Happy Holidays

I have noticed this year that Christmas has become somewhat non-denominational.

To the point there is no real mention of Christ at all. I’m even getting a little overexcited if I see anything vaguely Christ related or religious.

So in that vain, I wish you all a very merry Holiday (for whatever it means to you) and a safe and happy New Year.

I am taking a little break from blogging over the holiday period (only a week or two) to enjoy some writing time, quiet time, fun time with the kiddies and possibly too much merriment in general.

I’ll be back in the New Year.

Happy Scribbling Christmas

What I’m learning from my current edit

Firstly, it is not going quite as quickly as I had hoped. Some things are still getting in the way of my writing time, but not as much. I had thought that it would not take me quite as long as it has with each chapter to fill in the gaps in the story, and bring the characters off the page.

Secondly, there is still a long way to go until it is as perfect, or near as can be, as I would like. I am happy with the story itself and the way it is moving forward. It is a lot clearer now. It is the finer detail and the visualisation of the characters I worry about. I have them, and the setting, so clearly in my head, that I’m not sure they are making it to the page; that I might only be thinking they are making it to the page.

Thirdly, I still care about my characters and where their lives are going and how they interact with each other. I’m eager for their story to be great, but their story. It has grown with them, and although I try to direct it a particular way, they must find their own way there. I love that about writing, learning with them.

So, a long way still to go, but I’m making good progress. I would rather do it properly than quickly. I will certainly need at least another couple of drafts after this one. And I may need to use my critical friendships between drafts to make sure some of what is in my head reaches the page.

Happy Scribbling

Writing Groups

A good writing group is a wonderful thing to have.

You can make new friends:

And friends are important to keep you going when things get tough, keep you up when things are good and see you through the blocks.

Source of inspiration:

Sharing stories (and not always written) and writing is a great way to find inspiration for a work in progress or to start you off. I have had a lot of inspirational jolts from general discussion in the group before we even think about the writing.

Critical friendships:

Writing groups are a safe environment to get feedback on your writing and to give feedback to others. This helps with learning how to deal with constructive criticism and how to give it. This can only make you and your work stronger.

Learning opportunities:

Chance to listen to what others are writing and learning. Sharing ideas and learnings is a great way to help others learn. Other members of the group may belong to different associations and so hear about different events, competitions and opportunities for writers.

Providing a reader’s perspective:

Listening or reading other writers work is a great way to get a feel for the rhythm of the words. You can also get an idea of how well something works from those as readers.

Meeting times:

How often the group meets is going to depend on the participants. If you are all not working, then perhaps one afternoon a week; or after work once a fortnight; or the first Sunday of the month. It is going to be different for everyone.

Our group meets fortnightly; it was the way it was when I joined and we have continued. It seems to be the best spacing for us; and we rotate meeting venues.

How to join a writing group:

Look at writers centre newsletters for groups in your area;

Talk to friends and other writers;

Attend a writing course – it may be that some of you will connect well and want to continue meeting after it finishes (both groups I’ve belonged to formed this way); or

Look on line – there are lots of forums out there where you can connect with others and share your work.

Happy Scribbling

Planning and Goal Setting for 2013

It is that time again, to consider how we have been going meeting this year’s goals. And thinking about what we want to achieve next year.

Now, honestly, I have already been thinking about next year, and I regularly check how I have been going this year.

Let’s start with 2012.

It was not quite as productive as I hoped. But I know why. It was the level of study I took on. Now I loved every moment of that and I learnt so much and have found whole new areas of writing I would not have previously considered. But I know I’m not going to get my current work in progress finished and I really hoped I would.

I don’t want to look at this year negatively. There is still a whole month to go and I have learnt and read and written a lot. My aim is to continue through the rest of the year and refocus for next year. I have already managed to reach my goal with the number of novels I read.

Here are my writing goals for 2013.

(I have other non-writing goals, such as recarpeting the house, but you wouldn’t be interested in those…) Please note that these are not in any order of importance.

Submit current work in progress to publisher. (Which means it will be finished).

Draft book 1 of Trilogy. (This was a goal for 2012, but it had to be dropped).

Investigate other publishing opportunities – such as short stories; sci/fi and fantasy mags; competitions.

Complete Master of Arts.

Read all books beside the bed (currently 19 – and I haven’t been into a book shop, or on Amazon in ages – it is hard people, very hard).

Investigate creation of website.

I think this is enough to keep me challenged. One of my aims for this year was to put some writing examples on this site. But it isn’t possible. I’m not quite sure what I want to share yet in terms of lots of writing, but I want to expand on the blog. Any changes will be updated here.

Happy Scribbling, and planning.

