A Writing Journal

3/8/06: Work begins afresh, as I bury myself in reference books about the Industrial Revolution and clockwork mechanisms, and try to plot out a new story for my characters to live in. I may be some time...

13/8/06: I've just submitted a new and improved synopsis of Barefoot to my editor. All the elements from Blood Magic have been excised from this new plan, leaving room for lots of developments and plot twists that (hopefully) make the best of the technology and society I invented. Will editor like it? Stay tuned to find out! 

23/8/06: My editor hasn't had time yet to read the new synopsis. My agent did and, to put it bluntly, didn't like it. But did I despair? No! Because the Muse (capricious mare that she is) has just aimed a thunderbolt at my head, causing me to spontaneously produce a scene of such wonderfulness that it made tears to spring to my eyes. New character: check. Tension: check. Giant Clockwork Death Robots: check. Why didn't I think of that before? New problem: to figure out the other 300 pages of the story that follow on from that scene. Still, it's a step forward...

29/8/06: I've been messing about with character profiles, trying to think what kind of people I'd like to get to know with in this story. I have some interesting things down, but I still have no idea what the story is actually going to be and the demands on characters (and therefore the characters themselves) obviously change based on that, so I'm still stuck. Where did I put that carrot-cake?

08/9/2006: A new synopsis (and a new title - no, not telling) finally thrashed out, and approved by my editor. Hurrah. I've now got two point of view characters (one of whom is a man) and I'm trying third person which, after three books written in first person, demands a real mental shift. All systems go then? No. I've not quite started yet. I'm trying to work out how to utilize these viewpoints and which bits should be seen through which eyes. It's tough. I don't want either character to be short-changed. And I'm not sure how to begin this story. Before, I've always waited for my POV character to 'speak' to me - usually the first line just pops into my head, straight from their mouth, and leads me on. For this book that's not an option. I can't have a character talking directly to the reader in third person anyway - but more importantly, The Swan Kingdom and Daughter of the Flames both begin like that, and I don't want to be a writer who can only do one thing. It's time to try a different kind of beginning. But WHAT kind? Hmmm...

14/9/06: Aha! During a slight lull at the office this morning I had a bit of an inspiration and now I think I now how to start things off. I've finally got a clear idea of what the structure of the first part of this novel should be. The middle and end are still in shadows, but hopefully they should emerge as I plough ahead with Chapters One and Two and get to know my characters, world and story properly. Tally-hoo!

21/09/06: I stalled a bit after that last post. I was struggling really with the first chapter - with distance in the first chapter. By which I mean, how to show the characters without seeing them literally through my viewpoint character's eyes. I'm not used to it. I'm worried that writing in first person for so long has made me lazy, or stunted me or something equally bad. 

Normally I begin by writing something like an introduction to the character, but in their own thoughts. They tell me what's most important to them (for instance, in Daughter of the Flames, I heard Zahira's voice distinctly in the back of my head, saying 'I never knew my mother's name...) and then I write that down and it leads me on. Boy, did I have it easy. I realise now that, in a way, the character was doing the work for me. It was their voice that told the story. So I was finding the first chapter of this project (in which I was trying to describe a terrible disaster that kills my protagonist's parents) such a slog - trying to figure out what my 'narrator' voice is supposed to be like. Am I even supposed to have a narrator voice? Some writing books (and some writers I've spoken to) call this 'authorial intrusion' and act as if it would be better to kick puppies than to commit it. I also found my subject a bit tough, because I can't write about this disaster in too much detail without; 1) becoming sickening and sentimental about the people who are about to die; 2) being over-dramatic and; 3) giving away too much. Plus, while when you're writing in first person you call 'tell' all you want - it's the whole point - in third person you really need to aim for more showing, which I could not do with this style of beginning. 

Anyway, I was sitting in the bath, thinking 'God, I wish I could just skip Chapter One and go straight to Chapter Two...' when I realised that, of course, I COULD do that. And it would probably be much better because Chapter Two is a far more subtle and interesting way to begin, now that I come to consider it. So I've decided to do that, and incorporate the material from my planned Chapter One as memories, dreams and flashbacks throughout the rest of the book. Onwards! 

