Episode 17

Newbie Writers Podcast

January 21  (Catharine is eating locusts from street vendors)

Guest Jane Isaac and Lyle Perez.

The Ultimate Newbie Experience.

Jane is the living proof of a newbie becoming a published author.

What was the process involved? What sparked the story idea?

Dionne Lister asks: What has been the best part of the process for her? What was her reaction when she found out Rainstorm Press wanted to publish her works?

We pick Lyle’s brain on the initial reaction to reading Jane’s draft, what was it that made him want to publish it? What tips for new writers can be drawn from this?

We find out how Rainstorm Press is going and any new authors to look out for.

Jane’s been apart of Newbie Writers since 2007, certainly longer than I have. We ask what her thoughts on how Newbie Writers has changed, how it’s progressed.

Prompt:

“Nothing happens unless first a dream” – Carl Sandburg
spend twenty minutes on your dream. What do you really want to write? Not what sells, not what you think is “you” not what you think is trendy, just what you want to write, what you want to spend a year messing around with.
Really, twenty minutes – go!

Bring out your dead:

Contributed by Anne Naylor of www.becauseofbipolar.com.au
Too late she discovered she had married a psychopath.
It was the day after their wedding and they were in the presidential suite of a luxury hotel. They were finally on their honeymoon, about to start life as husband and wife.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her towards him. Magic was about to happen. They slid under the covers. He kissed her gently, then pulled the blankets over her head. She was confused. Why was he holding the blanket so tightly. He knew she was claustrophobic. She struggled against him, but he was too strong. He wouldn’t release her.
A foul stench filled the air. Surely not. He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have. But undeniably, he had. The assault on her senses was silent, but deadly. Finally, after an eternity, he pulled back the blankets and she gasped as she gulped unpolluted air.
She was furious. Shocked and horrified. She berated herself for marrying a psychopath. Well, if not a psychopath, then a fifteen year old boy masquerading as a twenty-five year old man. He laughed, clearly very pleased with himself. ‘Welcome to marriage!’ he said. ‘What do you mean?’ she replied. She stared at him, bewildered. ‘It’s a Dutch oven’, he explained. A marriage ritual. It’s good luck.’
She thought it was surely a bad omen.
‘You’ll pay for this one day’, she said.
(And twenty years later, she did.)

Word of the week

www.worldwidewords.org

FUSTILUGS

In those moments when only insults will do, how good it is to turn to the inventive but unsung genius of everyday folk, whose local dialect is so often full of expressive abuse. This word, meaning a grossly fat or slovenly woman, is an excellent example.

It still has some small currency, mostly in Yorkshire I believe, though at one time it was widely known across a swathe of England ranging from Cumbria to Devon. That it will almost certainly be unknown to the object of your obloquy will add relish to your utterance, though it might not be too hard to work out it isn’t complimentary. It has rarely been written down outside dialect glossaries, but it did appear in 1621 in a long passage full of terms of opprobrium in The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton: “Every lover admires his mistress, though she be … a vast virago, or an ugly tit, a slug, a fat fustilugs”.

Shout Outs/ Sponsors:

Jane shouts out to the entire Twitter gang!

Damien says hi to Dianne Solberg and her Mum!

Rainstorm Press deal: newbie40 is the coupon. Gets you 40% off ANY purchase you make at www.rainstormpress.com

Where to find us:
Damien: www.newbiewriters.com
Jane Isaac: http://www.janeisaac.co.uk/
Lyle Perez: www.rainstormpress.com

Subscribe to us via email!

Episode 16

Newbie Writers podcast January 16  (Catharine is riding elephants in Thailand today)

Guest Anne Naylor, Dionne Lister

What do readers want?

How can we as writers’ give it to them or even know what the hell it is?

What readers want.

As an emerging writer, I want (and need) to know what readers want.
These are my thoughts.

As a reader, this is what I know:

My time is precious. I am very busy and I beg, borrow and steal time away from other things to read. There is too much to do, too little time to do it in and too much information to deal with on a daily basis. An author needs to give me a very compelling reason to start, and then continue reading his/her work.

