CWD Member Interview – Simon Kennedy

 

Most Thursdays this year we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview - Simon Kennedy

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

Since graduating from physiotherapy at the University of Queensland in 1998, I’ve had three main careers: physiotherapist, music and film.

I continue to practice physiotherapy, filling in at the army or air force with the odd casual shift. My highlights were working with the Queensland Academy of Sport soccer team and visiting the State of Origin camp (my boss was the Qld team’s physio).

Music took me to some strange stages, including the top of skyscrapers, the back of a semi-trailer, and under the shark tank at Sea World. I was in a rock band while also serving as a worship pastor so would often play in pubs and clubs on Friday and Saturday nights and then in church on Sundays.

Like the Wiggles, I also changed from adult to kids’ performer, and my YouTube channel of kids’ songs, Songs with Simon, now has over half a billion views. That was part of my transition from music to film and has opened up several opportunities to write spec scripts for animated kids shows.

But my biggest success in film/TV so far was to be co-creator of Safe Harbour, an Emmy award winning show.

Safe Harbour

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I often spend more time writing emails and pitch documents than I do on scripts! Meetings with graphic designers, producers and animation studios are also a big part of the process, and though I enjoy it all (usually!), writing the script is my favourite bit. After all the planning and talking, it’s great to see the story come to life on the page.

I’ve been blessed with opportunities to work with wonderful people and have written for factual feature films, kids comedy/adventure, adult thriller and drama TV shows and movies. For most projects, I look for an underlying kingdom heart, even though I tend to work on general market shows and movies. What kind of themes can I explore underneath the surface action?

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

My wife is usually the first person to read my work. She’s not in the industry but I value her encouragement and gentle feedback before sending it out to co-writers, producers and distributors.

One producer I’m excited to be working with is Brian Bird. He made Touched by an Angel and When Calls the Heart and is a perfect fit for a historical adventure/romance show that we pitched to him. Ultimately, I’m looking forward to the audience viewing more of the stories I write but I’ve learned that budgets in the millions tend to lead to a slow development process.

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

The hardest thing for me is juggling the several projects I have on the go. This month I’ll do a couple of drafts for a kids’ animation show, start pre-production on another series of Songs with Simon, take feedback on my first draft for a medical show set in the outback, and prepare pitches for three or four factual TV shows.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

If I have time, I’ll write the first draft of a low budget feature and finish post-production on another YouTube series, but I think they might have to wait till March!

Every morning I pray through the day and ask God for guidance. I have regular chats with other friends in the industry, often to be reminded that they’re facing similar challenges and that I’m not alone. And at least once a week, I check in with my wife, a very wise woman, who helps to keep me on track (and sane!).

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

The first book on screenwriting I recommend is Save the Cat. It introduces the three-act structure and a fresh take on genre in a light and easy-to-read way. Theme and character aren’t strong points though, so if you want something deeper, feel free to drop me a line.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

There are so many! When I started to take writing seriously, Anne Hamilton’s advice was invaluable in helping me to see how superfluous most adjectives and adverbs are. Rochelle from Wombat opened my eyes to how tough a writer’s life can be without scaring me too much!

Anne, Jo Wanmer and Ruth Bonetti graciously welcomed and encouraged me when I joined the Omega Writers committee with big ideas, Amanda Deed helped us to keep everything in the black and Susan Barnes kept everything running smoothly. Raewyn Elsegood runs an amazing conference, and I’m probably most grateful to Meredith Resce for taking over as Omega President!

Question 7: What are your writing goals for this year? How will you achieve them?

I’m prayerfully pondering whether I cut back on writing to put more effort into getting the things I’ve already written onto screens. My first step has been to organise my projects into genres and formats so I can take several similar shows or movies to market at once. Then I need to go to a few markets and meet the money people.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

God guided me to writing with a few amazing incidents acting as signposts to confirm my inner desires. I started out chasing every opportunity and entering any writing competition I could find until a friend shared a vision with me.

