Taking Care of Business - Ciaran Murtagh

People always think it must be brilliant working from home, and as I sit in my freezing shed with frost on the inside of the windows waiting for the heater to come out of hibernation long enough to stop my breath steaming, I have to agree.

Sure it has it's problems, like wondering if you're going to make enough money  to justify turning on the heaters in the first place, but it also has lots of benefits. You're your own boss. You can work when you like and you can fit working hours around other things you might need to do in the day, like picking fluff out of your belly button, nursing that Bargain Hunt addiction and wondering what you're going to wear for dress down Friday, even though every day is technically dress down Friday. Truth be told, I sometimes have a 'can't be bothered to get dressed at all' Thursday...

But work does still need to be done. You can't just sit in your shed inhaling the sweet fumes of your a-ha themed scented candle (true fact) and dream of being JK. So how can you make a success of working from home? As Elvis said - you gotta Take Care of Business.

1) Routine

There is something about a commute to work that gets you out of home space and into work space. I'm not saying I want to sit on an overcrowded, overpriced train in order to be more effective, but I find I have to do something. When your commute is literally 'walk to the shed' or in previous incarnations 'walk to the spare room' then there's little time to transition.

This morning I've got myself up (big tick there), got two kids up, dispatched them to two different schools and nurseries, did the bins, tidied bedrooms and now it's time to work. Trouble is I don't really feel like it. I need to do something to kick myself into gear.  For me it's a blast at the gym, for you it might be a walk, a swim, reading the paper, something that kicks you into a different place. It may seem like you're wasting your time - the kids'll be back before you know it, there's stuff to be done. But as Billy Bragg said:

'I know it looks like I'm just reading the paper, 

but these ideas I'll turn to gold dust later

'Cause I'm a writer not a decorator...' 

2) Planning

I like to know what I'm doing in a day. Some people like to plan the night before, that's never been my bag. It's also impossible sometimes. I have book deadlines that might be a month or two in advance, I have TV deadlines which are literally 'by lunchtime' and I have the joys of working with Australia and the US who work through the night to give me work I didn't know existed in the morning.

Regardless, each morning I try and make a plan for myself. It doesn't have to be colour coded and covered in sticky notes, literally a numbered list - I am going to do these things in this order and then I'm going to stop, unless Australia wakes up early. It gives my day structure, and while it might not go according to plan, at least I know what I'm diverting from so I can come back to it in due course.

3) Breaks

Take breaks. You are not a loser for taking breaks. Procrastinating is not the same as taking a break. Recognise when you've hit a wall. I can spend an hour staring at a screen getting nowhere, I go and make a cup of tea and the thing clicks into place like a magic eye puzzle (ask your parents). Breaks are important.

4) Writing is not the only work

My job is a writer, therefore you might think the only time I'm doing my job properly is when I'm putting words on a page. It's not true. We're not coal miners, we're not paid by the tonne. Research is work. Answering emails is work. Sorting out your receipts is work. Invoicing is work. Sometimes - and don't tell my wife - sitting in a bath with a notepad and pen at two in the afternoon, is work. Don't beat yourself up too much about targets and word counts. If you are doing something that contributes to making the core business of what you do easier and more successful, you are working.

5) Don't eat the biscuit

That is literally it. In an office, you eat all the biscuits people judge you. When you're your own boss you can eat all the biscuits, go out and buy a new packet so nobody knows, eat them too and then only get blamed for eating one packet of biscuits. That has never EVER happened by the way.

What I mean is, fight your urges and your temptations. There are lots of things you could be doing and no one is going to know if you do them instead of work apart from yourself. Know what your distractions are and try and break the habit of going to them. You'll get more done, and in my case, stay slimmer.

That's it. Merry Christmas. Keep on trucking and may all your notebook pages be white.

The Question of Money by Chitra Soundar

 I’m still wrapping up the last of the World Book Day events across the whole month. I visit primary schools and spend time with children across Reception to Y5.

This year when I was visiting a school, I had two Q&A sessions with two Y4 classes that had read my books as part of their lessons. The usual questions came up:

a)    How old are you?

b)    Did you come from India to our school today?

c)     Where do you get your ideas from?

Then came the question that I get once every 5-6 schools, “Do you make a lot of money?”

This boy was immediately cut short by another one who said, “That’s not a proper question to ask.”

 Normally I would smile, and say not a lot and tell them I do my own dishes, took the tube to their school etc.

But I wanted to answer this time (and I’ve been since that day, answering this question seriously).

Doing what I love - 2016

A job to support myself while writing - 2004

I explained how sometimes you might have to do your art alongside other things. I explained how difficult it can be sometimes and how many writers do have another job. I iterated to them a few times that do not give up on writing or any other artistic pursuit because you can’t make a lot of money. There will always be a way to find an opportunity or avenue if you work hard at it. I told them it was hard work but it was also worth it because I enjoy what I do.

The vigorous nod of heads and big smiles told me they would want to become writers and of course they’d have to become engineers, doctors, teachers, firemen, accountants as well. That is fine, I am one of those people who never gave up writing through my life as a teacher and then as a bookworm stuck in corporate plumbing.

Since then whenever the question of money comes up in Junior School I’ve not been evasive or even embarrassed about how little we make. The school is not the place to discuss what Nicola Solomon has written about in last week’s The Bookseller.

But then I do get a series of questions, which after discussions with fellow authors, I’ve concluded has come from celebrity publishing thrust under their noses.

a)    Do you get fans coming up to you in supermarkets?

b)    Do you have a limo?

c)     Are you a celebrity?

d)    Are you famous?

e)    Do you live in a castle?

f)      Do you have a Ferrari?

