Just Dust

A new piece called ‘Just Dust’ has been posted on

http://adistantthreatofmoonlight.wordpress.com/

This has been pieced together from my notes that I collected over the last couple of weeks. Recent work that remains unpublished has been focused on particular topics but I’m still unsure where to take them. The second draft of the novel I wrote in April is occupying most of my writing time but I get edgy when I’m not playing with words and meaning. This piece has been very much a case of putting something down and finishing it up to a state where although it feels incomplete I am nevertheless okay with it being read.

Thoughts on Writing – Part 58: Submissions

I was intending submitting some work to an on-line literary journal. I quickly scanned over the submission guidelines and then set to work. I eventually managed to produce some material that had never appeared before on my blog or anywhere else for that matter and I spent a great deal of time and effort editing it down and honing it until I was satisfied. I was slightly disappointed that I could not go ahead and publish on my blog but that’s the rules.

I then went back on to the site and read over the submission guidelines again. Somewhere during the creative process I forgot all about what was being asked for. Subject wise I had missed that completely. I then realised I could submit three short poems or one of no more than forty lines. I did not have anything short and what I did have were around eighty lines each. No matter I thought, let us just double up the lines. Clever. No not really. It destroyed the piece. My lines are laid out the way they are for a reason. I hadn’t realised how much time I spend splitting lines up and making sure that not only do they flow but they look right on the page next to the lines above and below them.

I have learnt three things out of this. First, always read submissions carefully. Secondly, the creative process cannot always be tamed to fit submission guidelines and there is no point in being disheartened about that. Finally and most importantly, words need space to breathe on the page.

Thoughts on Writing – Part 57: Synopsis

Producing a synopsis is one of the most challenging pieces of writing I have come across. Developing ideas for novels, short stories or poems I find relatively easy in comparison. On the face of it a straightforward description of how a novel flows should be easy. Yet I read time and again from other writers who say that writing a synopsis is difficult and time consuming. In many cases the effort writing the actual novel can appear less arduous to the writer than finishing a thousand word summary of the same novel to their satisfaction.

I am finding it tough but I have to put the effort in and it’s importance cannot be underestimated. Agents request them. If it is a sloppy piece of work chances are the opening chapters will not be read.

I have experience of two methods of working now. Last year I had a fully worked up synopsis before starting writing and I put several months into perfecting it before I was due to begin. The novel hardly deviated from the synopsis and it worked out fine.

This year due to work, exams and then being under the weather for awhile, my synopsis was a collection of notes that made sense to me but in no way could be handed over to anyone else to read. It was sufficient to produce the draft of the novel but I am facing a fair amount of work to produce a synopsis that really does the novel justice.

If the synopsis reads like the novel you wish you had written then you have a major re-write of your novel on your hands. That is not a bad thing. If at that point you have come up with something more exciting then you have to put the hours in to realise it.

The synopsis has to faithfully reflect what is contained in the novel. It is in some respects selling the novel in the sense it should leave the reader wishing to read it, but it cannot be promising something your work does not deliver. As an aside I’m not that keen on ‘blurbs’ that read as if the novel is the greatest story you will ever read and you end up feeling short-changed after reading it. I appreciate ‘blurb’ is a marketing and selling tool but you do not want to alienate your readers by misuse of it. Likewise your synopsis has to be accurate and not an opinion on how good a read you believe the novel to be. It is a summary of the plot and the key components of it. It should be comprehensive and that means including the conclusion. New writers may feel awkward about giving away their plot but Agents are professionals whose job is to seek out and develop and see new books published. They need to know how a novel concludes before giving it consideration. This is a business after all. I watched the Apprentice last night on TV and one team tried to sell beer they had produced to the trade without a sample to taste. All they had was an empty bottle that they suggested they could smell. You get the picture. Your synopsis should provide an Agent with what your product is, not just part of it.

In Praise of Age and Recycling the Past

A new piece called ‘In Praise of Age and Recycling the Past’ has been posted on

http://adistantthreatofmoonlight.wordpress.com/

This is very much tongue in cheek and should not be taken too seriously. I’ve adopted a stance for the sake of the piece. I am old enough to appreciate the timeline of popular culture before it became a pick and mix across all decades and find myself accepting the question is so and so still alive as entirely understandable. That’s the way it is and I accept it. However I am not always sure whether whatever it is accepts me.

