Jennifer Loves To Write

Remember that secret I hinted at here?

I think it’s time to start revealing the whole thing. Well, maybe not the whole thing…but part of it.

Yep, it’s all happening in 2014! 🙂

I do have another secret I can’t wait to share….just not yet 🙂 Soon, I promise!

Anyway (*a quick change of subject*)…

I’ve been a little under the weather the last few days, so it’s given me time to do some reading, which I always love (when I’m not writing or drawing, of course). In fact, I read a whole pile of books, which I’d had on my to-do list for ages, in ONE DAY…

Bunny Loves To Write by Peter Bently and other children’s picture books – I know, I know, they’re children’s picture books, but what better way to lift your spirits than by reading pure, innocent, colourfully mesmerising literature for kids?!

I find it heartwarming and comforting in a way that’s difficult to define. But it takes me back to my childhood…a carefree time, when I thought I would live forever, conquer the world and save it, all at the same time!

 

One of my favourite characters, I was truly blessed to meet on this reading adventure, was Buster Bunny, who it seems, is a lot like me.

In Bunny Loves to Write by Peter Bently, Buster Bunny loves to read and when somebody gives him a notebook and a pencil, he soon discovers a love of writing as well! Buster uses his wild imagination and awesome creativity to write the story featured in this book and he even illustrates it himself. Buster Bunny is my new hero! 🙂

The thing is though, when he stumbles upon the age-old problem of ‘writer’s block’ (my take on the complication of this narrative), his friends come to the rescue. They encourage Buster by telling him how magnificent his story is so far, then go on to add their ideas. Buster welcomes their feedback and the story is finally finished. Fabulous!

Now, isn’t this exactly what we all need? Encouragement and motivation to keep going, no matter what our project is?!

See, you can learn so much from kids’ books!! 🙂

I’ve just joined Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 …my version of Buster’s group of friends. The aim is to write 12 picture book drafts in 12 months. It sounds like a lot of pressure, but it’s a great way to stay accountable to my writing plan. So far, the encouragement, motivation and advice I’ve received is priceless. I love my new 12×12 friends!

This is only the beginning of a great adventure 🙂

Jennifer xo

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Getting Through Writer’s Block

It took a while, but I finally got Chapter 4 of my novel over to Amanda …and a couple of days early at that 🙂

I was happy to get this response in Amanda’s reply email:

“A really substantial chapter!  Great work :)”

I knew there would be more to it than that though. I’m getting used to the fact that Amanda, being the talented professional she is, needs to be brutally honest in order for me to progress with this novel of mine.

I have so much to learn about novel writing, and along the way, I’m learning some things about myself too. The first is that I am getting pretty good at taking constructive criticism graciously, if I must say so myself. In fact, I find myself actually looking forward to Amanda’s criticism, in a weird kind of way 🙂

I guess the simple truth is, if I want to eventually get my novel to a stage where it is ready for proudly presenting to a publisher, then I have to be able to take criticism graciously…and then act upon it to make my writing better.

I’ve also had another revelation of sorts, that came to light amidst the following feedback from Amanda:

“This chapter was stronger with more happening, the story moved forward- actually very swiftly. You are very keen on people having an opportunity and leaving for their destination immediately – if not sooner 🙂

One issue – to look at later – is that sometimes we get a quick summary of something significant ie. skimmed over and then every detail of something not very significant.”

 

It was when she says I’m often giving a quick summary of significant events, rather than detailing them as I should. I thought about this, and now realise I’m probably trying to avoid parts of the story that are emotionally challenging or difficult for me to dwell on. The parts that remind me of how much my forefathers suffered to benefit me, basically. It makes me sad to think that my parents and grandparents left their homeland at a very young age, left everything they knew and loved, in order to make a better life in a new country FOR ME! They wanted to forge a better future for their children, even those of us who were yet unborn.

Suffice to say, I am completely in awe of them, and grateful beyond words for their sacrifices. So I better start showing it, by giving due diligence to the difficult parts of the immigration experience in my novel. It deserves more detail than what I’ve given it so far.

So it’s on to Chapter 5 for me, which is a lot further than I thought I’d get when I first started out all those months ago.

‘Writer’s block’ has been a bit of an issue for me during this chapter. But creating my art is rather therapeutic, helping me get through these ‘writer’s block’ moments in a productive way 🙂

Here are my two latest designs…

 

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Happy New Year

Fantangle Christmas Angel

I can’t believe we’re already almost half way through January 2014. I’m loving the holidays, and trying not to plan too far ahead now, so that the rest of January doesn’t fly by. My plan is to take each day as it comes, and enjoy the moments.

