not a resolution

I wouldn't call it a new year's resolution but in 2011 I plan to engage in some serious slowing down. I'm not sure at the moment what that entails exactly, except that it definitely means less time online.

This will be easier than if I'd said it at any other time, as despite our new home being in the metropolitan area of Brisbane, as far as Telstra and its fabulous services go, we may as well be creating a new town in the middle of the desert. Without ADSL, it shouldn't be too tough to stay off the interwebs.

So, at some stage in the near, or not so near, future, I may update you on my 2010 reading (I stuck with reading novels by only Australian women) and a few other bits and pieces. Or I may not. One thing I'll tell you now though, is that in 2011 I plan to read novels that are debuts by Australian writers. I'm starting with Forster's 'The book of Emmett'. I'm also reading Gretchen Shirm's short story collection, 'Having Cried Wolf,' which I was fortunate enough to 'win' recently on twitter when Affirm Press had a little competition. Not that a short story collection would have to be a debut collection for me to read it this year. Just novels.

Winning

I’m a winner. Again. For two years running, I am a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) winner. And yes, it feels good.

In some ways, it feels a little better than last year. Not in that adrenalin rush kind of way. Last year definitely takes that crown, but this year I feel good knowing that some of the things I wrote are actually worthwhile.

Not that what I wrote last year wasn’t. I mean, I learned a lot about myself, including that I can quickly lose interest in an idea I’d been passionate about for years. And while I have no intention of ever writing an actual end to last year’s story, or rewriting it, or anything so ambitious, I do still have an idea of using the original idea for some other, shorter, piece.

But this year. As you know, I didn’t write a novel. Instead I wrote what I called ‘Bitsa’. Bitsa fiction, bitsa poetry and bitsa whatever else I felt like writing, including blog posts (though I won before starting to write this one).

I’m not going to go into much now except to share a few stats. Because I like stats, and numbers in general.

I wrote ten blog posts, including some I’ll post in December and some I’ll never post. Or will maybe post.

I started seven short stories, finished five of them and will probably pursue four of them. One has already been workshopped in my writing group and seems not to need a lot of rewriting. Yay.

I wrote thirty poems. Thirteen are more for my own memory of our recent family camping trip, but maybe one or two of those might be worth sharing. Of the others, I've read some on stage already, which always helps me know if I should rework or dump. But mostly, I’m not sure yet how many will rest in peace and how many shall be revived. Though there are definitely some to keep.

I wrote twenty non-fiction pieces (not including blog posts). Of those, I like less than half, and will pursue less than half. At best there are nine worth revisiting, although it’s possible when that happens I’ll change my mind.

And, finally, I wrote three other things that I won’t disclose, except to say one was a letter.
I did not count my tweets, emails or facebook updates, although admit that during the third week I half-wished I had.

But anyway, it’s over and I feel good. My first instinct is to say I don’t know whether I’ll do it again next year and will take some time to think this through. But I’m also well aware that I would probably not have done it this year if I hadn’t so publicly and enthusiastically said it was my one big goal for the year (all those months ago). And I’m definitely glad I persisted.
So I’ll think on it a while and maybe by the time I announce some 2011 goals, I might be ready to say either way.

Oh, I almost forgot, I attempted eight of those crazy ten ideas suggested by others. I was going to press myself to write all ten, but its not like I wrote about everything n my list full stop. I didn't write about acrobatic walruses or ghosts, and of the others, two were short stories I failed to finish. But I had a go, eh?

NaNoWriMo? Count me in!

I mentioned in the last post that I've decided to do NaNoWriMo again. For those of you that don't know, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and means writing a novel, or at least 50,000 words towards a new one, is completed during the month of November.

I did it last year, won (which means I wrote at least 50,000 words towards a new novel) and can't resist having another go, even though I don't really have enough time to write half that many words.

But I'm going into it a little differently this year. Well, a lot differently I suppose. I'm going to be a rebel. Which means I don't plan to write 50,000 words towards a new novel. Instead, I plan to write 50,000 words towards anything. Short stories, articles, poems and I'll probably even count my blog posts, as I expect I'll be that desperate. (I'd consider adding the to-do and shopping lists, but that seems a bit dramatic/ridiculous.)

I really don't think I'm going to win this year. But that's okay. Since I've been back from the big trip, my writing habits have been awful and I expect NaNoWriMo to pull me back in line. Let's face it, if I can write 25,000 words towards new stories etc, that would be excellent, even 10,000 new words would be great. So there's nothing to lose. Except a little sanity and a lot of sleep.

If you plan to sign up and give it a go yourself, I even have a tip to share.

Start strong!

The buzz of participating is huge and if you stay on top of the word count early, it could be enough to pull you through, especially on those days you really can't be bothered. I imagine if you're not up on your word count in the early days when there's so much online chatter and everyone else seems to be, it would seem impossible to catch up. So, schedule in some writing time next Monday and Tuesday and as your excitement levels will be high then, instead of aiming to write the daily 1,667 words required, go for two thousand, three thousand, maybe even four so you can breathe a little easy the next few days.

