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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| Agents I asked for some ideas for blog topics that might be of interest to writers and received a heap of suggestions (but more are still needed!), so it’s time for me to hit them. The first is a series of questions: To get an agent or not Pros and cons of seeking an agent. How to find a good agent What to do if you don't like your agent and when to jump ship These come from different people, so clearly there is some curiosity out there. Okay, first and foremost, the USA has the best system for agents anywhere in the world. If the agent is a member of the Association of American Literacy Agents, then they are bound by a series of guidelines and expectations that, if they break them, can see them removed from AALA… and you do not go for an agent who is not in that group. Make sure you use https://aalitagents.org/ as the Australian Association uses the same initials. Basically, the agent only charges you if they sell your work, they tell you in writing as soon as a sale is made or money comes in, they help you with finances, they guide you to make choices that benefit you and your career. If they are in the pay of a publisher and push their clients that way, this is against the guidelines, and will see them removed. In Australia, for example, an agent can charge a flat fee whether they sell your work or not. In the UK, agents can not only charge flat fees but can be associated with publishing houses. As a sideline, Canadian agents only take Canadian authors (unless they are affiliated with a US agency). If you want to go for an agent, then you need to read this blog post from Writer Beware! Using an agent from a registered governing body will make it less likely you will have issues. This offers better written advice than I, someone who has been rejected by well over 20 agents in the past 4 years alone, could ever give: A Writer Beware blog post. Read this! Seriously! There are some cons about getting an agent. First, you pay them 20% (or thereabouts) of your income made through writing. Even if you sell it yourself, and not through them (which, with some agent contracts, is not allowed), you must give them 20%. This also covers if you are paid to go to a conference, give a paid talk, anything. And it covers if you sell and make money from other media adaptations. Next, depending on the contract you signed, they might be able to sell to whoever they want, even if you are not happy with a publisher. Finally, they all demand exclusivity, but may not want to represent your short stories, or all your novels. If your contract allows you to also represent yourself in these cases, you will still owe them. The pros, however, are huge. You have someone advocating for you because they only get paid if you sell, giving you more time to write/edit. They can employ editors of their own (which you can read about the legalities of, and their obligations if doing so, here ). They can organize marketing and publicity, and they must do this in line with your beliefs or wants. So, if you have an issue with Playboy magazine, they will not be allowed to sell a short story of your to that periodical. They also encourage you to write more, especially if the first work sells well. They can handle legal claims against you or for you, especially if someone plagiarises your work. They will also negotiate to get the best deal if they have competing offers.I think all the questions are answered in the two blog posts I linked to. I will continue to try to find an agent (I use QueryTracker, FWIW), and if I ever succeed  , I will let everyone know how I go.Sorry I am passing the buck here, but why reinvent the wheel? |
| Overcoming Writer’s Block It seems that nearly every writer goes through a period of Writer’s Block. Nearly, not all, let me be clear on that. And it seems that nearly every writer who has been through it and come out the other side has their own way of dealing with it. Now, I am going to be brutally honest here – I have never suffered from Writers Block. But I have successfully helped a few writers get over it. This is different to Writer’s Malaise (see "20240517 Combatting Writer's Malaise" ) in that there are no ideas there, the well feels dry, and the motivation is completely gone. It is a combination of everything, resulting in even the concept of writing holds no joy for the writer, maybe even dread. I have been told that you stare at a page and it stays blank. There is not even a hint of inspiration; and there is nothing internal to encourage searching for it. It is also often coupled with a sense of loss; it can be very draining mentally.So, how did I help the people I helped? In a few cases, I convinced them it was okay to go through it, that time didn’t matter, and if they didn’t go back to writing, it didn’t matter because they had already created a body of work. That was me putting on my counselor hat, and all of them returned to writing eventually (one it did take four years or so). It was just acceptance that these things can happen, and I think relaxing out of the mode of feeling they had to write helped relax them enough to eventually return to the writing. In my opinion, this is not something you can do by yourself, however. This requires a person to be there to help you, to be there when those negative feelings start to become overwhelming, when you feel you have more to say, but don’t know what or how. In two cases, I got them to try a different art form. One did go back to writing, the other kept on doing the oil painting he’d found and he became rather good at it. I was probably wrong in insisting on an art form though. Idea 1: Find something else to do. Let’s start here. I just mentioned I told people to try another art form, so their creativity still had an outlet. But what if they don’t want to do an art form? Or if it is a creative block? Then it seems rather counter-productive to push that. Why not take up walking? Going to the gym? Joining a sporting team? Listening to music? Cooking? Gardening? Sewing? Crochet? Gaming? Anything? The idea is that you just give the mind something else to focus on. And sometimes that time away will just let the creative juices recharge. Idea 2: Write your way out of it. Some people really want to keep writing. In that case, everything in the Writer’s Malaise blog post holds here. But these are especially effective: use a prompt; write literally anything, even if it makes no sense; write in a different genre (reviews are always good to fall back on); & transcribe a conversation, TV show, movie, etc. Idea 3: Write for an audience of one. This requires you have a friend (so no good for me, then). Simply write whatever they want written. A letter to their accountant? What happened in the footy on the weekend? A recipe for almond prawns? Write it for them! Idea 4: Read. Simple, really. But make sure you read fiction and non-fiction and across genres. Just take it all in and let your subconscious find its own inspiration. Idea 5: Avoid distractions. Social media, computer blogs, videos, TV – these are all distractions that occupy the thinking process. Staying away from them, sitting in silence, can let the mind wander. Idea 6: Stay put. I found this one in a Reddit forum – stay at your desk, and do not move until you have written at least ten words. Like I keep on saying, it doesn’t matter if they make sense, but force yourself into a position where you have to write. Idea 7: Pretend it doesn’t exist. Same Reddit threat, this got the most up-votes. Not sure how that works, but it is recommended. Look, writer’s block is generally borne of the anxiety that you are not living up to the expectations you have of yourself as a writer. So, with that in mind: Idea 8: Don’t beat yourself up. Be kind. Give yourself a break. Treat yourself well. I hope this has been a help to someone. |
