Tag Archives: novel

Between novels

29 Monday Aug 2016

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I’m in that wonderful, exciting, refreshing but also terrifying space between novels at the moment. I finished a draft of my last, still-to-be-titled, one over the weekend, and sent it to my editor today. There will still be plenty of work to do on it no doubt, but for the moment it is out of my hands.

Meanwhile ideas for the next novel after that are filling my mind, so although I’d planned to have a bit of a break I have spent a lot of time today scribbling notes and putting together a Pinterest board to inspire me.

There are a number of things I do when planning a novel before I start actually writing it. I’ll do them in roughly this sequence:

  1. Scribble notes about key scenes, in a lovely new notebook of course!
  2. Decide on names, ages etc of main characters
  3. Draw up family trees for main characters, especially important if genealogy is to be a theme in the book
  4. Draw up timelines for the two timelines in the novel
  5. Build up a Pinterest board of inspiring images
  6. Note down main areas where I’ll need to research ahead of writing, and order any necessary books
  7. Create detailed character sheets for the main characters so that I can really get to know them
  8. Scribble details of the main settings, draw a map or house-plan if necessary
  9. Write a one-page synopsis for my editor to (hopefully!) approve
  10. Write a chapter plan – two or three sentences outlining what will happen in each chapter

So although ‘the Irish novel’ has been sent off ready for the next stage (rather like a five-year old child being sent off for his first day at school), the ‘drowned village’ novel is already swilling around my head. You know you need to write a novel when you find yourself waking in the night with scenes for it playing out in full colour in your head.

It’s funny – to my readers Daughters of Red Hill Hall is considered my latest novel, but I feel as though I’m two novels on from that!

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The Emerald Comb – cover reveal!

31 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by in Books

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I’m delighted to present the cover for my forthcoming timeslip novel, The Emerald Comb. This is to be published as an ebook by Carina UK on 22nd September. Eek, that’s about three weeks away!

Gorgeous pict9781474007504_Cover_The Emerald Combure, isn’t it?  And here’s the blurb for the book:

One afternoon, Katie takes a drive to visit Kingsley House, the family home of her ancestors, the St Clairs. She falls in love the minute she sees it. It may be old and in desperate need of modernisation, but it is her link to the past and, having researched her family tree extensively, she feels a sense of belonging to the crumbling old estate.

When it suddenly comes up for sale, she cannot resist persuading her family to sell up and buy it, never telling them the truth of their connection with it. But soon the past collides with the present, as the house begins to reveal the secrets it has hidden for generations. Does Katie really want to discover what she has come from?

I can’t wait for this to be published – my first full-length novel. It’s all becoming very exciting as the publication date draws near!

On writing a first chapter

19 Thursday Jun 2014

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The first chapter of a novel is so important – it’s the first thing a reader, editor or agent sees, and if they don’t like it they won’t read on. And these days with Amazon offering the Look Inside feature, potential readers can read the start of your book from the comfort of their armchair. Get it wrong and it’s all they’ll ever read. Get it right and you’ll make a sale.

One of my novels has had so many first chapters it’s amazing it knows its own identity. For your amusement, here’s its history, to date. What I needed to happen in the first chapter was for amateur genealogist Katie to visit a house where her ancestors used to live, get a look inside, and have the current owners hint to her at mysteries in its past. In chapter 2 the historical part of the story begins; from then on the chapters alternate between current day and historical.

First version

Katie arrives at the house, knocks on the door, chats to the owners and they show her round and hint at mysteries in the house’s past.

I read this version out to my writing group, and the feedback was that it was all too easy for her, there was no conflict. So…

Second version

Katie arrives at the house, knocks on the door but there’s no answer. She sneaks round the back to peer in windows, gets caught in the act by the current owners who threaten to call the police etc. She explains why she’s there, then they get interested, show her round inside and hint at mysteries in the house’s past.

I sent this version to a literary critique agency. The feedback was that it was all very well, but a central theme of the novel was conflict between Katie and her husband (who doesn’t get why she’s so fascinated by the past) and that I should show that conflict in chapter one.

Also, this version was discussed in depth by a group of fellow writers at a novelists’ conference, and they came up with the marvellous suggestion of taking the start of chapter 2 (which is the first historical chapter) and turning it into a prologue to give the novel a proper hook.

So…

Third version

New prologue – a couple of pages in the form of a letter, providing a definite hook and hinting at a mystery connected with the house.

Chapter One begins with a new opening scene where Katie reminds her husband she’s off to look at the old house, and he needs to look after the kids. They have a row, and their conflicting views are shown. Katie storms out and goes to the house, then it continues as version 2.

