Doing the Research

Happy New Year!

It’s a long story, but after a book and a half published in the last two years and a contract for a new one in progress, yes, I’ve decided it’s time to start this Writing for Children blog again. Again. I will post on it regularly! More about the books another day – I just find this fascinating:

James Lucas was famous in the 1860’s for his eccentric behaviour as an English hermit. After his death, his life story was forgotten until a local historian and solicitor, Reginald Hine, wrote about him and other townsfolk in the 1930’s. Hine states that James had sisters Anna Maria, who died young; Emma, who married barrister Edward Walker; and Harriet, who married an Austrian Count and was never heard of again. How easy it would have been to perpetuate these facts in the account of family happenings that I’m writing from their brother George’s imagined point of view, which will hopefully end up as a book for ‘young adults’.

When a fellow Book Links Queensland http://www.booklinks.org.au/ member, Shirley Stubbs, kindly offered to use www.Ancestry.com to check a couple of things for me, particularly the causes of their parents’ deaths, she found a lot more of interest. In census, wills and parish baptism records she discovered that James left 57,000 pounds – the present day equivalent of about $12million - and Emma and George got their shares. But what about Harriet? Had she really gone abroad and died? No. The census pages show that she remained living in England and had 5 children, one son married Emma’s daughter (his cousin) – and the pair of them lived in a house that their uncle George once occupied. So the family certainly knew that Harriet was still alive, and her whereabouts, in the lead up time and when the inheritance was due to be shared out. Yet when Harriet died in Brighton, her worldly wealth and effects totalled less than five pounds. So why was she cut off? Did the family deliberately hide her existence for some reason, or is the myth of her disappearance a figment of folklore or no research?

What a great start to the year - today I’ve found that one of Harriet’s great great grandchildren has a presence on Facebook! It will be wonderful to see if he replies to my friendship request and discover what he knows.

Moral – don’t believe all you read. Do the research yourself.

But at some time you have to stop researching and write...

Have a rewarding New Year, and I hope it’s a healthy one.

Peter Taylor

http://www.writing-for-children.com/

SCBWI Report - What to do after you have completed the first draft

Here are some notes I made from the last SCBWI meeting I went to:

At the July meeting of the Queensland branch of SCBWI Australia (The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), we were delighted to have Louise Cusack, author and manuscript assessor/development consultant/editor http://www.louisecusack.com/, speak to us about what to do after finishing the first draft of a story, and she also provided a lot of other great advice:-

Ask any editor what they look for in a ms (manuscript), and you’ll probably be told the same thing – ‘A good story and characters I care about’.

Stories are about people. The people you put in your story must come across as real.

Make sure it's clear as to whose story it is. In some mss, the main character is not the one the author intended to write about.

Consider each character as an iceberg. Only 10 percent of an iceberg appears above the surface. You will only show about 10 percent of a character in the story, but you must know all about the other 90 percent.

You must love your main character. Think of your best friends. What is it about a particular ‘best friend’ that you like most? Consider making that trait a virtue also possessed by your main character.

Each character will have a best virtue and worst flaw. Make sure you know what each is. (We were asked to write these down for our main character.)

In the first few (??3) pages, in the first scene, show (don’t tell) your main character’s best virtue in action.

Stories must have conflict - there must be an adversary, or a problem to be overcome. This must be the core of the story.

The main character wants (what is their goal?) because (what is their motivation?) but (what is the external conflict?).

The goal and motivation for the main character must be clear.

(Though stories for very young readers rarely have an internal conflict, those for older readers usually include an emotional problem facing the main character, which affects their life.)

The best external conflicts push the character’s emotional button (internal conflict), so:

The main character wants (what is their goal?) because (what is their motivation?) but (what is the external conflict?), and this really winds them up because (internal conflict). This is resolved by (ending).

The conflict has to test their virtues to the max and make their flaws show up to the max.

The internal conflict is affected by the external conflict.

The thing the character never wants to do becomes the thing that he/she must do.

