Good News On PIR

Reports have begun popping up all over. Last night there was a decision made to not remove PIRs. If you're not sure what I'm talking about (what rock have you been living under) a quick refresher can be found here. This is a huge win for the Australian Book Industry and everyone involved in it.

The article in Bookseller+Publisher can be read here.

Well done to everyone who had a voice in determining this outcome and a special well done to AHWA members, led in grand fashion by Shane Jiraiya Cummings in his role as AHWA 2IC. Woot!

Snoopy Dance

Simmering...Just

My life as a writer seems to be 'on the down low' at the moment. Hence a really long blog post filled with my ramblings :c)

I don't have Writers' Block', as I can (and do) sit down with my current WIP with no issue at all and while doing so, I still have lots of ideas and make changes and add twists, etc without too much thought. The creative juices are still there. I'm just not doing it as often. My nightly slog of three or more hours at the keyboard has reduced to a couple of sessions a week. Maybe winter has just worn me down and I'm fed up waiting for the warmer weather...or I could just be being slack.

I've not looked at writing any new short stories for a while now - hence the final product of not having written a new one for some time - but I'm working on the YA book so that's kind of okay as well. Ideas pop into my head, but I tend to let them pass through (lots of space in there). Nothing is demanding to be written other than scenarios for the WIP which are more than happy to keep me awake at nights.

I'm not really enjoying my reading at the moment either. I think the addition of the Dexter Omnibus has thrown me off kilter. I'd planned to read six books in two months and than had the Omnibus added to my list, which increased my required reading from 6 to 9 novels in eight weeks. Burn out was inevitable. I have two books left out of those nine and I'm struggling to find the enthusiasm to get to them. The deadline passed last week. I've negotiated an extension till the end of this month but even that will be hard to meet.

Slush reading has commenced once more so I have four stories I need to get to (hopefully tonight). This gives me yet another excuse for not writing.

I'm also suffering from a weekend with not enough sleep (on top of my constantly seeming to be tired anyway) so sudden bursts of energy are fleeting and infrequent. Reading of epic fantasy sagas are more likely to put me into an unsatisfying doze, and leave a negative impression - not really fair on the author so it gives me another reason to abstain (like I needed another one).

Add all this up, and I'm not full of the joys of writing or anything related to it at the moment, which naturally leads to a drop off in output. Discipline is required to get back into a routine where work will be produced, but a level of enthusiasm is required to put that discipline in place and I just don't have that currently.

I have a case of the blahs.

This is dangerous as I have been known in the past to throw my hands up and say things like 'why bother?", and drop whatever it is I was doing and move on. I can't see myself dropping writing as I enjoy it so much, but I need to get things sorted into some sort of order.

If simmering is where my writing has to currently be, then so be it, but I need to own that situation, not just allow it to be and shrug my shoulders, or I could be in danger of that slipping further, and writing once or twice a month would just be depressing and would lead ever closer to me saying 'why bother'.

Writing is full of ups and downs and as a writer, we need to deal with them. Personally I need to take ownership of the situation and admit my failings, expose the whys and wherefores into the harsh light of day, and then implement a solution, otherwise things drift and usually become worse.

We've talked in the past about where you find inspiration, but what do you do when you're off finding inspiration, aka living life, and not writing? What do you do when that situation becomes all the time?

Most of us would say something like 'make myself sit down in the chair and just write', JA Konrath would remind us to 'treat it like a job - be disciplined', which is all well and good, but other writing advice to: not coop yourself up, get out into the world and experience it, watch movies, read books, do courses, but don't neglect your day job as writing is highly unlikely to replace it as the major source of income - leaves very little time left to devote to writing. Oh, and don't forget squeezing in a normal family life with all that.

I guess, in the end, we need to decide, with the input of our significant others, exactly how much time we can put into writing. Influencing this is the perceived correct amount a writer, particularly the new (unpublished - as in no book deal) writer, should be allocating.

I've heard these mantras a lot:
You must write every day.
You must try to write at least 'x' amount of words every day/week
If you have really tried to make a go of your writing, you should have at least one agent interested in your work within five years!

And lots of other extraneous types of things littered about the place in the guise of solid gold writing advice and thank you very much for praying at my alter of wisdom.

