Writing Novels in Australia

May 22

Why Do People Read Novels? by Ben Marshall

It seems like a pointless question with an obvious answer - people read novels to learn and to be entertained. However, the relationship between reader and book is a little more complicated and interesting than that.

When we read novels, we read about characters. As readers we have a perspective not found in real life that allows us instant access to what characters are thinking and feeling.

We watch our protagonists snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and our antagonists grasp defeat from the jaws of victory. Through their interactions with other characters we understand their internal journeys and empathise with them.

This behaviour of ours is possible because of what we call Theory of Mind, and is the ability of humans, from a young age, to deduce or infer the mind-states of others. As soon as we learn to do this as children we don’t stop doing it until we die.

We determine the mind states of others constantly because we need to. We’re social animals and our relationships are crucial to our survival - as much today as in the distant past. But people are different, so our deductions are often wrong. For example, though we learn to lie around age four, and perfect our abilities in our teenage years, studies show we’re actually rather bad at telling when other people are lying.

Getting it wrong about other’s intentions can have terrible consequences on us as individuals, on our relationships and our place in our wider social group. Social death is almost as much to be avoided as physical death. This is why we constantly study the behaviour of others, modify our own and, especially, we talk about it.

Social intercourse, or gossip, bonds humans in the same way as grooming does among the other higher primates, mitigating misunderstandings and group tensions. We gather and talk, and, whatever the topic, it’s inevitably about people. Whether we’re talking about our hairdresser, the coach of our team, our politicians or the people next door, we tell stories and share insights about others in a way that bonds us and eases tensions with laughter.

However, socialising isn’t risk-free. Mistakes and misunderstandings are public and have consequences. On the other hand, novels allow us to engage with other minds all by ourselves, and safely. Since the advent of feature films and television programs, we also do a lot of our people-watching via these distilled forms of human connection and narrative sharing.

Are novels on a par with period drama films or reality shows about people losing weight? They certainly share the tropes of storytelling and we derive similar pleasures from them. Anna Karenina and The Biggest Loser are both narratives, full of characters and stories we find fascinating.

So, as with Celebrity Splash, we dive into the worlds of our novels, inhabit the heads of our protagonists and speculate about what might happen next, knowing that, unlike in real life, all will be revealed if we simply keep turning the pages.

Crucially, our involvement with our characters extends not only to their relationships, but groups of relationships, and the relationships of both to time and place, nature and culture, life and death.

Anna Karenina’s roots are buried deep in the literary and historical soil of its time. Yes, we could do a remake set in the modern era, but that too would be as rooted in the world of now.

As each generation arises, the same existential questions occur. What is life and what is death? What are good and evil, and does it matter if we’re both? Why is my culture/tribe/religious belief system/political ideology the best one, and why is every other suspect?

We read to deal with these issues, to enable us as better socialisers, to luxuriate in hearing other voices echo our thoughts, to be challenged to exercise our minds and grow new understandings, to playfully run through simulations of behaviours we need to understand or that we aspire to.

We read because we need to constantly engage with the worlds and mental states of others, and we do it as naturally, and as functionally, as when we meet with family and friends.

Novels are worlds that allow us to float above it all, watching, learning, holding existential dread at bay, and sharing a narrative.

We are alive in the world and yet, in the arms of a skilled novelist, we are magically safe from death, disease and faux pas - as safe as when we were tucked up in bed and our parents first read to us.

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Ben Marshall’s author website: www.benmarshall-wordpirate.com

Ben Marshall’s bio page

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Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com

May 16

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How Acting Can Help Your Novel Writing, by Lia Weston

People who have met me may not be surprised that I have an acting background. It’s nothing to get excited about – university Drama and five years of Fringe shows do not make me Helen Mirren – but it has paid off writing-wise in strange ways.

Like writing, acting has taught me that humour is hugely subjective. Some people will find you hilarious even when you’re having an off day and feeling about as funny as a Cathy cartoon. Conversely, you can be putting Bill Bailey to shame and some people will still think you suck. The fickleness of an audience is not, therefore, unique to writing. I have addressed this before, so we shall move on.

In my mind, the primary thing that glues acting and writing together is dialogue. Although a great actor can deliver a clunky line convincingly, it helps tremendously if it sounds like something someone would actually say in real life. Try saying this out loud:

“Shane, I knew you were not one to be trusted, especially after you managed to overthrow the prison guards that dark and starry evening despite your shrivelled hand which was the unfortunate by-product of your ne’er-do-well experiments in Mr Casey’s secret underground laboratory.”

