Hello 2011!

I tend to be very excitable in January. It always feels like a new start and that everything could be possible if I worked hard enough. Of course, while I’ve got the entire year to start knuckling down to achieving my goals, I want to do everything straight up. What can I say? I’m both stubborn and crazy.

January hasn’t been all fun for those of us in Queensland and I have no doubt that wherever you are in the world that you’ve heard about the awful floods that have occurred here.

I am very fortunate to have stayed dry throughout this time, though I can only imagine the fear and devastation that the people in more affected areas, like the Lockyer Valley, must have endured and are still trying to recover from.

It’s the first time I’ve ever packed an emergency bag, the first time that the sound of heavy rain has frightened me awake at night and the first time I’ve begun to understand what everyone in Brisbane really means when they talk about the ’74 floods.

I’ve always struggled with Brisbane. I haven’t travelled enough or lived overseas/interstate to discover what I really like about the city. But watching it drown made me realise that Brisbane will always be home to me and that I have so many beautiful friends and memories based here.

Now that Queensland is in recovery mode, it feels like a second new start to the year and I’m motivated to make some changes. I told you at the beginning how crazy I am in January, so this is what I’ve been up to so far:

• I’ve almost finished the first round of structural edits on my YA contemporary project. It’s called The Circle and is my first project to be set in Brisbane. That’s all I’ll say for the moment. I’m a little superstitious about my work when it’s still early days.
• I’ve booked into my first-ever fun run. (I know. I’m yet to be convinced those words go together as well.) When I registered, the form asked if I thought I would complete the 5km in under or over 25 minutes. I laughed until my sides ached and then ticked the ‘over’ box.
• I’ve booked my next overseas trip and it’s coming up quickly. I’ll be heading to Vietnam and Cambodia in March which I am thrilled about. I’ve always wanted to go to Angkor Wat and there seems to be so many stunning places in Vietnam as well.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Image from Flicker.

THE STORY OF AUTHORIA

In mid 2008, I completed the Year of the Edit course at the Queensland Writers Centre and I really felt that I was making progress in my writing. I had learned to write, edit and critique work and I was beginning to understand myself as a writer. But I was also nervous about leaving the safety of these classes and continuing to polish my manuscript, write new stories and begin submitting all on my own.

On my own? I didn’t like that idea at all.

So I talked to a friend of mine in the class and we agreed that we could start our own writer’s group. Why join some big group of writers that we don’t know when we could establish our own safe environment? It turned out there was another two writers in the class who were thinking along the same lines. We all lived fairly close to one another and so our group, Authoria, was formed.

Aw, that’s so sweet. So you just found people that wanted a writing group and that was it?
Yes and no. Yes, meaning that serendipity played a huge part in forming Authoria. No, in that much more thought went in to it. For example…

The people
We’re a private writing group – meaning no one can just rock up and join. We had all read and critiqued each other’s work in a QWC class, so we knew the standard of each other’s writing and agreed that we could learn from each other. Even more importantly, we enjoyed each other’s company and we respected each other’s work. All of my fellow Authorians are great friends of mine and I sincerely believe in their talent as writers.

We don’t focus on one genre of writing either. We’re a mix of speculative fiction, crime, general fiction and young adult writing which makes it so much easier when any of us wants to play in a different genre.

The size
There are currently six of us in the group which is a great number. Having the six of us means that we get to submit our writing for critique about every two months. There’s enough of us to glean a fresh perspective of each other’s writing but not so many that it’s overwhelming. It’s also easy to keep ourselves up-to-date with the progress of each other’s manuscripts.

But what do you guys do?
We’re basically a cheersquad for each other but we’re also pushing each other to become better writers. This is how we work.

Monthly catch-ups
We set a date to meet once a month and people volunteer to submit their writing for the meeting. As a general rule, no more than three stories are critiqued in each month and we keep to extracts of about ten to fifteen pages.

We’re all good friends, so our monthly catch ups start with a big old chat about writing, the universe and everything. But mostly it’s about critiquing. We start with one submission and all give feedback, working off (and sometimes arguing with) everyone’s opinions before moving on to the next submission.

Online group
We have set up a private online group (you can do this for free through yahoo or google) where we can send the whole group messages and also upload our work to share. All submissions for our monthly catch-ups go on this group and it’s much better than clogging up your email.

If you want to be a published writer, you need a writing group. The benefits of having that support and insight in to your writing is absolutely invaluable. To finish, I would like to introduce you all to the current writers in Authoria:
Jane Domagala
Lyn Mason
Michele Cashmore
Rebecca Livesey
Sharon Phillips
…and me, Kathleen Noud.

You might want to keep an eye out on those names…
(Yes, it’s cheeky but how could I resist?)

WORKSHOPS AND MASTERCLASSES

Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself. – Truman Capote.