I care passionately about music and literature and art. Perhaps I care too much at times. I love popular culture but there are days when it worries me. Too much recycling of the past is unhealthy. People do need to look forward and not focus so heavily on the ‘old’ styles. There is a lot to learn from the past but it must be used to build on for the future, not simply copied and presented as retro because of a lack of vision and talent.

This came to me after a heavy revision session while studying for an exam. I was staying in the Station Hotel in Newcastle and after putting my books aside the opening couplet came to mind and the rest wrote itself from there within minutes. I then went to bed after saving a copy to my USB stick and then promptly forgot about it until six weeks later when I re-discovered the file.

It is all about using words that flow together and rhyme where appropriate to do so. I enjoy these writing sessions where I am not stressing over images and whether it actually means anything to me or anyone else. It is what it is whatever it is.

April Is The Cruellest Month Revisited Part 7

Thirty days and 60,000 words completed. Looking back over the month I have learnt a great deal about my concentration levels and my ability to stay focussed. There were certainly times when I wished I was doing something else but I seemed to work through those moments and regularly achieved my word count each day. I have found I can write with noise and distraction all around me.

This exercise was to convince myself that I could write. Having spent several years on a first novel and then writing a draft of a second last year I was still worried whether this was simply a fluke. Perhaps I could not do again. I certainly had spent time procrastinating while producing random musings on my other blog. I needed product behind me, something concrete, not just random ideas with little or no substance. I am now confident I can do this.

The following are things I have learnt during this process. Some of these may seem obvious but I think they are worth highlighting.

1/. Have a story worked out in advance. Also a theme, a point if you like. Draft out a synopsis and have a good understanding of where you are going with the characters and the plot. Sitting down to write 2,000 words a day is a lot easier if you know what you are about to write.

2/. Do not skip a day. Facing up to 4,000 words is daunting, especially when you know you skived off the day before.

3/. If the writing is going well at the 2,000 word mark continue on for an additional 250 words. I cannot stress enough the psychological impact of having that start on your word count for the next day.

4/. I never intended to finish early. I deliberately wrote more on some days so by the third weekend I was two days ahead. This enabled me to take the weekend off. I continued to think about the novel and did jot some notes down but I was not sitting writing. The break did me good in the run up to the final week.

5/. Having a plot worked out in advance goes a long way to filling in any holes in advance of you falling into them.

6/. The first draft is not about style. It is about getting the plot down on paper and making your characters go from A to B. If you have a synopsis then the first draft should make sense. The second draft is the opportunity to go back over every line and make it come alive. Chances are you will have pages that will need little attention. There will be others that will require re-writing but you should not be worrying over plot structure during the second draft. You should aim to have that sorted out before you start writing the first draft.

7/. I discussed the plot with my intended market in this case young adults. Having appeared to have a story that was not dismissed out of hand I then discussed it with a random selection of other readers. When I came to write I believed I was writing something that others would be interested in reading. This was actually very important to my motivation here. Previously I had written purely for myself. I had not realised it at the time but with hindsight I can see that now. This is why I am moving straight on to writing up a finished synopsis based on the draft and then heading from there on to draft two in a weeks time. I expected to be drained at this point – and at some level I am – but I am not stopping working on this novel until it is ready to submit to agencies.

The Confidential Hour

A new piece called ‘The Confidential Hour’ has been posted on

http://adistantthreatofmoonlight.wordpress.com/

This is a considerably shorter than I usually write. However it was written in one session and appeared as it does here with no edits that I can recall. I left it for several weeks, read it back, gave it a title this evening and put it out. It was inspired by a remark in a Bowie biography I read recently.

April Is The Cruellest Month Revisited Part 6

Twenty six days in and 54,000 words completed. My goal is 60,000 words in thirty days and I am ahead by a day. However this evening the end of the novel appeared on the horizon and I charged towards it and now the draft is effectively finished. I am still debating over an additional scene I may slip in towards the end but it is essentially done.

Next few days I will write out various scenes to a more complete state and then switch to producing a professional synopsis. I also wish to blog on what I have learnt during this experience and why I chose to do NaNoWriMo at this stage. I’m having a drink now as I type this as I know I’ve earned it. I can’t quite believe that last month I did not have a draft of a new novel and this evening I do. The fact I’ve also done it while working full time with a family and a job that keeps me away just under twelve hours a day including commute time is I feel something to celebrate. Seems that time management course I went on has finally paid dividends.