First draft finished and Happy Christmas!

On Friday I finally typed those magic words: 'The End'. Yay!

Of course, it's not the end, not by a long chalk. What I've completed is the first draft and I know the story is going to need major revisions before it's ready for submission. But still, I've written a story that has a beginning, middle and end and I'm letting myself sit back this weekend and enjoy the glow of achievement.

This will probably be the last post before Christmas, as I'm off to Yorkshire on Friday to spend the holiday with my family. Here's hoping that this year, Father Christmas decides not to give us the Norovirus...

Happy Christmas to one and all! I hope everyone has a wonderful time.

Now NaNo is over

I meant to post this earlier but was felled by the Dreaded Lurgy. Now it looks as though I'm going to live, it's time to assess my NaNoWriMo achievements.

First of all, the big news is that in the month of November I wrote a staggering 52,000 words. And I thought I would struggle to reach 30,000! I'm so pleased with myself. I haven't quite finished the first draft but I'm halfway through the final chapter. Nearly there!

So what has NaNo done for me?

Firstly it's given me the push to complete (well, almost) a first draft that's been dragging on since early summer. Giving myself permission to dedicate a whole month to writing meant that I had no more excuses not to write and I found that I enjoyed the intensity of having to produce 2k words a day.

It's also given me the confidence to know that I can write to a deadline. As an unpublished writer I have the luxury of time. But if I achieve my goal of selling to a publisher then I'm going to be facing deadlines. I needed to know if I had the stamina for that.

Another thing I've learned to do is focus on the story rather than the words. When I wrote my first novel it took ages because I spent so long agonising over the right words. I couldn't afford to do that with NaNo and I found it liberating. Time enough to get the words right when editing. For now all that mattered was to get the story down. Think I even used the word 'thingy' a couple of times!

Finally, Nano has given me a house that looks like the aftermath of a riotous teen party. I knew there had to be a downside...

Progress report

It's the halfway point of November and I'm proud to report that my word count for the month so far is 25,306. Yay! I was only hoping to do 30,000, but now I'm wondering whether I shouldn't just go for broke and aim for the full NaNoWriMo target of 50,000. Something tells me I'm going to hate myself when I start editing though. I'm writing some appalling crap just in order to move past a sticky patch and keep my word rate up.

I saw on Twitter that Harlequin UK are asking NaNo writers to send them their books at the end. What? Let an editor read my raw 1st draft? I'd have to be very drunk before I sent in that for their consideration!

Update, a local legend and November targets

View from Gelert's grave

I went to Beddgelert last weekend for my writing group's annual retreat. I managed to add about 6,000 words to my work in progress as well as polishing a couple of short stories, so I consider it time well spent.

Beddgelert is in Snowdonia and the scenery is stunning. In my last post I wrote how I get inspiration from scenery, so it won't surprise anyone to learn that I managed to fit in walks each day. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world. I only wish I could have stayed longer.


Something I didn't mention in my 'inspiration' post was local legends. As a writer of historicals, I like to collect local legends. Then I dip into them to help me create depth to a setting. There's a wonderful story associated with Beddgelert and the clue is in the name: Beddgelert is Welsh for 'Gelert's grave'. (Note to self: Gelert is a great name. I must use it sometime.)

Here's a photo of the plaque at Gelert's grave that explains the story. Have tissues ready - it's sad.

And finally...my target for November. I was tempted to join in with NaNoWriMo, but due to family commitments at the end of the month, I thought 50,000 words was over-ambitious. But I like the idea of pushing myself, so I've set a 30,000 word target. That way, I'll have broken the back of my first draft and hopefully have it finished by the end of the year. I'm already 15,000 words in, so I'm well on the way :)

Aids to creativity

Following advice from someone in my writers' group, I've been working on identifying things that put me in a more creative frame of mind. Here's the list I've come up with so far:

Hawkstone Follies - always an inspirational place for a walk

1. Walking. I've found that if I'm stuck with my writing, there's nothing like a good walk to sort things out. There's something about walking that sends my thoughts zipping along pathways that hadn't occurred to me before. I don't consciously think of my plot or characters, but I'll often get struck by a thought that gives me the key to how my characters are behaving, or reveals a plot twist that makes the story. 
2. Cycling. As for walking, but I also use it more consciously for fresh inspiration. I'm very lucky to live in Shropshire - one of the most beautiful counties in England (not that I'm biased!) It's predominately rural and filled with historical remains: stone circles, hill forts, Roman ruins, castles and priories...all the way to the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. I don't have to go far to see any of these, and on my bike I get the time to take in the atmosphere of the place and think what the place would look like in Roman times or the twelfth century, how the land would shape the people who lived there. If I've already got characters sketched out, I try to picture them there and look at the place through their eyes. It really helps me to get to know my characters better.
3. Music. There's something about music that switches on that part of my brain marked 'inspiration'. It puts me in a more receptive frame of mind and whatever I listen to - from classical to rock - always gives me fresh ideas. I have to be careful, though - I once wrote what I thought was a real tear-jerker of a scene, only to find when I read it through that all the emotion had come from the music I was listening to at the time. Without the music, the scene was dead. Until someone invents a way to add incidental music to books, I now plan with music on, but write with it off.
4. Cross-stitch. Maybe not one for everyone, this, but I find that concentrating on cross-stitch helps focus the part of my mind that's worrying about the everyday niggles, and frees the rest to go walkabout. I've come up with some great ideas, while working on a birth sampler for my niece. Who's now three...

My trusty steed, about to carry me over the Severn at Coalport. How easy was it to cross the Severn in earlier centuries?

So that's my list. I'd love to know what other people do to find their inspiration.

Update and SYTYCW

I know I've been neglecting my blog recently. Unfortunately various issues with my family have eaten into my spare time. It'll be a few more weeks until things are back to normal. I'm just glad I hadn't decided to enter the SYTYCW contest. There's no way I'd have had a completed MS ready in time.

I am still making progress - just very slowly. I'm trying to keep an eye on SYTYCW as well. There's some great advice on the site, as well as the entries. I'll confess I find the site confusing though. On the old NV site, reviews were easy to find. Now, unless I've missed something, reviews are just done via Twitter. It doesn't give much scope for an in-depth review.  I learnt so much from reading reviews in the NV contest that it's a shame there doesn't seem to be the same facility on SYTYCW.

Anyway, best wishes to all the entrants. I know how nerve-wracking it is to put your chapter up for all to read, so congratulations to everyone who did.

Lack-of-progress update / IT Crowd

Moss - not your typical M&B hero

This summer has been such a wash-out that you'd think I'd have stayed in, writing. Well, I have stayed in, but to cheer myself up, I've been watching re-runs of the IT Crowd. The trouble is, I've now watched so many episodes that whenever I try to add more to my new Medieval romance, in my head, my hero sounds just like one of the IT Crowd characters - Moss. Not exactly the effect I'm trying to achieve with my alpha male, twelfth-century warrior...

So I have made some progress since my last update, but it's been painfully slow. Hopefully now that there are some breaks in the rain, I can get out for some walks and bike rides, and clear my head.

Can I learn anything from my experience? Umm...(sounds of barrel being scraped out)...I suppose that I should aim to create characters who are so strong that I can predict what they would say or do in any given situation. Just as long as they don't sound like Moss.