I'd like to start by talking about first drafts. They're never that easy and, when trying to rewrite poor novels, they're actually harder than when I'm free writing.
When free-writing on an idea that I have, even if I have no plot, I can generally get by enough that I can write large amounts. I am nothing if not verbose. I can write fifteen words where a normal person will only manage three. It means I can rack up enormous word counts and feel productive. But I'm trying a new tack with this experiment. I'm trying to get as much done in as few words as possible. This makes characterisation a little more challenging. Trying to communicate setting, atmosphere and character interaction all at once is harder than it looks. Especially when my characters unexpectedly hi-jack conversation.
Take tonight as an example. I wanted to have a conversation to show Anastasia's relationship with her parents (not good) and with her flatmate (cardboard cut-out character necessary to prove that Anastasia is at University). That was it. Then I would skip to a night out where romantic male lead would be introduced and we could focus on that for a while (maintaining a stalker sub-plot for a bit). This would be short.
Then Suzy, she got a name, decided that she and Anastasia would get along rather too well. And that she would be a Christian. And that this would be a thing.
In short, I have characters. But I hate them. I feel like a proper writer and everything.
As usual, I plugged the whole thing into the wonderful 750words.com because they are awesome and why aren't you doing the same?
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual content[?] and violence [no clue])
Feeling mostly Upset, and concerned mostly about Religion[?].
Mindset: Introvert - Negative - Uncertain - Feeling
Time: The Past; Primary Sense: Hearing; Us and Them: You
46 minutes at 31 words per minute.
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Friday, 21 March 2014
Prologuing part the second
So, it's been unforgivably long since I posted here. I'm still trying to survive the awfulness by re-writing. I can't say it's any good, but even in the first draft state that I'm posting here I think I can argue that it's better than what I'm reading. Don't get me wrong, that's not me blowing my own trumpet (what I have is very unpolished and verbose), it's just a reflection.
In this entry we meet, and I use the term loosely, our protagonist for the tale: Anastasia Cable (or, in Finnish, Kaisla Kuura apparently) and, hopefully, get some tension. However, it's too damn' long and the sentences are a bit rambley. It's a first draft, yes, but that's no real excuse.
On to the stats! Good old 750words.com!
Rating: PG-13 (Swearing [bloody], sexual content[?] and violence [possibly due to a cornish pasty])
Feeling mostly Upset, and concerned mostly about Religion[?].
Mindset: Extrovert - Negative - Uncertain - Feeling
Time: The Past; Primary Sense: Touch; Us and Them: You
50 minutes at 36 words per minute.
In this entry we meet, and I use the term loosely, our protagonist for the tale: Anastasia Cable (or, in Finnish, Kaisla Kuura apparently) and, hopefully, get some tension. However, it's too damn' long and the sentences are a bit rambley. It's a first draft, yes, but that's no real excuse.
On to the stats! Good old 750words.com!
Rating: PG-13 (Swearing [bloody], sexual content[?] and violence [possibly due to a cornish pasty])
Feeling mostly Upset, and concerned mostly about Religion[?].
Mindset: Extrovert - Negative - Uncertain - Feeling
Time: The Past; Primary Sense: Touch; Us and Them: You
50 minutes at 36 words per minute.
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Shadows of Evil: Prologue
As promised, I'm back. Here's my rewrite of the book I'm being subjected to. I started at a different place, I suspect my journey will be in a completely different direction, but the idea of writing against something like this is good motivation.
It's a short extract (it's all I've written) and it may be too portentous and a bit pants. Still, it's the first I've written properly in aaaaages!
Analysis is intriguing and is from 750words.com as ever.
Rating: PG-13 (sexual content[?] and violence)
Feeling mostly Self-expressive, and concerned mostly about Death.
Mindset: Extrovert - Positive - Uncertain - Feeling
Time: The Past; Primary Sense: Touch; Us and Them: Them
27 minutes at 30 words per minute
It's a short extract (it's all I've written) and it may be too portentous and a bit pants. Still, it's the first I've written properly in aaaaages!
