So i planned my novel first by doing a full synopsis and then did a chapter by chapter outline detailing what was going to happen in each chapter. In my original chapter outline I had approximately 23 chapters that was until a minor change in the plot at the beginning which resulted in chapters 3 and 4 being about something different so 2 more chapters were added. result 25 chapters. Then chap 5 also under went some alterations and needed another chapter so i was upto 26 chapters until i came to write chapter 6 did my detailed chapter outline and realised it was too long and too much happens so now i've split the events over two chapters and i'm upto 27 chapters.
I am happier with the novel being as it is now. in the scheme of things nothing major has changed, I just wanted to show more character development and had some better ideas. It does however mean i have more work to do and also the word count has gone up dramatically.
The first draft of chapter 6 done means chapter 7 is the next thing i have to do. Events in chapter 7 are slightly Austenish but then reading her novels this year have greatly inspired my own and allowed me to pick up a pen and write after suffering from writers block for longer than I care to remember. chapter 7 is going to be exciting with declarations of love, a proposal and the consequences of the proposal which truly set the novel in motion and its definitely going to be more fun than it was writing chapter 6 (I spent ages looking for an 18th century song which would have been in existence at the right time and was in English).
Anyway I'm knackered which is why this post probably reads a bit weird so im off to chat on the Nano forums and nibble poppadoms dipped in mango chutney Yum- don't judge me!
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Lets start at the very beginning... A very good place to start
You're probably wondering what the above quote from the sound of music is doing here. Well I worked on my prologue yesterday, which of course comes write at the beginning - (ed. lol i meant right at the beginning). I had had a really good idea for it and had been looking forward to writing it but it turned out to be much more difficult than I expected.
So what was the problem? Well I knew where the MC was, I knew what she was doing and i knew what was going to happen to her. my problem was that my reader knew none of these things. they didn't know who she was, they don't even know her name at this point so why would anyone care about her? And if they didn't care why would anyone read on?
As usual once i got going I was ok and i came up with what i thought was quite a dramatic opening, well at least i think so. The prologue starts at the end of the story and something is about to happen to the character which is very unexpected, and something you would not normally find at the beginning of a story - the end.
What makes it all the more dramatic is the mc knows what is about to happen but the audience doesnt know and they don't find out until the last lines of the prologue.
My goal here was to shock my reader to make them want to read on to find out how the character got to this point in the first place. If it was a murder mystery it would be a why dunnit and how dunnit rather than a who dunnit. I wanted them to react to my writing with words to the effect of OMG!
So how did I do it?
I set my scene and did it as simply as possible not wishing to dwell too much on long descriptions. Long descriptions can come later in the novel for now the basics were enough as vagueness can also work in your favour allowing the reader more artistic licence and free to imagine what they wish based around the simple start you give them. After setting the scene I had the mc do an action- she walked down some stairs- again giving only a minimum description of the environment. The other reason for this is I don't want people to necessarily know at this point where my character is. I then had my MC reach her destination and sit down as requested now i was able to give some more detail but only on what my mc was thinking and i used her thoughts to open up the picture more and more until you realise what is going on.
It's a bit like doing a jigsaw in which you don't know what you're making, in that you gradually build up the picture piece by piece until it's finished and then you've got the full picture.
All writers do things differently and others may not agree with the way I have done my prologue and may have other ways of doing it, what do you think? I can post the prologue here if anyone would like to read it- if you'd like to see or comment on anything please feel free to use the below comments facility.
So what was the problem? Well I knew where the MC was, I knew what she was doing and i knew what was going to happen to her. my problem was that my reader knew none of these things. they didn't know who she was, they don't even know her name at this point so why would anyone care about her? And if they didn't care why would anyone read on?
As usual once i got going I was ok and i came up with what i thought was quite a dramatic opening, well at least i think so. The prologue starts at the end of the story and something is about to happen to the character which is very unexpected, and something you would not normally find at the beginning of a story - the end.
What makes it all the more dramatic is the mc knows what is about to happen but the audience doesnt know and they don't find out until the last lines of the prologue.
My goal here was to shock my reader to make them want to read on to find out how the character got to this point in the first place. If it was a murder mystery it would be a why dunnit and how dunnit rather than a who dunnit. I wanted them to react to my writing with words to the effect of OMG!
So how did I do it?
