Karen Comer

Collecting Stories

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.

Lincoln in the Bardo – book review

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I was almost about to apologise for taking so long to read this much-discussed book, winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2017. But I will not, because I have read many other wonderful books in that time! But I’m so glad I’ve now read Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, both for the story and the structure.

The story is about President Lincoln’s eleven-year-old son, Willie, who dies and is buried. Lincoln returns a few times to the graveyard to hold his son’s body. This is all based on historical documents.

Saunders has taken these facts and woven a story told by the multiple ghosts in the graveyard, as well as using a few historical sources.

At first the effect of these multiple voices, sometimes one liners, sometimes a few pages, is jarring. Who are all these voices, how to keep track of them? But once you’re a little way in, you start to recognise the voices without even needing to flick to the name of the voice beneath the extract.

Fun fact – 166 actors were needed to record the audio book!

To have all these voices, quite distinctive, gradually revealing parts of their own story while they watch the President embrace his dead son makes for compelling reading.

And if you think that ghosts are static characters who can’t change, think again!

This is such a memorable read – one of my favourites for the year. I only finished it last night and am looking forward to discussing it with someone who has read it! So if you’ve read it, let me know in the comments.

Equal parts creativity and logic

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Dear blog readers, it’s been a little while. My family has faced a couple of obstacles in the last month which have taken up my time, attention and energy. And then there’s lockdown #6…

However, I am pleased to report that I am almost ready to send off my second book to my agent for her thoughts in a few days. Working on this third draft has been a mix of strategies – equal parts creativity and logic. One of my characters is a violinist, the other is a street artist – both creative teenagers.

I have used the talented writer Asphyxia’s art book methods for brainstorming and planning this book. It has been so incredibly helpful to have a visual place to keep all my ideas and nut out all my questions. I have deliberately kept it messy – sometimes the neatness of a journal can be intimidating – and there is nothing neat about writing a book!

I have also used a table as a different way to visualise my story. This helps me with the practical side of things – dates, tension, character arc. I can see instantly whether my stakes are a little light in a particular scene. When you can’t see the wood for the trees, it helps to have a way to separate out the different elements. It might not be as pretty as an art journal but it’s just as useful!

And part logic, part creative, the third thing which has really helped me write this book is the walks and talks I’ve had with my husband and one of my brothers. When they ask me about my book, and I tell them I’m stuck with one particular thread, their questions have helped me pinpoint where the problem is as well as possible solutions. Walking along the Darebin Creek has been a huge source of creativity for me during lockdown!

I hope that this month has been kind to you. Let me know in the comments whether you’re a creative or practical person for solving problems, or a combination of both.

Taking stock

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Time to take stock! I don’t know about you, but my head is spinning with COVID news, eased restrictions, Olympic medals and everything else from the mundane to the marvellous! This list comes from Pip Lincolne’s blog, Meet me at Mike’s.

Making: a weaving with pink and cream wools, fibres and fabrics. Making up the pattern as I go along. So close to finishing…

Cooking: a big leg of lamb, slow-cooked in tomato passata, shredded and served with sourdough bread, red capsicums, spinach and feta cheese.

Sipping: tea – English breakfast, rooibos and peppermint

Reading: so many young adult books, too many to name!

Looking: at the streetscape from my study window – sunny with a gentle breeze that moves the bare branches of the birches

Listening: classic violin songs – I’m working out what my violinist character would play!

Wishing: Sydney’s COVID situation improves…

Enjoying: a quiet house after the kids have returned to school. I know I’m not the only one!

Waiting: for the weekend so I can see my kids play sport – it seems like a long time

Liking: today’s sun

Loving: all the ideas swirling in my head for my books

Buying: a new book – The art of is by Stephen Nachmanovitch

Watching: bits of the Olympics – go Aussies!

