Writing to a test

May 13, 2013 Leave a comment

testThe NAPLAN testing regime begins again this week, and as happens at this time every year, the media goes into overdrive with analyses of the pros and cons of standardised testing. Some of these reports are well-researched and intelligent critiques of the pitfalls of putting kids as young as seven under the pressure of exam conditions, of the narrowing of the curriculum as educators are coerced into ‘teaching to the test’, of tying funding to test results. And some reports are nothing more than politically motivated scaremongering designed to instil fear in the populace.  But I’m not going to engage in this debate.

I want to focus on just one aspect of standardised testing that I believe is incredibly destructive. Writing. Kids need to learn to write and teachers need to teach them how to do it. There is no argument there. An inspiring teacher is an invaluable resource for a child learning to write. But writing is so much more than developing the technical aspects of grammar and sentence structure.

A child learning to write is like a bird learning to fly. Small steps first. Then as they grow in confidence, they become bolder, knowing that there is support behind them. Safe, supportive environments encourage children to take risks with their writing. Sometimes the risks fail. But it’s not a big deal because with guidance and opportunity, those risks eventually pay-off. And the results are writers who blossom and thrive and develop a life-long love of writing, or at least reading.

But standardised testing is jeopardising this process. Children are becoming nervous. They don’t want to take risks because they don’t want to let their parents and teachers down. They comply with the formats thrust upon them by teachers who are pressured by education bureaucracies and government policy. They write recounts and reports and expositions and maybe a bit of narrative. They remember to use capital letters and full stops and try hard to use nouns and verbs in the right places. And they feel bad about themselves if they don’t score well.

A generation ago, children learned how to write using the ‘whole language approach’. We know now that that approach was not particularly successful. Hindsight taught us that explicit teaching of the technical aspects of writing is necessary. But the pendulum has swung too far and now we are inhibiting the development of creativity in our children by being way too prescriptive in our approach to literacy development. Once again, we’ve missed the mark to the detriment of our kids. And writing in general.

Teachers are well placed to assess student writing. They always have been. And in a classroom environment where the teacher has access to student writing in formal and informal contexts, both on paper and in electronic formats, any teacher worth their salt will recognise the need to instil passion and a desire in children to write. If kids understand the value of writing, if they want to write, they are far more receptive to learning the technical aspects that enable them to strengthen their writing. But if kids are scared of making a mistake, or of disappointing, this too will show up in their attitudes to reading and writing.

Writing is power. But it’s also a joyful, colourful, enriching way to engage with and participate in the world around us. How long before governments get it right?

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The time is now!

March 14, 2013 Leave a comment

writerIt’s here, finally! The books are in boxes by the door, passages for the reading are marked out ready, the MC has been briefed, the food is being prepared as I write this post and the book cover has been blown up to poster size. Everything is ready to go. Except me. I’m not so sure I want to do it anymore. After years of working toward this goal, I am terrified.

There is a reason I am very happy being a writer. I love the solitude. I really enjoy sitting at my computer for days at a time with only the characters in my head for company. I thrive on alone time—and on writing. And the technological revolution has made it very easy to function perfectly well via social media without the need to interact face-to-face. Mostly.

So why is a book launch necessary?

I’m told it’s an opportunity to speak directly to the market for the novel. But that more importantly, it’s an opportunity to mark the beginning of a writer’s journey to building a readership. After all, what is the point of spending years writing a book that no one reads? It’s an interesting conundrum for many writers. I’ve written before about the point at which a book becomes a book.

But when a writer just wants to write, a book launch feels like a bit of an indulgence. Why can’t we just let social media do the job it does best, and get the word out there?  Many writers have reclusive tendencies, which is why they’re able to spend long periods in solitude. They’d rather not have to do the public speaking or self-promotion that goes along with conducting a book launch.

Whilst much of writers’ lives may happen inside or online, stepping outside the comfort zone to face real people leaves a writer incredibly vulnerable. Conducting writers’ groups for teenagers is nothing compared to facing a group of potential readers at a book launch.

Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t feel right to be spruiking my own work. Even though I know that this is part of being a writer, and it is a vital part, still I’d rather not have to. But I believe in my work. And the reality is that if I don’t spread the word about it, if it doesn’t get out into the public domain, then I’m not going to be able to continue being a writer.