I set my scene and did it as simply as possible not wishing to dwell too much on long descriptions. Long descriptions can come later in the novel for now the basics were enough as vagueness can also work in your favour allowing the reader more artistic licence and free to imagine what they wish based around the simple start you give them. After setting the scene I had the mc do an action- she walked down some stairs- again giving only a minimum description of the environment. The other reason for this is I don't want people to necessarily know at this point where my character is. I then had my MC reach her destination and sit down as requested now i was able to give some more detail but only on what my mc was thinking and i used her thoughts to open up the picture more and more until you realise what is going on.
It's a bit like doing a jigsaw in which you don't know what you're making, in that you gradually build up the picture piece by piece until it's finished and then you've got the full picture.
All writers do things differently and others may not agree with the way I have done my prologue and may have other ways of doing it, what do you think? I can post the prologue here if anyone would like to read it- if you'd like to see or comment on anything please feel free to use the below comments facility.
Friday, 8 October 2010
Spotlight on... Research
Researching my novel has been one of the most challenging things i have had to do in order to prepare my novel. I thought i had done quite a bit of research before i started anyway but i also borrowed a few books from the library and have also bought some books most notably 2 books of Amanda Vickerys which look at women in Georgian England.
I keep finding that as i make progress on my novel i am having to do more and more research. I intend to write a love letter in one of my up and coming chapters and in order to do so i wanted to look at some existing love letters from the period. Some of the most notable letters were those of Napoleon Bonaparte. His letters were written approximately 60 years after the period in which my novel is set but he was quite a prolific writer and his letters tell a lot about his relationships with all of his lovers. Some of the letters i found the most relevant to what i intend to write are the letters he wrote to Marie Walewska. His language is so passionate one of my favourite lines is:
"I saw no one but you, I admired no one but you, I want no one but you.
Answer me at once, and assuage the impatient passion of N"
From this and others that i have read i am really looking forward to having a go at writing one myself.
On another note i have just heard some great news. i live in Cheltenham in England and the Cheltenham Literature Festival started today, I had a look at the programme over the next few weeks and you won't believe this but Amanda Vickery is doing a Seminar based on her two books behind closed doors and the gentlemans daughter! I am so pleased and am definitely gonna book myself in to see her and perhaps even get both books signed!!! Even better it's taking place on Monday so only a few days to go.
I keep finding that as i make progress on my novel i am having to do more and more research. I intend to write a love letter in one of my up and coming chapters and in order to do so i wanted to look at some existing love letters from the period. Some of the most notable letters were those of Napoleon Bonaparte. His letters were written approximately 60 years after the period in which my novel is set but he was quite a prolific writer and his letters tell a lot about his relationships with all of his lovers. Some of the letters i found the most relevant to what i intend to write are the letters he wrote to Marie Walewska. His language is so passionate one of my favourite lines is:
"I saw no one but you, I admired no one but you, I want no one but you.
Answer me at once, and assuage the impatient passion of N"
From this and others that i have read i am really looking forward to having a go at writing one myself.
On another note i have just heard some great news. i live in Cheltenham in England and the Cheltenham Literature Festival started today, I had a look at the programme over the next few weeks and you won't believe this but Amanda Vickery is doing a Seminar based on her two books behind closed doors and the gentlemans daughter! I am so pleased and am definitely gonna book myself in to see her and perhaps even get both books signed!!! Even better it's taking place on Monday so only a few days to go.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Spotlight on.... Opening lines
It's been four long days since my last post but what have i been upto? Well I have another chapter drafted and ready for editing, chapter 5 is complete and it was one of the most difficult chapters so far. Why was this you might ask? Well I knew what i wanted to write and I knew how i wanted to write it, but i just could not get going. My best chapters which flow straight from brain to fingers to laptop are the ones which have an excellent opening line. As long as I have a good opening line i have very few problems in writing as everything else just comes to me.
But how do you write a good opening line?
If i knew the answer to that question I don't think I would have had problems coming up with one. Most of the opening lines I have written for my chapters so far have varied depending on what's in the scene. The prologue (once written) will be a quote from the character on perceptions of truth, Chapter 1 sets the scene with an landscape description, chapter 2 depicts the change in time, chapter 3 is what my character can hear, chapter 4 is the weather and chapter 5 was my characters emotions.
So I have: Weather, landscape description, thoughts, feelings, and the senses, all forming the main basis of my opening lines.
From other novels I have read I have also come across opening lines which are quotes and dialogue. I do intend to do some dialogue opening scenes later but I find those type of openings dramatic and believe they should be used sparingly where they can be truly effective.