I’ve enjoyed being able to draw and read over the holiday break. However, the plan is to do a little more writing than I have been. That’s one of my resolutions for 2014, of course. I need to push past the self-doubt and just keep writing.

Recent feedback for Chapter 3 of my novel from Amanda has given me a push to keep going, but it has also confirmed what I’ve been thinking for a while. I need to do more research. But where do I begin?

I know that many writers have lived in or traveled to the place in which their novel is set. Unfortunately, I haven’t done either. I have a little voice in my head saying, “You have to go there.” But there are a few obstacles in the way at the moment.

Amanda says:

There is a lot of good stuff in here and when you get into what they do
with their time – making soap/harvesting etc it really feels there is some
flavour and substance. BUT (the big but) if you think about the fact that the
reader needs a constant stream of new
information – you’ll see that many parts of the story go back and forth and
occasionally round in circles – next chapter try and focus on surging forward
on the current of the story and you’ll find a new momentum is created. Remember
conflict is story – story is conflict. Have fun!


My problem with moving forward is that I don’t know enough about Lebanon. I haven’t walked under the trees, climbed the mountains, chatted with the villagers, chomped on the almonds, smelt the orange blossoms, breathed in the crisp, mountain air. I’ve only heard stories about it. I haven’t even seen many images, as back in my parents’ day there was not a lot of photo taking.

Add the fact that I don’t really know how to research the period in time I’ve set my novel in, other than listening to my mum’s stories of her childhood, and I believe I have a real problem. My mum’s many stories are absolutely amazing, by the way. It’s just that I need to help my reader see and feel and smell. But if I haven’t even seen, felt or smelt the place for myself, how on earth am I going to effectively write about it?

Then I’m going to have to deal with the problem that I wasn’t alive in the 1950’s in Australia either. How do I get a realistic sense of what it was like to live in a small country town in Australia back then? What was it like for a young man and woman starting their married life in a new country, not knowing the language, knowing nobody but their immediate family, having no job, and to top it all off, to be utterly and terribly homesick?

So, I can’t transport myself back in time, nor can I fly to Lebanon at the moment. It looks like I’ve got some tricky novel writing challenges ahead! Onward and upward to Chapter 4 🙂

P.S. I know I haven’t revealed my secret, which I hinted about in my last post. It’s not that I’ve forgotten, I’m just not ready to spill the beans yet. All in good time…

P.P.S. I thought I’d share my Christmas Angel (above), as I never got around to getting them made into personalised Christmas cards to mail out to friends and family…so please enjoy it here instead. Better late than never 🙂

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It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

There are so many wonderful things about this time of year. There’s the reminder of that day many years ago when a precious baby was born in a manger…a tiny baby destined to change humanity for eternity. Then there’s the excitement of spending joyful times with family and friends. Of course there’s the blessing of holidays, where we get to rest and rejuvenate for the coming year. And there’s also the thoughts, hopes and dreams for the future, that we always seem to remember when a new year is just around the corner. 


At the moment, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas in two of my favourite cities in the world…maybe I’ll experience it some day?! 

 



But I’m also appreciating the “moment” and the awesome place that I’m in right now, with the people I love the most on this planet…my family!

 
2013 has been a year filled with triumphs, but also challenges and some real heartache too…but isn’t that what life is all about?! We all know that life can be like traveling on a really bumpy road, then suddenly we hit a smooth section of the road, and we get to rest a little, recuperate and get ourselves ready for the next bump. But it’s the bumps that make us truly appreciate the smooth sections of the road, right?
 
Christmas is an amazing time of year, but I know that for some, Christmas is also a painful time. A reminder of a time that didn’t go so well. Or a day when a loved one will be sorely missed 🙁 But even in the midst of sadness, I’ve felt an urge to find happiness and gratitude still. It’s what I have to do to keep going…refocus on the positive.
 
Maybe I’m starting my New Year’s resolutions early, but what the heck!  My New Year’s resolution is to BE HAPPIER!! To help me along the way, I’ve found an excellent app…I know you think I’m addicted to my iphone, but you really should check it out…it’s supposed to make you happier :), so why not?!
Another happy moment to report is that I’m well over 2000 words into writing Chapter 3 of my novel. Amanda is going to be very proud of me 🙂 As with many writers I’ve heard about, writers’ block can be a real problem, or “stumbling block” to the creative process. But lately, I’ve found going back to my love of art has really helped to get my creative mojo flowing again. You can check out some of the stuff I’ve been working on here.
 
I’d like to end with a little secret I’ve being bursting to tell…
 
Guess what?
 
You’re never going to believe it!
 
I’m not sure if I should tell you.
 
