Undiscovered Voices: the Launch!

by Teri Terry

Undiscovered Voices 2012 is open for submissions! And it isn't just any writing competition. Thirteen of the twenty-four children's writers featured in the first two anthologies of winning fiction novels have since either published or are under contract. So join the SCBWI British Isles as quick as you can, and enter! The launch was Tuesday 5th April, and I was there.

We lurked at the bar, then staked out our seats. Waiting, and watching all arrivals: who would the judges be this year? When UV co-editor Sara O'Connor arrived, I was in awe at the number of computers she had secreted about her person to livestream the event for those who could not be there. In addition to being a computer whiz, a UV co-editor and senior editorial manager at Hodder Children's Books, she also introduced the judges and MC'd the evening.

And just who are the judges for 2012?

Apologies for the quality of my photographs! My photographer forgot her camera, so these were taken on my iPod. Left to right, we have:

Literary scout, Dagmar Gleditzsch; Catherine Pellegrino of literary agency Rogers, Coleridge and White, and Sara O'Connor running the show

Julia Churchill of the Greenhouse Literary Agency, and Amber Caraveo, editorial director at Orion Children's Books

Rachel Boden, commissioning editor at Egmont, and Jenny Savill, literary agent at Andrew Nurnberg Associates

Jasmine Richards, senior commissioning editor at Oxford University Press; Joanne Cocadiz, Foyles Children's Books buyer and seller; and reappearances by Dagmar and Catherine.

One big announcement of the evening is that the honorary chair will be none other than Malorie Blackman!

Sara O'Connor asked the judges questions, and we sat on the edges of our seats. Then questions were taken from both audiences - bums on seats, and livestream attendees, who may have been sitting, dancing, or in the bath. Details of the evening have been ably blogged throughout the known universe - I'll include some links at the end.

So I'll just touch on the things that really stuck in my brain.

• they'd really like entries across all age ranges - not just Y.A.
• Enid Blyton and titles with 'Tom' in had the most hits on the judges favourite books lists.
• I'm dying to read The Magnificent Moon Hare, by Sue Monroe (out in Spring 2012): Rachel Boden's favourite recent acquisition. And it isn't just because there is a bunny in it, and it is despite the fact that it is aimed much younger than my usual YA focus. In fact, I'm dying to have Rachel be my editor one day, even it means an age range switch: she described it with such animation and delight.
• books recommended to aspiring writers: Catherine Pellegrino picked one of my favourites, Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now; Jenny Savill, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book; and Julia Churchill, instead of picking one title, said to read broadly - great advice!
• Rachel Boden is looking for solid adventure with humour for girls and boys aged 8 to 10, and survival stories; she is not looking for straight historical fiction or high fantasy (Tolkien copies).
• Dagmar Gleditzsch also wants adventure stories aged 8 to 10; also funny stories, but not too funny: humour must be able to translate to different languages.
• Amber Caraveo has a gap for middle grade adventure series, and is also actively looking for YA for new imprint, Indigo.
• beginnings are VERY important! - first paragraph, first page, first chapter.
• Jenny Savill says common author pitfalls are too many words, not enough words, or not the right words.
• Julia Churchill did FORTY rejections before coming along to the UV launch. She did look rather cheerful!
• in your 4000 word entry, end in a logical place even if that makes it less than 4000 - end of a chapter, or ideal is on a hook or gasp moment.
• Sara O'Connor will count the words in your biography (max 50 words) and synopsis (75 words): don't be tempted to try to squeeze more in, or you will be disqualified.
• I can't get over that 'never sit in the front row' thing. Candy made me do it; I tried it; I'm sorry. It just feels inherently wrong.

To enter the 2012 UV competition, you must be a member of SCBWI British Isles; you must be unagented and unpublished; you must follow all the rules, and send in your submission by 1st June. The judges are all volunteers; co-editors of UV are Sara O'Connor, Sara Grant, Karen Ball and Elizabath Galloway. It has the financial support of Working Partners.

Links to blogs on Undiscovered Voices: let me know any I've missed and I'll add them in!

Scribble City Central

Critically Yours

Who Ate My Brain

Liz De Jager

Thoughts by Monkeys With Typewriters

Almost True

Crime Central

A Blogging Writer!

Julie Day

Follow UV on Facebook!

And Twitter, too.

