Six things I wish I’d known about being published, when I was starting out

Hindsight is always 20/20. It’s easier to look back and see your writing career more clearly than when you’re starting out. This year marks the 30th anniversary of my first romance novel being published. I had books out before then but they were nonfiction, and nothing beats the thrill of holding your first novel. Or your 50th for that matter. For me, the excitement never wears off. Last week I received the French translation of With a Little Help, and couldn’t wait to share the news with my agent and social networks.

I still get a kick out of my translations.The guy on the cover doesn't hurt either.

While I hope the thrill never stops, I’m glad some things have changed. Today I share six things I wish someone had told me when my journey began. They may save you some needless angst.

1. Publishing is only the beginning. I thought of having my novel published as reaching a summit. I’d plant my “successful” flag, readers would cheer and I’d never worry again. Until my editor asked, “What are you writing next? And after that?” Readers might cheer, but they also want more. There are revisions to do, proofs to read, promotion, even before social networking became everyday. Plus writers’ conferences to attend, speeches, workshops and media. Rinse and repeat with every book.
2. You can be ‘real’, your family won’t even notice. Using aspects of my family history in stories once kept me awake nights. What if family members were offended, hurt, angry? When one book I considered especially revealing came out, they read the characters, setting and situation as fiction. In other words, they didn’t connect real life with my story. Change the names and details to protect the guilty, and sleep well.
3. No matter how many books you sell, someone will ask what name you write under. Nearly 30 million sales on, I still get asked what name I write under. Right before how long it takes me to write a book, and where do I get my ideas. Knowing I’m often the first writer some people have met,  I answer the questions as if they’re new to me, too.
4. The fun stuff you get to do really IS research. If you read my previous blog about this, you’ll know that everything a writer does is research, good and bad. I know writers who’ve had major surgery and taken notes because it will come in handy sometime. Everything from lazing on a tropical island to cuddling a Tasmanian devil has found its way into my books.
5. Your family IS proud of you but won’t necessarily let you know. One sister wishes I’d write like Stephen King. Not in me to do. I can only write as me. The other used to read my magazine short stories in the supermarket queue. She changed after learning that I’d spread this around.  No one I know has asked when I’m going to write a “real” book, mainly because I’d written so many books before turning to romance. But you might get asked. Rehearse the reasons why romance is the world’s biggest-selling genre in ebooks and print. Romance Writers of Australia has all the amunition you need here: http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/2012/02/australian-romance-writing-whats-there.html
6. Changes in publishing are NOT the end of the world. Change has been part of the industry as long as I’ve been writing. The first time my adored editor was reassigned, I was a nervous wreck.  These days I roll with the punches. Editors move on. Lines and even publishing houses merge with others, disappear or reinvent themselves online. Print books become ebooks, audio and graphic novels. The one constant is they still need writers providing exciting content. Don’t panic. To paraphrase a popular saying: Keep Calm and Keep Writing.

What have you learned on your writing journey? Please comment below, and share on Twitter, Facebook and any other medium invented while I was blogging. Change is the one constant in life, not only for writers.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

A chip off the old writer’s block

I never thought I’d write this but after more than 70 books, countless short stories, articles and film scripts, and as my friends are only too well aware, many terrible limericks, I’ve hit a patch where it’s an uphill job to put words together. I can blog (obviously), tweet, post to Facebook and write to order if needed, and the limericks keep coming (sorry!) But when it comes to writing new creative work I have to drag myself to the computer, and I delete words as quickly as I put them down.

Discussing this with a writer friend recently, she said my brain was taking long service leave. Is this the explanation? If so, it’s an extended vacation. In the last four years I’ve written four books, two of those anthologies where I was contributing editor. Now if the other two were War & Peace or even Twilight, I’d be more than happy. But they’re not. I’m glad I wrote my Superromance, With a Little Help, so I know I can still write romance, yet I feel no inclination to keep going.

