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That's so interesting, and I would agree that you need to know your characters through and though to fully establish an ending. HOWEVER I must admit that I have found that sometimes there is a picture in my head, a scene, a dialogue that you know happens right at the end, and I have to write and rewrite and edit to get to know the characters & find out who is in it and why it is there!

This is so true! For me anyway - I always start the book journey with a fairly good idea of where I'm going but when I get there, so much detail has changed - strange things often happen that I couldn't have known about. I can not wait to read Shine.

And, you can't write the beginning until you know the whole book. How can you do the setup without knowing what it is you're setting up. That was the latest edit, planting the seeds that will blossom later. I love seeing this done visually in film. We caught the beginning of Ghostbusters the other day and as Sigourney Weaver emptied the shopping onto the counter at the beginning of the

This is my usual method: <br />1. write the first chapter, <br />2. write that last chapter, <br />3. write the middle, <br />4. rewrite the last chapter, <br />5. rewrite the first chapter, <br />6. rewrite the middle,<br />7. repeat 4 to 6 until run out of time....!<br />But quite seriously even though it may change the last chapter is usually one of the first things I write. I like to know

Good one Maureen. I find it really difficult to write outside the line of my narrative. I tend to begin at the beginning then work my way to the end. I get paralysed if there is something up ahead that&#39;s already created and complete because it doesn&#39;t feel like it&#39;s part of my storytelling!

Good method!I always know where I am going but I don&#39;t put it down because I need the energy of the whole book to write the best words for the finale!

Thanks Kathy ... I think I work like you. And I can&#39;t wait to read Shine either!

In Finding Nemo they said they always knew they would end with the going to school scene again. But they wanted to reprise the best bits of the film ... which they couldn&#39;t until they were done.

Do you plot everything out Teri?

How much plotting I do varies - have plotted book 3 quite heavily as I didn&#39;t have enough time to repeat steps 4 to 6 indefinitely. But I did write the ending first

Congratulations on finishing Shine, Candy! That must feel great. Can&#39;t wait to read it!<br /><br />So interesting to read about different working methods. Although I always have a general sense of how I want the story to end, I find I can&#39;t write the last scenes in any detail until a really late draft. I seem to always write several drafts where the ending is just a few notes, and it&#39;

I didn&#39;t really understand what authors meant when they said that the characters wrote the book themselves. I used to think &quot;How stupid. You&#39;re the author, you decide what happens.&quot; Then I wrote my first book. By the time I was only just into my second book I was beginning to wonder if I just bred very independent characters who paid little attention to what I said! I have

Oh that is so true! Mind you characters can be so annoying - always trying to wrest control of the story from you.

We are totally on the same wavelength, Helen. We should really be in the same critique group. Oh wait. We are!

Could you clarify guys by &#39;end&#39; do you mean climax onwards of just the post climax denouement? Thanks :0)

Hmm both but especially post denouement ... after expending all that emotion at the climax, staying the course and writing well to the end is tough. I really notice it when books lose energy at the end as if the author just got on with tying up loose ends and let go of his/her magic wand.

Thanks Candy, Great post as ever. I&#39;m about as technically competent as a goldfish, (I do dabble though), so this is very helpful. If you ever want to do a Twitter one with a list of what all the #&#39;s means that would be great. <br /><br />Told you I’m a complete technophobe!<br />

I&#39;m exhausted already.

There were moments when I wanted to quit writing this post.

Thanks, Sally. I&#39;ll keep this page updated so that we don&#39;t ever have to write another one. Actually, i was about to write a Twitter piece and then I lost the will to live. It was easier to do the Facebook one.

Thanks Candy! This is one of those &quot;must reads&quot;, I can feel it in my bones! <br />And the links too - must make time to read those links...(but why doesn&#39;t Chrome have that nice &quot;to read&quot; slot on the left of the menu bar, like Safari does?)

That would be useful, wouldn&#39;t it? That gives me an idea. Maybe I should put a to-read thingy on the left hand side of the website for info that might require revisiting.

I&#39;s so complex I am seriously considering jacking it all in.<br />Thanks for the article tho&#39;, Candy.

Sally,<br />I&#39;m confused by all the references to hashtags, too...I know they mean something but what???? Have to publish this as &quot;Anonymous&quot; cuz I don&#39;t understand all the stuff about URLs and google accounts...Patti

But if there&#39;s anything you should read first it&#39;s the link to the New York Times privacy advice - the tools do everything and not just Facebook. I feel so much better now that I&#39;ve run my profiles through them. Very useful.

Thanks for commenting even if you don&#39;t understand which profile to choose - next time, go for Name/URL ... just put &#39;Patti&#39; in the space for name. You don&#39;t have to put anything under URL.

Such a useful post, Candy<br />which I have stashed to refer to later when have more time.<br />Thank you

What a great piece of advice - and a fab little film :)

I&#39;ve also heard Beverley Birch recommend this sort of zooming technique and found her very inspiring, as always. I have got into trouble, though, when trying to use it and keep close to my PoV character, especially in First Person.

I&#39;ve found screenwriting books most helpful. Save the Cat is another. <br />Lovely film. What a talented family you are!

Thank you! I wish I&#39;d heard this a long time ago.

I have the opposite problem of finding it hard to do close ups in third person so I always end up writing in first person

Oh thanks for that Maureen! Off to check it out.

John Truby&#39;s Anatomy of Story is my screenwriting bible. His methods gel so well with my own, and have really helped me pull some thoughtful structure into my writing.<br /><br />I have to say, I&#39;m struggling with this close-up, wide shot perspective. I get the idea. But does it apply to first person? I can&#39;t think of any of my scenes in my current wip that are really wide shots. I

I see this problem often in critique situations. A chapter is written without a strong focus. It feels as if the spotlight is moving all over the stage and you don&#39;t know what you&#39;re supposed to feel and think because of the clutter. I see a wide shot as a scene setting, a broad brush. And I would interpret a close up an emotional sharpening.

