Naming rites – how to find the right names for your characters

We all know celebrities are different – why else would chef Jamie Oliver, name his children Buddy Bear Maurice, Poppie Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela and Petal Blossom Rainbow? Superhero fan, Nicholas Cage, called his offspring Kal-el Coppola, while the Beckhams have baby Cruz, and Gwyneth Paltrow had an Apple. I’m not making these up. Check http://www.babyzone.com/babynames/celebritynames.asp for more.

Romance novels used to be a haven for exotic names – one of my earliest books featured hero, Race Wolfendale, I kid you not. Today you’re more likely to read about Matt, Jack and Adam, and that’s no bad thing. I once read an American romance where the heroine’s double-barrel name was so distracting I had to modify it in my head just to finish an otherwise enjoyable book.

So here are five handy hints for character naming:

1. The name you choose should be different enough to be interesting, but not so off-the-wall as to sound ridiculous (see above). It can help to match an unusual name with a more everyday one – such as Kerry Greenwood’s lady detective of the 1920s,  Phyrne (pronounced fry-nee) Fisher.
2. Think about the ethnic origins of your character name. If it’s Greek (like Phryne) or Italian, can you include some ethnic aspects in your character’s background? In my book, Island of Dreams the heroine, Lisa Alexander, had Russian parents. Her birth name was Lisanko Nikitayevna Alexandrov and her parents’ refugee background had much to do with Lisa’s character. I turned plenty of mental handsprings trying to find an authentic Russian name that would convert to a convincing Australian version.  The success of that book and its many translations and serialisation made the work worthwhile. More importantly, Lisa had greater depth because she wasn’t born on page one.
3. Don’t stop at the first name that comes to mind. Occasionally a character will come to you fully formed including their name. This is a gift from the creative gods. Use it and be thankful. More often, writers have to work at finding the ideal combination of hero and heroine. And if you want these people to marry one day, consider how her first name and his last name will go together. If Ms. Paltrow’s daughter marries someone called Pye …well you get the idea.
4. Avoid similarities between the names of main characters. This is basic but often overlooked, especially if you change a name during the book’s development without considering the other names already in place. Having a Mac and a Matt, a Jenny and a Joanne, while they may not look all that similar, can cause confusion in the reading.
5. Have fun with your characters. Explore them and ask what they might be called and why. When researching for my MA, I was surprised to find that nearly all my heroines have more than one name, like Lisa above, and it was usually important to the story, yet I only connected the dots with hindsight. It’s also impossible to think of a name that doesn’t belong to some real person somewhere. As long as there aren’t too many similarities – calling your hero Fred Bloggs and making him a lawyer living in a particular part of Adelaide, say, when there’s a real person fitting all these elements – you should be OK legally. Search for a particular name on Facebook and you’ll be surprised how even the most unusual name is shared by dozens of people. I’ve had emails from people with the same names as my characters. Most are good-natured and think it’s fun. A few hint that I may have borrowed their names unfairly. I refer these to the disclaimer in every book that says any resemblance etc etc is purely coincidental. Just because a friend’s name creeps into a book now and then, as a compliment to them, doesn’t change that disclaimer one bit.

How do you choose character names? What are your favourites and least favourites in fiction, and why? Share by commenting below.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

on Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

 

Why we need a National Year of Reading more than a Year of Writing

“Nearly half the population struggles without the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work. There are 46% of Australians who can’t read newspapers; follow a recipe; make sense of timetables, or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.”

This sobering quote comes from the website devoted to the 2012 National Year of Reading officially launched on February 14. The website is here http://www.love2read.org.au/about-us.cfm

I am proud to be a Friend of the National Year of Reading and will do as much as I can to promote all forms of reading for everybody including promoting the cause of reading at workshops, during my tenure as Established Writer in Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writing Centre in Perth, and in regional NSW through our library network and local writing groups.

But why a Year of Reading? Why not a Year of Writing?