He pictured me in a room full of doors, but instead of considering what was on the other side of each one, I was simply running through them all. From that, I felt God prompting me to ask about the kingdom merit of each concept before chasing after it.

I followed that thought a bit too far and ended up only doing “worthy” projects for a couple of years until He reminded me that joy is meant to be an integral part of our journey. Recently I’ve adopted a Paul Colman album title to summarise my approach: Serious Fun. I’m more balanced and am enjoying my day to day practice a lot more while still feeling like I can contribute to deeper and thought-provoking discussions through much of my art.

Finding Inspiration

 

 

Normally, this time of year I’m travelling. Autumn in the northern hemisphere is my favourite time to travel. Italy, France, Norway, Finland, Vermont, Maine, and Canada are all beautiful in the fall. 

 

For the last fifteen years, I’ve travelled for at least two months of every year and every time, my mind was expanded as I experienced new languages, new places, and met new people. 

 

My writing is inspired when I am experiencing new things. 

 

My faith also informs my writing. Ideas that are God-breathed and God-inspired flow out of my soul like no other.

 

Things in everyday life inspire me–people I meet and things that happen all spark my creativity and inform my writing.

 

I guess we writers are like magpies. We collect inspiration in so many ways.  We catch snippets of conversation, enjoy art, watch movies, see plays, read widely, get intrigued by news items, laugh at, or thoughtfully consider, Instagram memes, and so much more. 

 

Sometimes though, we need to be intentional about inspiration. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdowns, and travel restrictions, I found the well of my inspiration running a little dry. 

 

So, I’ve done a few things lately to try and inject a little more inspiration into my life. Here are four things that have been inspiring me: 

 1. Volunteer: I’ve begun a volunteer job at my local church in their community services department. In this role, I interview people who need emergency relief. The church provides food vouchers, help with bill paying, fuel vouchers, and referrals to others services if required. 

 

Of course, I didn’t just do this to inspire my writing. Writing is a big part of my life but doing something in my community to help others is something I love doing. I’m sure that a by-product of the experiences of working in this environment will inspire something in my writing. 

2. Attend A Workshop or Retreat (in-person or online): Recently, I attended a workshop on the topic of writing your story with self-compassion. During the day, I was able to write a new ending for a novel I've been working on for years. 

As we shared our writing in small groups, I was inspired by the other writers in the group. I was challenged when I shared my own work. I still feel nervous tension when reading my work aloud, but I love being challenged to keep stretching and dreaming.

The Omega Writers Conference is running an online retreat on October 8 and 9. Why not consider signing up and joining others to be inspired? 

3. Do Something Way Out of Your Comfort Zone: In August, I signed up for a songwriting course. I’m not a singer or a musician, in fact, I’m the only non-musician in the group. Why on earth am I doing this? 

I thought it might help me to look at writing in a different way. I think doing the course will help develop my writing brain in a new way. Perhaps it will help make my writing more poetic and rhythmic. Perhaps something will be sparked as I listen to other's stories, songs, and music.

The last week of the course requires us to perform the song we’ve written. I’m not sure how I’ll fulfil that requirement but there are some helpful people in the class who said they will help me. 

 

4. Study Something New: Next term, I begin Italian lessons. Since I can’t travel to Italy at the moment, I thought that I’d learn more of the language before I go back one day.

 

There’s so much that has been taken away from us during the Covid-19 pandemic but it doesn’t mean that we can’t still be inspired. We just have to find different ways to live a life filled with inspiration.

 

Do you need a creativity boost? Why not try doing something new that will push you out of your normal routines?   

 

What have you been doing that inspires your creativity lately? 

 

 

 

 

2021 Omega Writers Retreat

By Iola Goulton

As we all know, the 2020 Omega Writer’s Conference was cancelled as we all experienced the joys of working and schooling from home. Restrictions to international travel mean we can’t hold our conference as planned this year either.

But we know everyone is keen to meet in person and spend quality writing time together. Instead of a full conference, the conference committee have been hard at work, planning a weekend retreat from 8 to 10 October 2021.

