Claire Scobie's Blog: Wordstruck, page 4

Wordstruck - How to get your reader to care

What’s most important in your writing is to get the reader to care – about the main character, the story, the idea. In fiction you don’t necessarily need to like the protagonist but you do need to care about him or her. That’s what keeps us turning the pages.

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That’s the same for travel writing. Here, it’s you are usually the protagonist and we need to care about your journey. And we need to have a connection to the place or places you’re describing. The landscape and the history, the architecture and the art. Feeling, empathy, wonder – all engage us as readers.

Travel writing is often seen as easy. Actually good travel writing is hard to write. It’s about getting the balance of show and tell, scene and summary, place and character.

So where better to learn about these elements of storytelling than in a place renown for human emotion and physical beauty… In Italy. This August I’m teaming up with travel company Singabout and we’re launching a special travel writers' retreat in a medieval village in the heart of Italy.

Travel writing in Mercatello 2014 is a chance to live the travel writer’s dream.

For one week you can stay in an Italian palace, receive morning tuition on the art of travel writing and spend your afternoons focused on your own writing projects. It’s a chance to immerse yourself in Italian daily life and meet characters like Edigio, seen above, who was the set designer on the film set of Under the Tuscan Sun based on Frances Mayes best-selling travel memoir.

For sometime I’ve been wanting to offer longer writing retreats. What really excites me about Jen Richardson’s Singabout company is the emphasis on immersing yourself within a local culture. For me that’s what good travel writing does.

Situated in the foothills of the Apennines, Mercatello is home to many artisans who still ply trades dating back to the Renaissance. The Le Marche region is less well-trod than neighbouring Tuscany; tradition and history are everywhere.

Recently I heard the American travel writer Don George talk about what makes a good travel narrative. In his words:

‘An unquenchable curiosity, a hunger of experience and connection with people. It’s about humility. We don’t impose ourself on other people. It’s about cultivating vulnerability, taking a risk, opening yourself to the people and place.’

It’s through that vulnerability – in exposing something of ourselves – that we get our readers to care. The tools of how you do this can be taught. And when put into practise in a creative environment, these techniques can be mastered.

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Come join the fiesta with me from August 6 – 13th in Mercatello sul Metauro where even the local nonnas outdo Jamie Oliver in their annual cook-offs.

Early bird bookings are now being taken for Travel Writing in Mercatello 2014.

Wordstruck - There's no right way to write

This month I started teaching Creative Writing at the Australian Writers’ Centre. The premise of the course is

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‘There’s no right way to write.’

Of course, there isn’t. Anyone who tells you to do it their way is misguided.

Nor is there any right way to plan your book or story. Here are some of the ways I’ve heard writers do it:

with graphs

with pie charts where each segment is a character

with a detailed blow-by-blow synopsis

by planning the entire book out in their head until they sit down and begin (Ann Patchett)

by planning nothing at all and just beginning (Sue Woolfe)

by writing a draft, throwing most of it out and then starting again

with mindmaps

with a story board

by painting the main scenes

by dictating the project

writing notes on pieces of paper small enough to slip between embroidery (Jane Austen)

As a writing tutor I am always hunting for techniques, tips and tools on how to make the process a little easier and quicker. In my Travel Memoir course I’ve adapted an exercise to help writers:

How to Organise Your Narrative

With the help of post-its, coloured pens and coloured paper, this exercise is a chance to your brainstorm your project. The aim is to free your mind and use instinct as a way to structure your material.

This week I decided to tackle my own fear of starting a new project by doing another version of that exercise myself. In her no-nonsense How to Nail Your Novel book, Roz Morris calls it:

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The Card Game

I bought two packs of index cards and a new marker pen. I wrote out the major scenes for my new novel in big letters on the cards, with different colours for the main characters, any thoughts on themes, ideas on structure and major plot points.

I laid them out on my dining room table and shuffled them around. It soon became obvious where some cards doubled up. I took out anything irrelevant and tried to see any obvious weaknesses in the plot.

I had fun with it – and that’s the most important thing when you’re starting a big project: get excited! You need that excitement to carry you through the dreary times.

So over to you: how do you plan your writing?

If you want to learn more, join me this weekend for an Intensive Travel Memoir Course in Sydney, there are a couple of places left.

