Category: Writing

Observations on the activity – writing.

Inspiration

Inspiration. Where does it come from?

They say that everybody has a book inside them. I say, “Of course everybody has a book inside them, many, in fact. The trick is getting the bloody things out.”

 

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Website

The website took a break. Presumably it took a low cost airline to somewhere warm for sun, sea and sangria.

I found out on Friday afternoon, when I wanted to pick up a link to insert into a tweet. I typed in the site name and nothing happened. This is not usually cause for panic, as our internet can be a bit patchy here at the mountain eyrie. I tried some other sites. Hmmm….I typed the address into the phone. Still, nothing. When I say nothing, I mean nothing. Just a plain white screen. Perturbed, I did a search and discovered that I was seeing a WordPress server error. The website was down.

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Up for air

I’m up for air. If you could see me, you’d be worried. I seem confused, lost. My hair is a mess and my clothes could do with a wash. The look in my eyes belongs in a spaghetti western, and my beard is unkempt. I have been so deep into writing that my surroundings, back here, in the real world, are unfamiliar.

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Going Deep

Nearly there. We enjoyed hosting our friends from Denmark last week. The “Beast”, our car, has new tyres, new brakes and had a full service. Annoyingly, the work on the house drags on into another week, but the end is surely in sight. The corporate stuff is…well, corporate.

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Crunch

I wrote last week about pace. Well, strictly speaking, I wrote it the week before last. Days later, I boarded a plane and flew to the UK for a long weekend. Back in Cyprus, I attended a Symposium on financial crime.

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Pace

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Thinking Cap

In itself, writing is a straightforward activity. Pick up a writing instrument and put words onto a page. Alternatively, open an app and start typing. That’s it.
Not exactly rocket surgery, as TJ might say. By definition, the process is creative. It’s rare to have a novel, a chapter, or even a blog post fully-formed in the mind. The act of writing is forming the words to communicate that meaning one wishes to convey.

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Characters – The Antagonist

Last week I introduced you to the Protagonist, Sean. Locking him up in a cardboard folder has done him the world of good. He has emerged more likeable, balanced and fun to be around. Time now to meet Jana.

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Characters – The Protagonist

Notebook II is filling up fast.

Several times, I have resisted diving into the manuscript and re-drafting. That’s what happened last time, and see where that got me.

I’m determined to put more effort into the outline, so that the characters don’t end up wandering off on tangents.

More importantly, I need to get to know my characters. They’re already much changed over the last couple of years. Their time in the cardboard folders has had radical effects.

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Structure

In my first ‘members post’, I promised to find the manuscript folders, and maybe even open them. I am delighted to report “Mission Accomplished.” Tempted though I was to dive straight into the narrative and start making tweaks, I resisted.

Instead, I scan-read the entire draft, focused on the story. Apart from the glaring inconsistencies, the plot meanders. In parts, the characters stumbled from one scene to another without rhyme nor reason, and in the next wandered off nowhere in particular, for entire chapters.

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