Motivating characters

I've been working on Rurik since the summer. I think I might have mentioned in previous blogs that I'm changing 'he' to a 'she' and working through some quite major plot holes which I discovered.

Now, bearing in mind that this story was written way, way back (it went through major editing in 2012 after the self edit course, which took place after it (and me) had been rejected by an agent I was working with), there were bound to be some issues. I accept that. Since 2012, I have changed a lot in how I write and what I write. Of course Rurik was going to need a polish. Or another edit.

Or, actually, an almost complete rewrite in places.

I've been slowly working through and making the changes I think the writing needs to bring it all into line with how I write NOW.

Three chapters from the end, I've found an issue. A real biggie; my MC has no motivation. I need to motivate her.

No, I said I need to motivate her, not Mr Motivator. (remember him?) * face palm *

I suddenly realised that my MC has been forced into a situation not of her making. From there on, she is carried by a series of situations through to the climax - which is where I'm at in the edit. Problem is, the MC is a spectator, an onlooker, pretty much all the way through. She does not affect the action by her decisions. Weeeell, she does a bit. But not nearly enough to give her an over-riding motivation to drive the story forward.

It's a classic rookie error - probably because I was a rookie when I initially wrote the story. To make the story really zing, I need, as the lovely Julie Cohen would say, to 'Make Shit Happen!'

The only problem is, how can you put motivation into a story in retrospect?

I've tried sitting with my notebook to work it out. I've written pages and pages of questions to myself about my MC and why she would do the things she's doing in the story. 

But maybe it's not myself I need to be asking... Maybe...I need to ask Reeka, my MC.

You might think that sounds a bit barmy, but I've spoken to several authors who, when they get stuck, interrogate their characters. I know from experience that when I get to know my characters well, they start doing their own thing in the story, and I simply write it all out for them. (If you want to see what I'm talking about, check out this blog post at The Write Practise, and especially read the comments. That's where authors have posted the answers to the interrogation they gave some of their characters.)

So I think that me and Reeka are going to have to have a little chat to sort this motivation thing out...

Hope she's still speaking to me by the end of it all.

A tumbleweed blog?

I've not written a blog for weeks. Sorry. Not because I'm deserting the blog, but you know sometimes, life just seems to get in the way? There's so much going on that you could tell people, but actually, there's no time to write it all down? Well, yeah - that.

So here's a very brief summary of what's been happening.

The kitchen: Still unfinished. Still waiting for two doors, a working radiator, a floor, for cupboards to be straightened and niggly snags to be ironed out. But everything works, so we have moved back in and we're gradually beginning to remember where we've put the saucepans and bottles of squash and the Tupperware lids.

Birthdays: I am now the mother of an adult. Squidgeling J celebrated her 18th birthday and we held a joint 'open house' for family and friends to enjoy her 18th and my belated 50th. It was a lovely day, the highlight of which was the rainbow layer cake J made for me. Can you believe that we don't have a single photo of it, though? I was so busy with food and chat, I never managed to pick up the camera...

GCSE's: Squidgeling T did really well, with A's, 7's and 8's (which are A's and A*'s in last year's money!) a C (Spanish. Not a surprise) and B in FSMQ. He's now in 6th form at a new school, hard at work.

University: We're in the final countdown before Squidgeling J leaves home for Bristol. I'm a little conflicted over this - I know she'll be fine, but I can't help worrying. We've been making lists and buying bits and pieces and packing and yes, I have shed a few tears on the QT...

Writing: This year, I decided not to go to the Festival of Writing because of its closeness to Fresher's Week at Bristol. But I HAVE been writing. I'm about halfway into my rewrite of Rurik, doing bits and pieces every now and again. I can't wait to be able to carve out some time every day and work through even more of the old material to make it read even better.

Flowers: I helped one of the other churches in town with the arrangements for their flower festival. Situated in St. Joseph's Chapel, I plumped for a woodworking theme...

Library: We have popped into the library at school, but what we can do is a little limited at the moment because we are waiting for an update to the system in a couple of weeks.

So there we are. A very speedy catch up. Hopefully there will be more time to write blogs in the near future, and I'll manage at least one a week from here on... 

A very busy Squidge indeed!

Sorry I've been a bit quiet on the old blogging front - been a bit preoccupied recently!