Lots of writing advice out there is good, but many people are repeating the same stuff over and over again (I unashamedly put my hand up in this category) - worse, some people are charging people for the privilege of hearing it! Two things to remember here: (1) Money should always flow towards the writer (so check the Internet, and/or ask your online writing friends before paying for anything) and (2) there is nothing new in writing. Getting over that second little gem is a big step to moving forward.

So let's blow the myths out of the water. Don't be shy. If you write 10 words, or 10,000 words a day. Whether you write once a month, crafting a paragraph at a time with an intended first draft completion date of your 75th birthday in 2050 (as long as December 2012 passes in much the same manner as the Y2K bug did), tell me.

What are your writing habits and how strict are you in keeping to them. How is your significant other about this writing time? What do you do when life starts to get in the way?

Or am I asking these questions because I'm not a real, dyed-in-the-wool, can't breathe without it, writer?

PIR Abolition in Australia

I have no intention of weighing into this debate with my reasoning as to why I am pissed at the suggestion of the Australian Government Productivity Commissions (AGPC) findings that the government abolish Parallel Importation Restrictions - effectively wiping out Australia as a separate copyright market, turning us into a dumping ground for other countries unwanted leftovers, and placing the kiss of death on Australian culture's literary voice.

In short, we become a part of the Commonwealth publishing scene all over again. No longer will you be able to sell your debut novel to by dividing up US Rights, UK rights, Australian rights, and the rest of the world rights, and then move onto languages and hopefully the blockbuster film rights. Now it will be US, UK (which will include OZ), other markets.

And the overall factor behind this decision: to enable cheaper books to be sold to the Australian consumer. Excuse me while I say 'WTF?'

Hand up every time you've heard a business say 'if we make this change, then prices will go down - trust me.'

Now everyone put down there hand who remember when, after the change was implemented, a business reduced the cost of the items to lower their profit margin and benefit the consumer.

Has anyone put their hand down? Anyone seen a huge reduction in the price of petrol when the cost of a barrel drops on the world market. It can go up and down like a yo-yo, $10-$20 a barrel and yet weeks later we may see a minimal drop at the pump. Or the same day we will see a price rise depending on the direction of the yo-yo...

So much for me not commenting on this.

What I wanted was to point out something I found a little funny/ironic. The very first paragraph of the AGPCs report is the standard spiel on Australian Copyright, the very thing the report is advising our government to tear down in an effort to make our literary voice weaker and the big publishing chains and book stores that much richer. Okay, that's not why they're advising this course of action, at least not publically.

Like most Australian's on most topics, I showed a fair bit of apathy when I first heard of this, but now that I've read (or in the process of reading) all the documentation available to me, either someone is getting some huge kickbacks from the big boys in the publishing industry, or others within government just don't have their eyes open. Or both.

I'm currently reading the whole report the link above points to, so it may be in there, but it seems to me that "The Coalition for Cheaper Books" (aka Dymocks, Coles, Woolies) and the publishing industry (Australian publishers, editors, agents, writers, associations, etc) are the two sides providing the opposing arguments - has anybody surveyed the public?

**Edit** Appendix A to the report covers public consultation, that is where there announcement of the study was advertised and submissions of interested parties were called for. So the initial spur for the report was obviously not a growing ground swell of disgruntlement from the consumer. Unfortunately it doesn't list off the general content of each submission in so far as the number of submissions for and against, but it seems that most were from associations, authors, and other interested parties opposed to the removal of PIRs - so how did they come to the conclusion that it was the stance they should take? **End Edit**

Australian's as a whole aren't overly 'artsy' in nature. Most regular families in the 'burbs don't attend art galleries or the ballet on a semi-regular basis. I guarantee you that they all know the importance of reading, and they would all place an emphasis on their kids reading something either about Australia, or by an Australian author, while at school. The preference would be a book meeting both criteria.

The bottom line for this recommended change seems to be greater opportunity for competition resulting in lower book prices for consumers.

I don't remember the last news report I read concerning consumers complaining about being ripped off due to the high price of books. Nor do I remember hearing anything about a sharp decline in sales, or the Australian market being in a bigger slump than the rest of the world - actually the general feeling seems to be Australia is doing pretty well, and the Australian genre sphere is actually on the trend upwards (particularly dark fiction). So if the end beneficiary of this dismantling of the Australian copyright territory is the consumer, why haven't they been asked? And if they're not complaining, if they're actually starting to return toward pre-economic crisis sales points, why would we want to change anything?

