Well, not really a new me, just a commitment to being more focused on myself as an author. Yes, you heard it here – an author! Not that my dream publishing deal has come through or anything, more that I want to expand my ‘brand’ (gosh I am not fond of that terminology but it is what it is). I need to let people know who will read my stories what to expect. And what is that? Number one, I am a historical fiction author – who loves a dash of romance. Second, although I prefer to write in that romantic historical genre, I also like to dabble in other genres – specifically science fiction and crime. Third, I also like the idea of dabbling in non-fiction spaces, specifically science related and women in science, as that is currently my day job! I have increased my hours of working, giving me a little less writing time, which means that I need to plan and organise my writing time a little better than the haphazard scribbling I’ve been doing.
Commitment wise these are my plans:
Organise my writing time.
Continue with my small mentorship group with Victoria Purman.
Continue attending online sprints with other authors (a great way to get words down).
Plan and execute my story in our next historical anthology (yes Clare, Sarah, Ava and I are going down that path again! Something a little different this time!)
Sending one of my completed manuscripts for a structural development analysis with a professional editor (slated and booked for this March).
Write a scifi short story.
Plan for another manuscript (that may or may not be written this year but the ideas are flowing!)
Submit, submit, submit!
I’ve also made an ongoing commitment to limit submissions to competitions – and speaking of which…
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
That should be Finalist Finalist!
I have made the second round of the Sapphire with ‘Girls of the USO’ – but it was a last-minute entry and I wasn’t really happy with the final sub. But it’s out there and the feedback will help with the next edit I’m sure!
I came equal second in the Spicy Bites competition with my saucy WW2 Historical short ‘Khaki and Silk’ – it will be published and launched at the next RWA conference in Sydney, which I am looking forward to attending in August.
So that’s a wrap for the beginning of the year! My year of wonder is about to begin!
For the majority of us, I suspect the last 6 months has been spent in upheaval, with worry and strife afflicting our daily lives. For me personally its been up and down but its nothing in comparison to the upturned lives of so many others.
On the writerly front its been an amazing six months – the last few months has been planning and plotting and mulling over strategies for the next six months. However, creativity has been like retrieving the dregs of a slowly drying well. And one of the biggest disappointments for me has been that I’ve been unable to celebrate the launch of our historical anthology ‘Easter Promises’ in the manner befitting our glorious cover girl. Luckily though, its reception has still been very positive! And I love the stories and heroines my anthology co-authors have created– from beautiful and evocative ‘Easter Dawn’ and the sweetest Minnie, to the mystery of a snow bound hotel in ‘Le Malin Renard’ and the hilarious and vivaciously sexy Ariadne, and then onto the little told history of the WASPS, the female pilots of WW2 in ‘EOS’ with the beautiful and glamourous Rosamund. I had such a ball creating this with my fellow authors I was saddened only that I couldn’t celebrate our achievement with everyone else too!
I’ve been eagerly editing my second manuscript and am now being mentored by the wonderful Libby Iriks who has been giving me some great feedback, helping me to set goals and answering my silly questions. My first manuscript has also had a bit of workout after a manuscript assessment has me thinking a complete re-write despite the fact its finaled in several writing competitions (and won one too!) I had shelved it since a rejection I received earlier this year and I’ve not wanted to send it out on submission to anyone else until I can pummel it into better shape—which I believe I can do, but as with everything, it takes time and I don’t have a lot of that!
CYA conference competition 2020
I won the aspiring category for Adult fiction at the recent CYA conference for my novel ‘The Bridge’ – which resulted in an amazing conversation with Clive Hebard – Managing Editor of Penguin Random House in Melbourne, he gave me some great feedback and I was so happy to hear that my writing and the story is very reminiscent of Joy Rhoades work (The Woolgrowers Companion, The Burnt Country) and I was so thrilled (and overwhelmed) to hear that! I also had a consult with Queensland Writer’s Centre and I think I can go into this next draft feeling more confident about the choices I am making with the story.
So what else have I been doing? Like most people – baking bread, making preserves from a mountain of quinces and reading, playing video games and binge watching Netflix!