But if I don’t, I think I’ll explode!!!
 
……
 
Maybe next post 🙂
 
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and the happiest New Year ever!!!!
Jennifer xo
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Chapter Two Forging Ahead

I’m happy to report that Chapter 2 of my novel has now been written, and Amanda’s feedback has been an eye-opener, to say the least. (If you haven’t been following what’s going on, you can read about Chapter 1 and how this project all came about here).

The first thing I can say after this second lot of feedback from Amanda is … WOW! This novel-writing thing is not as romantic as it sounds 🙂 In fact, it’s plain hard work.

I’m only up to Chapter 2, and having written approximately 10,000 words, with at least another 50,000 to go, it’s scary to think that this is only the first draft. Then the enormous challenge of going back to revise and edit every single one of these words I’m writing will begin. I don’t even want to think about how long that whole process is going to take.

Aside from the sudden fear of all the work I now realise is ahead in order to complete this novel, I also have a renewed awareness of what it takes to be an author. I am utterly and completely in awe of published authors…especially those who have 2+ novels sitting on the shelf! And I thought doing a marathon was a big deal!

Although I find writing therapeutic, it hasn’t taken me long to realise that I will need to find ‘research’ appealing too. I’ve never been big on researching though. Even when I was writing essays for school or uni, I always seemed to find the quickest path to get the final product done and dusted. And somehow, passed with flying colours!

I guess I got away with it back then. But when it comes to writing a novel, set in the early 1900’s, in a country I’ve never even stepped foot in, and based on the lives of people I’ve never actually met…now, that’s another story!

After reading Chapter 2, Amanda said:

“There are a number of elements that jumped out as difficult to believe
and that’s a problem because once you lose credibility with the reader it’s very hard to recover.”

In other words, I need to know what I’m talking about. I can’t just write down the end result of something and expect the reader to know how on earth I got there. I have to take the reader through the process with me, or ‘take them along for the ride’, if you will!

Basically, I don’t want the reader to be asking, “How is that possible?” but rather, “What happens next?”

So forging ahead with my word count is still high on the agenda, but developing credibility along the way must also take priority.

Onward and upward to Chapter 3 🙂

Jennifer xo

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Starry Night

Van Gogh’s Starry Night (my favourite painting of all time)

 

“Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.”
 
-Eskimo Saying

 

Jennifer xo

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A Perfect Cupcake Recipe

Many of you have been waiting for my discovery of the perfect cupcake recipe. Well, I’m not sure if I’ll ever find it. With all my cupcake/life analogies, I really thought I had found the perfect ingredients for a great life though…

 

Ingredient 1 – follow your dreams
Ingredient 2 – never, ever give up; and
Ingredient 3 – do the things you want to do, even if they say you can’t!

But what about when you are stopped in your tracks, right out of the blue? What happens when something irreparably bruises your heart? How do you get back on life’s path? How do you refocus on the hope you once held on to so desperately? So many questions that I may never be able to have adequately answered.

One thing I have realised over the last few weeks however, is the immense joy and inexplicable comfort that can be found in a memory. When I think of loved ones now living in heavenly realms, the only thing that comes near to beginning the process of soothing the pain of my broken heart, is the beauty of a memory, a moment, a picture in my mind’s eye of wonderful days gone by. Maybe these memories are the fuel, left by our loved ones, to help us move forward, one day at a time.

The Brazilian Novelist Paul Coelho beautifully said:

“Words are tears that have been written down. Tears are words that need to be shed. Without them, joy loses all its brilliance and sadness has no end.”

And so, I continue to write…

When I have breathed my last breath on this earth, I pray the memories my loved ones have of me will bring them great joy and comfort. I hope these memories become their fuel for helping them to live their very best life, one day at a time.

Jennifer xo

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Chapter One Done





The sum of Chapter 1 = 21 pages (or 5497 words + a whole lot of time & effort)

This is the mathematical equation for the very first chapter of my novel.

Chapter 1 was due to my mentor, Amanda Hampson, by 24th July, but since I’ve been excitedly squeezing in as much writing as I possibly can, I completed it way ahead of schedule. I’m hoping this is an indication of things to come – having once been the queen of procrastination at school and uni, it now seems I’m the inspired princess instead, with an uncontrollable urge to get my very own Gone with the Wind onto the page.

I was 1500 words into the chapter when I stumbled across my first dilemma. I had allowed a couple of loved ones to read my synopsis, thinking it would be nice to get some feedback from them. They thoroughly enjoyed it, but with one complaint – they were disappointed I was no longer writing a family memoir.

