Friday 26 September 2008

Writer’s Sore Throat

I’ve just been reading a novel out loud. It’s my latest one, and this is the penultimate check. The last read through will be a good old copy edit. It’s amazing how many of those sorts of things I’m picking up. I’m finding detached full stops, “ifs” instead of “ofs”, and sometimes assigning the wrong person to a speech.
It really is to be recommended, reading your work out loud. I have also uncovered some more serious mistakes:
A fight scene was not at all long enough.
Someone said something out of character.
Several sentences were clunky.
Sometimes a bit of dialogue needed to be accompanied by some physical action.
Just occasionally a different word was noticed
Reading aloud is so effective because it slows you right down. You notice far more than when you read in your head. It’s also possible to read aloud silently. You just hear a voice, possibly your own voice, reading the words. This is useful if you’re on a train or somewhere else equally inconvenient.
Why the penultimate check? Well, it needs to be near the end as you’ve made so many changes by now that you may have lost some of the flow. And there is another important check to be done last of all.
Just two words of caution, though.
A few things are better written one way for reading aloud and another for reading silently. That’s another good reason to do a final read through afterwards. You can always put things back to the way they were then.
Reading a whole novel out loud can give you a sore throat!

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Coming home to a good friend

Do I ever want to move house again? I don’t think so! Not without getting rid of a lot more junk first. It’s been quite a nightmare. Is it always that bad? I can’t remember. I yearn to get back into my writing routines, and yet when it happens, it doesn’t feel quite right. I expect it will come again. I guess I’m seeing that right now.
I like to start off with the blog writing as a kick-start to my writing day, though I guess today it feels more like a continuation. I’ve already done some academic writing. I wonder whether my followers are missing me.
I suppose there are a lot of new things going on, now. The new university semester is about to start. I’m now working full time. I’ve just moved house. I guess all of these things are bound to make one a little unsettled.
I am, however, looking forward to finding my rhythm again.
I guess one good thing is I’ve had acceptance of a commissioned book about creative language learning. I’m just waiting for the contract.

Coming home to a good friend

Do I ever want to move house again? I don’t think so! Not without getting rid of a lot more junk first. It’s been quite a nightmare. Is it always that bad? I can’t remember. I yearn to get back into my writing routines, and yet when it happens, it doesn’t feel quite right. I expect it will come again. I guess I’m seeing that right now.
I like to start off with the blog writing as a kick-start to my writing day, though I guess today it feels more like a continuation. I’ve already done some academic writing. I wonder whether my followers are missing me.
I suppose there are a lot of new things going on, now. The new university semester is about to start. I’m now working full time. I’ve just moved house. I guess all of these things are bound to make one a little unsettled.
I am, however, looking forward to finding my rhythm again.
I guess one good thing is I’ve had acceptance of a commissioned book about creative language learning. I’m just waiting for the contract.

Wednesday 3 September 2008

Internet Dependency

I had a shock yesterday. My Internet suddenly stopped working. I had a suspicion that I may have been cut off early. I’m moving in a couple of weeks, and I gave them the required notice. Two weeks ago. I should have realised that something was amiss when a letter from them arrived in my (snail) mail box, addressed “Dear New Homeowner,”. I rang their customer services department, who assured me it had not been cut off. I then contacted their technical department who said it had been cut off. Someone jumped the gun. The ISP is blaming the line provider and the line provider is saying it isn’t them – which is probably true, as my phone still works.
Sure, I can still get on-line at work, but should I be using work’s time and cyber space for my own work? For my writing, perhaps. After all, they employ me because I am a writer. But I don’t feel I can dwell on those messages form my various writers’ forums. Then there are all those silly little things you have to get your head around. For example, I need to get an electronic version of a book over to my publisher. It isn’t on the memory stick I have with me now. I must remember to copy it there tomorrow and bring it with me to send.
How can I safely check my Internet banking? And that trawl through the Net, looking for publishing and marketing opportunities? Okay, so perhaps we rely on it too much. But what we used to use is not longer there or too expensive. It’s a bit like the way all car insurers and break-down services rely on customers having a mobile phone. You’re stuck without it.
How can we still be so primitive? I live within a two minute walk of a big university. And no, I will not go out at night with a heavy lap top. I live in a vibrant city. Broadband should ooze through the walls. BT engineers should crawl like ants all over the area. If they don’t, it should be because everything is running smoothly. It takes but a few seconds to flip a switch.
And here I am cut off. All the best laid plans. It was organised so that we would have an overlap. Now, we’ll have a deficit.

