Hello again
Today my mini manuscript assessment from Vignette Press arrived. It was about some of my short stories included in Daisy Chains the collection I sold earlier this year. The assessment was very good. It contains a lot of encouraging information about your writing as well as the problems and areas that need to be addressed.
There was some very valuable feedback set out in detail for me. I would recommend getting a mini assessment from Vignette or other organisations that do them. I have not had any from other companies so I cannot compare but I did think what I got was profitible for me to move forward as an artist.
What I have taken away from this assessment is that I need to keep working on my novel. I am definitely taking the comments and advice on board and will be implementing these elements in future pieces. Overall, I am really glad I got this assessment done. It helped me to see some of my strengths and weaknesses and has caused me to focus my efforts a little more in certain areas of my work.
13 Nov 2007
12 Nov 2007
To write or not to write...
Hello again
I think every writer questions whether they are doing the right thing in devoting their time to writing. It is probably the same with any artistic field, as there are little or slow rewards for creating art. In the ABC short story competition I participated in recently, one of the winners talked about how she felt torn between her family, working and writing. I have heard other authors say the same thing, they questioned what they were doing constantly. Writing can present so many frustrations, but if you have an overwhelming urge to create you will not be able to give it up.
When you start to take your art more seriously it becomes more obvious that there is a lot of work and pain involved. Tangible results may or may not eventuate. One never knows. You always hope, but in art you can never guarantee it. No one really knows if they will ever be recognised by anyone or indeed if they should be.
The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Thanks for reading.
I think every writer questions whether they are doing the right thing in devoting their time to writing. It is probably the same with any artistic field, as there are little or slow rewards for creating art. In the ABC short story competition I participated in recently, one of the winners talked about how she felt torn between her family, working and writing. I have heard other authors say the same thing, they questioned what they were doing constantly. Writing can present so many frustrations, but if you have an overwhelming urge to create you will not be able to give it up.
When you start to take your art more seriously it becomes more obvious that there is a lot of work and pain involved. Tangible results may or may not eventuate. One never knows. You always hope, but in art you can never guarantee it. No one really knows if they will ever be recognised by anyone or indeed if they should be.
The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Thanks for reading.
11 Oct 2007
Editorial Consultancy
Hello again
I recently paid for an Editorial Consultancy at the QWC. You send in a sample of your work and then you get booked in with an author to talk about your work. I saw Lesley Singe, who is an author and tutor related to the QWC. The purpose of the consultancy is to provide advice about your work, the things you need to work on, the things you are good at and potential places you can market your work. I was dubious about what would come out. But once I was there it was very productive.
Lesley provided detailed feedback on the work I had provided. She pointed out things that I knew I had to work on, which was really good. She suggested markets and publishers for my novel when it's finished, and she liked the ideas contained within my novel. As a result I feel increasingly confident this novel has many levels and a depth to explore within its narrative structure.
I would recommend attending a session, especially if you have finished a manuscript. It is very informative and provides a writer with much needed clarity and direction for themselves and their work. Do it if you can, it is worth the money.
I recently paid for an Editorial Consultancy at the QWC. You send in a sample of your work and then you get booked in with an author to talk about your work. I saw Lesley Singe, who is an author and tutor related to the QWC. The purpose of the consultancy is to provide advice about your work, the things you need to work on, the things you are good at and potential places you can market your work. I was dubious about what would come out. But once I was there it was very productive.
Lesley provided detailed feedback on the work I had provided. She pointed out things that I knew I had to work on, which was really good. She suggested markets and publishers for my novel when it's finished, and she liked the ideas contained within my novel. As a result I feel increasingly confident this novel has many levels and a depth to explore within its narrative structure.
I would recommend attending a session, especially if you have finished a manuscript. It is very informative and provides a writer with much needed clarity and direction for themselves and their work. Do it if you can, it is worth the money.
23 Sept 2007
Moving Forward
My novel in my mind and on paper is moving forwards. I am really keen to get a first draft done of this novel, and then start rewriting. I am reading The Dirty Beat, by Venero Armanno. A great book full of beauty, empathy and strong characters.
There is something mysterious in art, a piece of work that takes people to a different place, like the Heart of Darkness did to me when I was a teenager, transported me, mesmerised me, and like the Snows of Kilamanjaro did to me at university and the Unbearable Lightness of Being, Cry the Beloved Country and many other books. They draw you in and change you. They affect you and remain with you for the rest of your life. Well that's what good books do to me, profound books. Not just a book that is enjoyable but ones that affect you for the rest of your life.
Some books I enjoy their style and structure and I admire the way the novel is written but there are other books that remain forever dear to me, close to me, intimate friends. Music can be the same, intimate. I would love to create something close to this.
There is something mysterious in art, a piece of work that takes people to a different place, like the Heart of Darkness did to me when I was a teenager, transported me, mesmerised me, and like the Snows of Kilamanjaro did to me at university and the Unbearable Lightness of Being, Cry the Beloved Country and many other books. They draw you in and change you. They affect you and remain with you for the rest of your life. Well that's what good books do to me, profound books. Not just a book that is enjoyable but ones that affect you for the rest of your life.
Some books I enjoy their style and structure and I admire the way the novel is written but there are other books that remain forever dear to me, close to me, intimate friends. Music can be the same, intimate. I would love to create something close to this.
