Tudor Robins's Blog, page 32

Sites I’m visiting

This changes every now and then. During the time I’ve been reading writing blogs many have risen and fallen. People seem to have a blogging “threshold” - for some reason it’s often a couple of years – and then their output seems to fall off.

There are many blogs I first started following two or three years ago that used to post new content several times a week, if not daily, and I would always wonder “How do they do it?” The answer seems to be, they can’t – not forever – there is a breaking point and things then slow down.

So, what reading / writing sites am I following and enjoying these days?

My main ones are:

1) The Passive Voice. This one amazes me as it appears in my inbox every day. EVERY DAY. How? I like it because it’s a real round-up of different types of news about publishing, books, writing, reading, etc. I don’t agree with all the featured posts - I don’t think one single person COULD agree with all of them – but they’re all interesting and skimming through it every day provides an overview of what different people are thinking and saying. Plus, the commenters are NUTS. Really. You have never seen more nit-picky crazy commenters. I would NEVER want something I wrote to appear here because those people will rip you to shreds!

2) Because the above-mentioned Passive Voice, comes directly into my inbox, I occasionally have to go back and Google the actual site to refer back to something I read earlier. In doing so, it’s easy to stumble across PassiveAggressiveNotes.com which is just plain funny from the standpoint of anyone interested in word use combined with human nature (aka writers).

3) I also subscribe to Janice Hardy’s The Other Side of the Story. I particularly like her “Real Life Diagnostics” in which she offers critique on works in progress. If the advice strikes a little too close to home, that may be a good thing!

4) I also read Joe Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing. If you have ever had a wonder, thought, question about self-publishing or e-publishing or publishing with Amazon, it’s probably addressed here, along with many things it never occurred to you to ask or think of. There are so many extreme attitudes in publishing right now – traditional publishers are antiquated and obstructionist, self-published work is terrible, Amazon is setting out to rule – and then destroy - the literary world as we know it, there are “right” and “wrong” reasons to write, there are “right” and “wrong” ways to publish, etc. etc. I don’t need to tell you none of these are true, and anyone who says they are is the one with the problem. Joe Konrath is an example of somebody getting it VERY right in his own particular publishing path who is willing to share his lessons learned. Pretty cool reading.

5) Another one for fun. I’ve recently discovered Lousy Book Covers. A visit there almost always makes me cringe while, simultaneously, being very satisfying. A visit there also makes me love my cover designer, Daniel Choi, at Red Deer. Thank you Daniel!

What writing / reading sites do you like to visit? Please share!

 

Photo Backgrounder

A while ago I found a bunch of old (OLD) photos of me with various horses from my past. You’ll see from the quality of some of the shots just how old they are, and just how carefully (?) they were stored. They’re fun, though, and they tell a story of my riding past which some readers of Objects in Mirror might find interesting. So here goes:

This is my first show ever – EVER – on a horse named Chico. It was an in-stable schooling show and I can tell it was cold because (a) I’m riding in the indoor arena and (b) I’m wearing a turtleneck under my blazer. Please note the white rubber boots and the bobbles on the end of my braids!

This is another, very early, picture from my riding career. I was about eight when this was taken. The vest was one my mom made for me and it was my riding vest until I grew out of it. Even at that young age I liked bay horses…

We move on here to the second barn I rode at. I’m a bit older but still wearing the same blazer and, obviously, still riding in schooling shows in the depth of winter – note the winter gloves, turtleneck and sweatshirt in this shot. The horse is named Brandy and she’s also sporting quite the winter coat. I think I was about 10 here – still sporting braids. Note the spectators’ late 70′s / early 80′s fashion vibe!

Finally a show in the summer! I’m assuming my breeches weren’t that dirty when I was actually showing. The horse is named Rebel and, obviously, he went well for me that day. How do you like his hooves? I seem to have gone to town on those…

Now we get to a pretty interesting photo. This is Lass. If you’ve read the book, Lass is not unlike Whinny. She arrived at our stable in a group of horses that had been malnourished and she became my favourite. Something I notice when I look at this picture is how baggy my breeches are and how much less of me there seems to be than in the other photos. This was the first summer of my anorexia. Note the rounded edges on the photo? Seriously vintage.

