I would like to welcome to my blog, my good friend and fellow writer's group member, Verity Guiton. Writing is sometimes like jumping into a cold pool of water. Often you can sit on the sidelines and watch people make leaps and bounds; creating a splash when they enter into it. However, some of us hesitate, as we make predictions about how cold the water will be. No matter our passion, or our love of the craft, we insist on returning to the scene by cautiously dipping our toes in first. But as our wonderful writers group recently discovered, while gesturing excitedly on the edge of our seats, there comes a time where you look fear in the eye and say, “Enough is enough!” This excitement was recently sparked and enlightened by an interview. The interviewee is a teacher, a book critic for the Age and a self-published author. She is my Aunt; Juliette Hughes. We sat around a coffee table in Ester’s living room. The Skype line had fizzed and the battery to my iPad was about to die. However, this was an interview we were determined to have! So, we put Juliette on speaker phone and got down to business. I started by asking Juliette a question, which I felt (as a toe dipper myself) I had to know in order to take the first plunge. “What do you feel is the most effective way to make lasting connections?” I asked. Beginning with a quote from Winston Churchill, Juliette simply stated “Never give up”. Looking round at the rest of the group, it was apparent that this was what we all wanted to hear. Juliette also said we needed “…a bottom like a Rhinoceros!”; in other words, a tough hide and thick skin. She followed up saying “…believe in your right to write” and with a virtual hand, passed us the website www.litrejections.com. This is an affirming page for writers that details the publishing journey of ‘literacy royals’, so to speak; such as Dr. Seuss, JR Tolkien and Jane Austin. It illustrates the number of rejections they each received by publishes. J.K Rowling, for instance, was rejected twelve times before being scooped up and handed to the masses. Feeling a sense of hope in Juliette’s answer, I handed the phone over to Jacqui. Her thirsty question, as a full-time teacher, wife, mother and writer, was “How do you meet your writing quotas?” We heard a rustle and a murmur in the background, which I recognised immediately. It was my Uncle Rick, who (as a teacher and artist/musician himself) provided the useful and practical advice of having a nap after work. Juliette explained that every author writes differently. The late Terry Pratchett, who Juliette interviewed many times over, said he didn’t believe in office hours. He just “…let (the story) take him”. Austin was a similar case and didn’t even require privacy to write. Whenever words came, she stuck them to paper with her pen. Anthony Trollope on the other hand would get up at 4am every day and write for a specified time. All in all, as Juliette stated “Whatever you prioritise, you will do”. Ester’s turn next and, dealing with the struggles of character development, she asked “How do you keep characters consistent when you also need them to grow from what they’ve learned and experienced in the story?” A somewhat more conceptual answer was given to Ester, as Juliette explained that sometimes you need to look within yourself. According to Juliette, “Even when you’re writing about other people, you’re viewing them through a lens that is your own (so, it’s still an aspect of you!)”. She told us that characters often write themselves and, if your characters are changing, let them change. She said to coin your own words, like Shakespeare and to let yourselves in as much possible. Juliette allowed us a sneak peek at her own novel, which she believes will be ready by September. It has layers of the spiritual realm all through it and puts a harsh light on the shocking realities of the world – ones we normally turn our faces from. However, an apparent sense of hope, and a desire to do what’s right what bleeds through. Her main character is based on her late and much beloved dog Peppy. She described his character in the novel as a kind of ‘Mary-Sue’. The difference being that this ‘Mary-Sue’ was born from cold and cruel origins. Juliette said her other works have been fun, interesting and (above all) exciting. But this novel, she informed us, “…this is my heart”. Last, but certainly not least, was Megan’s question. She wanted to know about Juliette’s writing journey. Juliette explained that sometimes you find inspiration where you least expect it. Listening to Dianna Ross, for instance, helped her realise she could teach ‘white’ girls how to combine their chest voice and head voice. Juliette directed us to the ‘artist pages’ website, and recommended the Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés book ‘Women who run with Wolves’. She also said writing pages of absolute rubbish helps you get into the creative zone. This lead her to Stephen King’s repetitions of a mad man in ‘The Shining’, where Jack Torrance famously scribbles down “All work and no play…”. She said this is actually a very useful exercise. Juliette explained