HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

I'll Be Back on Track Soon
Family matters mean I'm a little behind with my blogs and writing projects at the moment so please bear with me. Will be catching up very soon, with lots of news on the writing front...


Don't Think Just Write

EDITING

The Flip Side of the Coin
As regular readers will know (I like to think that there are some at least...) Writers Abroad is supporting National Short Story Week. We put out a call for submissions of short stories for an anthology that we plan to release in November in conjuction with this event. The theme of the short stories was Expat life, based on the fact that all of us are expat writers.  We have had a number of submissions and with the deadline only just over a week away, I am expecting (fingers and toes duly crossed) that we will get a flurry leading upto the 15 October. That's how I work (and many WA members I have learnt), always flying by the seat of my pants. 


The one thing this experience has taught me so far is that the life of an editor is not an easy one. I've read this statement more than once and always thought how bad could it be reading stories for a living? Well if the stories are well written, that's fine. And I'm not saying that all of the submissions so far have been bad. But when you've read another submission which you either don't understand, or the story is clearly a ramble of real life and not fictionalised you start to become a little frustrated. 


I cringe when I think of the stories I sent out in my early writing life. We've all done it, that's how we learn and develop our craft. I would dare any writer to claim that they were perfect from day one and many of us will never be perfect. That's not the point. Writing is about exploring our style, improving our presentation, learning new ways of saying old things and if we all were so wonderful, it would be a very odd place to be. What is clear is that there is always some good writing and there will always be that which isn't so good. If everyone stopped writing just because an editor thought their submission was crap then there wouldn't be any books or stories to read. The key skill for an editor is to be able to convert 'crap' into some kind of constructive criticism.
So next time I submit something, I'm going to view it from the editors eye before pressing send, in the knowledge that this might be the umpteenth manuscript that they've read that day, and challenge them to find something positive in my words.


Don't Think Just Write

WRITE A NOVEL

In Just Thirty Days

Can't be done I hear you say? Well, I beg to differ but it can and thousands do every year during November. National Write A Novel in a Month (NaNoWriMo for short) kicks off in four weeks time. This increasingly popular event invites writers to write a first draft (and draft it will be) in a month. They set the word count target at 50,000 which some might challenge its qualification as a novel, but all the same its a heck of a lot of words. This will be the third year I've participated and the second year I've actually joined the site to do so. The first time I used it to complete a story I'd started, then put down and picked up again. I'm still working on it now, check out my progress at my blog 'Writer in Progress' . Last year I wrote in excess of 70,000 words on my second novel. This year I'm planning to a little more preparation in terms of plot and characters, so on Day One I'm ready to dive into my creative pool and immerse myself for the month.
For those of you who throw your hands up in the air and say it can't be done, well, of course it can. If you divide the word count over thirty days it works out at around 1600 words (and a bit) a day. It's like the old project management adage 'you can't eat an elephant in one day' but you can if you break it up into sizeable chunks.
Let me know if you're going to take up the challenge and we can become 'buddies' on site and spur each other on and have a toast at the end - for one thing is for sure - you will have written something at the end of it...
Don't Think Just Write

YOUR WRITING EGO

And Receiving Feedback
Most writers seek feedback on their writing. Certainly if you are hoping for publication, the biggest feedback you can have is the number of books sold. But this is equally true of articles, short stories and even flash fiction. Having your work read by other writers who can provide succinct and constructive critiques before submission could mean the difference between the slush pile and the coveted letter of acceptance. 
But many of us (and I'm talking from a personal perspective here)sometimes find it difficult to accept some of the feedback. I suppose it depends on the way things are going, writing or life wise, but sometimes a comment, meant to help, throws you into a fit of the wobblies and a dip in your confidence as a writer. This is, I would imagine, the same for anyone receiving feedback on their performance. I recall the dreaded day of appraisals when working in the real world, with managers who wouldn't know the meaning of constructive feedback if they fell over it! But if we want to develop ourselves as writers, we need to continue to seek and respond to feedback in a way that benefits our writing. We then may move from being a pedestrian writer to growing into our own writing style and being recognised as such. 


Since creating Writers Abroad, a writing community for Ex-pat writers I have grown a thousand fold in terms of my writing. And I will keep repeating this claim because the feedback I have received has resulted in being my work being short listed and published. And it's not just me, other members too. I must say that I am far more gracious with my fellow writers comments as they understand what it feels like, the scrutiny, rather like an audition for a movie but in virtual terms. They understand the hard work; the occupation of your world by characters that may need to be ditched; that perfect description which 'tells' instead of 'shows'; the scene which although funny, adds nothing to the story and has to go. So although their feedback is honest and direct, it is countered with suggestions, thoughts and lots of  nitpicks which I happily go along with (though I probably need prodding about cutting that scene).
So for what its worth, here is my advice for taking it on the nose in terms of feedback on your writing...