| Combatting Writer's Malaise Lack of motivation amongst artists became a genuine problem during lockdown. This is the lecture notes from a talk I gave in 2022 to help people get their creativity back. This can be used for any of the arts, by the way. 1. Making Writing Normal Overall, the best way to get into writing mode is also one of the more difficult. For general, non-professional writing, writing as a hobby that is more than an occasional “thing”, writing needs to become a part of the everyday normal. How do we do that? 1) Setting. First, find a place to write. This needs to be somewhere that is set aside for writing and writing alone. It could be anything from a writing desk to a small corner of the kitchen table, a table at the park down the road to a chair under the verandah. But you cannot do anything else there. It is your writing area. That gives it a meaning. And, yes, it should be a place you are comfortable. Now, some people actually travel and move around a bit. In this case, their spot can even be the back seat of their car. Make sure you’re comfortable and make sure you don’t sit in the back seat at any other time, but that is perfectly acceptable as a ‘writing spot’. The problem there is that, even at home you need to use the same spot. Of course, the back seat of a car can potentially guarantee a greater degree of solitude. Another alternative is that you have a deck chair that is your “writing chair”. Take it with you. This will come up later, but you do need family support for this, and explaining this to your loved ones could help. 2) Time. Next, set aside time each and every day to write. The same time is important, or same time on weekdays and a different time on weekends. To start with, it only has to be short, say fifteen minutes, but also at the beginning, it does need to be every day. No game-playing, no social media, just writing. One extra thing here – do not hide this from your family/people you’re living with. They need to know what you’re doing and why, so they will leave you alone. Oh, turn off your phone to make sure you are not interrupted. 3) Accoutrements. Next, you need to ensure you have stuff to write on/with, and this needs to be organised beforehand. Again, in the beginning, it should be the same thing each time. Computer, laptop, a notebook and pen. But it needs to be the same thing, again for that habit-formation. Also, make sure you have a drink on hand, and, again, if you can do the same thing each time, it does help get into that habit. This does seem like it’s very basic, but to overcome the mental impasse that many writers go through, going all the way back to the very basics to get back on track is a good first step. This is every art. Playing an instrument, painting, drawing, scrapbooking, knitting, tapestry, sculpture – if anything has fallen by the wayside, then this 3-step back-to-basics approach is a good beginning. There is also some discussion over time versus word count. Should you write for 15 minutes or write 300 words? The thing with word count is that if you are struggling, then that could take a lot longer than 15 minutes, and because word count is nebulous time-wise, then it is hard to form the writing habit. Also, a time is easier to apply to other arts. 2. Other Options There are some other methods to help overcome the malaise, ones that might not interfere with life quite so much. 1) Write for an audience. Tell some-one you are going to write something for them. A poem for a friend’s birthday. A short story for a young relative. An essay on why the Police Academy films are higher art than anything by Jean-Luc Godard for your local film appreciation society. But you need to tell them you are going to do this, so that there is some-one to keep you accountable to force you to complete this one writing task. 2) Set public goals. Much like the previous one, this is making yourself accountable to others. So, tell some-one who is going to be supportive that you are going to write 1000 words this week, and then make sure you show them you have. Weekly goals work best as they are long term enough to give you a chance to work on them without feeling rushed, but not too long that everyone forgets and it falls by the wayside. 3) Use rewards. This is linked, sort of, to the other two. In this case, the goals are personal, but when you complete the goal, you give yourself a reward. Finish a poem, allow yourself a chocolate. Finish a short story, buy a new book. Little things. But this does take a fair bit of discipline to hold off if you don’t make it. However, that does not mean some-one else can’t be involved, giving the reward when you achieve the goal. Some people take this one step further and reward others as well. One I was told about was that every chapter finished of the first draft of a novel the writer took his partner out for a meal; when he finished the whole thing, they had a weekend away. Yes, that can be expensive, but it could be anything, not that particular reward. That way you are looking out for some-one else, and your actions will affect them as well. Some people see this as using guilt as a motivator. That is possibly true, and so you would have to make the decision if that would work for you. 4) Get out. Getting outside and just seeing some different scenery can rejuvenate the neurons, get them firing. Look at things, take mental notes, let things flow through your mind without focusing or concentrating on anything. Even just leaving the house and sitting in the back corner of the yard, giving yourself a physical change of perspective is something that could help the creativity. If you want, take a notebook with you and make notes. They don’t have to be expansive, but notes are still writing. 3. What To Write So, then comes the next question – what do I write? Inspiration is more than just making things consistent and creating a habit. So, to start with – write literally anything. Getting personal for a second: One thing I did when I was in high school and feeling stressed and not being able to write was that I simply wrote random words on a page. Completely random. Just words. No sentences, just words. If you have set yourself 15 minutes in your “make writing normal” programme, then spend 15 minutes writing words. Do not look for patterns, do not look for anything akin to sense – just write. What does it mean? Nothing. That’s the point. It’s just the act of writing. Again, to reinforce this, it’s helping with that habit forming. However, if a pattern does emerge sub-consciously, then go with it. There is another level of this which is to write a stream of consciousness piece. In this case, there are sentences used but nothing needs to make sense. You just let everything flow out of you as it comes. Do not read back over what you have written, just write and get it out of your system. Quick thing here – if you write something and it goes nowhere, it does not matter. This is because at least you have written something. But I will also say this – keep everything. Do not throw out anything, no matter how bad you think it is or how disappointed you are, because every scrap could come handy later on. Okay, other ways to get ideas. 