tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51962709207054997122024-03-05T08:06:49.111+00:00Susan Elliot WrightWelcome to The Writing Life blog, an honest, ‘warts and all’ account of my day-to-day life as a writer. I aim to post every 2-3 weeks. For the past 18 months, I’ve blogged about drafting my third novel – the ups and downs, the crap first draft, the sacking of characters, and the major rewriting and restructuring. The hard work has paid off and I feel quite pleased with it at last! I’m now tackling novel number four, and I hope you’ll follow my progress on this journey, too!Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-64111071605622781632017-07-10T11:31:00.003+01:002017-07-10T11:31:53.196+01:00This blog has moved...The Writing Life blog can now be found on my lovely shiny new website. Please hop over and have a look. I've been busy writing content and making tweaks to the website for a while, but there will be a new blog post very soon! See you over there <a href="http://susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://susanelliotwright.co.uk/</a>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-45182208474985444342017-05-08T12:24:00.001+01:002017-05-09T09:45:43.191+01:00THE WRITING LIFE: Endings - happy? hopeful? sad? A dilemma...Another long gap between posts. My excuse is that my new baby - in other words, my new book - made its way into the world just eight weeks ago, so I'm still having to do quite a lot for it in the hope that it will eventually take off on its own, be successful and make me proud. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Lost-Susan-Elliot-Wright-ebook/dp/B00PDXXYOS/ref=cm_rdp_product" target="_blank">(Click here to buy on Amazon)</a><br />
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To continue with the analogy, my fourth novel, which I'm currently redrafting, is close to full term, so all in all, I've been busy. Right, I've had enough of that, now, so I'll start talking normally.<br />
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I wrote a first draft of book 4, as yet untitled, relatively quickly – in four months – and I've been rewriting it since the beginning of February. A good boost to the process was a six-day writing retreat at <a href="http://www.arvon.org/retreats/writers-retreats/" target="_blank">the Arvon foundation's Clockhouse</a>. away from domestic responsibilities and in the company of three other lovely writers, I got loads done.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Communal sitting room</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">private study lounge</td></tr>
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My task was to make the novel little less dark, so there were new scenes and chapters to write, but I also needed to do some restructuring. To my delight, there was an enormous corkboard in the room. I work on Scrivener, but I still like actual physical pieces of paper on an actual physical corkboard. I printed out my chapter summaries and was able to fit the whole novel onto this wonderful corkboard so I could move stuff around.<br />
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The rewriting was going so well, I was fairly sure I'd be finished by the end of this month. But now I'm about to embark on writing the final scenes, I find myself suddenly crippled by doubt and indecision. I usually go for 'hopeful' rather than 'happy' endings, but my original ending for this book - can't give details, obviously – couldn't be described as either.<br />
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When I wrote it, I thought it was the right ending for this character's story – the natural progression for her, given previous events. My character was not exactly 'happy', but calm and accepting of how things worked out. But my agent and editor didn't like it. Let's face it, they've been in the business a long time – they know their shit, basically, so I'd be stupid not to listen. The three of us bandied round a few ideas for an alternative ending, and I set out to do the redrafting with one or two possibilities in mind.<br />
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However, now I'm at this stage where I'm trying to actually write the alternative ending, I find I'm horribly stuck, because something is telling me that these alternatives are wrong - contrived. I know many other writers will say I should stick to my original idea. But the thing is, there's no point in doing that if it makes the book into something no-one wants to read.<br />
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So what do I do, people? What is more important to the reader, a truthful but sad ending, or a believable, hopeful ending, that may just seem slightly contrived?<br />
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A couple of years ago, I read a book that I loved from the first page and <i>almost</i> to the last. It was brilliantly written, with sympathetic, convincing characters and a page-turning plot. The central character was in severe peril, and I was convinced that something would save her at the last minute. It didn't. I was devastated. The integrity of the author was flawless - in that situation, at that time, what happened in the novel is almost certainly what would have happened in life. But I went from wanting to recommend this book to everyone, to not recommending it to anyone, because the ending had left me feeling so bleak and I didn't want to pass that on. (If you're interested, I blogged about this at the time - <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/" target="_blank">you can read the post here</a>)<br />
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So you see my problem? I don't think my ending would be as bleak as this one was, but maybe I'm deluding myself. readers and writers, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this dilemma! The only thing I can think of to do at the moment is to try and force myself to write one or two alternative endings and see how they feel. I've already set one of them up through the novel, but even that feels almost impossible to write at the moment. Arghh!<br />
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On a more positive note, there have been some lovely reviews for What She Lost this week:<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/RN3F8HXYLT90B/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00PDXXYOS" target="_blank">Amazon reader review</a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R2ILX66J4HCNZP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00PDXXYOS" target="_blank">Amazon reader review</a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3QE9YKTJWDP0A/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00PDXXYOS" target="_blank">Amazon reader review</a><br />
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If you'd like to find out more about me and my work, please visit my (soon-to-be revamped) <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-17292182812624443782017-03-19T21:03:00.001+00:002017-03-19T22:10:05.305+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - Sheffield launch of What She Lost<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A very quick blog post this time, because I'm packing to go to London as we speak. So it was the Sheffield launch of What She Lost at Waterstones on Thursday last week, and I think it went rather well. It was a pretty good turnout of somewhere between 50 and 60 people. Lots of friends, obviously, but also some 'real' readers, as in people I hadn't met before, or who I only knew through Twitter or Facebook – it was lovely to be able to put faces to the names.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BXzs2P-FMCUFuS2HlYptFIJrwwXJ9QIEwc6x047OrQYN9m-tcyZUtc1UWJpuNHKCOaOqr2HHlZp4agADqdAPsqTXDOn00pwU11tTWxsN0CDDHKILJ0ewX4ZSmHC3XlRFrY66_xw0Q3M/s1600/2017-03-17-PHOTO-00000060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BXzs2P-FMCUFuS2HlYptFIJrwwXJ9QIEwc6x047OrQYN9m-tcyZUtc1UWJpuNHKCOaOqr2HHlZp4agADqdAPsqTXDOn00pwU11tTWxsN0CDDHKILJ0ewX4ZSmHC3XlRFrY66_xw0Q3M/s320/2017-03-17-PHOTO-00000060.jpg" width="180" /></a>It was such a relief when they started coming through the doors. As anyone who's ever had a book launch, or done a talk or a signing will know, there's always that terrible fear that no one's going to turn up. There are always quite a few dropouts at the last minute – people fully intend to turn up but things happen, life gets in the way. It can be quite nerve-wracking when you realise there are dozens of wine glasses lined up, row upon row of chairs, and a big stack of copies of your book all waiting for lots of people who may or ay not arrive.<br />
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Anyway, it was okay. By 6.45, the Waterstones Cafe was buzzing nicely with conversation. Now all I had to do was get through my talk, readings and questions without making a tit of myself.<br />
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That part of it all seemed to go fairly well, too, except that I was competing with a noisy fridge and some people struggled to hear.<br />
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There were some good questions at the end, including questions about the process – do I have any little rituals before I start writing? Do I have bits of paper stuck everywhere? Do I write with music on or in silence? And there were some specific questions about What She Lost - had I tried writing in the voice of someone with Alzheimer's? Was there a turning point in the redrafting of this novel when I knew it was going to be okay? All great questions.<br />
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Then I spent some time signing books and chatting briefly – all too briefly. I'd have loved to have stayed there all night. But Orchard Square, where the Waterstone's store is, locks up for the night at eight, and we were told that if we didn't make our way out of the square fairly quickly, we could be locked in all night. Of course, almost everyone there thought that sounded like a wonderful idea – locked in a bookshop overnight with wine and nibbles? Oh, go on then.<br />
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A few of us continued the celebrations at a local hostelry, and I woke up with just a bit of a hangover. But what a great night! Thank you so much to everyone who came along.<br />
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On Thursday 23rd of March, if you're anywhere near Greenwich in south-east London, I'm having another little launch 'do' at Waterstones (near the Cutty Sark) so please come and join us at about 5.30. Full details below.<br />
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Apologies for errors and typos - am doing this in a hurry while packing to go to London early in the morning. See you soon...<br />
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Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-87669491217097469932017-03-15T11:51:00.003+00:002017-03-15T13:18:47.804+00:00THE WRITING LIFE – publication week and what it's really likeThe long-awaited (by me, anyway) publication of What She Lost was a week ago, so I thought this might be a good time to reflect on what publication day (and week) actually means for an author.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mother whose memory is ravaged by Alzheimer's, a daughter desperate to discover the truth, a terrible secret that has haunted them both. Can Eleanor reconnect with her mother before it's too late?</td></tr>
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Like many authors, before my first novel was published, I had this idea that on publication day, my book would suddenly be visible in bookshops all over the country. Realistically, you know your book isn't going to be stocked by everyone, but somehow you still have this vague notion that if you walk into any store that sells books, you'll be able to see yours standing there, gleaming on the shelves.<br />
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But it's not really like that. In fact, even now that I'm technically a bestselling author, and even though What She Lost is a Good Housekeeping "recommended read" and a Waitrose "buyer recommends", it's been out for a week and so far the only place I've seen it for sale is in Waterstones. If anyone's spotted it anywhere else this week, I'd love to know.<br />
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So after what's usually a very long build-up, it's a bit of an anticlimax and you can end up feeling a bit flat. You may know the publication date more than a year beforehand – I finished this book in September 2015, and completed the final corrections last summer. It's a long wait, and when the day comes, actually, nothing is really any different.<br />
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Well, that's not strictly true - I received some beautiful flowers from my publishers and a lovely card from my agent, not to mention the many, many good wishes on Twitter and Facebook. More cards and flowers followed from friends, and I feel privileged to be on the receiving end of such goodwill.<br />
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But when all the fuss dies down, you're left with the crippling fear that your readers won't like it as much as your previous novels, or worse still, that no one will read it anyway. Bonkers, really, because I've already had some lovely feedback (see below). But we writers are notoriously insecure.<br />
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If you've been following this blog for a while you'll know what a bugger this book was to write. In fact, if you're struggling with your own draft, it might help to have a look at some of the posts from when I started it in early 2014 – yes, 2014 – until I finished a decent draft in September 2015. I began writing a regular blog about the process in <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/my-writing-week-one-of-10.htm" target="_blank">July 2014</a>, initially for a series of 10 posts, but it was so popular that I've just kept going, although now it's usually only every two or three weeks.<br />