This feels more like a time of cocooning, of waiting to see what writer I might turn into next. I’m not even sure if “writer’s block” is the right term. Writer’s pause? Writer’s drift? This last seems to fit, but drifting where? Toward what?

Last week I watched an old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which the Starship Enterprise’s resident counsellor, Deanna Troi, lost the empathic ability that made her a success at her job. As a Betazoid she can sense the emotions of others. She advises the captain if she senses deception or evil intent from the different species they encounter. Losing her empathic sense was like a human losing their sight, hearing or perhaps a limb. She also felt adrift, angry at the loss, and had to find new ways to operate.

Without being overly dramatic, I feel a similar sense of loss. I’ve made stories since I was a child, been published in some form from the age of 14, and collectively written about four million words for publication. Finding myself sitting at the keyboard with no words there feels as if a key part of me has gone missing.

Deanna Troi’s empathic sense does come back, but not until she discovers new aspects of herself beyond those she’d come to rely on. I’m still waiting. Don’t get me wrong, stories aplenty still crowd my brain and I’ve written volumes of notes for characters and plots. So the words are there in the background, but not yet willing to let me shape them into something I can share.  Yet I know all the tips and tricks there are. I’ve written about them in The Art of Romance Writing and my other books on the craft, and taught them at workshops. I’m qualified as a counsellor, yet like Deanna Troi, the physician isn’t making much headway healing herself. All I can do is keep trying. When I figure out what this strange fallow time is all about, I’ll blog about it – then we’ll both know.

Have you experienced writer’s block? What was it about for you and what eventually broke the drought, if it did break? Your comments are very welcome below. As a writer, what do you do when the writing isn’t happening?

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

To writers, looking at pictures of Hugh Jackman is work…honest

Pictures, YouTube videos, magazines…we writers have the best excuse to study them all. Whether it’s Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp or Justin Babemagnet, they’re our source of hero material. The same with travel. Anywhere a writer goes is fuel for a future book, and the trip most likely tax deductible. Check with your accountant on this, it’s not my field, but we have to get our material from somewhere. Vacations are a great resource.

A few years ago I sailed to Cape York and Thursday Island on a converted cargo vessel. Before setting off I decided this would be a complete vacation. I wouldn’t take notes, hunt out possible locations, collect local real estate magazines for property references. My writer brain would be completely off line. After travelling widely in the name of research, this really appealed and I soaked it up. Snorkelling, fishing, sight seeing, wining, dining, all done without a notebook in sight.

Then I came home and…I’m sure you can guess the rest. Yep. I wrote the entire trip into a book called Island of Dreams which was later serialised in Woman’s Day. And I kicked myself for not keeping receipts as proof that I’d been working the whole way. Because I had. Unbeknown even to myself, I’d stored away scenes and story possibilities for what became a widely translated book, one of my favourites.

Research beckons...

Lesson learned. No matter where I’ve travelled since, I consider the trip at least partly research. Because the well has to be filled somehow. Your first few books may be written from experience and set in familiar places. But sooner or later you’ll need new input and the stimulation of new experiences.  You may not use any of it for months or years, but you will find yourself dipping into the well and coming up with a snippet you don’t remember storing away, and giving it to a character in a current project.

You see, writers are never off duty. Always some part of us is observing and taking note of the people, sights, sounds and smells we’ll later use in a story. That’s just how it is.

There’s only so much you can learn from online research. To really bring a location to life, you have to be there and feel how it feels. Writers of fantasy or paranormal books have different challenges. For the most part you can’t physically visit the places in your books. But I’ll bet anything that the rainforest glade on Planet Glorious will have its inspiration in some magical place you visited here on earth.

