New Project Blues...

*sings* 'I got the neeeww pro-ject bluuues' *blows mournfully on a harmonica*

It's a long time since I started a new, big, writing project; probably four years or more. That's when StarMark and Rurik were really rough versions of their current forms.

But with Rurik now on the editing trail, StarMark due for publication later this year and More Granny Rainbow due for launch next week, that means I can get on with starting something fresh and new. I've got some ideas in the pipeline, but have focused recently on Ani's story as my novel project, with something for another RASSSA anthology and a collection inspired by a couple of Word Cloud competitions on the side.

Ani's story. I think it has great potential, but it keeps getting so far and stalling. 

Because I'd forgotten just how hard it is to start from scratch on a longer project; I ended up feeling quite down about it.

After an email chat with a fellow writer (you know who you are!), I realised that Ani's story was stalling because the theme I wanted to portray is too close at the moment to something I'm struggling with in real life. My friend also told me - very wisely - that this story will be written at the right time if t's meant to be, but perhaps now is not the right time. As a result, Ani went on the backburner.

Instead, I looked at Puzzle Piece. I reckon there's a fascinating story to be told after that starting scene, so I gave it a go. In three days, I wrote three chapters. 

And stalled. Again. Why? It was getting too complicated, too quickly.

I've often said that I have problems when I can't 'see' the complete story. StarMark began life as a definite idea - I could see Irvana and I could see where she started and where she would end up. I didn't plan everything out in detail before I wrote it, but I could see the stepping stones to get Irvana from A to B. Whereas with both Ani and my first attempt at Puzzle Piece, I don't seem to have any stepping stones at all - just a yawning chasm between two steep banks.

What I've written for both, I'm unsatisfied with. I know I'm supposed to allow myself that s****y first draft, but seeing myself write rubbish in this first instance is frustrating the heck out of me. I can't sustain the distinctive voice of Puzzle Piece. I can't figure out the motivation for certain actions Ani takes. I can't see the woods for the trees...

So what do I do?

I could fall back to writing short stories again, but that's not helping me to practise the complexity of a novel storyline. Or I could plough on with one of the novel ideas, getting more and more frustrated because neither is turning out how I want it to.

It all feels terribly daunting at the moment. I am writing literally pages and pages of words each day - scenes, conversations, twists and turns - but with no real idea of how it is all going to hang together. Or if it will really become something worthy of calling a novel.

And I keep asking myself 'How the heck did I do it before?'

I have resigned myself to simply playing at the moment - exploring the world of Puzzle Piece and capturing random scenes with a view to seeing what they add up to eventually. I have pledged with a couple of other writing buddies to write something every day for 100 days, so I'll have plenty more words by the end of that time.

They just might not make much sense...

A Rainbow Jumper

A while back, in a lovely little craft shop (Crafts Cornucopeia) where my sister lives in Belper, I bought myself some wool. Not just any old wool - this was rainbow wool. King Cole 'Riot' Double Knit, in the shade 'Fab', to be exact.

Such a gorgeous blend of colours

I'd got a lovely pattern in mind - a ballerina cross-over cardy-style jumper (so it didn't have that fiddly belt you used to have to thread through a hole in the seam) - but the sizing kept going wrong. Now I'm a loose knitter usually, but I could not get the tension right on the pattern I was trying. And unfortunately, this wool is a bit of a pig to pull back; it's got quite a smooth, shiny finish but the wool content means that it goes fluffy when you unravel wrong knitting.

So I found a new pattern. A short bolero jacket with cabled neckline. (As well as a wrapround cardy waistcoat and a circular waistcoat...when I see a pattern I like, I buy it!)

It's the strangest construction I've ever knitted before - but I like a challenge. I can't wait to see how it looks when it's finished...I don't think it'll be ready for the launch of More Granny Rainbow, but I'll do my best.

Haven't got lots of time for knitting, y'see.

I have the launch to organise of course...also a dining room to decorate (although finding a colour and the respective new curtains to go with is taking me longer than I'd hoped)...a couple of short stories to bash out so that my idea for an adult short story collection might bear fruit...Rurik to edit (picked him up recently and saw SO much I can do to improve that book)...and Ani to get to grips with (as she's causing me some headaches and I can't seem to push through them).

Oh - and life. All the normal, everyday stuff that has to be done to keep house and family ticking over...

Thank goodness I'm not knitting a sweater dress.

So much to tell you...

