Memoir writing:
Four tips to help you write for and sell to your audience
10 ways to earn
even more money from writing
How to earn more
money from writing
Writing for the
Web is a matter of survival
EDITORIAL
I have yet to meet a writer who finds
writing easy.
Granted, there are days as a writer
where you will have moments of joy in front of your computer, like
when your friend posts a funny Facebook update, or a loved one brings you
a latté. And yes, of course you will feel a thrill after notching up a few
hundred words in one sitting, or when an acceptance letter arrives from a
publisher. Fleeting moments of celebration.
Most writing is like marathon training:
hard slog. There's pain, sweat, maybe even tears. Being a writer is
uncomfortable, pushes you and leaves you sore for days if your work gets
rejected. If you're hoping for an easy run to the finish line, then you're not
on the right track.
"Writing a book is a long,
exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never
undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon one can neither
resist nor understand." George Orwell
"Writing is the hardest
work in the world." Harlan Ellison
"If writing seems hard,
it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things people do." William
Zinsser
"Each day is like an
enormous rock that I'm trying to push up this hill." Joyce Carol Oates on
writing.
If even the well known writers find it
hard, why does anyone bother becoming a writer? For the same reason that
athletes run marathons. They love it. They feel compelled to. They press on
despite the agony. And so can you.
So if you are caught mid-way through your
course right now and you feel like giving up because it's too damn hard,
remember this: there's only one thing that will get you to a completed
manuscript. It's not talent. It's not genius. It's not education.
The only thing that will get you there is
persistence. Which is why our 'Write A Novel' Tutor, Alex Smith says her
greatest writing achievement is not her latest literary award nomination -
but simply 'not giving up'.
Be the one to get to the finish line! Keep
writing!
NZWC COLLEGE NEWS
We are opening a brand new course: Creative
Writing for High School Students. Helen Brain, a qualified
teacher on top of her prolific writing career, trains young people between 13
and 18 years to polish their creative writing skills. The course will help
teens improve their essay writing ability at school, as well as nurture
talented young writers who wish to develop their craft.
The new Write
Your Memoir Course will open for applications this month. This
course is for anyone who dreams of writing a memoir, but doesn't know how to
get started. The course offers expert, one-on-one training, line by line, by
memoirist Lisa Lazarus, and provides a foundation in the craft of memoir. Learn
how to set up a writing schedule, plan your memoir and start the process of
putting your life story into words.
Finally, we opened three specialist courses for the corporate market. These
are:
We have purposefully kept
these courses short and compact so that they can be completed during working
hours. We will be expanding our business courses to include report writing and
proposal writing to further develop writing skills in the workplace.
News from abroad: The 2010 SA Writers' College
Short Story Competition results are out.
Congratulations to our fabulous winners:
First prize is awarded to
Arthur Bacchus for ‘Line of Sight'
Second prize is awarded to
William Oosthuizen for ‘Board and Lodging'
Third prize is awarded to Ann
Kern for ‘The Colours of Choice'
The winner and author of
‘Line of Sight', Arthur Bacchus received a beautiful Dell laptop as his prize.
See Arthur on left receiving his prize from the manager at Incredible Connection.
Arthur wrote to us about his background.
After aimlessly
performing clerical duties as a civil servant, first at the Department of
Education and then the Department of Health, I abruptly resigned after
seventeen years and spent the next three writing and directing short films as
part of an Advanced Diploma course in Film and Television production. The
curriculum also required me to conceptualise Public Service Announcements and
commercials.
I finally felt like I
belonged.Then, a tiny ad promoting the SAWC short story contest appeared in my
community rag somewhere in March of this year. It proved to be a call to
adventure which rekindled a love affair with creative writing, which I hadn't explored
since high school days. Film scripts tend to be merely blueprints for a team of
collaborators to eventually produce a final product a few years down the line.
Penning this story, however, reminded me just how much more intimate the
journey is with creative writing. Ownership of the final product seems that
much more complete and I am keen to embark on regular jaunts along this route.
Allow me a moment of
indulgence to offer sincere thanks and appreciation to a childhood mentor, Mrs.
Veronica Williams, my high school teacher, who instilled in me the love of
reading and writing which would ultimately set me on this path. She also
convinced me to read authors other than Stephen King! Without her support and
encouragement, the already stormy Eighties would certainly have been a drearier
place.
This contest is such a
wonderful platform for aspiring writers to showcase their wares, and the crits
and comments of industry professionals go a long way in erasing the nagging
self-doubt that plagues all artists in their chosen fields. Keep up the
excellent work!
