I’ve expressed the view that my next book, Dissolution would have been a better project to start my writing career. I said that because the subject matter is a serious one - adultery, compounded by the existence of an illegitimate child.

I was so hoping that when I got the edits back, they would be as simple as the ones I did for Contraband. I’m not so lucky this time around. The editor is asking that I round out some plot threads. It’s a good thing I’m working with a printed version, so I can work back and forth, especially since I don’t have a clue which point to tackle first.

Don’t get me wrong, I wrote some details into one scene yesterday, which I think worked really well. I need to do the same thing today. My challenge, as always, is to get moving. I tend to look at the problem from different angles, worry about it and then start writing in a fit of
desperation.

When I do start writing, I’m usually energized and can’t stop until I spill everything that needs to go on the page.

This blog post is a way to get me moving in the right direction. Once I’ve clarified my thoughts here, I can tackle what needs to be done.

I’m gonna write in the stuff that I can now, but based on the editor’s comments - and the subject matter of so many of my novels - I’m going to need to talk to a policeman for some more indepth information than I now have. In fact, I need one I can talk to at the drop of a hat, since I seem to be fascinated with stuff that calls for police presence or expertise.

I also need to set some goals here, some realistic ones, I might add. I want to get the three or four areas written in by weekend. By then, I might have found that police officer I need.

We’re encouraged as writers to stay away from dialect for various reasons, chief of which is that it may be hard for the reader to understand. Those of us who use dialect may be at a disadvantage when we write, depending on how you look at it. For me, dialect adds another dimension to my writing. It’s part of the silent character in my books - Jamaica. It makes my work stand out, and those who know Jamaicans comment that they can hear that musical Jamaican lilt to the words. However, I have to be careful in the way I apply dialect in my work.

If there was one thing I could say to readers, it would be that Patois (pronounced patwa) has its time and place. It’s important to remember that. I posted a chapter at my writing site and one reader took me to task over my character’s use of Patois. He complained that the woman used the Queen’s English and Patois in one conversation and that he expected her to express her thoughts in Patois, or as he put it ‘whatever that dialect is.’

Now, this is one of the problems I have with what we call chapter-jumpers on the site. The ones who are conscious of what they’re doing usually preface their critique with a statement that they might have missed key aspects of the novel, such as character development, by reading a chapter in the middle. Having read this gentleman’s comments, I had another scroll through the chapter in question. I did it because the writer in me must put aside my feelings and take each criticism as an opportunity to improve what I do.

Yes, the woman used English and Patois throughout the scene, however, she started out nice and calm talking with her husband. As she got irritated, she lapsed into local dialect. Her thoughts were in standard English and I’ll defend that by saying this is the way in which I choose to write narrative. I don’t need to have readers struggle to understand what I want to express by wording it in Jamaican parlance. Besides, it would be out of character for the woman in question.

I put myself in her position (which is what I’m supposed to do as a writer) and came up with the following factoids, which the average reader may overlook.

• The official language in Jamaica is English. It is also the language of business the world over, for those of us who hadn’t heard.

• Many Jamaicans have a fluent grasp of English and Patois. Many more speak only Patios and have difficulty forming a sentence of English, which makes me wonder if we are deluding ourselves into thinking that English is our official language. However, those who speak mostly Patois do understand English.

• The average Jamaican can form a sentence that has both English and Patois. For example:

Patois: Can you put the box here and tek up dat one from deh so?
English: Can you put the box here and take that one up from there?
(If you vocalize, it easier to understand what’s being said.)

If I’m at work, naturally I use the Queen’s English. If I’m talking to my co-workers I may use some Patois. Time and again, the people I supervised forced me to put aside English and level with them in the language they understand best. Might I say here, it’s an excellent language for cussing. We have a colourful range of swear words, which I won’t discuss here.

I’ve read that we think in images, but I’m a little fuzzy as to how I frame my thoughts. Being fluent in both languages makes it hard to say how I think.

When I’m with friends, I speak a mixture. I can’t think of any person I interact with daily who only speaks Patois. In school, there is no room for Patois, so we are taught English. However, Patois is the first language many of us are exposed to, which proves to be a handicap when we enter the formal learning system. Some never quite make the transition and leave the education system without a proper grasp of English. However, most people can form simple sentences that help us to do business.

Patois is an inbred part of the Jamaican culture. Few of us, maybe only those from the upper strata of society can claim that we heard English from the time we came out of the womb until we entered the classroom. Even if parents insist on speaking English to their children, it is likely that the domestic speaks mostly Patois.

How to bring all of these nuances over in fiction effectively?

