little writing will get done as I madly create three weeks worth of class prep.
A writer friend and I are doing an experiment that we've talked about for ages - we are taking 4-6 pages of each other's novel and rewriting it the way we would write it if it was our work. The kind of thing everyone says you must not do if you are in a workshop - never, never rewrite people's stuff for them! But she did some for me first and it was such an eye-opener! Of course, the voice changed and she cut it by about 60%, but there was lots for me to think about. Now I am about to do it for her (after telling her that her scene felt too slow - out with with hatchet).
Half of last week was spent on sending out manuscripts and creating good cover and query letters. That is an art in itself, I think. And sending out feels like fishing, always hoping for the right fish, nice weather and not too many waves.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
From 'The Book Thief' I launched back into crime fiction with the new Val McDermid. She is usually a bit gory, with interesting characters (such as Tony Hill, the odd psychologist from 'Wire in the Blood') but this one 'The Grave Tattoo' is very tame. It's about William Wordsworth (yes, the poet) and his connection to Fletcher Christian from the mutiny on the Bounty. Of course, murders do eventually start happening, but not until halfway through the book, and the main character is a bit ordinary.
This books also treads the same ground that 'The da Vinci Code' and the latest Kathy Reichs books do - where the author takes a religious (or in McDermid's case) a literary/historical mystery and uses it as the basis for the story and why people keep getting murdered. McDermid includes the transcript of what really happened on the Bounty and afterwards (supposedly as told to Wordsworth by Christian) and thus plays with creating 'new history'.
I think I must be one of the few readers in the world who find it really irritating not knowing where facts end and the author's fiction begins. I end up assuming that the whole thing is fiction, yet McDermid includes a bibliography at the back. Does this mean she researched it enough to 'fake it'? I can only assume so.
Maybe the fact that I have been writing a historical novel for 8 years and have taken great care in trying to get my details correct makes me biased. And what is true anyway? The outcry over James Frey has been interesting. Are people upset because he lied in his book? Or because he lied about it being true? There is a line there between those two things, however faint.
I continue on with short story reading for class. Trying without success to track down an Alice Munro story where the main character stops during a long road trip and climbs the fence for a swim in a closed public swimming pool. I figure if I remember the story after 3-4 years, it must have been a good one.
No writing this week much. Life has been consumed by totally ridiculous council regulations and how to comply without busting a boiler.
Jane Yolen's journal has been so sad lately. Her husband has a recurrence of cancer and she writes about the daily small battles, while she continues to try and write. Today she said that for the first time, she has no urge to write. This is a woman who has over 300 books published. Her journal is a privilege to read.
This books also treads the same ground that 'The da Vinci Code' and the latest Kathy Reichs books do - where the author takes a religious (or in McDermid's case) a literary/historical mystery and uses it as the basis for the story and why people keep getting murdered. McDermid includes the transcript of what really happened on the Bounty and afterwards (supposedly as told to Wordsworth by Christian) and thus plays with creating 'new history'.
I think I must be one of the few readers in the world who find it really irritating not knowing where facts end and the author's fiction begins. I end up assuming that the whole thing is fiction, yet McDermid includes a bibliography at the back. Does this mean she researched it enough to 'fake it'? I can only assume so.
Maybe the fact that I have been writing a historical novel for 8 years and have taken great care in trying to get my details correct makes me biased. And what is true anyway? The outcry over James Frey has been interesting. Are people upset because he lied in his book? Or because he lied about it being true? There is a line there between those two things, however faint.
I continue on with short story reading for class. Trying without success to track down an Alice Munro story where the main character stops during a long road trip and climbs the fence for a swim in a closed public swimming pool. I figure if I remember the story after 3-4 years, it must have been a good one.
No writing this week much. Life has been consumed by totally ridiculous council regulations and how to comply without busting a boiler.
Jane Yolen's journal has been so sad lately. Her husband has a recurrence of cancer and she writes about the daily small battles, while she continues to try and write. Today she said that for the first time, she has no urge to write. This is a woman who has over 300 books published. Her journal is a privilege to read.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
I've finished 'The Book Thief' and I did enjoy the second half more than the first, possibly because I made myself sit down and keep reading, rather than dipping in. OK, I think it would be considered a literary novel, therefore the term 'page turner' should not really apply. Literary novels have other things in them to enjoy. I've mentioned already what I liked and that continued. Other things I liked included the kinds of books she read (and stole) and the way reading those books led to other things. The ending was sad but understandable and credible. Maybe the fact that the ending didn't greatly upset me (unlike the ending of 'Brokeback Mountain'- the movie, which I saw on Monday) showed my lack of involvement and deep engagement with the characters.
It's hard. I wanted to love the book and I couldn't. I liked it, and would still recommend it, but it's not a 5 star book for me. Sorry, Markus.
And I also don't understand why your editor let you have a group of characters 'ejaculate' their dialogue. Although a friend pointed out to me today that JKR uses that word in one of the Harry Potter books. Errggghh. Worse than expostulate, even.
My writing group has started the year with goal setting, as usual. I told everyone they weren't allowed to include anything that had been on their list for 3 years or more. That caused a slight panic! But we all came up with great lists and feel very inspired by each other (or I do, anyway) and I hope I can achieve most of mine.
