Coming Home – To Story Telling

Since coming home from a career last year I have surrounded myself with stories. Hundreds of them. Stories in every shape and form. I have combed through my bookshelves and pulled out favourites to be reread. I’m giving audiobooks a go but it’s been a bit hit and miss for me. Trent Dalton’s books had me in their thrall. Maybe it was Trent’s voice… Now he is a born story teller! I am binge reading my way through eBooks, borrowing library books and returning them read every week. I am (sneakily) buying books and slipping them into the house under cover of bags of groceries. Please don’t look, Ian. I feel guilty enough already but I just can’t stop. 

I’ve always read my way through themes. Never intentionally, the books just make themselves known to me and find their way home. They feed some unspoken need in me, a curiosity or perhaps a gap in whatever life has in front of me. Remember bibliotherapy? Sometimes, certainly for me, it can be an unconscious act of self-medication. So many books about women travelling and changing their lives appeared when the kids were babies and so dependent on me. Joanne Harris, Elizabeth Gilbert, Marlena de Blast, even Mary Moody were my saviours who vicariously lived the adventures I wished I could have but couldn’t. Bill Bryson (Mother Tongue), Stephen Fry and JP Davidson(Planet Word)and Stephen King (On Writing) and a shelf full of books about language fed my need to play with words when I couldn’t study linguistics. 

So what do you think this current ‘to be read’ pile is suggesting about my life at the moment? Japanese writers. I’m obsessed with their style of story telling.

I was terrified that I wouldn’t know how to tell a story. So many years working within parameters that determined what I could say and how it could be said left me feeling clunky. I actually felt as though I had nothing to say unless I was given the script from which to say it. I couldn’t even remember for sure if I had ever been able to tell a story. I went digging through my shelves and found… the first books I wrote.

Here they are. Published in 1984, one hand-written, the other more professionally presented on a typewriter. Yes, those are foolscap pages (many of you may have to look that up, it’s pre ‘A4’ paper sizing and… never mind. Just go with me). And, yes, that is a sticker from the teacher. Well thought out it says. I’m still proud. A published author in grade 6. If ever I doubted my purpose those books prove my commitment to words. Never mind the crazy journey it took to get here, the destination has never been in question.

Writing a novel is a lifelong dream of mine and, lucky me, the process has been more fulfilling, more challenging, more satisfying than realising any dream has ever been. I was sooo terrified to even try and many timelines for doing this have come and gone over decades. Decades! What a waste. The fear (my old friend, there you are yet again!) was real – how could I cope if I tried and couldn’t do it? What if I loathed the process? What if (and this is still a possibility) I am a really bad story teller??? Where would I be without the dream in front of me? 

But, it turns out, even the uncertainty of navigating through the crazy competitive landscape of editing and publishing isn’t enough to dull the thrill of actually writing ‘The End’. Human Doings is ready to take me on the next stage of learning all about this creative industry. I will happily take you with me if you’re game for there is so much to learn! 

Lesson 1 – did you know that there is typically 1-2 years between finishing a book and finding it on the shelves in a bookshop? YEARS! And that’s minimum, for an author who has a contract with a publishing house. Isn’t that fascinating? For those of you who are hoping to read Human Doings… thank you for being so patient! I’m not keeping Josie and Sam hidden from the rest of you out of spite or even out of fear (though there is a tiny bit of that). I’m working my way through each step so that when you do get to hold this book in your hands (for I promise you, you will!) it will be as good as it can be. 

Lesson 2 – did you know that the people who read the early draft of a novel are called beta readers? A beta reader’s job is to read the book and give the author feedback about all sorts of things. They give a fresh perspective on the story and help catch any issues (glaring or subtle) before the manuscript starts to venture out into the market. To my generous, patient beta readers (you know who you are) – THANK YOU! Reading a novel takes time and giving honest feedback, well, that’s hard when you know how much effort has gone into creating the beast in the first place and you care about the author’s precious feelings. Know this. There is no room for preciousness in this game. Lay it on me. I can take it!

Contact me if you want to borrow either of the books already published. Mystery at Blue Brook would probably fall into the 9-12 age group. Adventure for Love is similar with some elements of romance to tickle the fancy. The waiting list isn’t long.