Wordstruck - Why fear stops us writing

I’m a great one for New Year’s resolutions. Starting or re-starting a writing project in the first quarter is sensible. You have the rest of the year to get it done.

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And if you have the right systems in place, you can complete a non-fiction book in a year. Less if that’s your only focus.

Yet why is it that starting can be so hard? I’m facing this issue with my next novel. I’ve done a fair amount of planning, written a bit, the story is rambling around my brain in supermarket queues. Yet I haven’t got my routine going, or my word clock ticking.

So I just called my writing buddy and we set a date to meet when we have to show each other our work. Something. Anything. Proof that the project is coming along.

I’ve also given her a date when she’s going to call me for the proverbial swift kick to check my progress. Sometimes you need help from outside – at least to get you on track.

I’ve designed my new course at the Walkleys Start that Book! on 1 March exactly for that. Whether you’re stuck in the middle of a messy re-draft or you’re too frightened to put pen to paper, this new one-day Sydney workshop covers how to grow ideas, research effectively and develop a step-by-step writing strategy. We all need it.

Fear often stops people writing. Fear that your idea isn’t original or you’re writing isn’t good enough. Fear of being judged; fear of exposing yourself. Fear of negative feedback. It can become paralysing and if that’s what’s blocking you, it’s helpful to work out what is at the root.

Even writing about the fear can be enough to diffuse it. Or hearing other people’s stories and the issues they’re having with their book makes you realise you’re not alone.

Sometimes the only thing to do is feel it and get the fingers tapping. Here are 3 things that help me.

3 ways to overcome fear

When I don’t know where to start, I go with my gut feeling. What’s the most dramatic part of my story? If I start there, I’m more likely to be excited and want to carry on. If I am excited, so is my reader.

If I’ve written a lot but have lost my way, I go back to my white board. I buy post-it notes and index cards. I look at what I’ve written to get an overview and write out the key scenes on my post-it notes or cards. I shuffle them around to figure out my best way forward.

I open a new word document and start the story afresh. Only once I’ve got a rhythm do I go back and look at what I’ve done. It’s a way to trick yourself.

Wherever you are in your project, if you need inspiration to carry on, join me on 1 March in Sydney. Later in the year I will be running another course on effective writing tools. That’s my new year’s resolution for 2014: Write smarter, Work faster.

What’s yours?

Start that book: Realise your dream to be an author is a one-day masterclass at the Walkelys Foundation, 1 March, 9.30am – 4.30pm.

Wordstruck - Embrace the chaos of writing

I’m deep into writing a commissioned history book at the moment. The deadline is fast approaching and there’s still too much to do.

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When you have a big writing project it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Here are some techniques and tools I find useful to keep floating and stay (roughly) on track.

Write as you research. This is an absolute MUST.

If I’d left the writing to the end I’d be doing all-nighters between now and Christmas. I have a few long days ahead but my word count is rising.

Make systems for your work

Use mindmaps to give you the overview

Use spreadsheets to drill down to the fine detail

Use Scrivener to combine all your writing and research in one project.

Make sure that you when you add new material you cross-reference.

For example: This project requires me to interview dozens of people, compile their stories & sift through photos and memorabilia. Every time I get a new email I update my spreadsheet. It’s time consuming but I know will be quicker in the long run.

Create codes for yourself. Mine are pretty basic: ‘TD’ for ‘To Do’, ‘Y’ for an interview I’ve done. I’ll add these letters to my file names so when I’ve completed one section I don’t go back to it.

Work smarter

Separate your active days when you sort material, do follow-up phone calls and send emails to your inward writing days.

I’m much more effective if I create an entire writing day (ideally 2 or 3 days in a row to get big chunks written) rather than squeeze it in amongst other admin work.

When you are working on a project where you are constantly getting new material it’s hard to put written sections ‘to bed’. My solution is to write as much as I can and then make a list of new information. I will only look at this at the end once the whole manuscript is written.

This means I write a full first draft of the whole narrative. It’s messy. There are questions and queries and sections in bold that I know I’ll move around later.

Then once I’ve done the whole thing (or three-quarters) I will do the edit and add extra snippets. You often don’t know what’s needed for that final gloss until you’ve seen the whole shape of the narrative.

Accept and embrace the chaos.

