Category Archives: Writing

What I did on my winter vacation

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Okay, we didn’t actually GO snorkelling. The little monkeys freaked out as soon as they were waist deep in the waves. Maybe next time… We DID have a wonderful time in Mexico, for the week of Christmas. And now I’m back with a few New Year’s resolutions.

1. Write!
I’ve arranged this season’s timetable so there’s regular writing time. Due to the fall’s general craziness, there was NO writing time scheduled. I learned that when things are about to hit the fan (a) not agreeing to contracts is a good idea; but (b) not scheduling writing time is a bad idea. Writing time equals sanity. And this season — time! Exciting.

2. Finish the damn novel.
And revise it. And sell it. Just like that.

3. Dress better.
I’ve been saving the earth by wearing only second-hand clothes for the last year or so. This has resulted in a wardrobe that’s perfectly adequate… unless I plan to leave the house. I’m needing a new strategy. I imagine it will involve eco-friendly clothes, but they always seem to be made for those who are long and lean, not short like me. The search begins.

4. Eat more vegetables.
And, as the gatekeeper of my family’s meals, force everyone else to eat more vegetables.

5. Arrange some school presentations.
This is a bit like resolving to pull out my own teeth, just for the fun of it, but I’m inspired by my friend Rachelle‘s vow to do something fear-inducing every year. Public speaking it is! Prepare yourself, world…

Tension and action words

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This is an excerpt of 50 Burning Questions, as prepared by the son of my writer friend Deryn. To be honest, I’m not completely sure if this is a particular story or if it’s a description of fire in general, but I think he’s captured the tone, no?





Welcome back to the blog, and I wish you all an electric, crashing, cracklingly good year!

That whole love-hate thing

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Five Annoying Things About Editors:
1. They refuse to sacrifice perfection for tight timelines.
2. They tell you when your jokes aren’t funny.
3. They tell you that your slang went out of style in 1986.
4. They have an unhealthy obsession with narrative flow and consistent voice.
5. They refuse to see your grammatical quirks as cute and endearing.

Five Good Things About Editors:
1. They refuse to sacrifice perfection for tight timelines.
2. They tell you when your jokes aren’t funny.
3. They tell you that your slang went out of style in 1986.
4. They have an unhealthy obsession with narrative flow and consistent voice.
5. They refuse to see your grammatical quirks as cute and endearing.

Look Ma, I’m on video

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Over at the CWILL blog, there’s a nice little video about this summer’s Celebrate Science festivities at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.

The event was a fundraiser in support of the work of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and included two discussion panels, designed for teachers, teacher-librarians, student teachers, public librarians, child care workers, and parents.

I previously posted my contribution to the day, here.

Rule breaking

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Remember all my fuss about taking some time off for fiction-writing this season? Well, I submitted a non-fiction manuscript on Friday. And the book is on such a speed-of-light schedule that I’m sure I have all of 72 hours to concentrate on fiction before my first edit arrives.

But that’s okay, because I can’t remember what the heck I was writing anyway. Remember my other fuss, about writing a little every day? Hmmmm…. didn’t manage that!

No need to panic. I’ve bridged the gap between non-fiction time and fiction time by reading a hilariously retro spy/detective novel which I picked up because it was set in Burma. Yup, now I’ve cleared my mental palate. (If my novel’s eventually published, and chapter 12 has all sorts of dark alleyways and twisting markets, with a Heart-of-Darkness jungle scene thrown in, you’ll know why.)

Rags to riches

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50 Underwear Questions has reached the illustration stage, which means I get to sit back, relax, and watch someone else work.

I found this little scrap of text on the cutting room floor, and I thought maybe some of you would be in the quiz mood. Let me know how you do…

Quiz
How would you rank in the medieval world of princes, princesses, and paupers? Your underwear can tell you! You’ll have to be at home to do this activity. Empty all the underwear from your drawer, and then answer these questions:

1. How many pairs do you have?
a. One to two
b. Five to ten
c. More than ten

2. Check the tags. What is your underwear made of?
a. Hemp
b. Cotton
c. Silk

3. Where was your underwear made?
a. In your house, by hand.
b. Within your city.
c. Overseas.

Now, give yourself one point for each time you answered (a), two points for each time you answered (b), and three points for each time you answered (c). Check your score below.

