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What I Learned From Kate (Part 1)

12/3/2012

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For those not lucky enough to attend the “A Touch of Magic” writing workshop with Kate Forsyth on Sunday, I have decided to pass on some of the things I learned during the day. First and foremost in this regard is that Kate is lovely, she is genuine, funny, knowledgeable and forthright in her advice.

There was just too much information in this workshop to share in one blog post so I will break it up into parts.

I try to attend the children's literature festival and at least two writing workshops each year and always come away riding a wave of enthusiasm and new-found knowledge. This recharge of inspiration inevitably improves my determination, my writing or at the very least my writing habits. I’m not meaning to take anything away from the quality of any other workshops I have attended but this one seemed to strike a chord with me.


The Workshop

After each participant in the workshop shared what they like to read, a little about themselves and their current writing project, Kate wrote two words up on the whiteboard.

FOCUS (One project at a time)

and

DISCIPLINE (See a project through to the end)

Several participants had three or four projects on the go and some had a bunch of half finished projects they had moved on from. I have to admit, I am one of the latter although more from a lack of planning than from a lack of discipline.

The other thing Kate stressed at this stage was the need to set a realistic weekly word count, and stick to it.



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 Being a fantasy writing workshop, the first part of the day was dedicated to what fantasy is and what the different genres of fantasy are.

My take on the definition of fantasy writing – across all the genres – is:

Fantasy stories draw upon fairytale and myth or have a quality of strangeness and wonder.

The genres covered included;

High (or Heroic) Fantasy

·         Imaginary world
·         Serious tone
·         Epic in scope – grand struggle – good v’s evil
·         Hero’s journey
·         Often multiple volumes
·         Often involve magic rings/swords, mythical creatures
·         Happy ending.

Adventure Fantasy (used to be called Sword and Sorcery)

·         The journey is important
·         Heroes are often warriors, thieves, wizards, pirates or charming ne’re-do-wells
·         Adventures usually end with a happy return to home.

Historical Fantasy

·         Set in our world during a true historical time period
·         Will include elements of fantasy to some degree
          o   Mythical creature
          o   Herbal Lore
          o   Persecution of witches or those with ESP abilities
          o   Fortune tellers
          o   Time Travel
          o   Duel linked time periods

Fairy Tale Retelling

·         Either retells a well known fairy tale, or
·          Deals with personal transformation
·         Quite often YA

Dark Fantasy

·         Focus on stories with elements of horror in a fantasy setting
·         Fantastic creatures – evil to the core
·         Evil appears early, usually after a brief opening scene of calm
·         Evil intensifies as the story continues

Romantic Fantasy

·         Romance – growing love
·         Usually a love triangle
·         Fantasy, magic, mystery elements or setting
·         Blending the two genres together

Urban Fantasy (trend appears to be over)

·         Modern real world setting
·         Fantasy elements intrude into the real world

Magic Realism

·         Magic happens in the midst of everyday events
·         Subtle, the line between reality and fantasy is blurred.

One genre Kate did not touch on is alternate history. Some people believe this category was invented by writers who wanted to write historical fantasy but were too lazy to research all historical details. Any blunders can then be attributed to the “Alternate” part of the genre.

The second part of the workshop looked at The Writer’s Tool Box

·         Character   -   Plot   -   Setting
·         Structure
·         The writing style – language, word choice, sentence structure
·         Parts of novel – Action, Dialogue, Description
·         Pacing
·         Peaks and Troughs  -  Light and Shadow
·         Surprise and Suspense



I will expand on these topics in part 2 of this blog post.

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My Brush With Harry Potter Stardom

11/21/2012

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They say, writers are great observers, brilliant people watchers, noticing everything, collecting stories and creating magic on the page from the things they see. If this is correct, in Harry Potter terms, I would have to be a complete muggle. There will be no magic on my page. I have used the Harry Potter reference deliberately here. Not because I write children’s stories and     J K Rowling’s books are such a big part of recent children’s literature, but because of my recent brush with a Harry Potter celebrity.

Last week while holidaying at the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton Island in Queensland, I spent a relaxing afternoon enjoying a swim in the resort pool with actor Tom Felton. For those non Harry Potter movie fans, Tom played the part of Harry’s nemesis, Draco Malfoy in all of the movies. Tom is in Australia as a guest at the Brisbane Supernova Convention.  As a big Harry Potter fan of both the books and the movies, you would think this would have been an exciting experience for me. 


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The truth of the matter is... It wasn’t.

Here comes the part about my not so awesome observational skills. You would think with over 21 years as a police officer and now working as a writer, my observational skills would be honed to an amazingly keen edge. I should be able to shave with the sharpness of those skills.  Wrong again.

I’m now going to relay a conversation I had with Rebecca, one of the entertainment staff on the island, late in the afternoon as the launch made its way back to the mainland.



Rebecca “The guy who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies is on the launch, heading back on the launch. He was here on a day trip.”

Me “Really, I love Harry Potter. It would have been brilliant (Ron Weasley quote) to have met him.”

Rebecca “He did a segway tour along the beach earlier but spent most of the afternoon swimming in the top pool.”

Me “Oh, hang on. I spent most of the afternoon swimming in the top pool!”

So there you have it. I spent a lazy afternoon swimming in a resort pool with Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy and didn’t even realise it. Am I embarrassed or what?

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In my defence, last night I Googled images of Tom for something a little more recent. He has actually changed quite a bit from the smug, pale skinned blond kid who played the part of Draco. That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

But I am determined to work on honing my muggle-worthy observational skills or I may never find the magic again. 



 


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Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival

7/6/2011

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Author Duncan Ball
As always, the trip from Bathurst into Sydney for the Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival was well worth it.

It was a beautiful sunny break from wintery Bathurst weather. Added to this, I got to meet some of my favourite children's authors and had lunch on the lawn with Lisa Berryman from HarperCollins. The festival is always such a relaxed and welcoming place to hang out.

The only slight disappointment of the day was that New Frontier's editor, Sophia Whitfield was unable to attend the festival. I was hoping to meet Sophia, mainly because she has my book Paper Magic under consideration at the moment. It would have been nice if she could have matched up my face with the name on the manuscript.

There were some very interesting and informative panels during the day, and I picked up a couple of leads I will be following up on as soon as possible.


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One of my favourite children's authors, Kate Forsyth
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    Jeffery E Doherty is an children's writer and artist who writes chapter books, picture book texts, junior and young adult novels.

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