In writing there are times when the story seems too big to fit. This is normal and many writers face it. Keep chipping away and you’l find the clear blue line that Ben Okri talks about which will lead you through to the other side.

Lastly, have regular breaks. Stretch. Walk. Go to the gym. Try to avoid RSI (which I am currently getting) with an occasional massage.

And know that the holidays are coming soon….

How do you embrace the writing chaos?

Wordstruck - Dealing with rejection

No-one likes rejection. But every writer faces it.

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Martin Green from Pantera Press recently wrote, ‘Virtually every best-selling author was rejected by every publisher they contacted except the one where they found their eventual home.’ I thought those words from the AWC’s Writing Bar were worth repeating. Except in the rare case of a bidding war where several publishers will make an offer for a manuscript and an auction is held, most writers only receive one offer.

And that’s if they receive any offer at all.

I know I’m lucky that Penguin has recently published my first novel. But it wasn’t—isn’t—straightforward. I’ve got a stack of rejection letters from those that didn’t make an offer. For a while I dreaded seeing an email from my agent because I knew they’d be another one.

I keep a record of all the ‘nays’ as well as the ‘yays’. I might refer to them one day. And they keep me hungry. Writing is an evolving craft. Each book is different and you learn something new with each project. You also (hopefully) improve and you learn from your mistakes.

But here’s the thing. Writing is also very subjective and so are publishers. If every publisher who didn’t like my manuscript had said the same thing, I’d think, I can fix this. But everyone has their own reason. Sometimes they give you feedback which is helpful. Sometimes they don’t. One publisher vaguely wrote, ‘I couldn’t put my finger on it but…’

Some American publishers loved the writing but the story wasn’t right for their list. A couple of English editors were keen but couldn’t get it across marketing and sales. It came down to number-crunching in the end: a common story these days as publishers cut their lists, bookshops fold and book prices plummet.

Some publishers never replied. That’s normal too.

As a journalist I’ve been used to getting articles rejected. In general it isn’t personal. Reasons range from a similar story has just run to poor timing to it doesn’t quite fit.

Over the years, I’ve acquired a slightly thicker skin and see rejection as part of the writing process. It doesn’t make it easier, but it keeps things in focus.

These days writers have many other options if traditional publishers don’t come to the table. I won’t go into detail here but there are lots of options: e-publishing, self-publishing, Amazon. So my advice to writers out there is to keep trying. If you believe in your story or your book, then you will find a way to get it read by more than just one reader.

It might take time and it will be frustrating. You learn to be patient in this game. I’m still hoping for that illusive letter of acceptance from a publisher outside of Australia—and in the meantime, I’ve started my next novel.

Because you know what? It’s also about taking back control. Once I made the decision to stop waiting and start writing, I was back in the driving seat. It was like giving myself a vote of confidence, even if others weren’t.

So how do you deal with rejection?

Wordstruck - Writing to inspire yourself

How often do you stop and write for yourself? Not because you must or you’ve got a deadline to make – just for the pleasure of putting pen to paper and seeing what comes out.

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For me, despite what I wrote in my last post, I realised it’s not often enough.

Last weekend at my storytelling workshop in Tilba Tilba on the South Coast it struck me how writing is a form of alchemy. Get a group of people around a table, give them creative exercises and quiet time to write, and change happens. It might be a simple ‘Ah-hah’ moment, a profound realisation, a softening inside, or a chance to connect the fragmented dots of our lives into a single narrative strand.

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It helped that we were in beautiful surroundings: flower-filled gardens on the edge of Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) with wedgetail eagles soaring above and a waterfall trickling. The environment lent itself to reflection and an invitation to go deeper.

The mountain inspires you – from the Latin ‘to breathe into’ – and encourages you to be present with where you are and what you’re putting on the page. Sometimes we need that inspiration from the outside to make us realise what gems we have within.

Unlike most of my workshops, this one wasn’t about craft or the product. Rather it was about how revealing – and healing – the process of writing can be.

I’ve done many workshops over the years which are geared towards completing an article or a book or getting published. Yet that wasn’t why I started writing. When I began it was a way to understand myself better and through that, try to make sense of this world. Storytelling and writing give order to the chaos of our lives.

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I think of it as a spiral. You might start with a relatively simple issue and the first time you write about it, you only touch the surface. Then as you write over different days, you question more. You seek understanding and look for meaning. The deeper you go, the more you are able to integrate the event and hopefully, find acceptance with it.

