Pinboards & Scene Cards

I haven’t done any of these in a while but I thought I’d share my 2 favourite new things when it comes to developing my manuscript. I used these tools in the run up to Nanowrimo and they are now part of my normal outlining process.

Pinboards

I’m a very visual person and pin-boards are ideal for this. You don’t actually need a real pin-board. It can be a folder on your computer or something like scrivener, place to store all the things that inspire you for your story.

Despite having three pin-boards on my wall I still have a big OneNote document for each of my story ideas. I collect photos, phrases and words that inspire me, scenery, scraps of paper with ideas and as the story progresses these get shuffled around, replaced or binned.

Nearly always there will be one thing that is the centre of your idea – if you have a visual representation of that it’s a great thing to stare at when you’re in a writing slump.

Scene Cards

Despite resisting the planner whenever possible I have accepted that actually it can be really helpful and have started doing prep work for my writing projects. One thing that I find is brilliant is writing the various moments that pop into my head on cards.

That way I don’t forget them and I can put them in different orders until it clicks.

Do you have any tips you’d care to share?

Giving up a little bit of my Pantser-ways

When I first began my writing, many many years ago I was a Pantser through and through.

Then as time passed and I learned more, I began to do little bits of planning. It was restricted to the odd note, maybe a page of notes, but not much more. At the start of the story I would relish this. Adore the fact that I was going on the adventure with my characters and couldn’t wait for the next surprise to greet us.

Yet sadly, frequently I’d have a shiny new idea halfway through the story and go back to rewrite the beginning to fit this. While doing that I’d have another idea and would thus began a vicious circle. Inevitably at some point I’d be sick of the whole thing and want to give up.

So at the beginning of the year I thought I’d try being a Planner. I read up on writing character profiles, world-building, researched everything, created detailed histories, chapter planning – the whole shebang.

Result? I knew what I was supposed to be doing but when distractions came my way I gave up on writing much more easily than before, because the thrill wasn’t there.

In the end, for much of this (and last year) neither approach would have kept me writing. There are amazing writers out there who will write through hospital visits, emergency phone calls, redundancy threats and whatever else Fate has in store that month – I am not one of them. Maybe one day I will be.

'No infant has the power of deciding..... by what circumstances (they) shall be surrounded' - Robert Owen

But as the end of the year neared I started to think about picking up a pen. I found a story that needs telling, characters to love… but neither approach seems to work for me.

Having decided to try Nanowrimo, I’ve been attempting to build a bridge between the two.

Yes, I have character profiles but they aren’t as detailed as before. Yes, there is world-building and research but I’ve kept it to a minimum. If I need to do more, I can always do it after the first draft is done. There is a history and a timeline but I have room to change things…

I know where my story goes, but how my characters get there is still an adventure.

Share the Birthday Love

This weekend is my birthday weekend* which I’m enjoying a lot.

Yesterday I went shopping with book vouchers and came back with 12 more and a bruised shoulder. We have this discount shop which sells books for £2-3, the stock can be hit and miss but this time it was a hit – just that most of the books were hardbacks so they weigh a lot.

I joined Sari‘s Blogfest because the timing was just so perfect and I couldn’t resist:

The idea is to ask other participants for advice on a particular aspect of your writing you feel you need help with. Originally I was going to use something from whatshouldbe my current WIP but it’s been pushed into a corner by another idea or rather an MC that just will not leave me alone.

The excerpt below is form the first few chapters and while the explanation is in there I don’t think it flows the way I want. So any tips to make this work better should be greatly appreciated.