This is a bit of a funny photo for me to have taken as a child, but I’m glad I did. This shows the “herd” going out. This is something I haven’t seen at many stables where I’ve ridden, but it was something I loved about this particular place. All the school horses went out together, walking quickly and then gathering momentum and breaking into a trot and then a canter down the hill to the big field. They would all come in quickly too, and sometimes slip a bit when they hit the concrete floor of the barn. They all knew where their stalls were and would peel off in different directions when they got to the aisle.

And now for something quite different – this was how I spent my summers. This is our cottage on Wolfe Island (our old one that we rented). The small boy on the far left is one of the White boys (still a major horse family on the island) and one of their barns was directly behind our cottage. My parents would lease a horse for me for the duration of our stay at the cottage and, in the morning, I’d cut through some bushes to that barn where the horse I was leasing would be left. As you can see, I had a really pretty grey this particular year. And, yes, that is her foal. He came along with us everywhere we went. The Whites were generous with their leasing in that they would often ride with me, which gave me an in to all their cousins’, aunts’ and uncles properties’ all over the island – we got lots of lemonade on our adventures. Also, whenever a friend would show up from the city, they’d just let them have a horse too. In this photo my brother is on the black pony, his friend Kevin on the small pony next to him and my friend Barb on the appaloosa mare. I think I was pretty bossy, which is why I made Barb wear a helmet while I decided I was fine without one. Do you like our tack and turnout?

And this is what it was really all about. We were on an island so, of course, when we got hot, or the horses got hot, there was an easy solution. Straight into the St. Lawrence. At least one of those small ponies (I’ve just remembered they were called Chester and Grover), would belt down the dock at a full gallop and leap in off the end. They were so small it didn’t need to be very deep for them.

So that’s it! A photographic tour of my early riding days. Maybe some time I’ll come across photos from later on and do a continuation post.

Launch Round-Up

Now I really know why it’s important to have your sales representative at your book launch. At first I thought it was for moral support (and, believe me, I was glad to see him for that!), but without Rowan I wouldn’t have had any of the following photos:

First – the great staff at Red Chair Kids who did so many things behind the scenes to allow the evening to unfold smoothly and happily:

And the books on the shelf (which had to be refilled several times during the evening).

The drink – there was no alcohol, but still an unmistakeable “buzz” in the room…

And SOME of the food – thanks to everyone who brought treats!

The Q&A was lots of fun, thanks to Ashley Wright’s great questions and guidance…

And, finally, Rowan pulled off the near-impossible and got a nice photo of me when I knew I was having my photo taken – no frozen smile or closed eyes!

Enough about me

I know it’s been all book launches and Objects in Mirror and rah! rah! rah! around here. And with good reason because, you know, if you take all that time to write a book, and kill yourself to get it published, you’d be a fool not to promote it.

And, I promise you, there will be more book / book launch stuff. But for now - for this post – we are going to get back to thoughts on writing.

So, a few weeks ago, I discussed backstory and then promised to later talk about starting in the right place, as a related topic. I then got distracted and I can only imagine how many people have been sitting, waiting desperately to find out what I have to say about starting in the right place.

Well, it’s pretty simple. Lots of times, the place you start isn’t really the proper beginning of your story.

It seems writers can be like swimmers getting into a pool they suspect isn’t that warm. Often we want to ease. So, instead of starting with something relevant to the story actually happening, we talk about the story, or we talk about the characters or we talk about the thing that’s about to happen.

This is why some writing experts will tell you, no matter what, go back and chop your first chapter. “I promise, it will only make your story stronger,” they say.

I’m sure many of you cringe at this thought. Especially because, chances are, you have revised and agonized and wordsmithed that first chapter more than any other piece of writing in your work.

So, I’m not necessarily of this exact school of thought. I don’t think we should all, willy-nilly just chop our first chapters and move on.