Current work in progress

I feel like I’m not getting to my current work in progress as much as I would like. Partly due to the amount of study I took on this term, and there may have been a little procrastinating in there too. I try, but sometimes it just looks too scary to face.

In an attempt to get back on track I did a little cursory reviewing of the work so far. I have completed the comprehensive edit on the first third of the book, so there is still some way to go. But I wasn’t going to let it beat me.

I sat down with the remaining part of my story and worked through chapter by chapter, making notes as to whether it required writing (as there are some gaps), some writing and editing or just the comprehensive edit. This only took me a half hour or so, and produced a clear list of exactly what is required to get this draft finished.

Because I have had a little rest from the story I will need to revisit some aspects to ensure the continuity of the story. Once I had the plan in place I then spent some time writing the first rough draft of the next chapter, which was one of those gaps. I was also able to try it out on my writing group (very useful) and then start on the editing process.

I am hoping that I can work through one to two chapters a week, depending on the level of work required. I have my mornings back and this term I am only studying one subject, so I hope to use some evening time as well. If I can continue to work at the same steady pace I should be finished early next year. Then I can give it a little rest, while I go back to planning my trilogy book 1. Then read and review again. I am hoping that with this comprehensive edit the next one will not be so demanding.

All going to plan it should be ready to send out into the world somewhere between July and September 2013. (fingers and toes crossed).

Happy Scribbling.

On the right path

Someone recently said to me, “You bring this on yourself.”

Do I?

“You don’t have to do so much.”

Don’t I?

I was actually talking about my university commitments at the time and the fact that I was watching far less T.V. because I was studying or writing. I didn’t think I was complaining about the amount of writing I do but perhaps it sounded that way.

We were discussing all those shows that I no longer watched, and didn’t really miss. And the reason I didn’t miss them was that I was enjoying what I was doing.

So I have been flat out; and this study period has been quite challenging at times. But the important point is that I have enjoyed every moment.

I am learning so much and writing better (I think). It comes back to the reason I am doing this.

For me.

Because I want to write. Because I love to write. Because I need to write like I need to breathe. I can’t live without it. If I could give up my day job tomorrow and write all day, I would jump at the chance.

That is not going to happen soon, unless I win a large amount of money. But the study helps me along the path towards that dream. Towards that goal.

Sometimes I get a bit tired and sometimes it gets a bit hard but the benefits far outweigh the pain. It is important to remember why we do what we do. Sometimes I need a little reminder but I know what I want and I know what I need to put in to get there. And if I enjoy the process – isn’t that the point?

Happy Scribbling

Planning for writing

I have been a little bit busy with my uni work of late. It is taking up most of my thinking time and currently all of my writing time.

But that is OK.

And it is OK because it is important, enjoyable and all leads toward my long term writing goals.

Despite the enjoyment I am getting from this writing at the moment, it is disappointing that my current work in progress has had to take a back seat. The longer I'm not working on it, the further my finish time gets pushed out.

Yet I still have that writing time booked. I still get up at the same time, sit in my study and write. I may not be writing my novel but it is writing.

And uni won't last forever, and my workload will ease and when I get to the study at 5am, I'll be able to write my novel and not my uni specific work. And I won't have to retrain myself.

The current heavy workload for uni has also taught me that I can get more done of an evening than I thought I could, as I usually work best of a morning. I also discovered that I don't need to watch so much of the telly; I can record the good bits and watch later. As long as I have a plan of what I would like to achieve I usually do what I set out to in a session, or at least get reasonably close.

Planning for my writing, what I want to achieve and what I am going to write has been a great help and improved the quality of my writing.

Each month I have a list of goals, I then transfer these goals to a work plan. The work plan details all I need to do to reach my goals and how and when I am going to do them. I then use each week of this plan to detail what I need to do each day. It seems to be working well.

I am also planning more for each piece of writing. There are so many steps before the actual writing or aspects of what we are going to write that need to be posted for uni each week. Each of these steps I have found add to the work as a whole; and help me for future writing projects.

So I'm flat out, and not writing my novel, but I am happy that this all leads to a better writing overall and therefore worth every moment.

Happy Scribbling.

Where I have been for the last month...

I would like to start with an apology. It has been a very trying time over the last month and I’ve been a bit lax with my blogging.

I lost a friend – my old computer. Well he wasn’t that old but he was familiar and safe and not backed up well enough.

He died mid Dr Who. I’m not sure what was most upsetting at the time; having to wait until the Saturday night for the conclusion to the episode or the fact that I could have just lost my entire writing career.

In the end it was the panic over my writing that won out, and it intensified over the following days as I remembered more and more stories and snippets stored away on the hard drive only.

Thankfully, it was discovered, by a very fabulous man, that the hard drive had in fact survived but the computer itself was lost forever. It was surprisingly easy to find a handsome slimline replacement. And then the initial fabulous man moved my hard drive contents to my new one.

