Concealing and revealing

In a recent post on her blog, Sally Jenkins asked how other writers respond to questions about their writing. I was a bit surprised, but relieved, to find I’m not the only one who hates talking about his or her work. Admitting that the story you think is your best ever has been rejected for the umpteenth time, or that no, your novel hasn’t been published yet because you’re still working on the second draft, all sounds so boring – especially to non-writers.

For many years, only my closest family knew I was writing, and if they embarrassed me by mentioning it to anyone else I always played it down. I’ve only had a few stories published. It’s just a hobby. I’m sure it’s not the sort of thing you’d be interested in reading, etc. etc.

These days, I do put ‘Writer’ on forms that ask for my occupation, but in social situations where I can’t hide behind a ‘proper’ job I’ll mumble something like, ‘Oh, I do a bit of writing.’ But then I change the subject as quickly as possible!

But when writers are asked about their reading it seems the opposite is true. The Alfie Dog Fiction blog – Alfie Dog Bites – is currently running a series of Writers on Reading and it’s obvious that the featured writers all love talking about other people’s writing.

Perhaps the next time I’m asked what I do, instead of saying I’m a writer I’ll say I’m a reader. That will be so much easier!

Three encouraging sentences

The most important quality every writer needs to cultivate is a dogged determination to keep on writing – and then write some more. Easier said than done, but it helps to know you're not the only one struggling with the disappointments and frustrations of rejection.

One of the most encouraging things I’ve read for a long time is this sentence from the acknowledgments page of Henry Mitchell’s novel, The Summer Boy.

Thanks to the almost two hundred agents and editors who passed on my queries, thus compelling  me to keep searching until the right publisher found me.

TWO HUNDRED??  Now there’s a lesson in persistence!

* * *

The Internet is awash with advice on how to get your work accepted by agents and publishers, how to self-publish, and how to ensure your book achieves bestseller status. So if you just follow the rules laid down by all these experts success must be guaranteed, right? Wrong! And that was why this sentence by Beverley Birch leapt out at me from her article in Notes From The Slushpile.

The truth is that no one knows how to publish successfully in the 21st century’s multiple currents, cross-currents and swirls – least of all publishers.

And Beverley knows what she’s talking about. Not only is she a published author of over 40 children’s books, but she has also worked as a commissioning editor for a respected publishing house.

Am I dismayed that someone with her experience and insider knowledge doesn’t have a secret formula for publishing success? No, her words felt like a very welcome gust of fresh air. Her only advice for writers is to keep on writing the story you want to tell – and that’s exactly what I’m doing!

* * *

And finally … perhaps the most encouraging sentence of all.

We would like to publish your Rave in the next issue of Mslexia.

Mslexia’s Rants and Raves feature is where readers describe something they love or loathe. It’s only a paragraph, but I almost didn’t submit my Rave because I thought it would be considered too flippant for a serious literary magazine.

Whoo-hoo! This one little acceptance has cancelled out at least a dozen previous rejections!

Onwards and upwards!


What encourages you to keep on, keeping on?

Alfie Dog Fiction at Realitas

This is me dipping my toe into the big, scary world of book promotion.

I find it very hard to advertise my own work. And that is why I had a big problem with Alfie Dog Fiction.

I’m very proud that Alfie Dog has published a few of my stories as ebooks, but even a modest plug on this blog for one of my Alfie Dog stories seems uncomfortably like showing off. On the other hand, because it specializes in publishing short stories – something many other publishers ignore – I do think the company deserves to be better known by the reading public.

Then I had an idea …

I spend most Saturday mornings with an amateur art group in the Realitas Community Arts Centre in Market Deeping. At the heart of Realitas is a very popular tearoom and I noticed that a lot of customers there use their iPads, laptops and smartphones while enjoying the delicious refreshments on offer. Some people even read ‘real’ books borrowed from Realitas’s art library! It seemed like the perfect place for introducing people to the wide range of Alfie Dog stories.

After getting permission from Neil, who runs Realitas, and Rosemary J. Kind, the owner of Alfie Dog Fiction, I launched a free prize draw with ebook stories as the prizes. It attracted a lot of attention, and I found myself doing a lot of explaining. For example, several people said they didn’t read ebooks because they didn’t have a Kindle. This gave me the chance to explain how easy it is to download ebooks to other devices such as their home computer. Mentioning that the Alfie Dog list includes stories for children also attracted quite a bit of interest – mostly from older people who were concerned about the amount of time their grandchildren spend playing computer games. They thought it was a great idea to have bedtime stories on tablets and laptops.

Spreading the word about Alfie Dog was surprisingly easy and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Perhaps when I get my novel published, and need to boost sales, the trick will be to pretend I’m promoting it for someone else …?

Do you find it difficult to sell your writing?

P.S. If you’re ever in the Peterborough/ South Lincolnshire area, do make a detour into Market Deeping and pop in to Realitas. The people are friendly, there’s always something new to see, and their homemade cakes are amazing!

Springing about

the first bumblebees

the first butterflies

and a thrush singing outside my window

no writing today!

The same but different enough?