Hopefully, in the not too
distant future, a No. 1 bestseller or the Academy Award for best original
screenplay will have my name on it! Watch this space...
William Oosthuizen's story was placed second. He wrote:
Lawyer by day, wordsmith by night. Since
moving to Cape Town a few years ago, I started doing some of the things I had
been putting off for far too long, and this included writing fiction. I have
always been an avid reader but the transition did not come easily: I soon
discovered that enjoying good writing does not automatically qualify one to
produce a compelling story. A number of books on the subject aided my progress,
as did my wife's unflinching support (and critical eye).
Being runner-up in the SAWC competition gave
me a big thrill, and the many hours of toil will hopefully continue to pay
dividends - the manuscript for my first novel is presently sitting at a
publisher waiting for the green light.
Ann Kern, third-placed author of ‘The Colours of
Choice' wrote this to us:
I've been writing in one form or another for
most of my life. School taught me you didn't have to rely solely on books, you
could create your own stories, and once I discovered that I didn't stop. In my
teens my parents bought me a portable typewriter - yes, it was that long ago -
and I would type away for hours, churning out soap opera-ish romances, bad
science fiction, worse poetry... looking back, I'm quite jealous at how easily
the ideas flowed.
Getting married, having
two daughters, moving around, somehow meant that for a long time I stopped
weaving stories for pleasure. I only started again after getting involved
almost by accident with some online writing communities and learned there is
always time for something if you really want to do it. I love playing with
words, love finding new, more effective ways of combining them, even if my
punctuation still leaves a lot to be desired.
One day, of course, I'd
love to write a novel. Or two. Just waiting for the right idea to creep up on
me.
Our judges were Alex
Smith, Liesl Jobson, Karen Jeynes, Charlotte Randall, Ginny Swart and Henrietta
Rose-Innes. As published authors, together they have accumulated almost 20
national and international writing awards. A huge thank you to them for their
input, expertise and time.
A special word of thanks
to Ginny Swart for her commitment to supporting writers. Ginny almost
single-handedly sorted through the stories to come up with our top 30, and then
top 25. Ginny, you are our heroine! Thank you.
Keep an eye out for the NZWC Short Story Writing Competition
to be launched next month.
We would like to congratulate Christchurch-based Ashley Symes. Last
year Ashley won the SAWC Short Story Competition and elected to complete the
‘Write a Novel' Course as her prize. She has just completed the course,
boasting a manuscript of 117 000 words, described as being "eminently
publishable" by her tutor, Charlotte Randall.
Ashley has produced a
sensational result of 98 % - the highest mark ever achieved in the history of
our writing school. Our best wishes accompany Ashley as she submits her
manuscript to a publisher. We're holding thumbs for you!
Hazel Carlstein, from Australia, was
also a finalist in last year's SAWC Short Story Competition, recently completed
the ‘Write a Novel' Course with distinction and is currently completing her
manuscript on the Advanced Course under the tutelage of Diane Awerbuck.
Two other graduates who deserve special mention are Everson Luhanga and Marks Phasha.
Both these graduates have been awarded full bursaries to continue their
studies. Everson is studying Hard News Journalism and Marks is studying
Magazine Journalism. We will be telling you more about their progress in the
next newsletter.
Congratulations to these students:
Karen Taylor-Vermaak's article,
"Carbs", was published in the Fitness Magazine May/June edition
Jennifer Davies' article, "Bookivore's
Crash Diet", was published in the Femina
February 2010 edition
Shannon Hunt completed the Advanced Course
in Magazine Journalism. She has one article being considered for
publication in Café
magazine, and one in NZ
House & Garden Magazine.
Fabulous job, everyone! Keep up the good work.
