Category Archives: Editing

The craft of revision

A sequel of questions or opportunities?

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Well I’ve finished my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel, or rather the first draft of another outpouring of words – Wyrm Blood. Hopefully it makes more than a bit of sense as I had a detailed outline to work to, although I made a few changes as I got further into the story and discovered extra sub plots. Some of those will require a new draft, which will perhaps be Draft 1.5 rather than Draft 2.

Wyrm Blood is the sequel to Wyrm Bait and as such the central characters are the same, other than the antagonists. However that throws up a question:

Cover of "Darkspell"

Cover of Darkspell

How does a writer ensure a new reader learns about the characters from Volume 1?

I realised that I needed to supply some indications and I have attempted to build it into dialogue as much as possible. I have also tried to reference Volume 1 in passing but not as info dump type exposition. At the moment I am reading Darkspell, Volume II of Katherine Kerr’s Deverry epic fantasy series. I read Volume 1 in the summer so I know where she is referring to events in that book but I am grateful for the reminders and realise how well she blends them in.

Obviously this doesn’t just apply to characters but to events, although they should arise from well-crafted characters. However there is a danger in erring on writing less and leaving new readers with unanswered questions – loose strings in a way. That is something that I will have to address in editing Wyrm Blood.

 

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is it possible to foreshadow the sequel in any way?

Once I started working on the outline for Wyrm Blood there were elements that were ripe for inclusion in the opening novel Wyrm Bait, so these were worked into the draft at that point and I will ensure that both novels are linked in this way. However once the opening novel is committed for publication that will stop. Whenever Volume III becomes a reality the option will not be there, although I will be able to amend Volume II, Wyrm Blood.

As I am playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, an online MMORPG, with my wife at the moment, the Star Wars universe and story development has lessons in terms of sequels, not least that prequels can undermine the freshness and the novelty of the original. In many ways those writers and film-makers that have re-visited the setting of their initial product successfully, have done so be creating a new tale, albeit set against the same background. Terry Pratchett is a prime example in my mind and an inspiration to us all in so many ways.

 Terry Pratchett enjoying a Guinness at honorar...

 

How should a writer tackle a sequel to a first published novel?

I am in the process of having my first novel Spiral of Hooves published as an e-book and my contract allows for them to publish other books in the Chasseur series. As I was writing Spiral of Hooves there were elements that I felt could be developed and there are places where these were added so future events could occur. I have a rough outline for Tortuous Terrain which shifts the setting from Europe to North America but still involves two of the central characters. How the novel pans out may depend on the success of Spiral of Hooves, which does create a slight deterrent to writing the story. Yet there is a part of me that wants to revisit my created equine world where I started, especially as there has been time to let everything marinade.

Talking of marinading there are other novels either in my bottom drawer – The Last Leaf and Fates Maelstrom – or in some sort of outline – Eighth Passenger, a novel about love across boundaries and war, that began life as the idea for a TV series. Where I go in 2013 will have a bearing on which WIP receives the necessary input of energy required to move it ahead of the queue.

 

Until next time the Silver Scribbler wishes you all Good Writing.

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LIFE BEYOND NaNoWriMo

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UK biometric passport on pile of Euro currency

UK biometric passport on pile of Euro currency (Photo credit: Christopher Elison)

Well November has disappeared and the hectic pace of NaNoWriMo has slowed to that of my walking-staggering. But there were two highlights: first and most important was my wife getting her Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, until 2022 when her US passport expires. However she aims to have UK citizenship and to be a member of the maroon passport club by then. Will take more money of course, and she has to learn the National Anthem, plus swear to vote Conservative at every election and doff her hat to every policeman – last two might be exaggerations.

Winner-180x180

The second highlight was completing 50k+ of my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel, Wyrm Blood, before the end of the month. However I have to admit that I was unable to keep up my daily word count in the final few days or in the last few weeks. Wyrm Blood Draft 1 is still incomplete with about eight chapters to go and two sub-plots to build into it. These sub-plots are new ideas that I stumbled upon while writing scenes following – kind of – the outline that I’d written in October. I have attempted to write them into the last third of the WIP but I know that there are a lot of extra scenes to insert.

But is that a new draft or just add-ons to draft one?

I also feel that the antagonist needs scenes but I already have four POV’s and feel a fifth would be too much. Any thoughts as to whether even four is too much?