Again I ask the AGPC - WTF?

So much for not weighing in...

A Little Bit of Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Ever heard the old joke about who is the most dangerous person in the army? A second lieutenant with a map and compass...


That's because you give a brand new, wet-behind-the-ears officer a map and allow him to tell others how to get somewhere, and he'll invariably screw it up and get everyone lost. It then becomes extremely difficult to win a war with your soldiers in the wrong place.


Now I've exploded that old joke by over explaining it; ever heard the one about the noobie writer who knew just a little too much to be called a noob, but not nearly enough to be considered seasoned? He made a fool of himself. Actually, that should be: I made a fool of myself.


I traipse around the web, read books and magazines, listen to shows, and chat with other writers a lot. I have certain ideas on the writing process and the industry as a whole which has developed over time as I've learned more.


When I truly was a noob, one who didn't know about guidelines pages, about manuscript formatting, about passive writing (still struggling with this on occasion), etc, etc - I thought: why are there so many people out there claiming to offer new writers good advice, and yet, they are really only trying to feather their own nest in one way or another? It pissed me off. And a lot of what they were saying was bunk!


So I vowed that I would spread any knowledge I learned freely and without prejudice or want of self gain. I started this blog and its poor cousin, the website, to meet this aim.


Yes, the blog is also my writing journal. I make no apologises for that. This is all about my journey as a writer. I try to keep things non-writing related to a minimum. I figure someone may learn something about the life of a writer if I just journal - so I do.


But I digress.


The more I developed opinions on things, the more I gathered tips, information, and what I considered good practise, the more confident I felt in liberally passing that information on, outside the borders of this blog.


Ever heard that old saying about giving someone enough rope?


Well, I inadvertently trampled all over someone else's thoughts and opinions yesterday. I not only became an over-opinionated writer, I was a typical unthinking male. I offered up not only my thoughts on a given topic, I gave out the solution. I didn't make suggestions, or possible options - I told.


For that, and for any damage I did to our friendship - I'm sorry.


There's another old saying, but this one's from the building trade: Measure twice, cut once.


It pretty much means to make sure that what you think you're about to do, is what you are really doing. Yesterday, I was trying to be encouraging and offer a suggestion on doing something in a different manner. What I did was a long way from that.


Another way to put it would be engage brain before opening mouth as receptacle for foot!


But, we live and learn - and move on.

Up For Discussion

Anton provided this link to an article in the New Yorker discussing the merits of creative writing courses. It's a long article, but worth the read,I think. (Thanks, Anton)

It seems to be centred on mainstream literary fiction, and it seems to argue against itself with the evidence it presents, but it does touch on some home truths, the main one being that creativity can not be taught but it can be encouraged, and this is what I think creative writing courses at all levels are endeavouring to do.

I'm becoming a little disillusioned with my course because I'm not learning a great deal and it's not inspiring me to write more or better. This may have something to do with not fully trusting some of those teaching me.

When I do modules on screen writing, or writing articles - things I'm not naturally lured towards, then I focus more because I'm learning new things. When I'm doing modules on writing short stories or on writing the novel, I'm not learning so much because I've learned much of it over my growth as a writer over the last three years or so. That's not to say I learn nothing, but I do have to sift through a lot of chaff to get to the good stuff.

So does this make writing courses not worth the Latin inscribed parchment you get from them?

I think that depends on where you're at in your writing journey and what you're aiming to get out of the experience.

Creative writing courses will not make you a writer. They will give you tools to add to your writing toolbox, some you will keep, some you will adapt to your own needs, and others you will discard, but at least you will learn of their existence and be able to make decisions about them.

They can give you a sense of community in a profession which is mostly a solo affair, and writers need each other, but a blog like this one or joining a writing group does the same thing - and probably does it better.

It can prod you into producing work. This isn't always quality work due to the time constraints placed on you, but it does give ideas you can work on outside the course framework. Of course your time is so taken up with doing assignments and reading, you have seriously reduced time to follow up on those ideas, and by the time you do, often the spark of inspiration has died and you tend to discard those once flaming gems.

