Write Drunk, Edit Sober

A few days ago, this wonderful infographic popped into my Inbox (I do love a good infographic!)

While it’s ostensibly focused on copywriting, it contains some fabulous advice for writers of all kinds and some even more fabulous quotes from renowned authors.

Amongst them is the one and only definition which has ever clearly defined for me the old adage “show, don’t tell”:

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

That’s from none other than Anton Chekhov, so I’m taking it to be pretty authoritative!

It also contains a lovely section on Productive Tactics, dishing out some cracking advice to help the writer stride over the seemingly-insurmountable hurdles with which we all come face-to-face at one time or another. A particular favourite is:

Write drunk, edit sober.

I do this fairly often, which probably tells you a whole host of badness about me. But it really does work. The first few paragraphs are invariably dry and stilted as I struggle to chase my fleeing muse around the room. Just as invariably, the work slides gracefully into outlandish gibberish as my alcohol tolerance level is reached. But in the middle there, at the point where the inhibitions are loosened and the muse perches coquettishly upon my knee, there’s some really good, free-flowing writing which is not only good in itself, but raises ideas and concepts worthy of further development.

There are far too many other gems in here for writers of all ilks – if you’ve never written an ilk, give it a go – to be able to summarise with any justice, so you’ll just have to read it for yourself. It’s lengthy, but very worthwhile. Trust me, I’ve written a novel.

My parting shot for today is from the unspeakably wonderful Ray Bradbury, making a long-overdue repeat appearance on these pages:

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed.

Pass me a pen, several reams of paper and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s time to get to work!!

What’s In A Name?

My first novel runs to 86,500 words, give or take a few. That’s 86,500 words that I wrote myself, all out of my own head. And that’s quite a lot of words.

So why am I finding it so hard to come up with a couple more for a title??

For a long while in its youth, the novel was called Dark Energies. I still think that’s a strong title, but fear it sounds a bit too sci-fi. I don’t want to end up on the wrong shelf, do I? Incidentally, that’s a whole other debate – the book is fiction and deals with themes of quantum physics, so in a very literal sense it is a bit sci-fi. But it’s mostly a contemporary urban love story with a twist and a mighty helping of mystery thrown in.

For a shorter period – one week to be precise – it became Jumping From Cliffs. That works for a blog, but doesn’t work for a book. I kept asking myself “would I want to read a book called Jumping From Cliffs?”

The answer was “only if I were considering suicide but couldn’t work out how to do it.”

For ten minutes I dallied with Façades but had an overwhelming urge to punch myself in the face at the pretentiousness of it. Plus, it’s rather Jilly Cooper-esque. And that’s never a good thing.

So here I am, metaphorically sitting on 86,500 words of manuscript, without a name to its name.

Surely a few words can’t be that difficult?

At this rate it’s going to be called A Story About Some People Who Do Things.

So tell me friends, how do you come up with your titles?

And That’s A Wrap!

I have finished my first novel.

I can scarcely believe I’m writing those words…

After four years, numerous drafts and countless hours of editing, the final changes went in on Saturday afternoon. I now, for the very first time, have a completed manuscript that I’m happy for people to read.

A dream that I’ve harboured since the age of 7 has been fulfilled.

*happy face*

Amongst those upon whom I’m happy to inflict this 86,000-word tome are, of course, a select group of what I’m increasingly seeing referred to as beta-readers (a term a little too software-geeky for my liking). I shall call them guinea-pigs!

Is the book perfect? I doubt it. As one of the characters says: “Perfection doesn’t exist.” Will the GPs come back with changes, plot-holes, character defects, story suggestions? Undoubtedly. And I very much hope they do, so that I can be aware of the shortcomings as well as elated about the achievement.

The fact that it may not be perfect isn’t going to prevent me sending it to the other group of guinea-pigs though. Agents and/or publishers.

And therein lies the secondary source of immense excitement… I have a manuscript that I’m ready to send out to seek a publisher! And that’s something I could hardly have imagined 4 years ago. How my baby will fare out in the big wide world is anyone’s guess. I’m prepared (on the outside at least, sensitive little soul that I am) for rejection, rebuttal and possibly even being totally ignored.

But hey, if that happens, I have a Plan B don’t I? Why, of course. Self-publishing.

The more I see the growing army of talented writers out there (yes, that includes you, and you, and especially you) who are self-publishing, the more I believe a tipping-point has been reached. There is a whole new route to readers.

