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If you cannot find yourself on the page very early in life, you will go looking for yourself in all the wrong places.
When Richard Peck said that, I would have applauded had I not been typing as fast I could to get down his every meaty line.
In all his books, he said, he always has an older character."I always put old people in, just in case there are no old people in my readers's lives. Just in case they no longer have to write thank you notes to their grandparents. A book, like a school, should provide what is no longer available in life ."
Mr. Peck was speaking at the 2010 SCBWI Symposium in Bologna. He is now 76 and it is nine years since he won the Newbery Medal for A Year Down Yonder, a book that few publishers would embrace these days because not only is it of a very specific regional bent, its lead character is a big fat and old lady, plus there is not a single handsome bloodsucker in sight.
His theme had somewhat evolved from the announced topic "The Right Books Right Now" to what drives or should drive us children's authors to write for "a generation who knows no earlier century, who knows no time but now, and who recognizes no government but the peer group."
Says Mr. Peck: "We write for a generation we never were because ours is a higher calling: a deeper craft", trying to woo "a readership whose facebooks glow hot into the night long after their parents are fast asleep".
He listed what was required of us in breathtaking language:
"We have crossed terrible minefields of our own making ... the opening mine of the opening line. Are we writing with invitational simplicity without a word to slow it down?" He cites as an example of an opening with "invitational simplicity" a line from EB White's Charlotte's Web: "Where is Papa going with that axe?"
"Like no other authors we can doom ourselves before we start, fall at the first fence ... when the thickets of our dark woods see the adverbs coiling to strike. Boys don’t use adverbs. Boys live in an unqualified word." He quotes Mark Twain: "If you see an adverb, shoot it."
"We have to write as the readers. We cannot write as ourselves ...We must write nearer to our readers and farther from ourselves than any other kind of writer.".
"Character development is the beating heart of what we do."
"Dialogue is best written standing up. It improves the pace ... I write with my feet. That way I can act out my scenes when I get to the kids. If you are unwilling to get up and act out any of your scenes, you will be reduced to writing for adults
"The hard truth that a story must entertain first before it can do anything else ... and what entertains you and me doesn’t necessarily
18 Comments on Richard Peck on the beating heart of what we do as children's writers, last added: 3/25/2010
Some lovely thoughts, but I have to take exception with the idea that we cannot write as ourselves - because he totally contradicts that with the idea of putting an older character in every story! I think the joy of children's writing is meeting the reader halfway - sharing our wisdom and their enthusiasm for the world.
Brilliant post. What a great guy! Thanks for putting this up. I particularly loved this: "If you are unwilling to get up and act out any of your scenes, you will be reduced to writing for adults."
thanks all. Nick, I think what he means by we must write as our readers and not as ourselves is that we must take a young person's point of view. there is nothing that jars more in a teen/children's novel than an adult comment slipping into the voices of younger characters.
his comment about putting older people into a story to give readers the experience of such an encounter has actually inspired me to shift something in my current work in progress. i just started reworking it and it has made all the difference. exciting.
Tricia Heighway Brilliant. I like the bit about writing dialogue standing up. I have been known to stand up and act out little bits of my dialogue. Thought that was just me :)
A great read, Candy. He sounds wonderful.
Candy i really was torn betwen the desire to applaud and the desire to write every single word down.
Tricia Heighway I bet. And I expect you wish you could go back in time and watch and listen unimpeded by the keyboard. Good for you capturing it all for posterity, though, and sharing it with people.
Candy The delivery was also something to behold. He's very technophobic. We asked him if he could email us a copy of his speech and he said, "'Give me your address and I'll come to your house and tell it to you."
Tricia Heighway Ha ha. Brilliant. He sounds a real character :)
Bex Hill Wonderful. Thanks for sharing Candy.
Odette Elliott That is so full of insight. Really wonderful. It's so good that you shared this with us. (If he turns up at your house, can I come too?!)
Bryony Pearce There were tears in my eyes reading that post. But I'd better go and start shooting adverbs!
Ok, well I couldn't agree more about writing from the character (and therefore the reader's) perspective. And I agree that we have to lose our vanity when writing for children - the story is king!
Nick.
Anonymous said, on 3/25/2010 7:06:00 AM
Very good post Candy - thank you. Interesting that he was a teacher before he was a writer. I feel very similarly about writing, and reading - but I thought perhaps that was my teaching side coming out - but from your comments it seems to strike a chord amongst lots of writers. I love the comment about a story moving in a straight line with hope at the end. And the part about older characters, I have 2 main protags who are the reader's age, but all my other characters are of varying ages, and I have given a flavour - through the protags eyes of their problems too - it's important for children to realise that adults (of any age) are just like them in so many ways, only with a few more years under our belts. ;) Tricia
This is all fabulous - and inspiring - but am I the only one to find my good intentions as a writer watered down and homegenised by editors/publishers? It may sound arrogant but I honestly think I could fulfil my responsibility a bit more if editors bloomin' well left me alone.
Candy, ah, what to say, have actual tears in eyes. Feel like I am doing something important, so important, I must stand up because I don't want to be reduced to writing for adults. I'm with Mariam, I feel like saluting. Thank you for being there, thank you for sharing.
On the launch of the iPad, some thoughts on how tools are driving content and an interview with Melvin Burgess about his Twitter Tales
If you can't see this video, watch it on YouTube.Thanks Jeannette Towey for posting this on FB
"Over 10 years we have lived through a revolution." Ed King head of the British Library's newspaper archive
When Ed King said this, he was referring to the digitisation of his archives. But it's so true in everything that we do - from reading a book to booking a plane ticket. Our lives have been transformed by technology.
Through the ages, tools have dictated the development of content: the printing press led to books, the zoopraxiscope led to movies, the camera to photography, and so on.
But it's important to remember that the tool is nothing without the content it provides. And as authors, who are the creators of content, it is our role to shape the future that these tools are set to deliver.
Some are already experimenting with the new media available - the Japan
0 Comments on Thoughts on Surviving This Digital Revolution as of 1/1/1900
Not that YA author John Green (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska) is a cool online personality only because he's trying to sell his books ... but look at what he got from his social network on his birthday -
And here was John's response: If you can't be arsed to view the entire video, here's the most important thing John said:
People didn't make those songs or artwork or pictures and video clips in order to become famous or rich. They did it, to quote William Faulkner, "not for glory and least of all for profit but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before."
Every single day I get emails from aspiring writers asking my advice about how to become a writer. And here is the only advice I can give: Don't make stuff because you want to make money; it will never make you enough money. And don't make stuff because you wanna feel famous because you will never feel famous enough. Make GIFTS for people. And work hard on making those gifts so that people will notice the gift and like the gift. Maybe they will notice how hard you worked and maybe they won't. And if they don't, I know it's frustrating. But ultimately that doesn't matter because your responsibility is not to the people who notice but to the gift itself.
