Tag Archives: Penguin Australia

First Australian Manuscript Assessors Conference

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Manuscript Asseessors conference 2Next week Writers Victoria is holding the very first Australian Manuscript Assessors Conference at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne (Tues 2nd – Wed 3rd September 2014). This two-day event will bring together assessors and editors from around the country, for a mix of inspiration and information about this emergent field. I am thrilled to be giving the first day key-note address, in conversation with my very first editor/assessor Clare Allan-Kamil. So I thought it would be a good idea to look at just what a manuscript assessment actually entails.

manuscript assessment conf 1I’m a great fan of assessments, especially for brand new authors with a finished first manuscript. After having spent a long time, sometimes years, completing your book, it’s tempting to think the hard part is over. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Robert Graves so wisely said, ‘There’s no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.’ This is worth remembering when you suddenly decide you’ve written 90,000 words of rubbish. Difficult as that first draft may be, in some ways the real work has just begun.

At this point there are three options. Go it alone, rely on friends and beta readers or consult a professional guide. The first option is reckless. It might work for the talented few, but allowing nobody to read your work and getting no feedback at all is a recipe for a rejection slip. You can’t possibly be objective about your own writing. Friends find it manuscript Assessors conferencehard to be objective too. Writing peers can make good beta readers, and this is the lowest cost option. But if you can afford it, I’d suggest getting an assessment from a reputable agency, endorsed by your state writers centre or the Australian Society of Authors. They will essentially provide you with a structural report, focusing on characterisation, themes, dialogue, point-of-view, pacing and plot. Frankly, when I started writing my first novel I didn’t even know what half these things were! I certainly didn’t know about head-hopping and that each character needed their own narrative arc. I found a lot of this out via my first manuscript assessment. Now you might be a lot more knowledgeable than I was back then, but even multi-published authors go through a structural editing process. Just make sure you use a reputable agency.

The Manuscript Assessors Conference will begin a broad national discussion about this topic, looking at best practice, professional competencies, pay rates and pathways, ethics and future directions for manuscript assessing. Hear a writer and assessor in conversation. (Clare Allan-Kamil and moi!). Get an introduction to the industry with experienced assessors Clare Strahan, Antoinette Holm and Brian Cook. New and emerging assessors can get a step-by-step guide to undertaking an assessment. Established practitioners can join conversations about best practice and share their skills and expertise in a Manuscript Assessing Masterclass. Get an insight into the role of assessing in the publishing industry with special guests Michelle Madden (Penguin Australia), Mandy Brett (Text Publishing) and Louise Swinn (Sleepers Publishing). Join the discussion about what constitutes a living wage for manuscript assessors. It should be fascinating! Hope to see you there …

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Billabong Bend Q&A

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BB High Res coverTwo days to go until the release of my new novel Billabong Bend – an exciting time. It’s also the one time of year that I give my blog over to shameless self-promotion! Here is a Q&A I did with Penguin Books (Aust)

What is your new book about?
Billabong Bend is set in Northern NSW in the heart of our beautiful riverlands. It’s a star-crossed love story which sets Nina, a floodplains grazier, and Ric, a traditional cotton farmer, on a heart-rending collision course.

Nina’s dream is to buy Billabong Bend, the rare marshland flanking the beautiful Bunyip River and protect it forever. But she’s not the only one with designs on the land. When her childhood sweetheart Ric Bonelli returns home, old feelings are rekindled, and Nina hopes they might have a future together on the river. But a tragic death divides loyalties, tears apart their fledgling romance and turns her dream into a nightmare. Will Nina win the battle for Billabong Bend? Or will the man she once loved destroy the wild wetlands she holds so close to her heart?

What or who inspired it?
This novel was inspired by my love for the northern riverlands, and for the Murray Darling basin. I’ve always been fascinated by rivers – by their unique habitats, and by their place in literature. Rivers are revered by some of my favourite writers. Mark Twain had a lifelong love affair with the Mississippi. The great poet TS Eliot wrote in The Four Quartets
‘I do not know much about Gods: but I think the River
Is a strong brown God – sullen, untamed and intractable,’
Nancy Cato in her classic trilogy All The Rivers Run compared the Murray to a ‘ … dark stream of time which bears all living things from birth to death.’ Rivers are mysterious, dangerous, life-giving and achingly beautiful. They are also in trouble and need our protection.