I last blogged about our kitchen refit here. We're now into our fourth week.

Timetabling various work has been a bit of an issue - lots of time in between phases of work, rather than a smooth day-after-day continuation. We knew there would be a week's wait for our worktop after the units were fitted, but we didn't expect a delay of a week before the template could be taken, then another for said manufacture and fitting.

Units in, but no doors...

 It's going to look fab once it is completely finished - we've been painting in the quiet times so at least we're getting that done before we move everything back in. Here it is half-done, with a few cupboard doors and drawer fronts missing, no floor, and no paint on the walls.

Missing the glass doors and worktop

My really funky radiator!

Almost done. Still missing a few doors and drawer fronts...

We've also been trying desperately hard to get the garden room finished - which it is! There are lights, we even painted inside (I feel like I've lived in painting trousers for the last week!) and we have squishy bean bags and enough carpet for folks to crash down there and for me to do Pilates.

Squidgeling T has already had a jamming session with a mate in there - one full drum kit and a bass guitar with big amp, and we couldn't hear much at all in the house!

Mr Squidge has done an amazing job on building this

I'm looking forward to writing there, too. Amazing how much you can do if you're out of range of wifi and can't access the internet... Speaking of which, I'm 25,000 words into the rewrite of Rurik. It's going well, although I have discovered one or two continuity errors re timing. And I've had to rethink some character interactions and motivations. I'm hoping to have a first draft completed within another six weeks.

What else has happened? I went to my first 'festival' - an event to celebrate a friend's 50th. As you can see, I got into the spirit and dressed accordingly. So did Mr Squidge, but he didn't fancy sharing his photo!

Was especially proud of my 'festival nails' - the ones you can't see are cerise pink! 

And we've also had some very exciting news - Squidgeling J got the grades she needed in her A levels so she's off to Bristol University to do an MEng in Engineering Mathematics for the next four years! Tomorrow we find out how Squidgeling T got on in his GCSE's, too...

I don't think things are going to get any less busy any time soon, either; I have several bookings for author talks and creative writing workshops coming up as well as trying to put back everything that come out of the old kitchen into the new one. And learn how to cook again - we have always cooked on gas, but we're now the proud owners of an electric oven and hob, so it's all VERY different.

I'd be bored if I wasn't busy, wouldn't I? ;)

Holidays!

Just got back from our holiday in Greece. Seven sun- and sea-filled days with the rest of Family Squidge, staying for the first time ever in a (nearly) all-inclusive hotel with water sports, sailing and fitness activities.

I had a completely computer-free week, which is why I've not blogged for a wee while. You know what? I didn't miss it either. Perhaps I need to give myself a break from the electronics and social media every now and again, focus on what's important.

Anyway...while various members of Family Squidge were off doing all sorts of energetic stuff  - Squidgeling T and Mr Squidge went cycling nearly every day; Squidgeling J sailed Lasers and learnt to windsurf and paddle board; Mr Squidge also learnt to sail (with some spectacular capsizes and a few head encounters with the boom); Squidgeling T had a go at water-skiing and remained upright - I pootled about in a kayak or sat by the pool or the sea, rubbing in the Factor 30 and soaking up some rays.

Squidgeling J on a paddle board

Squidgeling T about to water ski

Oh - I did Aqua Aerobics too. Unfortunately I'm so short, I couldn't reach the bottom of the pool properly, so I had to tread water pretty much the entire time...! And on the last day, I had a joyride in a catamaran with Matt. They go SO fast! (And you get a very wet bottom because it's only a mesh platform between the two hulls...)

Me, on a catamaran with Matt the instructor. 

I wasn't completely lazy though - I took Rurik with me. For those who don't know, he's not a fifth member of the family. He is the main character of a novel I wrote just after the very, very first draft of StarMark, about nine or ten years ago. I've been thinking about reworking the story for a while, and while away, I came to a decision. More of that in a mo.

There are some things that stand out for me from this holiday.

Instructors - so patient and informative and friendly. Those in the kids' clubs are especially worth mentioning. The trust that the kids had in these young people was incredible. The most-said name of the week was definitely 'Archie', usually preceded by ''Come on...' though we realised there were quite a few young Archies about!

