Wordworks, Spring 2017

BRITISH COLUMBIA’S MAGAZINE FOR WRITERS

FEDERATION BC WRITERS

SPRING 2017 $6.95

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05

Members' Corner

Chelsea Comeau

07

Sophie Dubé - 15 and Published

Sophie Dubé

09

Out of the Box

Don Genova

11

Food Journalism

Andrea McKenzie Raine

13

The Benefits of Publishing in E-book Format, Paperback, or Combo Publishing

Ben Coles

15

Query Letters

Garth Matthams

17

Comic Book Writing

Ellen Niemer

22

DIY Marketing: Do the Hustle

Jennifer Manuel

24

How to Not Critique the Life Out of Your Story

Keith Digby

27

From Novel to Movie

WORDWORKS IS PROVIDED FREE, QUARTERLY, TO MEMBERS OF THE FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS. IT IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB PAGE AND IN BRITISH COLUMBIA PUBLIC LIBRARIES, HIGH SCHOOLS, AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES. TO JOIN THE FBCW, OR PURCHASE A SUBSCRIPTION TO WORDWORKS, GO TO BCWRITERS.CA Page 1 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

Publication of The Federation of British Columbia Writers 2014 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo, BC V9S 1H4 bcwriters.ca Editor in Chief Shaleeta Harper, communications@bcwriters.ca Business Manager Thomas Baxter, TomBaxter@bcwriters.ca Interior Designer/Illustrator Coby McDougall

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his issue revisits a familiar topic: publishing. We’ve decided to explore niche subjects, like comic books, food journalism, and marketing, and we learned many curious and helpful things in the process. We also discovered a talented young writer—we are happy to introduce you to poet, artist, and photographer Sophie Dubé (cover, and page 7).

In celebration of WordWorks' 35th birthday and the Nanaimo Spring Writes festival, April 27-30, which we are hosting in tandem with our AGM, April 29, we have made this a full colour issue. We would love to get your feedback . From our perspective, full colour is not just—well, more colourful, with featured design work by Coby McDougall—it allows us to see our member book covers in full colour in Launched. Speaking of Launched, we love featuring and promoting your work. A reminder to all members that new books and similar projects can be submitted to our Launched section as soon as they are available to be purchased. Look in previous issues of WordWorks (or in this one!) to see what information is needed.

You'll notice that we've also brought back our "Members' Corner."

We have a long list of topics that members (and non-members) have asked us about and this is a corner of the magazine where we can provide that information. Let us know if you have a topic or a question you would like us to address.

I hope you enjoy this issue of WordWorks—so much in it that is new and curious. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

All the best,

Shaleeta Harper

Visuals Editor & Cover Designer Chris Hancock Donaldson FBCW Board Advisor Ann Graham Walker Fiction Editor Andrea McKenzie Raine Poetry Editor Chelsea Comeau Guest Editor Ellen Niemer Cover Artist Sophie Dubé © The Federation of British Columbia Writers 2017 All Rights Reserved

Submissions

Content of WordWorks Magazine is, with very occasional exceptions, provided by members of the Federation of BC Writers. If you would like to submit something, or if you have a story idea you would like to see included in WordWorks, please visit bcwriters.ca/wordworks/submit

Advertising

WordWorks is pleased to advertise services and products that are of genuine interest to writers. Space may also be provided to honour sponsors, whose generous contributions make it possible for the Federation of BC Writers to provide services to writers in BC. For information about advertising policies and rates, see bcwriters.ca/WordWorks/advertisers

Content

Editorial decisions are guided by the mandate of WordWorks as "BC’s Magazine for Writers", and its role as the official publication of the Federation of BC Writers. WordWorks will showcase the writing and poetry of FBCW members'; provide news and feature coverage of writing and writers in BC with an emphasis on writing techniques and the business of writing; carry news about the Federation of BC Writers, and its work supporting and advocating for writers.

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 2

CONTRIBUTORS Keith Digby

Born in Coventry England and educated at St. Mary's College, London, and The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Keith has worked at the top levels of live professional theatre in Canada, including a season at The Stratford Festival. Keith’s co-written ‘claustrophobic thriller’ feature film, TRUNK, premiered at the Victoria International Film Festival. Their second claustrophobic thriller, CONTAINER, is in development. His sitcom series, CON JOBS was optioned to UK’s Green Bay Media. Keith was also a series writer on TIME EXPOSURES for CHEK TV.

Chelsea Comeau

Chelsea Comeau is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Quills, CV2, and is forthcoming in The Maynard. In 2015 she was the Canadian winner of the Leaf Press chapbook contest. She is currently the artist-in-residence at New Westminster's Anvil Centre (April 2017).

Bennett R. Coles

Bennett R. Coles hails from Sidney, BC, and has seen more of the publishing industry than any human should. He is an award-winning author with Titan Books of London, and also heads up the small but mighty BC publishing house Promontory Press. He has worked as an editor, distributor, and sales rep in the industry at large, but is happiest when either writing his own books or helping authors write theirs.

Ellen Niemer

Ellen Niemer is a writer, editor, and graduate of Douglas College’s Print Futures Professional Writing program. During her schooling she interned at alive magazine and went on to become a senior editor at the publication. Ellen recently studied fiction writing with Shaena Lambert and is working on her first novel with the help of her sidekick (cat) Bronson. She recently joined the Board of Directors of the Federation of BC Writers. Say hello on Twitter @a_live_editor.

Garth Matthams

Garth Matthams is an indie comics creator from Nanaimo, British Columbia. His first graphic novel, The Living Finger, was published by Darby Pop. Garth lives with his beautiful, supportive, hypochondriac wife, and their two skittish rabbits.

Don Genova

Don Genova is a freelance food journalist based in Victoria. He is also the president of the Canadian Media Guild’s Freelance Branch.

Sophie Dubé

Sophie Dubé is a young writer and artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. In her ninth grade, she took a year to travel with her family to Latin America. The places she travelled inspired her to write poetry and draw. With the encouragement of her teacher, Sophie decided to compile her work into an illustrated book of poetry called Where Words are Muddled which she recently self-published. She is currently in grade ten and continues to write and draw in her spare time. You can see more of her writing and art at sophiedubepoetry.com and on Facebook (Sophie Dubé).

Andrea McKenzie Raine

Andrea McKenzie Raine resides in Victoria with her husband and two sons. She earned a B.A. in English Literature at the University of Victoria, and is the author of a poetry book titled A Mother’s String and two novels titled Turnstiles, and A Crowded Heart.

Jennifer Manuel

Jennifer Manuel is the author of The Heaviness of Things That Float (Douglas & McIntyre), a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. She mentors writers around the world and runs Reimagine the Page, a self-paced online course that teaches her unique approach to revisions. Get her free Story Revision Starter Kit at jenmanuel.com.

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ANN GRAHAM WALKER

Dear Writers, Seven hundred, going on eight. That's our membership in April 2017, and here's why it matters: as our membership continues to grow, our writing community expands as well, and you start to see things happen that change your life as a writer for the better. Informal get togethers and "meet and greets." Readings in local libraries. We're

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 4

going to be focusing on network and community building this year, working through your wonderful area and regional reps, building the FBCW at ground level where it can translate into the things you care about—like help starting a writing group, or opportunities to read your work to one another.

If you are willing to serve as an area rep, please let us know. This is a very big province. Area reps work with regional reps by building local writer networks—with our help—choosing times and locations for writers to get together. There are also parts of the province where we still don't have a regional representative and are looking for one, like the Cariboo and the South-East.

As our membership grows and we get better coverage in areas where we currently have few members, we find people at ground level to help us organize workshops and readings in local libraries. (These are open to members as well as non members, like everything the FBCW does). We draw upon your talents and your ideas to help the FBCW continue on a dynamic and creative

path forwards. And financially, as we grow, we build a base for sustainably supporting some vital components of our operations, such as our Executive Director Shaleeta Harper (who is our one and only staff member, she has a lot to do!) and our quarterly magazine WordWorks. With basics paid for, our grant money can go to things like more workshops, free or accessibly priced. It can go towards paying our writers a higher rate per word for WordWorks articles. (We currently pay industry standard, it is a priority for us, but we'd like to improve it even further). It can go towards new projects.

Seven hundred, going on eight. The number of writers starts to make a real and sustainable difference, when a big part of what we are doing together is community building and collaboratively shaping a culture.

Best wishes, Ann Graham Walker president@bcwriters.ca

MEMBERS'

CORNER

SHALEETA HARPER

* COMMUNICATIONS@BCWRITERS.CA

TODAY'S TOPIC: THE SEARCHABLE DIRECTORY & MEMBER PROFILE

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his section provides information about accessing and getting the most out of memberships, and is for non-members and members.

The topics are compiled from the most common problems and questions that we see. Let us know if you'd like something specific tackled!

All FBCW members are entitled to a free directory listing. You can find the link on the right hand side of the bcwriters.ca home page, just under the blue "Join" button.

When you're on the page, you can explore! Are you looking for a ghost writer? A poet? Search any name or keyword, or view listings alphabetically—your choice. It's a good idea to look at other listings for ideas, before you start working on your own. What do you like about others? What information did they include?

