I got nominated for an award! How amazing is that? Thank you so much, Limebird guys and gals. Now all I need to do is list seven random facts about me….
Versatile Blogger Award
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Find another word
Many years ago, my English teacher strove to instil in his class the beauty of words. He encouraged us to find and use words that we hadn’t heard before; words we had to look up in the dictionary. He would employ his red pen to great effect if any of us dared to use a lacklustre word such as nice. ‘Find another word!’ he would storm. ‘Find a better word. There’s plenty to choose from, use your imagination.’
Stephen King has something else to say on the subject: ‘One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones.’
What they are both getting at is that there’s nothing wrong with short words, as long as they’re the best, most appropriate words for the occasion. Rather than use adjectives and adverbs, chose stronger verbs to reveal, to describe and to explain.
Storytelling
Every culture has a storytelling tradition; it helps us interpret the past and shape the future. For centuries, the description of events in words has been a way of entertaining and educating, and a means of preserving customs and beliefs.
Today, when we commit stories to print we share our limited knowledge and understanding of the world with others, in the hope that they will recognise the fictional universe we have created.
For a story to succeed it should contain cultural references that the reader understands; it needs some memorable characters, some conflict and a strong, plausible plot. A satisfying payoff is crucial though unlikely coincidences are to be avoided at all costs. How we decide to tell our story – in the past, present or future, and whose voice we choose to relate events will all have an effect on the narrative.
In the end, it all sounds deceptively simple. Surely we can produce an engaging tale that will give our readers pause; with a storyline that’s filled with twists and turns and a conclusion that will take them completely by surprise?
Reading and Writing
They’re in constant competition. Sofa, cup of tea, book, is my default position. I already get up an hour earlier to shoehorn some more reading time into my day and I often sit up with a book late into the night. But a serious writing addiction requires serious amounts of time and commitment, and it’s a daily struggle to achieve a balance. Lunch hours become ten minute breaks, the rest of the time spent scribbling plotlines or mulling over new characters.
I snatch odd minutes here and there in the evenings. It’s true what everyone says: foregoing an hour of television every night means I’ll have a substantial piece of work by the end of the year. It’s not easy, summoning the muse when the moment dictates, but it’s a skill I’m learning. If I’m not making any progress with the novel I’ll spend the time exercising my writing muscles in a different direction, like a short story.
But back to the conundrum: we writers must read, read, read to hone our skills. How can we hope to write with style, elegance and panache if we haven’t studied the masters of the craft?
Computer v Pen and Paper
When I first started writing seriously I wrote longhand, with my special Mont Blanc rollerball, on pads of unlined A4 paper. I transferred the completed pages onto computer, using this process as my first edit. I found it difficult to write directly onto the computer; it was as if the keyboard created a barrier to my imagination. But after I’d finished this copying out in best I would be deep into the story and I’d often carry on typing without a problem. Gradually I dispensed with the paper and pen.
Computers have their good points: I can still remember the rapture I felt when I discovered the synonym facility (I’m easily pleased). At my age I’m often at a loss for the precise, apposite word and stopping to look it up in the Thesaurus breaks my concentration. Imagine having this resource quite literally at my finger tips!
However, it isn’t foolproof and sometimes it doesn’t deliver quite what I want. In these instances, I use the first word that presents itself, highlight it in a different colour and move on. The colour serves as a reminder, I don’t lose my flow, and the word will come, eventually.
P.S. I carry a notebook with me at all times, so the expensive biro is still pressed into service.
Welcome to my writing blog
A Slight Change of Pace…..
After the hurly-burly of the NaNo challenge, the deep, deep peace of writing for pleasure beckons once again. Whether it’s editing something already written or beginning an entirely new piece of work, there’s nothing quite like taking up a pen or sitting at a keyboard and losing oneself in the creative process.
Now what?
I feel a bit lost today. After all the frenetic activity of the past few weeks it’s rather strange not having to snatch some time to sit and write.
But the story still draws me in. I’ve a little way to go before it’s actually finished, and after that, there’s the dreaded rewriting. As the saying goes, write with your heart, rewrite with your head, so I’ll have to look at what I’ve written from a different perspective, checking plot lines and timescales and making sure everything makes sense and that I haven’t made any schoolgirl errors like changing someone’s name halfway through.
Day Twenty Six
Word Count: 49,007
This has been a most productive and exciting day. Over 5,000 words. I’ve tried to make them sensible words – and I hope the story hangs together in a pleasing manner. But where did they come from? I’ve no idea – there’s obviously a well of words inside me and I hope it never dries up.
Tom Clancy once posed the question, The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. There can be no unexplained happenings and certainly no coincidences, because fiction abhors a coincidence, just as nature abhors a vacuum.
Day Twenty Five
Word Count: 43,712
On the final stretch now and the words have to keep coming. Where do I find them?
William Shakespeare knew a thing or two about writing. In Act 2, scene 2 of Hamlet, our eponymous hero utters the immortal phrase, ‘Words, words, words.’ He’s obviously done this challenge, too.
Ray Bradbury said, ‘You fail only if you stop writing.’
With this kind of pressure, I can’t possibly stop until it’s over. Only 5 more days and 6,288 words ….
Day Twenty Four
Word Count: 42,393
I’m creeping forward, word by word. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth, and just as painful.
‘A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction,’ said Virginia Woolf. I’ve got the room, what I need now is enough money to give up work and concentrate on writing.
Actually, what I really need is a rich benefactor.
Maggie Cammiss 