My real name isn’t Breeyanna, I have no idea what my real name is. I remember at some point my second foster family enrolling me in Kindergarten under the name Annabelle, or was it Annalee?
For whatever reason family no two called me Anna. At least for the first few months, like I said it was a step up from You. Now mother number two had a serious brie addiction, which sounds harmless until you realise that there was basically nothing but that stinking cheese in the house and me being the newest servant girl meant I got the joy and dealing with most of the stuff.
“Get me the brie Anna.” shrank to “Brie, Anna” and soon I was pretty much answering to just Brie. By the time I’d been at the house for nearly a year the entire family, including all the other kids called me Brie
It should have stayed there, it would have ended there when I got moved onto family number three – if they hadn’t moved Melanie with me. She introduced me as Brie before I even got both feet in the house and it stuck. So much so that at some point a caseworker changed the name on my file to Breeyanna.

The winner of Some Girls Are will be announced tomorrow

 

*our family always turns the nearest weekend into a birthday weekend, because you know 1 day just isn’t enough

Can you be too dumb to write?

Ok I admit it I’m not having a good time right now…

Despite my phoenix metaphor, piecing all the work I lost back together is not going as well as I want. On top of that my headaches seem to be coming back* (last year I was of work with constant migraines for over a month and I really don’t want to do that again) so I’m not quite the sturdy positive thing I normally am.

I was reading through notes from one of my crit-partners and just wanted to curl up and cry. Not because she doesn’t like it (she does) but because I didn’t understand what she meant.

And it’s not the first time.

When it comes to passive/active, show/tell, verbs and adjectives and basically most technical aspects of writing it feels like it’s beyond me.

Everything I know about writing I got from reading books. I never learned English (spelling, grammar, etc) in school. By the time I moved to the UK they’d covered it and my English teacher never bothered to correct my spelling or my grammar.** Also I kinda left education at the age of 14 so yeah…

The thing is that I wouldn’t be able to explain simple grammar rules to you, I don’t know what an adjective is or how to differentiate between styles.

I write what sounds right.

Based on feedback from fellow writers it’s not the story or the characters that are the issue but those technical things I can’t get to grips with. I am trying to learn and have improved a lot since last year but ever so often I just want to hide in a corner instead of asking yet again what they mean.

Writing for me isn’t about getting published, it’s about telling the stories of all these creatures in my head because they won’t leave me alone otherwise but being surrounded by all these clever people who seem to understand “grammar” when I’m banging my head against the wall does occasionally gives me a bit on an inferiority complex.

If you don’t understand the basic rules can you really write?

*this means most evenings I can’t face computers. I’m very sorry to the Crusaders I am working through the list but it’s going SLOW
**unhelpful and also very embarrassing

Building on your idea…

So you know more about your characters, what about the story?
To begin with below are a few questions you can use to help you outline the plot.

• What is the goal for your MC(s)?
• Backstory: ← The past impacts everyone so think about how the personal as well as the ‘world‘s past has influenced your MC. Is there a big fear they need to overcome?
• What is the challenge he/she/they must overcome?
• What set’s the ball rolling? ← What takes your MC from the “normal” world your MC lives in to the story you want to tell?
• What are the conflicts? ← Try to think of at least 3. They don’t all have to be major, it can be things like personality clashes for example.
• The bleakest moment?
• Final choice: ← The choice your MC makes that decides how the story will end.
• What has your MC learned at the end of the story?

I will be delving deeper into outlining in the near future

Susuwatari (ROW80 update)

Firstly thank you very much to everyone who commented last week. I really appreciated it.

So week 3 already… well I’m still not quite back on target but I’m a lot more happy about it this time round.

While the quantity of words is less, the quality has improved. My first chapter is back with a lot of positive feedback and suggestions for improvement. One thing that I’ve tried to implement is “show not tell”, something which I struggle with. My bestest writing buddy gave me a crash course and it’s going ok – I did write a whole scene which while cute is pointless to the story but it’s learning so still valuable.*

Work has been very tiring this week and being stuck in front of a spreadsheet for over 9hrs one day did not help my headaches** but I still wrote that night and I’m proud of that.

