Writing down the words

2007 has been a really important year for me writing-wise. I have finally got my act together, made writing part of my daily life and written complete pieces and sent them out there. I'm also really fortunate at the moment in having a fair bit of time to write in, as my work load is quite light.

So, where's the novel?

I've realised that despite my newly acquired positive approach to writing and my daily stint with pen and paper or keyboard to hand, part of me is still hanging on to that old idea that my novel will just write itself, while I sit here and doodle. I found the following quote appropriate:

The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it. ~Jules Renard, "Diary," February 1895

Well I've been looking for it for ages and it hasn't turned up yet, so I need to face the fact that some hard grafting, some creative juicing, spilling of ink and tapping of fingers is required. Otherwise it will forever remain what it is today - just a damn good idea for a novel.

I'm wondering if my recent forays into short, short fiction are also holding me back, not just because I am writing them instead, but also because I am finding it difficult to think in terms of longer pieces of writing. But maybe I can put this to use. In much of my flash / micro-fiction I have been writing 'moments'. Advice from writing friends and books suggests approaching a novel 'scene by scene', so as not to be daunted by the whole. Maybe I need to approach mine 'moment by moment'. If I write enough moments I should eventually have a novel.

It's worth a try.

Meanwhile, I listened to Book of the Week on Radio 4 this morning and really enjoyed it: the journalist Katharine Whitehorn reading from her autobiograpy, a beautifully written insight into life and love in the 1950s, well worth a 'listen again'

Writing a novel

I’m still writing short stories but I have also begun my first ever attempt at a novel. Inspired by the Cosmopolitan Miss Write competition (Think I would have heard by now - think somebody out there has probably already heard and is jumping around in silent glee, having promised not to tell a soul until the official announcement.)

Anyway I decided I liked what I had come up with for the competition and I’m now busy ‘writing it up.’ Going from my usual 3-5000 words to a potential 100,000 seemed a bit daunting at first but I have found comfort in a book called The Weekend Novelist by Robert J Ray and Brett Norris. It’s a very readable guide to structuring, writing and completing a long piece of fiction. Having read it on my hols I now feel that it is actually possible for me to write a full novel. I have a plot curve, stacks of character profiles, and lots and lots of scene summaries. Even better I have several thousand new words to add to my original 3000. I have given myself a deadline of Christmas to get a first draft finished (Deadlines you see, can’t do without them).

All very exciting. Still working on a bunch of short stories too (see competitions list below)