3/10/06: A word on my progress: 

ARGHHHHHHH!!!

That's pretty much all.

10/12/06: Well, after all those months of struggle, I've finally made what I hope is a proper start on the new (it still feels very new) project. 11,000 odd words in, and counting. I've seriously fallen in love with my male protagonist, but the female one is being rebellious - which might be a good thing, since her personality is like that anyway. I'm still relating their early years in alternating chapters from each of their viewpoints: him, her, him, then her again, and so on (in a Part One which I've creatively titled after their two names - maybe I'll come up with something better later). 

In a couple of chapters I'll be able to move onto Part Two, which is my story's present day, which ought to be fun, but again, a challenge, as I leap from young protagonists (ten and twelve) to young adults (about eighteen and twenty). 

9/03/07: 30,107 words in now, and I'm doing pretty well - I've just written my first ever giant killer clockwork praying mantis death robot slaughter scene (as my friend pointed out, it may be THE first ever giant killer clockwork praying mantis death robot slaughter scene) and I had great fun doing that. This book does seem to be developing very differently from other projects - slowly and with lots of reflective pauses - but I'm enjoying it a lot and I'm pretty sure I'm involved in something a bit special. Let's hope that burst of confidence carries me through the dreaded middle!

6/05/07: Er...word count about the same as it was on last check-in, above. That's because I've been wrestling with the middle portion of the book and my female character's viewpoint non-stop since I entered it. I could tell something was badly wrong, essentially flawed, in my plan of the story, but slap me sideways with a smoked salmon if I could figure out what it was. Then it came to me in a blinding flash: the love triangle! Aha! So I've spent the last month or so completely re-writing my synopsis and I've now begun to re-work the beginning chapters from my heroine's POV. It all works much better now. Here's hoping this is the last false start...

15/08/07: Word count nearly 40,000 now - not that much progress since last time I posted (I can hear you thinking) but, in my defense, my house was flooded just as I was getting into my stride, and that kind of thing tends to throw you off a bit. I didn't even dare turn my laptop on for several days, until I was sure it was dried out. But I am back in the saddle now, and I've been scribbling in my notebook like mad - I must have about fourteen pages of notes to write up, if only I could get a couple of uninterrupted hours to do it. 

I've got a real feeling of excitement now about this story, and new, better, angles and complications and shadings are popping onto the page every time I write. I can tell that this is going to be a real b*gger to edit, because there are so many sticky-outy, sprawling bits that are going to need catching and feeding back into the story to make a harmonious whole, but...I don't care. This is fun! And I'm about to hit the bit I've been looking forward to for ages - the major giant killer praying mantis death robot slaughter scene...mwaahaahaaa!

22/08/07: Reached around 47,000 words today - which is - wait for it - drumroll please - 51% through the manuscript! 

Well, that's if this book ends up at the estimated length of about 90,000 words long in first draft. It might end up being longer (they so often do with me) but anyway - woohoo! Status: Our hero and heroine are trapped in a frozen waste, in a derailed train carriage. The driver has run away screaming. Someone is shooting at them from the dark, snowy forest outside. Their friend has just been killed saving the hero's life, and the heroine thinks that the hero himself is dead. In fact he is lying unconscious, his life's blood flowing out onto the ice. Terrible, nightmare creatures - giant killer clockwork praying mantis death robots, to be precise - are screaming in the forest, getting ever closer. 

This is good stuff! In fact, I can't wait to get back to it. Bye for now!

5/09/07: About 53,000 words in now - maybe 58% of the ms drafted. Slightly held up at the moment by the need for constant, frustrating conversations with insurance adjusters (kids - don't do this for a living, it's obviously a horrible job) but also cheered up by a different conversation with my agent, who told me to take my time. 

I'm still going strong. I think I've gotten over the Dreaded Middle, notorious pitfall of Plot-Shy writers like myself. Raymond Chandler (a famous crime writer) used to say that if you got stuck, you should have a man with a gun barge through the door. In my case, having a giant killer clockwork praying mantis death robot carve open the side of the railway carriage is serving much the same purpose. Gotta love those homicidal babies.