In a nutshell my week went: broken washing machine, need new tyres, sleep, curry, walkies, golf, tyres not avaliable please try again in a few weeks, realizing I messed up my cottage booking... sort of, new friends, wolves! ruins, walkies, writing, writing is hard...
Overall its been a good week. I got out and about, in the rain, alot, and wrote odd bits here and there, fleshed out some characters and filled some plot holes, and yesterday I was totally in the zone and wrote pretty much all day!
Yarp, all day!!! I started at 10am (er... it still counts as all day!) and stopped at 1.30pm. Went out for a 4 mile walk, which I think was really 2 miles but my runkeeper app was on the fritz, ate and started again at 2.30pm ish, and didn't stop until gone 7pm! Awesome! I wrote two chapters... 5,229 words... wowzer. Writing is tough! I was knackered by the end, but pleased with what I put down. I introduced a new character (new to the story, but planned) and I'm heading into the middle, the crux, of my story. I think this is why it took so long. Everything I write now has consequences for the length and direction of the story.
Its kinda awkward to write in many ways, as this is what I hope is the first of a series of books. That means really its just an introduction, the characters, the world, and I guess most importantly to the style in which I write.
So I'm on chapter 12-13 at the moment, although I'm expecting them to get pushed through to 14-15 because I think I need an extra one or two stuck in. I'm aiming for 30 to 35 chapters; 100,000 to 115,000 words. Pretty much all of the characters are in now, either described or alluded to. I think I've set the scene, old town full of nice fantastical things. The trick now is to get these characters from where they currently are, to where I need them to be for the big finish! Not easy... although I'm pretty much there.
Its like fitting together a jigsaw puzzle, but with no picture and only one corner. Plus, just as you think you are making progress, you lift up the box to find a couple of new pieces which make your current picture all wrong! Sometimes I write and I'm thinking, "nooo don't do that! Why are you doing that???" screaming at a character who apparently is taking on a life of his or her own. But thankfully I'm not the only one :)
Check out this nice piece about two fantasy writers (George RR Martin and Robin Hobb) discussing their works. Little Ben put this on to me, and its really interesting. I can relate to some of the things they are saying, so I must be on the right lines :) http://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/purple-socks#s8yj2
So today I have two goals: Finish the third chapter which I started yesterday (by started I mean wrote down some key words), and not look at what I wrote yesterday! I think the second one will be more of a challenge. Monday is more writing time - sit down and try and get down some more chapters.
But its all good. Enjoyable :) Take care all o/
p.s. I'm always on the hunt for names, so if you have any good ones, familiar sounding names which could be historical or fantastical, please drop them in the comments :)
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Aims, wants, needs and musts
So yesterday I promised to put down my objectives for this sabbatical. What do I aim to get out of this, what do I want to get out of this, what I need to get out of this, and what I must get out of this. Wow, that's a lot of pressure.
Of course this is only really pressure I'm putting on myself, and so maybe I shouldn't get stressed about it. Then again, the pressure you put on yourself is ultimately the only pressure that truly counts. Pressure is what makes us do the things we want to do, and makes us the people we are.
A wise man once said to me "The choices we make dictate the life we lead", and its stuck with me through to this point (I might even use that quote in my book!). So the question is what sort of man do I want to be? What pressure will I put on myself to become that person?
Deep questions, so lets break it down into something a little simpler. What do I hope to achieve in the next eight weeks? Ultimately I want to be able to go back to work refreshed, invigorated and able to say "I wrote a book."
And that sounds so simple. Over the last year I've talked to many people about my experience of writing, and honestly, half have said "Oh I've written a book as well!" Its a weird feeling. I have to be honest and say it was a bit of a shock. Was I so naive to think that what I was doing was fairly unique or did I think I was special? I don't know. Maybe its just that writing is something personal, and so when you do it, its for yourself and not something you share with others. That's how I started. Lots of short stories, introductions to characters, beginnings that never went anywhere. But I only shared them with a very limited number of people - well, one person if I'm honest. What I discovered last year was that others were interested in what I wanted to write, and enjoyed reading what I had written. Of course the paranoia in me questioned whether this was simply them being nice, and that I had no real talent. Like those people you see on the X-Factor or similar shows, where their friends and family are telling them they are wonderful singers only for them to humiliated on national television.