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The first draft really was bad and my post from <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-writing-life_19.html" target="_blank">January 2015</a> covers the feedback I received from my agent and editor at that point. I posted regularly during the extensive redrafting process, and knew I'd finally got it right when I submitted it again in <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015_09_01_archive.html" target="_blank">September 2015</a> I always knew there was something I wanted to say in this book; I knew the heart of it, but with two viewpoints over several different time periods, it was a structural nightmare. I am thrilled now that it's out there in the world, and already receiving good feedback. Here are a few of the quotes from the Good Housekeeping reader panel:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“Beautiful story of a Mum and daughter finally growing close after years of emotional distancing. Poignant to say the least.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“A thought provoking and reflective book, echoing my mother's slow decline into dementia. I loved the references to bygone products which evoked a sensory overload at times. Well written and researched. The main characters were well drawn and elicited sympathy for the dilemmas in which they found themselves.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"An emotional read that draws you in and holds your attention the whole way through. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will look out for books from the same author again.”<o:p></o:p></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></div>
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Also, I've just had my very first reader review on Amazon, and I'm happy to report that it's five stars. </div>
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It's been a busy week, because there's a lot of work around publication, mostly enjoyable – social media, writing guest pieces for other blogs, arranging book signings. And in the midst of all this, I'm trying to re-draft my fourth novel!<br />
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I'll leave it there for this week, but look out for photos from the two launch events that are coming up. If you are in Sheffield, there's a launch tomorrow (16th March) at 6.30 in Waterstone's Orchard Square, and if you're in south-east London, there's one next Thursday (23rd of March) in Waterstones Greenwich (near the Cutty Sark). All are welcome. Full details on my news and events page.<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a><br />
<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-34019403759336681462017-02-24T13:53:00.004+00:002017-02-24T16:43:53.655+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - book 3 out in less than two weeks, redrafting book 4Whenever I start a new blog post after a bit of a gap, I feel like I should begin with: it has been eight weeks since my last confession...<br />
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Yes, I was quite shocked to see that I haven't blogged since just before Christmas. My only excuse is that there's a lot going on in my writing life at the moment.<br />
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In my last post, I talked about the experience of writing the first draft of my fourth book surprisingly quickly and receiving positive feedback. A few weeks ago, on a cold and drizzly day at the end of January, I met my agent and my new editor for lunch in a lovely little Bloomsbury pub. we sat at a table next to a blazing log fire and discussed how I might approach the next draft.<br />
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It was a wonderfully creative meeting, and I came away fired up with enthusiasm for the redraft, my main brief being to make the next draft a little less dark. (I do seem to have rather overdone the darkness in this one, especially in the first few chapters!) So, I'm now working my way through the rewrites with that in mind. I also need to identify and cut out some boring detail, as well as tweak my central character's history. In addition, I've decided to change it from third person to first person (which isn't as simple as changing 'she' to 'I'). So all in all, although it's nothing major, there's still a fair bit of work.<br />
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As well as thinking about book 4, part of my brain is constantly exploring possible ideas for book 5. So that's two books in my head at once. Add to that the fact that book 3 – the most difficult book I've written so far, but also the one of which I am the most proud – is being published in a couple of weeks, and you'll see why I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. Here's the heads up on the new book:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Eleanor and her mother Marjorie have always had a difficult relationship and although they’ve tried, they have somehow just failed to </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">connect</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Now Marjorie has Alzheimer’s, and as her memory fades, her grip on what she has kept hidden begins to loosen. When she calls her daughter to say, ‘There’s something I have to tell you’, Eleanor hopes this will be the moment she learns the truth about the terrible secret that has cast a shadow over both their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> But Marjorie’s memory is failing fast and she can’t recall what she wanted to say. Eleanor knows time is running out, and as she tries to gently uncover the truth before it becomes lost inside her mother’s mind forever, she begins to discover what really happened when she was a child – and why…</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> A story of family and secrets, perfect for fans of Maggie O'Farrell.</span><br />
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It's surprising just how much work there is for an author to do leading up to publication. True, I could just recline on my chaise longue (if I had one) sipping champagne and waiting for inspiration for the next novel. But although realistically I can't make a massive difference to sales, I can connect with readers, so the next few weeks will be very much focused around social media. Not exactly a hardship! I love social media – writing is such a lonely business, and I really value the banter I have on Twitter, not to mention the wonderful support from other writers.<br />
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As I write, it's a little less than two weeks to publication day. There will be a few exciting things to report nearer the time, so watch this space! In the meantime, if you'd like to pre-order the book, you can do so <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/What-She-Lost/Susan-Elliot-Wright/9781471134524" target="_blank">via Simon & Schuster</a> <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/what-she-lost-book-3/susan-elliot-wright/9781471134524" target="_blank">via Waterstones</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Lost-Susan-Elliot-Wright/dp/1471134520/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank">via Amazon</a> and many other outlets.<br />
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If you're in Sheffield or south-east London and you'd like to come along to hear me read from the book and get your copy signed, there are a couple of events coming up:<br />
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Sheffield – Thursday March 16 at Waterstones, Orchard Square, S1 2FB Time: 6.30 to 8pm<br />
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South-east London – Thursday, March 23 at Waterstones Greenwich (Cutty Sark) 51 Greenwich Church Street SE10 9BL Time: 530 to 7pm<br />
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These are public events, so do feel free to come along. If you can make it, it would be great if you could add your name to one of the lists on my Facebook page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1279031332181886/" target="_blank">Sheffield event</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/363581074040473/" target="_blank">London event</a><br />
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Look out for another blog post very soon!<br />
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<b>WORKSHOPS NEWS</b>: we have a few spaces left on the structure workshop on March 4th, and also on the space to write day, March 18th. Go to the <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/p/workshops.html" target="_blank">workshops page</a> for full detailsSusan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-49284330243595015362016-12-20T16:42:00.000+00:002016-12-22T11:30:03.921+00:00THE WRITING LIFE – hurrah! Great feedback on the zero draft!<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I haven’t blogged since I finished the ‘zero draft’ of my 4th novel at the end of October because everything went a bit crazy (in a good way). Clare, my lovely editor at Simon & Schuster who I’ve worked with since 2012 told me she was leaving to go to Orion. I was pleased to hear she was making such an exciting career move, but obviously gutted to lose her as an editor. Anyway, when she knew I’d finished this draft, she asked if there was any possibility it might be ready for her to read before she left Simon & Schuster – in five weeks! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My plan had been to do a leisurely re-draft over three or four months. After all, the zero draft was full of exposition, the voice was inconsistent, there were countless repetitions, slow scenes, scenes with no action etc. Could I possibly get this anywhere near decent shape in just five weeks? Clare had liked the original synopsis, so I really wanted her to see it, especially as it took me so long to write my third novel, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Lost-Susan-Elliot-Wright/dp/1471134520/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1482251543&sr=8-3&keywords=Susan+Elliot+Wright" target="_blank">What She Lost</a> -<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> out in March but now available for pre-order...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out 9th of March – just over 11 weeks to go...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I had one hell of a deadline! I set to work… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fortunately, I had a five-day retreat booked where I’d planned to ‘make a start’ on the redraft. I threw myself into it and worked 9-10 hours most days. One night, I was so fired up and excited that, having made myself stop work at 9:30, I went to bed at 11, couldn’t sleep and ended up getting up and working again until just after one in the morning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I worked my arse off! I always get a lot done when I’m on a retreat, but this time, the amount of work I got through was astonishing. Partly because of the deadline, but also because I had enjoyed writing the zero draft (the very rough, pre-first draft) so much that I was bursting with excitement and couldn’t wait to start on the next draft, the one I would show to my editor, albeit a much earlier version than I would usually share.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For me, redrafting is one of the most enjoyable parts of writing a novel, and this time, it feels like I’ve written the whole thing on a high. The most brilliantly wonderful thing is, she loved it! She has loved my books before, but they’ve usually been through at least one more draft and are a lot more polished by the time she sees them. So you can imagine how thrilled I am, especially as I’ve actually enjoyed this early part of the process for a change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Obviously there's still work to do, and I’m looking forward to hearing my new editor’s thoughts towards the end of January, and to getting started on the next draft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, I’m wondering if I’ll ever be able to repeat what has been such an uncharacteristically enjoyable experience. Writing a detailed synopsis helped enormously, but I found it hard. It took me weeks! But writing the synopsis turned out to be a microcosm of writing a novel, with all the getting stuck, thinking the story won’t work, putting into much back story – at one point, I started to feel pleased with myself when I realised I’d written a page and a half, but then I realised that it was <i>all </i>back story! So I drew a line under that and started again. But then one paragraph began to suggest the next, and slowly, the story started to develop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ll definitely try this again. It’s true that some stories may not work, but probably better to find that out after four or five weeks working on a synopsis than after four or five months (or longer) working on a novel, which is what I did earlier this year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m now turning around ideas in my head for book five. Who knew how hard it would be to make up stories? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Merry Christmas, everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to sign up a 'writing a novel' workshop, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, or say hello on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-45430608565195258332016-10-31T10:20:00.004+00:002016-11-01T09:09:50.382+00:00THE WRITING LIFE – book 4, zero draft – complete!<i><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Newsflash!</span></b> </span>The Things We Never Said is on a Kindle Monthly deal at just 99p throughout November <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-We-Never-Said-ebook/dp/B0098MEMNC/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1477990954&sr=8-1&keywords=Susan+Elliot+Wright" target="_blank">Buy it here</a></i><br />