The last week or so has passed by in a bit of a blur. There's been so much happening!

Wednesday 4th March: Author visit to Holywell School.

I had a fantastic time with two Year 3 classes at Holywell, looking at the essential ingredients of a Granny Rainbow story and then helping the children to come up with their own ideas for a Granny story. We focused on the idea of something being lost; working out what it was, who'd lost it, why was it such a problem that it was lost, and most importantly, what was Granny going to do to help find it?

Getting to grips with the digital whiteboard...and the essentials
of a Granny Rainbow story

I don't know what had just been suggested, but I look pretty shocked at the thought!
And for some reason I can't seem to write straight...

My personal favourite was the lost tiara...which just happened to be stuck to the Lady Larabelle Loolilace's wig, so when she lost her wig - and the tiara - she couldn't go to the posh party she'd been invited to because actually, she was as bald as a coot in real life! Second favourite was the lost penguins - or was it the treasure chest? SO many ideas! In fact it was hard to stop the children from coming up with more and more ideas and actually settle down to writing the outline of the story they'd be penning...

It was a really special visit, because Holywell was my primary school...and here I was, forty odd years later, returning to spend time with a fresh generation of students.

Thursday 5th March: World Book Day.

A planned author visit had to unfortunately be cancelled, so instead I bagged up a copy of Granny Rainbow as a World Book Day gift and left it in a playground in Queen's Park. I've done something similar with the Lonely Bouquet - left a bunch of flowers for someone to find and take home, so I was hoping the same principle would work with a book.

I don't know whether anyone picked it up - when I passed back that way later in the morning, the book was still there and being studiously ignored by the parents present, in spite of the invitation inside the bag to 'Take me Home!' Hope someone's enjoying it...

Friday 6th March: Lords and Ladies at the Manor.

A group of Cloudies had booked a Manor House in Oxfordshire for the weekend, with the intention of writing, hearing other's work and getting to know some of the folk who are recognised only by an electric persona on the Word Cloud. 

We had a blast! Quite a few more Cloudies arrived on Saturday to spend the day with us (I ran a short writing exercise in the afternoon, there was a table tennis compeition, a bring-and-share lunch) and a few of the day visitors stopped overnight. We drank wine (and champagne for those who took part in The Great Fizz competition of reading work to an audience), ate very well, sang songs until the wee small hours, wore tiaras and top hats (as befits a Lord or Lady of the Manor) and made lots of new friends.

Lady Squidge of the Manor...complete with tiara.

The weirdest thing was reading a Granny Rainbow story to an audience of adults instead of to children...

I came home exhausted but happy on the Monday and started to thrash out some words and ideas on Ani's story.

Tuesday 10th March: Proof Pick-up!

I picked up the proof of More Granny Rainbow. There are some glitches with the cover, as I realised there is a fundamental design flaw (of my own making) which needs to be addressed. So I shan't be launching just yet... The inside pages are looking pretty flippin' good though - I didn't see any typos at all. I'll leave finding them up to the eagle-eyed reader...

Wednesday 11th March: Painting Text



I'm involved at the moment in a passionart project - eight town centre churches are creating a piece of artwork depicting a part of the Easter story, which will be displayed outside the churches from Palm Sunday through to Easter Monday. The one I'm involved with is the seven sayings of Jesus from the cross, on a 4 by 3 metre banner. I spent most of Weds (and Thursday and part of Friday) painting the text onto the speech bubbles...



Then we had a NIBS meeting - the Nanpantan Improving Body of Scribblers writing group. Four of us wrote off-the-cuff about what we wanted to see more of or less of in the world; combined three trinkets (chosen from a selection) into a piece of prose; and then considered what we would include in a time capsule to represent ourselves and our lives. There were some rather poignant pieces written, which brought a tear to my eye...

Thursday 12th March.  RIP Sir Terry Pratchett

I cried.

Sir Terry's Discworld books are my absolute favourite thing to read. I have a shelf filled almost entirely with Discworld...there are a few titles missing still, but in time I am determined to have the full set.

To know that I will never read about Vimes or Carrot again, hear the witches own particular brand of wisdom, or find out what C.M.O.T Dibbler's latest money-making scheme is, makes me unbearably sad.

And only Sir Terry could have written the end of his own story as he did, with Death coming to take him for a walk.

I hope Sir Terry finds what he was expecting in the black desert...

