Going down the rabbit hole...

'The Rabbit Hole is a three-day, 30-hour writing frenzy where participants aim to write 30,000 words OR the words 'The End' - whichever comes first!'

And it starts tomorrow.  I had planned to be a part of this worthwhile event.  Since this was announced I have moved, been sleep deprived and commenced full time work, not to mention I can barely make my way to my desk to write.  Clearly, this is no excuse to not be a part of The Rabbit Hole event.

I will write.  Absolutely, I will -  but rather than aim for the above as I would have given better circumstances - instead I will dip in and out over the weekend.  Check in on the facebook page and see what's happening.  Go here for more info and maybe you might like to sign up.  What a great way to spend a weekend.  Allowing yourself the freedom of expression without interruption, or chores, or distractions.  So watch the facebook, the tweets but don't get caught up or procrastinate.

This is your opportunity to dig on down the 'rabbit hole' and actually put some words on the page.  Go Queensland Writers Centre for bringing this together! Let's make it a productive weekend of getting in touch with your creativity and enjoying the wild abandon of writing in a frenzy.

Have fun to all you participants and even I expect to achieve some words this weekend.

Midnight rambler preparing for some disconnection from the mess and chaos that surrounds me :)

Ten reasons why every author should blog...

This post believe it or not has been surrounded by a lot of indecision.  Last weekend I had the good fortune of attending a workshop at the QWC on Blogging and Social Networking with Joanna Penn

Why the indecision? because it was damn amazing and insightful it really reinforced why I need a new blog/website – like NOW!  So the question was: Do I build a new blog site before I make anymore posts or keep posting on the existing one until I have the new one up and running?  It’s all fraught with problems because if I keep posting to the old format while working on the new one – my old one continues to grow when in fact I want to archive it. 

And since now I have returned to working full time with a 4.30am rise and shine, and sadly no, not to write (I wish) my routine is totally out of whack.  I was working nights so you can see what this might be doing to my body clock let alone finding time to build a new blog/website. 

So I’ve decided to post on the old blog for this post (new one is coming) because the things I learned from the workshop was just too good not to share. 

Ten reasons for starting and/or improving your author platform:

1.       A blog is a website with special powers

2.       Bloggers are a powerful community

3.       Every writer should blog – here’s why

4.       People connect with faces – Vlog!

5.       Online networking with other Authors, Bloggers and Marketers 

6.       Online presence with quality content

7.       Baby steps…it all takes time to grow your business

8.       WordPress, Blogger is all free and great to get started but as your business grows consider owning your site – here are some of the reasons why

9.       Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. Check out this amazing video.

10.   Embrace the Twitter – its power is extremely effective for online networking and promoting your business/brand.  Here are some great tips

What are you doing to promote your author brand?  Please share your tips and/or ideas - I still have soooo' much to learn :)

Midnight Rambler embracing the twitter...

A dramatic change of direction...

I’m finally in possession of the March Market edition of WQ. 

There are some fabulous articles inside:  Marianne de Pierres talks about how to be a series contender; JR Poulter goes global; Anita Bell discusses formatting.  A great article on Educational publishing by Pamela Rushby; romance by Valerie Parv; finding your niche market with Cat Sparks and Somerset author guest, Kate Hunter explores why writers’ festivals are so important.

And…

If you’ve ever thought about writing a play - you might like to check out my article where I talk about how stepping out of your comfort zone can be a highlight in your career.

You can read these articles and more by subscribing here and if you’re already a subscriber then you will agree with me - this is a great issue J

Midnight rambler is feeling inspired

Procrastination sux or does it?

"When the student is ready, the master appears"



I love the expression above because it can mean so many things.  The universe provides just when we need it, or when we are willing and ready to accept it.  Sometimes the answer to whatever worries us is in front of us all the time, and while we constantly think it eludes us, we find that it's not until we are ready to acknowledge the lesson, does it all become clear, and we knew the answer all along.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing :)

Which leads me to proscrastination.  In particular procrastination around writing.  Why do we procrastinate or more to the point why do I proscratinate?  Is it because I suck at writing and will do anything to get away from it because I fear failure or success?  Not entirely sure. Sometimes I procrastinate because I'm also a perfectionist (this is a constant work in progress) If you knew me a few years ago you will notice that I have lightened up a lot on that but still perfectionism taps me on the shoulder from time to time letting me know what I've written just isn't quite good enough.

 

Procrastination and perfectionism usually go hand in hand.  Perfectionists and expectation can hound you if something is not quite finished: that half finished novel still sitting in your bottom drawer or that short story that needs the end fixing - it keeps us feeling not quite good enough and if only we worked harder it would be a better story.  Aah, the eternal striving for perfectionism. 

And watching tele isn't procrastinating either is it? It's research! So is surfing the net, reading other writerly blogs, updating your website - it's all research!  I'm quite serious - it is, but it must have its place and the one thing I come back to time and time again is one of the things I learned at Clarion South 2007 from Rob Hood.  "Take one sentence at a time and the next thing you know you have a paragraph."  So why do I continually procrastinate?  Am I lazy, incompetent?