0 Comments on What happens when authors become cool online personalities as of 8/30/2009 6:19:00 AM
Fine, who was children's laureate from 2001 to 2003, famously lambasted Burgess in 2003 when his book Doing It was published, denouncing his publishers for -
... peddling this grubby book, which demeans both young women and young men? It will prove as effective a form of sexual bullying as any hardcore porno mag passed round.Read Anne Fine's 2003 Review of Doing It
I remember the review created a vociferous debate in the then nascent children's book blogosphere, with bloggers divided between supporting and resisting Fine's points of issue.
Books for children became much more concerned with realism, or what we see as realism. But where is the hope? How do we offer them hope within that? It may be that realism has gone too far in literature for children ...
To be fair, I have read a number of children's books, especially for teens, that made me wonder at the bleak, hopeless vision of the author. There are some books I would not recommend to my teenage friends. So I can see where Fine is coming from.
But I have read far more books that, while set in the grit and pebbledash of realism, radiate with a shining something that resists the generalisation.
The fact is, thanks to the New Media revolution, our child readers are far more aware of the darker side of life than their predecessors in Enid Blyton-reading times. And while there are still plenty of us who write the fantasy and adventure that can remove them from reality, we are still beholden to create stories that tap into our readers' experience and world view.
But it's a tough world out there. And I agree with Anne Fine: for children, books must be a haven, a place where there is hope.
So what is this shining something that can lift us authors out of the temptation to mirror the world in all its relentless hopelessness?
Funnily enough, it was something Fine's old adversary Melvin Burgess said that gave me an answer.
One of the most resonant pieces of advice I came away with was actually given to a colleague who had written a gritty novel about a deprived, self-harming teenager. I think my colleague had a conversation with Melvin about how you couldn't just dish out a relentlessly grim story. You had to temper it with something.
Melvin told her (and I paraphrase here inaccurately) that the important thing in such a piece of writing is to make sure the human spirit shines through.
Human Spirit.
Driving back from the course for three and a half hours on the M1, we were so inspired by the idea, we couldn't stop discussing it. What is human spirit? Does our writing have it? Where does it come from? How do we make sure it shines through in our stories?
Human Spirit. That's where the hope is.
--------------------------------
Some "realistic" books I have read that for me strongly evoke the human spirit (in no particular order).
Interesting. I do agree that should be a degree of hope in books and I like the idea of the human spirit in writing. For me, that means that whatever life throws at your characters, they carry on fighting, carry on believing that there can be a sense of optimism in every situation. I suppose that out of every bad experience comes a degree of learning. Off to make my own list now!
I heard Fine and Burgess on a panel several years ago in Bath on the same topic. This was pre-Doing It, but Fine still said that she thought Burgess was walking a fine line when it came to offering hope to his readers. And Burgess said, for him he wanted to inspire righteous indignation in the reader, and that the hope was IN the reader. I liked that idea, as someone who can be quite drawn to dark books. I appreciate that Cormier ends on bleak notes, and I thought it was quite rebellious for Burgess to end Lady My Life as a Bitch the way he did. There's a place for all sorts of books, as there are all sorts of readers. And as a teenager, I was drawn to all sorts of gory books like Stephen King's novels or In Cold Blood. Teens are exploring the boundaries of their world, and books exploring darkness and hopelessness can play an important role, I think.
Anne was misquoted by The Times. She did not 'call for happier endings', but simply asked an audience of social workers, at a discussion about fiction and children in care, what effect, if any, they thought these grimly realistic books had on their young clients, if indeed they read them at all. After all, Road of Bones and The Tulip Touch are not known for their happy endings.
I've been pondering the Anne Fine article since I read it a couple of days ago... I'd have to add Killing God to your list - which is relentlessly gritty - but in which the human spirit does shine. Although it's one of those books that "just ends" ie no happy or necessarily sand ending, it does end with hope. So yes, I totally echo the point about human spirit being and offering the hope. Brilliant post, Candy.
I probably shouldn't plug my own book, Candy, but I'm going to send you a copy of Crossing The Line (if you'll let me have your earthly address!) and I'd be interested to hear your reactions to that. I hope there's plenty of human spirit in it, as that's what I was aiming for. This is a great post, thanks.
I'd also just add that possibly publishers like 'hope' in realistic books and are looking out for it, perhaps rather more than their readers are. I was interested to see that Rachel Ward who wrote Numbers was on the panel with Anne Fine and Melvin Burgess - I thought her book was rather stunningly bleak and without hope.
Such a debatable topic... I believe children are very aware of the harshness of modern life and don't need it reinforced with gritty, realistic books. The popularity of Harry Potter and the Twilight saga is the best way to show this. These books are, in the most part, wonderfully unrealistic and completely great reading. Maureen Hume www.thepizzagang.com
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson is a terrifying book, but has a ray of hope at the end.
A very thought-provoking post, Candy, thank you. To tie into Tockla's post, I do wonder if some teen readers need gritty books with endings that aren't too hopeful or full of resolution, otherwise they might ring false to the teen's experience and therefore fail to be meaningful.
I think the key here should be balance. When publishers hop on a trend it can leave an impression that books are heading only in one direction. Personally I'm happy to see grittiness and realism out there. The problem I have is when it becomes bleak - for me that's when a novel loses heart. Or human spirit.
What we look for in a novel comes down to taste and mood. As long as publishers continue to offer a range of books for every taste - from fluffy kittens and happy ever after to abuse and surviving it, I feel they act responsibly toward their readership.
i can imagine anne fine seeing all the fuss and the misquoting in newspapers and thinking, oh no not again. but actually it's good we're all thinking about it.
Just got back from Ted Hughes' house on Lumb Bank five days with 16 other writers interested in writing for teenagers - 16 rather GOOD writers, I hasten to add. One of my fellow students was 17 years old, still a teenager herself, possibly the next Zadie Smith if she decides this is her thing.
I thought Lumb Bank was in the Yorkshire Dales but it turned out it was just East of Manchester, up the M1 and turn left, through Halifax and up some hilly bits. Miriam drove (thanks Miri!).
We were told to look out for these benches at the top of a little lane
We stopped for pictures before winding our way down the hill.
This was the bit of the house looking down a hill at a magnificent view, with disused mills, woods, and a river.
Melvin and Malorie alternated mornings teaching us about plot, character, dialogue with writing exercises that started out at 10 minutes each and by the last day was reduced to three minutes each ... they didn't want to give us the chance to think, to resist, to give up. We submitted samples of our writing to M&M and had one-on-one meetings with each of them in the afternoon to discuss our work and prospects in publishing.
We sat around a massive table View outside door as we worked on a rare sunny day.
Malorie made ALL of us read, recalling one tutor's sage words in the early days when she was reluctant to share her work :
Tutor: Malorie do you want to be a writer?
Malorie: More than anything else in the world.
Tutor: Well You’ve got to shit or get off the pot.
