by Sally
by Sally
Another hot link to writing advice you should read.
Today’s link is to a wonderful article by Jackie French, one of Australia’s finest writers for children. Her article How to get Your First Novel Published explains brilliantly the need to write and rewrite, target your submission and much more.
You can read this excellent advice here.
by Sally
Plotting a Children’s Book
by Robyn Opie
In a previous article on writing for children, I explained the ideas behind some of my children’s books. Over time, I’ve trained my brain to be on “alert” for ideas and I discover a lot more ideas than I have time to put pen to paper or fingers to laptop.
Not all ideas are equal.
Some ideas work well and become books. Some ideas fail to develop.
So how do we take an idea and develop it into a plot for a children’s book? How do we work out what to write once we have the initial idea?
Here’s a basic plot outline:
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A main character is introduced.
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The main character’s problem is revealed.
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Obstacles stand between the main character and their goal.
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The main character reacts and new obstacles arise.
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The main character reacts again and new obstacles arise. The tension is mounting.
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All seems lost. But wait!
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All is resolved as the story is brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
It’s important to remember that a plot is supposed to help the writer and reader. Don’t adhere too closely to the above plot outline if it hinders your writing.
Some writers prefer to work with a plot outline. Some writers don’t give plot a thought until they’ve finished the first draft. Do what works for you.
Let’s look at some important elements of plot in regards to writing for children.
The best plots come from characters. It’s a character’s personality, background and experiences that determine how he or she will react to certain situations, events or people.
As a writer, you can come up with an idea. Where your idea goes – the plot – depends on your characters. Every idea can go off in many directions. More on this in a minute.
A plot needs conflict or a problem to be interesting and entertaining. Sure, I can sit here and tell you the “plot” of my day. Ho hum! No one cares, other than me, and possibly my dogs.
However, if I go outside and find a lion in my backyard, you’d probably become interested in my day. My day has a conflict or problem. What am I going to do? How am I doing to solve this problem? Can I solve this problem? Or will I become lion lunch?
Okay, back to the character. Me. Imagine I’ve been abusing my dogs… Huh! They’re asleep on my bed. Anyway, imagine that I’m abusive to animals. You’d probably be rooting for the lion, hoping that I get my just desserts. Or hoping that the lion gets its just desserts. Me!
Now imagine that I’m a little old lady who takes in poor orphaned children and cats. Er small, domestic cats. You’d probably be rooting for me (and my brood), hoping that the nasty lion goes away hungry.
The direction this plot takes depends on the main character – their personality, background and experiences. Animal abuser or little old lady with orphans? The animal abuser might feed her dogs to the lions then try to escape. The little old lady would probably feed herself to the lions to save the orphans – as a last resort.
Every character has motivation – a reason to be in the story. The main character has motivation that the reader cares about i.e. the little old lady saving herself and her poor orphans from being lion lunch.
Sometimes it’s the motivation of other characters that become obstacles to the main character reaching his or her goal i.e. the next-door neighbour wants the old lady and orphans to move out and therefore tries to assist the lion. He probably put the lion there in the first place.
The best plots have tension. It’s the tension that keeps a reader involved in a story, that keeps them turning the pages. Most of us have had the feeling “I need to know what happens next”.
The little old lady is about to be eaten. No, she’s not. Yes, she is. No, she’s not.
The tension is building. The main character has a problem. He/she tries to fix the problem. But the problem gets worse. He/she tries to fix the problem. But the problem gets worse. He/she tries to fix the problem. Yay! They finally solve their problem.
As you can see, every scene in a plotted story follows logically from the previous one. Plot makes the scenes appear connected.
A picture book has simpler plots. The above illustration of a plot may not suit a picture book.
My plot “map” shows you how I started with a basic idea. “Tom is afraid of water” then took that idea off in many directions. The plot of this children’s story comes from the character – Tom.
How Tom will react to being afraid of water depends on Tom’s personality, background and experiences. Other characters can become part of his problem or obstacles to resolving the problem.
I thought about water and related topics. Then I asked myself questions.
I used my plot “map” to follow each of these ideas to see what could happen next. Hopefully, one of these possibilities will appeal to me and I’ll choose that one to work on. I can use the plot “map” structure to outline the plot of my chosen idea.
