Well, between all the writing on my book I'm busy with - I've reached page 250 this week, and about 58.000 words, I've also submitted my short story to the Wet Ink competition last week.
I'll hear more in January...
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Finished story - Letter to the editor
I finished my writing course, and now my short story as well. I can't publish it here, because this means that I wouldn't be able to send it in for publication or a competition. But I'm quite happy with the result.
And with the writing group we started with a group of die-hards at the end of our course.
The last thing to do now is writing a letter to an editor. Here are some useful links to find out what such a letter involves. It's a bit like writing a cover letter for a job application - yuk.
http://www.write-and-publish-fiction.com/fiction-query-letter.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2331129_write-cover-letter-publisher.html
http://www.charlottedillon.com/query.html
http://linenpressbooks.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/introductory-letter-to-a-publisher/
And with the writing group we started with a group of die-hards at the end of our course.
The last thing to do now is writing a letter to an editor. Here are some useful links to find out what such a letter involves. It's a bit like writing a cover letter for a job application - yuk.
http://www.write-and-publish-fiction.com/fiction-query-letter.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2331129_write-cover-letter-publisher.html
http://www.charlottedillon.com/query.html
http://linenpressbooks.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/introductory-letter-to-a-publisher/
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Short Story Sample (opening and sample of 400 words)
The sky was grey and heavy. It wouldn't be long before more snow would
come, he could feel it. He had been driving for three hours straight, it was
time to stop and stretch his legs. He needed some fresh air to think. Today he
had seen glimpses of new opportunities and to his own surprise he felt
energised and ready to explore these further.
He drove a little faster, eager to leave the highway to find a quiet spot and get out of the car. A few big snowflakes hit the windscreen. It was winter after all, but he liked it. It was the season where you could disappear and be left alone. That was exactly what he'd needed a couple of months ago to get his act back together after a lot of things in his life turned nasty for him.
One day almost eighteen months ago, his wife decided she had enough of him and left. She had packed her bag, left her keys on the dining table and disappeared out of his life. And he thought he was happily married; he hadn’t seen this one coming.
Well, if only she’d just disappeared. But she came back with a lawyer and demanded everything he possessed and more. He got his own lawyer, fought back, thought of giving up this pointless battle more often than not, and when it was all over and both parties were more or less bankrupt he just needed to get out of there and leave.
In a very uncharacteristic move he resigned from his job, took his belongings -including his cat without tail - and rented a cottage in a remote location in North-Eastern Denmark.
The cottage was great. From the veranda at the back the view over the lake was just spectacular. He spent hours just sitting on the veranda, staring into the distance, stroking the cat on his lap - who seemed pleasantly surprised by all the attention – and doing nothing much.
He needed the headspace to think about what next. What did he want with his life? It had taken a quite unexpected turn and he didn’t feel ready for anything.
But then, two weeks ago there was
this flyer in his letterbox, about a careers expo. It caught his attention,
which was unusual, as nothing had interested him much lately. Maybe his sub-conscious mind had been working
hard during these months in isolation?
Out of the blue, he decided to go. He didn’t know what he was going to find there, but that wasn’t important. So early this morning, he got into his car, drove the two hours to Kopenhagen and almost drowned in the waterfall of impressions at the Convention Centre.
He collected tons of brochures, dvd’s and goodies about courses he didn’t know they existed and jobs he’d never even heard of. Educational Technology? Earthquake Damage Assessor? Digital Media Developer? Really?
Monday, April 30, 2012
Closing paragraph (150 words)
He was thinking of a glass of dark-red Shiraz, accompanied by a beautiful blue cheese. His neighbour down the road made a great selection of cheeses, it was certainly one of her blue mould soft cheeses he pictured.
He had no idea why he thought of food, rather than thinking of ways to get out of this peculiar situation. It must be the pain playing tricks with his brain. He was certain he smelled the wine, could almost touch that cheese, right in this moment, trapped in the car and pinned to his seat by this elephant on his chest.
Strange, he thought, that when you are about to step out of this world, nothing seems important anymore. Nothing.
It was now completely dark in the car. Very quiet. Still. The snow covered everything. Through his pain he suddenly realised he was a happy man.