The sunshine on the day we arrived turned out to be a red herring. The heavens poured throughout the week. On the few hours when there was no rain, some of us managed to go for walks and visit the nearby village of Heptonstall where Sylvia Plath is buried in a sad, untended plot adorned with tacky souvenirs from her fans.
A rare sunny day. The Village of Heptonstall. Ancient tombstones laid out in the churchyard. Sylvia Plath's headstone. (my camera mysteriously switched to monochrome)
It was a heady week for me. I'd been deep in the mangle of making a living and writing had not been coming easily. Melvin and Malorie opened my rusty tap and allowed the words to flow.
It poured again on the way home. Never mind the rain, my homecoming with all the children tumbling all over the bed was fantastic. My suitcase was several books heavier after the trip. And I take heart from these words of encouragement from Melvin.
7 Comments on Arvon's Writing for Teenagers Course with Malorie and Melvin, last added: 8/3/2009
One thing I've always wondered about Arvon (not that there's a chance in hell that I could actually do a course) is how much time you get to do your own writing. Or is it all classroom/socialising?
Well, this was a tutoring week and we started at 9.30 in the morning and stopped at 1pm.
Then you had appointments with the tutors at various points in the afternoon. Supper was at 7pm ... but of course at Arvon you have to cook one of the suppers (in teams of four, to a recipe).
your team washed the dishes the night before (no dishwasher - which i have strong objections to and not just because i went on the course to get away from mine!).
after supper most evenings there was something on - one evening M&M read from their books and discussed them, another evening, Catherine Fisher came to read to us and talk about her writing, and on the last evening we all read out our own work.
Many people just came for the tutors but I'd also come to try to finish my book.
There definitely wasn't enough time to write so I took to getting up at 5 or 6 to get some writing in (I also worked late into the night). Which was cool - there was no distraction of the internet.
It was only on the last day, when the sun came out that I managed to take those pictures of Heptonstall and the surrounding countryside!
But the tutorials and the writing exercises they put us through unblocked my writing after a particularly turgid period of day-jobbing.
The message was: DON'T PANIC! I tried not to but it was hard given that the envelope contained an advance copy of EoinColfer's sequel to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - titled And Another Thing. Well ... actually only half of it. No point marketing the product to oblivion I suppose.
It was a tabloid size newsprint edition. I don't think it will be easy to read but it's a cool collector's item! Meanwhile, elsewhere in the book marketing world, Jacqueline Wilson's Tracey Beaker is about to launch as a computer game!
Meanwhile, the proofs of my forthcoming book for Oxford University Press Treetops series arrive and it's very very pretty! It's illustrated beautifully by three very fine artists Galia Bernstein, Margaret Chamberlain and Thomas Docherty. Boy, what a difference illustrations make to prose!
Me happy!
3 Comments on Something from the Vogon Postal Service and Proofs of My First Little Book, last added: 7/29/2009
Sarwat harvested a massive haul of books at BEA which he duly shipped back to London and offered up on his blog on a first come, first served basis. I of course leapt at the offer.
And here it is - The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick, the guy who wrote and illustrated The Invention of Hugo Cabret, winner of the Caldecott Medal. I just stared at it for many long minutes. Check out the illustrations on the inside pages:
The text was sparse and the cross-hatched pen and ink drawings were lush.
I was so bowled over that I grabbed my sketchpad, brushed off the cobwebs and spent the evening drawing.
See what one picture book can do?
Our new Children's Laureate Anthony Browne, writing in today's Education Guardian, said:
Most adults will tell me: "I can't draw!" Children, too, as they get older, say the same thing. Something happens to our creativity as we go through the education process; most of us lose touch with it. A stifling form of self-consciousness invades us, whether it be in drawing, writing, singing or (in my case) dancing...
Just before this unhelpful self-consciousness creeps into children, many of them are encouraged to move away from picture books and move into "chapter books" - books without illustrations. Perhaps there's a connection? Read it all
We need more books like The Houdini Box.
2 Comments on The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick - picture books make me feel like drawing, last added: 7/23/2009
I admit it. I'm becoming increasingly dependent on YouTube videos to keep my blog updated regularly.
But seriously, you guys, I am interested in your FURTHER EDUCATION. Especially you PUBLISHED writer guys, the ones who are no longer on the slushpile, the ones who have a book out, or a book about to come out, the ones who are still asking yourselves everyday, 'should I have a website?' 'should I blog?' 'should I do a video?' 'is it worth the time?'
My answer is ... AAAARGH. Some people don't deserve their success.
Anyway, here is John Green (again!) showing you guys how to keep faith with your young audience:
Moral of the blog post: if you're about to be published, be seen by your audience and your book will be sold. You can't procrastinate over marketing your book (unlike when you're writing it).
0 Comments on Further Education: be published, be seen and be sold. as of 5/24/2009 8:01:00 AM
Chaos Walking would have been the perfect title for the opening of the London Book Fair, all those editors and publishers running over each other's toes with their trolley bags. This year, the line-up had a lot to interest an author with a blog to fill, so I got to Earls Court bright and early enough to lose my way looking for the Level One seminar rooms which were labled Level Two and Three.
Which is why my notes are sketchy (I also forgot my pen so I took notes with my mobile phone) and I didn't get close enough to take a photo of the rather cute and personable Ness, who declared on the outset that he wasn't touching anyone anyway - not even a handshake - because he was training for a marathon and didn't want to catch any publishing diseases before the big day.
Ness was in conversation with his editor from Walker, Denise Johnstone-Burt, about the author-editor process of creating the Knife of Never Letting Go. It didn't do any harm that the second of the series, The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking) will be out very soon, 10 copies of which was available for sale at the Walker Books stall!
For the past month, Ness has been blogger in residence over at Booktrust - I love his latest tranch of tips for the writer in which he tells the story of spending three years on a novel, chunks of which were told from the point of view of a rhinoceros:
I spent three very hard years working on my first novel, The Crash of Hennington, in which key portions are told from the point of view of a rhinoceros (it makes perfect sense in context). Only to see the wonderful Barbara Gowdy publish The White Bone, a novel told from the point of view of an elephant.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a work of breathtaking ambition on many levels - the voice is of an illiterate boy on the brink of manhood, written in odd spellings that required the services of a talented copyeditor to maintain consistency. But the boy also reported the stories of other characers in straight and sometimes complex language. And then there was Manchee the dog - the conceit of the book is that men and animals could always hear each other's thoughts - whose thoughts can be heard throughout the book. "Poo, Tod? Poo!" It was a winner of an idea (clearly animal voice is a recurring thing in his writing!).
The plot is moved along by a chase and the writing - which Ness says he designed as "a thumping good read" - is so compulsive and pacey that editor Johnstone-Burt urged Ness to insert bits where the reader could pause and gather their thoughts before plunging back into the action again.
Ness describes himself as a finicky writer who refuses to show his work to anyone until it's absolutely primed and shined to his satisfaction. Indeed, Johnstone-Burt says, "When I first read the manuscript, it definitely wasn't a first draught."