Trying to finish Wyrm Blood in December was the intended plan but that could be messed up. I’ve come out of the fervour of November torn between needing a break and wanting to finish. I also have a 2011-2012 Tax Return hanging over me, although it should be simple as I don’t really earn much – not that Inland Revenue believe me. Maybe I’m just putting it off as I always do.

If I do finish Wyrm Blood before Christmas then the New Year brings other options such as 100k in 100 days 2013 and the 2013 Debut Dagger competition. My original intention, back in the autumn, was to focus on an entry in the Debut Dagger, either Wyrm Bait (first part of Wyrm series), which is in its 2.5 draft stage, or the stand-alone Fates Maelstrom, which is still first draft. I can still choose to enter the openings for both of them, re-written and edited for the competition – entries close on Saturday 2 February 2013.

Wyrm

Wyrm (Photo credit: Jon_Tucker)

The rules for 100k in 100 days 2013 are quite flexible as it’s more about the incentive and taking part than winning anything. Less pressure than NaNoWriMo and wider selection of what counts towards the 100k. So it will be an incentive to write more blogs, although I have to resist boring the select readership with verbal garbage. If I re-write the first 3,000 words of my two chosen novels plus 500-1,000 word synopses of them, that will also count – but not shopping lists. Drawback is that I suspect that editing in terms of hacking and honing doesn’t count and that has to be my priority with four WIPs needing work.

The ultimate objective is to have at least one novel totally finished and the others much further advanced by the Spring.

English: First rays of the rising winter solst...

English: First rays of the rising winter solstice sun light up the countryside 296447 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However for now I want to wish you all good writing and if the next blog hits the delay-button, then Happy Winter Solstice and Merry Christmas.

The Silver Scribbler

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How much time?

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St. Augustine writing, revising, and re-writin...

St. Augustine writing, revising, and re-writing

Please don’t think I’m lazy but apologies are due I believe. The unforeseen hiatus in posts was enforced by MS dragging me down. Anyway I am back to the Blogging again. However Time is a tough commodity to manage when living with spasms, stiffness and exhaustion, so no wild promises or resolutions this time.

When I started this Blog at the end of May, the dominant theme became Editing as that was the writing stage I had reached with my first novel.  After 12 years plus of working on Spiral of Hooves, I hoped that the end was in sight and only a couple of drafts were required to reach the finishing line.

Was I foolish thinking Editing would be so easy? 

Three months on from starting the edit I had reached a quagmire and quit three days ago. Identifying the dire marshes that trapped me is simple – word checking.  Was I reading too many posts about finding those ‘weasel words’ that grate and trying to eliminate them? I was spending day after day exterminating adverbs and expunging that/what/had/was or anything that was incorrect.  I began to hate the manuscript and believe that it was not good enough. Plus I craved the day when I could move on to a better novel and get out of the Dead Marshes.

English: A view of the Kepler Mire String Bog ...

English: A view of the Kepler Mire String Bog from the Mt York Road Southland New Zealand (Photo credit: Wikipedia) [Used in LOTR films]

I abandoned the novel and put it back in the ‘bottom shelf’, deciding to move on and use a better manuscript as my first novel – the one I would use to get an agent. There was a mixture of frustration at my failure to finish Spiral of Hooves and relief at the thought of tackling Wyrm Bait, which already has a sequel hovering in the wings (called Wyrm Blood).

But was I wrong to give up so easily?

In the last few days two things happened that have possibly opened up clearer paths forward in my writing quest.  First, my grand-daughter Jessica – step- if I was being pedantic – passed me a link to a US publishing group run by writers: http://www.spectaclepmg.com/. Perhaps they might be another route for a novel that needs a home – after a minor tinker.

Second, I read a repost by a US agent – http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/08/the-writing-rules/ – that made me realise that I could be following the rules too rigidly and stifling my creation before I had given it a chance. Thanks then to Rachelle Gardner for rekindling my belief in my creative process and putting the Editing in a context – not that I’m throwing out the rules that pulled me away from my worst writing excesses.

I need to learn from this journey through the Pedantry Marshes when I move on to Wyrm Bait and I must choose a more sensible approach.  I’ve learnt that writing a first draft isn’t so much of a burden as the Editing and I need to manage Time better.  I hope that I can do that and find enough Time to produce the other ideas that are crying out for creation.  On the cusp of 59 I wonder how much more writing I can manage before MS steals all the thoughts away.

How much Time does a novel require in your life? Do you juggle or manage?

"Writing on the wood is prohibited."...