- Evelyn
He had no idea why he thought of food, rather than thinking of ways to get out of this peculiar situation. It must be the pain playing tricks with his brain. He was certain he smelled the wine, could almost touch that cheese, right in this moment, trapped in the car and pinned to his seat by this elephant on his chest.
Strange, he thought, that when you are about to step out of this world, nothing seems important anymore. Nothing.
It was now completely dark in the car. Very quiet. Still. The snow covered everything. Through his pain he suddenly realised he was a happy man.
- Evelyn
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Opening paragraph (up to 150 words)
The sky was grey and heavy. It wouldn't be long before more snow would come, he could feel it. He had been driving for three hours straight, it was time to stop and stretch his legs. He needed some fresh air to think. Today he had seen glimpses of new opportunities and to his own surprise he felt energised and ready to explore these further.
He drove a little faster, eager to leave the highway to find a quiet spot and get out of the car. A few big snowflakes hit the windscreen. It was winter after all, but he liked it. It was the season where you could disappear and be left alone. That was exactly what he'd needed a couple of months ago to get his act back together after a lot of things in his life turned nasty for him. He'd reacted with some uncharacteristic actions, of which the sudden resignation from his job and the move to this remote area were undoubtedly the most liberating.
- Evelyn
He drove a little faster, eager to leave the highway to find a quiet spot and get out of the car. A few big snowflakes hit the windscreen. It was winter after all, but he liked it. It was the season where you could disappear and be left alone. That was exactly what he'd needed a couple of months ago to get his act back together after a lot of things in his life turned nasty for him. He'd reacted with some uncharacteristic actions, of which the sudden resignation from his job and the move to this remote area were undoubtedly the most liberating.
- Evelyn
Thursday, April 12, 2012
10 crazy book covers
(Source: Flavorwire.com)
Recently, we found out about a cookbook that you can actually eat after you’re done reading the recipes inside, which to us sounds pretty much like the best idea ever. Inspired by this elegant and — let’s face it — kind of crazy book, we went hunting for other wildly unusual book designs, from the edible to the mechanical to the technically alive. True, we mostly think all books are little objets d’art, but these go above and beyond the normal standards, each one an innovative and interesting piece of design as well as a functioning book. Click through to check out our gallery of some of the most crazy design ever to be applied to books, and let us know if we missed any cool ones in the comments!
A special edition edible cookbook from German design firm Korefe and Gerstenberg Publishing, the recipes are printed on fresh pasta pages that can be baked into a delicious lasagna.
The Mirror Book, by John Christie and Ron King, and published by Circle Press in 1985, is exactly what it sounds like. It comes complete with a pair of white gloves for smudge-free handling, and it’s meant to be a book about self-discovery: “as one turns the pages, hands are reflected, and on looking closely, our own faces. In the act of turning, the self-image becomes distorted. Here the book is the entrance key to a world of self-contemplation, and, potentially, self-knowledge.”
While it might not look all that out of the ordinary, the first edition cover of We’re Getting On by James Kaelan is made out of birch seed paper — so when you’re finished reading it, you can plant it and make a tree.
Speaking of edible books, Design Criminals is another tome you can nibble — only this one is an art book made entirely out of sugar and printed with vegetable ink. The book won designer Andreas Pohancenik a nomination for the prestigious Brit Insurance Design Awards. Check out a making-of video here.
A glow-in-the-dark book by Croatian designers Bruketa&Žinić that can only be identified at night — in the light, it looks like a plain white journal. Read more here.
Even though these books were only distributed as a direct marketing idea to promote the movie The Jungle Book 2 in Spain, we think they’re pretty phenomenal. We wonder what’s inside.
The Mechanical Word is a five volume series of mechanical books designed by Karen Bleitz with poetry by Richard Price. Readers turn the cranks to interact with the poems and “reveal the forces hidden within the constructs of communication.”
Coffee Stains by Martha Hayden is a book about the health benefits of coffee — and it’s made out of coffee residue. How appropriate.
This edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Imp of the Perverse,” designed by Helen Friel, must be destroyed to be properly read. Friel explains, “‘The Imp of the Perverse’ discusses the voice inside all of us that makes us to do things we know we shouldn’t do. Each page is perforated in a grid system with sections of the text missing. Readers must follow the simple instructions to tear and fold specific sections to reveal the missing text. Books are usually precious objects and the destruction is engineered to give the reader conflicting feelings, do they keep the book in it’s perfect untorn form? Or give into the imp and enjoy tearing it apart?”
