If not now - when?

The sun bloomed glorious and hot last Saturday, giving Vancouver the first sweet kiss of summer. Because the heavy drapes in the hotel conference room were slightly cracked, I saw some of that enticing sunlight. I would have preferred to be hking a forest trail or by the sea but I’d signed up for the SCBWI conference weeks before. I was committed.

Word count: 488                                                                        Reading time: approx. 2 mins.

To me, conferences and writing groups can be a bit of a gamble. At least one conference I went to was a complete waste of time. I’ve been to a writers’ group that was a thinly-disguised tea party. I continue to sign up anyway and remind myself that the doors aren't locked at these things. An early exit is always the fallback plan.

Last Saturday? It paid off:

• Margriet Ruurs, a committed advocate for literacy, who has travelled around the world promoting this cause, talked about the Write Life. A picture book author, she discussed how the human journey was originally depicted through drawings (25,000 years ago) and how stories are the backbone of human life. She exhorted people to write with passion and with care.
• Alison Acheson urged her audience to Build Your Own Box. Start with the dilemma of choices and work on the conflicts that arise with constraint. Then compress the story and eliminate the details that don’t work or aren’t important.
• There was a First Page panel where people submitted the first page of their books and four writer/editors gave feedback.
• In the session Truth, Lies and Standing on Chairs, Richard Scrimger reminded us there are no rules in writing. Start with a grain of truth. Then use lies to polish that truth and make it sing. The power of a story is in its internal truth.
• Joan Marie Galat talked about The Business of Getting Published and what happens once the contract is signed.
• There were portfolio/manuscript consultations, illustrator workshops and pitch sessions.

If I could redo the early years of my writing life, I would start going to these in-person events much sooner. Why didn’t I? I thought I wasn't a real writer because I didn’t have a vast portfolio of work or a commercial publishing contract. What I didn't realize, until I'd been to a few of them, is yes, conferences, book launches, writers' talks and groups do take away from the actual hours available for writing. At the same time, they energize, hone skills, and provide the chance to meet fellow travellers on an often difficult road.

I know now that it is never too soon (or too late) to sign up for the first in-person writers’ conference or group. If you can’t afford the registration fee, some conferences need volunteers to help with their functions. In return, volunteers may sit in on some of the sessions.

Have you been to your first conference yet? What’s holding you back?

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Photo from Wikimedia Commons: Moonlight Castle Series Writers' Talks 2013-02-02

Is it better to give than receive?

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. Arthur Ashe.

Word count: 378    Reading time: 1-2 minutes

Consider Ashe's philosophy in view of the fact that February 14^th is International Book Giving Day. While this campaign primarily aims to get more books into the hands of children, giving a book to an adult isn’t a bad idea either.

Reasons to participate:

• If children develop a reading habit from an early age, who knows what might happen. They could become lifetime readers.
• Giving is good for the soul. It forces us to look outside ourselves, to think about others.
• Books are inexpensive gifts. In fact you don’t have to buy a new book for this special day; take one from your shelves or buy one cheaply at a second-hand store. The cost can be as low as you want to make it.
• Books are easy to wrap.
• If you decide to buy, you get to hang around a bookshop. Is there a better place to pass time? If you’re buying, please consider the One Book Pledge.
• Books are gifts that stay with a person for an entire lifetime.
• Both readers and writers benefit from the gift of books. After all, who are writers without readers?

Don’t know any children? Maybe you could speak to your local librarian and see if there are books the library cannot afford that you could donate. Maybe you could leave a book on a bus, in a waiting room, or at the local rec centre.

What books to buy? I’ve added my ideas to those from blogger North Wind:

• Determine your reader’s interests. Fiction? Non fiction? Favourite genres?
• What format do they prefer: e-books or paper and ink? Graphic novels or traditional?
• How well developed is their vocabulary?
• Check out goodreads for reviews and feedback.

When you give someone a book, you don’t give him paper, ink, and glue. You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley. That doesn’t mean you can’t still give them a chocolate heart also. It is Valentine’s Day after all.

Is there a better gift than a book? When you select a book for a friend, how do you choose which one?

Learning through leading

Word count: 484    Reading time: 2 minutes

About a million years ago when I was immersed in all things karate, Sensei Wong told the intermediate class if we wanted to get our black belts then we had to teach the lower ranks at some point. He said that teaching developed a deeper proficiency. I recently read a similar sentiment expressed by Yogi Bhajan, “If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it.”

I’ve been reading about the craft of writing fiction for years now. I’ve blogged about it for the past 18 months. When I took on the Young Writers’ Club, I wanted to give something back to the community. I didn’t know what a rich two-way process it would be.

Some of the early benefits have been:

• Focused research. Each time I set a new exercise, I analyze what it entails and how to best approach it. This week I set a poetry-writing challenge so I had to clarify the techniques for my own understanding. Then I had to whittle that down to a few digestible sentences.
• Improved organizational skills. Not only do I have to prepare enough material for the two-hour workshop, I also have to make sure I have a cheque for the facility rental, payments from the drop-ins, permission forms from all the parents, extra pencils, pens, and paper just in case, and snacks to perk everyone up at the end of the long school day. I have to set up the room in fifteen minutes. At the end of the session I have to quickly return it to its pre-YWC state.
• Improved interpersonal skills. I’m really interested in the kids’ writing and love what they produce. However, they need to learn how to critique and encourage each other. In order for them to take the rudder, I have to step back a little.
• Validation. I don’t ask the members to do anything I haven't tried myself. When they follow my methods and produce wonderful writing, it’s proof of the pudding.

I’m looking forward to a long association with the Young Writers’ Club. These kids cram the monthly meetings into their hugely crowded timetables because they love writing. They deserve all the encouragement they can get. Writing isn’t like dance, music, or sports. There are few if any public displays of accomplishment. There are no bright canvases or shiny sculptures to show off. As many writers know, recognition can be a long time in coming.

So the YWC members come only because of their commitment to write and then write even better. In return, I offer the commitment to help them follow those dreams. How lucky I am to master so much more about the craft of fiction (and now poetry) along the way.

Where and how do you share your love of writing? What are you learning as you do that?

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Photo by: strixcode