The dream of writing for a living is dying. I'm becoming, sadly, more in tune with the idea of writing only because I want to. I've always wanted to, I just wanted my cake and to eat it as well. Now I'm happy enough to get my work published and track my career as it moves through better quality markets which may one day equal better pay, but it will 'probably' never be enough to live on. Still, a nice bonus occasionally is a good thing.

So do I think creative writing courses are a good thing?

For new writers, for people who, like I did back in 2006, suddenly decided to start writing, then doing a six or twelve month writing course could put you on the right path, but I would suggest doing an English class at that point would be more beneficial.

When you get to the point of submitting work to market, then it may be useful, but then putting the butt in the chair and writing is as useful if not more so. Finding writers who are better than you and who are willing to share their wisdom, help you learn, and pass honest judgement on your work, is infinitely more useful.

As you progress into more focused work in the longer courses such as the four year one I'm currently doing, you will dedicate more time producing a single work which is a good thing, but then with everything you've done with other writers outside the course structure, you'd be doing this anyway and with a better base of opinions to offer guidance rather than a single mentor who you have been paired with - someone you didn't pick and who you still have to learn to trust.

If you're doing the course for the other modules to expand your knowledge across all possible writing careers, then you're diluting your creative juices and this is not a good thing. Decide on what you want to do and put your energies into that.

Creative writing courses may teach you some technical parts of the writing process. They may encourage you to produce work and move forward with your art, but they cannot teach you to be creative.

My advice is to take an English course as early in life as possible and become good at using the words you intend to be creative with, and then get out and experience life. Take note of the world around you and encourage your inner child to make up scenarios about the things you see.

And then write - a lot. Read a lot as well. Seek out writers who are better than you. Your goal is to learn from them and eventually surpass them, unless they are just as focused and then you should all rise together. Critique other people's work and get your own done as often as you can.

Spend some time as a member of Critters (or similar large critique group) where you will read a lot of work. You need to read the good and the bad. You need to be able to pick the difference at ten paces so you won't make the same mistakes - or at least be less likely to :c)

Unless a specific job you're aiming at requires you to have that Latin coated piece of dried and pressed wood, then don't bother. There are better ways - in my opinion (and experience).

What do you think?

I Hate Answering Comments

Don't get me wrong, I love it when you comment on things here, but then I go to return that comment and end up writing another huge essay - so I end up deleting the comment and writing a new post instead.

As I was replying to the comments on the last post, this is how far I got before moving everything into this post...

"That's interesting. I may have to do a post on the lack of time required to write a book... (which would be this post)

I'm sorry, but we struggle to find the time to write while we work full time and some of you are saying you'd struggle to be able to write if you didn't work full time? Did I miss something?

Or is this from past experience; some time in the past before you made the current commitment you have to your writing?"

Okay - let me expand (now I have the room). Do you prefer to squeeze your writing time into an already busy schedule? In the past, has copious amounts of time led to thoughts of, I can do that tomorrow?

If you answer yes to questions like that, then you're not kidding yourself, so much as not doing yourself or your writing justice.

If you get the chance to write full time and pass that up because you think you wouldn't be disciplined enough, then writing is a hobby and may never become more than that. Harsh? You know me... (lets just call a spade a spade and move on).

Writing is a job just like any other. If you're a self employed tradeperson, are you saying you wouldn't be any good because you couldn't get up in the morning, and go out to do the jobs you have scheduled for that day? Of course not. If you must go out the door to work, whether it's for yourself or "The Man", then you do, because bills have to be paid, and your chosen way of life needs to be maintained.

Why do you think writing would be any different?

If you earn enough to write full time, and choose to procrastinate the time away doing other stuff, then writing is a hobby. If you procrastinated while you worked in an office, how long do you think it would be before you'd get into trouble? If you procrastinated while you worked for yourself as a tradeperson, how long before you stopped getting jobs?

Writing is the same thing. It takes discipline and a schedule. You are given a deadline and you must work within it. You must know your own limitations so you plan to meet that deadline taking those limitations into account. And then just put bum in chair (or other favourite writing place) and get to work.

While you have a full time job, you have the perfect excuse for dragging a writing project out, especially if you are writing on spec - i.e. you don't have an agent or a contract in place. Hell, no one is paying you to do this, so get to it when you can - understandable.