Each edition of Richard Long’s Nile (Papers of River Muds) is made from the mud of the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Rhine, the Guatiquia, the Huang He, the Hudson, the Nairobi, and other rivers, each page a little different depending on where it was collected.
Recently, we found out about a cookbook that you can actually eat after you’re done reading the recipes inside, which to us sounds pretty much like the best idea ever. Inspired by this elegant and — let’s face it — kind of crazy book, we went hunting for other wildly unusual book designs, from the edible to the mechanical to the technically alive. True, we mostly think all books are little objets d’art, but these go above and beyond the normal standards, each one an innovative and interesting piece of design as well as a functioning book. Click through to check out our gallery of some of the most crazy design ever to be applied to books, and let us know if we missed any cool ones in the comments!
A special edition edible cookbook from German design firm Korefe and Gerstenberg Publishing, the recipes are printed on fresh pasta pages that can be baked into a delicious lasagna.
The Mirror Book, by John Christie and Ron King, and published by Circle Press in 1985, is exactly what it sounds like. It comes complete with a pair of white gloves for smudge-free handling, and it’s meant to be a book about self-discovery: “as one turns the pages, hands are reflected, and on looking closely, our own faces. In the act of turning, the self-image becomes distorted. Here the book is the entrance key to a world of self-contemplation, and, potentially, self-knowledge.”
While it might not look all that out of the ordinary, the first edition cover of We’re Getting On by James Kaelan is made out of birch seed paper — so when you’re finished reading it, you can plant it and make a tree.
Speaking of edible books, Design Criminals is another tome you can nibble — only this one is an art book made entirely out of sugar and printed with vegetable ink. The book won designer Andreas Pohancenik a nomination for the prestigious Brit Insurance Design Awards. Check out a making-of video here.
A glow-in-the-dark book by Croatian designers Bruketa&Žinić that can only be identified at night — in the light, it looks like a plain white journal. Read more here.
Even though these books were only distributed as a direct marketing idea to promote the movie The Jungle Book 2 in Spain, we think they’re pretty phenomenal. We wonder what’s inside.
The Mechanical Word is a five volume series of mechanical books designed by Karen Bleitz with poetry by Richard Price. Readers turn the cranks to interact with the poems and “reveal the forces hidden within the constructs of communication.”
Coffee Stains by Martha Hayden is a book about the health benefits of coffee — and it’s made out of coffee residue. How appropriate.
This edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Imp of the Perverse,” designed by Helen Friel, must be destroyed to be properly read. Friel explains, “‘The Imp of the Perverse’ discusses the voice inside all of us that makes us to do things we know we shouldn’t do. Each page is perforated in a grid system with sections of the text missing. Readers must follow the simple instructions to tear and fold specific sections to reveal the missing text. Books are usually precious objects and the destruction is engineered to give the reader conflicting feelings, do they keep the book in it’s perfect untorn form? Or give into the imp and enjoy tearing it apart?”
Each edition of Richard Long’s Nile (Papers of River Muds) is made from the mud of the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Rhine, the Guatiquia, the Huang He, the Hudson, the Nairobi, and other rivers, each page a little different depending on where it was collected.
5 Great movies about writing
(Source: bookriot.com)
The other night I slammed the brakes on a film—something I rarely do, but this one managed to be both florid and boring, like a PT Cruiser. It was Nora, a biopic of James Joyce. Even Ewan McGregor couldn’t save it, and he’s got plenty of lit-flicks to his name, from Pillow Book to Miss Potter.
Filming a writer’s working life is admittedly a tall order. Some famous writers may have throbbingly dramatic personal lives (when are we going to get Norman Mailer stabbing his wife?), but the work itself, what makes them great, is hardly cinematic. Scribbling with a pen, tapping at a keyboard, scratching things out, hitting a backspace key, hour after day after year… not exactly a feast for the peepers.
We’ve been debating whether or not books are particularly good fodder for film adaptations. But I also wonder whether great movies can be made about writing itself, one peculiarly mental art form translated to a visual medium. And not just a protagonist who’s a writer (cue the shaggily endearing crank à la Wonder Boys), but showing an author at work, conveying the euphoria of a good writing day or the frustration and sweaty palms of writer’s block.