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Well, I did it, I hit my deadline! I have written a very rough, very basic draft of my fourth novel in a little under four months. To be honest, I could have finished this on Saturday, but I really wanted to put that last cross on the calendar today. Ok, so maybe there's a touch of OCD involved...<br />
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If you've seen my recent blog posts or if you've been following my Facebook page, you'll know that I've been using some incentives to help keep me going. First, there's the calendar, an idea I adapted from one I saw in Mslexia magazine. Just print out a calendar, then for each day you hit your writing target (mine was an absolute minimum of 200 words but aiming for 1000) you put a cross in the squeare for that day. So here, a cross means I wrote at least 200 and if I got to 1000, I added a dot.<br />
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I also used a reward-based incentive. Assuming this draft would be around 90,000 words (it's ended up as 81,500) I put 90 small coins in a glass, each coin representing 1000 words I had to write. Each time I wrote 1000 words, I took one of those coins out and chucked it back in my purse, but I also put a pound coin in another class. So I saw the number of words I had to write going down, and the amount of money I had to celebrate completing the draft going up. It's a winner!<br />
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So there's now £81 in that glass, and me and Himself will be having a night out on it this week. (I think I'm going to have to do something similar to the redraft – got to celebrate the end of that, too.)<br />
Here's the proof of my wordcount and a sneak peek at the first page:<br />
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Of course the other thing that helped was that this time, for the first time ever, I was working from a detailed five-page synopsis– thanks to my agent Kate Shaw for keeping on at me to do this! I found it very difficult – it took several weeks – but I will definitely try this approach again.<br />
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Inevitably, things have changed a little from the original synopsis, but the basic story is the same. I've changed some character details – occupation, for example. I've also got rid of one supporting character and introduced a new one. The other thing that's different is that a few things I thought I could skim over in a paragraph as back story have turned out to demand full scenes of their own.<br />
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What I've learned is this: planning a novel out like this is difficult, and there were many points at which I felt sick, certain the idea wasn't working and lying awake at night agonising over whether I would be able to make it work. But this is EXACTLY what I usually go through halfway through writing a novel anyway. Maybe sometimes an idea doesn't work, but surely it's better to abandon a synopsis after a few weeks of work than to abandon 70,000 words after several months, which is what I ended up doing back in June - <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/the-writing-life.html" target="_blank">you can read about it here</a><br />
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So, I feel exhilarated having completed this draft and very excited about embarking upon what I hope will be a decent first draft. I will, of course, keep you posted.<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to sign up for one of the popular Novel Writing workshops I run with <a href="http://www.thevoiceofruss.com/" target="_blank">Russell Thomas</a>, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, and you can follow me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-70948623524047040552016-10-12T11:31:00.000+01:002016-10-12T12:05:56.578+01:00THE WRITING LIFE - book 3 cover, book 4 progressA quick-ish one today, because I'm under pressure from my self-imposed deadline of the end of this month to finish the 'zero draft' of book 4, working title When the Bough Breaks. More of this in a moment, but I've just realised I haven't yet shared with you the cover of my new book, What She Lost, which is out on 9th March, so here it is:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTtjaF1hOMiGcwC181WJxnQsJP4dnJpPbT0da3kqEogqQDxdnuTXKMAA_kx7EYRdGcu2kcnPc8wLFn54SNTsBTES02EIqQZlLui_qQEXgJnPgXARnSuhrHU5fx4J6q7VhdYEUIenoO42Y/s1600/what-she-lost-9781471134524_hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTtjaF1hOMiGcwC181WJxnQsJP4dnJpPbT0da3kqEogqQDxdnuTXKMAA_kx7EYRdGcu2kcnPc8wLFn54SNTsBTES02EIqQZlLui_qQEXgJnPgXARnSuhrHU5fx4J6q7VhdYEUIenoO42Y/s320/what-she-lost-9781471134524_hr.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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Gorgeous, isn't it? Well done Simon & Schuster – I absolutely love it! Here's the blurb:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Eleanor and her mother Marjorie have always had a difficult relationship and although they’ve tried, they have somehow just failed to </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">connect</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> Now Marjorie has Alzheimer’s, and as her memory fades, her grip on what she has kept hidden begins to loosen. When she calls her daughter to say, ‘There’s something I have to tell you’, Eleanor hopes this will be the moment she learns the truth about the terrible secret that has cast a shadow over both their lives.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> But Marjorie’s memory is failing fast and she can’t recall what she wanted to say. Eleanor knows time is running out, and as she tries to gently uncover the truth before it becomes lost inside her mother’s mind forever, she begins to discover what really happened when she was a child – and why…</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Very excited about this now, especially as it was such an absolute bugger to write. Those of you who follow this blog may remember the agonies I went through with this book. After a dreadful first draft, I completely rewrote around 80% of it. It was a mammoth task, but definitely worth the effort because it resulted in a much better book, and one I now feel proud of. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, moving on to book 4. I'm now at 69,000 words, thanks to my two visual incentives. First, there's the calendar. I gave myself around four months to write this draft, with a target of 1000 words a day and an absolute minimum of 200 words. Every cross on the calendar means I wrote at the very least 200 words on that day, and where there is a dot as well as a cross, it means I hit my 1000 word target. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZp4UXTk4Zb2pjWbLFPzX2oRI46f5xcEx3O9anMi4kJKFWmcf0oyBLaJkLtkOGOC2OImaGKHJqBeMRvVYhLPWOtb9nyKGwlJAXd7_XZoXkHOVDNNlBHwbo-Fcd12bBotrSdagXrvjk_c/s1600/IMG_0829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZp4UXTk4Zb2pjWbLFPzX2oRI46f5xcEx3O9anMi4kJKFWmcf0oyBLaJkLtkOGOC2OImaGKHJqBeMRvVYhLPWOtb9nyKGwlJAXd7_XZoXkHOVDNNlBHwbo-Fcd12bBotrSdagXrvjk_c/s320/IMG_0829.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As you can see, I now have just 20 days (including today) to finish the draft. I'm guessing I have about another 10 to 15,000 words to write, so it's just about doable. Somehow, I've GOT to do it! My second incentive Works on a visual level, but also promises a tangible reward. I took two glasses and put 90 five pence pieces in one of them. Each coin represents 1000 words of this draft. (It'll probably be slightly less than that, but who knows.) For each thousand words I write, I take a 5p out of the glass, but I put a one pound coin in the other glass. The idea is that when I finish this draft, there will be enough quids in the pot for myself and himself to celebrate with a nice meal out and a bottle of bubbly. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteMg8xzEfU9qebLEnqL3KOMbzV1w7dF8HE78msrkczwyxIuc17-hJioGwQMXgqAELU8K2liU46e7br7gyPicbhLLVZPVhnlvSX7ptXSeEDcWtZjIrHSGQxE8IdzHR6hvhEKlvrKHMoLc/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteMg8xzEfU9qebLEnqL3KOMbzV1w7dF8HE78msrkczwyxIuc17-hJioGwQMXgqAELU8K2liU46e7br7gyPicbhLLVZPVhnlvSX7ptXSeEDcWtZjIrHSGQxE8IdzHR6hvhEKlvrKHMoLc/s320/IMG_0830.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, once I've got to the end of a zero draft, I need to go back to the beginning and write what I hope will be decent 'first' draft, something which, once I've spent some time editing and tidying it, will be in a good enough shape to send to my agent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Right, I'll leave it there for now – must crack on!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">PS A quick plug for the workshops – there's one coming up on 22nd of October called Bringing Your Characters to Life. Details of that, and the other Writing a Novel workshops can be found on <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>. </span>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-3776046606357340472016-09-20T11:22:00.003+01:002016-09-20T16:36:51.509+01:00THE WRITING LIFE – update on book four, draft Zero<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">My autumn calendar is filling up
with commitments ranging from the exciting and pleasurable, such as book club
talks, literary festival events and running novel-writing workshops, to the
less enjoyable – dental appointments, admin work, getting the car MOT'd etc.
And with all this in the calendar, I'm finding it difficult to squeeze in my
writing time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">But I wanted to keep you updated on
my progress with the zero draft, particularly as I've been advising other
writers on here and on Facebook to have a go at my method of using a visual
stimulus as an incentive to get those words down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’m using two different stimuli to
keep me going, one is purely visual – crosses on a calendar. This was </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">an idea </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">originally posted by Mslexia magazine, though I’ve tweaked it for my
own purposes. Basically, every day you get some words down, you put a cross on
the calendar, the aim being to not break the chain. I’ve set</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">myself an absolute minimum of 200 with a
target of 1000. (I’d find it too easy to interpret ‘some’ as five or six) and so far I haven’t
broken the chain since I started on 7</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> July.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5x9N5aaB7vV-g8tPyoTP8hUZ8r0YlnOz1wSHCpvKK4ir4qT2KSXCnyMOV_P0ybZqfbvKmYxKmyl5OMFBILoUizbQE-OnPUa53bnBrs311RobCFW0t8BFqibW-5oPn1X8daXUbAbNs2rg/s1600/IMG_0798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5x9N5aaB7vV-g8tPyoTP8hUZ8r0YlnOz1wSHCpvKK4ir4qT2KSXCnyMOV_P0ybZqfbvKmYxKmyl5OMFBILoUizbQE-OnPUa53bnBrs311RobCFW0t8BFqibW-5oPn1X8daXUbAbNs2rg/s320/IMG_0798.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Each cross represents an absolute
minimum of 200 words, and indeed some days, that’s all I manage. Mostly though,
it’s somewhere between 500 and 700, and when I hit my target 1000, I put a dot
inside the cross. As you can see, the dots have become fewer as I’m getting
further on in the story. I’m hitting the odd plot problem that needs resolving
now, and I’m slowing down while I try to imagine what my characters would
do/think about/feel in the highly-charged emotional situations I’m putting them
in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">But the longer this chain remains
unbroken, the more determined I am not to break it. If I have to leave a naked,
empty white space on this calendar before I reach the end of this draft (or the
end of October – whichever is the sooner) I’m not sure what I’ll do. Having
blabbed about this all over social media, I’ll be facing public humiliation at
the very least! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The other stimulus I’m using is
partly visual, and partly the promise of an actual, tangible reward. I took two champagne glasses and filled one
with 90 small coins (5p and 1p). For
each thousand words I add to the draft (crap words included – I’m doing very little
editing at this point) I put a small coin back in my purse and add a pound coin
to the other glass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgR_UV7e9iEd24CR_5-uwOaKt9pTqW3RcklminXVFf-ZtBkTVOPvKGK3BcKKq_eYYZtzUrGldUOb5EFKhrZAe88rwYL7J7FnlWpbrKC77hLIl_ZafroTNXf_7ySCYeC4C8Qmh2Ka0RwgQ/s1600/IMG_0799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgR_UV7e9iEd24CR_5-uwOaKt9pTqW3RcklminXVFf-ZtBkTVOPvKGK3BcKKq_eYYZtzUrGldUOb5EFKhrZAe88rwYL7J7FnlWpbrKC77hLIl_ZafroTNXf_7ySCYeC4C8Qmh2Ka0RwgQ/s320/IMG_0799.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The zero draft is likely to come in
at around 80,000 – 90,000 words, so that means I should have enough in that
right hand glass for a nice bottle of bubbly and a meal out for Mr E W and
myself - a reward for getting that difficult initial draft down, and to set me
up for the process of writing a decent 'first' draft. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I may do something similar to get
me through that first draft, but in the meantime, the stick (threat of an empty
square on the calendar and public humiliation) and carrot (champers and
something to line my stomach) idea seems to be working rather well.