The retreat will be held at the Peppers Salt Resort & Spa, Kingscliff, New South Wales, which is about twenty minutes from Coolangatta Airport. Attendees can choose to stay at Peppers, next door at the Mantra, or at other accommodation in the area.

Click here (https://www.omegawriters.org/conference/) for more details on the venue and to download an accommodation booking form. Peppers and Mantra are both offering great rates for the retreat dates, and for two days before and after the retreat.

The conference committee are currently hard at work developing a retreat programme and finalising costing. Registration will open in June, so watch this space for more details.

CALEB Award

The entries in the 2021 CALEB Awards are now in the hands and ereaders of our judges, and the scores are trickling in. The deadline for judging first-round entries is Friday 18 June, and we are planning to announce the finalists on 28 June.

Winners will be announced on 9 October 2021 at the Omega Writer’s Retreat.

Picture Book judges: your entries are now in the hands of Australia Post. Please let me (Iola Goulton) know if you haven’t received them by Friday.

Stories of Life

Omega Writers are proud to sponsor the 2021 Stories of Life competition.

This year’s theme is telling a faith-filled story. Tell your stories of life that point to evidence of God’s reality, and a time and place when you witnessed God’s grace in action.

Click here (www.storiesoflife.net) find out more about the 2021 Stories of Life contest. 

Entry to the Youth category (writers aged 17 and under) is free, and entry to the Open and Short categories is AUD 10 per entry. The top three entries in each category will win a one-year membership to Omega Writers, and there are additional prizes for the winners of the Open and Short categories.

Hurrah for Omega Writers

Hurrah for Omega Writers!

Does that sound a bit like Enid Blyton’s Famous Five? Perhaps, but ‘hurrah’ sounds like the best word to use on this occasion. 

Omega Writers as an organisation of Australasian Christian writers is steadily gaining momentum every year, and this year is no different. I need to catch you up on how things are progressing, and encourage you once again: if you are not yet a member, jump on board and invest in this venture whose purpose is to benefit you in as many ways as we can think of. Please click here to re-watch the You Tube video that will tell you why. (NB there has been a small increase in membership since this video was made).

OMEGA WRITERS CONFERENCE 2017

It’s happening! Our conference committee have been pulling together a brilliant program for writers, editors and publishers to be a part of, and it is my job to get you to go to the website and take a look. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. You will get great professional input, collegial encouragement, opportunity to connect with publishers and editors and fellowship that is on a level that relates to YOU – the writer. We can go to church all year and mix with other Christians, and this is lovely, but how often do you get to really connect with Christian writers – you know, those crazy people who think like you do, in terms of plot, character, narrative and story idea. It is something that will fuel you, and I can’t encourage you enough to hop online now and at least see if it is possible for you to attend.

EARLY BIRD RATE ENDS NEXT WEEK!! Now is not the time to procrastinate people!

Oh, and we have not one, but two international speakers lined up alongside some outstanding Australasian speakers and workshop facilitators. 

Click Here for more details about how to register

Click Here for more details about the speakers

Now, lastly, but most importantly, I need to tell you about this year’s new initiative. Some of our volunteer team have been contacting businesses and organisations to see if they would be willing to partner with us in the promotion of Christian writing in our region. I am pleased to say that we have eight partner sponsors so far, with the possibility of more. (If you have a small business and you’d like to sponsor, send me an email and I’ll send you the sponsorship proposal package to consider).

What I would love you to do is to click onto our website and check out our official sponsors.

We have a screen print and embroidery business – Cam Print – who has sponsored, so if you’re looking for t-shirts, ball caps, aprons or letter jackets with your logo, Cam Print will help you Australia wide.

We have video producer – Simon Malcolm Productions – on board as a partner sponsor, so if you’re looking for a video promotion, corporate training video or any audio video need, go to their website and check them out.

