Guest post: Failed Projects by Nathan Weaver

Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of failed projects, is brought to you by author, blogger, poet, lyricist and interviewee Nathan Weaver.

Failed Projects

Failed projects.  They’re like a flock of birds in a world with no shore.  Nowhere to go, nowhere to land.  They just flap until they exhaust and plummet to their death, slowly drowning in a sea of sorrow.  A sea of wonderment.  What if there was an island just over that next horizon, if I’d only held out for a little longer?

I would have to say with each successful project, you fail a mountain of others in its wake.  And if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves overwhelmed with the failures, and forget the accomplishments.  Or worse, we’ll find ourselves wanting to blame someone or something for things left undone.  This sort of negative reflection can be unhealthy, and prevent future successes, because groaning about past failures will begat future ones.

In a lot of cases a failed project isn’t a result of someone, but a result of the project itself.  Maybe it was doomed from the start, as the saying goes, whatever that means.  Maybe it just didn’t have the guts to come into its own. Maybe… there can be a lot of maybes.

But, Nathan?  What are you talking about?  What does this have to do with writing?  And quit depressing me by reminding me of all these past failures of mine!

Have you ever started a story, and never saw it through to the end?  For whatever reason, you gave up on it, or the creative well ran dry on it?  Or worst of all, you finished it and it fell flat?  If you’ve been writing for long, I’m sure you know what I mean.

How do you leverage these failures with your state of mind?  I don’t know that there is a perfect answer, a truth that never waivers.  I wish there was, it would make writing a lot easier.  I’ve been looking back over my failed projects a lot lately, and kicking my toes against the dusty ground. Shuffling around, sulking my shoulders about them all. But finally the other day, I mental-kicked myself in the backside and said, “Man, buck up, you’ve done a lot!”

In the past 4 or 5 years, I’ve been silently fighting what I am sure is ADHD, which has obviously not helped matters. But still, I’ve written, or half-written, over 50 short stories and novellas, outlined three or four novels and drafted one.  And there is a laundry list more of achievements I could go on about, though I’m not doing so to brag, but to make a point.  All while I felt I was failing projects left and right, which I was, I was also accomplishing a decent amount as well.

But better still, what I’ve come to realize is that even the projects you think you failed never really fail.  At least, not in writing.  There’s always a chance that some new creative jolt will revive the once dead bird, and you’ll be sitting in front of your computer with an undead bird and a zeal to get that story done.  Point in case, I recently went back to work on a novel I’d started developing back in 2002, but hadn’t had any luck with in ten years!  I hadn’t even thought of the story in about six or seven years, but then about a month ago my mind headed off into a direction for a story and then my mind said, “Hey, man, this is similar to that old idea, you should combine the two.”  And the result is that I now have a story that I had once given up on, running the creative gauntlet once more.  I didn’t realize, but that bird was still flapping out over the waves of uncertainty.  It has now landed, and is catching its breath before the next flight.

But what about you?  What about your failed projects?  Don’t fret, just make sure they’re neatly documented and set them aside for now.  Down the road, you may find yourself face-to-face with that bird again, wondering how in the world it made it across the great divide between conception and success.  And it will be looking to you with hungry eyes, begging for a few bread crumbs.  And what will you do?  Will you feed it, or will you not even notice it as you sulk around wishing it was there?

And if you have to blame someone, blame Sally Pinkerton, that’s what I do.  She’s an easy target, since she’s always scraping the bottom of the barrel anyway.

Thank you Nathan – it’s great to have you back!

Nathan Weaver, says he’s been writing for a “ridiculously long time”, and think he’s just starting to get pretty good at the nonsense.  Do check out his two recently self-published books, Fatal Flaws and Everything.  Both were collaborative efforts, and are cheaply priced.  You can find him and his writing at http://talesfrombabylon.com and you can find me in his Rogues Gallery.

    

If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. If it’s writing-related then it’s highly likely I’d email back and say “yes please”.

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with non-fiction and short story author, and novelist Philip Bradbury – the three hundred and fifty-second of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast ep.046

Bailey’s Writing Tips episode 46 went live today and featured three blog posts that I wrote for the following interviewees:

JD Mader – published 18.09.11 on being a writer in the U.K. entitled ‘The view from across the pond‘ and another on the art of interviews (to be published).