It takes a subtle building from the first page. In my work-in-progress I have three friends who meet over lunch in the second chapter. They each speak differently. One uses a lot of Patois (worded so it can be read, of course), the other slips in and out, and the third only speaks it rarely. I try to maintain this pattern throughout the book. The one who uses both tends to slide into the local language when she’s with her friends or if she’s upset, which I think is natural.

I hope that my readers are picking up these things, which I have left unsaid. I’d hate to have to say in black and white that Character A loses her English when she gets hot under the collar versus using it when she’s in a calmer frame of mind. I suppose I could, but what fun would that be? Shouldn’t the reader be left to discover some things on her own? Still, I’m learning that the gimme-everything-right-now world we live in sometimes forces publishers to lay everything out for the reader. Wayne Brown, whose workshop I used to attend, told me that I was to always assume the reader is more intelligent than me. Some readers may expect me to spoon-feed them, but I’m trying to strike a good balance and leave the obvious unsaid.

So have you read anything with dialect lately? How difficult was it? Any ideas on what you’d do differently from what I’m doing?

In an interview with Jessica Chambers, she asked me if I had to give an aspiring writer one piece of advice, what it would be. Here’s what I said:-

Don’t rush into the publication process. Take time to learn the craft and everything else will follow. I don’t think it’s possible to write for a year and produce publishable material, unless, of course, one is a genius.

Like every other skill, it takes trial, error, perseverance and lots of practise to have something marketable, over time. I made the mistake of thinking Contraband was ready before it was and earned a couple of rejections for my troubles.

This is something I wish I understood when I started writing seriously in 2004. I wrote Christine’s Odyssey (young adult novel) before I quite understood that I should have learnt the craft beforehand. I’m paying for that mistake in spades. Like Contraband, it’s gone through more than several rounds of editing and I’m still not satisfied with the book.

However, it won a bronze medal in competition in 2008 and I look at it today and see where there is room for much improvement. I recently found out that a Caribbean publisher based in Jamaica is looking for young adult manuscripts, so I decided to do yet another round of editing.

In my opinion, writing is one of those pastimes we never ever master. I look at the things I wrote years ago and know I’m a much better writer today. I also know I can still improve. I cringe each time I come across something like ‘Christine saw’, ‘Christine heard’, or ‘Christine watched’, which are phrases I no longer use because they create a kind of filter between reader and character. Nowadays, I try to put the reader directly into my character’s head.

As I bring Christine’s Odyssey up to snuff, I see where I had a good plot, some intriguing characters, but I also had some stilted phrases and places where I could have gone deeper into my main character’s thoughts. I’ve also fleshed out her main helper much more and I’ve done the same with the mother who abandoned her.

People who have read the story loved it. They laughed and cried with Christine as she went from feeling rejected to forging a relationship with her mother. However, I have grown through seven other complete works in that time and today, I can confidently say that I’ve done my internship.

It never ceases to amaze me when someone who’s been writing for a year actually sends out a query, but I can afford to say that now. That’s almost exactly what I did, thinking that my novel was the best it could be. I wish I had a mentor to tell me that I needed to know a lot more about the craft end of things before I sent my baby off to meet rejection.

Hundreds of articles later, I knew what to do to hone the raw material I had into a good book. Alas, many new writers fall into the same trap. In our hurry to be published, we send off material that’s just not ready, and heaven forbid if someone should give us an honest opinion which says anything other than what we think.

I may be wrong, but I now believe that it takes at least five years - shave off a year or two if you’re writing and/or editing every day - for a first time writer to produce a publishable novel.

Am I off base? Making little sense? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

In November 2008, I chose a peculiar subject for my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project. The story had to do with three female friends, who faced significant problems. Two of them were in extra-marital relationships and the other could not get rid of a dead-beat boyfriend.

I played with the story idea for a while before committing to write it, for a couple of reasons. Did I know where I was going with the story? Could I get people to read it objectively and could I eventually sell it? Was I being true to myself to write it in the first place? The question of selling it wasn’t all that important because it would take me a while to get it to a publishable stage.

At the end of the month, I had a little over fifty thousand words and having met my NaNoWriMo goal, I put the project aside. When November 2009 loomed on the horizon, I got busy finishing up that story because there was no way I could face NaNo 2009 with the last year’s project still outstanding. Last NaNo, I wrote book two of that series. Still haven’t finished it, but I suppose I will by the time November comes around.

Right now, I’m editing the 2008 project with a view to submitting it to an agent and/or publisher. It’s a story I feel with resonate with women, if I can do a convincing job of telling this tale. With the story already written, I now have to insert additional background information and setting. But most importantly, I have to paint these women as sympathetic characters with convincing motivation for the choices they make.

