Wagging Tales

Writer Reading

2012-01-27T16:56:00.000+11:00

I'm in the middle of reading Be The Monkey which is a conversation on the future of publishing and ebooks between J A Konrath and Barry Eilser. I've seen this book raised online often, so I may be the last writer to read it.

The text explores the growing popularity for digital books vs traditional publishing and they certainly put forward a good argument for self-publishing. It's definitely worth reading if you are uncertain of which path to take or just want to support your decision to produce an ebook rather than paper copy of your novel.

The speakers are well informed on the subject, J A Konrath running the popular blog:

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing

And Barry Eilser hosts:

The Heart of the Matter

There is a lot of talk about the future of books, will paper eventually die out? I doubt it, I love books as do most writers, but I love ebooks too. Probably like most of you, I worry for the popularity of the traditional book, and most definitely for those cute little boutique bookstores I love to frequent, and I've found some new ones up here in Brisbane. But what about the traditional publishers? Does anyone worry for them?There are some that I love and look for in bookstores. One of my favourites was Black Dog Books - why? Because they had a little dog as their logo. Now they've merged into Walker Books (which are still a great children's book publisher). I'd be sad to see some of these publishing houses go. I guess they can turn to publishing digital books, but once again, what about the bookstores? What will they sell?

Dreaming Writing Prompts

2012-01-25T07:29:00.000+11:00

In our new home we seem to have an adjusted rhythm to our day. It's warm and sunny in Brisbane (if you ignore today's drizzle), so I get up early, anywhere between 4:30 and 5:30am. Brisbane also seems to be a healthier city - in the mornings you see a constant whirl of cyclists and in the evenings everyone is out for a run. It's also culturally essential to join your local gym.

The cold winters of Yass were more encouraging of hot chocolates and an extra layer of fat (just to keep warm, mind you), so we have also started having a workout every day. This means by early evening we're all ready to crash and when we sleep we sleep goooood. Quality sleep is also good for dreaming, and for recalling dreams the next day. I though the girls and I could use them as writing prompts for short stories.

My dream:

Our new house was situated on an island with only one road in and out. That flooded and we had to get ready incase our home also flooded. The kids, dogs and I sat up on the roof - mind you at this stage our street had not even flooded, let alone the two story house.

Emily's dream:

Grandma came to visit. She did not warn us she was coming, nor did she knock, she just quietly let herself in and waited by Emily's bed until she woke up (this would be considered a scary dream).

Matilda's dream:

There was a terrorist planting bombs in Brisbane. Hard to spot, he was dressed in a giant squirrel costume.

The next day it poured and our street looked like this:

Later, Grandma called Emily for our new address. We are keeping a keen eye out for a giant squirrel.

Here's some previous posts on ways to record, remember and reuse your dreams:

7 Tips for Keeping a Dream Diary

Turning Dreams into Stories

Forgetting Dreams

No More Excuses

2012-01-22T07:32:00.000+11:00

The last quarter of 2011 was a whirlwind for me, and I've allowed that to flow onto 2012. No more.

Time to get back to writing and blogging. It's hard to break a slump, here's some ways I find helpful.

Write something small, maybe a diary entry.
Browse and comment on writing blogs, they're very inspirational.
Get up before the family and don't let yourself away from your writing until you have at least one page.
Listen to a podcast on writing. I love Writing Excuses because the episodes are short but extremely helpful and they always end with a prompt.
Join a writers group.
Take a writing class.
Find a writing exercise (in how-to books, podcasts, blogs or anywhere). Just try doing one writing exercise unrelated to your bigger work-in-progress.

I've chosen to start my writing off with a blog post, but I might work my way through the rest of the list.

My new writing spot in Auchenflower, Brisbane:

Our furniture hasn't arrived yet, so we are camping out - in:

How do you lure yourself back into writing after a break? Are you in the zone now, or in a writing slump?

Coincidence in Writing

2012-01-07T09:49:00.001+11:00

I'm up in Brisbane this week, organising my move before I dash back down to Yass. One of the down sides of moving interstate is that I'll be leaving some good friends (and amazing students) behind. I've been kind of sad that we won't be catching up as much.

But this week there is a friend of mine from Yass visiting their relatives in Brisbane - so today we are catching up. This has me thinking about the luck of coincidence that we are both up here at the same time, and I thought I would share a post I did previously on the use of coincidence in fiction:

The Hand of Fate should not write stories.

Coincidence. It happens all the time, and never more than in stories. Many narratives depend on coincidence, but is it a good or bad device? Like most tools, if used well it can make a story move neatly towards the conclusion, but if abused it reeks of lazy writing.

A lot of mysteries and thrillers will include coincidence as a way of bringing a crime to light (but not usually to reveal the culprit). Steven King masterfully winds coincidence into his horror stories to give them a dark fateful theme. So how should you use coincidence?

Narratives are small worlds or micro-communities. We don't want a cast of thousands in our story, so we zoom into a portion of life. This makes coincidences more likely to take place. Here's some tips I picked up from my recent writing course with Sydney Writers Centre.

Bring it in early. Have your coincidence set things rolling. Your protagonist has a fight with her boss when she's fired, later that day, while walking her dog, she drops her mobile phone. Not a good day for her. She starts searching the bushes in the nearby park for said phone, and what does she find? The dead body of her ex-boss. Coincidence. Now your protagonist is a suspect and has good reason to try to solve the crime herself. See how coincidence has moved your plot along?

Coincidence shouldn't be used to solve crimes though, we want to think our amateur detective is using their wits, not luck. And please don't end your story with coincidence - most readers hate that! (including me) Okay, some like it, and some fateful endings have been successful.

Ending with a coincidence, or 'by the hand of God', has a name: Deux ex Machina. This is where a plot problem heads to such a point it seems unlikely to be solved, and then, by the hand of God, all is resolved by fate. 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', is an example where it seems the two lovers will get away with murder, until fate steps in. Although a successful film, this ending always makes me feel robbed of a proper resolution. Having said that, I did like the ending to the first 'Sherlock Holmes' movie, but at least Sherlock used his wits to solve the crime first.

Writing 2012

2012-01-03T10:18:00.000+11:00

2012 - it's arrived, but I won't have time for the end of the world, I'll be too busy with changes to my world.

I'm proud of my productivity in 2011, got quite a bit of writing done and learned a lot about the craft. This year my focus shifts to publication. I'll need to:

Edit - Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I've a few manuscripts that need polishing. I need to prioritise my manuscripts and work through them one at a time.

Submit - Time to circulate finished manuscripts. I had a taste of this when I had a meeting with a representative from a popular children's publishing house for MY ZOMBIE DOG. The main thing I came to learn? Putting your work out there does not have to be scary, this is a very supportive industry.

Connect - I'll be attending writer's workshops and events in Brisbane and I'll focus on growing my blog and online groups.

Read - In 2011 I read 102 books. My plan is to lower that goal this year and pay more attention to what I'm reading. I'd like to read and implement 5 good guides on writing/publishing and learn from the fiction I read. It's also time to delve back into reading blogs, I gain so much from those and promise to share links to the best ones with you.

Write - But of course! My optimistic goal is to finish WARRACKNABEAL KIDS and THE PIRATE GIRL. I flunked NaNoWriMo in 2011, but will aim to write one new novel this year in November. My other favourite type of writing? Lists. I'll be making lists for each of these resolutions with ideas and steps to achieve them.

Those are my writing goals for this exciting year - the year of possibilities. My whole world is not just writing, I've started going to the gym and want to get super-fit, I'll be renovating my new home in Brisbane and plan to add a library. As a family we are aiming to reduce waste and excess. Packing up a house really brings to light how much stuff (i.e. crap) you accumulate.

2012 - BRING IT ON!

A Writer's Year

2011-12-30T09:37:00.001+11:00

Been quite a gap since my last post (I'm giving you my sheepish look, it's really very adorable). Time melted away from me, but I did wind up my school year and managed to sell our Yass home.

With only a few days until I make my New Year To-Do List, I thought I'd reflect on the past year to see what achievements I've made with writing and how I may be able to improve my productivity over the next year. New Year's resolutions are common this time of year, we all think about how this will be the opportunity for us to pursue forgotten dreams, shed our bad habits and connect more with those we neglect. But it's also a good time for reflection. What were your resolutions, goals, ambitions at the beginning of 2011? Did you make any progress? What worked well, and what did you neglect to address?

I'm pretty happy with 2011, Not only did I finish MY ZOMBIE DOG, but I had an interview with an editor from a children's publishing house. Like most years, my productivity was condensed at the beginning of the year and tapered off the last two months to almost non-existence.

What was your best achievement this year? What do you need to work on?

Now to celebrate my return to blogworld, I'm gonna go visiting my favourite blogs!

When you don't write...

2011-11-20T10:09:00.001+11:00

NaNoFail. I know, I know, it's not over yet, but somehow I can't see me getting in 44,000 words in ten days while teaching full-time and presenting my house for sale. This is my first fail year after three NaNo wins. Am I disappointed? Not a bit, and that surprised me.

I'm usually pretty hard on myself about getting stuff done and about priorities. I've posted before about the need to prioritise your writing in your day and not saving it for 'spare' time, spare time doesn't exist, you need 'writing time'. But every now and then we fall off the literary wagon and instead of wallowing in self-pity, I think you have to just give yourself a break. And then move on. Pat yourself on the shoulder for not being 200% perfect, do what you need to do at the time and then plan a near future date that your writing will restart. For me, it's the school holidays.

I'll probably start dipping back in before that, but I've also got to display my home for prospective buyers in the next few weeks, organise the sale of our other property, shop for a home in Brisbane, do the conveyancing for our purchase, pack up our belongings, teach, do up my paperwork for my next teaching accreditation, etc, etc, etc. So now is the time to pace myself.

How's November looking for your writing? If you've slacked off, what will be your 'get back into it' date?

Here's what I've been doing this month instead - painting my house:

From this:

To this:

And I've painted inside too:

Ready, Set... What was I saying?

2011-11-02T23:33:00.001+11:00

NaNoWriMo has begun! Actually it began on the 1st of November, but I was having issues deciding which story to begin. After running through all the possibilities, I decided to go with my original idea of book 2 in the Dog Show Detective series.

Kitty Walker continues to chase those elusive show ribbons with her best friend, Miniature Schnauzer, 'Spade'. Unfortunately, Spade happens to be the worst show dog ever. While Kitty tries to mend Spade's naughty ways through obedience school, she stumbles upon another mystery. Someone is breaking into the cars of the obedience school members while they are busy on the field. Things escalate to house break ins. It starts to become obvious that one of the obedience school members are responsible for these thefts. But who?

Surely not Kitty's mother?

Mrs Walker tries to prove her own innocence, after all, Kitty is banned from solving mysteries after she put her life at risk when got involved in the last mystery. Sadly Mrs Walker is as bad at detecting as Spade is at dog showing. Ultimately, Mrs Walker will need Kitty's help, especially since the crimes have escalated from theft to murder.

Day two, I've managed 1632 words. Opening with a show, Spade nicks a scarf off the judge and makes her chase him around the ring until he gets bored. Now Spade has been sentenced to dog obedience school or his showing future is over.

Schroeder, my less naughty, more sooky Miniature Schnauzer

NaNo - when now????

2011-10-27T12:05:00.000+11:00

I was so cool about NaNoWriMo this year. Planned way ahead. Figured I'd do a sequel to my children's mystery novel DOG SHOW DETECTIVE. Plotted it out, have character sketches and a few little plot twists all mapped out. Now I've changed my mind.

After much feedback from beta-readers, both writers and kids in the targeted age group, I've decided DOG SHOW DETECTIVE is not as completed as I first thought. I need to juice up the start and add something more to the main character to push us into caring about her. Knowing this may change other aspects of the story, I'm not sure I should be jumping into the sequel.

The big question is what project do I focus on for NaNo. I could do another kids' horror story like MY ZOMBIE DOG, or I could go with a Science-fiction YA piece, or a teen spy-thriller. No rush there's still two and half days before I need to begin writing. No hurry.

How are your NaNoWriMo plans coming?

Writing Secrets

2011-10-25T14:32:00.000+11:00

I've been keeping secrets. Nothing too exciting, but the cover up and sneakiness has gotten me thinking about characters. I love having secrets in stories, either the main character is covering up a secret or they learn the truth about a long-kept secret. Sometimes I'm forced to wonder why they go to so much trouble. They can't swim? Big deal, why would that be a secret? I'm terrified of hairy spiders and am happy for everyone to know. I have abandoned a classroom of children in my frantic fleeing when a huntsmen has made his evil entrance - more than once. Even the big boys over 6ft tall know they can not intimidate me, but will squeal like a squeaky toy if a spider is anywhere near.

But there are some things I've hidden.

At school all the teachers know I'm moving to Brisbane at the end of this semester and won't be back next year, but I find I just can not tell the kids yet. They keep quizzing me about classes next year and I've been very evasive, on the edge of lying, because I don't want to hurt their feelings. I'll miss the Yass kids.

There's another secret.

I'm scared of zombies.

Terrified.

I know, I wrote a teen story called MY ZOMBIE DOG, and yes, it has lots of zombies. But I'd never sat through an actually zombie horror flick because they give me the jeebies. I LOVE horror films, my favourite being HALLOWEEN (the original). I'm not squeamish and I find the slasher flicks funny. But there is something just WRONG about those glazed over eyes and the slow shuffling.

I have so many ideas in my head for more zombie tales that I want to overcome this prejudice against the un-dead, so, in my quest to better understand zombies (sometimes called the living-impaired), I've started watching THE WALKING DEAD. Many brain-nomning fans will remember this as a pretty well known comic book series. Now we get to watch it on tv. I got so scared I kept running out of the room and all night long I dreamt of worm-filled zombies.

I have a couple of suspension of disbelief issues with this show - when shot in the head the zombies bleed. Many of them have been dead a long time and are rotting - where's the blood coming from??? And there is a scene where the cop comes across a home where the occupants committed suicide rather than become infected - on the wall above their bodies in blood is the message 'God Forgive Us'. Um, ok, maybe... but this would mean the guy shot his wife and then before completing the double suicide pact, dipped his hand in his wife's head and used her blood to write the message before shooting himself - probably having to re-dip several times. Surely a permanent marker would have been better???

So what is your character hiding? And most importantly - WHY is it a secret? Or is someone keeping a secret from them? Is it BELIEVABLE?

In MY ZOMBIE DOG, Zane's mother keeps a secret from Zane. She didn't get his dog from the pound. She didn't want him to know she got the dog for free... from a voodoo witch doctor.

Apples and Zombies

2011-10-09T11:50:00.002+11:00

This week has been huge.

The Apple populated world suffered the loss of an inspiration and innovator, Steve Jobs. It has been an amazing experience seeing people respond to this incident in such a big way. Interesting to see a corporate leader admired and worshiped as much as a mega-movie star. I'm starting to think it would be disrespectful for me NOT to buy an iPad now.

But on a more cheerful note, October 8th was World Zombie Day. Queensland Emergency Services tested out their QLD Alert website with tweets and updates on preparing for a zombie apocalypse.

It was lots of fun, you can see the conversation in Twitter by searching the hashtag #zombietest - even QLD Rail got involved so you'd know which escape route to take once it was already too late and the city was overcome by zombies.