In setting my new world to look and work like my old world I also managed to max out my download limit. Although I had everything back it was painful to even try to access the internet let alone do things on it.

By this point it was the end of September and I was highly traumatised.

I then had a week of complete relaxation with some friends interstate. Where I literally did nothing but shop, watch trashy t.v. and make a decent dent in Dance with Dragons (book 5 of the Fire and Ice series by George RR Martin). And that was a trauma of a different kind because I know he is going to kill off more of my favourite characters and I fear getting attached to anyone. (There is a whole blog post in that alone, I’m sure.)

I am now back to where I should be. Although a bit stressed about how behind I am with my writing, struggling to keep on top of my uni work and too scared to pick up the novel I’m reading.

I have also learnt a lot from this. The most important thing being: to back up, back up and then back up some more. It was only pure luck that the hard drive didn't die and I had visions of having to rewrite my current work in progress from the last print out I had – a very scary thought indeed.

I have purchased an external hard drive, I have some copies of the important stuff on thumb drives as well, and I am investigating cloud technology (although I’m not sure I get the process I can see the advantages).

After few deep breaths and saving everything to everywhere I can, I hope to continue with some more regular blogging from now on.

I hope you have all your writing backed up… Happy Scribbling

Change in Mindset

I have recently discovered a change in my own behaviour during the editing process.

The editing process does takes far more concentration and work than the initial draft. My first drafts are free and easy, they flow and it doesn’t matter about grammar, spelling, punctuation or even plot. I am just trying to get the story down.

I am currently editing my fantasy novel. This is the first real run through with a red pen. Previously my editing has been more fiddling, and then starting again.
The process hasn’t been as driven. This time I’m trying hard to make it right.

For example, when editing work before, I have thought, “That doesn’t quite work, but I’ll pick it up on the next edit.”

Not this time.

I am reworking, or rewriting until it does work. It is taking longer than I planned but I’m sure I’m getting a better story out of it. I will need to read it through again, and there may be some changes still required. So this isn’t a final draft. But it is much closer to that final draft than I would have produced with a second draft before.

Some of the areas I’m focusing on include:

·         Characters are consistent and real;

·         Need for additional characters in a scene;

·         Magic consistency;

·         Timing;

·         Readability; grammar and punctuation;

·         Spelling – particularly character names;

·         Movement of plot – that each scene is moving the story along; and

·         Appropriate description.

I have cleared my desk and I’m working well in the study. My notes are on hand and the whiteboard (with character links and world info) is visible. I didn’t get as much cleared out of the study as I had hoped. But it is a better working space and I know where everything is.

I am continuing to keep a writing log for this project, which details my aims for each writing session, what I achieved and how well I thought it went. This can only help improve my processes and my writing.

Despite the year slipping by at an alarming rate, I still aim to have this novel finished by the end of the year.

I hope your projects are working just was well.

Happy Scribbling.

Spring Cleaning

With spring rumoured to be just around the corner I thought it was time to do some spring cleaning. The only real signs of spring here in Tassie are the blossoms. We get a hint that the weather might be on the turn and then we get snow.

It doesn’t have to be spring to get things organised. It is the idea of shrugging off the winter coat that drives some need to freshen the house at the same time.

I’m not the best housekeeper, but things usually end up pretty close to where they should. Of late I have been very focused on my study and the house is starting to show signs of neglect. My daughter heads to the washing or ironing basket to find clothes before trying a drawer.

But the push to organise came because I can’t find my notes, or edits when I get the chance to sit down to write, and so I end up doing something else.

Therefore my study needs an overhaul as well. My desk has become a dumping ground, even the cat struggles to find a place to sit. I have notes and books and bills and birthday invitations and printouts in haphazard and unrelated piles. I can’t find a space to even write a note. And working on the computer has become frustrating as I get the mouse caught on one of the many piles of papers.

My aim is to start by clearing all the rubbish out of the room and clearing the bookcase. I have a beautiful bookcase but it holds everything from a power drill to an old camping stove. Once I have that cleared out, I can start using it to store all my books and notes. This will help clear the desk to make it more workable.

Then the filing.

By the end of the weekend I should have a clear and workable study again. It might take a little longer to get the rest of the house to where it should be; but with a tidy study at least I will be writing and happy.

Happy Scribbling.

The Writing Process

I recently read that key to good writing is rewriting.

I can only agree.

First drafts are rough by definition. A first draft is the story pounded out, capturing the idea, capturing the characters and what they do and why. It is hurried, and scatty, poorly spelt, grammatically challenged and rough. It is why it is called a draft. It is by no means the finished product nor should it be sent anywhere.