I always put in some hard ones as a challenge. My first goal is a short story that has to be in by the end of February.
Teaching looms closer, and I am reading lots of short stories in order to select some for my class to study. Have read dozens of flash/sudden fictions and found some gems. Am about to order Best American Short Stories 2005. It's usually a great collection.
I'm also teaching poetry this year to first-years, and trying to control the urge to give them 1000 Billy Collins poems.
One of my publishers, an independent Australian company, has been bought out by Time Warner. A friend who has a children's book with said small publisher has just had a statement to say her book (only published late last year) has had most of the 5000 copies deep discounted to someone/somewhere and she will probably not earn out her advance because of it. No plans to reprint. My book is due out in June and given the nature of publishing, am aware that anything could happen. Fingers crossed.
It's hard. I wanted to love the book and I couldn't. I liked it, and would still recommend it, but it's not a 5 star book for me. Sorry, Markus.
And I also don't understand why your editor let you have a group of characters 'ejaculate' their dialogue. Although a friend pointed out to me today that JKR uses that word in one of the Harry Potter books. Errggghh. Worse than expostulate, even.
My writing group has started the year with goal setting, as usual. I told everyone they weren't allowed to include anything that had been on their list for 3 years or more. That caused a slight panic! But we all came up with great lists and feel very inspired by each other (or I do, anyway) and I hope I can achieve most of mine.
I always put in some hard ones as a challenge. My first goal is a short story that has to be in by the end of February.
Teaching looms closer, and I am reading lots of short stories in order to select some for my class to study. Have read dozens of flash/sudden fictions and found some gems. Am about to order Best American Short Stories 2005. It's usually a great collection.
I'm also teaching poetry this year to first-years, and trying to control the urge to give them 1000 Billy Collins poems.
One of my publishers, an independent Australian company, has been bought out by Time Warner. A friend who has a children's book with said small publisher has just had a statement to say her book (only published late last year) has had most of the 5000 copies deep discounted to someone/somewhere and she will probably not earn out her advance because of it. No plans to reprint. My book is due out in June and given the nature of publishing, am aware that anything could happen. Fingers crossed.
Friday, January 27, 2006
'The Book Thief'. Hmmmm. I think I am about halfway on it. I love the narrator (Death), I love the little device (headings and 'pronouncements'), I like the flow, the setting ... but I don't feel close to or intensely interested in any of the characters, not even the book thief herself. So I read a little more every night, but it has not been one of those books that I couldn't put down. But I would still recommend it because it is really well-written and I think my response is subjective. More comments when I finish it (and it's a large book).
In the meantime I am still reading writing books for my classes this year. At the moment it's the one on short story writing by Damon Knight. Lots of good advice. I have about 6 to go, but there aren't many that focus just on short fiction.
No writing. I am resting and becoming good friends with my new air conditioner (because it's very hot here at the moment) and hoping the bush fires get put out really soon.
In the meantime I am still reading writing books for my classes this year. At the moment it's the one on short story writing by Damon Knight. Lots of good advice. I have about 6 to go, but there aren't many that focus just on short fiction.
No writing. I am resting and becoming good friends with my new air conditioner (because it's very hot here at the moment) and hoping the bush fires get put out really soon.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Finished. For now. Like any book, as soon as I think I am finished rewriting, I start to worry about what I've missed and should I go through it again and maybe I should apply that bit of advice I've just read in a writing book and probably it's not working at all and ... really, I've done all I can at this point and have to leave it for a while.
I am lucky to have two people I can swap manuscripts with for feedback - two people who are different but whose opinions I respect - so I will wait until they tell me what they think. And by then I will have been away from it for long enough to see it with a fresher eye.
Instead I will write some poems, rework another story, try to finish two different short stories that have been sitting for a month or two, and think more about my goals for this year.
I am lucky to have two people I can swap manuscripts with for feedback - two people who are different but whose opinions I respect - so I will wait until they tell me what they think. And by then I will have been away from it for long enough to see it with a fresher eye.
Instead I will write some poems, rework another story, try to finish two different short stories that have been sitting for a month or two, and think more about my goals for this year.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The rewriting continues - although I'm not sure I can call it rewriting as mostly I am deepening the research for historical authenticity. I use the authenticity word to mean "creating the world" rather than implying I'm going to be historically accurate. I am trying to get the details correct but I'm sure there will be small mistakes, and of course because many of my characters are fictional, they dictate the story so the timeline won't be exactly right either.
It's interesting, after all this time and with all the books and photocopied materials and website printouts I have gathered, to see what some people put on their websites and how much is just plain wrong! I found a website the other day that eventually I decided was mostly fiction - it was a site for a role-playing game but the person had put enough information there to make me wonder whether it was ALL fabricated or perhaps some of it was true. I've found that the most "trustworthy" sites are those from state governments and universities where they are using genuine sources and quoting them.
After a couple of false starts (lack of concentration) I am finally reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. The narrator is Death - thankfully he has a sense of humour - and it has little heading-and-comment things inserted. An interesting device. The characters are gradually becoming more substantial but I need to read another 50 pages before I can work out if I like it or not.
