…requires you to simultaneously know everything that’s going to happen in your story and be able to strip 90% of it away to leave only the most important details and to them sum that up in a fluid and engaging way.
You have to be able to show that you have the technical and imaginative skill to produce an interesting and marketable book with well-rounded characters and a logical and believable plot.
I think I have just about finished my synopsis for the Debut Dagger competition. I am going to take it to my good friend (and Editor) Liz tomorrow to see what she thinks. I got all hot and bothered yesterday after showing it to my partner. He came back with question after question. The trouble was, I had tried to put everything in. I have gone through and weeded out the ‘extras’ that are not specifically related to the plot but were more ‘incidentals.’ I think / hope this makes it sharper.
Thursday 31 January 2008
Friday 25 January 2008
Sitting at the Computer...
This morning I haven't seemed to be able to move away from the computer! It has been one email after another and although no actual writing has taken place I have been involved in a number of writing related activities (honest).
Visited one of my fellow NaNoWriters Blogs today http://fpduck.blogspot.com/ and in answer to the question set by http://karenclarke.blogspot.com/ How often do you get writer's block? he wrote: All the time. Or rather, I get writers diarrhoea... I have too much going on in my head that in no way relates to what I'm writing currently. And it can take days before I can think properly again. That's how I am feeling at the moment!!
Visited one of my fellow NaNoWriters Blogs today http://fpduck.blogspot.com/ and in answer to the question set by http://karenclarke.blogspot.com/ How often do you get writer's block? he wrote: All the time. Or rather, I get writers diarrhoea... I have too much going on in my head that in no way relates to what I'm writing currently. And it can take days before I can think properly again. That's how I am feeling at the moment!!
Tuesday 22 January 2008
Plotting, Plotting, Plotting
What have I been up to over the last week? When I look at the addition to the number of written words then I am afraid the answer is 'Not a lot'. However, what have been happening; both on paper and in my mind, has been the writing and re-writing of what actually happens in my novel. More to the point, this is all about 'WhoDunnit!' In my post of the 11th Jan I said that I had worked out who my villain was. Well, its changed a few times over the last 11 days, but it is now back at the one I first thought of!! What I have found myself doing over and over again is drawing out a chart of all the characters and their links to each other and the crime(s). This has meant changing some of my lesser characters; in terms of personalities and relationships with other characters, but I think I am nearly there now. Or am I?
Tuesday 15 January 2008
Sunday 13 January 2008
Almost Famous...
Saturdays Lincolnshire Echo supplement - Weekender January 12th 2008 - carried a number of articles on resolutions. I featured in the Book Corner under the heading; 'Is 2008 your year to write a novel?' Karen made me sound very committed; which of course I am, but seeing my photo and my words in front of me was quite scary. I don't know how many read the article or visited this blog because of the article, but suddenly it seems so serious. The eyes of the world (Lincolnshire at least) are watching!! And if you have visited today because of the article then Welcome. Please join me on the road to success!!
Friday 11 January 2008
Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger 2008
Last year the closing date for entries for the Debut Dagger (www.thecwa.co.uk) was the end of April, so this year I had anticipated finishing the novel first before working on a super synopsis and polishing my opening 3000 words. However, the closing date has been brought forward to the 15th February which means I have only 5 weeks to write the said Synopsis and polish the first 3000 words. As I have simply been writing with only a brief sketch of a plot, I now find myself in a position of having to sit down and decide what actually happens in the end. Up until this point I have been taking the story wherever it wants to go. Its amazing what can pop into your head as you sit typing. Is it a sort of hypnotic trance? I know its not just me as I remember seeing Stephen Booth at Ottakers (as was) in Lincoln who said that often when a character knocks on a door, even he isn’t sure who is going to answer!! So, I am afraid the actual process of writing has stopped for a few days while I thrash out WhoDunnit!! But now that I have decided on my villain I can't help smiling as I work out all the little red herrings and clues that need to be placed carefully about my plot.
Wednesday 9 January 2008
Next January, What will YOU regret?
Quoted in the latest Brainstorm E-Bulletin from Jurgen Wolff (www.timetowrite.com):
Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, told Fast Company magazine that one of the biggest obstacles to change and innovation is fear. Companies say they want their people to learn, but, learning requires tolerating mistakes and failure, and "letting people try things they've never done before, things they probably won't be very good at the first time around." It's easy to scoff at this backward attitude, but how often are you taking risks in your own work or personal life? And when you make a mistake or fail, how hard are you on yourself, instead of chalking it up as a learning expeience?
Next January, which will you regret more: what you did that didn't work out (but from which you learned), or what you didn't even try? Consider being a bit more of a risk-taker this year - but remember not to be hard on yourself when the outcome isn't what you hoped it would be.