The rewriting or redrafting process is going to be different for everyone. Some ideas work for some and not others. One published author I follow via her blog does one rewrite/redraft and she is done. Another published author I have met pounds out her draft and sends (unread) to the publisher.

The whole idea makes me cringe. Perhaps it is because so much changes for me over the first draft. Perhaps because I write over a longer time period – with a day job in the middle. Perhaps I just lack confidence.

Whatever the reason, I rework my stories. All of them; short and long.

I read through the entire story making notes both on the pages and on a separate sheet of major problems, name changes, place, making sure the story is consistent with where I want it to be.

I then rework it, moving through page by page to ensure the story is smooth, the description is adequate, the characters have depth, the grammar works and the spelling is improved.

I let it rest. I read through again. Then rework again. And I do this as many times as I need to, to make it good. Or at least as good as it could be. There is a point where this needs to stop.  For a novel I may work through the entire piece three or four times. I may only go through twice.

This is my process and it may not work for everyone. But then everyone writes differently. I start writing from the spark of an idea and see where it goes. Then I’ll think about how to make it into something special. That is where the planning comes in. Others like to plan right from the start.

You may remember a previous post about mapping out a trilogy on index cards. This has had to wait a bit while I continue with my current story, but it is still there. I have the first novel mapped out. I hope to have the following two at the same stage before I start writing. That will be a change in process for me and I’m keen to see how it goes. It just has to wait until I have finished my current fantasy novel.

Happy Scribbling

The To-Do List

I continue to battle to get it all done at the moment.

I did manage to send my novel out into the world again. This could up to six months for a response, or non-response as the publishing houses are tending toward at the moment.

My writing journal has been very helpful. It is also a great reference to flip back through the pages and see how I’m going and where there may be repeat problems. A problem I have discovered is planning the next session. Not that planning is a problem, but when I do it is.

At the end of each session, I need to map out what I want to do at the next session. If I don’t, I stumble. Sometimes I can get straight into what I want, but mostly I fiddle and check emails and so on before I get down to what is important and then find I have little time left.

Given the amount of study I’m trying to do, I am sticking to my early morning writing times for novel writing. If I miss the session it is hard to make it up during the day, unless I’m organised and can write at lunch time. But it rarely happens. This adds to the pressure and pushes out the deadlines. I can’t be too hard on myself though or I won’t get anything done. I need to take each new day as a fresh start.

I am attempting to follow a suggestion from Scott H Young about planning and to do lists. I may have mentioned before that I love lists, but they can become as much of a procrastination tool as a time management one. Scott’s suggestion is a weekly/daily list.

Start with the weekly list which shows all the things to be achieved that week. Then using that as a reference write, out the daily to do list for the following day. At the end of the day write the next day’s list and so on. Each day taking from the weekly list to ensure it all gets done.

My weekly list looks a little daunting at the moment, but my weeks haven’t really changed that much over the last few months. Perhaps it is linked to my energy levels. I need to keep moving though if I’m going to achieve all that I want to this year. I may be feeling the pressure but I am enjoying every minute.

Happy Scribbling

Glass slumping and the procrastination monster

When I feel overwhelmed by all I’m trying to do I find my mind doesn’t quite function as it should. And I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment. Partly because my day job has been exhausting over June and I’ve had little creative energy left for anything outside of work.

When I get stressed I tend to start thinking at strange tangents.

So the little creative energy I have had I have been using to find something artistic to enrich my life. I’ve researched glass and ceramic classes and considered getting the camera out again and focusing on photography.

But it took some time to realise that I am already doing something like this – my writing. And these ideas take from my writing time, that researching classes robs my writing time.

In my search for some stress release I found I was procrastinating, and in many ways only adding to my stress.

At least I am able to see this for what it really is.

So instead of taking up a new hobby I have taken some time to refocus on why writing is important to me and what I want to write. Which it turns out is not very different to what I have been thinking about and working towards for some time. I just needed a bit of a kick.

I have looked over a variety of advice to beat procrastination (again, and yes that is in a way another form of procrastination). I have decided to try using a writing journal. This will be a notebook where I map out the aim of my next writing session, then how well I thought that session went and how close I came to meeting the session goals.

This may help cut down the email checking I do before I start writing because I only have an hour of a morning before the getting ready for school madness starts and a clear plan/aim/goal for that hour would help guide me straight into writing.

Happy Scribbling

First Written Rejection

I'm so excited to share the news that I have received my first written rejection.

My first rejection was by non-response. So this one has been tacked up on the study wall.

Part of me doubts my first novel will ever be published but I am going to send it out again into the scary world to see what happens.

In any case, I will continue writing.