1) Fan-fiction. If a writer is stuck, then take a favourite character and write them into an adventure. Watch TV and pick a character and make something happen to them. Write a poem about them. Write a description of them. Write yourself into a favourite pop culture setting. (My thoughts on fan-fiction: "20240301 An Academic Essay On Fan Fiction" , "20240302 Some Fan Fiction Negatives" , "20240303 Writing Fan Fiction" )2) Conversation. Listen (eavesdrop, whatever) to some-one’s conversation and then take it where your imagination will let you. 3) Description. Pick something and describe it. Simple, really. It can be a person, a pet, an animal, an inanimate object, something on TV, your own hand – it does not matter. Just write a description. 4) Retell. Pick a familiar story and rewrite it in your own words. It might a fairy tale, the plot of a movie or TV show, a myth or legend, but it should be a story you know well. It is that simple. Afterwards, you can use it for something else, sure, but, again, you don’t have to. Just writing that first retelling is writing. 5) Write a letter. Pick someone you know, someone you don’t, a real person, a fictional character, and write them a letter. Something in the news angering you? Write a letter to the Editor. Something on TV needs praise? Write a letter to the Radio Times. Another common one is to write a letter to your younger self, giving yourself hints and warning them of things to come. By the way, I know it seems obvious, but this letter is not to be sent, it is just writing. 6) Write a review. Seen or read or listened to something recently? Then write a review of it. Why did you/didn’t you like it? What was good about it? What was bad? All the standard sort of review things. Another version of this is writing a fake advertisement for something instead of reviewing it. 7) Write a list. What are your favourite 10 books? Is that too hard – how about 5 or 20? List them and write a sentence or two explaining why you like them. Songs? Albums? Movies? TV shows? Recipes? How about a list of movies starring Tom Selleck you’ve seen and then try to rate them? A list of songs about trees and why they work (or don’t)? Lists are a way of putting your own thoughts down and you also get into the habit of organising if you are one who plots longer works. 8) Plan. Write the plan or story beats for a novel, short story, trilogy of epics. Add things to it. Add sub-stories, side-quests, whatever. You are not necessarily going to write this, but this exercise gets the imagination sparking. 9) Listen to a song. Use the lyrics of a song to base a story on. Rewrite them as a poem. Use the tune and write new lyrics, either parody or serious. Take an instrumental and write lyrics to it. Just base a piece of writing on the music. 10) Write to a picture. Get some-one to select a picture and write something based on it. Literally anything – poem, story, description, impression, anything. There are also online sites that give writing prompts, visual, aural and written, and that could also help. Also, don’t worry about finding the right words. Just get things down. Second drafts and revisions are for the right words and fiddling with technique. Some people I spoke to say that research is something they do as well. I agree, but with the caveat if you are researching, then you cannot just read – you must take notes. No copy-paste, but put what you are researching into your own words. The research can be for a writing project, for a personal interest, for study – literally anything, but to make it a writing task, you need to write and write from your own head. 4. Too Many Ideas One thing that I have seen is that people feel they have too many ideas and don’t know which one to work on. While that may seem to go against the malaise thing, it is something that can happen when people are in a downward spiral – the brain goes into overdrive as it over-compensates. The problem comes with having so many ideas and feeling you have no way of utilising them. The issue comes when the artist feels they need to utilise every idea. Especially if there has been a period of no creativity, the ideas can come thick and fast, and they all feel so very good and perfect and you want to work on them all right now. However, simply put, you probably won’t be able to use every idea, and you have to accept that. But which ideas do you use? How do you know which ones are going to work? Well, you have no idea.  So, write every idea down. It might be one word, a sentence, a paragraph, a series of bullet points, a quick sketch. Just get the ideas out of your head onto paper or into a computer. Then come back to them. If you can’t remember what the idea meant, then it probably wasn’t going to work. Otherwise, the ideas are now there and you can work on them at your leisure. Like I said – throw nothing away. However, that can be a difficult mind-set. You have to accept that nothing needs to be done “now”, but it is also true that many artists with ideas and inspiration like to work in the now. That’s what creates the issue of over-crowding the mind. It can be hard to let go of the concept that it must be done now, but so long as you have the ideas written down, you can come back to them even years later. If you are comfortable, you can work on more than one, but do not overdo it. It’s not necessary. The ideas, once on paper, are not going to go away. What if you don’t use them all? Does it matter? The thing is, writing down just ideas is a form of de-cluttering the mind, which makes creativity flow much easier. Hope that helps someone out there! |