“Writing on the wood is prohibited.” DSC07600 (Photo credit: Nicolas Karim)

Should I apologise?

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I feel that I should apologise to the readers of this intermittent Blog as I have been silent for so long.  I’ve not been on holiday or even lazing around in the sun, although there has been at least one evening out listening to a concert and watching a Spitfire flyby plus fireworks at my family home, Borde Hill in West Sussex.  I’ve also spent a bit of time chilling by hunting orcs, brigands and other fell creatures in Middle Earth but that has been after a day’s work – and my wife has been reading Lord of the Rings aloud, a few chapters each day.

In fact most of them time, MS symptoms and spasms permitting, I’ve been doing another ‘final’ revision of Spiral of Hooves and deciding which agents I should submit the synopsis and first three chapters to.  The revision is finished although I will probably re-read those first three chapters for words and threads still astray.  I also have to adapt a long synopsis that I wrote in January so it is shorter and a better reflection of the novel.  ThenI should be ready to write the covering letters to my first five submissions.

So should I apologise?  Probably as you may have been wondering where I disappeared to – apologies.

At least I must apologise to myself for failing to stick to my self-imposed blog routine. Hopefully next Friday I can write a proper update and establish the routine of a weekly blog day. Tenna’ san’  = until then.

Until we meet again the Silver Scribbler wishes you all Good Writing & May the Wings of Imagination grant you freedom to soar.

The Horror! The Horror!

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The Horror! The Horror! by Dario Ciriello – Repost

I’m not sure about Joseph Conrad—history does not tell—but I’m prepared to bet that a majority of writers out there whimper at the prospect of revising their work, especially if the revision involves structural rewriting. The thought of having to do something akin to removing, remodeling, and replacing several floors of a high-rise without the whole building collapsing is daunting, to say the least. To extend the analogy, what about all the plumbing, electrics and ductwork that run through the floors you’re refitting? How will changes on those floors affect the rest of the building? It’s enough to make you crazy.

continue reading: The Horror! The Horror!.

 

Roland Clarke Comment:

As I near what I hope is the end of the final revision of my first novel, your advise makes so much sense, Dario. I suspect that the process I have followed differs slightly but there was so much useful advise that I know it will make the next revision better. I just hope I’ve learnt enough in my early wanderings around the editing maze. Thanks

 

Digging out the Motivation

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Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

There’s blood hiding in the blizzard and the voices in my head are asking: Why is the protagonist acting so weird? Why is the heroine still friendly with her unfaithful ex?  What’s driving this group of diverse characters forwards and are they heading for a memorable climax or just oblivion?

I thought I had nearly finished my final edit of ‘Spiral of Hooves’ but then the niggling voices began. I’ve read a number of blogs recently that have led me to question whether I have made the motivation of each of my main characters clear.

In my head I know why my characters behave the way they do and why events unfold in a certain chronology, but will my readers understand what the words I have written mean?  It’s important that I ensure that the motivations are not so much overt but at least alluded to in the characters’ words and behaviour.

Deus ex machina

I may write mysteries but there’s a difference between hiding the clues within the telling of the story, and keeping them so secret that they’re invisible until they spring from the page like dei ex machina.

Hence the need for me, and of course other writers, to check on that motivation as objectively as possible.

Which on a linked tangent has led me to ask: why do I write?  Looking back over my fledgling career, I have always written so I could share the stories in my head.  However as for writing to earn thousands of pounds, that has never been an objective, although it would be nice to earn something in my retirement.

In addition writing helps me keep my MS at bay, helping me stay focused and occupied.  Yes there are days, like yesterday, when I struggle to get motivated to even leave my bed and write an email. Luckily that isn’t a problem every day, just some.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

On the editing front I have other areas to address before an agent gets to read anything. I also need to address the ‘how do I get published?’ question, but that’s a topic for another blog perhaps.

In my online search about ‘Motivation’, I have found the following links on Characterisation helpful:

Various articles on Characters: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2011/01/developing-characters.html

Motivation and Motivational Issues: http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/motivation.shtml

Nailing Character Motivation: http://mojobot2000.livejournal.com/2636.html

Plus these Blogs have provided more food for ideas:

One writer’s character creation: http://jaylt.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/kim-lee-on-the-art-of-creating-characters/

A motive in many ways: http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/whats-the-worst-that-can-happen-your-characters-biggest-fear/

Improving female characters: http://impishidea.com/writing/how-not-to-write-female-characters