Happy Scribbling

The Connection Between Reading and Writing

My current subject at Uni is looking at the importance and the connection between reading and writing. That is that one does not or cannot exist without the other. It is an interesting point and timely.

My mother has chastised me recently for not having enough faith in my own writing and not sending it out into the world.

‘But I have,’ I whined.

But not enough I whispered to myself.

The only way I can really call myself a writer is when others are reading my writing. My reading my own, apparently, is not enough.

So, I hear you sigh. She is going to refocus, again.

Well, yes I am; and no.

In light of where I want to be, that is a published writer, people will at some point read my writing. I am most comfortable with novel length writing, but I also need to work a little on short stories and memoir. Other forms in general, let’s say. Poetry has had its run methinks.

Part of this change has been spurred by my assignment this term - to write something for publication in the university magazine. I have thought about this previously but this form of writing has taken a backseat and my novel writing has taken over. I do think there is room for both – I just need to watch even less TV and try not to read so much.

Reading is important and I feel that I learn a lot from the books that I read; both those I enjoy and those I don’t. Writing more than reading I think. If I’m not getting my book written because I am too busy reading someone else’s novel – well it’s not good. Balance is the key.

I have some new points to focus on with my study – confidence and my powers of description (which are currently lacking). The more I write the better I get, so more writing it is. And that was my aim all along.

Happy Scribbling

Overflowing Ideas

I have had a problem with new ideas recently. They seem to be invading my thinking nearly all of the time and I blame my writers’ group. Yes, it’s your fault. All of you.

Little sayings, little phrases are sparking ideas at the moment and drawing my attention away from where it should be; firmly focused on my fantasy novel which seems to have stalled in a way, again. It is being written, and edited, at the moment and I’m getting lots of fresh ideas for that too.

But in a recent day dream of all the stories I would like to write I started to think about those I have planned or started or had ideas for. An action style women’s fiction I started some time ago, that is still in the planning stages has been haunting me and the ending came into focus in the car the other day. Another women’s fiction idea, still in the very early stages of thinking about seemed to float back to the surface too and I ended up doing half a day’s research for it.

All distractions from my current work.

Coming back to my writing group; imagine the cheek of some people, actually inspiring writing in such an environment. But they have (and they do regularly) and a couple of phrases are starting to grow into bigger ideas. I think for the moment they are short stories but I have had to stop and ask: is it worth me writing them now?

All of this thinking about stories, and more stories and parts for old stories and unfinished stories is good in some ways. It helps my confidence that there are that many stories locked away somewhere in my head. And that my muse is working and I may never run dry for ideas. Yet it distracts from what I want to finish now. Again with the unfinished work.

I want so much to finish my current fantasy because I want to see how it ends, and because then I can legitimately get on with other stories. I will have to write down the little ideas, so I don’t lose them, and focus, focus and focus some more on one project at a time.

Happy Scribbling

I spoke earlier in the year about some exercises or activities to help with creativity, skill and enriching writing.

A search of the internet will provide a lot of exercises or activities for different levels and different interests. I have pulled together some from different sources that appealed to me. You can adjust or adapt any of these for your own needs.

1.       Dream journal – keep pen and paper by the bed and write down dreams when you wake, or a story of the images that come to mind. I can’t always remember my dreams clearly but sometimes an idea of the dream leads to some very interesting stories.

2.       Google image prompt – or review favourite websites for pictures, and one as a prompt to write a short story.

3.       5 minutes of blind writing – I’m not so sure about this one but it works for some. It is what it sounds like, blindfolded write for five minutes.

4.       Eaves dropping – take part of an overheard conversation and write a story.

5.       Describe your favourite place in detail, capturing what makes it special.

6.       Detail a memory from the past – it could be yesterday, it could be years ago, big or small.

7.       Writing off the page – take a line of poetry, or a famous saying, or line from a book/film/tv and continue writing.

8.       Colour – choose a colour, go for a walk and then write about everything you see that is that colour or reminds you of that colour.

9.       Take something already done and twist it – such as a funny story, like Home Alone and make it scary, or take something scary and make it funny, like Dracula.

10.   Take a well known story or character and make it modern – What would red riding hood have to face on her way to grandma’s house today?

11.   Use a crossword – use all the down solutions in a short story.

12.   Take a headline – rearrange the words and then write the new story.

Happy Scribbles

Easter Break

I have been taking some time for myself of late. Not always productive time, but time I need.  Again, I seem to be spending a lot of time setting goals, reorganising and refocusing and relying on my lists but they haven’t necessarily been moving me forward.

Over the Easter break I stretched that out to take some alone time to clear the clutter (from the house and my mind) and try to reclaim my creativity.

It isn’t that I’m not being creative but at the moment I am trying to do so much I am in a constant state of stress about what I want to do. Which is simply crazy. These are goals and projects I have set myself. So at what point did my writing change from being a daily necessity to become so difficult?