In a structural edit, list all the scenes, then, beside each one, write down what it has to do with the main character’s goal. How does it help or hinder progress to the goal?

Always write from beginning to end of a story without polishing each chapter. That way, when structurally editing, it’s easier to discard unnecessary scenes. If they’ve been polished, it’s more tempting to keep them when you shouldn’t.

You should have confidence in your ability to edit and polish at the end – give yourself permission to write knowing that it will be edited and improved later.

Check all details for continuity - eg the floor plan of buildings is known, so you don’t write about turning left from the kitchen to the lounge at the beginning, but turning right at another point in the story.

If romance is involved, it is never enough to centre the plot around misunderstandings - they could be easily sorted out if the people sat down together or talked to each other.

If the main character falls in love, it is important to make clear the exact time when this occurs - never let them just grow in that direction.

To increase your own feeling of the reality of characters, consider cutting pictures of people from newspapers or magazines – people with a sinister look, a twinkle in their eye… , and create a collage of them all.

When writing a synopsis, first list all the evocative words in the story, then include a large number of them.

In a synopsis, most editors like to know how the story is resolved. They mainly read from the slush pile at night, in their own ‘free’ time. The synopsis must convince them that it will be worth spending their leisure time reading the sample chapters.

When a ms is taken to an acquisition meeting, the accounting department may ask how much editing it will require, ie, hours of an editor’s time at $x per hour. Is it worth the expense?

You may write well, but a ‘head hopping structure’, without flow, may lead to rejection. An appraisal for structure may help avoid this. It's a common reason for rejection.

Mss get rejected for simple reasons that you have no control over. A ms can be well written and rejected by one editor because they don’t like ‘time slips’, whereas another might like that plot feature.

Louise wrote seriously for eight years before her first book was published.

Never give up.

Write what you love most, because after you have been published, people will want more of the same.


Happy writing - may the words flow freely!

Peter Taylor
http://www.writing-for-children.com/
www.myspace.com/writingforchildren

Word Art

Though now writing fiction and non-fiction for young children and mid-grade, my first books were non-fiction for adults - 'The Australian Manual of Calligraphy', pub. Allen and Unwin in 1987, and 'A Manual of Calligraphy' pub. Unwin Hyman / Harper Collins in the UK and NZ. I have more non-fiction for adults planned too.

My calligraphy tutors have included the world's finest - 'The Queen's Scribe' - Donald Jackson, Thomas Ingmire, Michael Gullick, Kennedy Smith, Gaynor Goffe and many more.

I'm just writing a proposal to perform at the Queensland Poetry Festival in September, but I'm not sure if this is what they have in mind:

I'd like to spend the 3 days of the Festival working on a large roll of paper, writing poetry in calligraphy as word pictures, starting with one poem and then adding and interweaving lines of onlookers' choice, so that in the end, a large scroll is produced.

Throughout this time of demonstration I would be able to talk to bystanders about design, layout, texture, scale and materials – and provide advice. Thomas Ingmire said:

“It is only the expression of the words, the conviction, the passion, the love behind them, which gives them meaning.”

Here's the result of my recent experiment to visually interpret parts of 'Relearning the Alphabet', by Denise Levertov.

D
In the beginning was delight. A depth
stirred as one stirs fire unthinking.
Dark dark dark . And the blaze illumines
dream.

V
Vision sets out
journeying somewhere,
walking the dreamwaters

Better get back to the proposal!

Peter Taylor
www.writing-for-children.com

technorati tags:Writing, children, adults, calligraphy, poetry, Denise, Levertov, Peter, Taylor

Cruikshank, Phiz and 'Mustard' George

On my www.writing-for-children.com website is the facitilty to sign up for my newsletter, 'The Art of the Story'. Whatever your interest in writing for children, or illustrating, I hope there's always something of interest.

It has a section that features the work of early illustrators of books and work that children would have seen - though not necessarily work produced with children specifically in mind.