Fiona Veich Smith – published 17.01.12 on overcoming writer’s block.

The podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe) and this episode lasted 14 minutes and 40 seconds.

Next Monday’s episode will feature three pieces of flash fiction from Bob Frey, Theodore P. Druch and Ralph Murray.

 

Guest post: ‘Writing Essentials’ by Morgen Bailey

Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of some nuts and bolts of writing is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey – not really a guest, I know, but I had a gap and thought it was about time I contributed. It was due to be about writing groups and I’d written a chunk of the post but currently having a sieve-like brain (too many late nights) I left my memory stick at work so I apologise in advance but tonight’s is a post I wrote for Jodine Turner‘s blog back in September 2011 (with a tweak as I’ve done another NaNoWriMo since then). I hope you will still find it useful / interesting* (*delete as appropriate).

Writing Essentials

American science-fiction novelist Jerry Pournell is reported to have said “I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that you’re going to throw away.” I started writing for fun nearly seven years ago and more seriously three years ago and with three NaNoWriMo novels, one and a half in between, part of a script, some poetry and loads of short stories (including four and a bit collections of short stories for NaNo November 2011 – I know, it’s cheating but I still wrote more than 50,000 words in the 30 days) under my belt I’m pretty sure I’ve reached that target. How much of them I’ve thrown away I couldn’t tell you but it’s only a fraction, and if like me, you’ve dabbled before really knuckling down, you’ll feel better for it. It’s all about practice. If someone sat you in front of a piano, would they expect you to play a concerto… would you expect that of yourself?

In my experience too many novice writers worry about finding their ‘voice’ and understanding their ‘craft’ early on. It can be a long journey, perhaps not as long as a million words, but as long as you write regularly (daily is the ideal but when does life afford that luxury?) you’ll get there… and here are a few basics to put in your suitcase:

• Probably the most used phrase when teaching writing is ‘show don’t tell’. If you have a character who is angry for some reason, saying ‘Andy was angry’ is a classic example of ‘tell’. Simply put, you’re not showing us how. If you wrote ‘Andy slammed his fist onto the table’ you are.
• Dialogue tags – it’s recommended that you can only go up to six pieces of dialogue (between no more than two people) without attributing it to someone. And there’s nothing wrong with ‘said’. Don’t be tempted to look at your thesaurus and say ‘Andy postulated’. You could also avoid tags by another character saying “Oh Andy, that’s…” or in the description; ‘Andy laughed. “That’s…”
• Character names are important as we often get a sense of their personality by what they’re called. A Mavis is likely to be older than a Britney and would, usually, act differently. Avoid having names starting with the same letter; if you have a Todd talking to a Ted, the reader can easily get confused. Bill and Ted would be fine and as we know, they had a wonderful time back in the late 1980s.
• I’m a big fan of repetition… of not doing it. Unless it’s ‘the’, ‘and’ etc, a word should only be repeated if the second instance is to emphasise or clarify the first. For example, ‘Andy sat in the car. He beeped the horn of the car.’ You don’t need ‘of the car’ because we already know he’s in the car. If you said ‘Andy sat in the car. He beeped the horn and the car shook’ that would be fine because you’re clarifying that it’s the car and not the horn (because it’s the last object you mentioned) that’s shaking.
• Stephen King’s writing guide / autobiography ‘On writing’ has been the most suggested book in the interviews I’ve conducted. Amongst other things he’s notoriously against adverbs (‘ly’) and fair enough in, ‘completely dead’ you wouldn’t need the completely because dead says it all, and a character doesn’t need to be ‘sighing wearily’ because the sighing tells us enough, but adverbs are necessary in the right context. Again it’s all about clarification and fine-tuning.
• Every word has to count; does it move the story along or tell us about your characters? If not, the chances are it can be chopped.
• If you’re having trouble with a passage move on or leave it and return later with ‘fresh eyes’.
• Read. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your genre or not (one of my Monday nighters writes amazing sci-fi but has never read a word of it) but reading will help you see how a story is structured and balanced between dialogue and description; short sentences speed the pace, long passages slow it down.
• Join a writing group, get your work critiqued. Read your work out loud. It’s amazing what you’ll pick up when you hear it outside your head.
• Subscribe to writing magazines, go to workshops, literary festivals. If you really want to write immerse yourself in all things literary.
• Finally there’s the five sense; we have what the characters hear (dialogue), see (description / action) but what do they smell? taste? touch? You’ll likely not get them all in but you could try.

