I’ve changed that now: I work on an overall budget, and focus just on getting it as right as possible for each recipient. Some gifts will be exactly right for the person, but not cost much at all… others will be more expensive. It all balances out over time.

I was thinking of the way I shop, and the way most people shop, when I wrote a recent article on Christmas gifts for writers. While I like nothing better than for a Christmas gift to be a surprise, if I know someone really, really wants something, I’ll work with them to make sure it’s just what they want – the right colour, the right size, or in the case of a writer, the right reference book or even a sign-up to a conference!

Every Christmas, people give gifts such as tickets to a popular stage show along with weekend accommodation. It’s a high-ticket item, but usually very welcome. However, many writers would prefer a ticket to a writers’ seminar or conference, along with the accommodation. Now THAT’S a gift that shows that the giver really understands the ‘wow’ factor.

Of course, not everyone can afford a gift like this. In the article I wrote, I talk about gifts that cost virtually nothing (like searching for and burning to a CD free software for writers); low-cost gifts (a writers’ market guide) and high-end gifts (a conference or new computer).

If you are giving a gift to a writer, there might be something here to spark an idea. If you ARE a writer, then why not get in early and actually TELL people that you’d love something to help you along in your writing career? At this time of year, when they’re trying to shop for a dozen or more people, friends and family are often only too glad of a helpful suggestion!

Here are the links to two related articles: one on gifts for writers, and one on some useful free software for writers.

Christmas Gift Ideas for Writers

Best Free Software for Writers

Cheers

Marg

What problems? The scene simply didn’t flow. The reason was obvious: it was a scene from early in the book, and the writer was busy setting the scene – and this involved filling in lots of backstory.

Most writers are familiar with this term, but if you’re not… “backstory” is the process of filling in various details from the past. These details can pertain to the plot or the viewpoint character. The writer feels that it’s important that the reader has these details to understand where the characters are now.

Usually, it’s not nearly as important to get these details in as the writer imagines. It’s far better to ‘drip’ in details that are absolutely necessary than to ‘dump’ them all in at once.

I decided to address this in an article about backstory: How To Weave Backstory Into a Novel. You might find it handy if you’re struggling with this issue.

Marg

If you have two or three novels going at the same time (plus maybe a number of smaller projects) here are some tips:

1. Keep an ideas/characters notebook handy, or a computer file that sits on your desktop. If you suddenly get a great idea, make a note of it so you know it won’t get away, then go back to the work in progress.
2. If you have several novels on the go, then pick one to focus on. (The other one – or others – aren’t going anywhere. If you have a ‘dry day’ on the main novel, you can take a break by going back to the others – but set a time limit. Tell yourself you can only do this for a day, or two days. Then you have to go back and solve any existing problems with the first one.
3. If the problems on the first novel become a major roadblock, organise a session with some other writers to talk over the problem, or send it to a critique partner online. If necessary (and if you are REALLY committed to finishing it) then pay for a professional critique.

Whatever you do, resist dumping one novel to start another just because you hit a rocky patch. That happens with every novel, and it will happen with the bright sparkling new ones too… before too long, they will become ‘old’. There’s a real danger here of never actually finishing a book… and therefore never getting published.

Marg

Here are three snippets of conversation that I’ve overheard in the past few days, whilst holidaying in the tropics:

1. Overheard on the wharf at a large marina (a young man in his twenties, astride a bicycle, had stopped to talk to a barefoot woman in shorts): He said: “… so I thought: maybe I’m not the no-talent monster I thought I was…”

2. Overheard at the Sunday markets (a family group was sitting behind the canopy that sheltered the racks of clothes I was browsing). A male voice said: “He’s just lost his wife, so he’ll need some time to grieve. We’ll give him about six months and then we’ll find him a girlfriend.”

3. Overheard at our holiday apartment. We were sitting at a table in a small outdoor area, accessed through sliding doors from our room, and separated from similar outdoor areas by a half-wall. Outside the next-door unit, a man was talking loudly (and at length) on his mobile phone. Suddenly there came an irritated female voice from the outdoor area on our OTHER side: “To the man using the mobile phone: could you be QUIET, please?”

(Gulp. Phone rage! We sat there tensely wondering if he’d appear at our table ready to throw the phone at us… )

All three of those overheard snippets had me wondering what could have happened leading up to the conversation or what might have happened afterwards.

If you carry a notebook with you (as I do!) capture these snippets. You may never use them – but on the other hand, you might find them useful for a scene in your novel, or for a writing exercise.

The heroine has to reach the hero before he boards that plane or he’ll be out of her reach forever. Or Detective Joe Bloggs has just twenty-four hours to prove Heroine’s innocence before his superior calls in the cops.

Bring in the ticking clock, and you heighten suspense. Will they make it in time or won’t they?

