Critiquel Mass

A morning of critiquing today. My critique buddy is a teacher so I get the disturbing notion I am having my homework gone through. Nevertheless it is very helpful having a new set of eyes cast over your work. She herself writes YA Fantasy so i am looking forward to going over her work today. Being essentially immature in spirit, I should be able to tell her what a young adult might think of it too. This may make up for the fact that my ability to spot an adverb at 50 paces is not so flash.
I have just joined up to two book clubs. A classical one for which we are reading 'Chrysalis' which I have to admit I've never even heard of, and a contemporary club for which we are reading ' Echo in the Bone, also unheard of. I guess I have been too busy reading the latest Skulduggery Pleasant and re-reading Fantastic Mr Fox for the 20th time (Coz they are doing a movie of it). It will be good to read some 'grown up' books and talk with grown-ups about it. I just hope they won't be too serious as this is an open invitation to my brain to act in an immature way and try and be funny. Ah well, hopefully I will not be given detention.........
I have now finished my digital media course so am qualified to use Photoshop and Illustrator in a tentative and naive manner. But what a load of fun there is be had with that stuff! For now I will just use it to do such high tech things as make Christmas cards with a photo of my chickens wearing Santa outfits, maybe the dogs with antlers etc. Obviously I am immature on several levels. Silliness runs deep with this one.

Table of Contents

Yesterday after dosing myself up with more of Richard Harland's writing tips, I dumped my folder of stories on the dining table and poked through them looking for the silver thread of inspiration I was after. The universe has been giving me small smacks to the back of the head in the direction of fantasy writing (My first love in book genres for many years) and I know I am a dag (term of self endearment) but I just love romantic comedy road trip type books and movies.
So, from the mighty mound I have chosen two things to work on. It may become one, but two will keep me happy in the beginning. The fantasy trilogy which began as an image in my head about five years ago is just a series of images and notes about plot and characters and setting at the moment but I got the sense of meeting up with old friends as I read over my chaotic scribbles. One character I have long had a crush on so it will be rather nice to get involved with him on a regular basis. Any left- over smouldering with him, I can channel into the romantic comedy. Thrift in it's most delightful form!

Au Revoir Atellier!

Two days ago I filled a 2 metre skip with rubbish that had been cluttering up our yard. Yesterday I had an amazing revelation about being a writer and today I will pack up my studio. It's turning out to be a huge week.
My little studio which no doubt I am lucky to have (guilt apologising), will be used now to expand the family's fun room. Of course I will keep my favourite watercolours and my box of Derwents pencils and a few other things, but all that would fit in a grocery box. I still like to draw and paint,I just no longer need the dedicated room. For my writing I will be using an ancient laptop. All I need is Word after all. I feel a million times lighter. It's time to write.....................

" Lady, just calm down and drop the brush."

There is a great little book called ' You Know You're a Writer When....' by Adair Lara. It's full of things writers answer in response to the titles question. I bought it a few years ago. It made me laugh because I know what they are saying. Reading these things again today brings tears of recognition to my eyes as I snort with laughter. "
When I was at my critiquing group the other day, I discussed the difficulties of being a writer and illustrator. I mentioned that I had thought about being mostly one and not the other. I say mostly as it feels like a bit of a betrayal even think about giving one of them up. HOWEVER, if I imagine myself as a writer who doesn't do much artwork, I can live with that. It doesn't really bother me (And I'm a bit surprised about that) But,if I imagine being an artist who doesn't write much, a wave of panic comes over me. And so though it almost makes me cry to say this, I think being a writer is what I really want to be. And I have to admit here that some of those near tears, those waves of emotion I think are of relief.
Here's something else that makes me realise I am a writer. I used to laugh at people who talked to themselves. You know, that little commentary people do about what they're doing or something they said to someone. I always thought that was weird. But I realised with shock that I write lines in my head all the time and I never, ever stop daydreaming. I am always taking in something happening around me and then taking off on another tangent of possibility. I 'see' little stories and scenes in my head all the time! As moronic as this revelation sounds, I just didn't realise I was doing it because I do it all the time! What's with the artwork then? Ok, I'm starting to have my suspicions. OK, picture a child who talks a lot, reads a lot, draws a lot. She's five say. She likes writing too but she's only just learning to put tiny sentences together. The grown-ups praise her about the things she does well (except the talking and daydreaming!) but it is the pictures that get more praise because she can draw better than she can write yet and it's the drawing that goes on the fridge and on the wall at school. She writes stories now and plays and still does the other things and is praised in it all BUT the drawing gets most attention because it is easily seen. It is easy to compare to others. It is more easily tangible, more easily commented on. All this goes on and on. In highschool she does 3 unit English and 3 unit art. She enjoys them both and does well in them both and is praised in both. However I see something telling about those teen years. As I suffered the throes of teen angst it was in the arms of writing that I consoled myself. I did do an occasional expressive piece of art but mostly I wrote poetry and verse. Funnily I think of my HSC piece which got a poor mark and the work of a girl's who did well. At the time i thought her piece was a silly mix of abstract swirls and faces. I look back and realise hers was full of emotion, mine was well executed but as stiff as a board and totally emotionless. My writing at home was however was full of feeling. And so I have continued. My art is not too bad but most of it when I think about it, is emotionless with the exception of a few I did under the influence of powerful music. In my writing I have always tried to impart some meaning, convey an emotion. I never really doodled with drawing either. I wrote words down.
What if the thing that holds me back as a writer is trying to be an artist too? Mentally I turn off one tap to see what it feels like. The remaining tap explodes with the force of this new single channel and I am suddenly bursting with excitement and energy. What if the thing that has had me chugging at half speed all this time was my artistic 'talent'. God has there ever been for me such an irony?

