A Novel Approach (To Me)

Do you know someone who wants to be a novelist? If so, here are my top 5 picks for gifts to give to that aspiring writer:

1. A small Moleskine notebook: a budding writer NEEDS to have a small notebook with them at all times to jot down thoughts, ideas, and notes of all sorts.  These are the fodder for characters and stories.  Moleskine is the classic and known by most writers, but any journal or notebook that will fit in a purse or bag will do.
2. A flash drive and a subcription to Dropbox (or some other online storage utility).  Every novel needs to be saved in at least three places in case of disaster.  Any author will tell you that their biggest fear is that they’ll loose their work.
3. A writing program for their computer (or a case of writing pads if they don’t like to write on the computer).  I prefer Scrivener but there are plenty of others that exist if you google it.  Writing doesn’t need to be complicated. Word (for Windows) or Pages (for Mac) are solid word processing programs that will work.  However, what a writing app or program can do is to simplify the formatting process for when they are ready to submit their novel. I like Scrivener because it has some simple functionality that allows me to write in scenes and chapters (making relevant “notes in the margins” if I need to.  It also allows me to dump the scenes onto a virtual corkboard and move them around.  This has come in very handy in the past.  It also allows the writer to open up a full screen window while typing that eliminates all other distractions.  You might be surprised at how helpful this is.
4. A good book about the craft of writing.  You can find a few of my recommendations here.  I’d also add Margaret Atwood’s Negotiating With The Dead to that list.
5. A subscription to the local gym. Not only will they need the social interaction to stay human while they are locked up trying to finish their novel, but they need a strong body to combat the aches and pains of being hunched over their novel for long hours trying to complete it.

The Trillium Award shortlist has been announced and it’s no surprise to see Emma Donohue’s name on the list for her novel ROOM that has garnered much praise this year. Michael Winter is on the list for his book THE DEATH OF DONNA WHALEN, which he describes as “documentary fiction”. Both books were also nominated for the Roger’s Writer’s Trust prize, which Donohue took home.

They share the shortlist for the $20,000 prize with:

Donoghue and Winter face four rivals for the English language version of this fiction prize, worth $20,000:

* What Disturbs Our Blood, by James FitzGerald.
* The Amazing Absorbing Boy, by Rabindranath Maharaj.
* Book, by Ken Sparling.
* The Reinvention of the Human Hand, by Paul Vermeersch.

Here’s a charming video of Emma talking about ROOM:

In the spirit of competition, here’s a video of Michael talking about the writing process. It does appear that the Winter children are having a very good literary year (his sister Kathleen was nominated for the Giller Prize for her book Annabel). I love his commentary about dialogue and his comments on why we write.  I have to say though, the camoflauge jacket and background scenery are distracting. LOL!

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

Something fun for writers…

With thanks to Ticklescratch Productions who produced this video.

Here’s another internet find of helpful writing tips.

A friend sent me a great link today called “Ten rules for writing fiction” and I thought I would share it.  There’s some really great advice from authors like Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, and Neil Gaimen. Enjoy!

If you haven’t found it already, I highly recommend that you check out Ryeberg Curated Videos.  It’s an online magazine that features essays written by artists, writers and thinkers.  The critical point is that the essays on Ryeberg frame the content of videos chosen by the Curators as their starting point.

Enjoy!

To be a great writer, you first need to be a great reader. There is an amazing process that happens when you consume books. It’s a passive form of learning how to write. If you read enough, you’ll absorb the basics of what works in fiction and what doesn’t.  I can’t imagine anyone becoming a writer who is not first and foremost, a reader.

Here are Stephen King’s thoughts on the subject:

What’s the first rule of writing? Get your bum into the seat and actually WRITE something! So that’s what I’ve been up to lately.  I’ve been ‘bum-in-seat’ daily (minimum of 90 minutes and 500 words) and it’s finally becoming a habit.  Ok, ok…I know it sounds small, but 500 words written every day is over 90,000 words or almost 400 pages in 6 months.  I don’t know about you, but I like goals that are achievable.

Here’s a quick video from Neil Gaimen with advice to young writers…what do you think he mentions in the video? Get life experience, figure out what you have to say and…wait for it…write!