I am planning to run a winter event, helping people to focus on their current project, sharing inspiration, helping each other to talk about aspects such as plotting and character development, and leaving some time for writing (or wandering in nature, if people prefer). This will be open to people working on picture books, graphic novels or fiction for anyone up to and including teens.

This will take place on either Saturday, 2nd March, or Sunday, 3rd March at the Rodmell Village Hall (Rodmell is located between Lewes and Newhaven on the south coast of England, ten miles east of Brighton), from 10 am until 4 pm.

If I get at least ten people I will charge £25 per person. My hope is that this will be a collegiate gathering to help people with their current project - which can be a picture book or longer fiction. We can follow it with a trip to our local pub.

If you are interested, please get in touch by emailing me on Laura[at]lauraatkins.com. I will confirm the date soon, and am currently polling members of my writing group and people who I mentor to find out which day suits the most people.

Here is my final conference post, at least until I find some time to write up the notes I have still have rattling around. In the mean time, friend and client Andy Dickenson (see his blog on the branding session below) has written his thoughts on the conference as a whole. Enjoy...

So then, a conference overview for the self-published and otherwise employed...

For the last few weeks, my wife Sarah and I have been debating the worth of the TV show Cheers.

Whenever we’re flicking through the channels and spot it’s on I immediately vote yes with the remote, regardless of the fact that there’s usually only five minutes of it left. But Sarah has never watched Cheers before, so she finds those five minutes hold little but a slow humour and in-jokes told by characters she doesn’t know, while I just sit there a little embarrassed trying to remember what it was about the show I so loved.

And it dawned on me the other day that a lot of that had to do with missing the opening credits. It’s when you hear the warm fuzzy chords of “Where everybody knows your name...” that you begin to relax into the comfortable charm of Sammy, Norm and the gang. And, if you’ll forgive my rather lame analogy, I’m beginning to feel a little like that about the SCBWI...

Last year was my first “Scooby” conference and I remember the initial discomfort of wondering, “Do I fit in?” My immediate impression, recorded here, was “that you are surrounded by others all chasing the same goal as you, that they're actually your competition”. That can feel inhibiting, but it’s also a show of strength.

So this year I had, controversy of all controversies, my self-published novel, The Last Days, to tout around. But was that really so worrying? Not anymore, it seems. While last year the conference, myself included, seemed a little suspicious of publishing on the Kindle, Kobo, iPad etc, this year it seemed to positively embrace the form – and with a number of lectures and seminars almost purpose built for those starting out on their own publishing adventures.

Of course, that doesn’t mean self-publishing is “all good” and you’ll find its pluses and pitfalls discussed elsewhere here on blogs concerning The State Of The Nation etc. But, for me, to be able to engage in questions such as…

With so many novels being published every hour on, say, the Kindle, how do you attract people to yours?

Without librarians and physical bookshops to filter them properly, who are the gatekeepers of e-Book quality?

And, is the dominance of Amazon forcing traditional publishers and agents to play safer with the products they try to sell?

…indicated both a healthy and effective debate.

The good news is that that conference felt like it was getting to grips with the subject, with lectures on Transmedia, Becoming a Brand and Performing/ Marketing, as well as, if not better than, anyone else.

But, beyond all this, we had fun, we tested each other’s ideas, made each other laugh and, for me, there really was that continuing sense of “community” that Celia Rees referred to in her opening lecture.

I found myself talking with people I was too shy/aloof to wander up to last year. Second time around, an anxious writer hopefully realises there are people within SCBWI he can genuinely share problems and successes with, as well as support – and that they may spread further than the conference walls and into the everyday and cyber worlds outside.

It’s already been noted that after the initial elation of hanging around with like-minded creative types for one weekend a year, that sense of “Yes, it can be done” soon comes to an inevitable crash – perhaps when you get your first rejection letter or you realise your place on the Amazon charts.

But just like Cheers, the conference reminds us that there are friends you can fall back on. Where everybody (well, lots more people now) know your name...

And that’s not just warm and comfortable. It’s also, perhaps, its greatest asset.

You can find Andy's fantastic book, The Last Days, here.

Here's the next blog post, this one thanks to client and friend Astrid Holm. I've been working with Astrid for many years. She originally found me when she was working on her MA in Creative Writing at Sussex University and she joined my monthly writing group. Astrid's writing has gone from the strength to strength. She was shortlisted for the Chicken House Prize, and is now represented by Ben Illis at A. M. Heath. She creates damn fine historical fiction (her first novel was described by Barry Cunningham as Chaucer meets Hollyoaks) and writes with vivid detail and characterisation. You can read more about her on her website and you can find her on Facebook. This is her summary of the intensive session on character.

'Making a Character Jump off the Page' with Julia Golding and Julia Bell

Julia Golding started us off by giving everyone a picture of a character. We were asked a series of questions about the picture.

• Who is he/she?
• What is the mood colour of the picture?
• What animal would they be?
• What music score would you associate with the picture?
• What does the character smell of?
• What did they last eat?
• What is the voice in their head saying as they look out of the picture?
• 
  

Julia read out  the answers to two contrasting characters. Then we swapped over what the characters smelt of.

