Anita Burgh

The Story Behing Hector's Hobbies.

2012-01-23T10:50:00.002Z

Hector is the second book in the series suggested byCarmen Callil when I was at Chatto and Windus.

I doubt there is an author who does not dream oftheir book becoming a film or adapted for TV. Such dreams coming true are as rare as hens’ teeth. The problem sets in when you get a call thatsomeone wants to buy an optioned on your book - an option is one thing, itcoming to fruition is another. When thishappens, my advice is always the same - bank the money and forget about it.

For those who don’t know I’d best explain. A film company or an individual will ask foran option, usually for a year, to make your book into a film etc. At the end of the year if they are stillhopeful they will take another option for another year and so on. There are stories, largely apocryphal I’msure, of authors getting cheques from Hollywood studios for years because theproject has been forgotten. I wish! Several of mine were optioned and I hadlearnt, the hard way, that I was more likely to win the lottery.

Molly and Hector were a special case, however; and Iignored my own advice and became hopeful. Bryan Izzard, a producer with a CV as long as your arm, optioned Mollywith the understanding that he would option Hector if . . .! Bryan was successful - On the Buses, The RagTrade were just two of his successes, when I met him he was working on Channel4 with Melvyn Bragg. He was a huge manwith a huge personality, I adored him the moment I met him

We were invited toPinewood Studios for an exploratory meeting, where we met Roger Marshall whowas to write the script - another experienced and successful professional, hehad written many of the Lovejoy episodes. I was wide eyed and star struck, gawping at the familiar faces in thehuge dining room. Pinewood is redolentof the past and I quite expected JamesMason or Stewart Granger to appear at any moment.

The good news was thatBryan, Roger and myself hit it off immediately. I was kept abreast of what was going on, my opinion was asked. We were set fair. The first script was rejected by the BBC andso Roger wrote a second. By now we wereinto the second option but things were getting very exciting. We had Penelope Keith on board to play Molly- perfect casting - and Timothy West as a possible Hector. The BBC were enthusiastic and paid for further development.

It was a Tuesday, Bryanrang to say the final meeting, when theBBC would rubber stamp the go ahead, was set for Thursday. On Wednesday the commissioning editor changed. On Thursday Tales from Sarson Magna wasrejected - the new editor didn’t like it!

I was sodisappointed. Several years later, thephone rang, it was Penelope’s husband asking if there was a possibility of itbeing resurrected. I said of course, tryingto sound as laid back as possible. But Inever heard anymore.

Herein lies thewarning. Counting chickens springs tomind. Best to wait until it is on thescreen - just to make sure.

The Story of Molly's Flashings

2012-01-13T11:55:00.003Z

The story behind Tales From Sarson Magna - Molly’sFlashings.

In 1991 Molly’s Flashings was published by Chattoand Windus. I was lucky, far luckierthan I had the sense to realise, to be involved with such a prestigiouspublisher. The MD was Carmen Callil who, rightly, wasregarded as one of the most brilliant and innovative publishers in London. One of the founders of Virago, when I met hershe was revitalising Chatto and bringing it into the 20th century - it was notan easy task since there was resistance to her plans. This great literary house was resting on itslaurels and while it was all very well to be regarded as the most esteemed houseit did not help pay the bills!

I was writing my first trilogy - The Daughters of aGranite Land - when Carmen suggested that, at the same time, I write a seriesof books set in an English village. “Iwant 18,” she said - this made me quail. I thought about it on the long train journey back to Cornwall and by thetime I arrived in Penzance, I had the makings of a plan.

Writing Molly and the sequel Hector’s Hobbies, wasfun. They are quite short and uncomplicated. Initially the were released as by AnnieLeith, so that my readership were not confused; sales, however, insisted theyrevert to Anita Burgh.

Sadly these are the only two of the series. I did a stupid thing. I was head hunted by another publisher. The money they offered seduced me away. Whilethey were good to me, and professional in the extreme, I now know, I shouldnever have gone. At Chatto with Carmenand my editor, Alison Samuel - in my opinion, the best editor in London - I wassafe. But you only learn such thingswhen it’s too late.

Molly is now worrying about her flashings on Kindle.

CLARE'S WAR - Story

2011-12-31T14:17:00.000Z

Clare’s War is the third novel to go on Kindle.

There are times whenpublishers are looking for a novel on a specific subject. They then they ask one of their writers ifthey would consider doing so. I havewritten several at their suggestion - Advances, Molly’s Flashings, Hector’sHobbies, the trilogy The Cresswell Inheritance and Clare’s War were allsuggested to me in one way or another. There have been others which, on reflection, Idecided I could not do - either I did not like the subject or was notinterested in it or I felt it was one which was beyond my capabilities orknowledge. There was never any pressurebut I always felt it was courteous to think about it.

So, I was asked if I would consider workingon a novel set in France during the Second World War, particularly involvingthe Resistance. I needed to read a lot aroundthe subject since most of what we know about France during that period is fromthe English standpoint and, it has to be admitted, is not always complimentaryto the French. It was a fascinatingsubject to research.

It was by sheer chance, looking through amagazine that I learnt that of the thousand medals bestowed by the French,after the end of the war, only six were awarded to women. It seemed a paltry number. Had they done nothing? Unlikely, I thought.

Fortunately I was living in France at thetime, in the Auvergne which, wild and mountainous as it is, was a centre for theresistance. Memories were fresh as if ithad happened yesterday. On the roadbelow our house two young men had been executed. Our neighbour’s house, which is higher thanours had been requisitioned by the Germans as a look out post. The more I enquired the more I learnt; afarmer’s family, close by, had sheltered a Jewish family for the whole of thewar. We were warned not to patronise acertain shop since the owner’s father had been a collaborator. The falloutfrom the war was all about us, and who had been in the thick of it - the women. It was they kept the network going, deliveringfood, printing papers, hiding people, transporting Jewish refugees, nursing thewounded, always with the knowledge that if they were found out they would beshot.

So I decided I would write this novel froma woman’s point of view, but she would be English. I began the novel but after ten thousandwords felt it was not right and started again. Something told me that it should be in the 1st person. I had never attempted this nor wanted to,but, it was right for this book and once the decision was made then Clare’sadventure really began.

Lottery's Story

2011-12-28T17:43:00.001Z

When I postedthe story behind Love the Bright Foreigner I received so many emails saying howinterested they were to learn how it came about. While their starts are not so dramatic, I decidedto explain a little about each new one when it appears on Kindle.

Lottery. This book was first published in 1995, it came about purely by chance. I often write on the subject of money and theaffect it can have on an individual or on their friends and family. I know from experience that having greatwealth does not always make people happy - even though I find that puzzling forI’m sure I would be happy!

It alsoraised another interesting point for me, that is, why do some people see a storythat needs to be told and yet the next person does not.

One evening,watching TV, there was a news cast about a woman who had won a small fortune onthe football pools. She looked to beearly sixties, and as if she had worked hard all her life. A very mumsy sort of woman. Surrounded by her family they were huggingher and saying what a great mother she was and it couldn’t have happened to abetter peron . . . the usual, somewhat banal expressions. But then I noticed at the back was a youngman with a steely expression and a chill ran down my spine. “It’s all lovely,” I said to Bill, “Whatabout that blog at the back. I don’t like the look of him, I wonder what comesnext? There’s a book in this.”

“I don’t see it myself,” Bill said with ashrug.

I knew there was; how would shecope? How would her relationships panout? What would happen within thefamily? Some of you know that once Ihave a premise or theme, I make a list of words I related to the theme. So soon I had a listl; jealousy, avarice,suspicion, gratitude, bullying, love . . . on and on went my list.

The problem I had however was making thesubject of football and the pools, sexy and enticing. Difficult. My editor was not over enthusiastic about the project and I could notblame her. I had serious doubts myself.

Then, suddenly, all was resolved. The Prime Minister, John Major, bless hiscotton socks, announced there was to be a national lottery. However, another difficulty loomed; thislottery was some time away and so I had to write the book imagining how thewinner would be treated, what ceremony would there be. Camelot, were as helpful as they could be butthey themselves did not know what the final result and the machinations wouldbe. So I carried on in the dark - madeit up as I went along since I had to write it in time for the November launchof the real lottery. I did it! There was plenty of time left over, we couldpresent the book at the very same time.

Now, publishers move in interesting wayswhich we mere mortals cannot understand and never will. For reasons unknown, the launch date was tobe in the summer - the following year! Iam not a publisher nor am I an advertising expert, marketing is a mystery to meBUT in my opinion they were daft, pure and simply daft not to ride on the waveof publicity the lottery and Camelot created.

KINDLE and ME

2011-12-12T11:29:00.000Z

Well, I’ve done it! I’ve taken that step into the unknown!. I’m part of the brave new future from whichthere’s no turning back. I’ve put a book on Kindle.

So what, everyone is doing it, what’s the fuss? I can hear you say. I am aware of that, I’vefriends galore who have been up and running for months. I didn’t expect the reaction I had, it tookme by surprise how emotional I felt at sending the book into the ether. It wasdifferent and it was exciting and, in a strange way, it was moving.

   My backlist is long and choosing which novel to be first was difficult. EventuallyI chose Love the Bright Foreigner. Itwas the first book I wrote though it was the second one that was published. Subsequently it has a special meaning to meand, since it had been out of print for some time, it would be nice to give ita second chance.

   When I wrote it we were facing financial wipe-out from a disastrousventure into the hotel business - having converted our lodge in the NorthernHighlands of Scotland - there was no Ruth Watson to come to our rescue in thosedays. A stern letter from the bankarrived just as I was watching a programme on Charlotte Lamb on television,telling of her success and huge earnings from writing. To console my partner and my sons and to lifttheir spirits from the doom which the bank manager had created, I was laughingas I suggested we wrote a best seller.   Wetrooped into the kitchen, the only warm part of the house, armed with paper andpencil and began. Two hours later, I lookedup and I was alone. The others, boredhad drifted off. With a start I realisedthat I had become totally lost, immersed in my story, that what had been a jokewas nothing of the sort. I knewinstantly that there was no going back, I had to finish it.

There are people who are born under lucky stars and I am one ofthem. For the year before, on holiday onMull, we had met and made friends with, Mic, a literary agent who when we saidgoodbye had asked me when I wrote a book to send it to her. I fell about laughing and explained I wouldnever write, that I didn’t want to, it was the last thing I would ever do. ‘I think you will - one day,’ she replied.

   So, when I had finished my novel, we had no idea what to do next untilwe remembered the meeting on Mull, I wrote to her, she phoned, I sent the typescriptand twenty-four hours later I had an agent. In my ignorance I had no idea how difficult it was and is to be takenon. See what I mean about lucky stars?

    Still in Scotland, I had caught the bug and immediately started writingmy second novel - Distinctions of Class. From having no desire to write I now couldnot stop and twenty five years and twenty three novels later I am stillwriting. The truth is I don’t know what Iwould do with my time if I stopped nor what filled it before I became a writer.

     I have met so many wonderful people during this career of mine, fellowauthors, publishers, book sellers, journalists, students and readers. It is a wonderful career path to take and itall started with a bleak day in the Highlands, a letter from the bank, CharlotteLamb, a chance meeting on Mull and a book called Love the Bright Foreigner so I feel it had earned the right to bepublished first this time.

CATCH UP

2011-08-17T21:15:00.003+01:00

My apologies for being away for so long. There are several reasons. The first was that I felt I had nothing moreto say about writing. There are so manyblogs around that I knew I would not be missed and I cannot see the point ofjust writing for writings sake or to fill up a blog - and we all know blogslike that!

So what have I been up to. I finished my new novel and I am in the process, a bit slow, to editit. My agent suggested odd changes andtweeks here and there. I doubt I’ll everlearn for when I sent it off I KNEW there were weak areas but was too idle todo anything about it. Of course my agentpicked up on the self-same parts. Inner voice,as I’ve said before, is the best tool we have. Don’t be like me, listen!

There was another factor. You can get fed up with a novel. Iseem to have been writing this one for ever. I would start it, work for a week or two and then go off on a tangentand do something else and then when I went back to the work in hand I found I hadforgetten what I’d done and have to reread and redo. And it gets boring. When that happens I have to put it away againfor the simple reason that when feeling such emotions I risk conveying it in mywriting and thus to my readers and that would never do.

The distractions have been quite big ones. Letting people know that “Sex, Lies andParkinson’s” the documentary I helped with was to be shown on Channel 4. It is done. The reactions were strong, those who liked it were very keen, those whodidn’t were evangelical in their disapproval. The aim was to raise the public’s awareness that young people can getParkinson’s too, it isn’t just old people who suffer. Vicki, whose story it was, has had a lot ofstick, since she told of her sexual and monetary problems, caused by hermedication, with honesty and openness. I admire her it took courage to speak so.

I took a writing course at Chez Castillon, in theDordogne. www.chez-castillon.com What aweek that was! It is a magic place and Icried when I left and longed to stay and to go back.

The other distraction has been getting my backlist up onKindle. I gave up in the end, beaten bytechnology and instructions which seemed to make it worse. Fortunately I was told of a wonderful Indiancompany who are doing it for me.

Apart from my novel - working title “Illusions” - I amworking on a How to book; a collection of articles I’ve written over the years;last, my autobiography. I’m busy!

Publishing is having one of its periodic panic attacks. Serves them right this time. With Kindle and Smashwords etc. we canpublish our own. I shall certainly havea bash at it.

Janice Horton

2011-03-31T19:07:00.000+01:00

My blog has been seriously neglected of late and I apologise but life has a habit of interfering with the best laid plans. However, my friend, Janice Horton has jogged me into writing of my interview with her.
Janice lives in Scotland and writes humorous contemporary women's novels which are inspired by the beauty of the heather-filled glens around her country cottage. When she’s not writing novels she writes lifestyle articles and has had work published in national magazines and regional newspapers. She’s also been involved in BBC Scotland's ‘Write Here Write Now’ project.

Have you always wanted to write?
Janice: I’ve had romantic notions about being a writer since I was a little girl. Enid Blyton was a favourite inspiration in the early days. I had a garden shed with ‘SS’ on the door in which I sat writing my own ‘Secret Seven’ books starring me, of course, and my brothers and friends. A few years later, I was still sitting in the shed, only writing pony stories inspired by Ruby Ferguson’s ‘Jill Books’.

Anita: Blyton was an extraordinary woman and despite the PC brigade still so popular. She must have inspired many.

How long have you been writing?
Janice: I began to write seriously ten years ago, and by that I mean with the intention of being published.

You are published in fiction and non fiction. Which do you prefer?
Janice: I really enjoy writing lifestyle articles for national magazines and regional newspapers but I absolutely love to write fiction. My first novel, When We First Love, was published in 2004 by a small publisher, which unfortunately went out of business just as I’d completed my second book, ‘Beneath Apricot Skies’ which I self-published. My latest venture is to indie e-book publish on Amazon Kindle with my novel ‘Bagpipes & Bullshot’. I’m excited to explore this intriguing new publishing media.

Anita: I think everyone in the publishing business are fascinated by the e-publishing phenomena, I certainly am. Do let us all know how it goes.

You work, you write, you blog, you have a family, you have animals, I am exhausted listing them all. How and when and where do you find and make time to write?
Janice: I don’t write every day, although I’d love to. A typical morning for me is sorting out admin and doing accounts. I run a small graphic design company that I set up years ago. After lunch, except on a Thursday, I work in the village as a legal secretary. So after seeing to the family, walking the dogs, and attending to the hens, it just leaves a few stolen hours in the evenings and one afternoon to write – unless, for the sake of my sanity, I take Time Out. This means taking a couple of days when I sit with my laptop at the kitchen table in front of the Aga, or on the sofa next to the fire and make it quite clear to everyone, dogs and hens included, that I’m U-N-A-V-A-I-L-A-B-L-E. I will not cook. I will not answer the phone and I will write all day without any interruptions. I stay up late. In fact, I might not go to bed at all, but if I do, it will be for a couple of hours of my own choosing. Sometimes, as a writer, extreme measures are required or we might never write all the stories trying to burst out of our heads or record the cacophony of voices resonating in our ears.

Anita: You are so right. There has to be an element of ruthlessness when writing, I’m sure. However, I do believe this is a problem mainly for women writers. We lack that essential ingredient for having the time – a wife!

Tell us why you have chosen to e-publish.
Janice: For two reasons: the first was that having been previously published both traditionally and independently, I couldn’t resist the challenge of having a go at e-publishing with Bagpipes & Bullshot, especially on Kindle because distribution and marketing on Amazon are so well established. The second reason was that I unexpectedly fell in love with the Kindle my husband bought me last Christmas and wanted to have my own books on it!

Anita: It certainly seems to be the way forward. We are writing in interesting times.

Who has influenced you the most?
Janice: I don’t know if I’m influenced by anyone actually, because I’m pretty independently minded. I can be inspired and I can take advice, in fact I actively seek it, but I don’t think that’s the same as being influenced. I tend to adopt ideas only if they meld with my own mindset or help me to achieve a predetermined goal. I admire others and have great respect for people who can do things better than I - but I’d rather innovate than imitate.

Anita: I’m surprised by your answer. Most authors I know have someone. For me it is Dickens, I read him and I loved him and I wanted to try and create worlds and people like his, even if they are pale shadows compared to his genius.

What advice would you give someone just setting out?
Janice: I would say write from the heart and listen to your Inner Voice.

Anita: Oh yes, that voice the only one you can really rely on.

Can you tell us about your novel in one sentence?
Janice: Bagpipes & Bullshot is a contemporary romance novel which twists an everyday love story with a whole cast of village eccentrics into an entertaining play on rural life.

What are you planning in the way of promotion for Bagpipes & Bullshot?
Janice: Well, it’s very difficult to get a new e-book noticed by potential readers unless it features on one or more of Amazon’s Top 100 charts, but because of the way Amazon calculates its sales, just a few sales on one particular day can make all the difference in pushing it through the charts. I’ll be blogging and tweeting all day on Friday 1st April my publication day.

For direction to all of the other places I’ll be appearing on my Blog Tour throughout the day please visit www.janicehortonwriter.blogspot.com I’ll also be running a prize draw on my blog (Friday 1st April only) to win Kindle Beach Protectors (an essential and stylish accessory for every Kindle but alternatively you could always use it to protect your camera or phone!) All you have to do to be in with a chance to win one is go to my blog and leave a comment or ReTweet one of my tweets using the hashtag: #bagpipes.

Anita: Thank you, Janice. Let’s hope you have a resounding success, you should, you’ve worked so hard at the promotional side.

LOOKING BACK

2010-08-01T11:17:00.000+01:00

Recently, on the RNA forum, Sarah asked if we look back at our books did we feel proud or surprised that it was published? (I must say Sarah does ask interesting questions which always get me thinking.) The answers have been surprising since most people said they were proud of their first book.

Many years ago I heard an author – can’t remember who – say that authors were invariably embarrassed by their first novel. At the time I thought it was a silly comment for how could anyone be ashamed of a book which they had written and someone had published? Now I understand for I agree with that unknown writer.

Of course a lot depends on whether or not it was your first novel. I was once told that often it’s the second. third or even fourth one you’ve written that gets published. There’s a logic to it for you learn so much in the writing of a novel that inevitably what follows is better.

That was what happened with me, number one written was Love; the Bright Foreigner. But the first published was Distinctions of Class.
However, in my case BOTH embarrass me. Love: the BF was my attempt at writing for Mills and Boon and like most who attempt this I was a total failure; I knew it was, so I never submitted it. It’s a love story and an improbable one at that. There’s too much sex in it to the point where my son can’t read it, and I will always be mystified that it ever saw the light of day.