Swallows...there were hundreds of them! And a lot had chosen to make their nests in the corners of the room balconies facing the sea; it got very noisy at times, especially as there were a lot of baby birds. The nearest nest to us was on a neighbouring balcony, but the adult birds were sitting on eggs rather than feeding babies. We did see one nest fledge from the corner of the terrace restaurant, which was really funny as they couldn't work out how to get back into the nest again and kept colliding with each other. It did mean that, combined with the bats that came out from under the roof tiles at night, the resort was pretty well mozzie-free, with only a few bites between us. Thank goodness!

Feed me!

Sunsets. Awesome sunsets, especially the one the night we went to Lefkada.

One of our evenings out, at a very trendy hillside restaurant

Family Squidge in Lefkada. We're all the same height because
the bridge is a steep curve...and guess who stood at the top?!

Activities. Such a range...though doing the Vounackered 100km bike ride in 39 degrees didn't appeal! I could've gone to the spa, learnt to sail a one-man dinghy, windsurfed, paddle boarded, kayaked, done HIITs (a fitness thing, apparently), Pilates, yoga, played tennis...

Food. Delicious. Lots of it. Huge variety. And such lovely waiters in their turquoise checked shirts. And the egg lady...she'd been doing the fried/omeletted/boiled/poached eggs at breakfast for seventeen years in the same hotel. She was never without a smile and a 'Hello, lady!'

New friends. Having always had self-catering holidays, usually where there were very few English speakers - tourists or as a second language - in the past, it was weird but rather lovely to be able to chat to folk over a drink or dinner or during the activities.

Definitely came away grateful for the break after the stress of exams and all the usual end-of-term stuff. And it was good to have thinking time about writing, which means I'd better tell you about that decision I made.

I've got two novels on the go at the minute - my thief story, which sort of got passed over because of the course I've been doing with church, and the Crystal Keeper's Daughter which stalled half way. Neither of them are completely rubbish, but neither of them fill me with enthusiasm. Then I've got Rurik. His first adventure (there are five planned) was completed a few years back, but having read it through while away, I realised that, compared to Kingstone or StarMark, it reeks of fairly novice writer.

So...

I've decided to rewrite what was 'Adventure in Ambak' as 'The Mage of Merjan'. Rurik will become...Rhoda...or Ulrika...or Rika. Female, anyway. And she is going to have SUCH an adventure - it may well be the start of my first ever series! So I'll be working on that over the rest of the summer and into the autumn, with the aim of finishing the rework by Christmas. (I've got a kitchen being refitted and a daughter potentially going to uni in the meantime, so I'll grab the time where I can!)

Enjoy whatever you're doing for the holidays, and I'll be back soon.

News and musing

News item, the first.

Remember, back in 2013, I had a story accepted and published in Stories for Homes, the best-selling anthology which has raised over £3,000 to date for the housing and homelessness charity Shelter?

This year, the SfH community began to stir again. Was it time for a sequel, they wondered? A new batch of stories, a new anthology, another opportunity to fund raise for Shelter?

Yes. It was.

256 submissions were received for SfH2. 55 pieces were selected for the book, and another 29 for the website. Mine was one of the latter, so sometime between now and September, you'll be able to read Potato Soup online, in the company of some other flash fiction, short stories, poetry and real life stories about housing and homelessness.

I'll keep dropping links on my facebook page as the project progresses...


News item, the second.

I don't usually enter competitions, because they can be pricey. But the inaugural Leicester Writes Short Story Prize caught my eye - not least because I got a discount for living in Leicestershire!

This week I was delighted to discover - by chance, when the shortlist came out - that one of my stories, The Pink Feather Boa Incident, was longlisted for the prize! That means publication later in the year in the prize anthology...

Unfortunately I didn't make it onto the shortlist, but good luck to everyone who did.


News item, the third.

In an attempt to get a few reviews onto Goodreads in advance of publication of Kingstone, I offered a pdf ARC to a few folk I knew had read StarMark, in exchange for an honest review.

Within 24 hours I had the first one back. (You can read it in full here)

In summary; 'All in all, a highly recommended page-turner suitable for pre-teens upwards.'

*One happy Squidge*


News item, the fourth.

Effie Purse, the new story which has pushed Crystal Keeper's Daughter to the sidelines, is flowing well. I'm hoping to finish the first s***y handwritten draft (I've already used up two biros!) by the end of June, and first type by the autumn. 


