Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.

Here’s a real little challenge. Writing a clear and accurate description of action – particularly when it’s complex – is one of the more difficult challenges writers face. Before you begin, here are a few thoughts on the subject from one of the greatest writing teachers of the last half century.

John Gardner says a  common error is to write in abstractions. “If the writer says ‘creatures’ instead of ‘snakes’, if in an attempt to impress us with fancy talk he uses … ‘hostile maneuvers’ instead of sharp Anglo-Saxon words like ‘thrash’, ‘coil’, ‘hiss’ and ‘writhe’, if instead of the desert’s sand and rocks he speaks of the snakes’ ‘inhospitable abode’, the reader will hardly know what picture ot conjure up on his mental screen.”

A second error, to do with detail, is the “needless filtering of the image through some observing consciousness. The amateur writes: ‘Turning, she noticed two snakes fighting in among the rocks. Compare: ‘She turned. In among the rocks, two snakes were fighting.’ (The improvement can of course be further improved. The phrase ‘two snakes were fighting’ is more abstract than, say, ‘two snakes whipped and lashed, striking at each other’.) … vividness urges that almost every occurrence of such phrases as ‘she noticed’ and ‘she saw’ be suppressed in favor of direct presentation of the thing seen.”

So here’s the exercise:

Imagine that your protagonist is a woman who has been in an abusive relationship for years, and is apparently inured to it – and to the beatings and/or the contempt her partner regularly dishes up to her. In this scene, which marks the end of that relationship, we see him preparing to slap her, or hit her, or do any of the horrible things he does to her as a matter of course. But this time, something snaps in her. Or perhaps it had snapped before the start of the scene. She strikes back in some way. What she does to him is up to you.

We want all of this in 250 words or less.

The special challenge, though, is that we want you to be very precise, very particular, very accurate in your description of the physical dimension of this scene. That’s why we prefaced the writing challenge with that passage from John Gardner on writing accurate description.

Remember, as always, don’t explain anything.

Email your entries to trishurquhart@gmail.com by 6pm  on Friday 11 November. As usual the winning entry receives a book voucher of R200 to spend at the independent bookshop of their choice. And if you are not in South Africa we’ll convert the R200 to your currency.

Support independent bookshops around the world – send us some information about your most loved independent bookshop – as well as the reasons why you love it and we’ll post the info in our independent bookshop section.

 This image is courtesy the wonderful blog People Reading which began as an exploration of literary San Francisco and daily affirmation that people still read. The blog has been going for two and a half years and over 1200 readers have been photographed. We love it! 

Image courtesy of Lizzy’s Literary Life – a wonderful blog about reading. Read Lizzy’s blog post about her Booker reading programme.

Books are one of my passions, and are one of India’s great bargains.

When you combine all that into a book-shop that is crammed with all the latest books and gives a great discount – what more could you ask?

Midland Book Shop in New Delhi’s Aurobindo Place has been a favourite haunt for years and years – well over 20 years, in fact, and I don’t think I ever have once gone there in all these years and left empty-handed.

The owner, the charming Mr. Baig has a laconic style of greeting.  He invariably remembers what I like, and so often, as soon as I walk in, he will call out in Hindi to one of the assistants, “Naya-wala Alexander McCall Smith nikalo.”  (Get out the new Alexander McCall Smith).

I bought another Alexander McCall Smith today, as it so happens.

Rumour has it that Mr. Baig can’t read English, just Urdu, but he knows where every single book in his shop is, which are the best-sellers, and which ones you have bought – seriously, he gently reminded me once, in a fit of absent-mindedness, that I had already bought a particular novel I was about to buy again.

The shop is small, with books double- and sometimes triple-stacked on the shelves, but the staff seems to know where literally every single book in the shop is.  There is nowhere to sit down, other than on the floor or on the steps, which is what my children used to do when they were little.

No coffee aroma wafting through, as in some of the newer fancier bookshops, which are modeling themselves on the American dream.

Midland Book Shop is small, cramped, well-stocked and friendly.  And cheap.

That’s why I drive through horrid traffic to the rather down at heel Aurobindo Place market, just for Midland.

Mid Land^® THE BOOK SHOP, Aurobindo Place Market, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-16

Phone: 2686 7121 Telefax:91-11-2696 2718

Email:-midbook@bol.net.in

http://www.midlandbookshop.com/

Click here to read Christine Pemberton’s blog about life in Delhi

Allaboutwriting will be at the Jozi Bookfair to discuss writing, reading and creativity. Visit our stand to talk about our Creative Writing Courses,and what we can offer you. We have courses for adults and teens,beginners and more advanced writers. All provide personal attention and lots of hands-on feedback.