Yesterday I designated cleaning day, this sounds awful but I haven’t cleaned since October – because I wasn’t here. I moved back with family to help look after someone, was on holiday or away for Christmas. So while my home wasn’t dirty the susuwatari (aka dust bunnies) were starting their own community. Instead of just cleaning I went all out, the on-your-knees-scrubbing-the-oven kind of cleaning, it’s spotless now and I’m not falling over half-unpacked bags so I think think of it as improving my writing environment.

This week I plan to get back on my writing target and I’m still trying to read and comment more on blogs, that part has so far not gone as well as I like but it’s never to late to try.

 

*any advise on making “show not tell” easier would be a great help.
** fortunately migraines are staying away but it’s still distracting

In the beginning there was an idea…

I will be doing a series of blogs on getting started in your story writing process. The only 2 things you really need are an idea and something to write with*, everything else is optional.

However, it’s a bit like building a house. You have the land and the bricks but it would be a whole lot easier with a design and tools wouldn’t it?

So before we get to the writing part here is a couple of things I’d recommend;

Space

• It doesn’t have to be big or quiet (I like noise) but somewhere where you feel at comfortable in spending a few hours now and then. It would also help if the things you need are easily accessible…

Printer

• Unless you are writing everything by hand, in which case I’m very impressed, you will need a printer.

Library and/or Internet

• Where you research really depends on what you are researching. If your story needs a lot, the World Wide Web can be a bit of information overkill. Not to mention the fact that you can’t rely on it all being correct. In those cases, I’d recommend a good library and reference books. It’s worth checking your facts and if you are using the internet take the information from reputable sources and wherever possible check it again.
• The internet can be really useful to for quick and easy answers though

Time, Patience and a bit of Stubbornness
I think Jackson Pearce’s video illustrates my point best…

Writing the story is part one.
Re-writing and editing it is what will take the longest.

*in my case that will be a laptop

That little green monster

Meet Sammy.

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It’s not the best drawing, I abused some office supplies… *shines halo*

Sammy is my little green monster or alien* More specifically, he’s the little creature that jumps on my shoulder to remind me what envy looks like. (Should envy be this cute?)

en.vy – A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.

I’m sure if I really sat down and thought about it I could list many things I’m envious for, hair that doesn’t look like I stuck my fingers in an electric socket for example, but this particular envy is about energy.

Energy?

Yep energy.

I was going to say time, as in time for writing, editing, reading, crit-ing, blogging, commenting, rating all those little things budding authors try to do but I realise it’s not really time that’s the issue.

I am strapped for time. Somehow I never seem to have any and short of finding a blue telephone box or magic wand that’s not going to change so in lack of time what I need is energy to make the little time I have count. I don’t have that either. My bestest writing buddy seems to have tons of it… *wonders if it’s transferable*

I might just be a paper-pusher in an office but by the time I get home I’m shattered. We’ve been barely meeting (frequently failing) deadlines since January. I’m not the only writer suffering like this, I know this. But during the week I really can’t get motivated. For the last two weeks I’ve come home, eaten and gone to bed.* At the weekends I play catch up or am so tired I don’t want to do anything so yep I admit it I envy energy…

Any tips on how I can get some?

*I can spell “alien” (apologies, this is an in-joke…)
** I still want to sleep at my desk the next day so that’s not really working out…

22 days, 11 hours…

… and then I’m flying to Vegas. It’s not long is it? I’m trying not to think about it too much otherwise I won’t get anything done.

Today I’m going to start a 5-part series of blogs on books that changed my life.* It’s a list of 5 books that for one reason or another had a huge impact on me.

The books:

• Five on a Treasure Ireland by Enid Blyton
• Magic Moon by Wolfgang & Heike Hohlbein
• Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien
• Jenni by Paul Gallico
• Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Book One – Five on a Treasure Ireland by Enid Blyton

When I was about 6 (or 7) I learned two important lessons:

1. Books weren’t evil
2. Never tell my mother that you’re bored

Up until that point I loathed books, bookshops and my mum’s passion for them. Everytime we visited family in England she would get lost in these places and I would be stuck in rooms surrounded by books I couldn’t read and bored out of mind…

This changed when one day I told my mum I was bored. She took me to the cellar and handed my sibling’s old copy of Five on a Treasure Ireland and that was that. Actually if we want to be technical about it she handed me the battered copy of Fünf Freunde erforschen die Schatzinsel (I lived in Germany until I was 13 and speak/read/write both languages fluently) but while I’m sure I pulled a face I knew better then to hand it back without at least trying.