Current word count: 58,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Will check in again in a couple of
weeks to let you know how it’s going.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Looking forward to running the
Planning and Plotting workshop with <a href="http://www.thevoiceofruss.com/workshops" target="_blank">Russ Thomas</a> on Saturday. A couple of places left on this one, I think. Then we’re
having a lovely Space to Write day on October the 8<sup>th</sup> before the
next Writing a Novel Workshop (Bringing Your Characters to Life) on 22<sup>nd</sup>
October.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To find out more about me and my
work, visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a> like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-64127511931577067252016-09-05T18:38:00.001+01:002016-09-05T18:38:17.132+01:00THE WRITING LIFE – half a draft in eight weeksLast time, I talked about the value of the visual stimulus in helping to get to the end of the first draft, or 'zero' draft as I prefer to call it – this is the draft where there are superfluous characters, scenes that simply tread water, plot holes as big as a house, and page upon page of tell-y back story which will eventually (hopefully) form the basis of some useful scenes.<br />
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The main visual aid that's keeping me going is an idea I picked up from the Mslexia Facebook page. Their suggestion was that you print out a calendar and mark a cross in the box for every day you write some words, 'no matter how many or how few', with the aim that you never break the chain (cue Fleetwood Mac).<br />
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Now that ''no matter how few'' could catch me out, because strictly speaking, that means ten words would count, or three! So I decided to set myself a target of 1000 words a day, but with an absolute minimum of 200 words. So if I write 195, no cross on the calendar! If I hit 200, I get a cross, and if I write 1000 words or more, I get across and a little dot. Here's how I'm doing so far:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNQG06YYWeq1Em0rL2ssXPwMGAj5XErXVjPv2REPHc1c5uFh5nSNLfbt-3kv88vcmWYFKRgv24B6xSMNeUMjhROsnfIYiXnqGWggreVynDbxfPAYJd7Uepk5WPkuKL9Qy5MMUzPOMk1A/s1600/IMG_0769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNQG06YYWeq1Em0rL2ssXPwMGAj5XErXVjPv2REPHc1c5uFh5nSNLfbt-3kv88vcmWYFKRgv24B6xSMNeUMjhROsnfIYiXnqGWggreVynDbxfPAYJd7Uepk5WPkuKL9Qy5MMUzPOMk1A/s320/IMG_0769.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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As you can see, things slowed down a little after the first few weeks, but in my defence, this summer has been quite busy with family visits, holidays and so on. Also, of course, the further on that you get with a story, the more complicated it becomes, because so many things have been established that there is more chance of problems arising. I'm resisting the temptation to deal with those at this stage, (unless of course the problem is so big it's preventing me from moving forward) because that can all be dealt with in the next draft.<br />
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The other thing I'm using to coax myself to the end of this draft is partly visual, but part reward incentive. I'm assuming this draft will be around 90,000 words, So in the left-hand glass, I put 90 small coins – 1p & 5p. Every time I write another 1000 words, I take one of those small coins and put it back in my purse and I put a pound coin in the right-hand glass. so when I get to the end, I'll have £90 with which to celebrate before I embark on a decent first draft. That should be a pretty good night out for myself and Mr EW!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGb9bo2Zml04kegdA-wJhjRrn04WG0oInp-voWieoh9Sre5TvjQc4siJzqHsJqmIDwv81WUWZJdA3Yr5Rf0yk8lOYlxmGMtHHesnZfbaUtLrlG4YEnmQ6Od_kgXbZmS-jw3wZSrljig-8/s1600/IMG_0770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGb9bo2Zml04kegdA-wJhjRrn04WG0oInp-voWieoh9Sre5TvjQc4siJzqHsJqmIDwv81WUWZJdA3Yr5Rf0yk8lOYlxmGMtHHesnZfbaUtLrlG4YEnmQ6Od_kgXbZmS-jw3wZSrljig-8/s320/IMG_0770.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Both these methods are working very well for me – I love seeing the level in that right-hand glass go up while the level in the left-hand glass goes down. And with the calendar, my desire to not break the chain has become so strong that I'm now finding myself getting twitchy each day until I've got at least 200 words down. The other night after a long and tiring day, it was gone 11.30 when I realised that I hadn't 'done my words'. I was so shattered that I almost just climbed into bed, but when I thought about that empty square on the calendar, I just couldn't do it, so I picked up a pen (too tired to climb the stairs to my study) and managed to drag 230 words from somewhere.<br />
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As of today, I'm now at a total of 48,000 words, which, given my usual agonisingly slow pace, I feel is not too shabby.<br />
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In other news, <i>What She Lost</i> is progressing nicely and I will very soon be able to reveal the cover, so watch this space! In the meantime, I'm currently reading through the page proofs. This is a lovely stage to get to, because it's the first time my words start to look like a real book. I'm still finding the odd error, even though the book has been read many, many times, thoroughly edited and copyedited. Still the odd thing creeps through.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLFsLqfn0LzMPRU4TKNsMMsUN08veIGuzuELyswMg6KckV7SSdjoNi6_vZcfHiOkT_afGKK2NTd8eKmR7ypywXLPa_XzId_1m0ihzCTPTpw4SNXnBOazAoRubYf3d6W5_CyIjy_QJGne4/s1600/H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLFsLqfn0LzMPRU4TKNsMMsUN08veIGuzuELyswMg6KckV7SSdjoNi6_vZcfHiOkT_afGKK2NTd8eKmR7ypywXLPa_XzId_1m0ihzCTPTpw4SNXnBOazAoRubYf3d6W5_CyIjy_QJGne4/s320/H.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That's about it for this time. I'll post again in a couple of weeks by which time I hope to be well on my way to 60,000 words. I'm also hoping to reveal the cover for <i>What She Lost</i>.<br />
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By the way, if you're new to this blog, you might like to know that my writing doesn't always go this smoothly. In fact, until now, it has NEVER gone smoothly. If you fancy trawling back through some of the old posts, you'll see just what a struggle I had writing my third novel, <i>What She Lost</i>. I mention this because if you're struggling with a draft at the moment, it might help you to see how badly I went wrong, and how I managed to eventually turn it into something I'm quite proud of. I almost felt like giving up, but I knew I had a story to tell, so I kept at it. You can, too. No one said this writing lark was going to be easy...<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to sign up for one of the 1-day Writing a Novel workshops (the next one, Planning and Plotting, is on 24th of September - £45 for the whole day, and it's a cracking workshop, even though I say so myself information) visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a> You can also follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br />
<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-5756483380425704212016-08-15T11:32:00.003+01:002016-09-04T18:52:23.400+01:00THE WRITING LIFE – how a visual stimulus can spur you on<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">My last post was about how I had finally managed to write a detailed outline for my fourth novel. Planning doesn't come easily to me, in fact, I've tried several times in the past to plan my story and failed miserably. This time however, I promised my agent ,who'd been gently nagging me about the advantages of a detailed outline, that I'd try really, really hard. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">At first, I was convinced I couldn't do it, then </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">I had something of a breakthrough when I realised I should only be telling the story from one point of view, not two. My agent and editor both liked the outline, so I made a start, setting myself a target of 1000 words a day. I started this novel on 7th of July and For the first few days, I hit my target fairly easily. Of course, many of these words will be shit words that will be cut or changed later, but my aim is to get a 'zero' draft down as quickly as possible.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">A few days in, I stumbled on a post on the Mslexia Facebook page, suggesting you print out a calendar and put a big cross in the box for every day you get some words down, no matter how many or how few, the aim being that you don't break the chain. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mslexia/?fref=ts" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">here's the page – the post is July 12 if you like to have a look.</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">This seemed like a great idea, but I know myself, and I know that the 'no matter how few' could get me into trouble – would 20 words count? Ten? Two? So I set myself a daily minimum of 200, while keeping my personal target of 1000. This is working brilliantly for me so far. Of the 39 days that I've been doing this, I've achieved at least 1000 words day on 26 days, and I haven't broken the chain. Here's the photographic evidence: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AhzgPbZGaEuLutKiV6QgTrUvNm338lzA5YmNYxZEJy28kfzknwTpdvKo3C-q5bvWTQpPFaBE_O0oiFMj4QcCXL0Oziwj_Cl6DgDd-Ysbt69dsy3HuXPPs_rsIpeAmMu4a2E3xrWfSa0/s1600/IMG_0721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AhzgPbZGaEuLutKiV6QgTrUvNm338lzA5YmNYxZEJy28kfzknwTpdvKo3C-q5bvWTQpPFaBE_O0oiFMj4QcCXL0Oziwj_Cl6DgDd-Ysbt69dsy3HuXPPs_rsIpeAmMu4a2E3xrWfSa0/s320/IMG_0721.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Every cross represents a minimum of 200 words, and where there is also a dot in the box, it means I hit my target of 1000 words. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">It's become such a point of honour now, that I get twitchy every morning until I've done my 200 words. Some days, I know that life will get in the way and that'll be the only writing I do that day, but at least I will have engaged with the novel, kept the momentum. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">It's all too easy to avoid work, especially when you hit a tricky point. It's true that sometimes a few days away from it can be beneficial, but it can also make it even harder to get back into, so I'd definitely recommend setting yourself a low, achievable target. To be honest, even if you don't actually <i>write</i> anything, just opening the document and thinking about your novel means you're progressing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">I first realised how helpful a visual stimulus can be when I did <a href="https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> (National Novel Writing Month) a few years ago. If you've ever signed up for this, you'll know that when you enter each day's word count, you see a lovely blue bar getting longer and longer as you move towards the target 50,000 words. I wanted to do something similar when I started my next book, so I came up with the idea of having two glasses, one of which contained 90 glass pebbles. For each thousand words written, I transferred a pebble from one glass to the other, so at a glance, I could see how much I'd done, and how much I still had to do. <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/writing-first-draft-2-and-1.html" target="_blank">I blogged about it here</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Anyway, now I've come up with an even better idea – you'll like this one! It's in a similar vein to the pebbles, but I'm using coins instead. I'm aiming for around 90,000 words again. So, one glass contains 90 small coins – 5p and 1p. When I've written 1000 words, one of those small coins goes back in my purse and a pound goes into the other glass. At the end of the zero draft, I'll have £90 with which to celebrate before I embark on a decent first draft.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKsb6QQTnHYPZvtF2JaehcriJ0YbJDboLYSRBkInInqS_prjkL9MtvS7Rd3O4p7JXPu99kSUPNUYvAmXvq0BchQj6BAnqvDWR56f2g170CxS-QWXDmS4uTowf-wAiHabnvosdNL64HkX4/s1600/IMG_0722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKsb6QQTnHYPZvtF2JaehcriJ0YbJDboLYSRBkInInqS_prjkL9MtvS7Rd3O4p7JXPu99kSUPNUYvAmXvq0BchQj6BAnqvDWR56f2g170CxS-QWXDmS4uTowf-wAiHabnvosdNL64HkX4/s320/IMG_0722.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">So far, I've written 34,000 words, and sticking a pound a day in the glass hasn't bankrupted me, especially as it's not every day. It's no accident that I've used champagne glasses, because I reckon one of the first things I'll buy out of that hundred quid is a bottle of champagne, then the OH and I will have a good night out on the rest.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">So, next time I blog, I'm hoping the glass on the right will be a little fuller, and glass on the left a little emptier. I'll keep you posted!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to sign up for a workshop or a 'Space to Write' day, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a> And it would be great if you would follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a></span>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-21269530153379857462016-07-18T15:46:00.001+01:002016-07-18T15:46:25.330+01:00THE WRITING LIFE – attempting a detailed outlineIn my last post, I talked about the huge decision to put the novel I was working on aside. I've recovered from the trauma now, although I'm still missing my lovely character whose company I'd been enjoying. I'll go back to her, though, and in the meantime, I'm hoping the deepest parts of my subconscious will be playing around with ideas for her story.<br />
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In the meantime, I have a book to write. As I said last time, my agent has long been trying to persuade me to become more of a planner than a pantster. She suggested I write a detailed synopsis – not the one or two page selling synopsis you'd send to an agent, but a much longer document, possibly as much as six pages, showing how the plot develops, what the characters' motivations are, where the dramatic events occur, and quite importantly, how it ends. I have tried several times to do this in the past and failed. But I promised I'd give it a go and so I settled down to the painful task of trying to wrench an entire story from somewhere deep within the creative part of my brain.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I won't give away too much about the new book, but suffice to say there will be mention of crows, and this picture really chimes with me in terms of the atmosphere, at least in the past strand of the novel</td></tr>
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The first day yielded but a paragraph or two. It was vague, I didn't know much about the characters, and nothing much was happening. By the time I forced myself to open the document again a few days later, I had a little more to go on. I'd started to feel pleased with myself when I'd written a whole page, until it dawned on me that everything I'd written up to that point was back story. Which is all well and good, because I do need to know the back story, but I was supposed to be writing about what happens in the book. I tried again over several days, adding little bits here and there, trying to work out what it was that motivated my two female characters.<br />
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What was nagging at me was that I was far more interested in one of these women than the other. And then I thought, so why am I not just telling her story from her point of view? Her story is so much stronger, and if I try to force a story on to the other character, it'll show. Almost at the same point as I made the decision to stick to one viewpoint, I realised that Leah, in whom I'm the most interested, was in fact a character from a short story I wrote some years ago, but she had appeared to me in disguise and so I hadn't recognised her. The moment I realised who she was and I remembered her tragic and rather frightening back story, everything seemed to fall into place.<br />
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I started to look forward to opening the document entitled Synopsis, book 4B, And within a couple of days I had written a 3000 word synopsis with all the major points in place and a possible ending I read it, I liked it, it seemed to make sense. This has NEVER happened to me before, and so I naturally assumed that I was missing something. But then the OH read it, and he liked it. But he's not a writer. So then I gave it to a couple of writing mates and <i>they</i> liked it too. And then, oh joy of joy, I sne it to my agent, and <i>she</i> liked it. My editor has yet to see it, but I'm feeling confident, and I've made a start, and given that I have the story mapped out, I've set myself a target of 1000 words a day which, so far, I've stuck to.<br />
