Nothing. Cringe.

David Soul sings ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’ (1976). Nope. Sorry. Had to delete the You Tube clip I’d posted here. Made me feel sick. Couldn’t watch the whole thing. Ten seconds was enough. I used to love that song. It looks so dated now (it is!!). Does that make me old?! Middle aged. 46 (counting on fingers). Boo hoo.

Disappointed that I got nothing written this week, but hey, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. Whatever the weather. [And yes, I can hear Kim in my ear now: 'the book isn't going to write itself'. I know ( ]

Helping somebody move house today. I’ve been up since 3.30am. Couldn’t sleep after that. Feeling unsettled. I think it’s because I’m waiting on this PhD decision. Hard to focus. Getting nervous. Also, I don’t particularly like this time of year. Too much build up before Christmas, etc. Feeling tense. Not a good way to be creative. Tried meditating in the past few days.

Joanna :[  ] (robotic and going through the motions)

A nice little number. I’m 11,111 words into the writing of my second novel, ‘Parallel Rainbow’. It is coming along smoothly. I am still writing the introductory section.

11111 fares well for a name like ‘Parallel Rainbow’. I prefer to write ‘11,111′ as ‘11111′ for my heading because it goes with ‘Parallel Rainbow’. Straight up and down; parallel digits. No more on that front other than that I am happy to be back writing.

My shoulders and back are fine now, thank goodness. It occurred to me during the massage that maybe my left side was sore because I am left-handed and I equate that with writing (even though I use a computer and type with both hands). Something about not feeling good enough to write; creating a sore left shoulder to prevent me facing up to having to write. Who knows.

Maybe Nicole really has been sending me Reiki healing from a distance. At any rate, I am no longer taking Panadol. No need. Pain has disappeared altogether after last Thursday’s Chinese massage (and maybe with Nicole’s help. Hmm. Interesting stuff).

Speaking of the paranormal and supernatural, I have bought Series 5 of ‘Lost’ on DVD. Yay! Final ‘Lost’ season starts in January. Need to get a set top box before then to match our analogue TV to the digital stations.

Last Sunday was the final workshop for the ‘Express Year of the Novel’ (YON) series of workshops, held at the Queensland Writers Centre. I am booked into the ‘Year of the Edit’ (YOE) with Kim Wilkins for 2010. In the last YON workshop we covered finishing up and getting prepared for the next stage, looking at the common mistakes of unpublished novel writers, the publishing industry, sub editing, and putting together a submission for literary agents and publishers.

Of the 16 YON participants, seven, myself included, completed their first draft novel manuscript. That is pretty good. Here are the word counts for the varying first novel drafts:

Me (Joanna): 81,118 words — ‘Dirt’ — drama aimed at women.

Anthea: 87,000 words — fantasy.

Lindsay: 160,000 words — epic fantasy — hand written!

Jo (the other ‘Joanna’ who prefers to be called ‘Jo’) 67,000 words  – fantasy.

Gina (Georgina): 153,000 words. Again, epic fantasy.

Annette: 86,000 words — romance adventure.

Desmond: 72,000 words — literary fiction. Desmond is something like 80 years old and was doing ‘Year of the Edit’ concurrently this year. He said that he is 11,000 words into his third book! You are never too old to start writing. He said that he wished he’d started earlier. He loves reading and writing.

Another couple of people from YON are not far off from finishing. So, that’s pretty good.

Kim said she normally has four or five per group who manage to finish the first draft of their novel. I knew I was going to be one of those people right from the word ‘go’. Why bother doing a course like this unless you are going to make the most of it; of Kim’s expert advice, and of the support from other novice novel writers. It takes dedication and time, and it’s been fantastic. Thank you, Kim.

I’ll read ‘Dirt’ back over the Christmas break and will hopefully get onto some initial sub editing before YOE starts in February. I also hope to finish off the first draft of ‘Parallel Rainbow’ by February.

Some of the YON group members are organising to meet up at a meeting room in the State Library of Queensland next month. I think there might be five or six of us who show up. A two-hour writing race, followed by lunch. Should be good. The extra writing times hel by the Queensland Writers Centre and AWMonline during November have been helpful. At least if I get to these, I know that I am writing at a minimum.