I sent this version to an agent with whom I had a one-to-one at the Winchester writers’ conference last year. He liked the novel and wanted to see the whole thing, but asked me to change the first chapter. ‘Don’t start with a domestic,’ he said. ‘I get enough of that at home.’ So….

Fourth version

I rewrote the beginning, so that after the prologue it starts with Katie in the car on the way to the house, musing on the row she’d had with her husband and wondering if he’ll ever understand her obsession. She arrives at the house, then it continues as version 2.

Sadly the agent didn’t take me on. I then submitted this version to publisher Carina UK, and they’ve offered me a two-book deal! Which I am very, very excited about! But it is highly likely my editor (oh, how I enjoy saying my editor!) will want some changes, so…

Fifth version

You’ll have to wait until it’s published, and buy the book to find out!

 

But it all goes to show – often you’ll work harder on the beginning of a novel than on any other part. It can be the most difficult bit to get right. Remember, you don’t have to get it right first time. The point of the first draft of the first chapter is to get you up and running, into the story. Just write, even if you know it’s not a good opening, and keep writing. When you’ve reached the end, you can come back and rework that beginning, as many times as you need to, until you’ve got something which grabs readers and doesn’t let them go.

 

 

 

Writing by moonlight

09 Saturday Nov 2013

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I’ve tried different ways of writing novels in the past – whether planning or ‘pantsing’ (writing by the seat of your pants, aka making it up as you go along). In my early years of writing the novel I got furthest with was a ‘pants’ job (ha! In more ways than one!). I had a theme, knew where I was starting and that was it. But the plot was entirely unplanned, and each time I sat down to write I’d just write anything which came into my head, adding characters, scenes and plot events as they occurred to me. The result was a meandering mess which never reached the end. I gave up at about 55,000 words. At one point I realised I’d written the same scene twice, about two chapters apart. This is writing blind, writing in the dark with no idea of the way ahead. It doesn’t work for me, but I know some writers who can only work this way.

Some people plan novels to the nth degree. I’ve seen novel-writing methods which suggest starting with a sentence, expand that to a paragraph, expand that to a line per chapter, then add a line per scene. Write from the inside out, adding more detail each time, until you end up with a novel plan which could be up to about 10,000 words in length. Lynne Barrett-Lee in her book, Novel: Plan it, Write it, Sell it recommends this approach. If you do this, when you come to write the first draft you will know exactly where the novel is going and how it is going to get there. This is like writing in broad daylight, with bright sunshine lighting every point of the way, and with a detailed map in your hand at all times.

ID-10082072I’ve now completed two novels and am getting going with a third. I’ve realised I need to be somewhere between the planning and pantsing methods. I definitely need an outline plan – a spreadsheet with a couple of sentences about what’s going to happen in each chapter. And before I start writing each chapter, I spend a few minutes scribbling in a notebook, fleshing out those couple of sentences into a page or so of notes before I start typing the scenes. This is working well for me. I know the end point of my journey, I know a few points I will pass through along the way, but I can’t see the whole route. I can only see a little way ahead, like going for a walk by moonlight, but I can see far enough ahead to keep going, and as I progress the moon lights my way a little bit further.

I’m enjoying writing like this. I still get the excitement of wondering what will happen next, and my characters can still surprise me when they do something unexpected. But having a bit of a plan, and a few details about the chapter I’m just starting, means I never need sit and stare at a blank page wondering what on earth to write next. Also it means I know there’s a full novel there, with enough plot to last 90,000 words.

How do you write? Plan it or pants it? What planning techniques do you use?

(Moonlight photo courtesy of Exsodus at freedigitalphotos)

The Next Novel

14 Monday Oct 2013

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Now that Short Stories and How to Write Them has been pushed out into the big wide world of Amazon to sink or swim, it’s time for me to get going with another writing project. Over the last few weeks I’ve been jotting notes, compiling character sheets and adding to a novel-planning spreadsheet, but now I need to start actually writing.

Starting writing a novel requires the ability to overcome an enormous amount of inertia. Like getting a massive snowball rolling – you need a huge push. Or like getting off the sofa and going for a run – the hardest part is hauling yourself up and lacing up your running shoes. Once that’s done and you’re out the door, it all becomes a lot easier.

A novel needs an opening sentence. And while it’s true that whatever you write in a first draft can and probably will be changed as the novel takes shape, I’ve discovered I need to find a reasonably good first sentence, in the right voice and tone, to get me going. Otherwise I’ll stare at a blank page for hours (actually that’s not true. I’ll faff on facebook for hours, hoping that opening will come to me.)

I’ve made a start tonight. I’m not sure I have found the right first sentence though. There’s every chance I’ll bin this opening and start again tomorrow evening. But for now it’ll do, and it’s got me into the first scene. I’m up and running.