Dream On

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DreamCloudsI had the fun of doing an author tour as part of CBCA Book Week (the last week of August). During this tour I facilitated several workshops along with a number of author talks, and a signing. One of those talks was in the library of my home town, with the title ‘Dream to Live’ (playing on the thought ‘Live the Dream’).

When I mentioned how a recurring dream had become the inspiration for my first historical fiction manuscript, an attendee made the observation that Buddhism links repeated dreams to a past life. This was an interesting remark, as the previous day when I had been doing workshops on characterisation in another town, several attending students also mentioned how they obtained their best inspiration through dreams.

In reflection, it occurred to me that many belief systems, including Christianity, place great spiritual significance on dreams and their meaning. Later that week, I participated in an author signing for a customer VIP night at a Brisbane bookstore and overheard a conversation on the same topic – dreams and their meaning.

In today’s modern world, more often than not, we place very little value on dreaming, in particular the meaning of dreams. It just doesn’t sound very ‘scientific’ unless coupled with the social sciences, such as a study in psychology. Yet, I have to admit that dreams have played an important part in my life, particularly my writing journey. Perhaps not in an especially profound sense, but I began to consider the experience of others and how they might perceive dreams. Could I have my time back, I would have liked to have asked the attendee who made this initial remark what their personal perspective was on dreams. I believe it would have been an interesting conversation.

This isn’t a question I’d usually ask, but as I’m one of those annoyingly curious people, I’m going to anyway. 🙂 How about you? How do you see dreams? Do you hold to the ‘too much pizza’ logic? Is it merely an abstract conglomeration of the events of our life? Is drawing meaning from dreams a bit ‘new agey’ for your liking? Or have you experienced uncanny moments of insight, guidance or inspiration through dreams?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Blog Award Tour

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JeanetteOHaganWrites250Fantasy author and science-fiction fan, Jeanette O’Hagan has tagged me for the Blog Award Tour. Jeanette has lived in Australia and Africa; has practiced medicine; taught theology; accumulated a few degrees, including recently completing a Master of Arts (Writing); and is actively engaged in a caring Christian community. She is currently caring for her young children and writing her Akrad Legacy series, while co-editing the Glimpses of Light anthology, which is due for release later this year. Jeanette has had short works published, including contributing to the Tied in Pink a romance anthology supporting breast cancer research. Last month she also donned her ‘cabin coordinator’ hat and dragged me and a bunch of other writers along for a fantastic ‘CampNaNoWriMo’ ride. (Thanks Jeanette and cabin buddies!) In summary, Jeanette is basically superwoman who doesn’t need to wear a cape to prove it!

As part of the Blog Award Tour, Jeanette has asked me to answer four questions for today. She’s also tagged two other fantastic authors: Lynne Stringer (blogged 27th July) and Alison Stegert (blogging 10th August), so make sure you look up their posts. As for me, let’s get ‘touring’!

1. WHAT YOU’RE WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
Where do I start? Okay, I’ve just (July CampNaNoWriMo ‘just’) finished the first draft of the third book for my YA Integrate trilogy, so I’ll be working through that over the next period – and all the research and revision fun that entails. I’ve just completed final revisions for Replicate, the second book in that same trilogy. (It’s coming at the end of the year, so keep an eye out!) I’m presently undertaking revisions for the Glimpses of Light anthology (in between prepping for some upcoming writing workshops), and am also about to receive my historical fiction ms, A Devil’s Ransom, for final revisions any day now. As you can see I’m not bored. 🙂

2. HOW DOES YOUR WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN YOUR GENRE?
CoverIntegrateI write a complex plot, where the characters’ greatest battles are the ones they face within themselves. I feel I write from a fairly unusual combination of experiences, which can make for some fun (and at times peculiar!) story developments. Exploring the scenario of an illegal human GMO made Integrate an interesting and unique work to bring together. The outworking of this premise saw many themes emerge through Blaine’s challenges. Similar themes, including ethics, human value, identity and IP rights continue with a bit more of a crime spin in Replicate. The plot of A Devil’s Ransom also has multiple complicating threads, with a strong redemption theme. The spiritual journey of the main protagonist causes him to face the ultimate question: what kind of man will he choose to be – even if that choice brings fatal repercussions? I guess I don’t like to make things too easy for my protagonists.ADevilsRansom

3. WHY DO YOU WRITE OR CREATE WHAT YOU DO?
I love stories. Life is one big story (with an awesome Master Designer) and we are threads in that incredible fabric. There is something nearly compelling about writing out the stories that come into my head, which is essentially how I started writing novels. Many years ago I had a repetitive dream and started writing it down. It soon grew into a novel length work – and obviously I didn’t think to stop there! (Even though I found I had a lot to learn about writing.) I feel writing brings together the contrasting elements of who I am and in that union there is a purposeful voice that seeks to share those ever expanding journeys; in the right time, in the right season.

