Short Story Comp

It's coming up to Tring Writers annual writing competition.  This year's challenge is to write a short story on the theme Enduring Love.  Had a great idea for the ending and worked backwards from that.  I'm still perfecting it, the judging's this coming Wednesday and entries need to be in by Tuesday (it was last Friday but it's been extended).  Never let it be said that I would hit the send button without utilising every spare moment to edit  a submission.  A small tweak here, a longer one there .... so hard to leave something alone when you've still got 48 hours to plug up the gaps, spot any inconsistencies in the timing.  It's just about there, will take one last look tomorrow afternoon and then ping it away to its fate, then I can get back to the novel.... yes the novel.  It's beginning to take shape but need to get on with some research so I can write with authority ....... indoor sky-diving here I come.

More procrastination than is reasonably healthy

So.  Having hit sky high with my plotting, the novel almost ready to write itself I have ..... well written hardly anything.  (Not entirely true as I've written a 1,500 short story for the writing group short story competition and started a teen fiction novel that's been lurking at the back of my mind for a while. )  But the novel's been static ... so static it might as well have fallen off the planet for all the attention I've paid to it.  Out of guilt I dug it out again yesterday and I quite like it again, still think it's a great idea and really want to get on with it .... am kicking myself for all the lost words I could have written over past the few weeks, but am now buzzing with ideas so here's to the next five chapters :)

Thumbs Up For Plotting

The plotting has worked.  The novel I’m working on has many threads which I was unsuccessfully trying to tie together on a spreadsheet.  I wrote them out on individual pieces of paper, spread them across the floor and started linking them together.  Having them physically in front of me made it so much easier to see which ones could be grouped together and also how they will work with and add to the main story arc. 

The whole novel’s now there and ready to write … I’ve scrapped chapter 1, re-written it and am ready to surge on with the story.  My protagonist is going to have lots of adventures throughout the novel and working on the premise that you need to have experienced something before writing about it, I’ve got a great few months ahead J

Plotting vs Pantsing

I’ve always been a pantser,  typing away and never knowing where the plot was going, often ending up dead ends which need heavy editing to get back to the main storyline.  I’ve been using this method on my current project and have been up so many blind alleys it’s driven me mad.  So after a lot of research I’m going to have a go at plotting it all out first.  It’s not going to be hard and fast, there’ll be room to alter things as I go BUT I think I’ll get along with writing the novel a great deal faster if I have a good idea of what’s going where.

I read some advice on the net which suggests writing down the main elements of each scene/chapter on separate pieces of paper.  You then lay them all out on the floor and move them around/group them together until they look right.  What a great idea … no guessing what I’ll be doing this weekend J

The long road starts here

Dreaming about being a published writer isn't enough, I need to get out there and do it..... however long it takes.  I've had my name in print via a column for Knitting Magazine and have also had a short story published in our local Adult Education Centre magazine.  Since then I've been concentrating on writing a novel.  I'm now on my fifth, having consigned my earlier attempts to the room 101 folder on my hard drive. 
I'm a member of the brilliant local writing group Tring Writers Circle where there's no shortage of feedback, advice and encouragement which has made a huge improvement to my writing.
My current novel is going really well, I'm having a lot of fun writing it and think it's going to be worth submitting when it's finished.  I recently pitched the basic plot at the Get Writing Conference and had a very positive response which has spurred me on to start pounding the keyboard at every opportunity.  With a day job, an allotment and chauffeur to our children to keep me busy there's not a lot of spare time left so I'm setting myself a goal to complete one chapter a week .....