“Blog tours are a big promotional tool for authors internationally,” says Chislett of the programme of guests, “But I don’t really know of anyone in South Africa offering a destination to writers to that to our audience. So I decided to start one. Some of these names readers will already know, but some will be complete new comers. It’s going to be great fun for me and the writers and, I hope the readers of my site!”

 The programme kicked off in mid November with a guest post by American fantasy author, Mark Tierno. The programme will roll over through December and into 2012 with Kate White, Margie Orford, Tracey Farren, Michelle McGrane, Jo-Anne Richards, Joan De La Haye, Frank Riganelli, Doug Simpson and Wade Cox with more to be confirmed shortly.

The idea is that readers can interact with a new voice and follow the links to e-book and physical purchases and the author’s home-page. Along the way they will discover some new voices or learn new things about more familiar names. “The beauty of the internet is that it is truly international,” continues Chislett, “So while of course I want to feature South African writers, I also want to talk to international writers and hear what they have to say, thereby bring their readers to us and ours to them.”

For more publishing advice join David on December 7  in Johannesburg for his Getting Published Workshop in which he  gives his take on publishing, its perils and its opportunities. David’s Getting Published Workshop will be available online from January.

Cost:  R500. Email Trish, trishurquhart@gmail.com, to book your place.

David Chislett is the originator of the Urban series of short fiction and author of “A Body Remembered” and “1,2,1,2”. He is an experienced workshop facilitator and speaker and well-known entertainment journalist and publicist. http://www.davidchislett.co.za/

Perhaps that in itself could be the starting point for a story. (Just an idea.) But why is it that so many people start out on their first novel with such enthusiasm, put so much effort and time into it, and then …?

They lose momentum. They lose confidence in their abilities, or in their work. It could be the idea isn’t thought through, so they lose direction. And some people are simply not prepared for the loneliness, the agony and slog.

Gene Fowler, an American journalist and author, once said: “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

You’ve probably heard it a million times, but it’s still one of my favourites largely, I suppose, because people who have never tried writing a book do sometimes think there’s no great effort involved. “Easier than a real job, hey, nudge, nudge …?” That’s the attitude.

Some time ago a friend of mine sat next to a doctor on a plane. “What do you do?” he asked.

“I’m a writer,” she said.

“That’s nice. I’m going to do a bit of that when I don’t have to work anymore.”

Only later, she realised she should have added: “Oh yes, It’s nice to have a hobby. I’ve often considered dabbling in brain surgery when I retire.”

Yes it’s true, not everyone can write. But mostly, it’s because they can’t expend the effort. They can’t keep at it, wrestle their way through what can be months or even years of work. They believe they can “dabble” in it, when there’s nothing more pressing to do.

The most important job of the real writer is … to keep writing. I once heard that Ken Follett likes to declare: “The only difference between me and everyone else out there is discipline.”

I’m told that he sets himself a specific number of words to write every day. He begins at 8.30am and writes consistently till 3.30pm, when he rewards himself with a glass of champagne.

I believe in rewards. Even little rewards. While busy with my first book, I used to fantasise lavish “When my book is published” daydreams. Only, I wouldn’t allow myself to indulge them until I’d finished writing for the day.

There’s nothing more important than just keeping on. It doesn’t have to be perfect first time, so that’s no excuse. All books need good editing and often rewriting.

Make yourself rituals, if that helps. I like to place a certain pen by my computer. And (ridiculous as it sounds) I always wear the same pants when I write. (I become hysterical if they’re in the wash when I want to write.)

I view them quite superstitiously, which helps, I suppose. They can’t be used for doing anything else. That means I can’t “just quickly check my emails”. I’d have to get up, take my pants off, check my emails, get up…

Let me share another tip with you: Don’t talk too much about your book in the making. If you need to work through ideas, choose someone who takes you and your idea seriously.

I know writing is lonely. But talking about it somehow neutralises the desire. It satisfies the story-telling self, and allows you to stop sitting down and doing it.

Also, so many people claim to have a story in them, that few people will take you seriously. They’ll feel that’s the perfect time to barge in and disturb you because … after all, you aren’t really working.

They’ll find it vaguely amusing and ask you, in arch tones, how The Book is going. It’ll begin to seem ridiculous and you’ll feel absurd – an imposter in the literary world. It’s better just to keep quiet, at least until the end is in sight.

So, that’s it really. That’s the secret. People often ask me for one tip for aspiring writers. And I always say just that: Keep writing.

Jo-Anne Richards is a South African novelist and journalist, who lectures at Wits University in Johannesburg and teaches writing through Allaboutwriting. Her fourth book, My Brother’s Book, was published in March 2008 by Picador Africa.

Your awful brother probably picked the lock and read steamy passages to his friends. But even so … a journal kept properly can help your writing in many ways.