I have a short attention span. I don’t necessarily read a book from start to finish. My eyes continually scan the pages, skip over pictures and headings, go back and look at what I have already read, read ahead or go straight to the end. I am constantly assessing whether a book is worth continuing with. If I come to the conclusion that it is not for me, I put it aside. This is also what I do when deciding whether to buy a book or not.
I read inferentially (as well as literally), which means I seek out messages that are not specifically stated in the text. I look at the words on the page and read them on ‘face value’, while at the same time looking for inherent meanings and underlying agendas. As I said, I continually make judgments about what I am reading.

If there are inconsistencies with the characters or contradictions in the plot, I think, ’I don’t get that’, ‘I wonder why she wrote that’ or ‘that doesn’t make any sense’.

I wonder if it is worth reading on. I like books that make me feel as though the author could have written them just for me, not for a mass audience. Some authors churn out novel after novel, all virtually the same. For me these books have no soul. Some authors seem to forget what it is like to be a reader.

I know that everyone is different and we all have our own tastes and preferences. Just because I am not really keen on a book doesn’t mean that it is not a good book. My sister once told me that the best book she had ever read in her life was The Shipping News. I couldn’t get past page three.

As a reader, this is what I want:

Questions to ask:
Anne says she want’s to get a good return on the investment of her time. And read books are that useful, relevant, interesting and entertaining.

Discuss each of these points:
a) useful -  Ask for examples  of each of these, or brainstorm on what a useful book is.
b) relevant – what relevant books have either one of your read?
c) interesting – what interesting books have you both read?
d) enjoyable and/or  -  And of course, what is pure entertainment?  Is it mutually exclusive from books that are useful, relevant and interesting?
e) entertaining.

I want to feel that authors have given me something of themselves.  How do you know when an author has delivered something of themselves?  What are the clues or key?  Or what do you think they are?  Or is it like porn?  We know it when we see it?
But that’s just me.

After thinking about all of this, I have changed my mind. I think I do know what readers want.  What I don’t know is how to give it to them.
Perhaps the topic should be:
How to give readers what they want?
Now, there is a dark side to working too hard to anticipate exactly what readers want, because often they don’t know what they want until some genius has delivered it.

What newbie writers sometimes do is  miss the difference between what readers want and what is trendy.  Two different things.
Readers want their genres to deliver and that includes a novel format which can deliver the brand promise in that it has some qualities:  Redemption, sword fights to the end, knighting, crowning, death, marriage.

So ask the question:  Am I delivering this paragraph because it will help make the story more clear and more interesting to the reader?  Or have I thrown in a scene that is random or gratuitous just because I think ti will be popular?
This is how summer films are made, this is how spin off sitcoms are made and this is why we think something is boring or awful, when it’s just derivative.

That’s the disadvantage , just to play devil’s advocate – Damien’s favorite game.

Prompt:

“We stand in our own shadow then wonder why it’s dark.” – Zen
This is often a refrain in our lives: we can’t, we should, we shouldn’t, it should be this way, we never do that, you should always do this. Life should turn out this way.
What about your character?  What past situation has shadowed them?  What shadows you?
Write about how stepping out of a shadow moves your character’s story forward.
Happy Writing!

Bring out your dead:

From the forums. Our very own Merkin Mysteries.

http://www.newbiewriters.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=3369

“Would you like some tea sir?” asked the plump waitress. The well dressed, middle aged man sighed with a reply, “No thank you. If you will Miss, can you leave us be for a while? We have important matters to discuss.” The waitress curtsied and waddled away. The gentleman turned back to the table and addressed the man sitting opposite him.

“Walter, why do you persist in coming here? This does nothing for my reputation as Chief Inspector, I cannot be seen wasting the afternoon having high tea. Not to mention, you are urgently needed out on the field.” The Chief sighed again and polished his monocle.