I've been on school holidays and spent most of that time working on our house (getting it all pretty to sell, then I can pick out my next house in Brisbane, hopefully outside of the zombie-zoned areas).

Edits on MY ZOMBIE DOG are coming along, with the protagonist jumping from 11yrs to 14yrs old. I need to get more of a move on with that and send the revised MS back to the publisher for consideration. But school goes back tomorrow and I MUST finish marking about 80 newspaper articles written by Yr10 students. Ugh, I hate marking - anyone want to do it for me?????

I will not be distracted, I will not be... I wonder if I can find a cute little sign saying 'Beware of the zombie dog' online?

Unrequited Love

2011-10-03T11:22:00.002+11:00

Amazon broke my heart.

I was so excited about the new release Kindles, even though my latest Kindle is only 6mths old I was keen to jump in with a new e-ink touch screen Kindle.

Then I read the small print.

US only.

Kindle Fire then?

US only.

It seems the only new Kindle they will ship internationally is the cruddy cheap model that has no touch, no keyboard and no robot to read the ebooks to me! I had grand plans of a Kindle Fire giveaway with the release of my first ebook (still a whiles off) but now I feel like I'm sitting by the phone making up excuses for why that guy didn't call. The truth? Maybe Amazon are just not that into me.

I could retaliate by switching to the iPad as half my family have, but I don't want to act too rashly - maybe I could just move to the States?

Or, I realise, I could just keep reading on my current Kindle that I was more than happy with a week ago (Nah, that's just crazy talk).

Exciting Times for e-books!

2011-09-29T20:41:00.000+10:00

I woke today to some exciting posts in Google + - Amazon have announced their new Kindle!

I am a huge Kindle lover, I have hundreds of titles on my beloved Kindle and I take it everywhere with me. I've even gotten used to the robot voice for listening to books on the writing craft while driving (I prefer the woman robot to the man robot).

Our house is a little torn with our devices. Hubby and Matilda (10) love their iPads and read on those, whereas Emily (13) and I are Kindle all the way. I love the e-ink reader for reading long passages without straining my eyes, plus the tablet won't read to me. So if I love e-ink, why am I excited about Amazon producing a tablet device that is smaller and less sexy than the already iPad (which I already don't want).

At first I wasn't at all impressed. I couldn't understand why Amazon would produce a device in an already overcrowded market when they are already winners with their Kindles and the fact that the non-Kindle devices still host the Kindle app (so even if it's not their device they sell books through it). While out shopping I looked at some iPads and figured if Kindles were going this way then I might as well buy the real thing. I didn't. I realised if I had an iPad I would hardly ever get any reading done because of the lure of Facebook and internet and, and, and. Never mind trying to get my manuscripts written.

But.

Then I saw the big news today - lots of Kindles!

There will be the Kindle Fire selling US$199, an e-ink touch screen kindle from US$99 (that's the one I want) and an introductory Kindle at only US$79. At these prices Kindles will become more accessible to the public and will probably fill quite a few kids' stockings this Christmas.

Add this exciting news to the fact that Kindles are now available from Woolies, BigW, Dick Smith (and probably more places) in Australia - I believe ebooks are about to experience a whole new BOOM!

Authors who are prepared to handle their writing as a professional business and produce QUALITY ebooks have a real opportunity opening up to them. Exciting times. I have shivers - how about you?

Here's a great article by Andrew Wilson, on why ebooks are the way for authors to control their future:

How you can make a million writing your own e-book

YouTube and Writers

2011-09-26T11:52:00.001+10:00

YouTube - not just for dancing cats

Do you YouTube?

One of the social networking suggestions Aleesah Darlison made during her 'Promote Your Book' workshop recently was to set up a YouTube page.

Sure, I had a YouTube account, who doesn't, but a page? This had never occurred to me. If I have one talent above all others, it's following instructions. I set about creating a YouTube page under my username charmaineclancy. I know I need to add some more exciting clips, because the most recent recommendation from YouTube for me was a clip called 'Schnauzer napping'... can't wait to see that one.

On Aleesah's page she keeps book trailers, interviews, interesting clips about native animals that feature in her books and more. This is a great resource to use for writers workshops, school visits, book launches and building up your platform. If you don't have a YouTube account it's easy. Go to the site and create an account - I recommend using your author name and if that's taken, add the word author in front. For example, if charmaineclancy wasn't available I'd use authorcharmaineclancy.

Once you've joined and signed in, you'll see some arrows by your name in the top right hand corner. That releases a drop box menu. Click on Channel and set up your channel (this is the page for you to share your clips). In Settings you can change the colour, add your author pic and bio. Videos is where you upload your own clips. I'm yet to do that, hey, maybe one day soon I'll even vlog. In the meantime if you'd like to see a vlog about the craft of writing, visit The Creative Penn's YouTube page.

Want to share YouTube clips on Blogger?

Find a clip you want to share, underneath is a button titled 'Share' - click it.
This brings up a link for sharing, but now click on 'Embed'. Here is the code you need to embed the clip into your blog. Copy the code.
You can change the size if you need to (if you have a narrow blog column), I always just go with the smaller size listed (560x315).
Now Blogger does not like code when you are in 'Compose', so I usually choose to go to HTML and insert the code. But there is another way.

Alternative - Probably easier:

In Blogger, when composing your blog, click on the button for 'insert a video'.
Choose 'From YouTube'.
In the search box you need to type in the title of the clip - the one I've chosen was called "Interview with Aleesah Darlison".
Choose the correct clip from the list of possibilities. Ta-da!

If you have a YouTube Channel set up already, share your link in the comments :)

Telling A Story Masterclass

2011-09-19T20:21:00.000+10:00

Me totally invading Brian Falkner's personal space

I'm still recovering from inspiration overload I received at the recent CYA Conference. The day kicked off for me with a writing masterclass hosted by author Brian Falkner.

This master class ran for a few hours and was absolutely jammed packed with tips and advice on writing. I have about ten notebook pages filled. Here's just a tiny taste of what we enjoyed:

Muse
If you turn up every day at the same time, ready to work, and start writing without inspiration - then eventually your muse will turn up too.

Characters
As an exercise we were asked to share one observation about the person sitting next to us. Then we were asked to share one thing about ourselves. What was noticed was that we tend to make superficial descriptions of others, like the colour of their hair, or if they wore glasses, and we offer more personality descriptions of ourselves. So don't just decide your character is 5ft tall, short brown hair and freckles, instead tell us that they pick up any shiny objects they find on the ground, just like a magpie. This was summed up as shallow vs deep characterisation.

Conflict
Conflict must come from the story and not be placed simply for more conflict. Obstacles must seem impossible to overcome. When faced with a dilemma, give your character two choices - each with their own dire consequences, or, make them think up a third option. Also, danger must always be immediate, not something coming slowly. Characters are avoiding an oncoming train, not a possible problem that may happen some time next year.

Scenes
If you have trouble writing a full scene that includes a variety of writing techniques, try the following method:

Start by writing the narration. Explain what happens in this scene, where your character moves and what he does.
Go back through your paragraphs and insert description. Give the reader a sense of place and images for characters.
Now go back through what you have and add dialogue and actions.

We also talked about narration, description, writing tips, point of views, dramatic irony, overlapping suspense lines and much, much more.

Brian Falkner has a great range of novels, and I've chosen to begin by reading Brainjack:

Check out the book trailer!

Scene Change

2011-09-14T07:41:00.000+10:00

I only re-sparked my passion in writing a couple of years ago when I moved to my lovely country town outside of Canberra. Long cold winters by the fire provided plenty of time and ambience to work on my manuscripts.

It's no coincidence that my character (Kitty Walker) finds herself moving to a small country town in DOG SHOW DETECTIVE. I wanted to share the awe of driving pass cows in the morning, something that only a city-raised kid could understand.

The kids in my high school have been great inspiration for me too, country kids have a certain quirkiness and brashness that is endearing. I've been lucky enough to have a great writers centre not too far off in Canberra (ACT Writers) and many of you know I attend workshops religiously.

If this were a story it'd be time to shake things up. So we will.

Twice now I've flown up to Brisbane when the annual CYA Writers Conference, and I've made some good friends. So, although I hate change (here comes the inciting incident), when hubby was offered a position he really wanted at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, I wasn't too horrified.

I'll miss the cows, the country kids and the wide spaces, but I'll love being close to my dad (also a budding writer) and joining in the writing activities with Queensland Writers Centre (I've become a member already!). I can't wait to find a critique group to join too :)

My plan next year is to cut back on my teaching hours and step up my writing schedule. I is gunna be a real writer!

Pitch Your Manuscript!

2011-09-11T20:12:00.000+10:00

I'm back from the CYA Conference (Children's and Young Adult Writers and Illustrators). Phew, it was exhausting! But of course, it was also absolutely brilliant.

Brisbane's a fair distance from Yass, but it was well worth making the effort. There was a fantastic master class, workshops and book releases. I loved it all, especially the pitch session. I know, I know, those of you who remember my post last week, Surviving a Pitch Session know that I was FREAKING out about my pitch. Turns out pitching is no where near as scary as I thought.

I'm glad I did some research and that I took along some information about my other works. I pitched to an Editor of my choice of publishing house my manuscript MY ZOMBIE DOG, but we also talked about what other works I had ready to go and what I was working on. The editor was very friendly and put me at ease immediately. She gave me feedback on the chapters I had sent her and had some great ideas for fine-tuning the story. The best thing about meeting with the editor is that she told me she loved the idea of MY ZOMBIE DOG. That felt very nice :)

The end result was that I do have some more work to do on this manuscript. Actually one of the changes was suggested to me by kids that critiqued MY ZOMBIE DOG - they wanted my main character Zane to be older. Guess what? So did the editor. But the good news is that once I've reworked MY ZOMBIE DOG, the editor would like me to send it through to her. So, regardless of how this turns out, at least I know I'm on the right track!

Unfortunately many of my other stories are mysteries and the feedback was that mysteries are not popular with kids at the moment. I figure that's okay, they're bound to come back as a trend and then I'll have several manuscripts ready to go.

My advice to you? If you get the chance to pitch in person to an editor (or agent if you want to go that route) then do! The personal feedback you get is well worth it. I'll blog more about the workshops at the conference later, but for now, my brain needs some recharging.

Marketing DIY for Authors

2011-09-05T09:54:00.000+10:00

I've been a workshop glutton. My latest was on Marketing Your Book run by author Aleesah Darlison. Okay, so technically I don't have an actual book that I can hold in my hand, but I do have MY ZOMBIE DOG and DOG SHOW DETECTIVE out there pitching.

The great thing about this workshop is that we covered marketing yourself as an author and your unpublished manuscript to editors and agents. Some of the things we were asked to consider were:

What do you want from your writing career? Do you want to be known for your ability to raise controversial subjects, or for your wit and sense of fun? Knowing this will help understand the image or persona you want to put forward. I'd like my books to show that sense of humour and fun within the Aussie culture. I'd like to celebrate the oddity that is people.
What is unique about your writing? For me it is that teaching gives me an insight to children's interests in literature and theme topics. Plus I write a really good dog.

I've come away from this workshop with a to-do list:

Build a Facebook Fan page. Okie-dokie, you can help me keep that page by clicking on the like button in the FB box to the right, or just going to this link: CHARMAINE CLANCY
Build a Youtube Channel page. Sort of done. I've set it up now, you can visit here: CHARMAINE CLANCY YOUTUBE I need to find some more relevant videos that I can store there, and this is where I will keep my book trailers (when I have book trailers).
Have a one sentence answer ready for when I am asked 'what do you do?' Mine is: I write mystery, fantasy and adventure fiction for children.
Do up my Writing CV. Okay, haven't started that one yet.
Write my synopsis for all my manuscripts, even those that are not yet finished or even written. You should have a synopsis ready at a pitch incase the editor/agent would like to discuss your other works.
Practice my pitch for this weekend's CYA Conference!

What's on your Marketing DIY to-do list?

Surviving a Pitch Session

2011-09-02T10:38:00.000+10:00

I have pitch-fear!

Next week I pitch. Not the safe kind of online, or written pitches I've tried thus far... no... I pitch in person. I really didn't think it would be a big deal. After all, I've sent my first ten pages in, they'll either like it or they won't. So what's 15minutes chatting with a publisher?

Gulp.

Now that it's fast approaching I am in panic mode. Eeek! What if I just make a fool of myself - and not in the good way I usually intend to make a fool of myself? So, in preparation for the CYA Conference in Brisbane, I am searching for advice on pitching in person. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Don't:

Act like they are providing a service to you. You are not doing them a favour, treat them like you have a product to sell to them. (Fabianspace)
Assume they will make allowances for you because your work is just so special, play by the rules. (Fabianspace)
Spend the whole time talking about your manuscript and going over what they've already read. Make a personal connection. (Nathan Bransford)

Do:

Welcome feedback. You don't have to implement every change suggested to your manuscript but take it all in for serious consideration - this person knows what they're talking about and the feedback is generously provided to help you. (Nathan Bransford)
Know the summary or synopsis of your story by heart. You might be asked to refresh their memory. (Redlines and Deadlines)
Have a synopsis handy for any other manuscripts you have ready or nearly finished. You might have time to discuss those.
Do your homework. Know a little about the publishing house you are pitching to. I'm pitching to Black Dog Books and know that they have novels aimed the same age group as my manuscript and in the same genre. I can specifically point to some of their current books and say my novel is like a cross between this novel and this one. At the very least, know that they publish the sort of genre you produce. (Writing World)

That's all I got - any suggestions????

Phooey to the End of Books

2011-08-30T13:03:00.000+10:00

I don't think so!

Many conversations about the future of books, publishing and reading seem to be gloomy these days. I read blogs, hear radio conversations and even meet authors that think authors will suffer great income loss over:

A. the introduction of ebooks

B. cheap ebooks (99c)

C. competing with tv, movies, internet and gaming for children's attention.

I say phooey to all that. I think the future of books is brighter than it's ever been. Here's how I validate my excitement for this industry:

The introduction of ebooks has enabled MORE people to access fiction in a variety of mediums.
By having a novel available online, you have opened your readership up globally. You don't have to rely on only reaching a national market. If an Australian publisher prints one of my novels, I will still have to try to secure an agent/publisher for each other international market such as the UK or US.
Cheap ebooks have excited readers and tweaked an interest in otherwise cautious customers. This in turn develops a fad of reading, the more you read the more you want to read. 99c will gain initial interest, but readers will evolve to be more aware of their own taste and more discerning towards the quality of fiction they read. I now scrutinize my purchases and do not base my choice on price. I trust other readers to do the same.
Hooray for technological distractions. The iPads, laptops and iPhones might be popular with teens for the games they supply but the wonderful phenomenon I'm noticing is kids that wouldn't usually want to buy books now want to, all because they can download them onto their iPod etc. I had a yr7 media class (12-13yr olds) and introduced them to online books via Amazon. I showed them how you can get Kindle for your iPod. They were all so excited about this and most downloaded the app. A lot of these kids would have scrunched their noses up at me suggesting they borrow a book from a library.
Ebooks are making reading a very popular trend. This in turn makes people want to own books and buy books for their shelves as well as their iPads. It has almost become a fashion statement for our living rooms. Don't believe books are trendy? Department store catalogues are expensive to produce and distribute, this makes space on them prime real estate. As you can imagine, front page is pretty special. In the past. I've only noticed books get a small corner of a page in the middle somewhere. Yesterday I was so surprised and pleased to see a Big W catalogue feature the first TEN pages all for books and that they now sell the Amazon Kindle here in Australia!