The last edition (January 2007) features the world's first 'strip-cartoonist' - 'Mustard' George Woodward and provides pictures of one of his prints published in 1798.

I've also included some pictures from Cruikshank's 'Scraps and Sketches' album of 1832. In this book he gave personality to inanimate objects. Can anyone tell me who the first illustrator was to do this?
I've always thought of Cruikshank engraving and producing black and white prints, but I have a series of coloured Victorian "scraps" produced, presumably, from Cruikshank's paintings of 'The Derby' horse race. These show getting there, the event, and the journey home. One scene includes and names 'Phiz' - who, like Cruikshank, illustrated books for Charles Dickens. Does anyone know if Cruikshank and Phiz were actual friends?
You can find this and previous editions at 'back-issues'.
I hope you'll enjoy them and want to subscribe - they're free!
Happy writing and illustrating!
Peter Taylor

technorati tags:Writing, for, Children, Illustrating, Story, Cruikshank, Cruickshank, Phiz, Dickens, Mustard, George, Woodward, cartoon

Tip for Writers

Professional writers for children belong to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators - SCBWI. To become a Full Member, you have to have had a children's book published.

Editors receive manuscripts from authors and all kinds of 'wanna be' writers, and can get jaded reading dozens of unprofessional letters and stories with no potential.

Even finding out about the Society and paying the fee to become an unpublished 'Associate Member' shows that you are serious about the craft, and many Associate Memebers have had books published for adults but not yet for children.

After considerable recent discussion amongst members of the Yahoo Children's Writers forum (thanks everyone for your input and advice!), it was generally agreed that:

By mentioning SCBWI on the outside of your submission envelope, whatever level of your membership, you give an editor an expectation that the contents will be professionally presented and could be worth reading, and may just encourage them to spend a little extra time considering what you have written - enough to make the difference and eventually send you a contract to sign. Before joining SCBWI, writers at least will have probably had professional tuition through a course, and the chances are that a member will belong to a critique network and have worked on their manuscript for a considerable time and noted the insights and advice of their writer buddies.

If a member, it is suggested that you write in the bottom left-hand corner of your submission envelope:

SCBWI Member

or

SCBWI Full-Member

or, if the editor gave a presentation at a SCBWI event and said they would read material from attendees:

SCBWI Member

Attendee July 2006 Queensland Conference

Of course, the envelope could just be ripped open by an office worker and discarded before being read by an editor, so I usually put something about SCBWI membership early in the cover letter too.

If you are a serious about writing for children, I suggest you research and join the Society.

(You're still allowed to give your manuscript a hug for 'good luck' as you drop it in the mail! Luck can always play a part in acceptances - but you might find my cover letter recipe useful too.)

Peter

www.writing-for-children.com

technorati tags:writing, for, children, submission, submit, SCBWI, story, manuscript

Here's A Good One For Writers

If you are a writer or an author, you'll know the importance of impressing an agent or editor with more than just the quality of your writing.

Yesterday I listened to a wonderful free mp3 on 'How to get a 6 figure advance' on www.prsecrets.com

Not very likely for for a book for children, but lots of good tips are provided!

I recommend you visit the site and investigate ...and no, I'm not an affiliate.

Happy writing

Peter Taylor

www.writing-for-children.com

technorati tags:Writing, Children, tips, agent, editor, Peter, Taylor, advance

Writing For Children Videos

Happy New Year, everyone!

Yes, one of my 'resolutions' is to add to this blog regularly. I had hoped to create a new one that was hosted on my site, so that added pages help search engine ranking - but that's still on the 'to do' list, so I'll get back to writing this one.

My www.writing-for-children.com website has been greatly added to in the last few months. I hope you've checked out the new videos on creativity. They show lots of interesting documents and books from my collection. Many date from 1280 to 1880. I also show calligraphy techniques and how to create artist's books.

Producing videos and putting them on websites is easy. New ones will feature how books are created for publishers, and the kinds of things I can talk about and share on school visits, particularly 'The History of Books' and 'Creating Your Own Books'.