BTW this blog is not going to have any useful tips on how not to procrastinate because I haven't quite figured all that out yet - but one thing I do know for sure is this: 

When I sat down today to look at my rather sad looking play and stared at the blank page for I don't know how long - maybe two minutes, and then I wrote a sentence, then a paragraph and the next thing I knew it was six pages and 1300 words later!  It could all be shite but I don't care, I can fix that up later because this way whatever those words are, I'm that much closer to finishing the play...which is a darn sight closer than it was this morning.  And if I continue to write a sentence tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that - I will finish this play. 

I know I'm the kind of writer who needs to write every day, even if it is that one sentence.  I know I MUST write every day.  If I don't - I procrastinate and I prioritise other things over my writing.  I don't make my writing the priority and if I don't make the priority then I'm not allowing myself the self worth I deserve.  I'm a writer and writers write.  When I continually procrastinate the student is not ready - I know this.  I know this because when I ignore all that other stuff and just write above all else, the master appears.

How do you deal with your procrastination?  I would love to hear from you, hear your tips or simply share. If there is one tip we can come away with from hearing others stories, something that will resonate with us, then we're one step closer to finishing what we started.

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.
~Mary Heaton Vorse~

Midnight rambler looking forward to what tomorrow's sentence will bring...

 

Does it Offend You, Yeah?

Okay, so I've been challenged just a bit too much this year and I suspect there is more to come before this year is through.  So I can either (a) face them head on; (b) ignore them in the hope they will go away; or (c) find pleasure and solace in crazy songs and not give a f**k!

Midnight rambler and the funky monkeys are coming...

The Little Green Eco friendly look at Grammar!

  

Where do I start?  So much has happened in the past couple of weeks and I’m struggling to blog in a timely manner, which is kind of annoying me but feel a tad useless to do much about it since other things are taking up my time: like my other job; the grating never-ending insomnia; domestics and so on.  Nothing new to any of us, I know but it’s still managing to annoy the shit out of me.  But this post is about something extremely useful and clever and exciting like Grammar! 

And I’m in serious awe about those who understand the rules of grammar and have such a great handle on the use of language and its origins.  It’s fascinating stuff – something that would have bored me shitless as a teen now excites me and wishes I knew more.  The Little Green Grammar Book by Mark Tredinnick is a very good start.  I had the good fortune of attending his masterclass today at the Queensland Writers Centre.

I learned many things, actually, that I will need time to process and hopefully the penny will drop and I will have that a-ha moment and eventually get it.  I mean really get it. 

Get things like:

·         the proper use of a semi colon, which up until now I have avoided like the plague because  I don’t understand its correct use

·         the Em dash will become my friend

·         and I will re-embrace my use of long sentences, but make sure they do the job they’re intended to do. 

I will mix the sentences up: short, long and in-between, and as strange as this may sound it isn't necessarily easy to grasp.  However, (this word is a no, no in this context) I finally get what makes a sentence.

Shouldn’t I have already known this?  I’m a writer – doh!  Yes, I do know this on a subconscious level but not always on conscious level, so now when my grammar/spell check tells me there is a ‘verb confusion’ I now know what to look for and will quietly and methodically work through my completed manuscripts and take notice of my sentences, long, short or otherwise and see if I have the basic sentence structure. 

So, what is the basic sentence structure? 

Subject, verb, object, modifier – this is only the beginning as there are subordinates clauses and main clauses, sentences declarative, interrogatory, directive and exclamative. 

We covered things like: preposition in space and in time; pronouns; conjunctions; clusters of words or phrases and many more.  I am now in possession of Mark’s eco friendly little green grammar book and I will study this and aim to improve.  Make better use of my sentences, write strong and grammatically correct sentences so at the very least if I break the rules know what rules I’m breaking.

As Mark taught us today - ‘The rules of grammar are the rules for paradise’.

And a quote from his book, the little green grammar book:

‘Learn the rules’, wrote the zen poet Basho, ‘and forget the rules’.  Just don’t ignore them. They’ll set your writing free.

Forgive me for any grammatical errors in this post.  Disclaimer:  I’m very tired nd I’m still trying to grasp this wonderful thing called the English language that has origins in so many other languages.  While Mark makes grammar sound simple and I guess it is – I’m also going to be unlearning bad habits of poor school curriculum, teachers who had no idea, many years of secretarial dumb ass grammatical rules that are now redundant, and everything I thought I knew about grammar in creative writing, has somehow, over time been lost, confused, or taken out of context. 

So yep, I have a lot to learn but I feel excited that I’m so much closer to understanding what I’m doing on a conscious level and looking forward to the day of breaking the rules because I know I can J

Mark will be launching his new collection of poems ‘Fire Diary’ Monday, 29 November, 2010

Where: Avid Reader, 193 Boundary Street, West End

When:  6.00 – 8pm.

Cost:      $5 

RSVP:    email: events@avidreader.com.au or online: www.avidreader.com.au or by phone: 3846 3422

Midnight rambler finding the rhythm in sentences

Mark Tredinnick, is Qld Premier's Literary Award Winner and author of "The Blue Plateau",  "The Little Green Grammar Book", "The Little Red Writing Book" and "The Little Black Book of Business Writing" and more recently his new collection of poetry "Fire Diary".

Grammar is my weak point and I found out today that ‘grammar is about the sentence’, and ‘verbs are magick’.  This is important, very important – I do like this, so much so, that today I feel stronger, better, slightly more confused and befuddled but somehow quietly confident that I learned a thing or two today.