Journeygirl

It’s no secret that writing is often a lonely enterprise, not the most social job in the world or so I’ve been told. Yes, there certainly are times where it is very solitary. However, as someone who is not naturally very social (read introverted homebody) I have found that since beginning to take my writing seriously for the past couple of years, my social interaction has increased not decreased. This was the insight that came to me after doing Margaret Hamilton’s workshop at the SWW (Society of Women’s Writers) on Wednesday. (See more later) You see this was just one of the many writing related ‘events’ which have required me to interact socially, that I have (or will) attended this year. I have presented a judge’s report, attended book launches, visited libraries to speak to librarians, spoken to teachers and writers about my work, attended courses and conferences on my own where I had to speak to strangers or at least people I only know through Facebook. I have also started using Facebook and joined an online critique group and of course write this blog which is slowly building up followers, some of whom even comment. Please feel free to comment on this or any other post on my blog, if you have found your experience to be the same or even radically different, for that matter. In this week alone, I have engaged five of the eight opportunities for socialisation, networking, learning, sharing, being bolstered and of course, feeling anything but alone. 
I hadn’t planned on attending Margaret Hamilton’s workshop having been to one at Pinerolo, the writer’s cottage she owns and manages in Blackheath, however, when Susanne Gervay suggested (as only Susanne can) that it would be worth my while because Margaret is, to quote, ‘at the top of her game’ I knew I really had to and I didn’t regret it. Sure, some of what she talked about I’d heard before, but it’s amazing with children’s writing, how there is always something new to learn. One of the thrills for me was to see the manuscript Margaret Wild had sent to Margaret Hamilton all those years ago for her famous Picture Book, The Very Best of Friends. It was plain to see how proud Margaret was to have been the editor and publisher of this book. It was also plain to see her red pen marks throughout the manuscript and imagine the mixture of emotions Margaret Wild must have felt on receiving both the good news that her work would be published and then to see the work that still needed to be done to make it publication ready. 
I probably would not have met Susanne Gervay and had the courage to talk to her about my hopes for my work, if it had not been for Eastwood/Hills FAW nor would I have likely befriended Anne Benjamin whose book Saffron and Silk- An Australian in India, is been launched tonight. You see Anne has been my lecturer and my boss, but it was only when I joined the FAW that I found we share this common interest and as mentioned in an earlier blog post about my friend Carolyn Alfonzetti’s upcoming Picture Book launch, it is just so exciting when one of our own achieves such wonderful success. Good luck Anne, I know you’ll be amazing and I hope book sales will be too.
Finally, next week, I’m attending another workshop, this time with Aleesah Darlison. If you’ve read past posts you will know that I have great respect for what Aleesah has achieved mainly because of her incredible resilience and drive. As a result of becoming more social and gaining the confidence to speak up, I now can’t wait for the opportunity to ask as many questions as I can to help me know where to go from here. I know I will learn a lot at this workshop and also can’t wait to tell you all about it in my next post. Not bad for a self-professed hermit-in-the-making.
Till then fellow Children’s Writers and Friends,

Savour the quest,

Journeygirl

“It’s a case of the chicken or the egg,” The doctor commented at the look of annoyance on my husband’s face. My constant eye rubbing had exacerbated an existing condition, but the question of whether the rubbing had been the initial cause of the condition or visa versa is medically unknown and not just for me. What has this got to do with writing you ask?

I’m glad you asked that, probably not a lot, it’s just that after speaking with a friend the next day about the publication process marathon, I found myself lamenting the fact, that for me at least, it would go a lot quicker if I submitted a lot more. Here’s the chicken part- me. No, seriously the chicken part is submitting and the egg, publication. It would seem obvious that it’s the chicken comes first, but the reality is you have a greater chance of being published if you’ve already been published. While this seems crazy, it’s probably no different than any other career, you need experience to get a job, but you can’t get the experience if you don’t have a job. Or can you? 

You can it appears, in the writing world anyway. In fact, I’ve even discussed it before in an earlier post. I’m not going to repeat the need for looking into children’s magazines, websites and competitions here. I’m more interested in the effect of publication success, any publication success on the writer. Cue return of the chicken and the egg. I know I’m not alone in having an almost paralysing fear of submission. Only fellow writers will understand this, when discussing my poor submission rate with aforementioned friend she uttered the classic line, “Just do it, what’s the worst they can do- say ‘No’,” Well YES actually, that is the WORST they can do! No’s a killer. A creativity murderer, a self-esteem serial killer, no’s the worst! So with no egg to show for my efforts this chicken stops trying…for a while. Am I alone in this? I’d love to hear whether other writers feel the same. Please let me know in the comments section below this post.

The thing is, without sounding conceited I hope, I have a pretty good submission success rate for the anthologies to which I’ve submitted. I have either been published or just missed out. At Conferences editors have spoken favourably about my work and when I’ve gathered the courage to submit to publishers I have actually received more than form rejections letters. Then the doubts kick in; they were just little local anthologies, the editors and publishers were just being polite or positive, a rejection is a rejection and the biggie am I really good enough? The trouble is as you’re no doubt aware, the only way to know for sure, the only way to succeed is to submit and it’s that success which makes me want to submit. So the cycle continues and the chicken and the egg return. 
So, here’s to more eggs and being less of a chicken.

Farewell fellow travellers

Savour the quest

Journeygirl