Once his editor and agent have seen the script, he allows in other eyes for a test drive. "A book has to be challenged," he said. "It has to withstand the challenge of a reader." But he has been known to "wrangle" with editor and agent over points of disagreement - famously described during one big 'discussion' as "like talking to a fucking brick wall".
But he does listen when it matters, he says. He cites a well known author whose quality dipped as time and fame moved on. "What frightens me most is that I would become so arrogant that I stop listening."
He is often asked if his intention with The Knife of Never Letting Go was to put forward a message about the themes of manhood and fundamentalism.
"I just wanted to write a thumping good read," he says. "I always say there is only text. There is no subtext."
9 Comments on London Book Fair: "There is only text, there is no subtext." Patrick Ness, last added: 4/21/2009
Thanks for the recap, Candy. And for anyone who missed this and would like to see Ness, I'll be interviewing him as part of the Brighton Festival on May 10th. Get tickets soon as many events are already sold out: http://www.brightonfestival.org/Event_Details.aspx?eid=3230
Patrick Ness said, on 4/21/2009 3:16:00 AM
Not that I have a google alert in my name or anything ridiculous like that (perish the thought), but I need to make one important small correction in this otherwise very fair blog: The quote was "You can't write subtext, you can only write text." Meaning you just have to have enough confidence that your subtext will be there, otherwise you're writing a lesson plan and not a novel. I do definitely believe in subtext. Thanks for the rest, though!
Actually Patrick, my little brain didn't get that re subtext. I thought the message was that you wrote to create a thumping good read and didn't intentionally plant subtext - it emerges from the truth about which you are writing.
hmm. maybe that's what i should have said. blogging to hurriedly.
Yep, Candy, that was the message, you got it right (though perhaps my delivery system was a bit muddled). Quite correct. I'm only worried when writers - especially for teens - sit down to write intending to Teach Us Something. Like I say, I think you end up writing a lesson, not a novel. You've got to trust yourself enough that the story you're responding to as a writer will have everything you believe in it anyway, so you just should get out of the way and tell the tale, as thumpingly as possible. If you're good, the thematic stuff'll be there on its own. My 2p anyway.
Margaret Carey said, on 4/21/2009 7:48:00 AM
Patrick Ness isn't just running a marathon. He's running in aid of Shelter and you can sponsor him at JustGiving - http://www.justgiving.com/patrickness
I've no idea how I know this... apart from I wish I was as good at writing as I am at procrastination.
i loved the book so much i gave it away as christmas presents. but the boys i gave it to were traumatised by what happened to M (trying not to spoil) - one boy refused to finish it! i was pleased to hear at your talk that Viola was alive!
Keren said, on 4/21/2009 6:23:00 PM
So excited to hear that the sequel is out soon, absolutely loved The Knife of Never Letting Go, truly a thumping good read.
A few people have expressed shock that I haven't gone on Twitter yet. I don't think I'm ready. I don't understand how it works.That said, I've been hugely tempted especially after the #queryfail, #agentfail, #writerfail debacle.
Okay, to those who don't get Twitter it's micro-blogging (tweets are your postings) - as in, blogging but only at 140 characters at a time. Some blogging friends of mine are totally sold. It's concise, you say what you want to say, then you move on. No hours spent planning, sourcing images, researching links.
But a novel?
I think it's a stunning new think on storytelling. Says Kathleen:
After years of being a craft sponge who wrote good (I hope) books for specific market slots, I am writing art-driven books. Skin Hunger was the first of these. Sacred Scars will be out August 2009. I am lately chasing artistic experiments. This one is public, terrifying, and seems to be working so far. I am not plotting the story. I am channeling a single character. Russet talks, I type. My central task is to stay out of his way. He has spent a lifetime not talking, brevity comes naturally to him so the twitter format works well. The plot that is emerging astounds me.
You can't comment like you do on a normal blog. Unless of course you are on Twitter. If you want to comment or ask a question, Kathleen set up this comments page on MySpace.
The rules: Russet talks, I listen and type. Once written, no revision. When he stops talking, I post the Tweets. Then I add them to the MySpace archive. Then I do other work.
I don't know what I expected but it's an amazing experience so far. Russet is absolutely real for me. So is the man with one wing.
So my writerly friends. How about it?
6 Comments on Novel writing on Twitter!, last added: 4/16/2009
btw kathleen, i'm trying to be a craft sponge too. it's hard.
Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah) said, on 4/15/2009 6:44:00 AM
Fascinating. I like it but since I've not bought into the whole twitter thing yet, I'm not sure it's something I'd pursue. But I really like the tight writing - nothing like 140 characters to discipline you! I suppose success depends in part to how many of Kathleen's target audience use twitter - and how much word of mouth punts it too via myspace etc.
As I said on your fb post, I really like it, not just for the tightness of writing, but because it works in an unexpected kind of way. And I really like and admire the artistic endeavour of the thing.
Leatherdykeuk said, on 4/15/2009 8:55:00 AM
Fascinating! Good luck with it.
Jim McCormick said, on 4/15/2009 8:28:00 PM
I had posted my late wife's novel Cowboy on twitter over six months and 3500 tweets. She would have loved the idea of posting this way. In particular, the idea of writing a story at starts at the end. It can be seen at twitter.com/talkingcat I needed to show the forward reading version at www.pick2prod.com
Jon M said, on 4/16/2009 2:46:00 PM
Curiouser and curiouser!
kathleen duey said, on 4/16/2009 2:55:00 PM
Candy, if you have craft sticklers, you know who to call. Or email. Whatever.
Just since we communicated over this, the story took another amazing turn. It's really interesting to me how free this feels. I mean, it's public so I guess it could collapse, publically, but on the other hand, there is no publisher, no deadline, not marketing department to please. Just Russet and me and his crazy(or not)sad father. And the man with one wing. Why ONE wing? I think this will take time to be answered.
So today, I had the choice of blogging about something really serious, heavy and mind blowing about the publishing industry or just chilling and sharing two really random but nice things I read online. Guess which one I chose.
First really nice thing: Nathan Bransford, the uber-blogging agent in New York (I think. You think Nathan's in NY?) - one of the 1376 commenters on his blog the other day pointed out that the world of publishing is turning into mush was no reason to be negative. So he's been positive all week. Which made me feel really positive too. Let me share the last two very positive itemsfrom his positive blog post Ten Commandments for the Happy Writer:
9. Be thankful for what you have. If you have the time to write you're doing pretty well. There are millions of starving people around the world, and they're not writing because they're starving. If you're writing: you're doing just fine. Appreciate it.
