Becoming A Fiction Writer
One girl, one dream … and a whole lot of procrastination
March 25, 2010 by amanda

Becoming A Fiction Writer readers: Delurk yourselves!

I don’t know where I first heard the term, but I’ve always rather liked the idea of asking people to delurk. If you haven’t heard this term before, the Urban Dictionary says it means:

Entering an online discussion after a time spent lurking, esp. if suddenly prompted to do so.

In other words, if you’ve been reading this blog regularly, but I don’t know about it because you’ve never commented or contacted me, then this is your big chance to delurk. I love interacting with readers and if you make some comments here and there it can be helpful for you, me and everyone else!

So here’s how my delurking challenge goes:

  1. If you read this blog, even just semi-regularly (heck, I’ll settle for “This is my first visit”, I’m so greedy to know who reads my blog!), then this challenge is aimed squarely at you. If you’ve just read this sentence, you qualify as someone who reads this blog. Read on.
  2. Scroll down to the bottom of this page (and go to the real page here if you’re reading this through a blog reader or Facebook link) and write a short comment. I’d love to know who you are, why you’re interested in this blog, perhaps how you found it, and especially if there’s any topic you’d like to read more about. Feel free to leave a link to your blog or website so we can all take a look at what you get up to, too. If you don’t have your own blog, no dramas. We still love you.
  3. Here’s the clincher: today is my birthday. So it would be kind of rude to read this far and not at least leave a message saying “Happy birthday, Amanda!” Right?
  4. Stop reading now and leave a comment. Then you will have successfully delurked. And made me very happy, on my birthday. Thanks!

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March 15, 2010 by amanda

100 websites for writers – and I like lots of ‘em

I’m not sure why it is that online college websites are obsessed with making lists of resources for writers – last year a similar site put together a list of Top 100 Creative Writing blogs and featured Becoming A Fiction Writer on it – but I’m glad they do it, because these lists are actually full of useful and interesting sites.

Recently someone from the Online Degree site emailed me to let me know about their list of 100 Online Resources That Will Make You A Better Writer. I don’t usually plug stuff just because it lands in my in-box, but this is another pretty good list of sites that are useful to writers. Whether reading any of these things will actually make you a better writer is not something I’m 100% convinced of – I’m sure the best way to become a better writer is to simply write a lot – but you could definitely learn a thing or two, and spend a few hours surfing.

The list includes information for freelance writers, publishers’ sites, info on agents, stuff for screenwriters if you’re so inclined (I’m not, I wonder if I ever will be?), fiction sites, blogs and online community links. Basically, it’s a smorgasbord of cool writing sites, including quite a few that I already haunt regularly. Check it out if you have a spare hour or two – but please don’t use it to procrastinate when you should be writing, or I’ll feel guilty.

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Permalink | Posted in Inspiration for Writers, Writing Fiction | No Comments »

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March 10, 2010 by amanda

Getting creatively divergent with amigurumi

It’s quite a long time ago that I blogged about the benefits of a fiction writer getting creatively divergent (or doing “creativity cross-training“, which sounds a bit too athletic!). But just because I haven’t blogged about it, doesn’t mean I haven’t done it.

As I see it, getting your right and left brain working together in ways other than writing has got to be a good change and (hopefully) benefit your writing. For some reason the craft of amigurumi has popped up on the internet in front of me quite a few times over the past year and I’ve always wanted to try it – basically it’s a Japanese style of crochet that creates cute animals and other creatures. The perfect opportunity came when my nephew was about to turn one, and I didn’t want to get him more of those plastic toys that make annoying noises. So I tried out an amigurumi pattern, got creative with it (the hat, for example, was actually a misshapen initial attempt at the head) and found great satisfaction with finishing this guy! And let me tell you, it’s a lot quicker to make one of these than to write a novel.

I plan to do more of this – it’s a good balancing activity for me because I’m easily tempted to spend more time in front of the computer than I should. Anyone else got some secret creatively divergent activities to share? I’m open to lots of suggestions.