If you have a tip for me on how I might manage that myself when we're having a fifth birthday party in our house on the 2nd, well, that would be very welcome.

preparing for the big trip

With less than three weeks to go before the big trip, and a growing list of things to do beforehand, it's fair to say I've felt flustered lately, which means things don't happen the way they should.

But mostly it's an exciting time. We helped Hamish start a blog so he can record his experience of the trip. He's super excited and keen to take photos and keep a written diary as well as do the maths work he says his teacher wants him to do. I don't think he's even mentioned his eighth birthday, which happens a week after we leave. If you check out his blog, you can see where we plan to go, although we will make it up as we go. And please ignore his spelling errors if you go there before I've had a chance to fix them (I'm not at home right now and have to wait until I am).

As far as all the things to do before we leave, well, I'll be telling you about a few of them as they arise. You already know about the page seventeen team (who are super-keen to read your submissions that you have until June 30 to get to us).

But I can tell you a little bit about another of the big ones now: I'm releasing my first poetry collection before we leave. I'll show you the cover and give you a sneak peek soon.

And if you want one last chance to see me before waiting until September/October, come to Storytelling at the Dog's Bar, 54 Acland St, St Kilda, from 8pm, on Thursday 1st July. It's free, and I'll be reading a couple of stories alongside co-feature Luke Stickels.

Another EWF over

It's a little late but I thought I might share a few highlights of the Emerging Writers' Festival. The town hall program in particular. Although I didn't take any notes during any of the sessions I attended, so perhaps this is more of a memory game, though I'd like to think the bits I recall must have meant more to me than some of the others.

It would be wrong not to start with the Artist's party that was held on Friday night at the Wheeler Centre. Though if you follow Angela's blog, you'll know already that I had myself a good time. And why not. I didn't have to fulfil my hosting duties until Sunday morning, so the least I could do was assist the organisers by taking some of that wine off their hands, right?

Aside from the alcoholic pleasures, the party was an excellent opportunity to chat with other writers and I particularly enjoyed meeting Chris Downes, who spoke on the panel A short note on process that I hosted, and Jeremy Balius from Black Rider Press.

It's not often I get the opportunity to drink, either because I have to wake to to the call of 'mum-mum' that comes too early every morning, or because, well, put simply, Cockatoo is not within walking distance to anywhere. So staying in the city was an excellent plan and having a roomie made it even better, as we got to spill our showbags together and share excitement over the smallest tidbits of festival news.

Saturday offered a pretty full on program which began with Seven Enviable Lines, where the festival ambassadors shared seven secrets they wish they'd known when they started out. This event has been reviewed here and here, so all I'm going to add is that Sean Riley was my favourite, even though I've never even tried to write a play. Even as I listened to him I couldn't help but wonder if some of the newer writers at the festival realise that the advice doesn't apply just to plays but to any and all forms of writing, or if some took him (and others) literally.

I weaved in and out of various sessions throughout the afternoon, and landed at the festival club afterwards, although I had just water given someone had the foresight to schedule me to be articulate and presentable by 10am on a Sunday!

Our session A short note on process went well, although I can't say I expected to take away this advice from a writers' festival: don't take drugs. Chris Downes wowed the audience by acting out illustrations from his comics. Mischa Merz took us to the shrink's couch. Myke Bartlett struck a personal chord as he spoke of never writing anything until close to the deadline (thankfully I've learned to treat my pretend ones at least semi-seriously) and Steph Bowe was so amazing she perhaps impressed the not-so-new writers while possibly making some of the newer ones feel inadequate because they hadn't achieved half as much as her despite several extra years. You can read her presentation here.

I'm with Irma Gold as far as highlights go. My favourite panel was You want me to do WHAT? a discussion on promoting, or prostituting, yourself. All panellists were entertaining, although I particularly enjoyed Sean M Whelan's advice of what not to do when speaking/performing in public. Because there's always been someone (or two) who does one or all of these things at every poetry reading I've been to. For specifics, see Thuy Linh Nguyen's write-up.

Although now that I've said that, I hope none of those types of poets happen to be at Sospeso Readings on 4th June (tomorrow/today), where I'm reading as part of a feature organised by Geoff Fox. The theme is Motherhood and Vicki Thornton, Amy Bodossian, Geoff Fox, Koraly Dimitriades, Di Cousens and myself are combining forces for the feature, with an open mic that offers an excellent prize for the poem deemed to be a particular person's favourite on the night. It's happening from 7pm at Sospeso Caffe, 428 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn.

TwitterFEST and well, Twitter.

As suggested, I waited until 1.59pm yesterday before giving the kids the one hour of TV I limit them to when we're home. Then I grabbed my coffee and parked in front of the monitor for some serious tweeting.

The topic was how is Twitter helping writers? and I have a lot to say.

You see, I was tentative when I first signed up (it's my Twitter-birthday on Tuesday, woot). I'm not generally too tech-savvy and always worry I won't be able to figure things out. Including (read especially) the simple things. Being married to a computer-nerd has done nothing to help in this regard either, as when something goes wrong, I call out and he fixes it (because men like to fix things).

