Reading as a Writer: 6 Tips for reading The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam

“Are you still oblivious to everything that happens around you, just like in the old days?”

We first meet Percival as a boy called Chen Pie Sou in Shantou, China. He’s a flawed—and interesting—character who never seems to quite know himself. “Are you still oblivious to everything that happens around you, just like in the old days?” asks Mrs. Ling. Oblivious he might be, but in his own way, he tries to do the right thing. Percival’s good intentions and obsessions lead to intrigue and drama, as well as becoming integral to the tapestry of love Vincent Lam weaves.

Writers of fictional memoir might want to read this book with an eye as to how Vincent Lam weaves facts, second-hand memory, and fiction together. He acknowledges,

“My parents helped me with generous recollections of their childhoods in Vietnam. The specific details and anecdotes that they shared with me were invaluable in my understanding of life’s rhythms in that era. My late grandfather, William Lin, inspired the fictional protagonist of this novel.”

Reading as a writer, is one of the best ways to develop your skills. As you read “The Headmaster’s Wager ask yourself how he:

Accomplishes the hook;
Maintains interest;
Threads a story through inter-connected problems and their solutions;
Brings scenes, situations, and place alive;
Develops character (not only that of the protagonist, but also others); and
After the twists and turns, rewards with a satisfying conclusion (whether it’s a happy one or not).

Lam provides us with a story that not simply allows us into the world of the expat Chinese community in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, but he creates a fictional memoir that reads with a truth that is often absent from more factual or completely fictional works.

I remember Vietnam War journalism as it splashed across the pages of newspapers, as well as sit-ins and other anti-war protests of the era. Vincent Lam’s The Headmaster’s Wager takes us through a doorway into the lives of people living through the pain, upheaval and turmoil in the county. Enjoy this complex book that stirs emotions of longing, joy, and unmeasurable sadness.

39 The Headmaster's Wager

Available through your local bookstore or online: The Headmaster’s Wager

Writing Your Book’s Synopsis

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“Alison Williams Writing” addresses a stumbling block to getting our manuscripts (or books) read.

What is it about a synopsis that has so many writers struggling? It doesn’t seem to matter how great a writer you are, there’s just something about condensing your masterpiece down into one or two sides of A4 that strikes fear into a writer’s heart.

Williams’ blog provides key suggestions that will make your synopsis stand out.

via Writing the dreaded synopsis! #amwriting #writingtips

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Guest post by Nicholas C. Rossis

Self-editing your writing is one of the most challenging steps before sending your work off to a publisher. In his post Rossis writes:

I don’t often have the pleasure of hosting guest posts by editors, so I am particularly pleased with this one. Liam Carnahan looks at editing from the editor’s point of view, explaining what you need to do before you submit your manuscript to an editor. Liam is the founder and chief editor at Invisible Ink Editing. The team at Invisible Ink work with independent authors to help them prepare their manuscripts for submissions or publication. You can follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

Sending clean, error-free copy gives your submission a boost when it hits an editor’s desk. If you don’t want your writing to be quickly tossed aside, you will want to do a final check. Follow these 7 steps to success:

7 Steps to Take Before Submitting Your Writing to an Editor

Reading/Presentation/Workshop Descriptions

Kathryn is available for readings of her poetry and fiction, welcoming opportunities to meet with readers and writers at all levels. She facilitates workshops and especially enjoys meeting with writing groups.

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Participatory presentations and workshops include topics such as:

Writing Your Passion: Writing Place (Part 1); Writing Character (Part 2)
- These two workshops are each facilitated over four Monday evening this fall (Part 1 begins September 11, 2017; Part II begins October 16) at the Belleville Public Library. Check out previous posts on “Workshops and Events” (scroll down) for details.

Telling Our Stories: Offered as a two-hour presentation, or a weekend-long writing workshop. Participants are provided a handout or workbook of ideas, strategies, and encouragement that lead to inspiration or, for workshop people, a short creative memoir and a skill-set to carry forward. Besides group work and sharing, writers receive individual feedback to guide and direct.