Okay ... this has been an expensive post. I just bought the Truby book and both Save the Cat books on Kindle!

Okay, that helps, but still puzzling it over. I guess, for me, when I&#39;m writing first person pov, my focus is always my character. But maybe that&#39;s more of a personal thing. I can certainly imagine this in, say, Dickens.<br /><br />Anyway, really hope you enjoy Truby!

Totally agree. I'm a writer not a blogger, and though I want to keep my blog running (for a while longer at least) I can't keep it at full strength AND write the books I want to write. I can't see myself doing it for ever.

Lucy - how I agree with you. All the tweeting and blogging and facebooking - it can be fun, but it can also eat hours, and sometimes all you have to show for it is a foggy head. When what brings me the greatest joy is crafting new words, or curling up with a good book. So I keep the networking in its corner, for fun (or there's no point!), and spend most of my time doing what I love best.

I try to write a daily blog past (yes, madness but I do it) and sometimes I do wonder what I am going to write about but I can usually write something in ten to fifteen minutes. If I do not do any other writing during the day I feel I have had some writing exercise.
I have no idea how many people actually read my blog or what they think of it - comments tend to be few and from a small group - but I do know it sometimes gets read in China and Russia so I suppose it is worth doing.
I might feel differently if I ever manage to get a book published - but I still feel I need to show potential publishers that I can persist with the effort of writing.
It's probably quite stupid of me and I often wish I did not feel it was necessary!

Kath and Jo: The thing is, I think a lot of authors have been trying to do it all because of pressure from publishers, or fear of being left behind. We know we have to be accessible to our readers and 'out there' now, but the current model is preventing us from doing our real jobs properly. It's as if we're trying to be the writer version of Shirley Conran - SuperAuthor! What I'm trying to do is find a way forward which works - and which I'm running instead of feeling it's running me.

Cat - actually, I do think blogging is a good writing exercise, and I agree with you about showing potential publishers that you already have a platform which works for you. It's not stupid at all, but I'm with you all the way on the days when you wish it wasn't necessary!

You're absolutely right, Lucy.

Runs off to start writing blog, as have just realised it is my turn next...

You are absolutely right, Lucy! I reckon the only platform one actually needs is a good book and the publicity people at your publishers are paid money to spread the word about it. If you enjoy the occasional tweet, that's fine but yes, it does eat up TONS of time and is probably more of a talk shop than a means of selling your book. Write the book, do your best to get the word out and move on to the next book. Blogging is altogether DIFFERENT! Good blogs are few and far between and work well when a lot of people contribute, like on ABBA and History Girls. I would deeply miss Seven Miles of Steel thistles, Kath but yes, it does eat up writing time. Keeping up a daily blog is very hard work indeed. I know because I'm married to someone who's posted almost daily for 9 years!! Works LONG Hours at it, too.

Sometimes there are very genuine silver linings to the apparent cloud of not being a published author!!

*waves* And your phrase that I'd been blogging advice only "until very recently" is spot on and for exactly the ame reasons as you. Mind you, *cough*, I just started a new blog! But that's going to be completely relaxing and to be done only when i feel like it.

I'm back to being a writer. But I, too, regret nothing. Blogging changed my career, for the better, accidentally. But now it's time for it to take a back seat so that my career can take a new direction.

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Thanks, Addy. And that&#39;s more books to add to an already impossibly long list! My favourite is still the last line in &#39;Little Boy Lost&#39; by Marghanita Laski, but I can&#39;t say it here as it would give the story away. It has me blubbing every time. I even stole the name of that character for one of my own stories as an homage to the book but it didn&#39;t get picked up. (Still might

This post began with a conversation between Addy and me about a moment in Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce that takes you emotionally by surprise. Addy said, I can do a post on that! And she did - in the most inclusive way! Thanks, Addy! Notes from the Slushpile really feels like a lovely community with this post! Such a blubworthy list!<br /><br />... er but what happened to Millions?

Re Grandfather&#39;s Bench - was this the grandfather married to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkBnHri8oHE" rel="nofollow">fighter pilot gran</a>?

Aw - thanks, Clare. I will have to read it!

I&#39;ve lost Millions! I love Millions! Shame but now an excuse for a future blog for all those lost words.

Ha! No! This grandfather was more Private Peaceful!

Made me cry - a lot. <br />I can&#39;t read The Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde) or the moment in The Children of Green Knowe ( L.M.Boston) where Tolly &amp; his great grandmother hear &#39;Lully lullay&#39; on Christmas Eve &quot; and four hundred years ago, a baby went to sleep.&quot;<br />Thanks hive mind.

Oh, that&#39;s lovely, I&#39;d forgotten Green KNowe - there is soooooo much beautiful writing.

Ridiculous to blub just at these tiny fragments, isn&#39;t it? But lovely too. Beautiful selection, Addy. I just finished A MONSTER CALLS and was beside myself with grief and wonder. &quot;I don&#39;t want you to go.&quot; *lays head on table and sobs self stupid*

Oh I KNOW!

I&#39;ve cried more at that book than any other!

I have two book moments. The first has taken a bit of finding, it&#39;s Mrs Weasley. She&#39;s trying to get rid of a boggart from a wardrobe but it keeps turning into her dead children - &#39;I see them d-d-dead all the time!&#39; Mrs Weasley moaned into his shoulder. &#39;All the time! I d-d-dream about it.&#39; It was a great way to show the seriousness of the fight against evil has real

Don&#39;t Let Go by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross always gets me! I have to steel myself to read it out loud.

