Back to the writing cave...

Well that was a short run of trying to be a more productive blogger, wasn’t it?! But I have good reason… I’m heading back into the writing cave!

You may recall that last year I sent my manuscript to the Cornerstones literary consultancy in London for a review – and received an eighteen page report telling me what was wrong with it. Devastation! But I gave myself some time and, taking on board all that had been said in the report, set about rewriting the story from scratch – keeping to the same basic idea but working on the actual writing style, tightening the plot, focusing on showing not telling, improving the pace, recreating the voice of my main character and improving characterization – and cutting out about 35 000 words, including a whole lot of unnecessary backstory.

A few weeks ago I sent the manuscript back for a second review and last week I had the report.

Shall we say I’m a happy camper? Shall we say I’m truly delighted? Yes, let’s – ‘cos I am! It was a terrifically affirming report, and a tremendous acknowledgement that all the hard work I’ve put in is paying off. The report includes phrases like “…you have real talent and this now a cracking story”, “a book with real potential”, “fast paced and gripping as any thriller could be, and atmospheric too” and, “a very promising novel”.

You have no idea how much that means given how close I was to chucking the story completely and trudging off to the bottom of the garden to eat worms for the remainder of my life. For the first time ever I feel like I am truly on the right track with my writing and as though I’m finally getting somewhere. They do say it takes the average person 10 years to get published… Let’s see, I’m now at year um, er…eight (admittedly five of those eight years was spent being very ill).

All that said, there is still work to be done and while the reader thought the last two thirds of the book worked really well, she’s recommended some changes to the first 50 pages. So that’s what I’ll be doing for the next little while. Which means, I'm afraid to say, that blogging will be taking a backseat yet again. A girl has to get her priorities sorted, you know.

I’m hugely fired up and I really do want to make this novel the best I possibly can. Once I’ve made the changes, I’ll send the manuscript back to Cornerstones and we’ll see where it goes from there. The reality is that few manuscripts are ever perfect, even when they’ve found an agent and publisher. The process is one of continual honing and continual learning, because writing, as much as anything, is a craft that can and must be learned if one is to succeed.

Meanwhile, in case you find yourself with the need to procrastinate (whaddayamean you never procrastinate...!?!) I’ve found a new way of creating stories which you may like to try… Browse through your bookshelves and see if you can create a short short-story using book titles…! Here are some of my attempts...

Sabriel, across the nightingale floor is how I live now. Just listen, the truth about forever proves time stops for no mouse.

Mister Monday, under the brilliance of the moon, Molly Moon's hypnotism and old magic caused the fall of Fergal.

Midnight, the Devil's kiss is parasite positive. Lirael gave a pure swift cry.

All sorts

Dead Tree

Aaargh… Those of you “friended” to me on Facebook will know that I’ve been fighting with my manuscript of late – akin to chasing a ball of rapidly unraveling wool which is traveling down a hill at speed. It’s strange, I thought I had the darned thing pretty much wrapped up and then realised there was a major “incredibility” in the story. This struck me at about 3am on Sunday morning. Why these flashes of insight come at such ungodly hours is beyond me. I plotted out the thing in my head, figured what I needed to do and come Monday, set about putting things to rights. Only it was one of those things that had knock on effects. Change one thing here, must change another thing there. I swear I’ve written business strategies for start up companies and reports for the city council that have been considerably easier!

I am now in a state where my brain has turned to sludge and it’s taken me the better part of a day to get just one paragraph to read the way I want it. I used to scoff at writers who laboured over a single paragraph in this way – and now I are (sic) one of them. Whaaaaaah! And all this whilst periodically dashing off to check Sky News to see if the world has gone belly up yet.

You know, she said rambling on from one thought to another, I can honestly say that it strikes me that as unpleasant as it may be, this global economic crunch is in fact much needed. For the past fifteen years too many have indulged in an unsustainable life of greed and excess, trying to outdo the Jones’s and insisting on living in homes that look like wedding cakes while driving vehicles that screw up the environment. The ecological pressure we put on the planet with this kind of lifestyle is fatally destructive in the long run (and that run might not be that long really). I’m kinda hoping that the crunch, if we learn from our lessons (do we ever learn from our lessons?) will put an end to nonsense like overpaid and over-rated executives, celebrities and those daft “islands” and similar such things in Dubai and elsewhere. I’m sort of hoping too that a recessionary mindset will also foster a move to more traditional values where people, rather than money and “stuff”, come first.

Finally, all this credit crisis thing and muddling manuscripts got to be too much, and so I hived off and procrastinated in the digital darkroom. I know that when the going gets tough the tough supposedly go shopping – well not this tough, this one goes off to get creative and to play with colour saturation, tone mapping and other such digital wizardry.