There are many more examples I could give you but all you need to remember is that it’s not about clever words (because that ends up becoming ‘purple prose’) but just getting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and have fun. When your characters take over (and they will) you’ll have the time of your life!

If you’re still raring for tips, you can read my article about writer’s block (which came out today) on Fiona Veich Smith’s ‘Crafty Writer’ website.

Thank you… er, me.

When not at her day job (a sore point – she’s been trying to escape since October!), Morgen Bailey runs a ticking-over nicely (about 150-200 visitors a day) blog which, like her, is consumed by the topic of writing. She shares her house in Northampton, England with an 11-year-old Jack Russell / Cairn cross who is used to her waving her arms about (as she tests how her characters do something) or clapping when she’s written a particularly wonderful line.

Best with deadlines, she loves projects like NaNoWriMo and StoryADay (producing three novels & four and a bit collections of short stories between them) because she’s like a dog with a clichéd bone… give her a challenge and she’ll do her damnedest to get it done… sometimes with just minutes to spare. She’s sold to Woman’s Weekly, given to NAWG for their ‘Link’ magazine and other online establishments. She currently has two $1.49 eBooks (a 31-story anthology and a writer’s block workbook) and free eShorts available via Smashwords.com but once the day job is dust she plans to edit her novels, let her editor rip them apart, then head for Amazon KDP and a bread and water lifestyle that is (often) that of a writer… and she can think of nothing more thrilling. There’s more about her via her ‘Me‘ page… should you have nothing better to do. And you can also find her on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with Dale T Phillips – who coincidentally was mentored by Stephen King! – the two hundred and fifty-second of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

 

Author interview no.1 with horror / thriller / sci-fi writer Colin Barnes

I’m delighted to bring you the first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. I announced the request for interviewees on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn only a couple of days ago and the response has been incredible. Already I have received over 40 replies and so hope to bring you, on average, an interview a day. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. Kicking off the series is fellow Litopian Colin Barnes.

Morgen: Hello, Colin. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Colin: I’m a misanthrope but have an interest in the psychology of people. Writing for me is a way of exploring how humans work without having to socially interact with them. My writing started when I was about 8, I found it easier to get my points of view across with the written word than with speech. It’s stuck around ever since.

Morgen: What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Colin: All my work tends to be in the darker genres (horror, thriller, sci-fi), I’ve tried writing lighter-hearted stuff, but it just doesn’t come naturally to me, and there is something very appealing about exploring the darker side of life.

Morgen: Although my longest pieces of work are light (chick- / lad-lit novels) I often write, and probably enjoy most, finding my dark side. What have you had published to-date, and how much of the marketing do you do?

Colin: I have three short stories coming out in an anthology that I’ve co-written with a American author (I can send more details in the summer when it’s released).

Morgen: That sounds great – short stories are my first love, reacquainted thanks to the http://storyaday.org project I undertook in May 2011. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Colin: I don’t have one, but my long-term aim is to have one. I personally think they are very useful, providing a much needed buffer between author and publisher, and (hopefully) provide long-term career advice.

Morgen: It’s said that it’s more difficult to secure an agent than a publisher, but definitely worth persevering. Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Colin: My anthology will be an ebook. I read a lot of ebooks. I read them on my iPhone, and kindle. I like that I can have a vast library of books in such a small space. I still like regular books though, and can see a future for both mediums going forward.

Morgen: That’s what I’ve been hearing. What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Colin: My first acceptance was for the upcoming anthology, and it was certainly a big thrill. There’s one thing writing and having friends and family like it, but having a completely unrelated third party accept you work gives you a sense of validation that gives you the confidence to carry on.