Thanks, Addy. And Debi Gliori&#39;s &#39;No Matter What&#39; -the UK English non-board book edition. Interesting what Jane said about the US market being happier to have something tear-jerking. &#39;No Matter What&#39; in the States has a massively toned down ending to remove all reference to death. If you know the book (in the English version), you&#39;ll know how crazy that is. The final couple

Something Else by Kathryn Cave and Chris Ridell always kills me with the line, &#39;You&#39;re not like us. You&#39;re something else&#39;. And ditto the line from Dogger. I can almost burst into tears even thinking about Dogger!!! I also love, love, love the line from Tiger Who Came to tea about being in the cafe with all the lights outside..<br />*lies in corner and sobs for rest of day*

Ah, yes! Thanks, Charlotte!

That&#39;s lovely, Clare. Sooo happy Debi&#39;s going to be at Winchester!

That scene in Tiger says so simply and unsentimentally what it&#39;s like to be a child. I also like another book by Kathryn Cave and Nick Maland called, &#39;Friends&#39;. I love this, &quot;when you are lost, in the wood, in the wood, I will find you.&quot; Bravery and friendship in a lyrical line - love it.<br />Now, cheer up, Caroline!

What a lovely post Abby. Wonderful to read about such moving stories, and what they mean to people. Also great to find out about books that I&#39;ve not heard of. I can feel a trip to my local book shop coming on.

I interviewed a bunch of kids about their favourite books and it was interesting that when they started reminiscing about the picture books that they loved when they were barely out of babyhood, they got quite emotional (watch the film <a href="http://www.candygourlay.com/2012/07/we-read-my-diy-documentary-of-what.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>). <br /><br />I so agree with you about Oscar Wilde -

thanks, Sally! Hope you enjoy a good weep!

I love your &#39;We Read&#39; video - such an important film to see, I think. I&#39;d forgotten The Happy Prince and THAT line. Waaaah indeed.

I can&#39;t possibly read this! I&#39;m crying too much! Could someone pass me a tissue?

I meant to say &#39;ALL of the work&#39;

you&#39;ll set everyone off, Jackie!

One line that has always stuck in my mind is from Not Now Bernard - But I&#39;m a monster, said the monster. It may not tug on the heart strings as much as some others but I can still remember the first time I read it - I felt his confusion!

Lovely post. I loved The Maggie B by Irene Haas as a child which is a surreal story about a girl bringing up her little brother on a boat all on her own. Even as a child, I felt there was a sadness to this story although it was a &#39;wish-come-true&#39; and when Margaret sings her brother to sleep, I always feel a little teary.

&quot;Her Mother&#39;s Face&quot; by Roddy Doyle and illustrated by Freya Blackwood. It&#39;s just so beautiful to look at, and I love how the girl struggles to remember what her mother looks like. As she grows up she sees her mother&#39;s face reflected in her own. I was very teary just thinking about my grandparents and trying to remember the sound of my grandpa&#39;s voice. He didn&#39;t talk

I know what you mean although I felt so very sad reading this out loud. Kept wondering if I did that ignoring thing too much. Children just enjoyed it for what it was.

Thanks, Amelia. I don&#39;t know that story but will look it out.

Meant to say, have you read &#39;Bye, Bye Baby?&#39; by the Ahlbergs?

Ah, that&#39;s so sad! And clever with the ending. I love the way pci books can be appreciated at different stages of life.

We’re still hoping to go and see James Mayhew at Cheltenham. After that, it will be quiet until Bath Kids Lit Fest, and hopefully Cheltenham after that, depending on the line up!
Library Mice recently posted..Magical Mix-Ups: Birthdays and Bridesmaids

Cheltenham twice, library mice? (a mini poem just for you…)

LOL
The Cheltenham Festival of Literature is great for kids. Unfortunately it is quite close to Bath (mid October I think).
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Ah.. got it now. Thanks LM!

So true. We are a very incestuous lot. I do wonder whether getting lots of other writers reading is the way to go. I&#39;ve gone down the join a group blog route, which has been interesting and certainly shares the load. I suspect most of our 4000 hits a month (with a new post every five days) are other writers (and mostly picture book writers, too, since it&#39;s a picture book blog) but still

I started blogging after I read something you wrote on this blog...and I love it, and I&#39;m glad I did it. But I do it less and less (although I do flit from blog to blog) and I don&#39;t read blogs that are all about &#39;buy my book!. It&#39;s easy to get sucked into social networking all the time and never doing any actual writing!

I noticed the &#39;silliness&#39; behind blogging when I started a &#39;Challenge&#39; this month. Not that its bad - its a fun and interesting experience and I&#39;ve found some nice blogs, which I wouldn&#39;t have noticed otherwise, but having to put up a blog a day brings a lot of trash (from my side :) especially). And I agree, trying to sell a book over blogging is probably not productive..

Don&#39;t get me wrong I still think it&#39;s a fab way to reach out - and I love blogging. But I don&#39;t blog unless I can add value. Otherwise it will be just another blog post swallowed into the ether.

Blogging used to be a no brainer. With the rise of social networks, EVERYONE is blogging even if it&#39;s just a status update on Twitter or Facebook. It&#39;s a fast moving world and we must have no fear of moving on with it.

And I love your blog, Keren. You blog well.

To be fair - marketing is a skill too isn&#39;t it? But we&#39;re in this business because we wanted to tell stories, not sell books. The truth is writers need look no further than themselves to find the right way of blogging. Just like writing, it&#39;s all about an original voice.

Great post, Candy. I have difficulty keeping up with blogs and sometime ago I stopped everything online. Now that I&#39;ve revived my online life, I&#39;ve decided to journal once a week. Not just random journalling about anything and everything, but something I&#39;ve really thought about before sitting down and writing it. I feel much happier about it and it works much better than random

An excellent post, Candy. Surely, whether it matters if your blog is only read by other writers depends on your aim in blogging and what you blog about? If you&#39;re trying to sell your books, you obviously need a wider reach. <br /><br />I blog specifically for other authors and don&#39;t expect readers to look at my blog - or purchasers (parents, teachers, librarians). One or two might, if

Hear hear! Yes I should have been clearer - here on Notes, we too blog for other writers. in fact I had to start up another blog over on my website when I got a book out because I had readers asking me why I was blogging here on Notes about stuff they had no interest in. I only blog when I have something to say over there and my readers tend to be occasional and opportunity readers who pop by

Thanks, Rochita!