10. Keep writing. Didn't find an agent? Keep writing. Book didn't sell? Keep writing. Book sold? Keep writing. OMG an asteroid is going to crash into Earth and enshroud the planet in ten feet of ash? Keep writing. People will need something to read in the resulting permanent winter
Second really nice thing: I was just browsing through the vlog (VIDEO blog - how many times do I have to explain this?)of the brothers Hank and John Green - John being the award winning YA author - when I came upon a 2007 item called "How Nerdfighters Drop Insults". What's so cool about John is in most of his posts he manages to (A) Tell kids it's okay to be nerdy (B)Make literary references that might get kids interested in reading. In this video, he quotes Shakespeare:
6 Comments on Happy Random Things, last added: 4/6/2009
oh kudos (again) to Nathan - I was thinking just this the other day - so the world's going to hell in a handbasket, "what are you going to do - erm, keep writing, what the hell else am I going to do!" scribble, scribble, scribble...
john green is the author of An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, all brilliant YA books. In fact in 2006 he won the Michael Printz award (the equivalent of the Oscar for Young Adult books) for Looking for Alaska.
Love this too--and for more positivity and happyness, you may like to know that you have been nominated for a blogging Sisterhood Award at http://www.scribblecitycentral.blogspot.com so hop on over there and have a look. That's what imaginary friends are for btw! xL
The author Novella Carpenter is in nail-biting mode, awaiting the release of her book Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer in June 2009.
Holiday book sales were abysmal, and most of the major publishing houses have announced job losses in recent months. One publishing behemoth, HarperCollins, lost 75 percent of its operating income during the first six months of 2008. Over all, the publishing industry has struggled as bookstore sales -- and the economy -- have slowed drastically.
My agent told me the other day that things were not as bad as that yet in the UK, but what's going to stop me being miserable anyway?
The point of Carpenter's article is that authors will just have to work that much harder to promote their books (though we can't all be as good at it as John Green). One editor told her:
"The best advice for today, and really in any financial climate, is to be fanatical and motivated to promote your book ... Do as many events as possible. Become a shameless self-promoter."
Note: Carpenter in fact forgot to mention the title of her book in the article. I had to check out her website. And when I checked out her website, her upcoming book wasn't even promoted on the front page. When you clicked on Publications, the book was listed but there was no link to any promotional page or synopsis whatsoever (and the listing on Amazon doesn't tell us anything either). She's obviously a nice person who ain't shameless. I think we should all pre-order her book.
A writer friend asked me yesterday if she should Twitter as well as Facebook to get her name out there.
I found myself giving the same advice I offered to a client for whom I designed a website.
The client wanted to know if they were doing enough to get their site listed by search engines. Someone had told her she should stick a long list of key words into her code to make sure her site could be found.
My advice: when you are trying to market yourself, don't go wide, go deep.
If you are a children's author writing about aliens, you don't want someone searching for "book" to find you. You want someone searching for "children's book about aliens". It's the quality of the traffic that counts, not the number. You don't want to be found by just anyone. You want people who are actually likely to reach into their wallets.
If you are trying to use social networking sites to raise your profile, sure, set up an account with Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and what have you. But it's better to have one social network that really works for you than half a dozen that don't. It's the quality of the network, not the quantity (ie. You don't want to friend 3,000 people who will never buy your book) ...
The caveat is that social networking is not just about marketing. And if you'd like to have a go at Twitter, or blogging, or other kinds of social networking , don't let me stop you. But do it because you want to have some fun not just because you're looking for a database to market to.
And of course, we must not forget, as one bookseller reminded Carpenter in the article: "the most important thing is to write an awesome book. That's the biggest hurdle. Just write an awesome book."
***
Last night I watched Millions again, the story by Frank Cottrell Boyce about a boy who finds a millions of pounds in a holdall by a railway. I had forgotten that it was directed by Danny Boyle, pre-Slumdog. Later, I read this interview of Boyle talking about what sold the script to him —
Basically, page seven where the kid first uses the excuse of his mum's death to gain an advantage - it's a killer moment. You'd think you would examine scripts and weigh them up, but you don't in fact. You read the American ones and they're good and very impressive, but basically when you have a giddy moment like that in a script, that's it.
— it's the scene where the boys tell a shopkeeper, "Me mam's dead" and the shopkeeper immediately hands over some free sweets.
Made me think of rejections. Have you ever received a rejection from an editor or an agent with the words "I liked your book. But I don't love it."
That means your killer moment didn't slay them enough.
Today I resolve to make my killer scene more killer than it is.
0 Comments on My advice to authors in these hard times: don't go wide, GO DEEP as of 1/1/1900
So, if you are an author/soon-to-be author worried about the fact that authors now have to be not only writers but speakers, entertainers, web designers, educators, video editors, voice talents, marketers, etc etc etc and etc ... look away now because this is John Green's latest vlog (as in video blog) and it's relevant, funny, intelligent, touching (and he even manages to quote some ee cummings) and oh how are we to measure up?
Yes, that is Meg Rosoff of Where I Live Now fame. No, Meg Rosoff is not praying. Actually her reverential head is bowed not over the good book but a sampling of her internet activity on a normal working day which includes Dog Drinking Water in Slow Motion and Obama Lama on YouTube.
This was just to make the point that some people do REAL work ... and that writers aren't those people. People who do real work are folks like Chris Brown, the head teacher who's made it his life's mission to get books and children together.
Chris Brown. The blurry pics from my mobile do seem to enhance the saintliness of this worthy winner.
Last night, Chris was awarded the 2008 Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished service to the world of children's books "given to someone whose commitment and contribution is deemed to be outstanding". The spirit of the award is "to recognise the unsung heroes who contribute so much to every aspect of children's books." In his acceptance speech, Chris read a story by Eleanor Farjeon to violin music. Achingly beautiful!
The nominees included Elizabeth Hammill and Mary Briggs (pictured right after the awards), a former bookseller and librarian respectively, who together launched the Northern Children's Festival and then proceeded to set up the Seven Stories Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle in 2005 - an incredible feat which proves that yes, it is possible for entire buildings to be built on foundations of love. Well, love and hardcore fundraising. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Elizabeth and Mary collect their award from the Eleanor Farjeon Trust!
Other nominees were Michael Morpurgo for his work with children in the countryside, and David Wood who has written over 60 plays for children and was dubbed 'the national children's dramatist' by the Times.
And so, dripping with inspiration, let us end this blog post by revisiting one tiny corner of Meg Rosoff's work process:
Having worked as a teacher for ten years and as a children's writer for twenty five, I can tell you that writing is real work. And it's important. Without children's writers, there would be no new readers and the world of letters would soon come tumbling down around our ears.
But not too busy to share this wonderful speech by John Green (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska) delivered during his recent book tour, about literacy, teachers and our role as writers in nurturing the future lives of teenagers:
This is the business, right? It is not just reading for the sake of reading. Literacy is important. Literacy is vital, but literacy is not the finish line. Literature is not just in the business of See Jane Run. Literature is in the business of helping us to imagine ourselves and others more complexly, of connecting us to the ancient conversation about how to live as a person in a world full of other people. Read it all
My friend Felix (age 15) from across the road, spent this evening appearing and disappearing every thirty minutes, first to microwave some batter in my microwave; then, to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow on my daughter's ukulele and finally, to taste test the prawns, courgettes and egg rice that I'd made for dinner.