Congratulations to
these students who recently completed their courses:
Hazel Carlstein passed the
‘Write a Novel' Course with distinction
Solly Joosub passed the Short
Story Writing Course with distinction
Belinda Blomfield passed the
Magazine Journalism course with distinction
Clara Stein passed the ‘Write a
Children's Book' Course with distinction
Renette van der Merwe passed
the Magazine Journalism Course with distinction
Gillian Palliser passed the
Short Story Writing Course with distinction
Everson Luhanga passed the
Basic Grammar Course with distinction
Ansie de Kock passed the
Vryskutjoernalistieke Kursus with distinction
Karen Fletcher passed the
Writing Coach Course with distinction
Alexandra Elson passed the
Basics of Creative Writing Course with distinction
Sana Patel passed the Short
Story Course with distinction
Carin Pienaar passed the
Vryskutjoernalistieke Kursus with distinction
Ashley Symes passed the ‘Write
a Novel' Course with distinction
Beaulah Pragg passed the Basics
of Creative Writing Course with distinction
Celeste Wood passed the
International Travel Writing Course with merit
Pat Boulton passed the Basics
of Creative Writing Course with merit
Deryn Plutsick passed the
‘Write a Novel' Course with merit
Albie Fourie passed the
Vryskutjoernalistieke Kursus with merit
Maria Flint passed the Magazine
Journalism Course with Merit
Michelle Marais passed the
‘Write a Novel' Course with merit
Rob Quintas passed the ‘Write a
Great Press Release' Course with merit
Laura Lindique passed the Business Writing
Toolkit with merit
Jacki Key passed the Travel
Writing Course
Almie Esterhuysen passed the
Basiese Kreatiewe Skryfkursus
Greg Totsi passed the
Copywriting Course
Marks Phasha passed the Hard
News Journalism Course
Alana Jattiem passed the
Copywriting Course
Caroline Goodwin passed the
Magazine Journalism Course
Andrea Scott-Norton passed the
Copywriting Course
Tidimalo Sekoateng passed the
Copywriting Course
Pumani Ayer passed the ‘Write a
Novel' Course
Michelle Dreyer passed the
Basics of Creative Writing Course
Prudence Mahlangu passed the
Basics of Creative Writing Course
Vivek Kholi passed the Writing
for the Web Course
LATEST STUDENT FEEDBACK
"I could not have found a better college. I thoroughly enjoyed the course
and Ginny is a marvelous tutor. Couldn't have been better." Gillian Palliser, Short Story
Writing Course, April 2010
"I found the course
structure and materials very user-friendly and clear. My lecturer/tutor was
outstanding - had to wade through very long text installments and did so
willingly, with energy and insight and without complaint! I think you have a
great product and a great attitude." Ashley
Symes, Write a Novel Course, May 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed the course
and will consider another. Laura
Lindique, The Business Writing Toolkit, May 2010
"I enjoyed this course and
the challenges, especially trying to be a lot more careful with my choice of
words. It is encouraging to know that I am capable of writing at this
level." Beaulah
Pragg, Basics of Creative Writing, May 2010
"Karen Lotter is an
excellent teacher. I appreciate her ability to explain complicated issues in a
simple way, easy to understand. This is only possible if the teacher knows her
stuff so well that the explanations are effective and simple - even I
understood everything!I think you are a great school." Vivek Kohli, Writing for the Web
Course, May 2010
"The course was very well
presented, easy to follow and very helpful. I feel that I have learnt a
substantial amount, and that my writing has improved drastically. Henrietta has
been a pleasure to deal with. She was enormously helpful in each of the
modules, and I feel that I have a much broader understanding of what it means
to be a writer now than I ever did. She is inspiring and manages to critique in
a manner which does not offend." Michelle
Marais,Write a Novel Course, April 2010
"All I can say about the
course evaluation is, keep it up guys. SA needs more writers...I regard you as
the only means to challenge the system by establishing as many well-trained
journalists as possible." Marks
Phasha, Hard News Journalism, March 2010
"Thank you for the
copywriting course. It was an excellent course. Getting work so quickly in the
industry has been outstanding. I found Mandy to be an excellent lecturer. I
especially valued her feedback and comments on my assignments" Greg Tosi, Copywriting Course, March
2010
"I have to admit that I
was a bit skeptical, because I thought a college might not be able to give me
the same amount of information that a university could, but I was proven wrong
with each module. I gained knowledge of more than just the basics and I feel
confident to write now. Karin is truly a wonderful lecturer and I can
safely say that she becomes more than just that, she becomes a friend too. She
tries to help whenever she can and she gave me very useful tips and
tricks." Renette van
der Merwe, Magazine Journalism Course, March 2010
"I thought the course was
extremely well run and I learnt a great deal from it. It suited me perfectly in
terms of doing it part-time and Karin was an enthusiastic and inspirational
tutor." Belinda
Blomfield, Magazine Journalism, March 2010
"The course content is
excellent as it provides very useful writing exercises but encourages you to
write your novel at the same time. I like the fact that the emphasis is not on
personal introspective analysis. Diane provided invaluable advice and support.