Musing.

For the SfH2 publication I needed to update my bio, so I looked to see what I'd written for SfH1. Back in 2013, I was apparently still fine tuning The Ring Seekers (shelved for the time being, having gone through many, many incarnations and edits but never quite making the grade...), had only just started writing these Scribbles, and had only just seen the publication of Granny Rainbow and the Black Shadow in a charity anthology.

It made me realise that most of the 'success' I've had so far in writing has been in the four years since then. In fact, there's so much that I can't really list it all in a bio - and if I did, it would sound like I'm bragging! Probably more accurate to say that most of the advancement in my writing has occurred since then.

This time round, I can include the publication of two Granny Rainbow books, StarMark and (by the time the bio goes live) Kingstone. I can also include the several short stories published in various anthologies (I think there were twelve or so when I added them up) and the visits I've been making to schools to run creative writing sessions. 

It seems almost unreal to think that all of that and more has happened in the last four years. It made me realise it's good to sit back and take stock sometimes, to give yourself a pat on the back for what you've achieved, and then determine to do more of the same. 

So today, I'd encourage each and every one of you to take a minute or two to see what you've achieved in the same time. Don't focus on what's not happened - life can be a pig sometimes and get in the way of our dreams and desires. Instead, look for where you've made progress - even if it seems like it's only baby steps forward - and if you'd like to, share it in the comments below. 

Let's celebrate progress!

Antici-Pation!

Yes, it's a long shot you might twig that the title's linked to my favourite musical theatre show of all time - The Rocky Horror Show - but I'm definitely feeling it. Anticipation, I mean.

The Scribbles have been quiet of late, because I've been working hard on my rainbow quilt (there will be an update in the next few days), I've not felt much like writing (although I've started to play with Rurik again) and I've just been living an ordinary life that's not worth blogging about. (Unless you really wanted to hear how many loads of washing I've done or how many times I've hoovered/cooked dinner/tidied up... No? Didn't think so.)

Actually, I think the quilting binge I'm experiencing is actually some kind of displacement tactic. StarMark is due to be published TOMORROW and there's nothing I can do to make sure it reaches that deadline.

There's a weird mix of nerves, disbelief and a tinge of excitement in me; I can't let myself get too excited in case there's a last minute hitch and StarMark doesn't hit the shelves on time. Am I being pessimistic? Probably - the book is in good hands with Bink, who are very experienced publishers.

In the meantime, I'm stuck in this...limbo. Waiting for something to happen that I have no control over. A bit like being at the airport when there's a delay, or in a traffic jam. You can see the end result, but you can't do anything to make it happen any faster.

Just going to have to grin and bear it...and hand quilt a few more squares to pass the time...

Moving...

Well, not me personally. Things in general, especially (thank goodness) the writing.

You might remember that a week ago, I posted briefly about something I wanted to write not going well, and that the fresh look I was taking at Rurik had stalled too?

I'm pleased to say that since then, Rurik's going better. I've cut around a thousand words already, and the story's feeling a lot tighter and faster-moving. Interesting that some of the characters are behaving a bit differently too... Maybe I'm just getting better at letting them tell their own story, rather than directing it for them?

I'm not sure whether the end result will be worth the rewrite, but there will definitely be improvements made! As I read through, marking up a paper copy, I found myself writing 'bleurgh!' or 'boring!' or 'ugh!' or 'rethink' next to certain sections.

Now, I thought the story was good. I have worked on it A LOT. It had a major edit back in the days when I had an agent interested in my work (though the result of that edit meant that our association ended, so obviously it couldn't have been THAT good...) The second major rewrite came after I did the Writer's Workshop Self-edit Course, after which I posted off to another agent.

Unfortunately, the use of rings as a device in the story let it down; 'too much like Lord of the Rings'. Which it isn't, but the association, once made, is hard to get away from. So I changed the whole 'ring' aspect and focused on powers and mages - instead of being Book 1 of a series called Rurik and the Rings of Issraya (which, as someone pointed out, is not a good title if you have a speech impediment), it became a standalone title called Adventure in Ambak, with the potential to be the first story about Rurik in a series called The Issrayan Chronicles. 