The Stein book continues to be useful. I read a few pages at a time and then think about my novel. Keep having to find bits of paper to write myself notes (such as - make this clearer, check that, work on this minor character more).
Enough blogging - time to write/rewrite/edit.
It's interesting, after all this time and with all the books and photocopied materials and website printouts I have gathered, to see what some people put on their websites and how much is just plain wrong! I found a website the other day that eventually I decided was mostly fiction - it was a site for a role-playing game but the person had put enough information there to make me wonder whether it was ALL fabricated or perhaps some of it was true. I've found that the most "trustworthy" sites are those from state governments and universities where they are using genuine sources and quoting them.
After a couple of false starts (lack of concentration) I am finally reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. The narrator is Death - thankfully he has a sense of humour - and it has little heading-and-comment things inserted. An interesting device. The characters are gradually becoming more substantial but I need to read another 50 pages before I can work out if I like it or not.
The Stein book continues to be useful. I read a few pages at a time and then think about my novel. Keep having to find bits of paper to write myself notes (such as - make this clearer, check that, work on this minor character more).
Enough blogging - time to write/rewrite/edit.
Monday, January 16, 2006
I'm reading a book about writing - one of many around, but sometimes you just need a bit of outside input, one way or another. It would be great to have an experienced mentor, someone to read my stuff and say exactly what's wrong with it and how to fix it, but that's unrealistic so ... it's up to me.
The book in question is by Sol Stein - Stein on Writing. As a long-time editor, he has some good things to say, and what is useful is to read a book like this while reworking a draft. Not because it's a recipe, but because suddenly a lot of what he says becomes relevant to what I'm trying to do with the draft. Strengthen it. Deepen the characters and motivations. See where the holes are. So I keep a piece of paper handy and every time an alarm bell rings, I write down what occurs to me.
Example: he makes a point about motivation and gives an example. One of my characters jumps up and I think about what he's doing and why, and realise that I haven't really explored and shown that well enough. So I make a note.
Found a good website - www.etymology.com - which has been helpful with finding out when a word was first in common usage (or recorded in a newspaper or book, etc). Can't beat the OED but as that is at the library, it's handy to have a quick check via the internet. Anything doubtful is still followed up in the OED though. One example is "troublemaker" - not an 18th century word, I have discovered. At that point, the challenge is to find a suitable replacement.
Another problem word was "toff" - not used until after 1800 so the best substitute was "nob", and it fitted the moment very well!
Took the opportunity to start goal setting today, something that becomes more and more useful each year, as long as I'm realistic about goals and keep focused. It's like a personal deadline or incentive. As a friend of mine said, you don't set goals such as "get my novel published" because to a great extent you don't have a lot of control over that. You set a goal along the lines of "research the appropriate publishers and send my novel out and don't give up". I've known a couple of people who worked on the principle of never letting a poem or story stay in the house more than 24 hours - get it out there again. Novels are a little different, but the perseverance principle is the same.
The book in question is by Sol Stein - Stein on Writing. As a long-time editor, he has some good things to say, and what is useful is to read a book like this while reworking a draft. Not because it's a recipe, but because suddenly a lot of what he says becomes relevant to what I'm trying to do with the draft. Strengthen it. Deepen the characters and motivations. See where the holes are. So I keep a piece of paper handy and every time an alarm bell rings, I write down what occurs to me.
Example: he makes a point about motivation and gives an example. One of my characters jumps up and I think about what he's doing and why, and realise that I haven't really explored and shown that well enough. So I make a note.
Found a good website - www.etymology.com - which has been helpful with finding out when a word was first in common usage (or recorded in a newspaper or book, etc). Can't beat the OED but as that is at the library, it's handy to have a quick check via the internet. Anything doubtful is still followed up in the OED though. One example is "troublemaker" - not an 18th century word, I have discovered. At that point, the challenge is to find a suitable replacement.
Another problem word was "toff" - not used until after 1800 so the best substitute was "nob", and it fitted the moment very well!
Took the opportunity to start goal setting today, something that becomes more and more useful each year, as long as I'm realistic about goals and keep focused. It's like a personal deadline or incentive. As a friend of mine said, you don't set goals such as "get my novel published" because to a great extent you don't have a lot of control over that. You set a goal along the lines of "research the appropriate publishers and send my novel out and don't give up". I've known a couple of people who worked on the principle of never letting a poem or story stay in the house more than 24 hours - get it out there again. Novels are a little different, but the perseverance principle is the same.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Three solid hours on Monday and the close edit is finished. I ended up taking out a chunk near the end. I had a feeling I would - I had added two more characters towards the final scenes of the story and they'd "got away" on me, trying to add their own story (about cocoa beans, believe it or not). So they got chopped back to walk-on parts again. And may eventually be reduced even further.
I was worried about the last 2 chapters, whether I'd given them enough emotional resonance, but they seemed OK. Not too fast (I often hurry the ending and have to watch myself!) and time to link back to earlier stuff without being too obvious. Well, that's how it feels to me, but other readers are a whole new ball game.
I am still dismayed by the middle grade novel I had rewritten 5 times and the responses I received, when I thought I had solved the problems. The author's perennial problem - how to "see" what you have written through a new reader's eyes.