Better get to it!

Hoping you all find 2007 a happy and healthy one, filled with love and peace.

Peter Taylor
www.writing-for-children.com

technorati tags:Writing, Children, Video, School, history, books, calligraphy, artists, creativity

The Mad Month of November

I've gone crazy and signed up with http://www.nanowrimo.org. That's 'write a 50,000 word novel in a month (November)' ... actually 'National Novel Writing Month' - but it's international. Yes, it's possible! 6000 people succeeded last year.

Deadlines really do work to bring achievement. Thinking about the perfect opening, the perfect dialogue, the perfect ..., really do hold me back. You are bound to do re-writes and kick it around hard afterwards, but wouldn't it just be nice to have something actually 'there' to work on later??? That was my logic anyway.

But novels are really not my thing, so I'll give it a go to write 'a book' in a month - even though it is more likely to be non-fiction or 'fiction-faction' ... whatever it is you call a non-fiction story with fictional dialogue. I want to write the story of 'Mad James Lucas' for children.

I was amazed with what I could actually write and produce when I worked in another simililar scheme 'to create and put an ebook on a site in a month'.

I definitely work best to deadlines and with constant kicks / encouragement from others trying to do the same thing.

You can register up to November 29th! Even if you don't write or finish the novel, it's worth signing up just to be able to use the forum - there are so many friendly positive people who freely offer great advice and support. I hope I can reciprocate too.

Better get to work quickly and develop a plot ...

Wergle Flomp

I was delighted to have my lunacy recently recognised by winning a minor prize in the Winning Writers 'Wergle Flomp' competition for parody poems, for which, I believe, there were close to 1500 entries from word-wide. Perhaps that puts me amongst the world's craziest writers!

In January 2000, David Taub tried to write, under the pen name of Wergle Flomp, a poem that would be rejected by poetry.com. He failed!

The contest gives real prizes to poems written in jest and submitted to poetry.com.

((March 2014 - This competition has now changed to being for humorous poems in general, not parody, and with no necessity to submit to poetry.com  
 http://winningwriters.com/our-contests/wergle-flomp-humor-poetry-contest-free ))

The origin of Wergle Flomp can be viewed at 
http://www.scribd.com/doc/209812770/Wergle-Flomp-The-Poems-That-Started-It-All


Here's my winning poem:

Leedabole and the Froggy-hopple

A suddy croakamole: the sinewlade leggymires pushy still
Into the swoonupping girlyfling, her eyebolds transfissured
By the greeny webbles, her spiritule almire at his will,
She holdips his slimeblade bodyling againthro hers.

How can those terrifoldy stiff fingerloppers grippold
And holdify her potentimal princeling now slippy-slidingo from her grippylasp?
And how can bodyling, trying oh so hard not to over-trippold,
But feel the heartypumps
…thumpy thumpy,
…thumpy thumpy,
…near to burstivating where they lie?

A smacker-kisseroogy, maybold a smacker-kisseroogy will break
The magicome spell, retrove the prizal and princeling now appearifolding
Agamem-ning-nong deaddy-diddylo.
                                                        Being so up-caughtafied with this,
So desperangle for successoscopy and not findy a fake
Did she abandonfile cautionment to the windy-puffs and fearfolding
Her last chancit was here, up-puckermole
Before the loosencaving fingerloppers had to let him dropple?

"Leedabole and the Froggy-hopple" is a parody of "Leda and the Swan" by William Butler Yeats. The style is similar to that of the late 'Professor' Stanley Unwin - with apologies.

Translated:

Leda and the Frog

A sudden croak, the sinewed legs pushing still
Into the swooning girl, her eyes transfixed
By the green webs, her spirit almost at his will,
She holds his slimy body against hers.

How can those terrified stiff fingers grip
And hold her potential prince now slipping from her grasp?
And how can body, trying not to trip,
But feel their hearts near bursting where they lie?