| Using Foreign Words Back to my list of topics for writers! This topic is one that does not seem to be needed as much as it used to be, back in the twentieth century. A part of it is that there are a number of publishers who don’t like it, and a part of it is that it just does not seem necessary. This is the use of foreign words in your fiction. The modern feeling is that when someone is speaking a language other than English, you write their words in English, but indicate elsewhere that the language is not English. e.g.”I have the bomb,” she said down the phone in Russian, so Bill didn’t understand what she was talking about. Yes, it’s clunky, but that seems to be what more and more publishers are pushing for. However, the traditional way is to have the person say the phrase in their own language, then supply a translation. e.g.”Veni, vidi, calcitravi sus nates!” Caesar declared. (I came, I saw, I kicked its arse!) Note, both the foreign words and the translation are in italics. There is also a trend amongst some publishers to have foreign language translated, but to indicate through formatting that it has been translated. e.g.”[I saw a flying saucer!]” the German boy cried, but none of the Americans understood him. Note, this is in italics and surrounded by square brackets. At least 2 publishers I have worked with prefer this. So, that’s what happens when a person uses a whole sentence in a foreign language. What about if they just use a word or phrase? In that case, the foreign word should be in italics, and, especially if it is a common word or phrase, there does not need to be a translation. e.g.”Ciao, Fred!” Donna called from across the pool. Marilyn Monroe has a touch of je ne sais quoi about her acting. When my school bully was beaten up, I couldn’t help but feel a little Schadenfreude about the situation. I hate it when I get a feeling of déjà vu for no reason. Note that only one of these examples uses direct speech. At any time in a written work, when using a foreign word that has not been absorbed into English, it should be in italics. The exceptions to this are words from European languages. So, French words, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German, are all in italics. If an Australian word, however, has become a part of English, then it does not need italics. Kangaroo definitely has become English; wadjita has not. They are both from the same language group, but one is in common use, one isn’t. Why European words? I have no idea, but that is the way it goes. This includes Latin, by the way. And that is the use of foreign words in English. Generally. |
| Two More Questions So, two more writerly questions to be answered! 1. Does a sentence containing the word 'how', ‘why’, ‘what’, etc. always denote a question? Does it always require a question mark? Let's look at some examples: I saw how big the whale was when I stood next to its skeleton. I understood why the sky was blue after the science lecture. I know where the shop is. She saw who had stolen the bread. Cows know what they can eat so they don’t get sick. No, they don’t always need a question mark! 2. When you have a difficult time finding descriptive words to use in your stories, how do you get around it? Okay, this is a case where every writer is different. Some will have their own ways of doing this. In that light, this is what I do. I start with swearing just to fill in the gap. The f'ing murderer held his f'ing knife above his f'ing head. No! Seriously. This tells me two things - one if a word is actually needed, and two that I really need to find a proper word to fill in this gap. Then, if I decide an adjective or adverb is needed, my next step would possibly be to use a word that’s close, but no cigar. The murderer held his stained knife above his disfigured head. Then, in the editing process, I use Roget’s Thesaurus, which I trust more than the online thesauri, to find more appropriate words. The murderer held his bloodied knife above his misshapen head. Notice I got rid of the "f'ing" before "murderer"? That's because, if you cannot find the right adjective or adverb, you generally don't need one. Most editors will tell you the same thing. That's why I look at that first. Basically, in the case of this question – it is completely a personal thing whether you use descriptors or not. But I will say that if you find yourself getting get hung up on one specific word, then there may possibly be other issues with the story at that point, so restart from a previous different point or rewrite that section from a different angle, and see how that works. |
| Adverbs So, there is a “rule” most writers are told at least once in their career, which is to “not use adverbs.” This comes from people who think they know best, and yet these same people, guaranteed, use adverbs. Because these people think adverbs are only words that end with ”-ly”. And I have even met some editors who think that. (Word to the wise – if an editor does not know something as simple as what an adverb is, then maybe find a new editor…) Well, as you might have guessed, that is not the case. Adverbs are vital in all writing, even formal academic writing. Now, I cannot blame writers for this one, because there are way too many so-called experts (pot here, calling out the kettle) who peddle rubbish online and the general run-of-the-mill person is going to get confused by so much conflicting information or, because they see it all the time in different places, believe it must be real. Add to that the fact that in some jurisdictions, the education standards are not as high as they could be, and writers are often stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to knowing the more technical basics of writing. And adverbs is one of those areas where many people get confused because of external influences. An adverb is a word (or even a short phrase) that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. That is the basic definition. Most of the time an adverb will be used in conjunction with a verb, a doing word. The exemptions to this are detailed below. There are six different types of adverb: Adverbs of Manner Adverbs of Time Adverbs of Place Adverbs of Frequency Adverbs of Degree Conjunctive Adverbs Let’s look at them. Adverbs of Manner This is the most common form of adverb that people think of when the term is used. This is generally the -ly words people just seem to hate. Adverbs of manner tell the reader how something happens. This includes words like wisely, sagely, eagerly, quickly, slowly, interestingly, quietly, precisely, loosely, etc. They add a touch of extra information to give the reader a verbal picture. Yes, over-using them can become boring for a reader, and there are many examples of verb-adverb that can be replaced by a stronger verb, but adverbs of manner still have a vital role to play in writing. e.g. The builder followed the architect’s plans exactly. John cowered as his boss angrily hurled the telephone across the room. Compare that to: John cowered as his boss jokingly hurled the telephone across the room. That one adverb changes the whole meaning of the sentence. Adverbs of Time Adverbs of time are some of the most commonly used across all manner of writing. They give context to writing by giving an explanation of the timing of occurrences, also when things happen in relation to when other things happen. Adverbs of time tell the reader when something happens. These adverbs can include specific times or can be more general, but they are related to when actions occur in a written work. This includes words like (taken from Let’s Make English Live, 3rd ed, 1981) today, yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, soon, later, now, eventually, forever, still, yet, early, late, recently, since, etc. Note, actual days of the week, months, years, etc. are not adverbs, but nouns. e.g. I haven’t finished my essay yet. We were going to go to the shops tomorrow, but ended up going today. Adverbs of Place Adverbs of place are also very important to give context to a story, specifically the location. Adverbs of place tell the reader where something happens. These can be places in relation to other places, or a little more specific, but the place is what is important with these. This includes words like (taken from Let’s Make English