This always leads me back to the value of a solid outline before I start - I resist doing them but time and time again, when a novel isn't working, it's because I haven't worked out what the story is about before I start.
This is not just plot - this is character arc/journey/need ... whatever names you want to give these things. I just call it the "thing that drives the main character through the story" and it still doesn't really capture what I mean. But other writers will know!
My next step is to read through all my research materials again, some of which I haven't looked at for over two years, and add some more historical detail to the story. Not a lot, but what Michael Connelly calls "the telling details" - the ones that bring the setting alive without going on too much.
And I have to check words for authentic usage - via the Greater Oxford Dictionary. I'm pretty sure nincompoop is early 18th century!
I was worried about the last 2 chapters, whether I'd given them enough emotional resonance, but they seemed OK. Not too fast (I often hurry the ending and have to watch myself!) and time to link back to earlier stuff without being too obvious. Well, that's how it feels to me, but other readers are a whole new ball game.
I am still dismayed by the middle grade novel I had rewritten 5 times and the responses I received, when I thought I had solved the problems. The author's perennial problem - how to "see" what you have written through a new reader's eyes.
This always leads me back to the value of a solid outline before I start - I resist doing them but time and time again, when a novel isn't working, it's because I haven't worked out what the story is about before I start.
This is not just plot - this is character arc/journey/need ... whatever names you want to give these things. I just call it the "thing that drives the main character through the story" and it still doesn't really capture what I mean. But other writers will know!
My next step is to read through all my research materials again, some of which I haven't looked at for over two years, and add some more historical detail to the story. Not a lot, but what Michael Connelly calls "the telling details" - the ones that bring the setting alive without going on too much.
And I have to check words for authentic usage - via the Greater Oxford Dictionary. I'm pretty sure nincompoop is early 18th century!
Monday, January 09, 2006
There are so many well-known blogs these days (Miss Snark and other agents, political blogs, ones that make the news) - then I read in the news that there are so many million blogs on the net now, people everywhere publishing stuff about themselves and their lives. So it always comes as a bit of a shock when someone emails me or says they've read my blog!
After a while, with no comments forthcoming, I tend to think of this blog as a journal more than anything, forgetting that it's available to anyone who's interested. Then I wonder how much rubbish I've raved on about, and how boring I am! Oh well... It serves a purpose for me. It's often a reflection on my writing, how things are going, a bit like a sounding board. And it's a reflection on my reading. I'm not in a reading group, I couldn't be bothered doing full-length reviews, but it's good to comment on what I thought worked in a book (or not as the case may be). Again, it's all part of writing.
Editing on the pirate novel continues - it's as if I can't stop. Sentence by sentence editing, and always thinking about the main character. Is that scene strong enough? Do I need it at all? How does he react? Have I shown this well enough?
Always reminding myself that action shows, telling doesn't. I'm up to page 102 (I edit single-spaced so I can see more of the text on the screen) with about 23 pages to go, but this last section will be the hardest. I made a lot of changes in this new draft, altering the story more and more as I went along, so it is quite different from the previous draft (which is over a year old). The question is whether I have left any plot threads hanging, one of my weaknesses, and whether I have rushed the ending.
I've just finished reading a book of poetry I was given for Christmas by my sister - "The Art of Walking Upright" - it's by a doctor in New Zealand, Glenn Colquhoun, and I've read another of his collections before and loved it. That one was about being a doctor - this one is about his experiences as a Pakeha in New Zealand and about Maoris he knows and his connections to them. Some great images and he's not afraid to experiment with structure, which creates little surprises in the poems.
Also read most of the latest issue of "Famous Reporter", a literary mag out of Hobart, Tasmania. Lots of good poems.
Now reading Sara Paretsky's "Blacklist" and finding it heavy going. Not enough action? Not sure what the problem is yet but I keep wanting to give up on it.
"The Book Thief" is still sitting there. I think it's next, when I either finish "Blacklist" or give up.
I am strongly resisting any urges to start preparing for this year's classes. As my night class has been cancelled, that means I don't start teaching for another 6 weeks yet, so while I'm reading poems and stories and deciding whether to include any in my readers, I am not preparing class work.
After a while, with no comments forthcoming, I tend to think of this blog as a journal more than anything, forgetting that it's available to anyone who's interested. Then I wonder how much rubbish I've raved on about, and how boring I am! Oh well... It serves a purpose for me. It's often a reflection on my writing, how things are going, a bit like a sounding board. And it's a reflection on my reading. I'm not in a reading group, I couldn't be bothered doing full-length reviews, but it's good to comment on what I thought worked in a book (or not as the case may be). Again, it's all part of writing.
Editing on the pirate novel continues - it's as if I can't stop. Sentence by sentence editing, and always thinking about the main character. Is that scene strong enough? Do I need it at all? How does he react? Have I shown this well enough?
Always reminding myself that action shows, telling doesn't. I'm up to page 102 (I edit single-spaced so I can see more of the text on the screen) with about 23 pages to go, but this last section will be the hardest. I made a lot of changes in this new draft, altering the story more and more as I went along, so it is quite different from the previous draft (which is over a year old). The question is whether I have left any plot threads hanging, one of my weaknesses, and whether I have rushed the ending.