So, aren't you excited?!

World Building for Fantasy Novels

2011-08-27T23:45:00.001+10:00

You've got the whole world in your hands...

Wow. Another amazing writers workshop.

This time the workshop was held in Canberra and it was run by the extremely talented and popular author, Fiona McIntosh.

World building for fantasy novels was the focus of this workshop, and my head is still spinning from all the great advice Fiona generously shared. I have pages and pages of notes on this topic now, but here are just a few points Fiona got across about world building:

You need to introduce your fantasy world in the first chapter. Readers are impatient now and want immediate satisfaction, so along with the hook, character and inciting incident, they want a sense of setting. In my story THE COSTUME MAKER, my characters are sent from this world to the fantasy world. I can get around this by using a prologue that occurs in that world.
Don't get hung up on the details of your world. Yes you should know your world and love it, but ultimately readers purchase books because of the characters and story. In some of the best Fantasy novels you barely notice the world because you are so lost in the story.
Read novels in the genre and the sub genre you wish to write in. Focus on the way they set up their world.
Don't over-describe everything in your world. Assume your reader is intelligent and imaginative and can fill in the gaps. They've seen a blue sky before, don't spend five pages on it.
Culture is part of the world. Think about food sources, language, authority, etc.

Okay there was loads and loads more, but you'll have to attend one of Fiona's amazing workshops to learn it all. I can tell you she has inspired me to take a more professional approach to my writing. Fiona shared with us her schedule for a great balance between writing as a profession, family and life in general. I'm keen to get productive!

And to brush up on my reading I've got The Whisperer on my bookshelf:

Plus I've just ordered Royal Exile, the first in the Valisar trilogy - what amazing cover art!

5 Benefits of a Writers Workshop

2011-08-21T15:24:00.000+10:00

Merimbula, a great place to relax and write.

This weekend we drove down to Merimbula (coastal town popular during whale-watching season). While visiting the in-laws, I also got to take part in a writers workshop run by Writers of the Far South Coast. I met some wonderful writers and am always in awe of how people from such different backgrounds and lifestyles can come together with a common interest and goal.

I know I could spend the time that I travel around participating in workshops actually writing, or doing writing exercises from a book or the web. But I get a lot out of writing workshops.

So why take part in workshops?

Learn - This gives me an opportunity to hear from published authors and writers with different experiences from myself. I learn a lot from the speaker and the other participants.
Reminder - Even if I've been going through a writing lull, hanging out with other writers reminds me to get back into my WIP.
Sharing - It's a good environment to bounce your ideas of other writers and see if they can help you smooth out any wrinkles in your current story.
Socialise - You are all passionate about the same thing, writing is a great thing to have in common.
Push your boundaries - This is my favourite reason. During a workshop I will take part in exercises I might otherwise shy away from because I think they're too hard or outside my comfort zone. You are pushed to perform when you take part in a workshop. For example, in this workshop we were asked to write a Haiku. I'm not a big fan of writing poetry and even less of writing haikus, so I would never have tried this if I wasn't in the workshop. We were asked to continue from the line 'For deliciousness'. Here's my attempt:

For deliciousness

try pieces of lemonade

sprinkled in the sun

We also did some sensory invoking exercises, worked on characterisation details and setting's mood. I came away with a new scene for my mystery novel The Warracknabeal Kids, as well as a small inspiration that promises to ferment into a new story idea. Best of all, I made some new writerly friends.

Writing Time

2011-08-18T21:21:00.000+10:00

The real life Fossil aka my zombie dog.

This year I made time for my writing. It wasn't easy. Like a lot of other writers who also work and parent, I tried to write in my 'spare' time. Pfft! There's no such thing as spare time. So this year I started making 'writing' time. Spare time is for tidying the house, or watching a flick. This has paid off, I'm getting a lot more accomplished.

I've also been attending a lot more writing workshops and seminars. Last week I was at a science talk for writers and this weekend I'm off to the pretty coastal town of Merrimbula to attend another workshop:

The Psychology of Creative Writing

I started out my Uni years studying psychology, so I'm really looking forward to this topic. Of course I will let you all know how it goes.

This week I also finished my last lot of edits for MY ZOMBIE DOG. Yay! The book is now completely in present tense and I'm really happy with how it flows. My beta readers (all kids between 10 and 13) are all very positive about the story, and ask for more stories like this one. My main character is Zane, and he has his hands full with this crazy zombie plague, but everyone loves his loser mate Kev' the most. I'm now ready to start querying MY ZOMBIE DOG. I already have a pitch session lined up for a conference in a few weeks (shaking a little).

The best part of finishing a project is getting to work on a new one. I'm excited to get back into Warracknabeal Kids and finish off the first draft of this outback murder mystery.

Are you using your writing time, or still trying to find 'spare' time?

Science in Writing

2011-08-15T15:10:00.000+10:00

As part of my endeavour to immerse myself in the culture of writing, I attended a FREE seminar held at CSIRO (initialism for some sciencey department) titled:

Get Your Facts Right: How science can help you write your book.

This was organised by my local writers centre: ACT Writers Centre

The speakers covered topics about weather predictions for 2050. It was great information if you intend to ever include a storm, flood, drought or fire in your story. For instance, did you know that if the Great Barrier Reef was to die off and no longer exist, that storm surges along the coast of Queensland would be much worse?

I also found it interesting to learn that if global warming keeps affecting Australian summers and heats reach low 50 degrees in summer, we could still survive but our lifestyle and culture would change. We'd have to do all outdoor activities at night when it's cooler and try stay still and indoors during the day - good weather for vampires? And that you might first notice the onset of a deadly heatwave by the unusually high death of parrots?

There were also experts in the field of forensic science. One interesting story was about a copper that killed his ex-wife and tried to make it look like suicide. The investigating policeman said he wouldn't have been suspicious at all, until he stepped into the bathroom. The toilet seat was up in a house where a woman lived alone. That little clue might not be evidence, but sparks suspicion and then the police can search for some evidence to convict.

I was surprised to learn that even if the police witness a crime taking place, they still need to gather forensic evidence to convince a jury. And that scientists are working on one day being able to produce a picture of how a suspect would look based on their DNA sample.

Have you joined your writer's centre? They can let you know whenever there are writers events you might find useful.

Blogfest - HATE

2011-08-14T15:35:00.000+10:00

Tessa's Blurb hosted a blogfest on Friday, and although I missed posting on time, I decided to give it a go anyway. The idea was that we would all post a scene with a character showing hate. I hadn't noticed before, but none of my main characters express hate in my stories. I did manage to find a scene in My Zombie Dog, where Zane's mate Kev expresses strong feelings against the girl of Zane's dreams. Here's is Kev's hatefest:

I could get a real dog, a nice Border Collie like Max. Molly and I would have matching dogs, we could spend afternoons together down at the off-leash park. Perfect. Except, it seemed like I was forgetting something…

Then it hit me. Actually he hit me. Kev. He punched me in the arm and said, “Miss Seagull let you out huh? What do ya want to do? Handball?”

“You don’t have a handball.”

“We can confiscate one from the grade 2 kids.”

I gave Kev a look, then looked over at Molly, still sitting alone, head down staring straight at her uneaten sandwich in her lap.

“Um, I think I might go and talk to Molly.” I made it sound like no big deal.

“What? Why would you want to do that?”

I shrugged. No big deal.

“Molly O’Mally? I hate that chick.” Kev narrowed his eyes in her direction and kicked a stone on the asphalt.

“Why? She’s alright. She’s kinda… nice.” I couldn’t meet his gaze. No big deal, no big deal, no…

“Dude, she’s my nemesis.” Kev grabbed me by the shoulders. He could be dramatic at times.

I was sceptical. “Really? You have a nemesis?”

Kev swiped the question away with a hand through the air. “Yeah, haven’t you noticed how we match wits in class all the time?” He crossed his arms and looked back at Molly, like he was weighing her up. “I’ll give her this, she’s a worthy opponent.”

“Um, Molly’s really smart. I mean like genius smart.”

Kev shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right, we’re probably just enemies because we’re too much alike.”

The bell rang and lunch was over, along with my only opportunity to talk to Molly.

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)

What Blocks Your Writing?

2011-08-10T22:00:00.000+10:00

I don't get writers block in the sense of not being able to think of anything to write, but I do manage to block myself from writing by convincing myself there are other tasks that MUST be completed first. My latest? I wanted a new screensaver and just couldn't find the 'right' picture. I've now been working on this for three days. In this time I've gotten NO writing done.

What silly things do you let interrupt your writing?

Tomorrow WILL be productive. That is my vow. But for now, here's my laptop wallpaper:

Writer's Dream Diary - Results

2011-08-08T11:00:00.001+10:00

Look at that date - 8th August - that means we've come to the end of our Imagination Sparks Blogfest. Well I say Pffffft! to dates. I've read some fantastic writing exercise ideas from the blogs participating (you can visit them too, at the links below. I've been trying them all out this week and gotten some interesting results. Soooo, I've decided to extend the date and blog my results of each exercise I tried separately. If you're taking place, please blog your results too, so we can see how you went.

I'm starting with Milly's post from Paper Dolls. Milly is 13 and blogs reviewing tween and teen fiction with her little sister Tilly (they're also my daughters, so books are pretty major in our house). Both girls like writing and Milly's favourite writing exercise involves recording her dreams.

All writers know you should write down your dreams, and we all mean to... but... sometimes we need reminding. I tried this exercise for three nights with a pad and pen right by my bed, but kept forgetting to actually write things down - I'm pretty dopey first thing in the morning. I'm sure I had amazing dreams those nights.

On the fourth try I finally remembered to write down my dream. I was teaching a very disruptive class of teenagers English in a demountable classroom.

What?

In real life I teach (amongst other topics) English to teenagers in a demountable classroom. Even the kids were the same. I pointed out of Facebook that this dream was a bit of a let down. Who wants to record a dream just like real life? Then I thought more about it. One of the kids was trying to sneak out of the class. Why? There was a visiting carnival to the school and these kids were not allowed to participate. There were rides and shows and a scary looking clown. I kind of think the clown might have been someone evil undercover.

Ta da! School taken over by evil circus and the only people left to help are the naughtiest kids in the school and the very tired teacher. Or maybe the clown is a pedophile, the kid that escapes class is sneaking around the back of the buildings in time to catch him trying to abduct a child. These kids might be disruptive, but they're brave if nothing else, and they always stick up for each other. There's no way this kid would just walk away.

Did you dream any good plots this week?

And I'm loving this blogfest so much, I've decided to run it again (maybe same time next year?) but next time let it run for a month (although I don't dictate how many times you post about you inspiring exercise).

How to Get Writing Ideas

2011-08-03T22:02:00.001+10:00

This week is dedicated to the Imagination Sparks Blogfest. Writers are sharing their favourite writing exercises on their blogs. It's not too late to join, simply add your name to the list at the bottom of this post. Post on your blog which creative exercise gets your imagination warmed up and visit the other blogs to see what they suggest. Some people are super organised and blogging several exercises, but you can do just one if that's what you prefer (we're pretty easy going here at Wagging Tales).

In my last post I blogged about a great way to get your mind in the zone to write by Tom Evans - check it out, there's a free audio!

On the weekend I attended a writers workshop (I've been sneaking in a lot of them lately) hosted by author Sue Whiting about writing for children. It was a great day, very productive, and I picked up a new writing exercise. Apparently Sue picked this one up from Markus Zusak (The Book Thief).

Here it is:

On a big piece of paper, a whiteboard, or even on your laptops (I used an app from the Mac App Store called SimpleMind) you write, in the top left hand corner your first idea or action for your character. It could be something simple and everyday, like 'doing homework'. If you look at the pic, you'll see the idea I started with was 'Kitty loses her mobile'. Kitty is an 11yr. old mystery solver from my novel DOG SHOW DETECTIVE. I'm looking for ideas for the second book.

The next step is to think of 5 things from that first idea, they can be 5 things that could happen next:

In case you're wondering, Spade is Kitty's Miniature Schnauzer, not some overzealous friend. Great, already you have 5 ideas, but from there, you add to EACH idea, 5 things that could happen next. That gives you 25 new possibilities! Here's a close up of 5 things that could happen after Jessica tries ringing Kitty's number:

Do you know what you do next? Yep, 5 things that could happen next of each of those. Then you spend a couple of minutes looking over your ideas and write for a few minutes whichever ideas you like. My idea from this is that the girls come across a body hidden in the overgrowth by the river.

Got an idea you want to share? Come on, sign on! Or checkout the blogs below for some more imagination sparks.

Ways to Spark Your Imagination

2011-08-01T01:00:00.002+10:00

Today I'm posting as part of the Imagination Sparks Blogfest - and sharing one of my new favourite creativity exercises. It's not too late, you can still join in the fun :)

I recently posted about a creative writing exercise book called The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments by Tom Evans. I love this book and was lucky enough to talk to Tom about his exercises that energise, calm and exercise the imaginative parts of our brain. Tom was generous enough to share a link to a FREE audio exercise you can try. This is something to do first thing in the morning or right before you start writing, the breathing, listening and visual exercise will energise your creativity! So here is Tom Evan's exercise Getting in the Zone just click the link, follow the instructions and listen:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/285812-getting-in-the-zone

Part of the magic of this exercise is the breathing - I had no idea we could energise different sides of our brain by controlling our breathing! Try it and let me know how it goes for you.

This week I'll post other exercises from Tom Evans and at the end of the week I'll post my response to everyone else's creativity exercises - I'm going to try them all!

If you'd like to see Tom Evan's books on creativity, check out (click on the book):

Or visit Tom Evans at his website for a Free download: Goals of Learning.

Imagination Sparks Blogfest

2011-07-31T00:09:00.004+10:00

It's here! My first-ever blogfest!

This is the IMAGINATION SPARKS BLOGFEST

What does that mean? It's easy. We all know at least one good warm up exercise to get our brain geared up and ready to write. That one creative task that gets your imagination bubbling with ideas. I thought we'd share them and try each others.

Here's what I want you to do.

Register your blog in the link list to show you are going to try and participate. Sign up will be available for one week.
On the 1st of August (hey, we won't be cross if it goes up a day or two late), post one of your favourite writing exercises that we can all try. You might want to credit the creator of the exercise if you know where you found it.
Read other peoples blogs and try some of those exercises.
Do a follow up blogpost to let people know which exercises you tried and what results you got. You can post your followup whenever you can. Visit the other blogs to see how they went with the exercises.
Get great new ideas and make new bloggy friends!

Google + Writing Circles

2011-07-29T20:45:00.005+10:00

Are you Google +ing yet?

I was sceptical. I still remember the wasted moments wandering through an empty Google Wave. I questioned Google's approach of limiting the sign ups for Google + - after all, social networking only works if everyone's there.

BUT. I love the ease of adding people to your circles. Now instead of bombarding my friends and family with the endless links I find on the craft of writing, I can target those posts directly to other writers. I also feel more comfortable adding people, knowing I don't need their permission to follow them (like Twitter - you can block someone if necessary).