I recall a conversation I had with a friend ages before I signed up, where she insisted Twitter was the new facebook, or even better than facebook. Twitter was going to make facebook obsolete. Redundant. She couldn't understand why anyone would not want to be on there. Her feelings haven't changed much, as she's responsible for the inclusion of TwitterFEST in this year's EWF program.

Joining in a TwitterFEST discussion can feel awkward. I mean, what do you say first? Something of your own, reply to something someone else said, answer a question, maybe even retweet? Tweeps were doing any and all of these things, and my opener was to share something a friend (who I meet through Twitter, but is now also an IRL friend) once said to me. She likes Twitter because, by laughing with editors and publishers about things like what damage their cats had caused while home alone for five minutes, she was able to take them off their pedestals and imagine them as real people. It made them approachable and gave her confidence to take the next steps as a writer she needed to take (of course I said all this in just 140 characters yesterday).

Others agreed. A lot of tweeps also like the way Twitter encourages them to write in new ways, new styles that suit the medium. Like Twitter novels and Twitterfiction (which will be covered in an NMIT Professional Writing and Editing unit next semester). Some tweeps talked about works that were the result of collaborations formed through Twitter, some no doubt with tweeps who've not met IRL. And of course many like the way writing to a 140 character limit helped them refine their own writing.

Of course Twitter is a great platform for networking and hence, developing a potential audience. Although many writers don't seem to 'get' how this works (not the ones in yesterday's TwitterFEST). To use Twitter like this, you can't just log on and tweet details of your latest blog post, upcoming events/appearances/performances and/or the next title you're about to release. Sure, friends and family members who'll be interested in these things are going to take note. But no-one else. If you want other followers to care, you'll have to engage with them. In discussion. In conversation. In reports of what their cat did to the shower curtain while they ducked out for a litre of milk. Whatever. It doesn't matter what you engage in, and once the initial excitement of the 24/7 party that is Twitter has died off a little, be sure to set yourself some limits if you don't want it to eat away all your spare time. And make sure every update isn't a whinge.

But Twitter has meant more to me than any or even all of these things in the time I've been here. By this time last year, I'd spent five or so years trying to talk myself into writing non-fiction. I'd had a reasonable number of short stories published in various journals and my own collection released, I'd taken on poetry, I'd taught creative writing in a TAFE environment and after enough essays to earn me two degrees, you'd think I'd be able to do it in my sleep.

And so I'd try to convince myself every few months when it bugged me that it wasn't something I did. It bugged me that I lacked confidence and unlike my efforts when I sit to write fiction, every time I'd start something, I'd slam it down within half an hour, go make another cup of coffee and hide my 'effort' where it wouldn't remind me of my failings while I got on with something else.

But thanks to Twitter, I'm over it. Twitter helped in several ways.

For one, I use Twitter (and this blog at times) to keep me accountable. With Twitter, it can all happen so quickly. I can tweet that I'm going to write something before my brain works out what I'm saying and then I'm committed. I have to write it. Often this happens in an informal way, like I might say I'm going to spend 2 hours in the library writing. But once, maybe more, but once was enough, I told an editor of a parenting magazine that I was going to write a piece for her magazine.

A few weeks went by before I felt enough pressure to actually do it, but eventually I knew I had to write something. So I did.

When I sent it to her, she loved it so much she asked if she could forward it to the national publication. Who pay. To cut a long story short, they accepted it and the next morning I wrote another piece and now there'll be no stopping me. Sure, by this time I'd also been writing a few other bits of non-fiction with some success, but Twitter definitely played a major role.

There are other ways I find Twitter to be helpful for my writing too. It can help me work out what I should focus my writing on at various times, give me feedback on what parenting issues might be worth an article, and I'm part of a new writing group that formed through Twitter. Which was exactly what I needed to make me write more fiction, after non-fiction started to take up my few writing moments.

How has Twitter helped you?
or
What's stopping you signing up?

TwitterFEST and the 'Australian' novel

With the Emerging Writers' Festival introducing an online program this year, you don't necessarily have to be in Melbourne to take part (although I do recommend going to live events if at all possible, have been to two so far and have loved two so far).

Though it does help if you're on Twitter (which is easy).

This afternoon, while Dylan slept, I jumped into TwitterFEST to join the discussion "What is an 'Australian' novel?" I'm not sure I have an answer to this (do you?), although if I use their list of suggestions, I'm inclined to think an Australian novel is one written by an Australian.

There were certainly some interesting ideas presented, including whether novels are 'Australian' due to setting, theme/s, style and voice. Not to mention categorisation for awards where a requirement is that the story 'is Australian', but I'm not going there.

At some point the discussion veered towards diversity in voices of 'Australian' writing, and writers and I was asked to comment on my thoughts about same, given I'm reading novels by Aussie women only this year. Now, I'm not sure I'm qualified to say much given I'm only reading about 2 novels a month, and perhaps it has more to do with me trying to read them for pleasure than to pick them apart, but I'd say there is definitely variety in what I've been reading. I think this because I'm sure I'd put the next book down if it sounded or felt too similar to the last or another recent read.

