It started awesomely when we missed the train. The 7.20am from Artarmon that would get us to Hornsby for the train that would get us to Newcastle by 10am-ish, that is. I resigned myself to the fact that we would just have to get into Newcastle an hour later. We caught the next train, which was to Hornsby via Epping, then realised that the Newcastle train stopped at Epping too. We agreed to dash to the platform and hope for the best; research indicated that the Newcastle train was due to arrive at Epping at 7.46am and that the train we were on was due to arrive at 7.48am. By some miracle our train was slightly ahead and the Newcastle train was slightly behind and we made it. Best train story ever.
So we got to Newcastle. My 'home away from home' ie the Newcastle YHA, had been booked out so we found ourselves at The Oriental, a nice place above a pub in Cooks Hill. I'd definitely consider staying there again if the YHA was unavailable. Clean, with modern fixtures, good location and the pub shuts at midnight.
So, TINA. I didn't feel like I went to many panels this year, but here's a summary of what I got up to...
SATURDAY
Words that sell: About successful freelancing. Unfortunately didn't tell me anything I didn't already know (except maybe to beware of writing for Reader's Digest). Cameron Pegg was entertaining, though, and said some reaffirming things about writing to a niche.
How to get along with your editor or writer: Interesting exchange of anecdotes and a few tips for working with both, which will be helpful for my day job as a editor (and *fingers crossed* my future career as a novelist). Always nice to hear contributions from all ends of the publishing spectrum.
I'm a writer but nothing's ever happened to me: This was debunking the fallacy 'write what you know'. I've always wanted to tell younger writers (I mean the 10-14 year olds) that 'what you know' isn't just about the things that happen in your life. It's about the feelings that you feel that can be transposed onto any number of characters one can invent. Quote of the session: "Life doesn't have to be exciting to be interesting."
Breaking the rules: Writing exercises for tangential thinking. But, as Boff said, "It didn't actually break any rules." I felt this could've been taken to another level, which I probably will take it to with my writing group.
SUNDAY
Sunday Fair: I love the Sunday Fair! I do tend to stick to zines and publication-based wares because while all the clothes and jewellery are great to look at, I really don't need another Scrabble pendant. Also, I set myself a budget and the non-zine wares tend to be more expensive, which means I can't buy as many zines.Finds of the fair: 'Lifted Brow' (I've heard about this compilation for ages but can never find it), 'One girl and her brother 210' (also online) and 'Just Quit It'. Honourable mention to poet and spoken word artist Mandy Beaumont.
I should have read that by now: Essentially a help group for people who think they should read certain things. Cure: recognise you're an individual and that you have individual reading tastes.
Books I keep meaning to read: 'My Brilliant Career' (have started it three times and just can't get past the first few pages), 'Great Expectations' (own it but forget it's there. Funnily enough, have read its 'prequel', 'Wide Sargasso Sea'), anything by Dostoevsky (to see what all the fuss is about).
Three: Radio play done specifically incorporating visual performance. The work itself was too poetic to be a cohesive narrative, but the discussion at the end was a really interesting insight into the working relationship of three poets producing one work and the collaboration required for the final entity. Could you work with a no-holds-barred editng process?
Authenticity vs Experience: Promised to be a helpful panel for YA novelists trying to capture a YA voice but strayed off-topic quite a bit. Picked up a couple of tips and was quite entertained by the rest of it. Basically, if you have a YA character, s/he is a character first before a youth. Build the character and the rest will come.
Spelling Bee: Oh god. Boff put my name in the jar and I was up first round. Came third in the end (beating last year's winner Geoff Lemon!). Words I had to spell to get there: 'brooch', 'jurisprudence', 'euchre' and (the one I didn't get because I've never encountered it before) 'abecedarian'. Minor fame ensued. In between rounds they did a 'Who am I?' with dinosaurs and Boff managed to win a schooner of beer, which he gave to me (mistake). He and Mr Newcastle also argued about paleontology. *sigh*
Is it time to go home yet? The set presenters were a good mix. Will Kostakis talked about doing a school visit following a big night out; Rochelle Jackson spoke about rubbing shoulders with crims as an investigative journalist; Mandy Beaumont read some pieces about how a relationship ends if the sex isn't good enough; and Patrick O'Neil, well, his recent travels were made for this session.
The best part, however, was the audience participation at the end. We had Brisbanites doing an interpretive dance of West End domestic violence (see below), an anecdote about visiting a floating strip club in Serbia, a runaway story and, my favourite, a guy who wrote about an encounter with some suspect cops in Victoria Park (Sydney): "Like the human body, the pond in Victoria Park is made up of 70% water. The other 30% consists of broken glass and eels." Too true...
MONDAY
So you think you can pitch? Straightforward advice about pitching to a publishing house, a session by Text editor Caro Cooper. Most of it was fairly sensible, more or less things I would have done anyway (i.e. if the publishing house offers guidelines, follow them; don't do gimmicks; make it as easy as possible for them to like you). However, some of it was helpful advice on how to jump the slush pile: for example, get an existing author's endorsement, use an agent, pitch to a specific publication date to tie in with an event (< this goes for non-fiction, mainly).
Bio Bootcamp: A lot of don'ts for writing an author bio. Boff spent the entire time wondering what the purpose of an author bio was; I had to straighten him out later because it turns out he never reads author bios, therefore doesn't understand their function.
I had a great time, as usual, but I have started to feel that I've outgrown a lot of it. I'm not saying that I've accomplished everything I need to accomplish in the world of writing/art, but I think in the main, TINA has taken me as far as it can. Next year, I'll still be going up, but I might pick more discussion panels about topical issues rather than writing how-to sessions.
Festival rating: 8/10
Enjoyment rating: 9/10