A journal is a safe place to expose yourself, explore your own responses and to be vulnerable and honest. No-one will see it and no-one can judge you on it.

My mother once told me that I shouldn’t use my diary for teenage venting. “What happens if someone publishes it when you’re dead, like Anne Frank.”

But I believe that’s quite the wrong way of looking at a journal. Don’t imagine an audience – it makes you self-conscious. You can demand that all your journals be burnt upon your death. Or write as illegibly as I do – then no-one will ever decipher a word.

If you don’t learn to be vulnerable on the page, you’ll never be a great writer. Even if you never write about yourself or your life, writing is all about exposing something of your inner self. It’s about growing comfortable with seeing your own flaws and weaknesses printed out in front of you.

Anything can be used as a journal – but it should give you pleasure. Choose the most beautiful notebook you can afford, even if the price is sinful.

A journal is not quite a diary, which describes day to day events. A journal can have descriptions of events, but also reflects on them and your feelings about them.

Naturally, there aren’t any rules about journaling – if there were, I’d recommend breaking them anyway. But try to do what is sustainable for you and your lifestyle. It shouldn’t become a burden.

Some people whip out their notebook while waiting in a queue or in a doctor’s waiting room. Or to record an overheard conversation, or describe a place or an event. Other people find it comforting to have a routine – they write at a certain time, or a certain amount each day.

I believe that all writing should be a seeking to understand. As writers, we’re not trying to grab our audience by the throat and force them to understand what we think we already know. Most good writing is an exploration, an attempt to understand both the little things that make up our daily lives, and a way of tackling the great universal unanswered questions.

A journal can be used in this way too – to explore our own and the possible motivations of others. This is the basis of character formation and makes it easier for us to build believable, complex characters. Describing scenes gets us into the habit of bringing all the senses to bear, and finding words to describe them. If you’re in unfamiliar surroundings, try consciously to find the right language to bring them vividly to life.

Recording conversations begins the habit of listening – to the way people speak, to their colloquialisms and the little idiosyncracies that reflect their characters.

Anecdotes and narrative scenes recorded from your everyday life provide the detail that makes writing work. Many of our human issues – personal, national, and universal – are reflected in the little scenes and stories that you witness or that you are told. These are what make up the fabric of the way we live.

A novel doesn’t merely consist of characters doing things. Stories are made up of the detail, the telling aspects that describe the way we live more eloquently than we could ever explain it.

For example, you witness a fight between your neighbours. Don’t just explain it. You want to see and hear it, you want to smell their sweat. Record it as accurately as you can. Place us inside it. Record the dialogue, describe the scene – the smell and sound of the street – as the woman drags her husband’s suitcase outside her front gate.

Record his furious response and the way she flinches as he leans over her and yells. Only when you have recorded it as accurately as you can, should you look inside yourself and record your own response: perhaps the way your heart beat faster when you thought he might hit her

That’s the time to look at your fear when you thought you might be forced to intervene, and wondered whether you would have the courage to do so.

The act of writing down scenes like this will make it easier to imagine similar scenes and details to suit the story you choose to tell. And it helps you express the emotions and motivations of your characters.

Anais Nin wrote in her diary: “Every moment you can choose what you wish to see, observe, or record. It is your choice. So you create the total aspect according to your vision. We have a right to select our vision of the world.”

What she meant is that as soon as you record a perception, you start giving it a structure and organising its details. When you become aware of how you apprehend the world, you can start choosing the kinds of perceptions you wish to cultivate.

Nin also said that writing, like practising the piano each day, kept one nimble so that “when the great moments of inspiration come, one is in good form, supple and smooth”.

Jo-Anne Richards is a South African novelist and journalist, who lectures at Wits University in Johannesburg and teaches writing through Allaboutwriting. Her fourth book, My Brother’s Book, was published in March 2008 by Picador Africa. 

The Benefits of our Course:

• Start when it suits you, work at your own pace.

• Learn the skills to write both fiction and non-fiction.

• Writing practice in every module.

• Full one-on-one feedback on assignments in every module.

• We promise to be honest, but kind.

• Enjoy on-going support in our online writers’ group.

• We have an association with three publishers: Pan Macmillan, Penguin and Jacana, who will give particular consideration to manuscripts we recommend.

Who we are:

Allaboutwriting is a partnership between novelist Jo-Anne Richards and screen-writer, Richard Beynon. Jo-Anne is the author of four novels, including the best-selling The Innocence of Roast Chicken (Headline UK) and, most recently, My Brother’s Book (Picador Africa). Richard is an award-winning screen and television writer, responsible for hundreds of scripts in the genres of drama, soap and comedy.

What our students say:

I found Allaboutwriting’s writing course expansive in style, educative in content and entertaining in delivery. Jo-Anne and Richard present a full gamut of learning and insight on creative writing seemingly effortlessly,
with the welcome addition of real verve and wit. It was pure pleasure to participate. Tim Cohen, journalist.