After all, one man’s reject is another’s bedside-table page-turner.

It’s far from the end my friends, this is just the beginning!

Care to join me on the journey friends and see how Jumping From Cliffs – for that is its name, having been re-christened from Dark Energies a couple of months ago – gets on in its quest to grace the shelves of a bookshop? I do hope so, you’ve all been bloomin’ marvellous so far!

Are you in?

Dreams of Scenes and Time Machines

At 5:10am I found myself awake, with phone in hand, tapping out a note while my Other Half snoozed happily away beside me.

Nope, not an illicit text to my oddly-named and entirely imaginary mistress, Raspberry.

The outline for the start of Novel Number 3! Let’s ignore, for now, the fact that I haven’t yet finished editing Novel Number 1 and already have an outline for the start of Novel Number 2.

Nothing quite like setting yourself a challenge is there?!

Like Martin Luther King, I had a dream. This one had nothing to do with equal rights or freedom or any of those important things though. What it had in their place was suspense. I dreamt a scene so vivid and so compelling that when I woke I was desperate to know what happened next. It was like watching the start of a film only to have your Sky box blow up after the first 3 minutes.

“How?” I thought. “How do I find out what happens next?” (That was after I thought “What the hell am I doing awake at 5:10am?” and “Bleeeecchhh”, which is generally my first conscious thought of the day.)

I knew there and then that the only way to find out what happened would be to write the thing. So I scrawled down the events of the dream, as best my groggy fingers would allow, hoping to bottle the sensations and emotions for future use. I think I succeeded, because it’s still with me and I still want to find out what happens.

And you know what? This one is going to push me to a place I’ve never been. The Land Of Planning.

*gasp*

The back-story to the dramatic opening will come from a cast of characters unveiling their pasts and their connections with the lead character. Some will be reflective, looking back from now; some will be in flashback, taking the reader back to the time when the events occur. And there’s no way that’s all going to happen unless I have a detailed plan of what happens when, to whom, why, how and what their connection is to the opening scene – especially as many of those connections will be intentionally vague and possibly mis-leading.

For someone who, so far, has jumped straight into the middle of a story and fought his way out like a ferret in a sack, that’s a mightily daunting prospect.

Wish me luck dear readers. Of course, there’s the infamous First Novel to complete first and the tentative Second. I feel like Beethoven (the composer, not the dog).

So – how do you go about planning? Some of you must surely be planners and plotters who work it all out in advance. Any tips? Any advice? Halp!

Loose as a Goose Daddy-O!

Whilst editing more of the never-ending manuscript last night, I became aware that some of my writing was tight. As tight as a publisher’s wallet in fact.

I can clearly discern which sections I wrote during free-wheeling, word-flowing time off when I spent a couple of hours jotting down stream-of-consciousness, vaguely-related meanderings, which eventually morphed into a further couple of hours of deftly-written, not-to-be-deleted, killer copy ending with sore fingers and a stone cold cup of coffee beside me.

Equally, and far more distressingly, clear are the passages penned in a snatched Tuesday-evening hour between putting the bins out and de-fleaing the cats. (Never let anyone tell you the life of an aspiring writer is anything less than a free-for-all of bohemian glamour!)

What to do is the question? How to untighten the screws and loosen up those stilted, laborious paragraphs? Whole chapters in some cases.

I have tried the Oscar Wilde approach of poring over them for hours, changing the occasional word for a more flowery word, only to replace the original word an hour later. All it did was give me a headache.

I have tried the approach of chopping these bits out like a gangrenous appendix for the overall health of their host. Do appendixes/appendices get gangrene? Don’t know, but it’s a good image huh? Yep, thought so.

No. That won’t do at all. I fear there is only one viable solution my dear friends. I am becoming convinced that I need to find some of that valuable free-wheeling time mentioned in the first paragraph (do keep up at the back…) and… *small gasp*… re-write these passages entirely.

Those of you who have pored over manuscripts several dozen times will appreciate the dread with which I am filled at this notion. I have to re-read the whole thing. Then I have to re-read the offending sections. Then I have to free my mind like a lone seagull whirling in the wisp-blue skies of a seaside town and re-write those passages with the same freedom of flow and yet keep their original significance.

Or I could just burn it.

So dear readers (51of you and counting), what do you do at times like this? What’s your trick for loosening up the bits of your writing that are wound like a clock-spring?

An award? Why, thank you!

