Post Number: 918
I read an article in the Globe and Mail today about how abundant Literary Awards are for Canadians. You would naturally assume that this is a good thing, but some people see a downside. You can read the article for yourself, but it seems that the feeling is that these large awards sometimes slant the attention of Canadian readers too heavily to the award winners, and that other equally talented Canadian writers who didn’t win are overshadowed. It also suggests that some writers who may have received lots of reviews in the past, now struggle to get reviewed if they haven’t won an award.
In the end, the awards are not the only measure of talent. They are an “in” for readers who want to try a new author, but want to see some measure to assure them that the money invest in purchasing the novel is well spent. An award nomination or win can give that assurance. The awards are also a chance for authors to be recognized by their peers for their work. Author’s are, for the most part, underpaid for their work so these awards do help.
I can only speak from my experience. Once I read an award winner, I often then read my way through the short and then the long list. That is not to say that I read all of them. I’m still going to choose only the books that interest me at that time. In the end, it’s how good a story is and how well you can sell it to me as a reader in the jacket flap and the first page that counts. The prize win (or nomination) is an added bonus. I think it’s wrong to assume that Canadian’s buy books only if they are nominated for a prize. Word of mouth and reviews still play a strong role.
I thought that the list of awards available to Canadian writers was interested and have included it below:
The top book-prize jackpots open to Canadian writers, in order of value (all amounts in Canadian dollars):
1. Nobel Prize in Literature: $1,555,870 (to my knowlege, no Canadian writer has ever won this prize)
2. International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: $139,000
3. Man Booker International Prize: $96,487
4. Man Booker Prize: $80,400
5. Warwick Prize for Writing: $80,400
6. Griffin Poetry Prize: $75,000
7. Cundill Prize in History at McGill: $73,345
8. Writers’ Trust Hilary Weston Prize for Non-Fiction: $60,000
9. Scotiabank Giller Prize: $50,000
10. Montreal International Poetry Prize: $50,000
11. British Columbia National Book Award: $40,000
12. The Donner Prize: $35,000
13. Governor General’s Literary Awards: $25,000
14. Rogers Writer’s Trust Award: $25,000
15. Marion Engel Award: $25,000
16. TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award: $25,000
17. Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction: $25,000
18. Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing: $25,000
19. Trillium Book Award: $25,000
20. Matt Cohen Prize: $20,000
Post Number: 874
Post Number: 826
As I’m laying out the framework of my novel and revising based on the feedback this week, I’m finding that what I learned from Walter Donohue, a guest speaker at the Faber course, is really helping me focus my outline–scene by scene.
He is an editor with Faber & Faber publishers in England, and he spoke to us about drama and the screen writing method. We were lucky to have the privilege of listening to him speak while he was on a lay-over in Canada. I was surprised to find that the screen writing process could have anything in common with writing novels. While movies are consecutive scenes, novels are also a chain of scenes–linked by narrative.
He showed us how the screenplay was written for the movie Paris, Texas. He walked us through the process of identifying scenes–using one sentence/one page per scene–from the beginning to the end, and then going back to flesh them out and add dialogue. This is precisely what I’m doing to layout the framework for my novel. Luckily, Scrivener (the program I write with) is extremely conducive to this method.
Now, back to writing. Thank you Walter. 
Post Number: 724
I’m embarrassed to say that my blog has fallen to the wayside with work and the Faber course at U of T. Life is chaotic right now and I don’t see it getting better for at least 6 months. That being said, I’m going to force myself to start blogging again.
The course has been fantastic but the commitment (over and above my already busy schedule) has been intense. So intense that we’ve already lost two students. Both were talented and we’ll miss them.
It’s interesting–none of the students who are travelling a distance to Toronto (like myself, a student from Montreal and a student from Winnipeg) have dropped out. Perhaps because we’d expected the travel to be difficult and had made our peace with it before the course started.
I have no regrets, the course is well worth every moment I’ve invested in it so far.
Post Number: 714
We had another excellent class this past week. We talked about writing and about beginnings that work. However, first we gave our critiques to the student who had submitted work the previous week. Most of us (including myself) focused on the little stuff: which character we liked best, areas where the work seemed to slow down, repetitive words, etc.
Miriam blew me away when she did her critique. She focused a bit on the smaller stuff such as sentence structure, rhythm and pace. All very important. However, she also got the the very root of the issue, which was that the story started in the wrong spot. She recognized that the story being told in the writing, wasn’t the real story. The real story is the one at the end of the author’s first draft. She encouraged the author to start there and work the rest of the story around it. That had to be very daunting for the author. It’s hard to put so much into a work, to then find out that it would be best re-structured. The author was very brave and I look forward to reading the novel when it’s complete.
The experience gave me a whole new perspective on critiquing…but it also gave me a whole new perspective on my own work and I’ve been revising as a result of what I learned.
This week we are critiquing a short story because the author isn’t far enough into their novel to provide a section to critique. This has presented a bit of a challenge for me but I’m trying hard to provide something of value in my critique.
I can’t wait for Wednesday!
Post Number: 703
I found this online and thought I’d share it. It’s JK Rowling’s own handwritten plot outline for Order of Phoenix. Very cool…
Post Number: 700
What you see before you is my obsession…Moleskine notebooks. There was a time (not so long ago) that I didn’t know these notebooks existed (perish the thought!). In my life, I have bought dozens of notebooks…usually of the gorgeous leather-bound and ridiculously pretentious sort. Some I’ve used and many I have not. Some of these notebooks (or journals) were just so lovely to look at that I couldn’t bear to soil them with my writing. Which, of course, defeats the purpose of a journal or a notebook.
Then someone posted a recommendation online. I followed the link and found out that Moleskine’s (or, to be more accurate, the notebooks that Moleskine’s were designed to replace) were the legendary notebooks used by Hemingway, Picasso and Chatwin. I was intrigued. One purchase was all it took. I was in love. The quality is excellent and the notebooks are a lesson in simplicity. Quality paper bound in a hard cover (great for writing on the run) with a ribbon to quickly find your spot and an elastic band to keep it closed. In the back cover is a small expandable envelope. The design is minimalist and brilliant. These are notebooks designed for creativity. I have no qualms about writing in them and so they are filled with hen-scratch that only I doubt anyone but me can understand.
My current red Moleskine was a stretch. Considering that I was used to black, the new red notebook seemed so outrageous. Living on the edge…it’s the story of my life (can you hear the sarcasm?). I’m about 1/4 of the way through and am never parted from it…it’s handy even when I’m in the bathtub (where some of my best thinking happens). I love that it fits perfectly into my purse.
I always have a new Moleskine on hand so that when I come to the end of one, I’m not madly dashing to buy another. I’ll be moving back to a black notebook and am going to try their new soft cover version. I’m not sure what I’ll think. I expect that it is easier to write in the hard cover version, but I guess I’ll soon find out.
Post Number: 686
Because I don’t have nearly enough on my plate already, I’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November. I’m hoping that NaNoWriMo will help me to set and achieve daily word count goals…which I want to do for the course anyway. I’m furiously outlining (and doing character sketches) during my daily 90 minutes that Miriam insisted we commit to.
I’m going to try and hit a “write in” this year and, hopefully, connect with some writers in my area. Should be fun.
Post Number: 676