Illustration by the very talented Mat Sadler

Friday 13th March: Comic Relief

I was auctioning off a copy of Granny Rainbow for Red Nose Day; I'd drawn red noses on all the illustrations and the front cover. I am delighted to say that the top bid was £30 - £30! - and I decided to double that. Hence a whopping £60 will be winging its way to Comic Relief HQ and Red Nose Granny to Birmingham, to a very special librarian.

And I think that's us all caught up! Normal blogging service will be resumed...assuming I have something interesting to tell you!

A dedicated notebook (or two)

I have begun to rewrite Ani's story. I blogged about it previously in story shapes and highs and lows. 

Yep, I know it's about the third or fourth time I've restarted it.

But this time, to try to get me past that horrible half-way sticking point and bash out that first s****y draft, I have a beautiful purple notebook (given as a Christmas present by a friend) which I am filling with pages of longhand about Ani's world.

Working alongside this longhand story notebook is another; a ringbound notebook dedicated to all the structural bits of the story. By that, I mean this is where I thrashed out my MC's motivation, the real story-worthy problem, and the rough narrative arc. It's also now got pages of 'what if' scenarios, character descriptions, potential names of places... What I don't write in my ringbound book is any of the real story.

Structure and story notebooks...

The purple notebook contains only the story. I do not allow myself to write anything in there to distract me from the storyline or which causes me to become confused when I read back over my work. If something pops into my head as a possibility, I switch to the ringbound book and jot it down for future reference. That way, when the story draft is completed, I can see where some of my ideas might be applied to an edit. There are a few comments in the margins of the purple notebook, but I do not act on them; they are there purely for reference.

Ani's story coming to life on the page...

As a result, I don't worry about things like my characters changing name. Twin 1 and Twin 2 have finally morphed into Hamzah and Hakim, while Ani's brother has changed his name at least 3 times. It really doesn't matter. This stage - this purple notebook - is about shaping the story, moulding the lump of clay into a vaguely recognisable shape before I get to work on making it look really fit for purpose by adding all the refinements and extras.

Funnily enough, writing longhand seems to help me. It's far too easy to lose the thread of what changes you make to your story on a computer; I do use track changes, but only in the final stages of a manuscript when (hopefully) there are less things to pick up. To use it from the start of a project would drown me in a sea of comment boxes and alterations... Physically writing with a pen seems to make the story imprint itself on my brain better, which can only be a good thing as I get to know my characters and their world more intimately.

Having said that, I haven't ditched everything I wrote (on the computer) first time round - no writing is ever wasted and there may be a nugget or two I can use in this new version - but I shan't do that until later.

In the meantime, some bits of my first draft are pretty awesome. Some bits are completely naff, but they are all a part of the shape I'm starting to draw for Ani.

I just hope that this time, she'll let me finish it

...

Back into the swing of things

Our week in Obertauern, Austria, was pretty good. Mr Squidge had decided at reasonably short notice to go skiing again, and it was a whole lot of different to our experience last year in Reit im Winkl on the Austro-German border.

Our apartment is in there somewhere...

Haus Meilinger

For a start, in Obertauern you are surrounded by mountains. And snow.

Note the avalanche protection...

Looking from the lounge over to my favourite run... 

The view down into town...

And skiers. And snowboarders. From every window in our apartment, there was just this dazzling whiteness, spotted with trees or rocks, down which little black specks wove or hurtled or occasionally tumbled.

The first morning we were there, I woke early and found the mountain-tops backed by a rose-pink sky; I watched the sun kiss the highest of those peaks and move on to illuminate the rest.

Rose pink dawns do not just happen in books...

The first kiss of sun on the peaks

The view was equally as stunning in the evening. Venus appeared, ultra-bright, in the early evening and as the blueness turned ever darker, you could see the lights of the snowcats at work. I never got tired of watching their headlights travel up and down the various slopes - some of which I'd dared to try, others I knew I'd never be able to manage. I really, REALLY, wanted to sit in one of these huge vehicles and see what it was like to come down an almost vertical snowy slope in the dark...

The bright spots are the snowcats

We had wonderful weather. Bright sunshine, no fresh snow, reasonable temperatures around or just under freezing, with no real winds to speak of except when we ventured onto the high tops. And yet on the day we left it was -4 degrees with a bitter wind, and it has apparently been snowing today.

I'm not the most confident of skiers, and after a fall on the first day (too steep and narrow a track for my continuous snowplough), I wasn't sure I'd manage any of the blue slopes at all.