Writers are able to separate their beliefs from the body of the story and make useful suggestions, and I expect no less. Readers have said they don’t like this character or that one, and the reason they don’t, which provides me with the information I need to make changes.

I’ve gone in and heightened conflict and I’ve given better reasons why my characters behave the way they do.

If I can make the women likeable, despite their bad behavior, then I will have done my job as a writer. Now, I won’t fool myself into believing that every reader will be able to read dispassionately. That’s not how we humans are built.

I take my cue from an agent who rejected Dissolution last year. To be fair to him, he had indicated that adultery was not a subject he was particularly fond of reading about, however, I went ahead and sent him a query. He asked to see the first three chapters and eventually rejected the project on the basis that my handling of the characters did not make him sympathetic enough to read on.

However, I submitted the same project elsewhere and earned a publishing contract, which serves as a good reminder that reading is subjective. Two people will read the same piece of prose - one loves it, the other hates it.

I am getting a crash course on the craft of writing as I reinvent this book. I’m re-learning about conflict and motivation and I’m reminded that each chapter needs to move the story forward, which is sometimes difficult when dealing with three characters and keeping up with their individual and collective situations at the same time.

Like many other writers, stories choose me. I never sit down and wonder about what the write next. I get a snippet of an idea - maybe from a news item or something that happened to someone I know, or perhaps something that happened to me.

At first hit, I never write the ideas down, but if they come floating back with additional details, then I start paying attention. Those stories that are meant to be told provide their own meat for the bare bones that first reveal themselves.

Once I have enough detail to flesh out a few chapters, I either do an outline or start writing.

As to this particular project, I’ll finish it because I believe it will make a good book. Though the subject is controversial, I won’t back away because I might have trouble selling it. Somewhere out there is an agent or publisher who will know if it’s the right fit for them and how to market it to readers.

I’m sure prolific writers struggle with what’s next, especially when ideas come hard and fast. How do you choose what to write? Do your beliefs hold you back from stepping out and handing a subject you regard as taboo? Would you back off from writing a book if you thought the subject would change the way people think about you?

Like I’ve said before, lists work for me. I finally edited my Things-To-Do down to one liners, which I’m working my way through. I pasted them on the ‘notice board’ my son made for me.

Picture four sheets of plain paper stapled together and taped to the wall over my desk. On it, he stuck 3-4 bright orange Post-It notes reminding me to buy this or that item for him. D’you see why he was so generous with his time?

I’ve been thinking about the different ways in which I can get my name out in the public domain while I wait for Contraband to become widely available in Jamaica. There’s no sense starting a publicity stir if the book is in limited supply, so I think I’ve hit upon a strategy that might work.

From time to time I write stories or ‘how to’ articles for the Sunday Observer. These are printed in the literary pages. Now I figure I can do a series of articles on the craft of writing. I’m sure there are people out there who feel they have stories in them, but are not motivated enough to do anything about it.

Sharing the knowledge I have is the least I can do to give back while I’m gaining the publicity I need to establish myself as a writer. An editor told me not-so-recently that the wheels in the publishing business turn slowly. I’m finding this out firsthand, but like I’ve also said before, another thing I’m learning is patience.

So now, I’ve written the first in the series. In this one, I talk about my editing rituals. Had I given thought to the series earlier, I’d have begun with an article on how to get started with writing. In the long term, I figure I’ll do something with the entire series.

Meantime, I continue to edit one book for submission to my publisher and another to try and get an agent.
More than ever, the publication process is teaching me life lessons. The only way to convert my dreams to reality is by well-thought-out action. After that, I need staying power to push ahead despite the roadblocks.

Is there anything you’d like to achieve about which you’ve done nothing? I’d encourage you to do some investigating and then take that first step. Do it today!  You won’t regret it.

I cut and pasted from Word again, which messed up the stuff over there in the column on the right.  This is a place holder to bring the stuff back so that people using IE can view this properly.

Nearly a dozen days have gone by since I posted an update. I’m not sure I’ve achieved much, so this evening, I’ve taken a little time to catch up with my list.

* I’m still editing my last novel. I had given myself until the end of this month to get through the print-out and I’m a third of the way through.

* I have written an article which I plan to submit to the local literary pages by midweek. It’s unreal how long it takes me to get started, but when I do, it doesn’t take more than an hour or two to get that first draft down. I hope to complete another in the series by the end of the month, but I’m not too sure it’ll get done.