When I started writing fiction my biggest worry (apart from never producing anything good enough to be published) was that I might accidentally copy another writer. I’d been an avid reader for years so, when the germ of a story popped into my head, how could I be sure it was my own original idea and not a memory of something I’d once seen in a book or magazine?

I lost count of the number of stories I abandoned after a few pages because they seemed too familiar.

     My love story had been written before – by Shakespeare!
     That clever murder mystery had been solved years earlier by Agatha Christie.

     And the autobiography of a horse? It was just an updated version of Black Beauty!

Even after I’d had a few things published I still had nightmares about being sued for plagiarism.

Then I came up with a solution. If I based at least a part of a story on something I had experienced or witnessed in the real world that would surely make it my story. Other people might have written about similar situations, but the unique details in my story would prove I hadn’t copied them.

And that was how The Dancer came to be written.

I remembered sitting in a packed village hall watching a show put on by the local dancing school. The audience was made up of friends and relatives of the performers and every turn was greeted with loud applause.

A group of young ballerinas took to the stage. They wore identical costumes and danced in perfect unison, but one girl was obviously different. She was short and dumpy, with rolls of fat clearly visible beneath the tight dance costume.

Someone behind me whispered, ‘Poor kid! You’d think her mother would do something about her, wouldn’t you?’

Part of me agreed. It wasn’t healthy for a child to be so overweight. But I was also annoyed that the whisperer hadn’t kept her opinion to herself. The thing I’d noticed most about the girl was the expression of pure joy on her face as she danced around the stage. She was clearly loving every moment and neither knew nor cared what she looked like.

But suppose she had heard the remark from the audience? How would she have felt? Would it have changed the course of her life?

That was where my imagination took over from the true story and the result – I was certain – was a completely new story.

The Dancer was accepted by Best magazine. When it was published a few months later I was able to read it with fresh eyes – and what I saw made me groan. Why hadn’t I recognised that I’d written a slightly different version of a very well-known fairytale? There was a moment of panic until I realised that the editor had thought my story original enough for her magazine. And who was I too argue?

And I’m very pleased to say it has now been published again as an ebook by Alfie Dog Fiction. Keeping my fingers crossed that nobody who reads it will want to sue me!

Do you think it is possible to tell a story that has never been told before?

(I wonder where Hans Christian Andersen got his idea from?)

 

A Valentine Story

“What’s the date?”

“Um, thirteenth.”

“No! Really?”

That was almost half the month gone and I hadn’t ticked off any of my February writing goals. I needed to get cracking and … Hold on. The thirteenth of February? That meant it was St. Valentine’s Day the next day and I hadn’t got Him anything.

Oh, well, it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t mind. The last time we were in town we couldn’t help noticing that almost every shop was decorated in pink and red. Everywhere we looked it was ‘Buy this for Valentine’s’ and ‘Buy that for Valentine’s’. We both had a good old moan about how the whole thing was too commercialised, and how all this romance nonsense had nothing to do with real life – or real love.

But I’d always given him a card (usually a jokey one) and he had never forgotten …

“Just going to post this,” I said, waving an envelope at him as I scooted out of the house. As soon as I was out of sight, I stuffed the empty envelope into my pocket and hurried to the village shop. The one, small card rack was still filled with half-price boxes of Christmas cards.

“Don’t suppose you’ve got any Valentine cards?” I asked.

“Only these.” The shop owner pointed to a box on the counter. It contained a dozen cards all with the same design, a rather tired looking bunch of red roses. “The missus and me don’t bother with stuff like that any more,” he confided. “Well, you don’t when you get to our age, do you?”

I put on what I hoped was my enigmatic smile, selected the card that looked the least shopsoiled and paid for it without saying another word.

When I got home, I was surprised to find Him pulling on his coat. “Thought I’d go for a walk. My knee’s stiff again. A bit of exercise usually sorts it out.”

“Don’t go too far,” I said. “Looks like it’s going to rain soon.”

“No, just round the block.”

I watched Him limping up the drive. He was right about the exercise doing him good. As soon as he turned onto the road he was able to break into a jog!

The next morning, there were two red envelopes on the kitchen table. We both pretended to be surprised as we opened them.

Snap!

“Well, it’s the thought that counts,” I said.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

We put the two cards on the windowsill in the front room to show the world we hadn’t forgotten.

***

Did you remember? Did Someone Else forget? 

 

Inspiration

All my fictional stories are inspired by real people; usually real people I don’t know. Even when a story draws mostly on my own memories and experiences, the initial idea begins with a glimpse of a stranger or an overheard snatch of conversation that jogs my creative cells into thinking Who? What? When? Where? Why?

For example, Tree Hugger began when I saw two little boys having great fun climbing a tree. And Lifters might never have seen the light of day if I hadn’t noticed someone behaving rather suspiciously in a shop ….

I’d like to be able to thank all those anonymous people who have inspired me, but I’ve no way of knowing who they are and will probably never get to meet them. But I’ve just realised that as well as gratefully receiving inspiration I might sometimes be able to pass a little on to someone else.    

I was pleased to share what I thought was a very ordinary and uninspiring photo with Alice Algood. Just look what she did with it on her clever blog, A Word of Substance.

Who inspires you? And do you inspire other people?