Below are a few contenders. How about you? What would you recommend?
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir, this depicts one of the toughest writing conditions imaginable. Bauby (played by Mathieu Amalric) suffers a stroke that leaves him “locked in” and only able to communicate by blinking his left eyelid. He and his nurses develop a method of writing, where every single letter feels like a triumph.
Capote
A juicy moral dilemma about a true-crime book, jailhouse interviews, manipulation, and ambition… For all the cold-blooded murder, one of the most chilling moments is when Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) says to killer Perry Smith, “there is not a word or a sentence or a concept that you can illuminate for me. There is one singular reason I keep coming here.”
Barton Fink
Was there ever a more stifling, clammy, skin-crawlingly awful room in which to get writer’s block? Extra points for John Turturro’s bug-eyed expression, mixing fear and pride, when he says “I’m a writer!”
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Beyond the elbow-throwing at the Round Table, there are some great scenes of Dorothy Parker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) at the New Yorker offices, as when she wears a sign around her neck showing her weekly salary, since no one was allowed to speak about their paychecks. Better yet are her confrontations with the typewriter, banging out “please god, let me write like a man.”
Quills
You’ve gotta give the Marquis de Sade (played by Geoffrey Rush) credit: Though locked in an insane asylum, he smuggles out manuscripts, writes on clothing in blood, and even daubs words on the walls of his cell with his own poo.
The other night I slammed the brakes on a film—something I rarely do, but this one managed to be both florid and boring, like a PT Cruiser. It was Nora, a biopic of James Joyce. Even Ewan McGregor couldn’t save it, and he’s got plenty of lit-flicks to his name, from Pillow Book to Miss Potter.
Filming a writer’s working life is admittedly a tall order. Some famous writers may have throbbingly dramatic personal lives (when are we going to get Norman Mailer stabbing his wife?), but the work itself, what makes them great, is hardly cinematic. Scribbling with a pen, tapping at a keyboard, scratching things out, hitting a backspace key, hour after day after year… not exactly a feast for the peepers.
We’ve been debating whether or not books are particularly good fodder for film adaptations. But I also wonder whether great movies can be made about writing itself, one peculiarly mental art form translated to a visual medium. And not just a protagonist who’s a writer (cue the shaggily endearing crank à la Wonder Boys), but showing an author at work, conveying the euphoria of a good writing day or the frustration and sweaty palms of writer’s block.
Below are a few contenders. How about you? What would you recommend?
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir, this depicts one of the toughest writing conditions imaginable. Bauby (played by Mathieu Amalric) suffers a stroke that leaves him “locked in” and only able to communicate by blinking his left eyelid. He and his nurses develop a method of writing, where every single letter feels like a triumph.
Capote
A juicy moral dilemma about a true-crime book, jailhouse interviews, manipulation, and ambition… For all the cold-blooded murder, one of the most chilling moments is when Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) says to killer Perry Smith, “there is not a word or a sentence or a concept that you can illuminate for me. There is one singular reason I keep coming here.”
Barton Fink
Was there ever a more stifling, clammy, skin-crawlingly awful room in which to get writer’s block? Extra points for John Turturro’s bug-eyed expression, mixing fear and pride, when he says “I’m a writer!”
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Beyond the elbow-throwing at the Round Table, there are some great scenes of Dorothy Parker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) at the New Yorker offices, as when she wears a sign around her neck showing her weekly salary, since no one was allowed to speak about their paychecks. Better yet are her confrontations with the typewriter, banging out “please god, let me write like a man.”
Quills
You’ve gotta give the Marquis de Sade (played by Geoffrey Rush) credit: Though locked in an insane asylum, he smuggles out manuscripts, writes on clothing in blood, and even daubs words on the walls of his cell with his own poo.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Start developing your main character
Answer the questions to get to know the main character of your short story.