Oh my word, my blog has been nominated for a second award! The delightful and hugely talented Kristina Pui has nominated Jumping From Cliffs for the Beautiful Blogger Award. “At last,” I thought, “someone who recognises that Clooney and I were separated at birth.” Then I realised it’s the blog which is regarded as beautiful, but that in no way lessened my joy and gratitude (not too much anyway.) I know many people are skeptical about awards, but I believe they’re a valuable means of showing appreciation to people who add something to your day and I truly appreciate it.

Now I have to nominate 5 other bloggers (easy) and tell you 5 beautiful/interesting things about myself (not so easy). I’ll give you my 5 fave bloggers first and then, down the bottom there, try and scrape together 5 facts that those with far too much time on their hands may find vaguely interesting/entertaining.

If I had to rank these ladies and gents in order of preference, they’d all be at Number One, but blog layout and physics won’t permit that, so here, in no particular order, are the Top 5:

Reader, I Wrote a Novel
This is my ‘must-read’ blog; a new post from the fabulous Holly Robinson always stops me in my tracks. Dry, self-deprecating humour from an extremely talented writer attempting to pen a novel in a year, whilst simultaneously having a life. Constantly entertaining, inspiring and wonderful. Get yourselves over there now for a peek. Thank you.

The Illustrious Peacock
The Illustrious Peacock has the self-styled mission of “bringing a touch of beautiful into everyday life.” And boy oh boy, does she succeed! Outstanding photography and high-concept design from an extraordinarily creative mind. This blog will brighten your day every time.

Catherine, Caffeinated
Living, breathing proof that you can get your work published. Catherine shares her insights, advice and expertise in a non-lecturing, massively readable style. And she knows exactly what she’s talking about. An invaluable stopping-off point (prepare to be stopped there for some time.)

Andrew Toynbee’s Very Own Blog
I’m nominating Andrew because he’s another writer who squeezes writing in during the spare moments inbetween the general madness of a hectic life. I think of these as “moments of beauty” in my day and I admire the way Andrew manages to find so many of them and keep focused.

K. J. Colt
Kylie Colt has a “restlessness in her heart” that drives her to write and I for one understand precisely how that feels. Short posts that crackle with energy and get straight to the point, re-affirming that you’re not the only aspiring scribe who sometimes struggles. More power to your pen K.J.

Now to the bit I’ve been dreading. I don’t write about me because I don’t like writing about me. I write about how I write and what I’ve learned and what inspires me. Anyone who’s interested in what I had for breakfast proooooobably isn’t someone I’d want to be following my blog… Anyhow, in deference to the nomination, here goes.

Thing 1: In previous phases of my life, I have been a juggler, a guitarist, a showjumper, a cross-country rider, an actor and a linguist. I still am some of these things, but haven’t been any of them professionally. The one thing I’ve always been in addition to all of these is a writer – even when I’ve not been practicing the craft. It is what I genuinely feel I was made to do and that I believe one day, somehow, I will do for a living. If not, I will retire to a hillside cottage in Sicily and live off the land whilst writing for fun. Truth.

Thing 2: I am Spiderman. As a kid, I was a humungous Spiderman fan. A couple of years ago, at the age of far-too-mature-to-be-reading-comics, I re-discovered the joy of the webslinger. Now, when faced with a challenge I don’t think I’m up to, or something I really dread doing, I remind myself that I’m Spiderman, knuckle down and get on with it. I’m nowhere near as geeky as that makes me sound.

Thing 3: I love rugby, cats and The Clash. And pirates. You have to love pirates.

Thing 4: Since my Dad developed Alzheimer’s a couple of years ago, I’ve vowed never to put off anything I want to do until ‘one day.’ All-too-often, one day never comes.

Thing 5: My novel (which I’m increasingly considering re-naming Jumping From Cliffs, instead of Dark Energies) is based on the true story of how I met my fiancée. Truth may not be stranger than fiction but it comes in a pretty close second.

So there you have it, 5 things about me. I’m chuffed to bits by the nomination and look forward to posting further writerly musings as soon as life returns to anything mildly approaching normal.

Familiarity breeds… more familiarity?

I noticed a word last night.

To be precise, I noticed a lot of them and far too many were the same.

Edit Number 4 (I have a far less polite name for it than that in private) of the novel is progressing at the pace of a wounded snail. I’m busily typing up the edits I made long-hand whilst sitting on trains to and from work.

It is tedious in the extreme. Oh boy, oh boy is it tedious. BUT (capitals, ‘cos this is important) it has taught me something fascinating.