I don’t know.

But when I think about it, it is not that it is difficult, I’ve just let other things overwhelm me and get in the way. A few days off my day job gave me the chance to sort some of those other things out and allow me the opportunity to write all I want to.

I’m also taking more opportunities to feed my creativity, such as making sure I read every day, I’ve been to the theatre and booked another visit. And the most exciting is that I’m going to see one of my favourite authors next week launch her new book. In the middle of all of this my writing group is a constant support and source of inspiration.

Have a Happy Easter – I hope your holiday break is as productive as mine.

Happy Scribbling

Priorities

Over the last few weeks I have been looking at my priorities. Ensuring I am focused on the right areas and not trying to do too much. I am often tempted by new project ideas and I find that I can start to get a bit bogged down. Then it all becomes too much and I’m not able to work on anything, let alone complete it.

That is my main aim for this year – to get some projects finished.

This is particularly important for my current novel. I always want to be a prolific writer. I have loads of ideas, stories and characters begging to be written. Some of them will blossom into whole books and some not, some short stories and some blog ideas and some ideas will never make it onto anything other than scrap paper because that is where they belong.

Back to my novel. I spent years (lots of years) writing my first novel and I live in fear of it taking me just as long with this one. If that does end up being the case then I’m a long way from the next novel, and the one after that. And that is not what I want.

So I am prioritising my writing workload in the attempt to get more finished – so that I can start more. Are you still with me?

I have a range of things going at the moment and have recently picked up some more, in a slightly different field for the joy and experience and it is helping someone out.

Initially I had listed in order of importance my writing priorities. But when I read over them, they are all important for the longer term and all of them will need some time devoted to them to get them finished. Some will require more than others.

So in no particular order:

-          Novel one submitted to an agent

-          Novel two completed and ready to send to readers group

-          Writing opportunity

-          Master of Arts (Writing)

-          Regular blogging

I had read the suggestion that all projects should be finished before adding anything else to the list. I can see the sense in that, but some of these projects are ongoing and it would mean that I couldn’t do anything else for at least a couple of years. It may be that I should break them down to smaller chunks, such as just the next stage for each and then add or change as I go.

If I did that the list would look like:

-          Novel one submitted to an agent

-          Novel two – complete redraft/edit of first five chapters

-          Interview “Hero”, draft articles

-          Complete Masters Unit for SP1 – weekly tutorials; major assignment

-          Write blog draft for posting – weekly

But then even as I type this, I can think of better ways, different deadlines for different components. I have a weekly task list; and I have a daily task list. I think I am better working towards my main priorities in the first list my way until they are done. Every week is different too and I believe in being flexible. Some weeks I can get a little ahead with my study; some weeks I may have nothing to write for the “writing opportunity”; or with family pressures and life in general sometimes it isn’t always possible to keep to the planned schedule.

I try. I am writing every day. I am constantly thinking about my writing projects and what I can do. Some dedicated time this weekend and the first item will be ticked off the list. It may come back on, depending on the outcome of the submission, but it will be done.

I’m already tempted to add other things to the list. But if I am aiming to get things finished then I need to focus on what I have first. I have tried to set the outcome to a point where I need to rest, or I can’t do anymore until I have feedback. Then I can use that time to fit in other opportunities and projects.

I just have to continue writing.

Happy Scribbling

(Photo: www.applestooranges.ca)

Crisis of Confidence

I am in the middle of a little crisis. A crisis of confidence. As with most writers (or so my reading indicates) confidence comes and goes; travels up and down and like so much else in my life, it cycles.

But I have wondered lately if it is truly possible for me to do this.

Can I write?

I try but I know I could do more.

Do I write well enough?

I’m not after a response here, I’m not asking for affirmation. I just need to talk it out.

Actually there is a lot I need to be doing, all of which will help build my confidence and skill.

Firstly, I need to write more.

Although I think about my stories a lot, I am actually writing very little at the moment. And I need to be doing some more exercises to keep my writing brain active.

One exercise suggested at a workshop was to write about an object in detail for 10 minutes; and to do this for different objects every day. It made sense to me at the time but I never followed it up. This morning I spent 10 minutes writing about my cup of coffee. Does that sound dull? I actually found it extremely useful. The exercise focused my mind on the detail and I tried hard to use appropriate descriptive words.

This brings me to my second step. I need to improve my vocabulary.

As I read I often think “That was the perfect word to use.” I don’t do enough of that in my own writing. 

There are several ways to improve vocabulary: subscribe to A Word a Day; use the thesaurus and read widely. I subscribe and read anything I can get my hands on; I need to be making the conscious effort to use the thesaurus more.