Now, a nice little girl smelt of hair oil and dirty clothes and a rakish villain smelt of flowers and soap. Immediately this gave us new ways into thinking about the characters, it made them literally jump off the page. Why did she smell of hair oil? Had she stolen it, or been given it by her dad? Why did the villain smell of soap and flowers? Did he have an OCD handwashing problem or a darker secret?

Next we could choose to work with the same picture or shift to thinking about a character from our own work in progress.

Julia asked us to create a memory box for them.

What special items would the character have kept?

Julia asked us to describe the object in detail. She explained that it is through the details that authenticity lies. By triggering a memory of something similar in the reader, it authenticates the voice telling the story.

Many people found that one particular item in the imaginary treasure box had special resonance for them. I was drawn to describe a doll my character had loved during childhood and it really helped me clarify some points in her back story.

To make a character seem real Julia Bell highlighted four points.

Detail

Voice

Conflict

Surprise

She discussed how reading a book should be  an experience for the reader; that they are in the moment at every point of the action. They are with the character as  the action happens. As writers, to bring the story to life we should be in the moment too as we are writing. If we are bored writing it, it will be boring to read!

'It's a story not an essay' said Flannery O'Connor.

Voice is often very strong in the first person, very immediate. By using a first person narrative voice the writer can illustrate blind spots in the character by what they leave out, or don't understand. Secondly, this voice can show how the character justifies actions to him- or herself and, obliquely, to the reader. And thirdly, the reader can make their own interpretation of the character by the information, or lack of it, given by the narrator. An unreliable narrator creates an ironic gap where the reader becomes aware that they are not being told the truth.

When using third person narration it is also very important to get the sense of the character's voice. The tutors highlighted the author Henry James as a master at this technique. Using third person narration, the author can choose to use an omnipotent narrator that knows everything and tells the story from above, or a more subjective third person voice (also called limited third person), where the writer allows us into one or more of her characters thoughts.

Next Julia Bell gave us an exercise called 'My Neighbours Neighbour'.

We had five minutes to talk to the person next to us about an old neighbour (which could be an individual or a family), describing them physically and what they were like. We then swapped for five minutes.

Now we were challenged to write about our neighbours' neighbour, creating a character from a real person. It was fascinating how, by being given the bare bones of a character, that magic fairy dust of imagination was able to get to work. I found myself on a hot, dusty street in Boston, writing about a thirteen year old girl in rollerboots!

After lunch, Julia Golding led us through another exercise called 'Getting to Know You'. We all selected a postcard of a place that we thought our character might inhabit from a selection laid out on a table at the back of the room. When we returned to our desks, we were told to describe the place and put our character in the scene, for a paragraph or two.

Now we had to think of four escalating disasters, going from number one which would be a slight mishap to number four where the world is falling apart. My disasters for my historic heroine were:

1 Whilst in a crowd, an old man coughed over her and spat on her shoe.

2 She was pushed to the ground in a crush of people and broke her wrist as the crowd surged forward.

3 She was mugged and knifed outside the government building by thieves and had all her money robbed as she lay bleeding on the road.

4 The entire crowd was gathered up and arrested by fascist police and escorted into trucks to be taken to an ethnic cleansing camp.

Next we decided which disaster interested us the most and of course I chose number four!

Now Julia G gave us a timeframe for the disaster, (or as Julia B called it 'the Beaufort Scale' of disaster!) where we wrote about the event:

1 One second after the disaster.

2 Five minutes after the disaster. What are they thinking and feeling? If it is only a minor disaster, perhaps everything is all right again already.

3 One hour after the disaster, is it over yet?

4 Twelve hours since the disaster. Are there still impacts? For example in my disaster number one, she would probably have completely forgotten the spitting incident already, but number two with the broken wrist she would still be in pain, and number three she may well be dead. Number four, who knows?

5 One year after the disaster.

Both tutors discussed how choosing the correct timeframe for an event or disaster can have a big impact on the pacing of the book.

We also looked at how the character acted during the disaster. Did the character behave out of character? Or did the disaster make the character become more like themselves? I learned about my character doing this exercise, as I found out she was more humane and sympathetic during the crisis than I had thought she would be, being essentially a very selfish girl.

The tutors wanted us to consider why anyone would want to spend time with your character during a disaster.

Do we care about them surviving it?

Why are you sorry for them? Perhaps they are an orphan, isolated, vulnerable, suffering.

How will you make the reader 'root' for your character?

We also needed to work out if we were too interested in the big disaster, and had 'lost' the character within the plot. A good example of this is James Bond, where his character (although he doesn't start out with much of one anyway), is  'squeezed by the juggernaut of the plot'. If the voice of the character is lost beneath the weight of plot, the reader can lose interest.

We discussed how you need to choose your timeframe (as discussed above) to fit your story. The timings listed above are not a hard and fast rule; you can decide on when to revisit the impact of the disaster. This framing decision is very important, as for best dramatic effect you need to work out what timescale works for your character. You could slow a second down, stretch time, or start from a year later and reflect back on an event.