But I do suggest you consider it.

I believe asking yourself whether each scene / chapter / portion of your book earns its place is a very valuable exercise, and I believe the first chapter is a notorious weak spot. Not only the first chapter either. Also the first sentence in a paragraph or the first part of a sentence. Just today, I re-read a paragraph I had just written and realized the first half of the first sentence – up to the comma – could go without changing the meaning, or leaving the reader confused. If that’s true, it really hasn’t earned its place in your writing and you’re not starting in the right place.

In my last post, I said backstory and starting in the right place are connected. How? Well, I think if you find yourself using quite a bit of backstory, it might be because you haven’t started your story in the right place.

EXAMPLE TIME. Over the last year I’ve read two books by quite a successful writer. The first one was, well, the first one. The second one was a continuation of the story of the first, starting 13(ish) years later. I didn’t enjoy the second book nearly as much as the first and I think one of the reasons is, it was almost entirely backstory. OK, more italics here – I think the writer started her second story in the wrong place.

My impression was that originally, to make the story work a certain way, she wanted the characters to be at the ages they were 13 years later. So – boom – she started the book 13 years on. But then – big problem – there was all this stuff that had happened in between that she wanted to tell us about. So it was back we go, delving into the past, having things explained, over and over again. She even told stuff that had happened before the first of these two books was written. It was almost like she hadn’t thought of it when she was writing the first book but, hey, adding this stuff explained a lot about the characters and their motivations so why not throw it in now – I mean, since we’re traveling into the past and all…

I would say only about one-third of the book took place in the actual time it was meant to be set in – with the rest happening many, many years before – and, for this book, that just didn’t work.

Like all “rules”, there are times when this might work. There are famous books where almost the entire story is, technically, “backstory”, but those have to be written the right way to still provide immediacy to the reader.

In this case, there was no immediacy during the flashbacks. And so, my argument is, the writer should have thought about which part of these characters’ lives she wanted us to know about, and we should have been able to go along with them on their journey. She could have taken us through the ages with them. Pulled us forward to that magic age where she wanted to make this major incident happen.

Think hard about where you want to start – where you want to bring your reader into your story – and start there.

I’m getting better at this mostly thanks to Kathy Stinson who, when editing OIM, would send me back notes saying “I’m not sure why we’re in past tense here.” Then I’d look at the passage in question and think “I’m not sure either.” And then I’d have to figure out – was this information needed? If so, should I start somewhere different – like at the beginning – and let the reader come through it with me? The answer was almost always “yes”.

In many ways, this is a gift I’m giving you. Because, really, this is a simpler way to write. It’s more straightforward. You have to perform fewer linguistic gymnastics. And, for the most part, I believe the reader will like it better too.

So, there, my writing present to you!

 

Fairy Dust and Dreams Come True

The launch was all that and more.

Details to come when I get some photos – I couldn’t take any since I was kind of signing books the whole time!

Just wanted to let everyone know book love is alive and well in Ottawa…

Red Chair Kids Window!

The display is up at Red Chair and it looks so great!

Huge thanks are owed to:

- Monica, who owns Red Chair, for providing the space and making this great display!

- Brenda van den Akker, of Brenda’s Country Clips, who generously loaned the jump and hay.

Also:

- Jenn Brown, who provided the saddle, boots and various other “show” items.

- My son’s fantastic teacher and his great classmates who made the beautiful show ribbons!

 

Here’s a look at the window from outside on Wellington Street. Because of the glare, it’s hard to see the interior but it gives you a “big picture” view of what’s inside.

Big news, big move

Just received this press release:

Ottawa, June 1, 2013

– In a unanimous vote, members of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC)

attending their 40th Anniversary annual general meeting today approved a

resolution opening membership in the Union to professional, self-published

authors.

To me, this feels like a landmark decision.

The details aren’t yet up on the TWUC site, but I’m sure they will be soon, if you want to read more for yourself.

