Monique Polak

Last night, driving home from dinner with a friend, I heard the tail end of a CBC interview with environmental activist Mark Lynas. Lynas told interviewer Jian Ghomeshi: "You learn more from being right than being wrong."

I think it's a brilliant line, don't you?

As soon as I got into the house, I wrote it down so that I would remember to tell it to my students -- and to share it with you, dear blog reader. In fact, I'm even thinking I may try to work the line into my latest writing project.

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At a holiday luncheon today, I got to hang out with lots of interesting people, including author Nancy Richler. Nancy is the author of four novels, including The Imposter Bride, which recently made the shortlist for the coveted Giller Prize.

Because I am always thinking of you dear blog reader, I asked Nancy for some writing tips that I could share here. Nancy thinks aspiring writers basically need to do one thing: WRITE! Here's how she put it: "When I started, I never waited for an idea. I still don't wait for an idea. I sit down every morning and I say, 'I have to write.' When I was first starting, I'd describe the cup of coffee I was drinking or I'd give myself little assignments like 'Write about an embarrassing moment.' I got used to writing without worrying about where it was going."

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Even though I'm a writer, I don't often think in similes or metaphors. Maybe because my style is more direct.

But here I am working on what feels like a pretty giant re-write and it's making me think of poetic comparisons. Here are some.

On the hardest days, this manuscript feels like a house that is falling down over my head! My husband advises, "Step back; take a little distance from it." And I say, "Step back? I can't!" Then I tell him about the falling-down-house-feeling. I am, I add, hammering desperately, trying to keep the thing together!

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I taught writing for nearly a decade before I realized that though I loved teaching, something big was missing in my life. I didn't need to climb a mountaintop or go to an ashram in India to figure out what it was: WRITING! I had loved writing stories when I was a kid, but as I got older, I became so focused on academic writing that I nearly forgot the old pleasure I took in making up stories.

That's why yesterday, I was so excited to offer a workshop called "Writing for Writing Teachers" at this year's Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers' annual convention.

I spent most of the day with a group of English teachers from across the province. We began with writing warm up exercises, but by the end of the day, the participants had begun working on a short piece that might just lead them to a bigger project.

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When I was a little girl, my dad volunteered with an organization called The Lion's Club. At Christmas, the club raised money by selling fruitcakes. I remember going with my dad to the local shopping center and asking strangers to buy fruitcake! (It was quite embarrassing!)

I've started today's blog entry with this story because it turns out the skills I learned selling fruitcakes have come in handy in my career as an author!

This morning, when I was sitting at the signing booth for Courte Echelle, the French-language publisher of two of my books, I basically had to talk to strangers. At least, I did not have to talk them into buying fruitcake!

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It's me, writing to you today from a little cafe on Rue Saint-Joseph in Quebec City. I spent the day at Ecole Secondaire de la Seigneurie in Beauport working with Madame Blanchet's Secondary III students. Must say it was a whirlwind kind of day -- but fun and stimulating!

I did what I usually do when I meet young writers -- told them about how I got started writing and shared some of my favourite tips (write a lot; read a lot; get ideas when you run or even in the shower; revise revise revise!). I also explained where I got the ideas for some of my novels. For instance, the inspiration for my latest book, Pyro, came from a radio interview I heard several years ago -- the mayor of a town outside Quebec City was talking about a spate of fires in his community and he said how much he wanted to catch whomever was starting those fires. Which got me thinking: WHAT IF HIS OWN SON WAS THE FIRESTARTER?!! And that is basically how Pyro was born... of course, a lot of hard work followed that moment of inspiration. Which was another thing I talked about today -- how writing is basically a lot of hard work, but that it's satisfying and that, for me, the challenge is what brings me back every morning to the computer screen.

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I better keep writing books if I want to keep having book launches!

I thought I'd tell you a little today about the recent launch of Pyro, my latest YA book. The launch took place here on Sunday at the Montreal Firefighters Museum -- and it was a ton of fun!

First, I did a mini writing workshop ("Ways to Ignite Your Writing Flame!") for both kids and adults. If you were there, you'll know what I mean when I say we filled the room with words!

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Recently, Richard George Andrews, who works at McGill University's Development and Alumni Relations office, wrote to ask if I'd pop by some Wednesday evening to visit his Magazine Writing class. The course is offered through the McGill Writing Centre. Because this is such a busy period for me, I suggested we do the visit by Skype. And if I may say so myself, it worked out well! The timing was good, too, because we'd agreed to start at around 8 P.M., and our supply of Hallowe'en candy ran out about ten minutes before that!

So, I thought today, I'd tell you about what Richard's students and I discussed. I told them a bit about how I broke into journalism (basically, I was persistent and I started to read the newspaper like a writer, instead of a regular reader, paying special attention to any spots in the paper where I noticed content from freelance writers).

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I'm just back from a wonderful talk by Mariko Tamaki, who's in town to promote her YA novel, (you) set me on fire. 

Tamaki spoke at Babar Books in Pointe-Claire. Her talk was sponsored by the Montreal Children's Literature Roundtable. I didn't want to miss it because I am discussing Tamaki's novel on radio (for Rad-Can's plus qu'on est fous, plus qu'on lit! on November 21st). 

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Earlier this week, I went to hear Ottawa-based author and poet Mark Frutkin read from his new novel, A Message for the Emperor (Vehicule Press). Frutkin, who has won the Trillium Award, and been nominated for the Governor General's Prize, tends to do a lot of research when he writes a novel. A Message for the Emperor is set in ancient China during the Song Dynasty. The protagonist is a landscape painter named Li Wen.

Because my husband and I had met Mark and his wife Faith when we are at the GritLit festival in Hamilton, Ontario, we made plans to have dinner with them last night. And because I'm always thinking about you, dear blog reader, I asked Mark some questions about his writing process -- and scribbled his answers down on the edge of the paper runner that was across our table.

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