But the flip side of this was that I really enjoyed writing. It calmed me, allowed me to go to places within my own imagination, create characters that interested me. Writing allowed me to put questions and doubts to paper, manipulate them and make things better in my own mind. For example, the book I'm writing formed between the first and second Iraq wars when oil, and not the people, seemed to be what both sides were really fighting for. Now this may or may not be true, and I don't want to go into that debate, but I was young and that idea drilled into me. And so came about the idea of a Corporation War, a fantasy war where powers were struggling over control of Arcane magic. Unlike magic as is shown in most books and films, this was a tangible fuel (at least to a degree), much like oil, gas and coal, and like these it was being depleted as the world grew more reliant upon it.
I don't want to give more away, or you might steal my ideas! But that is the basis of the world in which my story takes place ©
Anyway, I digress.
I want to be a writer. To do this I need to have written, and presumably finished, something... anything. And that's my aim. I also plan to write this blog, partly as a way of staying on track, but also as a diary to follow and look back upon. I won't write everyday, but hope to share something at least once of twice a week, when something exciting happens or just to keep track of where I am at. I should warn you, this will be verbal garbage. I plan to write the blog with no editing; just letting the words spill out of my head and onto the page. I hope you've brought a life jacket with you, cos this ride is gonna get bumpy!
This is what I've tasked myself to do:
- My novel is science fiction/fantasy, which general consensus seems to agree needs to be between 100,000 and 115,000 words. Any shorter and it could be disregarded as not enough content, and any longer and publishers might dismiss it out of hand. That puts my novel (based on my general chapter lengths) at between 30 and 35 chapters long.
- I need to have completed the novel, and written a single page summary (harder than it sounds), and sent it off to at least one agent and/or publisher, or more by the end of the sabbatical.
That's it. It really is that simple.
Wait did I say simple? Yeah... in the last 12 to 18 months I've written a total of 8 chapters which I am happy with, and 4-5 more in draft format. Writing something which grabs others attention, flows seamlessly from chapter to chapter keeping the readers interest, is hard work. Just getting something down on paper is tough enough, but then editing it and knowing when to stop editing it - now that's the real test of endurance and mental stamina. Today I picked apart a chapter and got so frustrated. I really liked what I had written, but it just didn't fit neatly into the rest of the story. Plus I introduced five new minor characters which might be too many.
Doing this alone is... well kinda lonely. Another generally observed writers thing is "Don't share your work until it is finished". I can see why, as everyone will have their own take on what you should write, and after a while it stops being your book. Having said that, I've been lucky enough to have two friends without whom this story would still be in the "where do I go from here" stage.
So discipline is key. I need to get out and get inspired, but I also need to dedicate time sat at the computer or notebook, and write. Write, write and write. Failure will be if after eight weeks I don't have something to share. That's the challenge. That's the person I want to be :)
Of course this is only really pressure I'm putting on myself, and so maybe I shouldn't get stressed about it. Then again, the pressure you put on yourself is ultimately the only pressure that truly counts. Pressure is what makes us do the things we want to do, and makes us the people we are.
A wise man once said to me "The choices we make dictate the life we lead", and its stuck with me through to this point (I might even use that quote in my book!). So the question is what sort of man do I want to be? What pressure will I put on myself to become that person?
Deep questions, so lets break it down into something a little simpler. What do I hope to achieve in the next eight weeks? Ultimately I want to be able to go back to work refreshed, invigorated and able to say "I wrote a book."
And that sounds so simple. Over the last year I've talked to many people about my experience of writing, and honestly, half have said "Oh I've written a book as well!" Its a weird feeling. I have to be honest and say it was a bit of a shock. Was I so naive to think that what I was doing was fairly unique or did I think I was special? I don't know. Maybe its just that writing is something personal, and so when you do it, its for yourself and not something you share with others. That's how I started. Lots of short stories, introductions to characters, beginnings that never went anywhere. But I only shared them with a very limited number of people - well, one person if I'm honest. What I discovered last year was that others were interested in what I wanted to write, and enjoyed reading what I had written. Of course the paranoia in me questioned whether this was simply them being nice, and that I had no real talent. Like those people you see on the X-Factor or similar shows, where their friends and family are telling them they are wonderful singers only for them to humiliated on national television.
But the flip side of this was that I really enjoyed writing. It calmed me, allowed me to go to places within my own imagination, create characters that interested me. Writing allowed me to put questions and doubts to paper, manipulate them and make things better in my own mind. For example, the book I'm writing formed between the first and second Iraq wars when oil, and not the people, seemed to be what both sides were really fighting for. Now this may or may not be true, and I don't want to go into that debate, but I was young and that idea drilled into me. And so came about the idea of a Corporation War, a fantasy war where powers were struggling over control of Arcane magic. Unlike magic as is shown in most books and films, this was a tangible fuel (at least to a degree), much like oil, gas and coal, and like these it was being depleted as the world grew more reliant upon it.