3-4 points
In the medieval world, you’re a member of the common classes. You do manual labor at home or in the fields, and you have to sew your own clothes from the materials grown near your town. You also have to wash your own undies.

5-6 points
Congratulations! You’ve been asked to serve at court as a butler or a ladies’ maid. You make enough money to buy a few extra clothes. If you’re lucky, you can make a lower-class servant do your laundry for you.

7-9 points
You rule the world! As a member of the royal family, you can buy unlimited clothing. You can choose the best fabrics available, and have your choices imported from other countries. As for washing your underwear… why wash it when you can buy new pairs instead?

The cover revealed

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I asked my publisher for a final 50 Poisonous Questions cover, now that the book is off to the printer. Of course I love the illustrator’s work, as always. But does anyone notice something strange? First person to spot the problem and leave a comment wins a free copy. (You just have to wait a few months until the books arrive.)

Writing lessons from The Arrival

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The best part of unpacking is rediscovering forgotten treasures. I stumbled upon The Arrival a few days ago, a graphic novel by Shaun Tan which was first recommended to me by illustrator Kirsti Wakelin.

The Arrival is the story of an immigrant who flees oppression and arrives in a new land, where he must struggle to learn an unfamiliar language and culture, find a job, and hopefully bring his wife and child to join him. It’s told entirely without words, so it may seem a strange basis for writing lessons. But here’s what I think the book can teach wordsmiths:

1. Patience. The endpapers alone feature 60 individual drawings. Within the book are shockingly intricate city scapes, countless detailed facial expressions, moving hands, and intricate machinery. The project took four years to complete. There is a difference between banging out another story or whipping off another comic, and the painstaking realization of a dream. You have to admire (and hopefully emulate!) someone who’s chosen the latter.

2. Visceral Experience. The first time I “read” The Arrival, I was a little disappointed when, after the first few pages, it shifted from realism to fantasy. Within a few pages, I realized that Shaun Tan had to use an imaginary place, in order to make the reader viscerally feel the immigrant experience of arriving in a world so strange, it can barely be navigated. This is the ultimate in show, don’t tell. And as writers, we need to strive to make the reader undergo the emotion of our stories, not simply read the words.

3. Backstory. There are sections of The Arrival which tell the stories of minor characters’ lives. These are people with their own migration tales. In a few pages, Tan shows us the ways these minor characters have been changed by their adventures, and the ways in which their pasts affect how they interact with the protagonist. Too often in my writing, I use my minor characters as props, plopping them in as needed by the protagonist. But these people should have their own stories and their own histories.

4. Detail. The smallest illustrations in this book are the most poignant. In one frame, the protagonist uses his shoe to bang a nail into the wall. In the next frame, he hangs his family photo. There are infinite examples of this. The daisies raining down on the departing soldiers. The origami which appears from under a hat, and illuminates an entire father-daughter relationship. The comic face-spraying by an unfamiliar faucet.

I am in awe, again.

While you’re in the Shaun Tan mood, check out this site for his new short, based on The Lost Thing. Thanks to Simply Read for the link!

The Writing Life 101

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I just finished an e-mail interview in which the journalist asked me to “describe a typical daily schedule.” I tried to sound somewhat professional in my answer, but I thought for your Thursday entertainment, I would share my real writing schedule here. This was yesterday:

9 a.m.
Drop children off at school. Rush home to begin writing.

10 a.m.
Finish calling Telus and the plumber and writing a letter to Service Canada. Tell my husband I have no time to talk to him. I’m writing.

10 – 10:55 a.m.
Write.

11 a.m.
Pick up son at school.

12
Lunch and an errand.

1:30 p.m.
Husband requests presence at Home Depot, to choose bathroom faucet.

2:15 p.m.
Son drops bouncy ball into Home Depot toilet.

2:30 p.m.
Finish dousing my hands with sanitizer.

2:45 p.m.
Race back towards daughter’s school.

2:46 p.m.
Son removes wheel from toy car and inserts wheel on his finger, restricting blood supply.

2:50 p.m.
Stop at Melonheads (much closer than ER) and work with friendly hairdresser, bottle of lotion, and pair of scissors to extract son from wheel.

3 p.m.
Scream into school to pick up daughter.

3-5 p.m.
Supervise cranky children.

5 p.m.
Escape house to attend CWILL BC meeting

Yup, a lot of writing sure got done yesterday. And to top it all off, Min chose a different fixture after I left Home Depot. And it’s hideous.