Sydney Gallagher's Blog

Sydney Short and Sweet Festival 2007

I'm Back!!

After some accounting confusion and technical difficulties, I'm back. I guess my blog has been up and running long before I realized it.

So, first off...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Secondly, an up-date:

My short play, "The New Wife" made it into the Short and Sweet Sydney 2007 Festival as a wildcard! It will be performed on February 17, 2007 at the Newtown Theater in the matinee block. I'll post the flier here for anyone in the Sydney area.

In addition, a one-act play of mine, "The Almost Perfect Murder" will be performed from May 10-12, 2007 at the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart, Germany.

And, the last piece of news, after almost ten years in Germany, I've decided to head back to the States. In a few weeks, I'll be back in California and hope to have a lot of news to report once I'm settled and can get my attention back to my writing and submission process.

Until then, I wish you all the best and will definitely get back to blogging regularly now that I know my blog is working again.

Till  then!

Syd

Good News!

Hi guys.  I just wanted to share with you that I made the short list for the Sydney Short & Sweet (10-minute play) Festival. From 1200 plays, mine is one of 325 that were short listed. Please keep your fingers crossed that mine is one of the 130 chosen for the festival!

Thanks!

Syd

Submitting Again

I haven't posted the past few days, but I've been busy getting submissions out again. Finally! Thanks to two wonderful CPs, I was able to submit one picture book story and a YA manuscript. So...fingers crossed!!!

Syd

Drinks with Alan Durant

Through my local SCBWI chapter, I had that opportunity last week to have a glass of wine with Alan Durant, a popular YA/Children's/Picture Book author. 

Alan told us about a workshop he gives in his house in France every Spring. I thought it might interest some of you, too.

If you want more info, go to Alan's website at http://www.alandurant.co.uk/.

Getting the Pages Done

Hi guys. 

I don't know what methods you all use to get things done, but I've noticed that I need one lately. It doesn't even need to be writing. I can't be general things, but I find that involving other people really helps me keep on the ball.

Right now I'm doing the KIA Marathon at RWA Online. I'm on the young adult team and we have weekly writing goals we should reach or top. I have to honestly say I don't believe I would've gotten the ten pages done that I did without the marathon. I've had such a crazy week that it just seemed impossible, but I didn't want to let my team down, so I got them done.

See...it was actually possible the whole time. I just had to slow down long enough to make it happen.

If anyone had tips for getting things done, PLEASE share them with the rest of us! My marathon ends at the end of the month, and then I'm on my own again. YIKES!

Syd

Words of Inspiration from Martha Graham

A wonderful actress from the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago gave this to me opening night many years ago. I used to always have a framed copy sitting on my desk, but I lost it in one of my many moves. Now I found this wonderful reminder again on an old disk and wanted to share it with you.

I hope it gives you the same inspiration it gives to me.

Syd

There is a vitality, a life-force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. 

And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.  The world will not have it.  It is not your business to determine

how good it is:

nor how valuable it is;

nor how it compares with other expressions.  It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.  You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU.

Keep the channel open…

No artist is pleased…

There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.  There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction;  a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive that the others.

Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille

A chat with Amelia E. Barr

I was wandering around cyberland and found Amelia E. Barr hanging out at the park with the ghosts of other literary stars of the past. She looked at me, smiled and patted the empty space next to her on the bench. So I sat down and had a chat with an amazing woman. Here's a bit of what she said to me.

Amelia:  "The great difference between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them."

Sydney: You're telling me. Guess it's my lucky day.

Amelia:  "This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Fortune sells her wares; she never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for her favors; or we go empty away."

Sydney: That means I have to pay for this conversation? Wow, and all I wanted to to do was take a little stroll through cyberland.

Amelia:  "There are no little events in life," Sydney. "Those we think of no consequence may be full of fate, and it is at our own risk if we neglect the acquaintances and opportunities that seem to be casually offered, and of small importance."

Sydney:  Believe me, Amelia, I know this isn't an insignificant event. I just wish I knew what it was all about, you know? I mean, is out sole purpose really to find a mate, reproduce and die?