People will migrate from Facebook and Twitter to converge in Google +. I don't expect it to be quick, others will be wary and many will be nostalgic about the platform they've spent so much time building (remember the die-hard Myspace enthusiasts?). I'll stay in Facebook while I've still got Friends there - I'm not attached to particular platforms, but I'll go where the people are - I like the people.

If you're not in Google + but would like to start building your profile there, drop me an email and I'll try to send you an invite (I'm not sure how many I can give out, so first in first serve). If you've already started and want to add a widget to your blog to promote your Google + check out:

www.widgetsplus.com

Now, I'm thinking... BLOGFEST TIME! I've never held a Blogfest before, exciting times.

On the 31st July I'll post up details of the 'Imagination Sparks Blogfest' and how to sign up. For the blogfest we'll all share a creativity exercise that helps get our Muse revved up to write. To get you started, I'll blog about a great exercise Tom Evans, author of The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments generously shared with us.

Art and Science of Lightbulb Moments

2011-07-24T20:43:00.001+10:00

I've come across a great read for writers, a book that provides exercises to boost creativity, but also explains how our minds work and what sparks those ideas that turn into gems.

I first came across this author on Joanna Penn's podcast The Creative Penn. Tom Evans is the author of The Art and Science of Lightbulb Moments.

I'm still getting through this book, but I'm loving it. The exercises are fun and new and prompt a different perspective for your writing. I absolutely recommend this book, but don't just buy it, make sure you try the exercises! You'll never get stuck in your novel again.

I'm also having lots of fun planning a writing workshop for primary school kids this week. My first priority is to make sure the workshops are fun, so I'm finding lots of tactile and humorous ways for us to develop story ideas together. After all, writing should be fun! The added bonus is I'll have my target audience for MY ZOMBIE DOG, so there might even be a sample reading.

What are your writing plans this week?

Favicon Your Blog

2011-07-19T16:58:00.000+10:00

Zombie Dog likes to blog

An author was raving recently in a podcast about the brilliance of Youtube. You can find anything there. Of course there is so much stuff online now that most people have stopped browsing and are more particular about searching for specifics. Anyway, this author was saying if you want to know how to do something you just search 'how to...' on Youtube. You can learn how to do anything, even make a favicon.

Like most of you I love words, some stick with me more than others (I especially love saying 'chihuahua' whenever I can fit it into a conversation). The original topic of the podcast became lost on me - what the heck was a favicon, and did I want to learn to make one? I rushed over to Youtube.

Well I'll be darned, I DID want a favicon!

After only a little muddling about, I managed to put a personalise little icon in the address bar of my blog. So now, instead of seeing the orange B for blogger, you'll see a wee little pic of my head that matches my blog background. Want a favicon? Here's the Youtube clip I watched:

Anything over 2 minutes is hard for me to pay attention to, so here's the website where you can upload a picture to be turned into a tiny little favicon (favicons are an .ico file):

http://www.iconj.com/

Once you have your little favicon created and you've generated a shortcut url (the site that makes your favicon will give you a web address to use as the location for where your favicon is stored), you'll need to add it to your blogger site.

Go to: Blogging Tips on this page you'll see instruction on making your favicon, scroll down to:

Add the reference for your favicon to your Blogger template

Follow that section and post the favicon url in your template html. Done!

The favicon can make your blog or website appear a little more professional, and it really wasn't hard. The hardest part for me was finding the code in the template html - but only because I was being impatient, I assumed it would be near the top (like the 'head') but it was half way down. Do you use Youtube for how to videos?

The Writer's Hole

2011-07-15T19:43:00.000+10:00

I've been hiding down a deep dark hole - and it's done my WIP wonders!

On Friday I took part in a group writing exercise on Facebook hosted by Queensland Writers Centre. The event was called The Rabbit Hole, and those lucky enough to be in Brisbane got to lock themselves into a room for the day with the intention of just writing and writing until your computer bleeds. The rest of us made do by logging into the Facebook event page and posting our progress.

The actual goal was to reach 30,000 words in three days. Some people hit this target. I did not. Am I disappointed? No way. I hit over 15,000 words in 3 days and best of all... FINISHED my first draft of MY ZOMBIE DOG.

I was so excited. I quickly put the draft onto everyone's kindle and iPad in my house using Scrivener to convert the file and Calibre to transfer it. Of course there's a few little things I can do to enhance the story and make it even funnier. But I love it and can't believe I got it finished so soon.

So if you get the chance to lock the doors and commit to some serious writing time - DO IT! Better still, get a group together to keep you all honest (I have to admit to occasionally sneaking off to watch episodes of Chuck). And if you do organise a Facebook writing event? Please invite me!

Rogue Book Launch

2011-07-11T20:51:00.000+10:00

Beer n Book - Good Combo!

I really have been soaking up the artist's life these school holidays. Just over a week ago I attended the book launch for Nicole Murphy's newest novel in her series: Rogue Gadda. How could I resist the temptation - a book launch held in a pub!

And not just any pub, a traditional Irish pub. I was in Guinness heaven (okay, I only had one, otherwise I get a bit handsy). Nicole was a wonderful host and dutifully signed many copies of her new novel, she also delivered a very entertaining speech and shared a sample of her new book with us (but not the saucy scene, we'll have to discover that for ourselves).

I first came across Nicole's writing after attending a few of her writers workshops (you can read about my experience at her saucy scenes workshop here), the most recent one being on writing colourful characters (Zombie Dog is kind of green - does that count?), I'll post about that workshop soon.

This launch was for Rogue Gadda:

But if you want to start with the first two books for this sexy paranormal story, try:

I also met a couple of writers who were really nice, one gave me the inside scoop on some great gaming novels for boys (and gamer girls!) - check out: The Black Library for something a bit edgy.

Online Marketing for Offline Readers

2011-07-07T22:24:00.000+10:00

How do you manage online marketing to those unlikely to be online?

I've been turning the cogs over in mind this week (they're a bit rusty and need a crank every now and then) about finding your customers when you self-publish. It occurred to me some markets are easier to find than others.

The first step is to work out who your average reader is. I don't mean vaguely like 'romance readers', but specifically have a stereotype in mind (in this example perhaps your particular romance appeals to women 30-40 with children). Do you know? You really need to work this out if your novel is finished and ready to go. Try visiting sites like Goodreads and Amazon for similar style novels to see who their market is.

I know not every reader will be the same, but you want to work out who your majority of readers are. For instance violent thrillers written by men are most likely to have a male readership. The more I think about this market, the more I think it's the hardest to reach if you are not a previously published author.

Some men do circulate online, but many for this market don't. They don't browse Amazon for unknown writers and don't spend a lot of time 'browsing' in bookstores. They buy a book because it won an award, because it was recommended on a reliable source, like their favourite newspaper or ABC radio-programme. Problem is, if you are a new writer, it's unlikely you'll be mentioned in these sources. But I thought long and hard. There is a way to get your book in this reluctant hand. Through a more reliable market. Women.

Many times books my dad has loved have been novels I've purchased for him, or gifts from his female friends or my sister. He would never have gone looking for this novel, but once given it, he reads it. This market doesn't like to waste a gift. A couple of times he's enjoyed a book so much he's asked me where he can find more in the series.

My dad will never visit a blog, spend time on Facebook or even know that Goodreads exists, but people who buy books for him do. So if you have a difficult market to reach online, try reaching them through their networks instead. Market your book to those people as the perfect gift idea.

Although not talking about novels, this marketing blog, LEADSexplorers, refers to this sales approach as targeting your customer's 'trusted parties'.

I'll blog more on this topic soon, about ways to find those buyers who do circulate online. Together we might be able to find a plan :)

But first I'll be going offline. Just for a couple of days. I'm taking on a challenge to write 30,000 words in only 3 days. I'm doubtful, but I hope to at least finish the first draft of MY ZOMBIE DOG. Wish me luck!

Writer's Platform - is it worth the hassle?

2011-07-02T14:26:00.002+10:00

I tend to blog a fair bit about ways to promote yourself as a writer. I see a lot of writers dip their foot into building their online platform, only to lose interest after a time or become disheartened because they've sat at 13 followers for 3 months.

It's a phase that takes time. I won't say there are no short cuts, but frankly you need to organise your time to allow building your profile, by blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting (I can't recommend MySpace, but there are some that say it has value) and to keep up with your actual writing (no point building a great platform if you never finish that novel). Writing and editing will take up most of your time, and most of us find it hard enough to squeeze that in. So why spend time online? Isn't that what your publisher is for?

Even if you are able to land a publisher, or if you even want one, you will still need to promote your work. You can market directly to your audience (romance readers, children, etc) and I've some posts you can check out with links to help you with that:

Writer's Networking Advice

Build Your Author Marketing Plan

However, if you've started out by networking with other writers, you needn't think that was a wasted target. Us writers, I've come to discover, are a very supportive bunch. Whenever I come across one of my blogging friends who has published their novel I buy it. I'm just so proud of them. I also purchase novels from any writers who have run workshops for me. Curiosity and gratitude. Those that can't run up a big bill on Amazon, may not make the purchase but will often promote your book online. I think it comes down to the fact that we all enjoy feeling like we're helping. So do reach out to other writers and blog and tweet. We learn a lot from each other and we're a reliable market.

Now, I'm off to Canberra to attend Nicole Murphy's book launch (in a pub! Yay!). AND extra yay! for school holidays, I can finally spend some time reading everyone's blogposts.

Theme - Your Writing's Message

2011-06-25T08:19:00.001+10:00

Writing through themes.

I've been wanting to write this post since the workshop I recently took on How to Write a Series, hosted by the wonderful fantasy-writer Jennifer Fallon. There was a lot of information in this workshop, but as I usually do, I hone in one thing. Theme. I've come to see this is a week spot for me.

Jennifer explains that theme should drive your story, it should be the first thing you tell people in your elevator pitch when asked, 'So, what's your story about?'

Heck, I thought that was what premise was for. Premise is different from theme. Premise is the breakdown of what happens in your story. A one sentence synopsis. Theme is the message behind your story - what are you really trying to show people, exampled by your characters' journey?

It finally hit me while I was watching 'Forrest Gump' the other night. The premise is demonstrating how a young man can overcome any adversity and succeed in life despite physical and mental handicaps, no matter how much people underestimate him. The theme is more important. Lucky for me the themes are actually stated in this movie:

Stupid is as stupid does.
Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get.

And the unstated theme for me was; people die, love does not.

For my tween novel Dog Show Detective, my themes are easy, 'identity can be misleading', and 'Believing in yourself can lead to surprising results'. I'm struggling a little more with the themes of 'The Costume Maker'. I know it's based on prejudice, fear and identity - I just have to work a little harder to articulate that into a clear message. In the meantime, I've just started reading:

And today I'm off to attend a workshop on Creating Colourful Characters.

A Writer's Idea of Souvenirs

2011-06-19T18:00:00.000+10:00

Supanova was a new experience for me. I loved seeing so many people in costumes, ranging between store-bought, elaborately designed and homemade with sticky-tape and cardboard. Loved them all. Lots of pop-culture like manga, anime and dvd's, but also lots of books. Oh yeah, books *rubs hands together*.

My day started off with Jennifer Fallon's writers workshop on how to write a series. I'll share more about that soon. Today, I just want to share some of the souvenirs I bought home. The girls got loads of cool manga stuff, including this must have fox hat for Emily:

And for Matilda? Something less subtle - mittens to match your ears:

But my favourite purchases were the books!

We got this series, signed by both the authors:

Matilda found these cuties:

I couldn't wait to try something by Jennifer Fallon, and she generously signed them:

And I am absolutely in love with these books by Kate Forsyth:

Emily was so excited to meet Kate Forsyth and get her books signed, she can't wait to read them and blog about them in the book review site she shares with her sister, Paper Dolls.

And to top the day off, the lady hosting the Penguin Books stand was so impressed with Emily's choice of costume (Katniss from The Hunger Games, complete with silver arrows and bow and golden mocking-jay badge), she gave Emily a free copy of Marie Lu's Legend. This novel won't be released until November, so Emily's quite excited about reviewing it early.

Now we need to look for more shelves for Emily's room as it fills with yet more books.

Build Your Author Marketing Plan

2011-06-17T09:45:00.000+10:00

Today I have to share a blog post I came across all about building an author platform. I HAVE to. Anthony at Book Cover Cafe posted the best advice on building your author platform I have ever come across (and you know I come across a lot).

Included in Anthony's post is a marketing map. Make sure you go there today, click on the map for the bigger size pic and print it. You can even laminate it - I won't think you're odd. This post brainstorms every avenue you can promote your writing and how to go about it. It's gold. Go get it.

How to get the most from your writer or author platform

And tomorrow I'm off to Supernova! A huge pop-culture expo that will be filled with books and writers and other fun stuff. My girls are getting dressed up as book characters for the event - you can read their posts about it at Paper Dolls. I'm also attending a writer's workshop in the morning on writing a series. Of course I'll let you know how that goes.

10 Top Issues to Address in YA Fiction

2011-06-14T16:55:00.000+10:00

Wassup YAs?

YA (young adult) is a huge market. So what makes a story appeal to teens? Apparently, they want novels that are relevant to their age group and the problems they face. A YA today may share some basic desires and problems with a YA in 1939, but you'll find there are quite a lot of differences too.

At a recent writers workshop we discussed YA issues, then I spoke to my English class of 16yr. olds and we elaborated and tightened that list. Here are the issues we came up with as important to young adults today.

Sexuality. This is a biggie. As I write this, I hear teen girls in the hall hassling a boy to find out who he 'made-out' with on the weekend. Many teens find this age-bracket very confusing, identifying their own sexuality and what is considered right or wrong by their peers. Some are embarking on their first sexual relationships (whether we want them to or not) and others are terrified about what will be expected from them (this is not just the girls). The students told me they do not like novels that ignore this issue completely.
Relationships and friendships. Social peers are the most valued relationships at this age (as a mum I want to think that must be a mistake, but sigh, no). Being left out or worse, pushed out of a social group is extremely painful.
Social power. There are hierarchies within groups for the teen bracket. Those are defined by your social power - how much influence you have over your peers. This can be influenced by sporting achievements, attractiveness and even how powerful you are on Facebook.
Social responsibility - The kids pleasantly surprised me by rating this as very important. Many teens see it as their responsibility to look out for their mates. This can also mean standing up for the underdog or even standing up against your peers (and risking your social power).
Bullying - Wow this has evolved over the years. When I was a kid you risked being punched (or worse - spat at) but now the most common risk is via Facebook slandering. I still haven't figured out why kids care so much about what some moron says about them on Facebook, but they do. Must have something to do with that social power hierarchy. One of the issues raised in my writing workshop was the fact that kids are online early in the morning, late at night and via their mobiles during the day (even during class time - grrr). This suggests there is no 'off' time - that people can reach you, and therefore bully you 24/7. At least in my day, when you went home in the afternoon it was all over.
Risk taking. Drugs, alcohol and misadventure are all playing a part in a lot of teens' lives. Unfortunately they believe that we as adults do not know what we are talking about and feel they are completely safe because they have their mates with them. Planking was a new topic that became an obviously dangerous pastime for students recently.
Belief system. Teens are coming into an age where they stop taking information provided by adults as being right and start making their own decisions about their belief system. This might manifest in some teens as an interest in or a rebellion against religion, or it might just be their ideas on social justice.
Freedom. Many teens feel they should be able to go out and explore life, live it the way they want, but due to financial and parental restrictions, they can not. This is quite frustrating (but after suggesting risk-taking as a part of their life, I can understand the parental restrictions!).
Anger. This has manifested in many teens, most likely due to hormonal changes as well as a desire for freedom but still feeling restrictions from family. In the extreme we have boys and girls lashing out with physical violence or self-harm (such as cutting).
Multiculturalism. This is a two-sided issue. It's important to teens to have a feeling of assimilation, so this would be heightened for any teen feeling their culture does not fit in with the local teens ideas of what is acceptable. It is also an issue for teens to accept new cultures into their community. This is an issue we are dealing with in class now as prejudice is one of the themes we are exploring.