And the time is right now. Here I am. I am a writer and this is my work. I hope you enjoy it.

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Plot Pilfering

November 30, 2012 2 Comments

Wanting to join a writers’ group I used to be involved with, a nervous newcomer asked: “What if someone steals my idea?” At the time I thought it an arrogant question and on behalf of the group, was offended by the inference. But shortly after, someone posed the same question to a panel discussing the value of writers’ groups at a writers’ festival I attended. And it came up again in discussion recently. It seems to be a concern that is probably more common than one might think.

It’s worth noting that each of the persons preoccupied with the issue of plot theft, was an emerging writer, fairly early in their writing journey. I guess we all think (or at least, hope) that we are going to write the bestseller that will set us up for the rest of our writerly lives. And I suppose it’s only natural to feel protective of our plot ideas.

But really, when we think rationally rather than emotionally about the nature of writing we realise that, as with reading, writing is a very subjective process. So let’s deconstruct this concept a little. We all have different likes and dislikes, opinions and views, and a wealth of experience that is completely our own. No one else can think and feel exactly like us. We are all individuals. And we all make autonomous emotional and intellectual interpretations of that which we observe, whether it be music, art, dance, literature, etc. We have no choice about this. It’s the human condition.

Two people from the same family, same gender, same sociocultural and educational backgrounds, with the same preferences and views about almost everything, can read the same book and give two completely different responses to the story. Because they are different people who bring their own unique complexities to that which they experience. We think and feel differently. Each of us. If those same two people were to write their life stories, they would write two completely different biographies. See where I’m going here? 

Writers are individuals. It makes no difference whatsoever what we write about, our stories are our stories. And crucially, they are written with our own unique and distinct writing style. Writing ‘style’ is not something that can be taught or replicated (at least not successfully). As writers, we may study and excel at all the technical aspects of writing, such as grammar, structure, voice, point-of-view, tense, etc, but it’s the way in which each individual uses language to communicate these skills—our expression—that creates an individualistic writing style.

There are a few very public examples of writers who pursue litigious action against other writers for stealing their ideas. Author of the very successful DaVinci Code, Dan Brown, was sued over copyright infringement by the authors of a non-fiction book The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail. Apparently the researchers of this book wrote that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had a child and that this knowledge was concealed by the Catholic Church. Basically, they accused Dan Brown of using their research to write his book. They lost.

Another case was that of JK Rowling being sued by the author of Willy the Wizard Adrian Jacobs, or at least by his estate given that he died sometime in the 90s. Jacobs wrote of a boy wizard who went to a wizarding school, rode on wizard trains where wizard chess was played; and there was a wizard prison and a special wizard hospital. There was even a portal used to move between worlds, wizard and mortal. And in Goblet of Fire, which was the major point of contention, a wizard challenge that required the use of a bathroom. You could almost say that these two books had the same plot, and given that Willy the Wizard was written some 20 years before Harry Potter, that maybe Jacobs had a point. Except for the writing. The book about Willy the Wizard was 16 pages long and Goblet of Fire was 636 pages long. And one need only to look at the expression and writing style of both books (as well as the other six books in the Harry Potter series) to make assertions about the validity of the claim. It was also dismissed.  

The point of the matter is that a plot idea is just a plot idea. And ideas, theories, information or facts, can’t be claimed or owned. It’s the interpretation of the ideas, theories, information, facts or concepts, and the expression and writing style used to communicate them that matters. So those of you who may be worried about others ‘stealing your ideas’, don’t be. If you are a good writer, you will develop your own unique writing style, which no one else can replicate. And when you write your story, it will be your story.

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The Greatest Block of All

September 13, 2012 2 Comments

I’ve written a lot about Writers’ Block on this blog — what it is, why it happens, and how to challenge it. But recently I’ve experienced the ultimate writers’ block, the greatest challenge to my writing life. I say my writing life because for me, my life and my writing are intrinsically connected — one cannot exist without the other.

I’ve said many times that life sometimes gets in the way of writing, writers everywhere would be familiar with what this means. For the non-writers among you, it means things like child-raising, bill-paying (or more pointedly, the work required to raise the funds that make bill-paying possible), house coordinating, people managing, and a myriad of other things.