Even Russell Crowe would have issues with that one. A phone would be thrown. (As a side movie-related note, Inception is a very good theory lesson for writers; it’s an interesting film but has some of the most unwieldy dialogue you’ve ever heard. Even Leonardo diCaprio looks like he’s having a few ‘what the hell am I doing?’ moments. But I digress.)

You may have heard that reading your whole piece out loud is a great way to get a feel for it. This is true, and it’s especially true for dialogue. Even if you can’t bring yourself to go through all 142,459 words of your sci-fi masterpiece out loud – who has the time and the vocal chords? – just do it for the parts that are meant to be spoken. You will very quickly pick the difference between, “I just cannot believe that Steve would have committed such an audacious act,” and, “I can’t believe Steve’s audacity.”

Are you ready to take it a little bit further? Act out your scene. Yes, you will feel like a tool the first time you do it, and it’s better to be at home alone rather than with company or in a cafe, but it will help you more than you’d think. Can your character have actually walked from here to there while saying this line? Can someone feasibly carry all the things you’ve described without staggering? Is it possible to actually have an intimate conversation with someone while cantering across the moors? OK, the last one may be difficult to verify unless you have a couple of horses - lucky you – but just the simple act of moving around will do two things:

1) it will determine if the action is ringing true, and

2) it can also give you a better idea of what kind of gestures or movements your characters would be doing in this situation.

There have been several moments where I’ve dithered over what to describe during a scene; acting it out immediately tells you, in the most natural way, how the character is or could be physically reacting. Actual movement will give you choices you may not have thought of initially and you choose from there.

An excellent example of how an author failed to do this is from my book club. We were discussing our tome du jour when one book clubber revealed that a pivotal love scene had confused her so much that she physically walked through the steps described, out of sheer curiosity. In addition to providing her husband with some entertainment, it also proved to her that the hero could not have seduced the heroine as the author depicted, for one simple reason: he did not have three arms. In addition, she revealed that at this point she would have abandoned this book for good – I threw mine across the room when I’d finished it; a first – had she not had to finish it for the book club.

As a writer, this is anathema. Don’t hand your reader material which makes them pause, frown, go back, re-read, frown some more, re-re-read, mutter, “That’s not actually possible,” then start Googling references to back themselves up. Don’t give them material to turn Book Club Night into Mime Night.

In short: never give your reader an excuse to stop reading. They may not pick your book up again – though they may act out scenes from it in a pub, to the bemusement of staff and patrons.

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Lia Weston’s author website: www.liaweston.com

Lia Weston’s bio page

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Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com

May 14

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The Journey To Getting My First Novel Published, by Rebecca Raisin (guest article)

Three years ago I innocently penned my first novel, Mexican Kimono, over a two month period. I set myself a word target every day. While my kids were sleeping or entranced by The Wiggles, I wrote furiously. I then blithely sent my novel off to a publisher and expected a yes. Even a hell YES! I planned what I’d spend the advance on first – new pillows… (New pillows? That was the best I could come up with?) I wondered who would play the lead in the movie that would inevitably follow. Oh, I was so naïve!

It was no surprise then when I didn’t hear back from the publisher. Unsure of what to do next with Mexican Kimono, I set about writing short stories and taking creative writing classes until, much later, I signed up for the AusLit 20 week novel development course. I learned so much from Steve Rossiter, and from the other writers, about planning a novel, editing, defining the focus and managing the pacing to hold the reader’s attention.

My novel needed a lot of work. What, you ask; it wasn’t perfect after a two month flurry of writing? How little I knew about real novel writing. It was missing action and tension throughout the middle. It just rambled on, but it took me a long time to realise that. Steve told me time and time again, until finally, I understood. I rewrote it from the very first line. When I edited it again, I tried to think of it as someone else’s novel. What would a reader think? What would a fellow writer say? I cut out a lot of parts that I loved - killing my darlings, as the saying goes – and it was so much better. The novel started to take shape and had a much clearer focus. I remember Steve saying, “It’s called Mexican Kimono, yet there’s no mention of the kimono throughout the middle of the book.” Oops. Another critical error.

We wrote chapter outlines. I recommend this to anyone whose novel has stalled, or is finished but lacking something. Try to sum up each chapter with no more than two sentences. Tricky, but invaluable. It will become a quick-to-read reference for you and will help highlight missing plot points, places to add tension or suspense, and parts that are redundant and can be deleted.