Some themes will easily link together. In class we are exploring the relationship between prejudice, bravery and growing up. You can always add a theme in the editing stage. If you see one here that you think may be important to a scene in your novel, you can go back and foreshadow it.

Find a Market or Write a Market

2011-06-11T09:07:00.000+10:00

I'm curious, do you write your novel with a market in mind, an age-group, or even genre? Or, do you get a story concept and write it, only to try and work out who your market is later? Logic tells me to identify the market first, picture my reader and write a story perfectly suited for them. But I think my muse may be a mischievous little pixie that likes to play pranks on me.

My dad is an entrepreneurial wizard, and I took a keen interest in marketing, undertaking studies in that area and early on in my career working for promotional agencies. I know the importance of identifying a market. You waste resources ineffectively shooting arrows in the air without a target in sight. But the creative side of me says 'I want to write a pirate story, about a little kid, for adults.' And I'm a sucker for the inspiration.

You type 'The End', then look around frantically to see who would possibly want to read this story you wrote aimed at your own individual and rare persona. Some writers do identify their target market first, and I applaud them (you're doing the right thing), but if, like me, you can't do that, all is not lost.

As you develop your story idea, or if you're a panster, as you start writing, think about the plot emerging and what your main premise or theme in the novel will be. What is your underlying message? Who would benefit from this, who will care? It help you immensely in the end with your marketing plans, and with your queries to publishers. But also, by having that ghost-reader, sitting by your side, looking over your shoulder trying to read as fast as you write, I find this helps me push on through the tough parts of any novel. Knowing that they're out there, waiting impatiently for your book to be released. This makes me push onto to finish little zombie dog's tale, or plot out the next murder mystery for 11yr old Kitty and her dog Spade.

How about you? Can you identify your reader? Know where to reach them?

Games for Writers

2011-06-06T22:07:00.001+10:00

Alex J Cavanaugh is hosting a blogfest today about our favourite games. Here are my top three that I think writers will like:

Cluedo - hands down, my absolute favourite. Of course I forget to actually try and win and just have a wonderful time throwing red herrings and making accusations. Every time one of my opponents even flinches, I quickly jot down their suspicious activity. These notes do not help me win at all, but they do give me some fun new ideas for stories.

Sims Pets - Okay, I don't actually play the game, but I do love creating the dogs :) Sims is great for creating your characters, you really need to think about their features and dress sense.

Charades - Hey, it's cool. Yes it is. I just think this can be so much fun, and it makes you really think about words and their meaning.

I would have included Scrabble, but I have a wonderful friend who is zany and fun, but when it comes to Scrabble - she's turns it into a deadly extreme sport. Check out the blogfest, maybe there's a game you'd like to play with your family?

Who?

2011-06-05T11:02:00.000+10:00

Part of blogging culture is the awards and tags that gain momentum from one blogger to the next. I am always appreciative and humbled when I receive an award. I don't usually post them on my site or blog about them because I'm too forgetful to be that organised. But today I'm going to take part in a tag game - maybe I'm feeling frivolous.

Lynda from WIP IT has been sweet enough to tag me - check out her blog, there's lots to learn there. So here's the questions I've been asked to answer:

Do you think you're hot?

Pfft! I'm more adorable than hot... ;-j

Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment.

My screensaver changes daily. This is one that I pop on when I'm editing THE COSTUME MAKER.

When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

What the....? I did have a steak earlier this week that was cowering a little...

Do you have nicknames?

The very first time I entered a chat room (over 10yrs ago) I was warned not to use my real name - so people could not hunt me down. This made me roll my eyes - I chose 'notcharmaine' - that'd throw those sneaky chat-room assassins. Online I've been HotDoggy - but it's less sexy than it sounds, that was the name of the dog grooming business I owned. Then I was charmbug and chamclancy, but nowadays I try to stick to charmaineclancy.

Tag 4 blogger friends (you are It!)

My first comment here is: don't feel obligated to participate - I rarely keep up with these tags - but if you'd like to share - whoohoo!

Who's listed as number 1?

An Alleged Author always has something interesting and often funny on her writing blog.

Leave a lovey dovey message for number 2.

This is easy, Shannon from Book Dreaming you are a natural muse. You selflessly give your time and energy to motivate and encourage others. This makes you the perfect writer and educator for children. They're lucky to have you. I've been lucky too.

How did you get to know number 3?

Last year I went to my first ever writer's conference at CYA. It was so amazing I will be heading there again this year. This is where I met Dimity, she has a great blog where she explores how we write and shares helpful links.

How about number 4?

Mary from Play off the Page is always sharing uplifting messages. A great place to go to feel good with other writers.

Have a great weekend all.

4 Rules for Book Covers

2011-06-03T08:11:00.001+10:00

You know by now there is more to producing a novel than just writing it. You need to market it, build your platform and (if you self-publish) create your cover.

There are plenty of graphic artists you can go to for cover design, but perhaps you've decided you can do that yourself? If you're handy with Photoshop, chances are you can. But first, there's a lot of things to consider for your book cover design.

Market. Search online to see other book covers aimed at the same age-group and in the same genre as your book cover. What are the signature colours and designs (for example, black and red are popular for horror and paranormal fantasy, and, purple is often used for fantasy).
Title and text. Unless you are a household name, the usual rule is to put the title of the book big and the author name smaller. You've spent all that time coming up with an enticing title (I hope), now is the time to let it do the work for you. In a lot of online ebook stores, shoppers will be browsing through and noticing titles. And it is so important that you play with your colours to make sure the text pops against the background. The cover is the first point of sale between you and the customer. Don't put grey text on black or brown text on red.
Image. This can be tricky. Unless you are an amazing photographer, you wont get one of those awesome photo shots that appear on a lot of book covers (especially YA). If you have art skills, use them. If not, try photo stock websites like Shutterstock. You can buy a licence to use a professional image for your cover.
Size. Don't busy it up. Remember, when you look through books on Amazon, mostly you are getting a thumb-size image. Check to make sure you book looks clear and enticing at that size. Despite the debates on pricing, a lot of customers buy books by appeal. Make sure they find your tiny little book cover appealing enough to click on it.

The key to marketing is communication. Your cover is a form of communication, you want the message to be understood and received positively by the receiver. Here's an example of a cover I really like:

Amanda Ashby's cover will appeal to teens, it's trendy and colourful. I like that the body looks like a teen, but the head is gone. This could be anyone, this could be the reader. The colours go great together and it is obviously in the fantasy genre from the images. It's girly, but kick-ass with the sword. I saw this thumbnail on a website and immediately went and ordered the book.

7 Things Publishers Want

2011-05-30T20:44:00.000+10:00

Does your story have what publishers want? At the recent YA workshop I attended hosted by Jeni Mawter, we discussed what publishers look for in a novel. This was the consensus (for YA fiction):

YA appeal - but what appeals to young adults? They want a story they can relate to, but also different enough from the everyday that they can be swept away. Paranormal fiction is so popular because it's dangerous, but the magic element means that the reader is safe - this doesn't happen in real life (unlike thrillers).
Morally acceptable - What? I hear you say - sounds boring? No. There can be unethical characters, but the essence of the story will support the societal concept that this is wrong. For example, you can have racist characters, but it will be made obvious in the story that this is not the way to live among each other.
Innovative - Vampirebots? Time-travelling monkeys that can tell the future? Every now and then a novelist hits on something fresh. The irony of this is that the market will then demand a stream of the same type of novels.
Characters you can't forget - Who can forget Rue from Hunger Games? (sniff). Write characters that haunt our memories long after we close the last page.
Original Voice - The best way to do this (I think) is to write true to your own voice, don't try to imitate someone else's style. The world does not need another Steinbeck, we already have his novels, write your own.
Fresh use of language - language evolves radically, in fact 'radically' is not a buzz word anymore, nor is 'buzz word'. Although I see it in a lot of novels, none of the teens at my high school spell out OMG when they're speaking. It's not hard to see how teens and YAs speak, just check out their Facebook pages and blogs (but not in a stalky way).
Story that moves the reader - does your story evoke emotion? It doesn't have to be sadness or joy, perhaps fear or anger?

Can you think of anything else to add to this list? I think if I was to ever self-publish I'd still use a list like this to make sure my work measured up.

Writer's Networking Advice

2011-05-26T19:15:00.000+10:00

I've just finished reading We Are Not Alone - The writer's guide to social media by Kristen Lamb. I wasn't sure I'd pick up anything from this book. I already blog, twitter and mildly Facebook. I know what I'm doing, right? Hah.

I believe EVERY writer should have a copy of this book (or the ebook). I downloaded the Kindle version and found myself reading it on my daughter's iPad, on my Kindle and when I was sneaking a minute or two at work (I'm a teacher) on my iPhone (and I had to be reminded by student's in the playground about our 'off and away' code).

This book is accessible (that's one of my big measurements for a nonfiction text - get too tech jargon on me and I switch off) and detailed in its advice. Lamb lets you know what you need to be doing to build your market online, why you need it, and how to do it. Here are just a few tips I picked up - there are so many more, you really do need to read it yourself:

When Tweeting about your new book, use positive language that lets the reader know what you want them to do. Never say 'don't forget to check out my new book', instead use active verbs, 'make sure you check out my new book' or 'buy my new book here'.
You are not just connecting with people online, you are building a brand. Make sure your author name is linked to all your content. In all social media you should be using the name you plan to publish with. (When I first started tweeting, I was 'hotdoggy' because this is the name I had when I was a dog groomer - some people thought I was some weird sex spam, so I changed it to charmaineclancy) You can even link your field with your name, I regret not setting my blog name as Charmaine Clancy Writer, but it started out as Wagging Tales, so that has stuck. Also adding to the confusion is the fact that my URL address is clancytales.blogspot - time over, I'd use charmaineclancy.blogspot. So if you are calling yourself writerchick451 - rethink that.
Don't brand the title of your novel before it is published. If you set up your Facebook, blog and Twitter all to say 'Death in the Shallows' - you might find your title changes once it's published, then you need to rebuild the name - best to work on the author name.
Are you using Twitter to its best advantage? Have you searched for publishers, agents and well-known writers? You can let their tweets guide your web browsing and you can gain relevant followers from their follower list.

Lamb will show you exactly how to set up a Facebook page, and explain when you need a Fan page. I've only just started my writing Facebook page (I did have a family/friends one) - so feel free to friend me! All the way through this book I kept thinking, oh, that's clever! My only question was Lamb's interest in MySpace - is anyone using this platform, or perhaps it has shrivelled since the publication of this text?

3 Essential Network Markets for Writers

2011-05-24T20:50:00.001+10:00

Do you network? I've always found that a funny word - almost predatory, even though my background was in marketing and networking was an intrinsic part of that. I love that Google calls it following (as does Twitter) and Facebook is even better calling it friending.

Regardless of what you call it, we've talked before about the need to build an online platform (to make connections and promote yourself as a writer). I find there are three separate areas for a writer to network in, this is my take:

Readers/Potential Customers - This is obvious. Identify your market. Are your books for tweens or teens? Mystery lovers or die-hard Sci-fiers? Find where they hang out and join their groups (this is a step I need to start taking). E.g. All of my books have dogs in them, some in a small way and some, well, like DOG SHOW DETECTIVE and MY ZOMBIE DOG. So, I could start following people on twitter in dog groups, animal rights and dog showing.
Publishers/Agents - When you query your dream agent or publisher, you want to know if they Google you, they'll get lots of hits about what a great writer you are - not old family Christmas photos where you're drunk and kissing Santa, who turns out to be your Uncle Gary (not a true story - I promise!).
Writers - This is the area I started with when I looked at reaching out and connecting with others on the Internet. It may not be the market that purchases my books, but this has been the networks that have informed, guided and motivated me so that my books will be out there for my reader market. The advice you gather from other writers is invaluable. I've taken writing courses through TAFE and completed a BA in Creative and Professional Writing, but my writing has progressed the most since I started blogging and reading writer blogs.

And because I've been attending a few workshops lately, and I want to keep building my circle of writers, I ordered these contact cards. It's a lot simpler than trying to scrawl out your blog address every time you meet someone. And on a budget? I got mine through Vista Print, delivered to my door for about $30. My only tip if you do this, is the card is slightly smaller than a business card and the set text size is a bit small to read, so I enlarged mine by a couple of points. Glad I did.

Have you started networking amongst your reader market yet? Where does your market hang out?

The Post-Rapture Post

2011-05-22T14:28:00.000+10:00

Glad to see everyone got through the Rapture (surely that close call will have been enough of a warning to put a stop to my writing procrastinations?).

Yesterday I spent the proposed last day at a YA Workshop hosted by Jeni Mawter (check out her website for her books and writing tips). I'll blog more about that and my trip to Sydney later, but one thing I wanted to raise was this continuous conversation amongst writers about the role of traditional publishing, the gatekeepers and the self-publising options. Perhaps it was just Rapture for those gatekeepers?

Until yesterday, my position on traditional publishing vs self-publishing for my own situation was that:

It is possible to produce a quality ebook and publish it on Amazon and like sites, you can even have paperback copies produced. The big if, is if you are prepared to put in a LOT of work. Once your book is written, it needs to be edited professionally or at least screened by many readers, until it is as good as you could possibly get it. Then you need great cover art, this is where I find a lot of self-publishers let their book down. You need an online presence and you need your ebook formatted. And of course you have to promote your book with your target market in mind. At least there are no query letters or synopsis' needed.

BUT. Being accepted by a publishing house will lift your status as a writer. There are still many people who are wary of self-publishing. As Jeni Mawter said in her workshop, the problem is there is too much white noise on Amazon, there needs to be a way to sort through the masses to find quality self-published books. This is starting to sort itself out with reviews and blogs to recommend books. The consumer may become the new gatekeeper and you'll have to work even harder to win them over. A publisher will do all the work to produce your product, and it will be available in Bookstores. That was my biggie. I was leaning towards traditional publishing because I loved the idea of seeing my book in a bookstore.

Now my stand is a little shaky. Jeni pointed out that bookstores are in serious trouble. We already knew about the Borders situation (or you can read my blog on Books without Borders). With the ebook outselling paper books, and the introduction of the book apps on iTunes, bookstores may not be the best location for selling books (this hurts), especially for debut writers. I LOVE bookstores, I know most of you LOVE bookstores, but eventually, we might not be enough to keep them :(

So now I'm immersing myself into research and opinions on the traditional publishing vs self-publishing options. Here's what I've found so far - what are your thoughts, or are you as uncertain as me?