Even then, poor old Rurik's story wasn't getting the nods of approval I was hoping for from agents etc. Not exciting enough, still too nice... So I set it aside, believing that no writing's ever wasted, I've learnt a lot, it doesn't matter if it never gets published...

Who was I kidding? Myself, mainly. Seems I can't give up on it, so Rurik's out of the closet and being pulled into a different shape.

I think Kingstone's made the biggest difference to how I'm approaching this current edit. In Kingstone, I let the characters write themselves, I did a lot of playing around in a notebook before writing up the story, I kept it lean and mean and got into Katia's head...which meant it was her telling her own story, not me. (As an aside, I've had good feedback from beta readers and I'm now waiting to hear back from BInk to see if they think Kingstone is publishable...)

I'm hoping that, as I know Rurik's story inside out by now, I can edit it to be more Kingstone-like in its feel. I'm trying not to be too constrained by what's already there - it's so easy to think 'that bit's good, I'll keep it' when in fact, it doesn't fit the new style and you end up with a disjointed feel to the writing. I am being pretty ruthless and killing lots of my darlings...

I'll keep you posted. Who knows, it might just be Rurik's time...?

The end is in sight...

I've mentioned King Stone a couple of times on the Scribbles so far - it's my current WIP.

It took 74 writing days (as in, I wrote on each of 74 days a varying amount of words, but not necessarily purely on KS) to write a s****y first draft - going from an A4 notebook filled with notes and sketches and questions and ideas to a typed up version on a memory stick.

It's taken me a further 63 writing days so far (again - not all on KS) to have solidified 22 of the 23 (possibly 24, I'm not sure yet) chapters into something that actually reads like a proper, put-together story. I'm hoping that with a push, maybe in another week, I'll have finished and can lay claim to a completed second draft.

Funny thing is, this 'second' draft is actually more like a first. The first type up was simply me, telling myself the story - the second is the 'real' version. I have a theme, I have strong characters, I have conflict...and, I hope, I actually have good writing.

As I've been going along, I've been sharing the chapters with a few folk, testing the story to ensure everything's hanging together well and my characters are coming across as I want them too. The feedback so far is that it does, although of course there's still a good amount of work needed in places to bring King Stone up to scratch.

I am excited by this story. I was excited by StarMark - still am, as it'll be published next year - and I was excited by Rurik when I started to tell his story. But King Stone...there's a whole different level of something here that I can't put my finger on. Something to do with the fact that my confidence has grown, that I have found a distinct voice as an author, that I have told the story that I wanted to - without any of the 'industry' telling me what I should or shouldn't be writing. It's been an amazingly liberating process, and I hope bodes well for stories I might want to tell in the future.

Who knows? If this 'second' draft gets finished and I leave it to rest for a while, I might even be able to plan something new for NaNoWriMo at this rate...

The King Stone...?

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.

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...

Starting something new...

The More Granny Rainbow stories are in the bag, ready for publication early next year.

StarMark is finished and could well be published late next year.

Rurik is finished and...well, he's finished. Just not sure what to do with him. Yet.

So that means I can start a couple of new writing projects.

The first is a small competition running over on the cloud - peer judged - and I'm playing with a few ideas for it at the minute; there's a wrinkle in my plot I can't iron out. So that's kind of simmering away in the background. It'll be a short story, so I'm looking at producing around 2,600 words before 17th January... Easy-peezy. Er...no, actually. But I've done it before and know I'll manage something credible by the deadline.

Once I've done that, I can start something BIGGER. The only problem there is that I haven't got a sound enough idea to begin a new full-length novel. I keep looking at the planned outlines of two possibilities and can't see either story in its entirety.

Do I grasp the nettle and begin anyway? Trust to my instincts that the story will reveal itself as I work through it? Am I brave enough to do that? My instincts have been right in the past - maybe they'll lead me in the right direction again. And if I do, should I hand write the first draft? It's pretty daunting to think of writing 60,000 words by hand, but I have found recently that things seem to gel better when I hand write them first.

It's making sense of all the notes and scribblings out afterwards that really worries me...

Being realistic as things start to get busy before Christmas - and this year with the added complication of health issues for family members which means at least one will definitely be out of action from the beginning of December for a few weeks - I'm not going to get much writing done before the New Year. Ah well, gives me plenty of time for mulling ideas over...