The Fine Arts of Whinging and Avoiding

God, what a whinge bag. I let myself get beaten into a corner with half a cotton ball sometimes. Still it was a 41'c day and I had been reading a book narrated by Death (The Book Thief) so that may explain my state. I really should be more careful about what I read as I do with watching movies. I am a bit of an empath and if I watch or read something angry for instance I am dicing up dinner vegetables with wrath for days. Something sad and I'll get emotional about any new flowers in the garden. But at least it works with uplifting and funny too. I must use my powers for good. I must, I must.

So back up on the pony ( I am short) for me today and what do we have in today's little box of tasty tidbit's? I have my first critiquing group meeting this morning with a lady who writes Young Adult fantasy. So I will select something of mine to take and read and I get to hear a chapter of hers and then we all make encouraging and constructive comments. So I need to be in a positive mood. Luckily the weather has dropped 12 degrees and now I only need go watch a Goodies episode to complete my transformation. Goodies and pancakes for brekky. Goodie Goodie Yum Yum!

The World Between Worlds

After spending all that time soaking up the Ariel Fonted world of writers, I found myself looking at the world through the eyes of a writer. Every old painted door, every odd person or caught remark became tasty fodder for stories. The problem was, i wasn't actually writing during this time (though I would jot down thoughts) but rather being busy doing family or friend things as the year works itself toward the inevitable sweat soaked frenzy that is Christmas time. Aside from my writer frustrations I was very aware that my artist brain was in neutral and had been during my my literary soak. What i mean was I was no longer looking at things as a source of artistic creation or inspiration and I realised the presence of this brain switch when I attended my digital media class yesterday and was looking at a book of amazing digital artwork. 'Ping' my brain switched over into art mode. Anyway though I know I shouldn't waste my time worrying about it I often think of a quote from a character in a book called Finding Nino by Marc Llewellyn. One character, a Sicillian fisherman tells a foreign visitor who likes the land and the sea, " You can't be a fisherman and a farmer. You'll see..." The fact is I do worry about doing both. Can a do a good job of both? How much time do I need to devote to each to do my best. Do I even have that time? Would I be satisfied if one were a hobby? Which would I pick as a hobby if I had to? I guess the answer is I don't know.