“MMM! You really must try this cake Kenneth, it’s banana and poppy seed. Such a great combination.” The Chief rolled his eyes and smoothed his moustache, clearly disgusted by Walters lack of etiquette. “The reason I come to this tea house, is I dislike the taste of ale and I’d rather steer clear of the clientele, after-all, one shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.”

Kenneth threw a paper across the table. “It’s happened again, this time a man floating down the Thames. Throat slit from ear to ear.”

Walter picked up the paper and smirked at the headline: “A Werewolf in London.” “You know, that’d make a great song title I say. What has a werewolf got to do with a chap with a permanent blow hole in the Thames?”

“Well, let’s just say the two bodies we’ve found so far have been clean shaved.” Kenneth glared at Walter for a response.

Walter finished another cake and leaned back patting his stomach. “Probably just a copycat of the murders I solved last month. The Stanton Skinner I think they dubbed him. Was a doctor who was scalping the bodies after he’d operated on them. Strange man. I’m sure this one will be easy to catch.”

“I’m not entirely sure how I can put this Walter. By shaved, I mean, down there. You know what I mean? It’s truly odd. Why would you murder someone, take their strides off and shave them?”

Walter pushed the plate of cakes away with a disgusted look on his face. ‘Take me to the body. I need to see this.”

Word of the week
www.worldwidewords.org

MUMPING

In December 2010, my local community centre in South Gloucestershire revived Mumping Night, a procession and entertainment under the notional supervision of a Lord of Misrule. Mumping is an uncommon word for this seasonal activity, mostly known in the West Country. More commonly it’s mumming, for a performance that was originally in mime or in which participants were in disguise. The name for my local performance seems to be from a confusion between mumming and another old custom of the pre-Christmas period, also called mumping.

Mumping is attached to the feast day of St Thomas the Apostle on 21 December. This used to be known in some parts of England as Mumping Day, when poor people went around their parish begging for alms. It’s from the seventeenth-century Dutch verb mompen, to cheat or deceive, but it became an English dialect word meaning to scrounge or beg.

Mumping is also British police jargon for accepting small favours such as free meals from friendly tradespeople.

Shout Outs:

Sally Sullivan on Google+ for having some bizarre posts about cats.

Add your shout outs here.

Where to find us:

Anne Naylor: http://www.becauseofbipolar.com.au
Dionne Lister: http://www.dionnelisterwriter.wordpress.com @DionneLister
Damien: http://www.newbiewriters.com @newbiewriters Newbie Writers on Google+

As work on my second novel progresses, I realise that word counts intimidate me. When I hear other writers aiming for 2 or 3,000 words a day on their book, every day, I want to climb back into bed and eat copious bars of chocolate. I admire their tenacity, their discipline, their focus.

Like of many of you, my lifestyle allows precious little spare time. As you all know, I have a day job, a family and a very naughty Labrador – all barriers (albeit welcome barriers – most of the time!) that keep me from my keyboard.

These days, I approach my novel in scenes, writing one at a time. I like to get into the heads of my characters. They don’t share my personality, so I need to feel theirs. I guess you might call me a ponderer. I walk across the fields with Bollo, my dog, and let the fresh air swim around me whilst mulling it over in my head.  I try to imagine the scene, picture it in my mind – how does it look, smell; what noises can I hear in the background? Then survey my characters, what is happening to them, how will they react?

Often I come back and write something. Sometimes, there isn’t time. If I’ve got work or family stuff to attend to, I just jot down a few notes. But I genuinely think that if I can’t feel my story, then my readers won’t either. And for me, this all takes time: sometimes hours, days, weeks even for a complex scene.

If you’re writing for something special, or doing a competition like Nano, then great – it’s a challenge. If it’s your job and you have a deadline, you have no choice. But, for me, it’s a hobby and a regular writing routine isn’t measured by a daily word limit. I count all the research, thinking and ruminating time too.

We all know that what works for one, doesn’t for another. As Newbies, we have to find the right habit to suit our own lifestyles. Writing should be an exciting, thrilling and fun experience. Like a great movie, or a good book. So, go find what suits you – write and enjoy.