And the best way to do this? Scientific research suggests writing for 20 minutes on one issue over three days produces positive results.

Writing by hand (although some people might struggle to read what they’ve written!) is a gentle process. The rhythmic nature of it is meditative and it is a way of connecting your hand with your heart.

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And as you do, you’ll be surprised by what you discover in the nest of your own experience.

So what do you like to write about in your journal?

Wordstruck - How writing can reduce your stress

Ask anyone who writes regularly in a private journal why they do it and they usually say, ‘because it makes me feel better.’ I started writing a diary aged nine. When I was growing up I did it every night. These days it’s more haphazard, but when I’m struggling with a personal or professional issue, I make time to sit and write.

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For years I’ve been fascinated why writing helps. Now scientific research shows that writing regularly improves mental and physical wellbeing, increases the body’s immune system, reduces the number of visits to the doctor and lessens the impact of trauma.

Phew! Imagine if we all wrote — we’d be a healthier and a happier society.

James Pennebaker from the University of Texas in Austin is a pioneer in this field. He’s conducted several studies with people ranging from college students to prisoners, crime victims to chronic pain sufferers. He says that the physical act of writing ‘allows disturbing experiences to subside gradually from conscious thought’.

Pennebaker has also found that:

Writing for 15 minutes over the course of three days improves mental and physical health.

Those who benefit most use more positive emotional words than negative words.

By writing about an emotional experience, people integrate the experience better.

Expressive writing helps in romantic relationships.

And here are a few more reasons of my own:

Storytelling is an innate human ‘gene’. As we make sense of our world through narrative, we also make sense of our own lives.

By writing, we externalise feelings on to the page. When you do that, you literally write out your pain or grief. In time, you are able to distance yourself from the event.

Journaling is a way to be your own therapist. All you need is pen and paper. You may like to invest in a beautiful handmade diary or you might prefer a simple bound notebook. What’s important is that you give yourself permission to write as often as you need to and carve out the time to do it.

If you want to know more healthy writing techniques or need a creative kickstart, join me on 2 November, for a special Storytelling for the Soul workshop, in Tilba Tilba on the South Coast. BOOK NOW!

Wordstruck - How to banish the procrastinator

I often get asked how to deal with the dreaded ‘p’ word. Unfortunately the procrastinator—just like the critic—seems to be part of a writer’s lot. It can mean avoiding that article you know you have to write; spending ages researching a story and never writing it; or the classic, getting three-quarters through and not finishing.

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Sometimes it’s our busyness not our laziness that gets in the way. It’s all those things that we do instead of writing: washing up, vacuuming, FaceBooking. The list is endless.

It often looms when you are starting a new project. Sometimes this is because of fear—that you aren’t any good.

Then there are other fears:

• Fear of failure

• Fear of being judged.

• Fear of rejection—by readers, publishers, family.

There isn’t an easy solution to this. When you put yourself out there, you often face rejection. That’s life. The key is not to take it personally, pick yourself up and try again.

Then there’s the professional-crastinator. You know the sort: they file everything rather than write the report. They bury the contract rather than sign it. They never respond to emails. This sort is often very indecisive and that’s at the root of their procrastination.

Next comes procrastinating when you’re revising a piece of writing. This is particularly tough when it’s an entire book. In this situation I trick myself into starting. I’ll give myself one task. Or I say I’ll do this for one hour. Once I’m into it, I find a rhythm.

This slothful-sleepy-dog-type can be avoided if you stick to a routine. I’ll aim to be at my desk at 9am, get emails out the way and start by 9.30am. I treat writing like a job.

If the procrastination is caused by overwhelm then doing a mind-map helps. Or a spreadsheet. Once you get a system organised you start breaking the project down—and ticking off the tasks.

If you know you’re the sort of person that will spend too long researching your story then break your day into research and writing. Find a balance between the two.

I suggest start the day with writing. You’re less likely to waste half of it.

For me the really bad sort—a mean purple-banshee-inner-procrastinator—is when I’m chewing words over in my head so by the time I sit down, I’m exhausted—or bored—by what I’m writing.

That sort of procrastination needs to be nipped in the bud.

The best thing to do is just to get it down on paper. Or hammer it into the computer. Once it’s down, it has less power.