Incompetence - The Series. Episode Four - Me Competent? Really? WOW! Yay! Maybe.

by Maureen Lynas
NE Regional Advisor SCBWI

Previously on Incompetence - The Series:

Episode One- Unconscious Incompetence

Our very excited Lesser-spotted Red-faced Authors have hatched from their egg of unconscious incompetence and discovered a world in which -

they don't know what they don't know.

Please Note : If you've just read the first episode and found no reference to the Lesser-spotted Red-faced Author blame my incompetence and lack of imagination at the time.

Episode Two - Conscious Incompetence

The fledgling authors discover just how enormous their incompetence is and

they know what it is that they don't know.

Such a lot to learn!

Such small heads!

Episode Three - Happy New Conscious Competence!

They know what they know and don’t they know it! Yippee!

And now for the final episode-

Episode Four - Unconscious Competence. Me? Competent? Am I? Wow! Really?

Meet Flapper. She’s been published!

She’s flown to the land of the Greater-spotted Authors with her book in her beak, and now she wants to know -

Is she a Greater-spotted Author yet and – drum roll for big question – have the flock of Greater-spotted Authors actually achieved Stage four – unconscious competence. Do they instinctively use and apply their knowledge? Because she’s not certain she’s there yet, even though the book is out and the reviews are egg-crackingly excellent.

Does she get an answer? She does. Yes. Then she gets another and another and another until she’s reeling with the confusion of it all.

Then Clever Cluck comes forward to help with some questions of her own.

‘Can an author ever be unconsciously competent when every book is different? What type of author stands the biggest chance of being unconsciously competent? Do you have to be unconsciously competent in everything to write a good book? Was Margaret Mitchell at stage four when she wrote Gone With the Wind?’

One quick tweet and Flapper had an answer, Yahoo!

'According to Contemporary Authors, Mitchell worked steadily on Gone with the Wind from 1926 to 1934, with brief periods of "discouragement" in 1927 and 1934. In April of 1935 she gave the manuscript to Macmillan editor, Harold Latham to read and he sent her a telegram saying that her novel had great potential. It was published in 1936.'

Ten years, thinks Flapper. That doesn’t sound very unconsciously competent at all. I think she was wide awake and full of consciousness. In fact, I suspect much crossing out and redrafting.

‘Then of course there’s Harper Lee?’ says Clever Cluck.

More tweeters join in and Wikipedia’s first to answer.

'Having written several long stories, Harper Lee located an agent in November 1956. The following month at the East 50th townhouse of her friends Michael Brown and Joy Williams Brown, she received a gift of a year's wages from them with a note: "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas." She quit her job and devoted herself to her craft. Within a year, she had a first draft. Working with J. B. Lippincott & Co. editor Tay Hohoff, she completed To Kill a Mockingbird in the summer of 1959. Published July 11, 1960.'

‘So, only four years,’ says Flapper. ‘Maybe there was a bit more competence, or maybe it was a shorter book?’

‘Have you considered some slightly more prolific authors,’ asks Clever Cluck. ‘How about Austin?’

More mad tweeting and Wikipedia is first again with his answer.

‘Jane Austin’s artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon.'

‘Now!’ Our Flapper is flapping! ‘There’s someone I can relate to! There’s someone who’s been through the stages of learning how to write.’

‘But,’ interrupts Clever Cluck, who’s warming to the theme now. ‘Did the books become more interesting, more engaging, have stronger characters, more complex plots, as she became more experienced? Or did Austen display a tendency towards prolific genre writing.’

‘Aha! Prolific genre writing!’ Flapper feels that she’s getting nearer some sort of answer and her feathers are fluffed. ‘Maybe this is where authors genuinely demonstrate their unconscious competence. What about Agatha Christie? How productive was she!’ This last bit was said as a statement rather than a question.

The whole flock of Greater-spotted Authors is tweeting madly now, Flapper’s still flapping and Clever Cluck's clucking.

And good old Wiki answers with – ‘Agatha Christie wrote 79 novels: 72 under her name, 1 under her second husband's last name and 6 under the name Mary Westmacott.’

Then Jeeves interrupts with a tweet of his own – ‘Christie has written over two billion books worldwide and has been translated into over 45 languages.’

Now that is impressive! thinks Flapper. She must have been unconscious at some point!

Wikipedia’s full of himself as he announces, ‘Barbara Cartland is Queen of the Unconscious Authors! Seven hundred and twenty three books! Her first works seem to have been very different to the books that most readers are familiar with. Cartland published her first novel, Jigsaw in 1923, a risqué society thriller that became a bestseller. She also began writing and producing somewhat racy plays, one of which, Blood Money (1926), was banned by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. But she soon settled down and started to produce novels that proved to be exactly what a lot of people wanted to read,' he added.