Hiya Candy. It&#39;s over a month since I blogged on my blog thingy. My agent said to me the other day that I should be blogging every week but I agree that too frequent is off-putting for subscribers. I find bloggers who post too regularly come across as needy. It&#39;s a cry to &quot;please like me&quot; and often, as you say, they have nothing to say. I like to wait until I&#39;ve got an

Inciteful, as always Candy! I&#39;m always conscious that I don&#39;t want to spend time on blogging that I should be spending on writing. I think this is a potential trap, especially for the unpublished. You could end up blogging to fulfil the need to be heard, instead of honing your novel!

Is there a right reason to blog?:-) Anyway - I like those who blog for the sheer pleasure of it and blog about this that and the other and I think that&#39;s why I don&#39;t follow purely writerly blogs. Take care<br />x

I like your comment about not just using the blog for marketing. I have a friend who went on a weight-loss program and liked it so much she became a coach. Now, every time she comments on Facebook, she has to mention the program or her weight loss or her other retreat business that she&#39;s developing. I don&#39;t have a problem with her trying to promote her business, but she seems to do it all

Here&#39;s the wrongest reason of all: you&#39;ve got a book coming out, you should start a blog. only start a blog if you want to. it&#39;s about the joy.

I read that book - it&#39;s great. Ruta actually went on a course to experience what it was like to be a prisoner in Siberia. They simulated torture! I think it left her with backache. Now that&#39;s what I call dedication.

Help.

Apropos marketing - I think video is a great tool for an author to be discovered. There was a study that showed children would rather search Youtube than Google for information!

<i>Gulp!</i>

I&#39;ve been thinking about this lately. An agent I follow has just up and closed down her blog. Another two writer bloggers have taken a spring hiatus. I felt strangely bereft, like it was the end of a TV season. The agent, who has blogged since 2006, said Twitter and Facebook served her purposes better. Interesting. Are we seeing a trend?

Mmm - better get out the video camera then.

Oh dear - I blog as if I&#39;m in conversation...it&#39;s like an extension of FB or twitter for me...how disgustingly self-centred that is...

Wow. This is so true. I especially love your point about blogging better. There&#39;s no point to blogging if we have nothing to say. <br /><br />I have to say, though, I love blogging as a non-published author. I don&#39;t have to chase an audience, I don&#39;t have to care about my numbers, I can just use it as my own personal, happy place.

I&#39;ve been thinking about this too. I joined the Slushpile because I didn&#39;t want to blog a lot, but I thought I should blog - probably because Candy told me to. Then I got a bit of a surprise when I discovered I love blogging. It&#39;s very different to writing for young children and I can have some fun with it. Also I love the response I get to my posts. I think if no one commented I&#39;

I have to admit I don&#39;t blog (at least not as myself) and the main reason is I feel that I don&#39;t have a lot to add to the discussion. I&#39;m still on a steep learning curve. I learn a lot from them but not sure I have anything as of yet to offer that is useful.<br /><br />I like the idea of team blogging, as on here. I think writers have less pressure to write something earth shattering,

Very interesting. There are blogs and there are blogs and there are blogs. Content rich is key - you want interesting, original content for your audience. If you don&#39;t have that, don&#39;t write a post. Candy, I totally agree that blogging has to come from a place of &#39;joy&#39;, and that you need a unique voice. I&#39;d also add &#39;authenticity&#39; to the mix. Blog readers can sniff out

This was a really pertinent blog. There are times when I feel overwhelmed by blogs. It seems there is a new blog or two every week to follow. There is someone I know (not anyone who would read this) who is constantly pushing their books/events through their various blogs. I find it tedious because it is so &#39;in your face&#39; and actual now don&#39;t even bother looking at them. I read blogs

loved both your responses here. Thank you both

You blog beautifully, Kathy!

The best reason of all.

Agree. I think blogging helped alleviate a lot of the pain of being unpublished. I learned a lot too - both about my subject and how to write.

And I love your wise ruminations, Vanessa. Keep on blogging.

1000 subscribers! Wow! if only I could knit! Thanks for your thoughts!

Thank you Candy, that means a lot

Ha! I am here reading this at lunchtime because I made a conscious effort to catch up with some of the blogs i love (about 5 of them) but that I just haven&#39;t had time to read properly as I&#39;ve been really swamped these past couple of weeks! So I&#39;m living proof that blog-reading can reach crisis point - let alone blog writing. Still looking for my own niche on the front, but will be

Wow, what a can of worms that opened up!<br /><br />Interestingly, my blog takes priority over my books because I have a weekly schedule and keep to it rigorously. If there are even a couple of people who look forward to my posts, then that&#39;s job done!<br /><br />The day I run out of new things to say, is the day I stop. Luckily, 162 posts in, that&#39;s yet to happen - I think in part

Slushies?

Slushites? oops that has a naughty word in the middle :O)

I had an actual blogging nightmare last night - fact. That someone had put up a joint blog with my name on it, but I didn&#39;t know anything about it: it mostly involved making ridiculous anagrams out of words in my book.<br /><br />Could this be some sort of sign that I&#39;m becoming blog-obsessed? do I need help? is that actually a really good idea for a new blog?<br /><br />&#39;Worried in

No blogging after 9.30 and cut down on the wine. <br />Lasted.

Great blog Candy. I&#39;m not a natural blogger, but I do Blog, and I&#39;m trying to build an audience and blog about something a little different. It&#39;s hard but I think ultimately its a good thing...right?