• Accept that it is normal you are going to feel emotional about parts of your story. Having read the feedback, put it aside for a few days and let it stew. You will see the sense.
• Keep an open mind about characters, scenes and settings. Listen to the feedback, see it through a readers eye.
• Try out the suggestions and see for yourself. Never delete your first drafts, you can always go back if you feel it doesn't really work.
• Put the feedback into practice with your other work. Writing critiques can often pick up on areas that you may be weak on. Use it to develop your craft.
• Accept that feedback is part of your personal development as a writer. For me it is far more valuable than attending a course or reading a 'how to' book. 

So don't banish your writing ego, it's the part which makes you the writer you are. But no ego is perfect and that goes for its writing too.

Don't Think Just Write

Back In (Writing) Business

And At My Desk

It's been a long and hot summer, as you can see by my absence. I am so glad that autumn is on it's way and am even enjoying the storms and consistent rain we are experiencing at the moment... after temperatures of over 40 degrees, my brain is starting to function a little more as normal (whatever normal maybe).

But I haven't been slacking, promise... I've launched a new website for my fiction persona, Louise Charles along with a new blog. "Why oh Why" I hear you cry? Well, I have a number of fictional pieces all 'works in progress' and not getting much further than that. And I made a decision over the summer to commit myself to getting these WIP's into shape, or rewritten and to make that commitment as public as I possibly can. So the new website has a page dedicated to each novel, with a brief blurb about it and regular weekly progress reports will be posted on the web. I'm not sure I can post up chapters, due to copyright issues, but I may post up the odd edited excerpt for comments, criticism and a careful scrutiny...but I'm not promising. What I have promised to myself, is that I owe it to myself to invest the time in polishing and finishing these pieces. And the other pressing issue is that NaNoWriMo month is not far away and I have another story prickling at the tips of my fingers and so I need a plan... or as I've often been heard to say - JFDI!

So please visit my new website 'Louise Charles - Writer in Progress and the blog 'Writer in Progress' and keep me company on my quest.

*NEWSFLASH*

Don't forget the Writers Abroad is seeking fictional short stories for an anthology of Expat Life. These stories can be drawn from real experience and written into story format of up to 2,500 words. Check out the guidelines on the website....

Have a good weekend...

Don't Think Just Write

SUPERSTITIOUS?

Or Just Serendipitous?

I'm not generally a superstitious person. And I'm certainly not one of those writes who has to go through some kind of ritual or have a favourite gonk that needs to sit on my desk. My grandmother was extremely superstitious. So much so my mother had to change the month she'd planned her wedding, 'marry in May, rue the day!' As my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary two years ago, she may well have been write. 
So where is all this going, I hear you shout. Well, I'll tell you. Today I received a letter from the editor of My Weekly, a magazine for short stories. I'd sent a story to them a very long time ago. So long in fact, that I hadn't recorded it on my submission tracker (don't get too excited - just read index card). Anyway, the editor liked my story and said 'it has a wonderful, romantic yet real atmosphere...' and that she wants to publish it. My third short story to be published. And after a bit of a lull with a couple of short listed pieces that had me checking the results page every five seconds, very welcome news indeed. It is just an indescribable feeling. I know as a writer, I should describe it.... it feels like a large piece of Cadbury's chocolate melting on the tongue  - pure bliss (shame we can't get Cadbury's out here in Italy).
And the link to superstitions? Well, I only realised much later today that it is Friday 13th. The day and date many people don't get out of bed for. Well in my book, Friday the Thirteenth is a great day and I'm going to honour it well - I've suddenly become very superstitious.
Have a great writing weekend... 


Don't Think Just Write

SUMMERTIME - PERFECT FOR WRITING?

Well, It Should Be...Shouldn't It?
August is often termed as one of those 'silly months' like Christmas time when nobody is expected to get anything done. Isn't that right? I've been using that excuse about my writing for the last 6 days so it must be right. I think about writing. I think about writing most of the day but manage to do anything but write. I don't know what it is but it's annoying and I'm just going to have go into a corner and give myself a hard time. There are so many things I could be writing about, Christmas for one as now is the time if you want to write something seasonal. But  when it's 30 odd degrees and the whole of the country are on holiday from chemists, to newsagents to restaurants (well for Italy that's the case). It is the season when the city folk from Milan, Rome and Florence shake off their D & G (I'm told that's the correct way to refer said designer of 'have to have' clothes) don a sun-dress and shorts and head for their homes in the country. Houses which are empty for eleven months of the year come alive with chatter and laughter and all over the country on Sunday 15th August will be celebrating' Ferragosta', one of the most important catholic holidays. According to those in the know, this is the day that the Virgin was 'assunta in cielo', or in other words, taken to heaven to be with  her son Jesus. It's a day for families and for celebration. So there is plenty of scope for a story to be told there in a number of ways. There is always a story to tell, whatever month or season it may be. So next week, I should be reporting on what literary delights I have penned...right?
Don't Think Just Write


Writers Abroad - Connecting Writers All Over the World