But what happens when life really does get in the way of writing? And this time, by life, I mean the gift of health that keeps us living and breathing and able to complain about life getting in the way of our writing. What happens when a writer faces a diagnosis that may mean her/his time for writing will come to an end—for good?

The fear is palpable. And I’m not talking about the fear of dying. I dealt with that. I’m talking about the fear of leaving this world without having achieved the one goal I set when I was ten years old and have been working toward ever since. Being a writer.

I mentioned this to a friend recently. “But you are a writer,” she said.

Yes I am. But not the kind of writer I always dreamt of being. Yet. I need more time for that. Suddenly, time for writing seems to be the only thing that matters.

I want to write full-time. I want to get my work out there. I want to be heard. Be read. I want to share the magic of narrative with young people everywhere. I want them to know the amazing power of transformation reading can bring. I want to take them on a journey that frees them, if only for a short time, from the stress and pressure of adolescence. I want them to get lost in my books.

I’ve always plodded along with these goals simmering in the background while I dealt with the reality of…well, life. I guess we take the luxury of life for granted until we are slapped in the face with our own mortality. It’s then that we understand the difference between ‘living’ and allowing life to happen to us.

The choices we make and the action we take—consciously or unconsciously—impact on who we are at any given moment in time. I am not a ‘victim.’ Never have been. I will live to write, so that I can write to live. Until the very last breath I take, no matter when that is.

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How do you change the name of your baby?

July 2, 2012 6 Comments

I have a dilemma. Two and a half years after writing it, one year after naming it, six months after releasing it as an eBook and a few months before it comes out in paperback, the name of my book has become problematic.

As every author needs to do these days, I activated a variety of social media platforms to promote it. And there’s where the problems began. Fake Profile had two alternative names prior to having the final title conferred some time after manuscript completion. The current title was selected after consultation with the target demographic who unanimously decided that a book named Fake Profile would be one they’d be most likely to pull off the (actual and virtual) shelf. It’s what authors and publishers think about when assigning titles. The aim is for it grab enough attention from potential readers that they will read the blurb, if not the book.

The problem is, to make sure that the target demographic knows that the book exists the author (among others) has to promote it. And to promote your work effectively you need to target your demographic and penetrate with publicity, the areas in which they hang out. For a young adult (YA) audience, that is online—in the depths of social media.

Like many authors, a website and blog was the first thing I thought about setting up. I spent months creating an elaborate website using WordPress, but when I tried to claim the domain name for the book title, I discovered that it had already been claimed. Not by someone who wanted to use it, mind you; FakeProfile is one of the hundreds of names that had been purchased by an unknown party for selling to the highest bidder at an outrageous price.

Disappointing? Yes. A game changer? No. At least I didn’t think so at that point, so I moved on. The next necessary avenue to engage with the YA readership was Facebook, so I went ahead and set up a Facebook fan page. I already had an Author page, but I thought it might be better for YAs to interact directly with the book fan page, rather than go through the author site. Good idea, right? Apparently not.

It started well. I’d tweet links to the page and post updates on my other Facebook pages to link back to the book page. I began collecting ‘likes’ and fans, many from the students I interact with in the schools visit. Then once I hit the thousand fans mark, a strange thing began to happen. People seemed to confuse the Fake Profile BOOK page with a forum to report the incidence of fake profiles being created in other people’s names. It was strange. The ‘About’ section on the page clearly stated that the fan page was for a book entitled Fake Profile.

At first I responded to each person privately. I gently told them that the site was not a forum for action regarding fake profiles and suggested that they use Facebook’s own reporting procedures. I even stated it as an update on the page. It made no difference. When I wrote the book, I didn’t realise just how prevalent the issue was. But pretty soon, the regularity with which people began posting complaints about fake profiles became alarming. I couldn’t keep up.

This is problematic because if people are mistaking the fan page for a complaints forum, they are not engaging with the book. The same thing happens on Twitter. Whenever I tweet about Fake Profile, I usually get responses about personal Facebook engagement.

Promoting a book without using the title is counterproductive, but promoting a book while justifying or clarifying the title is just as pointless. When I ran the poll that decided the name, those voting knew it was for the title of a book. There was no confusion. I could not predict what would happen when the book was finally published.

