Give them pleasure

“Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.” Alfred Hitchcock

I didn’t set out to write a creepy story. But it seems that I have.

Early responses from readers of Portraits of Celina are that the novel is gripping, thrilling and seriously creepy. This comment is often followed by grimaces and shudders, and then the sharing of favourite “freak out” moments. All relayed with huge grins and much wide-eyed glee. Fantastic and appreciated feedback for me as the author, but it got me thinking what a weird lot we human beings are! Why do we gain pleasure from reading stories that scare us?

The answer can be found in biology and evolution. Feeling fear is a primeval response that has contributed to our species staying alive and thriving, and that has saved us from many dangers.

The science goes like this. When we are confronted with a dangerous situation, the brain immediately releases a surge of hormones, in particular, adrenaline, but also others such as dopamine. These hormones trigger our fear response that allows us to react swiftly. Our bodies go on high alert, we are charged with energy and our senses are intensified. Essential things for survival.

Now, for many, when these hormones are released in non-dangerous situations, where there is little or no risk of physical harm, this heady rush of hormones results in a type of exhilaration, or at the very least, exciting, pleasurable feelings. All thrill, but no price! Perfect.

I can assure you it is very unlikely that I will ever bungee jump off a bridge, go skydiving or swim with sharks. I’m not even that keen on roller coaster rides. For me, there is no better place to get my dose of thrills and chills than curling up on my sofa in the safety of my own home caught in the suspense of a nail-biting novel, experiencing fear vicariously.

So I am pleased to have written something a little creepy – something that allows readers the same pleasure as waking from a nightmare!

Hope you enjoy the rush.

The devil’s in the detail

This particular idiom is a favourite of mine. How often do we get tripped up by not attending to the details of a situation? (What?! I had to check in forty-five minutes before the flight!) Not reading the fine print? (What?! I’m not covered for flood damage?) Not reading the instructions? (Why is there five screws left?) Ploughing through the steps of a recipe without paying enough attention to those important fine details? (What?! It said a teaspoon of chili not a tablespoon?)

As an editor, I am most certainly a details person. But it is in writing, that details give me the most delight and, at times, cause me the most dilemmas. The addition of details can make or break your writing and it can be a deliciously devilish thing to get right.

It comes down to the old Goldilocks scenario.

Too many details and your writing becomes wordy and dull, slow paced and bogged down, allowing no room for your readers to use their own imaginations.

 

Too few details and your readers will find it difficult to form pictures in their minds. And your writing becomes flat, uninspiring and quite possibly confusing.

But if you provide just the right amount of details, your writing will sing; it will be vivid and rich – without slowing the pace of the story.

But having the right level of detail is only half the problem. The details you choose must be just right as well – they need to be precise, convincing, evocative, authentic, sensory, specific, arresting, unusual. They should never be merely embellishments. They need to work hard for your plot, or setting, or themes, or character.

In my own writing, I tend to start quite expansive and then whittle down my descriptions and scenes until I feel I have just the right balance, keeping only what I feel are the most arresting, evocative or necessary details. This of course is time-consuming, but it works for me and, as I whittle away, the process becomes like solving a puzzle. By way of example, the first drafts of the prologue in Portraits of Celina ran at around 1000 words. The prologue that made it into the final draft is a mere 250 words – yet it still says everything it needs to say and, while it hasn’t been tested on the general public yet, I think it is vivid and powerful. (She says, hopefully!)

To finish up, I found an interesting definition of “the devil is in the detail” in that most reliable of sources Wikipedia.

“The idiom ‘the devil is in the detail’ refers to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the details.”

In the context of Portraits of Celina, this particular definition brought a sly grin to my face. There is certainly a catch / twist hidden in the details of this story. Quite a dark one, actually. And yes, my friends, that is a teaser ...

The next big thing

It may be Boxing Day here in Australia, but apparently THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG thingy must go on.

Last week the very lovely Deborah Abela tagged me on her blog, as part of a chain of blog posts by writerly types called THE NEXT BIG THING, where authors are invited to wax lyrical about their next book.

Today it's my turn, and I’m going to be answering a bunch of questions about my new novel, Portraits of Celina, which comes out next April. Then I have to tag more writers who will tell you about their new books next Wednesday.

So let’s get this show on the road.

What is the working title of your next book?

Portraits of Celina. It will be out in April 1 next year – no joke! I’d show you the cover – it is amazing – but I’m afraid I can’t as there is going to be an official “reveal” and competition in February. Stay tuned.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea snuck up on me. I was writing a totally different book for a younger age group, but it wasn’t working. After some scathing but "right on the money" feedback from my daughter, I decided to ditch that particular project. But the set-up and back-story I had created intrigued me and I couldn’t let my characters go. So I decided to go for a bit of an explore and see where it took me.

What genre does your book fall under?

This is a tricky one as it doesn’t fit neatly into a particular genre. A haunting thriller perhaps? It’s for readers aged 12+, and the back cover blurb describes it as “A ghost story. A love story. A story of revenge.”

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

There has been much discussion and daydreaming about this among the editors at Walker Books. But I think Ashleigh Cummings who played Debbie in Puberty Blues and Tomorrow When the War Began would do a great job of Bayley. Oliver I’d choose a hot newcomer from NIDA. Gran is definitely Jacki Weaver. And Bill Hunter (if he were still with us) is the perfect Bud.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When the grief-stricken Anderson family moves to the lake house in faraway Tallowood, Bayley hopes that this will be their chance for a fresh start, but the house was witness to an awful tragedy forty years earlier and Bayley becomes entwined in her murdered cousin’s desperate yearning for revenge.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Walker Books Australia will be publishing Portraits of Celina.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About eighteen months – I wrote most of it on the train during my morning commute to work.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Can't really answer this one yet – though some readers have seen parallels with The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

 Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My daughter, Lizzie, inspired (or strongly suggested) I ditch my original idea (which sucked, in her humble opinion) and explore the setting and characters and set-up I had created. She was so right!