These seem to be my main weaknesses and the more I work on them the better I will get and the more confident I will become (I hope).

Happy Scribbling

Cycles

I am waking in the dark now. Rising before the sun. It happened so quickly that it came as quite a shock and I checked the clocks repeatedly that first morning in case I had woken in the middle of the night. But the sun turned the edges of the sky a brilliant pink not long after and I relaxed into my writing.

I have recently been focused on cycles. All sorts of cycles, but not the bicycle sort. Life seems to move in cycles, mostly for women it is rumoured that we work on 28 days, men only 24 hours. We all see ups and down, periods of high energy and periods of low.

Thinking over this I started to think about those natural cycles we see around us – the seasons, day and night, life cycles of the cabbage moth decimating my broccoli, just to name a few. There is so much happening around us, changing around us that we can use in our writing.

There is so much to each cycle: the processes, the physics of it, the physical changes, the colours, the impact, the next step. What would happen if the cycle stopped or went a different way, or even reversed?

The fun with writing fantasy is that anything can happen. A pudgy green caterpillar does not have to turn into a white moth. Perhaps it stays as a caterpillar, only changing colour depending on what it eats, or there is no change at all other than size. Maybe it changes into something very different; it may emerge from its chrysalis with a hard thorny shell, metallic wings and sting in its tail.

We need to have some understanding of what does happen around us before we can change it or move it or do something different with it. We could have a night that lasts for a week with three moons but what would this mean for the world beneath this black sky? What would it mean for the plants? Or the water bodies?

But even for the non-fantasy writer looking more closely at nature can be of benefit. Partly because looking at the detail in life helps us to be better writers and if we notice the detail we will hopefully include it in our writing, making it richer and deeper and more engaging for the reader.

The point is that we can have some fun with what we do and we can take from around us to do that. I recently watched a whole documentary on the lakes district in Britain because when I saw the advertising for it, the scene they showed was breathtaking. The greens were vivid, it was open yet sheltered and I immediately saw two of my characters discussing their current situation beneath the tree. Standing close to each other, him trying to be calm, her voice growing louder…

I love that feeling, when it all just falls into place right there. It didn’t need the commentary of the fishing in the area, or the history of the previous land owners. It just needed that perfect landscape, just the right spot for my characters to take off and shine. It just needed the right colour green. But I then I have this thing about green…have I told you about it?

Try this exercise – find a different place or landscape and put your characters into it. How do they react? Is it right for them, are they comfortable?

Happy Scribbling

Picture from aptgarden.blogspot

Life's Pressures

As I have started back at my day job after 4 (nearly 5) weeks off I have started to feel the pressure. Of everything. With my day job I found that it is just as busy and overwhelming as it was before my break, which was quite disappointing. And then I began to worry that perhaps I had planned or hoped to achieve too much with my writing this year.

I also hoped to blog more regularly but what time I do have seems to be going to other things, not always productive.  And then of course there is family, friends, uni work and the occasional spot of reading to fit in.

My main writing focus is my novels and I am currently looking at or working on three. You probably agree with me by this point that I am indeed mad.

Novel Number 1 – trying to get it published, so I’m researching agents, refining chapters to send, writing covering letters. (Although it may be absolute rubbish and never get anywhere)

Novel Number 2 – reworking, revising a first draft into something more (I was at nearly 90,000 words by end of first draft and I hope for it to reach around 150,000 – a long way to go).

Novel Number 3 – early planning stages.

I thought that trying to concentrate on three different stories might be bit much but perhaps the pressure will actually help me get somewhere. I have most of what I need for the first one. I have even picked a favoured agency. Part of me is worried that it won’t get anywhere so I’m holding off a little but really it would only take me a couple of days to get the submission finalised and sent.

When I break it down into clear steps and see that it is not only possible but could be done by the end of the weekend I start to feel better about the process. So if it is rejected that’s ok. I’m all that much closer with my next submission. And if it never takes off, I have another book in the works and a trilogy slowly mapping its way around my study walls.

Novel Number 2 needs a lot more love and attention, every day, and I haven’t been giving it the attention it needs. I know what I need to do and I worked well last year, so time to knuckle down, book out that hour a day and go for it.

Novel Number 3 is happily moving all by itself. I am only spending a couple of hours (at most) a week thinking about plot points and characters and mapping out what should happen when. It is a skeleton and although with some ideas a whole scene comes to mind, I can just put down some notes and move on.

The door is covered in an almost complete Book One, some small gaps towards the end of the book, but I know where the main characters need to be at that point. Some of the detail will come once I start writing it, but as long as I get some ideas down it should work well. I have started using a pencil to get my ideas down (that includes in notebooks) so the cards look blank in the photo. Some contain only a short sentence, others are full.