I have recently joined the NaNoWriMo community and am enjoying the conversations that take place in the forums. I expect these to really help inspire me not only with my novel but also with this blog for post ideas.
For those of my readers who are not familliar with NaNoWriMo, this is a novel writing challenge due to start on 1st November. The aim of the game is to write 50k words during the month of November. Now whilst it is true that i have already started my novel (5 chapters down another 20 or so to go), I am expecting it to be well over the 75k mark, and by setting myself the target of 50k for november that will really motivate me to get the novel hopefully finished by the end of november.
So wish me luck.... and for any of the NaNoWriMo Community who are reading this Good Luck to you too x
But how do you write a good opening line?
If i knew the answer to that question I don't think I would have had problems coming up with one. Most of the opening lines I have written for my chapters so far have varied depending on what's in the scene. The prologue (once written) will be a quote from the character on perceptions of truth, Chapter 1 sets the scene with an landscape description, chapter 2 depicts the change in time, chapter 3 is what my character can hear, chapter 4 is the weather and chapter 5 was my characters emotions.
So I have: Weather, landscape description, thoughts, feelings, and the senses, all forming the main basis of my opening lines.
From other novels I have read I have also come across opening lines which are quotes and dialogue. I do intend to do some dialogue opening scenes later but I find those type of openings dramatic and believe they should be used sparingly where they can be truly effective.
I have recently joined the NaNoWriMo community and am enjoying the conversations that take place in the forums. I expect these to really help inspire me not only with my novel but also with this blog for post ideas.
For those of my readers who are not familliar with NaNoWriMo, this is a novel writing challenge due to start on 1st November. The aim of the game is to write 50k words during the month of November. Now whilst it is true that i have already started my novel (5 chapters down another 20 or so to go), I am expecting it to be well over the 75k mark, and by setting myself the target of 50k for november that will really motivate me to get the novel hopefully finished by the end of november.
So wish me luck.... and for any of the NaNoWriMo Community who are reading this Good Luck to you too x
Apology
Dear Readers,
You may have noticed my recent absence from my blog for the last 4 days. I would like to apologise for this but I have been exceptionally busy as we had a house inspection (we live in rented accomodation) and so most of my free time has been spent on cleaning as to put it bluntly my house was a pigsty. We had the inspection yesterday so now i have time to focus on my blog.
I can also offer another excuse as I have recently discovered NaNoWriMo and have become addicted to the forums on there lol, and seem to spend most of my time reading and posting on there.
I promise you in future to spend a little of each day keeping my blog updated and if i am not able will in future provide a much better excuse.
Again I wish to offer my sincere apologies to you all.
Yours truthfully and Respectfully
Thistle xxx
You may have noticed my recent absence from my blog for the last 4 days. I would like to apologise for this but I have been exceptionally busy as we had a house inspection (we live in rented accomodation) and so most of my free time has been spent on cleaning as to put it bluntly my house was a pigsty. We had the inspection yesterday so now i have time to focus on my blog.
I can also offer another excuse as I have recently discovered NaNoWriMo and have become addicted to the forums on there lol, and seem to spend most of my time reading and posting on there.
I promise you in future to spend a little of each day keeping my blog updated and if i am not able will in future provide a much better excuse.
Again I wish to offer my sincere apologies to you all.
Yours truthfully and Respectfully
Thistle xxx
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Are we all children at heart?
As my novel moves on from chapter to chapter my main protaganist and her brother are seen to be growing up and moving from childhood to adulthood. Shortly I will no longer need to write about them as children and instead write about them as adults. Unfortunately I have been unable to work on my novel. Todays excuse is that i have been busy doing chores and getting ready to go out tonight.
As i mentioned previously I am going to a cancer benefit evening being held in the form of a line dance which is being held in Bristol, which is forty five minutes away from where i currently live. This week i have talked about things I have bought such as the pair of earrings which were the topic of my blog post, "Are you an impulse buyer?" The theme for this evening is based around the colour pink and it is the same theme every year. What people wear varies mostly its jeans and a top or skirt and a top in usually pink or white (last year i wore a pink top and white trousers). This year i wanted to wear something different so i am wearing a pink prom dress i bought from the bhs sale in the summer.
Now i am ready to go out (we're leaving in an hour) I can see from my reflection that I look nice - or at least i think i do- although i know that i may look a bit overdressed, but i don't really care and part of me is overdressing for a particular reason. I want to be noticed, I want people to see me and look at me and I want the attention that it will inevitably result in. Why is this? Well I'm not pretty - and no this isn't a lack of confidence thing - and i make up for my lack of looks with my quirky and bubbly personality. I dressed up tonight so that i would shine, I am a very good dancer and i want people to watch and admire me (I'm not vain either).
