It's been a long time

Hey kids,

Sorry I've been so absent. Do you ever go through stages of just not being able to write? That's how I've been for the past year or so. I go through stages of either writing loads or reading loads. I've been through a lot of books this year and am currently reading Claire E. Smith's The Duke's Trumpet. A gripping read so far but because I would talk with her as she was writing and planning the novel it's made me realise that I need to get on with mine.

It's been long enough now that I've had time to get my head around Sanctuary. I know the technological advances I'm going to make to the base and the characters. I just need to get the peril sorted.

Another friend of mine said she was planning on writing a novel and it got us talking. I said that I wanted to get back to writing 750 words per day but it was so difficult when I wasn't inspired. She said that instead of trying to write some of the novel every day, just work on it. Genius! So I've just finished an hour-long planning session in the middle of my day.

I think I'll be back for a while now. I'm feeling inspired. I want to get this draft written and beta'd to see how it pans out. I'm currently writing a scene-by-scene plan that I can follow. I think there's one plot thread missing, but hopefully I'll be able to find that before I finish. It's the piece of the puzzle that will cause peril and give the characters something to fight for.

I'm now self-employed (woohoo!) so finding time to write should be much easier... in theory.

Oh how I've changed!

I know a lot of you were really enjoying this blog and I'm so pleased that I've kept you all on GFC. I've taken a break from the creative writing side of things. I did work a bit on Heat of the Moment but just hit a wall around the 30k mark.

I know how I want it to end but I just don't know how to get there. I'm not inspired by it at the moment so I decided not to force it.

I started my own business, Jet Social, where I get to write wonderful things about cars, fashion, technology and marketing (as well as providing other services like web design, proof reading and PR) so that's taken up most of my time.

Ever since getting feedback about Sanctuary I've been itching to get writing but have just been stuck on the big bad thing that can act as something to rally against.

Last night I had a dream that just outlined everything perfectly for me. It cemented a character relationship, answered questions about the other people in the world I've created and inspired me to get writing.

NaNoWriMo is coming up so I'm going to use it to get the bulk of this rewrite done. Not much is staying the same, really and I'm going to be introducing a new story arc into it. In the first version there's a character that comes into it about halfway through but his back story is interesting with loads of angst so it's worth showing that.

It'll also give readers a valuable insight into the world and will show them how little the main character and those around her really know about the world they are living in.

I'm currently writing out the scene as it played out in my dream, although it is likely that it would never get into the final thing. For now, though, I need it out of my brain space.

Research and absence

I was doing some research for Sanctuary (an excuse, really, for not writing) while in London. I floated around Westminster, hopped through some Tube stations and was filled with glee when I found a pub call the Sherlock Holmes.

I also found this:

 

A real Sanctuary on top of my fictional one. There's also a pub nearby of the same name. I don't know what to think or say! It seems like I have inadvertently given my location some back story without knowing it. Perhaps the base was named after the location it was under.

I haven't really posted here because I haven't been writing. Not properly anyway. I've lost all want to write the novels that I've been working on and I have no desire to start anything new. I have been writing down anything that does come to me but generally it tends to fall into the realm of fan fiction that I'd never share. In fact, my 750words is full of awful drivel but at least I'm keeping the words flowing.

I also entered a Future Food writing competition. A short piece that I quite liked but don't expect to get anywhere with.

I suppose I have to keep slogging away hoping the muse will return. For now it's snippets of novels and all the fan fiction my head can contain. I think if work were less busy then at least I'd be able to force myself to write. However, I've never been this busy. I'm exhausted!

Misty drabble

This is a very short Sanctuary-based thing I attempted on 750word.com. I like the writing but I just don't have the motivation to continue with it!

The mist was grabbing at the buildings, pausing at the open roads and swirling across to engulf them. The road changed from bright and glorious to shrouded in a fuzzy, suffocating grey. They moved through each of these patches, unsure as to whether the brightness of the sun was best or the cover of the mist.

Ryssa didn't mind either. She was still revelling in weather and sunshine, it was keeping her mind off the things she'd seen over the last 24 hours. There was no way that seeing this world for the first time in 20 years wasn't going to be a fantastic distraction.

The captain moved up alongside her. "Everything all right?"

Ryssa looked at him, his face and hair were damp from the wet air but his eyes glittered with the same excitement that she was feeling. "Fine, sir."

Update - Reading not writing

I think my muse has been stolen by all the books I've been reading. I've read some fantastic stuff over the last few months. Namely The Book Thief. What an utterly amazing book. A fantastic point of view, beautiful writing and a story that made me cry!

I'm now working my way though Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. I'm enjoying it more than Game of Thrones (which I read after I'd seen the TV show) but it's so long! I'm half way through and already itching to read one of the other new books I have.

I have been writing. I'm about half way through Tain's story and am beginning to consider rewriting Sanctuary. I've got ideas for it, lots to change, more baddies and general peril. I'm glad the ideas are coming but I'm still not ready to give it another go.