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I'm so excited about this that I feel I have more to say, but I'll leave it for another post.<br />
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Other things going on in my Writing Life at the moment:<br />
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<li>Just finished the copy edits for <i>What She Lost</i>, which will be out in January, so that feels a step nearer. </li>
<li>This coming Saturday, 23rd of July, is the last in the current series of How to Write a novel workshops. This one is called Steps to Publication - we'll be looking at traditional, digital, and self-publishing, we'll show you how to write a query letter and offer some one-to-one feedback, and we'll also advise you on writing a synopsis. All for £40 for the day - it really is a bargain! Full details are on the workshops page of <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">My website</a></li>
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That's about it, I think, but please do follow me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or say hello on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-7882473749771807052016-06-21T11:10:00.002+01:002016-10-30T16:10:02.400+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - a great big scary decision!So, major decision since my last post. After weeks of being stuck, hours upon hours upon hours of thinking so hard I thought my brain might explode, and more importantly, in-depth discussions with my agent, I have decided to put aside the novel I was working on (my fourth) and start something completely new. Arghhhhhhh!<br />
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I feel the need for a calming image here...<br />
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That's better. Now, a few deep breaths...<br />
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Okay, so yes, that's what I've decided. Altogether, I'd written about 70,000 words, 45,000 of which I really liked, although after chatting with my agent, I can see now that I've not quite shown my character on paper as she is in my head. That can be fixed. But what can't be fixed without extensive rewriting and rethinking, is the story - or lack of it - which is why I've decided to put this one side, possibly for a couple of years.<br />
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Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that<i> What She Lost,</i> my third novel which is out in January, caused me some serious problems and it too, required extensive rewriting – I think I rewrote around 75% to 80%, and it's now much nearer to the novel I had in my head when I started writing it.<br />
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Iris Murdoch said, 'every book is the wreck of the perfect idea' and that pretty much sums up my experience lately. It's so frustrating to have an idea that is close to your heart, to have something to say that you feel is important and not be able to say it in a truthful and engaging way. I'm now pleased with <i>What She Lost</i>, but it did require an enormous amount of work, which I was only able to embark on after my editor and agent read the first draft and we had a long, creative meeting to thrash out some of the difficulties.<br />
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This time, my agent has read a sizeable chunk of my draft and confirmed my biggest fear – there wasn't really enough to keep the reader turning the page. There are other problems too, of course, but I know how to fix those. The bigger issue is that my story just isn't strong enough at the moment. This is partly to do with the structure, the order in which events occur, but I think I've maybe come at the whole thing from the wrong angle.<br />
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If I'm honest, what I have is interesting characters and an interesting situation – but that ain't a story! So I need to do a lot more thinking in order to find a new way of approaching this novel. I've created a folder on my desktop into which I've put all my existing notes and drafts for that novel, and to which I will add whenever thoughts occur to me. In a couple of years from now, I hope to return to this character I love so much – I've called her Eunice Shaw – and create a story around her that I'll be proud of.<br />
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In the meantime, I'm in the very early stages of exploring a new idea. This time, on the advice of my agent, I'm going to attempt to write a detailed synopsis before I start writing. It's something I've tried (and failed) to do before, but now, having had the experience of going so massively wrong with two novels, I'm going to do my level best to find a more efficient approach.<br />
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I will, as always, keep you posted on my progress (or otherwise...).<br />
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In other news:<br />
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<li>Both my existing novels, The Things We Never Said, and The Secrets We Left Behind, Are on special e-book promotion for the rest of this month (June 2016). <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-We-Never-Said-ebook/dp/B0098MEMNC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1466530640&sr=1-1&keywords=the+things+we+never+said" target="_blank">The Things We Never Said</a> is less than a bus fare at 99p, and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-We-Left-Behind-ebook/dp/B00EBA5PGY/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466530765&sr=1-1&keywords=The+secrets+we+left+behind" target="_blank">The Secrets We Left Behind</a> is 1.99 – less than a decent coffee! (Click links to buy) </li>
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<li>Workshops: the last in the current series of our How to Write a Novel workshops is on 23rd of July and there are still places available. It's just £40 for the whole day. This workshop will focus on how to get published – writing a synopsis, approaching agents, etc. We'll also look at traditional versus self-publishing. These workshops have been so popular that we've decided to run the whole programme again starting in September. Full details <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/p/workshops.html" target="_blank">here</a></li>
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Also, as I say from time to time, it's great when a reader takes the trouble to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads – it helps authors enormously, and it really doesn't have to be very long. In fact, I've just received one of the nicest short reviews I've ever had:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This book captured the modern day and the 60s beautifully. It captured everything perfectly. I don't remember many authors names, I will remember Susan Elliot Wright.</span><br />
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Isn't that lovely? Thank you, dear reader.</div>
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Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-65160464469866362982016-06-05T13:24:00.000+01:002016-06-05T13:24:19.617+01:00The Writing Life - working hard but ...<br />
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I have to start with a newsflash because both my books are on a special e-book promotion for the whole of June. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-We-Never-Said-ebook/dp/B0098MEMNC/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank">The Things We Never Said Amazon UK</a> is just 99p, and<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-We-Left-Behind-ebook/dp/B00EBA5PGY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1465056973&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Secrets We Left Behind Amazon UK</a> is just 1.99. They'll be back to full whack on 1st of July.<br />
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Right, that's that out of the way. Now, I see that it's over six weeks since I last blogged. This is because I've been thinking of the blog as being about my progress on the current novel (number four, as yet untitled), and as there has been no progress - none, zilch, nada – there has been no blog. But when I thought about it properly, the blog is called The Writing Life, and sometimes, part of the writing life is having to accept that you're not making any progress, despite still putting in the hours.<br />
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So how can I be working hard and not making progress? This novel started well, in that I love my 1960s protagonist and her story and I couldn't wait to explore her life and its difficulties. The problem came when I tried to write the contemporary strand that I'd originally planned. Every time I tried to explain it – to my agent, to my editor, or to writing friends – they got confused. And yes, I had worried that it was a little complicated. Ultimately, I realised that not only was that strand too complicated, but it didn't really fit with the 1960s story in a satisfying enough way, so I was going to have to rethink the whole thing.<br />
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And that's where the hard work comes in. My agent impressed upon me the value of planning – something I find very difficult, if not impossible. Usually, I plan a little, write a little, plan a little more, write a little more, and that's how I discover the story. But this time, I seem to have written myself down a blind alley. I have spent several weeks now trying to plot a second strand that will fit with the first and offer a satisfying conclusion. But I seem to be getting nowhere fast.<br />
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My agent has been an amazing and spent almost two hours with me on the phone a couple of weeks ago, trying to get to the heart of it all. With her usual insight, she has, I think, identified the main problem, which is that I've been trying to mix two genres - the 1960s story, which is an exploration of an unconventional relationship and the traumas and joys that accompany it, and the contemporary strand, which I was trying to make a bit more 'plotty'. I'm pleased with the 60s story and think it is perhaps some of my best writing, but then my agent asked the killer question: 'what is going to make the reader turn the pages?'<br />
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And that made me realise that while I <i>hoped</i> that a sheer love of the character and interest in her life would be enough, given that my first three novels (the third, What She Lost, is out in January) have all had some buried secret driving the narrative, a 'quieter' book might not go down so well. And yes, I'd love to write a book that does both things – explores the relationship in depth and also has a mystery at its heart, which is why I was going for the dual narrative again. But the secret I'd been relying on turned out to be too complicated, so I'm almost back to square one, and I've been thinking and thinking and thinking until my brain hurts, but I keep hitting dead ends.<br />
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In the worst case scenario, I put this novel aside for another time and I start something new. The idea terrifies me – I've written almost 70,000 words, although 25,000 of those were the contemporary strand that I now know doesn't work. I have around 45,000 words that I like so it seems a lot to give up on. But having said that, I abandoned my very first novel at around 40k words and went on instead to write The Things We Never Said. And regular readers might remember the struggle I had with What She Lost – I ended up rewriting almost 80 per cent. So it's not something I'm ruling out entirely. (although it really will be 'putting aside for another time' rather than dumping altogether.)<br />
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So, I'm still in that horrible phase of uncertainty, still trying to find a way through with what I've already written while vaguely sketching out other ideas should I have no alternative but to start again. My agent has kindly agreed to read the 1960s strand so that we can discuss it again, and while I hate revealing what I've written at this early stage, I don't want to carry on blindly if it's clear that it's just not going to work. We shall see.<br />
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Have you ever put a novel aside and written a new one? What do you do when you find you've written yourself to a dead end? (Apart from drink gin, obvs)<br />
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Ooh, by the way – if you're in or near Sheffield, there are still a few spaces on the two redrafting workshops coming up on Saturday 11th & Saturday 18th of June. If you book for one, is £40, if you book for both, it's £70. Have a look at the workshops page of <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a> for details.<br />
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<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-79502260657759215582016-04-12T17:54:00.000+01:002016-04-12T17:55:59.555+01:00THE WRITING LIFE – the dual narrative Shock horror, I've just realised it's over a month since my last post! This is probably because there hasn't been much progress since last time. Up until a few weeks ago, book 4 was going well - now I've hit a wall.<br />
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This novel, like the first three, is set partly in the past, and so I have to work out a way of finding my way into that story from the present. After thinking hard enough to make my eyes bleed and my brain explode, and even after chatting with my lovely editor, I still don't have an answer. the only reason I'm not physically tearing my hair out as we speak is that this is exactly how I felt with book three (What She Lost, due out in January) and I did eventually find a way through.<br />
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So, there's not much to say about the situation at the moment except that I'm horribly stuck and I'm hoping I'll become unstuck soon. I'm off on a writing retreat this weekend, so will be focusing entirely on the novel and trying not to spend the whole week gazing out of the window and chewing my pen. I'll let you know how it goes!<br />
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In the meantime, I thought you might like to see a pieceI wrote on the art of the dual narrative just after my first novel was published. I wrote this as a guest post on <a href="https://isabelcostelloliterarysofa.com/" target="_blank">Isabel Costello's</a> blog, and had a great response from people who told me how helpful it was. I returned to it this week in the hope that it would help me find a way through my current impasse – it didn't! <br />
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But who knows, it might be useful to someone reading this blog, so here it is, exactly as it appeared on Isabel's blog in 2013:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;">I’ve always enjoyed reading dual
narratives, possibly because I’m greedy – it’s a way of feeling like you’re
reading two books at once. So I knew when I started </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;">The Things We Never
Said</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;">that I wanted to interweave two stories, gradually revealing the link
between them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Writers choose dual narratives for
various reasons. You may want to present two sides of the same story, to show
the same events from two characters’ viewpoints in order to make the reader
question the accuracy of each, as in <i>Gone Girl</i> by Gillian
Flynn. Or you may want to show the same character in a different time period,
eg <i>Great Expectations</i>. Often, we use dual narratives to highlight
perennial themes or to show parallels and differences across generations or
cultures. A really great example is Amy Tan’s <i>The Joy Luck Club</i>,
which is told as four dual narratives – the viewpoints of four Chinese mothers
contrasted with those of their Chinese-American daughters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">My own decision to use a dual narrative
was based primarily on my desire to show how events in the past can impact on
the present, but also because I wanted to introduce some variety for the reader
– as well as the two different voices, I wanted to show a different time and
place. Initially, I wrote the novel in three parts – Maggie’s story, then
Jonathan’s story, and then a short section tying things together. What I hadn’t
realised was that although this is almost certainly the best way of writing the
first draft – you need to know both stories in full before you can interweave
them – it wasn’t a good way of presenting the finished novel. If your reader
has spent the last hundred and fifty or so pages engaging with a particular set
of characters, it’s then difficult for her to move seamlessly into the company
of another set of characters without it feeling like a wrench. I’ve had this
reading experience myself, and even when I’ve finally managed to engage with
the new section, it’s often only after a sense of needing to persevere.