Live, 3rd ed, 1981) here, there, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere, anywhere, in, out, inside, outside, wherever, on, off, over, under, away, left, right, north, south, east, west. e.g. Amundsen just went south until he found the Pole he was after. My keys could have fallen out of my pocket anywhere on my hike. Adverbs of Frequency The frequency of an event happening can be important to make a written work make sense. Adverbs of frequency tell the reader how often something happens. This includes words like (taken from Let’s Make English Live, 3rd ed, 1981) constantly, frequently, occasionally, sometimes, usually, never, always, rarely, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. Note, as previously stated. actual days of the week, months, years, etc. are not adverbs, but nouns. e.g. Mike usually mows the lawn on Sundays. I never drink coffee because it tastes like an armpit smells. Adverbs of Degree This is where things get technical, and where people get confused by adverbs. It is said that these give an idea of the intensity (or lack thereof) involved in performing an action. These are also often used in conjunction with other adverbs or with adjectives, which is why they confuse many writers. Because of the fact they can be used with an adjective, they may not necessarily correlate to the verb in the sentence. Some of these are also members of that shunned -ly group of words. Adverbs of degree tell the reader how much something happens, or how much a thing can be said to have a particular property. This includes words like (taken from Let’s Make English Live, 3rd ed, 1981) very, really, extremely, incredibly, too, quite, barely, deeply, fairly, greatly, hardly, highly, intensely, somewhat, totally, little, less, least, much, more, most. e.g. He stared intensely at the insect. I thought highly of Marcus Aurelius. Adjectival examples: I didn’t buy the car because it was too expensive. The mountain was very high. Conjunctive Adverbs And things stay insanely technical, and this is another area where people get confused by adverbs. These are used a lot without people realizing they are adverbs, because they serve the same purpose as other conjunctions (joining words), although they are verb-dependent. Like other conjunctions, they join two clauses or two sentences. A conjunctive adverb is often used in association with a semi-colon. This can include words like however, instead, meanwhile, therefore, nevertheless and others like that. It can be confusing and easy to miss. However, these words are still adverbs. e.g. I went to the movie theatre. However, the film had already started. I didn’t have a speech prepared; nevertheless, I received a standing ovation. She didn’t spend all her lottery winnings. Instead, she donated more than half to charity. And that’s adverbs. I know it gets really technical and potentially confusing at the end there, but grammar can be like that. And if someone tells you that adverbs are no good, you know they probably use them. Yes, so many people only consider “-ly” words adverbs, and when I’ve brought this up in the past, I was then told by one person who abused me they were only referring to “-ly” words. Well, that’s not good enough. And if those people read this, I stand by my words – we all use adverbs, and if you don’t like “-ly” words, then that’s personal, and stop trying to make it a rule. Anyway, I hope this has helped someone. |
| Formatting Titles Okay, this is technical, and this only applies to formal writing. In fact, in some places, it is being seen as unnecessary, so I am going to assume that, in 10 years' time, this will be completely out of date. So, titles. Now, I am talking here about the names of things. This is not concerned with titles, occupations, etc. involving people. This is things only. If we have the title of a book, movie, play, TV show, magazine, newspaper, sculpture, painting the title should be written in italics. Book: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe Film: Predator Play: Romeo And Juliet TV Show: The Big Bang Theory Magazine: Women's Weekly Newspaper: The New York Post Sculpture: David by Michelangelo Painting: The Pioneer by Frederick McCubbin Going back 70 years, all words should be capitalised. Now, this is where there are cultural differences. In the USA and Canada, "the", "of" and "and" are generally not capitalised unless they are the first word of the title. In the UK, all words are capitalised. In Australia, depends on the publisher. All other words should be capitalised. Songs, short stories, poems and journal articles do not use italics, but instead should be inside single quotation marks. When it comes to capitalisation, the same cultural differences apply. Song: 'Stairway To Heaven' by Led Zeppelin Short Story: 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe Poem: 'The Man From Snowy River' by Banjo Patterson Journal Article: Post, S. (1991). 'Euthanasia, Senicide, And The Aging Society'. Journal Of Religious Gerontology, Vol 8, No. 1, 57-65. Now... this last is changing. The journal reference comes from a 2019 essay. Under the rules of referencing that are now being adopted, journal articles would be written thus: Journal Article: Post, S. (1991). 'Euthanasia, senicide, and the aging society'. Journal of Religious Gerontology, Vol 8, No. 1, 57-65. When writing the headings of web-pages, the rules of short stories apply: Web-page: 'Is James Corden the Awful Kisser Emily Blunt Has Been Talking About?' However, more and more we would see this: Web-page: 'Is James Corden the awful kisser Emily Blunt has been talking about?' Note that proper nouns still have their capital letters. As to names of web sites, there is no definitive way of formatting them. Finally, traditionally, the formal names of boats (not nick-names) and space-craft should also be italicised. Boat: SS Titanic Space-craft: Apollo 13 But... Columbus' boats were the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta. Why? Because Nina and Pinta were not formal names, but nick-names for the vessels. As to the names of other transport, italics are not necessary. And the names of Oil Rigs can be either simply capitalised or italicised. The names of businesses are not italicised, but do use capital letters. So, that's technical. Things are changing. You will see variations on these all over the place. And the simple fact of the matter is, when submitting, you need to check the house style. But I am nothing if not a traditionalist... |