Writing has just been difficult. I thing GRRM has stolen my mojo. I can't even write the drabbly bits of Flash Fiction I love so dearly. I'm focusing a lot on my fashion blog and I am buying a house so there's lots in my life that's just getting in the way of writing.

I've got ideas and stories in my head but when I sit down to get on with it I'm hit with a huge sense of apathy. I just can't be bothered. I may leave it for a while and not bother too much about getting on with anything until after I've moved. Hopefully once that's all sorted and Christmas is out of the way I can get on with Tain.

The muse has run away with me...

It's amazing the things you can create when you are super inspired. Firstly, I have no idea why I didn't start writing Tain's story earlier. I know it so well and just writing down an outline has helped me to cement it all in my head. She is, without a doubt, my favourite character.

This week so far I've written 6500 words and we've got right into the heart of the action.

It wouldn't surprise me if the word count has overtaken Frankie's story by the end of the week. I just want to keep writing (which is hampered somewhat by work and the desperate need to continue reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - wow) and writing.

I'll just sit down to churn out a few words and the next thing I know I've written 2000. All very easily and in a very short amount of time.

This makes me wonder if Sanctuary wasn't ready to be written because I struggled so much with it. Or maybe I've just learnt so much writing it that book two is much, much easier.

Did you find a difference in the ease of writing between your first and second novel attempts?

Improving on your first drafts

If you've read some earlier posts on this blog then you may know that I might not be the best at taking critique. Mainly because I've never had to do it before. My writing had always been for me and only me, that was until I began Sanctuary. I want to get it published so it's with beta readers.

Since sending it to those readers I've realised where I've made technical errors, I've learned more about structure and I've realised that the beginning chapters are too sparse and need fleshing out. I need more description and I need to fix the awkwardly worded parts. But I think I have a good story, there are twists, turns and peril. Hopefully it's a little scary too.


One beta reader who has finished Sanctuary is an amazing writer. I know her line-edits will help me improve and I can't wait to hear what else she has to say. I know that most of her critique will lead to me having to change and rewrite quite a lot. That's what Sanctuary needs, I feel there's something missing and there's something not working for me.

This is why beta readers are great. They can pinpoint all the little things that we, as writers, may miss because the world in our story is so firmly cemented into our heads.

I also have another beta reader who is putting together a document on how I can make my soldiers more military and other medical/army stuff I don't quite understand. I'm excited.

I think I'm going to find the critiques hard in the sense that I'll feel the need to fix Sanctuary instantly. I'll know that my writing is substandard in some way. Once these critiques come back don't expect to see me for a while.

How do you all feel about critiques, how do you feel when you read what someone has to say about your work? Positive or negative.

Here's to improvement! 

Facing your written world

Picture by Metacheetr

I know full well that London is a real place and that many of the locations I've used in Sanctuary do exist. But I'm not a Londoner and I don't go to London all that often.

On Tuesday I hopped on the train and found myself if the big city. I'd already planned to look at it through a writer's eyes, to take in certain aspects of the city that may help me to get the description in Sanctuary perfect.

I looked at everything through a post-apocalyptic haze. That was until I got to the Tube. I find the underground system really scary at the best of times. But the difference now is that I've written a super scary scene about the exact place I was travelling through. One of the scarier scenes of Sanctuary takes place underground between Westminster station and Embankment. Passing through those two places on the way to Chelsea freaked me out a little bit.

I had to clear to the post-apocalyptic haze and go back to carefree PR girl. Although every time those lights flickered my heart jumped into my throat.

So, what I've written scares me. I know the world, I created it, and yet I'm terrified of it and the mere thought of the places mentioned in it. That's amazing! Hopefully I can instil a sense of fear in all who read Sanctuary.

Is it a good thing that my own writing can freak me out? Does that mean it will scare others?

Who takes your writing seriously?

Here is a bug that has no relevancy to this post.

It's always baffled me that people aren't more amazed that I've written a novel.

I don't expect people to do a song and dance about it, but my friends and family just don't seem to care. My boyfriend seems to think this is down to the fact that I start a lot of things and apparently never finish them. He said writing a novel is completely different to writing a lot of words. I think people just think I've strung together 100,000 words with no worth.

Either that or they had enough faith in me to know I'd write a novel and now they just aren't surprised.

It might be big headed of me to expect people to want to read my book without knowing what it's about but these are my family and friends. If a friend told me they'd written anything I'd be jumping at the chance to read it. Especially a novel.

It worries me a bit that my family/friends beta readers all seem to be on chapter four or five of Sanctuary. Are they stalling there, does the novel lose pace? Or are they all just slow readers who don't like reading from a computer/printed pages.

I need to stop worrying about this. I also need to write some sort of blurb for Sanctuary. People keep asking me what it's about and without going into huge amounts of detail I can't tell them.

The Bon Voyage prompt from Life, Muse, Coffee.

In reaction to yesterday's post, Claire from Life, Muse, Coffee posted the prompt 'Bon Voyage'. To write about any location of your choosing.