I don't want to give more away, or you might steal my ideas! But that is the basis of the world in which my story takes place ©
Anyway, I digress.
I want to be a writer. To do this I need to have written, and presumably finished, something... anything. And that's my aim. I also plan to write this blog, partly as a way of staying on track, but also as a diary to follow and look back upon. I won't write everyday, but hope to share something at least once of twice a week, when something exciting happens or just to keep track of where I am at. I should warn you, this will be verbal garbage. I plan to write the blog with no editing; just letting the words spill out of my head and onto the page. I hope you've brought a life jacket with you, cos this ride is gonna get bumpy!
This is what I've tasked myself to do:
- My novel is science fiction/fantasy, which general consensus seems to agree needs to be between 100,000 and 115,000 words. Any shorter and it could be disregarded as not enough content, and any longer and publishers might dismiss it out of hand. That puts my novel (based on my general chapter lengths) at between 30 and 35 chapters long.
- I need to have completed the novel, and written a single page summary (harder than it sounds), and sent it off to at least one agent and/or publisher, or more by the end of the sabbatical.
That's it. It really is that simple.
Wait did I say simple? Yeah... in the last 12 to 18 months I've written a total of 8 chapters which I am happy with, and 4-5 more in draft format. Writing something which grabs others attention, flows seamlessly from chapter to chapter keeping the readers interest, is hard work. Just getting something down on paper is tough enough, but then editing it and knowing when to stop editing it - now that's the real test of endurance and mental stamina. Today I picked apart a chapter and got so frustrated. I really liked what I had written, but it just didn't fit neatly into the rest of the story. Plus I introduced five new minor characters which might be too many.
Doing this alone is... well kinda lonely. Another generally observed writers thing is "Don't share your work until it is finished". I can see why, as everyone will have their own take on what you should write, and after a while it stops being your book. Having said that, I've been lucky enough to have two friends without whom this story would still be in the "where do I go from here" stage.
So discipline is key. I need to get out and get inspired, but I also need to dedicate time sat at the computer or notebook, and write. Write, write and write. Failure will be if after eight weeks I don't have something to share. That's the challenge. That's the person I want to be :)
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Day one of part two
So today was the first day of the second and final part of my sabbatical. And it was a long day. In fact the last four days have felt long.
Basically on Saturday I crashed. Mentally. It was as if a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders and replaced with a fluffy soft pillow which enticed me into just doing as little as possible. I wanted to do things, and I even started to do things, but somehow things ended up with me sat in front of the telly watching the football. Sad I know, but I guess sometimes you just need to let the body and brain recharge.
Sunday was far more productive... sort of. I tidied my new writing desk (that being the desk at what I is mostly be writing at innit) and then went off to play 9 holes of golf with my Dad and brother-from-another-mother. I was stinky. Rubbish. Couldn't drive, putt, or do any of the "getting the ball near the hole" bit in between. Dan asked "want to go again Tuesday?" I replied, "well..." He said "With buggies?" I replied "Sign me up!" So then a lovely chicken pie dinner and getting my ass kicked in board games by the family, I went home.
Sunday leads us nicely, some might say inevitably, to Monday. As it was a bank holiday I didn't treat it like the first day of the sabbatical. Maybe I should point out that this two month period away from work is to enable me to finish writing my book, and send it off to an agent/publisher/both. That's the goal. On route I plan to go to many far flung places such as Sweden and Lincoln, but I don't want to give away everything I'm doing otherwise you may not come back to this blog. I guess there is a chance you may have already left, but meh, your loss. This blog will be, by far, the bestest blog I've written this year which has more than one entry.
But I was ready to roll, and full of ideas and enthusiasm. I planned out a strategy, made character lists and descriptions, and made sure that I had a clear picture of how I wanted each character to look and feel to the reader. I laid out ideas on my before mentioned writing desk and switched on the PC. The internet died... well pretty much. I was reduced to 0.21 download speed and so couldn't access any of my files in the cloud. With frustration I rang BT, who actually were pretty good. They told me what they did, I nodded, and the internet was back up and running! Hurrah! Away I went, the story just flowing out of me like a river of awesomeness! and then the electricity died...
