My new writing toy...

On Friday, my belated birthday / early Christmas present has well and duly arrived.  Welcome the beautiful Macbook Pro:

Since then, I have downloaded this wonderful writing tool called Scrivener, and may I say... I'm in writing heaven.  I have tested the Scrivener beta version for Windows before, but since I was always tempted by the Mac and could see from the Windows version how good it could be if I did have the Mac version, I just couldn't stop myself and went ahead and bought a Macbook Pro 13".

The reason I never had a Mac before was due to its cost.  Plain and simple.  However, for all those who are interested - Amazon sells both the Macbook White and the Macbook Pro 13" for over £100 cheaper than the RRP.  Still a chunk of money to pay though.  But then, I added up the amount I spent on Windows laptops over the last 5 years, and I realised that I could have bought about 3-4 Macbooks in that time.  The reason being that all the machines had defects that started weeks after their warranties expired.  The Sony Vaio's DVD player stopped working.  The Compaq's hinge (the one that connects the keyboard with the monitor) broke.  The seemingly fast and top-spec PC Specialist laptop was too high-spec for its own good: it would heat up to the point where the user (moi!) would almost get burned, and would subsequently crash - just one of the many, many problems it had.  My Samsung netbook served me well.  Ultra-portable, fantastic battery life... but its body did start to crack.  I know.  I'm a little clumsy.  But it was also because I took the thing everywhere I went.

My proper excuse to buy a Mac though inevitably came from Marcus Sedgwick's talk at the SCBWI conference - he bought himself an Amstrad machine ages ago when he started out, so that he could feel more like a "proper writer".  (That's when I thought he may actually be older than I thought him to be, because I had no recollection of those machines.)  Anyway, my own version of Mr Sedgwick's story is finally getting a Mac and Scrivener.

I have now imported all my finished chapters, etc., and have worked nearly non-stop on my novel over the weekend.  What makes Scrivener my choice of software for writing is that it simply makes my job easier.  Not to mention that loads of successful authors out there use it, too.  Gone are the days where I would have several Word documents open, cutting and pasting scenes that were out of order.  In Scrivener, you can save scenes into different files (making them very movable) and yet you can read them all together as if they were one and the same document.  It is also incredibly easy and quick to shift between chapters - all done within a fraction of a second, rather than the seconds of "Opening Document.." moments in Word.  It is difficult to describe it really.  I guess it is the way the "Master Document" should work in Word, but doesn't.  Another way to describe it would be: a more modern, slick and easier to use version of PageFour.

You can save all your research in your Novel folder - again making it terribly easy to jump in and out of the material - whether they be pictures, texts... you can even import a website, should you wish to do so.  Basically, I would need numerous software packages and several folders set up on a PC to be able to do what Scrivener does effortlessly.  Without me having to ask and beg for it like I always felt I had to with any other software I used before.  And that's why I feel like I'm in seventh heaven right now...

Oxford University Online Course: Writing Fiction for Young Adults

I have signed up for an Oxford University online course named Writing Fiction for Young Adults that is due to start on the 12th of January, running up until the 25th of March.  The reason I have signed up for this is that I have been waiting for a course like this to arrive on our shores.  I guess Arvon had one once, but the last time it ran was about two years ago.  There are plenty of these courses in the U.S., and I was about to sign up for one of them (it was offered by one of the universities in California - all online).

As many will know, there is a huge difference between writing for children and writing for adults, but there is another subtle difference between writing for those two market segments and writing for young adults.  Teenagers are no longer children, but yet, they are not adults either.  They are still finding their place in the world.  No matter what your taste in music, you can't deny that the few lines that forms Britney Spears' song "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" describes this moment of (a girl's) life perfectly.

The course costs £180, so despite it being a bit of a commitment, it's not going to cost several months' rent.  It is also an accredited course, so if anyone is interested in taking things further, they can.  Also, it truly is an online course, i.e. you don't have to be in the vicinity of Oxford to do it as long as you can rely on your good old friend - the internet.

Is anyone out there who will be taking this course, too?  Let me know...

Writers' Workshop

Today, I attended a one-day workshop which covered the basics of writing, such as character, plot and writing style.  It was in Oxford, and offered by a company that organises workshops both there and in London.  The teachers are published authors writing mostly books for adults.


In the morning, we had a two hour session on "Character" which was disrupted only by a fire alarm that was probably set off by a toaster or something.  Once we all returned back to our seats, we created a character - each participant contributing a random feature to that character which means that the character was rather odd.  Here are all the things the group came up with:

- male

- middle-aged

- frustrated

- rents out bouncy castles

- has two children (boy and girl)

- wants an affair

- wanted to be a surfer (in his youth)

- wants to expand his business empire and seduce his secretary

- has a collection of stuffed owls

- feels kinship with these stuffed owls because he doesn't feel alive

- about to attend "bouncy castle conference"

- tempted by illegal stuffed owl trafficking from Afghanistan

- his name is Bruce

As you can see, all very random!  Our task was to create a scene revealing some of the details of this particular character.  This is what I came up with:

Bruce was sitting in his study, surrounded by his dead and feathered friends. He may as well have been one of them - that’s how lifeless he felt inside.