What’s your favourite kind of research? Have you been intrigued enough by an author’s research to want to visit the places she describes? I created a restaurant in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia and had readers asking for its address, as sorry as I was that it’s made up. People also say they’d like to visit Carramer, my South Pacific island kingdom. It’s a fantasy, too, but if you visit Noumea and Hawaii, you’ll see where my inspiration came from. Research is fun and writers are always doing it, whether we know it or not. So look at your hunky guy pictures and dream of your faraway places. For a writer, it’s all in a day’s work.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

on Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

First Monday Mentoring, your writing questions answered

Welcome to First Monday Mentoring for March.

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. 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.

The current holder of the Valerie Parv Award, Michelle de Rooy, posed a question on Twitter that deserves answering here. She asked, “Why oh why do you get a GREAT story idea when you have no time to fly with it?”

It happens for the same reason an idea for a brand new book strikes the minute you want to work on your current project. Developing an idea is mental play for your creative right brain. Turning the idea into a readable story is the hard work. We instinctively look for something more entertaining like a shiny new story idea. Ideas also come when we stop trying to force them. As soon as we relax or give up, say to get ready for some other activity, the resistance vanishes and the ideas flow. Next time you feel this resistance as lack of progress, do a relaxation exercise, play soothing music, light a candle or whatever works for you. Tell yourself the ideas/words will come in their own time…and they often will

Happy First Monday, all!

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

On Twitter @valerieparv

and Facebook

If you’re happy and you know it…write it down

The last week in politics has been truly extraordinary, not least because the long-anticipated leadership challenge finally happened, but because – as a commentator on the ABC’s Q & A pointed out – we were treated to an honesty we haven’t seen in political life  for a long time. Politicians the likes of Anthony Albanese showed their feelings to an almost uncomfortable extent. Even Prime Minister Julia Gillard let her red hair down and her personality shine through. We weren’t just told what these people believed, we saw it for ourselves.

There’s a lesson here for writers.

However uncomfortable it may be, it’s vital to get your feelings out onto the page if you are to connect with readers. You’ve heard the maxim “show, don’t tell,” but what does it mean in terms of this connection?

Like the politicians this week, we must see for ourselves, not only what your characters are going through, but how it makes them feel. What do your characters believe in? What will they accept – or not accept? Why? Above all, we need to know why. What in their history and life experiences explains why they believe as they do? How do they act as a result?

 Recently we experienced the fourth anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s historic apology to the aboriginal people for the annexation of this country by what were then outsiders arriving here by ship. For many years I believed I had no part in this debate because I came to Australia as a migrant from England. Then it dawned on me that many of my ancestors came from the same part of England as Captain Cook, a Yorkshireman. How could I be sure that none of my forebears had served with him, playing a role in those early events? I couldn’t and suddenly I understood where I fitted into that puzzle.  On their behalf and my own I made an unreserved apology to the aboriginal people a full ten years before the parliamentary version. Putting my feelings out there in an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald was tough. Despite everything I’d written, I wasn’t used to putting my personal feelings on the page, but the cause was sufficient that I made the effort. And it felt good.

I’m sure the politicians who shared their real feelings this last week felt the same. Without spin, without hype, they showed us who they really were. I did the same in my article. That was a lightbulb moment for me and my future writing. Ever since, I’ve tried to dig for those feelings and share them through my characters. I may not always succeed as well as I’d like to, but it’s important to keep  trying.

Sharing your feelings is hard. As someone once said, it can feel like sitting down at the keyboard and opening a vein. You bleed with your characters. But you also celebrate with them, laugh with them, cry with them, sometimes die with them. And you write more truthfully as a result. Just as we voters knew truth when we heard it this week and when I reached my own epiphany, your readers will recognise when you are writing honestly. So next time you’re tapping away at the keyboard and find yourself laughing, getting turned on, or with tears running down your face, take it as a sign that you’re connecting with your readers on a deep emotional level. They’re no longer reading about your characters, they’re sharing the experiences, exactly as it should be.

Have you ever had an emotional experience while writing? How did it affect the end result? Share by making a comment below.

Valerie

http://www.valerieparv.com

on Twitter @valerieparv’

and on Facebook

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