Posted by: janettedalgliesh | September 4, 2008

Writing again, at last

After months of struggle and doubt and false starts and creative cul-de-sacs, at last I’m back on track with Kindred Spirit - yay!!!

I was going to crap on about all the problems but I figure, who cares? I’d rather talk about the solutions, the strategies that got me over the hurdles.

Spent time lurking on Vision Writers and heard about yWriter, software developed by a writer (Simon Haynes) with a problem I recognised - an amorphous mass of wordage, a desperate need to redraft and restructure, and no idea where to start. That put me on the trail.

Next I stumbled across the Snowflake method of writing novels, as promoted by Randy Ingermanson. I’ve been steadily working my way through, replanning and rediscovering what my novel is really about. And without losing any of the good stuff!

Then I figured out a way to finally prioritise writing and keep my job at the same time, which is a miracle on the water to wine scale.

And as a result of all this, I’m excited, energised and enthusiastic about the manuscript again, something I was beginning to think was lost. So what on earth am I doing, sitting here blogging about it????

Back soon with a progress report.

Posted by: janettedalgliesh | June 12, 2008

The Looney Barber of Fleet Street

Just watched Tim Burton’s excellent retelling of Steven Sondheim’s excellent musical retelling of the tale of Sweeney Todd.

Love the musical but we’ve been toying with yet another retelling… featuring the music of Stephen Sondheim and the inimitable stars of Warner Bros. Here’s our cast list - this won’t be remotely interesting unless you know the musical, but if you do… whaddya reckon?

Sweeney Todd - Elmer Fudd (…’these are my fwends…’)

Mrs Lovett - Bugs in drag (ain’t I a stinker)

Judge Turpin - Porky Pig (’p-p-p-pretty women…’)

Toby - Sylvester (’nothing’th gonna harm you, no thir, not while I’m around…’)

Johanna and Anthony - Pepe le Pieu and Tweety Pie (’green finch and linnet bird…’)

Pirelli - Daffy Duck

Well, it may not be getting any writing done but at least it’s entertaining my brain while I’m still finishing the unpacking!!

Posted by: janettedalgliesh | May 30, 2008

A Room of Her Own

Bliss, bliss, triple bliss!!! 

At last we’ve moved house and I am sitting at my WRITING DESK with music playing (yes alright, it’s Dire Straits but give the woman a break, she’s had a tough week…) and a tumbler of Sav Blank (note to self, unpack some wine glasses…)

Not completely unpacked yet but the basics are there - my Reading List books are in their own library bag beside the bed. And how have I prioritised?  Let’s see: first grandpa’s books into his glass-fronted bookcase, because they are finite and easy to categorise - Dickens, Meredith, Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Origin of Species, Statistical History of Dumfermline (huh?) etc.

Second is the writing desk, third the bathroom, fourth the clothes. Tomorrow the kitchen and eventually the rest of the books.

The writing desk is set up facing the front window, and will get the eastern morning sun. This is where I’ll be doing my writing before I face the dramas of my working day, and I can feel those juices tricking already. I will array my shells from the Bribie beach along the window sill and they will take me straight back to that freedom. If I get stuck I will sniff them and smell the sea they were washed in.

If only I can remember which box I packed them in…

Ah well, it’s a start!

Posted by: janettedalgliesh | May 18, 2008

Orbiteers up and running

Thanks to Luke Keioskie the Orbiteers now have our very own squeaky clean website - check us out at http://orbiteers.wordpress.com

Posted by: janettedalgliesh | May 14, 2008

Blasting into orbit?

Wow, just checked stats and found I have had VISITORS - quietly alarmed as this blog is very new. Nevertheless, welcome one and all, please excuse the packing boxes dotted around, I hope to be settled in soon.

Belatedly reporting on the extraordinary phenomenon that was the QWC/Orbit manuscript development program. Part of me is still walking along the beach on Bribie Island, dreaming up solutions to make my manuscript perfect. I was amazed that my novel Kindred Spirit was selected; conversation with other participants revealed I wasn’t the only one, and I was happy to learn this is apparently also common amongst much more experienced and well-known writers, too. Good to feel part of the gang…

Thanks especially to the amazing Kate Eltham (CEO, Queensland Writers Centre) and the wonderful Julie Beveridge; also to Bernadette Foley and Deonie Fiford from Orbit/Hachette Livre for their insights, support, honesty and encouragement - and of course to both organisations for making the program possible.

Thanks too to wonderful author Marianne de Pierres whose perspicacity and good humour were matched only by her generosity, warmth and skill at badminton. And of course thanks to Tara Wynne from Curtis Brown Australia and Ron Serdiuk from Pulp Fiction Press - I’m sorry you guys couldn’t share our island paradise for longer, it was a blast!

And finally, thanks to my fellow participants (working title Orbiteers, until we go through a democratic process to finalise our name). You guys rock!

 Back row: Author Marianne de Pierres, Terence Hornby, Susan L Cullen, Jeremy GordonGraham Storrs, Joanne Clay, Jody-Ann Brocklebank
Front row: Fiona Sawyer, me, QWC’s Kate Eltham, Joanne Anderton, Luke Keioskie

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