I can honestly say that without the course and Diane's incredible support and
input, my manuscript would not have been written. I have enjoyed the experience
and I feel that my writing has improved substantially." Hazel Carlstein, Write a Novel
Course, March 2010
"Yvonne was fantastic! I
really valued her feedback and shewas extremely encouraging. She really added
to my enjoyment of the course. I really enjoyed the course and thought the
material was very good." Celeste Wood,
International Travel Writing Course, March 2010
"I cannot say enough in
praise of the Write a Novel course, and of my tutor Charlotte Randall. When I
started the course my confidence in my writing was low - Charlotte put such a
lot into my assessments, told me exactly what I was doing wrong, how I could
improve - her criticism was always fair and she seemed like a kindred spirit -
really understanding what I was trying to do with my characters and with my
overall novel. Her feedback was always detailed and prompt, she answered all my
questions thoroughly and gave so much extra help and advice. I could not have
asked for a better mentor and I will really miss her now that the course is
over. Thank you Charlotte." Kathleen
Jackson, Write a Novel Course, February 2010
"I have really enjoyed the
course. It was a personal journey for me. My tutor was excellent, her feedback
extremely objective and well-balanced. I will certainly recommend your
college to other aspiring writers as well. I have already started the novel
course." Petro van
Rooyen, Scriptwriting, January 2010
"I think the real value of
the course is in the feedback you get. The fact that Helen put in a
"nice" or "I like that" after a paragraph really inspired
me to try and get more of the same. Thanks, Helen!This was my first venture
into doing a course on-line as well as a first in creative writing. For me the
whole experience was extremely positive. I cannot think ofany negative
experience I had. For me the course was truly an eye opener, I learnta lot and
can't wait to dig into the Travel Writing Course." Johan Schultz, Basics of Creative
Writing Course, January 2010
"It's been an enriching
experience and I am definitely a better writer than I was at the start of the
course. It'sbeen a pleasure and privilege to have Ginny as my lecturer. She
taught me a great deal, and those lessons will continue to be of great value.
Thanks." Cornelia
Booysen, Short Story Writing Course, January 2010
STUDENT SHOWCASE
For each newsletter we choose
some short excerpts from the best student writing assignments received. For
this newsletter edition we will also showcase some of the short stories
received in the Short Story Competition.
MAGAZINE JOURNALISM
Gabrielle Sulcas -
Module One exercise
It's Monday morning and
you're back at your desk. You go through your emails, clandestinely check
Facebook, then turn to the report you promised you'd have done by the end of
the day.
You stare at the page for
what feels like hours but the words refuse to focus. You realise that you're
not ready to work yet and make your way to the tea room, where you bump into
your fiery colleague, Samantha. ‘You'll never believe what I heard!' she blurts
out. ‘You know Zandi, from Finance? The one who thinks she's so great? Well...'
So, what happens next? Do you
politely explain that you're in a hurry and sidestep Samantha? Or do you pull
up a chair, huddle close and gobble up the delectable information she's dishing
out?
You certainly wouldn't be the
only person to admit to option two. However, a new study from the University of
Southway shows that gossiping in the workplace can hurt your career. In a
survey at the headquarters of a large marketing company, participants who admitted
they gossip regularly in the office were half as likely to be promoted as those
who seldom gossip.
Gabrielle Sulcas -
Module Two exercise for Cosmopolitan
It's one thing to greet your
friends with a friendly ‘Hallo' at the dinner table; it's quite another to
order a Hallo for starters. But at Sehnsucht, the new kid on the Berlin
restaurant block, the Hallo (or lobster bisque) is often followed by the
Freedom (goat's cheese salad) and a heavenly Soul (the restaurant's trademark
cappuccino dessert) to round off your meal.
Notice the non-foodie names
of the dishes? That's just one of the quirks you can expect at Sehnusucht,
Berlin's restaurant for anorexics.
‘Anorexics are often shunned
by society and made to feel as if they're second-class citizens. Here at
Sehnusucht, we want to create a haven where people who suffer from eating
disorders feel welcome and safe,' says Martha Berken, the restaurant's owner.
‘Just because they have troubled relationships with food doesn't mean people
should be excluded from socialising and employment. That's why we've hired a
bulimic waitress and an anorexic chef.'
The restaurant has proved a
major success, with Berliners voting it the best new eatery of 2009 in an
online poll. But doesn't opening a restaurant for anorexics encourage anorexia?
‘Not at all,' says Berken. ‘At Sehnusucht we create a space where people are
comfortable to talk about their problems. A number of customers and staff have
so benefited from their experiences in the restaurant that they've been inspired
to seek help for their disorders.'
Ariella Caira - Module
Two exercise for Cosmopolitan
Blind Date
I'd been pampering myself all
afternoon. Scrubbing, buffing, brutalising my stubborn locks with the hot iron
until they swung in glossy curls around my shoulders. I'd finally slipped into
my favourite LBD, fastened the buckles on my prized Jimmy Choos and, taking one
final very, satisfied glance in the mirror, knew I was dressed to kill.