| Writing Young Adult Fiction Okay, I am in the process of going through my second Young Adult book with a brand new publisher, and, following a video conference with their editor to show me where I need to rewrite a couple of sections, I thought I’d share everything I’ve learnt from her, from my Creative Writing degree, and from my last YA book, as I know YA is a strong market. First, “back in the day” Young Adult used to be considered a separate genre. More than that, it was often derided, put down as a marketing ploy. In my opinion it is neither a separate genre nor mere marketing – it is, in the end, a rating. It is like a movie rating system, indicating the best age a work is suited for, but the work is not restricted to that age group. In fact, many adults enjoy what is considered young adult fiction. As to genre, Young Adult can be horror (R.L. Stine), fantasy (J.K. Rowling), historical (Morris Gleitzmann), comedy (Dav Pilkey) or any other you can think of. Quick general definitions: In Australia, YA covers 12 to 18 year olds. 10 to 14 year olds are called Middle Grade, and some publishers use a 16 to 21 year old group classification, New Adult. In the USA, the publishers I have dealt with have told me Middle Grade is 10 to 16, Young Adult 14 to 24 and there is no “formal” New Adult classification. In the UK, MG is 10 to 14, YA is 12 to 18, NA is 18 to 21, though it is a rarity. Note the overlap in ages – because kids do not develop at the same rate. With the length of a YA novel, nowadays it is pretty much the same length as adult novel, though ten thousand or so words less is not rare and is perfectly acceptable. Forty, thirty years ago, it would have been fifty to eighty percent of an adult novel’s length at most, but that is no longer the case. In fact, that is closer to MG length (which is generally 25k to 50k words nowadays). I say nowadays… Enid Blyton released some very long books way back when and no-one batted an eyelid. So maybe it’s returning to the past. As an aside, to be honest, I think New Adult was just a marketing gimmick that was popular for a little while and has since started to fall out of fashion. It will be interesting to see where it goes. I also stand to be proved wrong. In the UK and Australia, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone is considered Middle Grade; in the USA it is classified both MG and YA. The next two books are considered both MG and YA in Australia and the UK, and the last four are YA. How’s that for confusing? The Percy Jackson series is even more confusing! Plus, The Hobbit was written for youngsters. And I point this out to emphasise again – these labels are often ratings. Except… no. We’ll get there. So, before I became a teacher I used to think Young Adult involved simplistic story-telling and basic ideas with under-developed characters. Basically, it was what we were presented with when I was 11 or so (at 12 I was in high school, and the school I went to believed adult books were the only way to go…). It was only when I started to teach and so read a lot of YA works that I realised the story-telling is as complex as that in adult novels and the characters just as fully realised. Now we hit content. This is the "except" and "there" I said we'd get to. According to my aforementioned sources, content-wise what sets YA apart from adult works are:  The age of the protagonists is the same age as, or a couple of years older than, that of the readers. The main characters will rarely be older than 21 (the publisher of my first YA books says 18). The issues the characters deal with are more to do with "coming of age" or "self-awareness" or a myriad of other things that adults have already been through. These do not have to be the central focus, but the characters should be going through these, even in the background. There is a stronger concept of relationships as friendships and love as platonic instead of everything leading to or based around the idea of a sexual (physical) relationship. School is a part of the character’s lives. If they are not students, they have recently been students, and the friendships they have were most likely formed at school. Parents are a part of the character’s lives as well. Even if not directly involved in the story, that sense of home and family (even if broken) will exist in at least some characters.Vocabulary of YA is interesting. Don’t use words that YA readers would not use. That does not mean writing “down”! YA will know what arterial spray is, they will understand that internal discussions are a thing, they realise that constructive criticism is something teachers try to do. What I mean is… well, let’s use an example. I used the word “peer”. My beta reader said the kids don’t think of one another as peers. I asked in the video conference; my beta is correct – it is a teacher word. Use terms that the readers themselves would use. And they have a wide vocab. As for technology – keep up with it. Mention new things. However, do not overload the narrative with all the modern conveniences; in 5 years’ time it will seem quaint, “of its time” and possibly even dated. But having computers, mobile phones (“cell phones” to USians), smart household devices in the background is all fine. Of course, if writing scifi set in the future, you do you. This is for contemporaneous works. As for social media, yes, indicate kids are using it! But it was recommended to me not to say which socials they are using. This is nothing to do with copyright ("20240508 What Does Copyright Cover?" ), but to do with dating your work. Following the meeting, I had a look at a book recommended by the publisher. It seems to work… except for all the (fictional) LiveJournal blog quotes throughout. My daughter doesn’t even know what LJ was! (She’s 16…) Just something to be aware of. The meeting did say that Facebook seems here to stay; that might be fine to use.Finally, when it comes to writing YA I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a person of that age as your beta reader and, if you can, a teacher or librarian involved with that age group as well. My daughter and son are mine (my son will be a teacher of that age group in a few years as well, so… yay?) and the librarians here have been good. And read some! Not just one book, and not just one author – read heaps. You need to see what is out there, how they approach the content considerations mentioned above, and what sort of characters are out there. Of course, I did teach the age group and read a lot of their stuff, so I have some knowledge there as well. Anyway, while it is fresh in my mind, I thought I would share. |
| Answering Questions About Australia So, I recently listed some things people in other countries are confused about the US. Some people here got extremely upset and angry that I would dare say anything against the USA, but that’s their right. Blind defence of country is rather prevalent the world over. And, for the record, I did look up everything I included. While I know some on the list were only applicable to certain parts of the US, being told that some were outright lies I feel is also wrong. Still, I then asked if people wanted to know anything about Australia. So, in the vein, I will answer the questions posed to me on this very site. I’ll start with the serious ones. Well, the ones that require serious answers.  