And Distinctions of Class? There are bits I like and bits that I cringe over even after nearly 25 years. Part of the problem is that the beginning and the end were grafted on later at the publishers suggestion. I did not like it then and I still don’t. It is artificial and I think totally out of place. Why did I do it? I had been rejected by virtually every publishing house in London and was on the point of giving up and I had reached that dangerous point where I would have paid the publishers and not the other way around. In other words I’d have done anything to see it for sale in a bookshop.

I never re-read them, once finished I’ve done with them. What would be the point? I know the end! I had to read Advances and Exiles for the sequel I’m writing now. I’d been quite pleased with them, but upon reading them after so long there was so much I wish I could have done to make them better.

I’ve only one I really like – Clare’s War and I don’t dare read that one in case I don’t like that one anymore either.

Now the one I’m working on I adore, but I’ve been here before, and I wonder how long the love affair will last before, like a lover when the lust has disappeared, and you can’t imagine what you ever saw in him.

READERSHIP

2010-07-11T15:05:00.002+01:00

Jackie asked - did I know who my readership is? Were they constantly changing or did they remain loyal? Did I think of my readers when writing someone else asked.

I do know some of my readership, and they are wonderfully loyal and they write to me and some I like to think of as friends. However when writing I don’t think of them, I can’t. The writing takes over and becomes the be all and end all. If I managed to squeeze a thought of who I was writing for in, I’m sure it would inhibit me, hold me back. I’d be worried if they were enjoying it, would they understand what I was doing, would they like it? So, best not to go there.

Years ago an editor, not liking something I’d written, advised me to “Think of your reader.” I was still a novice and she was an experienced editor so she must know what she’s talking about I reasoned. So, the next book I thought of my reader. But who was she? I had only had a few books published so I had no idea who was reading them. But I had a go! Disaster. All I could bring to mind was a relative by marriage who loathed and despised me. As I wrote I would see her face, screwed up with disapproval and censure and the writing became drivel. I didn’t try it again.
And of course, I had not realised one important fact – while my editor was a good one she could not write novels, so really she was not in a position to tell me how to, if you see what I mean.

Where have they come from? It always surprises me the different ways. When I began it was promotion and publicity which drummed up the trade, many liked what they found and stayed with me. And bless them they told others, who passed on the word. I get letters galore from people who picked up one of my books in a charity shop, liked it and went out and bought the rest. This is why I cannot get cross at charity shops selling second hand books - except Oxfam who have gone too far with their dedicated book shops, they are putting out of business many small independents.

But do you know what really annoys me? those clever clogs who think
tha writing middle market fiction is easy. There is one big thing
that sets us apart from the Literary authors and that is the breadth of
our readership.
At one point my youngest reader was nine and the
oldest ninety two. The cross section was bewildering, electricians, a
plumber, a Bishop, two vicars, many doctors. From those who had no
OLs to a two university Professors, and top of the tree – a Noble prize
winner.
If you pause and think of the above list you will, I’m sure, understand
that expectations in the book will vary, that ways of reading it will be
different, that all these people are needing to be
entertained and able to enjoy your book.

That my friends is one tall order! Easy? Expletives removed!!

HOW FAR SHOULD WE GO?

2010-06-27T12:45:00.000+01:00

Having lived a very varied life, I often delve into my past, for my novels, and use incidents, sometimes embellished, sometimes understated usually disguised, but my life all the same. There are writers who say they never use experiences from their own lives in their writing. This is often said as if to imply that autobiographical use is in some way inferior since it is often accompanied with the caveat “I rely entirely on my imagination . . .” To which I answer, don’t we all?

Using ones own experiences occurs all the time; you have decided that your heroine falls in love, or gets ditched, has a baby, is ill, or is betrayed. You need to describe how she feels, sometimes you imagine it but how often are you tapping into your own memories of what it was like? What’s that but autobiographical?

We writers are, of necessity, observers, filers away of information re the human condition – observation, analysis. That’s not imagination but is an aid to it, isn’t it?

There is however another side which can be bothering. And that is how far should one go? What right do we have to use those experiences where other people are involved?

Years ago a friend gave me his novel to read. It contained a graphic description of a woman having a miscarriage. It was well written, distressing and raw and was relevant to the plot. But I was shocked; why? because I subsequently learnt that he was describing what had happened to his wife. Immediately this was no longer fiction but cruel reality and yet, I argued with myself, I had been moved by it and not censorious of it when I didn’t know it was her. So should he have written it? On the one hand yes, for his experience gave veracity to the work. But on the other, no, for she was distressed that he had.
So who was right and who was wrong?

Much later I was faced with the same dilemma. When I wrote my first book published, Distinctions of Class, the first third of which is very autobiographical, my mother was still alive. I was close to having the book accepted and was told by the commissioning editor that I was holding back, that if I wanted to succeed then he wanted to read “blood and guts” on the page. My mother and I had a difficult relationship so I rewrote it and told it as it was. The book was accepted. I felt guilty, some things should remain secret. However, she never knew, for by the time of publication, her sight had gone and my sister read it to her, censoring it as she went along. But, you know that feeling of guilt and betrayal has never left me.

So, how far should we go?

Publish Post Save Now

HOW IT IS.

2010-06-20T10:30:00.002+01:00

There is despondency in the air again. I began to wonder how best to cheer everyone up. Words of comfort are all very well but how much good they do I’m not sure. Specifics, I decided were what is needed. So, I asked a group of writers to give me some facts to share with my wounded writers smarting from criticism and rejection and, hopefully, make them feel better.

The writers who responded were a good mix of mainstream, category, and e-publishing, which, I thought was better than having them all from one form of publishing.

Since there had been a nasty spate of rejections which always knocks the confidence and makes some think of giving it all up, the first questions I asked was:

How long did it take for you to get published?

The answers were interesting. Adding them all together and then dividing I got a rough average.
Short stories took, on average, 4 months to be accepted.
While novels take, on average, 4 years.
But out of those numbers came some surprises. If you write category novels then the average became 9 years! And the strangest fact of all to emerge was that out of all those who responded there were two writers, one tried for 10 years before getting her 6th novel taken, and the other wrote for 17 years before her 8th book was accepted. Now that is perseverance and courage in abundance. But, and here is the interesting fact – they are the two most successful of those who answered. There’s a moral in there somewhere. And myself? I was rejected for four years.

Was your first book published the first one you had written?

For a surprising 34% it was. The rest were such a mix of numbers. The highest being two who had to write eight before succeeding and one determined author who was accepted with her 15th novel.

Did you have an agent when you were accepted? I next asked.

Only 14% had agents and they were all mainstream writers. Only one replied that she had met her agent at an RNA event, though I’m sure there are lots more. And two had not needed one, they said, since they had gone through the NWS. I had an agent who I met by chance.

How many agents had they approached?

Several replied that there were so many they had forgotten, the worst was one patient author who had submitted to twelve. Imagine how soul destroying that must have been.

How many publishers did you approach either agented or not?

Lots didn’t answer this question which made me curious. Was it because it was so many? They would have been in good company if this was the case. Only three submitted to one. Then the figures varied from 2 up to 8 publishing houses. I was confident I would beat this having been turned down a good 20 times. I was wrong, I lost to a writer with 41 publishing houses who did not want her.

What differences had noticed in the world of publishing since they started.

1. The demise of the independent book shop worried many. While this is sad I have often wondered about them. From my own experience most independents were a bit sniffy about mid-market fiction. I remember approaching one bookseller who informed me that he did not stock “rubbish.” That he only stocked quality. Am I sorry he went to the wall? Guess!
Reps too are thin on the ground. Gone are the days of going round the bookshops with them, central buying is the order of the day.
On the other hand, the huge discounts which the publishers give the large chains and supermarkets appears to be an own goal.

2. The next most noted was the need for self-promotion by authors. Gone it seems are the days of the author tours. The publicity department sending you a huge schedule of appointments with TV, Radio and press. (Only the mega sellers get such treatment these days.) Writers are a modest lot (of course there are exceptions but best not to go there!) and for them to promote themselves is virtually impossible. And so the chances of becoming well known get less.

3. There was a time when publishers took on writers with the understanding that they would build them, stay with them. A book that didn’t quite work did not mean being dropped. Patience and trust were the order of the day. Several of our writers pointed this out. It has all got more stressful, that’s for sure. With the arrival of EPOS there is no way to hide sales. Anyone in the business knows exactly what the figures are.

4. There are less publishing houses as the conglomerates absorbed the smaller, said several. On the other hand there seems to me to be a lot of smaller houses sprouting up.

5. And then there is the rise of the internet which prompted the most debate.

A. We’ve the forming of writers groups. This latter has removed the feelings of isolation. There is now a vast network of contacts out there who are generous with their advice and help. Not to mention Twitter and Facebook.

B. Nearly everyone now has a website, a blog. Interaction with our readers is common. It is easier to keep in touch with fans.

C. And how much easier it is with the internet to do research. All that knowledge a mere click away.

D. The rise of e-publishing. This was always looked at almost as if it were a kissing cousin of vanity publishing but it becomes bigger by the day. What will be interesting to see is how the publishing of established mainstream authors with their large followings in e-format will affect those already published in this form. The competition will consequently become as fierce as conventional publishing is already.

E. The increase in the number of writers. I’m not sure if this is the case. When I started twenty seven years ago there were too many of us chasing the same dream. However, I have noticed that when there is a recession there is an increase in hopefuls.

F. The volume of sales on the internet was noted. But the necessity for writers to be savvy in dealing with the internet and all it encompasses was pointed out.

Was there anything I had noticed?
I agreed with all the above plus, it now seems harder to find an agent than a publisher. And it is impossible to ignore the fall in the advances given. Nearly every writer I know is earning less than they did ten years ago. It has always been a financially precarious occupation, I think it gets worse.

However, what made me laugh was one author saying what had struck her most in the time she had been published was: “Publishers eating each other!”

Reading this I wonder if it will help or depress further. Still knwoing how things really are can't be a bad thing, or can it?

PITFALLS 3 - Preferences

2010-06-06T17:36:00.002+01:00

We all have preferences and editors are no exception, though there are times when what they prefer is not necessarily what you want. I have to say that I have never met a fat editor, publicity manager - here is much glamour in the world of publishing. Hence when I once wrote a heroine who was a size 14.
“Does she have to be so gross?” my size 0 editor asked.

We also have to remember that they live and work in London for the most part; they move in a rarefied world with attitudes and believes far removed from those of middle England. Hence they will often query a position or attitude you have given a character.
One of my heroines was somewhat put out and said as much, in no uncertain tones, upon finding her husband in flagrante with a male servant.
“You will offend so many people with such homophobia,” the same editor said.
I pointed out that my story was set in the 30s when homosexuality was a criminal offense. There was more though, I said that many women in middle England today would be similarly upset. Homophobia had nothing to do with it.

Political correctness intrudes all the time. colour, class, sexual orientation are all pitfalls waiting to happen. Be warned!

Words. I was once faced with the difficulty of having a publisher who loathed, abhorred abd banned the word that. I don’t know why she hated that poor little word but she did. Cutting back on that is difficult, I know! Mind you I did have sympathy with her we all have words we dislike. Mine is muse. It gives me the abdabs – but I had one copy editor who liberally sprinkled muse, muses and mussed all over my copy.

Adverbs. There you have another one that can cause problems.
Of course there are unnecessary ones. “I hate you, I wish you were dead!” she shouted angrily. But what is wrong with she sang happily (which I had queried once) because songs and singing vary, so she could be happy or mournful. “Justified!” I declared.
You’ll find editors who don’t mind and editors who do, it’s the luck of the draw. And what about poor little adjectives, they get a lot of blue pencilitis too. I like adjectives. Sometimes I wonder what they want us to write. If we were all minimalist in our writing how boring that would be.

PITFALLS 2 - Characters.

2010-05-30T12:05:00.003+01:00

Pitfalls 2.

Habits. Don’t worry, nothing personal, I mean your character’s habits not yours!

One of the problems with characterisation is the need to make them do several things.

1. We require them to be memorable.
So what do we do to make them stand out when we have a big cast of other characters? We give them foibles, characteristics. For example, a tic – say they sniff when annoyed, or have a particular laugh, or brush their hair back, or walk in a strange way or the use of language which they prefer, so we all know it’s them. So, what’s the problem? Instead of helping, used too often, it becomes an irritant. Oh, not again, the reader begins to say to themselves.

2. We need to impart as much information for the reader as possible. A. We want to know what they are thinking. B. We have to fill in the past – the famous back story.

A. Internalisation. How to do it without it being too artificial? One of the most common is to have them looking in the mirror and that gets then having a burst of thinking. And there’s taking a bath – what is more natural? I bet you do it, soaking in the water you start to think.
Dangers are lurking though, be warned. With the mirror if they keep looking in them then they appear vain and self-obsessed. And with the bath, some of you may remember that my editor got very worried that my character had a personal hygiene problem since she had to do a lot of thinking and so she had too many baths!

Solution? Vary it. When you are having a thinking session yourself note down what you are doing.
Walking into town, or washing up or simply sitting in a chair looking into space. So many different ways, and yet we work ourselves into such a state about it. We think all the time and yet, when we write it, it can appear to be so artificial, strange.

B. The back story. Your characters are not just suddenly there - they were born they had a life before you put them into your story. As with us the past has moulded them. Their past might be a solution to any behaviour that they show which needs some explanation. The need to know is important, it makes for a more rounded characterisation.

However, again danger can lurk - do make sure that the back story isn’t more interesting than the part of their lives which you have chosen to cover.
Of course when you write a series or a trilogy the back story can be critical. Although you will be asked by your publishers to write each book as a ‘stand alone’ you will still need to put in what happened. I warn you, it’s worse than writing a synopsis. You are attempting to incorporate what has happened in a full length book to as few pages as possible.
Why as few? Because you can’t put it all in or the book will be too big. And since a lot of your readers will have read the earlier books you risk boring them. The danger therefore is putting too much back-story in and swamping the book you are writing.

And lastly, a plea. When writing people avoid clichés. Too often I read of red heads with emerald green eyes who are feisty. Of women who lack imperfections. Of fat jolly types, of thin mean types. Think it through, turn things on their head. Why not a thin person who is the life and soul of a party? And make the fat one a depressive. It would make for more interesting reading.

PITFALLS 1. Age

2010-05-23T10:59:00.002+01:00

Sarah Callejo on her new blog – worth a visit, by the way – asked what age were our heroines. I left a comment that I felt they were whatever fitted the story and I said I’d one heroine who fell in love in her 60s. But thinking it over afterwards I realised that I hadn’t really thought it through. That it’s more complicated than that, for nothing in writing is ever simple, is it?

The first problem which struck me was that the genre matters. That heroine of mine would not be realistic in a chic lit novel, would she?

The age of the readership quickly followed. The middle aged might accept her and find nothing untoward. But what about the young reading of such a woman? I can imagine the shock, horror, even disgust. Too often I’ve heard their reaction to the idea of “wrinklies” having sex!

A friend of mine writes wonderful books with older women in them. Since they are very funny I’d high hopes that she’d find a home for them, but there appears to be a resistance from editors. But how sad that it was the humour I felt would help them, not that they were tales of how older women felt – doesn’t that say a lot?

The editors, it seems to me, are nervous of approving them. They can come, it seems to me, in two varieties, both age related. The older editor lies about her age for she lives in fear of being thought over the hill, is she likely to welcome an older heroine, NO, it would damage her street cred. The other type of editor is so young she looks as if she’s just left school and so young that she thinks that anyone over the age of twenty-five might just as well be dead. So, do keep in mind that you might meet hurdles to your plans.

So how was it that my heroine of 60, in love, got away with it, for no one objected and that included my editor. I wonder if it wasn’t because we had followed her from childhood and after various romantic ups and downs, we wanted her to be happy. Had I begun with her at that age I wonder what the reaction would have been.

However, I do believe you have to be happy with the age you choose to write about. I’ve read m/s from women who have forgotten what it was like to be a teenager or in their twenties. Instead they use the language of their own youth not that of today. Also they give the women in their novel their values, their moral code. They have forgotten that the world has moved on and language and attitudes with it. They would be careful not to do it if they were writing an historical novel, but let’s face it the gulf between someone in their late 50s and a 20 year old, verges on the historical.

How you live your own life too can impact on who and how you write the young. I begin to think that to be a writer one of the first essentials is to have an open and enquiring mind, one that is not set in the aspic of the past but is excited by the present and the future.

These pitfalls are numerous, I think I might return to them next week.

And Debbie I'm sorry you are unwell and I hope you soon get back to writing.

WHAT WRITERS NEED

2010-05-16T11:20:00.002+01:00

What do you need to be a writer? There are the obvious – the ability to write, the need to. A pen, pencil and paper or a computer. Perseverance, stubbornness and a form of courage. But there are others too. I think you need adaptability, honesty, self-criticism and to be able to listen to your INNER VOICE (though my Anita Burgh Group people will scream at the latter.)

Adaptability. You know what you want to write, you may even have done so, but then, the nightmare of finding that someone else is writing the same subject. Panic inevitably sets in, but there’s no need. Stay calm, look at your book where and how can you adapt yours and always remember that even if the subject is the same that the stories will be different. Adaptability is required when your editor makes suggestions that you don’t necessarily agree with, but she’s probably right and if you are adaptable then you will find a way round the problem.

Honesty and self-criticism go hand in hand. The hardest thing to do is to judge your own work. But it is critical that you do. What I find is that when I first write something I think it’s fine, on rare occasions good; but I know it won’t last, that there is a settling down, and then the cracks begin to appear, it becomes rubbish. Although it can be true it is probably not as extreme as I thought – good writing or nonsense. What we have to learn is to be able to look at the work as if it has nothing to do with us, as if it were written by someone else – this is not easy to do. And that is when INNER VOICE steps in – your best critic, the most honest and the one you ignore at your peril.

What bought all this on? 66,000 words into my larest novwl and that voice telling me that something was wrong. The easiest thing to do it to tell it to shut up, but that’s not a good idea. Many years ago I was writing a novel with a minor character called Alice. She kept interrupting and asking “Why aren’t you telling my story?” she became so obtrusive that I eventually gave in and told her she had a week to tell me. And did she! My novel became a trilogy which was my breakout. Alice, now one of the main characters, featured in all three books. Of course it wasn’t Alice telling me it was my inner voice, which. novice that I was, I did not recognise.
So what have I done?

It is almost a case of history repeating itself. Two characters began to push themselves forward – in other words inner voice was saying I needed more viewpoints. I’ve done that, the thesis of the book has changed and I’m enjoying it – for the time being – and fingers crossed it will work!

BOOKS AND ATTITUDES

2010-05-02T12:27:00.002+01:00

What do you read? Not a lot is the answer.

This reply usually leads to disbelieve and my being told that it is a rule that if you want to write then you have to read and reaD and then read more. I’ve heard that too. Perhaps for some people it’s true but it hasn’t stopped me. I have writing friends who read three to four books a week, in a way I envy them. I realise that my answer could be seen as facetious, I don’t mean it to be; there are several reasons why I don’t.

First, I’m a slow reader, most dyslexics are – I watch others reading and see how their eyes move swiftly from left to write, skimming the lines, I can’t do that, every word has to be read and if it’s a word I’m not familiar with then I don’t know how it sounds and the reading stops.

Secondly I’ve also found that if I read a novel which really grabs me when I’m working then I risk absorbing the style. I once lost my own “voice” everything became different, punchy, fast. “What are you reading” my wise editor asked, “Jackie Collins,” I replied. Jackie has such a strong, addictive style which for me is dangerous, I had to put the book away.

Thirdly, particularly dangerous, I find, is to read books of my own genre. We authors are like sponges storing ideas, words, phrases away often without realising we are doing so. No one wants to be accused of plagiarism so its safer, I think, not to go there in the first place. So, if I want to read fiction I stick to thrillers and crime – the opposite of what I write. But even then there are not many for I never stop working and hence I’m not reading much fiction.