·
Why, what, when, where, who and how
o
Underway from careers fair back home
o
Wants a new direction in life after difficult
divorce
o
Moved over a year ago to a remote area to create
headspace
o
Is getting out of the darkness and ready to move
forward again
·
What motivates him
o
Direction
o
A new start
o
Nature
o
Camping
o
His cat without tail
o
Pink Floyd
·
How does this character react in difficulty
o
Usually resolute and energetically, but he got
deflated by his difficult marriage and divorce. It is only now that he starts
picking up the pieces and that we see glimpses of his old self again
·
How does this character appear to those who know
him well
o
Solid, a bit rough, a loner
o
Trustworthy
o
A good man
o
Difficult to get to know well
·
What life complications exist for your character
o
A manipulative ex-wife
o
A mum with dementia
o
Heart problems. He has had surgery in the past
and got 2 stents in an artery
·
Foibles, flaws or mannerisms
o
Withdraws when things get tough
o
Drinks one glass of whisky at night before going
to bed to wind down
·
Loves and hates
o
Loves cuddling his cat
o
Loves sitting on the veranda late at night with
his whisky
o
Hates visiting his mum and seeing her
deteriorate
o
Hates being insecure since discovering he had a
heart condition
·
When and where did/do they live
o
Lives in Denmark. Has lived there all his life
·
Who is in their family (family background)
o
He has a brother in Sweden
o
A mum in a home
o
An ex-wife
o
Friends from Uni, spread out over the country.
They see each other once a year for a catch-up weekend at one of his friends’
bach in the forest
·
Formative life experiences
o
Went to Uni
o
Had a job as manager of a dairy coop. Quit his
job to think about ‘what next’.
o
Collapsed after an ice skating tour. That was
when his heart condition was discovered
·
Appearance
o
Weathered
o
Trim
o
Clothes are worn. Not interested in fashion
Clean
Language based strategies
- Create a table as below
- Choose a colour or another trigger sensory word and write that word repeatedly in the rows of the first and third column (in this case 'white')
- Think of words that associate with your trigger word by sound or meaning
- Then write a paragraph using as many of the words you have listed in the sound column
- Do the same, but now with the meaning column words.
Association
|
By sound
|
Association
|
By meaning
|
White
|
Wait
|
White
|
Hot
|
White
|
Maid
|
White
|
Snow
|
White
|
Whitebait
|
White
|
Clean
|
White
|
Fight
|
White
|
Pristine
|
White
|
Flight
|
White
|
Virgin
|
White
|
Marmalade
|
White
|
Blood
|
White
|
Marmite
|
White
|
Colour
|
White
|
Parachute
|
White
|
Linen
|
White
|
Hide
|
White
|
Bright
|
He stood on the shoreline and watched the water making
circles around the whitebait net.
The season hadn’t been great thus far, he thought, as he walked towards his
net. He didn’t want to get into another fight
with his wife today. She needed him to bring in a good catch for their guests. A
shame that you can’t get away with giving them a piece of bread with Marmalade or Marmite these days, he mused with a smile.
He looked over the pristine
estuary to the snow-capped peaks in
the distance. It was going to be one of the first hot days, he could feel it. Squinting into the reflections on the
water he arrived at his net. He started to haul the bright green mass in. His son compared the colour of the net with alien blood. He was into aliens at the
moment. Has been for the last three weeks. Who knows what would follow next. Virgins?
Thursday, March 1, 2012
About a dream
This exercise is about the last dream I had. Write anything, doesnt matter what, doesn't even have to be related to that dream. I only remember counting squares of some kind (! As you do on an ordinary day) with other people present and an agitated mood.
She was at the wharf. Large black hulls of cargo ships were looming on the other side of the jetty. People clad in black pants and jackets ran up and down the jetty with black suitcases on their shoulders. One of them lost his footing, tripped over and just managed to stay upright. His suitcase however slid from his shoulder and fell on the ground with a thud. The side that hit the ground first split open and brown squares the size of a hand spilled out and onto the jetty.
'Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing!', she yelled.
'I dunno, I just nearly fell', he shouted back.
'You idiot, you damaged my suitcase and my squares! Make sure not one is missing. Count them and tell me how many you've got. There can't be one missing, you know how dangerous that is. Get a couple of the others to help you, as you've caused a situation here. When you're done counting and made sure we've got all the squares back please jump in the water, I don't need you anymore.'
She turned around, her leather coat moving stiffly when she walked away towards the cargo ship.
