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What I Learned From Kate (Part 1)

12/3/2012

6 Comments

 
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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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The Year of Jeffery

2/5/2012

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I was swapping emails with my writing friend Mo Johnson over the New Year break. We were catching up with what we had been up to. I mentioned a couple of thing that I was excited about, finishing the first draft of my new novel, winning some prizes with two of my stories published in Narrator Magazine, selling quite a few pieces of my art and getting some illustration work.

Her reply was, "It sounds like it's going to be the Year of Jeffery."

I thought about Mo's comment and decided that she was right, and that I was going to make 2012 the Year of Jeffery.

I have a number of manuscripts that I am sure are ready to find a home. I have a new manuscript with a storyline that turned out much better than I originally planned - with some serious editing it could be something special. And I have been doing some artwork that I am really delighted with. So this year is definitely the time to do something serious about it.

While looking at some publisher websites researching the best fit for my stories, I found one publisher based in Melbourne that publish speculative fiction novels, a magazine and a small number of children's book each year. One interesting thing about IFWG Publishing's site was that they have a list of their artists. I queried to see if they were interested in considering my chapter book ' Paper Magic' when they opened their books for submissions in March, and I also asked how to apply to become one of their illustrators. I left a link to my web gallery just in case.

I received a reply the same afternoon with an offer for an illustration job. It was an internal colour illustration showcasing a serial novella, 'Avoiding the Searchers' which will feature in all five issues of SQ Mag this year. The Editor loved the illustration and asked if I wanted to submit a illustration for the cover of the May edition. 


SQ Mag is a speculative fiction magazine that prints science fiction, fantasy and horror stories. The last few covers have been sci-fi and fantasy oriented so I thought I would do an atmospheric horror based illustration. I emailed a copy off today and received a reply about ten minutes later. They loved the illustration and if approved by the magazine's Chief Editor, it looks like I'll have another illustration credit to my name.

Hopefully, they will also love 'Paper Magic' when I send it through at the end of the month.
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Reviews of My Stories

12/3/2011

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I received an unexpected email from the staff at Narrator Magazine on Thursday night. It was part apology and part notification.  The email went like this.

Good afternoon,

Just a quick email to let you know we haven’t forgotten about you! Congratulations on your piece winning a prize in our Spring edition! We’ve had a busy week, so we’ve not had a chance to send your certificates and magazines through the post, but not to worry, we will have them in the mail for you first thing tomorrow morning.

Kind Regards

Leah


Hey, I was happy enough that both of the stories I submitted to the magazine were accepted for publication. I didn’t really expect to win any of the prizes.

Needless to say, I jumped onto the website to see which one of my stories won, and which prize it was. I certainly didn’t expect what I found.

Both of my stories placed in the judge’s choice prize. “Always the Children” placed second and “The Dancing Suit” placed third. I was blown totally away.

Today, we had our Writers’ Group meeting and one of the group members congratulated me on the great review of my stories in the latest edition of the magazine.

I’ll add another needless to say here. I came home from the meeting and fired up the computer to check out the reviews for myself.

“Always the Children”

-         A moving, heartfelt story. The life of an ambulance officer is sympathetically drawn and the unimaginable grief of dealing with the loss of a child is beautifully evoked.

“The Dancing Suit”

-         The characters of Robert and Beckett are strongly detailed to create a rich descriptive air of the period. A seemingly innocent and charming anti-hero soon becomes the readers worst nightmare in a surprising twist in the tail story.

They were a little off the mark with the first review as it was the life of a police officer but still, I don’t think I could have asked for a better review.

As an added bonus, I discovered that the prize not only consisted of a certificate but there was a monetary component as well. So this makes these two stories my first official payed literary endeavours. I don’t think I’m anywhere near ‘in profit’ yet, but when the editor loves my new novel once I finish editing it, I may just be on my way.

If you want to check out the review visit: http://www.narratormagazine.com.au/nswactsummer2011.html

You can also read the stories online at the same site. Just click on the Central Tablelands – Spring Edition icon.  Let me know what you think. 

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Two Short Stories Published

9/7/2011

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Two of my Short Stories were Published in Narrator Magazine Spring Central Tablelands Issue.

Last month I submitted two stories, “Always the Children” and “The Dancing Suit” to the Narrator Magazine hoping that the editors might select one of them for their Spring edition of the magazine. I was very pleased to discover that both stories were picked up for publication in the magazine.
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Narrator Magazine is quarterly magazine based in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney and publishes essays, short stories, poetry and artwork, mainly from writers and artists from the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands areas.

I usually write children’s fiction, but the magazine was asking for submissions for an adult audience.  The first story, “Always the Children” is based on personal experiences during my time as a police officer. The second story, “The Dancing Suit” is a subtle horror story about a tuxedo, possessed by the essence of a very nasty man.