Once you've gotten some ideas, it's time to log into your own profile, and work on your listing!

is "Member Type". This is where you can select the kind of writing or related work you do. If anything is missing, just email me*, and I'll add it to the list. The next is the most important section: subscriptions. I call it the most important because without selecting this, you won't receive print copies of WordWorks, or be on the WriteOn Newsletter list. Under that is "Region", where you select which region you would like to receive local newsletters from. Below that, you select your level of writer, from beginning to published. Next, you can tell us whether you would be interested in volunteering—this doesn't mean you need to, but means we may contact you with volunteer opportunities. We have added two sections below this, which allow you to tell us which workshops and other services you may offer. You can email* me to add topics as well.

When you're done, select "Save & Next." Now, you're on the contact info page. The phone number, address, and emails are private—we won't have those appearing on your public profile. Select the save and next button again, and we're at the directory listing!

LOGGING IN

UPDATING YOUR DIRECTORY LISTING

SEARCHING

If you hover your mouse over the heading labelled "Our Members" you'll see several pages available. Click "Log into My Profile". You'll need a password to log in, so if you haven't got one, let me know*, and I'll send you a temporary one. Assuming you managed to set yours up, you can use your email and password, and log in. There is also a "forgot my password" button, if you had one but can't remember what it was.

EDITING YOUR INFORMATION

Now that you've logged in, you can edit your profile. First, upload a picture of yourself, if you'd like. This will be visible to the public. After that, click the "View Profile/Edit Profile" button on the right. This first page is full of basic information—I'll go through it in order. First, you can update your name if it's incorrect, or if you'd prefer a pen name. Next

You'll see a small box that has the word "edit" in it in blue. Click that. The address, phone number, and email here are still not visible on your profile. The city will be shown, but that is it. If you would like to include that information, add it into the "About Me" text box. This is where you can write your bio, describe your published books, and include any other information. If you'd like to include additional photos, up to two can be uploaded just below the text box. Select "Save Listing" at the bottom of that page, and you're done!

Come back next issue to read about Getting hired for WordWorks!

Thanks, and email me* anytime if you have questions or problems!

Shaleeta Harper

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F I C T I O N

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P O E T R Y

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MAGNIfIcENt! BAM!!!

suBtErrAIN dElIvErs word-ANd-Art IMpAct!” —GEorGE EllIott clArkE, poEt lAurEAtE of cANAdA

3 caTEGORIES | 3 caSH PRIZES | ONE DEaDLINE

FIcTION | cREaTIvE NON-FIcTION | POETRy

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MAY 15, 2017

SubmIT: subterrain.ca

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 6

15 AND PUBLISHED INTERVIEWED BY CHELSEA COMEAU

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he urge to be creative can strike at any age, though it’s up to us whether we heed the call or not.

Though we will likely experience different processes and rhythms, some of the themes we encounter as artists are universal, no matter where we are in our lives or our careers. Sophie Dubé, a teen poet and fiction writer from Vancouver, has not only answered the call, but is well on her way to accomplishing some truly remarkable things, and has no intention of stopping any time soon. She has launched her own website (sophiedubepoetry.com), which features several of her poems, drawing, photography, and more. She is already grappling with some important realizations around committing to her art and weaving it into her daily routine.

Sophie is fortunate enough to have discovered her passion early in life. She says one of the first memories she has of writing a poem is at the age of about six or seven, when she visited the Vancouver Aquarium and was so inspired by one of the fish she saw that she simply had to put pen to paper. The desire to create came to her as it comes to so many of us, suddenly and without explanation. But she welcomed it into her life, harnessed it, and says the momentum of finishing a

poem with which she was happy is what propelled her into continuing with her creativity. She explains that she enjoys the process because, “it’s fun, and a kind of puzzle”, speaking to her enthusiasm for unravelling art's many mysteries. She derives a kind of satisfaction from clinching a piece with a clever ending, and credits Shel Silverstein for influencing her craft, “especially before she discovered [her] own style”. Now that she’s found her authentic voice (something many writers will struggle for years to do), Sophie admits she “[has] no idea what [she’s] doing anymore”, which is really all part of the joy of writing.

As a fifteen-year-old still navigating the waters of adolescence, Sophie explains that it’s been difficult to find others her age who are as interested as she in the literary arts. Though she finds her school environment, for the most part, supportive of her endeavours, she is still working to find her tribe and hopes to soon connect with other young writers.

A student who spends a lot of time commuting on public transit, she produces the bulk of her material on the bus, with a small amount of it being written in the classroom. This isn’t a bad thing at all for Sophie, who says, “something about staring out the

Page 7 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

window while being jammed in by countless tired, impatient bodies fogging up the vehicle with stale, moist air has a way of [putting] one in a philosophical mood”. Sophie is already learning that writers who are dedicated to their work must find ways of carving out time in their hectic schedules, and that high school students are no different. While most creatives will lament that day jobs and family commitments leave little time for art, young writers face the same dilemma. Sophie’s commute and homework are responsibilities her writing must compete with, and, although she doesn’t write as often as she would like, she is still finding ways to produce.

In 2015, Sophie took a year off from

school and spent it travelling around Latin America with her family. She encountered a great deal of poetic material while travelling and “just about everything [she] wrote during that time was greatly influenced by the places [they] visited”. It was around this same period in her life that she decided to launch the website, having already toyed with the idea of publishing. She’s also begun delving into her own creative rhythm and identifying how she best works. Sophie says she typically writes one project at a time, be it poetry or prose, and tends to focus solely on that one thing (unless she’s got homework or book reports on the agenda, of course). Barring any sudden inclinations toward astrophysics or competing in the

Olympics, Sophie thinks she’ll be best off pursuing poetry, writing, and art after high school.

Sophie exhibits wisdom that some might consider beyond her years, something often seen in younger creative types.

When asked what advice she would like to offer other beginning artists, she says that “young [writers] should really take [themselves] seriously. Just because [they] may be inexperienced doesn't mean that [their] ideas aren’t good enough to be heard”. She hopes young people embarking on creative endeavours will remember that making mistakes is all part of the process, and there’s still plenty of time to develop their craft.

“YOUNG [WRITERS] SHOULD REALLY TAKE [THEMSELVES] SERIOUSLY. JUST BECAUSE [THEY] MAY BE INEXPERIENCED DOESN'T MEAN THAT [THEIR] IDEAS AREN’T GOOD ENOUGH TO BE HEARD”.

JOIN US May 19th - 21st, 2017 Prestige Harbourfront Resort Salmon Arm, BC

on the

Lake

Writers’ Festival

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 8

Whatever level of writer you may be you’ll want to be part of this inspiring weekend on the shores of spectacular Shuswap Lake Expect to be encouraged, informed and thoroughly entertained.

Information on workshops, Saturday night entertainment, banquet and more at: www.wordonthelakewritersfestival.com

Presenters: Paul Aitken Gail Anderson - Dargatz Lorelei Fiset Jacqueline Guest Blu & Kelly Hopkins Theresa Kishkan Myrna Kostash Halli Lilburn George Opacic Anna Comfort O’Keeffe Cea Sunrise Person Patrick Taylor John Vaillant Jill Veitch Sheri-D Wilson

SOPHIE DUBÉ Out of the box came the strangest of things, Out came the wind and the sky.

Out of the box came a flurry of birds, And into the air they did fly.

Out of the box came a torrent of words, Which whispered and tangled their tales.

Out of the box came such mystical beasts, With feathery wings and hard scales.

Out of the box came the mountains and caves.

Out of the box came the sea.

Then out of the box came the strangest of all.

For out of the box came me.

Page 9 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 10

SO YOU WANT TO BE A FOOD JOURNALIST? DON GENOVA

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eople ask me all the time how I became a food journalist. And some people ask me how they, too, could become a food journalist.

“Well,” I tell them, “first it helps to be a journalist.” A journalist is trained how to observe, how to question and interview people, how to ferret out all sides of the story, and then craft a narrative that is entertaining and informative. If you are already doing that as a writer, you’re halfway there.

I broke into the journalism business as a radio reporter, and learning how to write for the ear has served me well in my magazine and newspaper writing career. Keep your language simple. Keep your sentences short. I had some really good writing teachers at radio school, including Canadian novelist Wayson Choy. It never hurts having a novelist teach you how to write non-fiction.

As I progressed through my radio career, I never thought of being a food journalist. I didn’t think of myself having any real sort of background in food. But early

morning radio shifts meant free afternoons spent watching James Barber, the Urban Peasant, on TV. His passion for cooking inspired me to spend more time in the kitchen. When I started talking about my culinary exploits on the radio, listeners were interested. Soon I was producing food segments at CBC Radio in Edmonton. I really admired the writing of Judy Schulz, then the food editor at the Edmonton Journal. She advised me I didn’t have to know a lot about food to become a food journalist, being a curious journalist would lead me down the right road. She was correct.

My first story for the Globe and Mail was more of a shaggy dog story, but involved a foodstuff nonetheless. It was about how the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had trained a German Shepherd how to sniff for clams and abalone in order to cut down on poaching and black market sales.