If you introduce a time limit, make sure that the reader is constantly aware that time is running out (but don’t always simply refer to a clock or her watch! Show other ways of time passing.) Stretch that suspense. Keep raising the stakes. Use obstacles to heighten the tension.

It’s a simple and time-tested technique. Give it a try.

Note that I said ‘INTRUDE’. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t write on a topic that you feel strongly about: that you shouldn’t… er… use your powers for good. (Sorry, I couldn’t help that one.)

What I AM saying is that you should be careful that these strong feelings don’t have a negative impact on your scenes. For example, if you have a ten-year-old going on at length about climate change, sounding like a forty-year-old… then it’s probably YOU speaking; not your character. You’re using your story as a soapbox, and readers HATE that.

There’s nothing wrong with exploring issues in your book. Just take care that you don’t lecture your readers. Don’t harangue them. (Not even in the guise of dialogue between two of the characters. Your readers won’t be fooled.) Above all, don’t allow the ‘issue’ that you’re writing about to take over the book. You’ll achieve far more by being subtle.

Let the lesson you want to teach be absorbed naturally by the reader. To achieve this, you have to be a skilled writer. If you write well, then the reader will know exactly what you’re trying to say. They’ll FEEL it. They’ll understand it through the actions and reactions of the characters – not by being told what to think.

So put away your soapbox. Start thinking about subtle ways to get your message across. If it feels forced… then it IS forced. Keep working on it until you know it’s working – and don’t be afraid to get honest feedback.

Marg

You use transitions when you need to move the character from one place to another, or to show a shift in time. Writers who don’t know how to do this effectively tend to go into detail about road trips, go on and on with a description of the setting, or let their characters have length and unncessary telephone conversations.

That kind of thing simply slows down the story and bores the reader. All you need is a brief ‘bridge’ such as:

‘Before the sun rose the next morning, Peter was on the road. Five and a half hours later, he pulled up outside Monty’s house.”  

For a simple movement in time and space, such as the example given above, keep the transition as short as possible. Most readers already know what it’s like to go from Point A to Point B via plane, train, boat or car… they bring their own experience to this kind of thing. All you need to do is show that the character has moved. The reader does the rest.

Marg

Writers need to become especially good listeners (oh, OK: let’s call a spade a spade – they need to be especially good eavesdroppers, too!). Here are three tips to help you hone your skills.

• Listen not only to WHAT people say, but HOW they say it. The patterns of speech, the drawl, the unfinished sentences – all this is gold for your writing.
• Jot down a word or phrase that can lead you to further research. (How often have you heard a snippet on the radio or read a line in a magazine that took you to the Web to find out more?) Don’t miss the essential word or name that may lead you to a treasure trove of information – through an expert, a museum, an internet site, or a particular location.
• Link what you overhear or what you discuss with the associated body language. What can you see on people’s faces when they are excited or bored or angry? How do they move their bodies? How do they emphasise a point? Do they lean forward, or backward? What does their body language tell you about their relationship to the other person?

- Marg

The Australian government is planning spending of 2 billion dollars to provide new information and communication technology to schools, including computers to school and broadband facilities, and for training teachers in its use.

Already, authors are participating in virtual classrooms and reaching children in ways that were not even thought of just a decade ago.

What does this mean for you, if you write for children or you speak to groups of children in high schools?

You need to be computer-savvy, or hire someone who is to help you along the way. You need to be ‘available’ online; you need a website where children can read about you and interact with your books. Don’t be left out because you feel overwhelmed by the Internet and all it means. Make it your job to learn, to feel comfortable with the new technology, and to take advantage of what it can offer you.

• A business report. (Full of wordy phrases and buzzwords that were completely unnecessary and actually obscured meaning.)
• A novel. (So many passages of flowery description that I found myself skipping pages all too often. Finally gave up on it.)
• Novel #2. (Must have been a bad week… this novel failed to blend technical information into the scenes in a seamless flow; I felt that I was being lectured.)
• A scene I was critiquing. (Unecessary speech tags; repetitive sentences; telling-and-showing the same thing.)

In contrast, a well-written piece of work – whether it’s fiction or non-fiction; a report for work or a thriller – is, essentially, transparent. The words don’t get in the way of the message or the action. Rather, they allow the reader to make an instant connection.

Take another look at anything you write.

• Are you letting a sentence do the work of a phrase, or a phrase the work of one well-chosen word?
• Are you including too much detail simply because you’ve done the research and want to use it, regardless of whether it’s really needed?
• Are you getting carried away by the (ahem) beauty of your own words, so you’re reluctant to cut?
• Are you letting through bad writing because it’s just too much trouble to tighten it?

Simplicity in writing is a lot harder than it looks – but it pays off in satisfied readers and clients who understand exactly what you mean. And who knows? It may even pay off in book sales or a wage increase – and that’s got to be a good thing in today’s economy!

Marg