Well, I did exactly that. Based on Sanctuary, here is a piece from Captain Matthews' POV.

--
This London is a far cry from the London I once knew. It’s eerily quiet and nothing more than varying shades of grey. As I sit here, it’s growing dark but even the orange of the sunset seems muted. I can see Big Ben just ahead of us. Despite knowing that it hasn’t worked for 25 years I still glance up at the hands of that clock and half expect it to tell me the time. It’s been quarter to three for a very long time.
 
Long shadows are being cast down the road by the sun dipping behind what buildings are still standing. It looks like the tops of the smaller ones are on fire.

My home lies almost directly beneath where I sit. You can’t tell there are 500 people down there. From here it all seems so still.

I can smell the river from here. It smells awful, like rotting flesh and excrement. Whatever measures were once in place to keep it clean, they’ve been neglected for a long time. The smell is worse on the bridge, the stagnant water just seems to waft straight up into your nostrils. I suppose that’s another reason we are supposed to wear gas masks out here. Luckily, its not too warm today. They last thing we need is for the smell to be amplified by the heat.

There’s a light breeze in the air, I can just about see the trees of Green Park from here. They’re swaying so lethargically. Heavy under the weight of the dying city.

Using real locations in your writing

Image from the amazing SilentUK.com

Despite the fact that Sanctuary is set in the future I still used a lot of locations from modern-day London.

I could tell you exactly where each mission in the story took place. I could tell you the route the characters took through London, where they encountered scary things and where they found up friends.

I've been to London a good few times so it's not all that difficult to picture it. Using a named city really brings a reader closer to the action because they know the locations. The Sanctuary is based around Westminster and I've gone into a lot of detail with regards to the surrounding Tube system.

Further away from the base I began to use Google Streetview to picture potential places for campsites, small settlements and more scary things. The research then got even more exciting when I was looking at the state of some abandoned Tube stations.

So, I just wanted to know, do you use named cities in your work? Or do you prefer the freedom of an unnamed location?

The new work in progress - Frankie.

I've churned out 7,000 words over the last week and a half. Not much compared to the speed at which some of you write but a figure I'm proud of nonetheless. I'm thinking of setting myself the target of getting to 10,000 words before The Legs comes to visit on Friday.

I've fallen in love with Frankie all over again and all these ideas are rushing at me in ways I never experienced with Sanctuary. In fact, Sanctuary feels like it was a complete struggle compared to my current writing frenzy. Although, no doubt, that'll fizzle out.

I've been doing loads of research into the Mayan thread that runs through the story. What's been difficult is separating the different eras of Mayan mythology so that the timelines of everything I'm referring to matches up.

I'm not going to go too deeply into Frankie's background or how on Earth all this vampire malarkey is connected to the Mayans but it is interesting and I know it will work. In fact I can't wait to write Frankie explaining it all.

I know in my head how it's all going to happen, how she's going to trickle through bits of her heritage to save Tyler's life and how another of the characters will stop at nothing to find out who she is. I realise none of you have any idea what I'm on about. Just watch this space, in my excitement I'm bound to leak more exciting plot snippets.

For now, I need to come up with a title. Just calling the book 'Frankie' will not work...

Or will it?

Oh the joy of finishing

At 9:27am today I finished editing my novel. I can't tell you how wonderful that feels. I wouldn't say it's completely done yet because I'm letting a few people read it and no doubt they'll come back to me with stuff I'll need to change.

But I think it's about as perfect as I can get it for now without some feedback. I'm a bit blinded by the fact I know the story so well. I think the first big edit improved things hugely with a twist, scary sub plot and much more peril.

I'm excited and nervous as to what people are going say. I've sent it to my parents, boyfriend, best friend and a writer friend as well as two Twitter friends. I think they all represent a good cross section of readers, in and out of the book's demographic.

I'm going to have to be patient while people read it. I need to forget about it for a while and continue with Frankie's story (currently at 5k), I need to get Sanctuary well and truly out of my head. At least for a little while.

It's been such a big part of my life since November, can't believe I'm done!

Letting the inspiration come to you

I'm well on my way to releasing Sanctuary to the wild (read:beta readers) and I've been worrying about which of my part-written ideas I should focus on next. Will it be the sexy and exciting one or the angsty, homoerotic one?

Turns out neither. A burst of inspiration finally hit me for a character I've been itching to write about for a while. Remember Frankie who I mentioned in a flash fiction piece a few posts down? Well, she's the star of this show. I'm about 5k in and a bit unsure about the way I'm writing it but the storyline is very exciting.

I treated myself to another novel notebook. It's only Forgotten that doesn't have one now. I hope I can stick with this idea and finish a first draft before all my beta readers get back to me. I don't like the idea of having another novel almost done when I get Sanctuary back because it'll eat up all my inspiration.

I have a very short attention span, if I don't set myself the target of working on one thing then I would have lots and lots of unfinished bits and pieces.

So watch this space and expect a lot more from Frankie!