As for short fiction, I feel confident to say there's plenty of diversity.

Though it occurred to me later that this is perhaps a reader's response and part of the reason the question caused so much confusion for me. Especially as compared to when I came to it as a writer.

As a writer, it all seems somewhat pointless as I'm going to write what I'm going to write in the style and voice that I write it in. It's going to be hard enough to score a publishing contract trying to do the very best writing that I can without introducing concepts that might make me think I should be writing according to a certain constraint, whatever that might be.

And despite the various awards scattered around the place, I find it hard to imagine that writers would really write with award criteria in mind.

Though please do let me know if you disagree. And share what your idea of an Australian novel is.

bending the rules for brilliance

I was surprised by some of what I found out last year when I surveyed various journal editors and competition administrators (for this article). Including how lenient some editors actually are (though I'm not going to tell you which ones).

But the thing that surprised me the most was how many competition administrators or editors actually read a submission/entry that does not meet the guidelines before deciding whether to disqualify it. Except in the case where a piece might exceed the word limit, surely this decision should be made on the guidelines themselves rather than on the quality of the work?

I completely understand those who didn't feel they receive enough submissions to shortlist according to who followed the rules. But this is a blanket decision, everyone is treated the same. Not so for editors who admit to bending the rules 'if a piece is brilliant', and while it was certainly not the case for the majority of those I surveyed, there were enough similar responses to shock.

So I put it to you, as I seem to every year when page seventeen's submissions are open, what do you think? Do you expect editors/administrators to follow their own guidelines?

And, have you or anyone you know ever had a piece accepted when you know you failed to meet guidelines?

a little May-hem

As a stay-at-home Mum I usually try to find a fair balance for parenting and my writer/editor needs and desires. This means I don't tend to write while the kids are in my care as well as guiding my selection of what events I will actually trek out for, particularly in making sure I don't go to too many all at once.

But in May, none of that counts. Much. May is the month I wait for, the month the family are given fair warning that they'll just have to take a back seat. And for good reason.

The Emerging Writers' Festival is on.

This has been my favoutite literary event since the year it began and I escaped responsibility for two amazing days of festival. In fact, in those early years it was relatively simple to go to almost all of the thing, as it lasted just one weekend. Now though, the festival lasts an amazing ten days and while this is fabulous in all the obvious ways, I have no hope of going to everything and have to go through the stress of choosing some events over others.

But I will definitely be hanging around the Melbourne Town Hall during the last week of May. Not least of all because I'll be hosting a panel on the Sunday at 10am called 'A short note on process' where panellists Myke Bartlett, Steph Bowe, Chris Downes and Mischa Merz will discuss Early mornings Vs late nights Vs quit your day job and just go at it. Are post it notes essential, should first drafts be longhand, and must a writer write daily? These writers talk about their creative processes: how and when they write, and what routines they have in place for working.

I'll also be at The Page Parlour at Federation Square on Sunday 23rd, 12-5pm where we get the bonus of being Stuck in a lift with Paddy O'Reilly and Mandy Ord. This is free and a great opportunity to check out different publications, so come by and say hello.

I also hope to get to a heap of other events too, including Peter Farrar's 15 Minutes of Fame on Tuesday 25th, Wordstock: AC/DC on Thursday 27th and The First Word on Friday 21st.

But there are a few other things going on in May too.

On May 15th, after Stopping all Stations in Nunawading to see Kristin Henry and open mikers perform, I'll be going to the Brunswick Street Gallery for a bridge for short attention spans, where 30 writers read in 30 minutes, from 7pm.

But before all this, I'm looking forward to this Mothers' Day weekend. We're taking my mum out for lunch on Saturday and I have no idea what's planned for me on Sunday, although I suspect sticky-date pudding might be involved. I certainly hope so.

Miscellaneous Voices 1, Sketch 2

It's always nice to receive books in the mail, and even better when they include something of your own. Both of these books arrived in the last couple of weeks for that very reason.
Particularly exciting is Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing. An anthology of blog posts from Australian writers, it is the first book of its kind (in Australia). I look forward to seeing how well it is received in the community and I'm looking forward to its official launch next week.

It will be launched by Laurie Steed, page seventeen's 2010 Fiction Editor, at Readings, Carlton, on Wednesday 14th April from 6pm. Maybe I'll see you there.

Sketch is an exciting publication too, with each (annual) issue containing 'an eclectic mix of art, digital design, fiction, non-fiction, poetry and more'. This is issue 2, which (I've heard) sold out at the launch and went for reprint. It's an honour to share pages with Amelia Walker, Ashley Capes and Anne M Carson, to name just a few, although my favourite piece (so far) is the poem 'Jade and Porcelain' by Jeff Klooger.