I'd like to Thank Julia Bell and Julia Golding for a really fantastic workshop and for giving me some tools I'll be using for a good long time to come.

This post comes to you thanks to my client and friend, Andy Dickenson. Andy has written and self-published his debut novel, The Last Days, a futuristic thriller and murder mystery featuring a vivid cast of comic book-inspired characters (you can read a recent review here). Andy is also a journalist at ITV/Meridian, as is evidenced by his pithy summary below.

Why Every Author Needs To Know Their Author Brand with Justin Stomper and Philip Norman

So who wants to be a brand?

No?

Well look away now because it seems you may have to be. In fact, you may be one already...

As the course notes to this session, Why Every Author Needs To Know Their Author Brand, suggested “branding” is not quite the dirty word in literary circles it used to be. Rather, publishers and readers have probably seen us (both authors and illustrators) as brands for some time now.

That’s perhaps a frightening prospect but one, now that we’re all tied in to social, if not traditional, media, we need to get our heads around – whether to exploit it, or stop ourselves becoming swamped by it.

With the huge changes in publishing over the past three years authors/illustrators, we were told, have more power now. We can publish our work ourselves. We can talk directly to our audience (if we can find them). But what do we say? How much information do we put out? How often, and where?

The key, Phillip Norman and Justin Somper suggest – both with impressive brands of their own to back them up – is consistency. Knowing what your (buzz word alert) “core message” is. How to refine it and articulate it. And, where necessary, adapt it.

To help in this exercise we were given examples of some of the biggest author brands around – Rick Riordan, Jilly Cooper, Dan Brown and Bill Bryson - and gradually managed to boil down the three central planks of their public personalities.

Some are restrained: Dan Brown, for example, even goes as far as wearing the same outfit for publicity photos. His message is one of the hard working professional, and little more.

Others far more fluid: Bill Bryson, for example, “more English than the English”, a social commentator, now, as well as a travel guide, his nuanced observations as applicable to science as they are to countryside campaigns.

And yet some are obvious. Jilly Cooper does raunchy, Rick Riordan does Greek myths. But both can introduce personal back stories. The Percy Jackson author speaks candidly of his son’s ADHD, giving him a reach beyond the Sunday supplements and into newspaper stories themselves.

All this then begged the question, how far would we go? How much would we make private or keep public? And, with all our Updates and Tweets, what are we saying about ourselves already?

What followed was a personal exercise to extract the three clear messages that define us and our books, followed with the chance to test them on others. For some, perhaps the more practiced professionals, this seemed easy – Celia Rees stepped forward. For others, myself included, this was hard but, I became convinced, necessary.

As the conference went on, the cogs of my mind slowly turning, I began to break down my own message:
- I write books about the end of the world – perhaps giving me some scope to publicly discuss the issues I fear threaten it?

- My focus is on teenage characters with extreme responsibilities – so maybe I can contribute a thought on the antecedents (in my case comic book heroes) that helped define them?

- And, behind it all, I wrestle with ideas of faith, destiny and fear – and would I be brave enough to enter that debate?

This may come across like a work in progress and, of course, it is. But it’s perhaps worthwhile to repeat the conclusion from the course’s handout to underline why, even as a rough sketch, it’s important:

“Your audience will decide what your brand is based on the information available to them. That is, the information you decide to put out there. This includes what you say at events or interviews, what you Tweet about, and how you dress. Your brand recognition will be far more effective if you control what details your audience has to choose from.”

In the flippant parlance so common in social media itself then, perhaps the core message here is: Think before you Tweet.

Andy Dickenson
http://www.thelastdays-online.co.uk/

I attended the SCBWI British Isles conference this past weekend: Bright Horizons: Creating the Stories of Tomorrow. It was an amazing weekend, one of the best conferences I've been to. I went with some clients who are also good friends (Andy Dickenson and Astrid Holm), and also met some lovely new people who have offered to contribute to the blog (Tracey Mathias and Jo Wyton). Look forward to posts from all of them, and I'll try to write some things up as well.

We're starting with Tracey's post on the Sunday intensive session she attended: Find the Plot with Sara Grant. You'll find more about Sara Grant at the end of the blog post. Thanks to Tracey for writing it up!

Half way through a sprawling first draft of a YA novel that often doesn’t seem to know where it’s going or what it’s about... well, where else was I going to go on Sunday, other than to Sara Grant’s workshop on Finding the Plot?

In her introduction, Sara stressed that there are as many approaches to plotting as there are writers.  Bradbury sees plot as something that emerges from the writing: ‘observed after the fact’.  Others (eg Zuckerman in Writing the Blockbuster Novel) see advance planning as key. Others follow milestones through otherwise unknown territories.  Nothing is ‘right.’ You need to find your own way.  And keep in mind that each story makes its own demands, so that we will need to consider each book as unique, with its own unique plotting needs.  You might plot one book one way and another totally differently; remain open and responsive to the particularities of each.  And be patient.  Be aware that plot may only come right after many drafts.