I blog as some of you may know but I don&#39;t blog about me. I also don&#39;t go crazy trying to promote the blog, I just let it do its own thing. I get about 5000 hits a month but very few comments but I check the stats and feel satisfied knowing that people are reading about the authors and books I feature on the blog. So if I&#39;m doing my bit to help spread the word around the world about

I blog mainly for myself-horribly self-indulgent, I know. <br />For me it&#39;s a way of storing random thoughts on children&#39;s literature in a concise way. These usually arise from interesting stuff I&#39;ve read for my Birkbeck MA written by much much cleverer people...<br />I consider it a sort of online diary-I&#39;m completely thrilled when people look at it and comment, but don&#39;t

Sorry to have missed the launch. I love the idea of this series, sounds so much like something I want to write. Will be looking out for them in the shops as I do want buy them. Not just for fun reading but market research as I have ideas for that age range and need to see what word counts for each page are.

I love the Rescue Princesses so much - princesses with attitude! Excellent cape at the launch, too - I was very jealous of that...

Good luck Paula! Your princesses sound wonderful and I am sure that little girls will love them.

Thanks all! And Jo I may lend out the cape if suitably bribed...<br /><br />Paula<br /><br />http://paulaharrison.jimdo.com/

That&#39;s what I like to hear Paula! I&#39;ll have to arrange a party or something so I have an excuse...! I was quite attached to my crown, I have to say. Took some effort for sane people to detach that from my head...

I quite got into my role! Was a bit of a shock to go back to normality. No more red carpets...until next time!

Yet another wonderful and inspirational post. Thank you Maureen and congratulations Paula. They sound fantastic books.

don&#39;t forget the crown! AWESOME

Paula, I will go and dust off my tiara and wear it for dinner this evening, in honour of the rescue princesses! (I may even rescue the dinner from the oven - or from the dog . . .)

Brilliant, Queen Paula! Now I know what I want to be when I grow up.

I&#39;m a little girl and I LOVE the idea! can&#39;t wait to read the wholes series! Cognrats again to Princess Paula!

Thanks for taking those great photos Candy!

This is my most favourite post on the whole trying to get published thing ever. EV-ER!<br /><br />Absolutely brilliant. And yup...you are funny!<br />If I say publication is just round the corner, please don&#39;t punch me in the face. But I really believe it.

PS Have just posted this on the Writewords website..

... and about your grammar &#39;most favourite&#39; ... surely it&#39;s &#39;most favouritest&#39;?!

Ahem! Good morning, early bird!<br />And yes isn&#39;t it brilliant? Go, Maureen!

Love it. Look forward to laughing with one of your books. :)

Briliant, brilliant, as only your posts can be, Maureen! And I am much heartened, given the vast size of my own slushpile and gazillion years spent skiing down it! There may yet be hope for me! *rushes off to scribble furiously*

Great post, Maureen. Made me feel a bit better about my pile. And in answer to your question: 2 book shelves and 3 drawers full of multiple versions of 1 adult, 2 YA, 1 mid range, 1 chapter and a heap of stories (two of which actually got published - yippee I&#39;m a writer ;-) ). And that doesn&#39;t include the current WIP either!

My slushpile is HUGE. In fact if I hadn&#39;t stopped printing things - and started having bonfires - we wouldn&#39;t fit in the house.<br /><br />And you are very funny. Clearly, as if you say it enough times (and put it in yellow boxes) it must be so :O)

Leave Caroline&#39;s grammar alone, Candy Gourlay - she thinks I&#39;m funny! And she&#39;s re-posted! Thanks Caroline :) I shall refrain from punching you.

Thanks, Liane - on day you might just get to do that!

You will, Nicky, it&#39;s us determined (obsessed) folk who make it in the end. Love the idea of ski-ing down the slushpile I&#39;ve always just slid down on my bottom crying Aargh!!!

Impressive list, Jeannette and I&#39;m pleased to see you have multiple versions too. I was a bit bothered that I&#39;d written the Jawbreaker three times and then had to walk away. It&#39;s still not right. It may never be right!

Ah, you spotted my subliminal message!

So that&#39;s what you&#39;ve been doing up in the attic for the last twelve years.

Did you miss me?

Of course, where&#39;s me tea?

Excellent post! And heartening, as I&#39;m on my 9 1/2 th (can I say that?) novel, most of which have been re-written at least five times. I&#39;m really hoping this is The One, but, boy have I learned a lot along the way! Oh, and I did the Cornerstones self-editing course too. Eye-opening! Good luck with Prince Bob!

Here&#39;s my list. Like you Maureen I now realise that 7+ and MG is where i want to be. Great post and so reassuring not to be alone. But really proud of my backlist. There&#39;s some great stuff in there.<br /><br />1 x MG dystopian fantasy<br />1 x picture book<br />1x MG girls adventure<br />2 x 7+ adventure series<br />1 x ya space gothic<br />1 x MG boys humour

You should be proud, Jo. That represents a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and hopes. I like the idea of a space gothic, could you do that for MG? Has anyone else, I wonder?

Sent via ancient Imac from a field of turnips:<br />Me too! I have a big slush pile and have been on a similar journey (though I have never knowingly been funny).<br />Great post Maureen. Congratulations on finding an agent and good luck with the next stage of your journey.

Right OK - I&#39;ve a way to go yet then - <br />Picture books x 4 ( far too difficult)<br />mid-grade x 1<br />7-9 x 2<br />YA novels x2 - though one is being extensively rewritten, now, actually, so why aren&#39;t I doing it? Stop distracting me Lynas ;o)

Maureen that was wonderful! Thank you.<br />I feel heartened.<br /><br />Can quite face piling up my slush yet - it&#39;s all over the place but it includes some picture books too.<br /><br />Now here&#39;s a thought - how about some comedy glasses? They could be your trademark?

What marvellous piles you have, Maureen. Loved reading this - it sparkles!

Brilliant post, Maureen. You are definitely funny! I can relate to your struggle of what to focus on. For me, following through and completing all the ideas I have is a big struggle for me as well. Congratulations and keep on writing! Colleen :)

Thanks Amanda. Good luck with your journey too.

