Managing the news hungry writer...

One day two weeks ago was a red letter day. I got two emails that surprised and delighted me. One was responding positively to a bold suggestion I'd made sometime in the second half of last year. The other was to let me know a short story I'd submitted was accepted for publication. I floated, giddy, for 24 hours and believed in myself for at least 4 or 5 days. Now I'm back to my usual normal grumpy, jittery, self-doubting, frequent email-refreshing self.

As a writer, receiving any news is addictive. Good news makes you happy. Great news makes you high as a kite. And the rest of the time we are in withdrawal. Where the analogy goes awry is that we have no control over the supply of our favourite drug. So we need some management techniques to help us survive the cold turkey times. Because we never know how long they'll last or if they'll ever be over again.

For all the people who say 'but writing should be your addiction', or 'distract yourself from waiting for responses to your submissions/proposals/putting your neck on the line by getting started on your next book' - they are lying to themselves. Or they're not and I'm just so happy for them in their lovely homes in Stepford.

So here are my ideas for getting through...

1) Run away to a far away country where you can ignore the fact that there is no new news (an expensive option and only good for short bursts)

2) Have children so you can sneak a high from their good news. This is a major (and costly) investment but can really pay off in the long run

3) Refrigerate or freeze your favourite emails/letters so you can enjoy them again later. Please note however you cannot refreeze a thawed email, and previously frozen news will deteriorate faster

4) Keep news fresher for longer by watering daily. Some folk recommend a dried arrangement and these will last a lot longer but the colours do fade and they can become very brittle.

5) Fake news is NOT recommended. Especially as it makes the real news harder to identify

6) Don't try and 'be' the news. The media/social media are by their very nature rather judgy and generally harsh critics. Even filters won't protect you


The truth is all news wears out eventually anyway. Careful handling will make it last longer but it will become history at some point no matter what you do. Of course this is a blessing for the less than stellar variety. There will always be periods without news. You will get times where your email inbox goes deathly quiet and the world seems to be spinning on without you. Staying in the game is still the best way to keep new news coming in, but know that the days of waiting and wishing to hear are just a normal part of this job we have found ourselves in. And it pays to remember too that all writers have to deal with the lulls and the cold turkey trough. Hanging out with each other during an absence of news may just be the best way to get through. Be kind to yourself. And nice to each other

One step closer to the funny farm...

I have to frequently remind myself that this business is a slow dance, interspersed with long pauses. This is a source of much frustration for me. Long time readers will know of my chronic impatience. It is a benign tumour that cannot be safely or permanently excised, that provides constant reminders of its existence, pressing on my rational brain. Either a benign tumour or a curse. Both fit.  When expectations developed in eons gone past are finally realised, I know I should be patient. But this understanding has the half life of a whisper and then I am back to my impatient self. And when the only distraction is the annoying, political arse-hattery of the upcoming election it is enough to drive me a little crazy. I am one step closer to the funny farm.

Best of 2011 Lists are emerging all over the place in the run up to Christmas. Big congratulations to all my kiwi compatriots who appear! - Maria Gill, Kyle Mewburn, Brian Falkner, Donovan Bixley and Ruth Paul. The House That Went to Sea made it on to the Storyline's Books for Christmas Giving Lists - whoop, whoop! I dream of making it on to more lists. As my rational brain knows this can take time. Maybe next year. Every year I adjust my goals depending on what has gone before. Get published was superseded by get published more than once which has been superseded by get published in different age ranges which has been superseded by get published in other formats and other countries. And of course now 'have books appear on lists'. I haven't achieved all of these yet so there are things to work on. I hope you keep your goals and ambitions fresh. Its that time of year. Sometimes they just need a little lip gloss applied, sometimes just a pinch of the cheeks, but sometimes you need to clean it all off and start again. After all, when that eyeliner smudges it can look a little ghoulish.

Remember, goals aren't just about an end product. Goals should grow your career. Goals should be about personal growth as well as career growth. Goals should nurture and take care of you as well as move you forward. Don't play it safe. Do something that scares you but not something that you don't want to do. I leave the bungy jumping to the thrill seekers - being a writer with a dislocated hip would not be my idea of personal development. Make sure that scary thing is something you've always secretly wanted to try. Maybe its saying hello to an author or illustrator you admire at next year's Storyline's Margaret Mahy Day. Maybe its showing your manuscript to a stranger for their advice. Or sending it out to that publisher. Maybe its doing a school visit or an author talk. Or presenting a workshop. Maybe its turning your manuscript into an e-book. Maybe its attending an overseas writing conference. When I look over that list I appreciate how many scary things I have done over the last few years. Maybe 2012 will be my year off scary things. My goals for 2012?