Remember a plot is about a character with a problem. Make that problem BIG. And if your story begins to snooze, then give your character more problems.
My plot “map” is a visual of where an idea can go. As I mentioned earlier, one idea can go off in many directions. You may prefer to work with a list. This happens. Then this happens. Then this happens. You may prefer to work without a plot. Give your character obstacles, not yourself. Do what works for you.
CLICK HERE to download my plot “map”.
(This is a PDF file – to download, right-click your mouse over the link and select “save target as” – then save the file to your preferred destination before opening!)
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
by Sally
When a book is published years after one has penned the first word, it is sometimes difficult to remember those early writing days. Where did the book’s idea come from? Who is the protagonist based on? How was the plot developed? This is especially difficult when the manuscript was re-drafted many times and when it’s taken years to find a publisher willing to invest in it.
Such is the case with my 100th published book, a YA novel, Crossing the Line , published by Ford Street and distributed by Macmillan Book Distribution. Described by fellow authors as ‘nail-biting,’ ‘engrossing’ and ‘profoundly sensitive’, the book is likely to garner a following as it is about a teenage girl who self-harms.
In a recent ABC radio interview, Petrea King of Quest for Life, stated that self-harm is prevalent in high schools all over Australia. So what does a 60-year-old author know about self-harm? And life in a psychiatric hospital unit? And obsession, for that – all of which feature in Crossing the Line?
As a teenager I self-harmed. Why, you ask? Why does anyone with a modicum of intelligence cut their skin? There are probably as many theories as there are girls who cut, but on reflection I think that self-harming results in physical pain which in turn relieves mental turmoil. I was a deeply unhappy child. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, but secretly I hoped someone would find out and ask why, and then I would be able to divulge the reasons for my depression.
In my late teens I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and more recently I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. So it is that I have an understanding of mental illness, and empathy for those who suffer from it. And too, I am well aware of patient-therapist transference, a kind of ‘love’ that therapy creates when a patient is revealing the deepest parts of herself and her life.
Sophie, the 17-year-old protagonist in Crossing the Line, has been orphaned and then fostered but when her story begins, she is moving into independent accommodation with two other teenagers. Her life has seen a series of abandonment and already she is cutting when stressed. She is treated by a therapist but when he fears she is suicidal, he puts her under the care of a psychiatrist in an adolescent hospital unit. It is this doctor who Sophie grows to ‘love’ and to stalk when she is eventually released back to the care of her housemates.
Much of Crossing the Line is fictional, but obviously I have drawn on aspects of my own emotional life in writing the book. Doing so makes me feel vulnerable. But at the same time I am looking forward to being able to talk to young people – especially teenage girls – about how to cope with dangerous feelings.
One high school I’ve approached to give a talk is reluctant to have me. The subjects of self-harm, obsession and stalking are scary for them. Teachers know their students experience these things; they don’t want to have the topic opened up. On the other hand, having personal experience, maturity and the wisdom of hindsight, I know that I – and my book — can perhaps be a catalyst for informed discussion and hopefully I can provide alternative solutions to the students I address.
When my only other YA novel, The Last Refuge, about children who are victims of domestic violence, was released, I spoke nationally and personally about the subject and was able to provide advice and information to help victims. It’s now early days in the life of Crossing the Line, which I hope will also provide bibliotherapy, but it’s also an exciting time, too!
Dianne (Di) Bates is a freelance writer, compiler of Buzz Words (The Latest Buzz on Children’s Books) www.buzzwordsmagazine.com , President of the Illawarra-South Coast CBCA and a book fair organiser. She lives in Wollongong, NSW, with her author husband Bill Condon. Their website is www.enterprisingwords.com.
This article is Copyright Dianne Bates. It appears here with the author’s permission.
by Sally
by Sally
1. Tell us a little about your publication credits. If you have none, tell us about the genres you prefer to write, and your current projects.
With the recent publication of my YA novel Crossing the Line (Ford Street), my published books now total 100. For a long time – until their contractual terms and conditions became ridiculous – I wrote a lot of non-fiction for the educational market. My trade publishers have included Hachette Livre, Penguin, Allen & Unwin, Random House and Angus & Robertson. I have published two series for junior readers, the Grandma Cadbury and Bushranger series, and one picture book, Big Bad Bruce (Koala Books). In April 2009, my non-fiction book, Aussie Kid Heroes will be published by Interactive Publications and I expect to have a series published by ABC Books.
