Jobbing writers

 

Louisa May Alcott plodded along making a reasonable living as a writer and then wrote Little Women  - somewhat reluctantly, actually.  She made so much money form that book, and then quite a bit more as well from its sequels, that she was able to invest and be generous enough not to foreclose on a mortgage when the people living in the mortgaged property could not afford to pay her.

Philip Pullman, David Almond, and Stephen King worked for years at their craft before they became rich and famous. 

Charles Dickens was his own editor for many years and several of his works appeared as serials in a journal he edited. He had to work hard to meet tough deadlines in order to keep the cash flowing. There was quite a bit of the business man about him as there was with our friend William Shakespeare. It neither case was it just about being a good writer.  

There are many writers who get by on low earnings from writing, plus some other activities, writerly or not, that help them to pay the rent or mortgage and keep themselves and their families fed and clothed. They work gladly this way because it enables them to send much of their time writing.

In fact, we don’t want more than “nourishment, shelter and companionship” and we like to create “stories (that) are the thing we need most in the world.”  (Quote from Philip Pullman)

And my own story?

Well, I’ve retired from the day job now though I still do a little work for my last employer, the University of Salford. Whilst there I was very involved with writing, so this was in effect “jobbing writing”. I taught creative writing to undergraduate and post-graduate students.  My “research” was more of my own writing and some examination of that process which manifested as academic papers and talks at conferences.

I now have a pension made up of my teaching pension, my university pension (which is not bad as I became a senior lecturer on which my final salary pension was based, though the last six months was average salary) and the state pension. I also work as an editor and publisher, though I probably spend more money on the latter than I earn as I’m always keen that the writers and our freelance editors and designers get a reasonable payment.

In a way then, I’m free to write what I want and don’t have to worry about my writing being commercial enough. I still want it to be the best that it can be and I still want the recognition.

Getting there? Plodding my way through jobbing writing? I’m selling a few books through my own imprints and ones I have with other imprints. I’m getting some pleasing reviews but I’d like a few more.  I still get tons of rejections but also a respectable number of acceptances, shortlistings and longlistings.  

 I’m finding more and more that when I submit to competitions and calls for submission that have themes I’m getting at least longlisted. So, perhaps I’m working towards a trend after all. But there are lots of themes to choose from.  

I have reason to believe that my writing is getting better because each time it’s rejected I find a way to improve it before I submit the next time.  This isn’t sloppiness; the work is always the best it can be at the time I submit. It’s just that I’ve got better in the meantime.  Hooray!

So, we plod on. We jobbing writers.   

Plotter or panster – and is it ever really than simple?

 

 I’m probably right in the middle on this one. I do plan – in detail. I’m a fan of McKee’s story theory:

• Hook / inciting incident
• Growing complexities
• Crisis point
• Climax
• Resolution

I’m also aware of the three act structure and that sometimes elusive mid-point. I take suggestions from Christopher Vogler’s The Writers Journey and Jospeh Campbell’s A Hero with a Thousand Faces. I usually know which of Christophe Booker’s seven basic stories I’m dealing with. For my current work in progress, I’ve even mapped out all my subplots and which chapter deals with which one. And I know to make sure there is a cliff-hanger at the end of each chapter.  

People ask should a story be plot or character driven. I think it has to be both. Indeed the plot comes out of the tension between the characters. Before I start writing, even before I start planning, I spend a long time with my main characters. What are they like physically? Intellectually? Emotionally? What is their personality like? What is their greatest fear and what is their greatest wish? What do they want and what do they need? I also give some thought to the setting which I find as important as characters and plot. All of this I do when I sit in a café on my own. Ah, will those days be with us again soon?  And when all of this is complete, still in that café situation, I being to shape the plot. When I start to write, it’s all there ready. I don’t have to stop to think too much.

Even when I edit I look back to these ideas of Booker, Campbell, McKee and Vogler, to see if something needs sharpening. If something’s not working it’s often because one of the patterns isn’t established. I guess we have to use those patterns because everyone is familiar with them. Not that it has to be too exact.  It always works a lot better if it’s skewed a little.