Are there any parts of it that have special personal significance to you?
The idea for the book arose many years ago, during long, languid days spent in the riverlands. Last year I took several trips back up the Murray and saw for myself the changes wrought to habitats and wildlife by drought and low flows. I wanted to write about it.

What do you see as the major themes in your book?
The major themes in Billabong Bend are the power of first love, forgiveness and freedom. There is also a strong environmental theme, namely the importance of conserving habitats.

Who do you think will enjoy your book?
Anybody who can remember the fierceness of first love. Anybody who has marvelled at the grace of a waterbird in flight, or has enjoyed a lazy day on a river.

Do you have a special ‘spot’ for writing at home? (If so, describe it)
I have a small office space off the lounge room and I’m adept at revising through the noise of a busy family. There is no window directly in front of my desk, but instead, a full length picture window to the side. I often gaze out across the mountains for inspiration. My favourite writing spot is over at the stables. Horses are good listeners, and don’t mind you reading aloud. In winter I sometimes write in bed!

Tell us a bit about your childhood?
I was a horse-mad child. I also enjoyed a deep passion for the plants, animals and birds of the bush.. My family had a house in Melbourne as well as a property in the mountains. At every chance I escaped the city to be with my horses. When I married I moved to the farm permanently and am still there.

Do you feel more of a sense of “community” amongst like-minded people as yourself since the advent of blogging?
Absolutely! Blogging and social media provide a real sense of camaraderie for writers, and for regional writers in particular. I might be typing away on my remote mountaintop in the southern Victorian ranges, but I’m connected on-line to writers and readers from all around the world. I love it!

What do you like to read? And what are you currently reading?
I have pretty eclectic tastes. I read books within the Australian rural lit genre of course: authors like Cathryn Hein, Nicole Alexander, Fleur Mcdonald and Margareta Osborn. But I love all kinds of fiction. Debut breakout Aussie novels Burial Rites and The Rosie Project were both fantastic reads. So was the charming Mr Wigg by Inga Simpson. I also enjoy natural history writing, and always keep at least one novel and one non-fiction book on the go. Currently I’m reading  The Reef by Professor Iain McCalman (non-fiction) and The Blue Dolphin by Robert Barnes (fiction)

What is your advice to budding authors?
Learn as much about your craft as possible and write every day. Network with other writers. State writer’s centres and Varuna – The Writer’s House are great places to start. When you have a finished manuscript get some expert feedback and revise, revise, revise. Then it’s time to learn as much about the publishing industry as possible. There are some great opportunities to get your work before publishers without an agent in Australia. I’m proof of that, having won a Penguin contract through a conference pitch. Give it a go, grow a thick skin and remember that persistence pays.

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First Draft – what now?

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I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve finished the first draft of my new novel.

Typing The End on a first draft is a truly marvellous moment. For me, it comes after much hair-tearing, wine, chocolate and the occasional sublime moment of inspiration. It is a time to celebrate and catch your breath. It’s a time to put the manuscript aside for a bit to get some distance. For the real work is about to begin. You have your painstakingly manufactured canvas. Now it’s time to paint.

It is often said that there is no great writing, only great rewriting. (Justice Brandeis) The legendary Peter Bishop, former creative director of Varuna, Australia’s national writer’s centre, once put it to me like this. The first draft is the writer’s draft. It’s essentially the writer telling himself the story. You need to revise it within an inch of  its life – cutting, adding, polishing and shaping, until you have a reader’s draft. Only then should you contemplate launching it into the world.

Let it be said though, adding layers of richness to this first draft is a gazillion times easier than bashing it out in the first place. This is the time to interrogate your narrative. Does it have emotional depth?  Do your protagonist and antagonist develop in a believable way? What about sensory description? Can your readers hear, smell, taste and feel what your characters do? Go through any notes you may have, for details that will enhance the credibility of your narrative.

There was a time before I was published that this was an open-ended process. I literally redrafted and redrafted until it was done. Deadlines have put paid to this luxury. I hone the story until the clock runs out, and then look forward to having another run through once editing comes around. Nevertheless, for me this is still the most enjoyable and satisfying part of the writing process. What do others think?