Or maybe I ought to mull some wine instead. It might make the decision easier, even if it doesn't help the writing! What d'you reckon?

Workshop a novel in a Day (FOW14)

One of the mini-workshops on offer at the Festival of Writing was 'How to Workshop a novel in a day', with the author Allie Spencer.

Why pick this session? Well, I tend to be a pantser rather than a planner...that is, I get an idea for a story and happily set to writing it - without any real planning of its structure. I have a start point, I have an end in mind; I just need to get my main character from A to B: job done.

Ahem. Not so. This session reinforced the fact that actually, I do need to plan more - especially with respect to the characters.

It was a small group, only half a dozen ladies, but that meant there was plenty of opportunity to input to the discussions and ideas. Allie's method should 'be used as a support, not a cage', and aims to build a nicely proportioned and structured novel. Well, by the end of the session, we'd certainly mapped out a complete new story...whether any of us goes on to write it is another matter!

Let me take you through the technique. At each point, we were encouraged to input our own ideas, then the group as a whole picked the characteristics etc that we wanted to use in this new, emerging storyline.

Step 1: Define your leading character.

Memorable characters have strong, definable personality traits. They are complex and open to change - even if they choose not to. They have strong goals or perceived goals. They have a strong physical presence, though it's often not described. The reader reacts strongly to them and the situations the character faces challenge the reader with events beyond their normal experience. The character is conflicted. They are human enough for the reader to connect with them, and they dictate plot elements because of their characteristics.

Armed with that list, we each wrote a description of a leading character. Mine was based on Lord Baraat, who appears in the flash fiction prequel to Thread, (which you can read on the Random Writers site.) We shared our descriptions and amalgamated them into one character.

Now at this point, my brain started to turn to spaghetti. I never - NEVER - plan my characters out in this level of detail. Before long, our new character had his own backstory, a career, a family history, favourite food, goals, flaws... Mine usually just get 'a look' - I trawl the internet for a person who looks like my character. There may be an idea of where they fit into the story and how I want things to work out for them, but a whole history? Nah. Which brought me to Important Realisation No 1: Squidge concentrates on story, not character.

Step 2 : Define your secondary character(s).

The protagonist - your lead - needs someone to spar with and talk to. The secondary character is as much about revealing the protagonist as they are about revealing themselves. They can be good or bad, there may be more than one, and they often create a synthesis in the story; if the protagonist provides the themes and tone of the book, the secondary character provides light and shade...

So again, we devised a secondary character - but specifically for Zack, our 40 year old suspended cop who was fighting to get his son back after accusations of child abuse. Again, we amalgamated the results and came up with two: Miranda, a female lawyer who can't do emotions, and Quince, Zack's coloured partner on the force.

Each of them got their own back story. Important Realisation No 2 : Each character needs their own story!

Now - apart from the fact that I don't normally 'do' the real world in my writing so I had no real idea of how to approach a scenario that included child abuse and drug use, I don't 'do' backstory for supporting cast either. But when the goals and flaws of these secondary characters started to be described by others in the group, the potential for the storyline began to unfold in front of my eyes - because we moved onto conflict.

Step 3: Give each of your main characters conflict.

There's internal and external conflict; internal could be claustrophobia, external could be that your character has to escape through a tunnel. It's best to have the two linked so that the external works on the internal.

So we worked out the conflicts for our three characters. Which opened up a whole can of worms...

You could take Miranda's secret drug habit - which meant she needed her job but taking on Zack's case is a last ditch attempt to save her career - and tie it in with a drug-addled one night stand with Quince that becomes the guilty secret of a happily married man...which is how Zack sees his partner and feels he can never measure up to with child abuse allegations hanging over his head.

Trying to keep track of all the possibilities was like trying to hold a handful of those wriggling worms...my brain felt like it was about to explode. There was almost too much information to deal with. But I could see that by developing the characters in this way to start with, the storyline sort of developed itself BECAUSE of the way the characters were interacting.

Important Realisation No 3: You can't just slot characters into the story - they have to BE the story.

I started to wonder whether THIS was the problem in my writing? The 'something special' to make it sparkle? Particularly when we got onto character arc...

Step 4: Character arc.