No, I’m enjoying getting into ‘Parallel Rainbow’. It’s flowing along. 11111 words is way better than 0 words! )

Joanna )

Friday already?! Off topic, but 293 people are now members of ‘Joanna’s Blog’, my Facebook group. If you are on FB, I hope you’ll join. Just type in ‘Joanna’s Blog’.

I’d better get some writing done later towards ‘Parallel Rainbow’. At the moment it stands at a measly 5,305 words.

Had a Chinese massage yesterday, so that helped my sore back and shoulders (and Nicole C. is sending me Reiki healing; telepathically I think!). Don’t know why I’ve put up with this pain for weeks. Will have to look after my body more and get regular massages if I am to be a long-term writer.

Running behind with ‘Parallel Rainbow’ because I’ve been too sore to write. Been taking up to six Panadols a day over the past few weeks for the upper back and shoulder pain. I know that my soreness has come about from all my work on the computer. Too much time spent at a computer with my shoulders raised.

Will get a good computer chair when I can afford one. Don’t think I’ll bother getting a cheap ‘office chair’ — eg the $50 ones. I need a chair with all the gadgetry to support my lumbar area. I want a chair that goes up, down, in, out, and pretty well flies off to Mars. I know my chair is too low for my desk. Guess I’ll have to sit on a couple of pillows on top of my chair to raise the height until I get a decent computer chair.

I’ll stick with massages — even if I only have monthly massages. It was well worth the $40 for a back, shoulder, and neck massage yesterday. The first night that I have slept through in months.

Check out today’s status update on my FB profile: ‘Anybody had paranormal experiences’? I’ve had some interesting comments back.

Joanna )

Thought I’d put up these photos of parallel rainbows from the Internet to help inspire me as I set about writing my second novel, ‘Parallel Rainbow’.

The double smiley emoticon after ‘Joanna’ is my parallel rainbow — not that you can see it here. It keeps turning into a smiley.

Joanna : ) )

Joanna )

I wrote this as a reply to a comment to my last post (‘A little bit of this, a little bit of that ….’, 6/11/09) by writer, John Warwick Arden.

His blog url is http://evolvingsoulsclub.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html. One of his blogs, that is! Anyway, my reply was so long, that I thought it warranted a post of its own, so here it is (edited):

‘Thank you, John. That is such a lovely response. I am touched by your thoughts. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside when I read it. You have put so much time into giving me your considered response — so thanks very much. Very sweet of you.

Of course I was writing tongue in cheek when I spoke of fame! It was a satirical quip. Lol. I hope other people didn’t read that literally! My sense of humour. You know how we Aussies love to be irreverent and use throw away lines like that. You know I go over the top when I’m writing my thoughts down, so I can get overly dramatic and exaggerate things. Make things out to be bigger than they are.

I know that I am a writer already, and a professional one at that. A professional writer and editor. After all, I have an MA in writing, editing, and publishing and work in the industry. I am also an aspiring novelist. I call myself a ‘freelance writer and editor and aspiring novelist’ only because my paid work is as a contracted writer. I was talking more in the sense about my creative (novel) writing here, but yes, it is just a matter of writing more and improving. I also believe that being published online is great. Blogging and my FB posts are part of the creative writing process.

Digital publishing is radically changing the way writers, readers, and publishers relate to the concept of the book, but traditional books in print will always be around. I’m just hoping that I’ll also get published in hard print one day. I want to be able to pick up my novels from a bookshelf and look at them in a bookshop. As far as Facebook and blogging go, I meant that I waste time in the sense that I love spending way too much time doing these things.

Of course the friendships with some of the people online are real, even if we haven’t met. It is good for writers (or anybody) to reach out and communicate. For writers and other artistic types, it is a way to learn about others’ work, to learn things, and to bounce ideas off each other. And yes, without that support, I don’t think I’d be feeling as firm in my dedication to writing as I am, or want to be.

I’ve long dabbled in some form of blogging or digital publishing.

First, there was my blog,’Qackomongo’ (deliberately spelt without the ‘u’ after the ‘Q’ — again my sense of humour. Ever dare to break the writing rules?!) I deleted this blog because I didn’t get anybody following me from UQ.