I have bits of Book two and three but not as ordered as book one. By the time I start writing I would like it all mapped out. This is a very new process for me so I’m interested in how it will go. But as eager as I am to start writing it I think I should wait until I am finished Novel Number 2. Or I will be working on bits of books for ever...

Then of course there are the little ideas that keep creeping in and tapping on my brain asking to be written. Whole new worlds and friends calling to shared. They could be next but when looking at the list above Number 3 is really three books...so I have five to complete before I can move to the next project.

I’ll just continue to scribble down small ideas, either on the door, or the board in the study, or an index card, or one of the many notebooks I have stashed around the place, or typed up here to share with you.

Happy Scribbling

P.S. The Kitchen Door has become a learning tool for my daughter who is learning to read...hopefully sometime soon I can win it back for notes of my own.

Starting at the Beginning

Working through my draft I was hoping that the ending would become clearer. But in looking for that I forgot the most important part – the beginning.

I had reworked the first few chapters but in sharing them with my critical friends I realised I was trying to put the beginning into the context of the rest of the story. I had forgotten what was important for the beginning.

The Hook – that instant or event that drags the reader in. I hadn’t started at the right place. I was trying to pull too much back story in too soon.

Compelling Character – introducing the character so that the reader wants to keep reading, wants to know more about them and what happens to them. I know my main character (we’ve been together some time now) but I didn’t have her in the best light.  Actually one member of the group asked if wanted to portray her as mentally disturbed – big problem.

Appropriate Support Cast – those characters that show the strengths and weaknesses of the main character and help move that story along. They help move the plot. My problem here is that the characters are going to change as my story starts in one world and moves to another. These first supporting characters need to be able to explain why she is prepared to leave this world.

Consistent – the writing, the style and the characters need to be consistent throughout the story. But the set up is here at the beginning. If the beginning is no good then the reader won’t read on.

Now my job is to take all the comments made, the knowledge of what does work and the thoughts and visions of my story and pull them together. To rework a beginning that will have my reader eager to turn the page.

Happy Scribbling

Three out of Five

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to ensure that I have at least three of the five senses in every scene. In my current reworking of my fantasy novel I am trying hard to ensure I have that.

Why not all five?

There are several reasons for this. It may be that it’s too much, or they just aren’t needed. But you will need at least three to ensure your reader is there with you. It provides a better picture (so to speak) of the scene and what the character is experiencing.

They don’t have to be over the top references either. Sometimes it is the smallest detail that will tell far more about a character and the situation that over describing the scene.

For example:

It was then that the light caught the slender wedding band on her old fingers. (sight)

It almost tickled as he ran his thumb along her jaw line. (touch)

The musty scent of the room as she opened the door was overpowering. (smell)

The constant tapping of the shutter would not let her sleep. (sound)

The strawberry was summer on her tongue. (taste)

Taste is one of the difficult ones that I find I can’t always put in. But putting at least three together you could get a real feel for a place, the interactions of those in it, and it enriches the story. That is where I am now, trying to enrich my story. Trying to give more to the bones of the skeleton I have and hopefully pull my readers into the same place I have in my head, watching the same people I am.

There are some great writers out there who are able to do this really well; much better than I can. But with practice and reading of those great writers then one day I may get close.

Happy Scribbling.

Happy New Year

Another year starts and my main concern is that it is going to disappear as quickly as the last one and there is so much that I want to get done. I am still happy with the writing goals I have set for this year. I am hoping that I haven’t set too much but I know where my priorities are so I can adjust if I need to. I have also taken into account my other goals and commitments.

The last few weeks have been productive, despite the holiday period. I have been trialling some writing software Scrivener. I came across this by accident and it is now available for Windows users. I am playing with it at the moment to see if will work for me, but so far so good. There are a lot of software programs for writers out there but I’m not going to go into them now.

My read through of my fantasy novel is done. There are definite holes and gaps but I'm sure that I can fix them, and I have developed the ending. But the main problem (and it is a first draft) is my lack of description. This is something that has been pointed out before and I’m not really aware of it until I reread my work. I think while pouring out the first draft I am just trying to get the story down. Although saying that some of it is not too bad at all. I even had a little cry in one scene so I’m hoping that means it will work for readers as well.

I have finally reworked my study, clearing out a lot of rubbish and finding alternative storage places for other bits. I have replaced the old table with two long desks and I have much more room. I just need to set up a note-board system and it’s done. Even the cat has her place on the desk.

It is finding the time to escape into it now that I need. Holiday mode means more relaxing time and my body is still repairing from a full year, there are also activities and outings with children and friends. I am still sleeping in a little too often but the drive is still there; that overwhelming urge to write.

Happy Scribbling