I was really pleased when my story 'Old Rock' was accepted for Sketch Issue 2. Sure, it's always good to receive an acceptance, but this one was a little better than usual. Old Rock is one of the pieces I tracked my progess of in the piece I wrote for the The Reader, produced by the Emerging Writers' Festival last year. In case you've read my piece in The Reader, 'The Red Haze', it's the one inspired by my next door neighbours. In case you haven't, I stood on the toilet lid (while my kids ate toast in the kitchen and) listened to my neighbour tell the cops about his son punching him the night before in a drunken stupour while his (equally drunk) friend raced off (in his car) to avoid the same fate.

2010 page seventeen team and Free Issues

It's difficult to believe April is merely hours away, and with April comes the beginning of the submission period for page seventeen. You'd think with all those months off I'd be ready, but, ahem, maybe not (quite) so.

Because... I haven't told you who the 2010 team is yet. So, that's what I'm going to do now!

Firstly, I'm taking a massive side-step this year, so I need an Acting Editor. Welcome Vicki Thornton. Vicki will handle a huge chunk of the admin, oversee the selection process and be part of the reading team for our short stories. Not to mention all the little fiddly bits that won't be mentioned here.

For the first time, we have a Poetry Editor and a Short Story Editor. I am very excited to let you know that Ashley Capes is taking on the Poetry Editor position and Laurie Steed the Short Story Editor position. Ashley will handle all the general submission poetry, including the short form pieces, while Laurie will share the reading load with Peter Farrar and Vicki.

Of course we are running the popular Page Seventeen Poetry and Short Story Competition again and this year's judges are Graham Nunn (poetry) and Amanda le Bas de Plumetot (short story).

I am so excited I'm almost certain I've forgotten someone or something, so feel free to let me know if that seems to be the case.

Meanwhile, get over here to download everything you need to submit and/or enter the competition.

Oh, and I almost forgot, we're having a little special during April. We're giving away copies. All you have to do is purchase a copy of page seventeen (direct, this won't apply at bookstores). We'll send out a 2nd copy of the same issue, or a previous (in-stock) issue of your choice.

What's the catch? Well, there's only one: we'll be sending both copies together, you can't split them.

But it's just for April, so get moving.

Guidelines schmidelines

You’ve heard it so often your eyes roll automatically when you hear it again: make sure you read and follow the guidelines before submitting. You know about guidelines, you follow guidelines, and you wish everyone would just shut up already. I mean, that’s the easy bit, right? Times New Roman, check; 12 point, check; double space, check. Why can’t they spend those precious minutes telling you about something useful, that pearl of wisdom that’s going to make the ideas write themselves?

It’s because many writers still don’t seem to get it. Sure, we all make mistakes and where editors are rejecting no more than 1% of submissions, perhaps this is the case: writers simply make mistakes.

But what about the editor who rejected 10% of submissions because they didn’t comply with the guidelines? And do we really believe that they are all mistakes when 11 journal editors reported that 2% of submissions don’t follow guidelines? When you consider that literary magazine editors receive anything from 90 to 1000+ submissions, 2% might be quite a lot.
The good news is that most writers do follow the guidelines. On average, 98%. But, even if you’re one of them, you might occasionally make a mistake. And when that happens, what are the chances your submission might be considered anyway?

It depends on the mistake.

If you fail to meet the deadline, forget it. You’re also wasting your time if you email a submission when it's supposed to be in hardcopy, or vice versa.

There’s a slim chance a submission that’s over the word limit might be read.

If you send more than three (or other maximum number of) pieces, you risk the editors reading just the first three or discarding the entire submission. If it’s a newer magazine, they might read all the pieces, but they’ll also remember your name and be wary of your future submissions.

If you’re lucky (and you sent it long before the deadline), the editor may even give you an opportunity to resubmit correctly. But don’t hold your breath. While some editors might try to nurture new writers in this way, most believe that "if you’re serious about being a writer, deadlines, styles, word counts and restrictions are things you’re going to have to get comfy with."

It is less common for editors to be strict about the font used, and several publications don’t include a specific font in their guidelines. For those that do, some will automatically reject and some won’t. But it was noted that these pieces "don’t generally get accepted, more as a result of poor quality writing".

Here are some of the things that editors believe/say:
• People who write well present well
• Most editors prioritise "painless" manuscripts (ie those that are well written and edited)
• Most editors are well read, so multiple submissions are at your own risk: if your submission is published, an editor could well see it in another journal
• If you can’t wait, only send your work to journals that allow multiple submissions
• It’s worth remembering that if your piece is published, it will be published in the style and font of the journal.

One editor said, "If something is poorly edited, I assume:
 the author is a hobbyist who doesn’t care about their work or
 the author is an idiot who couldn’t tidy it or
 the author has delusions of grandeur and thinks they’re above the rules and hence, that
 the author will be difficult to deal with."

One editor made a suggestion that other editors might like to try. Provide a sample document on your website to show writers what you expect.

Some editors who were less strict about general submissions felt the reason might be because money wasn’t involved. Yet, when it comes to competitions, and the introduction of money, administrators are tough.

If you’re thinking of entering your story/poem in a competition, it’s even more important to follow the guidelines/conditions/rules.

If you forget to include the entry fee, mistakenly send work with your name on it, or your entry is late, you’ll be automatically disqualified. There are exceptions. A few administrators might offer you an opportunity to resubmit correctly. One administrator noted that they re-photocopy entries without names before passing them on to the judge(s).