Writing Foreign: in this travel writing workshop – a brief two-hour overview to a weekend of trying your hand, to a 10-day travel experience – participants will explore such topics as:

o Finding Your Voice
o Capturing Place
o Writing People and Culture
o Nitty Gritty (from research to the literary toolbox)
o Movement (from the known world into the unknown and back again)

Relevant here is the work Kathryn did in a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-Queen’s University program in development education (1986-1992).

Kathryn offers schools and groups two-to-four hour participatory workshop/presentations with “Talking Fantasy Literature” topics such as:

o Fantasy in our Lives
o Portals we Cross
o Through the Unknown
o Magic of Change

This could be followed by a Tapping Your Fantasy writing workshop.

Kathryn taught 14-week-long fantasy literature for credit (through Loyalist College and Ontario Learn online, 15 years). She has also taught fantasy writing at the college level.

Kathryn enjoys traveling, sailing, hiking, photography, and sketching. Born in Southwestern Ontario, Kathryn has lived in Ottawa, Winnipeg, and rural Eastern Ontario. Her home is now in Belleville on the Bay of Quinte. Kathryn holds a B.A. from the University of Windsor and an MPA from Queen’s University, Kingston.

For information about these topics and to discuss others, please contact Kathryn…

email: whiteoakstudio21@gmail.com

Writing Character: Overview

This is Part 2 of the “Writing Your Passion” workshops offered this fall (2017) at the Belleville Public Library. Writing Character follows Writing Place — each workshop facilitated over four weeks (scroll down for dates and prices). During both workshops our focus is on the important connection between place-character-action.

When characters come alive on the page, magic happens – characters become people brought to life by writers’ skills and their art. In “Writing Character,” participants will explore the link between place-character-action. With the help of literary techniques, participants will create characters that “fit” naturally into their stories’ settings. Whether you are a beginning writer or advanced, interested in memoir, fiction or another genre, this workshop will provide skills that will lift your stories – and the people who inhabit them – to the next level.

The overview:

Writing Character -Overview

If you’d like to get more out of the places of your stories. Think about joining me at the Belleville Public Library. Time is short: sign up now ((613-968-6731 Ext #2239) or drop in at 254 Pinnacle Street, Belleville, Ontario K8N 3B1.

Writing Place: Overview page

For four days, we’ll talk and write place.

Wtg Place - Overview

Workshop: Writing Your Passion

A workshop in two parts

Part One: Writing Place

Part Two: Writing Character

In this workshop, facilitated by author Kathryn MacDonald, you will discover your place – the one outside that stirs the one inside – the place to set your story.

Explore ways of bringing readers inside your cityscape-landscape-seascape so they enter it;
Explore strategies that reveal the interconnectedness of people and place, creating “fit.”

Writing Place provides more than simple context for our stories. It provides an entry or portal for readers to engage in the world of each story’s action. Far more than adding simple colour, place adds depth to characters. Open the writers’ toolbox with Kathryn and discover strategies that will boost your skills – from literary techniques to structuring stories to learning to read as a writer in order to enhance self-editing. Gain the benefits of a fully-participatory workshop with individual feedback.

When: September 11, 18, 25, and October 2 (5-8 p.m.)

Where: Belleville Public Library (Ontario) Register by calling 613-968-6731 x2240

Writing Character opens the door to creating characters that come to life on the page. Participants will hone techniques and talents in specific areas in the development of their stories, including voice, tone, and mood, along with the creation of movement, structure, and tension. Modeled as Writing Place, these four weeks offer a fully participatory experience with individual feedback.

When: October 16, 23, 30, November 6 (5-8 p.m.)

Where: Belleville Public Library (Ontario) Register by calling 613-968-6731 x2240

Price: $140 per workshop or $250 for both

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Need inspiration? Join Kathryn MacDonald for eight evenings this fall (2017) for a hands-on writing experience that will get you over the blank-page hurdle. (Participants are invited to bring a photo or painting of a place and/or character – along with imagination – as a jumping-off-into-words strategy.)

Your facilitator has published three books and has a fourth manuscript seeking a publisher. She taught writing through Loyalist College (16 years) and has been on the editorial staff of Harrowsmith, Equinox, and Key to Kingston magazines. Check out her WUC and QAC profiles (for links, please click on the “Welcome” page).

For more details, please complete and submit the comment form with your questions and/or request for a workshop outline.