A kiss, maybe a kiss will break
The magic spell, return the prize and prince appearing
Agamemnon dead.  
                            Being so caught up with this,
So desperate for success and not a fake
Did she abandon caution to the wind and fearing
Her last chance was here, pucker up
Before the loosening fingers had to let him drop?

 Leda and the Swan    W.B.Yeats

    A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
    Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
    By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
    He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

    How can those terrified vague fingers push
    The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
    And how can body, laid in that white rush,
    But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

    A shudder in the loins engenders there
    The broken wall, the burning roof and tower[20]
    And Agamemnon dead.
                        Being so caught up,
    So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
    Did she put on his knowledge with his power
    Before the indifferent beak could let her drop? 

....Back to writing something sensible!

Getting the words flowing

I’ve got a couple of recently completed stories and would like to send them to a publisher to be considered. A friend recommended that I tried ‘The Chicken House’ – so I visited their website.

What a coincidence.

Firstly, I have just returned to Australia from a holiday spent at Corsley, very close to their office in Frome, in rural England. Then I looked at the profile of one of their authors, James Mayhew, who has written a story about chickens, and was amazed to find that he lives in Letchworth Garden City, also in England. In 1912, my grandparents were pioneers in the creation and development of that town …and were, believe it or not, chicken farmers.

My ideas for books will be winging their way to ‘The Chicken House’ … but the whole experience has stimulated me to write a little more of the family history.

I find writing snippets of family history a great way to get the words flowing in other projects too.

In case you’re curious, I’ll add an extract below. Some is already on my website, along with photos and notes on different individuals, at http://www.writing-for-children.com/MyFamily.html , but as I say, I’ve added to it.

…After years in the stationery, food and retail trades in Chertsey, Surrey, Ernest Taylor decided to abandon all that he knew to become a farmer – a field in which he had zero knowledge or experience. In 1912 he took a 100 year lease on 14 acres of land at Letchworth Garden City, a town that mainly existed only on the plans.

He invited two others to join him. One was Thomas Flaws (the son of the editor of the Bedfordshire Times newspaper), who also had 'limited' farming experience, to say the least. The other was Gertrude Matilda Beaumont, the daughter of the owner of the grocery store where he worked. Though Ernest asked her to marry him so that they could set up this venture together, she declined. She would live unmarried with them both first, to see if she liked the lifestyle.Was this 'small-holding' going to be viable? Was it a wise decision, in 1912, for an unmarried young lady to move in with two men in an isolated house on the edge of civilization? The scandal! What did her parents say? What did the neighbours in London say? What was their reputation in Letchworth? …And what a big change to leave a comfortable home with a maid to find that, at her new home, there was no flushing toilet, no bath, no hot water, no income, no mechanisation - just 14 acres of untamed land.

Each day, Ernest would leave the house wearing his customary bow tie, pick a fresh flower for his button-hole, and set to work – but much of Tuesday was spent at the local auction.

“Give us a shilling, Taylor, for the mixed bag?”

“OK!”

He had become noted for being prepared to buy all the rubbish that remained unsold at the end of the day. Each week he would return with an old metal bath tub filled with bags of rusty nails, decomposing picture frames ...and a few useful wheels and bits of metal that could be made into ‘Heath Robinson style’ contraptions, the purpose of which often took some explaining.

Glass from the picture frames was used to make cloches to cover seedlings, and I have inherited a few nice watercolours which I believe were collected this way.

Life was harsh but simple. Doors, of course, were never locked, and a box was kept on the window-ledge. When someone sold something, the money was placed in the box. When someone wanted to make a purchase, they just took out whatever they needed.

I was born in 1949. At that time half of the small-holding was apple orchards, with blackberry and loganberry bushes mixed in, along with a lot of chickens and geese – which often nested amongst the brambles instead of in the sheds. Many of the sheds were numbered. The last one was ‘number 42 shed’, and though most of the earlier ones had fallen down and been replaced, I remember at least 11 of them standing.