Morgen: Absolutely. Novelist Jane Davis (http://www.jane-davis.co.uk) and I were talking about this in special episode 25 of my Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast (links in ‘Where to find me’). Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Colin: Loads and loads. I don’t get down about them. It’s a rite of passage for any writer, it’s just a case of getting enough until you reach the ‘yes.’

Morgen: As the saying goes “A successful writer is one who didn’t give up”. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Colin: I have a number of projects I’m working on. I’ve just completed the first draft of a novel. I’m plotting out another that I will be writing as part of the Clarion Writeathon, and in the meantime I’m also writing a Novella that I’ll be self-publishing as an ebook, and finally, I’m writing a serial on my website. So I’m very busy.

Morgen: I’ve heard good things about Clarion from sources such as the ‘I should be writing’ podcast but very intensive and expensive so the Writeathon (http://www.theclarionfoundation.org/writeathon/wrtn-home.htm) sounds perfect! Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Colin: I always get something down each day. I usually aim for around 3k, but sometimes I only get 500 depending on my work load (I’m also studying for an English degree, so that takes up some time too.) I have writing binges on my day off where I get the bulk of my writing done. The most I’ve written in a single day was 12.5k.

Morgen: 500 is still a great achievement. 500 words a day = 3500 a week = 175,000 a year = an epic novel or two healthy 90K-worders. You’ve beaten my best by miles (9,337) which was for http://nanowrimo.org November 2010 (the last day!). What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Colin: I don’t believe it exists. It’s simply an excuse not to write. If one is ‘blocked’ it’s because there isn’t a clear path of where to go, or a problem that needs sorting first. If I get this, I simply go back and think of where I’ve gone wrong and restart. Or, if I simply cannot be bothered, I’ll switch to another project. I truly think there is no such thing as writers block (or muses), it’s simply a matter of sitting down and doing the work no matter what.

Morgen: I agree. I’d say if a writer’s stuck, move on (to later in the same piece or something different) and come back to it, by which time, hopefully, you’ll have forgotten why you were stuck in the first place. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Colin:  I’m mostly a plotter for long projects. For short stories I tend to construct the story in my head as a series of scenes, and write a few notes before writing it out in full. For novels and novellas I’m an obsessive plotter – I like to know where I’m going so I can keep up the intensity.

Morgen: Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Colin:  Hundreds. Some that just aren’t up to scratch. Some that approach subjects that would never be seen as acceptable, and others that are just so personal that if I ever released them I would fear for my personal safety.

Morgen: I like that, and oh, how familiar. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Colin: Most favourite has to be creating something out of nothing, and seeing others enjoy my work. Least favourite? That has to be the often insurmountable obstacles one has to get through to get the work out.

Morgen: Walking the dog, housework, the garden, the ping of emails… What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Colin: Shut up, sit down, and write.

Morgen: Because you can’t edit a blank page. What do you like to read?

Colin: So many things. I like short story anthologies, love old stuff like HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. I like anything from Ray Bradbury to Albert Camus. Of course there are the standard favourites such as King and Mieville – I love all sorts.

Morgen: I really liked Albert Camus’ ‘The Outsider’ (‘The Stranger’). Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Colin: Not really, I think there are too many websites and books giving advice (often incorrectly). The only one I could recommend would be Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’.

Morgen: I have it, it’s excellent (and highly recommended). In which country are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Colin: I’m in the UK – can’t say it’s been a help or hindrance. I suppose with it being a smaller market might make things harder, but these days it’s a global market so I wouldn’t necessarily say there’s a particular disadvantage.

Morgen: It must help that we speak English. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Colin: Litopia and Twitter – both are very important to me. Mostly for camaraderie, but also for the shared critiquing and workshopping of ideas. Also, it was through social networking that I met my publisher for the summer anthology. It’s a great way of belonging to a community without having the real-life social responsibilities (great for a misanthrope).

Morgen: I use them both and love them both, and miss Litopia’s After Dark and Open House (Sundays) when it’s not on. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Colin:  The best place would probably my site: www.colinfbarnes.com and my twitter profile: http://twitter.com/colin_barnes.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Colin: Thanks for the opportunity, It’s been fun, I always enjoy reading your website, and hope you keep up the fine work.