After the 20 week course finished I shelved Mexican Kimono. I had reread it so many times I practically had it memorised. I went back to short story writing. Six months later I pulled it out and read it with fresh eyes. It was markedly improved. The editing I’d done with Steve made me love the story again and inspired me to try again to get it published. My main character, Samantha, is narcissistic and impetuous but she’s funny. I wanted people to read about her, so off I went again on the journey to publication.

I tried a few of the big name publishers, knowing it’s rare to be pulled out of the slush pile (urgh, I dislike that term!). Nothing. So I stopped dreaming of pillows and started thinking realistically. I had a little chat with myself, like I always do in these situations, and said, “Self, it’s time to get real, banana peel.” After kicking myself for speaking like a five year old, I decided to try digital publishers. I sent my novel to Australian e-book publisher, Really Blue Books, who describe themselves as the rogue e-publisher and e-book seller of the modern era. They’re forward thinking, and dynamic, but most of all, have a wicked sense of humour. Mexican Kimono is quirky and funny, so I deemed them perfect for me and hoped they’d feel the same. They did! I signed the contract for my first book three years after I wrote it. It will be available at the end of the year. I’m excited about the prospect of marketing, blogging and everything that comes with digital publishing these days, and about people reading my book. Well that’s better than all the pillows in the world!

Never give up on your novel. If you’re stuck, do a chapter outline, you’ll be surprised how helpful it is. Put your story aside if you’re too close to it, but just for a few months. Then pull it out, dust it off and read it like you’re an editor. Be critical. Don’t be afraid to cut your favourite parts if they don’t move the story forward.

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Rebecca Raisin lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Rebecca Raisin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jaxandwillsmum

Guest Articles

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Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com

May 13

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Appearing At A Writers’ Festival As A Debut Novelist, by Jenn J McLeod

If you’ve read my previous posts you may have noticed a bit of a theme. I’m not sure why I always go with water and boat analogies because, frankly, boats scare me. Water scares me too - something to do with a rogue wave knocking me down when I was a toddler. I remember it vividly, especially my sister laughing as I stood in the shallows crying an ocean of tears. Finally, there was the school swimming instructor who thought tying a rope around my waist and pushing me into the deep end of an ocean pool was a good teaching strategy!

In March this year, with House for all Seasons on the shelves only three weeks, I got another shove in the deep end when asked to take part in a writers’ festival as a ridgey-didge published author. Not only did that mean people were paying to hear what I had to say, but I found myself on panels and in the company of amazing authors including shortlisted 2013 award nominees: Jessie Cole, Druscilla Modeska, Katherine Howell, Carrie Tiffany, Romy Ash and Cate Kennedy.

I was suddenly a little dinghy amid an armada of author greatness; an insecure wannabe bobbing around on a busy sea of sleek, ocean-going schooners that I couldn’t possibly keep up with. Of course, I didn’t; they were way ahead of me. So I slipped in behind, happy to follow their lead. Riding in an author’s wake has lots of positives. It’s sort of what I’ve been doing for a while now and while chatting at the festival I advised other aspiring authors to do the same. That is: identify an author you admire and make them your mentor - officially or unofficially. Follow them, and watch what they do and how they do it (but not in a creepy, stalker kind of way).

How did my festival gig go? Well, after working myself into a stress mess in the lead up, I have to confess… I have a new addiction, and for once it’s not bad for me. It may even be good for me. (I’ve heard one author say that she makes more money from appearances and workshops than she does from her book sales!) I love that festivals help you connect with readers and inspire other writers to follow their dream, and I look forward to one day giving back by mentoring others.

Right now, my mentor is teaching me that those highest of highs can be scary places but they can also reward you with the best views. Even though I still hate the water, perhaps that teacher at school did teach me a valuable lesson. I am not so afraid to dive in the deep end, which is just as well, as the deeper you get into this publishing business the scarier things can seem. The scariest stage has to be the self promotion but self promote you must because, as debut author Lily Malone states in her recent blog post The Art of Self Promotion, “You can’t sell a secret.”

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Jenn J McLeod’s author website: www.jennjmcleod.com

Jenn J McLeod’s bio page

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Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com

May 11

Researching To Write A Novel, by Phillipa Fioretti

Reading a book is like immersing yourself in another world. Researching and writing a book is as much if not more fun because you get to look closer at this imaginary world and those who inhabit it. From all this research I have a wealth of information about illegal fishing in the Mediterranean, Italy-to-Australia extradition procedures, organized crime and the construction of ghost hotels, corrupt Chinese art auctions, how best to give an audition performance, the market value of vintage couture, how to steal a mosaic, and much more.