I liked it, it wasn’t the passion I have for books now but I read it in about 3 days, followed by all the other Famous Five my brothers & sisters had left behind. From then on I didn’t dread my mum disappearing into a bookshop, I would follow (sometimes eagerly) and search for stories for myself.

So without Five on a Treasure Ireland I never would have started reading. It was that book that captivated my stubborn 6 year-old self enough to stop hating books. (I’m sure I still complained about being stuck in bookshops for hours. How my mother would laugh now…) And I still love them. I might have preferred the kids in Enid Blyton’s “Adventure of” stories but it was Julian, Anne, Dick, George & Timmy that bought me into the world of books.**

So what book started you of? Leave a comment
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*sounds very dramatic doesn’t it? It’s not…
** for reason’s I do not understand now, my favourite was Anne

From the other side of the looking glass: Crit Partner

Being a crit partner has to be easier then being a writer, right?

Personally, I don’t think so.  Actually, I confess that when my friend asked me to crit her book I was utterly terrified.  Click here to see what she thinks…

It started innocently enough, sending me the odd chapter asking me what I thought of it… it ended with me taking 2 days of work to spent a long weekend sitting in front a screen dissecting, analysing and editing a 74,000 word document.*

Here’s the thing, while I love reading, crit-ing is something else entirely.

So if someone asks you to crit their work here’s a few tips;

Make sure you have enough time to do it
You might be able to read a 500 page book in a day but trust me, crit-ing will take you a LOT longer.

Find out what your writer wants you to pay attentions to; characterisation, flow, descriptions, etc…
Without a guideline of what your looking for you could overanalyse the entire text and miss that big giant plot hole; because you were to busy finding an alternative for the word ‘murmur’.**

Be brave
You have to be able to say, “This doesn’t work” or “I don’t like this”.
My friend handles criticism really well but that still didn’t stop me from panicking about it.

Offer suggestions
Once you tell them what you don’t think works; suggest an alternative!

Don’t forget what’s good
Crit-ing isn’t just about what’s wrong. It’s also about telling the author what you like.
Is it a certain character?
The language?
The world they’ve created?
Never forget to tell them about what you love. Every writer wants to hear that.

Read the whole thing
Sounds a bit obvious but what I mean is read the book consecutively, ideally in a short space of time. This will help you follow the story better. While I was crit-ing the final manuscript I noticed that there was an inconsistency in the story. One, which I never noticed before. ***

Write down your thoughts
Don’t worry if they aren’t important to the story. For example in one chapter the heroine struggles to get out of bed in the morning. I sympathised greatly with her because I’m not really a morning person either.****
It’s nothing to do with the story, (and my friend knows this about me already) but it gave her an insight into how I was feeling about the character at that time. I did this throughout the manuscript, personally I also think it makes it more fun for the person doing the crit.

Accept that the author has the final say
Not everything you comment on will get picked up. The author might read your suggestion but not agree with it. It’s their story so don’t get defensive about it. If you don’t like it, write your own.
You can do whatever you want in that…

And finally…
If you don’t feel comfortable doing a crit, you have to say NO.  Ask them to find someone else. If your heart isn’t in it, you won’t enjoy it and the end result won’t help the author either.
Just as every writer has their own style, so does every crit partner. You have to find the right match.

* Ok, that is a bit on the extreme side but I promised to get it back to her by a certain date and I never break a promise.
** My friend and I have this thing about the word ‘murmur’
*** I’d only read chapters over months before
**** Ok, I like morning but I take a while to get going…