Amelia:  "Human relations are built on feeling, not on reason or knowledge. And feeling is not an exact science; like all spiritual qualities, it has the vagueness of greatness about it."

Sydney: I guess you're right. I just always felt I was here to accomplish something bigger, but I still haven't figured out what.

Amelia: "Events that are predestined require but little management. They manage themselves. They slip into place while we sleep, and suddenly we are aware that the thing we fear to attempt, is already accomplished.”

Sydney: It just seems so complicated, you know?

Amelia: Never forget, Sydney. "It is always the simple that produces the marvelous."

Quotes found at http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/amelia_e._barr/2.html

KIA Marathon

Romance Writers of America Online (RWAOL) chapter is going to start the yearly KIA Marathon on October 1st. This is a fantastic chance to get pages written in a fun forum. If you are writing romance and haven't joined this chapter yet, you really should. It's a fantastic group of writers there with tips, advice and chocolate 24/7.

For more infos go to RWA Online.

Syd

Tips for Writing Contests

Thought this might be interesting. I found it at http://writers-editors.com/Writers/Contests/Contest_Tip_Sheet/contest_tip_sheet.htm. There are more infos, so take a look!

-Syd

10 Tips for Winning Writing Contests

1. Begin with a bang.  Editors routinely say they read the first paragraph of a piece, and if they don't care about what happens next, they stop there, because the incoming mail stack is too high.  Contest judges often face even higher manuscript stacks.  A quick way to weed out the losing entries is to discard all those where the first page doesn't give them a reason to go to the second page. Before sending in an entry, read every article or book chapter you can find on openings, beginnings, leads.  Then compare yours to what the experts say. This applies equally to fiction and nonfiction.

2. Try to introduce an element of uncertainty or suspense at the beginning. Make the reader wonder how the article or story is going to turn out. David E. Sumner, associate professor of journalism and head of the magazine program at Ball State University and frequent contest judge, explains, "You do this by introducing an unsolved problem or putting the central character into a complicating situation. Too many stories have predictable content and predictable endings. If the reader (or judge) can figure out what's going to happen, then why bother to read the piece?"  Stories and articles that keep judges reading all the way to the end make it to the finalists stack.

3. Make your characters alive and real.  Make them talk like real people.  Make every word of dialogue important to and move along the story. Judges want to see the people, both in fiction and in nonfiction. Why do your fictional characters do and say what they do?  Why have your nonfictional people done or said what you're reporting about them?

4. Make your story different.  That means a different setting or unusual characters or a different plot.  If it's been used before, if it's trite, get rid of it. If two stories on that judge's pile are similar, they both lose.

5. If there is no length restriction or requirement, send a story or article of medium length (1,500 to 3,000 words). This doesn't overwhelm the judges, who don't really have time to read 10,000-word manuscripts. (This does not apply, obviously, if it's a full-length novel category or a juvenile category).

6. Have a positive ending. As Sumner puts it, "Positive doesn't necessarily mean happy.  Even if it has a sad ending, the story or article should have a positive meaning to it."

7. Make sure your story or article has a clear central theme that you follow throughout it.  You should be able to say, "This article or story is about . . ." and finish the description in one sentence. Get rid of things that don't relate to that theme.

8. Look for a story with a theme that goes "against the grain" or contradicts conventional wisdom. David Sumner explains, "Sometimes I feel I can't stand to read one more article about sexual abuse or harassment, as necessary as those stories are in arousing public awareness. But if you write a story about a man's harassment by a woman, then I am likely to read it simply because it's different."

9. Follow the contest's rules. This seems too basic and simple, but every year we receive contest entries that do not follow the rules. We even receive entries each year that have entrants' names on the manuscripts, either on the title page or on succeeding pages.  This is an obvious no-no, and breaks a very clear rule, but it happens multiple times every contest. Other rules are there for a reason, and when judges must wade through that tall stack of entries, those breaking any rule are easiest to throw out. Also pay attention to the entry form so your entry will go to the correct category.  It's a mistake made every contest.

10. Watch for (or have someone else who's proficient at proofreading or copyediting watch for) errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation, paragraphing, capitalization, and so on. While this may not be as important as plot or style or characterization, it can be important when determining finishing order for all the finalists.

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