Jane Isaac’s first novel, An Unfamiliar Murder, will be released by Rainstorm Press in February 2012. Jane is still very much a Newbie and with a day job, a family and a very demanding black Labrador, she squeezes her writing into every spare moment she gets. Join her on the rocky road from pen to publication!

End May 2011

As newbies, where can we look for a publisher that will read and consider our work?

It is well known that the major houses will only accept submissions via a literary Agent. So if you don’t have an Agent, where do you start? This was my next dilemma.

My former Agent suggested a few independent houses to start with but, alas, when I checked their websites most of those had recently changed their policy; now only accepting submissions via a literary Agent themselves. I did the normal things like trawl the Writers and Artists Yearbook, googled ‘Independent Publishing Houses’ in as many word variations as I could muster, subscribed to ‘writethismoment.com’, a site advertising calls for submissions. This gave me a handful.

I saw in the news that the London Book Fair had just finished in London. This is an event frequented by Agents and Publishers – so I checked out the stall holders and came up with some new houses this way.

The search took weeks. It seemed that I was spending every spare moment, looking for sites, checking their genre requirements, submission guidelines, making sure they would accept contact from new writers. There were many that fell at the first hurdle; either they didn’t accept my genre or they were closed for submissions. Eventually, I ended up with a list.

Submitting novel queries (introductory letter, synopsis and first three chapters in most cases), by snail mail can prove expensive in terms of printing costs and postage. So I decided to only try those that accepted submission by email, and sent my novel off to the first tranche. Back to the waiting game…

Author’s note: I would like to share my list of potential publishing houses with any budding novelists out there who are looking to submit their work. You will find a list of independent publishing houses, open to submissions, in the forum under Writing Goals – Goal to being published. Good luck to you all!

Jane Isaac is very much a Newbie, she doesn’t even have a website yet (one day…) and with a day job, a family and a very demanding black Labrador, she squeezes her writing into every spare moment she gets. Join her on the rocky road from pen to publication – hopefully!

Late December 2010 – The Christmas holidays for me proved to be a real roller coaster ride. The first Agent came back and said that he had enjoyed my novel and wished to represent me. I was to look out for an agreement in the post! Another dance around the lounge called for (luckily, the house was empty apart from my Labrador, Bollo, who looked at me as though I’d gone quite mad).

Then, towards the end of the Christmas holidays, the second Agent said he wanted to meet up to discuss the novel further. He was from a larger, London based Agency. I was on the horns of a dilemma.

Oh, don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t complaining. This was a dream for me. But to have a choice? I am just a wannabe novelist. What do I know about the workings of the publishing world?

Oh, I am not naive. I am aware that multiple submissions are acceptable. But multiple acceptances certainly are not. When you have signed, you are bound. But I hadn’t signed, or even received, an agreement. So, I swallowed my conscience and finally agreed to meet up with the second Agent.

I’ve always found London thrilling. I travelled down by train and across on the tube to their Kensington offices where I was made coffee and escorted into a room lined with bookcases showcasing their authors. Even the coffee table in the middle of the floor was glass topped, with novels by famous authors that they represent, peering out from beneath.

We discussed my manuscript; how they would help me edit it so that it was ready for submission to publishers, support me along the way. I signed with them the very next day.

Ever heard the phrase, ‘too good to be true?’…

Jane Isaac is very much a Newbie, she doesn’t even have a website yet (one day…) and with a day job, a family and a very demanding black Labrador, she squeezes her writing into every spare moment she gets. Join her on the rocky road from pen to publication – hopefully!

Sometimes I am not the best at taking my own advice, or the advice of others for that matter but here are a few tips I have discovered the hard way and I hope you don’t fall into the same trap I did early on and get caught up into the logistics of what you are doing and spending valuable time on the idea of being a writer instead of actually being a writer. 

1)      Don’t worry about getting published.  This notion seems a bit counterproductive but I think every Newbie writer has this as a goal.  But worrying about it too much too soon is detrimental.  When I was younger I was a runner I hated running.  It was work.  It wasn’t until I took the advice of Jim Fixx that was to forget the stop watch, forget how fast you can run a mile, and just enjoy your runs that I began to actually enjoy it.  I let go of all the performance issues of time, distance goals and I was just running.  Before I knew it I was running longer and faster then I had ever run before. 