The New York Times:

The Case for Self Publishing?

Nathan Bransford:

Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing: Which way will make you more money?

The Literary Analyst:

Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing (the pros and cons)

Will the App Replace the Ebook?

2011-05-18T22:07:00.002+10:00

The Kindle VS iPad for reading debate is about to heat up again. For some time now bloggers and book people have been discussing the possibility of the ebook completely replacing paper books. I still love both, so can't see that happening, but I do see a shake up of the book industry and a complete revision of how books are chosen and a shift in power. The new book industry will be consumer run rather than publisher run (sorry writers, there'll still be someone to answer to - the customers).

But what I do see as an interesting innovation is the apps that are appearing in place of ebooks and books. Probably the best known one being Al Gore's Our Choice, as presented by publisher/app creator Mike Matas:

Just shows what books can become. But my favourite was when I came across this app for a children's book. Check this out it is amazing (and an Australian publisher!):

I was blown away by how easy the language could be changed (I'd love these for my Spanish class), the interactivity and the ability to have the book read to you (audiobook style, not Kindle robot style). This book wouldn't work well on my black and grey Kindle, but is a treat on the iPad - have they finally found a way to push Kindle aside? Maybe Kindle will produce a colour touchscreen device (rumoured for mid 2011).

I LOVE the idea of books as apps, although I'm not keen on fiction being distracted with videos and such, but maybe having an audiobook embedded into the ebook, so you could read, but switch to audio when you are driving or tired. It would sync to your place for you. Can you think of any creative ways to turn fiction into book apps?

Want to know more about the publishers of the children's book app? Check out:

Blue Quoll Publishing

Save The Cat - Screenwriting for Novelists

2011-05-16T21:00:00.000+10:00

Save the Cat is a book for screenwriters that gets a lot of airtime on blogs. I don't do screenwriting, but I did find Writing Screenplays that Sell contained valuable advice for novelists. You can see my post along with a free PDF download on that book here:

Writing Novels: Formulas and Structures

Save the Cat contained a lot of personal experiences in the movie business and Snyder does go through some of the necessities like creating the perfect logline. In fiction this is usually called the elevator pitch. It's that one or two sentences that sum up your whole story.

So what do you need for a good logline?

Irony. Think commitment phobic reporter must pretend to be marrying his working partner to get the story of a lifetime from a mobsters wife who happens to be a wedding coordinator. Irony is great for stories, you can see a post here if you need help: Get a Little Irony in your Diet.
Imagery. You need to be able to see the whole movie in that one sentence. Conceited prince gets turned into an ugly beast is not enough, you need to add 'and must convince someone to love him as the beast to break the spell'. Now we have the whole story.
Market. The logline should acknowledge who it's aimed at. It should be clear if it is a children's story or a romantic comedy. This will help sell your manuscript.
Include the title. I'm not sure if this works if you have a working title that will probably change once published. But once the title is set in stone it will help promote your novel.

Snyder also explains the need for a catalyst moment in the first ten pages. That's not the main conflict, it can be as small as a phone call telling Miss Jones she has inherited a fortune, but only if she spends one whole night at terror castle, it can be a kid truanting school only to find that will be the reason they later stumble on a dead body. Or, in the case of a lot of murder mysteries, it can be the discovery of the first victim.

Overall this was a good book for screenwriters with some helpful advice for novelists, but I think Michael Hauge's book is still my favourite.

Now I'm reading:

I hope to find out if I've been doing everything wrong online :)

Dirty Writer

2011-05-14T22:16:00.000+10:00

Lilly slipped sensuously out of her long-johns...

Every now and then writers should branch outside of their comfort zone. Work on the areas we're weak in. My stories all contain some humour, a dog and are usually aimed at the kids - YA market. Last year during NaNoWriMo, I wrote the first draft of DIGGING UP DEATH, a paranormal mystery. I surprised myself when my protagonist, being in her early 20s, jumped into bed with a hottie from her dinosaur dig site (who may or may not turn out to be a murderer). Woah. I don't write sex... do I?

I don't know if I do or not. This story might get scaled back to YA level in the edits. What I do know is I don't write romance well, which affects my ability to write passion, which dictates how well I could write a sex scene.

When I saw the ACT Writers group was hosting a workshop called 'Turn up the heat' - I knew I had to take the opportunity to try it out.

Well, you think you know things.... The workshop leader, Nicole Murphy opened my eyes to some important elements and techniques of writing about getting hot and sweaty.

One key piece of advice applies to all types of writing - READ lots of the style of writing you want to write. Find great examples to imitate and find woeful ones to learn from someone else's mistakes (I made quite a few mistakes you could learn from in my writing exercises today, e.g. 'pungent' not a great word for exploring the scent sense in lurve making).

Nicole Murphy also tells us to consider the emotional intensity in any sex scene - how much do your characters have invested in this, does that show (to the reader, if not to the other character)?

There was lots more advice and exercises (which I am hiding well under a stack of literary books so my kids don't find them, partly because they're raunchy, but mostly because they're BAD). If you want some reading to give you some saucy examples, check out Nicole Murphy's paranormal romance novel:

Blogger, the Lover Returns

2011-05-14T06:50:00.000+10:00

Okay, sometimes it takes you leaving me before I understand how much I need and love you.

Blogger baby, I'm so glad you're back - now I can go and visit all those blogs and leave comments!

One thing though, and I don't mean to be picky, but where has my scheduled post gone? It didn't go up, but nor did it stay in my draft folder. You didn't hock it while you were on the run for fun money did you?

How did you survive the apocalypse?

Poke the Writer's Box

2011-05-10T22:00:00.000+10:00

There's been a lot of hype about Seth Godin's book Poke the Box. I gave it a whirl and found it a fast and fun read. Motivational books are often left open to interpretation and I read this from a writer's perspective.

The main theme of this book is bravery. Don't be afraid to try things, to start things, to shake things up - in other words poke the box. My dad's an entrepreneur by nature, so my childhood reading included books like Dale Carnegie's How to Make Friends and Influence People and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich (you can get the Kindle version for under a dollar). They had their own cult followings, this book will be like that. The trick is, it pushes you to act, but is ambiguous enough that everyone can relate to it. Dad would like this book, but maybe because the little man on the cover looks like he might be a distant relative of a Queensland favourite; the XXXX factory headquarters is just around the corner from my Dad's and they still sport their 1960s logo:

There are no secret instructions to success. You won't find them in this book either, but Godin points out, that's not the point of the book. You have to stop waiting for instructions - you need to GO, you need to START SOMETHING. And if it doesn't work? START SOMETHING else, and something else. Always be starting. Godin tells us, don't wait to be picked - PICK YOURSELF.

Writers feeling uncertain about putting their work out there, or considering self-publishing would get a LOT out of this book. Godin has been known to encourage writers to take a risk with their work. This book is part of a self-publishing project, you can learn more by visiting:

The Domino Project

Or, visit Seth's Blog

You might also like Brainwashed -a free ebook about re-inventing yourself.

Now I'm reading Save the Cat

Have you read Poke the Box? Got another Seth Godin book you love? Let me know!

Organisation and the Writer

2011-05-09T22:00:00.006+10:00

The Writer's Kanban:

I started reading Personal Kanban. A book about organising your tasks. I'm a big to-do list girl but am always open to new ideas for organisation and project management. The biggest problem I've found with most tools is when you try to combine several projects at once, for me that would be teaching, writing and home life.

This book was easily read in a day and I suspect it is one of those techniques that you have to use for a while before you appreciate it. It seems simple enough; write all your tasks on post it notes, stick them in the backlog (to-do) column, prioritise and move the ones you can work on now to the 'doing' column and move them to 'done' when finished. The key difference that I can spot between writing a to-do list and using this system is in a list all your tasks are there waiting to be done, it can be a bit overwhelming. Kanban insists you limit your WIPs, that is limit the number of tasks you allow in your 'doing' column.

I didn't have a whiteboard handy, so I improvised with my wardrobe pink is writing, blue is teaching (today was Mother's Day, so I felt no need to add domestic chores):

I'll try this for a while and let you know if it turns out to be a life-changer. You can find out more about the Kanban system by visiting the website:

http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/

Or view these slides:

Personal Kanban 101

I've been trying it out along with the Pomodoro technique - you work on a task for 25minutes, take a 5minute break and then move onto a different task for 25minutes. I've blogged about it before in:

8 Ways to Prioritise Writing

Or, you can find out more at:

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

Now I'm reading Seth Godin's Poke the Box:

Writer's To-Do List

2011-05-07T09:56:00.001+10:00

Weak attempt to make a to-do list seem sexy.

So much to do, so little time to recline in an alluring pose. This week I plan to...

Buy more Paranormalcy hardcover copies for gifts at the discounted price (click here to see or go to Paper Dolls for a review from 13yr old Milly).
Check out what local writing events are coming up and whinge a lot that Canberra does not seem to have its own writers festival anymore. *pouts*
Finish writing Ch3 of MY ZOMBIE DOG - Zane is trying to wash the dog he buried yesterday, but undead is the hardest smell to get rid off.
Send another Query out for DOG SHOW DETECTIVE.
Catch up with my Graphic Designer over content data for the website (but really for cups of tea, cake and gossip).
Get a little (read teeny weeny) bit of editing done on THE COSTUME MAKER.
Fantasise about getting a new MacBook Pro laptop. Mmmmm pretty....
Read My Personal Kanban a book I heard about on a new podcast Kindle Self Publishing. This book promises to make me a more organised project manager for my writing, and possibly write better to-do lists. (I'll blog more when I've read it)
Blog - about something (it'll come to me).
Catch up on visiting your blogs.

Think I'll climb back into bed now and cover the reading part.

What's your to-do list looking like?

10 Ways to find Time to Write

2011-05-04T12:15:00.001+10:00

Think you have no time to write? I'm finding some of these tactics helpful to get me through writing MY ZOMBIE DOG.

LOVE your WIP. Seriously, this is the best way to find time to write, if you can't wait to get back to it, you think about it all day long, then you'll find a way.
PRIORITISE. Stop thinking you need to find 'spare' time to write. There is no spare time, everyday only has the same 24 hrs. Start deciding to write before you take on daily chores.
MORE HOURS. There's the get up early or stay up late method. Even if it's just 30 minutes and you get a couple of hundred words in, it's a start to get you motivated.
NOTEBOOKS. Take one with you everywhere, you'll be amazed how many words will add up when you add a few on the bus, waiting in line at the supermarket or sitting in the pub waiting for your mate to get back from the bar.
DON'T COMPARE. If you start focusing on how many words other writers get in, you'll feel disappointed.
MINIMUM LIMITS. Sometimes I set a time I'll be on a break and I'll say, ok, just have to get ONE sentence in, then leave it. Of course once you get that one sentence, you'll be motivated to write more.
REWARDS. I've done this before where I want a book on writing or to attend a workshop. I'll set myself a wordcount I have to reach before I'm allowed to purchase/book it. I think everyone should have a nice big reward for finishing a draft. That's a big deal!
TURN OFF the Internet. I could be writing now.
Write BETWEEN tasks. I have a 20 minute cleaning routine. The whole family runs around madly cleaning for 20 minutes. From now on, I'll extend that routine to 10 minutes writing, 20 cleaning, then 10 writing. Once it becomes part of the routine, it'll have to be done (those are the rules).
SHORT SPRINTS. Even if it's 5 minutes. If you can sneak in ten of those a day, you'll find you write faster and more productively if you know you don't have much time.

How's your writing coming? I've been squeezing in time in my lunch breaks to write, Zane has now found the smelly undead dog back in his room, after burying it yesterday. And it seems to like him.

How to Write Fiction from Life

2011-05-02T19:29:00.001+10:00

Some of my real life inspirations

Most of my stories have grown from an experience in my life. Not specifically, I haven't seen dragons, uncovered a murder mystery or owned a zombie dog (wait, I have done the last one), but I've heard a conversation, watched a behaviour or been in a situation I've found laughable enough to write about.

When my eldest daughter started getting interested in dog showing, we'd attend the shows and I started to think it would be a great micro-culture for a murder mystery. The Pirate Girl included a character based on the tenacity and passion of my youngest daughter. And of course, there's our zombie dog.

Fossil has never been right in the head. She's one of those typical tiny dogs that feels the need to prove themselves against every other dog, visitor, postman or vacuum cleaner. We have three dogs, but have to keep the little one away from our Border Collie, Zoe. Fossil starts many fights with her, but Zoe's able to finish them. I can't tell you how many times I've been convinced Fossil was done for. I always tell the rest of the family the dog's been dead (she certainly looks it) for years, and is just waiting for someone to dig the hole. This fluffy psychopath has been the inspiration for my new WIP - My Zombie Dog.

Chapter one of My Zombie Dog begins with a dog burial after Zane's mum brings home a mutt that instantly dies. I remembered having to bury my last dog, Scruffy, after 17years of friendship. Matilda was only about four and was caught shortly afterwards dragging a shovel towards the grave. When asked what she was doing, she informed us she wanted to play with Scruffy. Funny, creepy, but funny. A little sister does a similar thing in My Zombie Dog, except with a plastic spade (just a little less creepy).

You have to be careful not to stick too closely to real life for fiction for several reasons:

It's usually not quite as funny as your imagination can make it.
Just because it really happened, doesn't make it believable for the reader.
You could offend someone if you depict them in a way that is obvious (this could also be a legal issue).

Where do you get your ideas? I've blogged about other ways to find inspiration in:

Plot Ideas from Headlines

I is for Ideas

Z is for Zany Bloggers

2011-04-30T09:29:00.000+10:00

I really thought I'd be blogging Z is for Zip it this post, 'cause I get a bit lazy by letter 26, and the only book I've read on the craft of writing starting with Z is Zen in the Art of Writing, but I blogged about that in the last A-Z challenge in:

Z is for Zen

But then came the Zany. Alex J Cavanaugh is hosting another (yes, another) blogfest and this time it's all about fun and games. Don't start shaking, I know what you're thinking. You'll get a rest, this is not until June, click on the linked picture to go to Alex's site, or sign up below:

Now, I intend to cash in on a few owed Zzzzzzs.

Y is for YA Writing

2011-04-29T16:13:00.000+10:00

I'm very excited :)

I need to take my girls to Sydney in May for a dinosaur show, and it just happens to be the same weekend there are some great events happening for the Sydney Writers Festival!

I've signed up for a day's workshop on writing for YAs hosted by Jeni Mawter:

Acne is Optional, Attitude is Not: Writing for Young Adults

Do you try to attend workshops, or writers festivals? I get so much out of them, even if the information is not new (and there's always something new), I get so motivated to write by being in the presence of other writers. If you need an excuse here's my post:

8 Reasons to Attend Writers Festivals

X is for Xenophobia

2011-04-29T06:52:00.000+10:00

Xenophobia is the fear of strangers, but has come to mean the fear of any person or group that is foreign to our own comfortable assumptions. It can develop as a hatred towards races at a cultural level, or at a more micro level it could be the unreasonable hatred of people not within your social group (cheerleaders hating chess club members).