From there, my writing career in food was off to the races. I learned how to take almost any angle of food and turn it into a

story. I wrote about anything from kitchen design to servers being taught how dancers move so as to be more efficient in the dining room. Telling the story behind the food, the story of the people who make the food, is, to me, much more memorable for the reader than just writing about the food itself.

Of course it helps to learn about what food is, what it is supposed to taste like, how it is prepared, where ingredients come from, and in our Canadian ethnic stewpot, what is the cultural significance and origin of the dish you are writing about.

I started specializing in food writing about 20 years ago. Over those past two decades the landscape has changed. While it’s easier to publish food writing with the proliferation of online magazines, websites, and personal blogs, making a living from your writing has become more difficult.

Online sites are happy to take work for free or pay just pennies a word, and per word rates in print format have remained stuck at or even dropped from what they were 30 Page 11 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

"SHE ADVISED ME I DIDN’T HAVE TO KNOW A LOT ABOUT FOOD TO BECOME A FOOD JOURNALIST, BEING A CURIOUS JOURNALIST WOULD LEAD ME DOWN THE RIGHT ROAD. SHE WAS CORRECT. "

years ago.

Being a restaurant reviewer isn’t all it’s chalked up to be, either. You need a cast iron stomach and an employer with a healthy budget to pay for those meals, and you’re competing with anyone who fancies himself or herself an expert on Yelp or Trip Advisor.

And yet, success is still available to those willing to carve out a territory for themselves. I teach food and travel writing courses via the UBC Continuing Studies division, and some of my students have gone on to become regular contributors to Edible Vancouver magazine and the Globe and Mail. You need to become the source of stories no one else can write. How do you carve out your niche? Sometimes it’s by geography. Tell stories about the foodways of your home. Travel somewhere often enough to be an ‘expert’ in the best coffee shops or markets, or barbecue joints. Sometimes it’s by profession. You know all the chefs. Or you know all the farmers. Or you’re an expert in knives, or coffee machines, or charSpring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 12

cuterie. I made a point of interviewing as got a point. To be a successful food writer many food artisans as I could on Vancouver these days, find those overlooked aspects in Island. They made their way onto my radio any story idea you pitch. Being different in show, then my blog, and eventually a book. your approach is your best way to establishNow I’m working on the second edition. ing your credentials and becoming known Famed New Yorker writer Calvin Tril- as the ‘go-to’ person by your potential edilin, one of my favourite food journalists, tors. It worked for me, it can work for you, doesn’t like being pigeonholed as a food too! writer. In a 2010 column in the magazine looking back on his body of work, reporter Erin Overbey wrote, “Trillin has resisted the label of food writer, instead describing himself as an amaA BESTSELLING EROTIC NOVEL teur who uses his reBY JEANNE AINSLIE gional food pieces to IS NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON KINDLE explore overlooked aspects of American counties and towns.”

I would argue Trillin is just being modest, he really knows how to write about food. But he’s

A COUNTRY GIRL

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ANDREA MCKENZIE RAINE

A

s the demand for e-books rises in our increasingly digital world, the demand for paperbacks is not diminishing for book lovers. In fact, recent trends show that paperback sales are making a comeback, as loyal readers flock to their small, independent bookstores to purchase the works of their favourite authors or take a chance on a new writer making their mark on the literary world.

However, for new authors, or even established authors, there remains the question of whether to offer new works in e-book format, paperback or both? Then, there are additional options: hard cover and audio books. It makes sense that the more book publishing formats that are offered, the better the chances are of reaching a larger audience. Some readers love their e-book readers because there is less shelving space required, and others prefer the smell and feel of a newly-printed book, and the experience of flipping the pages between their fingers.

When I self-published my debut novel through a small, independent, print-on-demand publishing company, I opted for the publishing package that included paperback, e-book, and e-pub (PDF). I mean,

the more formats your book is available in the more accessible it will be to readers, which will result in more book sales, right? Right? Ensuring that your book is available to a larger reading audience is not a bad suggestion, but it also doesn’t guarantee that your book is going to fly off the shelves and/or receive hundreds of downloads. In the book world, readers are often loyal to their local bookstores or prefer the use of their e-book readers. E-books are usually less expensive, instantaneous, and save shelf space with a larger (dare I say, infinite?) capacity for storage.

Years ago, when e-books first began to emerge, a friend said to me (with tongue in cheek) that one day paperbacks would become obsolete. I promptly stuck my fingers in my ears and started to sing loudly “La, la, la, I can’t hear you!” Honestly, that sad day might come, but hopefully not in my lifetime. E-books definitely have their use and place, and so do paperbacks and hardcovers. However, I will venture to argue that for authors there is something lacking in publishing a new book and only being able to show people on your device, as opposed to opening a box and being able to hold and savour the newly-printed Page 13 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

easier to underline or highlight passages and make notes in the margins for personal reference, favourite passages, and citing for book reports.

Jessica Paul, manager of Munro’s Books in Victoria, BC, surmised that “[e-books] have reached their peak in sales, and their numbers are staying steady, but not necessarily growing anymore. There is more than enough room for both physical and e-books, and I think most readers have come to realize that as well.”

When asked about the benefits for authors to self-publish in e-book format, in comparison to print, Paul said, “I am not sure what the costs are for making a book available digitally, but knowing how expensive it is to print books, especially in small print-runs, it seems like a good option for authors. I know some self-published authors we deal with

"FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS, E-BOOKS ARE NOT IDEAL" copies of your book. For readers, depending on the book, I think the experience is comparable. For instance, reading Shakespeare on your Kindle device perhaps doesn’t quite exude the same magic as delving in and flipping through the worn pages.

I queried a few librarians, who verified that the teenaged demographic of readers who may most likely reach for their electronic devices actually prefer to borrow paperbacks. It seems that those who spend much of their lives looking at screens welcome the refreshing change of print medium to enjoy books—especially when reading fiction. For high school and post-secondary students, paperbacks are more convenient, reliable, portable, and

Better Books by Design

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Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 14

have mentioned that their book(s) are available digitally as well, but I suspect their main audience is friends/family who would want to purchase a physical copy as a show of support.

That being said, I think it makes more sense for some self-published genre fiction to be available digitally, rather than in print form, as it has a very specific readership that is not always buying in bookstores.”

For children’s books, e-books are not ideal because there is not the same opportunity for children to connect with a book they can’t physically experience—turning the pages, touching the illustrations on the paper, dragging it around the house, heck, even chewing on it!

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing has extended its services to allow self-published authors to create paperbacks as well as e-books, free of charge, to reach a larger audience. Audiobooks are also experiencing a surge in popularity for people who just want to ‘get through

a book’, but don’t actually have time to sit down and read one.

Audiobooks have their place, too, and are simply another means of reaching a different kind of book-loving audience.

For some readers, if a book isn’t available in a preferred format, then they will simply seek to purchase or borrow (from the library) the book in any format they can obtain it. Others might patiently wait for an e-book to be published in print or audio format, or vice versa.

The avenue of publishing an author chooses depends on the book, the intended audience, and possibly budget restrictions. The bottom line is you can’t please everybody, and you don’t need to—books will find readers, no matter what format they come in. The trends change, and the book world is ever-evolving. Books that are bravely cast into the world will be read, one way or another. So, cast your net wide, and keep it open.

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QUERY LETTERS HOW AND WHY

BENNETT R. COLES

T

here’s been a lot of hullabaloo in recent years about how much the publishing industry has changed, and rightly so. But there is one thing that hasn’t changed at all: the query letter.

Aside from the introduction of email as the main medium of communication, the fundamentals of query letters haven’t changed one bit since I wrote my first one in 1998. As an author, I`ve certainly written my share of query letters and the tidy pile of rejection slips are evidence that I obviously missed the mark on more than one occasion. As a publisher I receive vast quantities of query letters, ranging from one-liners with typos to exquisitely polished works of professionalism.

And that word “professionalism” is what I`d like to focus on, because this is the most important thing for an aspiring author to understand when preparing a submission and drafting that query letter: When you craft a query letter, you are writing to a professional, at their place of work, about a business proposal. There is no personal relationship here: it is strictly business.

This is a Professional Relationship I know well that a book is a very personal, often very emotional, project for an author and when it`s ready to submit, the main feeling an author will have is excitement. And that's good! But as soon as you finish

the editing and turn your attention to submissions, you have to switch your mindset from that of the artist to that of the businessperson. This can be a hard thing for a lot of authors to do.

As an agent or small press, we receive hundreds —sometimes thousands—of submissions a year and none of us have the luxury of spending 100% of our time reading queries. We do genuinely want to read them all, because no one knows when the next Harry Potter is waiting in the inbox, but by necessity we have to be efficient. One of the first things we scan for is the level of professionalism being displayed by the author submitting to us.

Why? Because if we do decide to engage with an author about a possible book deal, we want to know that the author will act like a professional and will be a good co-worker for the next few years. I’ve dealt with enough divas and deadbeats in my time as publisher to have learned that if a potential author can’t even make the effort to conform to basic industry standards in their opening communication to me there is a high likelihood that they will be difficult to deal with while we develop their book for market.

