Monique Polak

Classes start today at Marianopolis College -- which means that at precisely 2:15 this afternoon I undergo a major transformation: I turn back into a teacher!! Though it's more than a little difficult to give up my summer writing schedule, part of me actually looks forward to having students again. I think it may be partly because my daughter flew the coop in July and I've been storing up a lot of nurturing energy. Hope the students can handle me!!

On the writing front, I have been tinkering with the beginning of a new YA novel. I've been trying to write 500 words every day since the beginning of last week, so I thought today would be a good day to discuss some of the tough parts of the writing process. The subject came up last week when I had lunch with a friend of mine who has begun to write stories based on her life. She said how she ends up feeling discouraged after she's done a bit of writing -- that nothing is ever good enough. I explained how, for me, that is just part of how the process works. I told her that if I gave up every time I felt discouraged, I'd never have written a single book. The real trick is to let yourself feel discouraged, and then to KEEP GOING. Life can be like that sometimes, too. Anyway, when I finish my 500 words, I'm never too impressed with my talents, but the next day, when I go back to those words and polish them up, then polish them up some more... well then, my hope comes back. This will be my 10th book -- and so far, the process has been similar every time. For me, writing often means fighting with myself, pushing forward even when I feel like giving up. On that note, I've got a couple of hours till I leave for school, so I'm going to polish up yesterday's 500 words -- and hopefully produce 500 more. The battle goes on!! 

Today was a special afternoon because I met up with Sapina, one of the students I worked with in Nunavik in the winter of 2007. As you may know if you've been keeping up with my blog, I've spent most of this summer working on a YA novel set in Nunavik. And Sapina has agreed to be my first reader. YESSS!

I met Sapina at the Lionel Groulx metro station. Oh, I forgot to tell you somethingimportant -- now that Sapina has finished high school, she has been chosen to attend CEGEP in the Montreal area. (This explains why she's in town.) Sapina was with two other friends from Nunavik, also going to school here: Julie-Anne and Vanessa. Julie-Anne thinks she might like to become a social worker; Vanessa would like to become a pilot (she's already completed one year of pilot's training in Cornwall, Ontario); and Sapina thinks she might like to teach Grade Three. Anyway, we had lunch together at the Atwater Market and then we did some errands downtown. All three girls want to read my book. I really need their feedback so that I can use it when I write the next draft. Julie-Anne was born in Labrador, but she spent a year in George River (where my novel is set). Here's what she had to say about George River: "I love it there. The people are so kind." Good place to set a novel, no?
Okay then, off I go. My mum and dad are coming for a barbecue dinner in 59 minutes (they're always on time) and I haven't exactly started the preparations. Have a good weekend wherever you are!! Signed, speed demon cook!!

I am the sort of person who always needs a book. In fact, I realize that I need at least TWO books: one to read (ahh, the pleasure of lying down on my sofa at the end of the afternoon with a delicious book to read); and one to WRITE. Some writers I know take breaks in between book projects, but that doesn't seem to be my way. You know there are women who always need a boyfriend? Well, I alwaysneed a book. Two books.

I was taking in the laundry when I spotted a young person scraping the neighbour's balcony. "Hello," I said, "who are you?" (If you don't know me, I should explain that I am unusually friendly.) Imagine my surprise when the person looked up -- and he was one of my students from last semester. He was even more surprised than me. "Miss Polak," he sputtered. Gee

, no one has called me Miss Polak for several months now!!

So, because it was hot and humid out, I offered him some of my homemade lemonade and also some zucchini bread (made by a different neighbour). About ten minutes later, it started to thunder -- then there was lightning and heavy rain. So, because the neighbours whose deck he was scraping (so that he can paint it afterwards) are out of town, I told him he might as well take refuge in my livingroom while I worked upstairs on my new new manuscript (I'm only on page two). I offered him this week's Maclean's Magazine, but he asked about my book that's coming out this fall... and since I happened to have the galley copy in the living room, he started reading that. AND GUESS WHAT? HE LIKED IT. In fact, he stayed quite long reading it -- even after the rain had stopped. I took this as a very good sign. And because I am working on chapter one of a brand new book and there is a male character, guess what job I gave him? Why, a student painter, of course!

Catchy title, no? Unfortunately I can't take credit for making it up. It's the title of a YA novel by Ron Koertge that I just finished this morning and MAN, WAS IT EVER GOOD!! Un-put-downable. It's the story of unlikely friends: Ben Bancroft, who has cerebral palsy, and drugged-out Colleen Minou. Great dialogue, great setting, great plot, great themes.

