Karen Comer

Collecting Stories

Art journals for writing

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There are art journals – and there are art journals. My art journal – well, it’s more of a collection of notes, scribbles and diagrams than a beautiful object to be placed behind museum glass one day.

I created my art journal to collect all my ramblings about my young adult verse novel, Even the ocean. I have three sections – one for general notes, and one each for my two protagonists.

My art journal is a great place to be messy – something which is absolutely essential to the creative process but not always appreciated by my editorial brain. So my art journal gives me permission to doodle, record scraps of ideas, work through plot problems, add images, tuck secret notes inside envelopes, research – all non-linear, imaginative, daydreamy ways to follow my story.

This art journal concept has worked so well for me that I am now in the process of making another two journals – one for a new middle-grade idea and one for a new young adult book. I think I’ve found my process!

Devotion by Hannah Kent – book review

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Hannah Kent’s Devotion is one of my favourite reads for this year. It’s historical fiction, beginning in Prussia in 1836 and continuing with an ocean journey to South Australia.

It’s the story of Hanne, a fifteen-year-old girl who feels she is a disappointment to her mother as she’s not quite ready to think about marriage, and she’s not like the other girls her age who are already planning their married futures.

When she meets Thea, she no longer feels so alone. She’s grateful Thea and her family, like the rest of their Old Lutheran community, have made the decision to leave Prussia for Australia in order to practise their faith without fear of persecution.

I was halfway through reading Devotion one night when I read a few pages and decided that what I was reading was too impossible to comprehend. Clearly, I was exhausted and I should put the book down and go to sleep.

When I continued reading the following night, I realised that I had not misread the previous chapter. No spoilers here but goodness, that section was breathtaking!

Kent’s writing is lyrical and evocative –

Now. years later, sitting on the lip of this valley, I can make prayer beads of the trees that crown me, the small living things glimpsed if I am still and silent. Red gum, blue gum, quandong, stringy bark. And the birds, ever here, ever singing, a liturgy to govern the hours towards gods of cry and shriek and call.

Devotion was my suggestion for our bookclub – I’m sure other bookclubs would enjoy reading it, too. It is also a beautiful-looking book with a textured, linen-like cover and an embossed design, like the whitework Hanne’s mother teaches her. It’ll be a book I’ll read again in a couple of years.

And the winners from last week’s giveaway are:

  • Vanessa – How to bee
  • Kathy – The beast’s garden
  • Kristine – Elsewhere girls

Congratulations to all the winners – I’ll be in touch!

Giveaway – books to win!

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I have been generously supported by the writing community recently – in particular, Kate Forsyth, Nova Weetman, Emily Gale and Bren MacDibble.

So I am giving away a copy of their books! I have my own copies of their books – and I think you should as well!

  • Elsewhere Girls by Emily Gale and Nova Weetman – middle grade. This is the story of two swimmers living in different times. Fanny Durack is from the Sydney of 1908 – she lives over a pub with her parents and eight siblings and regularly escapes the chores of skinning rabbits and washing bedlinen by hand to swim instead. Cat Feeney lives in Sydney, 2021, getting up early every morning for squad training, even though she’s not as committed as she should be. Thanks to an old timekeeping watch, they somehow swap bodies and timeframes. While both are swimmers, their lives are different and each girl has a greater understanding of her own life while living someone else’s.
  • The beast’s garden by Kate Forsyth – historical fiction (adult). Ava is a young German, living in Berlin during the Second World War. She is deeply concerned about her closest friends, who are Jews, and does what she can to look after them. She marries a Nazi officer, Leo, in order to save her father. Ava abhors everything Leo supposedly stands for, but falls deeply in love with him at the same time. As Ava does what she can to support an underground resistance movement, she gradually discovers that Leo is not as he seems – he is doing his part to stop Hitler. Their lives, along with their friends and family, descend into madness and chaos, as the war progresses. Ava uses all her courage and intellect to help Leo out of the brutality of war.
  • How to Bee by Bren MacDibble – middle-grade. This is set in a dystopian world, where nine-year-old Peony is desperate to become a ‘Bee’, someone who climbs the trees, waving a wand to collect the honey. She lives and works on a farm with her sister and grandfather. But trouble arrives in the form of Peony’s mother, who wants to take Peony away to a different life. Peony’s voice is strong and compelling and whisks readers away into her world where you just want everything to work out for her because she is such a hard worker and so determined to support her family.

To enter, please leave a comment below – tell me about a book you’ve read recently and loved. Three winners will be drawn out of a kitchen bowl next Thursday, 25th November and each sent one of the three books mentioned above.

Good luck!

Book research – street art

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The teenage protagonist in my young adult verse novel is a street artist. For a few months, I’ve been researching street art from my laptop, unable to go out past my 5k zone into the city. And as much as Ms Google and Mr YouTube shared their vast stores of information with me, it wasn’t quite the same as experiencing street art in person. So last weekend, I ventured out – my first post lockdown excursion – to research Melbourne’s street art scene with a tour from Blender Studios.