Unless we have readers, writers have no one to write for. I believe writing – like all communication – needs a sender and a receiver. Until the writing (the message) is received/read by a reader, the transaction isn’t complete. The reader doesn’t have to receive the message exactly as the writer sends it. They are free to add their own interpretation to the words. For me, that makes the process much richer. But to have the words disappearing into the ether like a shout echoing down an empty valley, would feel like my job is only half done.

Among the goals which the National Year of Reading has identified are three key ones:

• For all Australians to understand the benefits of reading as a life skill and a catalyst for well-being;
• To promote a reading culture in every home; and
• To establish an aspirational goal for families, of parents and caregivers sharing books with their children every day

I was lucky enough to grow up in a family where reading was taken for granted. Reading was never seen as idle or wasted time. It was our entertainment. It was also education but we didn’t know that then. Reading was just fun.  Among my earliest memories are my father reading to my older sister and me in our cots, his inventive voices bringing the stories to life. Later when we moved to Australia, to a town without television (I know, shock! horror!) he read aloud the story of Sam Small, the Flying Yorkshireman, in the dialect of his youth. Unless you’re born to it, Yorkshire dialect is almost incomprehensible on paper. Read aloud it made perfect sense. Many years later in an astonishing coincidence my writer friend, Susan Sackett, told me that her boss, Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek universe, was adapting The Flying Yorkshireman as a film script. I wish I’d kept Susan’s letters from that time because this detail is never mentioned in his official biographies.

Reading has many different appeals.

So we grew up with a reading culture and learned a life skill that added to our well-being. Two of the boxes ticked. If I can help to pass that joy along to families and caregivers who haven’t grown up with reading as an everyday activity, I’ll help tick the third box, and be a true friend of the National Year of Reading.

Did you grow up in a reading culture? What can you do to share that pleasure among your circle? How can you help spread the message of the National Year of Reading 2012?

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

on Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

 

 

 

NEW FOR 2012 – “First Monday Mentoring” – Your writing questions and problems answered here

Welcome to First Monday Mentoring.

On the first Monday of every month (or the first Sunday if you’re in the northern hemisphere), I invite you to post your writing-related questions and I’ll  answer them here.

Lots of talented writers read and comment on this blog and you’re also invited to contribute a question or your thoughts on an answer, or a writing experience that might help others.

There’s another reason I decided to hold First Monday Mentoring.

The 2012 Valerie Parv Award named in my honour by Romance Writers of Australia now opens April 23 and closes May 4 or earlier once the 80 available places are filled.  http://www.romanceaustralia.com/vpa.html

Note, the award is now limited to the first 80 entries received.

I mentor the winner of the VPA for the year they hold the award. With only one award and entries now being limited, I created a program called MentorXpress, where you can have a short experience of working with me as your mentor.  Details and cost are on my website http://www.valerieparv.com

Between the limited number of entries RWA accepts and the fact that there can only be one winner a year, means First Monday Mentoring gives you somewhere to post writing concerns and questions, or share experiences.

DAY ONE IS TODAY – MONDAY FEBRUARY 6

You can post your questions ahead of time if you like and answers will go up during Monday February 6.

I’ll monitor the blog and post answers throughout the day.

Happy First Monday, all!

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

on Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

Resolutions to improve your writing in 2012

Some of the most common resolutions we make this time of year are to lose weight, get fitter, eat healthier and so on. Many of them can be applied to writing. Here’s how.

Lose weight

An easy writing resolution to start with. Aim to shed some weight from your writing by saying what you want to say in fewer and simpler words. Clear communication is key. You want the words to carry your story rather than attracting attention to themselves. In literary fiction, the words can be a reason for reading, but in most other forms of storytelling, the reader should get caught up in what’s happening so they feel as if they’re living the events instead of being told about them by the author. Make every word work for its place in the manuscript.