We have editorial, design and publishing-assist businesses who have sponsored, including Christian Editing Services, Book Whispers, Finesse Writing and Editing, Breath of Fresh Air Publishing and an American design company, Roseanna White Designs. Please, please, please check out their websites and see if they offer something that will suit your needs.

There are a couple of other minor sponsors as well who have decided to support Australasian Christian writing – Eastern College and Focus on the Family.

Please support us by supporting our partner sponsors.

Click here to check out all the web links.

There is much more happening with Omega Writers: The Caleb Prize awards evening looks like it is going to be a great night of celebration and entertainment.

I have also been liaising with one of our major booksellers to see if they would visit our conference and meet some of our more prominent published authors and publishers.

There have been some great chapter events held around the country, and it is great to see this groundswell of Christian writers who are forming friendships and networks. 

So in summary:

1. If you’re not yet a member, help us support you by supporting us with financial membership
2. If you haven’t registered for this year’s exciting international conference, now is the time!
3. Please support us by supporting our partner sponsors – check them out here.

Blessings to you all and can’t wait to catch up with you late October.

Meredith Resce

Omega Writers Australasia President

Author - www.meredithresce.com

Omega Writers Needs You

Hello CWD people. 

Let me introduce myself, if you haven’t run across me before. My name is Meredith Resce, and I am the new president of Omega Writers—a formal members group who seeks to connect writers from around the Australasian region, and to put them in touch with resources and educational programs.

I first became aware of Omega Writers about nine years ago, and at that time it was a Christian writers’ group based only in Queensland. They invited me as a guest speaker from South Australia to one of the initial writers’ conferences, and it was the first time I had connected with other Christian writers in Australia.

From that time to this, Omega Writers has expanded at a steady rate. One of the affiliated resource/Face Book groups is ChristianWriters Downunder, and I don’t need to tell you how valuable this group is. I might take this opportunity to congratulate Jeanette, Anusha and Paula on the opportunity they create to connect, engage and discuss writing issues, and they do this making it freely available to us as Christian writers.

We are all part of a large body of writers—a team, if you like—who unselfishly work to encourage and assist other writers to improve their craft and find success in their dream of being published.

Omega Writers as a group has been working to increase the benefits of membership. There are not nearly as many paid up members as there are Australian and New Zealand Christian writers, and I would like to take this opportunity to again encourage you to become a financial member. Well how does that benefit me? You may well ask. There are a number of things that are accessible to you as a member:

1.       If you are a writer, publisher, editor or illustrator you may give us your profile, details and picture to add to our resource directory.

2.       You will receive discount on conference registration, CALEB prize entry fee, and a number of editing services will offer a discount to OMEGA members.

3.       You will receive a 25% discount to become a member of the Australian Writers’ Guild.

4.       There have been some substantial discounts offered from Day Translators (a reputable translating group) for OMEGA members.

5.       You will get information on groups that are forming in your region, or who are aimed specifically at your genre. (eg state chapters, the screenwriters group, the science fiction group etc)

Other ideas have been floated that would add value to your membership, but I need to remind everyone, that this organisation is run by volunteers, who give up time and effort to pull all of these resources and opportunities together.

                Being a financial member helps us pay the bills, and at times we would like to be able to remunerate certain volunteers who pour months of work into the jobs done.

                Next month, I will be initiating a fund-raising strategy (currently being prepared by a fund-raising professional, free of charge). We want to bring some better known writing specialists to our next conference, and this of course takes money. We would also like to offer some good prizes for our writing competition, while at the same time being able to offer some remuneration to the judges and other hard working officials.

                What do Omega Writers need you for? Well at the very least, if you would consider becoming a paid up member, that would encourage us, and give us a little bit more in the kitty. But wait, there is more you could do for us. We need judges for the CALEB prize; We need enthusiastic, confident members who will help enact the fund-raising strategy; We need conference help volunteers.