‘So, little Flapper,’ says Clever Cluck. ‘What is it these authors have become so adept at? What part of writing have they embedded in their subconscious so that they can write all of these books?’

At that moment (this is turning into a story!) a Masked Agent flew down and landed on a nearby, very conveniently placed, branch.

‘I have the answer,’ he said wisely. ‘These particular authors are unconsciously competent at the following -

They devise characters that can go from book to book.

Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Inspector Japp.

Ian Fleming’s James Bond and M.

Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi.

Or

They use archetypes repeatedly.

Barabara Cartland’s brave and feisty heroine who never the less will require rescuing by the rugged, fearless, yet sensitive, hero.

They keep the structure the same.

Bond - the Hero’s Journey.

Poirot – a murder must be solved, there’ll be clues, red herrings, then a revelation.

Precious Ramotswe – a mystery must be solved, there’ll be clues, red herrings, then a revelation.

Cartland – Woman meets man A and doesn’t like him. Woman meets man B and likes him. Woman realises man B is bad news and man A is the one and only love of her life.

The premise is constant.

Bond – The world is under threat from a supremely nasty villain and Bond must save humanity.

Poirot – Someone (sometimes lots of someones) is murdered and Poirot will find out who did it.

Precious Ramotswe – Someone commits a crime and Precious will make sure they come to justice.

Cartland – Girl falls in love with the right boy.

The voice is consistent.

The author understands how to write, how to use the right tone, relevant motifs, and appropriate dialogue for time, setting and character.

The wise one nods wisely and falls asleep, leaving the flock to wonder – which one am I? And what’s left for my conscious mind to do?

And Flapper is still left with a question -

Am I going to be an author who strives to re-invent the wheel with every book, constantly battling away at my incompetence or am I going to take what I am currently unconsciously competent at and work with it? Where am I on the incompetence ladder?

And the even BIGGER question is - How incompetent are YOU!

Note from the author - I currently consider myself to be extremely consciously incompetent at maths, consciously competent at the aspects of writing that I know about, and I have no idea how much I am unconsciously incompetent at because I try not to think about it.

With thanks to Abraham Maslow for the Fours Stages of Learning.

Incompetence - The Series

Previously on Incompetence- The Series:

Episode One


Our very excited Lesser-spotted Red-faced Authors
have hatched from their egg of unconscious incompetence
and discovered a world in which they
don't know what they don't know.



Please Note : If you've just read the first episode
and found no reference to the Lesser-spotted Red-faced Author
blame my incompetence and lack of imagination at the time.


Episode Two
The fledgling authors discover just how enormous their incompetence is
and they now

know what it is that they don't know.

Such a lot to learn!

Such small heads!

Tantrums, feather pulling and flocking are observed until our Lesser-spotted Red-faced Authors reach the third stage in their development –
Episode three- Happy New Competence! Our authors have reached the third stage of learning - Conscious Competence.

I know what I know and don’t I know it! Yippee!

And now for the final episode on Incompetence – Unconscious Competence.

Me? 
Competent? 
Am I? 
Wow! 
Really?

Meet Flapper. She’s been published! She’s flown to the land of the Greater-spotted Authors with her book in her beak, and now she wants to know -

Is she a Greater-spotted Author yet and – drum roll for big question – have the flock of Greater-spotted Authors actually achieved Stage four – unconscious competence. Do they instinctively use and apply their knowledge? Because she’s not certain she’s there yet, even though the book is out and the reviews are egg-crackingly excellent.

Does she get an answer? She does. Yes. Then she gets another and another and another until she’s reeling with the confusion of it all.

Then Clever Cluck comes forward to help with some questions of her own.

‘Can an author ever be unconsciously competent when every book is different? What type of author stands the biggest chance of being unconsciously competent? Do you have to be unconsciously competent in everything to write a good book? Was Margaret Mitchell at stage four when she wrote Gone With the Wind?’

One quick tweet and Flapper had an answer, Yahoo!

According to Contemporary Authors, Mitchell worked steadily on Gone with the Wind from 1926 to 1934, with brief periods of "discouragement" in 1927 and 1934. In April of 1935 she gave the manuscript to Macmillan editor, Harold Latham to read and he sent her a telegram saying that her novel had great potential. It was published in 1936.