So, where do I go from here? The preliminary publicity is well underway, the flyers are printed, the cover professionally designed, the articles written, emails sent. But a YA book without a website or Facebook fanpage is going nowhere fast… ugh. Perhaps a I need to write a non-fiction how-to-spot-a-fake-profile guide for parents instead…

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How appropriate is your writing?

February 3, 2012 2 Comments

I have a question for authors: do you consider conceptual content in the creation and development of your narrative to target specific subgroups within the Young Adult field? Or do you write for a general Young Adult demographic and hope that the readers will find your work?

The reason I ask is because this morning I was looking at the reading ages of Year 7 students assigned to my writers’ groups. One of the groups is comprised of 12-year-old girls with reading ages of 17+. Reading ages are based on a student’s level of understanding of the text before them and 17+ is the highest score they can get. It means that these 12-year-olds are capable of reading material that is way beyond their chronological age.

It creates an interesting dilemma. Being able to understand what they are reading at a cognitive level doesn’t necessarily mean they have the social or emotional maturity to process it. I know firsthand. I was one of those kids. Starved for appropriate reading material as a child, I was constantly scouring my house for any book (magazines didn’t do it for me) that may have found its way inside, irrespective of content appropriateness.

You see, I grew up in a household of non-readers who did not understand my voracious need to consume reading material. They tried to accommodate my need to read by giving me books for birthdays and Christmases. But they were kids’ books—understandable I suppose, given that I was a kid.  And I would devour them in hours and be left yearning for more.

There was the odd occasion when a popular-culture book would find its way into the house and I, in all my juvenile wisdom, would pinch it from my mother’s bedside table, take it back to my room and read until the early hours of the morning.  Of course, reading Mills and Boone at age ten probably scarred me for life. But the book that terrified me for years was The Exorcist (1971) by William Peter Blatty. I was eleven when I read that. And with catholic religious instruction in my early childhood, I was convinced that the devil was alive and well and would possess me in my sleep. I spent the next few months walking around like a zombie because the nightmares that plagued me left me so sleep deprived I could barely function. At about the same age, I read Jaws (1974) by Peter Benchley. Reading that meant I was too terrified to swim. I wouldn’t get into the water. Any water. Not even my cousins three-foot deep above-ground swimming pool. Just in case.

There was no reading material available to me to fill the gap between cognitive development and social/emotional development. The two don’t necessarily advance at the same rate, and the disparity can sometimes be great. So without having someone around with enough awareness of the issue and knowledge of the literary world who can guide and advise, a child can be left flailing while attempting to fill a void they cannot identify and of which they have no understanding.

Thankfully, nowadays there are a few more options for young readers with chronologically older reading ages. In the technological context of childhood these days (ugh, I sound sooo old), information is so much more readily available to kids. They’re able to get online and seek out titles. They can search library catalogues themselves, they can source books from author websites, read blogs, join reading and book communities and connect with other readers like them. But there still seems to be a bit of a gap in the market.

I asked this particular writers’ group what kind of material they like to read. They’ve mostly all read the Harry Potter and Twilight series (remember they are 12), but many also enjoy the classics from Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. The Cherub series by Robert Muchamore was very popular as “something to get lost in to pass the time”, and the Tomorrow series (Tomorrow When the War Began et al) by John Marsden also featured highly. Romance, fantasy and mystery, were genres of choice.

None of these authors (except Bronte and Austen, of whom I was not even aware until I’d reached high school and found the library) were writing when I was young. And I’m pleased to note that for the past ten years or so, more authors (many of whom dealt with similar reading issues themselves as children) are developing a greater awareness of the need to target their narrative to specific groups of kids.

So again, my question to authors is this: do you consider conceptual content in the creation and development of your narrative, and target specific subgroups within the Young Adult field? Or do you write for a general Young Adult demographic and hope that the readers will find your work?

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Sourcing reviews

December 20, 2011 10 Comments

I have two reviews for my book on Amazon. Two. That’s probably about 274 less than I hoped I would have by now. And 119 less than I’d have if everyone who bought the book reviewed it on whatever platform they bought it from.