Morgen: You’re so welcome (and thank you). It’s been a pleasure to ‘meet’ you.

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the questions. You complete them, I tweak them where appropriate (if necessary to reflect the blog ‘clean and light’ rating) and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them) on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Bailey’s Writing Tips: interviews & reviews

As additions to the hints & tips episodes of my Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast, I’ve reviewed some events I’ve been to but mostly interviewed a number of poets, novelists and short story writers, namely (in chronological order):

1. My interview with poet/Northampton Literature Group Poetry Circle’s lead Julia Tonkinson (released 24th Sept).

2./3. My interview with short story writer/novelist/competition judge Sue Moorcroft (part 1: 20th Oct; part 2: 28th Oct).

4. My interview with short story writer/course tutor Joanna Barnden (released 10th Nov).

5. My review of the weekend (20/21 Nov) that I volunteered at Chorleywood Literature Festival (www.cwlitfest.org).

6. My interview with western short story writer and novelist Jack Martin (released 16th Dec).

7./8. My interview with poet/lyricist Louis J Casson (part 1: released 13th Jan; part 2: released 20th Jan).

9.10. My interview with novelist Jane Lovering (part 1: released 25th Feb; part 2: released 5th March).

11. My interview with novelist Judith Allnatt (released 9th March).

12. My interview with Oundle Literature Festival Committee Members Paula Prince & Nick Turnbull (released 22nd March).

13./14. The first part of my review of my day (Saturday 2nd April) spent at Oxford Literature Festival was released on Monday 11th April and the second part, episode 14 released late Wednesday 14th April.

15. My interview with novelist Lesley Cookman (released 19th April).

16. My review of my first day as a volunteer at Oundle Literature Festival (released 25th April) - Andy Lane and Nigel Warburton. Day 2 released as special episode 18 (9th May) and Day 3 as special episode 22 (30th May). Days 4 & 5 to follow as future special episodes.

17. My interview with crime novelist Gary M Dobbs, aka western writer Jack Martin, (released 2nd May).

18. Day 2 of my time spent as a volunteer at Oundle Literature Festival (released 9th May) – Sarah McIntyre and the festival’s literature quiz. Day 3 released as special episode 22 (30th May). Days 4 & 5 to follow as future special episodes.

19/20. Parts 1 and 2 of my interview with poet Chris Ringrose: part 1 released Friday 13th May then part 2 was released as special episode 20 Sunday 15th May.

21. My interview with sci-fi/erotica writer Nobilis Reed (released 23rd May).

22. Day 3 of my time spent as a volunteer at Oundle Literature Festival (released 30th May) - Mark Billingham and Michael Robotham.

Days 4 (featuring Nick Sharratt, Simon Scarrow, Warwick Davis and Michael Wood) & 5 (featuring Katherine Jakeways and the ‘Rhymer’s Revenge’ murder mystery events) to follow as future special episodes.

In the next few weeks I’ll be chatting with novelist Jane Davis and crime writer Adrian Magson. I shall then be interviewing crime novelist Sally Spedding at the Winchester Writers’ Conference early July, and hopefully anyone else that I can catch a few minutes with.

I do have interview slots available thereafter so if you write (published or otherwise) and think you’d make an interesting subject, do email me. I don’t pay or charge.

You can also read an interview with me at Who Hub – if you interview authors and think I’d make a suitable interviewee, then do contact me.

Links to the podcast outlets (iTunes and Google’s Feedburner are the recommended avenues) are located in the ‘Where to find me’ left-hand menu of this podcast or on my website http://morgenbailey.com.

 

If you’re having trouble with your characters / Cristin Terrill’s Five Top Tips

Thanks to http://hiveword.com/wkb/search (again courtesy of Twitter) for a link to http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/30; a great article entitled ‘Why you should steal your character’s shoes’ which contains a link to the equally brilliant http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/24 providing six tips for using backstory to create compelling characters: 1. Create what the story demands. 2. What is the character’s wound? 3. What do you love or hate in a character? 4. Conduct an interview. 5. Write her eulogy / cv. 6. Get quirky (with a summing up at the bottom). If you’re having any trouble with your characters (and don’t they just love to cause you grief) then these two pages should go some way to helping. If not, slap their wrists and tell them to grow up!