Writing is the same way.  You need to let go of all the usually benchmarks of success and just write.  You will get better before you know it.    

2)      Let someone else worry about the publication.   There are so many outlets to get your work out there now why spend hours building a web site, or a print publication.  You are a writer!  Let someone else be the editor and publisher.  At least until you are ready to get to your feet wet doing the logistics.

When I first started writing I thought I wanted to start a magazine, sell ad space, I was going to have the next big idea and I would be able to quit my day job and have my own publishing company in a few years.  What I didn’t realize is what it takes to actually do it.  I spent hours working on layouts and the graphic design portion of it that I missed the mark on what makes a publication click…the writing. 

I made the same mistake with a few websites which sucked up even more of my time because I was trying to learn the programs to produce the site.  Here I was trying to be a writer and I was doing everything but writing. 

3)      Volunteer to be a writer.  I know getting clips is a big portion of landing future projects and it’s all about building the book, but how do you get clips if you have never written anything before?  Grant writing, copy writing, and even free blogging gigs are a great way to start. 

You have a lot less pressure on yourself if you’re doing it for free, and I have gotten some of the best satisfaction in writing by helping non-profit organizations secure additional funding through grant writing.

Not sure where to look try ww.volunteermatch.com and do a search for “writer”.

4)      Don’t get discouraged. OK, this one is easier said than done!  Believe me I know.  And this seems a bit like common sense but being a Newbie writer is a little like being third string on a basketball team.  Sure you are part of the team but does anyone really take you that seriously? Not until you get into the game do you get any respect. 

As a beginning writer you get treated about the same.  The established journalist think you are a hack, editors treat you like you just asked them to for some spare change and sometimes even your family doesn’t get it. 

All of this can be enough for you to wonder why I bother.  For me I am beginning to realize it’s not about everyone else but it’s about what I want to do and writing is something that makes ME happy.  Eventually it will make someone else happy too. 

5)      Bare your soul. As writers our mind flows onto paper like a clogged sink sometimes.  I know some assignments have specific guidelines but getting your feelings, and emotion into that piece of writing takes a plunger sometimes.  You have to forget about things like, “What if my mother reads this”? Or what if I offend someone. 

Speaking your mind can take some practice.  But you have to get past all the restrictions to have the true you come out in your writing.  I don’t care how good a writer you are your readers will know if you are not being sincere or real with yourself. 

If I could give only one piece of advice it would be to write, write, and write some more.  Only through discover of yourself will your art come to life and with that life will come success.

Everyone who visits this website has a love of writing; whether it is journalistic, in depth feature style articles, short stories, novels, or poetry, writing is a pleasure that satisfies a deep part of our souls. Yet, not everyone who has a love of writing can write well – yet!

Writing is a craft that takes a lifetime to learn, refine, and enjoy before you become a true master. Even the most famous authors suffer through personal doubts, changes from editors, rejections from publishers, and criticism from readers. This is part of the process of writing.

You can write only for yourself and avoid some of the rejections or criticisms, but if you do this you will miss half of the joy of real writing. Writing is a method of communication that allows one heart to speak to another, and without a reader, the path of communication becomes useless. Much of the joy that comes from writing stems from the reader feedback – when someone reads your work and says “That touched me, made me laugh, made me cry, or made me want to dance for joy in the rain.”

So, as 2009 draws to a close and we all dust off the New Year’s resolutions that we dropped back in January (or if we were really good in February), I have a suggestion for every writer here. Instead of setting yourself goals about how much you going to write, try thinking about how well you are going to write. Make at least one resolution to work on improving and refining your craft of writing. Aim for quality, rather than quantity, and resolve to learn more of the craft of writing in 2010.

I am excited to become part of the blogging family here at newbie writers. If you want to read more articles about the craft of writing, visit my website: http://www.expandingcreations.com

HayleyWriter