The other key point Prof. Pfeffer makes in his interview is that there's a lot of "knowing" but not enough "doing." His advice is straightforward: "If you want the future to be better than the present, you have to start working on it immediately. Remember: what you want is better than, not optimal. Your job is to do something today that's better than what you did yesterday. And to do something tomorrow that's better than what you did today." I like the quote in the article by San Francisco 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci, who said, "I never wear a watch because I always know it's now - and now is when you should do it."
And a quote to consider: "Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them." - Alfred North Whitehead
Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, told Fast Company magazine that one of the biggest obstacles to change and innovation is fear. Companies say they want their people to learn, but, learning requires tolerating mistakes and failure, and "letting people try things they've never done before, things they probably won't be very good at the first time around." It's easy to scoff at this backward attitude, but how often are you taking risks in your own work or personal life? And when you make a mistake or fail, how hard are you on yourself, instead of chalking it up as a learning expeience?
Next January, which will you regret more: what you did that didn't work out (but from which you learned), or what you didn't even try? Consider being a bit more of a risk-taker this year - but remember not to be hard on yourself when the outcome isn't what you hoped it would be.
The other key point Prof. Pfeffer makes in his interview is that there's a lot of "knowing" but not enough "doing." His advice is straightforward: "If you want the future to be better than the present, you have to start working on it immediately. Remember: what you want is better than, not optimal. Your job is to do something today that's better than what you did yesterday. And to do something tomorrow that's better than what you did today." I like the quote in the article by San Francisco 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci, who said, "I never wear a watch because I always know it's now - and now is when you should do it."
And a quote to consider: "Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them." - Alfred North Whitehead
Monday 7 January 2008
Back to Work...
Today was the first day back at work (as a writer). Being the first day back after the Christmas break meant I did less than I should. I spent a lot of time as if I was back working in an office; tidying my desk, organising my drawers, reading emails, taking down the decorations from before the break and generally catching up with gossip and organising my birthday night(s) out.
I did get time to read; How to Write Damn Good Fiction by James N. Frey. He has an interesting stance on time slippage and writers block, and suggests in order to avoid them, we should look at writing the way a bricklayer looks at his job i.e. he can't turn up one day and say he's got bricklayers block and won't be working!! Writing is a job. It takes time and effort, the same as any other. Set yourself production goals. Make the decision that you will never be caught in the trap of non-production.
My other displacement activity this weekend has been the February editions of Writers News and Writing Magazine so that adds 'catching up with the post' to the activities filling my first day back at work.
I did get time to read; How to Write Damn Good Fiction by James N. Frey. He has an interesting stance on time slippage and writers block, and suggests in order to avoid them, we should look at writing the way a bricklayer looks at his job i.e. he can't turn up one day and say he's got bricklayers block and won't be working!! Writing is a job. It takes time and effort, the same as any other. Set yourself production goals. Make the decision that you will never be caught in the trap of non-production.
My other displacement activity this weekend has been the February editions of Writers News and Writing Magazine so that adds 'catching up with the post' to the activities filling my first day back at work.
Friday 4 January 2008
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
A book that was recently recommended to me was A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Thanks Mrs. Reid) and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and can see why it was short listed for the Orange Prize and won so many others. Whenever I am reading a novel, I always note down any pieces of writing that I particularly like. I should like to share with you two pieces I particularly liked from Tractors:
We sit awkwardly around the table. Stanislav is the only one who appears to be relaxed. He tells us about his new school, his favourite teacher, his least favourite teacher, his favourite football team……He is perfectly at ease. No one else says anything. The heavy weight of all the unsaid things bears down on us like storm clouds. Outside, a few drops of rain fall and we hear thunder in the distance. My father closes the window. Stanislav carries on talking.
And:
We arrive at about three o’clock on the Saturday afternoon. It is mid-October. The sun is already low in the sky, and a fenland mist shrouds the countryside in a damp haze, lingering around the low-lying fields and marshes, stealing like a wraith out of drainage culverts and watercourses. The leaves have started to turn. The garden is thick with windfalls, apples, pears and plums, over which a cloud of small flies hovers.
We sit awkwardly around the table. Stanislav is the only one who appears to be relaxed. He tells us about his new school, his favourite teacher, his least favourite teacher, his favourite football team……He is perfectly at ease. No one else says anything. The heavy weight of all the unsaid things bears down on us like storm clouds. Outside, a few drops of rain fall and we hear thunder in the distance. My father closes the window. Stanislav carries on talking.
And:
We arrive at about three o’clock on the Saturday afternoon. It is mid-October. The sun is already low in the sky, and a fenland mist shrouds the countryside in a damp haze, lingering around the low-lying fields and marshes, stealing like a wraith out of drainage culverts and watercourses. The leaves have started to turn. The garden is thick with windfalls, apples, pears and plums, over which a cloud of small flies hovers.
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