Had I known, however, that
approximately 20 minutes later I'd be sitting opposite my date in utter
darkness, unable to locate my fork or wine glass, let alone look seductively
into his eyes, I probably would have spent a little less time on my mascara.
And no, this wasn't a case of a power failure or the chef setting the mains
alight. This is apparently how it always is at unsicht-Barin Berlin. The waiters, all of
them blind, guide guests into the perpetually dark dining room, where a sensual
experience like no other unfolds.
In such absence of light
(even cellphones and lighters are banned) your senses of taste, touch, smell
and hearing are automatically heightened so flavours and sounds come alive in
an exhilarating new way. Locating your cutlery and crockery is helped by
the use of a clock analogy - your glass at 1 o'clock, your side plate at 9 -
and a waiter stays with you throughout your dining experience to answer any
questions you might have.
Dining in the dark may be
hazardous in the case of spillages, but it provides a great excuse for
accidentally touching your date's hand or rubbing your foot against his leg.
‘Oh dear, I was so sure that was the table leg!' .
HARD NEWS JOURNALISM
By Marks Phasha, Module
Ten
WHEN Alpheus Monareng lost his
job as a miner in 1994, he did not know of the impact he would have on the
lives of others in Mamelodi east's informal settlements.
"I learned how to
build a shack by making one for my son, he was old enough to have his own room
and had been sharing a room with his two little brothers," says Monareng.
"I built one for him at the back yard and the neighbours liked it. The
neighbouring boys also pushed their parents to buy one for them and the demand
increased tremendously."
Monareng was fortunate that his
business started during boom time for housing. From mid-1994 onwards, there was
a scramble for open land in various townships. Most people involved had been
renting rooms in local back yards with the grown-up children of their landlord.
Monareng, commonly known as "Bra Cry" took the opportunity to
capitalise on the high demand for shacks.
He approached the Ford Motor
Company for building materials, since Ford had a surplus of wood
previously used to package imported car parts. The company agreed to provide
him with material since it saved them from dumping the wood. He also asked
Iscor for rejects of corrugated iron which they agreed to sell to him cheaply.
The budding entrepreneur built
a two roomed -sized shack as an example, but before a second was
completed, Loraine Madonzela and her children had booked a third.
"My family is living in a
nice shack house. It does not leak when it rains, it is firm. The sides can
easily be taken down and packed when you want to move. He is the champion of
the poor," said Madonzela.
Business is flourishing. Bra
Cry sells one room with window and door for R800 each.
When news spread of his services, people swarmed to him, overwhelming him with
orders.
Monaeng hired two additional
labourers. Later, he gave a further four men jobs and also enlisted his
son's assistance. Now employing five men, he started looking for a second team
to erect shacks to existing structures.
Satisfied customer Darious
Zungu said: "That man and his team have saved many families who were
stranded for houses. I think he deserves to be amongst the best community
builders of the year for our area. He built good quality houses at an
affordable price."
Lisa Legodi said:
"He never chases us away even though we have arranged to pay the houses on
credit."
Monaeng makes a good living and
even managed to extend his family home from four to eight rooms and pay
for his son's tertiary education.
Now his own boss with 12 full-time
employees specialising in shack building, Monareng is proof that hard work
and initiative can rescue one from desperation.
SAWC SHORT STORY
COMPETITION RESULTS
Excerpts from our top
three stories
‘Line of Sight' by Arthur
Bacchus
Isn't it funny how, when you're
looking through a telescopic sight, the tiny circular world on the other end
seems so intimate, yet the subjects in it are unaware of your existence?
Look at this bear of a man, for
instance, his undersized police uniform stretching tight over his belly. He
shades his eyes with one hand as he brings his face right up to the frosted
glass window set into my front door. That's definitely going to leave a smudge.
The crosshairs waver across his
unshaven cheeks, then up to his right eye, then down to his chin. It's because
of my breathing that the crosshairs can't fix on any one point for long. I try
to slow it down just like John taught me back on the small-holding when we had
just purchased the rifle. It's not as easy as back then. My lungs have aged
forty years, after all.
I can see his mouth move. His
frosty breath leaves ghostly evaporating patterns on the window. I will really
have to polish that come Saturday. He must be saying something to his
partner again. I cannot understand the language, never bothered to learn even
the basics. That's why I never watch the news on SABC 1, not even the weather.
I like to catch that young man on e-TV, the one with the smart suits and the
overseas accent. I like it when young men dress smartly, not with their pants
hanging down at the knees like you see at the shopping centre these days. He's
extremely presentable, the weatherman, just like my dear John used to be. But
he got it wrong for today. The partly cloudy and fine never happened this
morning, only cloudy. I forgive him. It's late March, after all. The weather is
unpredictable.