But most administrators don’t go to the trouble. Particularly as many are volunteering their time.

Competition administrators generally agree that most writers follow the rules. Most I spoke to don’t keep statistical records, but of the few who do, they disqualified 0%, 4%, 6% and 14% of entries in their most recent competition, due to incorrect formatting (font type and size, spacing), a name on the piece, theme requirement not being met or due to the piece exceeding the word/line length. This means they weren’t read by anybody.

The administrator who didn’t disqualify any claimed to have been strict in regards to limits and spacing and that all entries received were okay.

One administrator welcomed entries that failed to meet the guidelines as an easy first step in their shortlisting process.

In a competition, the main concern is for the quality of writing and it was noted that "entries that have numerous spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors don’t generally win".

In case you’re still not sure, I’ll leave you with the advice of one competition administrator. "Imagine your entries will be processed by everyone’s idea of an old fashioned, 'stickler for the rules’ bureaucrat. Published rules have to be enforced to give procedural fairness to those who go to the effort of conforming to them."

And, good luck.

This article was originally published in the february edition of the Victorian Writer, the Victorian Writers' Centre's member magazine.

Notes:
Journal submissions
I surveyed, via email, 20 national literary journal editors.
Of those:
- 4 publish poetry only
- 1 publishes fiction only
- 3 are online journals
- 8 had produced less than 10 issues, including 3 that had produced only 1 issue.

Literary competition administrators
I approached, via email, 15 national competition administrators.
Of those:
- 9 responded
- 4 are poetry-only competitions
- 2 are fiction-only competitions
- 3 are poetry and fiction competitions

following up on guidelines

I always look forward to receiving my copy of Victorian Writer (The Victorian Writers' Centre's member magazine) and usually rush home to make a cuppa to sip while I read. This month, I looked forward to it just a little more than usual, because I have an article in there that deals with something that really irritates me (during the page seventeen submission period at least).

Yes, submission guidelines and whether or not writers follow them.

Last year I had a little rant about it after I received one too many that didn't conform and then asked you what you thought. The general consensus seemed to be that everyone agreed that all writers should follow them or expect not to have their work considered.

That got me thinking. If everyone agrees, why are so many non-conforming submissions received or, are we the only magazine receiving enough to drive us to rant in public? So, I asked around, collated responses and wrote about it for the members of the Victorian Writers' Centre.

But it isn't something that only members of the Victorian Writers' Centre should have the opportunity to read about. After all, I approached editors and competition administrators from other states too. So, next week, I'll be posting the article here too, so you can all work out for yourselves whether sending work that doesn't meet a publication's guidelines will even be read, let alone shine through as the piece they just have to have (and therefore overlook your inability to do what they asked).

Now I'll have to stick to 'em

Now that 2010 is well established, I thought I'd share some of my writing goals, like I promised.

When I summed up my efforts last year, it became apparent that I needed to change the structure of my goal-setting, and to include shorter term goals, or maybe even to focus on short term goals. Which is what I've done. Although I do have one big goal for the year.

Which is to participate in, and win, NaNoWriMo again.

Even though this is my big goal for the year, I'm breaking it down into smaller goals. For instance, until the end of June, I plan only to research and make journal notes. I've already assigned this novel its own notebook/journal and yesterday wrote the first notes in it, filling a page. The research is mostly in the form of reading, so manageable as well as fun. From July to October, I'll be making more structured notes that will act as my outline so I'll be ready to dive into the actual writing come November 1.

For other writing, I've taken a completely different approach to what I used to do, which was to designate a number of poems and/or short stories, etc I'd hope to knock off for the year. This year, I decided I want to get out more.

Not the kind of getting out I did lots of last year (although I still plan to go to a variety of events), but the kind of getting out where I go out TO write. Where there is no Facebook, no Twitter, no telephone and no housework. I've set my goal for this in hours, starting smallish, and will revise it at the end of March. Of course I'll continue to write at home as well.

Having a fairly good idea of how I tend to work, I'm going to trust that whatever's going on around me will guide me as to what to write and/or how to spend my time. For instance, when I'm planning to go to a few poetry nights, I seem to have energy (and ideas) for writing poetry and when I'm exhausted I find that outlining a piece or brainstorming an idea is the best use of time. Of course, if it turns out this isn't a disciplined enough approach for me, I'll be making changes.

I have a few other little things noted in my journal under the goals heading, like to write more non-fiction and to make sure I don't miss too many submission deadlines, but these are the main things I hope to achieve this year. And now I've shared them with you, I feel accountable.

2 more hours of freedom

I have just a couple of hours left of peace and quiet before my time to relax is all but over and Bryden and the kids return home from a camping trip.

The last few days have been exactly what I needed, time out to just sit back and do nothing much. At first I thought I'd use the time to do a little writing, including to finish a story I began in October. But I changed my mind and figured that next week, once school starts, I will be thrown back into routine whether I like it or not and that this was my only/last chance to unwind.