And yet.  In my current a work, as early as the third chapter, in walks a character I’d never thought of. Despite all of the planning, huge sections of the story come from nowhere and characters don’t always do what I’d expect them to.

I suspect planners temper their work with some panstering and pansters do a little planning despite themselves.

In the end, though, what really matters is a good story.     

Image by free stock photos from www.picjumbo.com from Pixabay 

     

  

Newsletter April 2021

 

Making a minor character into a major one

I’ve now returned to writing science fiction for young adults. I’m continuing with the Peace Child series.  I don’t have a title for this one yet, so for the moment I’m just calling it Peace Child 5.

This time I’m using a minor character form book four, The House of Clementine (not yet published). I’ve worked on Petri Malkendy for months before I started this latest novel.  Malkendy: yes, between this book and the previous one she has been adopted by Kaleem. When we were still allowed to sit inside in cafes I’ve made notes about her in one of my nice note-books as I’ve sipped my Americano. I’ve even put her as a background figure in a short story.  She has a friend Catbo, who is what I’m calling an “animus-machine”. Basically he’s a robotic cat but one that has a little bit of real cat inside him.  He’s a talking animal. People from my critic group have described him as a mixture of K-9 form Dr Who and a daemon from Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials. I’m glad my SCBWI friends saw him that way; that is exactly as I intended him to be. The short story is about him and his previous owner and about how he came to be given to Petri.

It was only as I discussed my work with my critique group that I realised where her name came from. She is Petri as in petri dish. In her world, humans no longer give birth but babies are “grown”. However, her father had a slightly warped sense of humour. She has a debilitating skin disease that makes being in sunlight difficult for her.  This should have been picked up at “conception” and she should not have been allowed to develop beyond the petri dish stage.     

I’m on chapter eleven of a planned 33 chapters though I think the first rewrites may well produce a few more chapters.

And in other writing news I have now finished my book about the dark side of children’s  literature. I’ve also had another Creative Writing article published on Talking About My generation: https://talkingaboutmygeneration.co.uk/writing-adventures-story-searching-out-and-about/

 

The Young Person’s Library

This month I’ve added:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  

A classic suitable for the fluent upper primary reader.

 

The Magician’s Nephew

Another Narnia book, also a classic suitable for the fluent upper primary reader.

      

 Current reading recommendation

This month I’m recommending Katie Mack’s The End of Everything .

I actually bought this book, with another one, for my husband’s birthday.  It’s an academic book, so not all that cheap but a quick look at Amazon today shows that you can buy it at a reasonable price. He suggested I should read it.  I was a little hesitant at first because it is    book about science. I love science but I don’t always understand it. I needn’t have worried. This book is very readable.

Here we have an overview of how the world might end.  We’re used to the Big Bang.  Now we’re looking at the other end.  Don’t worry, though, it’s billions of years off yet.

Katie Mack covers the five most important issues being discussed in physics today about how it all might end: The Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay and Bounce. She also explains the Big Bang in detail. She takes us by the hand and leads us gently but firmly through the intricacies of a complex science. And also with a wonderful sense of humour.

Yes, The End of Everything, Astrophysically Speaking, a well-researched, scientific, academic book but written with the lay person in mind, is worth a read. Katie Mack is witty and clear in her explanations.

Grab your copy here.     

 

Giveaway

Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs.  

This month I’m giving away Citizens of Nowhere

Theresa May sparked a powerful debate when she announced that global citizens were citizens of nowhere. She also gave us a marvellous title and a great theme for a book. Is a global citizen really a citizen of nowhere?

Aliens visit our planet in search of hope.  But do they find it? A young girl is sent to start a new life. Will it work out?  There is a boarding house where lessons have to be learnt before people can move on. Will the guests progress? A white woman who doesn’t understand her black neighbours is saved in more ways than one by the wedding next door. These global citizens are certainly citizens of somewhere.  Did Theresa May really mean that global citizens are citizens of now and here? Was it a slip of the tongue?