I've just finished reading a book of poetry I was given for Christmas by my sister - "The Art of Walking Upright" - it's by a doctor in New Zealand, Glenn Colquhoun, and I've read another of his collections before and loved it. That one was about being a doctor - this one is about his experiences as a Pakeha in New Zealand and about Maoris he knows and his connections to them. Some great images and he's not afraid to experiment with structure, which creates little surprises in the poems.
Also read most of the latest issue of "Famous Reporter", a literary mag out of Hobart, Tasmania. Lots of good poems.
Now reading Sara Paretsky's "Blacklist" and finding it heavy going. Not enough action? Not sure what the problem is yet but I keep wanting to give up on it.
"The Book Thief" is still sitting there. I think it's next, when I either finish "Blacklist" or give up.
I am strongly resisting any urges to start preparing for this year's classes. As my night class has been cancelled, that means I don't start teaching for another 6 weeks yet, so while I'm reading poems and stories and deciding whether to include any in my readers, I am not preparing class work.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Christmas and New Year - traditionally that time when everything stops, people here go to the beach or on holiday somewhere, spend time with family (or avoid them), and generally laze around. I managed to do nearly all those things. 10 days away in Tasmania (island state of Australia off south coast of Victoria) which included husband's family, a little touring around, a lot of food and wine, and a huge amount of sitting outside on the verandah (patio to you in the US) gazing at the Tamar River.
But all that downtime on the brain gave the cells a real rest and I managed to then spend many hours working on the pirate novel. Mostly fine editing/fine tuning but I had a rethink about the main character's arc and have rewritten little bits here and there that I think strengthen the story more.
I read lots of books - Sue Grafton's new one (S is for Silence), a Kathy Reichs I'd missed, and a historical mg novel called "Powder Monkey" which is set on a Royal Navy frigate in 1800. I was very interested to see how the author handled the historical details, and mostly it was good. In the first 40 pages or so, the main character took a while to grab me but after that it was an enjoyable read.
I also took photocopies of two novels (a few pages from each) and did some analysis, looking at language and rhythm and voice. It all sounds like work, not holiday, doesn't it?! But I had a great time and fitted in the lazing around with the writing very nicely.
Back to work tomorrow - it's called paying the bills. But I hope to keep up the holiday mode writing, giving it lots of headspace.
But all that downtime on the brain gave the cells a real rest and I managed to then spend many hours working on the pirate novel. Mostly fine editing/fine tuning but I had a rethink about the main character's arc and have rewritten little bits here and there that I think strengthen the story more.
I read lots of books - Sue Grafton's new one (S is for Silence), a Kathy Reichs I'd missed, and a historical mg novel called "Powder Monkey" which is set on a Royal Navy frigate in 1800. I was very interested to see how the author handled the historical details, and mostly it was good. In the first 40 pages or so, the main character took a while to grab me but after that it was an enjoyable read.
I also took photocopies of two novels (a few pages from each) and did some analysis, looking at language and rhythm and voice. It all sounds like work, not holiday, doesn't it?! But I had a great time and fitted in the lazing around with the writing very nicely.
Back to work tomorrow - it's called paying the bills. But I hope to keep up the holiday mode writing, giving it lots of headspace.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
I have a writer friend who absolutely loves rewriting. And almost hates first draft. I have another friend who rarely rewrites, loves the 'rush' of the first draft and then just puts things away and starts a new piece.
Both of these have their drawbacks. The rewriting fiend can't send work out because it always needs one more rewrite. The first draft fiend sends things out occasionally and after one rejection, tosses it in the bottom drawer and moves on to the next story.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't enjoy fiddly rewrites, where I'm doing very little to the story, but I recognise they need to be done. It's where the sentences matter, where the language improves, where the characterisation deepens. But it can also be where I step too far back from the voice and the action and then I start to lose the depth of character. I try now in rewrites to imagine myself into the heart of the story and work from there. This is where the silent house is important. Nothing to distract me from the heart.
A few years ago, I listened to Adib Khan speak (he is an Australian literary author) and he says he does four drafts, but for the first three, he puts the previous draft aside, doesn't even look at it again and starts the new draft from scratch. Each new draft is like a distillation of the previous.
I have found this also to be useful. It helps to re-vision the story, rather than just fiddle around the edges.
But everyone is different. What to do with a new work that suddenly develops into something unexpected? That's where I am with a YA novel right now. I thought it might work based on emails, but the character has other ideas. This will be a novel where I do a lot of experimenting, on the basis that not all of it will work, and I might have to throw out lots of pages. But the central story and character excite me, so it will be fun. Even the rewrites sound promising already!
Both of these have their drawbacks. The rewriting fiend can't send work out because it always needs one more rewrite. The first draft fiend sends things out occasionally and after one rejection, tosses it in the bottom drawer and moves on to the next story.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't enjoy fiddly rewrites, where I'm doing very little to the story, but I recognise they need to be done. It's where the sentences matter, where the language improves, where the characterisation deepens. But it can also be where I step too far back from the voice and the action and then I start to lose the depth of character. I try now in rewrites to imagine myself into the heart of the story and work from there. This is where the silent house is important. Nothing to distract me from the heart.