Get fitter

Workouts for authors are a good thing. Spending most of our working days seated at a keyboard doesn’t make our muscles happy. There are standing keyboards, desks you can fit to treadmills, and many other devices to overcome this problem. Or you can set a kitchen timer to remind you to get up and move around at regular intervals. Computer apps do this as well. But what about a fitness regime for your writing? When you begin, are you writing ready? Is your mind elsewhere, worrying about family or job worries? Or on what to cook for dinner tonight?  It’s amazing what jumps into our thoughts when we should be focussing on the story at hand.

I recommend having “rituals”, routines you set up that get your mind into the same place as your body. Rituals can range from checking emails to reading over your previous output. Set a time for the rituals to end and work to begin but don’t nag yourself if you need rituals to ease into your writing.  Walking through the door of the gym gets you into fitness mode; so having a set time and place to write tells your mind that it’s time to write.

Your writing also needs to be toned up – with the basic research, outlining and character development in hand. You don’t need to know every detail of your research. It’s OK to put “to come” in brackets and hunt out specifics later. But constantly flitting from draft to research can be another form of procrastination.

Set up a budget

This is a favourite personal resolution you can apply to your writing. Choose a measurable goal you want to achieve and the time frame for getting there, then work backwords to how many words you need to write on a regular basis to achieve the goal. Do you want to enter a contest? Submit to an editor? What requirements do you need to meet? Just as a budget needs room for unexpected costs, your writing budget also needs leeway for life to intervene. Every writer’s word budget will differ depending on the time you have available. If it’s only a few hours on evenings or weekends, be realistic in setting your word budget and keep a diary or wall chart of your progress so you don’t short-change yourself.

What other resolutions would get your writing into peak form for 2012? Share your hints by adding a comment below.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @valerieparv

and on Facebook

 

 

 

In writing – what you say matters as much as the way you say it

Most writers worry about getting the words right. I think we should worry more about getting the message right. A piece of so-so writing that has something to say can be forgiven a lot. And by message, I don’t mean something profound about the world or the human condition, though they can be in there, too. Mainly I mean a story we didn’t know we wanted to hear until the author wrote the book.

Have you read Clive Cussler’s first big seller, Raise the Titanic? I read this book many years ago, before Cussler became a household name, and a l-o-n-g time before the Titanic had been located. The book was riveting. The idea of finding this fabled ship, bringing her back to the light, and solving the mysteries of her sinking was what Hollywood and many publishers call high concept. The title says it all and is one of the best pitch lines (the single sentence you’re supposed to distill from your book idea in order to sell it)  ever written.

So what’s the problem? The book is also one of the most awkwardly written I’ve ever read,  riddled with grammatical flaws and horrendous viewpoint jumps. Perhaps they’ve been fixed in subsequent editions, but even if they had, the book couldn’t be a better read. In this 100th anniversary year since The Titanic was launched, even knowing the facts doesn’t spoil a good story.

What sold Raise the Titanic to millions of readers and to the movies, was the power of its ideas and the author’s passion to share them with us. Cussler had been an expert diver since 1952 and his love for and knowledge of diving underpins the story. I couldn’t put it down until I found out what happened on the next page…and the next…

It helps to keep your reader guessing

As writers, this should be our Holy Grail – to keep readers turning pages, anxious to find out what happens. If we can make them sneak a peek at the end to make sure the main character survives the journey, better still. We’ve got them involved, made them believe our fiction and care about our characters.

That’s your task as a writer.

I have my friend and neighbour, John Cooper, to thank for inspiring this post.  He spent some of the Christmas break poring over a book of very big words – VERY BIG words – and conceived a romance novel plot using his favourites. If words were truly the key to success in writing, this should be a best-seller. See if you think it would be.

A verisimilitude belles-lettres hypertrophic bathykolpian callipygian defenestration with

metempsychosis concupiscent anthropophagouseness.

Ooooo-kaaay.

The story stands a better chance when John puts it in basic English -

The true story of a lady with huge breasts and a nice azz who gets thrown out of a window

only to be reincarnated as a lustful man-eater.

Now that story, I’d buy.

What do you think of the role of words in writing? Post your comments and thoughts below.

