The Job

You hear a lot of conflicting opinions about what is expected from writers. Other than, you know, writing. Some people puff up with indignation at the mere mention of a telephone interview. "I am an artiste! I cannot be asked to converse with humans about my creation!" Others twiddle at their ipads while pontificating that writers have to be their own brands; that blogging, tweeting, touring, and signing barely scratch the surface of the barest of bare minimums.

The tricky part is that what writing actually consists of (being alone in a room, inside your own head, dropping food down your front and wallowing in your emotion of choice) is diametrically opposed to what authors have to do in order to sell books (be funny, charming, good looking, easy going, witty, and technologically adept). Is this a pass for writers to throw tantrums about readers' and publishers' expectation? Sure, I guess. If you really want to, go for it. But the landscape won't have changed when your tantrum is over.

A cult online following or a gazillion dollar speaker's fee is not going to be available to the majority of writers. Ever. The fact that some writers manage it does not mean all can. But writers are experts in doing a lot of work for little return, so it shouldn't be that foreign. Getting worked up about whether the extra-textual expectations placed on writers are good or bad seems useless -- they're simply the reality. They consist of things you might not initially want to do that can turn out be good and artistically helpful experiences (think: meeting a genuine fan at a reading you were dreading). Or they can be the opposite.

We expect creators, for all forms of entertainment, to be more available and interactive than we ever have. If that works with your personality, it's a bonus. If it grates against your nature (you're shy, or like to have time to work things out in text -- hardly a rare characteristic for a writer) then it is a hurdle. But it seems to me the day of the artistic recluse is over.

Here's an article that speaks to the issue from the writer's point of view (click the text to read the whole thing -- I just couldn't resist posting this amazing quote. I don't have enough occasion to put the phrase "jiggle my bare genitals" on my blog): "I've been on live radio and numerous television programmes and can hold my own in conversation with tramps, toffs and rock stars alike, so I know I'm not shy, but reading something so personal as my own work? No. I would genuinely rather jiggle my bare genitals at an audience than do that."

Thoughts? Is too much expected of authors now, outside of writing well? Or is it par for the course?

Welcome Jimmy

This morning, my brand new laptop arrived in the mail. This is an exciting event in a writer's life -- sure, we may not have the romance of typewriters or quills anymore, but writers have a real emotional connection to the mechanism on/with which they write.

So I have Jimmy IV. All my computers are named Jimmy, ever since my first computer, an enormous beige tower that weighed slightly more than a Honda Civic and which one fateful night, during my second year at Queen's, caught on fire. There were actual flames (briefly) and then lots of smoke (not brief). RIP Jimmy the First. May your great-grandson have a longer and less dramatic life than you did. (Note: how perfect is the photo accompanying this post? I did not expect to be so well rewarded when I typed "burning computer" into the sxc.hu search bar.)

Anyway, I'm quite thrilled to have this slick little new addition to my family of electronics. The keyboard is quiet and works (no more severely broken C key or mildly broken U key!), the battery actually works (no more staying plugged in for every single moment the thing is turned on!), and best of all, new Jimmy does not weigh fifteen pounds (only a slight exaggeration regarding my old laptop) or heat up to temperatures that have probably left me sterile.

I am excited to see what tales I concoct on your sexy matte-finish keys, Jimmy IV. And please note: if they're terrible, I plan on blaming you.

Lisa Moore nominated for the Booker!

I'm over the moon to be able to post that one of my all-time favourite writers has been long-listed for the 2010 Booker Prize!

Lisa Moore, author of February (among other fine books), is one of two Canadians on the 13-book list. The Booker has been snagged by three Canadians in the past: Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and most recently, Yann Martel (who wrote a little book about a boy on a boat with a tiger that you might have heard of).

Here's a very short story in the Star about Moore's long-list-osity.

I would argue that Moore is one of the best prose stylists writing in North America today, and I cannot think of someone who deserves to be on that list more than she does. So bravo Ms. Moore! Degrees of Nakedness and Open, Moore's short fiction collections, are quite possibly two of the most perfect books I have ever read. If you haven't had the shivery pleasure of experiencing Moore's writing, follow those links above and buy at least one of her titles (you really can't go wrong, they're all amazing) from her terrific publisher, Anansi. Or hit your local (that's mine, for example), or even go to one of these guys. Just get your eyeballs on her words, stat.

Exciting Service for First Time Authors

There are tons of resources out there for aspiring and first time writers. The difficulty isn't in finding advice, but rather in sorting the wheat from the chaff.

For anyone who is at that tender first stage ("oh my gosh I wrote a book! Wait...now what?") there is Zoe Whittall's manuscript consultation service.

Zoe is a terrific writer, critic, and editor, a savvy doyenne of the publishing industry, and a very pleasant person to work with. I cannot recommend her services highly enough.

If you are a first timer and you have a manuscript (or most of a manuscript) and you'd like to get it whipped into shape so you can start querying agents or publishers (and I would strongly advise not querying until you feel your manuscript is as strong as it can possibly be, a process that ought to involve feedback from more than just the voices in your head), a service like Zoe's can be a godsend.

If you're not lucky enough to have a terrific writing group or editing partner -- or if you feel those people are too close to a draft of which they may have seen several incarnations already -- manuscript consultation services are a great way to get some good, balanced feedback on your work in the harsh light of day. The Writers' Union also offers a manuscript evaluation service.