It’s a bit disheartening really. Especially since having reviews can mean the difference between effective promotion and mediocre promotion.  But it’s sourcing reviewers that has become a little problematic for me. A few months ago when I first published, I put out a general (and very polite) call on my personal Facebook profile (where I only have people I know) suggesting that if people would like to review the book, I’d be very happy to provide it to them. Only one person did so. I didn’t push it, or ask again. I don’t want to be one of those annoying ‘friends’ who rabbits on about nothing else but my books all the time.

So I stepped outside of my personal circle and began to investigate options for having eBooks reviewed. And I found some very interesting, and somewhat disturbing, trends.

It’s difficult to get traditional hardcopy book reviewers to look at an eBook. Publishing online is still regarded with somewhat less-than-credible suspicion by the mainstream, particularly here in Australia, where we seem to be a little slower in adapting to a changing industry than in the UK or US. That leaves authors with few options.

There’s a few ‘review’ sites around (for example Authonomy, IWriteReadRate) where you register and upload your book and review and receive reviews. I’ve experimented with some of these sites and found all but one to be quite unpleasant. On Authonomy I was bombarded with tit-for-tat requests for reviews. You know, the ‘I’ll give you a positive review if you give me one’ type arrangement, where quality and content of the manuscript seems to be irrelevant. It might work for some, but it just doesn’t work for me. I don’t think I’m the right personality type for this kind of thing―I’m far too straightforward and honest.

Of the review sites, the one I found to be most beneficial is YouWriteOn, because their review process is far more independent. Authors are assigned random books to review and earn ‘credits’ which then are used to receive reviews that have been randomly assigned to to others. This gives the author a more realistic idea of what readers think of their writing. The drawback is, it’s a development site so you can only upload the first 5000 words of your manuscript, and the reviews are not public. Still, I’d recommend it if you want to get an objective opinion about your writing.

More recently, I’ve noticed a few entrepreneurial reviewing endeavors popping up claiming to be assisting authors to increase their book profiles online. A book is targeted by a series of reviewers, usually other authors, and the reviews are then posted on Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and wherever else your book may be. For a price.

The cost varies according to the site you use to source your reviews. Now I’m not suggesting that anything particularly untoward is happening here. I just wonder, if you are paying to have your book reviewed by other authors participating in the program, how objective the reviews could be. Especially when it’s a reciprocal arrangement.

Of course I want people to review my book. But I want honest reviews. Constructive reviews. And I don’t want to pay for them. Or badger people to write them.
I want to know what readers really think. I know that I might not always like what people say. And as every author knows, a bad review is like a kick in the guts. But I’m prepared to take the risk because I want to grow as an author.

I’m serious about making a living out of writing fiction full-time, so I need to deepen my understanding of the market and write accordingly.  Reading, like writing, is a subjective pursuit. And very personal, for both the reader and the writer. I’m not naïve enough to think that everyone is going to love what I write.  But I am realistic enough to know that I need to be conscious of what people want to read, what they enjoy reading, and what they think of my writing. Independently, realistically. After all I can’t support myself with my writing if no-one buys my books. And books are often bought on word-of-mouth recommendations. Or reviews.

Have you had your book reviewed? How did you go about finding a reviewer? What has been your experience of the process?

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Do you write to live or live to write?

November 7, 2011 Leave a comment

They say that when you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. I get that. When I write, I am at peace with myself, the universe and everything. I love creating characters and plots and watching them come to together to form ‘story.’ I love being woken in the middle of the night with that flash of inspiration and having to scramble around to find a pen before I forget it. I love the excitement I feel when a new story idea comes to mind. And the satisfaction when a character finally finds ‘their’ voice.  I even quite enjoy the battle with procrastination I sometimes (okay, often) have.

I just love being a writer. At least, I do when I can just write. Fiction is my first love, but I’m also happy writing creative non-fiction and other articles. But writing for a living these days involves so much more than just writing. Writers are finding themselves increasingly responsible for the marketing, publicity and promotion of their work. And if they publish eBooks, they often have to format, design and distribute themselves as well.

We are in the midst of an industry metamorphosis where the only certainty is change. It’s hard to navigate a constantly evolving landscape, and what the publish industry will look like in a few years time is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, authors are left wondering what the best course of action might be to get their work into the public domain.  Especially emerging and developing authors.