It is helpful to think of writing as a triangle of composing, editing and planning – in no particular order: each flows into and informs the next; the finished book emerges from a long conversation between all three. Plotting’s also a dialogue between the instinctive and the conscious; structures and shapes that emerge from the unconscious can then be crafted into something more deliberate.

Following this, we worked through Sara’s Finding the Plot worksheet – subjecting our own writing to a detailed analysis.  We were asked to answer a series of questions to strip away surface details and get to the depths of the story, the things that drive it and give it purpose.  This was a really useful exercise.  It was like making a touchstone for the story, a litmus test of its essential truths to clarify which plot details belonged and which were a distraction.   The questions were:

1. What is the heart of your story? – what’s at its core? Why does it matter to you to write it?  What’s the key thing to which you have to remain true?
2. What genre is it in? (fantasy, coming of age, supernatural, horror etc…)  And once you know, read widely in your genre.  Know what other people are writing, what the possibilities of the genre are.  A story may cross or combine genres.
3. What’s the premise of your story?  It’s useful to think of this as the what would happen if…? – the initial incident or situation from which the rest of the action flows.  For example – what would happen if a shark swam into a beach resort (Jaws); what would happen if a wife walked out on her family (Kramer v Kramer).
4. What’s the controlling idea? – what meaning is encapsulated in the ending of the story? What does the reader take away with them.  Closely related to…
5. What’s the theme? – the big idea behind the story.  A story should have something to say… but it must emerge from action and character and not be imposed upon them.  You need to find the middle path between having no theme at all and having one that’s sledgehammered into the reader.  Theme (like plot itself) is both an intuitive and intellectual act on the part of the writer.  (Theme and controlling idea are clearly closely linked and we spent some time trying to tease the distinction between them.  Useful maybe to think of theme as something that can be expressed as an abstract noun. Forgiveness.   Love.  Diversity.  Toleration….)  And books may have more than one theme, and to stop this getting too unwieldy or confusing, think about using tables or charts to keep track of how they interweave and work together.
6. What is your pitch?  There were two main ways of thinking of this. One is the hook – which can be very like the premise (what if…).  The other is x meets y – that is, seeing your book as the offspring or hybrid or synthesis of two other works.  (One Day meets The In-betweeners, The Hunger Games meets The Little Mermaid…) It’s a useful way of giving a vivid idea of what your book’s about when you’re approaching agents.  Like other aspects of plotting it may be your starting point, or something that you find at a later stage.

Remember that all of these – heart, premise, controlling idea, theme etc. – frequently emerge from the act of writing, that they need not be set in stone or even really known before you start.  Sara likened writing a first draft to making the rough clay of the book; there’s still a lot of reworking and shaping and changing to be done before it is finished.

From here we moved on to think about main and supporting characters.

1. What does your main character want? – what’s their motivation?  There must be something, to give drive and action to the story.
2. Why is your main character compelling?  - your main character needs to be interesting, and active. They needn’t be likeable…but there has to be some form of connection to the reader, something that makes the reader understand them and be interested to know what happens to them. They need to have depth (and more depth as you write for older children).  As the writer you should know their quirks, habits, likes, dislikes etc.   At the end of a first draft it’s useful to look at every portrayal of your main character. Is everything that you have imagined about them on the page? – ie do they have the same depth for the reader as they have for you?
3. What’s the arc of the protagonist? – ie where are they now and where will they be at the end of the story?  They need to have moved and changed.
4. 10.  Supporting cast.  Make a table of who they are, what’s their relationship to the main character, and what’s their importance to the story. Do they earn their keep?  Think about – and be careful about – how many characters you’re expecting your readers to remember….
5. What’s the importance or your setting?  What does it add to the story?  - that is, how does it influence your characters?  What is its own character?  Does it have precision and vividness?  As Sara put it, if the setting could be anywhere then it’s not working hard enough!
6. What are your main character’s surface and profound journeys – what happens in terms of action and events?  How do they change, what do they learn…?
7. What is the main conflict / obstacles for your main character? – what keeps the main character from getting what she wants?  These can be other people, external circumstance, aspects of self…  They are essential.  There’s no interest in a smooth ride.
8. List the ways in which you create suspense.   Suspense is central: Sara observed that storytelling’s about withholding information as much as revealing it… about teasing the reader along with the undivulged secret…   In particular scenes, suspense can be heightened by using a variety of devices: danger, the ticking clock, the cliff hanger, the unknown…

Another way of thinking about the essential elements of story is the LOCK system.

L = lead.  A main character who’s interesting and compelling, who we want to follow to the end.

O = objective.  The thing that drives them – often this will be away from something or towards something.

C = Confrontation.  Why can’t the character get where they need to be?  Who or what stops them

K = Knockout.  The strong and punchy ending. Hard to get right!

In the afternoon, we moved onto construction: how to build and keep control of a plot.  This included looking at….

Some essential moments of plot.

1. The inciting incident.  The thing that precipitates the rest of the action; the point where the world changes.
2. Big scenes. There should be some! 6 per 100,000 words has been suggested but like everything else that’s a hint not a law.
3. The high point – the moment of apparent triumph, when you think everything’s going to be alright, followed quickly by…
4. The rug pulling.  Oh no.  It’s not ok after all… followed by…
5. Climax.  The final, critical, decisive moment.