Just one of several over the week...I'm actually lying head first
down a rather steep slope after I hit a mogul.
And I'd been doing so well up to that point...

A private lesson with Clements later, and I was able to get down some of the steeper runs. It wasn't very elegant or particularly technically correct, but it was controlled and I began to understand where I'd been going wrong.

As was the case last year, the kids and Mr Squidge spent quite a bit of time sussing out the runs first, then taking me up on the chair lift to coax me down. And yes, they probably did two runs for each one of mine, but I did get better over the course of the week. They ended up doing maybe one and a half to each run of mine...

Always lunched together - the Weiner schnitzel and grostl were winners!

A rare trip to the tops for me.
And I seem to have snow pixies on my helmet...

A surprise during the week was the Winterfest, held on Shrove Tuesday. One of the local ski schools put on a bit of a free show and we went along. We arrived just as around a hundred instructors wove their way down the slope, flares in their hands, waving at the crowds. We had formation skiing, youth ski club demos, tricks, turns, fire shows, fireworks, mad rabbit mascots, snow motocross (say what?!) and to top it all, my personal highlight: a snowcat formation dancing team. I kid you not.

We had some lower points... the nine young men in the apartment next door had a thing about staying out rather late, imbibing copious shnapps and returning rather noisily in the wee small hours. 4am was the latest I think they returned. Not conducive to a good night's rest after a day spent on the other sort of piste. I went down with a rather heavy cold mid-week, which meant the last couple of days I didn't get quite so much skiing done as I'd like, and we also spent some time (and a fair number of euros) at the Unfallstation (Austrian equivalent of A&E) when T fell and hurt his wrist. Fortunately there was no fracture, unlike the others we saw in various stages of cast-sling-and-crutchness. (We had a bet between us, as to how many pairs of crutches/wheelchairs there would be on our flight home to Luton. I think it was two wheelchairs and a crutch in the end...) Oh - and our camera died, luckily the day after Mr Squidge had downloaded everything we'd taken to his netbook.

But on balance, a fabulous week. I have built my confidence so that next time I go (see - I'm talking about next time already, when once upon a time I'd have refused to consider it at all) I'll be even happier.

Oh - and writing-wise? I managed to plot Ani's story on the flight there and started to handwrite the ACTUAL story in a dedicated notebook in the evenings and on the flight back. It's a naff first draft, but the story is there and taking shape. Perhaps the mountain air is good for creativity? I'll let you know how it goes now I'm back in rainy Blighty...

But for now, I have to get back into the swing of things...prepare for two author events the week after next, get Granny to the printers, and prepare some writing exercises for a writer's weekend away in Oxford. Oh yeah - and get the holiday washing done. *sighs*

I'm definitely home...

Story Shapes - according to Chuck Wendig

Today, I'm posting a link to the latest post on Chuck Wendig's terrible minds blog.

Basically, it's about story shapes. It's written in typical Chuck style (which means language!), and I could never hope to paraphrase what he's written so I'll send you over to his site to read it for yourself. It's an incredibly good description of some methods you can use to build your own story shape and I know I shall be coming back to it frequently over the next few weeks as I start to work on Ani's story.

Er...yes... I know I started working on Ani's story a while back, but I have gone back to grass roots with it and started all over again. I wasn't happy with it, y'see. Couldn't find the right motivation for some of the characters and I'd stalled at the half-way point.

To get me going again, I re-read Les Edgerton's Hooked about openings, and tried to get to grips with Ani's story-worthy problem because what I had as an opening was a bit...boring, if I'm honest.

I also read Nicola Morgan's How to Write a Great Synopsis, which helped me to discover what the true heart of the story was.

As a result of reading both, the story has been simplified yet keeps many of the elements I'd written in before. And it actually has a story-worthy problem that wasn't what I first thought it was...

And now, I have Chuck's post as well.

I feel a story coming on... *scuttles off to grab a notebook and pen*

Highs...and lows

Things are a bit weird at the moment.

On the one hand, I'm on an incredible high; I've had the very exciting news about StarMark, am prepping More Granny Rainbow for publication, and I've got four author events lined up over the next month or so. (Harry Potter Book Night on the 5th Feb at The Reading Shop, celebrating National Library Day on the 7th Feb, and two school visits, if you were interested.)

Writing-wise, I'm not feeling the same. I've got an idea bubbling away for a short story for the second Random Writers anthology, but otherwise things are a bit stuck. I've got Rurik, who is written but I'm not sure what to do with him - edit, like I did StarMark, or self-pub as is?