When working with a manuscript evaluation or consultation service, the most important thing is to make sure they are legit (which Zoe and the Writers' Union both are, otherwise I wouldn't be posting about them) and to make sure you have the right fit. Everyone is different in their needs and expectations regarding editorial feedback. Personally, I like a thorough (bordering on maniacal) edit: remember you can always decide not to use editorial advice you are offered, but it's hard to do the opposite. Plus it's never too early to develop a thick skin about your writing.

So good luck to all and if you look Zoe up, tell her that Grace sent you (no kick backs unfortunately, though I might bug her to buy me a Diet Coke if I successfully refer a crowd of terrific up and comers).

I Write Like

Check out the fun new internet writing trend, which has been making the rounds on Twitter: I Write Like, a website that analyzes whose famous writing yours resembles.

I copied the last couple paragraphs of my novel and was told I write like Stephen King. A recent poem got me a comparison to Douglas Adams (a confusing match for poetry, but okay), and a random sample from my blog returned P.G. Wodehouse as a match (my favourite comparison -- I love Jeeves and Wooster!). Innnnnteresting.

There seems to be quite a limited selection of authors one can be compared to (where the ladies at, y'all?) but it's pretty fun. Who do you write like?

UPDATE: Used a different section from the novel and got David Foster Wallace! Exciting! This is kind of like those quizzes I used to take in my older sister's Cosmo to see whether I was "Best Friend Material" or "A Great Flirt" or whatever other awful thing they splashed across the cover. Same take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt silly glee.

Typewriter image courtesy of Kriss Szkurlatowski via www.sxc.hu

Master Grace

I defended my thesis this morning before a terrific panel, including my advisor, Catherine Bush. Annnnnd -- it went really well!

Catherine very kindly hosted the defense in her beautiful backyard due to Toronto's current heat wave, which made the idea of shutting ourselves up indoors pretty unappealing. Sitting on a leafy patio talking with intelligent people about the characters I've been grappling with for the past three years was pretty fantastic.

The whole thing was intensely interesting -- in fact, I felt spoiled to have the attention of people who had read my work so carefully and who posed such insightful questions. I only hope anyone will read my work that closely again.

The defense would have convinced me the MFA was worthwhile even if I didn't already think so (which I did, of course. No program is perfect, but I am so happy I chose the one I did). It was just a really great end to the whole experience, and I was very lucky in my panel.

Hooray! To top it off, I'm off to see Noel Fielding tonight at the Comedy Bar. If you're not familiar with the Mighty Boosh (the British comedy show in which Fielding stars), you have to check it out. Hilarious stuff. Here's another link for fun.

Best of all, I feel I get at least a couple of days of harassing my friends to call me Master Grace. Sure, it's just an MFA. But I get a couple days. Get ready, people.

Atwood on Canada, Freedom, and the G20

I wanted to link to Margaret Atwood's recent op-ed piece in the Globe and Mail, which speaks to some of the craziness of the recent G20 summit.

This article combines so many of my favourite things: Toronto, Kingston, sane and balanced political engagement, Margaret Atwood, cool original-wave hippies who have maintain their optimism, and of course (if you scroll down), crazy people making non sequitur comments on the internet.

Consider this my tardy Canada Day post.

Image courtesy of globeandmail.com

Literary Delicious

This isn't strictly literary, but there's a tenuous connection: a new bar is opening up in Toronto called No One Writes to the Colonel. Fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez will recognize the nod -- the bar is named after the title story of a Marquez collection published in 1961.

Why am I posting this? Because a literary homage like that makes my heart melt. Because everyone dreams of owning a cool little bar with a bookish vibe. Because writers and their bars are as emotionally entwined as hunters and their dogs, sailors and their boats, potheads and their Doritos. Not that I've been in yet (I don't think they are yet open) but I have high hopes for NOWTTC (um, could there be a better Toronto acronym?).

I telephoned about an event I was throwing a little while ago and the owner of the bar even mentioned he is willing to host literary events once the bar is up and running; how perfect would it be to attend a reading in a bar named after a book? Bar-book-booze-reading-writing-awesomeness.

No One Writes to the Colonel is on College Street, just west of Bathurst (near the church-condo, if you know the area). Stay tuned for an opening in the coming months. I hope to see a bunch of the fall literary events taking place there! Publicists, reading series, and authors looking for venues, take note.

Project Overlap

So I'm doing a final pass on my manuscript, rejigging a few issues, and generally approaching the end of the road until the Beast is either sold or rejected with a deafening silence (and if it's the latter, I believe I am legally entitled to drink a bottle of whiskey and wake up in a bus station with my clothes on inside-out. It's in the Writers' Rights section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms...very small print).

Anyway, rather than dwelling on that grim possibility, I've started thinking about my next project, which came rushing out of nowhere about a month ago. Not only is the plot based on something with which I have some familiarity, it's new. I've been working on my current project for more than two years -- from first scene I wrote to now, it's actually been 3+ years. The new book is the girlfriend and my current book is the wife, and frankly, I'm excited by the witty banter New Book and I are having under the mistletoe at the company Christmas party. Naughty, naughty.

So, writerly friends, how do you deal with project overlap? How do you treat your current project right, come home to her at night and lavish her with all the attention of that first exciting scribble on the back of a play program or receipt? Am I wrong to be eyeballing New Book when I still owe my allegiance to Old Book? Is New Book an acceptable carrot to dangle in order to convince myself to do the donkey work of re-writes? So many moral questions...any input? Do you start a new project before you finish the current one or are you a serial monogamist?