In terms of timing, we might think roughly about the inciting incident coming not later than the first tenth of the novel, and the climax coming about 8 – 9 tenths in.  Obviously these are not hard and fast rules, but they do highlight questions of pacing and setting that need to be thought about.  In terms of openings, the beginning of the story obviously needs to create the world (where are we? who's the main character?). If you chose to put the inciting incident on page one, then details of the world will have to be woven into the following narrative.  In terms of climax, think about what needs to come afterwards, and avoid the sensation of a too abrupt and sudden ending. Don’t rush: give the last chapter(s) enough space and depth.

Big scenes – and especially the climax  - need to happen on stage; to be seen by the reader.

Some plotting strategies

Use post it notes!   This can be a great way to get going. Write notes of everything you know that happens and lay them out.  A really good way of creating an outline – or maybe synthesising one from a rough draft.

‘Plot’ the story on a graph, where the horizontal axis is the action and the vertical axis the intensity.  Here you can mark the key moments (inciting incident, high point, rug pulling, climax, aftermath) and also the big scenes; the moments of heightened emotion; the epiphanies… On a graph you can also keep track of sub-plots and how they interplay with the main plot.

A chapter by chapter table can also be useful; for each chapter note action, importance and timeline.  This can be a helpful way of highlighting duplication within the plot (do you have the same action on more than one occasion? Do you have more than one scene with the same importance?)

Both the graph and chapter by chapter table are useful for identifying moments where the plot is a bit empty.  Do you need to add another character or subplot? Add another level of complication?  They’re also probably essential for keeping track of a story with many subplots, but if it’s getting impossible to keep control of them all it’s time to ask if there are too many…

Look at ‘classic’ plots (quest, rags to riches) and how they work.  Don’t plot from formula -  but if your plot isn’t working, then looking at an archetype can highlight why and where your plot’s going wrong.  Useful sources here are The Seven Basic Plots and The Writer's Journey.

Brainstorm with other writers.  This can be really helpful in terms of throwing light on areas which aren’t working, the wobbly bits of the structure.  At the end of the afternoon we tried it.  It was uncomfortably useful; my partners went straight to the point of the plot which I feel instinctively needs to be there, but which I can’t quite square with questions about theme and essence. Back to the post it notes….

And here's a bit about Sara Grant: Sara Grant is Senior Commissioning Editor for Working Partners, a London-based compary creating series fiction for children. She has worked on ten different series and edited more than 75 books. Her debut novel Dark Parties won the SCBWI Crystal Kite award for the UK/Europe. Her second teen futuristic novel titled Half Lives and Magic Trix - a new series for seven plus - will be published by Orion in 2013. Sara is the co-editor and co-creator of the British SCBWI Undiscovered Voices anthologies. Sara has a master's degree in creative and life writing from Goldsmith's College, University London. www.sara-grant.com

I've decided to celebrate spring (and my birthday) by offering a free picture book manuscript critique. To enter, just leave a comment on my Facebook page by the end of May. I will choose the winner at random. If you want to read more about my critiques, you can read this blog post and find further details on my website. Good luck!

I've know Sue Shippam for several years now. I first met her when she attended one of my writing workshops. Since then she joined my monthly writing group, and I have provided manuscript critiquing and mentoring on various project. Sue is incredibly disciplined - finishing more projects than most people I know. She is a passionate writer, and is clearly driven to write every day, regardless of what is going on in her life.

For this post I interviewed Sue, who decided to self-publish an e-book version of her novel, Spaced Out. This is the first in a series, and I can highly recommend it for middle graders. She writes fluently and creates fun characters, creating an action-packed space-themed thriller. You can buy the book on Amazon here.

What made you want to write children's books in the first place?

I don’t think I ever grew up. I love reading about animals that can talk and children having scary adventures even now. It’s a great away of escaping the stresses and strains of my adult life. I still get a thrill out of the little things in life like ladybirds and baby bunnies (see my website www.minilops.co.uk) and am renowned for putting my hand up when a zoo keeper wants an assistant - much to the embarrassment of my children.

Can you tell me about what inspired you to write this book, and the series?

I was driving with my husband through the countryside in the early evening and the light was casting strange shadows in the woods. It was then I heard a boy’s voice in my head (Yes, I am bonkers!) and saw the beam drop down from the UFO. Nathan was born and we flew off from there. Once I was on the band wagon the ideas kept coming and as I’ve always fascinated by the paranormal, the world was my oyster. My second book Spooked Out! and third book Driven Out! followed quickly after that.

How do you get in the mind of a 10-year-old boy?

Once I hear the character’s voice in my head I’m away. It’s as though I am inside of his/her head and looking out through their eyes. In many ways it’s like being possessed. I think about the characters all the time wherever I am and whatever I’m doing. Often it takes months or years before I know the characters well enough to put pen to paper. My first book is a case in point; Billy lived with me for over three years before I started to write his story. I understood him intimately and was so wrapped up in him that I was lost when I finished his sto

This week at the University of Roehampton, we are running our new one-week publishing module for MA students. This is being convened by Susan Greenberg, and I will be teaching a section on children's publishing on Thursday afternoon. As part of the module, we required students to attend the London Book Fair last week, and to share their experience in some digital form. One student, Jennifer Waring, is especially interested in children's books, so I said that she would be welcome to write a guest blog post for my blog. And here it is!