And then I've got a half-written novel which has stalled, big-time.

'Ani's story' (working title!) has a broad theme. It has characters who are beginning to make themselves known to me, and it has an animal POV popping up ocassionally. I know what's going to happen to my MC and how to resolve her issues. BUT - and it's a big but - I cannot make the storyline believable. I can't pull everything I want to include together enough to make a credible story. I've got about 18,000 words down so far of a s****y first draft, but when I sit down to flesh it out, I get tied up in knots and stop writing. Pantsing just isn't working this time...

So today, I concentrated on firming up the plot. I spent hours on it, the result of which is a good dozen pages of A4 filled with what-ifs and questions, that have not supplied a single satisfactory solution in any of them. I tried writing out the characters a la Ally Spencer and still can't discover certain characters' motivations for their actions. I've even tried to run the ideas past the kids..."Sorry Mum, got homework to do."

And that's when you realise this writing lark's a pain in the proverbial. On the one hand, it promises the highs of publication, of creating something other-wordly and unique, of talking to your readers, (I won't say fans, but if they like your writing enough...). And just when you're riding the crest, it slams you with a wall that you have to break through in order to create that which might be published or enjoyed by readers.

Today, it's felt like an impossible task. Some would say keep going - get the words down and you can polish them later. Others would tell me to keep mulling - let the ideas percolate and something will come... Today, neither are working, and the writing demon at my shoulder is telling me I need to get it right before I go any further.

Tomorrow, things might feel different. I flippin' well hope so.

The roller coaster of writing...

Observations from a Spring Fair.

This morning, I went to the local Scout group's Spring Fair. I had some crafty bits left over from the Flower Festival last year, y'see, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try and sell a few more to top up the fundraising pot.

(I also took Granny Rainbow. Well, it was another opportunity and only a small part of the stall...)

Anyway - did you know that craft stalls have gravitational pull? But that it's only effective at a certain distance?

Let me explain; I was people watching, trying to work out who was most likely to come over to my table. I noticed a distinct set of different behaviours.

Certain folk do a tight circuit near the centre of the room; they're appraising what's on offer but aren't really going to buy anything. (Although I did see one particular lady carrying out this particular manoeuvre who was so overcome by the magnetic attraction of the 'Guess the Weight of the Cake' stall that she was dragged across to add her guess).

Others do a wider circuit, occasionally stopping to look at what's on the various stalls but never making eye contact with the stall holder. That way, they can still avoid spending any money.

But - if someone steps within two feet of the stall, they are drawn in by the gravitational pull and you hear phrases like 'Which colour do you think Great Aunt Matilda will like?' and 'These are SO cute!' It doesn't always result in a sale, but there's definitely more chance of something being bought.

So there you have it - the gravitational pull of craft stalls. Y'know, there might be a story in that somewhere...It worked for me, as I sold a few bits and pieces, including another seven copies of Granny.

Besides the games, stalls, face painting and raffle etc, there was also a corner set up by ThePartyAnimals which drew a heck of a lot of interest - including mine! They had a huge variety of animals and reptiles which they allowed visitors to handle: Boris the Beast (a Bosc Monitor lizard), iguanas, a 5-week old meerkat kitten (so lovely! It kept squeaking because it had to be fed every two hours), snakes large and small (I kept seeing various ones wrapped round different people and the python had a bit of a slither outside on the forecourt), hissing cockroaches, naked rats and a snake-necked turtle...plus loads of others. Fascinating stuff.

My favourite was a small chameleon - this is the closest pic I can find to what he/she looked like.

He/she sat on my hand and wrapped its tail round my little finger; the most unusual ring I'll ever wear... I also took the opportunity to check on a few lizardy facts for Ani's story. See? A writer's work is never done!

And for my next birthday? I'd like a lizard and snake party, please!

Revamping old writing

I've completed two children's novels to date. Both, I've been told, are of publishable quality but have failed to interest publishers (StarMark) or agents (Rurik). Admittedly, I've not tried too hard on the agent front with Rurik; only about eight or nine rejections so far. I could try for more...

Rurik is, I believe, better written than StarMark, mainly because I had several more years of writing experience under my belt when I tackled the first of his adventures. Now, when I read StarMark I can see so many things that would improve it. Not the central story - I love the story - but it needs something to make it feel less 'written'. I need to find Irvana's voice.