A few years ago, I listened to Adib Khan speak (he is an Australian literary author) and he says he does four drafts, but for the first three, he puts the previous draft aside, doesn't even look at it again and starts the new draft from scratch. Each new draft is like a distillation of the previous.
I have found this also to be useful. It helps to re-vision the story, rather than just fiddle around the edges.
But everyone is different. What to do with a new work that suddenly develops into something unexpected? That's where I am with a YA novel right now. I thought it might work based on emails, but the character has other ideas. This will be a novel where I do a lot of experimenting, on the basis that not all of it will work, and I might have to throw out lots of pages. But the central story and character excite me, so it will be fun. Even the rewrites sound promising already!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
This is that time of the year when a great "tidy up" tends to happen in my chaotic office (i.e. the spare bedroom). By tidy up, I mean two things. The first is obvious and requires the use of a large rubbish bin.
The second is about following up on anything that has been bugging me or left hanging or just plain needs to be finished. Thus the tidy up list includes: copying all 58 poems in my verse novel into one computer file so it can have page numbers and a set order and be printed out properly (and sent to agent for reading); following up on manuscripts that have been sitting on someone's desk for way too long; following up an an advance that should have been paid to me a couple of months ago; updating industry news and networking stuff; sorting out what projects I have completed this year and where I am with the rest (kind of like a progressive goal setting thing I've started doing); having Xmas lunches and stuff with various writers and friends; buying books that I will devour over Xmas when there is nothing to do but relax; planning what writing I will work on while away with laptop; debating whether to buy a second laptop battery.
And making decisions about some important writing issues that have come up. Outcomes will be deliberated on in the New Year.
Have started reading "Best Australian Short Stories 2005" and got right back into short fiction all over again. Want to read more poetry. Am hoping that my copy of Meg Files' new anthology, published by Pima Press, will arrive very soon. It's a collection of poems on aging and the samples she sent were great.
Also I have been reading "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver and loving it. One of those books I plan to photocopy some pages from and analyse the writing. She is so good with setting and voice. But first to simply enjoy it.
The second is about following up on anything that has been bugging me or left hanging or just plain needs to be finished. Thus the tidy up list includes: copying all 58 poems in my verse novel into one computer file so it can have page numbers and a set order and be printed out properly (and sent to agent for reading); following up on manuscripts that have been sitting on someone's desk for way too long; following up an an advance that should have been paid to me a couple of months ago; updating industry news and networking stuff; sorting out what projects I have completed this year and where I am with the rest (kind of like a progressive goal setting thing I've started doing); having Xmas lunches and stuff with various writers and friends; buying books that I will devour over Xmas when there is nothing to do but relax; planning what writing I will work on while away with laptop; debating whether to buy a second laptop battery.
And making decisions about some important writing issues that have come up. Outcomes will be deliberated on in the New Year.
Have started reading "Best Australian Short Stories 2005" and got right back into short fiction all over again. Want to read more poetry. Am hoping that my copy of Meg Files' new anthology, published by Pima Press, will arrive very soon. It's a collection of poems on aging and the samples she sent were great.
Also I have been reading "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver and loving it. One of those books I plan to photocopy some pages from and analyse the writing. She is so good with setting and voice. But first to simply enjoy it.
Monday, December 12, 2005
It's a funny thing, being really tired and yet twitchy to write. The brain says, "No, no, sleep or veg out or something" but none of those things satisfies.
I'm end-of-year tired and grumpy, and wishing I was about to have 3 months off instead of 3 weeks (if I'm lucky). A country far far away sounds good right now but I might have to settle for Narnia.
Tried to be a vegetable last night and watch mind-numbing TV but it wasn't working. The twitching grew worse and in the end I had to rev up the laptop and write something - anything! Turned out that the beginning of a short story I wanted to add to had disappeared; thank goodness for hard copy and my need to print stuff out to "see" it. So I retyped it and made a few changes and seeing as how I had just that day made some notes on where I thought the story could go, I kept writing and have ended up with 2500 words. It's not finished yet but I'm happy.
It's a fantasy short story, not something I write often, but the Firebirds anthology has been inspiring so I thought I'd take another look at what I'd started.
I loved the story in Firebirds by Diana Wynne Jones - from a cat's point of view, which I have seen a few people do a miserable job on, but the story was great. An excellent example of how to have seven characters (cats) and keep them all clear and defined in the reader's mind. No confusion at all. I can't speak for dog lovers or cat haters, of course.
Miss Snark's blog continues to entertain. I even entered her 25 word competition and did about as well as I do in baked bean slogan competitions - zilch. But it was fun, and more fun to read the winning entries.
I also have read a children's classic - "The Midnight Fox" by Beverly Cleary. It felt old-fashioned but still very engaging. I think the old-fashioned feeling came more from the main character than anything - he was a funny sort of boy. But a lovely book.
I'm end-of-year tired and grumpy, and wishing I was about to have 3 months off instead of 3 weeks (if I'm lucky). A country far far away sounds good right now but I might have to settle for Narnia.