There is a huge amount of information available for writers on the internet but sometimes you have to go to a real person and interview them if you want the inside view. I have a friend who is quite senior in the human resources department of a big multinational company. I asked him what would happen to an employee accused of planting porn on a colleague’s computer leading to that colleague’s dismissal. He said if it couldn’t be proven then nothing could be done officially, but that person would be passed over again and again in favour of others, shunned at the pub and become so isolated they would eventually leave. Hmm… that’s a tasty little nugget to store for possible future use. I have never worked in such an environment, so I don’t really know what goes on there and I need the nuances of real human interaction rather than the public face.

At a writing conference a few years ago I attended a session given by a senior police superintendent. The idea was that he would talk about police procedure for writers. He replied to a question about writers accessing information on procedure with the answer, ‘You don’t access it unless you get to know a police officer.’ At this point I felt a certain smugness, as I knew a police officer - a homicide detective, no less. His boy and mine played soccer. There is nothing like a windswept soccer field in the early morning to foster friendships.

He’s a hard looking dude. He makes you want to confess straight up or offer your DNA on spec. However, he was very kind in answering my pesky and endless questions about police procedure. In fact I’m surprised he didn’t put a block on my emails. I’m very aware of the irritation factor I could present, so I don’t harass too much. But I need to know.

Other soccer friendships include a chemistry forensics professor, an international law specialist and an academic nuclear physicist. I have doctors, lawyers, scientists of various types, artists, actors, singers, teachers and more on my private sources list. Invariably, these experts shred my imagined scenes or plots with precision and leave them lying in a heap, and I have to keep re-working and re-thinking.

For example, I wanted a character to be in a long coma but be revived unharmed, and I wanted to put him in that coma with opium. No can do, comes the advice. You can have your coma but not without brain damage and the opium won’t be detected as opium, but as morphine. A spanner in the crucial spoke of the plot. Fiction provides room for creative license but not to completely contradict reality. Besides, factual errors rarely escape the All-Seeing Editing Eye.

The big test will come when I want to research a character or scene and I don’t know anyone in the field. I like to think that with the right approach people are happy to share the facts about their occupations. I have favourite café near the law courts where barristers come to drink the excellent coffee. Some of them sweep in, briefs under the arm, hair swept back, as if the café is their courtroom and we are the awestruck jurors. They order and talk loudly and are generally very pleased with themselves. I sit like a small, alert parasite in the corner jotting down every move, every gesture. But would I approach one? Yes, I think I would if I needed to. Because I know these guys would just love it.

Always be polite when asking to delve into somebody’s professional life, and take a refusal graciously. Just because you’re a writer doesn’t mean you can access all areas. Assure them they will not be identified as a source unless they want to be and if that’s the case then full acknowledgement will be given. I like to interview then go away and think about their answers and return, if possible, for specific details. Flowers, wine, chocolate, jam, books or a combination of two or three are always good gift to have about your person when interviewing sources. And when it’s all over, a signed copy of the book as a token of appreciation.

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Phillipa Fioretti’s author website: www.phillipafioretti.com.au

Phillipa Fioretti’s bio page

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Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com

May 8

2 Comments

Strategic Thinking When Writing A Novel, by Greg Barron

Strategic thinking is something I have to make an effort at to do well. Some people are natural schemers and planners. I’m not. I’m more of a wanderer. This shows when I play card games or chess. I enjoy the interaction but usually get beaten by someone who thinks more than a move or two ahead. I’ve had to learn to think ahead for my writing.

Strategic thinking and writing are not at cross-purposes. People read for many reasons. Compelling characters are probably the most important reason readers continue reading a novel that they have started. Characters are compelling partly because there is something unresolved about their life or personality. Your strategy should be to make sure this is not ‘fixed’ to the reader’s satisfaction until the end of the book.

Choosing how to begin a novel can be hard. As in a game of euchre, don’t always lead with your highest trump card. What I mean is, if you are writing a story about a murder don’t necessarily kick the book off with the killing itself. Come at it obliquely with a formative character experience: something exciting and pivotal, sure, but keeping the winning card for the best possible moment will pay dividends. The reader has read the blurb. They already have expectations. Use the opening to throw them off balance.

Twists are excellent - readers love them - but they also don’t like feeling bushwhacked. They don’t want to feel that the author has withheld something that he or she should have disclosed. Offer a few hints that they will remember later, without actually giving the game away. This is called foreshadowing and all the best books and movies do it. Remember the old wisdom – if a man cleans his gun in chapter three, it better damn well kill someone in chapter twenty two.