She was at the wharf. Large black hulls of cargo ships were looming on the other side of the jetty. People clad in black pants and jackets ran up and down the jetty with black suitcases on their shoulders. One of them lost his footing, tripped over and just managed to stay upright. His suitcase however slid from his shoulder and fell on the ground with a thud. The side that hit the ground first split open and brown squares the size of a hand spilled out and onto the jetty.
'Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing!', she yelled.
'I dunno, I just nearly fell', he shouted back.
'You idiot, you damaged my suitcase and my squares! Make sure not one is missing. Count them and tell me how many you've got. There can't be one missing, you know how dangerous that is. Get a couple of the others to help you, as you've caused a situation here. When you're done counting and made sure we've got all the squares back please jump in the water, I don't need you anymore.'
She turned around, her leather coat moving stiffly when she walked away towards the cargo ship.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Next Week: Adelaide Writers' Week: Live Radio Broadcast & Live Tweeting
Adelaide Writers' Week: Live Radio Broadcast & Live Tweeting
1.05 pm Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Can’t get to Adelaide Writers’ Week this year? In the country, another state or the other side of the world? That’s okay, this year we’re online.
Listen to live coverage of Adelaide Writers’ Week on ABC @ Writers’ Week digital radio and online. See the full schedule here.
On Twitter? We will be Live-tweeting from Adelaide Writers’ Week. To follow the sessions online and take part in panel discussions, follow:
@adelaidefest
@adelwritersweek
Make sure you add columns for #AdlWW (East Stage) and #AdlWW2 (West Stage) so you can follow individual sessions easily.
We will be taking questions from the Twitterverse during panel discussions so you can take part in the conversation at Adelaide Writers’ Week no matter where you are.
You can find session information here and in our free iPhone and Android app or you can purchase the Adelaide Writers’ week program here.
[Source: Adelaide Festival]
I remember...
Start writing a piece with the words: I remember...And see what comes out.
I remember...
Not much actually. Lots of thoughts cross my mind but I am not int the mood to write about those memories, even if it is nothing special.
I do remember suddenly being up on the 15th floor of the NZ Police office building in Wellington. That floor housed the cafe and I was often there for a cup of coffee in the morning, meeting with my manager and enjoying the views over the harbour towards eastbourne. If it wasn't for work I could sit there for hours, watching the weather passing by. The cloud formations were often spectacular! But also when there wasn't a cloud in the sky it was the best place to be. The colour of the sea turned an emerald green that I've only ever seen in new zealand. It's beautiful and mesmerising.
That office building was one of just a few tall buildings In that area. Being up on the15th floor gave you the opportunity to look down on Thorndon and its heritage-listed houses with their interesting rooflines in a great variety of colours. Even better was it when the local girls college next door was on: there were pupils hanging about on the sports field and walking to and from different buildings, which from above looked very much like anything but not school buildings, being old and fascinating with all those nooks and crannies and verandahs. Sipping my cup of coffee high up in that building I often felt like being in a parallel universe, invisible.
- Evelyn
I remember...
Not much actually. Lots of thoughts cross my mind but I am not int the mood to write about those memories, even if it is nothing special.
I do remember suddenly being up on the 15th floor of the NZ Police office building in Wellington. That floor housed the cafe and I was often there for a cup of coffee in the morning, meeting with my manager and enjoying the views over the harbour towards eastbourne. If it wasn't for work I could sit there for hours, watching the weather passing by. The cloud formations were often spectacular! But also when there wasn't a cloud in the sky it was the best place to be. The colour of the sea turned an emerald green that I've only ever seen in new zealand. It's beautiful and mesmerising.
That office building was one of just a few tall buildings In that area. Being up on the15th floor gave you the opportunity to look down on Thorndon and its heritage-listed houses with their interesting rooflines in a great variety of colours. Even better was it when the local girls college next door was on: there were pupils hanging about on the sports field and walking to and from different buildings, which from above looked very much like anything but not school buildings, being old and fascinating with all those nooks and crannies and verandahs. Sipping my cup of coffee high up in that building I often felt like being in a parallel universe, invisible.
- Evelyn
Self portrait
Write about yourself as you are at this moment, use all the six senses.
