How much time?

August 2, 2012 by Roland Clarke

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 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.” DSC07600 (Photo credit: Nicolas Karim)

Should I apologise?

July 7, 2012 by Roland Clarke

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!

June 28, 2012 by Roland Clarke

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

The Power of the Bow

June 23, 2012 by Roland Clarke

The Spartans thought the bow was the weapon of cowards but to me it’s the weapon of a hunter, a person who uses stealth and oneness with their environment to track & combat more powerful creatures and more heavily armed foes that might be using swords. Perhaps the bow symbolises someone at one with nature so in their own way special.

Elfwriter

There is a children’s movie just come out, Brave, with the heroine sporting a bow and arrow. Katnis, from the Hunger Games, was lethal with one. Legolas was extremely handsome even in the midst of a desperate fight for Helm’s Deep and never missed when he let fly.

It seems that a bow and arrow are integral ingredients in fantasy, even when the setting is modern enough for guns and technology. Bows were, of course, around before fantasy. Who can forget Robin Hood in the archery contest splitting his opponent’s arrow, which had pieced the center of the bull’s-eye? Classic.

And then there are the Samurai with their beautiful longbow, theYumi. They didn’t just shoot it with their distinctive technique, but held a philosophical discipline, kyūjutsu, akin to Tai Chi and other spiritual martial arts.

Even after the bow became outdated as an effective weapon it remained…

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Digging out the Motivation

June 16, 2012 by Roland Clarke

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

Rising from rejection: the search for recognition

May 27, 2012 by Roland Clarke

The Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger shortlist has been announced – http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2012/index.html – and I didn’t make it into the chosen few.
Am I surprised and dejected at what at first felt like rejection when I was desperate for recognition? Part of me is – the part that thought Spiral of Hooves had been honed into a version worth entering into the Debut Dagger competition back in January. But now I’m seeing flaws everywhere: from the sport background creeping into the foreground which creates a mid-novel slump, to the 2012 setting when events in my story have been rained off in reality. Plus there could be other things IF I do yet another rewrite.

Moral: Keep the main plot focused and the sub-plots in the background.

Getting the basic preparation right

Do I want to do another revision after 12 years of working on the same story? My mind has moved on to other plots that are already drafted, like Wyrm Bait which I have just re-read and done the ‘Overview’ edit of. Will tinkering with Spiral of Hooves rescue what is the result of listening to too much advice and making changes that play to critics’ whims? The original story is in there somewhere, but I’m no longer sure where.

Moral: Learn to recognise constructive criticism and ignore everything else.

Telling it like it is

Do I count the first novel as experience and just move on? I could just resign myself to doing one final edit, an attempt to remove the worst offences and then self-publish in a minor way. I have a low-key strategy that would be more about developing my platform than about selling books worldwide. However for those who need to know what my first novel is like, it will at least exist in more than a bottom drawer.

Moral: The bottom drawer is for work in progress.

European Championships at Blenheim

What do you think as one of my readers and as a fellow writer? Am I giving up too easily or is the idea dying along with my enthusiasm? Constructive criticism and advice invite here.

Of course I could burn the offending manuscript like Robert Louis Stevenson and from the ashes a phoenix would rise…. However I’m ready to move on and work on one of the newer fresher stories already alive and trying to fly.

From the ashes

And yes, I want recognition for what I’ve done but my wife already gives me that – then there was yesterday. We went to the Horse Trials that I revived in 2005 at Borde Hill with the help of a knowledgeable friend. Due to my MS I handed the reins to a new team of organiser at the end of 2009 but was made the President. Sitting with my First Lady having lunch we were joined by various officials including the British Eventing CEO. In things said there was recognition for what I had achieved as an event organiser; also reflected in a silver salver that I received in 2008 from BE for everything I had done over 14 years in the sport.

So I’ve got recognition and the writing will follow suit.