I have another story coming out in the Romance Writers of Australia Sweet Treats Anthology – so keep an eye out for ‘Miss Minnie’s Courage and Cupcakes’!! I’ll talk about it and my inspiration for the story on the release date which is only a few weeks away!
Let’s hope the last half of the year isn’t fraught with fear and that we can resume our normal lives as best we can!
Oh yeah, next week it’s my birthday – I’ll be… a lady of a certain age…
If you want to help me celebrate – I’m doing Dry July in support of Cancer research and in memory of my wonderful mum, Jessie and my mother-in-law Peggy.
The first half of the year is full of writing competitions and they’re everywhere. I didn’t realise it until I started looking – and finding them scattered throughout the writing community piqued my interest and had me finally putting my words ‘out there’.
I’m not an expert, but I would suggest that before you enter a competition first question what you want to get out of it. Many of these competitions are not free, so not only are you putting your hard-earned words out there for others to critique, but you’re giving them money too! Some offer feedback – many others do not, so think about it before you enter!
I enter competitions mostly for feedback, to gauge whether or not what I have written is palatable for the general public – or whether I am deluding myself about my writing/writing career. Feedback is important on so many levels and if you’re not putting yourself out there then you are doing yourself and your writing a disservice. Be prepared to fail (because as Brené Brown says: ‘If you’re not failing, you’re not showing up’), be prepared not to be everyone’s cup of tea, be prepared to work on getting better and listening to what you need to do to improve.
As far as competitions are concerned, I hope sometimes I might get far enough that I win something – I’m not asking for huge accolades – just a small win to boost my productivity and make me enjoy this journey (which is frequently paved with my own doubts!)
A couple of caveats to what I’m about to say — the first is that this is my personal experience and what I’ve learned from entering many competitions from a variety of places — the second is that the judges in many of the comps are volunteers and many give up their free time to read your work. The majority of judges give excellent feedback and want to encourage you to learn more and more importantly, to keep writing! There are only a small percentage who feel that tearing down your work involves personal attack on you and your writing ability. Don’t listen to them. If ever you encounter a judge who does this, their feedback isn’t worth taking into account. They may be a frustrated writer, they may be going through a tough time, or they may have an agenda you have nothing to do with but they’re taking it out on you. Chin up, or as it goes, bums up, head down and keep writing!!
What I learned about my writing and me
The first writing contest I entered was at the beginning of 2018. I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know how the judging worked and when my scoresheets came in, I didn’t do anywhere near as well as I expected. A good reality check to my own hubris in other words!
The most crushing comment though (and I laugh about it now) was: ‘This story is silly’. The comment, whilst not overly harsh, was rather subjective and enough for me to feel temporarily gutted, but not enough to deter me. I began entering contest after contest after contest. From that I began to see patterns in my writing. Elements of my technique that judges thought needed work (still do) things like:
More emotion
Too much description
Telling not showing
Pacing too slow/too fast
Synopsis not telling you why a certain thing happened
X plot point for story Y feels contrived/cliched
These are all good points and things I can work on and will continue to work on.
If 1 judge out of 10 says you need to work on X – take it with a grain of salt. If 8 out of ten say you need to work on X – listen, because that IS valuable to know.
An example: in a recent short story competition I entered with 5 judges, all 5 judges picked up on my confusing starting point – and the confusing emotions of the protagonist. Several made the comment that they would have liked more development of the main characters (sometimes a little impossible with a short story!) and that they felt like it was really only a vignette of a longer story. All of this was true (and in regard to length yes because this was a vignette of a longer story/full length novel I have planned – but which only exists in my head right now!)
The valuable lesson I learned? I can be a bit precious, but ultimately, I am open to listening to criticism and seek to actively change my writing for the better. I am persistent!
The dreaded third judge
Judge’s hold hammer on wooden table
My recent entry into a competition came back with 2 very high (almost perfect scores) and one at least 25 points lower, virtually tanking any possibility of finalling in that competition. This is not the first time this has happened. Many who enter competitions will talk of that judge. Sometimes I call them the hanging judge!