Analysis is intriguing and is from 750words.com as ever.
Rating: PG-13 (sexual content[?] and violence)
Feeling mostly Self-expressive, and concerned mostly about Death.
Mindset: Extrovert - Positive - Uncertain - Feeling
Time: The Past; Primary Sense: Touch; Us and Them: Them
27 minutes at 30 words per minute
Schadenfreude
I've been almost invisible on here recently. Crunch time marking combined with a lack of inspiration and the fact that my partner is writing their own novel that takes up evenings and so I don't write mine? Oh, they're all excuses. I hope to get back into the swing of things soon.
In the meantime a friend of my partner has written and self-published her novel. Naturally we bought a copy. It is not very good at all. The sort of book that gives self-publishing a bad name. But we can't tell this person what we really think because a. they wouldn't listen and my partner would lose a friend and b. it's too late, they've already published. How awful? In the first fifty pages there isn't a single active sentence (six fight scenes though) and 80% of sentences begin with a person's name, 'he' or 'she'. In one scene, the first stirrings of love between the protagonist and the supposed romantic lead, we are treated to a geography lesson about the city. These are the only details given about the date. They even talk about the city instead of, well, anything else.
In an effort to keep myself sane whilst reading it and alleviate the pain, I have decided that I shall rewrite it. In setting up my first draft (long hand so not on here yet) I realised that it already looks sufficiently different that I could turn it into my own story relatively easily. I may do that. Of course, as it's already a book, my rewrite will be also.
I am such a bitch sometimes, sorry!
In the meantime a friend of my partner has written and self-published her novel. Naturally we bought a copy. It is not very good at all. The sort of book that gives self-publishing a bad name. But we can't tell this person what we really think because a. they wouldn't listen and my partner would lose a friend and b. it's too late, they've already published. How awful? In the first fifty pages there isn't a single active sentence (six fight scenes though) and 80% of sentences begin with a person's name, 'he' or 'she'. In one scene, the first stirrings of love between the protagonist and the supposed romantic lead, we are treated to a geography lesson about the city. These are the only details given about the date. They even talk about the city instead of, well, anything else.
In an effort to keep myself sane whilst reading it and alleviate the pain, I have decided that I shall rewrite it. In setting up my first draft (long hand so not on here yet) I realised that it already looks sufficiently different that I could turn it into my own story relatively easily. I may do that. Of course, as it's already a book, my rewrite will be also.
I am such a bitch sometimes, sorry!
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Christmas Post
It's been too long!
So, I have a beer review. Did I mention that I like drinking beers? I didn't!? Well, that must be rectified!
Here, have a beer review!
Yes, I am actually writing and posting a beer review on Christmas Day. I am that mental. But, it's been a bit of an odd one. No pressure, Him Indoors has done the duty regarding cooking, cleaning, dish-washing... basically all the crap stuff, and I've been on children watch. Which wasn't that hard. Not my forte, but not that hard (I'd've preferred cooking and cleaning if I'm honest, I love doing roasts).
Anyway, tonight I am reviewing Courage's Imperial Russian Stout. Which, if my reading serves me well, is a popular style of brew this year around where I am. I have never seen the like before and so I did ask for a selection of Christmas beer and I got it. Yay!
This comes in a tiny little bottle (275ml) and so straight away you know something about this beer is going to be different. It's also 10% ABV - apparently so it didn't freeze when exported from Britain to Murmansk back in the 1750s. Finally, it also conditions in the bottle for up to 13 years, presumably so that it could last once it arrived in Russia without having to make numerous resupply trips over wacky stormy seas (yes, thank you KLF).
I can claim no knowledge of the veracity of the historical story. However, on opening I can say that the pressure is high and so the head is vigorous and feisty. No whiff of CO2, implying that this was conditioned well and not with added gas in the bottle. The aroma is heavy and malty, with hints of chocolate and wet wood (no, really), and there is a smidge of citrus if you're looking for it, which I was. After the head has died down a little you can get close to the beer itself.