A Day in the Life of a Quirky Melville Tourist

11:30 a.m.: Book-hunting There are a couple of musty used book shops along 7th St., as well as a nice book store down the road at Bamboo. But the best book-shopping experience in the area is at Die Boekhuis, just outside Melville in Auckland Park. To get to Boekehuis, head back down 5th Ave. to 7th St., turn right, and walk five or six blocks until you see Campus Square Mall on the right. You’ll see a sign for Boekehuis on the left.

Boekehuis was chosen by the International Booksellers Federation as one of the 50 most unique bookshops in the world in 2006. Set in a 100-year-old house, it has a small selection of mostly South African books and a sunny coffee shop serving baked goods from Koliander. After you’ve had a good browse, sit in the garden if weather permits, read the local papers, and enjoy a pot of tea and a scone. It was too cold for the garden on the day we went. But the tea room is nice too.

Monday-Saturdays 09:00-18:00.

t 011 482 3609

boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za

Cnr. Lothbury and Fawley streets just off Kingsway, Auckland Park

There is a little shop on 7th avenue in Melville called Love and Revolution. It is more like a subversive culture store that often hosts interesting musicians making it independent as well as a variety of yummy snacks and good coffee. Their shop is laid out like a semi lounge, making it easy for you to grab one of their very interesting books for sale and flip through it over a flat white or fresh juice. The books for sale on their book shelf are carefully selected and not overpriced. They range from activism (guerilla gardening etc) to sustainable ways of living to novels and other great books of local interest. It is a small shop, but so nice to pop in and pick up books you wouldn’t otherwise find on shop shelves.

http://www.loveandrevolution.co.za

Shop 4B, 7th Street, Melville, Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: 011 482 -1037
Email Ishtar@loveandrevolution.co.za Jasmyn@loveandrevolution.co.za
Operating Hours Generally: Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 7pm Or else: Whenever we feel like it

There is also a very cool book shop, Xarra Books, focused on African books – current, political, historical – it’s in Newtown by the coffee shops opposite Mary Fitzgerald square. It holds gems.

1 Central Place, Jeppe Street, Newtown, Johannesburg, 2000

info@xarrabooks.com

0118323069

Then another collector’s book shop called Collectors Treasury can be found on Commissioner Street in Jeppestown. The dusty and crammed walkways between shelves have books stacked up high. For those who like to rummage and find books of real value.

CTP House, 244 Commissioner Street, 011 334 6556, Mondays to Fridays 9am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-1pm

Kaspa Books in Sea Point, Cape Town on Main Road. It’s a second hand book shop, but a very very good one. I love going in there.

And the Book Lounge, but you already have that one up I see.

Where are you situated?
232 Long Street, Cape Town, near the top of the street, just below the Lutheran Church. Select Books has been in Long Street since 1986 and at no. 232 for the past eight years.

What kind of readers do you attract, and cater for?
Our customers are very interesting people, and include historians, writers, genealogists, wild life experts, tourists and rugby enthusiasts! We buy and sell scarce, out of print and new books relating to Southern Africa, that is, Africana books. These include a wide selection of books on art & artists, early travel & exploration, botany, architecture, wild life & hunting, military history (especially the South African War of 1899-1902) South African fiction, wine & cooking; as well as rugby books & programmes. We also specialize in signed & inscribed books.

Why are independent books stores important?
They are important because independent book dealers take pride in their stores and the service they give. They seek books their customers require or will delight in and can offer individually tailored advice to the reader who wishes to build up a collection of treasured tomes, whether the purpose is research, pleasure or investment. They can connect readers of similar interests and keep books flowing to readers far from a good bookshop. We have customers in rural areas across Southern Africa and have posted books all over the world, from Argentina to Zimbabwe, including Azerbaijan, Brazil, Hong Kong and Norway.

How is your bookshop different from all others?
We are different from most bookshops in that we sell both new and out of print books which allows us a broader view of the world; and we offer a full postal service. Experience garnered in our previous careers as an archivist and a librarian enrichs the personal service we offer to readers and collectors. We publish an Africana catalogue three to four times a year, highlighting our recent acquisitions and new publications. All our books are accurately described, grouped by category and carefully researched. We publish at least two rugby lists a year and we are the only book shop in South Africa to do so. We maintain a “wants” database, and will contact readers when we find the book they are seeking, with no obligation to buy if they no longer require the title. Some customers are surprised when we contact them long after a request was noted, and their appreciation and delight makes our day!
We build long term relationships with our customers, some of whom have been buying from us and building their Africana Libraries since we took over Select Books fifteen years ago….we might have only met once or twice when they visited Cape Town, but we have stayed in contact through our mailing list and catalogues.

