Uncategorized

by

Theme – Les Miserables

I went to see Les Mis a few weeks ago.  It’s the fourth time I’ve seen it performed on stage, and, as always, I bawled at the end. For me it’s just the most perfect of shows.  It has everything; great characters, a great story and great music.

In my opinion, what pulls it all in so tightly is its theme.  (Yeah, I’m on that roll again!)

Okay, so what is ‘theme’?  According to wikipedia it’s ‘the central topic a text treats’.  The thematic concept is what the work is about. These are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

I believe the theme of Les Mis is simple and clear, but I decided to google Les Miserables + theme. Here are a ‘few’ of the ‘themes’ they suggested.

1) Importance of Love and Compassion.

2) Social Injustice in 19th Century France.

3) The long term effects of the French revolution of French Society.

4) Redemption and Social Justice.

5) Identity.

6) Education.

PUR-LEEESE. The list is endless.

Maybe I have a different take on ‘theme’ but I think Les Mis is about one thing only (and its opposite).  Enslavement and Freedom.

If you can put the theme of your story into one word, and then illustrate that word (or its opposite) in each scene you will create a tight, powerful story. Which is exactly what Les Mis does.

http://www.stlyrics.com/l/lesmiserables.htm

Here’s an excerpt from the first song in Les Mis.

LOOK DOWN:

[PRISONERS]
Look down, look down,
You’ll always be a slave
Look down, look down,
You’re standing in your grave

[JAVERT]
Now bring me prisoner 24601
Your time is up
And your parole’s begun
You know what that means.

[VALJEAN]
Yes, it means I’m free.

And here’s an excerpt from the last.  Do you see a common ‘theme’?

EVERYDAY:

VALJEAN
She was never mine to keep.
She is youthful, she is free.

So here’s a challenge for you. Check out this link http://www.stlyrics.com/l/lesmiserables.htm to Les Mis lyrics.  Read through them and see just how many refer to the theme of enslavement of freedom.  Interesting, eh?  (Hey… I’ve lived in Canada for a long time!)

by

RNA Conference – Day Three

A day absolutely jam-packed with craft and industry workshops.

Nice to hear from the editors of the different houses exactly what it is they are looking for – and that they are actively seeking new voices.

Also some great craft workshops with presenters offering an interesting take on Creating Character and Romantic Story Structure.

About to get packed now, have dinner, say my goodbyes then get a good night’s sleep before heading down to London tomorrow for the holiday portion of the trip.

 

by

RNA Conference – Day Two

Catching a breather before getting all glammed up for the Gala Dinner.

It’s been a busy day, packed with useful information and a great meeting with an editor.

Some of the highlights?  Using Theme to deepen and focus your novel. The opportunities of publishing with Harlequin outwith their category series. Young Adult and New Adult Fiction. Cross genres – Robot Porn?  The difference between UK and North American markets. Diversifying your career. The beginning of the journey after you’ve been published.

Lots to think about and absorb.

by

RNA Conference – Day One

Opening day of the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference in Sheffield, England.  I joined the RNA through their New Writers’ Scheme at the beginning of the year and decided to take the plunge and go to their summer conference.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not the kind of person who is comfortable walking into a room of total strangers, so last night the butterflies started. Big time!

As it turns out, I had nothing to fear.  Everyone has been extremely friendly.

All kinds of impressions from the first day, but being surrounded by so many successful authors, some with over 60 books published, here’s the one that stands out the most.

Writers WRITE.

They don’t talk about it. They sit down at their laptops and, as the advert says, they just DO it.

by

On my way … sort of.

I’m sitting in YYC awaiting the London flight to take me to the Romantic Novelists’ Association conference in Sheffield.

On the down side, all flights have been delayed because of the disruption in Toronto yesterday so we’ll be taking off at 2230 instead of 1920.  On the up side, it’s giving me time to read through all the conference information that I haven’t had time to look at because of the madness of the past few weeks. And it sounds like it’s going to be a great weekend – once I get there.  I’m starting to get excited!

Reading through the comments from previous attendees, they suggest bringing along snacks and wine.  Not an easy thing to do crossing the pond.  Thank goodness for the internet – there’s a Marks and Spencer Simply Food at Sheffield Station.  I will definitely be calling in there before getting a taxi out to the conference centre.  Yayyy!

Watch this space.

by

From The Heart.

On March 13th, 1996, my daughter and I flew into Glasgow from Canada to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday.  Leaving a country still covered with snow, I was excited about seeing a wash of green awaiting us as we flew over Scotland. But it wasn’t to be. Scotland too lay shrouded in snow, a vision of bleak midwinter. An apt vision, as it turned out.  Mere hours later we learned of the tragedy of Dunblane.

It was only recently I learned that tennis player Andy Murray had been a child at the primary school that day. I can’t begin to imagine the horrors he, his family and the people of Dunblane experienced that day, and the pain and loss they continue to bear. But it feels as though his success at Wimbledon today is a whisper and promise of hope  – that no matter what happens, some people (hopefully most) with the support of family, community and an internal courage and belief in themselves can, and will, overcome tragedy.