First sip is very chocolatey, reminds me of the Triple Chocolate Stout that I reviewed ages ago, but not so much that it overpowers things. Pleasant sparkle to the fizz with tones of citrus fruits, but these are mild like apples and pears rather than oranges or lemons, mostly one gets the malt and the weight of the beer. This is, I suppose, like Stout ought to be, heavy and malty and interesting. If you met this sip on the street you'd either strike up a conversation and take him home to meet the parents or else you'd quiver in fear and worry that you'd appear somehow less than human by mere comparison. Second sip is much the same, implying good staying power. You can feel the strength of that 10% ABV though, this is not a sessionable ale, but that's why it comes in dinky little bottles.
Overall, this is a heavy, winter warming beer. It's one you'd best enjoy on a cold evening, huddled round a crackling open fire keeping the frost at bay. Wrapped in winter furs, hunted yourself from the wild woods, telling tales and singing songs with good rough company. Don't shave. Don't shave anything for a few days. Don't wash except in water from beneath cracked ice. Then get that fire going, huddle, talk in low voices, laugh long and with feeling, and crack open one or two of these as you smile and joke with your companions. It will be worth it.
So, I have a beer review. Did I mention that I like drinking beers? I didn't!? Well, that must be rectified!
Here, have a beer review!
Yes, I am actually writing and posting a beer review on Christmas Day. I am that mental. But, it's been a bit of an odd one. No pressure, Him Indoors has done the duty regarding cooking, cleaning, dish-washing... basically all the crap stuff, and I've been on children watch. Which wasn't that hard. Not my forte, but not that hard (I'd've preferred cooking and cleaning if I'm honest, I love doing roasts).
Anyway, tonight I am reviewing Courage's Imperial Russian Stout. Which, if my reading serves me well, is a popular style of brew this year around where I am. I have never seen the like before and so I did ask for a selection of Christmas beer and I got it. Yay!
This comes in a tiny little bottle (275ml) and so straight away you know something about this beer is going to be different. It's also 10% ABV - apparently so it didn't freeze when exported from Britain to Murmansk back in the 1750s. Finally, it also conditions in the bottle for up to 13 years, presumably so that it could last once it arrived in Russia without having to make numerous resupply trips over wacky stormy seas (yes, thank you KLF).
I can claim no knowledge of the veracity of the historical story. However, on opening I can say that the pressure is high and so the head is vigorous and feisty. No whiff of CO2, implying that this was conditioned well and not with added gas in the bottle. The aroma is heavy and malty, with hints of chocolate and wet wood (no, really), and there is a smidge of citrus if you're looking for it, which I was. After the head has died down a little you can get close to the beer itself.
First sip is very chocolatey, reminds me of the Triple Chocolate Stout that I reviewed ages ago, but not so much that it overpowers things. Pleasant sparkle to the fizz with tones of citrus fruits, but these are mild like apples and pears rather than oranges or lemons, mostly one gets the malt and the weight of the beer. This is, I suppose, like Stout ought to be, heavy and malty and interesting. If you met this sip on the street you'd either strike up a conversation and take him home to meet the parents or else you'd quiver in fear and worry that you'd appear somehow less than human by mere comparison. Second sip is much the same, implying good staying power. You can feel the strength of that 10% ABV though, this is not a sessionable ale, but that's why it comes in dinky little bottles.
Overall, this is a heavy, winter warming beer. It's one you'd best enjoy on a cold evening, huddled round a crackling open fire keeping the frost at bay. Wrapped in winter furs, hunted yourself from the wild woods, telling tales and singing songs with good rough company. Don't shave. Don't shave anything for a few days. Don't wash except in water from beneath cracked ice. Then get that fire going, huddle, talk in low voices, laugh long and with feeling, and crack open one or two of these as you smile and joke with your companions. It will be worth it.