A character arc serves to plot the change the hero goes through. It can be positive, leading to a happy ending, or negative, which leads to tragedy. (Interestingly, some characters are already 'good' - like James Bond.) The dark element nowadays is often supplied by the secondary character, but we often see the main character moving from a position of weakness to strength or immaturity to maturity. One way to plot this change is to use the following stages:

Starting point - conflict - goal - catalyst for change - resolution.

So Zack, our cop, is starting at the point where he's been suspended from his job and has lost his son.
His conflict is that he's exhausted the legal route to get his son back and he's angry, which was the cause of the child abuse allegations.
His goal is to get his son back.
The catalyst for change could be that he sees how Quince handled the one night stand and stayed with his family for the sake of his kids - the realisation that he has to put his son first.
The resolution could be that Zack finds his son but realises he's better off where he is, ie puts his son's needs before his own selfish desire.

Repeat for each character in turn...

Aha! Important Realisation No 4: I have totally missed out character arcs from everything I've ever written. 

In StarMark, I don't show how Irvana changes by what she's been through. I haven't given her a goal - she just gets carried along on a wave of events which happen to her and she is almost a passenger until she reaches the end. I haven't given her a flaw - unless it's being too nice. And the same problem occurs with Rurik too - I haven't shown much of a change in him, either. How much of that is down to the fact I don't think about it and plan it  beforehand, I wonder?

So now, I have a choice to make. Continue to work on what I know are essentially flawed stories, or try my hand at something new, forcing myself to plan it out first when I'm dying to just get writing.

Hmm. I'll think on that a bit longer...but Allie certainly gave me a lot of food for thought and a method that might just work if I try it.

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?

Thinking about why I write how I write...

If you've followed the Scribbles for a while, you'll know I've had a few problems with getting my writing accepted by agents. 'Nice' is a word that crops up a lot, as well as the phrase 'lacks sparkle'.

In a conversation with an agent recently, who said both of those things (along with some other very lovely feedback and suggestions for possible improvements for Rurik), I was given a challenge to try to find 'sparkle' ingredients.

Said agent asked me to re-read some of my favourite children's stories and try to identify why I liked them so much. Was it the characters? The action? The dialogue? Then, look at what I considered to be the exciting bits in Rurik and decide whether I could see the same things there - and if not, how would I change what was already written?

I find this SO hard to do! I don't know why I enjoy certain books rather than others! I just know that I like it or I don't - if I get sucked in, it's generally because of a mixture of things.

I do know that what I don't like reading - and therefore avoid writing - include some of the following;

1. Long descriptions of people or places (I want to see action!)
2. Characters with stilted dialogue (Oh, Mrs Smith, do you remember that he pursued me to the woods? Oh yes, he chased you for half a mile over Farmer Fairley's fields and you were quite muddy when you got home, were you not?)
3, Convenient storylines (and then the butler appeared with the same knife in his hand so he was the murderer)
4. Ping-pong dialogue (Are you OK? Yes I'm OK. Are you sure? Yes, of course I'm sure - will you stop fussing? I'm not fussing, I'm concerned)
5. Detailed descriptions of action scenes (Jim's right fist thrust upwards as his left leg kicked out towards the bloated stomach of his attacker. The impact jarred Jim to the core but he followed through with a side chop to the larynx...)
6. Cliffhanger endings (The mystery was solved. 'But you are not my son,' Father said. My whole world had just fallen apart. The End.)

Working on the flip side then, that must mean that generally, I like...
1. Lots of subtle little details about people and places that bring them alive.
2. Dialogue that's realistic.
3. A plot that carries me onwards all the time and then makes me go 'oh! I didn't see that coming, but it's so obvious now!'
4. Action that isn't necessarily a fight scene.
5. A complete story - something that ties up enough loose ends to come to a logical conclusion but also leaves enough strands to weave into a new story at a later date.

I thought - hoped - I included these things in my own writing, but feedback continually shows I'm falling short somewhere.

I wonder how much of the problem comes from the fact that as a child, I read 'nice' books? They were gentle stories which took you on fantasy adventures, unlike the rollercoaster rides of action which seem to be pretty popular today. Off the top of my head, I'm remembering the Magic Faraway Tree, Olga da Polga, King of the Copper Mountain...I can certainly see that 'gentler' element in my own creations. Don't get me wrong - I'm not averse to a bit of Alex Rider, or Skulduggery Pleasant, or Artemis Fowl, but I do get exhausted reading them because of their relentless pace! As a result, I don't write that kind of story - my pacing ebbs and flows.