I forgot to pass on this writing tips site from Richard Harland who spent a year or so I believe putting this info togther at his own cost for the benefit of you and I .
www.writingtips.com.au

Workshop Writing Tips- Ms Lord

I have read several of Gabrielle Lord's crime fiction novel. Not that I'll make a proper comparison to Patricia Cornwell but lets say if you like her work, you'd really enjoy Gabrielle Lord's books. She's a great writer and does a lot of research for her work as you can imagine you would need to. At the moment she is doing an action adventure series for teens called Conspiracy 365. One low cost book comes out each month with the further adventures of a teenage fugitive trying to solve the puzzle of his fathers disappearance and piece together clues left by his father. Besides people wanting him dead, other people are also trying to get to the answers first.
On writing, Gabrielle gave a great analogy about writing a story. She said at first it's like dumping all your picnic gear on a heap on the ground. Then bit by bit you sort it out, shake out the rug and place everything in order on it, shaking the ants and debris along the way. I like that!
When asked about how to get writing done, she mentioned another authors description of 'bum glue' as well as saying that it is tenacity and doggedness that give the determination to write and stay writing. She says she does not leave the house until she has written a thousand words. She can do more but not less.
She spoke about plot which she described as the movement of the story. She said the seeds of the plot are within your characters.
Gabrielle had brought in these plot layouts she put together for us to see. Obviously a crime fiction story needs to have a tight plot. She had a sheet of cardboard with the characters in little boxes on the left and then lots of boxes with facts and important clues and events that would happen continuing from the left to the right with interaction lines joining them so she can see the whole story all plotted out. This is obviously a great framework to write your story within.
So that's what I gleaned. Very useful stuff.

Last night I went to a writers Christmas dinner which was excellent. I got to see some now familiar faces, meet up with a local writer I have been trying to meet and of course meet other new people as well. At the auction I was thrilled to get a signed Tohby Riddle book, No one Owns the Moon. I just love Tohby Riddles illustrations. I also got to hear Markus Zusak talk again. He tells great stories as well as writing great books. All very inspiring and getting to know people is great fun too. I need to get more writing and less socialising done!

Workshop Writing Tips- Mr Harland

Richard Harland is a fantasy writer and had been chosen to talk about setting. Obviously in fantasy, setting is built largely by the writer’s imagination. Richard’s latest book is a style of fiction known as ‘steampunk’ which uses an alternative nineteenth century world as the setting. His book is called Worldshaker (a sequel is coming) and is set upon a kilometres long Argonaut which travels along the surface of the earth, powered by steam. We used an area of the Argonaut to do an exercise and use our five senses to describe it. This was to remind us with setting to describe settings with more than visual details. He also reminded us that weather, time of day and general lighting can completely change a setting.. In fantasy you plan out the literal setting and then flesh it out with the experience of being in that place.
He advised that parts of a scene that work have emotional value.
Richard gave lots of good advice on setting but it was his work habits that stuck in my mind. He writes in the morning from about 9 till 1 or 2 then has a break. In the afternoon he has a think about what he wants to write about the following day then he sleeps on it, finding the notes stored in his brain overnight have been sorted a little and he is able to begin the days writing with that. And that is how he gets his writing done. For me that has allergies to schedules, it gave me an idea for an effective work habit with a flexibility of time. So it is Richard’s habits that I am trying out at the moment. I am trying to write for at least 4 hours a day, a length author Gabrielle Lord managed to do as a single mother and worker. She said she never worked so effectively as when she only had that window to work in. I’ll pass on my gleanings from her next.

Workshop Writing Tips- Mr Zusak

I thought I'd like to put in some tips I gleaned from my writers workshop. You may read them and gain some great ideas or you may decide to clean your fingernails. If writing is not your thing, go and make yourself a cuppa and come back in five minutes.
I'd also like to say at this point that I am giving you my version of what was said, please don't sue me for mis-quoting!
In order of speakers (so you can get that -' Wow, it's like I'm at the concert!' feeling) the first was Markus Zusak. The first thing he said that stuck in my mind was that writing should be your number one priority. Perhaps number two (family being the other) but absolutely not one rung lower. He said he didn't need friends, his friends were people in his book. We all laughed but he may have been serious I think. I thought that awful at first but then I haven't sold 3 million books either. Writing is his life and he spends a heck of a lot of focus on that.( I do believe he surfs, so lets say he has a form of exercise and meditation too)
He described his story planning as drawing a long line and putting the readers expected ending at the end of the line (he likes to put the actual ending in after that). At the other end a beginning. Then along the line he finds parts for the body of the story. When he writes the story he checks off points along the line. He creates conflict and drama by constantly putting barriers before his character and having them resolve it.
Markus had been asked to talk about character which was apt as he is excellent at character drawing, conveying brilliantly a whole person with a few deft, and often humorous, verbal lines. I guess- think how you can sum up a person in a few words. He explained about giving characters depth. Know your character. They have a history. They have the current story and they have a past. You can dip into the past if necessary in the current story but having a past lets you know your characters and know how they behave and react.
He said to find your 'voice' for writing and write with that.
He also said to write for the joy of it or else that's what he does. He says if he knew he couldn't publish another book, he'd still choose to write.
I also noted that he was able to write freely for The Book Thief once he had stopped worrying about who his target audience might be. When he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to read it, that gave him the freedom to just let loose .( And look what happened/is happening with that book!).
I personally find the whole 'target audience' thing strange. Every writer I have heard writes for themselves with no real aim at an age group but as soon as you read up on writing or look up publishing tips they ask you to consider what age you are writing for. It's like a law that must be quoted but which writers tend to ignore. Hard to know this when you are starting out.
Anyway enough for today. I'll leave you to ponder the wisom of Mr Zusak for a bit and give you my gems from Richard Harland next time.