We all make assumptions about people, that's our overactive imaginations showing they work, but how that manifests into our behaviour will reveal whether we are xenophobic. Most of our stories will have at least one xenophobic character. In my fantasy novel The Costume Maker, my trio travel to another world where they come across three very different communities, each hating the other. I'm not sure if wars start from xenophobia (or if they are more politically devised for more sinister ulterior motives), but they are certainly propelled by it. Governments have been known to use people's mistrust and fear of the unfamiliar to allow them to differentiate themselves from the target culture, the way we disassociate ourselves from a different species. I guess this just makes it easier to hate.

So who's xenophobic in your novel? Matilda just posted a book review on Paper Dolls about a novel where a family find a bunny and take it in, the suspicious cat thinks this bunny is a vampire and therefore fears it, it turns out maybe a little understanding was needed instead. Check out Bunnicula.

X also marked the spot yesterday - it was my birthday and I had some wonderful surprises. It was also sweet to see many good cheers sent my way via Facebook. Thanks Facebook, I would forget many of my own family's birthdays if it wasn't for you.

W is for Writing Manuals

2011-04-27T18:38:00.000+10:00

I decided for W, I would do a few of my all time favourite books on writing. If you're a regular, you may have seen them mentioned before. These are the ones I think are brilliant value for money, broken down to function or genre:

Writing for Children:

The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb

I love this book so much, I'm re-reading it at the moment. It advises you all steps and aspects of writing a story for kids (and YAs). This guide even devotes a whole chapter to finding inspiration and ways to turn an idea into a story. There's also a great section helping you through the mid-story crisis, where you need to introduce momentum, and how to make your scenes page-turners. You'll learn about plots and sub-plots, suitable characters, dialogue and how to work your way through getting stuck with you WIP. It's easy to read and has lots of examples.

Mystery Writing:

Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron

This book is like a workbook and guide in one. Ephron provides charts and worksheets for your to fill in along the way as well as exercises for you tighten your mystery novel. A lot of planning goes into mysteries, you have to have your villains, detectives and victims all sorted, not to mention the clues and red herrings. Say a body turns up dead in your first page - have you bothered to do a character profile on that person? If you go to the extra trouble, you'll find more motives and suspects you can weave through your story.

If you are writing a mystery, you may get some help from my previous post:

13 Best Links for Mystery Writers

Fantasy Writing:

Adventures in Fantasy by John Gust

A text book designed to be used in the classroom, this book is actually great for all ages. The main premise is to start your Fantasy story by creating a map of your world. From there your landscapes and natural elements will help you decide how to populate that world and what ecological conflicts your characters could face. To read more of my review, you can see my previous post here. And for those who read it previously, I did overcome my problem of the Kindle version having worksheets I couldn't print; I view the page on my Kindle for Mac, then open the program Preview (this is Mac, not sure for PC users sorry) and take a snapshot of the page by selection.

Young Writers:

Juicy Writing by Brigid Lowry

This was a hard one to pick because there's a few books I love for young writers, but this one is new for me and I'm loving the practical yet motivating exercises in there. Adult writers could enjoy it too.

There are lots more books I love, but this blogpost would get way too long, so, I may have to save some for another time. Only X, Y and Z to go!

V is for View - Blogger Tip

2011-04-26T20:52:00.000+10:00

Looking for a new way to view blogs?

There's one app on the iPad that I love - Flipboard. What it does is display your blogs in a magazine fashion, so you see snippets of stories and such. Did you know that there are different ways to view people's blogs from your computer?

If you go to the url in the address bar right now (says http://www.clancytales.blogspot.com/) and add to it:

view

You'll probably get the sidebar view of this blog, down the sidebar of this blog is a list of all the previous blogs. Now at the top of the page towards the right side, there's a blue button that probably says Sidebar. You can click on that and choose the other layout designs as well. I quite like Snapshot for when you want to try to find a previous post.

Does this work on your blog? If you have blogger or blogspot blog, you need to go into the Settings menu (from your dashboard). Your blog must be public, not one that people need to sign into to see. In Settings, choose Site Feed, and make sure your 'Allow Blog Feeds' button is either 'Full' (that's what I have selected) or 'Jump Break'. Also in Setting, choose Formatting and where it says 'Enable Dynamic Views', choose Yes.

That's all you have to do (most are set this way by default anyway, so you might not have to tamper at all). Then view your blog and type the word 'view' at the end of the url. I just think it's cool.

U is for Unwind

2011-04-25T22:45:00.001+10:00

Time to Unwind

This A-Z has been great for social networking, but I'm assuming I'm not the only one finding it quite time-consuming at the moment. Not far to go, then I can go back to posting about three times a week. Like a lot of bloggers, after Z I intend to take a few days off to unwind.

Here's my ways of unwinding:

Switch off the computer. I can't help myself and will start jumping from site to site if I have access.
Read a new book that is not useful for my writing or in anyway literary. Something fun, maybe even smutty (okay, I'm lame, it'd be very mildly smutty or I'd get embarrassed that someone would recognise the novel).
Download a TV series and watch all episodes in a veg-day marathon (these school holidays I've discovered Veronica Mars and Fringe).
Do some writing exercises that are not about my current WIP. Riff-writing helps me to unthink too. Fantasy writer, Ursula Le Guin has a great book for strengthening your writing by breaking it down to smaller exercises (it's also great to use in the classroom) called Steering the Craft.
Visit bookstores. This can be a bit of an expensive past time for me.
Spend time with my dogs and an audiobook. I'll take one of my dogs for a nice long walk around Yass and listen to an audiobook at the same time. Today I was listening to book 3 in The Dresden Files series, Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (awesome detective style series with a slight difference, instead of a PI, the protagonist is a Wizard with a few bad debts).

My ways of unwinding always involve me doing things. I have a lot of trouble just relaxing, bubble baths just stress me because I think of all the things I need to be doing. Mind you, if I'm reading in the bath, then it's okay.

Another Unwind is the most awesome Scifi/dystopian novel I've ever read. Unwind by Neil Shusterman is masterful and the story will sit with you long after you finish (especially one particular scene, anyone who has read it will understand).

Click here to read a review of Unwind from Paper Dolls

Okay, now I've got a LOT of blogs to catch up on!

T is for Titles

2011-04-23T15:35:00.003+10:00

What's in a name? Can the title of your novel really decide how successful it is?

There's lots of things to consider when choosing a title.I've been doing some research and here are some tips I've unearthed from people in the know.

A novel title should:

Express the genre. A Shallow Grave would suit a thriller or horror story, but I don't think it would be a great title for a pet memoir.
Be Concise. Convoluted titles will only bore the reader. The Night We All Went into the Woods after Sarah Jane went Missing and Came Across a Scary Psychopath with an Axe might cover all the aspects of your story, but your book browser will probably put it down before getting halfway through the title.
Be Original. Calling your book Silence of the Lambs might get you a few accidental purchases, but it won't win you long time readers. You can however rip off cliche's and quotes as titles.
Be Funny. Humour is a great way to attract a reader (but only if your novel promises more humour within the narrative). Read this post by McSweeney to see why you must include the word Alchemist in your title.

Of course for every rule, there are plenty that break them, such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Paranormalcy (good read, but I find it so hard to say) and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Thinking about genre, I thought I'd try and express Dog Show Detective in different genres (you know, for the fun).

Tail of Love Lost

Dognapped!

In Space No One Hears You Bark

Beware the Dognapper's Fangs

Okay, I suck at impromptu titles!

Check out this cool Internet Show on book titles:

http://www.getpublishedtv.com/best-book-titles-come-up-with-a-compelling-book-title-episode-038/

S is for Synopsis Bleh

2011-04-22T10:42:00.000+10:00

Need some motivation to write that synopsis?

I would have loved to share with you the inside secrets of writing the perfect synopsis. But, as I am currently working on the crappiest synopsis ever, I think I'll steer you towards some that know better than I.

From the Holly Lisle course, How to Revise Your Novel (my all-time favourite course on editing), I found the key is to have a conflict sentence for each scene you write. This conflict sentence will outline what the character is doing and what is stopping them or making it worse. Here's some examples from my novel Dog Show Detective:

Kitty is nervous about entering the dog show with Spade, but forgets all that when she finds a lost dog.
Miss Norfolk explains that her grandmother left her a fortune in her will - but only if nothing happens to her beloved dog, Ozzie.
The Walkers attend to the mess left by the intruder, wondering why nothing is stolen, until Kitty realises the intruder was after the dog.
The killer is unconscious and the girls could escape, but Jack has a broken ankle. Kitty decides to stay with him and let Jessica go for help.

A conflict statement will usually be MC tries to.... BUT Mr X...... or MC gets into trouble..... AND ........ makes it worse. Holly Lisle refers to this as 'The Sentence'.

If you need some help making sure there is conflict in every scene, you can check out my earlier post:

Get a Little Conflict in Your Scene

There seems to be different advice on how long your Synopsis should be, but in Australia, most publishers advise they want 1 page double-spaced.

Some sites to visit for your synopsis writing:

Author Aaron Paul Lazar outlines how he wrote his synopsis at Murder By 4

Elana Johnson's How to Write a Synopsis

A Synopsis Workshop by Sheila Kelly

R is for Reality and Writers

2011-04-21T09:22:00.000+10:00

When my kids first got excited about Pokemon, I was disappointed. Within a short amount of time they had learnt the species name, stages of evolution, habitat, strengths and weaknesses of hundreds of these creatures. I kept thinking, if they'd put that effort into learning about real animals, it would at least be useful information. Sometimes I get too hung up on useful.

You can find lots of posts and information on the web about the reality of writing, what your chances are to land an agent, how hard it is and how much rejection you'd face before you ever get published, and, if you self-publish? Forget about becoming the next Amanda Hocking.

Big raspberry at reality. Who needs it? I invite you to come and live in the land without reality. In this nation, all you need to do to get your book published and out in the world is simple. Write it. Write it, finish it, edit it, finish it again. Then do up a synopsis and an awesome query letter. Rewrite those a few times too. Readers? If you write it, they will come.

Of course, time is more salient in the not real world, so we don't panic about how long it takes, we just write another book, and another, so they'll be ready when the publishing world catches up to us. The big rule in the not real world? RELAX. Enjoy the experience.

If you do have your feet planted firmly on the ground and you want to know how to get back to reality? You can't get there from here.

Q is for Query Letters

2011-04-19T19:57:00.000+10:00

I told you about the Query Letter blog hop over at:
http://aliciagregoire.blogspot.com/2011/04/need-query-letter-help.html

Well, after much agonising... here is my attempt at a query letter for Dog Show Detective. I am actually sending this out soon (like this week), so I need criticism!

I'm not thin-skinned when it comes to feedback, I see my craft as something I'm constantly learning and am very open to improvement. Critiques were a life-saver during my edit stage. My query:

Dear...

I would like to introduce you to my middle-grade fiction, Dog Show Detective, in the mystery genre aimed at 9-12yr. old readers. It is complete at 30,000 words.

12yr old Kitty Walker decides to enter her Miniature Schnauzer in a dog show to impress her mum. Kitty expects it to be embarrassing, Spade is not the best-behaved dog, and Jessica Jones is sure to win, but she doesn’t expect it to be so dangerous!

At the show, Kitty finds a lost dog, but, when she returns it, the owner insists it's the wrong dog. Only Kitty believes the owner and sets out to uncover the mystery of the missing dog. There are clues along the way, but why is someone trying to dognap the little terrier she found? And would they really kill just to keep the identity of the little dog hidden?

This story stands alone, however, there is the potential for the characters to go on to solve more mysteries (I’ve outlined the plots for future Kitty and Spade mysteries).

My credentials include editing editorials of publications, Brisbane Business News and Gold Coast Living, and, working for a marketing agency. I have a degree in Professional and Creative Writing and have also studied for a Marketing Diploma. I currently teach English, Spanish and Media at my local High School and am passionate about providing opportunities for children to gain literacy skills. I've been building an online presence with my blog, Twitter, Facebook (see my header for links) and have my graphic artist designing my author website.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Charmaine Clancy

Writing a query letter has made me think of my favourite poem:

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by William Butler Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

P is for Participating

2011-04-19T14:44:00.001+10:00

There is a blog challenge I wanted to let you in on, and it's starting... now! You're probably thinking, I'm already up to my ears in posts about letters, yeah, I'm feeling that pressure too. But this A-Z challenge has been great, I'm posting, writing, I've got more followers and I've discovered more wonderful blogs on the craft of writing. Usually one challenge at a time would be enough for me, but not this time. I found this at:

http://aliciagregoire.blogspot.com/2011/04/need-query-letter-help.html

I'm trying to craft the dreaded query letter and this blog hop allows participants to post their query letter and let other bloggers critique it (a bit scary). Want to join in?

And, because today is the 19th in Australia, I'd better go and work on my Query letter and post my Qpost today!

O is for Observing Outstanding Writers

2011-04-18T19:01:00.002+10:00

O is also for the Opera House in Sydney. Emily and I headed there yesterday to see author Garth Nix interview mega-author Sir Terry Pratchett. OMG.

Apparently the Concert Hall seats 2,679 people, and it looked pretty darn full. Emily commented she'd never seen that many people before, that there were more people in that hall than in the whole of our hometown (Gross hyperbole Emily, there are at least 5,000 people living in Yass).

During the talk, Sir Pratchett's wonderful reader shared a section of his newest book in the Discworld series, Snuff. Emily and I only recently discovered Discworld, but, while we are about 30+ books behind Snuff, we still can not wait until it is released later this year. It was hilarious!

Although the talk was for just over an hour, I felt I gained a lot of insight into successful writing from Sir Pratchett. Here are just a few snippets I'd like to share:

Terry Pratchett has FUN writing. It is obvious that he delves right into his fantasy world he has created and adores his own characters (or adores to torture them).
A lot of his stories have connections with our own myths, legends and history.
He sees stories as a lineage back through his own family and thinks the reason people get old is so they can say to the kids, 'back in my day...'
He enjoys research - it's a break from writing.
Terry Pratchett believes writing is a way of showing the reader another way to look at the world.

Some of Pratchett's books I prefer as an audio book (which I get from audible.com), because they sound so good read aloud. Emily and I are listening to the main Discworld books that way. Emily also loves Only You Can Save Mankind.

Click to see the Paper Dolls review

But, I did manage to pick up a few more books while I was there. Here's my latest stash:

And, because he's also very awesome, I got these Garth Nix books:

O is also for Opportunity. And, if you get the opportunity to see a professional author speak, then you should jump at it. You can learn a lot from the Sir Pratchetts of the world.

Yes, Emily has green hair. Only for the holidays, then all those green bits must be snipped off before returning to school.

N is for NaNoWriMo

2011-04-16T22:40:00.001+10:00

In 2009, I signed up for a contest called NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is held over the month of November each year and the idea is that you start and finish a 50,000 word novel (minimum) in that month. It seems fast paced and the emphasis is definately on quantity rather than quality, but oh the whimsical fun!

I mentioned that this is a contest, but with a difference:

Who are you competing against? Yourself. If you beat the hurdles and excuses that prevent 50,000 words, then you win.

What do you win? Other than being listed as a NaNoWriMo Winner and receive some cool badges for your blog, you win 50,000 words of a first draft for your novel. Come join the madness, and friend me at NaNoWriMo. November will be upon us before you know it.

