Happy New Year

Happy New Year from my daughter 

I had a restful holiday, sleeping in, reading books, watching movies, visiting all sorts of exciting places. Just what I need in a holiday.

And then yesterday was the last day. After my last lie in for a while, I sat down with a pen and large whiteboard and spent some quality time planning. I have to admit that I was a little lax over the holiday period. I didn’t follow my usual plans, hardly opened my planner, and didn’t do nearly as much writing as I thought I would.

My planning session looked at what I had achieved and what I needed to get done yesterday to meet my uni commitments and to catch up a little. I was child free, so that did help a little. I wrote down absolutely everything I wanted to do, what I needed to do and even some of the things I would rather leave off (like the vacuuming).

Everything scribbled down together.

Then I worked out roughly how long I thought each task would take and what needed to be done first. I always feel so much better (calmer) when I see things down as lists.

I had no illusions that I would get it all done in one day. Most of it was feasible but I would be working non-stop and I needed to eat, rest and some items on the list would probably take longer than anticipated. That was the reason for prioritising. The most important first and then I could work from there.

I also mapped out my next week and the week after that. This was a little easier as I was starting back at work and I knew I would have far less time during the day for writing and studying. Planned blocks of time, like appointments, are easier to work to. So I may only have an hour a day for working on my fantasy novel now, but it is a very productive hour (and it certainly was this morning).

It was a great day. I did work through most of what I wanted to and all of the most important tasks (or those with deadlines) were completed.

Of course everything is part of the bigger picture. It all leads to my big goals in life. And my weekly lists, and daily lists, all relate to my monthly goals. I know where I’m headed this year and so far it is looking great.

I hope you are starting this year with renewed vigour and eager to continue on your journey. If you’re not sure where you’re headed, take a little time and plan the way.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

First Draft Struggles

I have been struggling a little this week to continue with the drafting of my fantasy novel. It was going along well and I think improving with every scene. But the problem is I’m not sure how to end it. I am getting close to that point, very close. I know that my main character wins the day, defeats the bad guy and finds inner peace and happiness, well, kind of. But I’m not clear on how she wins the day or exactly how she defeats the bad guy. It is during battle, I’m building up to it, but I just can’t see her actually do it.

My frustration has halted all writing for this work. Sometimes I think that if I just sit down and start typing, when I get to that bit then it will come together. But as soon as I sit down I worry that it may not happen and I freeze up. Then the stress starts that I’m not meeting my word count and that I won’t have the draft finished when I want to. It’s a vicious cycle.

So I am trying to calmly think my way around this problem. Trying to focus on the ending is not helping so I have decided to leave it alone for a while. I know there are large gaps within the story to the point I have got to. Still thinking about it as a first draft I am going to go back to the beginning and read through the entire story so far as if I had finished the draft. I am hoping that this will help with my ending and will enrich the rest of the story. I will be able to mark out what is missing, what doesn’t work, ensure it is all in the same point of view and tense.

I did some experimenting as I went changing between first and third person – I preferred first but played with third – I’m settled on first person now. I also need to think about the tense. I had wanted to do something different and so had written in the present tense. This seemed to work for me, it gave the piece some urgency, helped the pace keep moving. As the character had come to this world from our known one, we could explore the world and its peoples and customs with her; as she discovered things so do we. I also played about a bit here and tried the past tense, it helped with some aspects but I lost others. A read through of the document as one story will help decide which way is working.

I can then spend some time adding to the gaps and by the end of that process have a clear first draft. I can then start with confidence and clearer image of the overall story on the second draft. I like to draft several times. My first novel I reworked/edited 5 times. And I’m sure there is still work that can be done to it. It also sounds a bit messy when mapped out like that. Working back and forth, writing all over the place. But it seems to work for me.

Maybe with my planning for the trilogy my writing process may change somewhat too. Another experiment. If all goes to the current plan I hope to start writing the trilogy in February next year. In the meantime it is all about sorting out this fantasy mess.

Happy Scribbling.

Planning

I am very good at planning my time, well I’m reasonably good at it. I like to know what I have to do and by when I should have it done by. Recently I have been detailing my writing projects in a work plan, like I do my day job tasks. But when it comes to planning out a story I have never employed the same tools.

I may have mentioned that I’m not so good at planning novels. I just start to write from an idea and see what happens. My current work is following this process quite clearly. I just write and although I have an idea of what I would like to happen, I’m not sure where and how it is going to get there until the words are on the page.

I have been reading about different planning techniques and was struck by one so I am giving it a go for my next novel. I am hoping the story will cover three books and I have mapped out most of the main characters and some of the minor characters. I have recently given up the kitchen door to map this out on an old white board. This way I can add to it and not worry about having to rub it off...at least for a while.

The planning technique that I am trialling takes the main characters viewpoints that the story will follow, an idea of how long the work is to be and how long an average scene is. Then taking this, divide the total length by the length of a scene to work out roughly how many scenes I will need. Then decide which characters get the majority of scenes. For example, my story is about three sisters so I want at least half of the book to be from their point of view, the rest will be split up amongst minor characters.

Then using index cards, count out the number of scenes for each character required. Starting with the minor characters viewpoints write out a one sentence idea for a scene do this for the number of scenes you have. Then start mapping out the plot, moving the cards around to work out the right order for the story.

This idea was given as a quick way of plotting for when you’re in a hurry and a bit stuck. But so far it is actually helping me a lot. I only had the first scene in my head for this story, now I have an idea of characters and as I map out the workings of the world more and more characters are coming to me. I haven’t started to put down all the scenes yet but as I think of one interaction between characters, it leads to others and more ideas of what could happen.

I am looking forward to the playing stage, where I can move the cards around and work out how the story fits together. I even have a blank canvas in the study door (pictured) where I plan to stick the cards when they are filled out.