Why did Australia let their government take away their guns?Okay, for those not aware, in 1996 a young man went to the Port Arthur historic site and killed 35, wounding 23 more, over the course of half a day. After it was over, the federal government banned automatic weaponry, heavily restricted semi-automatic weaponry, put tight restrictions on all firearms, established a firearm registry, put an extended waiting period for purchase of weapons, and stopped huge sections of the population from owning guns. This is where people get it wrong. The government did not just do this as being a nanny state – the Australian people asked for it to be done (with exceptions being those on the far right side of politics; this is not me being political, this is simply the way it went down). The federal government at the time was the right-wing Howard government, and the laws went through with bipartisan support. Why would Australians ask for guns to be removed? The media at the time drummed up a storm (again, except for the far right wing media): “Don’t let Australia become as bad as the USA.” This is not me saying that – that was the opinion of Australians and the media and it was bandied about wherever you looked. Posters even proclaimed this. I will say that, at the time, the US ambassador to Australia took offence at what was being said, but that’s the media and the way the USA is portrayed here for you. Wow, way to start heavy. Would it be safe for a young woman to travel alone to Australia?Well, that depends on where you go. In the big cities on the east coast – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane – think of them as like big cities in the USA. Would you feel safe travelling alone in those? If yes, then yes here. Adelaide and Perth, generally good… but listen to the locals about which suburbs to avoid. Rural areas – country Victoria, southern Western Australia, the coastal areas of Queensland, all of Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, the coastal areas of South Australia, plus the state’s Yorke Peninsula, Barossa Valley and Clare Valley are fine. The Northern Territory and a lot of the central outback… there’s a reason Wolf Creek could be made, add the Falconio murder, Ivan Milat… In the end, yes, in most touristy places. But it is like everywhere else in the Western world. There’s psychos everywhere. Is there a lot of police brutality over there? Do the Aborigines get treated like the African Americans, profiled, unfairly convicted, etc?Yes. Unfortunately. And, in fact, I think it may be worse in Australia. Indigenous Australians make up around 2% of the population, and around 20% of those incarcerated. Indigenous people are 20 times more likely to die in custody. Indigenous people are more likely to be pulled over in “random” police car stops. Here’s a personal story: I was at a local park about 2 years ago with a group of 6 Indigenous friends. One was a musician and we met up so he could play me the music he’d written for a song I’d done the lyrics for, and a few of his friends came by as well. I was the only white guy. A police car pulled up, the cops got out, came directly to us and asked if I was okay, if these people were threatening me. One arced up and they threatened to arrest him. It did end fine, but I have rarely been that embarrassed. Of course, there are issues with Indigenous gangs, with young Indigenous being out of control in Alice Springs (don’t get me started on the social workers involved…) and with Indigenous people being much more likely to be drunk in public. But how much of that is informed by police and societal challenges, and how much is otherwise, no-one knows. Having said that, if you are poor, you will also be harassed. I was threatened with incarceration for being homeless last year! I call Australia a police state for a reason. The majority are nasty. Phew! That was heavy… So, let’s go to the most insulting question, and one we get all the freakin’ time: Why do Australians throw shrimp on their Barbie dolls? And is it like... ceviche? Or full shrimp?First, shrimp are not Australian. They are a different creature and edible ones don’t live in Australian waters. We eat Prawns. Second, Barbie would melt on the barbie, and smell awful. While I get the humour, this is actually one of the few things Australians find grossly insulting… and it’s all because of a Paul Hogan television commercial. Okay, the rest of the questions! Why do cassowarys hate humans?They don’t! Okay, maybe they do. But, really, they hate everything. In fact, if you add teeth and fingers with claws to a cassowary and turn its beak into a snout, current palaeontological evidence is that it would be the closest to a late Cretaceous dinosaur as you’re going to see in the world today. But, really, it’s emus who are this issue. While both could disembowel you with a kick, the Australian army fought a war against the emus. And lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War How big is Australia, really?It is almost as large as the contiguous 48 US states. We have 6 states, and 5 of the capital cities have populations in excess of a million people. My state, South Australia, is a mid-sized state, and is 150% the size of Texas. Your largest state is Alaska, which is 1.7 million km2; ours is Western Australia which is 2.5 million km2. And yet, our population is only 26 million people, which is 2/3 the population of the state of California. To give you an idea of some of the natural disasters. The flooding of 2013 would have covered Pennsylvannia to Indiana and down to South Carolina; The Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983 would have burnt an area from Oklahoma to Arkansas and south to the Mexican border. We don’t have tornadoes; we call hurricanes cyclones, but they are the same. We don’t have as many earthquakes as the US; we have less active volcanic areas as well. We also have far less fresh water sources; the US has a much more extensive river system, which is a reason why the population is more widely distributed. Do you call everyone "mate" or just friends... or just close friends? Or something else?This is something that was fading. My generation and those before, yeah – we call everyone “mate”. People you know, people you don’t know, people you’re angry with, people you really like. Everyone is a “mate.” The people who came “of age” in the late 90s, early 2000s moved away from it; this was also the time when the Internet first blew up and social media started. They didn’t adopt another phrase (though the UK “bruv” was everywhere), just stopped using “mate.” However, the current crop of teens and 20-somethings use “mate” to refer to their friends. I think it is trying to re-establish a cultural identity of their own. So it’s coming back. Are all Australians alcoholics?Yep. What? Fine. Australians actually sit around 25th in the world when it comes to alcohol consumption per capita. The USA sits in the 30s or 40s, so, yes, we drink more than the USA. And we do drink a lot. But the UK and Germany drink more. So… YMMV. Why does everything in Australia want to kill you in the most painful way possible? Looking at you insects, animals, nature Unfair! Accurate, but still unfair. 8 of the 12 deadliest snakes in the world can be found in Australia or Australian waters; we have the only venomous mammals; it was recently discovered that goannas have a venomous bite as well; 5 of the 10 deadliest spiders are Australian; kangaroos can cause huge damage with their two-legged rear limb kick; emus and cassowaries can rip open flesh with their claws; magpies will swoop you and attack until you bleed; the blue-ringed octopus is the most venomous; the box jellyfish is nasty; the Irukandji jellyfish is considered the have the most dangerous toxin the animal kingdom. Over 1000 species of native Australian flora is considered harmful, and a full 10% of Australian plants produce cyanide. So, why? Evolutionarily, it’s because Australia was isolated and so the animals had only one another to defend against, and these defences developed into an arms race of nasty proportions. Realistically, it’s because Mother Nature uses Australia as a proving ground for what she wants to inflict upon the rest of the world. And don’t get me started about penguins… I hope that answers your questions! |