However, there are always books I need to read for my work - biographies, autobiographies and social history books. So, you see, it’s not such a silly answer as it first sounded.

What do you think of literary novels? What do you think of literary snobbery?

There are literary novels I’ve enjoyed but some I don’t understand and some I wonder why they were written in the first place let alone published but I would never slam them in public since I know how demoralising it can be. A novel is a precious thing to the creator of it, there are enough people happy to destroy them without me putting my oar in. The writers of commercial fiction get a lot of snide remarks it’s more dignified not to get involved in a slanging match – and in any case, when you don’t it annoys them even more.

What do you think of Mills and Boob books? I admire them.

So many writers I know, like me, started out with the idea they would write a category romance since it would be the easy option. WRONG! Writing these books requires a set of skills which I don’t possess. They are short, succinct with pace a plenty, the vocabulary is limited . . . Impossible. I am far too verbose and like for my tales to slowly unfold. I tried, I failed as most of us do. I have nothing but admiration for those who succeed.

Which brings me back to those literary types who slate us. All they are doing is saying that all those millions who enjoy our books and M&B too are wrong, I call it the Tchaikovsky syndrome – if too many people like it, it can’t be good.

WORRIES

2010-04-26T10:33:00.004+01:00

Worry seems to be the order of the day. Worry, worry, worry! And so unnecessarily.

I’ve already blogged about the importance of preparation of the typescript – that it should be neat and tidy, with no spelling mistakes and with grammar as correct as you can make it. Today’s blog is not contradicting this.

But back to the worriers those as yet unpublished friends of mine. Their obsession with word count bothers me. Word count is fine if it shows your progress, or if you set yourself a daily target. But my dear friends are obsessed with the length required. If it is a first novel and they worry where it will fit – is it too long for one publisher or too short for another (and don’t forget they haven’t, as yet, finished it.) Until it is complete there seems little point to me in bothering about length. GET IT DOWN! That first draft it will, invariably, be too long – but remember it is always easier to cut rather than add. Once the novel is finished you will be much more assured where it fits. Worry then, not earlier.

Headers. Should I have a header? Should I put my name there? If you want, I answer. Some writers do, some don’t.
Would it be better to have a footer? Either, I reply.
Believe it or not, you would be astonished at the number of typescripts I see with no pagination. Then it’s my turn to worry in case I drop it and it would take me hours to put back in order. Header or footer – just get the numbering right.

Inverted commas. Should they be single ‘ or double “ they ask. Complying to house style is eventually inevitable but at this stage you don’t even know who your publisher will be.

What about a prologue, I’ve heard publishers don’t like prologues and I’ve written one, one friend wailed. So, you feel your book needs a prologue then write it. It is your book, it is your creation.

Type face, size, anguish!

Use of hooks. When should my hero appear? When you feel it’s time for him to be written.

Trends, I’ve been told to watch out for trends. Trends come and go, by the time you’ve written your novel maybe that trend is no longer in!

Inverted commas, word count, headers and footers, hooks, trends, type faces etc etc. Try to forget them.

If your book is a good book these things will not matter. The agent and editor will see above such minor details. My advice is always the same, GET THE BOOK DOWN! And no book ever succeeded if it is the product of worry fear and angst. Relax and enjoy, writing should be fun.

BEING ORGANISED

2010-04-19T17:31:00.003+01:00

Perhaps the following might help you as you write. When writing a long book it is difficult to keep track of everything that is going on. I’ve several systems I use for keeping tabs.

Card Index.

If I’m writing a trilogy then it is essential to keep tabs on what I’ve written before as well as the present. I then use a card index system with everything filed alphabetically.

1. Characters
Each character has their own card with everything I know about them written on it – hair colour, eyes, build, education, likes dislikes, illnesses etc the list is long for I put down everything I know about them. As I write the book these are added to. This character will also have a time line of when events happen to them.

2. Scenes.
As the characters have a card so do important places – particular houses, where they are, period, how big. What style is the decor, what paintings, furniture etc.
Gardens – I list what flowers are planted, when they bloom. I also do this for wild flowers too.
Imaginary towns, any facts about them I note on that towns card.

PLANS.

HOUSES.

I always draw a plan of the layout of houses. This prevents someone entering the front door and turning left into the drawing room when in chapter one you said that room was to the right of the door. I also note on this plan where the furniture stands.

TOWNS.

If I’ve created a town or village then I draw a map. It is too easy to forget that Pond street leads into Mill Street. But readers have an unerring knack of noticing discrepancies.

REAL TIME.

Then there is real time as opposed to your made up one.
When writing an historical then in my card index are cards for every year the book covers, on these are written historical facts – they probably don’t even get a mention in the book but it’s a good idea to have them there.

CHARTS.

VIEWPOINT

With multiple viewpoint the easiest thing to do is to concentrate on
one character to the detriment of the other, or one begins to fizzle out. Using a spread sheet, I make a chart, and,using a different colour for each person, put in which character holds centre stage in Chapter 1, 2, 3. You soon get to see if you are favouring one over the other when you don’t want to or you are forgetting one,

PACE.

I construct another chart which looks rather like a temperature chart. I judge the tension or lack of it, mark it on the chart and soon you see where the dead patches lie, where the highs are and whether you’ve put in too much.

CHAPTER BREAKDOWN

As I write I give a short summary of each chapter – don’t delay or you will forget. I put in bold which characters appear. I also put in the page numbers – Chap: 18 – P.125 – 146. It is amazing the number of times you need to search for something and a page number with breakdown will speed the process for you.

PS. I tried to put example of charts in but failed miserably, if there is a clever soul out there who knows how to do it, please let me know.

Courses and muddles.

2010-04-11T10:15:00.003+01:00

I’ve finally been sent the URL of the place in France where I shall be running a course his summer. Do take a look.

www.chez-castillon.com

They are a lovely couple and the house is fantastic and it is such a beautiful area of France. My aim with this course is to help with work in progress and to look, in depth, at the various aspects of writing a novel.

Back to the drawing board!

Meanwhile I can safely say I’ve been practising what I preach. I’m half way through a new novel. I was as pleased with it as is possible at this stage - which means I didn’t hate it but then that doesn’t mean I loved it. It was ‘all right.’
My agent had read and approved. It was sent out to a publisher. The rejection which followed was written in such glowing terms it read like a rave acceptance – but then, we know, don’t we that publishers can be quite strange at times!
The odd thing is I wasn’t at all upset. And odder still I wasn’t surprised it was almost as if it was what I expected
Why?
The little group I mentor are used to me rabbiting on to listen to your inner voice. They query if it exists, where is it and how do you recognise it and how do you know it is right?
It lives within you, you learn to recognise it and it is always right. It’s that inconvenient whisper which tells you what you have written is not working. That it needs doing again. It tells you when aspects are being overlooked – it is really clever.
Now my inner voice was telling me something was wrong, that the novel needed attention. Why it could not have told me before I sent it off, which would have been useful, was a mystery.
So what had gone wrong? Viewpoint, it told me. Could it be fixed? It would mean a re-write, but, hopefully yes. As it stood I had one 3rd person VP. I tell my students often enough that to sustain interest for a whole novel with only one viewpoint is difficult – why can’t I listen to myself? I don’t know what had made me do it that way.
Three VPs, I’ve always found, works well. So three it is. The other two are already there with minor roles now they will be beefed up into major. They must feel like understudies - their moment has come.
The beginning of the novel has changed. The ethos appears to be different too. Last time I did a rewrite it was my first novel, and in the days of no word-processors, I rewrote it seven times. This time if I only have to do this once I must have learnt something in the past twenty five years. Or have I?

Being a writer really is the oddest occupation.

s

RESEARCH

2010-04-04T11:35:00.003+01:00

You said that research could be a danger zone, I don’t understand.

There are several reasons why I think research can be dangerous – there might even be more that I’m not aware of.

1.Research is addictive.

I write is addictive rather than can be advisedly. I have yet to meet a writer who does not love the research aspect of their work. After all, presumably it is a period, a time, a subject which interests them. Most already have a good background in their subject but one can always learn more. And therein lies the danger - getting so involved and interested they don’t know where to stop, don’t want to stop. And so the finding out becomes of such significance that the book itself gets put on the back boiler and, in a couple of cases I know, never gets written at all.
Research has usurped writing.

2. Giving too much information.

Imagine, you’ve been toiling away with the research and have notebooks full of fascinating information – facts you knew but lovely new ones too. So the danger
emerges that you find you want to put it all in, the book becomes bogged down with details, the plot is submerged, the reader is irritated, you come over as a know-all and the agent suggests your write non-fiction.

3 The research creaks.

This is similar to 2 but whereas that occurred because of genuine love of the research this occurs because the writer feels they should put facts in to prove they know what they are talking about. It frequently sits awkwardly sometimes because it is not necessary and there is an artificiality to it. The reader become annoyed.

4. Making mistakes.

This is the complete opposite of the others. It occurs when you are convinced that you know your subject or period inside out. Sometimes you don't. It is a good idea to check everything factual – even if you’re book is set a mere five years back in time. If you mention a shop in a real town which, unknown to you, shut six years ago – someone will know and will make it their duty to tell you. Mention a piece of music your heroine hears in May but it was not released until September there will be a clever clogs out there who can't wait to tell you your mistake.
Plants and gardens are a mine field unless you are a manic gardener – check when particular flowers bloom and remember that times differ between North and South.
Abroad can be a mine-field check and check and check again.

Does it matter that much?

It does, because when the reader picks up your book there is an unwritten contract between you. What you have written is the best you can offer, make a glaring error and you lose credibility and the contract is broken.

How do you organise your research?

For a start when writing an historical it is always in a period that I’ve always been interested in and so I’ve done a lot of reading around that time.
If I found out something little known, I know myself, I would have to use it, wanting to share it. So, to prevent that I write and check the facts afterwards. I find that is the safest way for me.

Questions & Answers

2010-03-21T10:13:00.002Z

These are some of the questions which have come in.

Blurbs. How do you make it easy?

It’s been pointed out to me that whereas I make it sound easy to write
a blurb, for most people it is hard.
My fault and I apologies I should have given you an exercise which I found helped.

Write your blurb using no more than 100 words.
Cut the 100 words to 50.
50 to thirty.
30 to 25 – hey presto, it works!

When can I call myself a writer?

Oddly I was asked this by a follower of this blog just as the same question appeared on the RNA forum, Romna - this is what I replied to the forum.

“You write you are writers – it’s as simple as that. I think the confusion comes because we can all write – fill in a form, make a shopping list, write a letter etc. But to set out to write a novel sets us apart immediately. Things to remember: Not everyone wants to write a novel – but you do. Not everyone can write a novel – but you do. How many times have you heard “If only I had the time I’d write . . .” - you find the time, they don’t because they are NOT writers.”

The author, Anna Jacobs added an interesting point when she said that the as
yet unpublished should refer to themselves as writers and when published they were authors which, I thought was a neat distinction.
There was something else she reminded us of too. That to the true writer the writing
becomes an addiction. This is true, when I first started I found that I could not go on holiday without fretting for my computer and the novel I was working on.

How do you get into the next book? Is it just a matter of writing more to get into it?

The one thing people don’t realise is that authors tend to have too many plans for
books in their heads all trying to get out. Kind souls offer me ideas for plots but I have no need of them and usually suggest they write it themselves. And one has to
be careful – if you use someone’s worked out plot what is to stop them suing you?
Better not.

What happens with me is that when I’m about two thirds of the way through a book
then a theme or an idea, like a train that has been waiting at the signals, puffs into the station. As the one I am writing steams out the new one is in place. (Oddly they are always trains to me and steam, not boring diesel!)
And, with so many ideas the problem is living long enough to write them!
Several times my publishers asked me if I cared to write a book about a certain subject, Clare’s War, On Call, Tales from Sarson Magna were all suggested by them. If I liked their ideas then I would do them, but I was once asked if I would write about horse racing and I turned it down since it was not something I was interested in.
Accepting their suggestion then, like all my other books, I hang around waiting for a character to appear to set the plot in motion. Then I try to forget it. While finishing the work in hand I can’t afford to concentrate on this new one, but if odd ideas come I will make a note of them – you think you’ll remember but you never do. But subconsciously it is bubbling away and building.

Keep the questions coming, please.

2010-03-14T09:54:00.002Z

PRESENTATION OF TYPESCRIPT – UK market.

Many agents and editors now accept electronic presentations. The two require the same amount of attention to detail.

You might think that some requirements are odd but it is a bit like etiquette – there is a reason for everything even if, at first, it does not appear sane.

If sending hard copy then – A messy t/s is an amateur’s.
A pristine is that of a professional.
If an agent sees a dog-eared t/s it shows it has been elsewhere and was rejected; and you are one down immediately.
Your aim is to make the agent or editors task as trouble-free as possible. If sending a whole m/s or a partial the following applies for both.

1.The Title Page.

Centre the title
Author’s name. Or pseudonym.
Approx number of words – rounded off. This numbering is important, from it
they will calculate the page run and thus the cost to produce your book.

Bottom corner; authors real name.
Address.
Telephone number.
Email address.

Include your synopsis

2.The typescript will be:

A4 paper.
Double spaced. Why? For notes and corrections.
One side of paper.
No justification. Why? It makes word calculation harder.
Wide margin on L hand side. Why? Again this is space if notes are to be written.
No fancy fonts. E.g. to use - Times New Roman, Calibri
Font size of 12 min.
Number pages consecutively. If you have made an error and there is no page 90, then write on the script that there isn’t.
A header with identification is sensible. (name of novel and authors name.) Why? What if it is dropped along with others?
All new paragraphs are indented except for the first which is always blocked to the left hand.
Check blank lines used for what they are intended – change of scene, change of time, change of VP - then you need a space and block to left. If in doubt check any novel.
All dialogue should be indented.
Check for spelling and grammar errors.

Do Not:
1. Staple together – you want to be published not impale an editor.
2. Use plastic folders for individual chapters.
3. Use ring binders.(secure with elastic band.)
4. Include jacket design.
5. Ideas for promotions Or jacket blurb.

Enclose stamp addressed envelope for return or, tell them to bin it.
Get receipt of proof of postage. Recorded delivery means hassle the other end. By all means include s/a card for acknowledging receipt.

KEEP A COPY FOR YOURSELF.

A Partial.

If submitting a partial then pages must be consecutive,
Say pages 1 – 70. DO NOT include Chap One, Chap 4 and Chap 10. Because you think they are the best!
Unless asked to provide a chapter-by-chapter outline of your novel, don’t.

The Covering Letter.

LESS is MORE:
This letter is a courtesy, a means of introducing yourself, and giving your contact details.
Too much and they aren’t reading the precious m/s. And I’ve been told that a badly written, boring letter, is sufficient to cause rejection – since it points to bad writing ahead.

So what to say?
• USE A NAME: people like their name to be used. Sir/Madame you’ve not done your research, they feel one of many. It’s easy to find an agents name but how to find out the name of an editor.
Read acknowledgments often an editor is mentioned by name. Read trade press and note who is who.
• If the agent has a web site or blog, which you like, then tell her. It shows you well prepared which reflects well on you.
Present your novel, after all that’s what the object of the letter is.
If you have a great plot, then tell them.
If there is a relevant anniversary which ties in then say so.
If your career is relevant to the novel then say so. If a teacher and you’ve written about a school then say so.
A nurse and it’s a hospital romance then say so.
It’s an indication that you know what you are writing about.
Similarly if you have anything of note as a writer – say you are a journalist, or a published short story writer, say so.
Won a prize – say so.

They don’t need your autobiography at this stage, unless there is something of great interest about you.
You’ve written a crime story and you’ve done time.
Or you married a duke or won the lottery.
I’m talking BIG here.
But still keep it BRIEF.
Hard selling yourself is a turn off. There is a difference between being a professional author and shouting look at me.
Whatever you do don’t tell them how to do their job. That is, how to market your book but there’s no harm in saying who might be your readership.
Don’t say your friends, family and the dog like it.
If you have an introduction from a fellow author then say so.
The letter should be articulate and grammatically correct and no typos. If it isn’t what is the t/s going to be like. Is it even worth reading?
Avoid: clichés and jokes.

Dear Jacinta Smith,
Anita Burgh suggested that I write to you. I am an Historian, at Cambridge, and my speciality is the Tudors.
My novel, Time Trap, is an historical comedy. It follows the adventures of Henry VIII, who finds himself deposited by a time-machine, on the M4 in 2012 – just in time for the Olympics and the 500th anniversary of the birth of his Queen, Catherine Parr.
I have had several non-fiction books published and I have won the Presley cup for short story writers .
I shall look forward to hearing from you,
Yours, sincerely,
Fanny Percy.

Request I have enjoyed doing these notes for you I think most aspects have been covered. Now it is over to you, is there any topic you want me to cover, do you have any questions you want answered. If so please let me know.

BLURBS

2010-03-07T11:45:00.003Z

Having looked at Synopsis, and with the RNA lunch imminent – with publishers and agents attending - it seems wise to look at blurbs. Time spent composing yours is never wasted for when the time comes and you hear the magic words, “Tell, me, what is your book about?” instead of being tongue-tied, you will be prepared and word perfect .

A SYNOPSIS TELLS A BLURB SELLS.

Every writer should have this mantra pinned above their desk.So what is a blurb?
It is a précis of your novel in as few words as possible. Some can
compose one in a minute, others labour over it more than they agonised when writing the book itself. There are no fixed dimensions, but the shorter the better.

What is it for?

It has two functions, both are to entice.

1.You can never be sure when you are going to be asked what you are writing, and a wise person will have a presentation ready.
It might help if you think of it as a sound bite.
Those times you’ve been asked I bet you hated the description you gave. No doubt you waffled, there was a fair sprinkling of ums and ahs as you tried valiantly
to encapsulate it and give an idea of its flavour. You did not need the
glazed look of the person who asked to know that you were boring their
socks off – don’t worry, you are not alone. Anyone describing their
beloved opus always reminds me of someone recounting a dream,
interesting to them and dull to you.

Like the synopsis, it is difficult to achieve.
Imagine, you’ve written an historical novel. The heroine is beautiful and
innocent. The hero is handsome and unsuitable. You describe them down to their ages. Her wicked aristocratic guardian, lives in a spooky castle, you are particularly proud of this castle and you describe it at length. There follows a complicated explanation of lies and falsehoods and tangled tales of illegitimacy and incest.
By now the publisher/agent has moved on – mentally if not physically. You have managed to make your well crafted, compelling and exciting novel sound boring and unoriginal.

But if you say: An 18th C tale of lust, incest, of innocence betrayed but
love triumphant . . .
Hopefully ears will prick up and they will ask to know more. Now you
don’t repeat the long boring explanation. Of course you won’t. For you
will have prepared the 2nd function of the blurb.

2.This 2nd blurb is longer and apart from interesting agents et al prior to publication it is what will be used in the front of the book to entice the reader in the book shop. Making it interesting enough to make them buy.
It is longer but it is spare for all that. It is skilled writing for you are distilling over 100,000 words down to as few as possible.

One of my own : Avarice.

1. Three men, three continents, a three million wager - find the elixir of life. What is the secret and who triumphs? (22 words)

2 Three men meet when a great storm traps them in the Carlton Hotel in Cannes. Each has been marked by his childhood and have carried that damage into their adult lives. In the bar they are joined by Guthrie Everyman, an immensely wealthy novelist and playwright who challenges them to a treasure hunt to find the Elixir of Life. Each man wagers a million pounds. Each man needs to win. But what is the Elixir
and which one finds it? (81 words)

I hope to see some of you at the RNA party, with blurbs to astonish!