The policeman leaves the tiny
world now. He moves further along the stoep. I assume he's going to spy on the
ornaments in my living room now.
I don't think he's a real
policeman; it's been on the news for weeks. A young couple got stuck with their
car on the N2 late one evening and two officers of the law stopped to help. It
turns out they were fake policemen. How could they do those things to the young
lady?
What a cruel race.
A high-pitched beep from a
two-way radio startles me. It sounds like it's coming from a bit further than
the stoep. That must be his partner's radio, the one at the front gate. A
tinny female voice rattles off a message in what could be English. I hear a
muffled reply. Heavy footfalls echo on the stoep, and then a blur passes in
front of the circle. The front gate creaks open. A car door slams shut, then
another.
It is dark outside when K,
research assistant, finishes his work for the day. As he picks up his leather
holdall - a Xmas gift to himself - he observes with bitterness that he is the
last to leave the building.
He complains loudly, his voice
flat amongst the book-lined walls.
Never anyone to help out when
you're behind. The bastards just rush off home.
He quickly makes his way
towards the exit doors. A minute later he is approaching his car, a vintage
two-seater convertible, bought second hand with the small inheritance left by
his mother a year earlier. As always he stops a few paces short to admire her
clean lines and to think kindly of his mother. She was a real woman, the only
one who really cared.
K tilts his head back, sniffs
the night air. Not a star in sight, but rain would only come later. No need to
put up the canvas top for the drive home.
* * *
For a few seconds he is unsure if anything at all had happened; it
had been too quick to take in. Now, slowly, frame by frame, he relives the
horror: his right foot pushing down on the accelerator, the car rounding the
bend, picking up speed into the strait, the dark form looming solid and
unyielding in the headlights of the car, the moment of impact, the windscreen
shattering.
Everything is quiet when he
steps out of the car. He moves to the other side, stares down at the prostrate
form of his victim: a vagrant in a coat. Dark streaks of blood trickle down his
forehead, disappearing into his beard.
K reaches out and touches the
side of his neck. The slow realisation dawns: he has killed a man.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Henderson, you can't leave till Doctor's
seen you."
The nurse moved off and Alison
settled back against the crisp, linen pillowcase with a sigh. There was no
choice really, she hated making a fuss. She wondered which ‘Doctor' it would
be. She never thought of them as ‘her' doctors, they were temporary, just as
she was temporary. Old Doctor Katz hadn't been part of her life for months now,
not since the pain had taken up residence and he sent her along to the
oncologist to be prodded and poked and scanned and biopsied...
Hospital life went on around
her, while Alison worried if medical aid would cover everything this time. She
used to deal with all that, but lately the pills and the pain and the eternal
weariness made her forgetful, made it hard to concentrate, and she had asked
Delia to take over. Delia was their youngest, the only one with a head for
figures. No one knew where that came from; Alison was artistic while Paul was
the practical type, not all that good with numbers. She should ask Delia how
much was left of her oncology allowance, even if she got fobbed off with
generalities again.
In the days before the pain
came, she knew those things without having to ask anyone, just as she would
know if they could afford another call to Tricia in New York because she so
wanted to hear her voice, or to Michael in Perth. He had wanted them to move
there a few years back, but she couldn't imagine living in Australia, she found
the accent so unattractive. Paul had asked Michael to take a look at the job
market for him, but it was less promising than they were led to believe and the
idea was quietly dropped.
Perhaps that had been a
mistake, one of several over the years. The medical insurance was better in
Australia, wasn't it? If she asked Michael, it would only upset him - he got
upset easily, especially about them not following him out there. And he hated
talking about her illness. Only Tricia did that. Tricia understood.
SPOTLIGHT ON ... Author Alex SmithBelow: Alex in
Zambia
Alex Smith is the author of three novels, Algeria's
Way, Drinking
from the Dragon's Well (longlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton
Award in 2008) and Four
Drunk Beauties, all published by Random House Umuzi.
She has had many short stories published in anthologies and journals, and her
short story 'Buffalo Panting at the Moon' was shortlisted for the 2007 SA PEN
Literary Awards.
Alex was also shortlisted for the 2009
PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, won a silver award in
We ask Alex some questions about the writing life.
Q. How did you become a
writer?
Mm, that's a strange idea,
'becoming a writer', like the beginning of a story. Wherever you pick for the
story to begin is arbitrary because a story has so many possible beginnings.
Iain M Banks begins The
Algebraist, a space opera of a novel, with a paragraph to that
effect.
One possible beginning in this
case: in high school I wrote a shoddy adventure novel, inspired by Ian Fleming
and set in Mauritius. Thankfully that manuscript has vanished, unpublished.