Sorry! Get on with it! Write! Write! Write! We need your books. Kathryn - You Have Talent!

I could borrow some from Edna Everidge! Or maybe Elton John?

Lol and guffaw! Lovely Addy, thank you :)

It&#39;s so hard isn&#39;t it, especially as the next one is always better than the one you&#39;re working on now and will be much easier to write - or so you think until you actually start to write it!

Wonderfully inspiring post Maureen and Nicky, definitely,your time will come. My slushpile holds my bed up so it has its uses. And btw Maureen....you are very funny ;-)

I&#39;ve always thought you were funny, Maureen - and not just ha-ha funny!

I may adjust the life-long friend comment. It&#39;s under review from now on. You have one year. Watch yourself grrr.

Fantastic read, Maureen! And definitely an inspiration to the rest of us to perservere! My slushpile must be nearly as long as yours--I just haven&#39;t forced myself to compile everything and see exactly how much I have written. :) Thanks for sharing!

Journey begins ...<br />Stage 1: &#39;Oh, I shall be an illustrator&#39;. <br />Action: Complete sample artwork and dummies for x4 picture books. <br />Event: 2 deals on table<br />Outcome: Table mysteriously disappears. <br /> <br />Stage 2: &#39;Oh, I shall be a picture book writer&#39;. <br />Action: completes picture books - x10 <br />Event: x3 accepted by publishers<br />Outcome: currently

Such a helpful post! Thank you for being so honest-it&#39;s so easy to look at the polished perfect book-shop product and think that this stuff comes easily to all Published Authors.

Hurray! So looking forward to reading it. Pre-ordering right now. Also printing out this wonderful post, and when I am struggling (as I do, all the time) I will read it and be inspired.

Such a brave post and so helpful. Easy to imagine this stuff comes naturally to all Published Authors.

Sorry! internet being tricksy. But I meant it-twice!

Hi:<br />I am a new mumsnet network blogger and came across your awesome post. You say it like it is in the right way that my ADD wants to hear.<br /><br />I am not afraid to consider writing a book now. Thank you for perspective and best of luck girl. You did it and #2! Wow.<br /><br />Best,<br />Kristen<br />www.getoveryourselfplease.blogspot.com<br />twitter Get Over It kkshaw47

Wonderful post! And so reassuring for those of us struggling through our first book.<br /><br />Here&#39;s a Nanowrimo story that I hope makes all of us feel better -- I met someone during Nanowrimo last year. Her goal was 150,000 words that month!!! But then I asked what she planned to do with her work - in other words, was she trying to get published? No, she said, she doesn&#39;t like editing,

Wonderful and insightful post.One that I will share with my students. Can&#39;t wait for the new book. And like Keren I am going to print this out as a reminder. Brilliant news that it is finished.Congratulations Candy

Candy, great post. Always enjoy reading your blog entries. <br /><br />Congrats on finishing the book. Don&#39;t know how you have the stamina for a full novel. :) <br /><br />Take care, let&#39;s catch up soon.

This is SUCH a great post, Candy. Thank you! I&#39;m with Keren, I need to print this excellent advice out NOW. And pre-order the book. And someday when I get back to America, I&#39;m going to talk about your amazing books non-stop, I promise!

You are a genius, this is a brilliant post! You do, however, realise that all this writing leads to insanity, of both the permanent and temporary kind - all that screaming, all that eating of fridges, all that talking to and double-questioning yourself...<br />All that said, you are an inspiration and having had a little taste of Shine already, I can&#39;t wait to read the whole, completed book!

Great post, Candy. And thanks so much for fitting in the odd critique when you should have been squeezng out a few dozen words instead! Reading this has made me wonder whether I should go back to do those &#39;little tweaks&#39; myself. Nah! Think I&#39;ll stick with the new WIP. Maybe later......<br /><br />Can&#39;t wait to read Shine Candy. I&#39;m kniw it will be great.

I especially love point 5 here - &#39;what&#39;s great about this story?&#39; A timely reminder (for me) to concentrate on the good stuff and ditch the bad, rather than rewriting it to fit. Oh and I like point 6 too - &#39;light fuses&#39; - great metaphor. Actually 4 is starting too feel relevant too. ... You know what? It&#39;s all great. Thanks for your insights and good luck with Shine.

Great post! Thank you for sharing part of your journey. Congratulations on completing Book 2. I love all the advice you have given in this post but especially love the advice your editor gave you. This is one of those posts I had to read write now as I am completing final edits on my WIP before submission. Wishing you many sales of both your books. - KimK :)

I could click on &#39;pre-oder&#39;, Candy, but are you having a launch where I can buy it instead? I think you should! After all that you deserve to PARTY.<br /><br />p.s. any help on my book 2 cheerfully accepted.<br /><br />p.s.s. by &#39;cheerfully&#39; I mean duck when you come through the door of the writing cave...

Thanks for sharing all this, Candy. I can really feel your frustration, but I&#39;m a firm believer that little that was created easily will be of much worth. And this post is especially interesting for me right now, as I&#39;m just launching into my second book and already grinding my teeth at an empty screen.<br /><br />Congratulations on finishing! I&#39;m looking forward to reading Shine.

Phew.<br /><br />Thanks for just making sense of everything I&#39;ve been trying (and failing) to understand myself.<br />Enjoy!

Wow - what a writerly journey for you!! I&#39;m soooooooooo happy you&#39;ve finished your book!! Phew!! You deserve all the success after such a path to publication! Take care<br />x

What a great post, I&#39;m so glad you got there in the end, Candy. I love your blurb and cant&#39; wait to read it. I won&#39;t preorder though, I&#39;ll by it at your launch!!

I write shorter books, not novels, but found points 5 and 6 extremely interesting. I like the idea of &quot;focusing on what is GREAT&quot; and the image of a light fuse is also memorable. Your blog entries (and acceptance speeches) are always full of wisdom! Thanks Candy.