Yes I was upset, yes I doubted myself (despite finalling in other competitions and even winning one) I stuttered for a moment, I had a cathartic cry, I spoke with other writers about how I felt (combined with isolation and social distancing for my extrovert self, it’s been more draining than I realised) then I picked myself up, brushed myself off, looked around, realised I’d over committed myself on current projects, realised I’d been overly harsh about myself and my writing (come on now Nancy two high scores for a 2nd draft!! That’s a bloody win!) I re read the comments, then I took a break.
During this time, I:
Read something completely unrelated to my current writing projects
Drank some delicious wine
Ate a whole packet of Tim Tams (I might have done that more than once)
Made Jam
Baked bread
Binged watched TV shows and movies (Billions is great btw)
Then when I was ready, I sat back at the computer, took what I could from the feedback, discarded the rest and focussed on what really mattered in all of this, why I’d entered the competitions in the first place – because I FRIGGING LOVE WRITING.
Unhelpful feedback
Often you get a low score and it seems ridiculous because the judge never really explained anything to you as to WHY.
An example:
On one short story I submitted to a competition at the beginning of 2019
The entry didn’t draw the judge in 1/5
Didn’t have a romantic theme 1/5
Dialogue was unconvincing 1/5
Story wasn’t fresh or interesting 1/5
The ending wasn’t satisfying 1/5
However, there was nothing in the comments that explained in any detail why they came to those conclusions and why they gave me such a low score. In fact, what they said was completely opposite:
‘A little polish with more emotion and its promise would bloom. The setting and time in history are terrific. Likewise, the heroine’s stoicism. Great storytelling needing a little more emotional punch.’
Everything they said is undermined by the score they awarded me for the technique I used.
So, what do you do with feedback like this? I took the teeny bit of feedback I could glean from it, ‘more emotion’ and ran with that. But If you can’t use it, if it doesn’t work for you, simple – bin it, consign it to history, burn it in a ritualistic and cleansing fire, do what you need to do and then get back to writing. Focus on feedback that does give you direction, that you feel has a point and you can work on actively changing and improving.
A word on voice
In some recent line edits for a short story, most of the line edit suggestions were perfectly sound, but they’d stripped something important from my story—ME. Although I’m not a seasoned author I am seasoned enough to recognise when my voice is being erased. I still don’t know exactly what my voice IS but I know what it isn’t – and if that isn’t confusing then oh boy wait till you start researching show not tell!
What is voice? It isn’t writing style or technique it’s something more. It’s your quirks, foilbles – it’s your strengths and personality. It’s YOU!
A hundred people can write the same story, but only you can write it your way with your voice. A bit like a fingerprint!
FEEDBACK OVERLOAD
There is also something called ‘too much feedback’ where you can get lost in the (often well meaning) opinion of others. But be careful about taking too much feedback on board – because that too can erase your voice.
In conclusion
Writing… Is hard Is frustrating There are days where you can write barely 50 words Then there are days where: It flows like a great river Story/words/characterisation come easy Your word count is off the charts
And what, you ask, are you going to do with the feedback of ‘This story is silly’?
I’ll consign it to history, better yet, I’ll use it as a motivator, cross-stitch it and put it above my writing place!
Rachel Johns – award winning writer and all round brilliant nice person once said: ‘If you can walk away from writing, do it, walk away.’
It’s that time of the year again lovelies! I’m going to be editing my novel from last year as I’ve had several requests for full manuscript submissions and it needs work! It’s had a title change – but not much else.
I had intended on writing a new manuscript – based on this chappie:
Colin Wyatt, was an Englishman, who came to Australia in 1939, left to complete service during the war but came back soon after. He was best known for his prowess as a champion ski jumper. He spoke over half dozen languages and was an accomplished painter and landscape artist who held several exhibitions here. He was also a very charismatic individual by all accounts!
What sets Wyatt apart – aside from his champion ski-jumping and overall charm, he was also a learned entomologist, and collected many rare specimens.
He was also a thief.
In fact he stole over 1500 butterfly specimens from the Australian museum in 1947 and as it turns out many others from museums around Australia during his time here. When the theft was traced back to England, over 3000 Australian species were found in his vast private collection.