Second, I used to write regularly on the WEPwiki blog, a wiki for past and present students of the writing, editing, and publishing program at the University of Queensland.

Third, I wrote for my FB group ‘The Expressive Writing Firm’, and now I write this blog, along with my writing on my two Facebook groups, ‘Joanna’s Blog’ and more recently, ‘Dame Edna Everage for Australian President’. The Dame Edna group is a tongue-in-cheek, satirical blog. I like satire.

Fourth, I work in digital publishing as a paid social media writer.

I didn’t know that one of your film scripts had been made into a DVD in the US. That’s fantastic news, John! Congratulations!

Thanks, John. Hey, I might even put this up as a separate post seeing as it is so long [as I've just done!].

Cheerio, and have a good day.

Joanna )’

P.S. John added ‘Joann-A’ as a later reply to the post. He knows I hate being called ‘Jo’ or ‘Joanne’.

Joanna )

Well, at least a little bit of writing is better than none. I joined the Australian Writers Marketplace online special writing race on Tuesday night and managed to write 3,536 words between 7.15pm and 8.45pm. That was my first writing effort towards ‘Parallel Rainbow’, my second novel. Things have been at a standstill since then.

Look, I have a good idea (as with ‘Dirt’). Why am I so undedicated? I need to write more. Kim Wilkins was captaining the race in person at the Queensland Writers Centre. She has a great blog over at her website, ‘Hexebart’s Well’. Here’s her blog post from today (6/11/09):

http://fantasticthoughts.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/dont-be-a-cry-baby/.

I need somebody like Kim to pull no punches. Tell it like it is. If you don’t write, nobody is going to do it for you. A book doesn’t write itself.

I went to see my sister, Rachel, perform with some other fine female Australian singers at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in ‘Joni: A Tribute to the Legendary Joni Mitchell’ a couple of nights ago (http://www.joni.com.au/). Brilliant. The performers were Wendy Matthews, Katie Noonan, Rachel Gaudry (hi, sis )!), Louise Perryman, Kristin Berardi, Tania Bowra, and Virna Zanzone. One night each in Melbourne (Hamer Hall), Sydney (Sydney Opera House), and Brisbane (QPAC Concert Hall). Rachel is also a film music composer.

My daughter, Tina, also got a full page article written up about her in this week’s ‘Redcliffe & Bayside Herald’ (community newspaper). Great article and a lovely photo of Tina. The piece is titled ‘Teenager’s debut play reveals a room with many views. Out of the box first up’ (Alyce Valentine, November 4, 2009, p.41). Tina’s play is called ‘Box’ and was performed at the Redcliffe Cultural Centre to an audience of over 200 people.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it reminds me that to be a writer, to do anything creative, I can’t just blog and waste time on Facebook. Damn it. Success doesn’t just happen. Maybe I’ll be an average novelist. Maybe I wasn’t born for stardom (boo, hoo ( ). Whatever. I can get better. Get creative, Joanna.

I’ve done drama, art, and now, writing. I’ve been a graphic designer and a high school art teacher (even if only briefly as the latter — hated high school teaching!). I’m an artist — it’s in me. I love the arts. I need to work in the arts. Best to write and face my demons. Get writing. Or do something for myself besides the paid writing work. ‘You’ll never, never know if you never, never go’ (as the Northern Territory tourism advertising slogan goes).

I was so hyped up last night. I couldn’t sleep all night. Must have been the Diet Coke I drank during the daytime. Or maybe it’s the electricity currents from the computer. I don’t know. All I know is that I was up all night.

I started up a new group over on Facebook called ‘Dame Edna Everage for Australian President’ while I was up. That group is in addition to ‘Joanna’s Blog’, my other Facebook group. A bit of Aussie humour. Dame Edna (alias Barry Humphreys) is a royalist. Lol.

It’s easy to get sucked into cruising on Facebook with 1,288 ‘friends’. It’s like a cyberspace vacuum of intriguing information. I haven’t met the majority of these people but added them because they are writers or artistic types such as actors, singers, artists, nature loving people, or because I was curious about their profile pics, etc.