Congratulations on finishing the book. I do love the cover and the blurb. Good idea to focus on the great not the bad of the book. Have to keep that in mind.<br /><br />Exercise - you can break down the 30 mins in half if you want. Do 15 mins am and the other 15 pm. That is what I do and have lost 8lbs so far.

I absolutely felt your pain throughout this whole process, especially when I was struggling through my own book while you were struggling through yours. And I&#39;m not ashamed to admit that I thought you were MAD to rewrite the whole thing. But having gone through a few struggles to preserve the integrity of my own writing, I can understand what it&#39;s like being faced with something that you&

Great post, Candy! <br />Tall Story achieved so much recognition and I&#39;m sure Shine will shine brightly too! <br />Good luck and best wishes for the next stage on you and your new book&#39;s journey.<br />Tracy

Fantastic post, Candy. I had to do the starting-again-from-the-beginning last year (after 50,000 words of complete yet awful novel) so this resonates! I love point 5 especially.<br /><br />Shine looks wonderful. Pre-ordering now!

Congratulations on SHINE, Candy! A great post - honest, informative and pretty inspiring! I&#39;m off to pre-order Shine now...

I am going to print this post off as well - it is brilliant! Shine sounds wonderful and I would pre-order but someone mentioned the possibility of a launch?<br />I hope that you are back to full health now, sorry to hear that you have had some problems.

Well done. Congratulations. Can&#39;t wait to read it. Thanks for sharing the pain, the doubt, the u-turn and the break-through. Agree with your point that everyone has their limit about how much they can write/draw/paint a day. If I over-do it, I&#39;m too exhausted to do anything the next day. My best rhythm is a morning of creativity, then normal life for the rest of the day. Ok, off the

great post Candy, it&#39;s good to see there&#39;s a sense of recognition about your journey, in all these comments to your post, and comforting to know its a learning curve everyone goes through! Thanks for sharing your experience of it ;)

thanks jongleuse! and sometimes the bookshop product isn&#39;t perfect either!

Aww thanks, Keren. Hard to believe you struggle - your novels seem to just trip off your laptop.

Thank you twice!

Gosh thanks all for your comments. I&#39;ve been keeping off the internet until now, re-reading my manuscript and it was wonderful to discover all your brilliant comments on switching the internet back on!

Joining Nanowrimo used to be one of my ambitions - but it&#39;s a tough call for a slow writer. I find that I can&#39;t go forward unless my text is polished to a certain level ... and then I still keep questioning myself, is this really what I want to say? Thanks for the comforting story.

Hi Kristen! Welcome to Mumsnet and hope to see more of you. Have duly subscribed to your blog!

Thanks Chitra ... and thanks for messaging me on the spellilng!

Oooh now I&#39;ll be asking you, are you there yet? Thank you!

Hugs, Nicky!

The fact is there is always later, isn&#39;t there? Each manuscript will have its time!

The odd thing was it never occurred to me to ask myself What&#39;s great about this story? It&#39;s an exercise that critique groups ought to institute!

Good luck, Kim!

Thank you and good luck on book two!

Well ... I haven&#39;t thought that far ahead yet! Definitely should do something partyish! At the moment I&#39;m emotionally exhausted and can&#39;t imagine organizing ANYTHING!

Thanks, Karen!

Thank you, Old Kitty!

Well done, Candy. You have triumphed! I look forward to reading Shine. I think the whole thing about exposition being story in the wrong place is spot on. Marcus Sedgewick is a master at making exposition/backstory into story in Revolver and Midwinterblood.

Thanks, Jackie! And when is YOUR launch?

Thanks Odette - I love your books!

Thanks so much Julie!

Thanks so much, Tracy!

Slow Writers Anonymous sounds like a brilliant idea! And you&#39;re right - as long as the words are brilliant, it doesn&#39;t matter how many they are.

wahey! Thanks, Susie!

Thanks, Savita - and congrats on your new book deal! Can&#39;t wait to read it!

I am amazed everyday at how I recovered from that episode! Thank you!

I&#39;m exactly the same - the truth is my word count is low because the best of my writing only occurs in a two hour span. Thanks so much, Beverley!

According to Neil Gaiman the learning curve never ends. Which is a comfort in its way! Thanks, Astrid.

Now that I&#39;m finished, I can finally read Midwinterblood which has been languishing on my to be read pile. Thanks, Jo!

Candy - Did you slice off the top of my scalp and pull a few things out . . . ? I think you did! Great post. Looking forward to reading your next one. Take care, Irfan

Gosh! Perhaps we should all be plumbers? There&#39;s always a shortage. Or electricians? Much less painful. Hmmm ... Will just go and fiddle with the fusebox - need to see if I&#39;m a natural. (Meanwhile, best of luck with Book 3 and if it all gets too much, come and join me at &#39;Meddour and Gourlay Sparks Ltd&#39;/ Or should that be &#39;Gourlay and Meddour Sparks Ltd&#39;? Or maybe &#39;

In the Phlippines, Gourlay-Medour would mean we got married. Electric idea!

I&#39;ve been struggling with my next frog kiss book and the frustration was mounting, something wasn&#39;t gelling. So I&#39;ve just asked the question - what&#39;s great? And it&#39;s the hero, Prince Laurence, he&#39;s a twit of a prince who&#39;s convinced he&#39;s a frog. And I was attempting to send him on a hero&#39;s journey with an environmental theme which is just far too serious for

What a wonderful post, Candy! A real keeper for when I&#39;m in the trenches. I remember writing down that &quot;focus on what is GREAT&quot; comment in November, too - such wise advice.<br /><br />And can I just say... that is one fabulous story pitch! Can&#39;t wait to read it!

