My boyfriend regularly claims to have thought up a new invention, but I am still waiting to retire on the riches that his fertile imagination apparently promises. In the meantime, I feel that I may have stumbled upon an invention of my own: the Character Consistency Chart! During the writing of my latest manuscript, I regularly scroll back to cast an eye over early chapters. This led me to notice that as the story blossoms characters change, fade away, swap hats, become wistful when they were angry, or simply disappear into the wings. In short, characterisation was becoming inconsistent. I wanted to address this. But how? As the word count grows, it is becoming more difficult to recall exactly how someone behaved 30,000 words ago. So I put my thinking cap on and came up with the idea to draw up a chart of each character's motivation as they move from chapter to chapter. That way, I will be able to smooth out the details of who and what they are. Indeed, as I peer at the horizon and see the welcome figure of a finished first draft waving to me, I suspect I may need many more charts to guide me through revisions. I feel quite proud of my Character Consistency Chart - possibly the first of many.
May 2009 Archives
I attended two talks this week.
The first, on Monday, was held by the Publishers' Association Children's Book Group in conjunction with the BA Children's Bookselling Group. I went along with the lovely Julia Churchill of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. We gathered in the beautiful grounds of the Canonbury Academy in Islington to discuss whether or not the needs of girl readers are being met. There seems to be concern that publishers' well-intentioned desire to reach boy readers may be leaving the young female audience in danger of neglect. Is it? The answer: no! The panel was made up of Adele Geras, Sally Gardner and Julia Golding and was chaired by Wendy Cooling. It was a treat to hear the opinions of all panelists and I was particularly taken with Sally's assertion that she writes for neither boys nor girls, just people. There was some lively debate over male and female characters in stories, the role of marketing, libraries and parents. With several familiar faces present and tea and biscuits in the garden afterwards, it felt like a nice opportunity for people in the industry to chat, spark off each other and go home happy.
My second event was on Thursday at the Society of Authors to discuss Children's Publishing in the Credit Crunch. This time I went along with Jasmine Richards, Senior Commissioning Editor at OUP and children's author. Two agents spoke - Philippa Milnes Smith of LAW and Stephanie Thwaites from Curtis Brown - and the chairperson was the author, Celia Rees. The agents gave us an interesting and pertinent oversight of what is happening in children's publishing during bleak times, how lucky we are compared to some industries, and what might happen in the future. Now more than ever before, rigour, time and thought will be applied to the acquisitions process and writers, agents and publishers all need to be performing at their very best. This may be no bad thing. Philippa made an excellent point about the need to unite and pull together in these difficult times. There was a lot of debate over authors promoting themselves via the Internet and how we can all help ourselves survive.
Both events proved that the children's publishing community is lively, engaged, bound together by passion for excellence - and a nice cup of tea! Not a bad way of moving forwards.
The first, on Monday, was held by the Publishers' Association Children's Book Group in conjunction with the BA Children's Bookselling Group. I went along with the lovely Julia Churchill of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. We gathered in the beautiful grounds of the Canonbury Academy in Islington to discuss whether or not the needs of girl readers are being met. There seems to be concern that publishers' well-intentioned desire to reach boy readers may be leaving the young female audience in danger of neglect. Is it? The answer: no! The panel was made up of Adele Geras, Sally Gardner and Julia Golding and was chaired by Wendy Cooling. It was a treat to hear the opinions of all panelists and I was particularly taken with Sally's assertion that she writes for neither boys nor girls, just people. There was some lively debate over male and female characters in stories, the role of marketing, libraries and parents. With several familiar faces present and tea and biscuits in the garden afterwards, it felt like a nice opportunity for people in the industry to chat, spark off each other and go home happy.
My second event was on Thursday at the Society of Authors to discuss Children's Publishing in the Credit Crunch. This time I went along with Jasmine Richards, Senior Commissioning Editor at OUP and children's author. Two agents spoke - Philippa Milnes Smith of LAW and Stephanie Thwaites from Curtis Brown - and the chairperson was the author, Celia Rees. The agents gave us an interesting and pertinent oversight of what is happening in children's publishing during bleak times, how lucky we are compared to some industries, and what might happen in the future. Now more than ever before, rigour, time and thought will be applied to the acquisitions process and writers, agents and publishers all need to be performing at their very best. This may be no bad thing. Philippa made an excellent point about the need to unite and pull together in these difficult times. There was a lot of debate over authors promoting themselves via the Internet and how we can all help ourselves survive.
Both events proved that the children's publishing community is lively, engaged, bound together by passion for excellence - and a nice cup of tea! Not a bad way of moving forwards.