* I found out that the closing date for the 2010 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s Creating Writing Competition was extended to the end of July. I might actually get a short story in. It’s already written. I just have to edit it.

* I spoke with the book distributor and they agreed to import and distribute Contraband. That was several weeks ago, but nothing has happened yet. I called again last week and it’s still a go. I have no other choice but to be patient.

* I have started editing Sweet Music Man with a view to finding an agent. I aim to finish editing this novel by the end of July. The agent search will begin in August. I’m three chapters in, so I’m way behind. I’ll have to pick up the pace here.

* I did get my new website up and running. It’s a major improvement on the old one, I think. Pop in and have a look if you haven’t already. It’s at http://joylcampbell.com I have some really cool book trailers up, thanks to Sybil Nelson.

* I still haven’t applied for that grant, but I did print out my writing resume. Does that count?

* I’ve finally gotten around to printing out a list of things to do writing-wise. Let’s see if I can stick with it.

In case you haven’t seen the trailers yet, watch them here.  Enjoy!

My friends Corra and Sybil reminded me that we’ve now gone half the year, which is a good point to review what I’ve achieved so far. I posted a list of goals on January 5 and I haven’t looked at it much, but I did keep some of the stuff in the back of my mind. Let’s see what I got done.

* Writing time. I noted that I needed more, which I still haven’t got. I planned to complete my last project at the end of February, but got it done by April. I’ve printed it out and I’m in the process of editing it. I’m keeping track of the edits here. This project should be complete in another month or so.

* Article a month for the local newspaper’s literary pages. - Nothing happened here except for a story or two. I plan to get at least a couple done within the next two months.

* Complete sequel to Sweet Music Man/Distractions - I set a deadline of year end for this. I should be able to get it done.

* I wanted to submit a young adult novel in the 2010 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s Creating Writing Competition. That’s not on since I only managed to get three chapters written since last November.

* Contraband was edited and is now published, so that’s been put to bed. Oh and Sybil made me a cool book trailer. You can see it here.

* Agent search . - The trouble is still lack of time. Within the next 10-15 days I need to start editing Sweet Music Man with a view to finding an agent. I aim to finish editing this novel by the end of July. The agent search will begin in August.

*I’ve taken on additional projects - Annika’s Revenge, Grudge, Lost & Found, and one other that doesn’t yet have a name. I know I can’t possibly write all of these at once, so I’m keeping a blog where I put down ideas as they come. By the time I’m ready to write, I’ll know my characters and the path their stories will take.  Not sure what deadline to put on these projects, but let’s just say maybe in another year or so, I’ll have maybe two of them written.

* My website needs a makeover so bad! I did a great job and then couldn’t load it up. Now I’m using Web Expression, but I don’t like the program, so I play with it for a while and then quit to surf the net. Don’t know when I’ll get this done. I’ve been playing with the thought of using a blog for my official website. I can’t even begin to think of a deadline to get this sorted out. If I had money to pay for this sort of stuff, things would be sweet!

* I was speaking to someone who suggested that I apply for a grant, based on some of the things I want to do for my writing and my books. I must get this done within another fifteen days. I’ve been dawdling too long over it.

Here’s hoping that come December 30, I’ll be able to take most of this stuff off my list. Thanks Corra and Sybil!  There’s nothing like accountability to keep me on track.

I’m in a momentary slump, and this whole writing business is my passport to madness. My excuse? I’m a

I’m at the point in my editing where I need to go back and fill in plot holes, which I’ve been quietly dreading. However, it seems the more holes I fill, the more details I have to put in. I had a list of six things that have now become eight and I’m not counting the other stuff I decided to put in yesterday.

Still, I’m grateful that I at least have my brain wrapped around the details that need to be included before I can say this novel is complete. I’ve kept a tracking list here in case I start forgetting things.

At heart, I’m one of those writers who prefer an organized approach. I actually like outlines. I find them useful. I also prefer thinking out the next chapter, jotting notes down and then writing to fit the scenario I’ve created in my mind.

I started Taming Celeste with an outline that flew through the window at some point. Result? I’m now left to gather up the loose ends and ensure I knot them nicely. But it’s a draining task. Perhaps because I’m longing to get to where I can print the whole thing out and read it as a whole. I’m still a couple of days away from that.

As I wade through, adding details here and there, I’m also trying to remind myself to rein in my passion on the next project and get the details down first. It makes editing a more pleasurable experience.

Now there’s a first. I never thought I’d put editing and pleasurable in the same sentence.

Wish me Happy Birthday! Tying all this up today would be a wonderful birthday present to me.