We approached several writers who we knew cared about these matters and who also write beautifully. Other stories just fell into our laps – they had been submitted to other anthologies and seemed to suit this one.

Citizens of Nowhere is an anthology of literary short stories with a message by multiple authors. Download your copy here.    

Note: Normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99.  Most on Kindle are about £2.99 and the average price for paperback is £7.00. Writers have to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.

 

The Schellberg Project

The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust and also for other writers and readers of historical fiction.

Sometimes I also write about what might be of interest to other writers.

There were four posts in April:

I’ve brought some more attention to Clara Lehrs:

I’ve been sending out books for review and have also sent my play out again: Getting Clara Out There and a Direct Approach.  In More Thoughts About Clara Lehrs I ask again whether her story is a tragedy or a story of hope.

I explain about a curious marketing action in Marketing a Bear.

Invisible Ink is a review of the book of the same name by Martha Leigh. It is a biographical account of Martha Leigh’s family. Her mother was a displaced Jewess. Her father was a homosexual who loved his wife in a different sort of way. An interesting account.        

 

School visits

I’ve suspended these until further notice. I’m now starting work on a series of on-line materials.  

Some notes about my newsletters and blogs

They do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.

 

Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.

 

The Bridgetown  Café Bookshop where you can buy my book and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.  We’re building up our inventory, so please bear with us. Visit us here.     

 

Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.

 

The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   

 

Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   

 

Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  

 

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.

 

A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   

 

The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   

 

CaféLit Stories Find these here

 

Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.

 

Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.    

 

Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.

 

The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.

 

Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.     

 

Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 

 

The Young Person’s Library The children’s book catalogue. Access it here.

 

Fair Submissions  Find it here.   

Opportunities for writers are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  

Happy reading and writing. 

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

 

An interview with Mason Bushell

 

Mason has  successfully submitted to CafeLit and we  have recently published his captivating series all about The Jinn, a little magical fella.  

Here he talks to me about his writing life in general and all about how he wrote The Jinn.  

1.        What do you write? Why this in particular? 
What I write about changed dramatically over the years. When I began writing properly it was fantasy and mystery books. I love fantasy worlds and solving mysteries so those were my favourite genres to write. More recently, having stepped away from publishing books, I’ve been writing short stories in every genre and style available. That’s thanks to discovering the world of prompts to write for. That’s been a game changer and so much fun.

2.        What got you started on writing in the first place?
For me it began when I was about eleven. I’d grown up reading books and always had one tucked under my arm. So, when my English teacher presented me with a title and told me to create a story for creative writing exercise, I was immediately hooked. My friends would do a page, I would do about twenty in the same time. I’ve been writing pretty much ever since.

3.        Do you have a particular routine?
I do. Routine is important for getting things done. I begin my day with breakfast and a nice long walk with Lucy Dog. I get to my computer about 9 AM and I catch up with all my emails and social media. Within that, I discover my day’s prompts from great places such as WordPress. Then from about 10 AM I begin writing my short stories and poems for the day until lunchtime. I continue writing and posting my work until I fulfil the prompts for the day. Then I put my chef’s hat on, bake cakes and cook dinner. From 4PM to about 6PM it’s blogging, catching up on all those who wrote for prompts, networking and trying my best to promote my own stories. This I do Monday to Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday are days off. It’s a routine that works and allows me to be fruitful with my writing.

 

4.        Do you have a dedicated working space?
I do.  I’m very fortunate to have a little room for my office. My desk is in front of a window with a view over a farmer’s field. I work there with Lucy Dog at my feet,  a T-Rex watching over my laptop, and a nice cup of tea on the mat beside my notes. For me a proper workspace is essential to help you feel like you’re at work. In that way it aids your productivity. 

5.        When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact?

I call myself a storyteller. Writers can do all the complex stuff like punctuation and grammar well. They have styles, they can make professional books and publish them. I can’t do those things well; I just tell a good story and hope people enjoy it. So, now I’m a storyteller not a writer.

