Novel Writing with Stephen Booth - Week Two

Yvonne brought a bag of all her Stephen Booth books to Sarah Ward last night - hence the cheering - so Stephen was nice enough to sign them all for her today.

Prior to the start of the morning, we discussed struggling to find the time to write this week. However, Stephen began by emphasising the 2 writing rules: 1.WRITE  2. EDIT

He told us how he doesn’t always write in chronological order.  He writes as the ideas come.

SB led us through Point of view.  This has always confused me.   I enjoy writing in the first person.  SB said this would be difficult to sustain for a whole novel, so it’s got me thinking…

After POV the next decision is whether to write in the past or present tense.

SB talked about the use of Senses and Show Don’t Tell.  Showing encourages readers to interpret details for themselves.  The reader then plays an active part, which keeps them reading.      

Homework was to analyse what we have written so far and see if our characters are describing what they actually know.  Check to see if our voice has intruded?   Also, try writing a scene in both past and present tense, or different POV's.  Sometimes writing is like Method Acting - you must become that person.  

At the end of the morning, I asked if people would be interested in setting up a FB page, so we agreed on the title Writers On Fire.

Sarah Ward at Lindum Books

The evening was advertised as; An evening with Sarah Ward and her detective DC Connie Childs, and her fabulous series set in Derbyshire.  There are four books in the series and the most recent is 'The Shrouded' which Lindum Books believes will appeal to Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffith fans.

This was certainly us, but we investigated Sarah before we made our final decision.  I borrowed her first novel - In Bitter Chill - from the library and loved it.  We found that Sarah has a blog - Crimepieces https://crimepieces.com/ - where she reviews crime fiction from around the world.  She stated (in her talk) that this is how she started out - as a reader, as opposed to a writer.  Her earliest memories are of The Secret 7, Nancy Drew, and then Agatha Christie, who she sees as the 'master of plotting'.

Sarah started her talk saying her books were based in Derbyshire and The Peak District, as were Stephen Booth's - Cue cheer from the back row!  She stated that she has tried to incorporate the Derbyshire countryside into her novels.  However, her third novel; 'A Patient Fury' has Horncastle (Lincolnshire) as one of its settings.

She told us how she was living in Athens with her husband; teaching, but with a lot of time to herself, when she told herself it was 'now or never'.   Her first novel - In Bitter Chill (as I said, very good) - was based on something that happened to her and her own memories of the 1970's.   

Sarah stated that she is interested in the impact of a crime on people, and has tried to write strong female characters.  She deliberately made her Detective (Connie) a lower rank so there was somewhere for her to go, and because the higher they get in the force, the less they actually get involved in.  'People like the underdog'. Connie has a terrible love life as she 'follows her heart'. 

Sarah mentioned Ruth Rendell;who highlights the weirdness of 'ordinary people'.  No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, or the secrets that exist within communities.  She is aware of her readers constantly looking for clues and then need to keep them guessing.  

Sarah's fourth novel -The Shrouded Path - is based on The Monsal Trail in Derbyshire, which in some places follows the tracks of the old railways and railway tunnels.  'A great place to find a body'.  Sarah asked about what people remembered from when it was a working railway in the 1950's.  The story is based on someone seeing 6 schoolgirls go into a tunnel, but only 5 come out.... 

Week One Homework

On the drive back from Retford I had so many ideas.  Unfortunately, I didn't get chance to write them down as I was driving, so lost them.  The same thing happened after I went for a nap after getting back.

I then had a crisis of confidence as I could not decide which tense to write in.  This meant I ended up doing lots of 'research', which basically means I read a lot....

Also suffered with all my note taking and writing on Saturday.  My hand / thumb is very painful, not to mention my neck!

However, Wednesday night I managed to write 320 words (handwritten) and Thursday it was nearer 1100 words.

Posted on FB for help with regards to my painful thumb....

Novel Writing with Stephen Booth - Week One

Well, there was snow in Lincoln, but luckily only a ‘slight dusting’ in Retford.  I was worried as I left the house but once past Doddington Hall, it soon brightened up.  Arrived at the Fire Station on time, with only a couple of stops en-route to check where I was going.  It’s wasn’t too hard to find and I got parked quite easily.

The morning started with Introductions from Stephen and the other attendees.  There are 12 of us. A variety of people, experiences, and ages.  Two men (+ SB), a couple of journalists, two people currently writing fact-based literature for work.  A couple of attendees mentioned writing ‘my life story so far’, there were two ex-police officers, a teacher and some big fans of SB.  All wanting to write something.  Some have started.  Some only have a blank page.  Watch this space!

Stephen highlighted that he learnt to write, simply by writing.  He didn't attend any formal courses – other than his background as a journalist.  However, after he was published, he learnt a great deal from his readers.  He emphasised there is really only one rule you must follow and that is to WRITE! 

This week we discussed the three main elements of a Novel:  Characters, Setting and Plot.

SB emphasised the need to make our characters more than one dimensional.  He discussed the use of the Diamond Exercise. This involved thinking about what sort of person your character is in different parts of their life, and with different people.  Readers need to be able to relate to your characters and to be interested enough in them to want to keep reading.

I struggled with this as I don’t, as yet, have a character to dissect.  Homework was to write a scene with your character in, and show them reacting to what is around them.  Imagine yourself as that character.  Meet your character for the first time…

FB Post from Stephen Booth

I wonder how many writing courses take place in a fire station? Retford Fire Station is the venue for my next course, generously provided by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. The first session is this Saturday, with a whole bunch of eager writers coming along! 🙂

Novel Writing Course with Stephen Booth

Received confirmation today that I have been accepted onto a Crime Writing Course led by Stephen Booth.  He put a notice on his Facebook page a few weeks ago, asking who was interested, and asking us to send him an email with preference for venue.  The nearest one to me is Retford, which is over the border, but I think I can leave the county for Stephen Booth.  Yvonne is as excited as me!

Its been a while since I saw him speak at Waterstones in Lincoln, but I have read a number of his books (set in the Peak District) and am looking forward to gaining a true insight into the writing and publishing process.  So many times I see writing courses advertised, and yet those running them have not had anything published - or what they have, hasn't really been that successful.   Stephen is the real thing!!  He has had 18 novels published in the Cooper and Fry series (that's the names of his detectives).

See: http://www.stephen-booth.com/

Surf the Peaks

Was relieved to find I am not the only person who believes in peaks and troughs when it comes to writing / energy / inspiration.

Ben Schott, interviewed under Writers Bookshelf in January's Writing Magazine says:....I have a deep mistrust of the "writing schedules of famous authors" that clutter the web.  I've never kept a daily word count, and don't really know why anyone would: writing comes in waves, you need to be ready to surf the peaks whenever they chance to appear.

He goes on to say; It's a cliché, but the only way to be a writer is to write.  Writing is in no small part a craft - and every craftsman improves through industrious iteration.  Imagine an aspiring violinist who didn't practice every day. Absurd.

See: https://www.benschott.com/