Although I wanted my reader to be reluctant to leave each thread, I didn’t want
her to feel disappointed at having to move to the other strand, and I certainly
didn’t want it to feel like hard work to continue reading my novel! So I
decided that the best approach would be to interweave the two narratives from
the start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">It was a daunting task, and at several
points, as I sat on the floor of my study surrounded by pages of the novel, I
felt it was an impossible one. But then the novelist Jane Rogers gave me some
very good advice: ‘Don’t look for connections initially,’ she said. ‘Just look
for clashes.’ So I did, and happily I didn’t find any, so although my first
attempt weaving the stories together (a Maggie chapter then a Jonathan chapter
and so on) didn’t work brilliantly, it didn’t <i>not</i> work, so I
was able to feel more confident about trying again. That was the point at which
I abandoned my original chapters and printed out scenes instead. I was then
able to restructure the chapters and make them much shorter. This allowed me to
make most of the connections I was beginning to notice. For example, after a
chapter in 1963 ends with an emergency dash to hospital, I was able to start
the next chapter with a similar emergency dash in the present day; although
this one has a completely different outcome. There aren’t many such
connections, but it’s extremely satisfying when it happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">As well as similarities, you need
differences, and changing the structure of your chapters in this way allows you
to juxtapose lighter moments with darker ones so that your reader is able to
experience a range of emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">It goes without saying that the voices
in each narrative must be different and distinct. You can do this by making the
characters speak in a completely different way, perhaps reflecting a different
social or educational background, but this can be limiting, so you need other
ways of showing difference. My novel has a male and a female protagonist and
both narratives are third-person, so it’s immediately obvious whose story we’re
hearing at any one time. I perhaps chose the easy(ish) option; but what if you
have two 40-something female characters of similar background who appear in the
same time period? This makes it even more important to really focus on your characters,
on their emotions, on the way they think and feel, because these are the true
differences between people who may appear similar on the surface. And after
all, it’s the novelist’s job to get to the heart of his or her characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">It’s worryingly easy to become confused
when reading a novel that jumps from one narrative to another, so it’s really
important to orientate the reader right at the start of each new chapter.
Maggie O’Farrell’s first novel, <i>After You’d Gone</i>, jumps about all
over the place in terms of who’s speaking and when; but she’s brilliant at
establishing who, where and when at the beginning of each new section. I’ve
re-read that book a couple of times just to observe how she does it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">The dual narrative can be tricky, but
it’s definitely worth the effort. Here are my tips for making it work:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Write each narrative separately first.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Introduce both narratives quickly so that
readers know they’ll be moving between the two.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Keep chapters short.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Look for clashes first, not connections.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Don’t be wedded to your original chapters –
look at scenes and shuffle things around if necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Make sure voices are distinctive and different
– the voice should come from the heart of the character.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Orientate the reader quickly the start of each
new section.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Be prepared to have several goes at getting
the order right – you’ll get there in the end!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<o:p> To find out more about me and my work, please visit my <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a></o:p></div>
Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-15571623842005395242016-03-08T13:31:00.000+00:002016-03-08T16:01:12.909+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - I THINK WE HAVE A TITLE...<br />
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The title is often the first thing the author writes - it goes at the top of the page, just before 'Chapter One'. In my case, however, it's almost the last thing, coming somewhere between 'The End' and 'Aknowledgements'. I am so rubbish at titles, certainly where my own work is concerned, and I think that may be because I'm so focused on what happens in the story that I'm less able to look at it in terms of what's going to make the reader pick the book up.<br />
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Anyway, after many lists of suggestions and emails back and forth between myself, my editor, and my agent, we are all pretty much agreed that WHAT SHE LOST is snappy, easy to remember, and alludes to the various losses (not necessarily deaths) experienced by the two central characters, Eleanor and Marjorie. The book is about a mother and daughter and how their relationship is affected by the misunderstandings and miscommunications that occur between them over the years.<br />
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The title isn't absolutely, positively confirmed yet – my editor wants to run it by the rest of the team at Simon & Schuster, but I feel fairly confident that they'll all agree. There's now a blurb on all the bookselling sites, too, which is very exciting (although it needs a bit of a tweak).<br />
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So, that's where I'm up to with book 3, or, as I now think of it, WHAT SHE LOST.<br />
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Book 4 is coming along. I'm at 45,000 words now, and I'm very happy with what I've written (which makes a nice change for me!) However, as expected, I have now hit a bit of a wall. I'm on the last few scenes of the 1960s thread, and now I have to think of a way to come into that story from the present. The original idea I had simply didn't work once I started planning it out properly, so I'll have to think of something else. I have a few ideas, but as fellow authors will know, you can't really tell whether it will work or not until you actually start writing it. I'll keep you posted!<br />
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Since my last post, my Writing Life has included co-tutoring an all-day character workshop with fellow Sheffield writer <a href="http://www.thevoiceofruss.com/" target="_blank">Russell Thomas</a>. We had some lovely comments from all 12 participants on the feedback forms, and Russ and I thoroughly enjoyed it, too. We're running a series of How to Write a Novel workshops, all of which can be taken separately. The next one is on 19 March, and at the time of writing, there are three places remaining. It's only £40 for the whole day – grab a bargain! Details of all the workshops can be found <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/p/workshops.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
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If you saw my last blog post, you'll know that a couple of health-related books I wrote a few years ago have recently been reissued in updated form. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Someone-You-Love-Dementia/dp/1847094031/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457443651&sr=8-2&keywords=when+someone+you+love+has+dementia" target="_blank">When Someone You Love Has Dementia</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Emotional-Abuse-Susan-Elliot-Wright-ebook/dp/B01BIEYL2O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1457443535&sr=8-3&keywords=overcoming+emotional+abuse" target="_blank">Overcoming Emotional Abuse</a> are probably the ones I'm most proud of among my non-fiction work, and it was particularly lovely this week to receive an email from a reader of Overcoming Emotional Abuse telling me that the book had changed her life and helped her on the way to to recovery and healing following an abusive relationship. It's always lovely to hear from a reader when your book has meant something to them, but it's even more wonderful to know that it's actually helped them!<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to book on one of our courses, please visit my <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>. It would also be great if you could like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and follow me on<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-7740233695072119012016-02-18T12:13:00.000+00:002016-03-12T09:24:25.324+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - UPDATE ON NOVELS 3 & 4, REISSUE OF BOOKS ON EMOTIONAL ABUSE & DEMENTIAI'm a little behind with blogging at the moment. There's no good reason, no excuses, I just haven't made myself sit down and get on with it. It's certainly not that I don't have anything to say, and when I leave it this long I end up having too much to say, so I'll try not to waffle...<br />
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My 'Writing Life' since my last post has been quite good fun. I've given a talk to the Creative Writing MA students at Leeds Trinity, I ran a Planning and Plotting workshop with fellow writer <a href="http://www.thevoiceofruss.com/" target="_blank">Russell Thomas</a> which, if the evaluation sheets are anything to go by, was a huge success, and I've had some very productive coffee shop writing days as well. I'm working on my fourth novel and really enjoying it, despite the fact that there are huge chunks of the story that I haven't worked out yet. The current word count is 37,000. This hasn't changed much since I last blogged, but that's because I've done a lot of rethinking and cutting as well as new writing. I'm pushing on now, though, and hope to boast a more impressive word count in a couple of weeks.<br />
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As for book 3, which is due for publication in January 2017, I'm waiting for my editor's final (I hope!) comments. I'm fairly sure there's not much to do now, just some tweaking here and there. I hope to be able to announce the title very soon!<br />
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I focus exclusively on fiction now, but was previously a magazine journalist and in that capacity I wrote a number of books on health-related matters. I'm delighted to announce that new, updated editions of two of those books – the two that I'm most proud of for reasons I'll come to in a moment – are being published today by Sheldon Press. These are <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Emotional-Abuse-Susan-Elliot-Wright/dp/1847094058/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455793169&sr=8-2&keywords=Susan+Elliot+Wright+overcoming+emotional+abuse" target="_blank">Overcoming Emotional Abuse</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Someone-You-Love-Dementia/dp/1847094031/ref=pd_sim_sbs_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41q1n6DkoTL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR102%2C160_&refRID=04ZK635S35A5XQEPADXE" target="_blank">When Someone You Love Has Dementia</a><br />
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<i>Overcoming Emotional Abuse</i> has particular significance for me because I was in an emotionally abusive marriage for 12 years. I should make the point here (as I do in the book) that it's not only women who suffer this type of abuse. It does seem to affect more women than men, though - or at least, more women have begun to recognise it.Writing the book was cathartic for me. I included some details of my own experience but was quite shocked at the level of response to my request for case studies. So many women who'd experienced this type of abuse came forward that I couldn't include every story.<br />
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Anyone who is following the current Archers storyline will have some idea of what I mean by emotional abuse. Physical abuse is obvious to those being abused, if not to those around them. But emotional and psychological abuse is harder to acknowledge. The abuser wears down the victim by eroding confidence and self-esteem, isolating them from friends and family and controlling every aspect of their lives from where they go to who they see, how they spend their money, what they wear, what they eat and even when they sleep. People suffering this type of abuse will have become convinced that it's their own fault, that if only they weren't so stupid, clumsy, lazy, ugly, paranoid, tarty, sexually promiscuous/inhibited, everything would be all right.<br />
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When I escaped my abusive marriage in 1990, there was no law against stalking (my ex stalked me for three years after I left). It was good to see anti-stalking legislation introduced in 1997. When the first edition of the book was published in 2007, there was no law against emotional or psychological abuse. You had to wait for physical violence before the perpetrator could be prosecuted. (This type of abuse often progresses to physical violence, and <i>all </i>physical domestic abuse begins with emotional or psychological abuse.) I heartily welcome the new law against controlling and coercive behaviour which came into effect at the end of last year. It's a shame it was too late for me.<br />
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When the book first came out, I received a handful of letters from women who had found it helpful. I hope it will continue to help anyone suffering this type of abuse, and I'm so glad that the new law and the Archers storyline are both helping to raise awareness of this subject.<br />