I have found in the past that my characters run away with their own ideas and as they start to develop they don’t always agree with me as to how they should behave or act. So although this series will be well mapped out before I actually start to write it, I am sure that it may not necessarily follow that path, or they may be some changes, or deviations. And I’m ok with that. That, for me, is the joy of writing fiction.

Happy Scribbling

Coming Unstuck

This week hasn’t quite gone to plan. I continued to struggle with getting words onto paper (or screen). I have still been making lists but it didn’t seem to be helping. I was ruminating ideas but not putting them down.

By the time I reached my writers group on Thursday night I hadn’t written anything and the pages I had tried to rework were disjointed and the scene started in third person, shifted to first person and then back to third, but another character’s point of view.

This is why I think writers groups are so important. We were a little light on the ground as half our number are attending a creative writing course, but the opportunity to share my work and talk about it was very helpful.  It is also helpful to listen to other writers, hear how they write, talk about what issues or problems or challenges they face.

I left the group feeling enthusiastic and recharged. And I have been writing. I am also more settled on the voice. I know what I am comfortable with and so that seems to work best. There are some plot points that need some work but I am happy at the moment to continue writing and let it work itself out.

I may have already mentioned that when I start writing I don’t write to a plan. I usually have a character or a scene in mind and the story builds from there. The overall plot is coming together with my fantasy draft as it moves along. But there are times when I write something and then wonder how it will resolve itself or end or connect to another scene or character. I have found in the past that the characters can determine things for themselves. That is work out how the story should go.

So now that I am writing , I am going to just write and see what happens.

Happy Scribbling.

Holidays and the Procrastination Monster

I seem to be doing everything else but write today. The procrastination monster is in full swing. It is the last official day of my holidays and it’s raining, so we are having a pyjama day. The TV has been going all day, mostly cartoons and dvds. I even played hours of a match three computer game until I couldn’t focus on the screen any more. I have scanned the internet, checked the TV guide, checked facebook and other blogs I follow but I until now I haven’t written.

This has, in some form or other, been going on for a few days. So with the end of the day drawing closer and a day job only hours away I thought I should make an effort to get some words on paper and think about why I have found it so hard to do anything meaningful for some time.

Part of the problem is guilt. We are already at the end of April, that is one third of the way through the year and I haven’t achieved what I had hoped to by now. So here I am, feeling so bad that I haven’t written as much as I wanted to that I can’t write anything. I need to refocus on what I want to do, not what I haven’t done and start from there.  Part of my solution is trying to get back on track with this blog, a little writing is still writing.

I have been working on my first draft, a little, but not on my first manuscript which needs the editing. I think I am worried that I can’t make it as good as I want it to be. But then if I’m not even looking at it, I can’t fix it. I am all organised for heading back to work, and for the kids to school, which allows some free time first thing in the morning. My plan for this year was to start the day with some editing time. I work best first thing, and it is quite, alone time before the kids get up. An ideal time really.

For my first draft I also need a little more planning time. I am still enjoying the process, and new ideas are flowing, but the overall plot is still a little weak. I need to spend some time thinking about where it is going and what else might happen along the journey to help flesh it out a little.

I was recently asked if I plot out my stories in detail before I start. I don’t. They usually start with an idea, a scene forming, or a character in a particular situation or characters interacting and then as I write them down the story seems to develop from there. As the characters grow and the story starts to take shape then I start to do some planning around where the story will go and how. It doesn’t always go to plan, but it gives some guidance to the process.

I had mentioned recently that I was trying to write a dream I had. It was rather vivid and the setting was clear as I wrote it down. But even though I have only written a few pages I am already wondering where the characters came from, how they to that dusty, run down cottage. What they will do there, whether they will stay. The range of characters staying there with them and why they are there.

I can already see something significant forming from just those first few pages. But the more time I spend thinking about it the less time I have to work on the other projects I have going. I have this fear of working on so many little projects or starting large ones, that none of them will actually end up finished.

I think I will allow myself some guilt free time playing with some story ideas, knowing that I am going to get stuck into editing tomorrow. Or at least I plan to. After all I want to be a writer. And to be a writer, I need to write.

Now that my fingers are warmed up and typing away I think I’ll scribble just a bit...

Happy  Scribbling

Plot changes and misbehaving characters

I have tidied the study. It is not completely organised, but much better. I am still typing at the dining room table but that means my editing notes are all exactly where I need them. I do not have to move things out of the way or hunt through piles. I am also set up so I know exactly what point I am at and organised the pages I have done so that changes can be made electronically. It makes it so much easier when it is all together and in a space I can spread out.

During my quiet weekend I spent time working on the weak plot of my first draft. I’m not reworking passages; it’s too early for that. I am creating new scenes that will fit in to help strengthen the plot and the characters. Early on in the first draft process, the main character had the vision of someone dying. It seemed a bit hard, but it did show just how different her world now was, and her place in it.

When it came to the crunch she couldn’t let the other character die and stepping in, despite my pleas, saved her. Characters don’t always behave how we hope they will, but they hopefully behave as they should. My characters often get away from the initial idea I have for a story, and usually they and the story are better for it.

I started thinking about at what point I would kill off this character, the one that I thought should die, but when I re-read the scene where she was saved I realised that my main character had done the right thing. She is too caring to allow that kind of death to happen, and given her skills and new position that is important too.

I am also trying to document some recent dreams. This is not something I do often, but occasionally I have a very vivid dream where the story stays with me for a number of days. I had one last night. I was keen to write it down straight away but found I remembered more of it when I just let it mull over in my mind. So I am letting it turn about and flesh itself out and then I might put it down on paper as a short story. Once dream started to flesh itself out enough to be the beginning of a novel, so who knows where it may lead.

Happy Scribbling