I never really expected to meet my literary idol Geoff Dyer. He’s something of an enigma in the sense that while he has been lauded as ‘possibly the best British writer alive today’ until recently many of his books were not available in Australia and he is not very well known here.

In principle I’m not a big fan of writer talks. Most writers are much better on paper than in the flesh and often not attractive enough to keep an audience even mildly diverted while they read endless passages from a book many of us have already read. But when I saw Geoff was speaking at the 2012 Sydney Writer’s Festival – I booked without hesitation and, as you can see from above shot, was so close to the stage I could have practically kissed his feet if I was so inclined.

Well, he’s ‘adorkable’; the thinking woman’s Hugh Grant with an awesome vocabulary and therefore ideally equipped to articulate his (many) neuroses.

I could relate to so many things he discussed. He told the story of acquiring a new publisher and being asked what books he had in the creative pipeline and, because he was passionate about tennis at that point, he said he was going to write a book about tennis. He subsequently got a contract to write about tennis which had the immediate effect of making him not want to write about it and spend all his time hand-wringing about not writing it. Fortunately it didn’t put him off tennis.

I’m with him on this one. I understand that career writers thrive on deadlines and contracts (I envy them) but the combination of those two would be the kiss of death to me. Like Dyer, I have to be fascinated enough with my subject to want to spend a couple of years exploring it, immersing myself in it and unravelling it. If the energy fades or the interest just isn’t there, it’s just not going to happen.

He found a wonderful audacious way around it and went on to write something that, on the surface of it, only a handful of people could be interested in – a book about the Andrei Tarkovsky film ‘Stalker’ -with which he has an obsession – entitled ‘Zona: A Book about a Film about a Journey into a Room.

In a lesser writer’s hands or even worse an academic’s, this could be beyond dreary but, from what I could glean from the film clips and accompanying snippets he read, his inimitable Dyerfication of the subject had created an erudite and amusing journey.

I’m currently reading my (signed) copy of ‘Out of Sheer Rage’ and in this book he is very much the writer’s writer. He turns procrastination and indecisiveness into a spectator sport, and it is so easy to relate to the elaborate delaying tactics and bargaining that are the secret machinations of the writer’s mind.

If you’re new to Dyer and don’t know where to start, I’d suggest ‘Yoga for People Who Can’t be Bothered to do it.’ or ‘But Beautiful’.

Every book is very different, you don’t need a feel for the topic just an admiration for this great writer and an affinity for his particular brand of humour

If you have been following the long and winding journey towards turning my novel ‘The Olive Sisters’ into a motion picture, all I can say is that it is moving in the right direction.

It is always a long process to write and finalise the screenplay to everyone’s satisfaction, that took me a couple of years to do. From there it was all about the producers creating momentum and putting together the dream production team – which we now have.

There are obviously dozens of other important aspects – cast and finance to name two but these aspects are also looking extremely positive right now.

This week the producers, Bonnie Burgess and Georgie Fenton plus Production Manager, Cleve Landsberg were over from LA and joined up with myself and Aust. producer James Vernon to do location scouting for the town and olive grove. This beautiful grove is near Picton in NSW.

The US team have now headed off to check out locations in the other states and I’m looking forward to hearing how they got on when they get back to Sydney next week.

Watch this space!

We had a great day at my Kitchen Table Workshop last Sunday exploring characters from four different novels-in-progress. We asked the hard questions and dug deep to find out the truth about these characters – who they are, what they want, what they will do (or not do) to get it – some surprises for the creators!

It’s always a wonderful experience to sit down with a group of aspiring authors sharing personal stories, collaborating and encouraging each other.

Comments from participants:

“I came away from the table with useful tools on how I can improve my main characters and give them more depth. It always amazes me how generous and open writers are when it comes to their writing and the telling of their personal stories. Thank you again for your insightful comments and the delicious pumpkin soup:)”

“The workshop gave me clarity about my characters and the tools I needed to give them more individual voices. I came away with a new sense of who my main protagonist is and where her journey will take her.  It definitely wasn’t just another workshop about theory and possibilities. This was a day about doing! I left with completed writing exercises that I used to launch the next phase of my attack.

I would definitely recommend a visit to Amanda’s kitchen table if you are keen to explore your writing in a small, supportive group environment with personal feedback.”

Stories are about people (okay, some are about dogs but mainly people). No amount of stunning settings, elaborate furniture or stainless steel appliances can keep us interested for very long. Plots need people and those people have to feel authentic, we have to believe in them in order to believe in the story.

Often characters don’t feel real on the page because they are more a set of characteristics than a fully developed person. We’re less than convinced when a wad of backstory appears to bolster a cardboard character, in fact, that’s when we start to suspect the writer has (shock/horror) made it all up.