I have words and phrases I over-use.

Last night, I discovered 34 instances of the word “familiar”.

34?!

3 of them occurred within 3 consecutive paragraphs.

That’s more than familiar, that’s positively intimate.

This realisation subsequently led on to a Sherlock Holmes-style investigation of exactly how such a heinous bludgeoning of the English language could have occurred. I like to think I have a broad vocabulary and I know lots and lots and lots of words. Some of them quite good ones. So why this insistence on one single variant?

I came up with two answers:

1) I like things that are familiar. I’m not a big fan of change in general… yep, OK, whoa there! That’s true but this is not the place for psychoanalysis.

There’s a second, more writerly, solution:

2) The novel has been written and edited in chunks over a long period of time. Like a jigsaw, pieces which have been hiding at the outset have been slotted in over the course of its evolution.

“So what, you slovenly abuser of vocab?” I hear you ask.

I’ve never, until now, read the whole book through from end-to-end with no gaps, omissions or chopping-up of the timeline. So I’ve never had the opportunity to hear the repetition until now.

Which means that this agonising 4^th edit is actually one of the most important pieces of work I have ever done since I committed the opening sentence to paper all that time ago.

And that, boys and girls, is a massive relief that stops me heading off in search of a chocolate digestive and a duvet at this very moment. Onwards and upwards, to boldly hunt out other flagrant violations of my Mother tongue.

Do you have words or phrases that you find cropping up time and time again without you realising? And how do you write – are you structured or random?

Do tell…

6 Sentence Sunday

OK, let me be the first to point out that it’s not Sunday. Not yet anyway. Although if you’re reading this on Sunday it will be…

I only came across 6 Sentence Sunday recently, but the idea is that you share 6 sentences from your work (whether in progress or completed) which will then go live over at http://www.sixsunday.com on – yep, you guessed it – Sunday.

It’s the first time I’ve taken part in this, so here goes. Please find below, for your delight and delectation, the first 6 sentences of my novel-in-draft. It may be called Dark Energies or it may be called Jumping From Cliffs. I’ll let my audience decide once the time comes. I hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to comment if you do; or even if you don’t.

Edward Stretton somehow knew that neither he, nor anyone else, would ever see his wife again.

He replaced the bottle-green handset in its cradle and ran his hand once again over the empty space on the sideboard. A hazy rectangle of dark walnut stood out feather-edged against the sun-lightened surface surrounding it, the only indication of what no longer stood there. A light residue of polish coated his fingertips as they stroked rhythmically back and forth across the absence, as if he were stroking the hair of a child recently woken from a nightmare. He paused and inspected the powdery coating for a second, his mind a thousand miles away, before wiping it on the sleeve of his suit jacket and picking up the receiver once more.

With a slender forefinger, he turned the clear plastic dial until it stopped against the metal fingerpiece, then listened to the clicking as it ratcheted back to its starting position.

Any readers who have previously perused the post Sneak Peek will recognise these as the start of the Prologue. There’s one subtle difference however: this is from the edited, revised, adjective-light version which entered the world following feedback from all the lovely people who reviewed the original for me.

As soon as the final edit of the MS is complete, I shall be posting more. You have been warned.

In the meantime, I shall leave you in suspense…

Should I?

I have been ‘sort-of’ challenged to take part in NaNoWriMo (you know who you are!)

Anyone who’s read my post It’s About Time will appreciate the combination of excitement and abject fear this causes me.

1200 words a day??

How I’d love to. But there’s also work, cleaning, family, moving house (again), cooking, cleaning, eating, washing, ironing.. aaaaarrrggghhhh!!

I guess I could give up sleeping for 6 hours a night but, hey, everyone’s entitled to one luxury right?

Do I? Or don’t I?

Now You See It…

…and very soon you won’t.

A book written in disappearing ink? It sounds like the stuff of childhood spy fantasies but now it’s all come true.

Which of us didn’t spend hours writing notes using lemon juice or top-secret kits purchased with our hard-earned pocket money from the ads in the back pages of the comics? I know I certainly did… before I discovered girls obviously.

Now, “The Book That Cannot Wait” (El Libro Que No Puede Esperar) has come along as an extraordinary writing/art concept. From the day the book is opened, you have two months to read it before the words vanish irrevocably.

You can read all about it in this article at Springwise – but be quick ;o)

Oh, and check out that cover too – I love it.