Tip #11

Free writing and Stream-of-consciousness writing

While trawling through some fellow writers blogs I came across this post by a friend and I really liked the concept, so asked his permission to share it.  I think it's a really great way for novice writers to simply get words out on to a page.

"To begin as simply as possible, start punching any and all words/sentences you can think of into your word processor (or pen to paper if you prefer), don’t worry about how insane what you type sounds, just type. Think of it as a dream you are having where anything can happen; you may be walking along a road that stretches for miles, then there is someone next to you talking about how they love to travel, suddenly you are in Egypt, etc.
That’s very basic, don’t stop there, write anything that pops into your head. It could be that your arm becomes disconnected from your body and moves by its own accord, it finds a snake and they have a ‘romantic’ time together. An enormous tidal wave washes that away and you see from the corpses floating around you that the entire planet has been engulfed by floods killing all land life.
Sentences don't need to make sense, words don't need to be spelt correctly and a full stop doesn't need to be used at all. Just go!

Everything I have just mentioned sounds absurd, but this is how I first began to write. I later learnt that there were books written on this style/exercise of writing. It's called free writing or also stream-of-consciousness writing. Look it up if you like.
This should free up your mind and prove that you can write. After writing for fun with no direction, you can begin moulding a story that you are interested in and making it your first short story or novel.
Enjoy!"

http://matclarke.blogspot.com/

Tip #10

We are privileged in Australia to have so many wonderful Literary festivals where novice writers can attend wonderful workshops and talks run by local and international authors. There are workshops on many genres and the festivals tend to run anywhere from one to two weeks.  In Melbourne we are now lucky enough to have a Festival for Emerging Writers each June and from that has been born a wonderul book that is produced each year entitled "The Reader".

"The Reader brings together ideas and insights into the craft, philosophy and politics of being a writer. It’s about writing and everything that comes with that: editing and publishing, motivation and distraction, the missed opportunities and the poetics of failure. With articles, essays, poems, fiction and artworks, The Reader blurs the lines between the creative and the critical, ultimately asking, what is it to be a writer?"

Information on the emerging writers festival can be found at: http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au

For information on other yearly festivals the following website is a great starting point:

http://www.literaryfestivals.com.au/

Tip #9

Another tip to finding where and how to get published and tracking your submissions is by using a site called  Duotrope.  You can filter over 3575 fiction and poetry publications by genre, subgenres, length of work, pay rates etc.

Duotrope states 'it can be used to search for markets that may make a fine home for the piece you just polished.'

So if you’re looking to publish your work and better still get paid for it, this is a perfect place to start.

www.duotrope.com

Tip #8

Finding a publisher who is actually willing to read unsolicitored manuscripts can be a nightmare for the novice writer.  Thankfully there are a couple of publishing houses that have a certain day of the week where writers can submit their work via email.  The publishers then promise to read your manuscript and reply within a very short period of time.

Two Publishing Houses I have found are Pan Macmillan and Allen and Unwin.

Pan Macmillian Australia is a major Australian publisher and distributor that has released a number of titles under the group imprints Macmillan, Pan, Picador, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, Pancake, St Martins Press, Tor, Forge, Griffin and Sidgwick & Jackson.

According to their website, they are looking for:

• Commercial fiction – women’s fiction, thriller, crime, historical, humour, paranormal, fantasy; a story can have romantic elements but romance will not be assessed
• Literary fiction and non-fiction – novels, short stories, and narrative non-fiction only
• Children’s books and young adult – junior and middle grade fiction, young adult fiction; we are not accepting picture book submissions
• Commercial non-fiction – history, memoir, mind body spirit, travel, health, diet, biography

Every Monday, in what they call Manuscript Mondays, they accept electronic submissions between 10 AM and 4 PM AEST. If they are interested in your work and you follow their guidelines, they will get back to you within 1 month. www.panmacmillan.com.au.

Allen & Unwin is a leading independent, and Australian, publisher who releases about 250 titles per year and who has handled work by authors including Fleur McDonald, Helen Brown, and Mary Groves. According to their website, they cover a wide range of material including “literary and commercial fiction, a broad range of general non fiction, academic and professional titles and books for children and young adults.”

Every Friday for the last 5 years, they’ve been accepting submissions for fiction and non-fiction through their website called The Friday Pitch. If they are interested in your work, they will get back to you within two weeks.

Visit their website for more details and submission guidelines at allenandunwin.com.

Tip #7

Building an Author Platform

More and more publishers want to see authors that have existing “platforms,” or essentially an audience of individuals or groups ready to purchase your work. This audience can come through your blogs, Twitter followers, podcasting subscriptions, and/or any other number of resources. Having a platform is another way to help differentiate your work as a writer, increase your chances of securing a publishing deal, and increase sales.

Joanna Penn, of The Creative Penn, has written a free eBook, Author 2.0, that details how to use free or inexpensive social networking and Web 2.0 tools to build your platform.