This leads us to a related topic – the withholding of information in general. As English novelist Charles Reade once wrote, ‘Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em wait!’ Will Jane and Brian stay together? What did the patriarch write into his will to so tear the family apart? Even in literary writing it’s important to reveal information at key plot moments. Remember that people read on to find out what happens. If you tell them at the start they won’t feel compelled to keep reading.

Make your storyline and characters unpredictable. Some of history’s most psychopathic villains loved animals, art or music. Some so called ‘great’ people had terrible tempers, and even abused their families psychologically and physically.

As I wrote above, I’m a wanderer by nature. I tend to write first drafts that need a lot of work. The characters are in place and the plot hums along but I generally need to add some devices and scenes that make the story more suspenseful. That’s the great thing about writing: you can add the strategic thinking in later. It’s best, of course, to keep it in mind right throughout the process.

Not every book needs the level of strategy required for a Da Vinci Code or even a PG Wodehouse novel (twists and turns galore) but novels of every genre will benefit from a touch of strategy.

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Greg Barron’s author website: www.gregbarron.com

Greg Barron’s Bio Page

Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com

May 6

On The Value Of Librarians And Booksellers, by Alison Booth

Who are the unsung of the book-publishing world? The librarians and booksellers, who give advice and make recommendations to their members and customers. The people who are in their jobs because they love books.

Once you’re an author, you realise how much more you still have to learn. Reading a book becomes not only a glorious escape but also a painless way of absorbing the technical skills that will help you create your own masterpiece. For what it’s worth, my advice to writers is to read eclectically. Don’t restrict your reading only to the bestseller list or to prize winners. Take a look at other books in the bookshop and library, and see if they might be of interest to you.

Do you know the owner or librarian? If the bookshop or library is small, this will be easy. If they are large, pick out a regular employee who’s been particularly helpful to you. Once this person knows you and your tastes, they’ll have reliable recommendations for you in the future.

Sometimes they’ll even have statistics. Recently I had coffee with our librarian, who then emailed me some interesting figures. Here’s one that I particularly liked: in Australia there are more libraries than McDonalds outlets. We have 1,417 libraries (fixed locations) and 74 mobile libraries, as compared with 851 McDonalds outlets! Library loans total 182,757,656 per annum and 45 percent of Australians are library members. Now that’s a lot of loans and books, isn’t it? The happy conclusion is that we’re still well served in Australia by libraries.

What about bookstores though? Their numbers are unfortunately dwindling. It’s important to support them as well as our libraries, not only because we want to make sure they survive but also because access to a bookshop allows you to flick through the pages of new books – or books by new authors – before you buy. There’s nothing like this quick skim to help you choose.

Yet it won’t help the bookshops much if you use their stock only for skimming their titles before ordering online from someone else. The environment for the bookstores is changing rapidly. The biggest online retailers have been adopting several approaches to technological change. On the one hand, it’s often asserted that Amazon are engaging in predatory pricing, a practice much-studied in industrial economics. This involves selling books at an artificially low price. The goal is to drive out existing competitors and discourage the entry into the market of new ones, and thereby to become monopolists who can subsequently increase the price. On the other hand, in the US an antitrust case against Apple and the big publishers alleged a conspiracy to fix e-book prices. Settlements recently reached in the US against the big publishers may be viewed as a win for Amazon and a further strengthening of their position.

At the same time, other factors are affecting book sales. For example, it’s well known that newspaper books pages are shrinking, and shrinking fast. When shopping for books, you may search or click on an author’s name because you’ve read a review in a newspaper. With the contraction of newspaper book pages, you may find that the surviving reviewers’ tastes are not necessarily yours. Yet you want as much information as possible before you make a purchase. To my mind, nothing beats a thorough browse in the bookshop or in the library before making your selection - or a good chat to the staff if you know them.

How will bookshops cope with print book and e-book publishing in the future? This remains to be seen in a highly uncertain world: a world in which there is an antitrust case still to be settled in the US, as well as legal challenges by bookstores to suppliers who are trying to lock in consumers through particular electronic technologies. A world in which the relative demands for paper and electronic books are still unknown.

Some booksellers are reacting to this uncertainty in creative ways; for example, by expanding their bookshops to encompass book discussion sessions, or exhibitions, or children’s readings, or literary evenings or lunches. If we want to retain our favourite bookshops in a fast-changing industry, they need our support. Like the librarians, they’re the unsung heroes and heroines of the publishing world.

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Alison Booth’s author website: www.alisonbooth.net

Alison Booth’s bio page

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Writing Novels in Australia
www.writingnovelsinaustralia.com