1) Do another university paper towards my Diploma of Children's Literature
2) Find a way to be involved in NZ Book Month (although I try and behave like every month is NZ Book Month)
3) Find a way to be involved in NZ at the Frankfurt Book Fair (even if its just talking a lot about it on interweb and trying to get some of my books there)
4) Finish rewrite on Jack the Viking: Magnetic North and publish in digital form (yes sorry I dropped the ball on this one this year)
5) Finish current projects
6) Have a decent holiday
7) Keep fit
8) Make more time

This list is not complete. After a year of unexpected things I am not sure whether 2012 will be the same. I feel like I have enough to keep me busy without adding more. That was one of my problems this year. I thought I would tick a lot of things off the list I made for 2011. So this year number 8 is a priority.

The unvarnished stuff....

I'm suffering from an acute attack of impatience. It's itchy and annoying and just won't go away. It ain't helped by the cold (the only good thing about winter is soup), or the fact that while my SO recovers from his knee surgery I get to do 10x more of my least favourite thing - driving. I had thought myself very cunning in sending out lots of submissions at regular intervals, the theory being that there would be responses at regular intervals to keep me from going completely crazy. Over the last 9 months I have sent out probably 15 plus submissions and I am still waiting on more than 10. The responses are either too quick (efficient rejections) or too slow (sadistic rejections). Yes I have had a yes in there and this is a crumb I am clinging to but it is not a publication crumb and is therefore smaller and a little more crumbly. Like the fairytale of the three wishes granted by the genii that don't quite go as planned, I have used up all my enquiries (less than the number which labels you a stalker) about my submissions and am none the wiser. Now I can't enquire again and all I can do is sit on my hands (so i don't scratch that itch) and wait. It is doing my head in, just like when I think about quantum physics or what an infinite universe looks like.

And then something happens like a major publisher from NY googling the title of a book of mine and visiting one of my blogs and all i can think about is 'what does it mean' and my SO helpfully reminds me it probably means nothing. Rats! Sometimes information can be a bad thing. All I have now is more questions which cannot be answered. Ack.

Here is some of the things I said last week at the talk I gave for Kiwiwrite4kidz.

I have always had an obsession with books. Not too strong that I fill up every spare space with books and buy books instead of food and electricity, or the kind where I stroke them like Gollum stroking the one ring, and not too mild that I don't know the difference between James Joyce and Joyce Carol Oates, or that Tolkien is not a scandinavian currency. I was always pretty good at English in school. Actually I was good at Science and Maths too, so when I started sucking at English in 6th and 7th form (I never ever suspected the teachers might have been the problem - it might have been better for me if I'd blamed them whether they deserved it or not) I focused on the other subjects and then went and did a Masters in Science at University and got a job in Hospital Administration when they let me out. But the trouble with administration is a need for organisation and this was never my strong suit. I realised I was in the wrong job and started an English degree part time as an extramural student. Then I started a family (1993) and as much as children can take away some of your freedom, mine provided me with the perfect cover to surreptitiously try writing. I kept on with the degree, I attended a week long continuing education course in writing, and went to Wellington for a weekend writing course with Fiona Kidman. I discovered the Tom Fitzgibbon Award, and Storylines and started submitting manuscripts and attending Storylines AGMs. I eavesdropped on my children. Then I did the Writing for Children university paper. I've blogged about this paper before. This was a breakthrough for me because I wrote a couple of short stories for an assignment which looked and felt like the real thing. The lecturer was not overwhelmed when she marked the assignment but the editor told me I could write when I submitted these to Learning Media. I cried. I sold some short stories. I had a picture book, Clever Moo accepted and I joined Kiwiwrite4kidz. I was awarded a mentorship on the NZSA's programme in 2005 and wrote my novel Jack the Viking with the guidance of my mentor Barbara Murison. I was shortlisted for The Joy Cowley Award in 2006 with my story being Joy Cowley's favourite (although this story is still, as yet, unpublished). Then I wrote the picture book The Were-Nana and Scholastic accepted both this and the novel. 2006 was an exciting year. I had my foot in the door at last (little did I know they are always leaning on the door with all their might from the other side). Both novel and pb came out 2008 and some booksellers weren't too excited about The Were-Nana. It was dark and scary and the mean brother didn't get punished sufficiently. Sell in wasn't spectacular. Then it was shortlisted for the NZ Post Children's Book Awards. While I had some great reviews, one reviewer commenting on the NZ Post picture book shortlist couldn't see which age group would like this book and felt that it might win the category against their better judgement. Needless to say when I got dressed for the awards I felt like i was going to make up the numbers. I didn't do much preparation for a speech - I wasn't going to need it - and apart from not wanting to embarrass myself completely I didn't limit my drink consumption either. Once Roadworks deservedly won best picture book I relaxed, sat back and forgot the threads of a speech i'd mulled over in my head for a couple of minutes. Of course when they read out the top polling books for the children's choice award in each category I suddenly got very excited. other people probably thought I was having apoplexy. While it's not guaranteed, the award usually goes to a picture book. The Were-Nana was top polling picture book and sure enough we won. Children did like the book. In fact the book was popular over all the different primary age groups. And what did the award mean for me? It meant children liked the qualities which some adults were worried about. Publishers would give me the time of day but sadly were no more inclined to say yes to new work from me then they had been before. The big change for me has been my raised profile in the wider community. Schools request me to come visit them and other groups have asked me to do talks and workshops. I did a radio interview. And the win taught me that I had reached my target audience. Children wanted to read my book. I sold more books too. It will always be an edgy little number but the kids have embraced it. And I try not to get upset or worried so much about reviews now: better to be talked about then not talked about, whether the comments are positive or negative.

