Sandra Gulland's Blog, page 38

A Writer's Resolutions

New Year is coming and each member of our family 1) reviews and "grades" each of last year's resolutions, and 2) makes resolutions for the coming year. Last year my top resolution was to finish drafts 2 and 3 of The Next Novel in 2010, "without going crazy."

So: how did I do?

I'm still working on draft 3, and I did go a little bit crazy this summer (that is: anxious, overwhelmed, insecure), so I'll likely give myself a C+, or maybe a B-, because, after all, I worked hard.

I aim to finish the novel next year … but in truth, that's hard to imagine, so I think I'll revise my resolution to "finish drafts 3 and 4." That's safer because there could well be 6 drafts.

Perhaps I won't even say anything about crazy, because that's just part of the process.

Writing a novel is a glacial process, and, as with glaciers, there is a lot unseen under the water.

[Image: Fire Down on The Labrador, 1980, by David Blackwood. Awesome, isn't it?]

A Writer's Resolutions

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New Year is coming and each member of our family 1) reviews and "grades" each of last year's resolutions, and 2) makes resolutions for the coming year. Last year my top resolution was to finish drafts 2 and 3 of The Next Novel in 2010, "without going crazy."

So: how did I do?

I'm still working on draft 3, and I did go a little bit crazy this summer (that is: anxious, overwhelmed, insecure), so I'll likely give myself a C+, or maybe a B-, because, after all, I worked hard.

I aim to finish the novel next year ... but in truth, that's hard to imagine, so I think I'll revise my resolution to "finish drafts 3 and 4." That's safer because there could well be 6 drafts.

Perhaps I won't even say anything about crazy, because that's just part of the process.

Writing a novel is a glacial process, and, as with glaciers, there is a lot unseen under the water.

[Image: Fire Down on The Labrador, 1980, by David Blackwood. Awesome, isn't it?]

_____


Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
Tumblr: http://sandragulland.tumblr.com/

A book I recommend for any writer

 

I'm almost always reading at least one book about writing. (Right now I'm dipping into three.) Recently I read The Forest for the Trees by N.Y. agent Betsy Lerner, and I immediately wanted to send it on to people I knew who were seriously writing, especially those who had yet to publish. This is a very good book to prepare a writer for the world of publishing. It is also a very good book for a published writer. I learned quite a bit from it, and I've been in the publishing world for decades. Here are some of the quotes I highlighted:

It wasn't until I began working with writers that I understood Truman Capote's brilliant assessment of the writer's dilemma: "When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip."

There is no stage of the writing process that doesn't challenge every aspect of a writer's personality.

I promise not to repeat the most common piece of writing advice: Write what you know. As far as I'm concerned, writers have very little choice in what they write.

I like that especially.

For most writers, writing is a love-hate affair.

Sigh…

People who try to figure out what's hot and recreate it are as close to delusional as you can get.

Exactly.

There comes a time when you have to let go of the New Yorker fantasy in service of just getting on with it.

You mean I'm not the only one who had delusions of being published in the New Yorker?

The ambivalent writer confuses procrastination with research.

Ouch!

Writing demands that you keep at bay the demons insisting that you are not worthy or that your ideas are ridiculous or that your command of the language is insufficient.

This is not always easy to do. I could go on and on, but I'll end with one more:

…the degree of one's perseverance is the best predictor of success.

No truer words.

(Betsy Lerner also has a wonderful website and blog.)

Happy Holidays, all!

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A book I recommend for any writer

.

I'm almost always reading at least one book about writing. (Right now I'm dipping into three.) Recently I read The Forest for the Trees by N.Y. agent Betsy Lerner, and I immediately wanted to send it on to people I knew who were seriously writing, especially those who had yet to publish. This is a very good book to prepare a writer for the world of publishing. It is also a very good book for a published writer. I learned quite a bit from it, and I've been in the publishing world for decades.

Here are some of the quotes I highlighted:

It wasn't until I began working with writers that I understood Truman Capote's brilliant assessment of the writer's dilemma: "When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip."

There is no stage of the writing process that doesn't challenge every aspect of a writer's personality.

I promise not to repeat the most common piece of writing advice: Write what you know. As far as I'm concerned, writers have very little choice in what they write.

I like that especially.

For most writers, writing is a love-hate affair.

Sigh...

People who try to figure out what's hot and recreate it are as close to delusional as you can get. 

Exactly.

There comes a time when you have to let go of the New Yorker fantasy in service of just getting on with it. 

You mean I'm not the only one who had delusions of being published in the New Yorker?

The ambivalent writer confuses procrastination with research.

Ouch!

Writing demands that you keep at bay the demons insisting that you are not worthy or that your ideas are ridiculous or that your command of the language is insufficient. 