CPT and The Synopsis

2010-03-01T13:02:00.005Z

On Friday and Saturday I was with a group from the Cure Parkinson’s Trust which was founded by Tom Isaccs who is extraordinary and could, I’m sure, motivate a stale cheese sandwich. There were some truly remarkable people there which made me feel that though there is much to do that nothing is impossible. And what is it we want to do? We need to raise awareness to Parkinson’s and importantly to the fact that while most people believe that it is a disease of old age each year, around 500 people under 40 are diagnosed with it. Yes, you read that correctly – FORTY. With no cure for this progressive degenerative condition their lives are beset with worry, pain and fear. A cure must be found, but with no government funding for research it will take forever unless we demand that money is found.
Still, this is not going to get the book written but I feel better for telling you. So . . .

The Synopsis

Maybe I should have written the dreaded synopsis for people do seem to be afraid of it and there’s no need.

What is a synopsis for?

It enables agents and editors to see that you have written a viable plot with a beginning a middle and an end.
It enables them, in the shortest possible time and without having to read the whole, to evaluate what you have written and is it a subject they are interested in, have need of, or is it a duplicate?

What is necessary?

1. It’s best to keep it as short as possible. Every agent and editor I’ve
spoken to say they do not like long, too detailed, synopses. One page of A4 is ideal. Why? It is nigh on impossible to make a synopsis sound
fabulously interesting.

2. This is always single spaced rather than the double you’ve had
drummed intoyou.

3. It is written in the third person.

4. The following are essentials to include.

A. Remember to say what kind of novel it is. Romance, thriller, rom-com etc. If they don’t handle romance then you have let them know and not wasted their time.
B. The theme, in other words what is it about.
C. What period is it set in and where. If multiple places then say so.
D. Mention the main characters with their names. If you have a cast of thousands don’t be tempted.

And the don’ts.

1. Don’t talk it up – “this is a potential bestseller . . .” “this will
make a great film . . . I see George Clooney . . .” You don’t know that
and others will decide if it is. Similarly don’t tell them how to market it.

2. You would be advised not to litter the text with teasers of the will she
won’t she type. They want a clear, clean outline. Also do not end with a
cliff hanger or sassy remarks like – you’ll have to read it to find out. It
annoys.

3. As you are not including minor characters, as much as you love them, don’t
include the mino plot lines either.

4. If you refer to ‘The novel . ..’ It could be anything or anyone’s, use the
name.

5. Go through it ruthlessly pruning unnecessary words so that it is as short
and succinct as you can make it. A good synopsis, well written and to the
point, is, after all, showing them how well you can write for brevity is
always harder than verbose.

HILARY'S TEN PROBLEMS

2010-02-20T13:08:00.002Z

This week I have to thank Hilary Johnson the doyen of authors' advisory services (www.hilaryjohnson.demon.co.uk/ ) on whose list of ten problems with typescript this post is based.

This continues from last week’s first aid blog. I thought it might help to have a check list.

1.Weak and ill thought-out plot, often of insufficient strength or complexity to sustain a novel of any substance. HJ.
With a novel we aim to satisfy and entertain. a sloppy, weak plot will bore the reader. If we make it too far-fetched or a plot which is too predictable, we will lose them.

2.Lack of pace/narrative drive. A tendency to dwell upon unimportant detail and irrelevancies. HJ.

How often have you put a book aside because the author’s obsession with minutiae bores you rigid. I call it ‘shopping list’ writing. Endless lists of what is in a room, a shop, a garden the unimportant detail – making tea, opening and shutting doors, getting in and out of car.

3. “Failures of ordinary logic, both in characterisation and the development of a story.” HJ.

The problem occurs when the writer, to enable the plot to work, makes the characters behave out of character. And when it is the author’s opinion and not the fictional one.

4.“Disregard - or ignorance – of the principles of narrative viewpoint.” HJ.

Head hopping, as it is sometimes called, distracts from the story. One of my editors has said that she turns down more novels because of inconsistent and muddled VP than any other reason.

5.“Mixing genres.” HJ.

It can be difficult to decide which genre your book is, difficult but important since when submitting you will have to say where it slots in. If you have mixed your genres then it will be even harder. A mixed book is a difficult book to place.

6.Wooden and dull characterisation, also uninteresting dialogue heavily weighted with co“ntent which fulfils none of the functions of good dialogue.” HJ.

Do try and avoid the cliché characters, your reader will recognise them immediately – the feisty red head (they nearly always have improbable green coloured eyes.) a cliché character is often Hilary’s wooden one. New writers often think that dialogue is the same as real conversation, it isn’t. Dialogue in a novel is a tool – it gives pace, it moves the story on, it is not cluttered with inconsequential talk – “Good morning, how are you?” “Fine thanks, and how are you?”

7.”A major one: problems with moving characters around, resulting in a compulsion to describe the opening and shutting of every door and similar. Also, too many static scenes in which characters do nothing but sit around talking, often over meals . . . of cups of tea/coffee.”HJ.

How right Hilary is. If a character leaves, they leave, there is no need to show them crossing the hall, opening the front door, getting in the car and switching on the engine. It is unnecessary padding. I recognise her irritation with tea and coffee, my editor once queried if a character of mine was an alcoholic with the number of G &Ts I gave her to consume.

8. "Lack of awareness of the publishing/bookselling industries,” HJ. Would a doctor not know about opinions and discoveries in his speciality, or an actor what is going on in the acting world? A professional writer should know who is buying what, who is working where (it’s fun too, or not, to see what people are being paid!) with The Bookseller and Publishing News, it’s a pleasure more than a chore.

9.“lack of warmth, nobody in the novel you can like.” HJ

When you start a book you are with the characters for a long time, would you choose to spend hours with someone you have no empathy with? No, you would avoid them. So why would you want to accompany a fictional character you do not like?

10. A cluster, including: bad writing; disregard or ignorance of the rules of written English; unoriginal ideas and thinking; lack of an individual voice or, disastrously, a dull one; lack of verve, combined with an inclination to focus unrelentingly upon life’s miseries. HJ

I love Hilary’s cluster. It says it all. To which I would add sloppy, badly presented typescripts – and I’m not seeing nearly as many as she or the editor or agent. It is human nature to discard the messy, the badly laid out ones, and go for the well presented. In any case I think it is sheer bad manners.

FIRST AID

2010-02-15T11:48:00.002Z

Getting a book published gets harder and harder. What can you do to shorten the odds? The answer is simple, the execution is probably less so. To give your novel a fighting chance then you must make it as near perfect as you can before even thinking of submitting.

READ IT.

This can be hard for by now you are, no doubt, sick to death with it and you are convinced that it is total rubbish. (I hope you feel this way for anyone who thinks their work is brilliant is, invariably, in for a nasty shock.)

“Why do I have to read it again?” To find out where the errors lie. This reading is not the way you would read a book by a favourite author. You are looking at it for errors.

Repetition, flat writing, plot inconsistencies, sub—plots which have led nowhere, chronological errors. Characters left in limbo. Switches of viewpoint. Areas of telling and not showing – it’s quite a list.
Do tackle it with pen and paper to hand – don’t for one moment think you will remember where the problems are for the simple reason you won’t.

There are many things to check which can easily slip through:e.g.

You have flowers blooming- then check that this is the right time for the.
You have wildflowers, then check if they are indigenous to where you have put them.
It is winter but you’ve got your heroine driving along at six in the evening admiring the sun set.
If you have described a character do make sure that they have the right colour of hair and eyes throughout.
If you’ve changed a character’s name have any of the old name slipped through.

All the above are examples from work that has been sent me to look at, so it does happen!

Crutch words.

Most writers have crutch words and the odd thing is they are frequently unremarkable and so they slip, unnoticed, into our writing, but readers notice them and get irritated by them. Mine are awe, deplorable, gentle.
So I do a Find & Replace.

Bored?

Reading your opus you find you’re skipping and you admit you are bored. The danger is to blame over-familiarity whereas it might be more serious and the writing has gone flat. My advise is to read such sections aloud, it is easier to diagnose the problem if you do. Is it too wordy, have you lost the rhythm, is it repetitive? Try cutting, if that doesn’t work then a rewrite of the section is the best thing to do.

Is this necessary?

When writing the first draft I’ve trained myself to keep asking is this chapter, scene, paragraph, sentence, word necessary? Is it helping me tell my story? Does it move the story along?
This is the time, in this final polishing, to do this again. Be ruthless, cut that which is not helping, you’ll be surprised how much you can jettison and how much better your novel is.

Shug Off the Worries.

2010-02-05T12:03:00.003Z

Anxiety keeps popping up with the members of my group and I’m not sure why - but it certainly seems to be catching. Perhaps it’s the time of year puts us in the dooms. So, today, it’s shrug off the worries and WRITE!
A lot on this list are repeats but since the angst keeps repeating it seems valid to keep covering the subjects.

How long should my book be?

I wish I had a fiver for the number of times I’ve been asked that. The obvious answer is, “How the hell should I know?” However word count is a constant worry to the members of my group. If a publisher states the size of books they are looking for, then adhere to it,
E.G: Little Black Dress require 60 -80,000 and they say strictly so they mean it.
Mills and Boon romances require 50,000
Mainstream anywhere from 90,000 to 180,000.
The point is if a book is good the length can be sorted out after. I would still suggest you simply write the book. In my experience, I’ve found that a book has a natural length, but, when a it is finished, it is easier to cut than to add. Don’t waste the energy worrying about it.

How many words should I do a day?

As many as you are comfortable with. There are those who thrive on goals but if you are a worrier then perhaps you should be cautious. If you set yourself a goal what happens if you are tired? The risk is that what you’ve done will be rubbish. And if you’ve set yourself a goal which you have not reached, knowing the angst that a lot of writers suffer from – guilt will creep in.
For me, word count shows me where I am in the book, it’s not a competition.

How long should a chapter be?

The length that your story dictates. There are passages that meander, need space. Others need a shortness perhaps to create tension, conflict, to surprise, to shock.
#
How often do I use a hook? Should I end a chapter on a hook? Should I start a chapter with a hook?

Excuse me but I feel a rant coming on. I don’t understand this obsession with hooks. Is it from TV with the producers conviction that we can only concentrate for five minutes and that like a soap opera we need to end on cliff-hangers? There is nothing wrong if they occur naturally but it is when a hook is contrived that I feel it does the work no favours.
What gets overlooked more than anything is that the most powerful, the most genuine, the most important hook of all is a good story, a strong plot, well told.

How many viewpoints can I have?

Again, it’s up to you. Too many and you make life difficult for yourself, controlling them. I don’t like rules about writing but there is one that if ignored can lead to difficulties - is the character you have chosen for the viewpoint strong enough to sustain a whole novel? And if multiple, can I write each one so that they are distinct one from the other.

How many parts should my book have?

A similar question was asked on Romna the other day and set up a big debate. It’s another useless worry. When writing a book you are creating your world, your dream, you’re not cooking, there is no magic recipe. All these worries destroy the flow, and worse even than that it destroys the joy which writing should be.

And last – write it, finish it, type The End. Then decide if it’s too long, too short, are the chapters complete as they are, is there enough to keep the reader reading, is the viewpoint working, is it better to divide in parts? And ENJOY!

DIALOGUE

2010-01-23T13:04:00.000Z

I’m sorry I’m so late with this but I’ve been laid up with a dodgy hip and could not concentrate on anything other then feeling sorry for myself. However, feeling better here are some notes on dialogue.

Dialogue is critical because it has so many functions within your novel. For some it is easy and others never get the hang of it.

The aim
We want to make the reader think it is real. Of course, like most things to do with writing, it is completely artificial. People in books speak in a different way to conversation in life. Normal conversation is full of waffling and rambling, ums and unfinished sentences – a lot of understanding comes from facial expression and body language which we don’t have in fiction. The aim is to make the dialogue appear real yet using it all the time to convey plot, information, characterisation and pace.

What can dialogue do for us?

It anchors us in time and place.
It reveals character.
It can be a vehicle for giving the back story in an easily digestible form.
It can explain the present and hint of the future
It moves the plot forward,
It can increase the pace.
It can remind the reader of events which might have been forgotten.
It can introduce, highlight or resolve conflict.

If you can’t identify any of these in the conversations you have given your characters then perhaps it would be better to start again.

He said, she said.

If you give each character a “voice” of their own which is recognisable to the reader then there is less need for the he, she said that worries lots of people. This is fine if there are two characters only. Less easy with three and impossible with four then names are needed.

Mistakes.

Often new writers make the mistake of loading the length of conversation and give the characters long speeches when people don’t talk like that. They also make them static. If you watch people talking they pause, look out of windows, scratch. If you use this then you give movement to your writing and make it more real – and get rid of a few he said.

E.g: “If I’d had the sausages . . .” Peter looked out of the window, remembering other sausages he’d enjoyed. “No point in regrets,’ he turned away but knew he lied.

As people have habits and tics in their body language so they do in language. Use this to your advantage for identifying characters. They may have phrases or particular words they use. Or use dodgy grammar for identification. And accents play a part too.

While thinking about accents you are better off if you imply it by word order rather than trying to write dialect which drives most readers mental.
How do I know if I’ve got it right?

The classic and best way is to read it out loud even tape it to listen to. If it’s easy to read and if it sounds right then it will be right

FAQs.

2010-01-08T12:50:00.002Z

This is turning into a bits and pieces sort of week. Janice asked a FAQ -how long should a novel be? The true answer is how long is a piece of string?

The genre will affect the length, thrillers tend to be shorter at around 65-70,000. Literary ones also tend to be about the 70,mark. Below 60 and you are straying into novella land.

When I started you could safely say that a book has a natural length. But, times have changed and these days very large books are not encouraged, by that I mean 190,000 +. My first novel came in at 225,000 which was cut to 200,000 approx. For several books I was contracted to present with 160,000. This, I think, was done because the books were sold on an idea.

Now between 70,000 and 130,000 seems to be the norm. BUT and this is important, if a book is outstanding then there is unlikely to be any quibble over length.

My advice would be to forget the word count, write the first draft to its natural length then cut or increase as required which is much easier to do on a finished novel.

Then Mary Jon told of reading that “He quoted several agents as saying that having short works, fiction or not, published would help your cause.” This filled her with horror and I can’t say I blame her.

Presumably this is to show that you are serious but since most YUPs have to work to write when are these short works to be fitted in, let alone the submitting rituals? He makes it sound as if doing so is easy, it isn’t, ask any short story writer.
However, if you’ve had anything published there is no harm in mentioning this but I would avoid proclaiming you write for the Parish Magazine!

REJECTION

2010-01-07T12:11:00.003Z

One of the group has had her book rejected by a publisher – always a horrible experience but what makes it more frustrating it came with the comment that she “. . . has an effortless, page-turning style . . .” Which makes me want to scream at them then what the hell are you looking for? Another publisher had earlier turned it down for being “not compelling enough.” The writer then asked me if I had any ideas to help with adding tension, drama.

My reply which I’m sure she feels is no help whatsoever, was to ask her what her inner voice is saying to her. I feel that given the book is finished, given that she felt confident enough to send it off – as did her agent - then to change it now is not the best time to do so. It probably doesn’t need altering but disappointment can make one do things which are not necessary. And deep down inner voice is probably saying the same thing.

Just look at those two comments. Effortless page-turning style and not compelling enough. Incompatible aren’t they? It is either one or the other. One is right and one is wrong. Knowing her work I’d go for the first. However, it illustrates how frustrating and complex publishing is. But given this I feel even more strongly that she should do nothing at this point.

And as a PS, two publishers saying no, is nothing. My first novel Distinctions of Class was, over four years, turned down by virtually every publisher in London. It’s a tough business and a painful one, but talent will out!

PACE TWO

2009-12-31T08:58:00.000Z

If you remember, before the Christmas blow out, we were looking at pace. Now let’s discuss what slows it and what creates it.

Slowing Pace.

Nothing slows the flow more than over use of prose. It’s a shame for what writer doesn’t enjoy writing the descriptive sections? But admit it, if you skim a book, which parts do you choose to neglect?

In dialogue keep a beady eye out for characters making long speeches. People don’t in real life and it is even more so with fictional people. Whereas we can waffle, character in books don’t. There is no need for polite talk, what they say is only relevant to show character and to MOVE the story along.

The flow will stall if you use unfamiliar words or make references to little known facts. Your reader might even stop and look them up and perhaps not bother to go back. The same can be said for strange names.

Do watch out for repeated words, scenes and setting. If your plot is predictable then you will find the pace declining. There is nothing like a twist to get the steam up.

Watch out if you have been fiddling endlessly with work, the freshness and thus the pace can easily be deadened.

Encouraging Pace.

Remember the engine? Pulsating away with your strong plot with equally strong and believable characters.

Conflict is one of your most important tools. Conflict can take many forms. Large as with jealousy or war. But don’t forget that misunderstanding can add conflict too.

Wise use of causality creats pace. The happening that leads to another. And it can surprise the reader – making them hungry for more.

I warned about deadening your writing with muddied work, so it follows that good spare writing adds that elusive pace. As does good dialogue where you can give information quickly and with lack of artifice.

And you know that one of the simplest devices is to vary the pace and by doing so you add to it. Strong phases followed by weaker. Hysteria followed by peace. Tragedy followed by its kissing cousin comedy.

Above all that strong story line you have created nothing makes a reader hungry to know more than the NEED to know.

See, it’s not as hard as you thought.

Apology.

2009-12-20T15:58:00.001Z

Apologies everyone but Christmas has got the better of me. And then I thought I'm probably not alone and who wants to read about Pace with such important things as eating, drinking and pressies. So Happy Christmas every one. See you in the New Year.

PACE

2009-12-12T17:56:00.002Z

Jenny is confused by pace has she too much or too little? Katie wants to know how to sustain it. Mary Jon asks how to judge the balancing of pace?

Why is pace so important in commercial fiction? If you think page turnability instead, it makes it clear why it is. Without it the reader is more likely to give up. Without it you are unlikely to sell it in the first place.

What is pace? Pace is the engine of the book. It keeps us moving forward, it keeps us reading.

However, beware - too often pace is misunderstood and is regarded as a need for excitement, drama, cliff hangers, big events. The chapters are littered with hooks. Pace can be all of these things – in the right place, time and amount. If not treated with respect, if not controlled, then the opposite could happen and this pace will be killed off.

How? Overuse and exaggeration of pace reminds me of many of the singers on the X Factor – they belt out the songs, the louder they sing, the more noise they make the better they think they sound. We all know that is not the case.

The Engine.

Lets go back to my analogy of the engine. Humming away in the background, giving the book life and movement but unnoticed –that is pace. It is there all the time. It’s like the beating of your heart – rhythmic, stable, constant.

Suddenly the engine is revved up, just as hearts beat faster. As dramatic moments, thrills, dangers are added making us sit up, making us read.

And then the engine slows, a calmness is created. And what does that do? It highlights the drama you have just allowed to unfold, it does not diminish it.

Those singers need variation in their songs. We need variation in our writing. If there is too much drama or too much calmness then the work has a sameness to it which is the antithesis of pace.

Barbara Cartland.

Barbara Cartland is the mistress of pace. She wrote short, snappy paragraphs often of a couple of lines, which makes them easy to read, she uses hooks everywhere. There is pace in her books by the bucket load and she gets away with it.
So why can she but I advise that you don’t?
Because her books are short. If that form were used in a long book of over 100,000 words the reader would become exhausted by the relentless excitement, you would tire of it. .
I call this boom-boom pace.

Plot.

So often the most important tool of pace you have in your armoury is overlooked and that is the story itself.
A good strong plot with good strong characters which grasps the interest, holds it, leaves the reader asking for more. It is so obvious but perhaps that is why it is neglected.