Old Slave Bell

Rusty Gate

Harbour Wall

Old Window

Who'd be a writer, eh?

A composite of images created when I first started writing the novel - it helps one to "see" and "feel" the characters and the mood of the story

There is, I have to tell you, only one place you can go after “up” – and that’s down. You may recall the post from last Friday, with me on a focused, wild high of editing – feeling super optimistic about my novel. Hmm, yes, well… Several hours later I was down in the black hole of hopelessness.

I’d been buoyed up by news earlier in the week that the vampire trend which has been so big in the US was set to hit the UK and although my novel is not specifically a vampire novel it does fall into the paranormal genre. I prefer to think of the story as a coming of age tale. The vampire element, though fundamental to the story is not what the story is “all about” – it’s the means, rather than the end. It’s the journey of self-discovery and personal growth that is critical to the plot - but it does need the specific paranormal genre in which it is set in order to work.

Anyway, I contacted a couple of writing friends in the UK to get their view on what I’d heard and was told, actually, if you think about it, if the trend is about to hit the UK, this means that editors have already done the acquisitions. You have to bear in mind the two year lead in time. Anything that is about to hit the street now was acquired two years ago. In a nutshell, Vanilla, duckie, you’ve missed the boat.

Bugger, damn and far more colourful words sprang to mind. I wouldn’t have minded quite so much if a) I'd had set out to write to a trend and b) if I’d only written the first draft last week. But the thing was I wasn't writing to a trend and the first draft of the novel was written between February and April of 2006 (bang on trend target!).

So here I sit with my now edited and re-re-re-edited manuscript, facing the likelihood that even if it is any good (and personally, I think it is), that no one will want to take it on because its “missed the trend”. Pooh.

The thing is, where to now? One view is to put the manuscript aside and leave it until “later”. The other view is to submit it anyway and see what happens.

Fortunately, I am working on another manuscript and am thinking maybe I should just focus on that and get that ready for submission. But when you’ve put so much work into something it seems criminal to just walk away from it – and besides, I have a character who is having a major sulk at me and I feel really bad about her. She wants to be out there – and since she has all sorts of superhuman powers I’m a wee bit worried about what she might do to me!

Of course, there are lessons that come out of everything and in this instance, the writing lessons aside (more on that another time), the thing that struck me most forcibly is the choice I have in responding to the situation. Although my initial reaction was woe, doom and gloom, I realised too that I could choose not to be upset about it – and since not being upset is far nicer than being miserable, that’s what I chose to do.

You see, one can take two views on everything – the external, of the world, view and the internal, place of inner stillness, view. The one is ego dominated, the other is soul dominated. I opted for the latter. It’s ultimately, I believe, more sensible and puts one back on a level base from which to decide how to move forward. Much better, I think, that stonking around and feeling deeply sorry for oneself!

And as to what I’m going to do – well, I’ll let you know just as soon as I’ve figured it out! For now, I'm working on getting the other manuscript edited.

Wild Things

Right, well, now that the second draft of the manuscript is complete, I'm off to where the wild things are. I'll see you in a week or so, when I'll start tackling the third draft of the manuscript.

Meanwhile, have fun, play nicely and if you care to take a peek at some of my cardinal rules of life, you can see them over at Scarlett's place!

Welcome to my Imagination - and Happy Easter

Oh woe... I'm still being a bad blogger. One post a week. The situation is dire. What can I say. I am gripped in the teeth of a story. I'm obsessed and distracted and barely know which way is up. I'm being tossed about by characters and consumed by words. And I'm loving it!

The word count is at about 45 000 and I'm on the home stretch. This will definitely be my shortest manuscript yet. But that's no bad thing. I'm guessing there are about three or four chapters to go. I've been writing between 3000 to 5000 words on good days - on bad days, I just stare out the window - or go and play in the digital darkroom while my imagination refuels.

But then, once this manuscript is finished, I have a brand new idea for the next novel - frankly, I feel like I'm being pursued by stories - I may well disappear into the Land of Story, never to be seen again. You may have to come and rescue me!

And aside from that I also have plenty of tales to tell you when I do come up for air - about the Silver Evil who was herded by guinea fowl - with pictures... the wonderful flower seller I found down a dirt road... the luscious grapes that tasted of honeyed sunshine that I bought at a roadside stall ... Oh, and there's other news... but I won't tell you that just yet. A bit of suspense is good in every tale.

Meanwhile, welcome to my imagination... And have a wonderful Easter weekend. Happy egg hunting!

Bad Blogger, Good Writer

I'm being a bad, bad blogger, I know, and I apologise. But I am being a good, good writer. I have my head down and am beavering away on my new manuscript. I'm afraid when I get into a manuscript in this way I become obsessive. It's a case of lock the door, throw away the keys and don't bother me - and don't expect me to make supper either. When I venture out it's usually with a glazed expression on my face and my conversation tends to be deeply distracted as though I'm on another planet. So that's where I'm at, at the moment.