writers need ‘know-hows’ and encouragement. “…like pregnancy” she said “…sometimes you need help getting the baby out” (to which Ester replied “…a literacy laxative”). Juliette concluded her answer by advising “…if you want to write, don’t wait for permission”. Megan shared her own writing journey and expressed that, “One day I decided, this is what I am. This is what I want to be known as. I am a writer and I’m going to be discovered”. Juliette (clearly impressed) answered by saying “Well, God bless you!” In the last moments of our conversation, we shared advice, personal philosophies and spiritual awakenings. The water was looking a little less chilly and we were feeling better about diving into the publisher’s pool. Juliette left us with one last piece of important advice. “Publishers want to pitch you as a genre, so know who you are as a writer and pick your genre”. Drawing on everything we discussed one thing stood out to us all; believe in yourself as a writer and make sure to write the novel of your heart. Juliette’s foremost passion (above anything else) is her family. A very close second is music and she leads the choir at St. Carthages Church, Parkville, Melbourne. For years, Juliette was the Assistant Co-editor for Champagnat Magazine, and through Garratt Publishing, she wrote a series of poems and short stories for primary school and high school students. Juliette’s self-published book was “… just for fun”, as she put it, and with a hint of cheekiness to her voice added it’s her answer to ’50 Shades of Grey’. In fact, it was only rejected by ‘Mills and Boons’ after she explained to them she wished to stick to her own formula. It’s called ‘The Music Within’ (under the pen name Fae Clifton) and you can find it on Amazon. Thanks Verity for setting up this interview and for writing this blog post. And thank you Juliette for making yourself available to answer questions of our writer's group. It was a fun, and inspiring afternoon.
If you, dear reader, have been inspired even just a bit, please feel free to share.
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Writer's Group this month was hosted by my good friend, Jacqui Johnson. She is a primary school teacher and emerging author. Jacqui is my guest blogger for this month. Welcome, Jacqui. Easter weekend, the perfect time for a writer’s group get together! As it was my turn to host, other than making sure we had adequate chocolate, cheese and plenty of coffee, I had organised a couple of readings to share as we sat down to chat about dialogue. As emerging authors one of the biggest challenges in creating engaging fictions texts is balancing narrative, dialogue and action. In his blog, ‘The 7 Tools of Dialogue’ James Scott Bell gives a mechanics analogy of how dialogue should work in a text. “My neighbour John loves to work on his hot rod. He’s an automotive whiz and tells me he can hear when something is not quite right with the engine. He doesn’t hesitate to pop the hood, grab his bag of tools and start to tinker. He’ll keep at it until the engine sounds just the way he wants it to. That’s not a bad way to think about dialogue. We can usually sense when it needs work. What fiction writers often lack, however, is a defined set of tools they can put to use on problem areas.” He then goes on to discuss his favourite dialogue tools which include:
A second helpful article we discussed was ‘Writing Really Good Dialogue’ which emphasized dialogue as needing to perform specific roles within a narrative text including; firstly, to reveal characters’ relationships to one another, secondly, to move the story forward and finally dialogue should increase the tension. This article not only gave practical examples but also provided a useful list of dialogue tags other than ‘said’ to use in writing. Using the information that we discussed, we then applied these tips and tools to write a scene of dialogue that reveal a plot twist in a current piece. Below is a sample of my current work in progress. “It’s good to see Nora,” Ruth began as she eased herself onto a seat besides Anabella. “It has been an age since she’s been to the palace. Not since the prince took responsibility to raise her daughter. The laws of hereditary service aren’t usually honoured anymore but in her case the prince chose to recognise her husband’s contributions and sacrifice in his service. She visited her daughter every day in the kitchens after the initial separation, if I could smuggle her out form the dancers’ quarters. But being raised in the palace changed Petra and after a few months she refused to come.” “Petra! As in Petra?” Anabella felt the hot flush of anger colouring her cheeks as Ruth sadly nodded. “As in Head of the princes’ dancers Petra?” Anabella looked over towards Nora on the other side of the room tending to Brayleigh and was dumbfounded why she hadn’t recognised the familiarity earlier. “She wasn’t always as she is now you know” Ruth replied softly. “Oh, so not always a completely paranoid violent psychotic!” “Anabella,” Ruth chided. “Until you know what it was like for her, what her life has been like all these years, you