Katie to sustain pace – a well structured story. Jenny a constraint on boom-boom isn’t a bad thing. And Mary Jon – you know, I think that the problems here are mainly because you are all worrying far too much. There is only one voice that will tell you honestly – dear old Inner Voice. And you can help IV by reading out loud, that will soon show up the bits that are dragging.

Once again this is a huge subject so we’ll do more next week when we look at what adds pace and what detracts.

Characterisation Part Two

2009-12-06T10:13:00.002Z

Reasons for actions.

Pause for a moment and see if you can think of anything you do without a reason for doing it?
From doing a 5 mile run in the morning or not doing it.
From shopping at Tesco rather than Waitrose.
Of choosing a blue jumper over a yellow one.
Of not answering the phone or rushing to do so.

With the little things you are not necessarily conscious of why you do something, but there’s always a reason.
Right down to why you scratched - because you had an itch.

And so it is with fictional characters but more so. Everything your character does in the tale you have given them is for a reason; you don’t waste time and words on actions that have no relevance or reason to the plot, to the character you have created. For example, you might answer the phone and it’s a wrong number - but characters in books don’t. Unless the wrong number has a significance, then it becomes relevant.

Drinking tea, coffee, gin. Often characters in books do a lot of tea consuming. Fine, people do. But we don’t simply want the information they are having a cup of tea but rather why are they? What use is it? What information does it give us other than they are thirsty? No, we need to know the reason they have stopped, they are not allowed to simply enjoy the tea but we use it, perhaps for them to be thinking, and thus give us information.

Making Characters Real.

People in books, no matter how realistic we kid ourselves they are, are not real. They are amalgams, they are fictional. If you wrote a real person exactly as they are it is doubtful that they would appear at all “real” and probably they would be immeasurably boring. So, what do we do, we exaggerate them. You don’t need to go as far as Dickens did, but at the same time, these fictional people truly are larger than life. The danger is to make them into caricatures, or clichés - so we need to keep a watch on ourselves that we are not doing that.
Also we avoid the risk of making them too similar so that the reader becomes confused as to who is who? How? I give them little tics so one is differentiated from another - fiddling with hair, whistling, nervous cough etc.

Emotional Intensity.

Something else to think about - often these characters we create lead lives of such emotional intensity that it is unlikely that a real person could sustain the pressure without being hospitalised. To maintain the pace we hurl incidents at them at an alarming rate. To get it all in within the confines of the size of the book - drama, emotional crises, tragedy or happy incidents will follow in quick succession. (Another thought, aren’t we clever to do it and yet have the reader unaware of the artificiality that it is? Time for a mutual pat on our backs.)

Handsome? Ugly?
There is always the danger that you know these people so well that you forget the reader doesn’t. We need to know what they look like, and in that we don’t mean just the colour of their hair and eyes. We need to know their size, the shape of their face, how they walk, how they sit, the sound of their voice, their laugh . . . a myriad things. Please don’t fall into the trap of a clichéd appearance – the feisty girl with red hair and green eyes; the dumb blonde. You can do better than that.

Flaws.

Are you perfect?
Do you admit to certain flaws?

And so it is with fictional characters.

Why do we give our characters flaws.
Because without them they would not be real.
Without them you risk them being boring.

With flaws you give motivation to a character perhaps the desire to overcome them. Or from their reaction to these flaws you give substance and motivation to other characters you are writing.
You write a bad person and you grab the interest of the reader for their flaws alone.

Even if you have a perfect person, for e.g a nun,
This nun is saintly but how much more appealing she will be if she has a little flaw - perhaps an addiction for jelly babies.

But you could also have an apparently saintly nun whose flaw is for gossip, or envy and again she becomes far more interesting.

You can use the big flaws to your advantage too.
For it will give you a greater understanding of the person.

Why is a woman promiscuous.
Why has another had an affair.
Why is someone an alcoholic.

Problems and the solving of them will be affected by the flaws you choose to give a character.
One who worries is going to have a bigger problem dealing with bankruptcy rather than the one who never worries about anything. The jealous woman is going to be more suspicious of her man returning late than one who does not know what jealousy is.

Dealing with conflict aided or hindered by character flaws will add to the conflict and thus the pace.

Error

2009-11-29T16:58:00.002Z

This latest blog did a bid for freedom before I had finished editing it. There will be errors and especially spelling mistakes since I am dyslexic - like so many writers are.
I wanted to add that I would appreciate some comments since there are times I feel I'm writing in a vacuum and no one is reading it, therefore, what is the point of posting?

Characterisation Part One.

2009-11-29T16:37:00.003Z

Characterization is one of those giant aspects of writing that need a couple of weeks to look at so this is the beginning.
Characters are of great importance in general market fiction. Why? Because so many of our novels are character led rather than plot led.
We want our readers to care about our main characters. (It might be a good idea to point out that caring need not simply mean liking for it can also mean concern, worry, or even hoping they get their just deserts – the prime example being Scarlet O’Hara.) Bad or good, it helps if you like them.

As I’ve told you, having decided on a theme I hang around hoping an interesting character will appear. Then when one arrives in my imagination I spend a lot of time thinking about them and making notes. It’s wise to do this since I am going to spend a lot of time with them and so it has to be someone I’m interested in. One that I can empathise with. If they are boring the book won’t get finished since who can write when they are bored? And who would buy a book with such a person as a lead character?

The more time you spend on these important characters will repay you, for, the more you know about them the more rounded they become and the danger of a one dimensional character is lessened.
I write a history of such a person: what has happened in their life so far - their schools, their home life, what illnesses they had etc.
What sort of childhood did they have for how your character interacts with others will be influenced by their upbringing. A happy child is more likely go become a confident adult, an abused child could become aggressive, defensive. On the other hand, you can turn these probables on their head and write the character as triumphing over a lousy beginning .
You might use this information, you may not, but it will have served its purpose, YOU know them inside out, you know what they will do, how they will react, how they will behave.

Names. Look at the trouble new parents go to when naming their baby. They make lists, they ask advice, they argue/. I hope we agree that names are important. Names should fit the character. Naming a fictional character can be as difficult as that new baby. Watch out for:

1. Fashions in names change. The names Alice, Hannah, Grace, unused for years
are now back. So a heroine in the 60s is unlikely to e called Grace.

2. If writing an historical it is important to check the name existed. The
prime example is Wendy which was made up by J M Barrie so you can’t have a
Victorian or Tudor Wendy.

3. Be careful not to give similar names – Mary & Marjory. Ken & Keith. I’d go
as far as to say using names of primary characters with the same letter can
confuse too.

4 . Beware of exotic names and those which are difficult to
say, for the reader will stumble and, worse, the reader
can get irritated and give up.

5 Remember you can indicate class by the name you
choose. Would a working class family have a Peregrine
robably not but an upper class one would. And a duke
is unlikely to call his daughter Charlene . . . I’ve had
people say how ridiculous, how snobby – of course it is
but it doesn’t alter that it’s true.

6. The sound of a name can be useful. Short, one syllable,
names can indicate a strong masculine feel, Matt, Rex, Pete. But
Matthew or Peter, have a softer feel to them. For heroines a soft sound is
a good idea.

7. Surnames. A surname, ideally should go with the Christian name smoothly so
the reader doesn’t stumble. The National Trust have a great site showing
the common geographical position of names. Google surname and
bewildering lists come up.

There is nothing worse than realising well into your novel and deciding a name is wrong and then to have to find one and none sound right. It’s a good idea to keep names that attract you noted down, with suitable surnames. Then the easiest thing is to check in your book and there’s one waiting for you.

To be continued . . .

Viewpoint VP.

2009-11-23T11:28:00.003Z

This is longer than usual because it is such a huge subject. We did touch on it back in August but the ABG members asked for more, so here it is.

Some people don’t understand VP. Others didn’t know it existed. Others think it unimportant. Some are afraid of it. And the lucky few just do it without thinking.

So, what’s on offer? Omniscient, is archaic and rare. It gives only the narrators POV. It can alienate the reader for there is a great risk of the voice that emerges being too authorial. However there are advantages in that there are no barriers to what is going on in other’s heads.
.
There is currently one which is fashionable - Deep 3rd which I don’t understand so I’m ignoring it – well it’s my blog! But in any case I think the conventional ones are sufficient for us.

So, we have: 1st person single. 3rd person single. 3rd person multiple to chose from.

Without doubt, choosing who is to have a viewpoint in your novel is critical.
If you want to write a single VP is it going to be written in 3rd person or is it in 1st person? It’s important to consider if they can carry a whole book – for this character has to be big enough, interesting enough, empathetic enough to sustain interest through a whole novel.

If you decide you would be better off with another VP joining – who is it to be?
The same with multiple VPs, which ones? Ask yourself how am I to arrange them, how am I going to control them?

The first thing I advise you to do is to sit down and think WHY have I chosen this particular one or two or three? Make a list - if you’re like me lists always help.

Why do I think single will be better?
Why 3rd person?
Why am I afraid of single VP?
Why multiple VPs?

What seemed like a good idea might not be so and by working through you will have saved yourself a lot of bother and work and, if you decide to change half way through, a lot of complications.

1st PERSON NARRATIVE.
Some think this is the easiest when it is one of the hardest.

DISADVABTAGES.

It is one person, who holds the story together, that person has to be strong and interesting to sustain the reader’s interest.
Remember, it is one person’s POV. Therefore, nothing can happen in your book without that person being present.
There is a big risk that the writer becomes the narrator instead of the character.

ADVANTAGES.

One can get to know this person in depth.
There is no difficulty in introducing thought processes.
Some writers worry that the ‘I’ will dominate the page when in fact they don’t.

3rd PERSON SINGLE NARRATIVE.

We have almost the same disadvantages as 1st – however with the use of 3rd then there is less risk of the author becoming the narrator.
And the same advantages exist.

MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS.

This is the most popular for a very long novel. By using several characters and their VP you are spreading the load. You are noT reliant on one person to tell your story.
But a word of warning. If you have too many “heads” you can make things too complicated, not only for yourself in controlling and balancing them, but too many differing VPs and the reader has problems identifying who is who.

What do I mean by getting the balance right? With multiples it is very easy to favour one of the characters so that the second, or third, shrinks into insignificance, so we wonder why they have such an important role?
Another thing that can happen is that you find you like writing one more than another and, when this happens, the consistency of your writing can suffer – for the simple reason you want to get back to the one you like the most.
If you feel like this then your reader will too and there’s the risk they will skim the parts of the least favoured characters.
If this happens you would be wise to ask why you have so many, and perhaps to drop one.

ADVANTAGES.

You are not restricted to how many. 2,3, 4 are common. (I’d advise no more than four, it needs a practised hand to deal with a crowd.)
With several characters VP they can play off each other.
It helps hugely with character development since they can tell us their opinion of others.
The book can move into other places, your venues are not restricted .
Multiples add interest.
By spreading the load – the risk that your character isn’t really up to being a VP is lessened.

DISADVATAGES.

As I’ve said the risk of favouring.
Too many making for confusion.
Choosing the wrong VPs.
Not making them different enough.
There is a greater risk of switching heads in the same scene.

OVERALL DANGERS.

1. Keeping to the POV chosen.
2. Switching VPs in the same scene.
3. Changing the main VP during the novel.
4. Not understanding that the VP is the characters and not the writer’s.

TIP.

If undecided what to do then take the first few paragraphs of work in progress and switch the VPs you have available and see how it reads and how it affects the characterization, the mood, the sense of the novel.

Scene Setting

2009-11-15T17:53:00.003Z

I’m a bit late and hurried today – we were taken out for a super lunch by my son and his wife. It was such a happy day. In consequance I’ve probably forgotten something important!

So, what next? You’ve decided who you want to write about and probably where they are. The setting. We touched on this back in August but I think we should look at it in greater depth because for me, scene setting is critical and can too easily be overlooked. Sometimes too much is left to the readers imagination. If you tell them where your characters are, they will still use their own imagination but you have given them the bases to build on.

Without scene setting then everyone you creat is left in limbo. By describing where they are anchors the characters; it acts like a compass for your readers; it allows them to acclimatise to the world you have created; It indicates mood. It is a tool for giving masses of information in the easiest way. And in any case it can be fun.

Lets look at those points in more depth.

Anchor/compass. If something is about to happen in your plot then where everyone is can be relevant. We’ve all been in environments where we feel secure, happy – and it will be the setting we are in which helps us feel that way. So in fiction. On the other hand you can be in a place which makes you uncomfortable, afraid – so in your book. The atmosphere you are creating with the scene setting gives pointers to the reader, which they will probably not be aware of but they are all the same.

Mood. Where they are can affect the mood, the situation, the outcome for your characters. A wood – it can be a place of peace and beauty which makes them feel happy but it can also be a creepy place. A storm – it can be dangerous, and yet it can clear the air. A sunset – happiness or sadness. Don’t forget the seasons. We all feel different at different times of the year, so use it.

Information. Where people live, where they choose to be, eat, dream can tell us much about them. The decor in a house, the furniture, the colours they use, the fabrics they have, the books they own, the paintings on the wall will give so much information as to what sort of people they are. Tidy or untidy, rich or poor, the class they are, their state of mind even. You can tell your reader so much in a concise way.

Fun. In my Sarson Magna books I created a whole village, that was enormous fun. I love old houses and there is nearly always one in my books which, invariably, I describe in depth. Houses are important to me and frequently to my characters too and so sometimes the house is virtually a character also so it is a combination with scene setting.
Tip. If a house or garden or village is important in my book then I always draw a plan so that as they move about the building there is a consistency – so, if they turn left by the front door they end up in the right room! It’s important since if you don’t notice, I can assure you one of your readers surely will.
I also make a note of what furniture is in different rooms and also the position, what pictures, minute detail. If you make a mistake and put the Stubbs in a different room then you lose credibility

And don’t forget to put a line space when changing scenes.

Plotting 2.

2009-11-09T15:09:00.003Z

So how does a plot happen? Let’s look at a story. Cinderella.
How does the story of Cinderella work as a plot? What are the factors which make us read it? It is a story of wrongful oppression but goodness triumphs.

Character led We like Cinderella, we are distressed by her unhappiness, we want her to be happy right from the start.
Contrast involves us. The stepmother and stepsisters are so horrid to her that we sympathise with her. There awfulness counterpoints how wonderful she is.

Causality. One thing leading to another thus making something else happen.
Cause and effect = plot.
Cinderella is put upon and wants to go to the ball but too much work,no clothes and the spite of her sisters prevent it.
The importance of the ball is that Prince Charming invites all the young women in his search for a bride.
The arrival of her Godmother and the granting of her wishes enables her to go.

Conflict = empowers plot. Conflict creates pace which powers the plot.

Her stepmother and stepsisters are horrible to her .
There is the worry that she may choose Buttons.
Midnight looms and the reader fears she will not realise.
The loss of the shoe.
Will the Prince find the girl who owned the slipper?

Surprise aids plot. Surprise adds pace which propels the plot.

The unexpected arrival of the godmother.
The turning of the pumpkin and mice into coach and horses.
The changing of Cinder’s rags into a ball gown.
The chimes of midnight.

Sub-plots. If you think of the main plot as a maypole then the subplots are the ribbons twining around it.
The Prince confides his concerns to Dandini. We become privy to his thoughts.

Resolution.The shoe fits.
They live happily ever after.

Dangers that may occur:

Balance of plot going awry. This can be particularly dangerous if you have a lot of subplots. it is easy to get carried away with a sub to the detriment of the main.

Plot becoming static. This happens when there is a lack of pace – the engine which drives the plot along. Without pace then the writing slows, the sags begin.

Plot becomes untenable – this can happen when there is too much pace and the outcome is disbelieve in the plot.

Plot lines fizzling out. Again often occurs when you have too many subplots and you are at a loss to know where they are to go. It is also possible to have a minor plot line, so minor that you forget that it is there.

Characters taking control. Characters can easily move you in directions you do not wish to go, then stop them. However, you would be wise to listen to them for they may be adding and not subtracting to the plot.

A special warning is to try not to fit a character you happen to like into a plot to which they don’t really belong. for you risk it becoming unbelievable.

Don’t forget the sheep. All plot lines have to be resolved one way or the other. Don’t leave them in limbo.

Cinderella is a simple story but if you use this as a check list to your own WIP it might help you, I hope so.

Plotting

2009-11-03T11:25:00.002Z

How I envy the plotters. I imagine the security they must feel as they embark on their novel, no false starts or ending up in cul-de-sacs of dead plot ideas. There it is, all laid out for them, their journey secure. However, the devil in me thinks how boring! I would hate to know what is going to happen and from that I work on the principle that if it surprises and amuses me hopefully it will do the same for my readers.

So, I’ve no idea how to plan a plot, sorry. But I can tell you the principle of plotting and what makes a successful plot and the dangers to look out for.

There are books which are driven by plot and those that are character led.

Scott Fitzgerald said “plot is character and characters plot.” This is true but then not strictly true. There are books which are led by their characters and what they get up to makes the plot. However there are novels with abstract concepts, there are thrillers, crime, science fiction books with more plot than characterisation.

Plot.

A plot is created from significant events which create consequences which enable the plot to evolve and for it to continue.
Plot grows and changes in the telling. It is driven by these events.

Character led.

It is what it says, it is the characters and what happens to them which controls the events which unfold and the story develops out of the characters experiences. There may be one main character, there might be a group, but all are on a journey of some sort – emotional or intellectual. And, as in life, along the way, these characters change, evolve and reach a conclusion, a solution.

But, it is not a case of simply relating what is happening to them, there needs to be a framework – consequences appear which create tensions, which enables the story to evolve.

And when character led it is essential that the reader cares about the characters and can identify with them. Don’t forget though, that to care does not simply mean to be concerned but can also mean that one cares that they get their just deserts if you’ve chosen to write a baddy.
And you would be wise, simply because you’ve created a fabulous character, not to try to fit them into a plot where they don’t belong.

All my novels are character led for it suits middle market fiction.

Control.

Once the plot or story line has been decided, it’s a good idea to try to keep it under control since plots have a way of meandering off on their own – arriving at dead ends and a lot of wasted time. So, it’s wise to keep a grip on it, and be constantly evaluating if it is working, if what you are putting down is relevant.
It helps to keep asking the Ws:

Why? As in why are they doing this.
When? As in when are they doing this in relation to before and after.
What? As in what happens next.
Who? Is this relevant to the character who is doing it.
Where? The place, and why there?

Skeleton.

It helps me to think of the plot as a skeleton. And as the bones in our body need to be strong or we can’t stand up, so it is with your novel. Everything else is added to this skeleton – character, scene setting, viewpoint – just as nerves and muscle are joined to the skeleton.

This, I think is enough for today for it is a big subject so we’ll return to it next week. I’m sorry I was late but a frantic social life got in the way!

The Adventure Begins

2009-10-25T09:11:00.003Z

We agreed, as there are so many stories and writers so there are many different ways to write a novel. Whichever route you take it is an awesome task. I am always amazed when holding that first copy of a new novel in my hands to think – Did I really do this? Such is the uphill climb, such is the enormity of the task.

Please remember that all these little blogs I write are telling you how I do it, not how it should be done. This is never more obvious than in the setting out.

Themes

I have begun every single book I’ve written with a theme.
There are the stalwarts:

Rags to riches.
Rites of passage.
Prodigals

And then I have my own which do vary and yet at the same time they are recurring. Class.
Rejection (social and emotional.)
Affect of money.
Relocation (taking a person from a familiar environment and into an unfamiliar.) These four constantly bubble away beneath a main abstract theme – for example sibling rivalry or jealousy or grief.