To be honest though the main reason i dress up is because I like to dress up. I've enjoyed dressing up since a child when i used to dress up as a princess or a mermaid, and for me this is the next step to this and a further extension. Dressing up, doing my hair, putting on jewels (fake of course) and make up takes be back to when i was a child wrapping sheets around my waist and veils on my head pretending to be a princess. It's part of the reason I love history so much, even now i absolutely love costume history, particularly the eighteenth century such as the gown worn by the woman in my wallpaper behind this post (a painting by Gainsborough)and i can spend hours looking at the gowns in paintings - another favourite of mine is any picture of Madame Pompadour, check out images of her on the internet to see some examples.
To finish my blog post today I want to say that I think there is a child in all of us it can be seen when we play when we dress up when we laugh and it keeps us feeling young, at the end of the day a 'grownup is a child with layers on.' (Woody Harrelson).
As i mentioned previously I am going to a cancer benefit evening being held in the form of a line dance which is being held in Bristol, which is forty five minutes away from where i currently live. This week i have talked about things I have bought such as the pair of earrings which were the topic of my blog post, "Are you an impulse buyer?" The theme for this evening is based around the colour pink and it is the same theme every year. What people wear varies mostly its jeans and a top or skirt and a top in usually pink or white (last year i wore a pink top and white trousers). This year i wanted to wear something different so i am wearing a pink prom dress i bought from the bhs sale in the summer.
Now i am ready to go out (we're leaving in an hour) I can see from my reflection that I look nice - or at least i think i do- although i know that i may look a bit overdressed, but i don't really care and part of me is overdressing for a particular reason. I want to be noticed, I want people to see me and look at me and I want the attention that it will inevitably result in. Why is this? Well I'm not pretty - and no this isn't a lack of confidence thing - and i make up for my lack of looks with my quirky and bubbly personality. I dressed up tonight so that i would shine, I am a very good dancer and i want people to watch and admire me (I'm not vain either).
To be honest though the main reason i dress up is because I like to dress up. I've enjoyed dressing up since a child when i used to dress up as a princess or a mermaid, and for me this is the next step to this and a further extension. Dressing up, doing my hair, putting on jewels (fake of course) and make up takes be back to when i was a child wrapping sheets around my waist and veils on my head pretending to be a princess. It's part of the reason I love history so much, even now i absolutely love costume history, particularly the eighteenth century such as the gown worn by the woman in my wallpaper behind this post (a painting by Gainsborough)and i can spend hours looking at the gowns in paintings - another favourite of mine is any picture of Madame Pompadour, check out images of her on the internet to see some examples.
To finish my blog post today I want to say that I think there is a child in all of us it can be seen when we play when we dress up when we laugh and it keeps us feeling young, at the end of the day a 'grownup is a child with layers on.' (Woody Harrelson).
Friday, 1 October 2010
Should we place pressure on ourselves to achieve the impossible?
It is an interesting question and one which applies to all of us, I think at one time or another. I know that in my own life i can currently think of two examples, one is attempting to write my 18th Century novel, and my second example came up today in conversations i had with my doctor.
As i have previously briefly mentioned, I broke my left wrist back at the beginning of August whilst on holiday in turkey and had to have two operations, one to fit a metal plate in my wrist and a second one just over a week later to repair the tendon in my thumb. As a result of my injury, i have been signed off work since returning to the UK as I work in a call centre seven hours a day, and one of the main things i do is typing on a keyboard. Only having use of one hand for the last 6 weeks and then having 1 week in a splint I had little movement in my wrist or fingers and was having Physiotherapy.
Anyway, I was hoping to return to work on Monday 4th October as i have a lot more movement in my fingers and some movement back in my wrist and i even informed the management staff at my works, that i expected to be cleared for work on monday when i went to my hospital appointment today. Unfortunately that didn't happen and i am now signed off for another three weeks as i still don't have sufficient movement despite all my exercises.
Initially i felt disappointed when i heard this. I felt guilty knowing that I wouldn't be returning as i said i would, and felt in some way as if i was letting down my 12 or so other work colleagues who are having to cope at the call centre without me at one of our busiest times. I also felt like i was letting my manager down as i had said i would be back but i am not. I have been feeling all of the above to a degree for sometime and looking back i think i was being over ambitious in believing i could go back so soon, after all i still cannot drive, i struggle to do most of my chores like washing up, and don't use my left hand now. Going back to work next week could be more detrimental to me, as if i over did it at work by straining my hand i could do even more damage and be off work even longer.
