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PMPage 7Byron Shire Echo July , 7Local NewsLiving a novel dream in the bushSarah ArmstrongBinyabuttsAbout a year and a half ago I sent salt rain
to a local manuscript assessor, Laurel Cohn, who said that it was ready to send out to try and interest a literary agent. Ive heard it said that getting published is about finding the right person at the right agency, and then the right person at the right publishing house.The first agent I sent it to obviously wasnt the right person But the second was. At last years Byron Bay Writers Festival, Fiona Inglis from Curtis Brown agreed to represent me. I had already sent the manuscript to Allen Unwin and a couple of weeks after the festival, they offered to publish it. Salt Rain will be launched at this years Festival. Sometimes when I am up early, looking out at the sunrise and mist and making a cup of tea to take back to my desk, I think of my colleagues at the ABC and hope that some of them also found a way to write their novels. Sarah Armstrong was a journalist with the ABC for eight years, where she won the prestigious Walkley Award. Her website is www. sarah-armstrong.com. Writers Festival feature, page 6 of SevenI remember walking around ABC TV the day I handed in my resignation. I wandered through the rabbit warren of studios and offices, telling everyone I knew that I was moving north to Byron Bay to write a novel. I expected them to respond with thinly-disguised dismay at my decision to abandon an interesting and coveted job on the Foreign Correspondent program to drop out and pursue a dream of writing a novel. Instead, a surprising number of my colleagues said, Youre so brave. I wish I could do that. I want to write a novel, too. I now know that many people dream of writing a novel. And if were to believe the disheartening article I read in a recent Sydney Morning Herald, its a dream less and less likely to come true. Apparently some publishers now wont even consider manuscripts from unpublished authors. Fortunately I wasnt really worrying about getting published when I arrived on the north coast and started writing. I was simply fascinated by the way this story was unfolding in my notebooks. I set up a desk in the living room of my small wooden house in the hills outside Mullumbimby and got up every morning before dawn to write. It was about this time that I won the EchoBeach Hotel short story competition, which gave me a realAuthor Sarah Armstrong. Photo Jeff Purple Rain Dawsonshot of confidence to keep working on the idea that became Salt Rain. Some days I had a feeling that the entire story was already within me and I just had to get out of the way and let it emerge. Other days I wrestled with the characters and plot, trying to squeeze them into some sort of logical structure. I excised characters, added new ones, cut out whole swathes of carefully and fruitlessly edited words. I spread hundreds of sheets of paper over the floor, rear-ranging, fiddling and experimenting. I wrote twelve different versions of one scene. I wrote twenty page histories for each character. In the end I wrote more than two hundred thousand words for a novel that is sixty thousand words long. The best advice I ever got was, All first drafts are shit. I have that quote, apparently by Ernest Hemingway, pinned above my desk. The freedom to write a shitty first draft is a wonderful thing. I dont worry about spelling or punctuation, character pro-gression or narrative tension. I want uncensored, relaxed writing that I can came back to and trawl for unexpected ideas or characters. After a couple of years of working away, I thought that perhaps Salt Rain was close to finished. Luckily, the endlessly supportive and wise women in my writing group suggested I put it away for a while. When I read it again after six months I was delighted to meet my characters again, but daunted to see how much work the manuscript still needed. In fact, it took another year and a halfs work before it would be ready to send out to an agent or publisher. I gave up being in a hurry to finish it and instead focused on making it the best I possibly could. In , I was selected for the Northern Rivers Writers Centre residential mentorship, which was a great opportunity to come down out of the hills and get feedback from the mentor, Inez Baranay, and from the other mentees. Part of writings appeal for me is its meditative, solitary nature, but theres something very supportive and stimulating about hanging out with other people who are passionate about writing.Dot-painted Binyabutts pocket ashtrays are the latest smoker must-have, thanks to local aboriginal artist Danza Vidler who painted the artwork for the new Binyabutts and their groovy dispensers, which are about to hit Byron Shire bigtime. Local businesses in Bangalow, Mullumbimby, Brunswick Heads and elsewhere are encouraged to house these dispensers. So far, the Byron Environment Centre BEC have supplied over a quarter of a million Binyabutts from Byron Bay outlets since the project began four years ago. Numerous other Binyabutt programs throughout the country have been spawned from the Byron program. The BEC is using a grant from Keep Australia Beautiful to fund the printing of the counter-top dispensers, and is seeking additional sponsorship to supplement the printing costs for the new dot-painted Binyabutt labels. So far the program has been sustained thanks to the support of the Beach Hotel, Splendour in the Grass and The Green and Clean Awareness Team. Any businesses interested in hosting a dispenser or sponsoring the new batch can call Darshi on .Rous Water and Widjabul elders invite you to a fun family event.Rocky Creek Dam Water Walks Open Dayjingi walla blagganmirrDjanbung the platypus welcomes everyone to Rocky Creek DamSunday July th am - 3pmWINABARINANew Carvery smorgasbord or set function menu A La Carte Menu out now Catering for up to Dance oor, full bar facilities Smorgasboard this Weddings functions Friday . Members. nonmembersBADGE DRAW THIS FRIDAYamm p1pm 1.Orana Rd. Ocean Shores. Ph For the information of members and their guestsIF GAMBLING IS A PROBLEM FOR YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW CALL THE G-LINE TOLL FREE Your choice for functions COUNTRY CLUB and receptionsFriday Night Rafes Great Prizes2.Guided Rainforest Walk Free BBQ Lunch Welcome to Country Opening of Water Walks Water Treatment Tourplus music, games giveaways.For further information please contact Anthony at Rous Water on .