But just sometimes, procrastinating can be helpful. This is when you’re mulling over a piece of writing and letting it percolate inside. You know you’re doing this when you actively think about your book or narrative while doing mundane chores.

That’s where I’m at right now. I’m thinking of my next book, coming up with ideas, jotting them down. This sort of procrastination is allowing our subconscious to do the work.

Last chance to join me for a weekend intensive travel memoir course in Sydney, this weekend, October 19 & 20.

Wordstruck - Take a risk with your writing

Overlooking the town of Laurieton is a mountain called ‘Big Brother’. The day after my workshops there I went to the top and there was a parasailer preparing to jump off.

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I could never do that. I’m scared of heights and the thought of taking a short run down a grassy bank and leaping into mid-air terrifies me.

After checking the wind a few times and straightening his ropes this bloke nodded to the audience watching and casually strode off the incline into the void. There was no hesitation. Once in the air, he settled into his sling and the wind lifted the sail up, carrying him across the expanse of forest, the town and ocean.

Watching him I was reminded of one woman’s surprised comment in the workshop. ‘Writing takes courage.’

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And she’s right. You have to take a risk when you splurge yourself on the page. The more risks you take, the better the result.

This doesn’t mean you have to spill your deepest secrets (although that might be the case) or say things you’ll regret. It means being willing to expose an aspect of who you are in order to touch the reader.

If you think that this only applies to non-fiction, you’re wrong. Writers may use fiction as a way to tell parts of their own story indirectly. Then there’s fictional memoirs which are loosely based on a person’s story but enough is changed that it isn’t ‘their’ story. All are ways to tell a deeper truth about who we are.

As a journalist, I became good at writing about other peoples lives. So when I wrote Last Seen in Lhasa I grappled with how much to say about myself. Since it was published, readers have said – ‘it’s very honest’, ‘you reveal a lot’, ‘I feel like I know you – yet I don’t know the facts about you.’

Some readers didn’t like this. A couple of online reviews complained there was too much of me in there. (You can’t please everyone though, so there’s no point in trying.)

As a reader I’m always intrigued by what some people are happy to divulge. I don’t mind talking about my feelings or my spiritual life. I’d find it hard talking about my love life (although I did mention that in passing in my Tibet memoir). I didn’t include my background because it wasn’t relevant to the story.

When I found myself shying away from what I really wanted to say, I would ask why. What frightened me? Normally it came down toother people’s judgments or criticisms.

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Whatever you choose to write, take a risk. That’s true even if you are writing for yourself. Just as that parasailer showed me, when you do, you liberate something inside. You let yourself fly.

If you’re in Sydney, I’m running a weekend intensive travel memoir course October 19 & 20.

On 2 November, join me for a special Storytelling for the Soul workshop, in Tilba Tilba on the South Coast.

Wordstruck - How to write about place

Last week I ran two special workshops in the small coastal town of Laurieton on the mid-north coast of NSW. They were held in the old boat shed of the pilot station at Camden Haven.

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The doors were wide open and we could hear the sound of the surf and birds calling. One participant saw a red-bellied black snake on the path as she walked there. It was a perfect spot to write about place.

For one exercise everyone went outside for 10 minutes to connect with the land. They each chose an object – from a gum nut to a scarlet bottle-brush flower – as a way to focus their writing. The aim was to be really present and then write.

When you anchor the place, you anchor your writing.

This is especially true in travel writing but in fiction too you need to create a real world for the reader. The more solid the world, the more they can enter into the story.

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10 tips on how to capture the essence of a place:

Find the central idea of the place. Choose one object and through that tell a bigger story.

Use all your senses.

Show how the place makes you feel – so the reader can feel it too.

Use personification to bring to life a river, the weather, the sea.

Ensure your details are specific: names of trees, squeak of the sand between your toes.

Use characters to represent the place.

Make the place a character in your story. What is its temperament? And behaviour? If it were a person, how would he or she look?

What is the significance of the name of the place? For those in Australia, find out the Aboriginal name as a clue.

What is your connection to this place – is it a way into your own story?

Lastly, can you capture the spirit of the place? Can you nail that ephemeral quality through your words? This is the hardest to do but when done well, evocative to read.

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Thoughts?

If you want more tips, join me on October 19 & 20 for a weekend intensive travel memoir course in Sydney,