Takeaways from TWUC

I spent all day yesterday attending panels as part of The Writers’ Union of Canada’s (TWUC) “Fast Forward at 40″, 40th Anniversary AGM and Conference. It was my good luck, as a first time member, that this year’s conference was in Ottawa (next year it’s in Newfoundland so good luck for me getting there!).

The panels I attended were:

1) Get That Grant! moderated by Marion Vitrac, a Program Officer for Canada Council’s Grants to Professional Writers program, with panel members: Denise Chong, Trevor Cole and Mark Frutkin.

Memorable moments:

Marion saying the success rate is 15 to 20 per cent, Trevor disagreeing and saying he thought it was more like 10 per cent, Marion sweetly and politely saying, “That is interesting, but it is wrong.”

Also, an audience member standing up to describe his rejection letter as, “Your dog is dead. We killed it.” The entire audience laughed and Marion (again, very sweetly) said, “I did not write that letter!”

Takeaway for me: This is the first year I’m eligible for Provincial and Federal grants. I think this workshop probably jumpstarted me ahead through several years of fumbling / failed attempts and reminded me, yet again, that jurors and program officers (just like agents and editors) are people too! Often very funny people. And they wish they didn’t have to say no to you.

 

2) Making the Leap from Self-Publishing to the Big Time, moderated by Hal Wake, with panel members: Katharine Fletcher, Sandra Gulland and Terry Fallis.

Memorable moments:

Sandra Gulland saying “I found a Romanian.” This was in fact, a typist in Romania who re-typed all her backlist into proper e-book form. It was funny but you might have had to be there.

Pretty much everything Terry Fallis said. This guy is so smart and it seems like he doesn’t even know how smart he is. He just seems to have great ideas naturally. The way he made The Best Laid Plans into a success is fantastic and inspirational yet, in some ways, quite simple.

Takeaway for me: It is possible. You can help make your book a success. Your efforts are worthwhile and make a difference. Interestingly, this panel didn’t really change my mind much either way on traditional or self-publishing but it did convince me, no matter what, as an author you really have to take ownership of your book. Katharine Fletcher, as a hometown writer, was very inspiring. I don’t know if I can be as dogged as she was in her self-promotion and sales efforts but I’m sure going to try.

 

3) Genre Wars, moderated by Harry Thurston, with panel members David Lewis Stein, David Chariandy and Diane Schoemperlen.

Memorable moments:

David Chariandy telling the story of a sign placed outside a community centre where he was going to read his novel (as in work of fiction) which said, “David Chariandy abandoned his elderly mother, who had dementia, and then wrote a book about it. Please join us in welcoming him…” To be clear here, David Chariandy did not abandon his mother, although the character in his novel may have – you’ll have to read it to find out.

Diane Schoemperlen dishing some very fun literary dirt – albeit in an elegant and polite manner.

Takeaway for me: Less about what was actually discussed in the panel and more about how to comport yourself. David Chariandy apologized for reading his initial presentation but I was impressed that he was prepared, had thought his words out, and stuck to the allotted time. Diane Schoemperlen also was generous in sharing her thoughts and ideas and, while fun and full of personality, stayed respectful and professional. A day of panels like this will give you many examples of how people act in public and help you figure out how you want to come across.

Also, it was a pleasure to see Harry Thurston again. He was my Freelance Magazine professor at King’s all those years ago. He has not changed one whit. In fact, if anything he may look slightly younger (and not in an unnatural way, just full of life and health). Freelance Magazine writing was my favourite class at King’s and it was the most relevant to the path I traveled to where I am today.

 

Just Arrived at Red Chair Kids!

In lots of time for the launch!

 

Book Launch!

I know it’s in the sideblog, but I don’t want to miss seeing anyone, so can I please just reiterate – the book launch for OIM is coming up Thursday, June 6 at Red Chair Kids, 1318 Wellington Street West (corner of Wellington and Clarendon) in Ottawa.

Please drop by between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. to talk writing and reading. There will be door prizes and cold beverages / sweet snacks. Ottawa journalist, Ashley Wright, will conduct an author Q&A at 7:30.

Hope to see you there!