3am Headchatter

Feel sick in tummy. Hot and grubby. Look like I've been slapped and chucked in a hurricane. But my oh my, this noggin is full of shiny pearls of wisdom from my most excellent writers workshop day yesterday. Wow really. The best bit about yesterday was the informality of the place. A clean but old and daggy community hall was our venue. You know, the worn polished timber floors, brick walls, small stage with velvet drapes. Probably it's seen a lot of ballet classes and 21st birthday parties. But that humble atmosphere kind of set the tone for the day and helped to show the human side of our guest authors. Their explanations of how and why they work was brilliant and so , so inspiring. I came home smiling, excited and determined to give up housework forever.

Also I got to meet these lovely people afterwards, have my books signed and get a few photo's. They were all just lovely and very friendly. I get such a kick out of talking about a great book with it's author and they seem to enjoy it likewise so everyone's happy! Today I'd like to show the books I have and recommend by these authors and the people themselves and tomorrow I'll pass on tips from them in case anyone else finds it useful.

Sorry the pictures are blurry but no flash was allowed, the authors were quite animated and I was very excited!

Manuscript Appraisal

Yesterday morning at the NSW Writers Centre at Rozelle I had my manuscript appraisal with Mark Macleod. I had booked it about three months ago so it's been a long countdown. I was hoping I would get an honest opinion of my work (stories/style and also illustrations) and I hoped I wouldn't cry if the news wasn't good. After all, creative work is a piece of yourself and it makes you feel vulnerable having people poke at it. I knew it needed a poke though and I hoped it would be gentle. The NSW Writers centre (1 1/4 hours from where I live) is a lovely old world hobbit mansion on peaceful grounds of purple jacaranda. It set a nice calming tone. People were sitting around quietly. I don't know what they were doing but it gave my approach to the building a ' place between worlds' kind of feeling.

Once inside I found I would be meeting with Mark in the Harry Potter Room, which turned out to be a reference to the rooms small size, tucked in under the sloping roof, much like Harry's room under the stairs. Mark was in the room, door open with the previous person who was struggling to get a few more answers out of the guy before she had to go. It's true that a 1/2 hour just isn't enough. I am so glad I booked the hour which flew past anyway.

Mark seemed nice upon meeting him and began by asking me to tell him a little about myself and then what I was hoping to gain by this meeting with him. He is a writer and editor and has done all sorts of work within the publishing industry. So his professional opinion is what I sought of course. He looked at all of the stories I had brought with me and the illustrations. He decided to talk to me about the illustrations first. I suppose you could say this was the bad news though it wasn't too awful. He felt I needed a year of work on my illustrating, studying movement and gesture. He liked my use of colour and composition but felt my figures were a bit stiff. It was hard in a way that the book I self published and had brought in was a bit stiff and I feel I've improved a fair bit since then, but I knew what he meant. I had been thinking of doing a life drawing class anyway, so that confirmed it.