     In the past ten years of his life, the only time he remembers to have felt truly alive was last week, when Beth had touched his hands ever so slightly, albeit involuntarily. That was the time when he finally realized that the walls of this house resembled that of a prison: thick, unyielding and impossible to get out of.

     “Dad,” he heard a faint voice from behind the doors. His daughter. What did she want from him now?

     He opened the doors slightly, so that he could see her narrow face filling the gap. She was no longer the little girl she once was - she now even had a boyfriend or maybe, that was last week. His daughter’s somewhat whimsical way of life was completely different from his stale and monotonous being. “What is it?” He asked, his voice brisk and without affection.

     “Mom sent me,” she said. “Dinner is ready.” A wrinkle formed between her brows. “If you want to eat with us that is.”

     “Tell her I’m going to eat later,” he said, almost regretting the sharp tone of his voice. It wasn’t her fault after all that he felt the way he did.

     She rolled her eyes, and let him be. In the corner of his study, Bruce could see an old picture of him and his daughter. She must have been about five. Behind them was a yellow bouncy castle - the first he had ever bought and sold, the first living hour of what was to be his business. How different life was now compared to then.

We discussed this in class, and decided that maybe the first paragraph or even two was unnecessary.

What we were taught in terms of characterisation is:

1) Deploy over time; reveal the character slowly.

2) By the end of the story, your character needs to be in an irrevocably different state - there has to be a character arc.  (James Bond is a bad example because he never changes)

3) Don't try to be too clever.  The biggest mistakes writers can make is to think they are so clever that the writing rules that applied to Shakespeare and other great writers of the past do not apply to them.

4) When writing a trilogy, you need to provide three character arcs / prove that your character changes again and again.

5) Make a character change by putting them in jeopardy.  Force them to make a choice at the risk of losing something.

6) Motivation - know what your character wants out of life and what they can lose by pursuing their desire.

The "Character" part of the session was followed by a short talk about the business side of books, which again was followed by a two hour or so session on "Plot".

What we were taught about Plot is:

1) When the book ends, there has to be a resolution.

2) Enter Late.  Leave early.  (When telling a story)

3) Feel free to combine plot templates.

This was followed by a ninety minute session on "Prose".  We went through a very small segment of our work, and we all got a very honest and frank critique from the teacher.  What I learned here is that less is definitely more.  Every single word and sentence in your novel has to have a purpose.  If not, delete them.  In my case, at least it wasn't too bad.  I wasn't told that my page had to be scrapped or that everything had to be reworked.  Instead, I was told I write sentences that would be beautiful and even poetic, if only I left out a few unnecessary words.  I have to distance myself from my work a little and dare to delete those words to make the manuscript the best it could possibly be.  That's actually a lot easier said than done, but I will try...

It has given me a lot of things to think about, but since it was a general writing course, you could see the there was a difference between writing for adults and writing for children or young adults.  There was another lady there who was working on a children's fantasy book, and we agreed on quite a few things that I believe is more relevant to us than other authors who write for adults.  I have suggested that she joins SCBWI because for what she is working on, she would definitely benefit from being a member.  Not that I am a walking advertisement for SCBWI, but going to a more general writers' workshop has really brought to light the relevance of what is offered by the society.

A Weekend of Learning and Hoping - The SCBWI Conference

This weekend was the first time I've ever been to a writer's conference, although I have always been wanting to write - in teenage speak - for like ever!  A few weeks ago, the slightly whimsical side of me decided to go ahead and book myself a place at the SCBWI Conference in Winchester.  Now, I'm normally a planner when it comes to things like this - everyone will tell you that.  I'm the sort of person who books holidays up to a year in advance, only to narrowly make it onto the plane when the time comes.  I blame the slow queues at the security gates of Heathrow Airport.  Seriously... they are so... slow.  Where else could it take over an hour to check in and go through security?  I've heard even Israel can do better than that, and they probably have a lot more problems than us.


Anyway, SCBWI stands for "Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators", and was founded in Los Angeles about 40 years or so ago.  More details for to be found here.  The British chapter, the SCBWI British Isles has been in existence for 10 years, and has been supporting both published and unpublished writers since then.

Celebrating its 10 years



SCBWI holds numerous events over the year, the biggest of which is the annual conference in the month of November.  As I have never been to such a conference before, I didn't know what to expect.  I knew there would be lectures and workshops, but I wasn't sure whether they could hold my interest for an entire weekend.  I missed quite a few lectures at university for the plain reason that a module did not prove of any interest to me.  Well... now that the conference is over, I can tell you that an amazing thing has happened: every single lecture or workshop kept my mind enthralled the way my lecturers at university could only ever dream about.  The teachers were fantastic, the volunteers extremely helpful.