When asked her thoughts on this, Amanda replied:

Firstly, beware of asking for opinions/validation – it can easily set you off on a different path. Secondly, you will need to put hundreds of hours into this, it needs to inspire and excite you. Thirdly, a novel has the potential to be published and read by thousands, a family memoir needs to be self-published and has a readership of hmmm…5-10

That answered my question….Amanda confirmed my exact thoughts and instinct, so I decided to stick to my guns. That makes for some great advice for all you aspiring authors reading this post – stick to your guns 🙂


So it was onwards and upwards from there…all the way to 5497 words and the glorious end of Chapter 1! I know, I know…I need to write at least 12 times that amount to finish my novel, but it’s a fantastic start, don’t you think?!

But what did Amanda think? Well, going from her response below, I think she liked it…

You’ve got off to a fantastic start, it’s going to be a wonderful story!
I hope you are not discouraged by the feedback, it’s hard seeing your work dissected – and realising there is a lot more work to do. Writing is not for the faint-hearted 🙂 but I do hope this is not overwhelming.
As I mentioned, I recommend you don’t start fixing this chapter but learn from the feedback, give some thought to the issue and push on with the next one.
I feel there may be an issue with the crossover from writing family history to writing fiction. There is a feeling in this story that everyone gets their own pedestal – which is completely natural when writing about your forebears. But in fiction we need conflict, conflict, conflict, we need to make life very difficult for our characters, bring them to their knees and raise them up again.
So that’s naturally going to run counter to how you feel about your family story. It may help to change their names, after all you’re using their story as the inspiration for this novel – then you can let it run its own course without feeling that you are betraying them in some way.

Amanda is right in assuming I have used my family history as inspiration, which does make it really hard not to put my characters up on a pedestal. I realise however, thanks to Amanda, that I must separate my fictional characters from my much-loved family members. They are not one and the same, and I am not writing a memoir.

As Amanda says, it is conflict that is going to keep readers turning the pages, so you’ll need to wish me luck in trying to create conflict, without feeling as though I’ve betrayed my family in some way:

Conflict – story is conflict, conflict is story. Don’t be in too much of a rush to resolve conflict and make everyone happy and nice – conflict keeps us turning the pages.

One character I’m going to really struggle with in regards to this is a man based on my maternal grandfather. Stories I’ve been told portray him as a hero – a perfect husband, father and neighbour – who was loved by all who knew him. I didn’t get to meet any of my grandparents unfortunately, so I can only go off what I’ve been told about them. But when it came to the introduction of this grandfather-like character of mine, Amanda said she “just didn’t buy the guy!”

He’s like a dream father, never cross, always understanding and sweet. I’m sure if you interviewed half a dozen people who grew up in Lebanon (or anywhere) in this era, you would hear some very different stories. I know you mentioned he was ahead of his time and
believed in education for girls, but he is so lavish with his praise – and so perfect. If he was tough (but also kind) we would have a much more
interesting (and believable) character, some contrast and a stronger story. In fiction our loyalty has to be to the reader experience, not to our unconditional love of the characters – we need to show their flaws and weaknesses.

So, important tip #1 – create characters with conflict! So, they’ve got to be naughty but nice, get it? Got it! (I think!)

Now for important tip #2, which has to do with the setting of the story. Amanda was impressed with my “potentially exotic setting”, but she’s taught me that I’m actually the Baz Luhrmann or the Steven Spielberg of this blockbuster in my mind. My job as director is to get into the imagination of my readers, and this is Amanda’s awesome advice:

Try and think of each situation as a scene. Step back and have a look, describe what you’re seeing.
Often we are hearing things but we don’t know where we are, we can’t ‘see’ anything because there is no description. We don’t know where our main character is in relation to others in the house etc. As the writer, you are the director of a movie (with unlimited budget!) that we will generate in our incredible imagination but we need some help; it doesn’t need to be a lot – just a pencil sketch of the environment so we have our bearings, we’ll make the rest up.

So tell me, are you inspired to start writing that showreel you’ve got playing in your mind? I’d love to hear what you think!

Jennifer xo

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There’s Something About Cupcakes

As you can see from the below photo, I’ve decided to bake some cupcakes today. I know, I know…for all those who have faithfully followed my blog from the beginning, it’s been a while since I’ve actually baked cupcakes. Please forgive me 🙂

The thing is, there’s something about cupcakes that remind me of harder times in my life.

Eating yummy cupcakes, or gazing at them, beautifully decorated in a shop window, still reminds me of the sweetness of life…but it’s the actual baking process that somehow conjures up different memories for me. Memories of having to face difficult challenges in life. A reminder that life is certainly wonderful and worth holding on to desperately, but is by no means perfect.

