Lisa Young

This Christmas I'm giving my niece and nephews short festive tales by yours truly. Stories as gifts? Why not? Certainly you cut down on your shopping time and increase your writing time. Writing for children is exciting new territory for me. Of course my stories' main characters happen to be about the same age as my niece and nephews and have the same interests. Before I began writing, I made lists of all the exciting events, activities, and customs associated with Christmas/winter. Then I made lists of all the ideas, questions, skills and facts associated with my niece and nephews' favourite hobbies. I then wrote two separate stories  –  one for the girl and one for the boys based on the most intriguing items from the lists I'd made. I never would have tried writing for children if I wasn't an Aunt...and I'm really glad I did try. It feels like a breakthrough of some sort. It pays to experiment with different genres! Even if I don't succeed in ent

Where do ideas come from? Woody Allen apparently has a million ideas coming to him 24/7. If one idea gets some feet and starts running – well, he has a screenplay in no time. Ideas must be lining up right outside his brain waiting to get in and get their chance. I’ve never been one to buy into that whole “what if” exercise – the famous writer’s tool.“What if” never yields a thing for me. But it’s been a while since I tried – so let’s see. A Brainstorming Session of “What Ifs”: What if the floor lamp keeled over and the bulb busted and glass went everywhere? I’d have to get up and clean it and I’d probably end up going to bed as soon as I was done cleaning up. What if time stopped? I’d be stuck living a Monday night for the rest of my life. What if this house started growing and an attic appeared and I went up into it and found a world where everything was just as I wanted it? What if sports were banned? What if TV were banned? What if it were illegal to go to a movie?

Novelist   Heather J. Wood shares the benefits of limitations... Heather J. Wood One often thinks of creativity in terms of the blank canvas or the blank page—i.e. the freedom to be able to write about anything one's imagination can conjure up. Some writers chafe at the thought of restrictions. Yet, having set limitations can also be an immense source of creativity. For myself, at least, boundaries have allowed me to go in unexpected directions. I would not have imagined myself writing a teen-oriented novel involving roller derby. In fact, I would have thought the idea was ludicrous a few years ago. Yet when I was offered the opportunity to write "something about roller derby", which eventually turned into my recent book, Roll With It , I was given a wonderful creative gift. The project turned out to a liberating rather than a restricting experience. For one thing, I wasn’t worried about being "literary", so I felt free to write more naturally a

There are no travelling adventures in my future. But while I stick at home  –  friends are preparing to go to India and beyond  –  and one is already on a year long trip around the world. This is when the imagination must kick in, so that I too can have a taste of other worlds. I was editing an art book this weekend, and many of the photos that will be included in the book are thought to be some of the most sacred works of art in the world  –  they are said to contain hidden knowledge for anyone who is open and ready to receive it. The Sphinx is one such work of art. Staring at a photo on a computer is not going to cut it. You have to be there in person to feel the impact of the Sphinx  –  or so I've been told. People have been known to weep in front of great art  –  like Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. The Chartres Cathedral is another work of art that I've been told I have to see before I die. Exactly when do my travel adventures begin? Perhaps a poetry boo

Novelist Lisa de Nikolits tells us how she gets story ideas and how these ideas evolve… My brain is an attic filled with psychotic people. And each of these crazies has one thing in common; they’re all obsessed with words. They scurry around with their buckets and pails, pushing wheelbarrows that spill words and fragments of sentences, and each word or sentence is umbilically attached to the embryo of an idea. They’re ravenous, these crazies; they have an aching need for these words and ideas to take shape – they long for me to relieve them of the burden of the tiny letters and they beg me to shape the fragments into coherent sentences and thoughts. I feel the weight of these madfolk in my head; their rat claws bite the undulating surface of my brain as they run, they twist little ankles in their haste to push their way to the front line, and they’re not shy to give my skull a good thwack either, when they’re feeling particularly insistent.   They get their ide

 I know my book launch isn't until November, but it's starting to feel like it's getting very close all the same. I don't usually make collages  –  however  –  I decided I'd "get out" all my anxiety about the launch by putting it into picture form. It was a great relief somehow. So here it is for your general entertainment. I continue to be taken by Julia Cameron's writing. The book I have of hers now is called, The Sound of Paper. She's the one who "believes" in collages. She has interesting exercises in her book including one where you write about yourself in the third person  –  distance yourself and write yourself as a character. I've done this exercise once before. I tried it again today and I seemed to be just a little more honest the second time around. It's amazing how I edit myself as I write  –  well I can't say this or that  –  and let's not get maudlin or overly dramatic, and let's not make everyt

We are so lucky to have those who are experienced writers circulating in our community and holding workshops. Nothing could be more helpful than direct person-to-person exchange with someone who has gone down the path you hope to go down. Rosemary Aubert is one such person. I was fortunate enough to attend her workshop on the topic of publicity and promotion at Quattro Headquarters. She has a wealth of information that you are not going to find anywhere else. She was a criminologist – so she is good at gathering clues and following up on leads. Aubert talked about how promotion and sales should be fun. She told us it’s an opportunity you’re offering someone – it’s not about forcing anyone into anything. If you’re offering something, you’re already in a better position than asking something from someone. It’s a shift in attitude that makes all the difference. Every time you come in contact with potential readers, you’re also giving them a chance to get to know you (and you th