Traditional publishers seem less likely to take a risk on a new author and if they do, author advances appear not to be as common as they once were. One emerging author I know was recently offered —as a first contract, a three-book deal with no advance and 7% of net royalties. 7% of NET royalties. An enormous amount of time and hard work goes in to writing a book. Then there’s the redrafting and editing and agonising. I don’t think any writer worth their salt would accept such an insulting offer. And luckily, neither did the aforementioned author. She told them what they could do with their 7% of net royalties.

That brings me back to the business of being a writer. If traditional publishers cannot adapt to a changing industry quickly enough, it is up to authors to take the reins to ensure that readers are not left without enough new material available in emerging formats to keep them reading. And this is where it becomes challenging.

Creating an eBook is not just a matter of writing the narrative and sending it off for someone else to do the work. Learning to format the manuscript into the various document styles required by the different eReader technology is both challenging and time-consuming. And just as time-consuming is designing the cover for the eBook, which needs to be a jpg image file. There are plenty of people out there who will do it for you and small businesses are cropping up purporting to manage everything for you—for a price.

Problem is, without an advance on the manuscript, writers often don’t always have the initial outlay required to get their manuscript eBook ready. And then there’s the publicity side of things to be concerned about. Writers need to let people know that their book is ready for reading. This means marketing and promotion. And of course, the best means of marketing and promoting an eBook (or any book for that matter) is by using social media.

An author website, a blog, a Facebook fan page, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, have all become necessities. And that’s before you start thinking about a YouTube book trailer. All these practices are incredibly time-consuming and labour intensive, and though you may be able to outsource some of them, they still need regular and consistent input and maintenance.

Yep, writing the book the book is the easy part and probably makes up about 15% of the journey. The hard work begins when you complete that manuscript.

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Does genre matter?

November 1, 2011 4 Comments

Someone once told me that to be a successful writer, you need to choose a genre you are happy to be known for and stick to it. The idea is that to establish credibility and develop your profile as an author, you have to make your mark in a specific genre before you can risk delving into other styles for fear of undermining your appeal.

I don’t know if this is an accurate assumption. I can certainly see the reasoning behind the advice. I suppose it’s important to carve out a niche for your writing, and I guess the more you write in a particular genre, the greater exposure you gain, but would being a multi-genre writer really make that much difference? What if you have expertise or interest in a few different areas?

If you are a quality writer, wouldn’t that be conveyed whatever you write? And if you are a developing writer, isn’t it a better idea to try your hand at different styles/genres until you find something you are completely comfortable with?

More recently a YA publisher told me that they were only interested in ‘genre’ books. But isn’t this a contradiction in terms? Is YA not a genre in itself? Now not to get technical, after all, I’m no pedant, but the etymology of the word ‘genre’ details it’s Old French origin as meaning “kind, sort, style” and was typically used in French to denote “independent style.”

That suggests to me that genre should refer to the style of writing rather than the content, but the industry tends to classify content as well, which means creating sub-genres. My current novel is Young Adult Crime Fiction, does that mean I’m writing in a multi-genre format? Young Adult +Crime +Fiction…?

Is it really necessary to classify each aspect of our writing? Would it really muddy the waters if we branched out a bit? Thoughts….?

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Inspiration or insomnia?

October 12, 2011 Leave a comment

I woke up at 2:00 this morning, suddenly alert. From the depths of my dreams into my startled (and sleepy) consciousness poured forth a succession of plot points, character traits, scenes and scenarios for my next novel. Frantic to get them down on paper before the bubble popped and they disappeared into the ether, I scrambled around in the darkness looking for the pen and notebook I keep in my bedside table in case of such occurrences.

Fellow authors might consider this a breakthrough, and it is, kind of. Problem was, these wonderful flashes of inspiration, though very welcome, were for a new, as yet unplotted, novel. Another project altogether!

I just want to finish the one I’m working on now. But this particular project has ground to an agonising halt. A week of being in the zone with words flowing continuously, whether I was at the computer or not, stopped. Just stopped. As quickly and easily as it started. And now it’s like pulling teeth to get a paragraph a day down. Ugh.

Don’t get me wrong, these flashes of inspiration in the middle of the night are welcome, I just need to find a way to make sure they’re about the right novel!

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