4. HOW DOES YOUR WRITING/CREATIVE PROCESS WORK?
I would like to believe I am more inclined to be plotter, but I am clearly not enough of a disciplinarian to keep my characters in order. In the last two manuscripts I started them out on the story arc and they promptly decided to do their own thing! (So naughty of them.) Usually I get an idea, whether that’s in conjunction with research or even a particular experience or setting, and something usually sparks a strong visual image followed swiftly by a scenario. Soon I know where the story is headed and where it will end. I tend to research and write in turn (with frequent heavenward pleas for creativity and insight). If there are a lot of research elements, I like to get it all in my head and write, otherwise the developing story can take you too far away from the boundaries in which you must create. I know I’ve mentioned this previously, but if I get really stuck I have a very spiritual approach to this – a special prayer that goes something like this. ‘Help! I’ve got no idea what to do with this!’ LOL – though it’s true! (And I say that more often than you might expect.) After completing the first draft I go back and with each revisions add additional layers to the manuscript as I determine the finer details of the storyline. In fact, I’m just starting that process with the sequel to Replicate.

Thanks ‘Super Jeanette’ for inviting me aboard the Blog Award Tour. Now I get the delightful job of tagging the next Blog Award Tour participant. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you the remarkable Rita Stella Galieh.

RitaPicRita is an Australian with an English, Scottish and Jewish heritage. She started inventing adventure stories in her childhood with her Grandma, to entertain themselves while her mum worked. With encouragement from her mother, she spent after-school hours writing little poems in the children’s section of the Sunday papers. Not only did this provide pocket money, it also planted the seed for writing. As a student at Sydney’s National Art School, she became a committed follower of Christ, and during this time her family built up a pottery studio where she eventually worked as a ceramic artist. Upon meeting fiery young violinist, George Elias Galieh, they shared ideas and sparks flew! They became singing partners, married and attended the Emmaus Bible College in preparation to follow their desire to use their talents in evangelism for the Lord’s glory. They welcomed a son in the early years of their adventures together.

Rita aims to captivate her readers while remaining faithful to God honouring theology. This fulfils a long held desire to write stories that entertain and inspire – and her stories have all the ingredients to match these expectations for her readers. She gives one hundred percent of herself to her stories and is not afraid to enable her writing to expose raw emotions, which she sees as a pathway to healing when released the ultimate Healer. She has a passion for writing historical romance with both intrigue and adventure, and really enjoys researching the 19th century Victorian Era with all its undercurrents.

To find out more about Rita and her writing, make sure you visit her website and don’t forget to keep an eye out for her ‘Blog Award Tour’ post next week (10th August) at www.ritastellapress.com/author-blog.

Shedding Leaves

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CNV00137I watched orange-brown leaves drift to the ground and felt I understood how that luscious tree-turning-dead-pole-with-twigs felt. I had also been shedding. Not leaves, but responsibilities.

Just as there are seasons in nature, there are seasons in life. In recent months I’ve been reminded how swiftly those seasons can change. So often we get caught up in doing that we can believe our activities are a measure of our worth. Slowly but surely I’ve recognised that there are times when we have to shed some ‘important’ things from our schedule to get through a change in season.

Something I’d never quite aligned with shedding until now was survival. Trees shed leaves so they can invest energy into the hidden processes that help them endure long, cold winters and, get this, prepare them for rapid growth when the winter passes. Leaves need to go because sustaining them diverts resources away from making that transition for surviving until spring. And this is where that connection between me and the deciduous tree hit.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I struggle to drop duties or scale back involvement in organisations etc, but I recognise that when winter hits suddenly, a ‘shed’ is essential for self-preservation. Too often we judge people’s value on what they are doing, or can do but don’t. Perhaps they’re just in the middle of a long winter.