Characters show us who they are through their actions and their dialogue. Author Kurt Vonnegut put it succinctly: “Make every character want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”

In other words there has to be push and friction for your characters to react to; an objective to move towards – even if that involves running away.

Give your character a need and an obstacle and they will begin to reveal who they are, as does anyone in crisis.

Here’s a quick character test: Have a look at the characters in your story and ask yourself, if this was a script, would a great actor (you do the casting) want to play this character? We know that actors are attracted to complex, interesting characters because those roles allow them to explore depths of the character within the context of the story.

The same experience a reader is seeking from your novel.

Solo walking, running and swimming are sympatico activities for a writer because they take you away from the physical side of the work and allow the mind to wander aimlessly. (And stave off writer’s butt.)

I don’t set myself the task of coming up with answers when I walk. It seems to work better if you let it sneak up on you, just let the mind play, wonder and ruminate. Sometimes it seems as though your characters fall into step, reveal themselves more easily because they are not under pressure or confide something they have never told a soul.

That’s when you will see me standing in splendid isolation somewhere saying, ‘Oh WOW!’ Got it.

Our editing workshop was a terrific experience  – intense and exhausting. Without cake to sustain us, I’m not sure we would have survived. One of the best aspects of running workshops at the kitchen table is that a freshly baked cake is obviously going to feature somewhere there.

The focus of the workshop was examining the First Five Pages of each person’s manuscript. We looked closely at the key elements; first sentence, first paragraph, first page, first five pages. If an editor or agent is not convinced by this point, it’s in the slush pile.

We all read each person’s work and gave feedback on our general impressions. It was incredibly helpful for each writer to hear what appealed to readers (and what didn’t) and how it could be fixed in the context of the story.

We went in deeper and looked at each aspect of the five pages; pace, description, setting, dialogue and how each scene played out – finally looking at proofreading.

So each manuscript had an intense health check and each writer went away with new ideas and loads of work to do. But also with an understanding the process of those ‘passes’ that need to be completed on the manuscript before it goes anywhere near a publisher or agent.

It was a valuable experience for everyone to have to critique other people’s writing.

I’m going to try and find the time to run workshop again later in the year. If you want to be published, highly recommend the process. Small on size – big on value!

Participants came from all different parts of Sydney – here’s what a couple of them had to say:

“It was a great day Amanda. I can’t believe that you won’t write a novel one day on the fascinating people you bring together. Everyone I met on Sunday had an extraordinary story to tell and I hope I can hear more when the time is right. I found the day extremely useful – there is nothing like hearing that someone wants to read more.”

“I had such an great day yesterday. I loved learning about editing and want to thank you for passing on your knowledge and skill. I now have even more respect for you and your work. I don’t know how you keep it together with so many projects and all the 12 in 12 stories that you edit. You mentally exhausted me but it was great fun!”

NEXT KITCHEN TABLE WORKSHOP

Have been planning to embrace 21st century communication and start a Facebook Page forever.

I’ll be posting bits and pieces about what I’m up to as well as interesting sites/ news about our favourite subjects; writing and reading.

Plus, I would love to hear what you’re up to.

So if you would like to keep in touch, click on my Facebook button to the right and Like my Page and we’ll be in business!

Character & Dialogue Intensive

Why Attend? You have written some fiction, maybe even a novel, and by now have realised how challenging it is to create believable characters and authentic dialogue. This workshop will focus entirely on the skills of character and dialogue development.

In this workshop you will learn:

• How to choose the best character to deliver your story.
• How to create authentic characters.
• How to develop and integrate back-story.
• The secrets of crafting powerful dialogue.
• The importance of conflict and a strong adversary.
• Creating empathetic (but not necessarily likable) character.
• Working with character interactions.

Comments from the last workshop:

“It was a great day Amanda. I can’t believe that you won’t write a novel one day on the fascinating people you bring together. Everyone I met on Sunday had an extraordinary story to tell and I hope I can hear more when the time is right. I found the day extremely useful – there is nothing like hearing that someone wants to read more.”

“I had such an great day yesterday. I loved learning about editing and want to thank you for passing on your knowledge and skill. I now have even more respect for you and your work. I don’t know how you keep it together with so many projects and all the 12 in 12 stories that you edit. You mentally exhausted me but it was great fun!”

Find out more & book your place at the table HERE

I have to confess to buying most books online, mainly because it’s cheap and convenient but also because I’m easily seduced. One minute I’m in the shop cruising and musing, next thing I know, I’m standing in the street with five kilos of print matter and a big hole in my credit card.

But I do adore wandering around a lusciously delicious bookshop, particularly in another country (I’m limited to English) checking out the vast array of books we never see here in Australia.

Here’s a no-risk tour of 20 of the World’s Most Beautiful Bookshops