Yarp, good old Forest with its windy rainy blowy trees of destruction (and probably the cause of my internet loss) delivered its fatal blow and ...<<blank screen>>
Did I despair? Did I scream and shout and let it all out? Yes I did.
At 4.30pm electrics came back on. Thankfully my PC had autosaved and I'd lost very little, but I'd lost all momentum and the enthusiasm and ideas had disappeared. Never mind, I had Liverpool versus Man City to look forward to. Yeah, that didn't work out either.
And so that brings us to today. First day of writing proper. Today as a writer, I played golf, went to the physio and tried to fix my sisters PC. Oh and wrote this. Golf was good, thanks for asking. I could drive, I could putt, and I did ok with the bits inbetween. Physio was good, although seemed a little concerned by me leaning to one side. I need to strengthen my core more. :) Poetic. Made progress with sisters PC, but grrrrr.
And so that's the first entry of this blog. Please stick with me on this journey into the unknown world of writers block, paragraph building and destroying, and characterizations so epic that I'll have to name each one of them Spartacus.
Tomorrow I hope to get new tyres for the car, but I won't bore you with that. Instead I'll list my aims and goals for the next two months, to give you all something to focus on and make sure I achieve. If this fails, I'll be asking you why!?!
Have a great evening, day, life, and I'll catch you all tomorrow
o/
Basically on Saturday I crashed. Mentally. It was as if a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders and replaced with a fluffy soft pillow which enticed me into just doing as little as possible. I wanted to do things, and I even started to do things, but somehow things ended up with me sat in front of the telly watching the football. Sad I know, but I guess sometimes you just need to let the body and brain recharge.
Sunday was far more productive... sort of. I tidied my new writing desk (that being the desk at what I is mostly be writing at innit) and then went off to play 9 holes of golf with my Dad and brother-from-another-mother. I was stinky. Rubbish. Couldn't drive, putt, or do any of the "getting the ball near the hole" bit in between. Dan asked "want to go again Tuesday?" I replied, "well..." He said "With buggies?" I replied "Sign me up!" So then a lovely chicken pie dinner and getting my ass kicked in board games by the family, I went home.
Sunday leads us nicely, some might say inevitably, to Monday. As it was a bank holiday I didn't treat it like the first day of the sabbatical. Maybe I should point out that this two month period away from work is to enable me to finish writing my book, and send it off to an agent/publisher/both. That's the goal. On route I plan to go to many far flung places such as Sweden and Lincoln, but I don't want to give away everything I'm doing otherwise you may not come back to this blog. I guess there is a chance you may have already left, but meh, your loss. This blog will be, by far, the bestest blog I've written this year which has more than one entry.
But I was ready to roll, and full of ideas and enthusiasm. I planned out a strategy, made character lists and descriptions, and made sure that I had a clear picture of how I wanted each character to look and feel to the reader. I laid out ideas on my before mentioned writing desk and switched on the PC. The internet died... well pretty much. I was reduced to 0.21 download speed and so couldn't access any of my files in the cloud. With frustration I rang BT, who actually were pretty good. They told me what they did, I nodded, and the internet was back up and running! Hurrah! Away I went, the story just flowing out of me like a river of awesomeness! and then the electricity died...
Yarp, good old Forest with its windy rainy blowy trees of destruction (and probably the cause of my internet loss) delivered its fatal blow and ...<<blank screen>>
Did I despair? Did I scream and shout and let it all out? Yes I did.
At 4.30pm electrics came back on. Thankfully my PC had autosaved and I'd lost very little, but I'd lost all momentum and the enthusiasm and ideas had disappeared. Never mind, I had Liverpool versus Man City to look forward to. Yeah, that didn't work out either.
And so that brings us to today. First day of writing proper. Today as a writer, I played golf, went to the physio and tried to fix my sisters PC. Oh and wrote this. Golf was good, thanks for asking. I could drive, I could putt, and I did ok with the bits inbetween. Physio was good, although seemed a little concerned by me leaning to one side. I need to strengthen my core more. :) Poetic. Made progress with sisters PC, but grrrrr.
And so that's the first entry of this blog. Please stick with me on this journey into the unknown world of writers block, paragraph building and destroying, and characterizations so epic that I'll have to name each one of them Spartacus.
Tomorrow I hope to get new tyres for the car, but I won't bore you with that. Instead I'll list my aims and goals for the next two months, to give you all something to focus on and make sure I achieve. If this fails, I'll be asking you why!?!
Have a great evening, day, life, and I'll catch you all tomorrow
o/
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