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I don't have quite such a personal connection with <i>When Someone You Love Has Dementia</i>, although I'm proud of it because it was well reviewed and because it won a 'highly commended' in the BMA medical book awards 2010. In 2015, it was also chosen as part of the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme.<br />
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So far, I'm happy to say that none of my loved ones has suffered from dementia, but I have a number of friends whose parents have this devastating disease. When writing the book, I interviewed people with dementia and their family members, and I was so affected by what I heard that I decided I wanted to further explore the subject in fiction. My third novel includes a dementia storyline.<br />
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Until quite recently, dementia was little talked-about and the research was massively underfunded. There is still a long way to go on both counts, but funding is improving, and we're certainly talking about the subject more these days, thanks to high profile sufferers like the late Sir Terry Pratchett, and to some fantastic novels, such as Elizabeth is Missing, by Emma Healey, Still Alice, by Lisa Genova, and The Memory Book, by Rowan Coleman.<br />
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Told you this might be long...<br />
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Final word: I'm running a series of 1-day How to Write a Novel workshops with Russ Thomas in Sheffield. The second one is this Saturday, 20th February - now full. But the others may be of interest! Only £40 for the day - bargain! Full details <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/p/workshops.html" target="_blank">here</a><br />
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If you'd like to keep an eye on what I'm up to, visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a><br />
<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-65030676971558286052016-01-21T19:20:00.002+00:002016-03-12T09:22:13.147+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - AUTHORS' INCOME AND THE VALUE OF PLRA slightly different blog post this time, in that I want to talk about PLR and authors' income in general rather than my own writing progress. Normal service will be resumed next time! Before I move on to more writerly matters, though, forgive the slightly indulgent photo of me with my newest grandchild, whose arrival I'm using as an excuse for not posting for the last couple of weeks. Anyway, here he is, my baby boy's baby boy. Like my recently completed third novel, and my currently in progress fourth novel, he is as yet unnamed.<br />
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I've just returned home from a lovely few days with him and his mum and dad, and while I was in London I took the opportunity to catch up with a some friends. Having spent rather too much money as usual, I was delighted today to receive my PLR statement. PLR (Public Lending Right) is the right of authors whose books are available in public libraries to receive a small payment from a government fund, based on the number of times the books are borrowed. The number of loans is estimated, based on various data collected from libraries across the country.<br />
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In my previous incarnation as a health-writer, I wrote a few health-related books and when the PLR payments began to come in for the first two or three, there was usually enough to buy a takeaway or two. As I wrote more books, the PLR increased and soon I could buy a nice meal out and a good bottle of wine. This time, with a full year's worth of loans on the two novels as well as the non-fiction books, I reckon it'll cover a modest holiday.<br />
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And I am so grateful. I'm grateful for the existence of PLR (which, incidentally, is constantly under threat of being cut to an even lower rate) and I'm grateful in particular to the libraries (many of which are also under threat) who stock my books. Most of all I'm grateful to the readers who borrow them. That little extra portion of income is so important, especially as it comes in just after Christmas when we're all completely broke.<br />
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Even bestselling authors, with a few notable exceptions, don't earn enough to make a living from their writing, which is why most of us do other work such as teaching, journalism, or critiquing and mentoring. Many people don't realise how little authors earn. For every book sold at the retail price of 7.99 the author gets about 60p, rising to 80p if the book sells in large quantities – we're probably talking more than 40k copies. Most books don't sell anywhere near that. Yes, the author gets an advance against those sales and if the book doesn't 'earn out' – in other words, if all those 60 pences don't add up to the total of the advance – he or she won't have to pay back the outstanding amount. But for most authors, there will never be royalties in addition to the advance.<br />
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The advance may be a few hundred pounds or a few thousand, but very few achieve the almost mythical 'six-figure sum'. Even if the advance <i>does</i> reach six figures, which is rare, it's not quite what it seems. When I heard that a friend had netted a £100k two-book deal I was thrilled for her - like everyone else, I pictured that enormous cheque. But then I remembered how it actually works...<br />
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An advance for two-book deal is made in five instalments: 1. Signing of contract, 2. Delivery of book one, 3. Publication of book one, 4. Delivery of book 2, and 5. Publication of book 2. Most authors have agents and agents make their living from commission on the advance, usually 15% plus VAT. This is an essential expense in my opinion because among other things, agents work incredibly hard to increase and protect their authors' income.<br />
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But what this means is that even with an advance of that size, we're actually talking about five payments of £16,400 (if my maths is correct) over the course of somewhere between three and five years, or possibly longer. Not a great salary, you'll agree.<br />
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So the PLR payment, which if you're lucky may be a few hundred pounds and if you're really, really lucky, may be a few thousand, (the maximum authors can receive from PLR is £6600) is a vital part of an author's income.<br />
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Writing books - researching our stories, working out the finer details of our plots, the seemingly endless rewriting and editing – it's all difficult, time-consuming work. There's also the admin side, the marketing and social media etc etc. And we often get asked to do talks and readings, which is lovely because we get to meet our readers, but we're rarely paid for these appearances despite the hours we spend preparing, travelling, and delivering our talks.<br />
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Obviously we want people to buy our books, preferably at full price from a proper bookshop, although a discount purchase will still help. But if money is really tight, please borrow our books from your library. By doing so, you'll help support the libraries, you'll help to give a small boost to our income, and you'll be doing the thing that's so important to all authors – making sure our books are actually read.<br />
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So a massive thank you to all you lovely readers who have borrowed <i>The Things We Never Said</i> or <i>The Secrets We Left Behind</i> or any of my health-related books from the library. (And an extra massive thank you if you've bought one of my books, obvs!)<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a>Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-59659974979289736102015-12-22T11:35:00.004+00:002016-03-12T09:25:17.365+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - PRESENTS WRAPPED, EDITS DONE!So the Christmas cards have been posted, the tree is up, the presents are wrapped and I'VE SENT OFF NOVEL NUMBER 3!! Okay, so this isn't the first time I've sent it off, but I think it's virtually there now, properly finished all bar the copy edits.<br />
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After completing the terrible first draft in January 2015, I rewrote 75 to 80% and with great trepidation submitted it again at the end of August. Of the three novels I've completed, this was without a doubt the most difficult to write. Regular readers of this blog will know the agonies I've been through with it! Anyway, my editor read it immediately and loved it. In fact, her email was so full of praise that tears sprang to my eyes as I read it. I'm not telling you this to blow my own trumpet, but to demonstrate that even when you've struggled with what seems like an impossible project, it's still possible to bring it up to something you'll eventually be proud of.<br />
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I had most of September off while my editor and agent prepared their feedback. As usual, I agreed with about 98% of their suggestions and set to work making those changes. Back went the new draft for my editor to read again. She was happy, so I was happy. She suggested a few little revisions and pointed out a scene that needed to be more convincing, so I knuckled down and did that near-final round of edits in a couple of weeks.<br />
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At that stage, I passed it to three trusted readers: my husband, a reading friend who has similar taste to my own, and a writer friend who I know to be both insightful and honest. All three pointed out useful things, from references that were too vague to more significant problems: "I was confused here about where and when this happens." So that was another few days of edits.<br />
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But I love it; I pounce on those problems because I can see the whole thing improving before my very eyes. I read it through one more time myself – isn't it amazing how many typos, missing words, repeated words etc can elude reader after reader after reader? I picked up quite a few, but I'm sure there will be yet more. And then I sent it. There may be a few more tweaks, but I feel sure that we'll now be talking hours of work rather than days or weeks. It's a good stage to get to! My editor is on holiday until the second week in January, so I won't hear anything for a few weeks, which is just as well, because it means I can get on with book four.<br />
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Book four is progressing slowly after an initial burst of introducing the characters and setting up the situation. I've stopped writing for a while in order to think about the plot. With the first three books, even though I often got stuck along the way, I've known where I was heading so I just forged ahead to see where the writing took me. This time I'm not so sure, so I'm going to try a little planning, just to see if I can actually plot this story to the end.<br />
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Over the Christmas break, (I've decided I'm going to give myself a proper break for a change) I'm going to do lots of reading along with the eating and drinking, and although I won't be 'working' as such, I intend to keep my notebooks and my laptop within arms reach so that I can do a little on the novel every day. I don't expect to be doing that much actual writing, but I do hope to try and work out the story, or at least, a skeleton of an idea on which I can hang some flesh. I'll let you know how that goes!<br />
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Have you ever changed the way you work, either from 'pantster' to planner all the other way round? How did you find it? Which works best for you?<br />
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Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! Here's a picture of my very small, scrappy and misshapen Christmas tree. (tiny house, only two of us, not much dosh!) See you in January!<br />
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To find out more about me and my work, or to sign up for workshops please visit my <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a><br />
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<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-42506761386191887432015-11-30T12:21:00.001+00:002016-03-08T10:48:38.362+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - 30 NOVEMBER 2015Since my last post two weeks ago, my 'writing life' has been something of a mix, because I'm still working on book three but I'm also trying to make some headway with book four. So this is where I'm up to as we speak:<br />
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I've now had my editor's feedback on the first round of edits and it was all generally positive. There were a few typos, repeated words, and little things along the lines of: 'this chapter ends rather abruptly, add a sentence or two to round it off?' All easy to deal with.<br />
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There was just one thing that she felt still wasn't working, and that centred around a character's motivation, which my editor wasn't convinced by. She felt that this particular character wouldn't do the thing I had her doing. I gave this a great deal of thought, and then I re-read the chapter. I could see what she meant – this buttoned-up, emotionally distant character was a little too in touch with her feelings in the scene. However, the reason she does what she does is clear in my head and is not unconnected to her emotional reticence. I rewrote the chapter, changing her behaviour and attempting to make her motivation clearer. I hope I've succeeded. I'm waiting to hear from my editor who has kindly agreed to look at the rewritten chapter and give me her thoughts before I send back the whole draft.<br />