When I saw that there's a new self-edit course beginning in a couple of weeks time (add to that a bit of a whim) I was inspired to edit the first chapter of StarMark. (Don't worry - I saved the original first, so it won't matter if I muck it up completely...)

Then I got wondering. Why start revamping old writing when I'm now a more experienced writer AND I've got two other children's novels (Rurik 2 and Ani's story) in early stages of development? Why not just let StarMark lie, chalk it up to the learning curve that inevitably comes with time?

Honestly? I don't know.

Perhaps it's the easier option at the moment - I don't have to work too hard on creating and thinking through new stuff. I'm stuck on Ani and Rurik 2 needs an overhaul to place Rurik as the MC rather than a supporting character - maybe I'm scared I'll never crack the plot for either of them?

Perhaps it's because now I have the knowledge (and experience) that I can publish via an indie route, as has been proven by Granny Rainbow.

Or perhaps it's just the right time to be looking again at something I stuck in a drawer and believed would never see the light of day again.

Whatever the reason, I felt like I was making progress on a novel I'd almost given up on. Long may it continue.

A penmonkey evaluates...

Chuck Wendig has thrown out another challenge, for folks who see themselves as writers to say where they 'are' at the moment. He's posted six questions, which I'll be answering here in full and over on his comments in a shortened form...

It is good to stop and take stock every now and again. Everything in life's like that, really, not just writing.I reckon it's like climbing a mountain to get to the top; you don't realise how far you've got until you take a break and look down on the patchwork quilt of fields and the toy towns below you. Same goes for how long I can manage in a Zumba session without getting breathless(all of it now, thank goodness)...how complicated my knitting patterns are (very, sometimes)...and how well I think my writing's going.

So here goes:

1. What is your greatest strength or skill as a writer?

Hmm...Not sure that I have one that stands out way beyond all others, but I'd probably have to pick dialogue. It's something I enjoy very much, and I'm learning how to use it more and more effectively.

2. What's your greatest weakness as a writer?

Hard to define, but 'lack of sparkle' - that special something that makes my writing stand out for the professionals in the biz. I have grappled with this for some time and feel I'm at a crossroads, where I have to accept the way I DO write rather than the way I can't. Even if that means I never get an agent or a 'proper' publishing deal.

3. How many books/projects have you finished and what have you done with them?

Short stories...Current status is one competition runner-up (due to be published with other winners and runner-uppers this year), six donated to charity anthologies which have all been published, one collection of children's stories (Granny Rainbow) due to be launched on the 15th March. Two other short stories written and ready to be submitted to a twisted fairytale anthology. Not bad.

Novels...1. StarMark got me an agent and was offered to publishers but no luck. MS is currently on my Kindle to read if I'm feeling nostalgic. 2. Rurik lost me the agent, and although deemed to be of publishable standard would not sell well, according to other industry bods. Currently waiting for me to decide whether to shelve him or self-pub. 3. Ani is my WIP, but I haven't written anything for her for months while I concentrate on Granny Rainbow.

So yes - I do see projects through, even if some have taken me a month of Sundays and haven't ended up where I'd hoped they would.

4. Best writing advice anyone's given you?

The writing exercise in Les Edgerton's book, which helped me to recognise how my natural, non-writerly writing voice works - the one I use to write letters and emails etc - and how I can use that effectively when writing. Not really advice...but it was very helpful.

Apart from that...'Just finish the damn book!'

5. Worst advice anyone's given you?

Agents are the ones who know about books - listen to them.

Up to a point, true - but I've also discovered that my own gut is pretty good to listen to, too. Even when it's telling me the opposite to the professionals...I have been proved right in a few instances.

6. A piece of advice I'd give to other writers?

Write how you can - not how you can't. And keep learning.


Well, that's where I am at the moment...how about you?

I'm stuck

I didn't get much writing done last week. Between the London trip for Stories for Homes, a migraine, some paid editing and waiting for some important feedback, my mind wasn't in a good place for thinking up new stuff. This week, I'm in a better place; I can write!

Mondays are normally good writing days, because Mr Squidge is out all day and the kids have clubs after school. If I'm lucky, I can write for hours! But today, I knew I had to catch up with the housework before I could allow myself that indulgence. I finally sat down, in a very much cleaner house, at 1pm, with the aim of getting stuck in for a couple of hours before the kids come home.

By 2pm, I'd had to stop. I got stuck, rather than stuck in.