Seriously. I’m getting too lazy now that I’ve finished writing my first draft of ‘Dirt’. I have my daily paid work (working as a social media writer for an Australian publisher from home), so that takes up time. I’d mention the name of the publisher, but it’s probably best not to. Keep work separate from my private writing. Let’s just say I’m working for a major national publisher with offices overseas as well. It’s not difficult work (very routine, in fact!), but at least I’m working in the publishing industry, which is great. So competitive. Hard to get into.

Took me eight months or more to find work in publishing, even with an MA in writing, editing, and publishing. And even this work is hardly ‘writing’ in the proper sense, although I get to write the odd article. More community liaison and posting comments on social networking communities to disseminate the publisher’s daily newspaper stories. In the end I got this position through a personal contact. Who you know and all that. Very unfair, really, the way the work world operates.

Back to the point. My own writing. Creative writing. Joanna, the aspiring novelist. It’s not like I couldn’t make time to write my own creative writing stuff. My next novel. I just need to make the effort. It’s not ‘I can’t’. At the moment, it’s become a case of ‘I won’t’. Kim’s post is a good wake up call. Stop the slop, Joanna! I will be a published author. I have to believe in myself.

This Sunday is the last of the ‘Year of the Novel’ workshops. The whole experience has been great. I wouldn’t have got ‘Dirt’ written without it. I pasted the last of my pictures and information into my writing journal for ‘Dirt’ (my ‘work product’) this week. Big chunky thing. I’ve signed up for ‘Year of the Edit’ to start in February. That’s for the rewrite and editing of ‘Dirt’. There’s a good three months to get some solid writing in between now and then, if I pull my finger out.

I want my next writing journal for ‘Parallel Rainbow’ to be neater; not so slash and dash. At the moment, I’ve only written in a page of brainstorming words. At least I have the scenes and plans in mind. Oh, that’s the other thing. Forgot to mention that I spent a good five hours or so before last Sunday’s writing race (1 November) writing the book blurb, synopsis, and skeleton outline for ‘Parallel Rainbow’. I know what to do, chapter by chapter.

I like it, and so does Tina. She’s always a good person to run my ideas by because she’s a harsh critic as only a teenage daughter can be. Wow. She’ll be turning 16 in four weeks! OK. That makes me feel a bit better. I have at least got ‘Parallel Rainbow’ mapped out. In writing.

I read JJ Cooper’s debut novel, ‘The Interrogator’, this week. Sensational. Fast paced. Just loved it. He wrote that in eight months and with a full-time job (writing it two hours a night). I’m now reading Krissy Kneen’s debut novel, ‘Affection: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Intimacy’. Again — brilliant. I’m fascinated how Krissy has laid herself bare. Very brave of her. What a beautiful gift writers can give to their readers. She writes so poetically and sensually. It’s a lovely book.

Also went to my first Toastmasters meeting this week. All very organised and structured, but a lot of fun. Thought it might be a good idea to become more confident about public speaking, or even to just learn to be confident in social situations.

So yes, a bit of this, a bit of that, but nowhere near enough writing this week.

Crank it up three gears please, Joanna. OK, Writing Cat. I know that you tell me this for my own good. Thank you. And thank you, Kim Wilkins, for your excellent writing advice. Crap. The amount of writing I’ve done here tonight could almost constitute a book chapter itself. Lol.

Joanna )

Well, what do you know. I’ve got a new novel idea.

Set about planning it today when I joined in on the November Sunday writing race at AWMonline. Now that the pressure’s off, I’ve come up with a great story idea. Actually, I had two ideas for my second novel: a fantasy novel, and a science fiction novel.

I’m going with the dark fantasy novel idea. The original thought came from a dream about the bands of colour in a rainbow.

My working title for my second novel is ‘Parallel Rainbow’.

So, all good. I’ll just plod ahead at my own pace during November, but will also participate in the extra writing races during November at AWMonline.

So today, I did the book blurb, synopsis, scene by scene outline, characters’ motivations, individual scenes by viewpoints, and determined possibility/plausibility, and the pace for each scene of ‘Parallel Rainbow’.

Good stuff. And that was only from 2.00pm to now (just after 7.00pm).

Back on track.

Second novel on its way. I will start writing ‘Parallel Rainbow’ from tomorrow.

Today was all about planning. Twelve pages of a skeleton outline and the rest of it to guide me.

