My First Draft

On Thursday I finished the first draft of my new novel. I have been ambitious with this one. This was my first full length novel. I am more of a fan of short stories. It was a thriller/mystery genre. Before I had specifically stuck to gothic fantasy. It was a challenge and I wasn’t sure about it for most of the time I was writing it. I liked 3 things about it (the beginning, the middle and the end) and everything in between felt a bit like a means to an end. Fortunately, actually reading back through what I have written, it doesn’t actually feel like that and some of those ‘means’ have actually made for the addition of interesting characters and development of the setting, so have probably helped me out a lot in the long run.

I have noticed a few things I am guilty of with writing a longer novel. I start off incredibly descriptive and then that level of description just wanes as the novel progresses and I speed towards the end. That is something I will have to fix in my second draft because I felt there was a lot of beauty in the description at the start and I just lose it by trying my best to get to the thrilling parts as quickly as possible. I am guilty of forgetting key bits of information as the novel develops- I kept changing my mind about some initials and they have ended up probably being every letter in the alphabet by the close of the novel. I am guilty of having terrible handwriting yet insisting on handwriting it all- that is going to be a bit of a puzzle when it comes to typing it up.

On the whole, I have enjoyed writing something a bit different. I have ended up creating something that is so much more about sisterhood and motherhood than I ever initially anticipated, and I am proud of the results.

I have decided I am going to leave it to settle for a while before typing up. I might distract myself with tidying up my writing space and making it feel special again (it has become a bit neglected over lockdown) and maybe creating myself a bit more of a rigid schedule. I feel like I have totally fallen into a lifestyle of doing what I want to when I want to do it which I know won’t be as feasible “in the real world,” and when I go back to work.

We’ll see if any of this happens in my blog post next week 😊

Why I love minor characters...

I have always, since childhood, supported the underdog. I was never a fan of the flashy, heroic head-lining characters who seemed to have everything going for them (or him, in most cases). I loved the sidekick, the underrated villain, the quirky character who pops up for some comic relief or merely as a plot function. They were the ones I supported. Not only because I felt they were undervalued but, in some cases, I was able to fill in the gap about them in my imagination. I didn’t know their backstory, wasn’t explicitly told what drives and motivates them, wasn’t exposed to obviously narrated clues to how they are currently feeling. I could decide. I could create them to be so much more of something in my mind.

My favourite character in the Harry Potter series is Narcissa Malfoy. Her love for her son and her decision at the end of the series (no spoilers) completely and utterly enthralled me and trying to truly understand her motivations, the intricacies behind her decisions, was something I wasn’t plainly told, I had to think about it, work it out. I am much more fascinated by Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest than I ever will be by Randle McMurphy and TV show-wise, having finally complete Pretty Little Liars, Mona has to be my absolute fave. (Some spoilers)-  I often found myself rooting for her over the others and was in complete denial that she was as cruel and sadistic as she was initially made out to be- I knew there was more to her and I liked second-guessing her motivations, her desires, etc.

I think those examples reveal that perhaps I am more fond of the morally questionable characters that skirt along the sidelines, inciting conflict, toying with being undeniably evil but then doing something that makes me wonder if that really is the truth in it, are they unquestionably antagonistic or is there more them than that? And I will never know, because they aren’t the narrator, they aren’t the glory-seeking protagonist. They are there, mostly as a function, something to cause complications or spur the main character on. I think that is why, in my own writing, I end up being more excited and intrigued my minor characters than my major ones. I end up loving them more and enjoying the fact that they aren’t revealing all, they are keeping parts of themselves hidden and unwritten and, if I ever do have any of my writing published, I hope readers really notice them, give them the time of day and try and fill in the gaps themselves.

My love/hate relationship with my current WIP

Does anyone else find that they have a love/hate relationship with their current WIP or is it just me? I didn’t have it with my first novel, but I think that may be because it was a series of short stories, so it was all love and no time for hate. It may be because I am branching out into unfamiliar genre territory as I am writing a thriller for the first time and, maybe, I am just lacking in confidence as it isn’t my go-to writing style. I keep finding that some days I am loving what I am writing and feel good about my chapters but others I get into an absolute slump, feel that my writing is dreadful, and the story is going nowhere. It may because I am being ambitious with this WIP. I am writing much more than I have ever written before, it is a longer narrative and doesn’t quite follow a linear structure in the same sense as my usual writing does…and I guess that’s hard. I loved writing my first few chapters and I have had a couple of climatic moments that have been really interesting to write (delving into a bit of gore and mystery which I haven’t always fully gotten into with my writing for a younger audience). It is just those lulls in between where I am working on character development or orchestrating situations to enable the next key moment to happen that I am finding hard. I wonder if that means I just don’t love my characters or world enough and if so, does that mean it is a project worth abandoning?