Next came the stories. He felt the stories lacked a bit of drama and that I was giving too much info to the reader. As in, he felt somethings need not be explained to the reader but left for the reader to figure out themselves. Those were his main comments, summed up. He had time to read over all my story synopsis which I had taken with me and seemed to really like all my story ideas. He was very encouraging and told me my ideas are what people are wanting to read right now (well, that was fortunate). After some rewriting he suggested I send off to a publisher. I asked if multiple submissions were OK in his opinion. He said yes, certainly it was generally accepted. Because of the months it can take to get your work seen at a publishers, it has become acceptable. You just need to mention how many other publishing houses you have sent it to, BUT no names. Sending three off at once is good he said. I asked about why publishers really preferred you do not illustrate your own work and the answer he gave me finally made sense to me and I can accept it. The reason is practical and economic. If you have an unknown illustrator, you can attach them to a known writer and the writer gets the sales happening with less marketing/advertising needed. An unknown writer and illustrator needs a lot of work because they are an unknown and book sellers don't like unguaranteed sales. Fair enough.

At the end of the session which was so, so helpful I asked Mark to sign a book I got of his called ' Tomorrow' . I was afraid he wouldn't think it appropriate and would think I was sucking up. On the contrary he was highly delighted and seemed to take it as compliment, so I'm so glad I did it.

So, now I will treat my illustrating as a separate project as he suggested and work on improvements. In the meantime i will be rewriting till the end of the year and then researching appropriate publishers to send my stuff to early in the new year.

If you do not have a professional opinion available to you as a writer or illustrator, do invest the money in getting one. It's more than worth it. Mark Macleod costs AU$60 per half hour and I recommend an hour minimum.

Today I have the workshop with Markus Zusak, Gabrielle Lord and Richard Harland. How much fun am I having?!

Fake Tan and Shaun Tan

Yesterday I decided to try some fake tan gel.

I did change colour but due to the allergic reaction I had, the colour is more like white with pink polka dots than a golden tan. I look like a very cross plucked chicken.

Ahem, on a less personal note, and don't mind me scratching, I spent some of yesterday drawing and painting a few things from around the garden and a few things that just fell out the end of my pencil. Then I studied the artwork of Illustrator Shaun Tan on the Internet and was very very tempted to buy a print of one of his works. One day! In the meantime I will endeavour to make the best bid for a signed book of his at a function I'm at in a week. I just hope it doesn't go above $5.

My first Illustrator/Photoshop course on the weekend was excellent especially since there are only two people in the class. Whether or not a large group of people got locked in a room at the other end of the college grounds I couldn't say but having a teacher all to yourself practically is great. We have begun on Photoshop. Its fantastic and I am mentally rubbing my hands together in glee the whole time. Still, I envisage it will be some time before I am flying the plane competently. There's tonnes to learn. There are so many tutorials on the net about how to use this type of software. It's been great seeing how an artist put together a particular artwork. I mean my brain goes numb trying to take in all the complicated steps, but it's a happy kind of numb.

In other news I am looking for a localish illustrator group to join. Where are they? Maybe I will place an add at my local gallery. And one of the on-line industry newsletters.

In the meantime I am still sorting through my stories to choose the ones I'll head to the manuscript appraisal with. So hard to pick these things when I love them all. I have tried casting a cold hard eye over them, but the eye just mists over. Hopeless! The best idea I can come up with is to pick the ones that have gotten the strongest response from readers, especially emotive responses, and go with those. They tend to be the ones I have strong illustration images for too.

I do love artwork that conveys emotion well. Of course today's pics show no such thing, but darn it, that's all I had.

Digital Art for Illustrating

Hey, techno presto; I'm back from a week in an Internet black-hole. The words ' Communications Ombudsman' have power!

A week without Internet has been hard though I feel like a spoilt western woman saying so. Beware the technology we become reliant on.....On the other hand it's great to have it back! Woohoo!

Today I don my artist smock and beret and skip off to Digital Art class. I am expecting it to be brilliant and fascinating and I can't wait to begin. There is a little timber-toed part of me that is a bit scared about the technology. Mr Computer and I are polite friends. He thinks I am a moody, tantrum throwing novice and I know him to be unnecessarily complex and temperamental. Yes, we are work buddies. But today computer technology will allow me to create a whole new world of illustrating. I have a vague inkling of what I'm in store for and even that feels like lighting your birthday candles with a comet. I think this is going to be big for me. My imagination is about to be gifted with a very large and shiny set of crayons. Watch out! Lets hope all the technical jargon will Velcro to my mind. At least I am hopeful the class may contain other people my age-ish and maybe some illustrators. I know a few writers now, but my artist self would like to meet some illustrators too.