20 Sept 2007
Novel is moving
This morning I am so pleased and thankful that my novel is moving forward. Some great themes and plot and character developments are forming, in my head anyway. I have also decided (thanks to some of my friends in YON) that I am going to set myself a deadline of February for a complete draft of the novel. There has been a cloud over this novel for a little while now and I am grateful that it is lifting. Just keep going until the draft done and then be prepared for many revisions.
Veny said in the last YON class about how Peter Carey wrote ten versions of the Ned Kelly book in different points of view until he completed the one he was happy with. I can understand starting from scratch because sometimes it is hard to just move words around, sometimes you need to totally reconstruct the scenes and action etc. Anyway, that's sometimes how I feel.
I am just going to keep moving forwards. Work, life and doing things for other people in our lives take up a lot of our time so when the creative flow starts to move, we should hold on tight and ride it like a white water rapid, until we reach the end of river.
Veny said in the last YON class about how Peter Carey wrote ten versions of the Ned Kelly book in different points of view until he completed the one he was happy with. I can understand starting from scratch because sometimes it is hard to just move words around, sometimes you need to totally reconstruct the scenes and action etc. Anyway, that's sometimes how I feel.
I am just going to keep moving forwards. Work, life and doing things for other people in our lives take up a lot of our time so when the creative flow starts to move, we should hold on tight and ride it like a white water rapid, until we reach the end of river.
17 Sept 2007
Reading, writing and inspiration
Once again I have quiet for a few days. Last week was noisy, but nice. I revel in quiet in my house. In fact, I feel the need to keep working rapidly because I know this time may not last forever.
I am reading Veny's book The Dirty Beat. It is rivoting. I am half way through and I only started yesterday. It is great to read something that I can't put down, some books I find exceedingly difficult to read. I went to the book launch of The Dirty Beat the other night, that was enjoyable.
I thought I would post up a picture of the forest in my backyard - because as it is getting warmer I am going to write more of my novel from my back veranda which looks out over this beautiful forest with black cockatoos cawing and wallabies standing to attention in gaps in the foliage.
5 Sept 2007
Silence, listening, reading...
This post is going to be a little rambling, as sometimes my posts are. I have not had silence for weeks and maybe months and most people in their daily lives do not have a lot of silence. I think writers need more silent times than other people. These are the times when we are thinking, creating, dreaming and hearing the voices of our characters or seeing our characters lounging on their couches, or arguing with their partners, or crying or laughing, basically, and weirdly, they are living.
I love this quote from Kate Eltham from the QWC (I am loving what she writes on the covering letter every month, I never used to read them and now I always read her musings.) which says:
"... writers who understand. They understand that I'm staring vacantly out the window because I'm thinking about my story, and not because I am a bit funny in the head. They understand that it is normal to have conversations (out loud) with my characters when I'm driving to work. They understand because they, too, are writers." (July QWC Newsletter).
Hemingway talks about listening to Gertrude Stein rant and rave about other authors and writing, even though he didn't agree with her. He just listened anyway. Listening is a lost art, I think. People exchanging ideas and politely listening until others have finished.
An inheritance that I hate the most from television, videos, games, music, modern culture is the way we don't listen to each other anymore. It's like our attention span is zero! That is what I notice about the current situation. However, there are people who listen well and these people are less exhausting to be around. I like to hear about other people's lives and stories. We will not learn anything if we lose this art altogether. It will just be about our own opinions and views on the world and there is not exchange of relationship or ideas. There is nothing interchanged between the people in conversation unless they both listen at some point to one another.
I had a great trip to Brisbane on Monday, in which I met with my friend Jenni Messina. We chatted about writing our novels, our occasional impatience with the process and our writing styles. It was wonderful to be with another person who feels the same as me and listen to her experiences and finding they were similar to mine. This is always good.
As a side point: I was extremely chuffed by Veny's comment about my chapter from my novel that it was: "extremely evocative."
I love this quote from Kate Eltham from the QWC (I am loving what she writes on the covering letter every month, I never used to read them and now I always read her musings.) which says:
"... writers who understand. They understand that I'm staring vacantly out the window because I'm thinking about my story, and not because I am a bit funny in the head. They understand that it is normal to have conversations (out loud) with my characters when I'm driving to work. They understand because they, too, are writers." (July QWC Newsletter).
Hemingway talks about listening to Gertrude Stein rant and rave about other authors and writing, even though he didn't agree with her. He just listened anyway. Listening is a lost art, I think. People exchanging ideas and politely listening until others have finished.
An inheritance that I hate the most from television, videos, games, music, modern culture is the way we don't listen to each other anymore. It's like our attention span is zero! That is what I notice about the current situation. However, there are people who listen well and these people are less exhausting to be around. I like to hear about other people's lives and stories. We will not learn anything if we lose this art altogether. It will just be about our own opinions and views on the world and there is not exchange of relationship or ideas. There is nothing interchanged between the people in conversation unless they both listen at some point to one another.
I had a great trip to Brisbane on Monday, in which I met with my friend Jenni Messina. We chatted about writing our novels, our occasional impatience with the process and our writing styles. It was wonderful to be with another person who feels the same as me and listen to her experiences and finding they were similar to mine. This is always good.
As a side point: I was extremely chuffed by Veny's comment about my chapter from my novel that it was: "extremely evocative."
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