As he left the first time, he suddenly asked, "You got anything good to read?"
I wracked my brains. I had just finished Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - but the news had spread quickly amongst the kids I knew that (Spoiler! Spoiler!) the best character in the book was going to die. Resistance to heartbreak had already gathered apace.
Luckily, that very afternoon, trying to inspire some humour into my own writing, I had dipped into Henry Tumour by Anthony McGowan. "How about a talking tumour?" I asked. Felix didn't look very excited. In fact he started examining the contents of my fridge. I try a bit of hard sell. "The tumour tells the kid what to do. There's a lot of swearing." Felix wanders away, obviously bored.
When Felix suddenly remembers that his mum might want him back across the road for supper, he rushes off. As he leaves, he yells over his shoulder. "I'm gonna read it!" "Read what?" "The Henry book!" I was so thrilled I had to encourage him with discouragement. "There's a lot of SWEARING. You've got to cover one eye!"
Which makes me like one of the people John Green talks about:
Too many times, we say to our young people, “Hey, read this. It’s a fun read. Not too serious, you know. None of that English stuff.” As if there is some kind of dichotomy between good and fun. As if Gatsby is oatmeal and vampires are Lucky Charms. Vampires, of course, ARE Lucky Charms—they are magical and delicious and just dangerous enough to excite me. I love vampires, and I love vampire books. And please know that I would never argue against putting books kids want to read in their hands. But I am arguing that we need to make space in our classes—no matter how advanced or remedial the students—for ambitious novels. Because good is not the opposite of fun. Smart is not the opposite of fun. Boring is the opposite of fun, and when we create the smart/fun dichotomy, what we end up implying is that Gatsby is boring.
But Gatsby is not boring. And Henry Tumour is really a lot more than a bit of swearing as Felix is soon going to find out. But I'm confident he won't put the book down once he's realised that it's not just a book with swearing in it. He won't put the book down because it's a good book.
Maybe I should have had more faith and recommended something even more taxing. Says John Green:
The best books are rarely easy, but teenagers love fun things that aren’t easy.
Yup. That's what makes teenagers so cool. And lucky that they've got all those brilliant books still to discover.
3 Comments on John Green on Reading Ambition, last added: 11/27/2008
Thanks for sharing the link to this speech by John Green. His points about YA readers are engagingly put. It's very logical that being validated as a person would increase the interest of a student (and of any of us) in exploring the ideas of others. I can see how being taken seriously and being able to participate in discourse can foster the exploration of great books for their own sake.
Well, heck, I was reading Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as a young teen, so that thing about liking a challenge is true - it's an "I can do this" kind of attitude which actually makes a kid thinks he or she is quite cool - albeit it perhaps a bit geeky! ;-)
i read a lot of the famous books - the crime and punishments and the grapes of wraths - when i was kid.
i had a bookworm freak reputation anyway so i thought, why not be EXTREME bookworm freak?
but when i revisit these books now as an adult, i realise that i didn't get a lot of them. i hadn't had the experience and maturity to say, hey, that's a universal truth.
but like the richard griffiths character in The History Boys says (i have to paraphrase because i can't be bothered to pull the book out):
the reason we read texts that we are not old enough to understand is because when the moment happens and you experience whatever it is the text was talking about, you've already got that truth embedded in your soul.
I've been giving book trailers some thought recently. I've just realised that I have two rather talented brothers in the film-making business (one does animation the other is a corporate film maker) ... I wonder if they would do a skills exchange and make me some videos?
While thinking, I was scanning the web of course and discovered that someone has already put up a book trailer website! BookScreening.com goes by the catchline 'Know what to read next'. Check out this rather fabulous video for Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, voiced by the author:
He's on to a good thing, using his own voice - he's no.3 now in my list of appealing speaking voices - ones I'll never get bored of. No. 2 is Stephen Fry and No.1 is my number one and radio broadcaster, Max Reinhardt! Know of any good female voices?
yes, stephen fry is fab. and then there's martin jarvis who read all the 'just william' books. i also love the voicing style of stephen tompkinson who read 'cliffhanger' by jacqueline wilson. and adrian dunbar's fabulous accents in his reading of the artemis fowl books.
as for female voices, i love zoe wanamaker's distinctive voice but i don't know if she's ever voiced an audio book. i also love judy bennett who does the karate princess series by jeremy strong.
I still think it's unfair that nobody told me she was coming.
Moving on, Meg is now in South Africa.
Meg Cabot at Exclusive Books Capetown. Photo by Nicky Schmidt
Lucky for you, Notes from the Slushpile had spies carefully embedded at Exclusive Books in Capetown where Meg made an appearance.
Nicky Schmidt — aka Atyllah (a chicken from outer space ... but that's another loooong story)— packs her report with some cogent thoughts about authors and marketing.
I’m amazed at how much of the marketing is electronic – almost the whole customer relationship management side of her marketing is done via the internet – aside from the book tours and books signings. But the key marketing focus, it strikes me, aside from having a decent product, is customer relationship management. It’s interesting that in an increasingly competitive market authors are having to focus less on their product and far more on customer relationships in order to up and sustain sales figures. It’s no longer solely about how good the book is, but it’s also about how accessible you are to your market and how you woo them. That gives authors two full time jobs rolled into one – writer/entertainer and marketer.
Read Nicky's full report here - it's mandatory reading for anyone who is working on their strategy to dominate the world ... er, market their books.
4 Comments on Meg Cabot's World Tour, last added: 10/1/2008
Cor bugger la, and now I'm part of the Gourlay International Spy Network. Move over, Alex Rider!
Thanks for the links, Candy - and all I can say is thank god I was a marketer in my previous life! The thing about the web is that it makes that key customer relationship management feature, one-to-one marketing, so much easier. And it's that one-to-one marketing that is so effective in helping to build word of mouth - and word of mouth, as we all know, is the very best kind of marketing.
Like I said I’m on my way to Bath now to speak at their 2nd annual book festival which I hope will go well. Or at least better than the speech I had to give last night, which was at a sales conference for some lovely book people who didn’t tell me it was a formal event (the men were in tuxes, the ladies in evening gowns), so of course I wore jeans. They also didn’t tell me the other speaker was Lord Attenborough (you might recall he directed the film Ghandi, among other things, like, oh becoming a lord). He waxed eloquently about his intimate friendship with Princess Diana and the deaths of his daughter and granddaughter in the tsunami whilst I sat at my table thinking, “*&%@! I have to go on after this, and talk about the Princess Diaries? Freaking shoot me now!” Sadly no one obliged.