shouldn’t judge her.” “Oh I know enough of her to know she shouldn’t be trusted. How do we know that Nora isn’t just the same? Just another snake in the grass?” “Both Cailan and I trust her. That will have to be enough for now.” Ruth got up from the table signalling the end of the conversation, leaving Anabella tormented by the uncertainty this new knowledge gave. In Anabella’s mind the journey out of the princes’ realm just went from challenging to impossible. After sharing this scene with the group, I found using the advice from the articles was helpful. Continuing discussions within the group included critiquing aspects, continue to help me improve my writing style. All of which demonstrates the equal importance of the drafting, sharing and revising processes. When reading back through a story, you can see better when a scene is top heavy with dialogue, narrative or action.” (Gloria Kepton, 2011, ‘How to balance Action, Narrative and Dialogue in your novel’). I hope the articles will help encourage and inspire you to use dialogue effectively in your own texts so that your pieces ‘runs as smoothly as a hot rod’. Thanks so much Jacqui, for being my guest blogger. For further tips, head over to Jen Storer's website at Girl and Duck for her blog on Dialogue: the five main uses.
Are you new to the writing world? Not sure what all those acronyms mean. Then I hope that this post will shed some light on the subject. A few months ago, a friend and I attended the Geelong Writer’s Group on the night of their 2016 Anthology book launch. My friend, who is a talented children’s book illustrator, and I, were chatting to another writer. The following was in response to a question I asked about what she was currently working on. “So my current YA MS WIP is going well. I started it NaNoWriMo. It was a good way to start it off. What about you?” “I’m working on a couple of ideas for a picture book MS. I did think of taking part in PiBoIdMo. I started my list while travelling up on the train up today and got a bunch of ideas.” Around this time I glanced at my friend. She had the most dumbfounded look on her face; as if we were speaking another language. “What are you two talking about?” she asked. So I proceeded to translate for her. In the ensuring conversation, I realised that we can become so used to the acronyms in our writing world, that we forget that to most, it is another language. Yet, it is a language that can be learnt. So I’ll break down what I know so far. YA: Young adult Pic Book: Picture book MS: Manuscript, the story WIP: Work in Progress Lit: Literature MC: Main Character NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.
12 x 12: 12 Picture Books in 12 Months. The challenge is to write 12 picture books manuscripts, to draft stage, in 12 months. As I write children’s picture books, I have discovered terminologies that can leave others perplexed as they sound like one thing but they may not be unsure if what they think it, is really what is meant. Examples are: the page turn, and page breaks, dummy books and storyboards.
This week’s post is a short one as I am getting ready to submit two pic book MS to a publisher for assessment. I also needed to do an author bio; a synopsis of each MS; format each MS according to conference submission guidelines; discover a half decent recent photo of myself to include and then email once ready. It is leading up to the KidLitVic2016, Meet the Publishers Melbourne – a conference for YA and Kids Lit writers that I will be attending. (Did you manage to decode all of that?) It’s all exciting times and lots of fun. I am sure that there are heaps of other acronyms and industry specific words and phrases that we use that I have not included. Feel free to let me know in the comments of any that I may have left out. We have all read them. You know what I’m talking about. Those books with passages and passages of description of what can be seen, heard, felt etc. You either skip over these until you get to the story, or you persevere, trying to find why on earth did the author feel it necessary to write it the way they did? And why so much detail? We are encouraged to 'show don't tell.' But some authors seem to go overboard. There is one series of books I really like… except for the author's scene descriptions. (Please note that it is not a recent series). I would skip pages and pages of description of the land that the people were traversing, until I got to the story. I mean, I really don’t care how many types of grass there were, the mating habits of all the local creatures, or how many… well you get my point. Or it may have been the way the author describes a character. They do it in such detail that nothing is left to your imagination, and as an inventory list. It makes you want to shut the book and walk away. The cliché: He was six foot tall and had big muscles. He had long blond hair, square chin, and blue eyes. He wore a long dark green trench coat, black pants and thick boots. A fob watch hung out of his pocket. Another: He was a tiny boy. He was thin with thick dark hair and thick glasses. He wore blue jeans and t-shirts most days. He