Saturday, 31 October 2009

I spent this morning in Stratford at the Whanganui, Taranaki & Manawatu Embroiderers' Guild Regional Day, stitching and talking with a bunch of very creative women. Their work was all so different and beautiful. There was beautiful hardanger work, a stunning embroidered afghan, and even amazingly realistic crocheted pansies!

In the afternoon we trooped across to the Percy Thompson Gallery for the opening of the amazing Along the Garden Path exhibition by the Whanganui, Taranaki & Manawatu Embroiderers' Guild & Anne Sinclair's Fabulous Florals paintings. I will have to go back again, as there were simply so many beautiful items that I could not take it all in in the 2 hours that I spent there.

It never ceases to amaze me how talented so many women are, and yet too often they don't celebrate their creativity because they have learned to devalue it. This exhibition is a true celebration of women's creativity.

The exhibition is on until 16 November 2009. Entry is free, and raffles are available. You may also vote for your "viewer's choice", although it is very hard to choose a favourite!

Go and see it!

Saturday, 31 October 2009

I just found this again and wanted to share it. It's the detail of an illustration I did recently for Kelly Deihl's book If I Could Be Anything...

The idea of a boy communing with his goldfish really appealed to me!

"Boy with Goldfish" © Meg Mackenzie 2009,

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Correct punctuation is really important, even in a flow-of-consciousness style book. When working on a literary project, I suggest that you become great friends with punctuation and grammar, as these are the vehicles which ensure that your reader takes your message on board.

Common errors include misuse of the rules around apostrophes, particularly around numbers and the word ‘it’. Enormous run-on sentences will make the reader almost pass out through lack of breath, even when reading silently. The continuous use of indices (parenthesis or rounded brackets) and M-dashes (where authors often use hyphens in error) in the text can be very distracting.  Remember that whenever you force a reader to re-read a sentence, you are effectively alienating the reader and breaking the flow of your narrative.  Many readers will simply give up if this happens too often. 

Good content is lost without correct and consistent punctuation and grammar. Good readers are also lost for want of good grammar and punctuation. Remember, your reader has a lot of things competing for his or her attention, so you need to make sure that you grab that attention and keep hold of it for as long as possible!

Who is your reader?

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

At any time during the planning or writing of your book, have you sat down and determined who your reader actually is?  I suggest that you get a picture of your reader in your mind (think of who you will be marketing this book to) and reread it with the audience in mind so that you can fix any anomalies.

If the author hasn’t really identified his or her audience, it is not uncommon to find that several parts of the book may be aimed at very different audiences. A good editor should identify such problems, but a good editor will also want to know a little about your intended audience so that he or she can ensure that your writing is suited to your purpose.

It may help to imagine your reader in quite some detail, in order to focus on correctly targeting your writing. If you give that reader a face (and even a name!), if may assist with keeping you on track.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your audience is everyone who can read. This will undoubtedly result in a book that fails to attract anybody!