 Let me know if you ever feel the same way about your WIPs and if you have any advice for these writing slumps.

Five ways to combat writer's block

I know everyone deals with writer’s block differently, but I just wanted to share five ways I combat writer’s block and what helps me get back onto my writing journey. Some might be obvious, some may not work for you, but hopefully some of these strategies might be able to get you out of a writing lull.

 Walking

Most of my narratives are set in nature or have an element of nature-writing within them. Sometimes I find myself repeating similar phrases or descriptions as I spiral into writer’s block. I find going on a long walk helps with this. It clears my head, provides me with opportunity to really immerse myself in nature and notice things I perhaps hadn’t noticed before and therefore provides me with inspiration for my writing.

Reading

This is probably one of the more obvious strategies- be inspired by your most loved books. The books that made you want to write to begin with. What was it about the narrative, the characters, the imagery that captivated you in the first place? How might you recreate some of this magic in your own? I love to write chilling gothic stories for children and teenagers, and I am often inspired by Roald Dahl’s short stories but also good old Poe. If I am struggling with what to write, I usually take a break, read a couple of short stories, jot down what grabbed me and why, and use this to inspire my writing.

Board Games

I won’t go into too much detail about this as I have written about some of my favourite bookish games in my last blog post, but board games are a nice break when I am getting frustrated with my writing. They allow me to clear my head and focus on something else for a little while, but also some games (such as the ones I mentioned in my last blog post) actually encourage creativity, storytelling and imagination. I often find that after a game or two I am feeling refocused and ready to write again.

 Take a bath

I often get my best ideas in the bath (or sometimes the shower). Bath time is the perfect opportunity to mull over some of my trickier plot issues amongst all the bubbles… although sometimes I find that a lot of the solutions end up being water-based.

  Improving my writing space

Sometimes I find the biggest barrier to my writing is the space I am working in. If the space feels cluttered and unproductive, my mind feels cluttered and unproductive. Whenever I start a new draft, I spend a day clearing out my writing my space, tidying and organising. I also like to make it a pleasant environment to work in and often adorn the area with flowers, plants, candles and motivational messages to make myself feel motivated. I make sure I let as much light as I possibly can in and will often listen to ASMR rooms of seasonal outdoor spaces to allow for some background noise that isn’t too distracting.

So, there are five ways I try and combat the troublesome writer’s block, let me know what you do to keep yourself inspired and writing 😊 

Bookish Games

I thought I would write something a little different but still with a bookish focus. I like board games (not in an obsessive, that’s-all-I-do, expert- on-really-advanced-games kind of way), but I enjoy them. Especially on a rainy day. My favourite type of boardgame is one that has a literary theme or one where I need to use creativity. As we are all spending more time indoors, and we seem to have a little more time, I thought I would make a list of four bookish games I would recommend.

First of all, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective- I absolutely love this game. I am a huge fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. I love the cosy, old-fashioned feel to the Sherlock Holmes series, and I enjoy nothing more than listening to a short story audiobook. I have listened to so many now that I consider myself a bit of a “detective.” I have learnt the general tropes and hints of where the mystery is heading and can often now work out the resolution before the end of the story. Although in some ways, this has taken away the magic of Sherlock, it does feel good to imagine myself as clever as him 😊. Naturally, to be able to then PLAY the mysteries in this boardgame is something I obviously would be drawn to. And there is nothing better than playing this board game on a rainy day, with a cup of tea and a Victorian ASMR room playing on the TV. I play it with my husband, but I think it would be possible to play it with only one player as well, or even larger groups. The game takes you through a Sherlock Holmes themed mystery where you need to use newspapers, maps and “visiting” various areas of London to uncover the solutions to the crimes. I like to think I have gotten pretty good at finding the “secret messages” in the personal section of the newspaper, I mean it is a common place where Sherlock finds some of his clues in the series itself. You can choose how long you want this board game to last- you can play it more competitively and try and solve the mysteries in as few clues as possible, or you can do what we do and try to unravel every last strand we possibly can. Downfalls to this game are that I think we have a relatively early version of the game so there are few typos and once you play a mystery you can’t play it again (as you already know the answers). There are 10 mysteries in the box. I personally prefer games I can play an unlimited amount of time, but I do believe there are expansion packs, so that might be something we will invest in in the future.