Ten years, thinks Flapper. That doesn’t sound very unconsciously competent at all. I think she was wide awake and full of consciousness. In fact, I suspect much crossing out and redrafting.

‘Then of course there’s Harper Lee?’ says Clever Cluck.

More tweeters join in and Wikipedia’s first to answer.

’Having written several long stories, Harper Lee located an agent in November 1956. The following month at the East 50th townhouse of her friends Michael Brown and Joy Williams Brown, she received a gift of a year's wages from them with a note: "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas." She quit her job and devoted herself to her craft. Within a year, she had a first draft. Working with J. B. Lippincott & Co. editor Tay Hohoff, she completed To Kill a Mockingbird in the summer of 1959. Published July 11, 1960.’

‘So, only four years,’ says Flapper. ‘Maybe there was a bit more competence, or maybe it was a shorter book?’

‘Have you considered some slightly more prolific authors,’ asks Clever Cluck. ‘How about Austin?’

More mad tweeting and Wikipedia is first again with his answer.

‘Jane Austin’s artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon.

‘Now!’ Our Flapper is flapping! ‘There’s someone I can relate to! There’s someone who’s been through the stages of learning how to write.’

‘But,’ interrupts Clever Cluck, who’s warming to the theme now. ‘Did the books become more interesting, more engaging, have stronger characters, more complex plots, as she became more experienced? Or did Austen display a tendency towards prolific genre writing.’

‘Aha! Prolific genre writing!’ Flapper feels that she’s getting nearer some sort of answer and her feathers are fluffed. ‘Maybe this is where authors genuinely demonstrate their unconscious competence. What about Agatha Christie? How productive was she!’ This last bit was said as a statement rather than a question.

The whole flock of Greater-spotted Authors is tweeting madly now, Flapper’s still flapping and Clever Cluck is, oh all right – Clever Cluck’s clucking.

And good old Wiki answers with – ‘Agatha Christie wrote 79 novels: 72 under her name, 1 under her second husband's last name and 6 under the name Mary Westmacott.’

Then Jeeves interrupts with a tweet of his own – ‘Christie has written over two billion books worldwide and has been translated into over 45 languages.’

Now that is impressive! thinks Flapper. She must have been unconscious at some point!

Wikipedia’s full of himself as he announces, ‘Barbara Cartland is Queen of the Unconscious Authors! Seven hundred and twenty three books! Her first works seem to have been very different to the books that most readers are familiar with. Cartland published her first novel, Jigsaw in 1923, a risqué society thriller that became a bestseller. She also began writing and producing somewhat racy plays, one of which, Blood Money (1926), was banned by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. But she soon settled down and started to produce novels that proved to be exactly what a lot of people wanted to read he added.

‘So, little Flapper,’ says Clever Cluck. ‘What is it these authors have become so adept at? What part of writing have they embedded in their subconscious so that they can write all of these books?’

At that moment (this is turning into a story!) a Masked Agent flew down and landed on a nearby, very conveniently placed, branch.

‘I have the answer,’ he said wisely. ‘These particular authors are unconsciously competent at the following -

They devise characters that can go from book to book.

Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Inspector Japp
Ian Fleming’s James Bond and M
Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi
Or
They use archetypes repeatedly
Barabara Cartland’s brave and feisty heroine who never the less will require rescuing by the rugged, fearless, yet sensitive, hero.

They keep the structure the same
Bond - the Hero’s Journey.
Poirot – a murder must be solved, there’ll be clues, red herrings, then a revelation.
Precious Ramotswe – a mystery must be solved, there’ll be clues, red herrings, then a revelation.
Cartland – Woman meets man A and doesn’t like him. Woman meets man B and likes him. Woman realises man B is bad news and man A is the one and only love of her life.

The premise is constant
Bond – The world is under threat from a supremely nasty villain and Bond must save humanity.
Poirot – Someone (sometimes lots of someones) is murdered and Poirot will find out who did it.
Precious Ramotswe – Someone commits a crime and Precious will make sure they come to justice.
Cartland – Girl falls in love with the right boy.

The voice is consistent
The author understands how to write, how to use the right tone, relevant motifs, and appropriate dialogue for time, setting and character.

The wise one nods wisely and falls asleep, leaving the flock to wonder – which one am I? And what’s left for my conscious mind to do?

So Flapper is still left with a question - Am I going to be an author who strives to re-invent the wheel with every book, constantly battling away at my incompetence or am I going to take what I am currently unconsciously competent at and work with it?

Where are you?