Sound harsh? Maybe. But it’s better than signing up for several years of frustration on both sides. So the level of professionalism in your query letter is a first gateway for us as we scan the mountain of submissions, and a pretty accurate method for making a first cut.

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"WHEN YOU CRAFT A QUERY LETTER, YOU ARE WRITING TO A PROFESSIONAL, AT THEIR PLACE OF WORK, ABOUT A BUSINESS PROPOSAL. THERE IS NO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP HERE: IT IS STRICTLY BUSINESS." Remember, you are making a business proposal to a fellow professional. And you only have one chance to make a good first impression.

The good news for authors is that it really isn’t hard to create a professional query letter and get through this first gateway.

There are plenty of great resources to help an author craft a solid query letter, and I’ve included some links at the end of this article.

Reach out to YOUR audience The second gateway for us as we read submissions is relevance. Is this query about a book which we typically represent or publish?

You want to ensure that you are reaching out to the right agents and small presses. We are all very clear on our websites and in our write-ups what kinds of books we are looking for and whether we are currently open to submissions or not.

Please respect this. As a new author there can be the temptation to adopt the shotgun approach and send your submission to anyone and everyone, hoping that through sheer numbers you will hit upon someone who wants to move forward on your book.

This approach, though, means we have to wade through a lot of submissions which don’t meet our needs, resulting in wasted time both for the authors and us.

Have confidence in your book! Be selective in the agents and small presses you query: if your book really is that good and you send it to those of us who are seeking your genre, we’ll recognize it quickly as something we’re looking for. But if we receive queries for books outside our stated interests, no matter how good it is, it will very quickly be a victim of the second cut.

Reacting to our response Once your query has passed the first two gateways, we really start to look at the meat of your query letter, synopsis, and/or sample. This is where the quality of your writing becomes the most important factor.

But please note that this is the third step for us—make sure you adhere to the advice above to ensure that you get to this third gateway. At this point, you will very likely hear back from us.

Sad to say, the chances are decent that you will receive a rejection letter. There are many reasons why we may choose not to proceed with a query, and most of them have nothing to do with the quality of the writing. We might actually quite like the book, but for reasons of timing, marketability, or similarity to other titles we may not be in a position to engage with you. No matter what form the rejection letter takes, please remember that this is just business – it’s not personal. Please don’t write back to us in an outrage and tell us that we’re idiots, fools, or worse. We’re people too, and words like that hurt.

But let’s say you get a positive response—a request for a larger sample or maybe even the full manuscript. Great news! You’ve passed through the third gateway and the agent or small press is genuinely interested in looking more closely at your book. By all means, celebrate this success with family and bask in the moment —but don’t lose sight of the fact that this is still a professional conversation between

two business entities with no obligation.

Your response should be brief and professional. Friendly, yes, but reserved. You may be so excited at the positive response that you want to send a gushing email back, profuse with thanks and bubbling with enthusiasm and ideas. Please resist this very natural tendency. The agent or small press has merely invited you to continue the conversation—there is no contract, or even an offer of one. We review dozens of manuscripts a year at this level, but we still can’t accept all of them. The key at this stage is to provide us exactly what we’ve asked for.

If we’ve requested the first ten chapters, please don’t send the full manuscript. If we’ve requested the full manuscript, please don’t send your draft marketing plan. We may want to see them later, but not yet.

If you get this far, your query letter did its job, and you have demonstrated to us that you are a professional author with real talent and significant potential to succeed.

Congratulations!

Need nuts and bolts advice on crafting the perfect query letter?

Check out these links: writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-writethe-perfect-query-letter agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx janefriedman.com/query-letters/ writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-10-dosand-donts-of-writing-a-query-letter huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/query-letter-_n_2434095.html

"WE MIGHT ACTUALLY QUITE LIKE THE BOOK, BUT FOR REASONS OF TIMING, MARKETABILITY OR SIMILARITY TO OTHER TITLES WE MAY NOT BE IN A POSITION TO ENGAGE WITH YOU..."

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 16

BREAKINGINTOCOMICS REFLECTIONS FROM A FIRST TIME AUTHOR GARTH MATTHAMS

S

o... you have an idea. Awesome! As with any creative endeavour, it all starts with an idea. And maybe this idea of yours lends itself well to a visual medium. And maybe—with the current influx of comic book-themed movies and television shows—you've been thinking more and more about comics. I mean, comics are the best of both worlds, right? They are, after all, a vehicle for visual story telling. Well... Congratulations! You are currently living in a time when breaking into comics is easier than ever before! The Internet has opened up a global readership to creators, and by posting your work online—on sites like Tapastic or Webtoon—your stories can be read by people from all over the world!

But are comics really for you?

Here's the thing about comics—and this is the part I like to call THE DOOM AND GLOOM OF COMICS: creating comics is surprisingly difficult. But don't worry. Once we get past this first part— once we move past this dark cloud I'm about to conjure—we'll move onto the silver lining: that creating comics is also surprisingly easy.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of comic book creation is the art. Sadly, not everyone can be a Frank Miller - someone who can both write AND draw. Someone who can seemingly put pen to paper and create modern day classics like, “The Dark Knight Returns,” or “Sin City,” or “300” (those last two having also been turned into Hollywood movies). Instead, most comics are created with a team—a writer, an artist (and this is sometimes broken down even further into a penciller and an inker), a colourist and a letterer. All of this takes time. It takes coordination and communication. And it takes money. We'll get back to the money part.

So yes, a team. Comic creation is a team effort. And it starts with YOU.

PART 1: THE SCRIPT The good news (or bad news, depending on how much you like structure) is that there is no set, you-may-not-deviate format to comic book scripts. But there is a basic structure that most scripts will follow, and it looks something like this: COMIC NAME PAGE ONE, 5 panels

YOUR NAME /DOCUMENT PAGE #

Panel 1. This is where you describe the action. You can make it as concise, or as loose, as you'd like. Keep in mind, though, that if this is an artist you've never worked with, you might want to err on the side of more. After all, the only person who can see the image inside your head is you, and you're going to need to get this image across to the artist. But I would avoid going into minute details, unless those minute details are important to the story. For example, if describing a young child's bedroom, you can tell the artist “there are stuffed animals scattered about the room”, but you probably don't need to describe each stuffed animal unless one of them is important to the story.

CAPTION:

Originally, captions set the scene, in order to round the story in a time and place. For example, “New York City,” or “Meanwhile back at the secret headquarters...” In recent years, captions have replaced thought balloons, and are used more often for the narrator's inner dialogue.

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CHARACTER 1: The main thing to keep in mind with dialogue is to limit the amount of words in each balloon.

CHARACTER 1: Too much text—especially a WALL of text– (cont) can be difficult to read.

CHARACTER 1: As such, you may find yourself having to break (cont) up your dialogue into multiple balloons.

CHARACTER 2: And you'll also need to limit the amount of

people talking in a single panel, and the amount

of back-and-forth they engage in.

(Generally, you won't see more than two characters speaking in a single scene, and you won't see much more than a statement, a reply, and a follow up statement. There are exceptions, of course—larger panels can accommodate a lot more characters and a lot more dialogue—but in the end you need to make sure that the dialogue flows well, and the amount of dialogue doesn't become convoluted or begin to cover up the artwork.)

Panel 2. Have you ever looked at something and thought, "Wow, that would make an awesome photograph?" But then, once you take out your camera or your phone—or whatever it is people use to take photos these days—it just doesn't look as good? I approach comics in the same way. As a writer, I see images in my head that I think will look AMAZING on the page... but the problem is, what looks good in our head doesn't necessarily translate well onto paper. This is why, personally, I try not to go into too much detail. Instead, I'll tell the artist the basic action I'd like to see, the emotion behind it, and— if it's a key moment to the story—the purpose this particular panel will serve.

SFX: There are also things like sound effects you'll need to work into your script, like the BANG of a gun or the CRASH of a car.

There's no set rule for this, so get creative with your sounds.

Panel 3. Something else to keep in mind with panel descriptions is to limit the actions in a panel to just one. For example, DO NOT write something like, “MR. GOOD punches DOCTOR X in the face, causing DOCTOR X to fly backwards and smash through a brick wall." This has two separate actions: the act of punching, and the act of crashing through a wall.

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 18

Panel 4. Also remember that highly detailed scenes require a lot of space—and more importantly, TIME—to create. If the artist slaves over a scene in which a large crowd gathers at the feet of the protagonist, you're not going to win any points from the artist if you cover up most of their hard work with some long, epic speech. You need to make sure the art and the dialogue are working together, rather than against one another.

An example page, from layout, to inks, to final is shown over the next few pages.

PART 2: THE ART Let's fast forward. Let's pretend you've already put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and pounded out a script. You've given it to fellow writers to critique, and you've addressed the flaws of your first draft. You've written and rewritten to the point that you now have something you're happy with. This is where the true challenge begins: finding an artist.

Finding an artist is easy—they're everywhere. Finding an artist whose style matches the theme of your story can be

harder, and finding an artist within your price range is harder yet.