The species he stole were from the Ogyris genus of butterflies, many of which are a pretty mettalic blue. I can definitely see the attraction! I’m sure we have several species from this family at the Waite Insect and Nematode Collection (where I work) I should takes some images. In fact South Australia has several species – SA Butterflies.
It’s a fascinating story, one that bears retelling. After I did Hannah Kent’s workshop recently on historical fiction I’ve been much enthused about the project. For now its on hold until early next year and until Nano is over and done for another year!
I realised that I haven’t updated this blog a while and probably it was about time to fill you in on all writerly things that are happening in my life. Mostly all good!
I guess the number one thing is that I now have a permanent job. Writing and communication (of an agricultural and scientific nature) will likely take up the bulk of my employment and I am still continuing to freelance as a science communicator and science content creator.
The second big thing is that I have been asked to submit my novel- ‘The Bridge’ to an agent. So I am polishing and tidying the prose, receiving feedback from beta readers and paying an editor to review it and point out where it falls down in pacing or tone. I think it still needs some polish in regard to some areas I need to work on (a writer should never stop learning the craft!) I am thinking that my previous submissions to editors were a little presumptuous, nothing like hindsight to help focus your goals! It’s getting there and there is nothing like waking up in the morning with a fresh idea having given up on an edit the night before in utter frustration of it just ‘not working’. Eight hours of sleep refreshes not only the body but the mind too!
I’ve been working on some smaller projects too, and my second manuscript ‘Emu’ is in the second draft stage – before I move on to a structural edit. I’ve a third manuscript in the planning stage and considering reviewing a manuscript I wrote three years ago, but it’s not historical which is my current area of interest.
I think the one lesson I’ve learned over the last few months of critique is that not to take things too personally, to not rush, take my time, let the craft of writing soak into my soul and try and keep my chin up (despite the downs and the utter hopelessness that you might drown trying to live the writerly life). The one thing I have is the support of loved ones and many writerly friends who understand the pitfalls and promises!
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I am hoping to have some time to myself, to read (Clade by James Bradley), drink delicious Fig Gin and put up my feet!
The glossy layered curves fold gentle around into a cuplike shape. The main colour is vibrant and dramatic and transitions into a flamboyant golden colour hue at the edge in stark contrast with the main. It dazzles the eyes if you look too long. Inside the cup, the soft folds reveal ominous, yet velvety, filaments that poke upwards towards the rim to seek out the sunshine. The base of the cup changes colour again, this time, to one of gentle pale green, underneath which, the supple petals merge smoothly into a rigid stalk. Towards the base, the pale green leaves expose themselves; they are strong but soft enough to ripple like glossy waves or silken sheets, shadowing the foundation of rich dirt beneath. Its fragrance is not sweet-smelling, but it emits a pleasant earthy aroma, one that hints of early spring and suggests more to come.
Evie stands and stares at the pot and the tulip within and gives a soft giggle. The wine glass in her hand is almost empty.
“What are you laughing at Evie?” Malcolm asks.
Evie contemplates the tulip again before she replies. “I think I have figured out why I love these flowers.”
“And why is that?” He slips his arm around her waist from behind and nuzzles her neck.
“Well…” She laughs again, “It’s not even spring, and yet here they are, on a sunny winter afternoon, displaying themselves like dancers at the Moulin Rogue. They’re so, um…. suggestive.”
His interest piques. “Suggestive, of what?”
Evie can feel Malcolm’s grip tighten on her waist, and she senses the mischievousness in his voice. She reaches around and playfully smacks the back of his head. “I’ll tell you later my love; our guests will be here any minute.”
The carpet of green grass rolled down through the rows of vines and down to the bottom of the paddock. Joseph ambled down the gentle slope to the fence line then began a gentle stroll back up to the homestead. The smell of ripening fruit hit his nose as he hit the top of the hill. He came to the homestead gate where a curtain of grapes on wild grapevines covered the homestead fence line. He picked a bunch before meandering to the front porch and sitting down on a large swinging chair. There were days where the quiet invaded his senses, brought him peace and a sense of belonging. Today was one of those days and as he plucked a cluster and greedily popped them into his mouth he felt the calm of the valley wash over him.
N M Cunningham 