I know many writers think it's necessary to write every day, but I disagree. I figure that if I'm going to treat writing as a job, as work, then it's a healthy thing to take a month off every year or so. And I must say that since I decided not to get back to it until February, I'm becoming more eager to finish my October story, as well as to make a start on a new one brewing in the depths of my mind.

Which reminds me of one of the reasons I love to write in the first place, the excitement that comes with knowing stories and characters are coming to life, and the anticipation of putting them into words. But I am determined to hold out until next week before getting back into it.

On the plus side, I've been reading a lot, and I realised that all the books I've read thus far in 2010 (I'm on my 5th) are by Australian women. I might see how long I can keep that up, if I can get through the entire year reading novels by only Australian women.

Now though, I'd better go check on the banana cake in the oven that will be ready to greet the kids with when they get back.

2009 in words

I set writing goals every year and while I usually go crazy about now trying to find them, I won't bother this year. I don't remember exactly what they were, but I remember the general gist and know I did not achieve them. Not exactly, and for that, I am celebrating. Kind of.

Not celebrating because I didn't achieve them, but because I took off in different directions. Directions I might not have had the foresight to plan so far in advance. And hence never set goals for.

This year, I achieved so much more than whatever that list of goals might suggest I'd aimed for.

I had pieces in the publications pictured, as well as other journals, including of course, my first audio poem 'Solitaire' in the recent Cordite 31.0: EPIC.

On the topic of firsts, my pieces in The Reader and an earlier issue of Victorian Writer were sort of my first non-fiction pieces. (This is not technically true, but as far as intentions go, first.) I'd always been too afraid to set goals for writing non-fiction, so this is one major achievement, and I hope to continue. Actually, I have another non-fiction piece coming out in a February publication. It's fair to say that old fear has found a new home.

Another first was as a feature poet, at the fortnightly Passionate Tongues gig in Brunswick. Special thanks to convenor, Michael Reynolds for inviting me. This, as well as a decision to get to more poetry nights, helped spark an interest in writing for the stage. I attended several regular gigs for the first time, generally performing in the open section, and ended up recording my poems for the first time. I slammed for the first time, and recited/performed without paper for the first time. I have three feature spots lines up for 2010, and will be sure to let you know more about them closer to the time.

I was involved in a few festivals, including the Newstead Short Story Tattoo, the Emerging Writers' Festival, and spoke about page seventeen at the Melbourne Writers' Festival as part of the SPUNC Spectacular. I attended other festivals and came away inspired. I also went to author talks at local libraries, and too many book launches to count.

I wrote 50,000 words of a novel during National Novel Writing Month and met new writers at an organised write-in.

I wrote a couple of guest posts for the SPUNC blog, SPLOG. I also wrote my first blurb, for a book due in early 2010.

I may have done more, that I can't recall right now. Not all of these things were firsts, but there are quite a few. And this is why I'm not interested in finding that list of 2009 goals. Many of these achievements were not planned for, but I went with the flow. If I find that list, it will be hard to not focus on the things I didn't achieve, and Blind Freddy could see I've had a year to be proud of. And I am.

I'm also a little tentative about setting my 2010 goals, as it's impossible to imagine at this stage that I could top this year as far as writing achievements go. Not that I'll let myself get caught up in worrying about that. One thing I do know about goal-setting for 2010 though, is that I'm not going to make one long list of goals for the 12 month period. Too much can change in that time. Instead, I'll be making a 6 month list, or maybe a 3 month list, or maybe, being a list person, a list that's a combination of all of the above.

I'll let even that idea stew in the back of my brain until it's time to actually make said list, sometime in the first days of January.

I'd love to hear about your 2009 successes and hope you can focus on those instead of the things you might not have done. And, of course, I hope you have a lovely Christmas.

Anthology of blog writing

Now that December is upon us, there's not much time left to submit to Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing 2009.

This will be the first issue of the anthology by Miscellaneous Press, which aims to prove that good blog writers come from all walks of life and that 'blogging produces strong and dynamic talent'.

Submit up to three blog posts you made between January 1st and December 31st, although I warn against waiting until the last minute to submit. I have missed many closing dates that way. Too many. And December would have to be the easiest month to temporarily forget something like that so, you know what to do.

Good luck.

PS. You have to be an Aussie.

Being my character when I'm not: NaNoWriMo update

Halfway through day 5 and 10,755 words into the novel, I'm exhausted. And that's after a day off yesterday.

Sure, there are a million things going on as well as writing a novel in one month (like launching a new issue of an annual journal and preparing for a poetry feature this Sunday, not to mention normal life). It would be easy to blame any one, or all, of those other things, but I'm sure it's not the other things (even if I still don't have the books from the printer). It's definitely NaNo. And I think I know why.

Firstly, writing a novel in one month equals serious lack of sleep. And not for the obvious reason. I'm sure many people choose to stay up later than normal to write. But that's not me. You see, I know I get grumpy when I don't get enough sleep (thanks Mum for so many reminders), and being grumpy and looking after kids all day is not a good mix. So far, I've gone to bed at a normal-for-me time every night bar one, and even I can cope with one late night.