Valerie Parv

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @ValerieParv

On Facebook

and ranting about life on The Hoopla

http://thehoopla.com.au/fun-fun-fun-seriously/

My 7 favourite writing books for 2011

It may seem surprising that I still read how-to books despite selling over 70 romance novels and nonfiction titles. Yet the joy of the writing craft is never knowing it all.  These days I aim to discover one new nugget of information from a book. If I get that I consider the investment of time and money well spent. So here are the gems I’ve read this year, not all newly minted, but all with something valuable to say.

1. Doctor Who The Writer’s Tale

Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook (BBC Books 2008)

A 500-page monster I devoured with great glee. The writer of some of Doctor Who’s most memorable episodes, and creator of Torchwood openly shares his doubts, fears, writing methods and “how it really is” to be a writer. Love love love this.

2. Story

Robert McKee (HarperCollins 1997)

McKee’s beautiful prose turns me green with envy. This is not only a breathtaking look at the art of story from an acknowledged master, but pure reading pleasure. My copy is littered with post-it notes and I’ve tweeted more from this book on #quotes4writers than any other book I own.

3. Emotional Structure

Creating the story beneath the plot, a guide for screenwriters

Peter Dunne (Quill Driver Books 2007)

As valuable for novelists as screenwriters,  this books fills the gap between plot and story and makes their differences clear. Shows how to create scenes with heart and soul, so your viewers (or readers) will feel the passion. A very different approach.

4. Writing Screenplays That Sell

New 20th Anniversary Edition

Michael Hauge (Collins Reference 2011)

Any book that gets to a 20th edition is doing something right. Again the content speaks as much to novelists as screenwriters, covering everything from goal setting to brainstorming, editing and writer’s block all the way to the dreaded pitch, though Hauge addresses pitching more fully in Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds.

5. We Are Not Alone

The Writer’s Guide to Social Media

Kristen Lamb (whodareswinspublishing.com 2010)

A groundbreaking book on using social media to build a solid platform that connects you with readers. And you don’t have to know about computers or sales to benefit. Without Kristen, I might still be thinking about blogging.

6. Beyond Heaving Bosoms

The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels

Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan (Fireside, 2009)

The creators of the legendary blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, spotlight the good, the bad and the ugly in romance novels. Jennifer Crusie’s cover quote says “I love the Smart Bitches. They look at romance with clear but loving eyes, and they do it with wit, style, intelligence and snark.” As much a guide to what not to do, as a how-to.

And because I can…Heart and Craft

Best-selling romance writers share their secrets with you

Valerie Parv Editor (Allen & Unwin, 2009)

Indulge me for a moment. Imagine how many billions of books (not a misprint) a team including Helen Bianchin, Robyn Donald, Elizabeth Rolls, Meredith Webber, Jennie Adams, Daphne Clair, Kelly Ethan and Alexis Fleming have sold around the world. This book explains how we got there, with insider advice on everything from craft to editing and marketing. This was a “book of the heart” for me to edit and why it’s on this list – so you don’t miss the gems these much-loved authors share so generously.

There it is. Are there books I’ve missed that spoke to you? Share your comments here.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

The Writer Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas,  and in every nook,

Not a creature was stirring except me and my book.

The deadline was looming,  I tried not to care though I knew that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The family were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of editors danced in my head.

My agent would freak out and I’d be a wreck if the copious copy edits didn’t get back.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I abandoned my work to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter and threw up the sash.

The moon on the stretches of overgrown grass gave the lustre of midday to what I saw pass,

As what to my wondering eyes did appear, but Santa and sleigh pulled by lots of reindeer.

The man in the sleigh was so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.

More rapid than a rejection, his coursers they came,

And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name:

“Now Harlequin, now Penguin, now Allen & Unwin,

On Macmillan, on Carina, on Samhain and Random.”

From the top of the porch, I heard his wry call, “Now write away, write away, write away all.”