I suppose the question is, are there enough children today who still appreciate a 'gentle' read? Or will I need to change what appears to be my natural (gentler) writing style to fit the (faster paced) market to stand any chance of reasonable success?

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)

Hooking your reader

After the difference that Les Edgerton's book 'Finding your voice' made to me, I recently bought his book 'Hooked' to peruse as well.

Having received several more rejections of Rurik - in which the sentence 'it didn't really grab me' featured yet again - it's starting to become very clear that I have to do something different to what I am doing in order to catch an agent's attention. I think the opening is probably part of it.

Les talks in Hooked about lots of things you can improve to make your opening the best it can be, but the one I learnt most from was about identifying the 'inciting incident' - the thing that happens in the story that is the REAL reason the main character embarks on the journey that I, as the writer, take them on. He offers some useful examples which made me realise I had not identified the correct 'inciting incident' in Rurik...assuming I've understood this right!

Rurik's story opens with him waking up and cursing the fact he's not 13. He ponders for a while about the death of his father, which has meant the poor kid can't become an apprentice cobbler as planned. There is no money left to buy a new apprenticeship and Rurik's mother must remarry within 12 months to keep her home. So, over breakfast, Rurik's uncle offers to take the boy on as his apprentice instead - only Rurik has no idea what his uncle's job entails.

If Les is reading this, he's probably face-palming right now, because I've just listed at least three of the pet hates of editors and agents about openings; waking up, internal dialogue, eating breakfast...and I didn't even mention the backstory. Sorry, Les.

Laying all that aside, there's actually a bigger problem for me here; I'm struggling to decide what the inciting incident is - is it the death of Rurik's father, which sets off the whole train of events? Or is it actually the moment at which Rurik finds out about the plan for his new apprenticeship?

Gut feeling tells me it could well be the latter, in which case, I have also found my 'story-worthy problem' - the finding of a new apprenticeship. Not, as I'd originally thought, Rurik's adventure to find an object which is lost.

If that's the case, then I need to start my story later. Not much later, granted; but it definitely needs to start at the point where Rurik finds out about the apprenticeship. I feel a rewrite coming on...

If, like me, you're struggling with grabbing your reader from the start, it might be worth looking at Hooked. It might just make the all the difference.

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.

Story time - in more ways than one.

OK, I've decided that, as I'm trying really hard to get the last Granny Rainbow story finished AND revamp Rurik so the rings aren't so obvious AND jot a stroyline for The Lufbra Job AND draft shorts for the next short story group collection - *whispers* - I'm going to cheat on this ultimate blog challenge!

Over the two years I've been a member of the Word Cloud, I've not missed a single monthly comp. Because of that, I've produced a variety of flash fiction which has been constrained by various parameters. (To be honest - that's part of the fun, giving myself a challenge and writing in ways I couldn't possibly hope to keep up through a  novel!) Now - some of the long standing cloudies who drop in here might have seen them before, but I reckon there's a lot of Squidge's Scribbles readers who haven't. So - every other day, purely for your enjoyment, there will be a very short story posted.

Added to that, I'm going to set up another 'Challenge Me!' If you didn't get involved last time, the idea is that you, blog reader, post three objects in the comments box below; I will hand over the list to the rest of my family, who will choose their favourite combination. Then, I'll endeavour to weave those objects into a story. (Please bear in mind that I reserve the right to delete suggestions I deem are unsuitable.) Last time, it ended up with me writing not one, but two stories - you can read them here and here.

I reckon I'll give you until the 15th to post your suggestions, then I'll stick the finished story up on the 31st. How's that?

So...here's to Squidge's Scribbles and an October filled with snippety bits of literaryness!

A bit of a revelation...

OK, so you know a while back, I was lamenting the fact that I couldn't use rings in Rurik's story without nearly everyone thinking I was ripping off Tolkien? And I also mentioned more recently that I'd had a lightbulb moment regarding what I could perhaps focus on instead?

Well, I've had a revelation today, about how I can improve things...Come closer, so I can whisper;

I think I know how to change Rurik so I can keep the rings in - but they aren't the main focus of the story! 

Wahey!