When a possible theme sticks in my mind I will then mull it over. I sometimes brainstorm and write a list of words relevant to this theme.
For e.g. Family was the theme. So I made my list, and a very long one it was. Love, marriage, birth, betrayal, jealousy, rivalry, death etc etc. Then I made notes against various words which I felt I might use later – some I did but most did not feature. But in doing this exercise, thought processes get kicked into action and, being a non-plotter, I have a starting point of sorts.

A theme, you see, is not the plot, it is the impetus behind it and helps propel it.

It needs thought and a lot of it, for, this theme you choose needs to be strong enough to sustain the whole novel. And one that can diversify thus creating other strands to expand the plot – create sub-plots.

And this theme can be so strong, so big, that in fact it becomes the plot.
An example of this is Clare’s War. The theme was war. But which war? Why war? What kinds of war? In the finished novel there are three ‘wars’ winding through. The war of the allies against the Germans.
The war of the French against the Vichy government.
And Clare’s personal war as she changes from child to woman.

Why are my themes recurring? Because they are important to me.
Relocation because as a child I was evacuated from a terrace house to a stately home, and it affected the rest of my life.
Class because in the 50s I experienced the intolerance of the English class prejudice first hand and it angered me.
Rejection because it is akin to class and emotional rejection never leaves one.
Money I have witnessed how often an abundance of money can damage lives.

For me it is a good way to start but it might not be for you.
From my theme, you see, my plot evolves.

THE END

2009-10-18T09:29:00.003+01:00

So, where does the end start? You’ve been aiming for the end from the very beginning. And along the way you have had lots of mini beginnings – the start of new scenes, the start of new chapters – so you’ve had many mini-ends. But each one of them has been leading to the big one – The End.

The plotters among us will know what the finale is to be. The ones who wing it, like me, will have no idea what it will be, where it will be, even if it is happy or sad. Though there have been books where I’ve known the last line; this is particularly odd since often, at the time, this line means nothing to me and I’ve no idea what it relates too. (Don’t you sometimes find writing is a spooky occupation?)

Single plot, single viewpoint.

If you have one plot all well and good but if you have sub-plots then don’t forget that they will need a satisfactory ending too – all of them. Similarly minor characters need to be tidied away. Nothing annoys more than loose ends. The great publisher at Chatto and Windus, the late Norah Smallwood, referred to this as “gathering in your sheep.”

There should never be a cause for a reader to query – what happened to?

The gathering of sheep is less complicated in a single VP – but even then mistakes can be made and characters which were once important to the plot, or to the main characters, get forgotten and left behind.

This is where keeping a time line comes in handy, it’s an easy way to show you that you’ve left Aunt Maud, who was such a help to your heroine, in limbo.

Multiple Viewpoints and sub-plots.

When you have say 3 VPs then, of necessity, there are three lots of herds to be tended. If you can think of them independently it does make things easier.

For a long time with multiple VPs, apart from the main typescript, I’ve also filed each VP’s chapters, separately. So instead of having to search through the whole, each person has their own folder. It makes checking that much easier and of course, each one has their own time line. (I started doing this for another important reason but I’ll explain that more fully when we get to discussing Viewpoint.)

Resolution.

Resolution of any conflicts or problems you have created. As there is resolution to the main story line, don’t forget that resolution is needed for all the sub-plots no matter how minor they appear.

Tailing off.

Once past the middle of the book with all its problems, it’s a good idea to start thinking of tailing things off, how long do you want a sup-plot to continue; do you still need this character? This is because the last thing you need is a clutter at the end, an army of people milling about. It’s far better for the book and the characters if everything is cleared to allow the end to involve the main protagonists.

Happy or Sad?

Although with a romance a happy ending is anticipated, with relationship novels, which I write, then it is not necessarily the case. I’ve written sad endings to several of my books for the simple reason it was what the book dictated. A couple I had to dig my heels in and fight for, but for me it was the only possible outcome and in the end my editors agreed.

The worst thing, for me, is the end. I always find it sad. After all you’ve lived with these characters for so long, they’ve become friends, why you know them better than you know your real friends, since you know their innermost thoughts. Saying goodbye to them makes me cry, and it happens every time!

Sagging Middles

2009-10-11T08:58:00.002+01:00

The middle of the novel is, without doubt, the danger zone. At the beginning of the book you are fired up with excitement, your mind is teeming with ideas, you even dare to think this is easy. And then? It’s a bit like driving on the motorway, there you are, zooming along, when the traffic begins to slow and finally you come to a halt. So it can happen with your writing.

This is the point when you think everything you’ve written is rubbish, that no one will want to read this novel let alone buy it. You are convinced that agents and editors will run screaming from your opus. Just as in middle age there’s a risk of body parts going south, so with the novel there’s the risk of the sagging middle. I have yet to meet an author who does not complain of this problem.

It is understandable. By now you’ve been with the characters you’ve created for a long time and, dare one say, you’re getting bored with them and their endless problems and angst. And you’re feeling tired too and all the doubts of your ability come flooding in.

It is a dangerous time, for this is the point where so many YUPs (Yet UnPublished) give up, convinced they cannot do it.

You are not alone! I’ve yet to meet a writer who doesn’t complain and suffer this problem. I use the word suffer advisedly, for it is a truly miserable time, the self-doubt is excruciating.

So, what to do?

The first thing is to take a break from it. Do something else. Go away for the weekend. Put it away for a couple of days. You’ve got too close, you need a bit of space between you and the work in progress.

Then reread what you’ve written. Try to pinpoint where you feel it is going wrong. Look for places where it is dragging – perhaps there is too much prose; perhaps repetition has appeared; perhaps predictability has crept in; perhaps none of these and you can reassure yourself that it is all in your imagination.

What if the conclusion you reach is that you do have a problem, that it wasn’t just your imagination. What to do? This might be time for a big plot shift, which will re-ignite, not only your interest and confidence, but it will give life to the book. This is not a band-aid, if the problem is serious then this is resuscitation.

What plot move?

Introduce a new character.
Perhaps there is a sudden death.
A new love interest will help, particularly if you’re writing a romance.
You could add a mystery or a puzzle.
A new conflict. Conflict is a great tool, adding tension and excitement.

Then decide if this works. You might find that you were worrying unnecessarily and the new plot shift does not sit well – then go back to the original.
However, you might find yourself thinking “this is so much better” then leave it in.

Problem solved. The worst is over then you can begin to concentrate on the end.

Lovely Blog Award

2009-10-08T14:32:00.003+01:00

Liz Fenwick made my day by giving me this award which I’m so pleased to accept.

And now the rules say:
1) Accept the award, and don’t forget to post a link back to the awarding person.
2) Pass the award on.
3) Notify the award winners.

I would like to give the award to Janice, her blog is so different, makes me feel I’m stepping back in time and has a charm of its own, and to Norman Geras, his blog each week has something of interest to read about books, but, importantly, often makes me stop and think.

Where to Begin?

2009-10-04T10:14:00.002+01:00

Everyone starts a novel in a different way. With a theme or a plot. Some start with a character. Some with a single sentence. Others with a place. The choice is wide, the choice is yours.

Which do I do? I’m a theme person. Class. Rejection. Greed. Jealousy. Money. Each of these have sent me off on the adventure. What about a book on sibling rivalry? Then I think about it and then I make notes of what the theme means, where it can go, words related to the theme and it begins to form.

I’m not a plotter. Which doesn’t mean I don’t wish I was. To have a plot mapped out for the whole book must be a great comfort. Whereas, diving in, as I do, with little idea what is going to happen, simply paddling frantically towards an end about which I have no concept – that is scary. I always thought it was rather unprofessional too, not what a proper writer should do. So once I plotted a whole book, took me days. What happened? After 1000 words I’d gone off on a different tack.

Not knowing what is going to happen keeps me interested and hopefully it will have the same effect on my readers. If I can surprise myself then I can surprise them.

The true beginning of a novel is the title. What makes a good one? Ideally one that gives a hint of the flavour of a book – not always possible. One that is easy to say, to remember, and, don’t forget, one that fits the cover!

YUPs often think the beginning is the first page but it isn’t it is the first third of your story. And a beginning can be anywhere in your story.
You can:
Begin in the past, and then go immediately to the present.
Begin with the middle and go back and once at the middle again go forward.
Begin at the present, and then go back.
Begin at the present and go forward, which is how most books are written.

What do we need to do in this start?
It helps if you let the reader know the type of book you are writing.
That you set the scene – the where are we?
Introduce your main characters and it will help you if you do this as soon as possible.

And don’t forget the mini beginnings - the start of every new chapter.

Warnings

I constantly see advice that the start of a novel must be as strong and memorable as you can make it – those wretched hooks people go on about. The angst that is expended trying to make a strong and unforgettable first sentence, first paragraph etc. All very well, but beware. Do this only if you can maintain this high momentum. How often have you started a book on the basis of a fabulous beginning only to find, several pages further on, that this has petered out and the writing is pedestrian.

Beware of too many characters too soon. Too many leads to confusion. It’s far better to introduce them slowly.

Last of all, I often think that too much time can be spent on the start of a novel. Why? If there is no plot, then the story may change and the beginning no longer fit when you get to the end. If this is a first novel then it is likely that your style will have changed by the time you reach the end certainly your writing will be better, you will have learnt many skills. And by the finish, you find either you no longer like the start or it is no longer the right one. Of all my novels I should think only half a dozen have the original beginnings.

This weeks FAQ.
Mary Jon asked: When you've been rejected, should you write a thank-you to the agent for taking the time? . . . Is it done?

My answer would be that I think this would be a lovely thing to do. It shows good manners, it shows no rancour, and, of course, it ensures you are remembered.

The Next Book

2009-09-27T09:51:00.003+01:00

Mary Jon and Jo asked how: “How do you get into the next book?
Is it just a matter of writing more to get into it?”

I have to say I’ve never had any problem with this. Often my publishers would ask me if I cared to write a book about a certain subject, Clare’s War is one and On Call another. If I liked their ideas then I would do them, but I was once asked if I would write about horse racing and I turned it down since it was not something I was interested in.

Otherwise, what usually happens is that about 2/3rds through a novel a theme for the next one comes chuffing in – I liken them to trains arriving and leaving stations, I even visualise them as such; honestly, if you pause and think about it, we writers do have the oddest minds. I wonder if our brains are wired differently?
While finishing the work in hand I can’t afford to concentrate on this new one, but if odd ideas come I will make a note of them – you think you’ll remember but you never do. But subconsciously it is bubbling away and building.

One book finished and the new adventure begins. But for me this cannot begin until I have a character – not necessarily a main one – to start with. I liken it to waiting for a blind date to come along.

My advice to my YUPs (yet unpublished) is don’t worry too much about the beginning getting the story down is more important, for often, with me, the beginning changes sometimes several times. And, don’t forget something else, your style, if new, will change too. You will be a better writer at the end than you were when you set out.

Now, presenting this idea of yours, written or not, to the publisher is always a tricky problem no matter how many books you’ve had published. You’ve got to enthuse them too. So, how? The blurb (A synopsis tells and a blurb sells – should be written over every writers desk!) If you spend days making it up then that is time well spent. You use it to sell, you use it to interest editors you meet.

The Romantic Novelists Association parties are, I sometimes think, akin to speed dating – you have a few seconds to grab the attention of publishers and agents who attend. Like other people’s dreams nothing is more flat than gabbling the plot of a novel. But a pithy blurb? With it you encapsulate the book, excite the listener and hopefully hear those words, “I’d like to read the 1st three chaps, please send . . .’ That dream of all my YUPs. And then, when accepted, marketing bless you for that brilliant, short, succinct few words of yours for they will be used in publicity and go on the cover. Nothing wasted, time SO well spent.

e.g. Money, spite, jealousy and a noble Edwardian family is destroyed.
There is the theme, the status, the period and the consequence.

"Is it a case of writing more?" Mary Jon and Jo asked. Well, no, it isn’t. For every time the start of a new novel has always been a time of intense excitement. I’d go as far as to say that if I didn’t feel that I would give up.

There is a danger with next books and that is too many ideas floating around. Imo, one of the first things a writer should learn, is to control these ideas. Learn to put a lid on them and file them away.

Synopsis and blurb deserve blogs of their own I think, so I’ll do them next, I’ve no time now I’m so immersed in the book I’m writing.

Guilt and Writing

2009-09-21T09:19:00.002+01:00

There was a lot of guilt about last week! So much that I began to wonder if it was catching. Two Yup writing friends (yup – as in Yet Un-Published) wrote to say they were thinking of giving up because they felt so GUILTY not contributing to the family finances. Then two more arrived - one laden with GUILT that she spent too much time writing and not enough with her family. The last from one who felt, since she wasn’t yet published that she felt GUILTY wasting her time and perhaps should do something else.

Did you notice? All four were women. What is it with us that we suffer so from this problem? Do men? I’d be surprised if they did! It appears we arrive on this planet with guilt stored in our genes, often, it seems, released, with the arrival of children – and life is a roller-coaster of guilt from then on.

For my writers there is little I can say or advise. What solution is there? Only one, to ignore it and get on with the novel. Easier said than done, I know. I do believe that the lucky ones are those who are selfish and don’t suffer culpability but I guess selfishness is something you are born with and cannot develop from choice.

When I started to write I fell in love with it and became obsessed to the exclusion of everything else – I didn’t want to socialise, go on holiday; I simply wanted to write. It was not fair on my family. A compromise had to be reached. So, I gave up working on Sunday and later added Saturday. The problem occurs when your partner does not understand the obsession that writing can become – writers needing writers yet again.

As to my friend who felt she had given it long enough and should pursue another course – well my feeling, and I told her, was that deep down she didn’t want to do it anymore for most writers to stop would be like losing an arm.

Then to top it all I had a phone call from a YUP who was in tears. Her husband, who had never read her work – not his cup of tea - had been nagging her to give up and get a “proper” job. She obviously wasn’t going to succeed, he said. She loves him, what was she to do? Since, unlike me, she could not consider kicking him out, there was little comfort I could give her. I did however point out that once she was a great success no doubt his attitude would change when the money came rolling in!

TRUNCATED WORDS.

Jan asked about the use of truncated words; aren’t, wouldn’t etc. I don’t know if there are any rules (I hate rules) but what I stick to is – conversation I use them and when a character is internalising but not in narrative passages. But beware if writing an historical for then they would not sit happily in some conversation.

Criticism and How to Survive It.

2009-09-13T17:16:00.002+01:00

You could say this subject is akin to Inner Voice since when dealing with other people’s opinions then that voice is your life raft, hang on to it, ignore it at your peril.

Criticism is painful. Criticism can be ignored. Criticism should be acted upon. Criticism is valuable. It’s odd but everyone of these, even though they contradict each other, is true.

Criticism is painful. No one likes their work to be criticised – you’re close to it, have laboured over it, may even love it.(I met one writer who kissed her manuscript goodnight and tucked it up in a draw wrapped in a cot blanket – that, I’d say, was going a tad too far.)
My initial reaction to criticism is plain fury - I want to kill the critic. I don’t get hurt, I get angry which is, for me, a good thing. Because anger produces an ‘I’ll show ‘em!’ reaction which is good and I no longer want to murder anyone.

Criticism can be ignored. When can you ignore a crit? When it is from someone who does not understand and is unsympathetic to your genre. There are always people who regard commercial fiction as rubbish, without knowing or studying it. Ignore them.
What to do when a crit comes and dear old Inner Voice is screaming “I like it as it is!” - then I think it’s time to carefully weigh what has been said, and if you still think they are wrong then believe in yourself.

Criticism should be acted upon. If criticism is well meant then I think it is wise to study what has been said, take it on board and then act on anything which you find you agree with or jettison it when, again, the Inner Voice advises it.

Criticism is valuable. If it is from someone you trust, someone who understands your field, non-malicious and logical then that is valuable. For, when writing a novel with its various drafts, false starts, and, if you're like me, endless fiddling, then it is easy to stop being able to read it impartially and there is a risk of hating it or loving it too much. Then someone else’s opinion is valuable.

See how often inner voice is involved – it’s the link to all of them.

My advice would be: The mantra should always be: THIS IS ONLY ONE PERSON’S OPINION.

And do be careful who you show your work to. If you show half a dozen people you will get half a dozen opinions. Result? Confusion.

A cautionary tale. When I was 26 I began a novel. I loved writing it but was unsure if I was doing it right. I asked two friends to read it for me. One was a Professor at the Sorbonne, the other was the producer of the cult film Siddhartha. If I had tried I could not have chosen two more unsuitable people – intellectuals to their fingertips. I found them rolling on the floor with laughter, “What rubbish!” they declared. Sadly I put it away.
Thirty odd years later, now a published author, I found the manuscript, how bad was it? I forced myself to read this cringe making start of a novel. I read it, and to my horror I found there was no difference in that young woman’s work and what I was doing now! Just think of all the books I might have written had I chosen the right critics. Or, I had ignored them. Or I had listened to . . .?

Research, My Way.

2009-09-06T17:06:00.003+01:00

Mary Jon, one of the group I mentor, asked: “I remember you warning not to get caught up in research . . . Because your novels are all so diverse, do you have a system? Limits you set?”

There’s nothing worse than a book with creaking research. By that I mean:
Incorrect. Nothing enrages a reader more than a fact which is wrong. It destroys your integrity – that bond which you have with your reader.
Laboured. This comes from including all you know. Then the writing becomes turgid and boring.
Obvious So many facts not interwoven but simply written down that there is a risk of appearing a know all and another cause to annoy the reader.

Dangers. The first one is the problem of too much research being used. This comes from not wanting to waste any of it when you worked so hard to find it in the first place. Though there are those who need to show off how much they know.

The second is that research can become seductive to the point where it becomes more important than the book, to the extent that the book never gets written.

What do I do? And please remember this is not a recommendation but simply my method.

For me, immersion is the key.

I read around the subject, biographies, social history, geography, look at paintings, fashion plates, photographs, watch films and listen to the music of the time I’m working on. Lastly I Google like mad. I familiarise myself with the time, the place, the people. I soak up the environment.

I think the crucial point is I make no notes; it is amazing how much you remember, the masses you have absorbed. If I made them I fear I would want to use them, especially a delicious original fact but one that is not relevant – I would weaken, I’m sure I would.

Then I begin the book relying on this information and at the end, any facts I have stated, descriptions, clothes habits et al, I check they are correct. This way, I hope, the research I have done sits easily in the pages and yet there is a veracity to it.

It’s very much an iceberg situation two thirds of what I’ve learnt I don’t use.

Obviously if it is an historical novel and a fact is used, such as a war, or an act of parliament then I check that out there and then for, make a mistake, and the whole novel could be out of kilter.

If you are writing a modern novel then don’t get lulled into the idea of because you’ve lived through it there will be no need for research. There will be, we can make mistakes about yesterday just as easily.

And then there are the strange things that happen. I was writing a book called Avarice my characters went to Oregon – not something I intended, and a place I’d never been. I wrote of a lake with water as blue as the sky. The book finished I checked out Oregon where there are lakes of such blue . . . etc. Mundanely caused by a chemical reaction. Now where did that little piece of information come from? It must have been a picture I’d seen and forgotten, but my brain hadn’t.

Who Shall I Choose?

2009-08-31T08:21:00.003+01:00

This is a really big subject which needs more than a blog to deal with it, I’ve tried to make it as simple as possible but if you need help then I’m happy to be of assistance. Go to my web site: www.anitaburgh.com and leave a message.

One of the biggest decisions you make for your novel is whose story are you going to tell? Who would you rather spend an evening with? A boring, self-obsessed wimp, or, an intelligent vital, giving, person. It’s the same with your book. It’s a big decision because, this person or persons have to be interesting enough to appeal to the reader for the length of the book. And so it’s time to consider viewpoint (VP).

There are rarely used ones such as the omniscient – when it is the narrators VP only – the classics are a good place to find this. But for today let’s look at the most common used in modern novels – the first and third person VP.