Do you have a “favourite” kind of reader?
Yes! People who truly delight in books- their feel, presentation and bindings as well as their content. Readers who want to know the history of a book or the significance of an inscription. Readers who come back to us year after year and say that a visit to Select Books is always a must on their itinerary! Readers from different countries who show great interest in getting to know South Africa; writers doing research for their own work; rugby enthusiasts dedicated to supporting their teams.

Tell us some of your favourite books of all time.
My favourite reads include many of the South African classics and it is always exciting to be able to offer them in our shop. For example, as a first edition Jock of the Bushveld, or Deneys Reitz’ Commando, a gripping account of his experiences during the Boer War (now known as the South African War) or Alan Paton’s Cry the beloved Country; and so much the better if they are signed! In recent catalogues we have offered an inscribed copy of Prof. Chris Barnard’s One Life; a first edition of the classic travel account by Charles Andersson Lake Ngami (1856) and a very good copy of Maj P.J. Pretorius’ Jungle Man. Pretorius, a reformed poacher, was awarded the DSO in World War I for finding the German cruiser Konigsberg up the Rufiji Delta in East Africa (it was duly sunk by the Royal Navy!). Wilbur Smith based his book Shout at the Devil on this account.

Older works by the photographers David Goldblatt and Obie Oberholzer are becoming difficult to find and it is always good to be able to offer these iconic South African publications.

We are often able to offer books by Nobel Prize winners. Winston Churchill wrote two accounts of the South African War, both of which have become sought after books in first edition (London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and Ian Hamilton’s March). A first edition of Chief Albert Luthuli’s Let My People Go (1962) is always of interest, as are early works by Nadine Gordimer, and J.M. Coetzee. More recently there is considerable difficulty in finding true first editions of Mr. Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom. We also offer copies of F.W. De Klerk’s autobiography, The last trek, a new beginning. Archbishop Desmond Tutu also commands a wide following and he has penned a number of books which make for inspiring reading.

What are you recommending at the moment?
South Africa has a number of gifted writers who try to make sense of our world for the reader. Foremost amongst them I always recommend Allistair Sparks (The mind of South Africa / Tomorrow is another country / Beyond the miracle), Jonny Steinberg (Midlands / The Number / Notes from a fractured country / Thin blue / Three letter plague), Antjie Krog (Country of my skull / Change of tongue / There was this Goat) and Mamphela Ramphele’s Laying ghosts to rest.
If you plan to travel in Africa read Riaan Manser’s Around Africa on my bicycle.
We can supply books on any aspect of South Africa new or old…..

Please give the address of your website and details of any newsletters (including how to sign up).
www.selectbooks.co.za / selectb@mweb.co.za

If you send us an email we will add you to our mailing list. We are busy preparing Catalogue 54!

It was also very gratifying for us to learn that a short story she wrote while doing our course, The Place of the Doves, was short-listed in the African Writing 2011 Flash Fiction competition.

http://judycroome.blogspot.com/

Where are you situated?
211 Long Street, Cape Town 8001

What kind of readers do you attract, and cater for?
Academics, people who work nearby, tourists, book lovers

Why are independent books stores important?
We provide better serivice, have a better and unusual selection of books and are not run by accountants

How is your bookshop different from all others?
If you are talking about chains, see above, otherwise , we are very specialised, stocking only books on southern Africa both old and new, with a focus on southern African art. We have a dedicated website and issue two catalogues a year. We also have a general secondhand section but this is not catalogued

Do you have a “favourite” kind of reader?
The one who buys books

Tell us some of your favourite books of all time.
BOYHOOD JM Coetzee
CAT’S EYE Margaret Atwood
MY TRAITOR’S HEART Rian Malan
SOPHIE’S CHOICE William Styron
A DICTIONARY OF SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH ON HISTORICAL PRINCIPLES P. Silva et al eds.

What are you recommending at the moment?
LANGUAGE IN SOUTH AFRICA edited by Rajend Mesthrie
THE BANG BANK CLUD Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva
THE CATERPILLARA COP James McClure
THE STEAM PIG James McCure
THE MUSIC IN THE ICE, on writers, writing and other things Stephen Watson
ALPHABET OF DEMOCRACY Anton Kannemeyer

Please give the address of your website and details of any newsletters (including how to sign up)
www.clarkesbooks.co.za

211 Long Street, Cape Town, 8001

021 423 5739