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If Toronto Wrote a Book, What Kind of Story Would It Tell?

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(Originally posted on Toronto Public Library Teen blog)

If people were words, Toronto would be a book thicker than the large-print edition of War and Peace. But more importantly, if Toronto wrote a book, what kind of story would it tell? If a few blank pages were opened to the public, what would they become? We plan to find out through the Toronto Public Library’s Travelling Notebook!

The Travelling Notebook was created by the teens of TPL’s Editorial Youth Advisory Group.

It is a simple black notebook (no, really!) in which anyone will be able to pen anything from poems, prose, and profundities, to sketches, stick figures, and the next masterpiece to be hung in the Louvre.

Of course, there are some very strict guidelines:

  • Write anything you want.
  • Draw anything you want.
  • Don’t be a page hog.
  • Use the next available page and remember that other people’s work is NOT your canvas.
  • No submissions with the word “grey.”
  • No pressure.
  • Ice cream and fries are awesome. Hot sauce and ice cream should not mix.
  • This book is not intended for extraterrestrial contact.(Unless wrapped in foil, shhh . . . )

Starting at Barbara Frum branch, the Travelling Notebook will circulate between libraries every 2-3 weeks so that people from all over Toronto have a chance to showcase their inner creative genius.

When this great notebook has completed its adventures, it will be added to the Toronto Public Library’s collection of books. The Travelling Notebook will then be available for the world to see, and you will be able to borrow this work of greatness.

We know that the teens of Toronto possess immeasurable talent and creativity. Don’t keep it to yourself—share it with us and the rest of our fair city. It’s what the cool kids are doing.

~EYAG members Benjamin, Sam, Thamy, and Atara

For information about the Notebook’s current location, follow The Travelling Notebook on Facebook or call Ken at 416-397-5970.

Shorter than the Average Word-Guru

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Canada’s Got Talent: 2014 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest

Ready to put your writing alongside that of Canada’s greats? Quattro Books is accepting submissions from Canadian writers new and old, between 20,000 and 40,000 words. These “post-national literature” seekers are ONLY looking for literary fiction, no genre fiction (i.e. sci-fi, romance, etc.). So prop your pens and get writing, because you will have to make your writing stand out amongst all of Canada. They are looking for writing that exemplifies the diversified culture in Canada. Just as the beaten down advice says, throw a special piece of yourself in each piece of writing.

Deadline: August 1, 2013
Entry fee: $15
For more info: Click here
For more information about Quattro: Click here

Paid to Print: Alice Munro Writers & Readers Festival

Alice Munro is a prestige Canadian author and winner of Man Booker International Prize. Seeking to give writers the means to develop their writing, the Alice Munro Festival of Writing is accepting short fiction submissions for their upcoming event. With a limit of 5,000 words and a first prize of $500, you do the math. Spur your words for your own creative desires and be rewarded $10 a word! But don’t just send in your own works, the festival will be running later on in the year and will be hosting workshops and readings of many spectacular authors.

Event date: September 27-29, 2013
Contest deadline: August 1st
Specifications: Teen (age 13-19) and Adult, both with $500 first prize
Entry fee: $25 (adult) and $10 (teen)
For more information: Click here

Spotlighting Moneybags

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Author’s Spotlight: Damian Barr’s Maggie & Me

We return to the Author’s Spotlight series with Damian Barr’s Maggie & Me, an inspirational memoir of Barr’s time growing up in Thatcher’s Britain. Maggie Thatcher survived the 1984 IRA bombing in Brighton. Barr uses Thatcher as a model to endure the hardship of “growing up gay in a straight world.” Other of his works have appeared in the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, and hopefully, this latest cover will appeal to you and appear in your hands.

When: June 11, 2013; from 7:00 pm-8:00 pm
Where: Lillian H. Smith TPL branch; 239 College Street

Contests to Cross: Vallum Contemporary Poetry

Montreal magazine Vallum: new international poetics is looking for submissions to their 2013 Poetry Award. They invite new and unpublished poetry, on any topic, and will accept up to 3 poems per person. With a $20 entrance fee paid either via cheque or paypal, they are offering two cash prices for 1st and 2nd place, each of these two selections will be published online and in print. Honourable mentions will also be published.

Deadline: July15, 2013 (postmarked)
Prizes: 1st Place—$750, 2nd Place—$500, plus honourable mentions
For more info: Click here

A Trip-Strip Snacktime

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Frames of Writing: Toronto Comic Arts Festival

It’s that time of the year again. TCAF will be starting Friday evening and running through the weekend with graphic novels and artistry in hand. For all readers that haven’t yet experienced the thrill of meeting your favourite artist or writer should attend. Whether your focus is comics, manga, or graphic novels, there is a long lineup of writer’s panels awaiting your intrigue. Even if you haven’t been exposed to the medium, this event is a large splash of international cultures joined for your enjoyment.