More obvious a beginning, I suppose, was when I quit my good day job, sold my
house and everything else I had, walked the Camino de Santiago, and then rented
a labourer's cottage on a rose farm in Stellenbosch, where I took up writing
full time. That's where I wrote the first draft of my first published novel.
Q: What has been your
greatest writing achievement?
Probably not giving up.
Achievements are overrated virtues.
Q. How do you decide what
to write about? Where do you get ideas?
Everything is inspiring; it can
be overwhelming. Not all ideas are keepers, though. Usually I leave an idea
alone and if it returns over and over again then I do something about it.
Q. How easy is it to make
a living as a writer?
It's not easy, but very near to
impossible to make a living as a creative writer in South Africa. I believe if
you can get into scriptwriting that is lucrative. Journalism is something else
altogether.
Q. What general advice
would you give aspirant writers/journalists just starting out?
Journalists are in a different
world - there are real jobs for journalists. I'd say to a person thinking of
making creative writing their career, what my aunt once said to me: don't do it
unless you can't live without it. Anne Landsman, winner of the Sunday Times
Fiction Award in 2009, said at the Cape Town book fair last year that she feels
writing is a vocation.
Q: What do you consider to
be the most important writing tip you ever received?
Go back and rewrite it. Go back
and rewrite the rewrite.
As the dust settles - literally
- on the 2010 London International Book Fair, agents and publishers are weighing up the damage in terms of
cancelled meetings and lost opportunities as flight restrictions prevented many
foreign visitors from reaching Earls Court. Normally the major publishing event
of the year, at which deals are done, international rights are negotiated and
titles are pitched by agents, it was eerily quiet when I attended this week.
It's hard not to feel sympathy
for the South African delegation, the subject of this year's Market Focus. They
and the fair's organisers had been planning this for the past 12 months, and in
the event many participants were unable to attend. The main speaker, the
businesswoman and anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele, was marooned in
South Africa, while the High Commissioner, Zola Skweyiya, stood in for the
absent Minister of Culture. Fortunately André Brink, Tuesday's Author of the
Day, was already in Europe when the volcano erupted, and drew a large crowd at
the Pen Literary Café.
When Bowker's 2009 book
industry stats were released, many in the industry were stunned to see an
unfamiliar company name, BiblioBazaar, leading a surging new segment of
‘non-traditional' publishing stats with a whopping 272 930 titles produced in
2009 - almost as many titles as the entire ‘traditional' publishing business
cranked out last year. Could it be? Could one little-known company really
produce so much volume?
While e-books, iPads and
Kindles have dominated the headlines, BiblioLife, parent company of
BiblioBazaar, is one of a handful of smart, new, technology-enabled companies
driving an exciting trend in the publishing world. Working closely with libraries,
archives and aggregators, the company puts out-of-copyright books back into
good old-fashioned print, one copy at a time, using print-on-demand technology.
Visual artists to sue
Google over vast library project
The American Society of Media
Photographers and other groups representing visual artists plan to file a
class-action lawsuit against Google, asserting that the company's efforts to
digitise millions of books from libraries amounts to large-scale infringement
of their copyrights. The lawsuit, in some respects, mirrors the complaints
filed in 2005 by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers
when they first opposed Google's library project on copyright grounds.
Those groups have since agreed
to a sweeping $125 million settlement that, if approved, would allow Google to
make available and sell digital copies of millions of out-of-print books. The
settlement would also give authors and publishers new ways to make money from
digital copies of their work.
Have you ever been quoted in a
news article or blog post? If so, you know it can be a strange experience: you
recognise your words, but they never sound quite
right. It's the peril of transcription.
That's just one of a couple reasons we like ReadWriteWeb's approach to covering HP's acquisition of Palm. Take a look at the article; it's simply a hyper-curated
collection of smart tweets presented with useful context. Because Marshall Kirkpatrick literally pastes in the tweets he wants to showcase, their
integrity is preserved perfectly.
How to turn your blog's
readers into paying customers
A new company called OpenSky lets the users of social sites turn them into a business by
selling things to their friends, fans and followers. Bloggers or Web site
creators who use OpenSky can suggest that a supplier sell goods through
OpenSky, or can pick goods from OpenSky's stable of sellers. Sellers include
companies that make custom cupcakes, reusable shopping bags and hand towels.
They can set up shops on their sites or simply link to a product. When someone
buys it, OpenSky handles the transaction, the supplier ships it and OpenSky and
the Web site creator split the profit evenly.
