It is 14 weeks since I began the Novel Blog. Over these weeks I have received many emails from those writing or thinking about writing a book. They have certainly helped the time fly; so thanks!
Indeed, it seems incredible that that time has passed so quickly, and even more amazing that I have just hit my target of getting to Chapter 20 by 21 December.
But that is exactly what I have done.
Now, lest you think I am sounding like a smug git, I would say that it has been anything but easy. In fact, it has been damn hard. Along the way, there has been a death in the family, I have had to resist the temptations of friends, Spooks and a beautiful wife (didn’t do too well on the latter two. Or the first); and all of life's other demands have been trying to distract me from that keyboard.
Somehow, though, I managed it - and I have identified three main practical reasons which might help others struggling to write with all of life’s distractions banging on the window of your study.
1. I discovered Scrivener - a writing software that has done nothing less than revolutionise my work flow. It really is that good. Not only does it manage not to come between me and my work, but it actually helps me write more. Sadly, it’s only available for Mac; but then again, if you own a PC it’s time you bought a Mac anyway. Find it here: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html
2. Starbucks started opening at 7 am. Brilliant! I have liberated that former “dead” hour between 7 & 8 am and now write for 75-90 minutes a morning. Of course, not everyone works/lives near an early opening coffee shop (and some people would rather go to Africa to be eaten by an elephant than enter a Starbucks), but if you can grab an extra hour before whatever fills your day, it will be habit forming in all the best ways.
3. I write a chapter a week. Whatever happens. Trust me, once you have set this standard, you can not bear to write less.
Of course, I still have a long way to go. If writing a novel is akin to climbing a mountain, then I have just reached base camp.
That is where I am going to spend the holiday season before returning to complete chapters 21-30 and finish my first draft by Easter (20 March).
But those chapters are still shrouded in mountain mist.
For the next 10 days I am going to make merry, enjoy the company of all those people who have been so patient with me over the last three and a half months and prepare for the ascent to Chapter 30.
Merry Christmas.
Thursday 20 December 2007
Friday 14 December 2007
Week 13 - The Scene of the Crimes
The term “research trip” has always held a fascination for me.
Visions of searching through dusty archives in some long forgotten room in the British Library; or spending weeks in an Oxford college, reading through erudite dissertations with a Casaubon-like commitment to the purity of research always spring to mind when I hear that phrase.
Especially so this week as I have been on the first research trip for my novel.
Did I discover some long lost work of literary genius? Aristotle’s treatise on comedy, or perhaps a lost Sherlock Holmes story?
Sadly not. But I did eat some lovely fish and chips.
Earlier this week I visited the town where my novel is set. Although I know it well, there is nothing like actually being there. I walked the streets my characters walk, I drank in the pubs, I looked at the views. I even took pictures of where they live.
This showed the extremes of fiction writing. One character lives in a flat that is very real and has a quite unsuspecting occupant; another lives in a house that in reality is an empty muddy farmer’s field.
Both are equally real to me, although only one is visible on Google Earth (unless you have a very special edition).
Walking in my characters’ footsteps was inspirational and also suggested new roads - literally and metaphorically - that they might go down.
It also showed the problem of using one’s memory to set scenes when I discovered the quiet courtyard I had set a murder in, is in fact overlooked by a pub.
But perhaps best of all, I got to hear the locals talk. No book can help here, you just have to experience it. The subtleties of local dialect can breath life into a book and there is no better way to experience this than by going to the location.
Of course, if your book is set in Sydney this can be a problem. On the other hand, if it is set somewhere like Scarborough (mine is not set in either place) - it’s not such an issue.
And it doesn't have to be all work. I went with my wife, we dined out, went for walks on the beach and generally had a good time. And if I occasionally broke off from dinner to scribble a note on a napkin, she didn’t mind.
She also bore up well when I mentioned that one of my characters was a bit of a whisky connoisseur and the pub we were in had a large selection of malts.
It was a research trip after all.
Visions of searching through dusty archives in some long forgotten room in the British Library; or spending weeks in an Oxford college, reading through erudite dissertations with a Casaubon-like commitment to the purity of research always spring to mind when I hear that phrase.
Especially so this week as I have been on the first research trip for my novel.
Did I discover some long lost work of literary genius? Aristotle’s treatise on comedy, or perhaps a lost Sherlock Holmes story?
Sadly not. But I did eat some lovely fish and chips.
Earlier this week I visited the town where my novel is set. Although I know it well, there is nothing like actually being there. I walked the streets my characters walk, I drank in the pubs, I looked at the views. I even took pictures of where they live.
This showed the extremes of fiction writing. One character lives in a flat that is very real and has a quite unsuspecting occupant; another lives in a house that in reality is an empty muddy farmer’s field.
Both are equally real to me, although only one is visible on Google Earth (unless you have a very special edition).
Walking in my characters’ footsteps was inspirational and also suggested new roads - literally and metaphorically - that they might go down.