I rang work and updated them and they were fine, but even now i still feel the pangs of guilt inside me.
Are we programmed as humans to try to do too much?
I think we are, we juggle busy lives trying to balance our work life with our personal life. We place pressure on ourselves to be perfect at everything, we work 40 hours a week come home, then start the routine chores of cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, dusting so that by the end of the day we have probably spent more time doing some form of work than we have relaxing and so the balance that we strive for simply does not exist. Yet society finds this acceptable! Why is this? They say that 'nobody's perfect' so why do we try so hard to be perfect?
Sometimes trying to achieve the impossible is a good thing and it is essential to society. If you think about it if no one ever tried to achieve the impossible, there would be no electricity, no lightbulbs, no cars, no telephones, no computers, no internet, and so many other things - You certainly would not be reading this now unless all the 'Blog' had been invented - and in this context trying to achieve the impossible can be a good thing.
So placing pressure on ourselves to try to do the impossible - is this a good or bad thing? I think it depends on what that impossible thing is that your trying to do, and as long as you remember that you're only human, and that sometimes things are called impossible for a good reason then only you will know whether you are being over ambitious or not.
I know that I have set myself an impossible task, I am trying to complete my first draft of my novel by the time i return to work in three times. Is this possible?For most people - yes - for me? All i can say is watch this space and I'll let you know!
expected number of chapters in novel : 26
completed: 4
As i have previously briefly mentioned, I broke my left wrist back at the beginning of August whilst on holiday in turkey and had to have two operations, one to fit a metal plate in my wrist and a second one just over a week later to repair the tendon in my thumb. As a result of my injury, i have been signed off work since returning to the UK as I work in a call centre seven hours a day, and one of the main things i do is typing on a keyboard. Only having use of one hand for the last 6 weeks and then having 1 week in a splint I had little movement in my wrist or fingers and was having Physiotherapy.
Anyway, I was hoping to return to work on Monday 4th October as i have a lot more movement in my fingers and some movement back in my wrist and i even informed the management staff at my works, that i expected to be cleared for work on monday when i went to my hospital appointment today. Unfortunately that didn't happen and i am now signed off for another three weeks as i still don't have sufficient movement despite all my exercises.
Initially i felt disappointed when i heard this. I felt guilty knowing that I wouldn't be returning as i said i would, and felt in some way as if i was letting down my 12 or so other work colleagues who are having to cope at the call centre without me at one of our busiest times. I also felt like i was letting my manager down as i had said i would be back but i am not. I have been feeling all of the above to a degree for sometime and looking back i think i was being over ambitious in believing i could go back so soon, after all i still cannot drive, i struggle to do most of my chores like washing up, and don't use my left hand now. Going back to work next week could be more detrimental to me, as if i over did it at work by straining my hand i could do even more damage and be off work even longer.
I rang work and updated them and they were fine, but even now i still feel the pangs of guilt inside me.
Are we programmed as humans to try to do too much?
I think we are, we juggle busy lives trying to balance our work life with our personal life. We place pressure on ourselves to be perfect at everything, we work 40 hours a week come home, then start the routine chores of cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, dusting so that by the end of the day we have probably spent more time doing some form of work than we have relaxing and so the balance that we strive for simply does not exist. Yet society finds this acceptable! Why is this? They say that 'nobody's perfect' so why do we try so hard to be perfect?
Sometimes trying to achieve the impossible is a good thing and it is essential to society. If you think about it if no one ever tried to achieve the impossible, there would be no electricity, no lightbulbs, no cars, no telephones, no computers, no internet, and so many other things - You certainly would not be reading this now unless all the 'Blog' had been invented - and in this context trying to achieve the impossible can be a good thing.
So placing pressure on ourselves to try to do the impossible - is this a good or bad thing? I think it depends on what that impossible thing is that your trying to do, and as long as you remember that you're only human, and that sometimes things are called impossible for a good reason then only you will know whether you are being over ambitious or not.
I know that I have set myself an impossible task, I am trying to complete my first draft of my novel by the time i return to work in three times. Is this possible?For most people - yes - for me? All i can say is watch this space and I'll let you know!
expected number of chapters in novel : 26
completed: 4
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