—Wait, wait, wait! Did I just say, “Within your price range?!" Yes, I did. This is where I come back to the money part.

Art is time consuming, and very few artists will be willing to work on a project without some sort of financial compensation. Even newer artists will generally charge between $50 to $100 per page, depending on their skill level. And if you consider an average comic is 20 to 22 pages, that works out to $1000 to $2200 for art alone...

Have I scared you away yet? If you want to create professional-looking comics, having either artistic skills, or deep pockets, is very useful.

"But what about publishers?" you might be asking. "Won't they pair up an artist with a writer?" Sure they will, if you happen to be an already-established professional working on a property they own.

Take Marvel, for example. If you're working on Spider-Man, they'll be paying you to write, someone else to draw, someone else to colour, and so on. Everything is taken care of. But there are miles between starting out and working for Marvel or DC (aka “The Big Two”).

So what do you do if you DON'T have artistic skills or deep pockets? Make friends with an artist. Find someone on your level who's just starting out. Woo them. Find out what they like. And create a story TOGETHER. In the end, you want the artist emotionally invested in the story, and the best way to do that is to include them in the story-creation process.

If the artist isn't emotionally invested in what they're doing, it makes it very easy for them to walk away should better opportunities arise. That's not to say they won't walk away from something they ARE emotionally invested in, but there's a much better chance they'll stick around—or still manage to find some time for your project, even if they take on another job.

You can seek out an artist either in person, or online. If looking for someone in person, one of your greatest resources will be comic conventions. Most comic conventions, no matter how small, will have some sort of artist alley. Start conversations with people. See what they're into.

See if you CLICK. Take their business card.

But don't jump straight into a conversation about working together—leave that for later. Most of all, remember the artist is likely PAYING to be there. Tables at conventions cost money—so try not to monopolize their time.

Full disclosure: while I HAVE spoken to artists at comic conventions—and even consider some to be friends—most artists I have worked with, and continue to work with, have resulted from finding them online. There are websites and forums dediPage 19 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

cated to artists and writers seeking work, or looking for collaborators, etc. I found the artist I worked with on “The Living Finger” on the zwol.org forum “Seeking Comics Artists/Writers”. And I found everyone I'm currently working with on “Witch Creek Road” on the DeviantArt job forums. The advantage of the Internet is that the pool you're drawing from is much larger.

And just so there's no confusion, here's a sad (but true) fact of a writer/artist relationship: you will need the artist more than they will need you. In other words, treat them well, and hang onto the good ones.

PART 3: THE LETTERS & THE COLOURS Art is definitely the most difficult (and arguably the most important) aspect of comic creation, but you'll also need a letterer. The letterer is essential—without someone lettering the comic, there is no story, just a lot of really pretty pictures. Again, you can find a letterer the same way you found an artist—either in person or online. And again, most will expect payment. Sadly, the financial burden of creating a comic tends to fall upon the writer.

An option for lettering is to do it yourself, but unless you UNDERSTAND dialogue and the proper placement of word balloons, it might be best to spend some extra time to find a letterer who doesn't mind working for cheap, or is willing to work for free.

In terms of colouring... well, good news! Independent comics are allowed to be black and white. In fact, many people EXPECT indie comics to be black and white. So while most mainstream comics require colour, it's probably safe to skip this step (and this expense) for the time being.

PART 4: THE PROJECT Some people come out of the gate with grand plans to create an epic 100-issue comic series in the vein of “Sandman” or “Fables”. Don't. Like anything, writing comic books takes practice. Leonardo da Vinci didn't begin his career by painting the Mona

Lisa, and you shouldn't attempt to begin your career by writing the next “Watchmen”. Instead, start small. Begin with 4 to 8 page short comics you can submit to anthologies. Do this for multiple reasons: 1. It allows you to hone your skills.

2. You'll complete stories faster— and the more often you're putting out new work, the more exposure you'll potentially receive.

3. Unless you're planning to pay the artist (or letterer), it's a lot easier to convince someone to commit to a 4 to 8 page story (with no pay) than it is to convince someone to commit to a 20 to 22 page comic (with no pay).

4. Replacing an artist (or letterer) is easier on a shorter project, should they drop out.

So, yes. Start small. Submit to every anthology you can find. Post your stuff online (yes, give it away for free). In short, get it in front of as many readers as you can. Creating inside of a vacuum doesn't help anyone.

And when you do get to the point where you want to try your hand at something longer, plan for 4-issue story arcs.

Four issues is the perfect number to be collected into a trade paperback, once the story is complete. Five issues also works well.

Three issues tends to be a touch too short (and anything above five, too long). Four seems to be the magic number.

PART 5: CROWDFUNDING Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter are changing the face of indie comics. Independent creators can now present their ideas to the public—not only getting their projects in front of people who might otherwise not have access to them, but also raise money for the actual creation of the comic. Keep in mind, however, that Kickstarter (and other crowdfunding sites) only work if you have a crowd (i.e. family, friends, and fans) behind you. If you try to launch a crowdfunding campaign without a crowd, success will be difficult. Not impossible, but difficult—and whether or not you succeed will be deter-

mined almost entirely by how realistic your goals are.

For example, if the comic you want to make will cost you $4,000, can you realistically raise $4,000 with your current audience? And if not, how much do you THINK you can raise? How much are you CONFIDENT you can raise? How much of a difference is there between what you're confident you can raise, and the amount you actually need, and is there any way to bridge that gap?

Kickstarter (and other crowdfunding sites) aren't magical ATMs creators can draw money from willy-nilly. You need to work for it, and you need to treat the campaign like you're pitching your project to a prospective buyer. Because you are. You need art—at least five complete sequential pages—and a clear, concise description of the story. You need a hook. You need a video, because backers are just as often backing the PERSON as much as they're backing the project.

And should you fail, what's your Plan B? How badly do you want this, and are you willing to invest your own money into seeing it through to completion? How much skin are you willing to put into the game?

PART 6: THE SILVER LINING Comic books are made by people who LOVE comic books—for anyone getting into comics to make a quick buck, sadly, they're looking in the wrong direction.

This is a difficult road. But the good news is, with perseverance, it can be done. And every “pitfall” listed above can be overcome, with the right attitude and a little bit (or a lot) of luck. The gatekeepers of yore (the submission editors) are gone. People can create comics, and because of the Internet, they can connect to readers from all over the world. Web comics, which barely existed a decade or so ago, can be found everywhere—and crowdfunding has made it easier for creators to raise money and get their ideas in front of a readership they previously couldn't access. And if you're still reading, and haven't yet been scared away from the idea of creating comics, I wish you the best of luck!

Page 21 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

ELLEN NIEMER

I

n the always-connected and ever-expanding digital world, there have never been so many opportunities to connect with readers, through websites, newsletters, Facebook, and Twitter, among others. But while the Internet has provided a virtual gateway to potential audiences, nothing beats walking out the door, putting our best foot forward and marketing our work—in person.

Just ask Jennifer Browne.

She’s a freelance writer and editor, content creator and social media manager for Fresh + Fit Vancouver, and administrative coordinator for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. Jennifer lives in Abbotsford with her husband and three children and somehow finds time to write books – and to market them.

Jennifer credits her non-fiction book writing career to her “tunnel vision”

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 22

Pictured: Jennifer Browne

"HONESTLY? IT’S BASICALLY HUSTLING...

YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE YOUR OWN BEST PROMOTER." about writing. She even took a six-month volunteer position so she could do research for her book without kids interrupting.

Her self-professed combination of mad perseverance, sheer luck, and timing led to acceptance of her first book in 2013. She submitted her manuscript to Skyhorse Publishing, when she saw on LinkedIn that the publisher was interested in manuscripts on digestive health.

Jennifer has subsequently published three more books with Skyhorse Publishing, including her latest Baby Nosh: Plant-Based, Gluten-Free Goodness for Baby’s Food Sensitivities that’s due out this spring.

Skyhorse is based in New York City—while her publisher markets in America, they don’t market in Canada at all.

“Wanting to capitalize on the whole “local author” bit, I’ve definitely had to do a lot of my own marketing and PR here in Canada. Immediately upon publication of Happy Healthy Gut, I made it a point to make contacts with local indie bookstores, chains like Chapters/ Indigo, and big box stores like Bed Bath & Beyond. I go to these places in person and ask them to carry my books,” says Jennifer.

Building relationships with key people is also part of her self-marketing plan. Early on she developed a good relationship with Thomas Allen & Son, a major Canadian distributor for publishing houses, and begged them to send copies of her book to Costco. She also sourced out magazines, editors, and other

authors. Jennifer pitched article ideas to magazines that tied in with the subject matter of her book to get her name and her book out there.

“Honestly? It’s basically hustling,” says Jennifer. One of the things writers have to accept, whether their book is published by a traditional publishing house, as an e-book, or self-published, is that you always have to be your own best promoter.

“Just because you wrote it doesn’t mean people will find it,” she cautions, “and never leave it up to your publisher to do all the marketing and PR for you, because unless you’re selling hundreds of thousands of copies, they won’t.”