It also showed the problem of using one’s memory to set scenes when I discovered the quiet courtyard I had set a murder in, is in fact overlooked by a pub.
But perhaps best of all, I got to hear the locals talk. No book can help here, you just have to experience it. The subtleties of local dialect can breath life into a book and there is no better way to experience this than by going to the location.
Of course, if your book is set in Sydney this can be a problem. On the other hand, if it is set somewhere like Scarborough (mine is not set in either place) - it’s not such an issue.
And it doesn't have to be all work. I went with my wife, we dined out, went for walks on the beach and generally had a good time. And if I occasionally broke off from dinner to scribble a note on a napkin, she didn’t mind.
She also bore up well when I mentioned that one of my characters was a bit of a whisky connoisseur and the pub we were in had a large selection of malts.
It was a research trip after all.
Friday 7 December 2007
Week 12 - A Boy and the Black Stuff
There’s no escaping the fact that life can get really busy at this time of year.
I always find it odd that I start complaining when the department stores put out their Christmas stock in September; yet it gets to the first week in December and suddenly there doesn’t seem to be enough time to fit everything in.
One thing is different this year: I’m writing a novel. If you’ve been with me from the first blog, you will know that my plan was to get to Chapter 20 before a well-earned Christmas break. I started Chapter 19 this morning, so I am on track.
This has been helped in no small way by the fact my local Starbucks has started to open an hour earlier. I can now go in anytime after 7 am and start to type away.
This has proven immensely useful and very productive, although at a slight moral cost.
I should really dislike Starbucks. In fact, I really want to dislike it.
Look at what comes under the negatives in my Starbucks Plus & Minus spreadsheet (OK, it’s a virtual spreadsheet, but you get the drift).
American Corporate Giant; Anytown syndrome; All look the same; puts the “little man” out of business; play the same music; Starbucks and laptops is such a cliché...
and yet...
I love the place! The plus column: The coffee’s great (black, of course); the staff remember me and what I drink; I like the music; and I tried the little man’s coffee shop: it never opened on time, the staff were terrible and it was about as conducive to writing as standing up on a rush hour tube, while some drunk itinerant treats the carriage to an energetic chorus or two of “It’s Not Unusual”.
As for the cliché - it must be a cliché for a reason. And that reason is sometimes it’s good to go against what people say and just do what seems right - like starting a sentence with a preposition.
At the end of the day, I just can’t argue with the facts. I am more productive because getting to write in a place that seems geared to it inspires me to keep going.
Kate Mosse suggests certain favourite quotes help inspire the writing process. She offers some examples, such as: Dem Wandersmann gehört die Welt in allen ihren Weiten (to the wanderer belongs the whole wide world). You can see more here: http://www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk/advice/12.asp.
As ever, good advice. But my own sure fire quote to get the creative juices flowing is: There’s always time for one more drink (E.Morse).
After all, the next chapter is only a cup of coffee away.
I always find it odd that I start complaining when the department stores put out their Christmas stock in September; yet it gets to the first week in December and suddenly there doesn’t seem to be enough time to fit everything in.
One thing is different this year: I’m writing a novel. If you’ve been with me from the first blog, you will know that my plan was to get to Chapter 20 before a well-earned Christmas break. I started Chapter 19 this morning, so I am on track.
This has been helped in no small way by the fact my local Starbucks has started to open an hour earlier. I can now go in anytime after 7 am and start to type away.
This has proven immensely useful and very productive, although at a slight moral cost.
I should really dislike Starbucks. In fact, I really want to dislike it.
Look at what comes under the negatives in my Starbucks Plus & Minus spreadsheet (OK, it’s a virtual spreadsheet, but you get the drift).
American Corporate Giant; Anytown syndrome; All look the same; puts the “little man” out of business; play the same music; Starbucks and laptops is such a cliché...
and yet...
I love the place! The plus column: The coffee’s great (black, of course); the staff remember me and what I drink; I like the music; and I tried the little man’s coffee shop: it never opened on time, the staff were terrible and it was about as conducive to writing as standing up on a rush hour tube, while some drunk itinerant treats the carriage to an energetic chorus or two of “It’s Not Unusual”.
As for the cliché - it must be a cliché for a reason. And that reason is sometimes it’s good to go against what people say and just do what seems right - like starting a sentence with a preposition.
At the end of the day, I just can’t argue with the facts. I am more productive because getting to write in a place that seems geared to it inspires me to keep going.
Kate Mosse suggests certain favourite quotes help inspire the writing process. She offers some examples, such as: Dem Wandersmann gehört die Welt in allen ihren Weiten (to the wanderer belongs the whole wide world). You can see more here: http://www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk/advice/12.asp.
As ever, good advice. But my own sure fire quote to get the creative juices flowing is: There’s always time for one more drink (E.Morse).
After all, the next chapter is only a cup of coffee away.
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