The next bookish game is “Paperback.” Although this is about wordplay and more like scrabble than anything, the design of the game is really great, with the cards having illustrations of front covers of an array of different genres of books. It is a quick, easy game- and also one of the only games I actually win at against my husband- that may be part of the reason I like it so much.

Next, we have “Gloom.” I haven’t played this game as much as I would like, although the design is right up my street. I love the gothic, Tim Burton-esque design of the characters and the different “families.” It certainly is quirky and I like the twist that you are trying to make your own family as miserable as possible, whilst making the family you are competing against have “the best life possible.” I am torn with Gloom. It is everything I should love, but I find the competitive, numerical “point adding and subtracting” side quite difficult and would love to focus more on the story-telling component, whereas my husband is more into “just getting the game done” and it being more of a battle/ competition than really developing the narrative behind it. I think with this game, it really depends on who you are playing with.

Finally, “DixIt.” It is a great game for all the family and has been really popular when we have had friends over for “games nights,” all the way back when you could have friends over. It is nice, easy and simple, but does also rely on your creativity. The cards are absolutely stunning and I think the game is a really effective practice in describing something in a succinct and imaginative way- you really need your show, don’t tell skills here!

Anyway, those are my four recommendations- I would really love to hear your thoughts on any of these games and would also love any further recommendations of any bookish games you have discovered and would recommend. 

How did I miss this?

I was an avid reader as a child (surprising?). One of my fondest memories is doing the Saturday shop with my mum, and as a treat for good behaviour, getting to go up to the library (it was on the second-floor balcony area of the town centre) and completely immerse myself in the children’s section.

My big loves were, of course, Harry Potter, Series of Unfortunate Events and Goosebumps. I also loved Enid Blyton, Animorphs and anything Jacqueline Wilson. As I got older, I started delving into more of the classics, alongside the next-big-things such as Hunger Games and the Divergent series. And, although I read a lot, I somehow completely and utterly missed the His Dark Materials series. I have a really foggy memory of being at a creative writing masterclass and being introduced to an extract that must have been from the series where we then had to create our own ‘daemons.’ I remember being interested, wondering where the extract came from, but still, it didn’t encourage me to investigate. It isn’t until, as a 23-year-old and moving into my first home with my now-husband, and he unloaded his His Dark Materials books onto the bookshelf that I actually truly realised that this series even existed. It is safe to say my husband was shocked at my lack of knowledge of this beloved series, yet still, it isn’t until lockdown that I have finally been drawn to picking up that first book. Rather than buying new books, I was trying to do the thing where I actually read the books we already have, and I had made a list of all the untouched books on the shelves that I had yet to peruse. I was aware that the book had recently been made into a BBC series, but hadn’t really taken to it, what with my lack of understanding of the world Phillip Pullman had created. I wasn’t invested yet.

The first time I read the book was in the bath about two weeks ago, and I remember just kicking myself and thinking, “How on earth did I miss this?” His Dark Materials would have been right up my street as a kid (and still is). Magical world- check, animals- double check, a strong female protagonist- check. How did I manage to let it slip by? So now, naturally, I have devoured the first book and the first season of the TV series (much prefer the book, as per), and I will be shortly starting the next. I have even gone as far as speculating what my loved one’s daemons might be. I have decided to call on my inner child for the rest of the series, and I am determined to immerse myself with magical worlds as much as I once did.

Reading Outside :)

As I write this it is in fact the first day of rain in well over a week, but previous to this day we had been blessed with some glorious sunshine. It might be the only bit of summer that the UK gets (I hope not), but I made sure I made the most of it (within social distancing measures) and went outside as often as I could. As a result, I am now sporting a lovely t-shirt tan.

This blog post is going to be more about reading than writing. I just wanted to express my appreciation of being able to read outside. My books have joined me in the garden, in a field, next to a lake, and there is something about being able to read whilst amongst nature and in the sunshine that really adds to the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love a cosy winter read wrapped up in a blanket, hot chocolate, the works, but nothing beats reading about an epic journey and hearing the sounds of nature around you.

So, that is all really- I just wanted to share my love of reading and the outdoors 😊. Let me know about any interesting and fun locations you have been reading lately.