Tried to be a vegetable last night and watch mind-numbing TV but it wasn't working. The twitching grew worse and in the end I had to rev up the laptop and write something - anything! Turned out that the beginning of a short story I wanted to add to had disappeared; thank goodness for hard copy and my need to print stuff out to "see" it. So I retyped it and made a few changes and seeing as how I had just that day made some notes on where I thought the story could go, I kept writing and have ended up with 2500 words. It's not finished yet but I'm happy.
It's a fantasy short story, not something I write often, but the Firebirds anthology has been inspiring so I thought I'd take another look at what I'd started.
I loved the story in Firebirds by Diana Wynne Jones - from a cat's point of view, which I have seen a few people do a miserable job on, but the story was great. An excellent example of how to have seven characters (cats) and keep them all clear and defined in the reader's mind. No confusion at all. I can't speak for dog lovers or cat haters, of course.
Miss Snark's blog continues to entertain. I even entered her 25 word competition and did about as well as I do in baked bean slogan competitions - zilch. But it was fun, and more fun to read the winning entries.
I also have read a children's classic - "The Midnight Fox" by Beverly Cleary. It felt old-fashioned but still very engaging. I think the old-fashioned feeling came more from the main character than anything - he was a funny sort of boy. But a lovely book.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Even though I didn't reach my 50,000 words for Nano, I seem to have inspired (for lack of a better word) a couple of others to try it in December as November just wasn't the right month for them. I really appreciated the Nano site with the graph on my page - there was something about seeing the graph go up that was encouraging. Maybe that's a bit sad, I know, but sometimes that outside "poke in the ribs" is just what you need. For one of my friends, I've created her own graph. Will it help?
In the past, when I've ground to a standstill for one reason or another, I've done various things to reignite me. One was to write a poem every day for a month. Sounds easy until you get to about Day 10 and end up writing a limerick about your bathroom! I've also used books like "Wild Mind" by Natalie Goldberg - very useful.
The Sue Miller book was "Lost in the Forest" - I think I gave the wrong title earlier. I enjoyed it - and envy her ability to get right inside her characters and make each one so interesting.
Currently reading "Firebirds" which is a fantasy short story anthology edited by Sharyn November. Most of the stories so far have ranged from pretty good up to great. Often with an anthology I hit a spot in the middle where I get a bunch of stories that just don't grab me and it takes a lot of perseverance to keep going (last year's Best American Short Stories did that - it's still sitting there half-finished).
I was asked recently to contribute to the Read Alert blog at the State Library - my favourite book for the year. That was a hard choice but I went for the Chris Crutcher book in the end (Whale Talk) - the voice of that character has just stayed with me for weeks.
After writing about 3000 words of a new YA novel at the end of Nano (and I had to stop because I had no idea where to go next) I am now ready to do some planning and exploring. I know the story I want to tell - the central one - but this novel needs much more than that. It's multi-layered and the other layers have to work too.
So the next couple of weeks will be thinking, writing, exploring, and then there's still rewriting on other projects to do.
Who has time for Christmas?
In the past, when I've ground to a standstill for one reason or another, I've done various things to reignite me. One was to write a poem every day for a month. Sounds easy until you get to about Day 10 and end up writing a limerick about your bathroom! I've also used books like "Wild Mind" by Natalie Goldberg - very useful.
The Sue Miller book was "Lost in the Forest" - I think I gave the wrong title earlier. I enjoyed it - and envy her ability to get right inside her characters and make each one so interesting.
Currently reading "Firebirds" which is a fantasy short story anthology edited by Sharyn November. Most of the stories so far have ranged from pretty good up to great. Often with an anthology I hit a spot in the middle where I get a bunch of stories that just don't grab me and it takes a lot of perseverance to keep going (last year's Best American Short Stories did that - it's still sitting there half-finished).
I was asked recently to contribute to the Read Alert blog at the State Library - my favourite book for the year. That was a hard choice but I went for the Chris Crutcher book in the end (Whale Talk) - the voice of that character has just stayed with me for weeks.
After writing about 3000 words of a new YA novel at the end of Nano (and I had to stop because I had no idea where to go next) I am now ready to do some planning and exploring. I know the story I want to tell - the central one - but this novel needs much more than that. It's multi-layered and the other layers have to work too.
So the next couple of weeks will be thinking, writing, exploring, and then there's still rewriting on other projects to do.
Who has time for Christmas?
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Today I did what any sensible writer does - I rewarded myself for writing. With a 45 minute Chinese massage. It was meant to be 20 minutes but the guy said my back was very stiff (it's called computer scrunch, a new medical term I invented) so I went for the extra 25 minutes. Floated home and promptly attacked a rewrite of 'The Littlest Pirate Number 3' which has been waiting for my scalpel for several weeks. I was hoping my brain had returned from the hidey-hole it had crawled into, but it only put in a pale appearance and then went again, so I struggled on by myself. I did manage to cut 400 words, only 100 short of what the editor asked for. And I left in most of the funny lines, I think. I hope.
On Friday I went to the Dromkeen lunch. For those of you not in Melbourne, Dromkeen is the homestead at Riddell's Creek, an hour from the city, which is a gallery and exhibition and workshop/school visit place that focuses on picture books. The lunch is an annual thing which honours librarians and has illustrators doing demonstrations. The guest during lunch was Marc McBride who does the Deltora covers and he created an airbrush painting of a dragon while we watched.