Fortunately Anthony Horowitz, whom I didn’t even realize I was sitting next to, went on before (HE got the memo about formalwear, somehow), and gave a brilliant talk with many witticisms. Everyone laughed uproariously. Which just made it worse that I had to go after him because I had no speech prepared other than the one in my head which I’d written BEFORE Lord Attenborough, and so when I got up there I tried to change it around a bit to make it more full of pathos and witticisms, a kind of combination of Anthony’s and Lord Attenborough’s, which was of course a disaster. I found myself wondering, midway through as the lights beamed on me, and I was rambling away about Topshop (it’s a store in England kind of like a high end Express–I’m not joking, that’s really what I found myself talking about) what would happen if I just ran away. Or started to cry.
Since I've been posting a lot of random videos anyway, here's a relevant video, featuring Meg Cabot, dressed as a bride, talking about her book Queen of Babble Gets Hitched. It made me think my friend Fiona Dunbar (author of Pink Chameleon) really ought to do a video like this ... but dressed as a chameleon.
Hi! I've been subscribing to your blog for months, and it's only just occurred to me after reading this that I should introduce myself! Sorry - I should have done it sooner.
I edit a book review blog called Chicklish, and we announced the Meg Cabot in Britain news a while ago (and I'm meeting her tomorrow to interview her for the site - wow! Perhaps you can link to our interview when I post it up? In any case, I should definitely link to your site.)
So hi! And thanks for your great blog - I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it for a very long time!
hi luisa, now i know that there is a conspiracy against me out there. i'm green with envy. have a good interview with meg cabot and yes, i certainly will link to this. please tell her i am very fond of her ...
Hee hee, that would be great! But alas I have a three hour train journey to see her, and I don't know if I fancy being dressed as a bride or a princess all that time! On the other hand, it could get me a double seat to myself. ;)
I've added a link to your blog on Chicklish now. About time too. :)
What I'm trying to say is really, it's a LONG LONG slog, and I'm still working on my first book. And my book's pretty short. I would also reckon I'm pretty fortunate in that the agent and book deal came pretty quickly-ish (looking back it seems like things were always moving forward, so that was encouraging).
Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty) likens the process of rewriting to a love affair that starts thus:
I love this book. And it loves me. I never want to be without this book. Never, ever. What? Were you saying something? I'm sorry I can't hear you because my book just said the best thing ever. Wait--just listen to this sentence. I know! Isn't my book so dreamy? I love you, book. Do you love me? Of course you do. OMG--we said that at the SAME TIME! WE ARE SO IN TUNE! This is going to be the best book ever written. Oh, whisper that again. I Pulitzer you too, honey. Sigh.
And ends up (as deadline looms):
F*@*#&ing book. I hate you. I wish I'd never met you. YOU MAKE MY LIFE HELL! HELL! I wish there were another word for hell but my thesaurus says there's not. My mother was right. I should never have gotten involved with you. God, what was I thinking starting up something with this book? Jesus. Did you hear that? Do you ever even listen to what you spew all over the page? God. Like freaking nails being driven into my eardrums and right into my brain. Miserable craptard. I wish you'd die.
We writers are a neurotic whingey bunch. When we are in that kind of state it’s best not to remind us that the day before we thought it was the best book ever written. All you can do is nod and smile and make sympathetic noises and offer us food or liquid we find particularly comforting.
Only when we’ve calmed down is it safe to mention that we have expressed similar sentiments in the past. That, in fact, we have said the exact same thing about every book we’ve ever written. And yet we managed to finish those books without the world ending.
I myself have pressed 'send' on revisions twice this month (and the month isn't even over yet!).
It becomes clear that the revision process is just like history and nagging mothers.
It repeats itself.
3 Comments on Rewriting, Rewriting, Everyone's Rewriting, last added: 8/10/2008
Can't believe I used the word 'pretty' three times in one sentence! I suppose that demonstrates why rewriting is so crucial. Hope my editor isn't reading this...
Just found this quote from Winston Churchill on the Writers Services website: "Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him to the public."
Eoin Colfer, everyone's favourite massively successful bestselling children's author with a way on the stage, is on this huge US road trip. This is the virtual Artemis Fowl bus:
He's doing DAILY vlogs (video blogs, you ninnies!) on the snazzy Artemis Fowl websitewhich reveals more budget than the usual happy-hands-at-home author vlog. Check it out by clicking on this picture:
2 Comments on Eoin Colfer's US Tour, last added: 7/23/2008
John Green (An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska) is a broadcaster as well as a YA author. Which really helps. You can see how much it helps on his Amazon video. **Yes, authors, this is a good time to reflect on what you'd put on your Amazon video**
I particularly like the way he addresses the readers as Amazonians.
Naturally, Amazon doesn't provide embed information that allows me to put the video on my blog (why should they encourage you to leave the site when the longer you stay, the more likely you are to buy?). So you will have to click on this screen grab to view it. It's really good - so you lazy people who can't be bothered, go on, CLICK.
6 Comments on John Green's Fictive Versions of Himself on Amazon, last added: 6/27/2008
Excellent! Much giggling. Also funny when my four year old climbed on my knee to watch and after a few minutes with confused expression said 'mummy what is that man TRYING to talk about?' I will now check out his books to see if they are as witty.
A few months ago I found your blog and loved it. You were my intro to the blogging world and the reason I started a blog a couple of months ago. Thanks! Your blog is excellent and your posts inspirational. Now I've got the hang of it, I'll stop by more often to say hi!
Clever way to avoid the (annoying) lack of embedding. And Candy, if your daughter likes videos by writers, I have 156 more where that one came from at youtube.com/vlogbrothers.
Thanks for sharing the video, Candy!
Best wishes, John
fiona dunbar said, on 6/27/2008 5:53:00 AM
What a breath of fresh air! I have watched a number of author vids on Amazon, and so far every single one has reinforced my belief that if I were to do it, I would inevitably wind up looking a total prat. It's REALLY HARD to do well; most writers are not at home in front of the camera. This guy is the exception. And his video proves you need not talk about your book; his random musings – much of which I can relate to! – are just as likely to make me want to buy his books!
OMG john green, you left a comment on my blog! (i interrupt my own gushing to say that's almost like being visited by brad pitt) - yup, loved your video and in fact, my daughter (not old enough to read your books btw) does already watch vlogbrothers!
fiona - i'm sure you can do a good job. in fact i've got an idea for a video for you. we must meet.
1. Pick up the nearest book. 2. Open to page 123. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the next three sentences. 5. Tag five people and post a comment to Angela's blog once you've posted your three sentences.
I am sitting at the kitchen table in the holiday cottage that I let as part of my non-writing work. The nearest book is GIVE ME SHELTER - stories about children who seek asylum, edited by Tony Bradman. It's either that or the Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening.
It's an auspicious choice because I have just heard that my short story has been accepted for a Tony Bradman anthology! Funny that I feel so relieved.
Also, in further shameless advertising, the short story Samir Hakkim's Healthy Eating Diary by my good friend Miriam Halahmy is featured in Give Me Shelter, which has just been shortlisted for the UK Literacy Association Award.