Reason being, with my current WIP, I'm trying a different approach to get the story down. It involves keeping on writing till I get to the end, no looking back, no editing - forward only. A rough outline of where I was going was all I needed, and it seemed to be paying off.

Then Ani (the main character) got bolshy and changed the storyline. Which had a knock-on effect on several other characters and the blinkin' plot. So I've had no choice but to go back and tweak bits I know now don't fit...otherwise, I'll get to the end and it'll be like spaghetti, all knotty and twisty turny.

I simply can't hold in my head all the possibilities that are arising out of where the story is at the moment! There are no chapters either, which is proving to be a distinct disadvantage at the moment. I'm not really a planner - more of a pantser - but in this case, I'm going to have to make an exception to get me back on track.

My writing time this week will therefore be spent on chapter plans and plotting, rather than writing the new scenes which are trying to break out of my head.

I am somewhat dischuffed at the prospect, but at least, once it's done, I can get writing 'properly' again...fingers crossed.

When a character won't do what you want them to.

Yesterday, for the first time since I've begun to write seriously, a character took over my story.

Ani's decided to run away from the situation I've put her in. I was at the point of having her confide in her cousin so she had someone to help, but she was having none of it. She doesn't want to believe what's happening to her and she's scared; she's going to deal with it on her own. By running away.

I don't know yet whether she'll succeed.

I've read about other authors who reckon their characters tell the story and lead it in new directions. Quite frankly, I didn't believe it. I assumed it must be the author's own subconscious trying to alter the storyline.

Well, I believe it now.

And later today, I'm going to ask Ani what she wants to do next...

Looking back - and looking forward.

I'm going to take a break from the Scribbles over the next week - unless something awesome happens that I need to share - so it seems a good time to look back over my year of words.

I've been published - six short stories in five charity publications. And I was runner-up in a short story competition, to be published as an anthology ebook of winners and runner-uppers in 2014.

I parted company with my agent. An unfortunate event, but the silver lining is that it has forced me to write what I enjoy writing rather than what I think will please other people. Whether that means success or failure in the future, I do not know...

I edited the heck out of Rurik and submitted him to new agents. He's been thoroughly rejected by 'the industry', in spite of being favourably received by readers...I've even been asked for the next story in the series.

I started a new WIP - Ani's story - which is coming along slow but sure after I finally found my voice (with some help from Les Edgerton).

I attended the Festival of Writing, a great weekend with old and new writer friends.

I started Squidge's Scribbles late in June, jumping straight into the Ultimate Blog Challenge in July. I really enjoy blogging and it appears there are quite a few folk who like what I say; today, I'm almost at 9000 hits and have a small band of followers, so at least I know I'm not talking to myself most of the time!

I did a little bit of paid editing work for a publisher - and a lot of unpaid editing for fellow writers. It's really satisfying to see good stories grow and develop into some brilliant work when authors take on board the feedback and apply it in the way that suits them.

As for 2014...

Well, Granny Rainbow will be published in January if all goes according to plan via Panda Eyes, a local indie publisher. Getting the work formatted, edited, contacting printers, working with a publisher and cover designer AND seeing my characters come to life in illustrations has been the steepest of learning curves, but I am looking forward to getting a book of stories (that are entirely mine) out to an audience. I'm also scared witless for the same reason!

I will write, of course, though which project to focus on, I have no idea. Depending on the success (or otherwise) of Granny, Rurik may or may not be self-published. Ani's story is still begging to be told, as is Peril in Pergatt, the next book about Rurik. Add to that blogging, Word Clouding, Helping on the Stories for Homes blog...there will be lots of words.

But between now and then comes Christmas and New Year. A chance to take stock and count my blessings in what has been, on balance, a very good writing year. Thank you, dear blog reader, for sharing the last six months with me. 

As we finish 2013 and turn our faces towards 2014 and whatever it may hold for us, all that remains is for me to wish you and yours a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(Source; 'Tales from the Rainbow Room' blog)

Tired Tuesday

We've had Black Friday and Cyber Monday - I'm on Tired Tuesday.

The virus does not seem to have shifted at all, so I've not had the energy to do anything much over the last week. I'm looking at a pile of half-created Christmas cards, knowing that I really need to clean the house, I have various church commitments to honour (which fortunately involve more words and sewing than physical action) and I need to organise my pressy-shopping and Christmas letter-drafting before the weekend.

I suppose I should add a bit to Ani's story too, just so I don't lose the thread.