Our guide, Kaspar, a street artist, was both knowledgeable and entertaining. We started with Hosier Lane, Melbourne’s only legal place for street art. I really loved Kaspar’s bird – the cocked yellow head against the darker feathers.

We walked around the corner, saw Lushsux’s peeling Yoda, the paint peeling thanks to previous artists’ paste-ups put up with wheat paste. We also admired an ostrich Elvis by John Murray, as well as an installation wall.

The tour finished at Blender Studios, with a chance to look at the artists’ works in progress, admire Kaspar’s skateboard art, see a few more winged creatures on the walls.

I kept my phone out for the entire tour, taking notes, taking photos. Kaspar patiently answered my many questions about grids, techniques, stencils caps, cans, community service and so on.

Full of my research and inspiration, I rewrote another draft of my novel in three days, focusing on the street art thread, before sending it on to my agent.

It was so wonderful to be out and about, talking to experts, seeing the art up close but also stepping back to admire it from a distance. My experience totally energised my writing, adding a lot more detail and nuance.

Talking with Kaspar, meeting a couple of other artists at the studio, all led to a greater understanding and appreciation of this art form which gives so much vibrancy to Melbourne.

Blender Studios run street art tours in the city as well as spray can classes where you can take home your own art. I must confess to doing a bit of Christmas shopping in the studio…

While I’m a writer, I love learning from other art forms and other types of artists. The other participant on the tour with me was an engineer who took a week off work to focus on his acting. Creativity in all forms, all mediums – sprayed with the tshhh from a can, lines delivered with presence, sculpture shaped from clay, a quilt designed with an intuitive sense of colour and pattern, a meal presented with care and attention to detail, a violin solo with a grace note – it all inspires me.

Girl, woman, other – book review

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When a friend told me that she was reading a book that didn’t use fullstops, quotation marks or capital letters at the beginning of sentences and it sounded like a poem, I knew I had to read it. Bernadine Evaristo’s book Girl, woman, other was published in 2019 and won the Booker Prize that year.

It’s about 12 girls/women/others centred around Britain, each with their own section so we are instantly taken into the minds, hearts and lives of all of them. The 12 characters have lives which intersect each other’s, sometimes in familial ways, sometimes through friendship or work relationships. The last chapter brings it all together.

I loved the sense of floating through the book, feeling as if I were on a meandering river which flowed its way through the different stories. The lack of ‘proper’ punctuation certainly added to that effect.

The stories, connecting past, present and future, connecting women of all different sexualities, class, education, financial means, are compelling. The characters are sad, humorous, tender, angry, passionate, invisible, loud, scared, defiant, shocking, desperate, creative – and so much more.

So now I am following my friend’s lead, and telling you, my friends, about this book that doesn’t use conventional punctuation and reads like a poem. I hope you feel like you need to read it, too!

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo – book review

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Such a fabulous book title – The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid! Miss 15 and one of her friends both enjoyed this adult novel, and I did, too.

Loosely based on Elizabeth Taylor’s husbands, the book begins with glamorous Hollywood actor Evelyn Hugo, ready to share her life story with an unknown magazine writer, Monique Grant.

Evelyn recounts her Hollywood career, and her choices to marry and leave her seven husbands. Monique’s story is woven in between Evelyn’s tale. As a reader, you just know that there must be more of a connection between Evelyn and Monique, and the big reveal is absolutely surprising.

Miss 15 warned me I’d never guess the plot twist, and she was right! It was the perfect ending – both surprising and inevitable.

This would be a fabulous summer read – engaging characters, a compelling plot and a fabulous Hollywood background from the 1950s to 2017.

Researching domestic abuse

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Domestic abuse is not an easy topic to write about or research. I’ve almost finished reading Jess Hill’s See what you made me do, the 2020 Stella prize winning non-fiction book about domestic abuse. I’ve also almost finished watching the Netflix series Maid, about a young American woman who ends up homeless with her two-year-old daughter, running out of options to find a home. I’ve been talking with a friend who works for a centre supporting women and children who have experienced domestic abuse.

There’s a small thread of domestic abuse in my young adult verse novel – I’m rewriting it now. The thread is only small, no more than 2,000 words over a few sections but it is so, so, so important that I write it based on research. Even though my thread involves minor characters and their story is entirely fictionalised, I don’t want to misrepresent the women and children who face domestic abuse.

Even though the Netflix series is fiction and Hill’s book is non-fiction, even though the Netflix series is American and Hill’s book is Australian, there are startling similarities. Did you know that it usually takes a woman seven attempts to leave her abusive partner?

I usually read a non-fiction chapter in the morning, and I’ve been watching Maid at night – it’s a grim way to bookend my days. But it’s important not to turn away from these realities, to bear witness to what so many women and children experience.

If I were to take away one thing from my research, it’s that – as Hill explains in her introduction – domestic violence is not an inclusive enough term. The emotional and financial aspects of coercion need to be included as well so domestic abuse rather than domestic violence is a more accurate term.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call 1800RESPECT or 1800 737 732.