On Saturday, after what can only be described as a very rushed Full English Breakfast, I actually enjoyed Marcus Sedgwick's keynote speech.  He is the kind of writer I always thought would be good at writing children's books - as he himself said, part of his brain is still a kid (though getting a little older by the year).  Ellen Renner went through all that a writer has to do to become a success (you need luck, too, of course), and I found her session to be extremely inspiring.  It was quite funny listening to her straight after Marcus Sedgwick's talk.  Mr Sedgwick is a plotter - the character comes later (easy to revise whereas plot is not), whilst Ms Renner likes to focus on the character.  I think we have the usual boy / girl difference here though.  Boys tend to be more excited about plots whilst girls tend to be more into the characters themselves (hence, they can fall in love with a fictional character, which I have never seen a boy do).  As a girl, I was more in Ms Renner's camp with regards to this matter, in fact, I agreed with everything that she said, and have ordered a few of the guide books she recommended to us that very day.  I also wanted to do Linda Chapman's session Letting the Genie Out of the Bottle, but unfortunately, I could not clone myself in time for the conference.  What a nuisance!  The industry panel was very informative, and enabled me to see the writing world from an editor's point of view.


Prior to the conference, I had been looking forward to Marcus Sedgwick's afternoon lecture A Sense of Place very much.  You see, the setting for the novel I'm currently working on is extremely important, and I wanted it to have more of a role in the novel itself.  His lecture gave me a few ideas.  So let's see whether I can put those tips into practice.  The lecture was followed by the State of the Nation panel that touched upon certain issues such as e-Books.  I know the music industry had a lot of problems with illegal downloads, and everyone is worried that the same fate would befall the book market.  But I have to admit that I am a very big fan of the Kindle.  I have it in my bag about 90% of the time.  I commute 4 hours a day, I need books to entertain me whenever I'm taking a break from writing on the train, and with young adult novels* these days easily reaching 100,000 words or more, my bags wouldn't be able to deal with that.  I don't download books illegally either - I wouldn't have the time in the day to find out how to.  In fact, the books that I do like on Kindle, I sometimes end up buying in their physical form for purely emotional reasons, so I actually purchase them twice rather than just once.  Also, I've given my husband a Kindle for his birthday towards the end of October.  He has not read a fiction book in years.  Seriously, the last real fiction book he remembers reading was the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  And that was years before the films came out!  We are now in mid-November (barely a month after he has received his Kindle) and he has almost completed all three books of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy.  He is even starting to worry about what to read next!  Whilst e-Books may make piracy easier, I also believe they open up a whole new audience to writers.  And even if e-Books did not exist, piracy would continue to thrive as could be seen with the 100% fake, but solid Harry Potter books seen in China when Deathly Hallows came out.  Sad as it is, all we can do is hope that the majority of humans on this planet abide by some personal moral code rather than spend every waking minute trying to find more and more loopholes in the law.


On Sunday, I took the two workshops led by Miriam Halahmy - Give your plot a facelift and How to make your characters stand up and stand out on the page.  I don't think I have overcome my public speaking fears during those hours, but it could have been a step in the right direction.  During lunch, I had an interesting discussion about mother and daughter relationships with another conference attendee.  This is a very important aspect of the novel that I'm working on, and it has provided me with quite a few head-banging opportunities over the last few weeks.  It was good to know that they are indeed as complex in real life as I believe it to be for my story.  A favourite topic at lunch was Social Networking, inspired by the talk given by Candy Gourlay, Sarah McIntyre and Keren David.  I realised I don't do anywhere near as much social networking as other people do.  Yes, I do have Facebook, but it's still under my maiden name, and I have only Facebook-befriended my close friends, family and a handful of colleagues.  Blog - well, I decided after that to "renew" my blog (you're looking at it now), as it might help me with my writing.  Twitter - gave that up when I no longer had a Blackberry.  I'm really behind in all things social networking...


... speaking about which, my mother has recently joined Facebook, i.e. my brother has set her page up for her, whilst she does her updates.  Upon seeing that I was in Winchester over the weekend, a friend asked me on Facebook what I was doing there.  My mother asked the same.  I told them about the conference, upon which my mother posted the following:


"That's great that you are finally doing something that you really wanted to do for a long time - write.  I wanted to do it myself before when I was young, but limited budget and time cancelled those dreams.  Continue yours!"


This post nearly brought a tear to my eye at the conference.  Those few short lines encompassed everything that the conference was about (to me, at least).  All of us (whether published or not) have a dream, and we must stay in pursuit of that dream or else, we may give up on them.  More often than not, it is the support that we receive from our loved ones and organisations like the SCBWI that is of vital importance.  It should be valued highly.  After all, Cinderella would never have gotten to that all-important ball without the support of the fairy godmother.


*I'm not actually that young.  It's just that I'm particularly interested in this market, and I'm pretty sure my brain has never gone beyond the teenage phase - with reference to Mr Sedgwick's comments.