Hoping: I’ll still be able to go on a writing retreat in regional NSW in September

Needing: to spend an hour of power sorting out admin ‘stuff’

Wearing: a blue jumper with a subtle cream trim – soft, cosy and I definitely feel more creative when I wear it

Following: the ABC’S coronavirus blog

Noticing: how quickly my kids are growing

Sorting: washing, there’s always washing

Getting: a warm fuzzy feeling when I observe how kind my community is, particularly during the recent lockdown

Saving: my plastic bags to return to Coles

Bokmarking: so much! Lots of sites on violin music and writing

Coveting: a pair of black boots

Opening: up my middle-grade manuscript to new possibilities

Giggling: at Mr 12’s tracksuit pants which are way too short for him (not in front of him, though!)

Feeling: a little bit of pressure to finish my two books quickly

Hearing: the birds outside the study window

Obsessing: over the ABC blog

Let me know how you are taking stock this week. Have a lovely weekend!

Readings YA Prize announcement

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This post was going to be all about the wonderful night Miss 14 and I had last night at the Readings Young Adult Prize announcement, held at the State Library. The Prize recognises exciting emerging voices in Australian young adult literature. Miss 14 was going in her capacity as a Readings teen advisory board member (corporate-sounding title, isn’t it!) and I was going because I love young adult books (and I’m writing one!).

However, due to the fifth Melbourne lockdown beginning at midnight, we decided not to go, even though technically we could have gone. Not worth the risk.

However, I can still bring you the vital information. The shortlisted books were:

  • Future girl by Asphyxia
  • The end of the world is bigger than love by Davina Bell
  • The F team by Rawah Arja
  • The boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough
  • Metal fish, falling snow by Cath Moore
  • Where we begin by Christie Nieman.

Miss 14 has read all six titles, I have two more to read.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers, especially Asphxia who won the Prize. Miss 14 reviewed Future Girl here – a gorgeously illustrated novel, set in the future, narrated by a Deaf teenager.

Here’s hoping we will all be able to gather together soon.

Some news… a literary agent

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I have some news to share – I have a literary agent! Danielle Binks from Jacinta di Mase Management offered to represent me. Dream come true!

I signed up through the CYA conference for a few manuscript assessments, and sent in the first 2,500 words of my middle-grade verse novel.

Even before our meeting, Danielle asked to see the full manuscript. Our online meeting last weekend was a quick exchange of pitches and questions – and then an offer for representation with the contract emailed within an hour!

I am beyond thrilled Danielle is my agent – her passion and knowledge for the middle-grade and young adult Australian market is exceptional.

Danielle will now pitch my middle-grade and young adult verse novels to publishers later in the year.

Danielle is also an author – her middle-grade book, The years the maps changed came out last year and her young adult novel, The monster of her age, will be published next month by Hachette.

You can see my profile on the JDM website here!

Kind eyes

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I’ve been working at different levels through my three books – revisiting my first book in preparation for a couple of online conferences this month, polishing the second draft of my second book and gathering ideas for my third book, at this stage a fragile bubble of an idea.

Looking at these three separate ideas, I’m observing both the influences from other writers as well as the experiences in my life which, although separate, have grown into connections, plots, characters, books.

A constant thread is my need for kind eyes – in writing and in life. Look at these characters, I want to say, look at what they’re going through. See how they suffer through their own unknowing or the circumstances they find themselves in.

It’s the same way I look at my friends, my family, my community. Look at these people, I want to say, look at what they’re going through. See how they suffer – she is worried about her widowed mother in another state, he is not happy in his job, she is lonely after her divorce, he is at a loss as to how to parent his child, she weeps at being separated from her children.

And there are always the smaller moments, my favourite ones to write and observe. Look at my character, see his joy at playing basketball with his daughter – this moment is everything he thought parenthood would be.

Observe my friend – she is tired, her work is overwhelming, she doesn’t have the energy to go grocery shopping for her family, her hair is greying at the roots (that hair I once braided for her in Year 8) but see how she lights up when her child sidles up to her for a cuddle and see how he smiles when she whispers she has a bolognaise sauce to defrost from the freezer.

See my fifteen-year-old girl character, see how she banters with her bestie on the way home from school and steals a chip from the greasy box from the fish and chip shop.

Look at my friends, this couple – watch how she beckons him in a crowded room with her eyes, see how he smiles, walks towards her, places his hand on her hip, see for a moment their younger selves.

Look at them with kind eyes – see them all.