Come into my Parlour…

Managed another 2300 words this morning. the target date is actually starting to look quite achievable. And for once I can see where the story is going.

So our hero thinks everything is hunky-dory, does he? Well, he probably doesn’t, but he’s living in hope. He obviously isn’t aware of the power of wireless connectivity and remote sensing devices, (it is the late 19th century after all).

I suspect he’s going to be mightily surprised when the results of his ignorance are pointed out to him, (by the bad guys).

At least we’ve been able to get rid of his idiot boss and install someone who has more idea of what’s what. I just hope he can do something in the time left. Speaking of which, we’ve never actually set any deadlines, have we. Not for our hero at least. My own deadline is the end of October, so I can clear the decks for NaNoWriMo, which starts on 1st November.

Insecure Writers Support Group

The question for this month is:

”It’s been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don’t enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?”

Not sure I would agree with that. No matter if you read something or experience it directly you are always an amalgam of others. Their thoughts and experiences bleed into your consciousness by talking to you or merely interacting with you in everyday life.

So, to that extent nothing you write about is entirely original.  Merely seeing someone walk down the street and describing it is affected by their life story, are they ill or fit, young or old, determined or cautious? And the reason they are like that is a direct result of their life experiences.

if you see them or read about them, your writing will be affected by their life.

Fun and Games?

Another 1800 words before breakfast today and things are starting to warm up, in the snow. Our heroine and tutor have started to stir things up at police HQ, while our hero has arrived at his quarry, thanks to what I am thinking of as a ‘half-rescue’ (more on that later).

Not touched the anti-hero today, he had enough attention yesterday and the day before so he can wait a while.

One of the many great advantages of using Scrivener to write this sort of story is the ease with which you can hop from one part of the story to another and then back again.

I’ve laid the story out in chapters and each chapter contains several separate scenes, these can be edited in any order and even moved around to put them into a final order whenever you want.

Early Mornings

I’m not sure how long it will last, but I’ve been waking rather early lately, and rather than waste the mornings, getting stuck into the novel.  I can manage about 1200 words between 5 and 7 am. it’s nice to get the daily figure out of the way before the day really starts.

I currently try and do a quick(ish) edit of the previous day’s output before starting on new writing, so those two hours before 7 am feel pretty productive.

Currently, our hero lies buried in a snowdrift, awaiting rescue. I hope somebody finds him before he suffers any irreparable harm, somehow I suspect they will.

In the meantime, back at the ranch, the anti-hero has just made a complete ass of himself during an interview with a reporter and compounded his error by holding the interview in front of a dozen local residents who are now going to spread the word PANIC in large letters all over town.

Getting Colder and Colder

Unwelcome Visitors is coming along nicely now. I currently need to get through about 1100 words a day to reach the end before 31st October, which should firstly clear the decks for NaNoWriMo beginning on 1st November and secondly should act as a period of practice for November itself.

Our hero Inspector Carter seems to have got himself in a spot of bother. He’s alone out on the moors in one of the coldest winters in memory and has to reach shelter before nightfall if he is to have any chance of surviving.

His boss has suspended him from duty but he’s taken a rifle from the armoury and is determined to get to the bottom of the missing people. the same boss has obtained an arrest warrant for Carter and set his men in pursuit.

We’re over half way through and the number of missing people has now reached over fifty. How many more? When will the panic set in? and how will Carter resolve the situation?

Recommended Read

Just finishing ’Save the Cat Writes a Novel ‘ The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need.

I don’t normally do reviews, but this book is certainly worthy of some attention.  A couple of years ago I signed up for and started attending a writing course at a local college. What I had hoped to get was some specific instruction on structure, pacing, characterisation and the like.  But while the course was pleasant enough, I couldn’t see any of what I really needed and dropped out.

I feel that I should have read this book three years ago. It explains exactly what I, and possibly most other wannabe writers should know and do. 

There is a detailed breakdown into fifteen milestones, (she calls them ‘Beats’, I think in reference to the beat in music), each is explained,  with reference to well-known books and one is further sub-divided into five mini-beats.

She also lists ten genres which are not the traditional type of genre such as mystery, romance, sci-fi, etc. but which are much more wide-ranging and which make a lot of sense, such as Whydunit, Rites of Passage, Dude with a Problem, etc. Three points are required in each of these genres and each genre is then explored with a specific novel that is exploded using the beats. A ‘Beat-Sheet’ is given so that you can see how other authors, from JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to  Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner, have created their masterpieces and match her template.

Jessica Brody, the author, writes in terms that I can understand, with multiple relevant examples, and walks the reader through the whole process of planning and creating a novel. 

Highly recommended. 

NaNoWriMo – The Gift

Provisional title The Gift. I’ll probably change it once there’s a bit more content. 

The story will be based on a short that I did for my local creative writing group. 

Plot involves a small(ish) town vicar and his struggle against a Satanist cult. 

Characters include some undead (not zombies). And their supporters. Our hero, his fiancée/wife. A friend? His uncle, a retired bishop, who’s close to death. And no doubt a few more minor characters along the way. 

I will need to prepare a few  key scenes, at least in outline and probably a suitable timeline as well if I’m going to hit the targets along the way. 

NaNoWriMo

Okay, so I’m going to make an attempt at the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). this involves an attempt to write a new novel, or at least the start of a new novel, involving fifty thousand words, in the month of November.

To make any sort of realistic attempt on this target I need to clear the decks by finishing the first draft of the Winter story before the end of October.

It’s nice to have targets, even if they are somewhat difficult to achieve. But at least I can give it a shot. I actually have an idea in mind, based around an earlier (very) short story. It’s based on a sort of horror/gothic idea involving the supernatural and the modern world.

Stay tuned for more information.

Winter Not so Wonderland

Unwelcome Visitors is currently getting all of the attention. Currently standing at thirty-three thousand words. we’ve progressed to now know the situation in the neighbouring village, and its not good. Our hero has resolved to investigate and is, even as we speak, en route to do so.

One of the sub-villains, the heroes’ current boss is descending into panic induced paralysis, or so it seems. a refusal to acknowledge the seriosness of the situation and a fond belief in his own adequacy are conspiring to add him to the list of issues that have to be dealt with before the matter can be resolved.

Fortunately help is at hand, or at least not too far away. the lovely Felicity has summoned her old tutor to assist her in a scientific analysis of the problem and the ultimate boss is off doing ‘something’ although we’re not sure yet exactly what that is.

i’ve set a provisional target date for completion of the first draft as 31st October 2019. that currently means about one thousand words a day which isn’t too bad. just let’s hope that nothing else gets in the way.

Back Again

Just realised that it’s been such a long time since the last entry. In my own defence I’ve been busy with all sorts for the last few months, but now I’m getting back on track and will be keeping this site much more up to date.

Done a bit of work on the Luck is a Leprechaun book but also resurrected the Unwelcome Visitors book that I started early last year. I’m not entirely sure which one will be finished first but the intention is to finish them both., so away we go.