The rest of my week to come will be putting together work to take in for my manuscript appraisal with Mark McLeod. From time with him I will learn how publishable my work is and what I need to do to make it happen. This is an exciting prospect but frightening too. For a start I have to pick my best stories and I love them all. Also I will take illustrations for them. That's another part of myself open for comment too. Of course the whole point is to have someone very knowledgeable in the publishing industry offer advice on my work. So, so valuable. Well, that is the hope. He will probably only have time to comment on two or three stories maximum. I know I will have a secret stash of others in my bag just in case. At the end of it I will ask for a book signing though I hope he won't think this is a suck-up. It's just he is a lovely writer and how often do you get to ask these things?

On another note I had an e-mail from a lady who had bought one of my books at the writers dinner last week. She had read it to her pre-school class and they loved it. She quoted their favourite parts. What a lovely feeling it was to hear that! One sweet and sour thing to come out of that dinner is that I have had a few more requests for my book. Yes, genius here didn't think about that one. I have no other books. I could print more from Blurb but the price is way to expensive. Also I have had an offer for a loan to self publish. Using a local printer I could self-publish in greater quantities but I would have to prepare for the leg work and have a plan. I will wait to hear what Mr McLeod says next week before I take that step.

Technology Malfunction

Warning. Warning. Engine failure in the main thruster!

I have had no Internet due to a server stuff up, for five days and counting. Big black thunder clouds are floating around my head, rumbling ominously.
I have thrown wobblies to no avail.
All this has made me realise the Internet has become a drug I didn't realise I was addicted to, until it was suddenly taken away from me. Having reflected wisely upon my reaction to this turn of events, I say " GIVE ME BACK MY DRUG!"
Circumstances being what they are, I have taken to dressing in a black catsuit and sneaking out into the night to use other peoples computers to do my deeds on. My friends look amused by the outfit when they open the door to let me in. Nevertheless it has given me the opportunity to get some communication out there, hence I can bring you such compelling news as:

I am using my son's touch typing software to teach myself, well, not origami obviously. This involves firing letters out of a canon and making pretty pictures from letters. Why did I not find this before?

Hormones and creativity do not a pretty picture make. I think I actually hissed at my paints today and folded my arms and stomped at the computer.
Some days you just have to take a break from work. Instead I planted 30 plants in an hour. I think they will grow because they are now too frightened not to. Also one of my hens went broody. I played her funky disco music to remind her of her single days and get her mind off motherhood, but it didn't work.
All this proves that sometimes you've just got to be kind to your sad pathetic tantrum throwing self and wait it out till the sparkle sparkle fairy brings back the rainbow.

After the Ball

La, la, la......
I'm still dancing around my loungeroom after the CBCA dinner on Saturday, fondly recalling the magical night in all it's glorious detail.
Well, this is a slight exageration but it was like being locked in a lolly shop for a few hours with lots of your favourite sweets. It was a lovely blur of talking to other writers and people passionate about children's books. It was lovely to meet people like Di Bates, Bill Condon, Deborah Abela, Jeff McMullen, Jenny hale, Sue Whiting, Roslyn J Motter, Mary Jacobs. I can honestly say it was no less exciting meeting newbies like myself and sharing tips and stories. There weren't a lot of illustrators that i know of ( I couldn't see any inky fingers or paint in hair) except for one lady who amazingly was in my year at school. I sold 7 of the 10 books I took to sell AND I got to do my first signings! Very cool! Thank you so much to those lovely people who bought my book and /or gave me huge encouragement and compliments. It was all great. I also bought books, got them signed and me and my children are madly reading those.
We are doing it all again next year and will be having a very well known literary figure as guest speaker whose name I will disclose when I am allowed!
On another note I had the AGM for my Federation of Australian Writers group, for which i was hoping to avoid nomination as treasurer. I smugly managed this but then nearly fell over when I was instead nominated as president. Arghhhh! Needless to say I have not accepted however flattering. A big mouth does not a good president make! I have only been attending for 5 months (1 meeting per month roughly) and I do not understand the running of things. i thought it was a huge step for me to offer to be the minutes secretary for my branch of the CBCA. I normally avoid committees like the plague but understand there is no such thing as a free lunch. I am learning that no matter how flattering an offer you get, give your ego a good firm slap and only take on what you can realistically manage. You get to realise that every time your head gets bigger, your brain gets smaller. For very action there is an equal and opposite reaction!