From one Scot to another, can I just say how proud I am (and I believe all of us are) of your courage, tenacity and resilience, Andy.

On this most magnificent day, Thank you for being a beacon of inspiration.

Relish your success.  You’ve earned it.

by

Happy Canada Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsq68qRexFc

We Are More

BY SHANE KOYCZAN

“Define Canada

You might say the home of the Rocket
Or The Great One
Who inspired little No. 9s and little No. 99s

But we’re more than just hockey and fishing lines
Off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes

And some say what defines us
Is something as simple as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
And as for ‘you’re welcome,’ well, we say that, too

But we are more than genteel or civilized
We are an idea in the process of being realized
We are young, we are cultures strung together then woven into a tapestry
And the design is what makes us more than the sum totals of our history

We are an experiment going right for a change
With influences that range from A to Zed
And yes, we say ‘Zed’ instead of ‘Zee’

We are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy
We dream so big that there are those
Who would call our ambition an industry
Because we are vineyards of good year after good year
We reforest what we clear
Because we believe in generations beyond our own
Knowing now that so many of us
Have grown past what we used to be
We can stand here today
Filled with all the hope people have
When they say things like ‘someday’

Because we are more

Than a laundry list of things to do and places to see

More than hills to ski

Or countryside ponds to skate

We are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can’t wait
We are first-rate greasy spoon diners and healthy living cafes
A country that is all the ways you choose to live
A nation that can give you variety
Because we are choices
We are millions upon millions of voices
Shouting, keep exploring
We are more

We are the surprise the world has in store for you, it’s true
Canada is the ‘what’ in ‘what’s new’

So don’t let your luggage define your travels

Each life unravels differently

And experiences are what make up
The colours of our tapestry
We are the true North
Strong and free
And what’s more
Is that we didn’t just say it
We made it be”

by

The Hero’s Journey

Please check out this video.  It’s probably the best explanation of The Hero’s Journey out there.

http://io9.com/joseph-campbell-and-the-heros-journey-as-explained-by-602633720

The comments following the video raise some interesting questions.

Does The Hero’s Journey apply to 100% of the population, or only 50%.  Does The Heroine have a (different) journey all of her own?

And what about the characters in Game of Thrones?

Hmmm.  Got a lot of thinking to do on this beautiful warm summer’s day.

by

Calgary Catch-Up.

It’s been an unsettling week!

For the majority of citizens not directly affected by the Calgary flood, there’s been a surreal feel about the whole thing. The water has now receded and most people have managed to return to their homes. Desperately sad to see the sidewalks piled high with furniture, appliances, carpets and drywall waiting for the city to dispose of them.  A friend, whose basement was completely flooded, told me that she watched ‘her life’ being hauled away in a dump truck yesterday.

Hard to imagine.

 

 

 

 

 

by

Writers’ Retreat – Day One

It’s 11.30pm, so I’m going to cheat here and repost an article I just wrote for the Alberta Romance Writers’ Association blog. If you are an ARWA member and would like to join the discussion tomorrow, please contact me and give me your Skype address.

If you live in Calgary or Southern Alberta, stay safe and warm.

* * *

Despite the flooding here in Calgary, nine of us managed to get together for the first day or our retreat – five in person and four later on in the evening via Skype.

Our discussion brought up a few interesting topics.

1) Should we dumb down our writing – especially vocabulary – for our readers? Most readers read for pleasure/leisure and research shows that the most popular reading level is Grade 8/9. The reader wants to be able to lose himself a story, not constantly looking up the dictionary to find out what a word means. So, yes, do feel free to use the occasional ‘hard’ word but make sure the context is clear. If you want to find out what ‘level’ you write at, check out autocrit. There is also a facility on Word that allows you to do so.

2) Episodic writing. Charles Dickens was the master of episodic writing, but it appears to be having a comeback. Alexander McCall Smith recently released his book 44 Scotland Street. It was first published in The Scotsman, one chapter every weekday for six months – 100 short chapters. Not all the chapters end with a cliffhanger, but McCall knew he had to create an ending which would made the reader want to check in with the story the following day.

So what’s created a renewed interest in the episodic style? It could be the prevalence of blogging – Julie and Julia for example. For a video take on the episodic story, check out The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a fresh retelling of Pride and Prejudice through the daily entry of a modern day blogger.

3) What we sometimes find from both unpublished and multi-published authors is the tendency to recount a scene/event from one person’s POV and then immediately retell the exact same scene from another character’s POV. Unless this is done with great skill it can pull the writer out of the story or bore them. Better to ‘move the story forward’, choose the most relevant POV character and only write the scene once!

We’re going to be meeting at 3pm on Skype tomorrow afternoon. If you’re an ARWA member and would like to join in the conversation you can do so either in person at Diana’s house, or via Skype. Just e-mail Diana with your Skype address and she’ll add you to the list. These are the topics we’ll be discussing:
1) How do we apply the ‘rules’ to our writing yet maintain our own ‘voice’?
2) Define ‘voice’.
3) Give an example of one piece of music/song that triggers your writing – and tell us why?
4) Define success? Does its definition depend upon which stage of the writing journey you are currently on.
5) Can/should an author put too much of themselves into their stories/characters.