No, it's not writing into the night that's the problem. It's the excitement of being part of NaNo, the excitement of progress, the excitement of believing you can do it. It's the mind refusing to switch off with the laptop. It's the damn novel wanting to be written at every bloody hour on the clock. It's a while since this has happened, especially for consecutive nights, and it's much worse now that I can see those bloody digits on the alarm clock!

The novel itself is going okay. There have been a couple of uninspiring scenes, but as I insist on starting at scene one and writing in order, I've decided to just get through the crap scenes quickly so I can move on to the next ones. This isn't a difficult decision, as I'm quite prepared to write crap, and I have no delusions about what a first draft should be. So, for a first draft, it's fine really.

Instead of considering whether the actual writing is good, I'm trying to think about whether each scene is the kind of scene I want. You know, whether I'm showing things I want to show, whether the reader will identify with my protagonist, whether the scene progresses the story. And if it isn't, well, I'll probably leave it there until some other month anyway. But so far, so good.

It's not just the lack of sleep that's exhausting me. It's the novel itself, although I did at least expect this. Writing a novel means immersing yourself into the world of the novel. Immersing yourself into your character's world, and as I'm using first person, I'm really trying to get into her (Catherine's) headspace. Which is a killer. Not so much because she's not me, because this is one of the things I find relatively simple about writing fiction: I seem to be able to morph into my characters as I click away at the keyboard. (I prefer to write alone so I'm not constantly asked what I'm saying.)

It's not that. It's because 'being' her, thinking like her is mentally exhausting. She's not in a good headspace. In fact, she isn't really in the kind of headspace I want to go, other than fictionally (of course).

She's depressed. Not that she knows it.

But I think that to do a good job, I have to go with her. At least part of the way. And, understandably, there's some reluctance on my part.

Although, now that I think about it, I never turned into a man, let alone a burglar or the... (nah, that would give it away) to write the story coming out in Torpedo 7, or the moronic drink-driving protagonist of the story coming out in Sketch 2. As for my story in fourW, all I can say is, I wish. On second thoughts, perhaps not.

So, maybe NaNoWriMo is here to help me work out whether it's different for a novel. Whether I really do have to go with her to do her story justice. Maybe that's my new NaNo goal?

That, and more sleep.

page seventeen launch: Nov 7

Okay, in case it's a little small, err, tiny, that's 1pm on Sat 7 November at Burrinja cafe, 351 Glenfern Rd, Upwey (cnr Matson Dve). The launch will be followed by regular poetry gig, The Word Tree with Sean M Whelan as feature.

If you can't come, you can pre-order (up until Sat) at the special price of $15 by paypal here, which includes postage in Australia.

where do they go?

Early last month I had one of those Midas weeks where everything I touched turned to gold. I wrote about it here, and now I'm ready to tell more.

In my two non-kid school-hour days and just one extra evening, I wrote a heap of new stuff and edited a piece I'd been commissioned to write and had submitted a week or two before.

The piece I did the edit on is called 'The Red Haze' and is a personal essay about balancing writing and parenting, although I tried to make it familar to anyone with commitments that get in the way of their writing. Also, it's really more about process, with a sneak of where (some of) my ideas come from. It will be in the EWF Reader, which will be launched next month (details not yet confirmed). It's going to be one fabulous production.

The shorter, non-fiction piece I wrote appeared in the September issue of the VWC newsletter, Victorian Writer. It's part of the regional round-up and considers how last summer's bushfires affected local writers. Well, their writing, really.

The poem I wrote that was accepted on the same day, will appear in the Northern Stories Anthology, produced by Clouds of Magellan, along with another poem that had been submitted earlier. The launch for the anthology is on Saturday November 21, at the Northcote Town Hall, from 1pm.

That leaves just the short story I wrote. The 'theme' was to write a story that would make the reader feel physically uncomfortable, enough so they'd shift in their seat, cringe, whatever. The brief news item that inspired the piece was a five second report of the Hot Chocolate Rapist having had his day in court. I can't even remember the outcome, but I had an idea straight away. I wrote the story in third person from the perspective of a twenty-somethng male, and I'll leave it to you to get a copy of Torpedo 7 in (late) November to find out more.

With everything I wrote that week being accepted for publication, I'm thinking I should plan a few weeks like that every year. I wonder if one per month is too much to ask?

As an aside though, amongst all this I also had a story accepted for fourW, which is produced by the Booranga Writers' Centre who, for their twentieth issue are launching in Wagga, Sydney and Melbourne. The Melbourne launch is at La Mama Courthouse, Sunday 22nd November, from 2.30pm. Come along and support them, so they'll have to launch in Melbourne every year.

Now that all bar one of my stories have been picked up, I've been feeling a little pressured to write some more. This morning, I picked out one that I couldn't quite get right last time I looked at it in January, and I fiddled with it, fiddled some more and have sent it off too.

Now though, I'm off to write a poem. Challenged myself to write a poem a day for a week (starting today), to see if it'll motivate me for something I'll tell you about shortly.