But now is the time to put in place the discipline you need for when you are a full time writer.

Everyone who writes, finds some time of the day works better for them. Night owls, early birds, or those who need to write in the middle of the day. Different strokes for different folks - all good. So if that works for you when you're working full time, why would you change it when you write full time? Answer - you wouldn't.

But now you have more time to devote to your writing. So spend the normal time you write, doing that. Spend a few extra hours, improving your writing, paying forward, or researching. Do something related to your writing.

If you have the wonderful opportunity to write full time, now that you have decided writing is what you want to do as a vocation rather than as a hobby, then don't take it for granted.

For the rest of us still struggling to get there, now is the time to learn the discipline we will need once we finally arrive.

Not Great News

Okay, new section with a new label. From now on these rants, comments and/or musings will be headed with the title of:

BT's Soapbox

If you prefer not to be subjected to my ramblings, then this heading will allow you to skip them.

Now then...

The inaugural BT's Soapbox

During my normal scoping out of industry blogs, I made a comment the other day over at The BookEnds Literary Agency Blog to this post about timing. It went like this:

Hi Jessica,

I'm interested in the holes which get filled, the hooks that are in vogue for a time and then over done a little while later.

I'm guessing during your talks with those in the industry, they tell you what they're looking for, what they'd like to see, what they've seen enough of - what hooks are in vogue, what are dated, and what holes have been filled.

I would think a regular update on this type of information would be invaluable to writers. It would be almost a type of trigger for sending in specific work.

I don't mean when someone says, "I'm looking for more historical romance, or dark sci-fi", I mean in a little more detail if that's at all possible.

What type of hooks ?
What do publishers think is becoming hot and why?
What patch of earth is looking plumb to have a new hole dug in it?

I realize this could be construed as searching for the goose laying the golden egg, but anyone trying to write something based on this info would be missing the boat by the time it was ready anyway. This info would only be useful for those with manuscripts in hand (or in drawer).

Thanks in advance

BT

Polite type of individual, aren't I?

I mention this because over at Pubrants, you'll find this post, and I refer you specifically to the last three paragraphs:

And second, publishing is often about timing. For example, if you are currently a writer of young adult or middle grade fiction and you have a paranormal element (read: vampire, werewolf, witch or what have you), you might be stymied by the timing of putting said project on submission right now.

The market is crowded. Editors are weary in some respects. (Agents too!) Just last week I had an editor turn down even looking at a manuscript because she felt her list was too crowded with the supernatural.

That’s a sure sign that a trend is winding down. Now that doesn’t mean nothing in that realm will sell. It just means that any project that does will have to be X times better, X times more original, than similar projects sold 2 years ago.

A couple of commenter's latch onto this bit instead of the gender portion of the post (personally, I think good writing by male or female will sell if marketed correctly and claims of a bias in any genre one way or another is bollocks - nothing wrong with blokes writing romance anymore than women writing action or horror - as long as the writing is good and fits the genre). Unfortunately what comments there are on the second bit stick with the YA bit of it and there have been no replies.

I wanted to ask about the second paragraph in particular - is this all supernatural premises, or only YA?

I would also like to know how long a trend normally lasts? I'm guessing the hype about a book lasts typically 12 months, so a trilogy around three to four years. And then the movie comes out and tacks on another six or so months.

So if you started writing a supernatural book now, used about a year to get it to a standard where you could begin submitting it, you could conceivably be on the very beginning of the next surge. I'm guessing staying away from YA supernatural for a couple of years may be a good thing, but then YA and middle grade want real escapism - look at Twilight and Potter. Fantasy and Horror. So does that mean the next big thing will be YA sci-fi?

Hmmm.........................................

So, if any agents, editors, publishers or others within the industry who are in the know happen to pop by, would it be possible to get regular (maybe quarterly) updates, posted somewhere, on what you are looking for, and what you think may be the next big thing?

I think writers everywhere would be happy with that. Some may try to roll with the trends and produce work specifically targeted at it, but then, don't they already? I think most would continue as they currently do, but it would be nice to know if I should set my next horror story, in the past, present or future and if I should centre it around kids or adults.

Okay - rant over, thanks for listening.