I could feel my confidence blooming and it showed in the writing, so I’m hoping that I’ll take that with me into my next novel. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the whole course – wish I’d discovered it years ago!! The feedback has been so practical, constructive and helpful that I’ve seen immediately where I was losing my way. Judy Croome, novelist.

For more information about the Allaboutwriting Creative Writing Course please click here or for details on how to sign up please contact Trish at trishurquhart@gmail.com

CREATIVE WRITING COURSE
Start date: 26 January 2011
Duration: 10 Wednesdays 7 – 9.30pm
Cost: R5500

THE CHARACTER COURSE
When: 5 February 2011
Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm
Cost: R1500

GROWING THROUGH WRITING
Pierre Brouard and Judith Ancer
When: 19 February 2011
Time: 9.30am to 3.30pm
Cost: R1200

FIND THE PHOTO AND STORY
With photographer David Moore from Creative Escapes and journalist and travel writer Fred de Vries
When: Sunday 6 March and 3 April
Cost: R1500

THE POWER OF WRITING
When: 12 March 2011
Time: 9 am to 4.30pm
Cost: R450

CREATIVE ESCAPES WEEKEND
When: 25, 26, 27 March 2011
Venue: Fouriesburg, Free State
Cost: R2500 includes accommodation, meals and tuition

KEYS TO CREATIVE WRITING
When: 9 and 10 April
Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm
Venue: McGregor, Western Province

BUSINESS WRITING
Online
When: Start today or any time that suits you and work at your own pace and in your own time.
Cost: R2750 for eight modules
Face-to-face
Courses available by arrangement for groups on Monday or Tuesday mornings

CONTACT INFORMATION
Allaboutwriting – Trish Urquhart trishurquhart@gmail.com 0826524643
Creative Escapes – www.creative-escapes.co.za

Run by acclaimed novelist Jo-Anne Richards, and journalist and writer Fred de Vries, the course prepares aspirant memoirists and biographers for the challenges that await them.

Not only will you learn the essential skills required to do the job effectively and memorably, but you’ll also have the chance to submit a long piece of work to Jo-Anne and Fred for detailed assessment and feedback. That’s why the course is run in two bits: Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 November, and a final day on December 4.

You might have your own compelling tale to tell – or, no less nobly, you might simply want to put down the singular stories you grew up with of your own family for consumption by your children and grandchildren.

Whatever your particular appetites, you’ll find them more than satisfied over the three days of Allaboutwriting’s Biography and Memoir Course.

And don’t forget, anyone who’s already done an Allaboutwriting course, qualifies for a ten per cent discount on all further courses. That’s R480 off our normal fee of R4800.

To register please email Trish at trishurquhart@gmail.com

Rand Club Launch
The news is that Allaboutwriting is joining forces with Creative Escapes – a photographic-cum-travel organization – to launch our 2011 course schedule. The launch will be held at the Rand Club on November 2. Jo-Anne and Richard will expatiate briefly on the new challenges facing writers in this second decade of what is quickly becoming a tarnished century. That, at least, is the title of the talk: how they interpret it will depend on their conversations over the next month! We’ll be sending out invitations in due course – suffice it to say at this stage that it’ll give you a chance to check out the gorgeous club (again, perhaps), enjoy a glass or two of wine (a free tasting!), and satisfy the inner man, or woman, with a little soup and a selection of club sandwiches.

Characters and Biographies
Those reminders: on Saturday 9 October – just a few days hence – we hold our next Character Course. This is an intensive introduction, via both literary artifice and psychology, to the wonderful process of creating characters out of thin air. Richard’ll be guiding you through the process with the able help of psychologist Pierre Brouard. These sessions are always exciting, and past students tend to wax lyrical on the insights they take away with them.

Then our next Biography and Memoir Course – run by Jo-Anne and Fred de Vries – starts on November 6th, runs through the 7th, and concludes on December 4th. If you believe you have a story to tell about your own experiences, or about someone you admire or are fascinated by, then this is the course to do.

Don’t forget that anyone who’s done any one of Allaboutwriting’s courses qualifies for a 10 per cent discount on any other courses they enroll for.

And in this corner, we have the winner!
Now here’s the announcement that promised of a great victory. The race was for the best response to our last exercise that required you to describe a moment of true feeling between two characters, one of whom bears the burden of a great secret that she can’t reveal either to the other, or to us, the readers. Not a simple challenge – but Marget Renn rose to it with wonderful economy. If you want to have a look at her winning entry, then click here.

Our next exercise
At our last Allaboutwriting/continued session we spent so much time quaffing celebratory champagne – no fewer than four of our alumni have in recent weeks either published books or distinguished themselves in other ways – that we didn’t get round to do an exercise at all.