wore shoes that had holes in them. I don’t know about you, but I was bored writing that. My Writer’s Group Challenge: People watch through the month. Write down dialogue, setting and descriptions of people. Oh how boring were some of my descriptions. Here are just a few examples. Old guy – tall, slender, mirror sunnies on his forehead, black t-shirt, blue jeans, grey hair cut short except for a pink Mohawk. Young woman – Medium height, multi-coloured hair that looks professionally done. Short skirt, boots, tattoo on thigh and one on her calf. She drew looks as she passed by. Old man I met on a park bench outside a bank. It was a warm sunny day. His work clothes that were badly stained, stained work jumper and I think his shirt was white at one stage. Now it looks shades of brown and grey. Oh my! What a yawn fest. If I were to use these in a story, I would have no readers. They would be the ones shutting the book and walking away. I don't want that. Do you? Stephen King, in his memoir, On Writing, states on page 201: “Description is what makes a reader a sensory participant in the story… Description begins with visualization of what it is that you want the reader to experience. It ends with you translating what you see in your mind into words on the page.” Let’s have another look at the previous examples, and see how I have changed them to make them more interesting. You get leftover hippies, well this guy looks like he just time travelled from the eighties punk rocker movement, with his mirror sunnies and bright pink Mohawk. I had to double check. Yep! He had shaven grey hair around the sides and his face was brown and wrinkled like a prune. He must have been sixty at least. The young woman looked like she had stepped out of an art fashion magazine; with her model looks, Van Gogh hair, and wearing a short skirt that showed off log slender legs and the dragon tattoo on her thigh. All eyes in the crowded food court were riveted on her, but she either did not notice, or did not care to acknowledge that she shared the same existence as the rest of us mortals. The old man sat on the sun warmed park bench outside the bank. He looked and smelt like he had walked out of work twenty years ago and had never bothered to change or wash his clothes since. I think his shirt was white at one stage. Now it looks many shades of brown and grey. “You out shopping today,” he asked. “No. Just doing a couple of things and then heading home. I’m putting off shopping as long as I can this week. I just don’t feel like doing it.” “I eat out. The café down the road has good food. I eat breakfast there every day. I had a really nice egg and bacon sandwich with a nice cup of coffee this morning. I don’t shop.” With that he lit up a cigarette which effectively stopped all conversation. “Say what you see, and then get on with your story.” Stephen King How did the rest of my writer's group go with my People Watching Challenge and re-write of descriptions? The following are their re-writes. Enjoy. Nana Bread by Jacqui Johnson "Bouncing up and down on his chair as though he were reacting to short burst of electric surges, the toddler spoke as if to himself, as he announced to the café, "I'm having a nana bread!" Surprisingly awkward! By Verity Guiton I sat down at the table; enough space for one. I was illuminated under the sky light, feeling as if I was randomly selected in the audience by a game show host. This didn't bode well for me. I was going to be a chameleon and shift through the shadows. Sampling conversations was an art. They would be stored away and carefully selected down the track for no other purpose but to inspire. But could I do it? Not like this. I was on stage and everybody knew. A lady who looked like the poster girl for "People of Wallmart" peered over and grimaced. What if she saw? I'd receive a smack in the mouth. That's not how I wanted to go; being dragged around by my hair, as people bustling around the food court hesitated to look. Uh-oh...silence at the next table. I just recorded what they had for lunch. Are they looking over? I've got to get out of here! Various Descriptions by Ester de Boer She moved heavily from chair to chair like a fat, swollen blowfly depositing its eggs. Teenage boy mouthing his empty Coke bottle like a sucking infant, forgetful of his surroundings. An elderly man carries cups of tea unsteadily through the gauntlet of tables, kids, chairs pulled across paths- concentrating on each careful, bowlegged step. Another adolescent boy, in chequered shirt and dirty work cap, stands vigil at the counter for an opportunity to be served. His expression is pop-eyed, hyper-vigilant and aggressive. Strangely, in the erectness of his stance is the ramrod elegance of a ballet dancer. I want Nana Bread by Jacqui Johnson "Bouncing up and down on his chair as though he were reacting to short burst of electric surges, the toddler spoke as if to himself, as he announced to the café, "I'm having a nana bread!" Just enough description to peak your interest, set the scene and visualise the person. But not so much as to bog you down and you get bored. Let's sum it all up.
