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)