These are sentences 6 - 9 from Cherry Strudel by Leslie Wilson on page 123 of Give Me Shelter:
Old Her Next Door said, "Mrs Asllani, I should have got the whole greenhouse reglazed years ago. With safety glass."
Vjoleta said, "You're only getting the new glass because of Jusuf."
"That's not true," said Old Her Next Door.
Now off to tag five people. Hmm. Angela's already tagged Paolo, so here's my list of taggees:
Thanks Candy - can always count on you for a bit of distraction. Fifteen minutes worth at least... have done the deed!
Angela said, on 4/20/2008 6:25:00 AM
That book sounds amazing! Tell us when the book with your short story will be out!
Anita Marion Loughrey said, on 4/20/2008 7:38:00 AM
Do you know how difficult this was. Talk about, 'Anita no friends!'
metromum said, on 4/20/2008 10:49:00 AM
That was interesting. I'm done tagging as well! -Candice
Rising said, on 4/20/2008 11:00:00 AM
Whew! That took longer than expected. Dinner is cold.
Sarah said, on 4/20/2008 12:41:00 PM
Aghh, I'm gonna hunt you tagging guys down and shove pies in your faces...!
Candy Gourlay said, on 4/20/2008 12:45:00 PM
sarah - it wasn't me! it was angela!
anita - you've got a friend in me!
jude - you distracted well!
candice - take it away to the other side of the world!
heather - sorry about dinner!
angela - next step for anthology is editing, and then waiting and waiting and waiting ...
Sue Eves said, on 4/20/2008 1:24:00 PM
Had to leave the house - finished a few hours ago - even tried to leave a comment from another computer while I was out. Back now. Thanks for the reminder that Spring Break is over! Sue x
Angela said, on 4/21/2008 3:44:00 AM
Candy ur friends are the fastest in the blogosphere
Adrienne said, on 4/21/2008 11:18:00 AM
Not sure if I'm supposed to post here, but I posted my page 123!
Sue Eves said, on 4/21/2008 12:54:00 PM
I keep changing the link in rule 5 from you to me and back again - can we clarify rule 5?
Still, we getting around a bit now aren't we!
Candy Gourlay said, on 4/22/2008 5:21:00 AM
>I keep changing the link in rule 5 from you to me and back again - can we clarify rule 5?
well, my guess after clicking back and forth to other people who had done the meme was that you changed the name to yours. it must be.
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, a book that few publishers would embrace these days because not only is it of a very specific regional bent, its lead character is a big fat and old lady, plus there is not a single handsome bloodsucker in sight.
, 
) is a cool online personality only because he's trying to sell his books ... but look at what he got from his social network on his birthday -
, 
) is reported to have deplored the gritty realism of modern children's books. I wasn't there so I can only point you to the reports in the 
).
by Jack Gantos
by Meg Rosoff
by Siobhan Dowd
by Mark Haddon
by Jenny Valentine 
by Siobhan Dowd
by Sally Nicholls
, the first of the 
will be out very soon, 10 copies of which was available for sale at the Walker Books stall!
, in which key portions are told from the point of view of a rhinoceros (it makes perfect sense in context). Only to see the wonderful Barbara Gowdy publish The White Bone, a novel told from the point of view of an elephant. 
Last night I watched 
Great post Candy - thanks!
this is the sort of inspirational stuff that gives me goosebumps. Brilliant post, Candy, thanks for sharing!
A beautiful posting with added condensed wisdom. Thanks Candy.
Some lovely thoughts, but I have to take exception with the idea that we cannot write as ourselves - because he totally contradicts that with the idea of putting an older character in every story! I think the joy of children's writing is meeting the reader halfway - sharing our wisdom and their enthusiasm for the world.
Nick.
Wow indeed! This is all quite brilliant.
To arms!
I shall print this out, stick it on my study wall and remind myself to read it at least once a day
An amazing blog, Candy. I feel like standing up and saluting.
Mariam V
Great post, well worth reading at the start of many a doubting day. Thanks, Candy.
Brilliant post. What a great guy! Thanks for putting this up. I particularly loved this:
"If you are unwilling to get up and act out any of your scenes, you will be reduced to writing for adults."
thanks all. Nick, I think what he means by we must write as our readers and not as ourselves is that we must take a young person's point of view. there is nothing that jars more in a teen/children's novel than an adult comment slipping into the voices of younger characters.
his comment about putting older people into a story to give readers the experience of such an encounter has actually inspired me to shift something in my current work in progress. i just started reworking it and it has made all the difference. exciting.
Comments from Facebook:
Tricia Heighway Brilliant. I like the bit about writing dialogue standing up. I have been known to stand up and act out little bits of my dialogue. Thought that was just me :)
A great read, Candy. He sounds wonderful.
Candy i really was torn betwen the desire to applaud and the desire to write every single word down.
Tricia Heighway I bet. And I expect you wish you could go back in time and watch and listen unimpeded by the keyboard. Good for you capturing it all for posterity, though, and sharing it with people.
Candy The delivery was also something to behold. He's very technophobic. We asked him if he could email us a copy of his speech and he said, "'Give me your address and I'll come to your house and tell it to you."
Tricia Heighway Ha ha. Brilliant. He sounds a real character :)
Bex Hill Wonderful. Thanks for sharing Candy.
Odette Elliott That is so full of insight. Really wonderful. It's so good that you shared this with us. (If he turns up at your house, can I come too?!)
Bryony Pearce There were tears in my eyes reading that post. But I'd better go and start shooting adverbs!
Ok, well I couldn't agree more about writing from the character (and therefore the reader's) perspective. And I agree that we have to lose our vanity when writing for children - the story is king!
Nick.
Very good post Candy - thank you. Interesting that he was a teacher before he was a writer. I feel very similarly about writing, and reading - but I thought perhaps that was my teaching side coming out - but from your comments it seems to strike a chord amongst lots of writers. I love the comment about a story moving in a straight line with hope at the end. And the part about older characters, I have 2 main protags who are the reader's age, but all my other characters are of varying ages, and I have given a flavour - through the protags eyes of their problems too - it's important for children to realise that adults (of any age) are just like them in so many ways, only with a few more years under our belts. ;) Tricia
This is all fabulous - and inspiring - but am I the only one to find my good intentions as a writer watered down and homegenised by editors/publishers? It may sound arrogant but I honestly think I could fulfil my responsibility a bit more if editors bloomin' well left me alone.
I love reading. I love writing. I love painting. And I love this.
Thanks for typing like mad to capture some of Mr Peck's wisdom and bring it back to share with us. Wish I could have been there to hear him speak.
Thanks so much for this, Candy. You do us all a great service by getting it all down.
And he can come to mine any time and give me the speech.
One to reread...
Thanks a lot,
Clare.
Candy, ah, what to say, have actual tears in eyes. Feel like I am doing something important, so important, I must stand up because I don't want to be reduced to writing for adults. I'm with Mariam, I feel like saluting. Thank you for being there, thank you for sharing.