So how do I stay sane in this difficult and crazy business that operates like few others? I say sanity is overrated. Be a little crazy. Try different things. Trust your instinct. I keep my eye on what's happening in the industry and try and have something new/available to throw at competitions or new publishing opportunities. Be brave. You will survive the no's. Make sure you have some writer friends because no-one else will know like they do, the trials and tribulations you will have to go through as you traverse a career in writing. Get together with them regularly to winge about the difficulties and share the good news and the industry updates. Take holidays from your writing when you feel anxious, burnt out or frustrated. Distract yourself with a new book, or tickets to a movie when the impatience and frustration become overwhelming. Because we aren't paid a regular salary, which even if it comes without praise is still recognition of efforts made, we are at risk of devaluing our own hard work. Treat yourself when you've reached a writing milestone. Written ten thousand words? Finished that picture book? Had a breakthrough? Submitted a story? Give yourself a pat on the back and a nice reward.

Etiquette for writers and avoiding the drought...

Went to the Tough Enough book launch last night. Celebrating the birth of a new book is always a good thing but even better when the book is a good 'un and the author (Tania Hutley) is a talented person. And after lamenting the lack of opportunity to meet the new Publishing Manager of Scholastic she was at the launch too and I got the chance after all to mosie on over and say howdy. I hope I didn't shout too much - give me a drink or two in a crowded place and thats what happens. Afterwards I wondered about book launch etiquette and hoped I hadn't transgressed too much. Like the witty retort that always rises to ones lips well after the relevant conversation is long past, I always realise how I should have behaved well after the fact. Someone should write up some rules and I will have them tattooed on my forearm like a cheat sheet. BTW the folk at the launch-hosting book store, Jabberwocky are the most wonderful people and incredibly supportive of local writers. You should go down there and check out their very smart and well stocked shop.

Yesterday someone mentioned they'd had a rejection from a particular publisher to whom I also submitted something and now I'm itching to know if my rejection is pending. Its still too early to enquire but news of someone else's news has accelerated my impatience. While I toil away at a longer work of fiction its good to have other things out there doing the rounds so I don't feel like I've dropped out of the loop completely. As you all know, the whole publishing business is interminably slow and if I'm not submitting things now I would ensure an upcoming publishing drought. Don't like droughts. Droughts are dry.

Was having an interesting discussion last night about the inclusion of swear words in children's books. I am happy to include the occasional semi-salty word if the moment warrants it. Don't like gratuitous swearing and don't feel compelled to try and imitate some of the incredibly bad language that often litters actual teen conversations, especially as in written form it would run the serious risk of becoming entirely meaningless (as it probably is in spoken form as well). However I believe swear words are an inescapable part of teen culture these days and sometimes it just seems the most natural response for a character. I wouldn't include such words in works for a very young audience but think for intermediate age and up the occasional blue word is not going to cause the collapse of civilization as we know it. What do other people think?