One MA Student’s View of the London Book Fair

The size of the London Book Fair Posters hanging over the equally vast entrance advertised its importance and reduced mine. What was I, a mostly-teacher, partly-student and ever aspiring writer doing here? Surely a thousand flashing lights and whirring sirens would go off as I passed through those wide, looming doors alerting security to my unimportance and inevitable lack of ability to contribute anything of value to the day’s events?

Luckily, I was not in an Austin Power’s movie and I managed to cross the magical threshold into Grown-Up Book World Undetected. Half an hour and a two- pound cup of tea later I had located the lovely Laura- whose wonderful blog is now saving me from the trauma of working out how to create my own – and we were going through other student’s and my own itineraries for the day. If you are reading this blog it probably comes as no surprise to you but I was delighted to learn that her specialism is children’s literature and thus I would have someone to hold my hand in at least some of the events. I was less delighted to learn that I was supposed to find some way to talk to a publisher (what talk to an actual, real life person that produces books, real books? Are you crazy?)  I put that task aside for the moment and enthusiastically made my way half-an hour early to locate ‘The World into words: Why Reading Non-Fiction is Vital for Children’. ..

The World into Words: Why Reading Non-Fiction is Vital for Children

I have never really given much consideration to non-fiction. I don’t write it and I usually have to bully myself into putting down Patrick Ness or Philip Reeve to read it. However, as a teacher, I am aware that there are others who feel the opposite; chiefly (though not exclusively), reluctant boy readers. Thus I bit the bullet and went along to this seminar to see what information I could extract to inspire both myself and the kids I teach.

The panel consisted of chair Jake Hope, reading development manager for Lancashire council and lively ladies Viv French and Nicola Davies; both writers of what neither would term ‘narrative non-fiction.’ Both their opening statements were passionate defences of their genre, which they felt strongly to be an area of children’s literature which was much misunderstood by publishers, teachers and the general public alike. They each had quibbles with the use of the term ‘non-fiction’ to define their work and were keen to point out that ‘stuff that is not fiction,’ and ‘fiction’ are both about sharing information and thus do not have as clearly demarcated a line between them as is usually presupposed.

With dramatic flourish, French argued that in the adult book world genres such as autobiography or travel writing are not pigeon-holed as purely ‘non-fiction’ and that the same open-mindedness and respect should be given to the children’s ‘stuff that is not fiction,’ market as well. She felt that the best books allowed children to interact, answered their questions but also stimulated a passion to know more, regardless of perceived genre. She argued that the desire to know more as a result of reading &

I don't know if non-SCBWI members can access the SCBWI Bulletin (their publication). But hopefully you can through this link.

I was happy to read an article focusing on diversity (or the lack of diversity) in terms of who is writing children's books and getting published in the US, but also SCBWI's intention to increase their efforts to attract more diversity in terms of their members. In the article, Suzanne Morgan Williams sites the CCBC annual statistics showing how many books have been published by, and about, people of color. According to the CCBC, 95% of books published in the United States in 2010 were written by white authors, while 91% were about white main characters. The SCBWI article compares this to census figures that show that almost 40% of people in the US are from ethnic minority backgrounds - so there is a clear mis-match. American president of SCBWI, Stephen Mooser, is quoted as saying, "SCBWI is dedicated to being an important advocate not just for diversity in books for children but of diversity in those who aspire to write for young audiences.”

Suzanne Morgan Williams states that she has been carrying out interviews with colleagues from diverse backgrounds to get their input on this issue. She writes,

So far, the responses are as different as the people answering them. But there are some common themes. 1) They were avid readers as children. 2) They want to write what they want, without being restricted by their race or ethnicity, although many choose to write about their own backgrounds. 3) They have concerns about the publishers needing to make profits to stay in business, and yet they see this as limiting the viability of books that aren’t about white kids. 4) Some feel that when books about nonwhites are published, they may not get the exposure that other books do.

These answers resonate with much of what was said at a recent round-table discussion I ran (along with Pop Up and the Runnymede Trust) with a group of diverse published authors and artists in the UK. I will be further working through what was said at this gathering, as well as interviews I've carried out with authors in the US, the UK, and Canada - in preparing for my presentation at the Race and Publishing Conference to take place in Aix-en-Provence, France at the end of March.

But back to the SCBWI Bulletin. At the end, the author asks members to email their thoughts on the following questions: "Do you have ideas about what else the SCBWI could do? Do you have thoughts on diversity in publishing? About multicultural writing and illustrating?"