As blank pages mock an author’s best try, when we meet with a plothole, and look to the sky,

So up to the rooftop, those publishers flew, with a sleigh full of books and St Nicholas, too.

I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed in red ink from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all grimy with ashes and soot.

A flash drive or two he had in his pack. I started to shake but he motioned me back.

A wink of his eye and a nod of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word as he bent to his task, took the drive to my tablet, not stopping to ask,

turned my chaos to order, the edits all done, I was freed from their yoke, there’d be time to have fun.

And laying a finger aside of his nose, Santa gave me a grin; up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to the publishers cried, and away they all flew while I turned back inside.

As I heard him exclaim, my heart beat like a drum,

“Merry Christmas all writers, New York Times here you come.”

                                With every good wish!

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

on Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

With acknowledgement to Clement Clarke Moore/ Henry Livingston

who gave us the original The Night Before Christmas.

The 12 Days of Writing at Christmas

Forget the lords a-leaping and maids a-milking, they’re only distractions to keep writers from a-writing. In any case,  you’d need a New York Times bestseller to afford them. An annual survey by pnc (www.pncchristmasindex.com) values the whole deal at over $24,000, more if you buy online. Shipping live birds isn’t cheap! Add in the expenses for all those lords, maids, and livestock, make that two NYT bestsellers. Here’s my more realistic 12 Days list for writers.

~ For my wonderful agent, Linda Tate, with love and thanks for all the mumble-something years of support. ~

On the first day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Two book proposals, and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 4th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Five months of plotting, four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Six weeks to deadline, five months of outlines,

four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Seven procrastinations, six weeks to finish, five months of outlines,

Four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

And her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 8th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Eight plots resisting, seven procrastinations, six weeks to deadline,

five months of outlines, four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests,

two book proposals, and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Nine drafts completed, eight plots resisting, seven procrastinations,

six weeks to finish, five months of outlines, four speaking gigs,

three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Ten copy edits, nine drafts completed, eight plots resisting,

seven procrastinations, six weeks to deadline, five months of outlines,

four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 11th day of Christmas, my agent sent to me

Eleven nervous breakdowns, ten copy edits, nine drafts completed,

eight plots resisting, seven procrastinations, six weeks to deadline,

five months of outlines, four speaking gigs, three manuscript requests,

two book proposals, and her thoughts on a novel from me.

On the 12th day of Christmas my agent sent to me

Twelve months of waiting, eleven nervous breakdowns, ten copy edits,

nine drafts completed, eight plots resisting, seven procrastinations,

six weeks to deadline, five months of outlines, four speaking gigs,

three manuscript requests, two book proposals,

and her thoughts on a novel from me.

Would you recognise any of these “gifts” on your list? Love to hear your comments.

Valerie

on Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

http://www.valerieparv.com

Deck the halls with Aussie reading

This morning I read a thought-provoking Facebook post from Aussie author, Kylie Griffin. Essentially she urged us not to fill stockings with bits and pieces made and imported cheaply, that our friends and loved ones probably don’t need anyway. American economist, Joel Waldfogel, even wrote a book about this, called Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays . He says that billions of dollars in value are lost every year when we give gifts that are worth less to the recipient than they cost us to buy. You only have to look at eBay after the holidays to see where all these “unwanted gifts” end up. Sadly, most change hands for a fraction of what they cost the giver.

Most of us choose a gift hoping that we’re giving the recipient something they’ll love.  Yet obviously we fail more often than we succeed.  We could always give money, but that can be seen as a cop-out, that we didn’t care enough about the person to put time and effort into choosing a gift for them.

Given that we’re not mind-readers, what’s the solution? Kylie suggested giving the gift of genuine concern for other Australians. “It’s time to think outside the box, people.  Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Asian-produced wrapping paper?”