This is not always easy to do.

I could go on and on, but I'll end with one more:

...the degree of one's perseverance is the best predictor of success. 

No truer words.

(Betsy Lerner also has a wonderful website and blog.)

Happy Holidays, all!

♥♥♥
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
Tumblr: http://sandragulland.tumblr.com/

My best reads of 2010

Reading is perhaps one of the most important things in a writer's life. I've had a very good year; my reading life has been rich and inspiring. Here are the books that simply enthralled me (in no particular order):

In fiction:

The Rehearsal, by Eleanor Catton

Tinkers, by Paul Harding

The Blind Contessa's New Machine, by Carey Wallace

The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters

Curiosity, by Joan Thomas

Father of the Rain, by Lily King

Room, by Emma Donoghue

Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates.

November 22, 1968, by Adam Braver

Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout

The Color of Lightning, by Paulette Jiles

Evening, by Susan Minot

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel

A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick

In non-fiction:

Lives like Loaded Guns, the story of Emily Dickinson and her family, by Lyndall Gordon

The Death of Donna Whalen, by Michael Winter — I know, this is usually called "fiction"

A Week at the Airport, by Alain De Botton

The mood, the beauty of the prose, the compelling insights: every single one of these books still linger with me. If my reading life is even half as good in 2011, I will consider myself lucky.

Happy holidays, all!

My best reads of 2010

.
Reading is perhaps one of the most important things in a writer's life. I've had a very good year; my reading life has been rich and inspiring. Here are the books that simply enthralled me (in no particular order):

In fiction:

The Rehearsal, by Eleanor Catton

Tinkers, by Paul Harding

The Blind Contessa's New Machine, by Carey Wallace

The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters

Curiosity, by Joan Thomas

Father of the Rain, by Lily King

Room, by Emma Donoghue

Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates. 

November 22, 1968, by Adam Braver

Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout 

The Color of Lightning, by Paulette Jiles 

Evening, by Susan Minot

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel

A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick

In non-fiction: 

Lives like Loaded Guns, the story of Emily Dickinson and her family, by Lyndall Gordon 

The Death of Donna Whalen, by Michael Winter — I know, this is usually called "fiction"

A Week at the Airport, by Alain De Botton

The mood, the beauty of the prose, the compelling insights: every single one of these books still linger with me. If my reading life is even half as good in 2011, I will consider myself lucky.

Happy holidays, all!

♥♥♥
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
Tumblr: http://sandragulland.tumblr.com/


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Give enchantment this holiday season: give a book

I've recently joined a FaceBook group of 48 authors of distinguished, award-winning, and best-selling fiction. (Yes, I'm proud to be included.)

Because of the crisis in book publishing, we've banded together to urge readers to give a book to someone this holiday season.

Our motto: You can't give more enchantment for less.

Indeed! Consider these:

Dracula in Love by Karen Essex. "…the writing is so vivid, lusciously sexy and chillingly outrageous by turns…" – The Star Ledger http://tinyurl.com/2eyohd4

The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh. "This tender tale of sisterhood, self-discovery, and forgiveness will captivate fans of contemporary women's fiction."- Library Journal http://theresewalsh.com/books.html

The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers. "A powerful portrait of sisters growing up in the shadow of violence . . . A thought-provoking, heart-tugging debut." Boston Magazine http://tinyurl.com/264efbn

Every day we'll be posting three book suggestions. I'll sometimes be posting them here, sometimes in other forums.

Usually Santa gives each of our children a hardcover book for Christmas (nice guy, eh?), but this year our son has converted to Kindle. What to do? I've discovered Santa can give him a Kindle book as a gift (and it will be good on his iPad, too, through the free Kindle app).

Buy a book! Now!

Give enchantment this holiday season: give a book

.
.
I've recently joined a FaceBook group of 48 authors of distinguished, award-winning, and best-selling fiction. (Yes, I'm proud to be included.)

Because of the crisis in book publishing, we've banded together to urge readers to give a book to someone this holiday season.

Our motto: You can't give more enchantment for less.

Indeed! Consider these:

Dracula in Love by Karen Essex. "...the writing is so vivid, lusciously sexy and chillingly outrageous by turns..." - The Star Ledger http://tinyurl.com/2eyohd4

The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh. "This tender tale of sisterhood, self-discovery, and forgiveness will captivate fans of contemporary women's fiction."- Library Journal http://theresewalsh.com/books.html

The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers. "A powerful portrait of sisters growing up in the shadow of violence . . . A thought-provoking, heart-tugging debut." Boston Magazine http://tinyurl.com/264efbn

Every day we'll be posting three book suggestions. I'll sometimes be posting them here, sometimes in other forums.