My friend Lori Weber, another Montreal-based YA writer, recommended the book. Starting in October, Lori and I will be team-teaching a Quebec Writers Federation course on writing for teens -- and we're going to use Stoner & Spaz with our students. It's a small book (169 pages), but it sure has a lot going on in it both in terms of content and style. Ben Bancroft is obsessed with movies and the book is full of movie references. At one point, Ben thinks about how filmmakers use something called "establishing shots" to set the scene -- well, writers do that, too, of course. The book makes you think about the links between literature and film. If you haven't read it, add it to your reading list.

The galley copy of What World Is Left just landed on my doorstep. The galley is a typeset version of the book. This is my last chance to make any small changes before the book goes to print. Am still doing some work on my new manuscipt, but once that's done, I'll start reviewing the galley.

Yesterday a student whom I met when I was in Nunavik two winters ago phoned to say she's in Montreal. She's come to attend college here. I'm quite excited to meet up with her. Also, the timing couldn't be better -- my new manuscript is set in Nunavik and I need an expert reader to make sure my details are accurate.

Still pouring rain here in Monteal. Most people are complaining, but not me. This is ideal writing (or reading a galley) kind of weather... well, off I go... talk to you next week. I go back to being in a teacher in just a little over a week. Hope my soon-to-be students are getting lots of rest! They'll need it to deal with me -- especially at 8:15 a.m., when I'm at the peak of my liveliness!!!

Have you seen the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight? In it, Batman's nemesis, the Joker, despises people who believe in making plans. Well, he wouldn't like me! I've got exactly two weeks until I turn back into a teacher. This calls for a plan, and here's mine: this week, I'm going to reread and revise the manuscript I've been working on all summer, and next week, by hook orby crook, I'm going to start work on a new novel. This one is going to have something to do with Internet porn, a subject I did some research on earlier this summer for a Maclean's story.

Though I found The Dark Knight went on too long, it did give me lots to think about and the late Heath Ledger's performance (he played the Joker) was amazing. It's true that sometimes plans go awry, and people who plan too much tend to get a little... well... hard to take, no? So, here's to plans -- but also to having the good sense to be flexible and open when things change and don't go exactly according to plan!

What, you may ask, do pressed pennies and Beijing noodles have to do with each other? If you've been reading my blog this week, you'll know that I am doing a story for Maclean's about people who collect pressed pennies. Well now, I've got another story to juggle. Because the Beijing Olympics begin next week, the Gazette wants to run a story about Beijing-style cooking in next Wednesday's paper -- to coincide with the opening of the games. So, I'm on my way to Chinatown to visit a restaurant called... Beijing!

Also, since I've been researching Asian cooking this morning, I have found a couple (literally) of Asian cooking teachers who live in Montreal. Tomorrow, I'll interview the husband, Levi To -- he and his wife run LTM Cooking School. I was just looking at their website, and it had an inspiring quote. I suppose it was meant to be about cooking, but it applies to writing, too. So here it comes: "To follow, without halt, one aim: there's the secret of success." Interesting, don't you think? So if you want to write -- or do anthing else for that matter, such as learn to cook Beijing-style -- you've got to do it without halt, and focus on your aim. Sounds about right to me!

Some of my friends already call me the Energizer Bunny (I don't like when they say so), but I have to admit that today, I am feeling unusually energetic -- even for me. Maybe it's a result of the vacation, or that my Mom energy has to be channeled elsewhere since as of yesterday, my daughter has become a resident of Brooklyn, New York. Anyway, I've been a-writing. Finished a personal essayabout what it's like for a mom when her only child leaves home, and I spent part of today tinkering with my Nunavik story. In about a half hour, I'm leaving for Old Montreal to do research on penny press machines for a Maclean's story. Sometimes it's fun to have a varied writing day (like today), though it's also nice to be able to focus on just one thing. Between writing this and that, I've been interviewing people who are into pressed pennies ... who knew I'd be stepping into a whole new world? Okay, off I go, hopefully to meet some pressed penny collectors for that story!

Today must be a day for endings. I just just wrote the last sentence of the book I've been working on all summer. (Though mind you, the re-writing, which some people say is the most important part of all, comes next!) The other ending is the end of my official duties as mum. My daughter left home today to start a job in New York City. I didn't think I'd cry, but I did (of course, shetold me stop!!)

One thing about being a writer is you tend to see the world around you in terms of story material. So, because I dropped her off downtown (a friend of hers was giving her a lift to N.Y.), as soon as I got home, I JOTTED DOWN A FEW THINGS (such as that her last gesture was to roll her eyes at me -- it's true that happened after I called out the window, "Be careful!", which she might have considered slightly embarrassing!)

I don't know about you, but one of the reasons I write is to make sense of things.... so guess what I'm going to do now? Start a little personal essay about what it's like when your one-and-only child leaves home... did you guess right? So while we're on the subject, my advice today to aspiring writers out there is: JOT STUFF DOWN. You never know when you'll find a place for it.