This year pull out a new idea for gift-giving

Among her ideas are gift certificates from the local barber or hair salon. A gym membership for those into health improvement. A car wash voucher or certificate to get your lawn mowed. Local eateries are struggling everywhere, and giving meal or coffee vouchers helps both the business and the recipient.  ”Mum would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day,” Kylie suggests. Hey, Mum’s not the only one LOL.  Buy from computer services, paving suppliers, car tune-up shops, in short anyone who provides a local service that your friends and loved ones use often. If they don’t have gift vouchers, you can pay for the service up-front, and generate your own certificate, getting the business to sign and date your handiwork. Whether it’s fingernails or hobnails, the money and the work stays in your community.

Then there are books. I and my fellow writers have a vested interested in seeing Aussies give each other books whether downloadable onto a reader, or in still-appreciated print form. If you buy gift vouchers, get them at local booksellers while they’re still around. We might keep them afloat longer this way.

And charity gifts don’t have to fund work across the globe, worthy as that is. Did you know that $20 can help give an indigenous Aussie family individual title to a chunk of community-held land, helping them to obtain a loan to buy or build a home? I didn’t either, but it’s on my gift-shopping list now. Find these and similar gifts at http://www.worldvision.com.au/gifts

What are your gift-giving plans this year? Share your good ideas by commenting below.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

11 amazing things to LOVE about writing… #11ElevenLive

1.  Writers get paid to make things up. All the stuff that got you into trouble as a kid is what publishers will pay you to do now. The more convincing your made-up world, the more successful you’re likely to be.
2. You’re never too old or too young to write. Among the world’s youngest published authors were a four-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. Among the oldest was Helen Hoover Santmyer, whose book, And Ladies of the Club, came out when she was ninety. My first paid article appeared in the Australian Women’s Weekly when I was fourteen.
3. Nothing you write is set in stone. Give yourself permission to write badly. Get rid of the critic over your shoulder telling you this is crap, you can’t do it etc etc. and simply write. As Nora Roberts says, “You can fix a bad page, you can’t fix a blank page.”
4. You can get away with murder. If somebody seriously annoys you, create inventive ways to kill them in your story. Give them a different name and details, but have fun making sure the bad people in your life get theirs. Ditto the good people. They become your heroes and favourite secondary characters, although we’ll swear any resemblance is coincidental.
5. You can steal and get away with it. Not other people’s words, of course. That’s plagiarism. Don’t do it. Write your own words, but take inspiration from the successful writers you admire. Study their writing to see how they work their word magic.
   

   Who says your author picture has to look like you?

6. You can be famous without the hassle. You don’t see paparazzi camped outside a writer’s door. Even if you’re Stephen King, hardly anybody will know you on sight. I sat beside a woman reading one of my books on a plane. My photo was on the cover, but she didn’t look at me twice as I hugged my secret to myself.
7. You’re working while staring out of a window. It’s hard convincing friends and family of this one, but it’s true. Losing yourself in daydreams and playing “what if?” with interesting concepts is your equivalent of laying foundations for a house.
8. Every cool thing you want to do is research. I learned this after cruising from Cairns to Thursday Island. Deciding to treat the trip purely as vacation, I didn’t record expenses or keep a travel diary, just enjoyed the experience. A year later I used the details in my Harlequin novel, ISLAND OF DREAMS, which was serialised in Woman’s Day magazine.
9. You can live and work anywhere.  I have writer friends in Sweden,  Alaska, Alice Springs, everywhere. We work in jammies, in the garden and in bed. Next October I’m working at Daku Resort in Fiji, leading a writer’s retreat. http://paradisecourses.com/category/writing/
10. Writers need never be bored. Stuck in traffic, in a waiting room, in line at the bank? You can let your thoughts wander, solve a tricky plot point, create a character inspired by the lady in front of you, or imagine spending your next royalty cheque.
11. Writing is the best fun you can have with your clothes on. Writing used to be a solitary business. When you’re deep in putting words on screen, it still is. But thanks to social networking, we can find each other, brainstorm ideas, commiserate over rejections, and celebrate successes. And you get to be part of fun things like #11ElevenLive  a worldwide link-up of artists, writers, film makers and musicians celebrating this once-in-two-hundred-years date.