Gotta work on that.

In the normal course of our lives, we talk about ‘blessings in disguise’, but until recently I haven’t really thought about what it has meant for me as a writer.

In 2007, I thought I had a salable manuscript, so onward I went with querying. I sent the novel to a publisher who asked to see it. To date, I have not had a response, despite at least two emails questioning what was happening with the manuscript. I took their silence as a hint and moved on.

Looking back, I admit the manuscript was not ready. It was over one hundred thousand words - way too much for a romantic suspense novel. Since then, I’ve pared it down and found another publisher. Considering the plot twists, I can live with the new word count, until, of course, the editor starts snipping.

As part of my research, I try to read novels printed by the publishers I query. I also like to read what other Jamaican writers produce, since my work is a lot different. I went ahead and bought a novel that was published by the company I had queried. Of course, I wanted to know if my work was so bad that it did not even merit an ‘I’m sorry, but this is not what we’re looking for at this time.”

I found the book interesting and read it within two days, however, I had a problem with the editing. Too many errors had passed into print. At that time, I consoled myself with the thought that I had had a lucky escape.

A few weeks ago, I saw a second novel from the same author and decided to buy it. I’m reading the book now and know for a fact that the publisher’s silence was indeed a blessing in disguise.

I don’t know how many other writers read the way I do. Firstly, I read for enjoyment. After that, I concentrate on craft - how the novel is plotted, the language the writer uses, the depth of the characters, and whether I’m satisfied at the end.

Few novels make it to print without an error or two in there somewhere, but I was very disturbed by the careless way in which the book was edited. I might have excused it if the book was self-published or they were doing a second print run and couldn’t bother with the expense of a new round of editing, but this was a new work. I’m not sure I understand what might have gone wrong.

I count a fair number of writers as my friends. I’ve never met them face-to-face, but via the writing networks where I’m a member. We are critique partners and read each others work for just about everything. My forte is that I have a good grasp of English. I don’t know many grammatical terms, but I can look at a sentence and know when it needs fixing and how to fix it.

When my manuscript came back to me for editing, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the major part of what I had to do was add commas in some places. I also had to provide deeper explanations for why this or that thing happened, and add a new scene, but I did not have to do any rewrites. Yippee!

I say that to say this. If I, as an ordinary person can present a piece of relatively error free writing, what excuse does a publisher have for sending a book into the world, that nit-pickers like me can savage with a highlighter? I imagine if the writer has read the book and picked up these errors, she would have been cringing through the entire novel.

I’m perfectly aware that there are writers who can’t spell and who don’t know the difference between lie/lay and their/there, among other things. Some of these people are my friends- published writers who hire others to do the job they can’t do, or they hand over their manuscript, knowing an editor will work out all the kinks. In the same way, when I turn my manuscript over to a publisher, I do so with the expectation that they will catch the things I missed.

Two weeks after I got my book, I took time to read it. I noticed a sentence added here and there that enhanced the text. I noted at one point where a sex scene had been removed, that the splicing was not very smooth. I saw mini slip-ups with the typesetting and oh, yes, a few errors we missed on both sides. However, for the most part, I am happy with how the book turned out. Apart from that lingering fear that I’ve written 260 pages of drivel, I can hold the book up proudly and say ‘I wrote this!’

I’m not so sure this fellow writer can unreservedly say the same. Every instance of ‘past’ in the book was left as ‘pass/passed’ - so people were going ‘pass’, looking ‘pass’ and walking ‘pass’. To be truthful, I began to wonder if I had got it wrong.

One character couldn’t ‘bare’ the thought of…There was a ‘sad tragedy’. In a couple of instances, people ‘edged’ when they were meant to ‘hedge’. Commas were scarce in the entire thing, including places where they are a must, eg. before and after names. I’m wondering if some of the rules changed and I’ve been tardy with catching up.

And then there were embellishments that needed to come out, like ‘Hostile rage’ and ‘smirked sarcastically’. I’m at the point where I’m reading with a highlighter in hand. In case you’re wondering why, it’s not that I’m spiteful. I also do some editing and this sort of exercise hones my skills.

To get back on point, don’t think for a moment that I blame the writer; a disservice has been done to her. The final product is the responsibility of the publisher. I’m wondering what I’d do if I found out that my editor was less skilled than me in the editing department. Food for thought, eh?

I have a blog where I’ve started posting my thoughts on books I’ve read. I’ll skip this novel because I might get into trouble. Still, I can’t help but say ‘Thank God!’ this publisher passed me over.

If this rejection wasn’t a blessing in disguise, then I don’t know what is.