| What Does Copyright Cover? I thought I’d write this because a person on a Discord server I belong to (a writing-based one run by a publisher) recently told us that his self-published book needs to be taken down because of a copyright complaint. He needs to take out three lines in an entire book and it has resulted in him trashing the book. Those who have e-copies will find them removed from their libraries and the “40 or so” (his words) people who bought it are supposed to return it to him. Why? He used song lyrics without permission. So, what is copyrightable? What can you use, and can you not use? Now, I got a lot of this information from my Creative Writing degree and from a discussion with the publisher of Invasive Species, because, as you will see, I went through some of this with them. First and foremost, titles are not copyrightable. Use the title of a song, film, book, TV show, album, play (maybe except Macbeth… theatre lore), painting, etc. with impunity. Make sure you format it correctly, and all is right with the world. For a quote from a real person said as that person (i.e., not as a character), so long as you acknowledge who said it, you’re fine. However, it must be remembered some speeches are copyrighted (especially those from award ceremonies; AMPAS are shocking in this regard); having said that, TED talks are generally okay. Most famous historical speeches are considered public domain, so Churchill’s “We shall fight them on the beaches…” and King’s “I had a dream…” speeches are fine to quote. Here comes the good bit: You cannot quote song lyrics without getting permission from the song-writers, the publishing company and any ancillary companies, and most of the time it will cost you money (sometimes a lot). So, I went through this with Invasive Species. I had the lyrics for a song (I thought it was out of copyright; I was wrong), the publisher’s lawyer said no, so we alluded to it. Basically, the law says you need to get permission. Unless it is an independent release, like I said, there are three parties you need to contact – the songwriter and/or their representatives, the music publisher, and the large entertainment conglomerate who probably owns it all. They can, of course, refuse. Van Morrison does this – a blanket “No”. But, most likely, they will charge you. This can range from a few thousand dollars (yes, that is where it tends to start) to many thousands of dollars plus a percentage cut of the gross (not net) profits (this is what you pay to use The Beatles’ lyrics if they even let you). They might refuse if they think your work will be too small; it is generally accepted that they will refuse ALL self-published requests (especially Universal music). Also, some artists refuse to appear in certain genres (The Radfords won’t allow their lyrics in YA works and Stryper will not allow their works in anything horror, for example). Sony even take down YouTube videos that use their music without permission, even if said music comes under fair use laws (criticism, parody, etc.); no warning, just DCMA statement and gone. So, if you have the line: She looked at him and started to sing, “When I see my baby, what do I see? Poetry… Poetry in motion…” Forget it. But if you had: She looked at him and started to sing the old Johnny Tillotson hit ‘Poetry In Motion’. that’s not an issue. Even: She looked at him and started to sing about seeing him and it being poetry. might be clunky as all out, but it is still acceptable because there is only an allusion to the song without a direct quote. So, the long and short of it is: do not use any song lyrics ever. One caveat: like I said, song titles are not copyrightable, but the title must be used exactly as written. So, if you refer to the Sir Mix-A-Lot song ‘Baby Got Back’ as ‘I Like Big Butts’ you will either get done for misrepresentation OR for using a song lyric. Go to the original album the song by the artist you are referencing appears on (or the very first appearance if not referencing any particular artist) to ensure you have the title correct. Now, movie quotes is interesting. A few lines can be used (I quoted 2 lines from Pretty In Pink in Invasive Species and the publisher let them stay), but not huge chunks, and it depends on the context in which they are used, but if in doubt, check with the company that owns the film. They are the only people who need to be contacted. However – and this is a big however – this does not apply to films owned by the Disney Corporation. They will hammer you for even the slightest hint of a quote because they are like that. And they tend to say, “No,” if asked. Now, of course, words can be used that are used in films; you just cannot acknowledge they are film quotes, and the context should not allow them to be perceived as such. Quoting from books is a grey area, and, really, it depends on who published it, Again, context is king – if it is obvious or implied it is a book quote, you could get in trouble. So, if you are quoting from a book from a Big 5 company, generally they will say, “No.” If from a self-published book, you merely need the permission of the author. From an indy (small to medium) publisher, it can be complicated; author and company need to be contacted and permission granted, usually, but not always. Depends on the contract signed. When it comes to using characters, no. Of course, characters can share a name (one of the characters in my Patch Of Green shares a name with a major character from a book series), but if the character is clearly taken from another work, that is where the issue lies. And this is from film, book, theatre, TV, everything. Now, to add complications – works and characters can enter public domain. Books and their characters, paintings (and associated), plays, and statues enter 70 years after the death of the last author of a work (not editor). Speeches enter public domain (if not broadcast in an awards ceremony) after 70 years in the USA, or 50 years in Australia. Films enter public domain 95 years after the copyright date in the USA, 70 years in Australia, and never in Japan (just for three different countries). Music composition enters public domain 99 years after being written; specific recordings by specific artists 99 years after the last release (which is why you see so much older music re-released on CD every so often). Interestingly, this currently only covers physical media. Anything released digitally only is a straight 99 years. This is currently being tested in court, by the way. Anything created by AI is not subject to copyright. It is currently before the courts as to percentages of a work being AI as to when a human can get copyright applied. It is messy. There are not definitive answers yet. And that is how easy this part of copyright law is! |
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