Cheers

Joanna ) and )))))) for the rainbow dream.

Hi. I wish I hadn’t told everybody I was doing NaNoWriMo (ie on this blog, Twitter, FB, and on the Year of the Novel site). I really don’t feel like going ahead with NaNoWriMo now. Don’t want to write a novel without any good ideas. Perhaps it’s better just to wait until I edit the first draft of my first novel, ‘Dirt’, during ‘Year of the Edit’ at the Queensland Writers Centre.

Oh well, suppose I’ll have to humiliate myself and ‘fess up now that I’m not going to do NaNoWriMo. Change of mind. I’m just feeling stressed enough as it is at the moment. I don’t want to start a novel because I feel rushed into it. There is no point in that. I don’t need the added pressure. It’s not going to happen. I’ll start another novel when I’m ready. I’m happy to wait until YOE starts to fix up (rewrite and edit) ‘Dirt’ from February onwards. I’m not ready to start another monumental writing project. I need more time.

Maybe I’ll participate in the extra writing races offered by the QWC during November. I don’t know. I just need to do things my way. This is not going to work if I feel that I ‘have to’ write a half-baked idea of a novel and do NaNoWriMo just to save face so I can say I’ve written 50,000 words during November. I don’t like being told what to do, or when to write. I’d rather wait until I feel motivated and have some inspiration for another book. I know Kim said that ‘ideas are everywhere’ but I’m just not feeling up to starting a huge new writing project right now.

Yep. Well, that’s all.

Joanna )

Time is ticking. Only a few days to come up with an idea. Haven’t made the time to just STOP life and think about this. NaNoWriMo, damn it. Starts on Sunday. Now Thursday morning, 12.25am. OK. Will have to devote some time to it. If not, I’ll have to go with my fantasy idea. Enough for tonight.

Saw Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ movie tonight. Brilliant. See it. What a shining star — not just a performer; a unique extraordinary person. Once in a lifetime does somebody like that come along.

I’ve well and truly put ‘Dirt’ to the side for the time being. One more ‘Year of the Novel’ workshop (on 8 November). For those of you who haven’t been following this blog, I intend to edit ‘Dirt’, my first novel (first draft) during ‘Year of the Edit’ at the Queensland Writers Centre during 2010. Enough said about that for now.

Next writing project: NaNoWriMo — November is National Novel Writing Month (except now it’s an international event). Got to get my act together about this. It’s time — slips away so easily. OK, tomorrow (no, today! eek!) and Friday I will have to decide one way or the other where this NaNoWriMo writing idea is going. If not the fantasy idea, then another.

Nothing else to add right now. Will post on Friday and let you know what I’ve decided upon. Must beat the clock. Just beat it, just beat it … beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it. Come on, MJ. Inspire me. I need a new novel idea. Now! Muchas gracias.

Joanna )

I’m feeling anxious about my new novel idea for NaNoWriMo. I’m not sure if this is the next novel I want to write as my second novel. Dark fantasy. Paranormal thriller. I like reading fantasy, but haven’t written it before. At least not to the point where I’ve seen a story through to completion. If not this idea, then I’ll need a lightning bolt of inspiration between now and next Sunday  (1 November) before NaNoWriMo starts.  I want creative, inspirational thought waves coming my way now. I invoke the Book Fairy.

I was feeling more enthusiastic about NaNoWriMo on Friday (two days ago). This is what I wrote on Facebook:

‘I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo. I like structure, deadlines. I will write 50,000 words towards my second novel (first draft) during November. NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org) will give me a writing project to focus on before I start editing my first novel draft, ‘Dirt’, during ‘Year of the Edit’ in 2010.  Must write. OK, better get organised now. Going back over my ‘Year of the Novel’ notes to get me started. Book blurb, rough list of scenes, transition points, timeframe, characters, viewpoints. All of that. Important to know what I’m going to write about roughly before I start this NaNoWrMo month in November (my first NaNoWriMo). Nothing like declaring it online (including on my blog and Twitter) to get me motivated. Joanna )’

And in response to a FB friend who likes to write off the seat of his pants (given a ’situation and a character’, ‘organically’) I wrote:

‘There’s no set way to write a novel, Andrew. No magic formula or everybody would be a novelist. Writing a novel is all about whatever works for you. But I agree that a story is made up of plot and premise (premise consisting of the three Cs — character, conflict, and context). I’m just going the way that I’ve been taught during the ‘Year of the Novel’ because I like Kim Wilkin’s approach. It’s logical. It makes sense to me to follow a structured approach because it helps me to stay on track with the story. Mind you, the story can change during the writing. It’s a balancing act. You need to be decisive yet flexible — ie don’t be obsessive over plot choices. Be prepared for there to be a balance between being decisive and being flexible. Join NaNoWrMo, Andrew. It’s free. I haven’t done it before. Will be good to set myself another writing project. I think there must be a few of us now who have signed up. Just write — it’s only 50,000 words.  Joanna )’

So much for my initial burst of enthusiasm. Why am I so full of wise advice one day and then feel like chickening out the next?

The thing is, I’m not sure if I’m cut out to write this sort of story. To change genre or not from what I wrote for ‘Dirt’ (adult realism/drama)? It might be beyond my skills, experience, and current low levels of motivation to write fantasy. It shouldn’t be. Not having done ‘Year of the Novel’ and with an MA in writing, editing, and publishing under my belt. But I’m still inexperienced as a writer of fiction. You learn the more you do; the more you write.

I wonder if I’m better off sticking to a story based in the ‘real’ world. I’ve started about four fantasy or paranormal type stories before this. But they’ve always died after the first few chapters or whatever. I got bored with them. I just don’t want to waste a whole month and a lot of time and effort writing a book (or at least 50,000 words towards a novel) that could end up like another one of those misfits. Do I like the plot? Sort of. It has potential, but it would require a lot of historical research. There are a lot of holes; a lot of things I don’t know if I could be bothered with. Do I really want to do all that? Have I got the energy for it? I know I’m making excuses. Chicken. Cluck, cluck. Shut up, Writing Cat.

I will do it, but I want a good story idea that I feel passionate about.

Shit. I feel rushed now. Only a week until NaNoWriMo starts. I need to come up with a good book idea. Was awake most of last night worrying about it. Not trying to worry; I’m just a naturally anxious person. And I have mild bipolar disorder (used to be called manic depression). OK, there, I’ve said it. You’ll be proud of me, Karen. Do I need the extra stress of NaNoWriMo? Yes, I want to do it. But I don’t feel enthused. Nor do I want to start a book ‘organically’. I want to know what I’m writing about roughly before I start. I’ve learnt heaps during this ‘Year of the Novel’ (with one more YON workshop to go). Most of all, I’ve learnt that a first draft needs direction; a skeleton form to guide me before I flesh it out later on. It helps in the long run to do the preparation beforehand; before I start my next novel.

What would Kim say? She’d probably go back to her YON mantra: ‘be decisive, yet flexible’. And her ultra mantra: ‘There is only one solution to every writing problem: write, write, write.’ God, she scares me. Joke. But she’s like the authorial equivalent of the ‘Lady of the Lake’ from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s ‘The Mists of Avalon’. A writing guru. Supernaturally talented. By the way, I finally finished ‘The Mists of Avalon’ last night. Took me months to get through it and I won’t be reading another saga. At 1,009 pages — four books in one (with a small point size and tight leading), it was too long for me. I loved the story but I don’t like to take that long to get through a book. At least I can get on to reading some other books now. Want to read some more books by Brisbane debut novelists. Have a heap on my bookshelf — bought, yet unread.

OK, back to the topic. What is the core problem re starting my next novel for NaNoWriMo? Psychological or practical? Practical: a short time limit to decide on a story. Psychological: self doubt, negative emotions. Unsure about story idea. Solution: I need more than one story idea. Then I’ll have to decide. Before next Friday at the latest.

Time is ticking. Tick, tick, tick … not long until Sunday, 1 November. What’s the worst that could happen? I don’t write. Impossible. That won’t happen. I will write. Next. I won’t complete the 50,000 words. Stop the pressure. Just come up with an idea. Then stick with it. Thirty days. It’s only thirty days of total discipline. Hell. Whatever. Do it. Stop chatting and start thinking.

Joanna ) ( although that should be Joanna =:?/ today).