Tuesday 2 September 2008

Writing isn't Just Writing

I say this because yesterday was my first day as a full-time lecturer at the University of Salford. Somehow, though, that is part of me being a writer. I’m employed as a writer, and the fact that I have an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing helps.

I spent much of yesterday in front of a computer screen, tapping away at this and that. I was doing all sorts of tasks which belonged to my job as a lecturer, which I have because I am a writer.

I even did some direct writing: I worked for about one hour on a proposal for a book about the Young Adult novel. I didn’t do any direct writing on my own creative projects, though I did check out some blogs of people I met at the weekend. And in my search for conferences to do with creative writing, writing for children and young adult literature, I stumbled across some web sites which gave me some more information about my craft and about other publications in the field.

During the rest of the day, I watched a little children’s television, and did some reading. I think these are both essential for someone who writes for children. I also took up a marketing opportunity. Our local SCBWI organiser is creating a web site showcasing us. She is producing a flyer about the web site for the forthcoming Manchester Literary Festival. I sent her two book covers and some blurb about them, along with links to my site in general, the pages where people can see more about my books and order them, and to my blog.

I did still fit in two hours writing, producing just under 2,000 words. But that is so automatic, it’s like cleaning your teeth. You feel terrible if you don’t do it.

Monday 1 September 2008

CWIG Conference Cambridge

It was good, as ever, to spend a few hours with other writers. It helps to counteract the isolation and paranoia. It was also good to put names to faces of all those people you correspond with in email forums, and even to remind yourself of what those people you do know look like.

The venue was pleasant, with beautiful gardens and Cambridge is such a delightful place anyway. The food was copious, well prepared and well presented. The company was, of course, exquisite.

The first plenary session, Fantasy and Reality, introduced us to William Nicholson. He is an excellent speaker. He told us about how his life as a TV writer actually enhanced his novel-writing, which he considered to be his real work. He’s faced rejection and criticism, just like the rest of us. He pointed out that criticism is actually useful. He did this all as well in such an entertaining way.

Julia Eccleshare and Nicolette Jones gave us some insights into how books come to be reviewed. Of course they can’t review every book sent to them. There was a also some discussion about the difference between a critical review, as they offer, and the lay review such as the ones you get on Amazon. It made me think about my own reviewing process. Yes, I review for Troubadour ( magazine about self-published books) and Armadillo, Mary Hoffman’s on-line magazine. I jut review what I’m sent for those. On my own site, I put details of anything which has really impressed me and try to work out why.

I attended parallel sessions on time-management (Mary Hoffman) and writing historical fiction (Celia Rees). Mary’s session reminded me of how many other activities, apart form sitting in front of the computer, are actually writing. I was very impressed with the note books Celia keeps as she fills in details about the settings of her historical novels.

On Sunday, there was the debate about age-banding took up the second part of the morning. I agree with much of what Philip Pullman says. It is actually a little surprising how many authors are now beginning to waver and think it might not be such a bad idea. Interestingly, Chris Powling also picked up the theme when he reviewed some books on Classic FM, which I listened to on the way home.

It is clear we have a few battles to fight to preserve the book and therefore our livelihood. We also need to look forward. The e-book and e-book reader are well on their way, and we need to take care that we do not face the same problems which crippled the music industry. Alan Gibbons has started a “Charter for the Book” campaign, and naturally my name is on it, though I do also welcome the new technology. And do note, I came back with more books than I had intended to buy.

The conference ended with Michael Rosen, our children’s laureate. He was a joy. However, it is clear that the fragmentation caused by the Literacy Strategy and SATs still exists. Children seem to be being processed, rather than being allowed to develop naturally. Reading is taught thorough phonics now. Well they used that when I learnt to read. But they also read stories to us. Ah, I’d better not get into that too much – that is a whole article, a letter to the minister, a letter to Michael Rosen and comments on Wordpool, SCBWI and NIBWEB.

A great conference, despite the worries, and there were also several causes for optimism.