Usually Santa gives each of our children a hardcover book for Christmas (nice guy, eh?), but this year our son has converted to Kindle. What to do? I've discovered Santa can give him a Kindle book as a gift (and it will be good on his iPad, too, through the free Kindle app).

Buy a book! Now!

*****
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
Tumblr: http://sandragulland.tumblr.com/
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Click, click, click! Where ideas come from …

My son Chet sent me the link to this video on creativity, which pulled lots of thoughts I'm having right now into place.

The importance of connectivity

A post I wrote on a blog about searching for information on the Theatre of the Marais in 17th century Paris was happened upon by John Golder, a scholar in 17th century French theatre. He himself had been surfing the Net for information about the Theatre of the Marais. He read my blog and contacted me through my website. "Can I help?" Magic words!

Since then I've been on a very steep creative and learning curve, thanks to John … and thanks to this thing called connectivity. Had I not put my questions out there, had I not made myself available, I would not have learned what I'm learning today.

The importance of desperately seeking

Last spring, in Ottawa, at the Writers' Union AGM, I had lunch with novelist Frances Itani. I said: "You know how when you're writing a novel, the answers just fall into your lap?" She knew exactly what I meant. There is something desperately seeking about the process of writing a novel: Seek and ye shall find.

In the early drafts of my novel, my character makes reference, at the end, to the writer Madame de Villedieu. But that was the only mention, and I wondered about that.

Now, in the midst of my third draft, my character's mother has just joined the Hôtel de Bourgogne, another theatre company, and I needed to know what play this company was about to produce. After some time yesterday I found the name of the play, and after more time yet I finally found the author of the tragedy: Madame de Villedieu.

Bonanza!

It could be said that this morning's work researching Villedieu—instead of writing—was a wasted day, but I don't think so. One thing I learned was that Villedieu was not only an originator of historical novels, but that she worked openly, communicating with her readers and the salons of the day…which comes around to the subject of this post: the importance of connectivity. The video mentions the Paris salons bringing about innovation because of the connectivity encouraged there.

Click, click, click!

Madame de Villedieu is apt only to have a walk-on part in the novel I'm writing now, but I'm tucking her away for the future. For a long time, I've been wanting to write a novel about La Grande Mademoiselle, the King's cousin—trying to write, I should say, for I've hundreds of pages in a drawer—but I could never seem to find the right key, the way into her story. It's possible that Villedieu, who dedicated a play and a novel to this eccentric feminist, might just be that key.

Click, click, click! Where ideas come from ...

.
.
My son Chet sent me the link to this video on creativity, which pulled lots of thoughts I'm having right now into place.



The importance of connectivity
A post I wrote on a blog about searching for information on the Theatre of the Marais in 17th century Paris was happened upon by John Golder, a scholar in 17th century French theatre. He himself had been surfing the Net for information about the Theatre of the Marais. He read my blog and contacted me through my website. "Can I help?" Magic words!

Since then I've been on a very steep creative and learning curve, thanks to John ... and thanks to this thing called connectivity. Had I not put my questions out there, had I not made myself available, I would not have learned what I'm learning today.

The importance of desperately seeking
Last spring, in Ottawa, at the Writers' Union AGM, I had lunch with novelist Frances Itani. I said: "You know how when you're writing a novel, the answers just fall into your lap?" She knew exactly what I meant. There is something desperately seeking about the process of writing a novel: Seek and ye shall find.

In the early drafts of my novel, my character makes reference, at the end, to the writer Madame de Villedieu. But that was the only mention, and I wondered about that.

Now, in the midst of my third draft, my character's mother has just joined the Hôtel de Bourgogne, another theatre company, and I needed to know what play this company was about to produce. After some time yesterday I found the name of the play, and after more time yet I finally found the author of the tragedy: Madame de Villedieu.

Bonanza! 
It could be said that this morning's work researching Villedieu—instead of writing—was a wasted day, but I don't think so. One thing I learned was that Villedieu was not only an originator of historical novels, but that she worked openly, communicating with her readers and the salons of the day...which comes around to the subject of this post: the importance of connectivity. The video mentions the Paris salons bringing about innovation because of the connectivity encouraged there.

Click, click, click!
Madame de Villedieu is apt only to have a walk-on part in the novel I'm writing now, but I'm tucking her away for the future. For a long time, I've been wanting to write a novel about La Grande Mademoiselle, the King's cousin—trying to write, I should say, for I've hundreds of pages in a drawer—but I could never seem to find the right key, the way into her story. It's possible that Villedieu, who dedicated a play and a novel to this eccentric feminist, might just be that key.


*****
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://bit.ly/sgullandFacebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
Tumblr: http://sandragulland.tumblr.com/