I am sitting on the couch. It is evening, nearly bedtime. It has been cold today, not more than 16 degrees. We have the heater going and I have a soft blanket wrapped around my legs, as the leather couch didn't seem to be warming up tonight. I hear Age unpacking the dishwasher and rattling with cutlery and crockery. I also hear the wind, or rather, the wind against the windows and now and then the wind whooshing through the space between the ceiling and the roof. I am typing on my iPad which I took with me from work today. It feels solid on my lap and the backside is nice and smooth. To type properly I really have to remove that comfortable blanket from my legs, throw it on the side, and change into the lotus posture. My bling-bling bracelet catches my attention now and then, it has Swarovski crystals in it and is very shiny. I smell the wine in Age's glass.
This piece of text hasn't been edited. I would probably change a few little things in the sentences, maybe a few words, but not too much.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I am sitting on the couch. It is evening, nearly bedtime. It has been cold today, not more than 16 degrees. We have the heater going and I have a soft blanket wrapped around my legs, as the leather couch didn't seem to be warming up tonight. I hear Age unpacking the dishwasher and rattling with cutlery and crockery. I also hear the wind, or rather, the wind against the windows and now and then the wind whooshing through the space between the ceiling and the roof. I am typing on my iPad which I took with me from work today. It feels solid on my lap and the backside is nice and smooth. To type properly I really have to remove that comfortable blanket from my legs, throw it on the side, and change into the lotus posture. My bling-bling bracelet catches my attention now and then, it has Swarovski crystals in it and is very shiny. I smell the wine in Age's glass.
This piece of text hasn't been edited. I would probably change a few little things in the sentences, maybe a few words, but not too much.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
60 second exercise
We still don't know who the killer is. We have seen a lot of suspects, but no idea whether the real killer is amongst them. That doesn't happen often, and we've seen at least 19 episodes! Well thought out plot.
This was a 60 second writing exercise where you write for 60 seconds whatever comes up in your head.
This was a 60 second writing exercise where you write for 60 seconds whatever comes up in your head.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Exercise: write a piece without using the letter 'e'
It was a dark and stormy night....
This is the beginning of a paragraph you are about to write and you get two minutes for it. There is one thing about that paragraph: you are not allowed to use any words with the letter 'e' in it! Notice that 'it was a dark and stormy night' doesn't have e's in it?
So...
We did this in class. Some people had two to three sentences, others went completely blank. I managed to do this:
It was a dark and stormy night....
And I was still at work busy writing on my first book. With howling wind, rain and ligthning I was happy as. My iPad wasn't working tonight.
This is the beginning of a paragraph you are about to write and you get two minutes for it. There is one thing about that paragraph: you are not allowed to use any words with the letter 'e' in it! Notice that 'it was a dark and stormy night' doesn't have e's in it?
So...
We did this in class. Some people had two to three sentences, others went completely blank. I managed to do this:
It was a dark and stormy night....
And I was still at work busy writing on my first book. With howling wind, rain and ligthning I was happy as. My iPad wasn't working tonight.
Monday, February 20, 2012
My short story is about....
My
short story is about someone who survived nearly two months being trapped
inside his snow-covered car. He could
have got out of the car, as he was only at the end of a road leading off a
major highway, but he chose to stay in the car. He was close to death when he
was discovered by people on snowmobiles. No-one has missed him.
Exercise: Critiquing Fiction
For the next class I have to critique a work of fiction that I have read. The title of the book is 'Songs of the Humpback Whale' by Jodi Picoult.
I like 'Songs of the Humpback Whale' a lot. It kept my attention fully. I think the target audience for this story is mainly adult women, I can't put the finger on why that is, but I do know that my partner doesn't like 'this kind of books' at all.
Jodi Picoult successfully creates tension. I kept reading and reading. I tried to read as slowly as possible, to enjoy the book for longer, but that was really hard.
The main character is Jane, and the whole book is used to get to know her better and to understand why she is who she has become and who she really is as a person. This character Jane and her relationship with her husband and daughter is unraveled like an onion.
The book reads like a road movie, with the main characters Jane and her daughter driving away from her husband in A, crossing the USA to B, with in the middle all sorts of chance events that bring Jane and her daughter closer together and further apart at the same time.