For more details and to download her eBook, visit her website at www.thecreativepenn.com/blueprint/ 

http://tweepi.com/blog/2011/04/10-advanced-twitter-tips-tricks/

Tip #6

Every November is National Novel Writing Month and NaNoWriMo is a worldwide challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. If you are you up for writing an average of 1,666.66 words every day for a whole month then at the end of the month you could have written wither a short story or half way through a major novel, which is quite a major feat.

NaNoWriMo is a perfect way to:

1. Set a clear solid goal with a deadline for writing a novel.
2. Prove that you are indeed capable of writing a novel.
3. Prove that you have the discipline to write a novel.

So if you’ve been itching to finally get that novel idea written, start thinking about what you’re going write on November 1st and get ready! Visit their website at www.nanowrimo.org to sign up to track your progress and learn more about what NaNoWriMo is all about.

The criteria is, you are not to have started the piece prior to November so keep it in mind for future years to have that little challenge to set for yourself and write up a 30 day storm!

Tip #5

Manuscript Assessment can be a wonderful way for novice writers to have their work critiqued by a published author prior to starting to submit for that all important publishing deal.

Acclaimed author Louise Cusack shared with me some details of what writers can expect should they choose to use a Manuscript Assessment service.

"A manuscript assessment won’t guarantee publication, but I certainly believe it’s a short cut for those who have problems with their stories that they can’t see or don’t know how to fix.  One thing it’s not is a quick-fix for lazy writers.  An assessor doesn’t ‘edit’ the manuscript.  Instead they tell you what isn’t working and how to fix it, but you need to do the work yourself.  So it’s really only an option for those with the passion and determination to keep editing, to keep believing in themselves and to persist.  Because the honest truth is that those four virtues: passion, determination, self-belief and persistence are far more important than any advice an assessor  could give you." 

For more information on the service Louise provides check out her website at: www.louisecusack.wordpress.com

The Victorian and Sydney writers centres are well established organisations and also offer this service.

http://vwc.org.au/services/manuscript-assessment-services

http://sydneywriterscentre.com.au/manuscript.htm

Tip #4

Entering competitions can be an excellent way to not only gain a name for yourself (hopefully in a positive way) within the industry, it can add credibility to yourself as a writer especially if you do win some of the illustrious prizes.  

There are many competitions out there ranging from short story writing, poetry, mentorships and essays.

An amazing list of competitions can be found at the following link:

Good luck peeps!

http://www.austwriters.com/AWRfiles/competitions.htm

Tip #3

Join Groups and Social Network your Goals!

Join writing groups...whether it be a group where you can take samples of work to be critiqued by other novices or a social group to catch up over a wine or six (a must being a writer!) as I take another sip to write this blog...

Joining groups will make you feel a part of something rather than just a lonely soloist.

Groups can also be a great source of inspiration and can help keep you on track.  

Being able to set goals to a real group of people, like, "by the time we meet next week I will have written 10,000 more words"..if you don't then you have to face the shame and come up with excuses why you didn't achieve your goal..

I usually also Tweet my goals and once I have committed that Tweet, because I follow and am followed by so many other authors, I feel I have to achieve my goals and I do...And isn't it so nice to receive that praise from fellow writers at how well you are doing and keep up the good work, makes it all worthwhile to know you have friends in the same boat who care about your word count. 

Speaking of Twitter, following fellow authors, publishers, booksellers etc can bring about great contacts and ideas, you never know, that publisher you constantly tweet may end up loving your novel and you've already got some semblance of a relationship with them.  So on that note, always be mindful of what you Tweet also ;-)

Writing groups can be found through www.meetup.com or even through Twitter and Facebook.

Happy Tweeting!

Tip #2

READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ

...and then....

READ SOME MORE!!!

There is nothing like reading a diverse range of genres and a mix of contemporary novels with a load of classics. 

Even if you do not aspire to write prose like Jane Austen or thrillers like Tom Clancy, there is always something that can be learnt from reading widely.

Books can be an amazing source of inspiration, not only for storylines but for how to write in a certain way.

Books can help you find your own voice and style.

If you find yourself constantly drawn to a certain type of book perhaps that is the style that you would be most comfortable writing in.  

You must love your own style and what you write, because if you don't love it, then why would your readers.  

By the way...WHO Magazine does not count unless you want to be a features writer.  

So join a Book Club, local library or raid those bookstores and do yourself and your potential readers a favour by learning from those who have made their mark on the publishing world and you never know, one day somebody may be reading your book as inspiration!

Tip #1

WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!

Write everyday...

Hemingway wrote 500 words a day..

Sure sometimes you just don't have the energy or inspiration to know where to start but to write just 500 words a day would mean a first draft for a 400 page novel of 100,000 words could be written in 6 months. 

So with that thought in mind, better still, write 1000 per day and have it ready in 3 months :-)

True writing is about getting the story down, not the research or the outline, but the words that make it onto the page.  The only way to start and finish is to make it part of your daily ritual..

Now to take my own advice and write up a storm!