When: May 10, 2013; from 7:30 pm-9:30 pm May 11, 2013; from 9:00 am-5:00 pm
May 12, 2013; from 11:00 am-5:00 pm
Where: Toronto Reference Library: Bram & Bluma Appel Salon; 789 Yonge Street
For more info: Visit torontocomics.com

Hungry Words: Library Food Wanted for New Canadian Journal

Beer and Butter Tarts is a new quarterly Canadian food journal coming December 2013, and they want writing to help them with their launch. As if many aspiring writers needed a better reason to gobble up a delectable spring tart, pilaf, or pasta dish. Am I making you hungry? Fantastic! French Toast. Start bringing your writing journal to the dinner table and you will quite literally be feeding yourself inspiration.

Short fiction, essays and profiles, artwork, comics and food photography are all accepted. It is also preferred that the writing has a Canadian twist. Twist of lemon. There’s one rule: NO RECIPES. So get off your computer and eat. Eat and write. Write about poached eggs, cinnamon muffins, even the horrid image of dropping a chocolate cake when you were six as you tried to hover it out of the fridge. Well, that’s more of a personal anecdote resonating in my mind. This is great exposure

When: June 30, 2013
Submit to: contact@stainedpagespress.com
For more info: Click here for more information on what styles are and are NOT accepted

Plotting for the Plotless

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So you want to write a story, or perhaps you have a story that wants to be written. You have an awesome idea for a book with bestseller potential, so you whip out your pencil or hack away at your keyboard until those fateful first lines of your masterpiece have been invoked. You coast on for another few chapters before you find that your fiction is gathering friction, until finally . . . 

 . . . you’re stuck.

You knew how the story began, of course; maybe you know how it ends, and maybe you even know of the astounding plot twist that will take place somewhere three quarters on. Yet you’re stuck because, quite simply, you don’t know what happens in between.

It’s dreadful that a brilliant story idea should be abandoned this way, yet this sort of writer’s block seems to afflict nearly all the young prose artists I know. As I introduced myself in my last blog post here, I’m a teen author who has luckily managed to dodge this dilemma, thus I hope I can lend some advice that will help you do the same.

First of all, I’m not a person who plots “by the seat of their pants”—that is to say, I much prefer to plan out my story in advance, rather than come up with it as I go along. Even so, in writing my YA fantasy novel, Wingheart: Luminous Rock (the first of a trilogy), I never took a very linear approach to plotting. Rather than continuously hunting for answers as to what happens next, I found it more effective to simply imagine everything that the plot could encompass.

What can a plot encompass? Perhaps a forgotten civilization? A haunted boiler room? An Antarctic expedition? A long-lost daughter? A sword fight on the roof of the Eiffel Tower? Just about anything you like, but, most importantly, anything you find fascinating. Consider fascinating people, fascinating scenes, and fascinating circumstances, and the result can’t be anything less than a fascinating story.

But those fascinating morsels still need to be assembled in order for that story to take shape. This is done by finding connections between your ideas, which is a process as simple as posing a few questions and letting your inner creative genius answer them.

Who’s haunting the boiler room? The ghost of a long-lost daughter. Why is she important? She knows about a forgotten civilization. Where is it located? In the Antarctic.

Why is any of this important? Because it’s a story. And now, rather than plowing headlong through the unknown, you find yourself stringing together the planks of a bridge. Once both ends of that bridge have been fastened to the posts that are your story’s end and inception, congratulations! You have crossed the chasm and constructed a plotline.

Of course, these plot points don’t have to be as random as in my demonstration. The same can be done on a smaller scale, where it’s just a matter of imagining what sort of cool scenes you’d like to see your characters in—and eschew anything lame! Once the puzzle pieces have been created, it’s in your power to carve them into shape so that they interlock. If a gap is left, simply carve out a new piece.

You are now free to navigate your plot-bridge with confidence, knowing what happens next every step of the way. With every hole you patch and rope you add, that bridge is fortified to the point of indestructibility.

All that’s left? To write your masterpiece through!

Inside a Crystal Rotunda

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Casual Conferences: A Guide to Self-Publishing (Rush Order)

No stress, no formality, just gain further knowledge in the ever-changing world of self-publishing. Like past events that dealt with self-publishing, bring a notepad and pencil (not to mention a flurry of questions) to be brought to the table. PhD Candidate and self-published writer Raymond Samuels is offering his insight to all aspiring writers, and it’s completely free! Free knowledge! Free insider info! There are only benefitting results to gain by attending.

When: April 25, 2013; from 7:00 pm-8:00 pm
Where:Barbara Frum TPL branch: 3rd Floor Auditorium; 20 Covington Road
For more info: Call (416) 385-5440

Poet’s Spotlight: An Evening of Poetry with Honey Novick and Bill Bissett

It’s April! Do you know what that means? Yes, random thralls of a snowy depravity over the sky from time-to-time. But more importantly, it’s National Poetry Month! Join in the excitement with fellow poetry enthusiasts who will be listening to an interactive and festive poetry reading in the month’s end. Honey Novick and Bill Bissett will be making a stop to the library stage as they “party hard” with their verses. This will be the best concert to close down the final days of April.

When: April 29, 2013; from 7:00 pm-8:00 pm
Where: Lillian H. Smith TPL branch; 239 College Street

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