2. How long have you been writing for children?
Over 25 years ago I undertook a correspondence creative writing course. A poem I wrote at that time – about unrequited lust – caught the eye of a schools’ inspector who invited me to join the editorial staff of the NSW Department of Education School Magazine! There I began my children’s writing career under the stern eye of author Lilith Norman and her off-sider Joanne Horniman. Later, I went to live in a remote country area where I wrote my first children’s book, Terri, later published as one of Australia’s first Puffins. Later I became, with Doug Macleod, the co-editor of Penguin Book’s Puffinalia magazine for children. I was also fortunate enough to help kick-start my children’s writing career when I attended to five day writing workshop led by editor Ann Bower-Ingram and children’s authors, the late Eleanor Spence and Joan Phipson. Some people who have been very generous towards me in my career are the late Michael Dugan, Edel Wignell and Hazel Edwards.
3. How much time do you spend each week writing and/or revising? And how much time on other writing-related tasks such as promotion, researching markets and so on?
I am not as driven in my writing as I once was, when I would spend up to 50 hours a week writing. These days most of my writing is for my online magazine, Buzz Words (www.buzzwordsmagazine.com), for people in the Australian children’s book magazine. When I am working on a specific book project, I tend to research and write up to 10 to 12 hours a day. I have become quite disillusioned by the publishing industry, mostly because manuscripts I submit sit for many months on unsolicited slush piles. And invariably they are rejected. At one time I was accorded a lot more attention by publishers. It’s a real dog-eat-dog industry these days.
4. How much time do you spend reading children’s books? And what are you reading right now?
I am an avid reader, mostly of children’s books, reading about 5-7 books a week, which includes reading for reviewing in Buzz Words. I have just read two wonderful books, The London Eye and A Swift Pure Cry by the late English children’s author Siobhan Dowd whose most recent book, Bog Child, has just been released here in Australia. The next books I am going to re-read are Owl Ninja by Sandy Fussell and Give Me Truth by my husband, Bill Condon, both award-deserving books.
5. What advice would you give other would-be children’s writers, or share with other professional children’s writers?
It is possible to make a living from your writing. To do this, you need to commit 40 hours a week to the job. You need to read extensively and to be familiar with the market and with publishing trends. This means subscribing to professional publications, reading widely, networking extensively, and attending conferences and festivals. Finding niches in the market and filling them is a sure-fire way of getting published. (Study publishers’ catalogues closely.) When you see an opportunity, grab it immediately! If you don’t know how to edit ruthlessly, you may as well forget about getting published. Belong to a writing workshop group that meets weekly and critiques objectively and critically: listen to and learn from your critics! Also be professional, especially when it comes to signing contracts.
6. What is your favourite online resource for children’s writers? Why?
Buzz Words (The Latest Buzz on Children’s Books www.buzzwordsmagazine.com) is the best Australian online resource without a doubt. I know because I spend many hours every week researching markets, competitions and other opportunities, as well as commissioning interviews and articles for it. It’s as up-to-date and comprehensive as I can possibly make it. Because I have spent over 25 years in the children’s book world, I have a vast knowledge and network of contacts and resources. The best magazine resource for children’s writers is Bookseller+Publisher (Thorpe-Bowker); it’s Australia and compiled by professionals.
7. Do you have a website or blog? What else do you do to promote your published works and/or your writing skills?
I share my website with my children’s author husband, Bill Condon. It is www.enterprisingwords.com I write articles based on my novels which always include a biographical note with my latest publication: I don’t always get paid for these, but they are an excellent way of publicising my books. When I speak at conferences or festivals, I always put a flyer on participants’ seats detailing my products and services: this is a cheap and very effective way of promotion. I run online and correspondence writing courses for adults writing for children and for young people (go to my website for details or email me at dibates@enterprisingwords.com)
Thanks for dropping in, Di. Your willingness to share your experiences is appreciated.
If YOU would like to be featured here on the blog and answer my seven questions, email me at sally @ sallymurphy.net. You don’t have to multi-published – it is wonderful to hear from writers of all levels of experience.