The current word count is just shy of 30 000 words and I have a sense that this is probably going to be one of my shortest, sparest novels so far. The whole thing is proving to be an interesting experience as I'm trying to do something I've not done before in terms of plot and theme. We'll see how it goes and I'll know when I get to the end whether it's any good. I think it will certainly be different...

Anyway, by way of an apology, here are some shots of a walk on Sunday - out with the big lens which enabled me to get the kind of shots I don't normally take. I have a few more and I'll post them next time.

In the meantime, be well, take care and stay connected.

Egret sitting at the top of a willow tree

Blue Dragonfly

I'm not quite sure what these are - little brown jobs of some sort...

This was the most pleasing surprise - I didn't even know I'd got this shot!

And he was just my best - there is nothing happier than a wet, bouncy Golden Retriever!

Progress Report

It seems that hanging out a little less in blogosphere is paying off - I'm moving through the edit of my young adult novel at a really good pace - faster than I anticipated and it's going really smoothly.

*wipes brow and heaves a sigh of relief*

I'm about 44 pages from "The End" and once that's done, I will go through the entire manuscript yet again, reading it aloud to test that the flow and nuances work properly. And then it will be into a large padded envelope and off to London - and I'll settle down to continue with the manuscript I started working on last year. And that, I'm really looking forward to. I know what the story is about, have a sense of where it will go but for the rest, the actual getting there, well that, as usual, remains one glorious adventure. Wooohoooo!


As for the pics for today... D bought me a couple of bags of marbles (a Christmas stocking filler) knowing my inclination to enjoy working with light and reflections. So here you go, this is what happens when you hand me a camera, some marbles, sunshine and then stick me in the digital darkroom!

The work begins - and some enlightening entertainment

And so, the work begins, and what do I do, I venture to my blog. Tsk.

After a couple of days of procrastination, mostly as a result of "Oh. My. God! Where do I start?!", and another day of quietly shifting through the comments to my manuscript from my critique partners, I am now ready to settle down and begin work in earnest. The task, I think, will be less daunting that I first feared, and although I've never been terribly keen on editing, I have to say I'm suddenly very excited about making this story the best I possibly can. It helps that I like that story and that those who've read it feel the same. So the motivation is there, the energy is ready to tackle the job in hand and it's time to be focussed.

As I said in the previous post, this means blogging will become sporadic as I become more than a trifle goal directed - but needs must. I'll see you when I see you - I'll try to visit as time allows and I'll post when I can.

Good luck with all the things you're doing - I hope success and happiness flow hand in hand for you! Know that I hold you all in my heart and thoughts.

The attached shots were taken on a recent day out in the country and there's also a little something which I hope will amuse and enlighten! :-) Have a wonderful week!

In the words of Swami Beyondananda, that wise guru...

And so it starts again...

And so the story begins…

Ah, yes. At last. I’ve started my new manuscript. It’s a story that’s been composting for a while, while I’ve been doing other stuff. But the thing with stories is they have their own time and when they’re ready to come, then they must come. I was seized the other morning with an “I have to, I can’t delay a moment longer. This story is coming whether I like it or not.”

I’ve learned to heed those calls – stories need honouring. If you don’t honour them they drift away, sneak off in the night when you’re asleep and you wake up one day and wonder what happened to that idea, that absolutely brilliant idea you had.

So, the writing has started and as always, the first few chapters are proving to be a little slow going as I find my way into the story. I’m hoping though, as with my other novels, this one, once past the get-going mark, will take off and live a life of its own, with me feverishly bent over my keyboard, churning out the words.

How long this one will take to write, I’ve no idea, it depends how well the story and I meld, how long we take to come into being as one.

Yes, I know, I write as though the story has a life of its own. It does, all stories do.

And the muse, I see, has reappeared in her diaphanous pink feathery baby-doll nightgown and fluffy pink high-heeled slippers, armed with her nail file. Goodness alone knows why my muse looks like this. I could have understood purple robes and lots of dangly silver jewelry, or an old guy with silver hair and beard down to his middle. But no, I get Diaphanous Daphne. Ouch! No, okay, that’s not really her name and I can’t tell you her name because that will give you power over her and then you might jinx everything.

So, for the next while expect me to be vague and abstract has I disappear into another world.

What? You want to know what it’s about? I haven’t a clue. I never do. That’s all part of the adventure. I write what I must. All I think I can tell you is that I think it’s for young adults and the genre is supernatural – maybe… You’ll just have to watch this space. So will I!

(Image used in this post... courtesy of an internet search.)