Here it is: Describe a building as seen by a man whose son has just been killed in a war. Do not mention the son, war, death, or the old man doing the seeing; then describe the same building, in the same weather and at the same time of day, as seen by a happy lover. Do not mention love or the loved one.

Give yourself 30 minutes or so to complete it, then send it to us by 6pm on Tuesday 12 October and we’ll announce the winner in our next newsletter – and point you in the direction of Boekehuis in Johannesburg, or The Book Lounge in Cape Town, to redeem your winning voucher.

This month’s exercise comes from John Gardner’s wonderfully perceptive book The Art of Fiction. We’ve plundered it before for exercises, and no doubt will do so again. If you want to read the book in its entirety, here’s the link to the book on Amazon.

And finally, that writing tip…
Jo-Anne and Richard are speaking about the books on the Man-Booker shortlist tonight(Tuesday 5 October) at Love Books in Melville, so we thought it appropriate to seek out a tip from one of the authors (the joys of the internet!). Here are some thoughts from Peter Carey, two-time winner of the prize, up for a third this year with his book Parrot and Olivier in America.

He’s giving advice to writers intent on writing a first novel. Begin, he says, by banishing television. (And he might have added: And stuff a dab of Pratley’s Putty into your laptop’s USB ports to sever all possible connection with the internet – as Jonathan Franzen apparently has.) Then he introduces the exercise he says will “build up your writing muscles like nothing else”. Here he is:

“It’s called reading. Perhaps you are already reading good books for several hours a day, in which case you don’t need me to preach at you. Forgive me. I only mention this because I have met an extraordinary number of beginners who don’t think they need to read anything too much.

“I don’t doubt these people enjoy their writing, and perhaps they will even get to publish something. But you cannot play the top game without reading every day. There are so many extraordinary books waiting for you, some written by living writers, the majority by those a long time dead. This is not because writers used to be better than they are now, but because a lot of generations have come before us and we would be crazy not to know what miracles they achieved.”

Simple, no? And yet the connection between writing and reading can’t be stressed enough.

Reading IS writing from the other side of the looking glass.

Here’s a course designed to rev you up for a challenging writing project – or, more simply, to help you re-engage with your creative self. The Creative Writing Course designed to help participants explore their creativity – and equip them with essential writing skills – starts on 22 September and continues for ten weeks. Sessions will be held every Wednesday from 7 to 9.30pm in Parkview, Johannesburg. The cost is R5500. The facilitators are novelist Jo-Anne Richards and scriptwriter Richard Beynon.

Our next course is the Character Course on 9 October from 9am to 5pm. This one-day course blends psychology and writing – and brings writer Richard Beynon and psychologist Pierre Brouard together as facilitators – to create a one-day plunge into the process of creating memorable and larger-than-life characters. The cost is R1500.

There are numerous possibilities for travel writing. Every newspaper and weekly has a travel supplement or section, and they often use stories by freelancers. Join the widely-published travel writer Fred de Vries on the Travel Writing Course and learn how to write top-quality travel articles and get them published. This two day course will be held on 30 October and 20 November from 9am to 1pm. The gap between the two days gives participants time to write an article and send it in to Fred. Part of day two is spent on feedback and discussion. Cost R2000

They say that there’s a book in each of us. It is likely this is your own story, but it could be you’d love to tell the story of someone else, living or dead, whose life seems to you an inspiration. Our final course of the year is a Biography and Memoir course run by Jo-Anne and Fred on 6 and 7 November and 4 December. You will end the course with the basis of a book, which can then be developed into a full-length work in your own time. Cost R4800.

For more information or to sign up for any of the courses please contact Trish via email – trishurquhart@gmail.com or call her on 0826524643.

The face-to-face course is run by scriptwriter Richard Beynon and novelist Jo-Anne Richards. Participants meet once a week in Parkview, Johannesburg, for ten sessions.

The course is designed to help participants explore their creativity – and equip them with a range of essential writing skills. It suits all working, and aspirant, writers – or even those with no specific project in mind, but who long to unlock their creative selves.

The course is equally suitable for those wanting to start a novel, a screenplay, or a work of creative non-fiction.

Learn to tell a story in the most dramatic way possible… to create characters that leap to life from the page or the screen… to write dialogue that positively crackles with life and energy…

Learn to choose the most appropriate point of view for your particular story… to structure scenes that advance the story and expand our understanding of your characters… to structure your story vividly enough to avoid the pitfalls of a sagging middle – and keep readers glued to the last, climactic page.

Even if your immediate objective is not a novel or screenplay, the course will help unlock your creativity and enable the real you to emerge.

Join Jo-Anne Richards and Richard Beynon on Wednesday July 14, for the first of ten weekly sessions that will unleash your creative potential and, most important, get you writing.

For more information please go to www.allaboutwritingcourses.com – or phone Trish Urquhart now at 082 652 4643.