Brew me a Lemsip, I've got work to do...

Writing - and illness...

Over the last few days, I've been feeling somewhat under the weather; my son kindly passed on his cold. So I've been a bit lethargic, to say the least.

It's meant a couple of days off from housework. Feeling very guilty about that. Honest.

Instead, I've just been sitting on the sofa with the laptop.

Which has meant that Ani's story has grown by about 3500 words and has finally hit the 10K mark. I know, I know - nothing compared to NaNoWriMo, but it's all going in the write (ha! pun intended) direction.

I've also finalised the website design, if I can pluck up enough courage to publish it...

I didn't wait to be ill to write, of course! It just seems strange that a mentally productive time can come when the body is physically unable. You'd expect your brain to want to shut down a bit too, but perhaps that depends on exactly what you're suffering from?

Several of my writer friends have experienced - are still experiencing, in some cases - debilitating illness. Yet in spite of the limitations this places on their lifestyles, they continue to produce prolific and interesting work that stands out from the crowd, writing from the heart.

After just a couple of days feeling crook myself, with a few thousand words to show for it, I take my hat off to these inspirational folk.

Love and respect, guys.

Progress on my writing targets - how much have I achieved?

Some time back, I set myself some targets in my writing. You can see them here. I looked back over them today, and have surprised myself with what I've achieved.

1. Get Rurik ready for York; York is a dim and distant memory now, but Rurik was there! Admittedly he got conflicting reviews (!) and since then, has been tweaked to reduce the 'ring problem', but that means he's...

2. ...ready to submit to agents again. Over half term next week, I shall be hunting children's agent details, ready to send Rurik out into the world again... And if all else fails, I may self-pub.

4. Plot ideas for a new book; (and yes, I've missed number 3 out - I'll come to that in a minute!) I have begun to jot ideas for not one, but TWO completely different stories. One fantasy, one historical. I've been very organised (for me) and kept them in separate notebooks so they don't get confused, and I've taken the 'just do it' approach to Ani's story, which has been a bit of a revelation.

5. Be more disciplined about writing; since giving up work, I have not felt under as much pressure to write, which oddly, has meant I've been more productive. I have the freedom to clean the house in a morning for example, then write for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The Ultimate Blog Challenge has helped, as have the challenges on terrible minds and the latest charity collections by the short story group I belong to. On the whole - yes, I now write every day - blog, flash, on the laptop, in a notebook, on rough paper...

Finally.

3. Self-publish Granny Rainbow; She's formatted, looking lovely, and out with some young readers at the moment. Laura is working hard to get the pictures finished this month (studies permitting), and I am waiting to hear when I can meet the local publisher to see if he wants to take Granny on. If not, I'm ready to go POD. A friend is playing with cover ideas and I've also been researching local independent bookshops with a view to asking them to stock a book which has been written and illustrated by local folk ('It's a local shop, for local people!' The League of Gentlemen). All this - without a physical book in my hand. I think it's the area where I've had to do the most, yet I'm still a way off achieving the end result. But it will come, hopefully before Christmas.

So there you go.

Squidge is on track and feeling good, though she's becoming aware that she needs to stop herself from getting too distracted by all the 'little' writing projects and keep focussed on the bigger WIP's.

Ani's story...the beginning of a new WIP

Yesterday, I sat for two hours and wrote.

Non-stop.

On a new project that I think might actually have a lot going for it.

It's not unusual for me to write for that long in one stint, but the hours I spend 'writing' are more often than not spent tweaking and rewriting, so I end up overwriting and losing the spark that was there initially. I talked about that with respect to Rurik, recently.

This time, I decided to do things a bit differently.

I just let rip; let my - left brain or right brain? Can't remember - the twirly, creative half of the grey matter anyway, kick into gear. And I went with it. I found myself writing in snapshots of dialogue and scenes and emotions. I didn't bother checking up on what I've called a character - I just wrote 'sister' or cousin if I couldn't remember. If I couldn't 'see' how something would work in the plot just yet, I made a few notes, skipped it and moved on to the next piece of dialogue/action that got things moving again. 

It was like verbal diarrhoea, running from my brain directly into the keyboard; I could see all the nebulous thoughts I'd had about Ani's story solidifying and settling into the rough shape of what it will become. There's still a lot of work to do - I have no doubt of that. But I've started, and I'm not going to stop. 

Neither will I let myself look back over what I've written until I've got to the end of the 's****y first draft'.

Wish me luck. x