And in the words of Stephen King. “Say what you see, and then get on with your story.” I'm still learning and making mistakes. However, myself, along with my writer's group, are improving all the time as we learn and practice. Feel free to share your thoughts and any descriptions that you have written. Happy writing and thanks for stopping by. No. I am not here to answer the age old question as to why a raven is like a writing desk. Simply put, I don't know. Do you? I have heard the theories. But I digress. Today I would like to discuss: Editing is similar to refurbishing a writing desk. Late last year I decided that I needed a new writing desk. Being on a tight budget, I looked around in the local op shops and finally found a timber desk with bookshelves for $10. Yay! I was so excited. It had good ‘bones.’ I could imagine what it would look like with a new stain and varnish; the drawers with fancy new handles; the bookshelves lined with children’s picture books… and one day... my own books. It was all so glistening and shining and looking wonderful... in my mind. Yes, there were stickers to be peeled off. Lots of stickers. Someone at some point had decided that boring holes in the top of the desk was a good idea, as well as gouging out a nice big hole on the edge of the desk. There were many scratches and imperfections. So I set to work.
Now to the bit where doing up a writing desk is like editing.
You’ve finished your first draft of your manuscript. You step back and take a good hard look at it. Ahh! There are some plot holes, some characters that need work. And what’s this? The pivotal scene that you thought you wrote is not even in there, or it just doesn’t seem to fit anymore. Whole entire chapters could be taken out and no-one would even know. Some things don’t flow logically. There may be too much back story in a huge dumped on the unsuspecting reader. Point of View is all over the place. Awkward sentences, to many adjectives. Oh boy! There is a lot of work to be to done.
I read up a lot about the editing process. I have also been taught different methods. In fact, everyone is different and does different things at different times. I suppose you do what works for you. I seem to use a combination of techniques for different projects. And I am still learning. By the way, I have dyslexia, so I am pretty sure, that, though I have gone over this a few times, there will be spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. (If you find any, please let me know by emailing me). Here, here, and here are some links to more editing tips that I have discovered. Happy editing! At the writer’s group that I’m in, we take it in turns running mini writing workshops. At one that I ran late last year, I grabbed various items from around the house: a coloured ball of wool with a crotchet hook sticking out of it; an old silver match holder from my grandfather that has engravings upon it; a colourful scarf; a tiny teapot and teacup; a fedora; and a red lace fan. These items were to be used as writing prompts and to create a story that included them. We all chose our items and then were given fifteen minutes to write a short story or passage. I chose the lace fan, the coloured wool and crochet hook, and the teacup. Here is my story: She held the crochet hook in her wrinkled hand and the brightly coloured wool in another. For a time, nothing could be heard except the creak of her rocking chair, the pedestal fan making its way back and forth, the panting of her dog lying beside her, and the hot wind howling around the house scorching the plants in her garden with its hot breath. She paused, laid down her work and sipped her warm tea from her teacup now chipped with stories. She picked up her red lace fan to bring some relief to her flushed face. As she spread the lace open, her eyes lit upon the figures dancing across the screen. Memories flooded her mind of an incredible and adventurous summer that she had spent in Spain when she was younger. Much, much younger. A wistful smile touched her lips. These were happy memories. Wonderful and cherished. Flashes of swirling skirts of the Flamenco Dancers whirling around in a dance that seemed without end. Dark eyes catching her own across the plaza. Her blush hidden behind her red lace fan. The many late nights of that long summer spent talking until the sun ascended like a gigantic red and orange rose over the sea. The hot summer days swimming in the ocean