The first story is difficult to read and was even more difficult to write. Sometimes I still see that broken little girls face at night when I close my eyes. I had much more fun writing the second story.

If you are interested in reading the stories, the magazine can be read on-line at http://www.narratormagazine.com/

If you like the stories, take a few seconds to vote for your favourite in the “Peoples Choice Prize”

I hope you enjoy the stories. Back to writing for kids now…

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Scrivener for Windows

2/23/2011

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Last night I was listening to some episodes of Mur Lafferty’s ‘I Should Be Writing’ podcast and heard a very brief mention, in ISBW #176, about Scrivener for Window. That pricked up my ears. I like PC computers, I prefer them to Mac’s but there is one thing I have been jealous of writers who use Mac’s. They had access to the Scrivener program.
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Scrivener is basically an organizational and editing tool especially designed for writers. You can use it as a word processor but it is much more than that. It keeps all the information you have on a writing project in the one place. There are character and place templates, places to store research notes and images that are in the program but separate from the actual writing. This makes compiling the finished project easy. There is a cork board function that creates note cards for each section, chapter, scene, location, or character so you can see at a glance what you have and where it is. Because the whole thing is connected, you can plot and outline using the cards, re-ordering them to suit the story and the changes are carried out across the project.

The program makes editing less daunting because of the snapshot function. You can take a snapshot of a page, section or the whole project if you like. When you finish the edit and realize you liked the original better, you can revert to the original with a click of the mouse.

Another fun part of the program, and one that is useful for me and all the other writers who have problems finding the right name for a character, is the random name generator. It is handy for when those pesky, unexpected new characters turn up in your story and you can’t keep on writing until you decide what to call them. Often, by the time you work it out, the train of the story is lost. How easy is it to click on the name generator and find something that at least temporarily appeals?

Although the program is not being released until later in the year, the delightful folks at Literature and Latte have released a free Beta version of the program. There are still a few bugs they are fixing as the Beta testing phase progresses but most of those are minor glitches that don’t adversely affect the functioning of the program.  

Check out the Scrivener for Windows page here.

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I Should Be Writing

2/8/2011

4 Comments

 
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Sometimes following links around the internet just for the fun of it can take you to some unexpected and life changing places. One night several years ago I was net hopping and stumbled across a site called Escape Pod. At the time, I was supposed to be writing my book but I was procrastinating as usual, doing anything except write. Anyway, Escape Pod hosts a large collection of short audio stories. I listened to one or two stories that were listenable but only average. As I was about to jump to another site, a story title caught my eye. ‘Stuck In An Elevator With Mandy Patinkin’ by Kitty Myres. I like Mandy Patinkin so I listened. The story was fun but the most striking thing about it for me was the reader. Mur Lafferty.

Mur has a vocal quality and really pleasing accent that made me want to find out more about her. I jumped across to Google, opened some more links and eventually landed in the Murverse.

Vist ISBW site  HERE

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When the screen cleared from the down jump transition – Sci-fi talk there – I flushed a little guiltily. Mur’s podcast site is called “I Should Be Writing.” I felt even worse when I finally went to bed, very late that night. I had still done no writing, but had listened to about dozen episodes of Mur’s Podcast.

By the time I woke the next morning, I had made a decision. If I was going to write, there would be no more pretending, no more “I’ll write my book tomorrow.” I would be serious and professional about writing, or not bother writing at all.

Yes, “I Should Be Writing” changed my attitude toward writing, pulling it from a hobby to “I’m really going to do this. Mur’s ISBW podcasts follow her own writing journey and includes tips and pitfalls she has learned along the way, plus interviews from other writers, podcasters, editors and new media personalities. All pass on their own experiences and writing insights. Mur’s site also links to many writing resources and other writerly sites of interest.

I can recommend “I Should Be Writing.” It is one of the most professional podcasts I have listened to. It is sure to have something of interest for anyone with an interest in the writing industry.

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Thanks to PASS IT ON newsletter

2/1/2011

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My thanks have to go out to Jackie Hosking from the PASS IT ON newsletter. In the opportunities section of issue 321, back in December2010, Jackie listed a new on-line children's magazine 'Literature For Kids' was seeking stories, poems and reviews. The magazine has themed issues and although I had no stories that matched the current theme, I contacted the editor and offered to submit a cover illustration for consideration.

Happily, the cover was accepted for the February Issue of the magazine with the theme of Love and Friendship. You can see a copy of the cover art in my Illustration gallery or visit the magazine ste at; http://www.literature4kids.com/

I recommend to all the writers out there, if you don't already subscribe to the PASS IT ON newsletter, it should be the next thing on you To-Do list.

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    Author

    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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