Another of HiveWord’s links is to http://cristinterrill.com/2010/11/17/top-5-first-draft-tips-of-all-time, as the address would suggest Cristin Terrill’s Top Five First Draft Tips: 1. Have a daily word count. 2. Leave the house. 3. Embrace your suck. (couldn’t have put it better myself) 4. Don’t read what you’ve written. 5. Take breaks. All sound advice to me.

 

Some more really good stuff about writing

http://thescienceofstory.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-ten-tips-for-stories-that-grip.html?spref=tw does what it says on the tin.

Story Development Consultant David Baboulene (what a wonderful name) shares his top ten tips for writers.

In a nutshell, it’s read, write and send it out but we knew that already didn’t we? And do we do it? Of course not… maybe after reading David’s blog we might be a little more inspired to do so.

 

10… no, 20 mistakes writers make

Courtesy of the wonderful world that is Twitter:

http://www.broca.org/style.html lists 10 classic faux pas under the heading of ‘repeats’, ‘flat writing’, ‘empty adverbs’, ‘phony dialogue’, ‘no-good suffixes’, ‘the (verb) to be words’,  ‘lists’, ‘show don’t tell’, ‘awkward phrasing’ and ‘commas’, and ends with “The point to the List above is that even the best writers make these mistakes, but you can’t afford to. The way manuscripts are thrown into the rejection pile on the basis of early mistakes is a crime. Don’t be a victim.” Couldn’t have put it better myself (although I didn’t try too hard…)

Oh look, and here’s a similar list… http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2011/04/culprit-writing-mechanics.html

 

Extract from BWT podcast episode 8 (Oct 2010) – flash fiction

The last item of each hints & tips podcast is a piece of fiction – either flash or poetry and episode 8’s was a 60-worder called ‘Dog collar’:

• Barney was extremely patient. He’d sit and wait, listen when someone talked to him and then get suitably excited when it appeared that there was something to get excited about. People seemed to relax when around him and to get so much out of their meetings. He then got his own back on Sunday… with his long, but fascinating, sermons!

 

Extract from BWT podcast episode 8 (Oct 2010) – NaNoWriMo

I’ve mentioned NaNoWriMo a few times before in these podcasts and it stands for National Novel Writing Month where the idea is that you write a minimum of 50,000 words in 30 days. It may sound impossible but at just under 1,700 words a day it’s certainly doable… and I’ve done it twice.

It’s now in its 12th year (2010) and was an idea spawned by a San Fransisco writing group with 21 people taking part in July 1999. It changed to November the following year (they say to “take advantage of the miserable weather) and went global pretty quickly now attracting over 100,000 writers with an average of 15-20% of people ‘winning’ which means writing over the 50,000 words. In 2008 I scraped in with 53,000 words but in 2009 I wrote a chick lit which I found easier and had more characters and a more extensive plot so managed a whopping 117,540 words (although NaNoWriMo’s widgets – their word counting machine – worked it out to be 100 or so words more) so it’s possible if you have a strong enough idea – one with ‘legs’. The NaNoWriMo website says “Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.”

All you do is create a profile (a free account) on their website which includes your geographical area, and then update your profile with your progress. They also run the Young Writers Program I mentioned a minute again (the website is http://ywp.nanowrimo.org), aimed at up to 17 year olds, which has a wonderful ‘Dare Machine’ on it – the dare on the home page when I looked was ‘We dare you to start a chapter with the words: “It didn’t hurt that much”. There’s also NaNoEdMo which, although not by the same organisation, is based on a similar idea but a month (March yearly) of editing which gives you three clear months to let your novel sit in a drawer while you get on with something else so that it feels fresh when you return to it and therefore, hopefully, easier to spot mistakes or areas that need work.

When you’ve written your first draft, left it to stew, edited, re-edit and edit some more, you need to make sure that it fits the format that an agent, editor or publisher will accept. The more professional a manuscript (and cover letter/synopsis) is, the more seriously it will be taken and, hopefully, reach further up the slush pile tree.