by Sally
As a surprise follow up the release of my first ever ebook, Baby Monster, I received notification a few days ago that my words had been chosen for inclusion in I Wish Someone Had
Told Me That, an ebook offering advice for new and aspiring children’s writers. The book offers advice from 64 children’s authors, and I am humbled to be included in such a successful group of authors.
Produced by the people who run the magnificent Write4Kids website, this is an excellent resource.
by Sally
Yesterday I ran a workshop at the Corrigin Creative Arts Centre, with the focus being on writing from life experience. It was a smallish group – five participants (plus myself of course) which made for a special day, with lots of sharing of participants’ writing endeavours and their life experiences.
As well as me doing lots of talking about myself and the writing life, I lead the ladies through various writing exercises aimed at getting them writing and also tapping in to memories which could be developed into stories or used in various forms of autobiography. Perhaps the most successful exercises were two quite simple ones.
Firstly, as a free writing exercise, I had them write the words I remember and then simply write for about ten minutes. Most thought back to childhood times, but others had specific adult memories come to the fore. I did this exercise myself and found out that a memory I thought I had was quite different than what I actually remembered. I have often talked about how exciting it was for me to catch a school bus to kindy when I was little. When I wrote about this memory I realised that I had no memory of actually being on that bus – only the excitement of knowing I was going to catch it, and a memory of waiting for it to come. It was interesting for me to make this realisation.
The other exercise we did was simply writing a list of things which were important at different times in each person’s life. I asked them to write down such things as a special toy from childhood, five books they’d read, a birthday present they’d received, a gift they’d given and so on. Many people were surprised at the things they remembered, or at things they had trouble remembering.
I don’t tend to write a lot of autobiographical pieces, but having guided others through this workshop, I realised that I have plenty of material there to tap into either for such stories or for fictional stories. Of course, I already use life experience in my fiction, but exercises which unlock these experiences will be a really useful writing starter for me in future.
Rather than asking yourself ‘what have I done that’s worth writing about’ how about simply writing and seeing what comes out? Use a list, or a photo, or a possession as a trigger, if needed. So, why are you still reading? Go and write something! I’m going to.
by Sally
Phew! It’s Sunday, the start of a new week and already I feel a bit overwhelmed by the week. It’s one of those weeks where I have got so much to get through and wonder how I can juggle it all. So, first off, I’ve made a list of what needs doing.
1. Finish edits on two non fiction reading book titles.
2. Mark two batches of assignments for my tutoring job.
3. Finish writing notes for performance poetry manuscript.
4. Write five new reviews for Aussiereviews
5. Update Aussiereviews
6. Finish rewrite of picture book wip
7. Make contact with author and illustrator I’m interviewing for Reading Time magazine.
Of course, these are just my writing goals for the week – I’ve also got a trip to Perth to take Murphlet 2 back to boarding school, a day and a half in the classroom, an athletics carnival, washing to do, meals to cook, floors to clean and so on. I sometimes make a separate list of these things, but when I’m at my desk the writing stuff takes priority.
Now that I’ve written the list I can see that it isn’t as bad as I’d thought. For some reason lists seem longer when they are buzzing around in your head. And the great thing about written lists is that you can cross things off as they’re completed, with great satisfaction, and you can look at them to see how much progress you have made. Also, a physical list can sit on a desk as a reminder not to get too sidetracked.
If you are going to make lists for yourself, try to make the items as specific as possible. For example: write some reviews is too vague as an aim – how many is ‘some’ and how will I know when I’ve finished it? Also write more of my novel would be similarly vague whereas write 1000 words is more measurable.
Also try to make the list achievable. I know I have a busy week aside from writing, so have tried not to include things on the list that aren’t so pressing. The only items on the list that aren’t deadline-driven are the picture book manuscript and the reviews. The picture book is there because that’s the thing most important to me – producing new, quality manuscripts. And I’m excited about this current one, so need to keep redrafting and fine tuning. The reviews don’t have a deadline because I own the website – but I try to keep new content going up at least every fortnight and feel I owe it to the reading public and the books’ creators to get reviews up as quickly as possible.
I find the use of lists a great way to keep focussed and to get things done. If you are feeling swamped, why not try setting yourself a list of targets for the week? I’ll let you know how I go with mine.
by Sally
A while back I posted a link to what I described as the best article about writing in rhyme I’d come across. It’s an article by Dori Cahonas, a US-based author of picture books, and (to save you digging for my original post), you’ll find it here.
Anyway, I still think it’s the best I’ve come across, but today I came across another useful article – well, actually a series of three articles – which are also really good. K. Pluta is another US Based author, and she tries to demystify the writing of rhyme by using lay-man’s language. If you try to write in rhyme, you should check out her articles here.
Writing in rhyme is hard work, but it’s lots of fun and can be rewarding. Some stories demand to be written in rhyme – others demand NOT to. But, if you do want to write for children, don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to write in rhyme. Rhyme is hard to write and harder still to get published. If you’re going to do it, you need to take the time to learn about rhythm and meter.
I write in rhyme and I write in prose. Good luck with whichever you decide to do.
No sightings of Pemberthy today. If you’ve seen Pemberthy Bear be sure to drop me a line and I’ll add your spot to the map.
Have a lovely weekend.
by Sally
I worked this afternoon in my teaching job and came home with an idea for a new kids’ poem in my head, so I’ve just sat down and written the first draft. I opened up one of my favourite sites, looking for a rhyme for (of all things) ‘rhyme’. The site I used is Rhyme Zone. It’s a handy little tool which works like a rhyming dictionary. Type in a word and it will give you a list of rhyme matches, organised by syllables.
I use it often and will be using it again when it comes time to revise this poem and the one I wrote a few days ago.
by Sally
Just a quick post this morning.
Avoiding housework (don’t tell my beloved) I clicked on a link in an email then clicked another link and eventually found a wonderful article about writing stories in rhyme by American author Dori Chaconas. It’s here.
It’s the best article about writing in rhyme I think I’ve come across. She explains about story elements, rhyme and rhythm patterns in detail, but in a way which is easy to understand. It has a lot to say to anyone who writes in rhyme – whether you are a beginner or more experienced.
I know I’ll be rereading it often.