6.        How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing?

I’m lucky in that my parents enjoy my stories and encourage me to try to publish and do well with them. I feel I let them down, knowing all my proper novels are languishing almost forgotten in a drawer.
As for friends, they are all writers too. That’s a big help. Without them all supporting me I’d have probably put down my pen a long time ago.

  7.        What are you most proud of in your writing?

Being proud of my writing is something that comes very difficult for me. Through my failed publishing endeavours, I learned my writing was terrible. That nothing on my pages was any good. So, I’m proud of my progress. The people reading my short stories now actually enjoy them.

8.        How do you get on with editing and research?

I love research. Don’t get to do so much as short stories. There’s no room for great detail when you only have a thousand words to tell a tale. Yet I do my best to squeeze in enough tantalising details to make my story interesting. It’s so much fun using the Internet and proper old-fashioned books to learn about a story’s subject. It leads you to falling down rabbit holes filled with information, chasing leads and discovering all manner of wonderful things.

Editing on the other hand is not my friend. I worked so hard trying to make my story’s the best they can be. And yet the very next person to look at a story with a view of editing it usually wishes to change huge amounts of the text. It leads me to say, ‘Don’t love your story or characters.’ To love them only makes editing that much more painful. If you write with a publication plan, you must write like a business person and not a passionate writer. You can be sure the published article will hardly ever be the story you wrote in the first place.

9.        Do you have any goals for the future?

This is a hard, fast no. With my deteriorating hands and very little chance of publishing the books I’ve written, there are no goals worth setting for me. Instead, I just try to enjoy writing my short stories each day and be happy with any progress I make. Just like the progress I made with The Jinn!

10.    Which writers have inspired you?

This could be an enormous list. Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie really gave me my love of mystery solving as I grew up. JR Tolkien and Alan Garner imbued me with a sense of wonder with their beautiful fantasy stories. These days I love Clive Cussler and Andy McDermott as they take me on a wonderful adventure. Patricia Cornwell, Ruth Rendell and Val Penny for a good mystery. I think every author and their story can be great inspiration with a little imagination.

 

And now about The Jinn

 

1. Tell me about your book.

As the title suggests you will meet the Jinn. At five inches tall he is sassiest little red man you’ll ever meet. The Jinn is a demon who works just like a genie. When summoned by his talisman, he will grudgingly endeavour to help you with whatever troubles you. Be careful with what you wish for though; this Jinn’s methods are unique to say the least. In this book he will encounter an eclectic group of humans and a dog looking for help. Join him as calamity and chaos ensues. I tell you, the little guy had me in fits of laughter just writing about him!

2. Tell us about your research for this book.

How do you research a completely made-up fictional character? Truth is I didn’t really. My research for the book focused more on setting locations and situations that would allow the Jinn the maximum amount of chaos possible. From there it was just a little fact checking as I let my imagination run completely wild!

3. What inspired you to write this?

 

The Jinn first appeared in answer to a 750 word prompt picture with thanks to Author Miranda Kate for those prompts. The prompt picture was of a great fiery demon. Unusually for me the image failed to conjure a story. Then I realised the demon wasn’t ten feet tall, he was only five inches. With that realisation the Jinn was born. He garnered fans immediately when I released the tale on my website. So much so that my friend and fellow upcoming author M C Sheridan prodded me into writing more. I’m glad I did it as it was so much fun. Then Gill James came along and suggested Jinn would make a good short story book. It was with my sincerest thanks to her that the Jinn now does have his book.

4. What's next?

What next for me is to continue writing more short stories for my website and enjoying every moment of it.

5. How can we get a copy of the book?

The Jinn is readily available on Amazon in both paperback and e-book forms. I believe it is also available through the Chapeltown website as well. 

You can also buy it via the Bridgetown Cafe Bookshsop: http://www.thebridgetowncafebooksshop.co.uk/2021/04/the-jinn-by-mason-bushell.html  

 

6. Do you have any events planned?

Sadly, no. I have no funding or ability towards having events for me.

 

Do join me on my website https://masonsmenagerie.wordpress.com to discover my world of poetry and short stories.