A few weeks ago I went to a poetry weekend near Rochester (on East Hill Farm). Here are a few excerpts from the journal I kept while I was away to give you a flavour of some of my time spent there… June 24 I’m just staring into bliss – ferns – a fan of trees hugging the pond on the other side. I’m dumbfounded or is it lulled by the beauty of this place. A very loud wasp is right behind me. The yellow irises are bowing to the pond – are they naturally this droopy or are they dying?  Love and Death. Li-Young Lee says there are no other subjects in poetry – everything else is just dross. I’ll go and pick an iris – I must! There are so many stories afoot. When you’re out on a farm everyone has a story to tell. Apparently the population of deer is so high in Rochester that they eat all the flowers in the city. You can light the water on fire in the creek near Alice’s place – because of the natural gas. I also heard the story about the chaplain who was two hours la

Guest Blogger: Rod Weatherbie Reviews Just Kids Because the night belongs to lovers Just Kids by Patti Smith  In her book Just Kids , poet/musician Patti Smith details the nature and nurturing of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in early 70s New York. It was there the two artists took turns playing each other’s parent, lover, mentor, and muse. What may be surprising to anyone familiar with Robert Mapplethorpe’s later work – and his long relationship with art curator Sam Wagstaff – is the lover aspect. Having grown up in a conservative home in a conservative era, Mapplethorpe had no outlet for his sexuality. Once out on the streets of New York he would come to realize his true nature; the freedom of which would allow the true flowering of his art. He and Smith continued to be lovers throughout his period of discovery and their relationship – although diminishing in a physical way as Mapplethorpe explored this new liberty – grew in streng

Finding Water, by Julia Cameron  –  a very interesting workbook designed for "recovering artists". And so I've begun my search for water. A friend of mine gave me this book and so far it's proving to be helpful. Cameron has an excellent section on the inner critic  –  which as you may have noticed in my last post  –  is a topic that has captured my attention. She suggests that you get to know your inner critic: What does it say? What tone does it use? Where is this voice coming from? If this inner critic had a face, what would she or he look like? Well, I went ahead and did this exercise because I come up against this inner critic a lot in my fiction. (Poetry doesn't seem to present as big a problem.) You'll never guess who my inner critic is....and I won't tell you. The point is I was completely surprised with where this exercise led...try it and you also might be surprised at what you uncover. I've been following Cameron's idea of &quo

Last Friday the Moosemeat writers descended upon the Arts & Letters Club for our annual chapbook launch. Note to organizers: if you want a great event  –  do it at the Arts & Letters Club! You have to experience it to believe it. I was mesmerized by the readings...then I was off to a poetry weekend up north the very next morning. At one of our afternoon workshops, one of my friends who rarely writes poetry, asked me why we edit poems. She wanted to know because she felt that in the moment of writing she was expressing something  –  whereas when she went to edit  –  it felt like manipulation - a kind of false tinkering with the original intent. A great discussion ensued among all of us at this point. Everyone had a different idea about the editing process. A few people spoke about how they had ruined their poems by editing. I've done it myself and seen others ruin their work too. As you weed out all the "mistakes," you can sometimes pull the poem up by its root

You may have noticed I deleted my page "News in the Writing Community"  –  as I realized I can post all the news on Twitter. I just finished posting a bunch of noteworthy items in the writing world  –  not the least of which is the fact that my brother, Mark Young, is going to be published in Measure   –  a highly esteemed magazine. I also tweeted about Sarah Selecky  –  she has some great tips for writers! Everyone should read her article, "The Ten Biggest Mistakes Short Story Writers Make"  –  which is available on her site now (as a gift to new subscribers of her free email dispatch). Click here to go to her site. Follow me on Twitter to find out all the news. So what is this post "Reality" all about? Good question. It's about the reality of working on a poetry manuscript. It's a very different reality  –  full of surprises and steep learning curves. This is my first time going through this process  –  so it's all new to me! 

Guest Blogger: Maddy Curry, Assistant Publisher at Quattro Books, Tells Us About Quattro’s Second Spring Launch Hello digital world! I feel very privileged to be a guest on Lisa’s blog; she is a remarkably talented writer and her blog is always chock full of great advice to writers, established and aspiring alike. I’m also thrilled to talk about Quattro’s latest event. Last Tuesday (May 17th), Quattro Books packed the house once again for the second wave of our spring 2011 line up – even though it was a rainy night (that was far too cold for May), the Supermarket was full to the brim with an attentive audience. (Working the book table has its advantages, one of them being a guaranteed seat.) The room had a great energy to it; this is my sixth launch of Quattro titles that I have worked at, and each time I am always blown away by the dedication and enthusiasm of all those who attend. It can be difficult, sometimes, to believe that people actually like to not only read but be read to; t