Deciduous trees are also a strong reminder that every season has a beginning and an end. Even though trees ‘scale back’ on leaves for the winter, they also know spring will come again and when it does, they are ready to burst forth new leaves and actively expand their canopy once more.

Maybe you’re also facing a season where it feels like you’ve had to cast off leaves by the bagful. Don’t feel guilty or think this is a reflection of your value or capacity. Often leaf shedding is plain ol’ wisdom. But one thing we must remember is to also anticipate spring, and when it comes, allow our lives to continue expanding into new things.

Avoiding Write Pains

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARecently my fun physio friend and writing associate, Pamela Heemskerk, and I teamed up to do a series of guest blogs for the ACW blogspot. And what better topic than pain?

Before you run and hide, the point is actually PREVENTING pain by developing positive habits to prevent repetitive strain injuries to muscles and joints. For writers these types of injuries can put a swift cap on the ol’ word count capacity. And wouldn’t it be a shame if we couldn’t share our deliciously creative word-slurries with the world? But this isn’t just a writer’s thing. We all spend enormous quantities of time using technological devices and no one is immune to muscle and joint strain.

In case you missed out on this series, I’ve added the links below. Click on over to discover some helpful ways to minimise your writing pain and maintain word count gains. 🙂

 

Part 1 – Pre-POSTURE-ous Perils of Ineffective Ergonomics

Part 2 – I NEED to move it, move it!

Part 3 – The ‘Eyes’ Have It

Part 4 – Your Ergonomic Writes for Headache-free Adventures

He said, she said

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BookStack1_2In recent years there’s been much advice on the use of speech tags in writing. If I picked two key points from the current standard, they would be:

1) Eliminate speech tags in preference of action beats wherever possible.
2) Use simple ‘he said’ or ‘she said’ instead of other tags like ‘retorted’, ‘teased’ or ‘simpered’.

I’ve applied this advice to my own writing, appreciating the improved flow and consistent pace conferred by not constantly bumping over ‘said’, ‘bawled’ or ‘snapped’. That said (pardon the pun …), I sometimes find myself including an action beat because it’s the ‘appropriate’ thing to do. Laziness? Weariness? Maybe just, ‘I’ve been at this for hours and just really want to finish this scene!’ All I know is token beats can really drain the life out of a scene (and characters) and make them feel flat and contrived. Clearly this is something to be mindful of, but I’m a ‘show me’ kind of person. I like to see examples of what works in order to apply it in my own writing. (You know that whole ‘writers should be readers’ thing? 😉 ) And I’ve stumbled across a gem.

Presently I’m listening to the audio recording of Jasper Jones by Australian author Craig Silvey. (Who says you can’t read and drive at the same time?) The language is coarse in places, although not gratuitous given the context. I suppose hearing it rather than being able to gloss over profanities with my eyes is more confronting, and although only a short way into the story, already I’ve sensed a sad, empty perspective of spirituality beyond anything but self in the characters. Yet the writing is brilliant. I’ve been drawn in, my imagination filled with carefully crocheted words that form an intricately textured blanket in my mind.

But while listening yesterday it struck me. He said? She said? I’m not far into the story, but I couldn’t say I’d noticed many. Was I so engrossed in the scenes that I missed them?

As I couldn’t flip back pages to prove it, today I got my hands on a printed copy – and there are some. A tag here and there, bunched in other places. Never overdone. Still, what really grabbed my attention was not a single action beat merely filled space. It all blended as part of the scene, sketching characters and emotions in three dimensions, and bringing settings to life like a seamless cloth. Two short examples from the first chapter:

p. 2
He takes a step towards me. I take one back.
‘Okay. Are you ready?’
‘What? Ready for what?’
‘I tole you. I need your help, Charlie. Come on.’ His eyes are darting, his weight presses back.

p. 10
‘I’m sorry, Charlie. I’m sorry about this, mate. I dunno what to do.’
I am hugging my elbows. I turn to Jasper Jones.
‘Why would you bring me here? I shouldn’t be here. I have to go back home. You have to tell someone about this.’
‘Wait. Charlie, not yet, mate. Not yet.’ It’s firm plea. We fall silent.

There is much I can learn from this master wordsmith, and many others. As I’m turning my attention to editing once again, this is a timely reminder of the importance of constantly challenging my writing craft through exposure to more skilful authors. How about you? Are there stories that have opened your eyes to a better way of writing? I’d love to hear about your experiences.