Storytime

'If I read one more description of clouds racing across a summer sky, I will throw the book. Just get to the damned story.' Quote from a friend of mine. Says it all doesn't it? Don't get me wrong I do like the colour purple, I have it in t-shirts, cardigans, jumpers and even pyjamas...and I do love my amethysts...and let's face it, it is divine in the garden. But purple in your prose?  Mostly it's because a writer wants to show off. Put in as many twenty dollar words as they can, to impress, to show how great their vocabulary is.  The days of a novel beginning with a page and a half of description is gone. Today's reader wants the story. Now. Don't mess about with fanciful overly vivid description because it will draw attention to the writing. Yes the writing, not the story. Some writers seem not to be able to help themselves. They have to add flowery ornate phrases. They want to be extravagant with words, they want to have ...

 Due to my case of winter blahs (see previous blog) I have now come down with an attack of Writer's Guilt. Great isn't it? Not only do I have exercise guilt (yes I will walk, maybe tomorrow) and food guilt (how did those chips follow me home?) and of course the old favourite of parental guilt (how did my children survive and turn out to be fully functioning human beings?)... I also have Writer's Guilt. Capitals are necessary. Of course I'm not new to writers guilt. I think very few writers are. Being human, we can't help but compare ourselves to others...and when we KNOW that such and such not only keeps down a full time job but has produced a 50 000 word novel in six months we can't help but wonder what on earth are we doing with our time. I begin to wonder if sleep is needed. I have a friend who is very prolific in her arts who seems to exist on a sniff of sleep for months on end. Alas, sleep is my friend. I can't function on little. I have trie...

Yep it is that time of the year, it is cold...damned cold (although I know my Dad will be saying it's colder up at his place, and it will be) ...and all I want to do is hibernate. But there are some things that have to be done, going to work the main one. As for the writing...what writing? I seem to have come down with a severe case of blah....or in medical terms...the winter blues. I have a small whiteboard near my writing desk and each month I put down my goals for the following weeks. Could be a deadline to meet, a poem to finish, a submission to get out there, a word count on a novel, an event to go to. This is what my whiteboard looks like... Empty. There is nothing on there...not a word, not a hint, not a suggestion of something to achieve for this month. Pretty sad really. In fact I don't even have the birthday reminders that I put up there either. Like I said, the winter blues have come down hard and fast. I think a contributing factor is that I'm (stil...

Went to the far reaches of Melbourne Thursday night, well not really, but sometimes after driving straight from work, it does feel that way. Where you ask? Yarra Glen. Love the vibe that Sandy Jeffs gets in her gig, the intimacy, the food and the damned good poets. This time it was... identical twins, Bronwen and Emily Manger. Perhaps that should read Emily and Bronwen Manger, as I don't know who was born first and what the etiquette is in listing twins.... They were great, as usual. Have seen them perform in various venues and I found it interesting to watch the way they worked. Each a counterfoil for the other, offering a balance of tone and mode but also presentation. (photos by Alex Ruschanow)  Presentation is sometimes so over looked, or even forgotten about. Many writers think that content alone will suffice, and it does, on the page. But when performing, it is presentation that can make or break a poem.  Can have the audience shuffling in their seats and t...

Last weekend I saw the production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Wow....yes, I'll start with wow and move on from there. I've always been a big fan of musicals (perhaps growing up and listening to my parents recordings of Camelot and Oliver)- and JCS is one of my favourites (up there with Cabaret, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Sweet Charity). I think there is something about the under dog. It is astounding to think that JCS was first shown on Broadway in 1971. Over forty years ago, yet the music and the lyrics are still resonating with so many of us. I have never written lyrics or music or any combination of the two. No, that's not strictly true. I do 'adapt' rhymes and children's songs for Storytimes. Simple work to turn Incy Wincy Spider into Rolly Polly Snowman---but that is as far as I go...or dare to venture. The world of music is foreign to me. Yet it is surely another form of writing. I honestly have no idea how it is created. Whether you start ...

Another year, another writing retreat. And yes this time, once again I did little writing. (I have the first rough draft of a short story, edited a friend's children's story and a series of my own poems...but as far as retreats go, not a lot of actual written work).  Also this year I did not go for the walks I usually do, put that down to a bad cold and the fact I wanted to stay warm. So what exactly did I do for those nearly three days? I enjoyed the support and company and encouragement of my likeminded peers. It is amazing how much 'writing' stuff you can talk about in a weekend. Everything from publishers and what to send where, talk of actually getting down to write and then there was the brainstorming.  Can I say I love the brainstorming....seeing something that has begun as a germ of an idea, flourish, become something more, a real piece of work, then see it again and offer more feedback on how it could be something truly wonderful. That i...

I recently went to an event where they talked about the Book of the Year Shortlist 2013 for the Children's Book Council of Australia. Very interesting to hear what books were shortlisted, but also the how and why behind it all. There are 8 judges, one for each state and territory of Australia.  They judge the Older Reader (OR), Younger Readers (YR), Early Childhood (EC) and Picture Book (PB) categories. A panel of 4 judge the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (EP). I must admit to not having read many of those shortlisted, however I have read many of the 'notables'. The notables are those that just missed out by usually one vote to be shortlisted. It made me wonder how much glory is placed in having a book that wins a prize. Yes there is an award, usually money to some extent...and of course publishers rush to put those little stickers on the covers of the books. So who does this award appeal to? Authors naturally. It must be a wonderful feeling to ha...