When Jennifer says writers have to be their own best promoters, she speaks from the school of hard knocks. Early on she hired an expensive semi-local publicist to help her market her first book. As a writer with no platform and no previous experience, she found it didn’t matter who was trying to make her work visible; she and her book just weren’t a good sell.

In hindsight, Jennifer learned something from her $7,500 lesson. “If I could go back, I would have focused on slowly building my platform by reaching out and connecting and selling myself and my work as much as possible before turning to a publicist,” she says.

Jennifer has had success

marketing her books directly to bookstores.

Many bookstores allow indie authors to consign books. To promote her books, she also asks if she can conduct a book signing or an author event. While Jennifer says she’s never been approached by a bookstore to do an event or signing, 90 percent of them have said yes when she’s approached them.

“If they don’t say yes right away, I hound them until they do. Persistence is key!” says Jennifer.

Jennifer also uses persistence to find out where her readers hang out. For example, for her book on plant-based

recipes, she looked for communities of people interested in that topic, then actively and consistently marketed herself to them. Your audience might be found at libraries, cafés, galleries, specialty shops, or at a local park.

If all of this marketing activity sounds like a lot of work, it is. But Jennifer markets her books tactically with her audience in mind.

“There’s no point in blindly promoting your book. You want to promote it to those who’ll buy it. I’ve wasted a lot of time and effort figuring this out, but I guess that’s a learning experience that everyone has to endure (some more than others),” Jennifer says, words she’ll market by as she promotes her newest book this spring.

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HOWTONOTCRITIQUETHE LIFEOUTOFYOURSTORY: THREE WAYS TO ORGANIZE YOUR WRITING GROUP JENNIFER MANUEL

W

riting groups can offer emotional support, accountability to keep you writing, and feedback on your work. Sometimes this feedback can be extraordinarily helpful, but on rare occasions it can be so brutal that the writer never returns to the group or to their writing. While the effectiveness of a writing group depends partly on the personalities involved, it depends mostly on the critiquing process used by the group.

If you’re thinking of starting a writing group, or if your current group could use a new approach, consider the three critiquing methods outlined below: The Read Aloud-Emotional Response Method; The Workshop Method; and The Critical Response Method.

The Read Aloud/Emotional Response Method In this method, the author reads their piece of writing aloud to the group. The members of the group do not make notes. They need to listen with deep focus. They do not search their minds for any specific elements of craft. Instead, when the reading is finished, listeners share their immediate emotional responses. Additionally, they may ask questions and ask for clarification.

Don’t let the simplicity of this method fool you.

It’s very effective, especially for stories in their initial drafts when authors are still exploring where the narrative might take them. What I love about this method is that it focuses on the central aspect of storytelling: the delivery of emotions. Moreover, because the group doesn’t read the piece beforehand, this method generates real responses—visceral and emotional—not just ideas about the story. Responses are general enough to Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 24

allow the writer a less prescriptive means of exploring areas of their story.

One disadvantage to this method is that it doesn’t provide much depth in terms of story elements and craft. The lack of depth is further exacerbated by the inability to take notes, meaning that group members may forget feelings they experienced, especially in longer reads. Since the group only listens to the piece, they don’t get to see how the narrative space occupies the page, which is an important component of the writing and reading experience. The trade-off, however, is that all participants develop an ear for the rhythms and cadences of stories, a valuable skill that is often underutilized.

Practically speaking, if more than one writer reads in a single evening session, it can be difficult to shift emotionally to a new story experience. You might find this method better suited for small writing groups with two or three members. Definitely keep this method in mind if your writing group is going though a busy period in which several members are having trouble with time commitments. With no prior reading required, this method may keep your group together until things settle and members are able to renew a more intense commitment.

The Workshop Method This is probably the most common method, first made famous by the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Work is submitted to the group beforehand. Comments are made on the text itself, (though these should not include

copyedits like grammar or punctuation) as well as a summary of what is working, what isn’t working, and what needs to be further developed. If you use this method, I suggest that everybody’s summary begin with “what I think this story (or chapter) is about...” That way, the writer can understand how their work was interpreted (or misinterpreted) and how effectively their intentions translated onto the page.

Usually this method includes a “cone of silence,” a period in which the writer is required to silently listen to the feedback discussed by the others. The writer may take notes but cannot speak up, no matter how confused or misguided the group is about the work. Once this cone of silence is lifted, the writer can ask questions and clarify points.

Afterwards, the group gives their manuscript notes and summaries to the writer.

There are pitfalls to watch out for when using this method.

For one, because the responders feel that they are expected to comment on “what isn’t working,” the method has the potential for exaggerating faults in the story. The writing group ends up taking a “diagnose and prescribe” approach. One way to avoid this is to place a limit on the “What isn’t working” response. Each responder identifies only ONE thing they’d like to see the writer work on or develop further.

This limit diminishes another problem that arises when the writer is given conflicting feedback. One person, for example, might suggest that the sensory details of a violent scene need to be developed. Another person might suggest that the same scene would work better implied rather than shown. While this can still occur when the “what isn’t working” response is limited

to one thing, there is less chance.

At the same time, the writer is left with a more manageable set of revision tasks to consider—rather than a laundry list of problems that, upon revision, depletes the story of its original vibrancy.

The Critical Response Method This method was developed by choreographer Liz Lerman for dancers, but it has been applied effectively to writing groups.

Writing pieces should be submitted to the group via email one week before the meeting. During the meeting, four steps are followed in order.

In the first step, a Statement of Meaning is made. During this step, each group member takes a turn simply stating what they found meaningful, evocative, surprising, exciting, and energizing in the work. In other words: "what grabbed you?" This is an inherently positive and encouraging step.

The second step is called Writer as Questioner. The writer asks the questions they prepared beforehand. When answering, the group members should refrain from making suggestions.

For example, “Did you sense his apprehension when he descended the staircase?” Answering yes or no is enough. Opinions should only make their way into responses if the question required an opinion (but still, there should be no suggestions).

In the third step, Neutral Questions are asked by the group members. Neutral means that the questions do not have an embedded opinion. “In chapter 2, why would Sally kiss him?” This question carries an opinion. A neutral question might be: “In chapter 2, what ideas guided your decision to have Sally kiss him?”

The final step is called Opinions. Before group members can express an opinion about the work, they must first seek permission from the writer. “I have an opinion on the moment Sally decides to kiss him, would you like to hear it?” The writer has the ability to say no thank you.

This must be respected and not taken personally since it might merely indicate that the writer wants to focus on other narrative issues at the moment.

What makes this approach so effective is that it protects the vulnerability felt by the writer because of the neutral questions and the power the writer has in granting permission for opinions to be given. This reduces both the writer’s uncertainty and the chance that a strong personality

will dominate the process.

Whatever approach your writing group chooses, it’s a good idea for the group to regularly revisit the effectiveness of the critiquing method. For example, I recently tweaked my own critiquing process with the writers I mentor. Now instead of prescribing possible solutions, I assign more exercises designed to let the writer explore their own way to a solution. This is a more expansive approach that develops the writer’s understanding of their craft and their story. The point is this: be flexible with these methods. Adjust them until you find the best fit for your writing group. As your group evolves, adjust them again.

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Page 25 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

AN EXERCISE IN COMPRESSION AND INFANTICIDE

KEITH DIGBY

I

n just about every workshop on writing, the "sage on the stage" will eventually say something along the lines of, “You have to learn to kill your babies.” A novelist adapting for the movies will necessarily be a serial baby-killer on steroids.

A quick look at the word and page count of both forms, indicates just how lean a screenplay should be. A medium length novel (say 300 pages) is around 75,000 words; a medium length screenplay (110 pages) is around 20,000. How can you make 55,000 words disappear, yet keep your story full and engaging?

Mostly into "Moving Pictures." That’s what the movies are, more than anything else. Novels use words to create vivid, atmospheric settings, words to define and build credible and interesting characters, and words to tell the story. A movie uses images and actions. In a screenplay, setting and character must be deftly and cleverly indicated, not expansively evoked.

Mind you, your skill in invoking an atmospheric setting, or conjuring a character using active words sparingly will certainly still be vital. It will keep the producer who reads your screenplay engaged, and it will excite those who build, dress, and shoot it. Not a paragraph or two, though: for a setting, “The darkest corner of a

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 26

stinking alley,” and for a character, “Willie, fiftyish, skinny weasel with a paunch,” are enough to cue them, in this collaborative craft, and release their creative juices.

Oh, and do you live with that inner writer… the one who fights against removing even one word from that precious piece of descriptive splendour? If you’re going to write a screenplay, first, take him out into the darkest corner of the aforementioned stinking alley and beat him up… or at least have a strong word with him Words also disappear with the manner of "screenplay telling." It is unusual in a novel or short story to use the "Objective POV,” and most prose is written in the past tense. In a screenplay, we write only what we can see and hear, and we write it in the present tense.

We do not go into the minds of our characters. Our characters’ words, actions, and visible reactions show and tell us how they feel, whether it’s a response to a lover’s rejection, or a political stance. And don’t become "that writer": the adaptor who tries to replace the inner thoughts of his characters with extensive parenthetical directions or, worst of all, excessive voice-overs. How many is excessive? If you are not hugely adept with this unruly bastard child, the number is one… one is excessive. Stick strictly to what the audience will see and hear.