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Early readers (my publisher, editors, sales and marketing team, sales reps etc) have all commented on how genuinely creepy and suspenseful the book is. And there is a twist at the end of the story, which has taken everyone by surprise and has had them looking at me through narrowed eyes and saying things like “I didn’t know you had such a dark side, Sue!”

So that's it from me. It is now my duty to pass the baton on to other writers and as it is the holiday season and everyone is lying around a pool or on the beach somewhere reading the current big thing, I have only managed to tag two writers - the gorgeous and talented Sue Lawson and Steph Bowe. They will be posting on January 2. 

So long!

Handing over the reins

I have just finished going through the copy edit for Portraits of Celina. In the next week or so, the manuscript will be typeset, so apart from a final proofread, the work is done and soon Portraits of Celina will be a book. (Not out until April 2013 though.)

I should be excited - and I am - but I am also feeling bereft. Why? That is what I have been asking myself the past couple of weeks.

Mostly, I think it is because I am sad to say goodbye to Celina and Bayley and Oliver and Seth and all the other characters and their individual dilemmas and quirks and personalities. They have been such a big part of my life for the past few years, and I'm not quite ready to bid them farewell.

I'm sad too because once Portraits of Celina becomes a book, I can no longer tinker with it, no longer tweak or massage or improve it. I can't add that fantastic new element I just thought of in the shower, or that acerbic line of dialogue that just came to me. I can't change anything. It will be all done and dusted and handed over to the readers. And in many ways, it will no longer be my story. I will have lost control and be handing over the reins to those readers. It will be their story - the story their imaginations create from my words on the page.

But isn't this handing over to the readers what I have been aiming for throughout the writing of the book? Isn't it for the most part what has driven the writing? The answer, of course, is yes, and if I'm totally honest with myself, the handing over isn't really making me sad that I am losing control, it is just a teeny bit scary. I love my story and my characters, but what will my readers think?

Such a wide range of emotions. That amazing roller-coaster ride yet again.

And I know the best way to get over these feelings is to stop wallowing and to get cracking with the next book.

But that blank page is pretty scary too!

So, I am putting on my brave hat, and after I press post to this, I am going to open a new word document and write "The Awful Truth" and start writing. (At least one sentence anyway.) Wish me luck.

The end

I have been thinking about endings a lot lately. For two reasons. Firstly because I am giving a talk to a group of novel writing students in a week or so about getting the climax and ending right, and secondly because I am working on my revisions for Portraits of Celina and working diligently on, among other things, getting the climax and ending right. (And it has been SO hard, but I think I am getting there. Slowly.)

Endings are important. Endings are worth the effort.

Because after all - and I don't know where this quote originated (sorry) - "Your opening will sell this book, but it is your ending that will sell your next."

A while back I blogged some killer openers. So in the interests of symmetry and fairness, here are some cracker endings.

The Book Thief, Markus Zuzak

"All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you. 
A LAST NOTE FROM THE NARRATOR
I am haunted by humans."

Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta

"You know, a wonderful thing happened to me when I reflected back on my year.
'One day" came.
Because finally I understood."

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

"Maybe I ain't too old to start over, I think and I laugh and cry at the same time at this. Cause just last night I thought I was finished with everything new."

Chocolat, Joanne Harris

"Hoping that this time it will remain a lullaby. That this time the wind will not hear. That this time - please, just this once - it will leave without us."

All That I Am, Anna Funder

"Bev tips the half-cup of black fluid down the sink. She pulls the phone from its cradle in the wall, dials the necessary number and starts to clean."

My favourites here have to be The Book Thief and Chocolat, but they all give you that wonderful sense of completion, don't you think?

Snapshots of Children's Book Week 2012

I know Book Week was over weeks ago. But I have been busy working on revisions for my novel Portraits of Celina (Out in April), and haven't had a chance to post about my Book Week adventures. Until now.

Book Week 2012 was a wonderful week full of warm welcomes, enthusiastic students and teachers, terrific displays, amazing lunches and morning teas and lots of fun storytelling and joy about books. (And a crackly voice that just hung in there. Phew.)

A big thank you to the teacher librarians who hosted me and did such a fab job of preparing their students. Here are a few pics of some of the highlights. 

Uncle Alien by Jake at Caddies Creek

On the road again - Book Week 2012

I'm sitting up in bed, snug, my doona pulled up to my chin. It's gloriously sunshiny though a little windy outside. The house is quiet, and I am savouring this last tiny shard of peace, solitude and calm, before chaos reigns again.

This week is Book Week - the busiest, craziest week of the year for children's authors and illustrators in Australia. (So busy for some that it becomes "Book Month", but for me with a full-time job, it's just a week.) It is the week when schools and libraries hold bookish events, have character parades, invite authors and illustrators to speak, congratulate the Book of the Year winners and celebrate the joy of books and stories.

I love it.

So once I hop out of bed this morning, I will be dusting off my giant spider puppet, giving my cardboard fire engine a bit of a shine, packing my dress-up clothes (and some "real" clothes as well), collecting up my books, and all the while, rehearsing my stories in my mind (in case I have forgotten any of them!). Then it's time to hit the road. Five days, five schools, fifteen sessions, hundreds and hundreds of students. To coin a famous phrase: "I'm excited!"

Happy Book Week everyone.