I hope members will contribute, from the US and beyond. Here's the letter I just emailed:

Dear Stephen,

I was very happy to see Suzanna Morgan Williams' article about diversity in

Illustration by Polly Noakes

It's always gratifying when clients are inspired by my feedback. I was delighted after critiquing a picture book manuscript by published illustrator Polly Noakes to get this quick email reply from her:

"This is fantastic, just what I wanted and needed. I have had a quick look and will look again properly tomorrow but just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with your suggestions, insights and general comments. Brilliant!"

On February 16th, Sara Grant gave an excellent presentation on revision at Roehampton University, where I work part-time as a Senior Lecturer. Sara (above left, in the red sweater/cardigan) spoke in detail about how she approaches the revision process. An experienced editor and now author of YA fiction, she was accessible, friendly and full of useful tips.

Astrid Holm (above right, holding the book) is a friend and client - represented by AM Heath, she's written a fantastic historical novel - Chaucer meet Hollyoaks - which was short-listed for the Chicken House Award. She attended the workshop and has written the following blog post describing Sara's talk. Afterwards, Sara, Astrid and I (in the back of the photo, short brown hair) jumped in my car and bumbled our way to Jasmine Richards' double book launch. Jasmine, sporting the fetching pirate shirt, is the author of two news books written under pen names: Oliver Twisted and Book of Wonders. Pick them up if you can!

Here is Astrid's post - and thanks very much to Astrid for writing it up.

Sara is a bit of an expert on editing, having worked for Working Partners for many years editing their children’s book series, as well as being on the other side of the editing process. Her YA dystopian book Dark Parties was released in the UK earlier this year and she is editing her second book now. We gathered at Roehampton University, where senior creative writing lecturer Laura Atkins had organised the talk.

The first piece of vital advice Sara had was to get on and finish a first draft before doing any editing. Then you have your ‘rough clay,’ as she put it. She remembered how, when she first started writing, she would spend time re-editing the chapters she had written the previous day before getting down to writing fresh stuff. Sara soon realised this was taking all her creative energy, spending time going over material that might well get cut or drastically changed in the second draft.

Sara also advised us to write a synopsis and an ‘elevator pitch’ before editing, to find out where the heart, or the main message of the book is. (I would highly recommend buying Nicola Morgan’s ebook Write a Great Synopsis for this. It certainly helped me to get to the main themes of my work) By focusing on the purpose of the book, Sara explained you were less likely to go off down creative cul-de-sacs.

The beginning of the book is vital, (as I’m sure you all know). In the first thirty pages or so, the reader needs to know the who, what, why and when of the story. The how is what then makes up the bulk of the book. When editing, look at the ending too. Have you actually answered satisfactorily all the questions and conflicts raised at the beginning?

Sara admitted that she loves charts and lists and generously shared with us her process of going through her manuscript with a highlighter pen, and lots of post it notes (where would we all be without those!) focusing on different aspects on each pass. This helps her to see where there are imbalances in:

Exposition

Emotion

Setting

One of my clients, Andy Dickenson, attended the recent SCBWI British Isles event on January 17th, part of the London Professional Series. This was Commissioning Editor Night, and included Barry Cunningham (Chicken House), Lauren Buckland (Random House), Ruth Knowles (Andersen Press), Stephanie Stansbie (Little Tiger) and Emily Lamm (Gullane Books).

Here's Andy's write-up:

It was a packed room above the Theodore Bullfrog Pub in London, and firstly I must thank the couple that left a seat free near the front so I could quietly slip in late and mainly un-noticed. Secondly I must apologise, as these notes are anything but comprehensive and focus almost entirely on teenage fiction. The headlines, then, are as follows:

Books for teenagers/young adults are huge. Hunger Games is now, Barry reports, the biggest book in the US, as well as shifting enormous amounts online. Crossover sales also play a major part in this, with an accelerated pace in the children to adult market.

However, the current book market is generally “unstable”, Lauren warns us, especially for new authors.

There are no trends or genres that aren’t currently being accepted. Supernatural and dystopian books are still selling strongly. Traditional fantasy (Lauren), more literary works (Ruth), war and historical fiction (Barry) are all popular, and across all age ranges, humour is a winning ingredient.

“The voice” is key. From picture books to crossover pieces it’s the voice that excites these editors. After that, a great premise that’s easily conveyed will help get your books noticed, but the voice is paramount.

Covering letters can also be extremely important - but more so the pitch contained.

Publicity departments love blogs and bloggers. Getting your work noticed on teen blogs is especially good.

A few eBooks and Apps are being made by picture book publishers but it’s very much a “wait and see” approach by all involved.

A graphic format for older children, mixing pictures and words, is something Barry would very much like to see. It could fall somewhere perhaps between Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Hugo Cabret. Could it be digital? While graphic novels remain a small market in the UK.

And then the panel ended and we descended on publishers like pigeons on a bread bag in Trafalgar Square.

I'm going to be the speaker at the Lewes Children's Book Group's AGM gathering. The topic of my talk is, "What's the Story? Issues around diversity and publishing in the UK." This will start at 7:30 pm, and will take place at the Lewes Public Library (near Brighton). It is free of charge, and all are welcome. Please do come by and say hello if you are in the local area. You can also support this important organisation which aims to promote the reading and enjoyment of children's books (as is a member of the Federation of Children's Book Groups).