                One thing I’ve learned from over twenty years in the Australian writing scene, if we don’t band together, and each carry some of the load, there won’t be an Australian or Australasian writing scene. We do not have the huge Christian population of the US, and we have to fight for every small thing we achieve. Will you become part of the team?

                Omega Writers needs you!

                Check out this short promo video I made last year.

Blessings and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

president@omegawriters.org

Do you know what you don't know by Jo Wanmer

     I didn't know that I didn't know how to write. English was never my favorite subject but I wanted to share my story. Surely it can't be too hard, I thought. So I set goals, timelines sat at the keyboard and started this adventure. I typed for hours, re-read, adjusted and produced ninety thousand words. I was surprised how good they were. Remember...I didn't know what I didn't know!

     About that time, looking for a publisher, I walked into an Omega writers meeting and discovered that I was Unconsciously Incompetent about writing. In the chart (See below), I was catapulted from the comfortable position at the bottom left to the agony of the top left corner. Reality checks open us to previously unseen possibilities but is always tough to swallow.

     My next challenge was to become Consciously Competent. The process requires work and determination, research and a teachable spirit. But I wanted to get this book published. Deep hunger forced me to overcome the endless hurdles. 

    Over the last six years, some of my writing skills have become Unconsciously Competent - I can do it without focusing on the skill. For example I can write shorter sentences without counting words.  My fingers have stopped abusing the '!' Adverbs rarely hit the page. (Unless I allow them!!)

     Now I know that I don't know, the list of topics waiting in the 'Consciously Incompetent' box is overwhelming. They keep slipping from the box below. Every time I manage to master a skill, I discover more I didn't know I didn't know. 

     Two important areas I have learned to focus on are 'Hunger to Learn' and 'Practice and Determination'. The other two arrows seem to trigger without any effort from me. Lets peek under the lid on two of the boxes.

Consciously Incompetent.

     This box seems to be jammed full. I can see Scrivener, Self-publishing, time management, blogging, webpage construction...On the top of this pile is Characterisation. Its eager and alert, hand extended, begging me to lift it up, out and make it sparkle. My books are pleading for me to develop competency here. But, I argue, I have a good story. Whats wrong with my characters? To date there hasn't been enough hunger in me to do the study, make the effort, find the keys to consciously make heroes and villains jump from the page. 

     My book El Shaddai is stalled at this road block. Two things recently have fed my hunger to push forward. I realised in every book,  movie or TV series I can recall, I remember the people, not the plot. Memorable characters are...well, memorable. Secondly, at Omega conference last month, Hallee Bridgeman taught on three dimensional characters . If one dimension is missing our characters deflate. It was a light bulb moment for me. Every character must have physical, intellectual and Spiritual dimensions. Focused study and effort will develop my skill and move this topic towards competence.

Consciously Competent.

     'Show, Don't tell' sits in this box. I know the theory but have to concentrate to improve all the time. Other disciplines glare at me, suggesting they are feeling neglected. But I've discovered that to be consciously competent on too many things at once reduces everything to a grey blah. I've tried fixing multiple areas in one re-write but after a few chapters I lose focus.

     To master Characterisation I'm ignoring all other topics in this box at the moment and working on one character at a time. The other things are jockeying for position and demanding attention. Their turn will come but for now I must focus. Maybe one day I'll know my characters so well that they'll come to life under my fingers without so much effort.

    Thankfully 'Staying in POV' has slipped to the Unconsciously Competent box most of the time. But having said that I know that any day now I'll learn of something I didn't know and it will slip back through the bottom left and join the pile in the top left.

     What about you? Does this chart help you?
     What is waiting in your Consciously Incompetent Box?



Jo Wanmer loves to write real life relationships, bringing Light of Christ to the hard places. Preacher, Pastor, grandmother, bookkeeper are roles that fight for her time. Her first book Though the Bud be Bruised asks the hard question - 'God, where you when...?'  She lives with her husband Steve on the northern outskirts of Brisbane in Sunny Queensland. For relaxation they love to drive in his new/old BMW

Thanks to Action Coach for concepts used in chart.