So I guess in times when I need a bit of healing, I turn to cupcakes.

Healing for what, you ask? Well, one of those “life” things that you need to keep close to your heart. You all understand, because you’ve all had those times, so you’ll get that I won’t be sharing the details here.

But I will share a couple of home truths my mum reminded me of, that may even spark something in you…to get you moving on a project you’ve been putting off, or even jumping off your seat, as if you just sat on a thumbtack!

I’ve certainly had some plans to sit on some thumbtacks…not literally of course 😉

Being a teacher is wonderful in so many ways, and one of the perks of course, is school holidays! They started this week and I’ve had the awesome opportunity of spending some extra time with my precious 83 year old mum. A woman “worth far more than rubies“, and wiser than anyone I know. One treasure she reminded me of yesterday, which she remembers her mother advising from when she was just a little girl, is…

“Never put off ’til tomorrow, what you can do today”.

So, I’m making cupcakes for someone special today. That’s one thing I’m not putting off.

The other thing I’m not putting off anymore, is getting my novel started….FINALLY! I’m going to call it my “sitting on a thumbtack” moment.

I now have an amazing mentor, Australian author Amanda Hampson, who is going to keep me honest. Every month for 12 months, I have a deadline to get one chapter to Amanda for feedback. That means by June 2014, I will have a first draft of 12 chapters of my novel completed. When I first read about Amanda’s mentoring program a few years ago, deep down I really wanted to do it, but felt silly. These days, I don’t care what anybody thinks, I’m committed to following my dreams without shame.

Therefore, I call myself a writer and I write. It’s as simple as that really.

So my first deadline for Amanda was to write a Synopsis or plot outline. Scary! How on earth was I going to get my whole novel idea, that I’d been dreaming, imagining and planning in my head over many years, squished into just a few pages???!

But when you have a dream, you must follow through with it wholeheartedly and with some good, old-fashioned hard work. And that’s exactly what I did…which paid off obviously, considering Amanda’s opening remark in her email reply…

“Hi Jennifer.
Great story – fantastic premise, well worth the effort ahead :)”


This was an encouraging springboard to keep me moving on this baby of mine.

Amanda ended with a warning of sorts though, just so I wouldn’t think this whole novel-writing business was going to be a walk in the park, while wearing rose-coloured glasses…

“You did the marathon and this is the next challenge, but on a very different level – you get to sit perfectly still and sweat blood ;)”


So off I go to sweat some blood, my lovely blog readers. I’ll be sure to keep you updated over the coming months, during my 12in12 mentoring project.

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Jennifer xo

PS. If you’re looking for your next great read, check out Amanda’s The Olive Sisters…I’m loving it!! I’m reading the actual softcover in my hot little hands, as I’m one of those old-fashioned readers who have an affinity to turning crisp whitish pages. But if you’re one of those finger-flicking, ebook readers, you can get on your kindle. By the way, I’m not getting paid to recommend this book…just so you know.

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Draft, edit, revise, repeat!

Being a primary school teacher, my job entails reading lots and lots of children’s picture books. Tedious or laborious, you say? No way! I would have to admit, this is one of the favourite parts of my day in the classroom.

Watching those eyes come alive with excitement as I turn the page, hearing the gasps of horror when the complication in the story arises, and then finally receiving the sounds of applause from the children as they cheer the resolution at the end, as well as my dramatic storytelling talents! I absolutely love it!

I realised how much I love children’s books when I decided to rummage through my bookshelves and found hundreds of beautifully illustrated paper treasures. Some from my own childhood, still in fabulous condition…

And others from my second childhood (ie. when my kids were young)…a few bedtime favourites…

Now that I’m in my third childhood (ie. my adulthood in which I’ve discovered my true calling…to read and write children’s books…that’s my positive affirmation anyway), I’ve decided to just go with it.

So in between all the fun of reading kids’ books, I’m still working on my manuscript. Draft, edit, revise, repeat…draft, edit, revise, repeat…draft, edit….you get the idea! Officially I’m up to draft 5 (which is unofficially about draft 55). Is it getting better? I hope so. Is it getting shorter? I hope so. Is it still arousing passion and excitement in me? Yes. Okay then, so I must be on the right track.

I just got an email from my older brother, who is a published author. His captivating book, The Symph: In Search of Harmony, has been spotted on a bookshelf on the other side of the world…in China! How cool is that?!

The Symph will take you on a musical journey like no other…so I’m going to plug it, not just because my brother wrote it, but it’s a magical story. You can buy it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Tell me, have you ever published a children’s book? Or do you have a secret dream to do so? I’d love to hear from you…encouragement, advice or funny tidbits welcome!

Jennifer xo

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