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Often, wholesale word-slaughter is achieved because movies deal with only part of the novel. In one of our workshops, a participant presented screenwriter Brian Paisley and me with this story: After years of an abusive marriage and a very challenging relationship with her teenage daughter, a woman takes the daughter on a trip around

baby-killing of genocidal proportions… and One Clear Visible Goal… yes, capitalized because it’s another clear indicator of a good screen story.

In a movie, even a story about a tumultuous life lived in a changing society can be told with a central character, one clear visible goal and centred on one key event in that life.

The life and times of Nelson Mandela and the struggle to start healing racial hatred and unify his country seems a big swallow for a movie, but in Invictus, the beginning of this journey towards reconciliation and unification in post-Apartheid South Africa is encapsulated in Mandela’s joining forces with Francois Pienaar, the white Afrikaner captain of the Springboks, South Africa’s national rugby team, to win the 1995 World Cup of Rugby.

Oh… and time compression… Remember, the novel Six Days of the Condor became

"YOU WILL FIND, IF YOUR STORY IS A SCREEN STORY AT ALL, THAT IT CAN BE TOLD IN A MUCH SHORTER TIME." the world. They have many adventures, but while they are in Australia, WW2 breaks out and they must find their way back home to England with no civilian transportation.

Partway through the workshop weekend, the writer said, “The movie begins in Sydney, the morning WW2 starts.” Bravo! Necessary

the movie Three Days of the Condor. There’s even a hint in the length of some titles. Thus, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? became the movie Blade Runner. As you compress the story, editing out all but the main character’s journey, eliminating a host of lovely but time-consuming subplots, banishing those funny, endearing, or nasty but interesting characters, the ones redundant to your movie script, you will find, if your story is a screen story at all, that it can be told in a much shorter time. Do that.

Everything old is new again, they say, and a return to the Aristotelian notion of a drama taking place in a single day, in a single location and with a single plotline, though not by any means something adaptors need to tie themselves to, is hugely instructive.

For information on Keith's weekend workshops and other services, visit: westcoastscreenwriting.com

Page 27 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

NEW TITLES BY FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS MEMBERS

If you are an FBCW member with a newly published book, (self or traditionally published) let us know! We'd be happy to promote it here.

The Living Finger

A Dance of Pelicans

Garth Matthams Darby Pop Publishing, August 2016 ISBN: 9781942367246 $14.00 Art and Cover Art by Armin Odzic

Lottie Devindisch Self-published, November 2016 ISBN: 9780987825117 $12

When well-meaning Jason discovers a disembodied finger that appears to be alive, it quickly becomes the sole focus of his life. He names the digit "Wendy," learns to communicate with it via "tap code," and discovers that the one thing Wendy wants more than anything else is a living human body to attach to.

Just how far will Jason go to satisfy his ambulatory appendage?

Lottie Devindisch has been a dancer all her life both in Canada and internationally, professionally, and simply for pleasure. She has been part of the Salt Spring Island dance community as a teacher and performer since 1981 and as a member of the Anglican Parish contributes to the musical outreach in All Saints by-the-Sea. She writes both fiction and non-fiction. This is her second published collection of poetry, which is influenced by her years as a dancer and spiritual seeker.

Garth Matthams is a lot like you. He’s a person, like you. He breathes and eats and sleeps, like you. He enjoys comics, like you. And like you, he grew up with dreams. The problem with dreams, however, is that life tends to treat them like a bully treats sand castles: it knocks them down.

So yes, he had dreams. And like many people, life got in the way. Then one day he woke up and realized it was time to dust off those dreams and do something about them. So he wrote, THE LIVING FINGER—his first (and hopefully not last) foray into comics.

Garth lives in Nanaimo, B.C., with his beautiful, supportive, hypochondriac wife, and their two skittish rabbits.

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 28

A Dance of Pelicans is available from Salt Spring Books, Black Sheep Books on Salt Spring Island and by contacting the author at invocationpress@ gmail.com

Stalking Geraldine

Medicine Unbundled

Small Acts

Ray Wood MW Books Publishing, November 2016 ISBN: 9780995277809 $33.00

Gary Geddes Heritage House Publishing, February 2017 ISBN: 9781772031645 $22.95

Bernice Lever Black Moss Press, November 2016 ISBN: 9780887535710 $17.00

Woman and Land Rover missing? A valuable Land Rover disappears—and with it, Sarah Oakes—the enigmatic woman behind the wheel. Freelance journalist Giles Jackson is given the assignment of a lifetime: find the 42-year-old Land Rover named Geraldine and purchase the vehicle in time for an exhibit at the Detroit Motor Show.

Tracking down Geraldine proves difficult.

After seeking out and speaking with Sarah's friends and former colleagues in England, Giles pieces together tantalizing facts not only about the Land Rover, but also the adventurous woman doing the driving. The more he learns, the more he wants to know about Sarah's motivation, her destination, her current whereabouts, and why he's not the only one trying to find her. He follows Sarah's route down Africa, mindful of his mission, but increasingly intrigued by this mysterious woman, the reasons why she has chosen to disappear and why she may be at risk. Geraldine changes hands but a condition of the purchase is that Giles throw in an elephant.

In January 2016, after 68 years, Land Rover discontinued production of vehicles similar to the one depicted in this book. Stalking Geraldine is a tribute to the several generations of engineers who designed, built, and refined this model. These creative men and women share the admiration of countless adventurers whose lives are richer for visiting wild places driving their contraptions.

A Journey through the Minefields of Indigenous Health Care. A shocking exposé of the dark history and legacy of segregated Indigenous health care in Canada.

After the publication of his critically acclaimed 2011 book Drink the Bitter Root: A Writer’s Search for Justice and Healing in Africa, author Gary Geddes turned the investigative lens on his own country, embarking on a long and difficult journey across Canada to interview Indigenous elders willing to share their experiences of segregated health care, including their treatment in the "Indian hospitals" that existed from coast to coast for over half a century.

The memories recounted by these survivors—from gratuitous drug and surgical experiments to electroshock treatments intended to destroy the memory of sexual abuse—are truly harrowing, and will surely shatter any lingering illusions about the virtues or good intentions of our colonial past.

Yet, this is more than just the painful history of a once-so-called vanishing people (a people who have resisted vanishing despite the best efforts of those in charge); it is a testament to survival, perseverance, and the power of memory to keep history alive and promote the idea of a more open and just future.

Released to coincide with the Year of Reconciliation (2017), Medicine Unbundled is an important and timely contribution to our national narrative.

If I am correct... when we humans seek to find solutions to our greatest problems we often ask the wrong person, we ask the expert... yet we rarely if ever enquire of the poets, the wise elders, the gentle and thoughtful contemplative muses of the tribe. Bernice Lever writes beautifully of water, the ocean, the amniotic mother of all life, of the need for kindness, the deep and abiding life-sustaining quality of love, love of humanity, love for one another, love of our planet, our earth, our hydrobiological future threatened by being careless, indifferent, and thereby behaving like a futureless species. I ask you to read these poems and see here as I see here someone who writes as a warning and as a harbinger of hope. Perhaps poets do not change the world, but they sometimes change the inner life, and ... give hope where hope does the most good.

—John B. Lee, Poet Laureate of the city of Brantford in perpetuity Poet Laureate of Norfolk County for life Bernice Lever has an innovative, avant-garde and unconventional ability to explore complex social media and environmental issues and to weave poems to express them emotionally with astonishing simplicity.

—Ashok Bhargava, President, Writers International Network, Canada

Page 29 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

The Rules of the Kingdom Julie Paul McGill-Queens University Press, 2017 ISBN: 978077354899 $9.99 To seek belonging, to strain against the familiar—these are the polarities many of us live between, feeling the pull of each desire. Offering a particular history, an intimate vantage point from within the various kingdoms we inhabit, Julie Paul’s The Rules of the Kingdom is an exploration of this struggle on a personal level and a universal one. At turns humorous, playful, contemplative, and coy, the poems in The Rules of the Kingdom question the vagaries of faith and family but ultimately celebrate life and love.

Bio: Julie Paul has published two collections of short fiction, The Jealousy Bone (Emdash, 2008) and The Pull of the Moon (Brindle & Glass, 2014) and the newly-released poetry collection, The Rules of the Kingdom (MQUP, 2017). The Pull of the Moon made the Globe and Mail’s list of Top 100 books of 2014, was awarded a bronze IPPY award and won the 2015 Victoria Book Prize. She writes and lives in Victoria, BC.

To Charm a Killer

To Sleep With Stones

WL Hawkin Blue Haven Press, November 2016 ISBN: 9780995018419 $23.50

WL Hawkin Blue Haven Press, March 2017 ISBN: 9780995018402 $23.50

When a third witch vanishes from Vancouver, the witches of Hollystone Coven spin a charm to catch the killer. But spells ripple with repercussions, and in the ensuing chaos, an innocent seventeen-year-old girl gets caught up in the charm. As obsessed with the killer as the killer is with him, High Priest Estrada vows to find the man and stop him. Then, at their Samhain ritual, Hecate speaks through their high priestess and shocks everyone with her prophecy.