Memoir writing: Four tips
to help you write for and sell to your audience
By Dennis
Ledoux
An important step in selling your memoir is to identify your
intended audience early in the process. Your buying audience will affect what
you include in your memoir and the manner in which you write it. You will
likely include different material in your memoir depending on who you believe
will purchase it.Here
are thoughts that range from helping to promote a memoir that might appeal to a
large audience to a small edition of a memoir of only local interest.
One thing that every writer wants to know
is how to earn more money from writing. This is because being a writer can be a
fickle business sometimes and so you need to have as many sources of income as
possible.
You also need to use your time wisely to be
able to write as much as you can and be as productive as you can. You need to
use the phrase ‘don't get it right, get it written' as often as possible to get
you off the starting blocks and writing as much as you can, instead of trying
edit your work and be as perfect as possible as you go along. It's so much
easier to just start writing and don't stop till you've finished and THEN go
back and edit your work later. Remember that writing and editing and two different
jobs and should never be done together.
But what you really want to know is how to
earn more money from writing. And below are 10 easy ways for you increase your
writing income.
As a writer, you probably read the stories
about writers who are working from home and making six-figure salaries with
envy, and wonder, ‘Why can't that be me? I must not be good enough to make that
kind of money.' I'm here to tell you that it's possible for anyone to build a
very successful freelance writing career and earn a six-figure salary, while
never leaving home.
The key is diversification and flexibility.
You have to be able to diversify your talents and be flexible enough to apply
them to a variety of different sub-fields within the broader writing category.
While your passion may be fiction writing, you still need to put food on the table
while you write your novel. It's still important to pursue what you're most
passionate about, but being flexible enough to apply your talents in more
profitable areas will allow you the freedom to pursue your ultimate dream. Are
you flexible enough and motivated enough to use your talents in other areas
that have the potential to make you lots of money?
Writing for the Web is very different from
writing for print. Honest. I'm not just saying so ‘cause I want to make some
bucks from my Writing for the Web course at SA Writers College. (Well, that
would be good too, but this article is a bit more about the whys and hows,
rather than the smoking new netbook I want to buy). Writing for the web is a
matter of survival.
People read differently on the Web
The first reason you need to write in a
different way for the Web is because people read differently on the Web. (And
by the Web, I mean the whole World Wide Web - you know websites, blogs,
Facebook - everything on the Internet.)
According to Web usability guru, Jakob
Nielsen, writing for the Web is very different from writing for print:
·79% of users scan the page instead of
reading word-for-word
·Reading from computer screens is 25% slower
than from paper
·Web content should have at the least 50% of
the word count of its paper equivalent
So, take a guess: where do your eyes go
first when you read articles on the Web? What do you notice, and what do you
miss?
What it is:
An internationally recognised competition for identifying new artists and
writers and bringing them to global attention. Previous finalists have achieved
success and recognition with accolades including writing commissions from
Channel 4, selection to represent Australia in the Florence Biennale,
exhibitions at DACS (London), John Martin Gallery (London) and Flores Fine Art
Gallery (New York), and inclusion in the International Drawing Competition
exhibition (Poland) and the National Geographic International Photographic
exhibition.
Rules:
The Competition has three categories, Artwork, Poetry and Fiction. Winners and
finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. Winners of
each category receive £500 prize money. Entry to the Creative Works Competition
is £10. The entry fee allows the submission of 2 images, 2 poems or 2 short
stories. Poems must be no more than 40 lines each.
·Trinity Guildhall
International Playwriting Competition
What it is: A
competition to stimulate creativity and artistic enterprise across an inclusive
international and multicultural constituency of participants on an affordable
basis; to provide opportunities and encouragement for new, aspiring (and
possibly established) writers to create plays for children and young people; to
generate new drama repertoire for schools, colleges and children/young people's
theatre companies and organisations; and to acknowledge outstanding achievement
in these areas by providing cash prizes and publishing and production
opportunities for the winning entrants.
Rules:
The competition is open to entrants from anywhere in the world. Writers are
asked to submit a one-act play intended for young audiences. There are two
categories, one for audiences of 11 and under, and the other for 12- to
16-year-olds. Writers can be of any age. Plays must be written in English. Entries
must be submitted either as an email attachment or hard copy. A registration
fee is payable to cover costs of administration and reading.
What it is: A
writing competition for short stories, poems and flash fiction, offering
big-money prizes to the winners.
Rules:
It's open to anyone over the age of 16 years. There is a stated maximum number
of words for each entry. There is an entry fee. Entries must be in English. Prizes
for both short story and poetry categories are 1st £5 000, 2nd £1 000 and 3rd
£500. The prize for winning flash fiction category is £1 000.