Viewpoint is critical. The famous editor Jane Wood said that she turned down more books because of poor control of VP than any other reason. The dangers she talks of?
Switching VP in the same scene.
Suddenly changing the main VP during the novel.
Forgetting that the VP is that of the character and NOT the author.

Some of the people I’ve taught don’t understand VP. Others didn’t know it existed. Others think it unimportant. Some are afraid of it. And the lucky few just do it without thinking.
How many viewpoints are you having? That’s the next important consideration. You can have as many as you want - it’s up to you. However, the more you have the more complicated and difficult it becomes.

First person singular. Often new writers think this is the easiest. In fact it is very hard to do for several reasons: it is one person’s POV only. Nothing can happen without that person being present. It is necessary to make this one person interesting enough to sustain the reader’s interest throughout the whole novel. There is a real risk that the writer becomes the narrator instead of the character.
There are advantages: one can get to know this person in depth. There is no difficulty in introducing thought processes – such as looking in mirrors, using prods to introduce thought. People worry that the ‘I’ will dominate the page and irritate but in a good book one is not aware of it.
I’v written only one novel in 1st person – Clare’s War. I did not intend to but started in 3rd but it was not working, when I nervously switched to 1st it worked. (Inner voice, you see.)

3rd Person Singular.
We have the same disadvantages as 1st. and, there’s the risk of other characters being more interesting than the main. And the same advantages. .
Less risk of author becoming the narrator. The book I’m writing at the moment, Returns, is in this VP as was The Family and Distinctions of Class among others.
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Multiple viewpoints. This is the most popular for a very long novel, and in so many ways the easiest and yet be careful, too many and you make your life very difficult. It is hard because it’s easy for the reader to become confused – and it’s easy for the author to get confused too!
Lets look at the disadvantages.
Getting the balance right – it is too easy to concentrate on one and not the other. If you do this ask yourself why do I want, or need, multiple VPs?
There’s a risk of the reader favouring one over another and skimming those they are not interested in.
And you may prefer one character and risk unbalancing your writing.
Take care not to switch POV in the same scene. If you have two of your characters, who you have honoured with being VPs, in the same scene it’s very easy to slip into using both. (we’ve all done it but if anyone notices oh dear, dear me!)
There are advantages:
You can have as many as you want. Each plays off the other. Which helps with the development of character.
The book can move into other places, your venues are not restricted .
Others opinions can be stated which adds interest.
Spreading the load – which lessens the risk if you character isn’t really up to being a VP.

I’ve had people say they will put in as many as they want, and switch in scenes. Of course you can but if you do you are making life far more difficult for yourself.

A good tip is to take the first few paragraphs of work in progress and switch the VPs and see how it reads and how it affects the characterization, the mood, the sense of the novel.

As always this is how I see it.

Present or Past?

2009-08-24T10:09:00.001+01:00

In writing a novel it’s a good idea to decide at the very beginning who the main characters are; the viewpoint you are going to use; which tense you will choose. The reason is simple, once started and with a lot written, to change is difficult and tiresome.

Lorna wrote “I have a query about tense and what are the pros and cons of using present instead of past imperfect tense?”

Oh,Lorna a difficult one! It’s difficulty, for me, lies in the fact that I don’t like books written in present tense – so I’ll try to look at the problem without prejudice.

The first question is what do you want your readers to feel? You no doubt want them to believe that the world you are creating is real and happening. What a paradox then that past tense is more common in novels.

What sort of book are you writing? There is an immediacy to present tense which adds pace to your narrative, a sense of happening of witnessing, of reality; it is why it suits thrillers, you only have to think of Chandlers work.

Something else to consider. To work, present tense has to be so well written that the reader should not be aware of it – this requires skill. Editors are used to the past tense, unless you are really skilled then you are adding another hurdle to being accepted. On the other hand, if you have cracked it, it will certainly make your work stand out.

Consider also that when writing in the present it is very easy to slip into the past and less likely the other way around. And I can foresee difficulties when writing about a character’s own past and my mind begins to whirl at how flashbacks will be handled.

Readers hate to be confused and so I would strongly advise not playing with these tenses, switching during different sections of the novel – perhaps if you are writing for the literary market but I think there might be problems with commercial fiction.

To sum up, ignoring my prejudice, I honestly think that it complicates an already difficult task. If you can do it seamlessly that is another matter. If your inner voice is screaming at you to go the present tense route, well, you know I think you have to follow the voice, which is the boss.

Lorna also wants to discuss first person vis-à-vis third. We’ll do that next week.

And please everyone whatever I write is my opinion only!

PS: Liz posted in comments that she is using present tense in a diary she is writing in her wip. I should have thought of that. And in letters too

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The Problematic Past

2009-08-17T17:02:00.001+01:00

In middle market fiction, editors look for immediacy, for action, for characters set firmly in their present. And characters that are real, believable, and ones that the reader will like and care about – it has to be said that if they don’t then we have failed.

We all have a past as do the characters in our books. They arrive with their baggage, just as real people do. Their past is relevant since people are moulded by it. But how they are and any problems you give them need to be relevant to the type of person you’ve created and, importantly, to the plot.

So, given that the present is so important, how do we deal with this past?

If you meet a person for the first time you don't expect to know everything about them immediately, do you? You learn about them bit by bit, you get to know them, make judgements about them. So it is in a book.
Too much too soon will not only slow pace but you will lose the immediacy. I prefer to drip feed the information, it is far safer that way.

First and foremost we need our readers to like or be interested or to have a concern for the person we are writing about. When this is achieved, their curiosity is woken and they want to know more. Ideally this is when you slip in information about the past, or even use flashbacks.

Just plonking it in, when you want to inform, does not work. It is unnatural, and it is clumsy. So how to do it?
Remember the triggers of memory - which take you back; a smell, a piece of music, a sound etc.
You can use conversation with the so helpful Do you remember?
And don't forget that someone else can relay information from the past about others in the book.

However, there are times when it is necessary to tell about the past very early, and then my advice is if you can’t keep it brief, then writing a large amount about this person’s past is easier at the beginning and I would try and get it as close to the start as possible.

If you use flashbacks to inform then please make sure that you make it obvious that there is a shift in time. You can say so. You can leave a line space which will indicate a different time.

As with everything in writing it is important to ask yourself constantly how necessary is this information? Do we need to know this? Is it relevant to the story? Does it further the plot, the characterisation? Or, ask, am I being self-indulgent.

Rest assured, the intertwining of the past, making it flawless and interesting is difficult and hard to do.

Scene Setting

2009-08-10T12:44:00.002+01:00

Without doubt everybody approaches writing in diverse ways. They have different techniques, routines and styles. If you give an idea for a story to a hundred people you will get one hundred stories which are dissimilar not only in content but in style too. Long may it be so because this diversity is what adds the sparkle, the excitement, the interest and the magic.

However, it is unlikely that you will enjoy all the stories. Some you will merely like, others you will want to read again and again, and no doubt there will be those you hate. Some will be easy to read and some impossible. You can’t like everything you read, nor can you, as an author, please everyone who picks up your book.

Nor, it has to be said can you agree with everything that is said to you about writing. A few weeks back I was listening to a panel of established writers who, among other aspects of their craft, were discussing the importance of scene setting in a novel. I could not believe it when most of them said that scene setting should be kept to a minimum and one said she never put it in. My instinct was to jump up, and argue – I didn’t and I’ve regretted that I didn’t.

You see, for me, scene setting is critical, it’s up there with characterization in its importance. Where the book is set, the time, the place, the ambience are, for me, vital. If you don’t set the scene then your characters are in limbo. There will be a sterility to your work. You are also foregoing a useful tool for where they live, and how and what your characters choose to live with are great indicators of what sort of people they are.

I once started a novel with a detailed description of a building. My editor objected – too detailed, no action, that it was not a good idea to start with such narrative she said. But I argued that the building was an integral part of the story, virtually a character in its own right and it was allowed.

This minimal use of scene setting which our writers were talking about, I found myself wondering if it is linked to the fear of telling when they should be showing. I think this has gone too far. What is so wrong with descriptive telling? Sometimes, by not doing so, we belittle our readers, fearing they won’t understand or like what we are offering them. To me it is uncomfortably close to the TV directors fears that the viewer only has a limited concentration span. So that fear of boring the reader restricts the writer. Certainly too much and you risk slowing the pace and boring the reader but a judicious dollop of it, as in scene setting, won’t impede pace and if well written won’t bore but will entrance.

A Funny Old Business.

2009-08-03T16:04:00.003+01:00

Writing is a funny old business. If you think about it, it is the ego trip of all time. You scribble away, your thoughts pouring out onto the page - your being the operative word. The author is in total control, spouting off if the mood takes them. Shall we make them laugh, shall we make them cry? The only restriction being, is it right for the novel?

The author creates a world which is uniquely theirs and populated with characters of their choosing. Bored with a person, they kill them off, or send them to Australia. The power we have can be quite intoxicating. We can even control what the weather will be.

Finished, the words on the page go out into the world and people read them and react to them – perhaps not in the way you envisaged but then any reaction is better than non! What pulls one up short is the realisation that to do so they have shelled out hard earned cash. Now do you see what I mean about ego?

Yet the confusion continues for that word - ego - implies confidence and certainty. But the odd thing is that the author on this trip is unlikely to be either of these. There is one thing that unites most writers and that is the conviction that they can’t write, what they have done is rubbish, that they are not proper writers but frauds, and they are astonished that anyone would want to read a word of what they have written. Strange isn’t it?

(Of course there are writers who think that everything they do is absolutely brilliant but it’s best if I don’t get started on them, it might get a bit explosive. Suffice to say all the very successful authors I know come into ‘I write rubbish,’ category. )

It has to be said that writing for publication is not a career for the fainthearted. Not only do we have this self-doubt to deal with but we then have the agony of waiting to hear what agents and editors think of it. This is not easy, you understand, when you think it is piffle in the first place. Criticism has to be endured, taken on board and acted upon.

It is presumed that you are grateful for this criticism and accept that it is part of the job. Personally, despite what I think about my work, I always want to put an axe through the critic’s head. I don’t of course, I smile as a mature author should and thank them graciously, while boiling inside. But there’s another mystery – after reflection, I acknowledge that they are right, that work is needed on a particular section, that this character is not realistic etc just as they pointed out. And I put my axe away but what has happened? My feeling that everything I do is rubbish is verified.

Funny old business, writing.

That Inner Voice

2009-07-28T15:52:00.002+01:00

By referring to the Inner Voice in my last blog, I’ve started something. I’ve had so many writers contact me either asking what do I mean by it, or what a load of cobblers, and others falling about laughing.

So, let me try to explain what I mean. The Inner Voice (IV for convenience) is within all of us – I’m ignoring the doubters. It’s that nagging that goes on when you have written something and it’s wrong; you know it is but you can’t be bothered to do anything about itl Perhaps it is late and you’re tired or you think you know better or a gin and tonic is calling you. IV does not let you off.
“That 3rd paragraph on page 112 is rubbish,” it says. Still you ignore it. But I can guarantee, from personal experience, that when it reaches editing stage, a note will come from your editor – “3rd para page 112 something wrong! “

The voice is always on duty even though you are unaware of it, pointing out repetitions, clichés and those crutch words we all have. For me it is just as well for when I write it is often on auto-pilot. I write quickly and simply don’t have time to register them, but darling IV does, remembers them and points them out later.

That Inner Voice is your best friend. It is the one that you can rely on totally. If you have a decision to make about character or plot, or even which book to write then up it pops. Mine speaks to me but not everyone’s does ’s but it’s there. A gut feeling. It nearly always knows best.

The most dramatic for me was during the writing of my breakout novel. I had written 30,000 words and IV, day in and day out, was wittering away. “What about Alice. Why don’t you tell her story ?” (Alice was a minor character.) I was new, I’d only had two novels published and did not know what was going on. So, feeling a bit sheepish I said aloud – “OK, I’ll give you a week. Let’s see what the story is you want to tell.” So I put my work away and began what became a trilogy with Alice the main character in every one. See why I never ignore it?

The main problem is recognising it. Knowing it is there. Learning to listen. I promise you it makes everything so much easier when you do.

For Jo, who wrote to me – go with it. That’s your Inner Voice giving you sound advice.

Pace - my thoughts.

2009-07-19T12:31:00.003+01:00

An interesting question popped up this week on my AB Group. Can one have too much pace in a novel, a couple asked? Since, in commercial fiction, pace and page turn-ability are so closely linked, it made me stop and think.

Without pace then a book can soon become dull and one stops reading it. Too much pace and credibility is lost.

To my mind, How To books can be dangerous, especially when you register how much they recommend the use of hooks – for hooks, they say, create pace and encourage you to read on . . . Or do they?

“You need a hook with the first sentence – hooking the reader into the story.”
“Hooks are essential in the middle of a chapter.”
“You MUST end each chapter on a hook.”
Why?

I can see it being necessary for a thriller – leaving the reader guessing and panting for more. But then most thrillers are comparatively short and a reader can take the pounding. Barbara Cartland wrote short books, short chapters and short paragraphs to give her books pace and they most certainly have it. One can read them in one sitting, but it is the shortness that permits her to do this. I call hers boom-boom pace. For a book of say 130,000 words that amount would exhaust the reader.

Pace to me should be varied. Of course there are times when a story calls for it but it is too easy to sacrifice scene setting and descriptive passages because a writer is obsessed with pace and is afraid she will slow it down - then the book suffers with their exclusion. Be warned though, too much descriptive writing can kill pace and the book will suffer from that - what a confusing topic writing is!

So, what tools do we have to add it. Life is a mixture of quiet times and troubled times, such contrasts give us pace. One action leading to another.
A surprise in your plot one that shakes the reader. And crisp writing with unnecessary words pruded ruthlessly. And don’t forget how dialogue speeds a book along.

But the best instrument for creating pace that you have is a good strong plot with well thought out characters which will keep your reader bowling along.
Above all the reader should be unaware of what you are doing

Having said all of this what conclusion have I reached? That it depends on the genre how much you allow. That a good story will create its own pace. That nothing in wiritng is simple. That the How to books have a point, but then so do I!

Final conclusion. Listen to your inner voice, it will tell you what to put in and what to leave out. This is how I see it, others might think differently.

Bastille Day

2009-07-14T17:58:00.001+01:00

This got posted by mistake on another blog so apologies if you read it twice!

This should have been posted in advance as a sort of warning for those travelling to France who do not know that July 14th is sacrosanct, and don’t attempt it if you want to eat!

Last year we went to France on Bastille Day. As we bowled along we were thrilled at the lack of traffic and made quick time to our hotel near Rouen. We knew the hotel well but the welcome was not up to the usual standard, they were grumpy to say the least. When we asked for the dinner menu we were regarded as imbeciles. There was no dinner. A sandwich? No sandwiches. No problem, we’d get something at the supermarket. Everywhere shut!

The dinner we had dreamt about, talked about all the way from Calais was, eventually, one small Snickers bar divided in half and ditto with an apple I nicked from a bowl at reception.

The French are a constant mystery – they didn’t bat an eyelid at serving us a bottle of wine!

The RNA Conference

2009-07-13T13:01:00.001+01:00

The RNA conference is always special. This year's, held in Penrith, was extra special. The buzz is unbelievable, the support, comradeship, excitement, optimism, purpose and fun to be had there seems to increase each year. It's a time for meeting old friends and a time for making new ones. There us such generosity of time and help given by those who are published to those who are, as yet, unpublished. To my mind anyone who writes novels even if there is only a smidgen of romance in them, and they are not members of the RNA, well, they need their heads examined.

The lectures I attended this year, were, as always interesting, up to the minute and valuable. After writing as many books as I have, I am still learning and this conference I learnt a lot more. The one regret was that I couldn't go to them all.

These days writers have to promote themselves far more than they used to since publishers concentrate on a few stars and the mid-list are left very much to their own devices. It's hard for some to do and how to set about it is a maze, but Freda Lightfoot gave us such logical and sensible advice. Hugo Summerson made sure we know how to speak in public, it was fascinating and what energy the man has. Veronica Henry, so successful an author, yet so modest – an adorable woman who made me want to rush out and buy her books. And Moira Briggs telling us about the literary blog Vulpes Libris was riveting. I particularly enjoyed Kathy Gale who helped us know what publishers want, which is a bit like unravelling the Rosetta Stone.

I couldn't agree with everything that the author panel on writing said. And once or twice had to stop myself from standing up and yelling “You're wrong!” But all that proves is that there are no rules to writing, that each of us do it in a different way, that nothing is written in the runes. So, just as well I didn't!

Now to unwind and get back to work. There lies the greatest gift from attending an RNA conference one returns home inspired and confident that anything is possible and with an eagerness to get back to writing. .

My Agent.

2009-07-07T18:13:00.001+01:00

The other day, a writer told me she’d never bothered with an agent, felt that she didn’t need one, what was the point of them and she would resent shelling out the commission.
She’s bonkers, and I told her so.
I’d be lost without mine.

We were staying on the Isle of Mull. The hotel was grim, the other guests were so old they looked like the walking dead. Crutches and zimmer frames littered the place. ‘If one of this lot collapses, I’m not giving them the kiss of life,’ I said as I watched them sucking their soup through their green teeth.

At this point the dining room door swung open and in strode a woman of such presence even the soup suckers stopped. Her hair was an artless tangle that only a good hairdresser accomplishes. Her black clothes were of a simplicity which shrieked expense. She had the arrogance of the truly beautiful which is instantly forgivable. And then this dark, infectious, joyous, smoke sodden laugh evolved and I knew, immediately, I would love her.

And so I met my agent.

Not that I wanted nor needed one. She thought otherwise.
“When you write a book you will send it to me first, won’t you?” she said to my great amusement, as I explained that I would not be writing a book, didn’t want to, or knew how. “I think you will . . . one day.” That pause was perfect, showing the actress still within her, the actress she had wanted to be.

Eighteen months later, financial problems mounting, I wrote a novel. And who to send it to? A pointless question there was only one person. Within twenty-four hours she was my agent. That was the fairy tale start to a career which was dusted with magic. Literary agents don’t happen that way. Literary agents are elusive creatures. Writers spend years trying to find one – and there was me, the accidental writer, with it all happening so easily.

If it hadn’t been for her I’d have given up. She believed in me, you see. In four years I paid her the princely sum of £5 in commission for an article that never saw the light of day. She cajoled me, comforted me, taught me to get tough as the rejections poured in. And then one day the magic returned and a publisher wanted my book. Twenty seven years later with twenty three published novels we are still togehter.

I feel sorry for that writer friend who didn’t see the point of an agent. It must be hard to do it on your own. She negotiates for me, gets angry for me, leant me money when I was skint. She’s dried my tears and got drunk with me. My career in the doldrums it is she who keeps me afloat. That writer didn’t know what the hell she was talking about!

TRENDS?

2009-07-03T11:30:00.000+01:00

With writing often you hear talk of which trends, genres, sub-genres are popular, what is likely to grab an agents attention, what will sell. In How to Books you often see advice to identify the trends etc.

I think this is daft advice. By the time a trend is recognised and you've worked out what you are going to do, let alone write it, hone it and present it, then – the trend has changed, it's too late. Either the market is flooded or sales have slipped and publishers are off on another tack.

The best advice I can give is that you forget all about who is looking for what and concentrate on the book you need to write. That story which entered your mind and which you think about and dream about obsessively. The book which has become part of you.

I really believe that success won't come if you write to order. Success is much more likely to come if you write that which you enjoy writing.

When you write this book of yours it is imperative that you concentrate on the book alone. You have to put thoughts of others out of the way, such as, agents, publishers, readers, critics.