And that I worry about. When the majority of books they see in a WBD line-up or in bookshops are from celebrities on TV, then it does create an expectation that only celebrities write books or if you write books, you must be a celebrity.

I’m wondering if a part of my presentation now should include photos of me cleaning the house, taking the rubbish out and being squished in a bus with my WBD gig bag to bring the glamour of being a writer down.

I do take my notebooks into schools and then I show them the ones that I’ve been writing for years without any success. When they see my Work in Progress scrap-books and research notes, my multiple drafts of the same story, they hopefully will realise hard work will get the books on the shelves. 

If I also get a TV show before or after, fantastic! I’d love to buy that Ferrari.  

While writing this blog, I wanted to provide some resources for those young people who are interested in arts. Here are a few. If you are sharing this with young people in your life, please do research them thoroughly before taking it further.

YPIA - Young People in Arts - https://www.ypia.co.uk/about-us
The Roundhouse Trust - http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/about-us/our-work-with-young-people/

Impact Arts - Cashback to the Future - https://www.impactarts.co.uk/content/our-work-young-holiday/

And finally a teenager's view on how to engage young people in the arts - https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/how-get-young-people-interested-arts

---

Chitra Soundar never knew arts was an option as a teenager. She graduated from university with a degree in commerce and accountancy and a diploma in computer science. As an adult, while working 12-hour shifts, she pursued her writing and she's hoping the day will come when she didn't have to work in a corporate firm for sustaining her arts. Follow her on Twitter @csoundar and on Instagram @chitrasoundar

Ways to Find a Title by Jess Butterworth

My first novel, a middle grade adventure, started out as Fire Walker. I thought the title was punchy, enticing and reflected a theme in the story. My workshop tutors and peers liked it, as did everyone else I told about it. But then my agent, Sallyanne Sweeney, pitched the novel to editors and received feedback that the title made it sound like a fantasy, which it wasn’t.

So I went back to my notebook and brainstormed new ideas. I decided on Meet Me at the Vulture Tree. Sallyanne tested it on a few people and the response this time was that it sounded too grown up, like a book for adults and not for middle grade.

I felt unsure of where to go from there, so Sallyanne helped me pull lines from the story that could be potential titles. For one draft, the book was called How to be a Snow Lion. By the next draft it became When the Flames Roared, then Mapping the Stars, before On the Roof of the World.

It quickly felt like I had a different title every few days and I didn’t know how to choose between them. I sent Sallyanne a list of my favourites and she suggested adding a verb in front of On the Roof of the World. My main character opens the story running through fields on the Tibetan plateau, and Running on the Roof of the World suddenly felt like the perfect fit. It seemed as if it had always existed, fully formed and just waiting to be discovered.  

     

I’ve just finished my second book and am now searching for its title too. For anyone else also going through this process, these suggestions are helping me:

1.     Unless you know it’s perfect, try not to grow too attached to a title as the chances are it will change.  

2.     Wander around libraries and bookshops to get a feel for the titles that are out there. What hooks you? What doesn’t?

3.     Are there any lines/words/phrases from the story itself that would make a good title?

4.     What are the themes of the book? Are there any key words from them that could be incorporated into the title?

5.     Are there geographical landmarks, like mountains or deserts, that could be suggested by the title?

6.     Could it be a character? Or an antagonist’s trait?  

7.     Does your title reflect the genre of the book?

8.     Will it appeal to your intended readership?

Happy title hunting!  

Jess Butterworth

@j_t_butterworth

Getting it Wrong! - Ruth Symes/Megan Rix

5 Misconceptions I used to have about writers and writing:

1. I used to think all writers were rich.

Now I know that most writers barely make a living from their work - so cash-wise they're poor.

But they're also rich: Rich in having time to do the thing they love, the pleasure of knowing they're doing work that their innermost core calls them to do, flexibility of working space and flexibility of working hours.

2. I used to think a writer could write anything they wanted.

But I soon found out if you want to be published by a regular publisher you need to take into account the word count publishers are looking for (especially for younger readers) and if you want to use your writing to express your ideals and be published by a regular publisher its better to do this subtly. (Of course with e-boooks you can do what you like!)

Bella Donna's favourite meal

My first book published was very close to my heart and expressed my life view and because it got published relatively easily I thought I could do that all the time - but my manuscripts then started to turn a bit crusader-ish and got turned down. I still want to share what I believe in but I put it within a fun story. My Megan Rix books are all about how amazing I think animals are. In November I took part in the World Vegan Month and blogged for Animal Aid. I realised that my characters in the Bella Donna books (apart from the cats) only ever eat vegan or vegetarian food - and that's how I'd like to be (I count myself as a nearly vegan as I can't always manage it.)

 is Munchkin

3. I used to think once your first book was published it'd be plain sailing.

Hohoho! How wrong could I be. But not having my second or third novel manuscripts published was the best thing that could have happened because it meant I learnt to diversify and write for a range of ages and media and publishers rather than just one slot.

4. I used to think the writing life was easy.

Risotto

LOL!

5. I used to think you needed an agent.

But that isn't true. I think I'm up to my fifth agent now - one for children's books and one for adult non-fiction. I like having an agent because it lets me have more time to write and also gives me professional back-up, editorial help, sorts out my contracts and makes sure my finances are in order. But my first three books were published without having an agent so it isn't always true (and certainly not true now when you can publish yourself.)



What misconceptions did you have or maybe you went into writing with your eyes wide open - and if you did then good for you!



Ruth Symes website is Ruthsymes.com and her Bella Donna website is Belladonnaseries.com

She also writes as Megan Rix and her latest book 'The Great Escape' has been shortlisted for the East Sussex Children's Book Award.