Other chicken runs existed close to the main road. However, my grandparents also grew strawberries , and ‘pinks’ for the Covent Garden flower market. Gert, my grandmother, was a true entrepreneur. To be financially independent, she cultivated ½ acre of flower gardens so that she could sell blooms to people visiting the nearby cemetery. She also kept angora rabbits - which I think she combed to collect some fur, but also skinned them and sold the pelts to the glove factory.

I remember sitting on my grandfather’s horse-drawn cart, in the early 1950’s, as he delivered the eggs. At the same time he collected food scraps from the customers, and he boiled these scraps up with bran to make chicken food.

People travelled a long way to shop. One early resident would come to see them from miles away and just purchase a single egg, which was selected from amongst the dozens which were stacked in the ‘egg shed’.

Letchworth was famed for its eccentrics.

Gertrude eventually did marry Ernest. Ernest died when he was 95 and Gert at 99. During the whole of their married life they never had a day when they were not sharing their house with someone else. Thomas Flaws lived with them until he died, aged over 90. Gert also had a sister, called May. On her death-bed, Gert’s mother said, “Gert, make sure you look after May.” When May arrived, Ernest thought she was coming for three weeks holiday, but she stayed for over 35 years and outlived them all...

More later.

Take care,

Peter Taylor

www.writing-for-children.com
Peter@writing-for-children.com

Phiz - what a Dickens of a job he had

Who was the most productive illustrator of books in the 19th century?

My bet is on Hablot Knight Browne - best known as Phiz.

He illustrated for Dickens, Ainsworth, Lever and many others, but you can't just count his line illustrations by the number of pages that appear in the books. Some of the etched metal printing plates wore out, and he drew and etched many in duplicate and even a few in triplicate.

Then there were the woodcuts for Dickens' 'Household' edition.

Total?

1,603. Just for Dickens' works.

The list of drawings he did for other authors is equally impressive.

Everyone loved Phiz's pictures, and I'm sure new illustrations were looked forward to with almost as much anticipation as Dickens' words, and there is no doubt they helped to sell the books.

At the beginning of his career, Hablot really wanted to be a professional artist working with paints.

After he had finished illustrating Dickens' books with black and white etchings, Hablot was asked by a private individual if he would undertake a commission. It was to redraw every illustration that he had done for Dickens' novels and supply them as watercolour paintings. And he said 'Yes'.

In the last ten years or so of Browne's life, etched illustrations became unfashionable. I think it was sad then, after all his earlier fame and public acclaim, that when he died, there were only four people at his graveside - his four sons.

No more history for a while.

I'll change the subject for the next blog.

Enjoy life,

Peter Taylor
www.writing-for-children.com

Writing For Children - Peter Taylor

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I hope you continue to enjoy my postings.

Peter Taylor
www.writing-for-children.com

'Struwwelpeter'

'Struwwelpeter’ was written in 1844. My copy dates from about 1900, I should think - published by Routledge.

I remember it being read to me as a child.

I’m sure it’s quite the most disturbing book ever written for young children.

It was written for a 3 year old by his father when he couldn’t find a ‘suitable’ book for a Christmas present. He bought a notebook and made up the stories and did the illustrations himself. And he was a psychiatrist. And all the lunatics who visited his surgery thought it was great and wanted copies and suggested he ‘got it published’ – and it became a worldwide best seller and gave innumerable nightmares to each child who had it read to them. (At least, it did if they were 3, I’m sure.) There’s even a 'Struwwelpeter Museum' in Frankfurt displaying copies in 120 languages.

Did anyone read it to you – I’m sure you would remember?

Please let me know.

If there's enough interest, I might make my copy available as an ebook, providing everyone promises not to read it to 3 year olds, or show them the pictures.

Take care

Peter Taylor
Writing For Children

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.

Every few days I will be adding content here, so please check back often.

I've lots of projects all taking shape at once. One of them is a history of the illustration of children's books. I've been collecting a lot of favourites from the 19th century. In the next blog I'll tell you about 'Struwwelpeter'.

Best wishes,

Peter Taylor
Writing For Children