Seven tips for Yr 12 English students

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The Year 12 English exam is less than two weeks away. Many students all over Australia but particularly in Victoria and New South Wales have spent a decent chunk of their year studying from their bedrooms instead of the classroom. Here are my top seven tips for VCE English students, based on my knowledge of the Victorian curriculum and my experience tutoring VCE students. And my experience with my Yr 12 son!

  • Remember – your score for English will be included in your top four subjects. Make English a priority for study!
  • Flick through your texts. You should be familiar with them by now, but perhaps less familiar with the ones you studied earlier in the year. Flick through them, slowing down to note the underlined words or your notes in the margin.
  • If you haven’t already written out quotes from your texts, write them out now. Memorise them – record yourself reading them into your phone. Ask a family member to do this for you, if you’ll learn better from someone else’s voice. Listen to them on a walk, while shooting hoops, while playing with your dog. Write them on small cards and stick them to the back of the bathroom door. Use different colours to highlight different themes, different characters. In your exam, an attempt to remember a quote is better than no attempt at all – put quotation marks around the words you’re sure of.
  • Look at as many essay questions as you can. If you can’t write essays for all of them, write five minute plans. If you’re stuck on a few questions, spend more time on these ones.
  • Language analysis – in your exam, do this one first, as you can use your valuable reading time to read the articles. If you read the articles in reading time, write the other two essays, then go back to the language analysis, the articles won’t be as fresh in your mind.
  • Allow time for proofreading at the end of each essay. If you have gone off track, rewrite what you need to in short, simple sentences. If your sentences are too long and convoluted, break them into two sentences. Check you have an opening topic sentence and a concluding sentence for each paragraph that link to each other.
  • Watch your timing. Work out how much time you have for each essay, then divide that time into seven. For each essay, you need to allow time to plan, write an introduction, write three body paragraphs, write a conclusion, proofread. That’s seven distinct steps – time yourself in a practice essay so you can move through each step at a measured pace.

Good luck, wonderful year 12 students who have already been through so much! Back yourself! You have been writing text responses for a few years now from Year 8 or 9 – you know how to do this. Slow your breathing, focus your thoughts, hear your teacher’s voice in your head reminding you of what you already know. You’ve got this!

Wild scribes

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I’m excited to share with you that I’m facilitating an online writing course through the Springfield retreat centre! Springfield conjures up creativity and magic for me, and I hope to do the same with the Wild Scribes.

I stayed at Springfield in the beautiful Southern Highlands in February 2020 for a writing retreat with Canadian writer Sarah Selecky. Thanks to Covid and the lockdowns that started at the end of March, I formed an online writing group with the wonderful writers who attended that retreat. I have since led that online group, and have now been invited to start another online writing group.

Springfield’s new online offering, Wild Scribes, will give you the motivation, accountability and support you need to add another 5,000 words to your writing project. Regardless of whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, adult or children’s literature, a novel or short story, this six-week program will help you clarify your ideas, hone your craft, and most importantly, offer support and encouragement. I’ll share tailored feedback each week, based on twenty years of editing experience as well as my own writing practice.

Join me for six weeks, every Tuesday evening 7.00-8.30pm, from 26th October to 30th November. We’ll be a supportive, encouraging class of six to ten writers, submitting 1,000 words on our writing platform Wet Ink and reviewing two writers’ work.

Equal parts motivation and momentum, you’ll have an extra 5,000 words towards your writing project. Something to celebrate at Christmas…

You can find out more on the Springfield website or you can send me an email here.

Late ideas

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When I’m in the flow of my writing, I feel like a magnet drawn to exactly what I need – a dictionary word, a Netflix episode, a twitter post, a conversation with a friend, anything. Connected to anything that will serve my story.

I’m not even consciously seeking ideas – they come to me.

Does this happen all the time? Absolutely not!

But when it does happen, it’s magic.

Last month, I deleted 5,000 words of my 25,000 word middle-grade verse novel, pulling out chunks of text – sometimes a line, sometimes a paragraph, sometimes a few pages. I had found an inconsistent element in my novel and drastic work was needed.

I knew I had to cut it out – and I’d known it for a while. I had tried to smooth it over, hide it with lyrical words, an exciting scene or two, a few magician’s tricks. Didn’t work.

I needed something else to fill the gaps – a little bit more than painter’s spackle. It had to look flawless, not tacked on.

I thought about my grade six protagonist, I thought about my grade six son. Nope, nothing.

One night, I made a quick leap from my desk to the kitchen to cook dinner in a hurry. Dinner never needs to be cooked early during lockdown – none of us are going anywhere. But my grade six son had an online talk with parental involvement on sex education.

I had left cooking too late – we ended up, the whole family, eating in silence, a laptop sitting on the kitchen bench, camera off, microphone off while my grade six son cringed as the educator talked about body parts and conception. His older siblings grinned, nudged him, made faces.

Body parts. Conception.

Goosebumps.

I could feel it on my skin. My grade six protagonist who has started her final year of primary school in a new school, now has to sit through sex education classes in her second week – with kids she doesn’t even know.

Goosebumps.

A leap from the kitchen after dinner back to my desk.

My words were enough not only to fill the gaps but hopefully make them so seamless that readers will never ever know they weren’t there originally.

A late dinner, a late idea. Connections.