The story is told through the point of view of the main characters in the story: Jane, Oliver (the husband), and Rebecca (the daughter). The reader experiences the story through their individual eyes, which in my opinion creates a lot of tension, as you get to know their experiences and emotions first hand. There is also a character whose letters to Jane we get to see. The story jumps forward and backward through time.
I don't think the plot is always believable, here and there it's too dramatic. Especially at the end where the boyfriend of Rebecca (the daughter) falls from a cliff and dies - that could have gone a bit different and probably be better believable.
Jodi Picoult's strength for me lies in creating a certain mood throughout the story, which makes the state of the relationships between the main characters very clear. She is very good at sensory description, allowing the reader to feel what the characters feel. The dialogues are sharp, short and clean, which move the story forward, and make you want to read faster and more.
I like 'Songs of the Humpback Whale' a lot. It kept my attention fully. I think the target audience for this story is mainly adult women, I can't put the finger on why that is, but I do know that my partner doesn't like 'this kind of books' at all.
Jodi Picoult successfully creates tension. I kept reading and reading. I tried to read as slowly as possible, to enjoy the book for longer, but that was really hard.
The main character is Jane, and the whole book is used to get to know her better and to understand why she is who she has become and who she really is as a person. This character Jane and her relationship with her husband and daughter is unraveled like an onion.
The book reads like a road movie, with the main characters Jane and her daughter driving away from her husband in A, crossing the USA to B, with in the middle all sorts of chance events that bring Jane and her daughter closer together and further apart at the same time.
The story is told through the point of view of the main characters in the story: Jane, Oliver (the husband), and Rebecca (the daughter). The reader experiences the story through their individual eyes, which in my opinion creates a lot of tension, as you get to know their experiences and emotions first hand. There is also a character whose letters to Jane we get to see. The story jumps forward and backward through time.
I don't think the plot is always believable, here and there it's too dramatic. Especially at the end where the boyfriend of Rebecca (the daughter) falls from a cliff and dies - that could have gone a bit different and probably be better believable.
Jodi Picoult's strength for me lies in creating a certain mood throughout the story, which makes the state of the relationships between the main characters very clear. She is very good at sensory description, allowing the reader to feel what the characters feel. The dialogues are sharp, short and clean, which move the story forward, and make you want to read faster and more.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Components of a short story
- Setting - geographical location, time, social setting, and a mood or atmosphere)
- Plot - the sequence of events arranged with a beginning, middle and end. Characters are introduced, a catalyst for conflict enters the story, characters are challenged and react to the conflict that leads to a climax followed by a denouement or resolution. All stories need conflict. All characters need a reason to react. A conflict can be described as the character receives information, accepts the information and then reacts (makes a choice) about the information. Conflict can be internal and external.
- Character - a character needs to be convincing
- Point of view
- Theme - the theme will not be stated plainly in the text but will be seen by the action of the characters
- Show don't tell - a writer needs to show the reader by using imagery, tone of voice and sensory images.
Some tips:
- Start as close to the climax as possible
- The characters in a short story should be created by a writer, not discovered, borrowed or stolen from life. You will give them what they need to serve the purposes of your story
- In real life people may be thrown together in interesting or dramatic situations (such as a stalled lift) in which they all get along well without tension or conflict. In writing a story you will often create characters deliberately different and throw them into situations where these differences have to be worked through.
- In real life the scandalous surfaces of some people's lives create sensational headlines and stories that last for a day or a week and do not satisfy and are not remembered. The writer often looks more intimately at quieter moments in lives, or looks deeply into the intricate causes of unhappiness or happiness.
- What happens to your characters happens because you have planned it to happen, so that you can achieve a particular purpose in plotting or in character development.
About getting feedback
- Never show a first draft, except to someone who is an experienced reader capable of recognising what the first draft might become (according to the instructor we must expect to go over each text about a 100 times! That's terrible!)
- Don't talk your ideas through with people. You can talk yourself out of a good idea when you see other people's reactions to a half-formed idea.
- Never choose a member of your own family to be your critic. They usually have no idea of the process of writing, even if as readers they have good literary taste. They will also say 'That's not how it happened' more often than you want to hear.
Recommended texts
- The Writing Book: a workbook for fiction writers, by Kate Grenville
- The style manual for authors, publishers and printers, 2002, Sixth edicion, Australian Government Publishing Service.
Monday, February 6, 2012
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