Fact is, I usually write two manuscripts a year. One takes me 11 months and the other takes me 4 weeks. Why? Deadlines. I make sacrifices and push myself for November, also my family and friends understand my pressure and give me the space and support to write. For some reason I just can't drag that on for the rest of the year.

In 2009 I worked out my plot by starting with a brainstorming (also known as Clustering) session. 2010, I had my story prompt from a character exercise I did at the CYA Writer's Conference (you can see my post about it at Character to Plot Workshop).

Already a NaNoWriMo participant? Did you know NaNoWriMo have a Young Writers Program? It allows the junior authors to become involved as well. They don't have to do 50k of words though, they can pick their own limit. Last year my girls did 6,000 words, Emily with her paranormal mystery (about dragons used for murder) and Matilda with her Greek God mystery (Greekafied).

There are some great resources on the Young Writers Program site for beginners too. I found the High School Workbook extremely helpful. It will take you step by step through the process of setting up your plot and characters in a lovely simple format. And it's free!

My tactics:

Don't tackle anything that needs constant research, and if it does, skip that and fix it later (you can edit in December, you won't have time in November)

Plan your plot - If I try to write constantly for 50,000 I'm likely to start with a family story and end up with space porn, but only after going through a period of postmodern zombie/military action. I need structure.

Don't start something you've been planning. Start something new that you are not yet attached to. Come December you can get crazy about your plot and characters, but you won't have time to dwell in November - there's writin' to do!

Tell everyone you're doing it. Put it on your blog. It will make it a lot harder for you to drop out after 539 words.

Drag your friends and family into it, or join a region group (you can do that on the site). If you have writing buddies you will urge each other on and help with plot barriers.

What I love most about this challenge is that it is international and although there are would-be authors struggling over manuscripts every day, now I feel part of that group knowing we are all busily typing at once. Join me... join me.. join me....

M is for Metaphors, Magic for Manuscripts.

2011-04-15T18:55:00.001+10:00

Metaphors can be magic for your manuscript, spells that weave enchantment through figurative language. Okay, enough playing with the metaphor, it's when you say one thing is another, as a way of creating imagery in your writing. For example; Sophie lost all composure and became a pig at the dinner table, an aggressive sow, her snout greedily munching on the slops. Now, Sophie is not actually a pig, we are creating an image for the reader to picture Sophie eating in a way that disgusts the other dinner guests. If we wanted a simile, we'd say Sophie was like a pig, meaning she is similar.

Like all figurative language, metaphors can be a device that enhances your writing, but be careful not to overuse it (you will tire out your reader) or make it cliche like it's raining cats and dogs or people drowning in each other's eyes (hmm, like being a pig when you eat? Um, yeah. Okay, sometimes the cliches comes to mind first - sorry). But, they could be used effectively as dialogue for a character that would use a lot of trite expressions.

Another problem is when metaphors are mixed in a sentence or paragraph and provide conflicting or confusing comparisons.

For example: I could see by her expression she was a crazed dog with a chip on her shoulder. I tried to leave the shop but she drove at me like an angry bull. There are too many different images here that do not organically sit together well. The safest route is to keep metaphors simple, just one comparison for a passage, however, clever writers can continue with a metaphor and keep the flow cohesive. Take this example from English Essential (Mem Fox & Lyn Wilkinson): Writing is a bumpy road, full of obstacles, potholes and loose stones. ...If you can avoid these problem areas your writing stands a better chance of reaching its destination without being wrecked on the way.

So how do we master the extended metaphor?

In Manuscript Makeover, Elizabeth Lyon suggests:

Use riff-writing (explained in an earlier post) to explore the connections that come naturally when you write without restriction.
Look up your word in a dictionary and thesaurus to expand your 'language' on it.
Consider your character from different angles, not just what you 'see'. Think about the geographical location, era, setting, and emotions.

Start a section in your writer's notebook for cool metaphors and similes. Copy them from other narratives that work well and then try to add some of your own. If you want to build up a bank of metaphors/similes try doing some writing exercises finding metaphors for commonly used adjectives and adverbs. For example, find a metaphor/simile for fast, slow, happy, evil, white, black, red and whatever else you can think of.

Manuscript Makeover is a book I recommend to ALL writers. It's one of my favourites.

Some other links for metaphors/similes:

Copyblogger

Writer's Community

Infoplease

L is for Learning to Write

2011-04-14T12:36:00.000+10:00

My thoughts on the topic of learning to write is that it is the information and skill that matters, not the process in receiving it. And, ideally, we would gain information from academic resources and by hands-on training. I'm a bit of a study bug, I love doing courses on just about anything, but mostly writing. Here are some ways I think we can learn the craft:

Degrees in Literature/Writing. I've seen some writers poo-ha this method, saying that you can't learn to write by studying literature and you don't need a university degree to write. Of course you don't need one - but I learned a lot about the structure of novels and the various genres by studying. It's not for everyone, but it is rewarding.

Online Courses. I took on a course with Sydney Writers Centre, they have many great courses on creative writing, including Writing Books for Young Adults and Children. You get great feedback on your submissions and lots of online support.

Self-paced Courses. This takes some time-management skills. I've enjoyed Holly Lisle's How to Think Sideways as a way to learn while I write. The information is extensive and the activities are directly related to your work in progress. My favourite self-paced course though is Lisle's How to Review Your Novel - this is an amazing course that teaches you absolutely the BEST way to edit that first draft.

Writers Festivals. I went to my first last year. It was AMAZING. I picked up so much in the CYA Conference in just one day, I'll be back again this year. I'm hoping to attend a few more this year too (if I can get the time from work). If you need to know why you should attend these festivals, check out my post 8 Reasons to Attend Writers Festivals.

Books on Writing. There are so many available (and so many on my bookshelf), that I won't list them, but you can judge books by the star rating that Amazon provides and read the reviews to see if they are helpful (or search through my blog, I often list the ones I recommend). Choose books that address your weak points. If you are new to writing you might want to try some writing exercises, or maybe you need help with plotting, or dialogue. There's a book for every step of writing a novel.

Audiobooks. How have I gone so long in my life before discovering these? There are some great books that include writing exercises. Those ones seem to work best for audio. The text book information is hard to focus on for long periods, but some run like classes. The best thing about audiobooks is the time-saving, you can listen while in the car, walking the dog, washing the dishes, etc.

Blogs. There is an endless depth of knowledge being shared through blogs. I am amazed and warmed by how friendly and supportive the writing community is. Mostly we search through and blog information is disposable, but when you see something really helpful, bookmark it or print it off and file these in categories such as plotting, character, dialogue, editing... etc. So when you do need help in that area, the information is easy to find again. I create pages of links under those headings, so I can use them again and can share them with you. For example, here is my list of links for Novel Writing Structure.

Reading Fiction. Take notes while you read of any great examples of dialogue, metaphors, writing style, etc. Try to mimic your favourite passages, this is a great exercise in strengthening your own writing style. Make lists of what you think the author did well and what you would have done differently.

There are many more ways to learn writing such as finding a great mentor, receiving feedback, practicing, etc. You can check out a few more resources at 13 Best Resources for Writers.

K is for Kindle Books for Writers

2011-04-13T07:46:00.000+10:00

I'm a Kindle addict. Which comes as no surprise, I'm also a book addict and an audiobook addict. But, in particular, I am an addict of books on the craft of writing. Here are some I've found on Kindle for 99c. There's lots out there, but these are the ones I think show potential (I haven't read them all yet, but am reading How to Write a Great Query Letter at the moment).

How to Write a Great Query Letter by Noah Lukeman

Write or Die by Scott Nicholson

Publishing Exposed by Daryl Sedore

Are You Still Submitting Your Work to a Traditional Publisher? by Edward Patterson

Ask a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman

From Words to Brain by Liva Blackburne

The Nasty Little Writing Book by M. Rovenhauer

A Book Inside by Carol Denbow

Rather than seek help for my addiction, I choose to lure you in as well, come, buy, enjoy...

J is for Jester

2011-04-12T12:03:00.002+10:00

Readers like the bad boy more than the 'nice guy'. There's another character that wins us all over - The Jester.

The Jester, or the Fool is a traditional character that adds wit to a story. Their purpose is not only for laughs though, they are often pertinent to the progress of the narrative. Shakespeare's jesters were traditional political humorists, it was their job to keep the King grounded by mocking his political decisions (much like comedians do for politicians today - like The Chasers show). But what if you're not by nature a comedian? Is it hard to write humour? I think it's no harder or easier than writing any style you're not used to (my weak-writing is in romance). So what type of humour should you employ?

The one-liners.

The witty character that is always coming up with quick one-liners. Sometimes these remarks are at the expense of others, this makes the character seem a little heartless. Cordelia from Buffy or Dr House from House are examples. There's two ways you can deal with that; make the receiver of the wit deserve the line, or, make your witty one-liner character get their just deserts at some stage. This is the Trickster character, everything he does is for his own amusement.

The fool.

He's there for us to laugh at. He gets it wrong, but monumentally wrong. He's goofy and harmless, but at some stage in the story, despite all our assumptions of this character, he will actually help the situation where no one else could. No one will be more surprised than the fool. Think Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, or Morgan from Chuck.

The scenario.

Sometimes life is funny. We get ourselves into things that seem so absurd that we can laugh at them latter, these make great novel moments. You can draw on family stories or your own to create a humorous situation.

For example, I don't swear, well, not the really bad words anyway. While at Uni, I took a course called Psychobiology of Sex, mostly it was about monkeys and alpha-males, but a little touched on the language we humans use. We were asked to write down all the names we knew, including swear words and slang for the female anatomy. Some of mine just used the first letter, followed by dashes. The teacher asked me to read my list. OMG. My face went red and I just read out the first letters. The teacher pushed me to read out the C word. No way. She kept at me and insisted it was just a word. She said it several times. No way. Next, she got the rest of the class to chant the word so I could join in. No way. This went on painfully for about 5 minutes, with the whole class chanting C..., C..., C... I kept seeing students walking past our open door and wondered what they must think of the situation. It was bizarre, like a weird dream where you realise you have a test for a subject you don't know and you're naked. Anyway, it was weird enough to be funny.

Humour can reveal an oddity in what we accept day to day. It can be used in fiction as a way of mocking itself (Pretty Little Liars had a scene in the woods with four scared teens, a branch cracks and a girl says to the others, 'Did you hear that?' This happens all the time in movies, but this time, one says "Well, yeah, I'm standing right next to you."). It can also break the tension, it's very common after a fright for people to laugh, it's our body's way of using up all that adrenaline. Humour is a good way of introducing the unexpected. Plus, humour just makes stories fun. (Click on the pic to read a funny)

Here are some more links to help you with writing the funny:

Make Your Writing Funny - A great post on All Freelance Wrting, with specific examples. I found this most helpful when trying to funny-up one of my characters.

Building Characters with Jung - One of my previous posts, includes a chart of character types and what their motivations are.

Top Ten Tips for Writing Humour - A few ideas for you to play with.

Write on the Funny - Gives some funny scenarios.

I is for Ideas

2011-04-10T22:40:00.000+10:00

Keep those ideas handy!

It seems almost every author interview includes the question 'where do you get your ideas?' Ideas spurt from our imaginations at an alarming rate, too fast to ever record them all. The trick is to find a plot worthy idea, one that can extend through a whole novel.

One way to check your idea for substance is to dot point all the things that could possibly happen in that story. If you can come up with at least 20 points, then you could write a chapter for each and there's your novel outline. I like to aim for 40, because some will be rejected or changed as I go.

But if you really need some inspiration to kickstart your ideas (or more likely, just to recognise them as they surface - because I know you have them already), then try these:

Keep a Notebook

You hear it over and over again, but how many of us remember to carry ours around with us at all times? I try to, but if I forget, I have an 'inspirations' section in my iPhone notebook, or I can even record a message (if I'm driving). I've blogged about the sacred notebooks in:

The Writer's Notebook

Record Your Dreams

You will feel silly at first and have lots of random images that don't seem to tie together, but flesh it out and you'll see a possible plot emerge. My previous posts on dreamwriting:

7 Tips for Keeping a Dream Diary

Turning Dreams into Stories

Forgetting Dreams

Steal from Headlines

The newspapers and current affairs programs are filled with great ideas for stories. Take a headline, without reading the article and start to see what plot-line you can come up with. Who would the characters be and what would the main conflict be? If you want to try this, visit:

Plot Ideas from Headlines

Just Write

There are plenty of writing exercises you can try to come up with new stories. Here's one of the many books I use for writing exercises:

Now, get to that notebook and write! *Should heed own advice*

H is for HTML for Writer Blogs

2011-04-09T22:05:00.000+10:00

Um... yeah, sure.

Mention HTML and a lot of people break out in a sweat. It's really not that scary, it's just computer language. I can't claim to speak it fluently, but have learned a few greetings to communicate my needs with my blog design. Today I'll share a fairly easy code you can use.

Blog link

Have you noticed some comments have the author's website or blog linked? Would you like a tag-line at the end of your comments that you can link back to your blog? Here's how you do it, below is the text for my link that I like to put in the bottom of my comments on other people's blogs:

It shows up like this:

Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers

All you have to do is change my url (http://clancytales.blogspot.com/) with your own, and, change Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers, with the name of your blog. All the other bits, like the <, a, ", / should all stay exactly where they are.

If you've mastered that, perhaps you'd like to make yourself a Blog Badge, that's the button that other bloggers put up on their blogs to link back to your site (mine's in the sidebar). Here's a previous post where I show you how I made mine:

Badge Craze

Good luck with it!

G is for Graphic Design

2011-04-08T19:58:00.000+10:00

I've noticed a lot of writers have complimenting hobbies like photography, sword fighting, or, graphic design. I've been dabbling in some design programs, but am far from having the expertise necessary for my writing needs. So what graphic design do we need as writers?

Business Cards

The best idea I've come across for writers' business cards is to produce bookmarks. I go this tip from:

Mystery Writing is Murder

But I've been wondering, what if your book is only available as an ebook? What could writers produce as a business card? I've got nothing... any ideas?

Website

Most people are able to redesign their blogs themselves, it's so easy with all the templates available, but what about having an author website? I said I was designing mine with Dreamweaver, and gave you some things to consider when planning your website in 7 Key Elements for a Writer's Website. I got started on my website, planned it out on paper first, and worked out exactly what I needed to appear. But the graphic design became too tricky for a novice like myself, so I've now got an expert working on the job. My Graphic Designer, Rhonda - you can visit her photography blog here (it's good to have friends with skills!).

Book Covers

Your needs here will be different if you require a paper book or just an e-book. If you are publishing a whole book, you'll need spine and back cover designs, possible jacket flaps, etc. Even if you're self-publishing your book, you need a professional looking book cover. I've seen so many books on Amazon that have pretty dodgy covers. I know I never buy them. Book covers sell books, despite all the warnings, that's our first judgement. If you need some inspiration for your book cover design, check out these sites:

2010 Best Book Cover Designs

Readings Best Book Cover Designs 2010

Some Australian Designs

Here's a couple of my favourite covers:

There's many more of course.

Book Trailers

Book trailers are very popular now, and many look so professional they could be movie trailers. There's even sites for watching book trailers:

http://www.book-trailers.net/

So, are you arty enough to design for your marketing needs, will you let a publisher handle that or will you employ a graphic designer?