I’m not sure about you but I was not born knowing these laws. I had to learn them. How? Well, it’s true that the best way to learn writing is to sit down and write. But I also believe that learning with other people is much more comforting, which is why enrolling in a workshop or masterclass could be one of your writing goals next year.

A good workshop will push you out of your comfort zone, sometimes by having your work critiqued or by making you write within a time limit. It will also get you connected with other writers, and you might find new friends to share your writing with and to support you when you’re feeling low about your work.

If you’re a beginner, I cannot recommend writing classes enough. Google your local writers centre, tafe or university and search for the courses available. Find one that interests you and makes you excited. Don’t worry that you don’t know what you’re doing, if it’s a beginner’s course then you will not be alone.

If you’re an emerging writer, try a more specific class to fill the gaps in your technique. Maybe you are nervous about switching genres, or your writing group keeps nagging you about your dangling participles and you have no idea what they are talking about. Or perhaps one of your favourite authors is holding a masterclass and you can learn about their writing process.

If you’ve already taken a few classes, then maybe you need some solitude to implement what you have learned. Or have you become too comfortable by learning from the same teacher or the same topic?

For those of you in Queensland, check out the Queensland Writers Centre website for their programs from February to June 2010.

SO, WHAT’S A MENTORSHIP?

When I started telling people that I’d received an ASA mentorship last year their first question was always the same, “So, what’s a mentorship?”

At this point I had no idea. I had researched and applied for the program but I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it would improve my writing craft and my manuscript but I wasn’t sure how. Now that I’ve finished the program, I can tell you how I think it works.

What is it?
A mentorship is like having a private, ongoing novel writing class on your manuscript. It’s about finding the weaknesses in your writing and overcoming them. It’s about learning to research, write, re-write and edit your manuscript until it’s worthy of publication.

A mentor will discuss with you what you want to get out of the mentorship. They’ll read through your manuscript (or partial) and give you their opinion. They’ll tell you what you should work on for your next draft and you can discuss/fight it out by email, phone or face-to-face. Then your mentor will send you back to your computer until you have completed the draft or installment for them to read. Then that process repeats for as much time as your mentorship allows.

Ooooh. A mentor? What’s that like?
Pretty awesome. Having a mentor is like having a writing teacher, a best friend, a manuscript assessor and a personal trainer on your team but all rolled in to the one person.

My mentor, Sue, showed me areas that lagged in my writing craft and exercises to work on. She settled my nerves when I thought I’d never get my manuscript together. She read over installments of my manuscript and emailed it back covered in track changes and comment bubbles. She also kicked my ass, usually by email, telling me when I was repeating mistakes or generally trying to get me to work even harder.

Sounds amazing! Is there anything else I need to know?
Yep. I’ve got a few warnings before you dive in to a mentorship.

1. It’s all about tough love.
If you think you’re going to be sipping coffee and listening to your mentor proclaim how amazing you are, a mentorship is not for you. A mentorship is about having your ass kicked. It’s like training for a half-marathon: you’ll see progress but it’s hard work and there will be times when you might hate it.

2. It’s better if you’re not a beginner.
Mostly because it might be too depressing and also because a beginner probably isn’t ready for it. I would say that the process is perfect for writers on their second/third manuscript (or later) as well as people who have had their work critiqued regularly. Otherwise, the mentorship is going to hurt really bad.

3. You need to listen to your mentor.
Remember when my awesome beginning was scrapped during the first meeting in my mentorship? It was one of many, many scenes that were cut from my manuscript for all different reasons. You wanted a mentor’s professional view of your work, so don’t be quick to throw it in their face. It’s a mentor’s role to dissect your writing and tell you what’s not working. Of course you can disagree with them, but you need to listen to their opinion first.

That sounds like hell! Why would I endure this foolishness you call a mentorship?
1. It’s going to make your writing so much better. It’s like a fast-track program and it’s easier to notice your progress from so much one-on-one contact.

2. It’s better that a writing mentor helps you through your embarrassing mistakes and teething problems than an agent or a publisher. Mostly because an agent or publisher will probably have to reject your work rather than take you on and coach you. (It’s not their job to teach you to write no matter how cool your idea is.)

3. The confidence and the thick-skin from the process feel really good. Seriously, I wouldn’t want to be charging into this industry without a certain amount resilience and self-esteem, and I believe a mentorship has the potential to help you with that. Plus, do you know how good it feels when a professional writer compliments your unpublished work? It’s. Totally. Freaking. Awesome.

As Sue was constantly telling me, ‘It’s a baptism of fire. Those who come out on the other side are the really good writers’. That phrase has always stuck with me and as painful as a mentorship can be, I would definitely go through it all over again.

**For people that are interested, I will be writing a series of posts to give you ideas for your 2010 writing goals. If you want to keep updated, become a google follower or subscribe to the rss feed. Otherwise I’ll tag all these posts, ‘goals’ in case you miss one.**