All have to be ignored for they get in the way. They make you waste time, they impede the flow – that all important flow. Think only of yourself and the book.

Invariably it is the publisher who will decide where your book sits in the genres. You may not agree with them, then that is a different matter and then you can make your stand.

Is it a romance, a thriller or a crime novel. Is it a book for women or men. Or is it for both? Is it literary or commercial or is it the one they all look for – the cross-over novel.? These are the questions to ask yourself but when it is finished.

There is a magic in writing but it only works when, as I said in my last post, you allow yourself to be totally relaxed and you are enjoying yourself.

RELAX

2009-06-22T10:36:00.000+01:00

When I teach, talk or write about writing, I always make clear that what I’m saying is my opinion only. Everyone must approach the subject in their own way. For my ideas might be a load of old gobblers to you or it may touch a chord

At the reading weekend I last wrote about, Jo teased me at how often I told them to RELAX. But, I’m sure that worry, angst, uncertainty, lack of confidence etc, any of these, is responsible for making more writers fail than anything else.

There is an odd interaction between a writer and her work; it’s inexplicable. I know this might sound bonkers but I believe it. You see, negativity can too easily be transferred onto the page. It leads to dull, dead writing which leads to pedestrian work, lack of pace, a boring read. It is sludge, there is no sparkle.But relax, enjoy what you’re doing and the words tumble out, the magic has worked.

Lots of writers I know agree that there have been times when, having finished, they look at the words and they have no memory of having written them. And, when this happens, often there is nothing to edit or change. The magic has happened.So, the message for today - enjoy your writing. Relax and see the difference.

Writers Weekend

2009-06-16T11:41:00.000+01:00

Like the Streisand song but different – Writers, they need writers. There is something about writers, I’ve found, that sets them apart from non-writers and the only people who understand them are other scribblers.
It’s an addiction, of that I’m sure. Once you start plotting and planning and creating then it is almost impossible to stop. I’ve been on holidays and I vow I won’t do any work but the need to overtakes me and I end up with paper and pen ignoring everyone and tucked up in my own imaginary world.

The only time I couldn’t write was when my St Bernard, Buttercup, died and my grief for her was greater.

Why do we need each other? Apart from the understanding there is sharing the same problems. Such as - the plot that has stalled. The character who is not turning out as you wanted. And, of course, that hideous one that all the authors I know suffer – the conviction that they can’t write, will never write and that everything they’ve done is total rubbish. We comfort each other, we learn we are not alone.

I have just spent the most marvellous weekend at Ablington House, in the Cotswolds. www.ablingtonhouse.co.uk what a fabulous and beautiful house it is, the welcome was great, the atmosphere so relaxing. I had invited a group of writers where we critiqued each other’s work, reassured each other. I learnt so much, I laughed so much and I came away determined to finish the book I’m working on.

It was such fun that I’ve decided I might take a few courses, small and exclusive ones, at Ablington. I love teaching. I can’t teach anyone how to write, that’s a gift but I can help writers hone their work, improve it. For the first lesson is that it can always be better.

Fabulous Friends

2009-04-03T21:04:00.000+01:00

Last Wednesday we gave a party to thank all those wonderful people who had helped us on the dreadful day we found our darling cottage had been flooded. Most were from the village but I also invited my friend Katie Fforde, who, at the time, had invited us to stay at her house WITH the dogs! Now, that’s friendship. Whether that friendship would have survived the seven months it eventually took for the repairs to be done, we will never know. Sadly, I could not invite Rosemary Laurey, another writer, since she lives in the US, she sent a Fortnum and Mason hamper to cheer us up. Two examples of how wonderful are the members of the writing community.

It is so often said that authors are jealous of each other, that we are constantly at each other’s throats, that we steal each others ideas! This is so wrong. I can assure you that I have only met with kindness and support from the Romantic Novelists Association to which I have belonged for nearly twenty five years.

The one thing that we don’t need is other peoples ideas. Nearly every writer I meet has more themes and plots zooming about in their heads than they can deal with. The problem usually is which one to work on, which one will make a good novel, which one will sell. And there lies one of the hidden secrets of writing - the importance of having the ability to go through those possible plots and choose one and stick to it.

I had a student once who was a wonderful writer. She wrote concisely, her characterisation was spot on, dialogue superb. Wonderful plot ideas. Her problem was she would start off with massive enthusiasm writing plot A. She’d get about ten thousand words down when she’d think plot B, might be better and she’d drop A. and concentrate on that one, that was, until C. came along an distracted her! The chances of her getting published are remote and yet she should be, and with a bit more discipline she would be.

Witch brings me to today. That party we gave I enjoyed so much so I found myself arranging a lunch for some girl friends. First Jackie phoned and offered to make the main course, I assured her I could manage. She insisted - what a mate. But then Jenny and Glynn decided they wanted to cook courses too - “You’d best lease with Jackie,” I said. But they didn’t. We ended up with enough food to feed an army. But what great friends I have!

Being a Mentor

2009-03-24T10:54:00.000Z

Mentor, I just love that word.

I have to confess, until I watched the X-Factor, I hadn’t given a thought to what a mentor did or what was meant by mentoring. That is until I became one, and even then I didn’t realise, until somebody told me I was. I guess it’s a case that others decide to call you that, you don’t pin the label on yourself.

It had been in my mind for sometime that I would like to help as yet unpublished writers to succeed. To be published these days my writers needs all the help they can get. And so I invited a small number to join me. And what a group they are. They are so talented and so helpful to each other. I am very lucky to be involved with them for they inspire me too.

Writing a novel is an awesome task. I think it is akin to climbing a mountain. You start off on the flat plain full of excitement and enthusiasm. This is what you’ve been dreaming of doing for years. Ahead lies the mountain but you are not afraid you have studied it, you know the dangers, you’ve read every book you can find on How to Climb a Mountain.
Confidence reigns.

But then the route you had planned to follow doesn’t appear to go where you want it to. In fact it seems to be going in the opposite direction, you feel like giving up at this point. But you’ve got the mountaineering bug which makes you continue. And, to your surprise, things begin to seem to be working out.

You are half way up the mountain and you stop to take in the view and it isn’t what you expected and you feel let down, everything about you is covered in a mist you cannot penetrate. You are bored. You feel your muscles sagging. This climb isn’t working. Now you wish you hadn‘t told people what you were doing - no one is going to be interested in failure. This is when belonging to the group with a mentor is a Godsend. Your friends rally round, they listen, they advice; you respect their opinions for you know they understand your need to climb the mountain. The mentor shows the way to go and assures you that everyone feels this way when half way up the mountain.

You start up again. You are propelled by excitement now. You see the goal, the end of the climb. The moment arrives, you reach the summit. You can see clearly, you are amazed by your own achievement. You are sad to leave the mountain but the bug has already taken hold and on the one down you find yourself planning the next climb.

That’s what writing a book is like.

Paxman and me!

2009-03-12T16:50:00.000Z

Second on my list of what I’ve been up to was the interview with Jeremy Paxman. A more charming and understanding man it would have been difficult to meet. Not at all a rottweiler.

We met at Lanhydrock House in Cornwall. The house was, and is, a total time capsule of the Victorian period. My mother had been in service for the Robartes family and I spent the war years there. It was a comprehensive interview about my mother’s work and the house in general. I ended up on the cutting room floor in favour of a woman who is an expert on corsets and knickers - she was very good so I didn’t mind too much. It was probably for the best since I did look a bit like Queen Victoria in the DVD the BBC sent me.

The value of having lived there is immeasurable for me as a writer. When writing those books set in Victorian and Edwardian times then I have turned my mind back to Lanhydrock, the pace of the place, the etiquette, the voices of the Viscount and his sisters, the smell of it, the echoing in the great kitchen. I’ve remembered my mother’s stories; I’ve been so lucky.

In many of my books there is often a large and grand house - it is nearly
always Lanhydrock.

The comments made by Maureen Sisal - on my last entry - encapsulates
why I write. To give pleasure, that’s what it’s about. To get feed back and support as she offers me leaves me, for once, lost for words! Thank you. Maureen. I had noticed your crits on Amazon for which I would like to have thanked you, but, as you know it is impossible or rather, I never found out how to do it.

When I got my marching orders!

2009-03-05T16:31:00.000Z

To begin my list of the things that have happened to me in the past year, I’ll tell you about getting sacked by my publishers.
It was a shock since I didn’t see it coming. I probably should have, I knew sales were down, but then I wasn’t surprised since Orion had, in their wisdom, virtually stopped promoting me.
My editor liked the book – the fourth in a series called The Cresswell Inheritance. That mattered since had I been rejected on the quality of the writing that would have been awful. No, this was not the case. The paperback division turned me down – because of the falling sales, they said.
I t was silly of me but I was hurt. Silly because, if I’ve learnt one thing in the years I’ve been writing, it is that it is unwise to expect loyalty from ones publishers. I had worked for them for eleven books. I had written books that I didn’t particularly want to but because they asked me to. (For example, I quite like writing historical novels but I prefer writing about modern women; instead I did what I was told.) I had always defended them, liked them, and been loyal to them. All that proves is what an idiot I am.
That was nearly a year ago. It has affected me. For ages I felt so demoralised I could not write - I didn’t want to. But slowly it is coming back, helped greatly by the wonderful letters I’ve received asking me when the next book is out, chivvying me, encouraging me. Their kindness has helped enormously. So what am I writing?
Years ago I wrote a novel about an author called Kate Howard. It was called Advances. I wrote a sequel, Exiles – in which Kate has moved to France. Now Kate has returned from France, is living in the Cotswolds and is sacked by her publishers! It will be called Returns.
I have a freedom now to write what I’ve wanted to do for some time and that is to return to a modern novel. Just one problem, I’m going to have to find a publisher – not easy these days.

Karen said to me . . .

2009-03-01T19:11:00.000Z

Three friends, have recently taken me to task for not keeping up with my blog the last time I posted was April 2008, I'm ashemed to say. Truth be told, I was getting fed up with blogs. There are so many of them and what to say that is even a little bit different ? And some are so good they made me feel defeated. (My favourite is Liz Fenwick's – www.lizfenwick.blogspot.com) And who would be interested? What to write about? Well that's a question that implies that nothing has happened. And that's not true.
Since I last wrote I have:

Been sacked by my publishers.
Interviewed by Jeremy Paxman for new series on the Victorians.
Became a mentor to a group of writers.
Did crits of other's manuscripts.
Went to France for a holiday in our house in the Auvergne.
Decided to sell house in France.
Returned to cottage to find it flooded.
Moved into son's house.
Taught a course in Italy.
Joined a new Parkinson's Forum: www.parkinsonsforum.org
Decided not to sell house in France.
Enjoyed the best Christmas ever.
Went to a school to talk about the WWll – huge fun.
Dropped from the Paxman series.
Began to give talks about my life.
15th grandchild born – Jemima,
Now looking forward, this month,to moving back to cottage after over six months – took all that time to be dried out and restored.

I seem to be busier than ever.

I'll let you know about the above, in more detail, bit by bit.

Thank you Lois, Meg and Karen for waking me up - which they did in the nicest possible way.

The Romantic Novelists Association.

2008-04-06T18:52:00.000+01:00

The Romantic Novelists Association is a group I've been a member of for 21 years now. I always recommend that any aspiring writers join for it is such a supportive group of people.

No matter how many novels you've written or whether you are just beginning there is always help and support for one. We all get in the doldrums and believe that what we are writing is total rubbish and what is the point - then confess to the RNA and there's someone there who will give you advice, reassurance and suggestions. Needing to know something to do with your research then there will be someone who knows the answer.

There are writers who turn their noses up at the idea of being associated with anything when the word ROMANCE is mentioned - honestly you would think it was a dirty word as if the work is inferior because of its involvement with love. But then what did Tolstoy write, or Austen and so many of the classics - romances pure and simple.

At the Oxford Literary Festival I heard two writers say "I don't regard myself as a writer of romance." I'd like to know what they are then!

Romantic fiction is such a broad church.
In the RNA are writers of chic lit; contemporary fiction looking in depth at relationships in general (I've written many of these); historical novels (again I've several of these); regional sagas; generation sagas (My series The Cresswell Inheritance belong here); romantic comedies; and the romances pure and simple.

And then there are the writers for Mills and Boon. It seems that people think that is an easy option - it isn't, to write those books with the conciseness necessary, with the level of pace and characterisation in such a short space - well I admire them more than I can say. I could not do it, I know. It needs a certain skill that I don't have.

By the way I enjoyed the Oxford Festival.

I'm Useless

2008-03-04T16:50:00.000Z

What sort of blogger can I call myself? Useless!
I last posted in September, nearly 6 months ago. Useless!
A March resolution, I will do better.

In my last blog I said I had been unwell. I don't know why I wasn't more honest. Silly really. There's no shame in having something wrong. It's not as if I'm an axe murderer, is it?

Bottom line is I've been diagnosed with Parkinson's. It might sound silly but I was relieved it was that and not something far worse - such as MS or a tumour. It's scary but I'm determined to deal with it.

Isn't it strange how we deal with illness, a bit Victorian really, hiding behind euphemisms and pretending all is well. Once I came clean I have to say I've met with real kindness and support. In any case with something like Parkie people could easily think I was p*****! So better to tell the truth. In particular, my publishers, Orion, have been very understanding.

There is of course a downside - isn't there always? It's those people who treat me as if I were terminally ill. "How are you?" they say with the you on a downward slide. "Don't you think you'd be better off in a bungalow?" Now I've nothing against bungalows but I have against her attitude, she is a real "does she take sugar?" in the making!

The plus side is that I've met some amazing people by joining PDUK.org a forum for people with Parkinson's, they are a fun group. And I've learnt how my family love me - such positive things.

I won't wait six months to post again.

The Oddest Thing

2007-09-25T12:57:00.000+01:00

I've lived in so many places - Kent, Cornwall, Somerset, Scotland, Devon, Greece. Now I live in Gloucestershire where I'm happier than I have been anywhere else. I feel at home, contented and although the cottage we live in is very small and not very convenient I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Yesterday I was playing about on the Internet and went to the 1901 Census site. I've never had the patience to research my family but, this time, up popped my grandfather at my first try. I was hooked and off I went adding people, generally snooping about. And then I discovered the oddest thing. A great uncle had been born in this very village where I live so happily. And so, it would mean, my grandfather lived here too.

Is that why I'm so content? My paternal family genes have come home so to speak. It's a nice idea.

Apart from this it's been a hectic week since I had to do the proofs of my new novel. Readers often complain to me at the mistakes they find in books and how irritating it is. If only they knew the care that is taken; I do them, my partner does too and then they will be checked at the publishers and still mistakes slip through. So, I'll apologise now, in advance for anything that might be there.

Have a happy week.

Teaching

2007-09-16T17:37:00.000+01:00

One of the things I like most after writing is taking courses on novel writing.
Now I don't believe that you can teach anyone HOW to write - writing is a gift - but I can help people hone their skills, give them confidence, tell them what is required and how to present their manuscripts.

It is fun and I learn from it too and I always return full of renewed enthusiasm for my own work. I have made real friendships with some of my pupils. One group is planning a reading weekend here in January when they will bring the novels that they started on the course I led way back in April and we shall read and discuss them This will be a first and it will be interesting to see how it works out.

I have just agreed to take a weeks course in Tuscany next year which I am looking forward to. I've had groups in France, England and Scotland so Italy is a new venture.

So you see, the idea that writing is a lonely job just isn't true. Not only do my characters keep me company but I get out and about meeting interesting people.

Sundays, the best day.

2007-09-09T17:19:00.000+01:00

Sundays are different there's no doubt about it. For a start I don't have to feel guilty about not getting up, about not writing, about not doing much! Having a work ethic can be a pain at times.

I like to get up and slob about and read the Sunday papers - catching up on the gossip. Then about noon we go to Bibury Court Hotel for a drink with friends. It's more like a club than a bar, it's always the same people and the same chat, but then I like that, there's a sort of comfort in the repetition.

When I got home today I went to Amazon and filled in a I am the author section for one of my books - The Broken Gate. I've never done that before. I explained why I had written it. It will be interesting to see if I get any feedback from it.

After supper, I shall watch TV, I watch a lot. I say it's research but that's a lie. I love it!

Blogging

2007-09-04T16:42:00.000+01:00

The first Tuesday in the month I go to lunch with a group of writers in a pub just outside Oxford. We all belong to the Romantic Novelists Association, a brilliant organisation whether you are published or not. People get the idea that writers are at each others throats, not so members of the RNA; you could not find a more supportive and helpful group of people.

And I find I need to go since it is important to me to keep in touch with other authors, for we understand each other better than most. We talk about books, writing in general, what we are writing, the problems authors have but also the joys.

Writing, you see, is an obsessive occupation, and one needs ones fix!

While there, Debbie, another writer, told me she'd visited my blog but that I'd got to loosen up, that it didn't sound a bit like me. I wasn't surprised, and I told her, I was afraid of it. But perhaps I'll get used to it - I hope so.

But then I got to thinking what does sound like me? I've no idea, for after all you never hear yourself, do you?

Hey ho, will try to do better.

Welcome

2007-09-03T17:26:00.000+01:00

Welcome to my blog - a new venture for me.
I wanted to start one so that I can tell my readers any news of what is going on in my professional life.

At the moment I am involved in writing a series of books called The Cresswell Inheritance. It is about a West Country estate in the first 50 years of the last century and details the changes in the lives of the Cresswell family, their servants and the estate workers. The estate is a microcosm of the social changes occurring in England at that time.

It is a period which has always fascinated me for, with the First World War, everything changed and was never to be the same again. Women in particular found their lives turned upside down and their demands for more I]independence could not be ignored.

Book One - The Broken Gate and Book Two - The Heart's Citadel are published.

There has been a long delay for the third book - The Breached Wall. It is now finished and is in production and will be out in November 07.

I have to apologise for this delay but I have been unwell and not inclined to write. But all is now resolved and my old enthusiasm and love of writing has returned. All I can do is apologise and thank the many readers who wrote to me asking when it would be available.

There are distinct advantages to being poorly, once recovered one looks at life in a different way, it underlines how precious normality is.

So, here we are, my first contribution.

Anita Burgh

The Story Behing Hector's Hobbies.

The Story of Molly's Flashings

CLARE'S WAR - Story

Lottery's Story

KINDLE and ME

CATCH UP

Janice Horton

LOOKING BACK

READERSHIP

HOW FAR SHOULD WE GO?

HOW IT IS.

PITFALLS 3 - Preferences

PITFALLS 2 - Characters.

PITFALLS 1. Age

WHAT WRITERS NEED

BOOKS AND ATTITUDES

WORRIES

BEING ORGANISED

Courses and muddles.

RESEARCH

MORE QUESTIONS

Questions & Answers

BLURBS

CPT and The Synopsis

HILARY'S TEN PROBLEMS

FIRST AID

Shug Off the Worries.

DIALOGUE

FAQs.

REJECTION

PACE TWO

Apology.

PACE

Characterisation Part Two

Error

Characterisation Part One.

Viewpoint VP.

Scene Setting

Plotting 2.

Plotting

The Adventure Begins

THE END

Sagging Middles

Lovely Blog Award

Where to Begin?

The Next Book

Guilt and Writing

Criticism and How to Survive It.

Research, My Way.

Who Shall I Choose?

Present or Past?

The Problematic Past

Scene Setting

A Funny Old Business.

That Inner Voice

Pace - my thoughts.

Bastille Day

The RNA Conference

My Agent.

TRENDS?

RELAX

Writers Weekend

Fabulous Friends

Being a Mentor

Paxman and me!

When I got my marching orders!

Karen said to me . . .

The Romantic Novelists Association.

I'm Useless

The Oddest Thing

Teaching

Sundays, the best day.

Blogging

Welcome