To save the girl and catch the killer, Estrada journeys from the West Coast of Canada to Ireland and Beyond. Abduction, death, fire, and faeries. Who is the killer? Why is he killing witches? And how can he be stopped before Hecate’s prophecy comes true?

To Sleep with Stones is a unique story that crosses genres. It’s a cozy murder mystery with a fast-paced, edgy bent. It’s also urban fantasy: a contemporary story that explores spirituality, homophobia, and opens portals into the realm of myth and faery. Book Two in the Hollystone Mysteries series, it picks up six months after To Charm a Killer.

To sleep with stones can reveal history…or get you jailed for murder. Dylan McBride is one of the Hollystone witches, a Wicca coven that practices ritual magic in Vancouver, Canada.

He has a unique gift. When he touches rock, it reveals its secrets. Stones are silent witnesses that hold the memory of the land and its people. Sometimes he hears voices; sometimes he sees visions. This ability draws him to archaeology and Kilmartin Glen, a megalithic sanctuary in Argyll, Scotland, where he spent his teen years. For Dylan, Argyll is home.

Hollystone Mysteries Book 1

WL Hawkin weaves threads of Macbeth and ancient Irish myth with edgy romance in this mysterious urban fantasy. To Charm a Killer is the first in the Hollystone Mysteries series.

Hawkin completed a BA in Indigenous Studies at Trent University; and later, Post-Baccalaureate Diplomas in Humanities and a Teaching Certificate at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Fascinated by her Celtic and Tuscarora ancestry, she explores history, myth, and spirituality in her work. Born in Toronto, Canada, she currently lives in British Columbia.

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 30

Hollystone Mysteries Book 2

Hawkin completed a BA in Indigenous Studies at Trent University; and later, Post-Baccalaureate Diplomas in Humanities and a Teaching Certificate at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Fascinated by her Celtic and Tuscarora ancestry, she explores history, myth, and spirituality in her work. Born in Toronto, Canada, she currently lives in British Columbia.

When Stones Choose You:

Fifty Conversations from the Past

Beth A. Skala Pacific Qi Consulting, April 2017 ISBN: 9780987696465 $15.00

Valerie Green Seaside Holdings, February 2017 ISBN: 9780995879706 $18.95

You spend hours at the beach picking up stones. You fell in love with an amethyst geode. You're never without crystals in your pocket. For anyone who has a connection with stones and crystals, this book will expand your understanding of your stone allies and give you new ways to bring their energy into your life. Beth Skala is a professional Feng Shui consultant and teacher. She draws on her own research and the results achieved by her clients and students in this easy-to-read and perceptive book. Part One teaches how to use the Bagua (the basic Feng Shui tool), defines terms, and gives a few simple ways to place stones in your home. Part Two is a list of thirty-two stones and crystals with their basic meanings and suggestions for placement.

Part Three covers more advanced techniques, such as communicating with crystals in meditation, making use of the special properties of stone animals, and selecting jewelry. There is a handy index for looking up the outcome you desire with a list of the relevant stones.

This book successfully speaks to both those who view Feng Shui as a spiritual practice and those who see it as a psychological exercise.

As a long-time writer of over 20 non-fiction and true crime books, I am happy to announce that I have three books being published during 2017 in celebration of Canada’s 150th Anniversary of Confederation! It’s a great year to have books released!

The first is Fifty Conversations From The Past and is now available in book stores. This book is a completely different way to look at the history of British Columbia—through the voices of those who actually lived it. As an imaginary time-travelling reporter, I take the reader through a collection of intriguing interviews with writers, activists, adventurers, pioneers, gold-seekers, politicians, men of the cloth, architects, athletes, and even a notorious lady of the night—to name only a few. The book can also be purchased through the publisher, Seaside Holdings in Sidney, BC. Contact sue@seasidemagazine.ca or sarahcotton@shaw.ca (Media Relations) for how to order.

Using Crystals in Feng Shui

Order from Beth Skala at bskala@shaw.ca

Two more of my books will follow in the Fall, one of which is my debut historical novel Providence (Part One in the House of Tomorrow Chronicles series.)

The Colour of Pride David Floody Implosion Press, August 2016 ISBN: 099190043X $12.50 In 1967 David Floody watched from the Canadian shores of the Detroit River as the fires of racial hatred consumed Detroit in a five-day riot. That unforgettable experience became the basis for this novel. Fourteen-year-old Frank Phelan thought the violence was over. But when Ellie Fitzgerald, the only girl on an all-black baseball team from Detroit, is deliberately spiked in the face by the steel-shod shoe of a white player, Frank is right there. The chaos that follows stuns him. Frank is white. This is Canada. The 1967 Detroit race riot was last year, a mile away across the river from Frank’s home in Windsor. That isn’t the end of it.

Frank and Ellie are avid fans of Detroit Tigers star, Al Kaline, and they are fated to meet again during a do-or-die game at the 1968 World Series. Here, they discover common bonds and join forces against a brutal racist foe. It could be the worst day of their lives, or the best... “He’s white. She’s black.

Both must cross the divide of race and racism swirling around them. It helps that both are baseball fanatics. Step up to the plate for an exciting and winning read!”—Shirley Langer, author of Anita’s Revolution www.davidfloody.com David Floody was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, two blocks from the busy Detroit River, under the arching black shadow of the Ambassador Bridge that spanned it and connected two cities, two countries, and two cultures.

Page 31 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Spring 2017

ber of non-

rk of

Growing Up Weird Growing Up Weird

t her ps of es her vans, wakes

A memoir of an Oak Bay childhood

our as y that

g , d r a h e d y

Liz MaxweLL Forbes

ostal-

a bittersweet journey through childhood under the faulty guidance of eccentric parents

Liz MAxweLL FOrBes

Growing up Weird

Tiger and the Robot

The Way of Tanka

Liz Maxwell Forbes Osborne Bay Books, January 2017 ISBN: 978-0-9949065-1-9 $22.95

Grahame Shannon January 2017 ISBN: 9780987959126 $12.50

Naomi Beth Wakan Shanti Arts LLC, March 2017 ISBN: 9781941830604 $25.00

Growing up in Oak Bay in the 1940s and 1950s was not all tea and crumpets. Liz Maxwell Forbes struggled with the mores of the day and with the social aspirations of her grandparents who felt they were a cut above the “common Canadian”.

At times gut wrenching, Growing Up Weird is a story of survival, peppered with interesting characters and humorous anecdotes. Skillfully weaving memoir and social history together, Forbes captures the nostalgic quality of life in Victoria during the mid twentieth century.

Forbes is a charter member of The Chemainus Writers and lives in the Cowichan Valley. Her stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Somebody’s Child by Touchwood Editions.

She lives in the cloud, and travels in a phone.

The Way of Tanka is an approachable yet comprehensive examination of the Japanese form of poetry known as tanka. The author, Naomi Beth Wakan, discusses its roots in early Japanese courts where it was considered the poetry of lovers, as well as its adaptation to western culture and the characteristics that separate it from the more popular form of Japanese poetry: haiku. Throughout, Wakan weaves her story of personal self-transformation as she moved from the more disciplined writing of haiku to the more metaphorical and philosophical writing of tanka. Numerous examples of tanka are provided, and the rich explanation of the experience of writing tanka encourages readers to write their own tanka while remaining open to the possibilities it provides for personal growth.

Readers’ comments: “The writing is lovely; your evocation of yourself as a child, of your family, of the times you all lived in and through, are wonderful.”

Heather “I read it through rapidly the first time as it is such a page-turner — novelistic. Then I wanted to go back and absorb the details.” Jane Growing Up Weird is available in bookstores in Duncan, Ladysmith, Crofton and Oak Bay; also through her web site. More information at www.osbornebaybooks.com

Spring 2017 ◆ WordWorks ◆ Page 32

She’s Saga, A.I. Detective. The exciting action of the Swiftsure Yacht race launches an adventure which ranges from the urban landscape of Vancouver to the wild islands of Alaska.

Chandler Gray, a sailor and software developer has created Saga, an Artificial Intelligence app which emulates the powers of fiction’s greatest detectives. A chance encounter with the wealthy, glamorous Gina Lee, leads to an invitation to sail on her yacht in the Swiftsure.

When Gina is kidnapped, Saga falsely claims Chan is a Private Investigator, and he takes on the rescue. Sometimes bumbling, but always determined, Chan and Saga roll through adventures in flight, at sea and on the ground.

With a band of friends providing support, and sometimes derision, Chan doggedly pursues the truth, no matter where it leads. The quest leads to piracy in the Aleutians, a Land Rover attacked in the backwoods of Vancouver Island, and a lover’s betrayal. Saga’s remarkable abilities don’t always lead in the right direction, and her sassy attitude sometimes annoys Chan, but in the end they make an effective team.

“I consider myself fairly adventurous, but certainly got swept away by this tour de force!” - Ray Wood, author of Stalking Geraldine

This book is available on Amazon in Paperback and Ebook form

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