Thanks for sharing your experience, Candy. I&#39;m sorry you had to go through all that though. Will pre-order :)

I&#39;ve never commented before, lurking in the trenches and enjoying your posts but this time I have to say thank you for such wise suggestions and sensible ideas. I&#39;ve been sending novels off to agents for six years but I&#39;m still refusing to think of it as a ... hobby ... and you give me hope! Congratulations!

Yay!

Thanks, Amy, sometimes the trenches can be very deep!

And don&#39;t forget that YOU&#39;re what&#39;s great about the book too - your distinctive voice! It&#39;s gonna be great, Maureen!

Ha! Flushed out a lurker! Thanks for coming out to comment ... and no, it&#39;s not a hobby, it&#39;s a life.

Ah,I soooooo understand! Well done and thanks for this wonderful post. Yay you!

Truly fabulous post, Candy. I&#39;m not surprised it&#39;s getting all this attention. And I totally TOTALLY sympathise. It&#39;s exactly what I&#39;m going through now, and have been for ages. I know it all so well! (Except having to take the children to the Philippines. I don&#39;t have to do that.) Thank you for putting it out there. And quoting Neil Gaiman. xxx

Brilliant post Candy! Think knowing when we&#39;ve taken the wrong turn is the hardest thing! And being brave enough to turn back against the flow in a world constantly pushing you forward.

haha...hollow laughter....if only

Ooh, perhaps it would here too! Sorry to be so forward ;)

Thanks for this generous post, Candy.It&#39;s definitely one to keep. I can&#39;t wait to read Shine.

Thanks for writing such an honest post, Candy. I completely identify with what you say. Second novels are just like this. Not to depress you, but writing my third novel was worse. The fourth seems a little easier (so far), but like Tim Bowler&#39;s quote in a previous post, &#39;Every story you write is a mountain no-one has climbed.&#39;

There is only one response t this: ARGHHHH!!!!

Bloody mountain.<br /><br />Thanks for commenting!

Sometimes though it&#39;s not courage. You&#39;ve got no choice really if you want to write a good book.

I still have bits of your hair on my desk. Thanks, Irfan!

Quoting authors quoting authors is cool. You can quote me on that.

Thanks, Jeannie!

Thank you!<br />Great post - loads of info. Sounds like you had an amazing time. <br />x

Thanks for the reminder of the wonderful retreat.<br /><br />If I&#39;m ever in a position to promote my books, I&#39;ll have to get a set of wooden swords and a tarantula.

It&#39;s made me wonder what&#39;s in my books that I can pull out of the hat in schools. Tommy has all of his scary stuff, Steve Hartley (Danny Baker Record Breaker) has his big pants. I wonder what others take. I do have a character with hair like twitching, jerking spiders legs. I wonder if I need a battery operated wig!<br />Great post Jo, wish I&#39;d been there.

Thanks Jo, I&#39;ve pretty much forgotten what I said, so this is very helpful ;-)<br /><br />Here is the direct link to my blog post about the session, as it&#39;s probably been buried under several weeks of accumulated waffling by now: <a href="http://www.whoatemybrain.com/2011/05/your-cut-out-and-keep-scbwi-marketing.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.whoatemybrain.com/2011/05/

Excellent, Jo and excellent Jo! Really enjoyed this terrifying but true advice. great post!

I&#39;m trying to think what I could have in a big box to take on school visits. <br />I think I should go for a VERY big box, and put Tommy in it! Problem solved :O)

Thanks Nick - apologies, I meant to link to the article not just the blog in general. First time I&#39;ve physically posted anything up so honestly I&#39;m just glad the blog didn&#39;t spontaneously combust!

This is a great article - for aspiring and published authors. Thanks so much!

I found this discussion very productive and useful. I came back from the retreat and organised my facebook page, commissioned my sister to redo the website and started being active on twitter.<br /><br />It was great listening to everyone and although none of us can pull a rabbit out of a hat like Tommy, we can try at least to wear a hat I think.

Futile enthusiasm -frighteningly accurate description of me I fear....:O)

Loved this post, Jo. Futile enthusiasm. I have lots of that. Well I used to think it was futile. Life surprises.

@Candy - enthusiasm is futile but fingers are always firmly crossed!

Great post! Love the inspiring stories of getting published! You&#39;re right Candy, getting published is just the beginning and soon all of them will have many other goals like books sales, reviews, future books! Let the fun begin!

Fantastic post! I really enjoyed reading this. Good luck to all of you!

A fascinating look at making it: best of luck with the next stage of the roller-coaster (watch out for those upside down loop-de-loops).<br />Three cheers for three new books!

You all keep us going - I love Angel&#39;s Fury and can&#39;t wait to read 15 Days Without a Head and Someone Else&#39;s Life...seeing you guys break through has been wonderful x

Can&#39;t wait to read Bryony&#39;s and Katie&#39;s novel but I have read 15 Days Without a Head ... it&#39;s superb! Proud of ya, Davie boy!

Fascinating post - thank you! I loved reading it, and I can&#39;t wait to read the books!

Great post - always so brilliant to read about other people&#39;s writing journeys and sucessess.

Huzzah for the debutantes!

Brilliant post! I now have three more books on my - &#39;summer holiday read&#39; pile. Can&#39;t wait!

A fascinating read showing the fragility of being a writer. Well done all of you and thank you Candy for such a brilliant blog. The photo&#39;s are great. Your children are so beautiful Bryony.

What a great post! I love &#39;my experience&#39; stories, and making it a discussion like this, rather than one person&#39;s view is a fab idea. I&#39;m sure you get more info that way.<br /><br />I&#39;ve added all three books to my wishlist. Hooray for SCBWI for finding and encouraging new talent!

Hooray for the UV alumni. We&#39;re all going to get there eventually...<br /><br />Candy, this must have taken you ages to format! But the conversation style is very nice - just don&#39;t try documenting a whole panel discussion this way!

re formatting - no - the trick is to know how to create the thumbnails and blogger now allows you to re-insert photos without having to upload them again.