together. Promises spoken late at night. She sipped her now cold tea. She smiled again. She glanced up. Those same dark eyes were looking at her; untouched by time. A smile reached his lips as his hands reached for hers. Who knew that love could exist like this? Recently I had the rare (I live in a rural area), and exciting privilege of meeting an amazing author, Hazel Edwards, at my local bookstore, Reader’s Emporium in Traralgon, Victoria. She was in town to visit the region promoting her new book, Not Just a Piece of Cake Being an Author. It is the number 202 book in her books published belt. After making a visit to Traralgon Secondary College earlier in the day, myself and other interested parties sat down to an informal chat with Hazel. Hazel had attended the school as a teenager while living in the area. Hazel shared about her day at the school, her discussions with the students, as well as her time living in Glengarry at the local General Store. “Living in a General Store was a great place for a writer. It was the gossip centre,” she said. Hazel was warm, friendly, and engaging. She was more than willing to share about her writing journey. She chatted to each of individually about why we were there, and to give some helpful advice. In the group there was: a self-published crime novelist, two ladies who loved her Hippo series, my daughter and me (an emerging children’s book author). It was truly a wonderful and enlightening experience. Hazel had many pearls of wisdom to share; lessons that she had learnt over the years. Goodness, she has been a writer since she was 20 years old and had many anecdotes to share. Or as Hazel calls them, ‘Anecdultery,’ ‘embellishing and re-telling stories.’ They were hilarious and had us chuckling. For example, when she was a young child, her very Baptist Grandmother, would read her Bible stories. Hazel kept going to the toilet so that she would miss all the gory bits. When she got to school she had the opportunity to borrow a book from the Grade 2 shelves and… well I think I might let you just read her book to find out what happened, and what the two seemingly completely different stories had to do with each other. Needless to say, I have nearly finished her memoir. I have found it engaging, and ‘non-boring.’ It was not set out like a normal memoir. There are many anecdotes and stories of Hazel’s life as a writer. These kept me enthralled at times; laughing at others. I now have an even greater realization of the impact a good story can have on a child. Furthermore, as I read of her eight day trip in Western Australia to visit schools and libraries, I was glad that I was in bed and about to go to sleep. I felt exhausted just reading about Hazel’s school visits. It was a full on, flat out trip. Wow! In reading it however, I discovered what it takes to be an author. The time and energy required. The preparation for author visits. There is so much involved after your book has hit the shelves. Yet it so rewarding to hear that your story has impacted and made a difference in the lives of your readers. Though I have yet to have a book published, my stories have been read to local school children with very positive feedback. Two years ago, I wrote and illustrated a story specifically for an orphanage that I am connected with in the Philippines. The story was an earlier version of Raymund and the Fear Monster. To this day, they still read and enjoy it. I also gave a copy to a local school teacher who uses it in her classroom. There is an incredible amount of satisfaction in writing. There is even more when you send ‘your babies out into the world’ (Hazel Edwards) and the readers make the characters their own. After the talk, Hazel happily signed books, answered any further questions and she gave me some very helpful advice. So, thank you Hazel, for taking the time to visit with us. I am so pleased that you came. And, though I missed the deadline to apply for a mentorship through the Australian Society of Authors, I most certainly will be applying for the 2016 – 2017 round. Hazels' book, Not Just a piece of Cake Being an Author, is available through Booktopia and all good bookstores. On the weekend I had an amazing dining experience at Café 3875 & Co. in Rosedale, Victoria. My friends and I gathered to celebrate another friend’s birthday. Admittedly, my daughter and I approached the experience with some trepidation due to our various food allergies and intolerances.