I've just posted my December newsletter - with news and updates, along with gift vouchers for manuscript critiques and mentors. I hope everyone has a great festive season!

You can read the newsletter here.

Monk's House in Rodmell, once home to Virginia Woolf, where we had exclusive access for a picnic lunch

I am late to add two posts from participants who attended the one-day "Writing Children’s Books and Getting Published" course that I ran in July of this year. I don't yet know when I will be running my next on-site workshop, though I am developing towards running an on-line workshop. Do get in touch if you want to be updated about either.

Published illustrator, Guy Parker-Rees, shared his experience of the course:

I went on a one day workshop with Laura called, ‘Writing Children’s Books and Getting Published.’

I wasn’t sure what to expect, I just knew that Laura had come highly recommended by a friend. I mainly illustrate other people’s stories but I have had some published which I have written.  I was stuck with a  book I was working on- I had a sketch of the character and  had written a version of a story for him but his voice wasn’t coming  through. I thought  the workshop might help.

The day was very well structured - Laura would look at a topic, like ‘Plotting and Pacing’ or, yes, ‘Narrative Voice,’ and then we’d do a quick writing exercise.

It was great fun. Laura presented  the  many dimensions of writing children’s books with  huge knowledge and boundless enthusiasm.

We all had a  sunny lunch under an apple tree in the beautiful garden of Monk’s House. It felt idyllic , there was Virginia Woolf’s little hut in the garden with desk and chair waiting, maybe blessing the proceedings or maybe  gently reminding us just to get on with it.

There was much to cram into one day and it  left me with a lot to think about. But mainly I came away with a reminder that there is no escaping the fact that there is a craft to writing. It takes much practice and perseverance and only by learning this craft and putting in the hours do we create the conditions for inspiration to strike.

And after the course, armed with bundles of printouts on all aspects of writing  children’s books, I was all fired up and indeed ready to get on with it.

Now I’m sure I will find that voice - if I put the hours in to let it come.  Laura also said  she offers a service to help edit and  develop  the story further.  I think this is something she would be very good at and look forward to getting in touch with her about it in due course.

illustration by Guy Parker-Rees from Giraffes Can't Dance

Jenny Jewiss also wrote the following about the day:

"I attended one of Laura’s day workshops to ‘test the waters’ writing for children. Despite being past retirement age and so considerably older than the other attendees, who, mostly, had some experience in this field, I never felt ‘left behind.’ This was due to Laura’s teaching expertise and generous imparting of her considerable knowledge. The day was insp

Final report, I think, from the SCBWI British Isles conference. I did take notes from the two panel events, but am running out of steam.

This report was written by two members of my writing group: Astrid Holm with input from Lizzie Strong (who is working on a fab realistic MG novel). I wish I'd been to this session - but feel like I almost was having access to these great notes.

Lil Chase on Books that Sell and Sell Well

Lil Chase started with some mind-blowing statistics about Mills and Boon books.  Apparently they sell up to 150 million books every year.  She explained that these books make a ‘promise to the reader’.  The reader knows what she wants, a hunky hero and a heroine they can identify with, and always gets it!.  Her point was that whatever genre you’re writing in, you have to ‘keep your promise’.

She went on to talk about what was needed in a covering letter:

The hook- only five sentences

We spent some time on the hook.

It’s good if you can say your book is similar to something well known... ‘My book is like....but different because....’

Lil’s pitch had been ‘My book is a funny, coming of age story for 10 to 14 year old girls, similar to Louise Rennison, but with more heart.’

The most important word in the pitch or hook is ‘but’ (or similar words).  If there’s no ‘but’ then the story has no conflict.

We were then asked to write our hook for our own stories and some volunteers read theirs out.

The positioning of your story, e.g.10 to 14 year olds, coming of age story. (Earlier in the conference Editorial Editor at Orion, Amber Caraveo said she didn’t want to be told where your book fits.  She can work that out for herself! So decide if you want to go into too much detail with this.) This shows that you understand and have bothered to make yourself familiar with your target market.

The title. You should try and show the concept in your title as in ‘Snakes on a Plane’ or ‘My Sister’s a vampire’!

An interesting passage about you. The publisher wants to invest in you, so they want to know something else.  Lil Chase told her publishers she had started the book when she was ten.

Some tips on finding your characters and story:

The ordinary girl/boy becomes special in some way.

If the book is for 10 to 12 year olds, make your protagonist 12.

The protagonist should be ‘nice’/sympathetic.

For middle grade books, the protagonist should be a boy.  Girls will read about boys but boys won’t read about girls. If it’s YA, the protagonist can be a girl.  Lil did stress that this is a guideline.  If your story is middle grade and it has a girl protagonist, don’t panic!

Inciting Incident.

This kicks off the story.  It is a dramatic, visual external event.  You should show normal life before the event happens.

The protagonist must not be able to turn away from this incident.

It could be a goal.

It could be the introduction of an obstacle that gets in the way of a goal.

It must happen in the first chapter.  Back story could come later.

Scene Structures.  All scenes should have this structure

ABDCE

Action, character doing something

Background (brief)

D