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Day 5: A break later
So I didn't write anything last night. A combination of starting back at work, having a trip on today and general rattiness on my part meant that I wasn't really in the right mood to write anything other than swear words and curmudgeonly moaning and ranting. Tonight I had the pressure to let out and have managed to impose some kind of order on the sections that I've written so far, so that there isn't really a contiguous section to post here tonight.
Mostly I now have a plot, ish, with a structure that helps it all make a modicum of sense. I have two plot lines that seem to be self-sustaining and a feeling that I want to pervade them both - it can best be summed up by that Eurovision song I was referencing in an earlier post, but I have no idea how I'm going to get that whole idea working and woven into the very fabric of the story I'm trying to tell.
I'm also this-way, that-way on whether to include a male MC this year. I mean, there's a potential one that I've written in tonight along with a semi-important supporting cast member who is also male that I already had (Tremayne) but... I don't know. I'm quite keen on having most characters as females, at least, most named and important characters, because most books do the opposite and I would like mine to be different. The other reason is simply because I'd like the challenge of writing that way, in a way that most readers would not consider to be 'normal' when, in reality, it's just as 'normal' as mostly male characters in books.
Also, it's not actually fundamentally changing the plot or the story, it's just switching the gender of the characters from what most people would expect. Meh, I'm like that from time to time.
Of my bits and bats, numbering some 2,000 words this evening, 750words tell me that I am feeling mostly upset (with anxious coming a close second) and concerned mostly about money (with success a close second). This is unusual for my writing.
Total wordcount is now 9,565 words. Yay?
Mostly I now have a plot, ish, with a structure that helps it all make a modicum of sense. I have two plot lines that seem to be self-sustaining and a feeling that I want to pervade them both - it can best be summed up by that Eurovision song I was referencing in an earlier post, but I have no idea how I'm going to get that whole idea working and woven into the very fabric of the story I'm trying to tell.
I'm also this-way, that-way on whether to include a male MC this year. I mean, there's a potential one that I've written in tonight along with a semi-important supporting cast member who is also male that I already had (Tremayne) but... I don't know. I'm quite keen on having most characters as females, at least, most named and important characters, because most books do the opposite and I would like mine to be different. The other reason is simply because I'd like the challenge of writing that way, in a way that most readers would not consider to be 'normal' when, in reality, it's just as 'normal' as mostly male characters in books.
Also, it's not actually fundamentally changing the plot or the story, it's just switching the gender of the characters from what most people would expect. Meh, I'm like that from time to time.
Of my bits and bats, numbering some 2,000 words this evening, 750words tell me that I am feeling mostly upset (with anxious coming a close second) and concerned mostly about money (with success a close second). This is unusual for my writing.
Total wordcount is now 9,565 words. Yay?
Sunday, 3 November 2013
A Day Off - Day 3
So it is that I keep going. I suspect that, in order to make the wordcount for the evening, I shall have to take drastic action later in the month. For now there is enough guff to keep me going and plenty that, should I choose to go anywhere with this in the future, I will have to cull. But this year I am writing to participate rather than participating to write, for all that this entails.
I took the advice to write a normal day for my protagonist but couldn't resist the usual odd twist at the end, making it perfectly normal for me (the idea of the knowledgeable stranger who knows more than they ought is something of a trope with my writing - especially if I don't know where I'm going). It's... working so far. I do not believe it is like my more recent (and slightly better than usual) efforts. However, it's there.
www.750words.com tells me that it's mainly affectionate and concerned with eating and drinking tonight, but I have little else to share. There is a swear word in this, so I guess it's NSFW but it's only one.
I took the advice to write a normal day for my protagonist but couldn't resist the usual odd twist at the end, making it perfectly normal for me (the idea of the knowledgeable stranger who knows more than they ought is something of a trope with my writing - especially if I don't know where I'm going). It's... working so far. I do not believe it is like my more recent (and slightly better than usual) efforts. However, it's there.
www.750words.com tells me that it's mainly affectionate and concerned with eating and drinking tonight, but I have little else to share. There is a swear word in this, so I guess it's NSFW but it's only one.
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