Entering the establishment we were stunned by the eclectic decor. The hours that we were there, we were still discovering something new to point out. There was a lovely and varied menu to suit even gluten free and vegetarians. All the staff were warm and friendly. I have to say that the Chef, Lucus, bent over backwards to cater to my daughter’s and mine dietary requirements. The chef personally came out, introduced himself, and even checked to make sure that the food was to our specifications. It was delicious by the way. It was so nice to eat out and not pay for it later, i.e. curled up in bed for a few hours with stomach cramps etc. You also won’t go hungry. I have to say, the plates and the quantities placed on them were HUGE, and the food was scrumdiddliumptious. Then there were the little touches. A birthday card from the café that was for my friend, was on the table when we arrived. There was the coffee art, the little tiny biscuits on the teeny teaspoons, and every spoon unique. There was the little flower art on the plates with pancakes, the cute little milk jugs only 1 cm high, the little bitty honey pot just for me for my Spiced Chai Tea, the lovely little teapots, the perfume for use in the bathroom... well you get the picture. We will certainly be returning and recommending the cafe to everyone. Which brings me writing. How, you may be asking, does this relate? I have a friend who illustrates children’s picture books. I love watching her work. She loves placing little things throughout her detailed pictures that you have to hunt for. I always end up spotting something that I hadn’t seen before, even months down the track. It’s those little details that add to the overall enjoyable experience of a picture book. I write for children. The experience at the cafe had me asking the question, ‘How can I, a children’s writer, add the little things in my stories, that will make a child fall in love with my characters?’ Choosing a character that a child will identify with, adding little things about the child, likes, dislikes, setting, writing a story that child can relate to - all these can add to a story. But, it can be the tone of voice, an action, just one little word, that can change the overall feel of a story. I will keep this experience in mind as I write from now on. I will also try to remember it in my day to day dealings with people. How about this as a challenge: Ring and say thanks for the nice day out. Send a card or note just to say hi. Have special cups for guests. Maybe little chocolates or biscuits to go with their tea. A flower from the garden as they head home. Whatever it is, be true to yourself, be creative and keep in mind, it is in the little things that others are made to feel special. At a recent writer’s group we were discussing the various rules of writing. Some we were aware of. Some we were not. Some we were very pedantic about. It was recently said to me that, “you have to know the rules, to break the rules.” But why do these rules even exist? For a fun exercise we each chose a rule to break. The rule I chose to break was ‘leave breadcrumbs for your readers.’ So, no secrets. Give everything away straight upfront. The following is a scene that I wrote for this writer’s group exercise: Sue sat on a hard café chair listening to the cacophony of sound around her. The clatter of cups. The ebb and flow of voices from other customers. This was same café chair that she had sat on every Saturday morning for the last five years. Always waiting for her boyfriend, Sam to show up. He was always late. Pity. Sam was so hot, but such an abusive twat. She took a sip of the sweet strong brew and let out a sigh. She wondered why she stayed here waiting. Maybe because she had such a crap upbringing. Totally messed her up. Brought up by an abusive single mother, and no father figure to speak of, she always craved male attention. Boy could she pick them! She escaped home as soon as she could. Hooked up with the first guy that said that, ‘they were made for each other.’ The next guy said, when they first met, ‘you complete me.’ She should have run. And now here she was. Though, to be honest, being out all night and partying with the girls the night before, was probably not a good idea. She looked like a wreak. Sam would comment. He always did. Suddenly, she leapt to her feet, slammed the chair into the table so hard it made the coffee cups rattle, and walked out of the café… and out of Sam’s life. As you can see, there is so much about Sue that we already know. If I was writing a novel about Sue’s life, I would have her backstory scattered like breadcrumbs throughout the narrative. I love stories that I gradually find out more and more of the character and what makes them tick. This exercise certainly highlighted to me the necessity of leaving breadcrumbs, little snippets of information, to entice the reader to want to know more, and so, therefore, to keep reading. Recently I ran a fun, yet challenging activity at my local writer's group. The activity required us to change one thing about our character (from whatever we were currently working on), and then rewrite one scene accordingly. This activity was based off an assignment in Module 1 of the Writing Picture Book course that I recently finished through the Australian Writers' Centre. For the course, I wrote out 200 words of Banjo and Ruby Red by Libby Gleeson. I then changed Ruby Red and the rest of the chickens into goats. This certainly made a difference with the words that were used. Goats look, behave and make different sounds compared to chooks. This activity showed me how, in a picture book, one simple change can reverberate throughout the story. It can change the rhythm and the overall feel of the text. The point of the exercise that I ran at our writer's group was to remind us that we need to plan our characters, and have a deep understanding of our characters and setting. We also need to know how our characters would act in different circumstances. Some changes that you could make for this exercise are:
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