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March 5, 2010 by amanda

Sentimental fiction: My childhood favourites

I was definitely a voracious reader as a kid, my parents would vouch for that. (And my husband would confirm that it’s no different today). When I was a child, I remember reading at night in bed before I went to sleep, and I even had a notebook where I’d write down words I didn’t know, and my parents would explain the definitions to me when they came to turn out the light.

Thanks to the influence (and book collection) of my mother, I was a mad keen fan of Enid Blyton books – and I know she gets some bad press these days, but I’ve still got a shelf full of both my own Enid Blyton books and those I inherited from my mother, and I’ll be reading them to my children. Her Secret Seven and Famous Five series were high on my favourites list and I remember adoring The Magic Faraway Tree in particular. (I hope you’ll confess in the comments if you also read a tonne of Enid Blyton books as a child …)

As I got a little older, so Australia also got a little less British, and the influence of American authors like Judy Blume seemed to grow. By far my favourite and most often re-read Judy Blume book was Tiger Eyes. I swooned, and felt so grown up when I read it. It’s still on my shelf too and I should re-read it now, I think, as I’m wondering what it’ll seem like to a real grown-up!

Finally, I have a really strong memory of a book I used to borrow from the local library over and over again. It was a novel by Mabel Esther Allan called The Night Wind (I’d forgotten, but thanks to Google I know again) with a main character named Tafline. I really have no idea at all what drew me to this story, but I read it many times and I can even picture exactly where it could be found on the library shelf.

Over to you: what were your childhood favourites? Do you think you’d still like them today, or want your children to read them?

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Permalink | Posted in Reading Fiction | 2 Comments »

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March 3, 2010 by amanda

February’s book of the month and a February goal update

First up, the goal-related news … I actually didn’t get much writing at all done in February. Even the posts you saw were mostly written in January, and I’m afraid that’ll be the case for the next couple of months, as I’ve been struck with pregnancy-carpal-tunnel – basically the same as regular carpal tunnel, but a whole lot better, because after I give birth to this kid in April my wrists and hands should return to normal and I’ll be typing away with the best of ‘em. So I’ve had to shelve most of my writing plans for these couple of months, but luckily for you I was pretty organised and have posted ahead with this blog, so you won’t be left too much in the lurch. And I’ll still be dropping by to read your comments.

However, there is one important piece of goal-related news: the next round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest was announced, and my novel Bratislava has made it to the next round of judging. YAY! This year the contest is divided in half into adult fiction and young adult fiction, so this means that out of 5,000 entries in the adult fiction section, mine is already in the top 1,000. Of course this ABNA deal is always a slow process so it’s another month before I know if I make it to the next round. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Now, while I haven’t been able to write, I have been able to read a fair bit. As you might’ve seen if you’re following my 2010 reading list (there are some blurbs about what I thought of these books on that list, if you’re curious), this is what I’ve sunk my teeth into during February:

  1. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfallby Kazuo Ishiguro
  2. Absolutionby Olafur Johann Olafsson
  3. The Book Thiefby Markus Zusak
  4. Revolutionary Roadby Richard Yates
  5. The Easter Paradealso by Richard Yates
  6. Like Trees, Walkingby Ravi Howard
  7. Henry’s List of Wrongsby John Scott Shepherd
  8. Friends Like Theseby Danny Wallace
  9. Anna Kareninaby Leo Tolstoy
  10. The Writing Classby Jincy Willett
  11. The Woman from Bratislavaby Leif Davidsen
  12. Dancing Backwardsby Salley Vickers

Ishiguro’s set of stories was, of course, fantastic, but the runaway book of the month winner for me is Zusak’s The Book Thief. READ IT! You might read the blurb and think it’s just another Nazi Germany story but it’s not. It’s one of the best books you’ll ever read. Everything about it is fantastic – the structure, the choice of narrator, the characters and how they grow, the language, the everything! In case you look it up and wonder about the audience – it was billed as adult fiction here in Australia (Zusak is Australian) but for some reason promoted as young adult fiction in the US – whatever your age, you’ll love it. I promise.

On that note, I’ll sign off but will try to get back at the end of March with at least a reading update – probably not much on the goals, although by then I’ll know if my novel survives another Amazon round or not. Happy writing and reading!

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Permalink | Posted in Goals and Motivation, Reading Fiction | 1 Comment »

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