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Maybe it's the flu that's got me firmly in it's grasp, or it could be the persistent cough and inevitable accompanying headache...perhaps it's the fact that my strict timetable has been battered out of shape by the first two.

Whatever the cause, the effect has still been the same - I've lost all momentum and motivation to do any work on my novel. It's a shame really as I'd signed up for July's Camp NaNoWriMo too.

After an early morning wake-up call from my equally sick 3 year old,  I decided to force myself to do some writing. Unfortunately paracetamol and coffee weren't enough to put the wheels in motion. At best I was an old rust bucket spluttering to life - and inciting great anticipation from its driver - only to conk out, leaving the driver in even greater despair. 

On the other hand they were a sufficient cure for wallowing in my puddles of failure.

I came across a quote which got me thinking... 

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) Thirty-second President of the USA

Perhaps I've been looking at it all wrong. Like the characters in our stories, life throws obstacles in our way and we have to find a way of overcoming them if we are to reach our goal. Maybe those puddles of failure are actually pools of fresh rainwater ready to nurture the seeds of imagination. If that's the case I'm pretty sure my health meter has enough in reserve to enable to tie a knot in my rope.


Consequently I've decided to accept what I can't change - namely having the flu - but I'll find a way to use it to my advantage and in a way that will keep me on the right track towards achieving my goal. Reading a good book springs to mind!

One final quote for anyone else feeling sick and not-so-quick-witted ...
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) English Naturalist


 



Hello fellow children's writers!
 
I thought it'd be nice to have a Savvy Authors group dedicated to children's writers and their needs...so here it is  

It's free to access and has an open members policy so anyone can join.
 
As an official volunteer for Savvy Authors I'll be sourcing articles on craft and other need-to-know information from published children's authors, so if there's anything in particular that you'd like to know please send me a message and I'll add it to my email request when approaching writers.

And if by any chance you happen to be a children's writer with publishing credits and you'd like to contribute an article for the sight, please drop me a line at vickybruere@yahoo.co.nz. Your insights and experiences would be much appreciated! :)
 
I look forward to getting to know you!
Vicky

Well folks the Gearing Up to Get an Agent Blogfest has arrived and it's time for me to get stuck into my first task.

Assignment 1: Take the greatest, dumbest, weirdest...just whatever kind of writing question you have, and post it on your blog Wednesday. 

 And my Silly Question is... 
When deciding to have a manuscript critiqued by a professional editing service (e.g. Margot Finke) is it important to:
a) review, edit and polish it up until you are 100% happy with it and think that's at the point where you'd be happy to see it in print...
or can you...
b) review, edit and polish it until your about 80%-90% happy with it, but need a bit of outside perspective to help you get it back on track...
or
c) does the answer lie in how thick skinned you are when it comes to people critiquing you work (and how much money you have too!) 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Happy blogging :)

As a newcomer to the writing scene I've had to do a lot of research into the nuts and bolts of how 'it' all works.

Since I have 1 picture book manuscript well on the way to being ready for submission, and another not far behind, I thought I'd better do a bit of research into where to send them.

This video was particularly helpful in directing me to a starting point. I thought I'd share it as it may be helpful to other writers out there too. Happy viewing...and happy 4th July!

Recently I participated in a forum discussion on e-books and the likely-hood of paper books becoming obsolete.While I'm not alone in thinking that paper books will never disappear, it did get me thinking. 

There's no doubt that technology's here to stay and, no matter how much we might love paper, e-books present writers with an opportunity to reach a much wider audience than they might otherwise be able to if they stuck to the traditional publishing route alone.

It was this discussion that prompted me to read 'Copyright and the Future of the Future' by Cory Doctorow. You can download a free copy of this essay and other articles of interest from his blog http://craphound.com

In his essay he talks about the advantages of using technology to give your work away! His argument for this is actually very convincing. Here's the excerpt I found most interesting (It's obviously okay to give you a sneak peek as he encourages you to download his work for free anyway!)
Most people who download the book don't end up buying it, but they wouldn't
have bought it in any event, so I haven't lost any sales, I've just won an
audience. A tiny minority of downloaders treat the free e-book as a substitute for
the printed book--those are the lost sales. But a much larger minority treat the ebook
as an enticement to buy the printed book. They're gained sales. As long as
gained sales outnumber lost sales, I'm ahead of the game. After all, distributing
nearly a million copies of my book has cost me nothing.

And on that note, here's a website that offers its services free of charge and assists you in creating an iPad compatible children's e-book. You can access a video on this from http://www.write4kids.tv/?videos=create-ipad-compatible-childrens-ebooks-for-free

From the little that I've read so far, I think that e-books could be a great way for new writers to build up an audience and get themselves noticed. It's certainly got me thinking!

Good news fellow writers, the CBI Clubhouse has now added a TV channel to their already extensive list of resources for writers. 
It has videos on e-publishing, getting published, the business side of writing, writing advice, and 'the mental game' which is all about adopting a writer's mindset.

I'd say this will be a site worthy of regular visits as Jon and Laura are always adding new features of interest to their sites.

http://www.campnanowrimo.org

If you're in the process of planning or writing a novel but aren't getting on as well as you'd like then this could be just what you need! It's 100% free, enables you to 'write in company', and there's a word progress meter too - a sure-fire way of spurring you into action...especially if you're the competitive type.