Every time I see what illustrators do, I go green with envy. They create such marvellous things. I did a little bit of video/filming for my teaching materials project at the university, but it was a horrible rainy day so not much scope.
Still reading the Sue Miller book.
Finally got around to copying some old files off my ancient computer in the office and now am not sure what to do with them. After having several floppy disks die on me recently, I'm loathe to leave the files on them. These file depositories in cyberspace sound interesting, but the mainfile at work might be more convenient. Ultimately I should print out hard copies too, but all that paper ... and as it is I have spent 3 hours today trying to tidy up the office. To add more seems self-defeating.
More rewrites coming up. I wish I could do both at the same time, i.e. alternate between first draft stuff on one book and rewriting on another, but this is one area where my brain seems to need to do one or the other, not both.
On Friday I went to the Dromkeen lunch. For those of you not in Melbourne, Dromkeen is the homestead at Riddell's Creek, an hour from the city, which is a gallery and exhibition and workshop/school visit place that focuses on picture books. The lunch is an annual thing which honours librarians and has illustrators doing demonstrations. The guest during lunch was Marc McBride who does the Deltora covers and he created an airbrush painting of a dragon while we watched.
Every time I see what illustrators do, I go green with envy. They create such marvellous things. I did a little bit of video/filming for my teaching materials project at the university, but it was a horrible rainy day so not much scope.
Still reading the Sue Miller book.
Finally got around to copying some old files off my ancient computer in the office and now am not sure what to do with them. After having several floppy disks die on me recently, I'm loathe to leave the files on them. These file depositories in cyberspace sound interesting, but the mainfile at work might be more convenient. Ultimately I should print out hard copies too, but all that paper ... and as it is I have spent 3 hours today trying to tidy up the office. To add more seems self-defeating.
More rewrites coming up. I wish I could do both at the same time, i.e. alternate between first draft stuff on one book and rewriting on another, but this is one area where my brain seems to need to do one or the other, not both.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Nano sure does take up a lot of time! But it was inspiring and educational, if nothing else. It showed me I can write any time, any place (I have a photo of me with my laptop out in the woods, writing), and also fit in writing in the odd half hour if I really want to. It cured procrastination (not once did I have to use the alarm set up on my computer that is supposed to tell me to get writing or else!) and I got back into that old habit of continually keeping the novel in my head and thinking about what comes next so as soon as I sat down, I was ready to go.
All of that was very satisfying (but not always fun).
I also found that those people out in library research land are still being wonderful to me - hence an email to South Carolina resulted in an answer to a question that I had spent hours trying to find out via books and internet. Thank you!
On the down side, I am absolutely exhausted. As well as Nano, I had marking to do, then stuff started going wrong at work and things piled up at home, waiting for me to do them, and the pressure built. Mind you, chopping down a bouganvillea tree and feeding it into a mulcher did wonders for my aggro.
I did not reach 50,000 words. For one simple reason. I finished the novel I was working on. It came in at around 75,000 words (it was already started when I started Nano) and although I did start on a new novel the very next day and managed a couple of thousand words on it, I just couldn't continue. But I am very happy with my novel draft and looking forward to working on it more (probably cutting some of it for sure).
Now I am a vegetable, a reading vegetable, taking great pleasure in soaking up someone else's words. First up was Tess Gerritson's new book (yes NEW, unlike the last one) called "Vanished". That got four stars. Now I am reading Sue Miller's new book "A Walk in the Forest". Very different, not crime. And a weird point of view, as in many points of view. She changes from section to section, and you can't really call it omniscient POV because it's not distant. It's right inside each character's head and emotions. One to study.
Next on the pile is Marcus Zusak's new book "The Book Thief". Hope it's as good as everyone says it is.
All of that was very satisfying (but not always fun).
I also found that those people out in library research land are still being wonderful to me - hence an email to South Carolina resulted in an answer to a question that I had spent hours trying to find out via books and internet. Thank you!
On the down side, I am absolutely exhausted. As well as Nano, I had marking to do, then stuff started going wrong at work and things piled up at home, waiting for me to do them, and the pressure built. Mind you, chopping down a bouganvillea tree and feeding it into a mulcher did wonders for my aggro.
I did not reach 50,000 words. For one simple reason. I finished the novel I was working on. It came in at around 75,000 words (it was already started when I started Nano) and although I did start on a new novel the very next day and managed a couple of thousand words on it, I just couldn't continue. But I am very happy with my novel draft and looking forward to working on it more (probably cutting some of it for sure).
Now I am a vegetable, a reading vegetable, taking great pleasure in soaking up someone else's words. First up was Tess Gerritson's new book (yes NEW, unlike the last one) called "Vanished". That got four stars. Now I am reading Sue Miller's new book "A Walk in the Forest". Very different, not crime. And a weird point of view, as in many points of view. She changes from section to section, and you can't really call it omniscient POV because it's not distant. It's right inside each character's head and emotions. One to study.
Next on the pile is Marcus Zusak's new book "The Book Thief". Hope it's as good as everyone says it is.
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