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I've worked through all the smaller points now, and if the rewritten chapter is okay, my next step is to read through the whole novel again, but I'll do that after I've heard from the two trusted friends who are now reading it. These are my first readers apart from my husband, who's just read it, and my editor and my agent – I don't ask anyone to read the whole draft until it's nearly 'there'. One friend is already halfway through and loving it (hoorah!) and she flagged up something that confused her – another case of what was clear in my head not being clear on the page!<br />
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If the rewritten chapter is <i>not</i> okay, then it'll need more of a rethink, but I'm hopeful. Apart from that, the main thing we need to do now is agree on a title. I've come up with a list of possibles and my editor is doing the same. Watch this space!<br />
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Update on book 4 (no title for that, either!) I haven't moved very far forward in terms of word count since my last post – only a couple of thousand more words – but I've been thinking about it a lot and brainstorming ideas. I've also been doing some research for the main part of the story which is set in 1961/62, and I'm having a great deal of fun doing that, especially since I managed to get hold of some copies of Woman Magazine from 1961.<br />
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What fascinating social documents these have turned out to be, and invaluable for researching women's lives at the time. As well as interesting features, there are advertisements providing lots of information on fashion, cosmetics, and furniture and household appliances. There are recipes (none of which I'll be trying any time soon!) giving an idea of what people were eating in those days, and one of the most interesting sections – readers' letters. The problem pages tell you so much about day-to-day living, morality, and society in general. And all the letters are great for language – lots of words and expressions used then that we don't really hear any more.<br />
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This feature, which is all about dressing appropriately for what the day has in store – Lorna's outfit was perfect for work and for an evening with her 'current boyfriend' afterwards. "He said, 'let's go for a spin in the car and will have dinner out later' – forgetting to mention a round of golf on the way home. Lorna's formal suits didn't quite make the grade!" Poor Lorna. The feature goes on to examine Lorna's lifestyle in order to give her some fashion advice. In just one paragraph I learned that Lorna, who was a 'high-powered press and publicity gal', earned £10 a week, out of which she paid £4 rent for her small flat, 4s 2d on travel, and 2s on lunches. She also spends 9s 6d (so about a twentieth of her weekly wage) on a 'professional hairdo' once a fortnight, 6s 6d on cosmetics and 1s 6d on hand cream because 'she does her own housework and must care for her hands.'<br />
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All fascinating stuff, and so much detail – it's amazing how just including a few accurate period details can give your story authenticity.<br />
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So, that's been my 'writing life' this time. Oh, and one other thing to tell you about – it's always nice to get emails from readers saying they've enjoyed your books, but it's particularly nice when it's from someone who isn't your typical reader. I had a lovely email this week from a man who said he usually reads police dramas and espionage thrillers, but he read the blurb on the back of <i>The Things We Never Said</i> and thought it sounded interesting so he bought it. He said, 'I could barely put it down, and I will be ordering your second book as soon as I finished typing this.' so that, as you can imagine, rather made my day!<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or to sign up for one of the How to Write a Novel workshops, visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a><br />
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<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-64263807268218270162015-11-16T14:06:00.001+00:002016-03-08T10:49:03.001+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - ARVON 16 NOVEMBER 2015I realise I've been repeating myself a lot when I introduce each blog post, so from now on, I'm just going to suggest that if you're new to this blog, you might like to take a quick peek at my last post, which explains where I'm up to with my novels and how I got to this point.<br />
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So, I last posted when I was just about to head off for a writing retreat at the <a href="http://www.arvon.org/" target="_blank">Arvon foundation's</a> west Yorkshire writing house, Lumb Bank. I arrived in thick fog, which was wonderfully atmospheric and spooky. It boded well for a few days of intense writing, too, because walking in the surrounding woodland would have been quite dangerous when you could barely see your hand in front of your face.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First sight of Lumb Bank in the fog</td></tr>
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I had a lovely room, which had two desks – didn't know which one to write at! And here's the view, such as it was in thick fog.<br />
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An Arvon 'week' is actually a five-night stay. You arrive on Monday afternoon and leave on Saturday morning, and the only domestic work you have to do while you're there is help to cook one evening meal, and wash up after one evening meal and one lunch, so there's plenty of time for writing. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Table set for dinner</td></tr>
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Regular readers will know that I've recently finished the first round of edits on my third novel and am currently waiting for my editor's feedback, so I thought I'd use my few days at Arvon to make a start on book four. Maybe it's not quite accurate to say 'make a start' because I'm rewriting some material I wrote four years ago during that year's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I wrote 50,000 words that November, but by the end of the month I'd stopped actually 'writing' and started adding sentences in capital letters with suggestions for where the plot might go next.<br />
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So after I sent the latest draft of book three back to my editor, I read over the 50,000 words again. When I wrote them, I thought they were absolute drivel, but I found myself becoming so engaged in the story when I read it again, that I was quite annoyed when it finished. Well, it didn't 'finish', exactly, because I'd got lost and didn't know how to end it, so let's just say I was disappointed when it stopped.<br />
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Anyway, I'm still not sure where the story is going, but I was so engaged with it, particularly the part of it that's set in the past, that I decided to start working on it again and see if I can make it work as my fourth novel. So I separated the past and present stories and, given that it's the past narrative that excites me the most, I decided to work on that. I took about 25,000 words to Arvon with me and did some extensive rewriting as well as some new writing, and I now have just over 33,000 words. This is still very much first draft, obviously, and given that I still don't know how it will end, I'm not entirely certain that this WILL be book four, but I feel it has something, so I'm going to keep going for the time being.<br />
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I met some great people at Lumb Bank, and was delighted to meet up with three lovely writers I'd met there on previous retreats. I find it so nourishing to spend a few days in the company of other writers, discussing the highs and lows of the process, as well as the ins and outs of our plots.<br />
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A frequent topic for discussion among writers is always, 'are you a planner or pantster?' In other words, do you plot things out first, or do you fly by the seat of your pants and make it up as you go along? Everyone works differently, and for many writers, myself included, it's usually a bit of both. But this is the first time I've embarked on a novel without knowing roughly what's going to happen at the end.<br />
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This could be dangerous! I would always say you need to have some idea of where you're going (okay, I suppose I do have <i>some</i> idea) even if you've no idea how you're going to get there or what will happen along the way. I suppose what I'm doing this time is just writing towards the next thing I want to happen (I know quite a lot about what I want to happen) and see where that takes the characters.<br />
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This one might be a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but I'm feeling almost confident at the moment, because I'm convinced that the next book can't <i>possibly</i> be as difficult as the last! Book three, for those of you who are not familiar with this blog (and my constant moaning), has been a bit of a nightmare, even though it turned out to be worth it in the end.<br />
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When I wrote my first novel, I think I had the idea that the next one would be easier, the next easier still and so on. Ha! How wrong can you be? Every novel appears to have a life and character all of its own, and it seems to me that author and novel are two separate entities working together,talking to each other and growing together rather than it being as simple as one creating the other. Does that make sense or have I finally lost the plot? (Pun intended!)<br />
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Have you ever started a book without much idea of how it will end? Are you a 'planner or a pantster', or a bit of both?<br />
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To find out more about me and my work, or to sign up for one of the How to Write a Novel workshops, visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>. Or you can like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a><br />
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<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-52415750441680706662015-11-02T12:28:00.002+00:002016-03-08T10:49:18.983+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - 2 NOVEMBER 2015I'm going to start this blog with a picture I took this morning while walking my dog in the General Cemetery: A leaf, apparently suspended in mid-air, twirling in the autumn sunlight. If my three-year-old granddaughter had been with me she would have thought it was magic, and it occurred to me that this makes quite a nice metaphor for the writing process. The leaf was of course suspended on a strand of spider silk, but because I couldn't see that it was attached to something, it appeared beautiful, magical, and with a life of its own. In my opinion, that's what a novel should be like – the reader shouldn't be able to <i>see </i>the writing. I'll address this point again soon in another post.<br />
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So, only one post in seven weeks; bad blogger!! But as regular readers will know, I've been deep in the first round of edits on book 3. Just a quick summary for new readers: I've been working on my third novel for around 18 months. I've really struggled with this one, and I've blogged about it fairly regularly. In January 2015, I thought I was getting there and I submitted a rough first draft to my editor and agent. I knew there were big problems, particularly with structure, but I hadn't realised quite how rubbish that draft was. Anyway, the three of us had a wonderfully creative brainstorming meeting, and in the weeks that followed, I began to have more ideas about how to sort out this novel that I knew I wanted to write.<br />
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To cut a long story short, at the end of August, I submitted what was actually a second draft but felt more like a first, given that I'd rewritten around 75 to 80% of the original. The happy news was, they liked it! In fact, they appeared to like it very much. In recognition of my hard work, my lovely editor gave me a few welcome weeks off before sending her comments.<br />
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Since I received the editorial feedback five weeks ago I've been glued to the manuscript. Happily, there are no major problems. It seems to be mostly a case of strengthening certain aspects, clarifying things to make motivation clear and simplifying scenes that are overcomplicated. There has been no feedback so far that I have disagreed with, and only one suggestion (and it was made clear that it was only a suggestion) that I've decided not to follow.<br />
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I find the first draft an agonising process. Many writers are exhilarated and excited by the first draft, and that's probably how it should be. However, for me, the second, third and however many subsequent drafts is where the excitement lies. At this stage, I know the story, I know and love my characters, but having been so close to the manuscript, there will be things playing out in my head that I've not been able to convey properly on the page. This is where the insights and experience of my agent and editor come in. Their feedback enables me to go back and refine and improve and bring the whole thing closer to what I'd originally intended, and I love seeing it blossom before my very eyes into something so much better.<br />
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So for the last few weeks, that's what I've been doing. I start by making a 'to do' list and then I work through, item by item, leaving the trickiest until last. Even problems that seem insurmountable at first feel easier to tackle at this stage. I worked through everything on the list, leaving the ending until last - my editor thought the ending felt a little 'rushed', that it needed to be somehow 'bigger'. I completely agreed, but I wasn't sure what to do about it. In the end, I made myself simply sit down and rewrite the scene, and lo and behold, it got better! (whether it's better enough, remains to be seen!)<br />
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After that, I read the whole novel aloud (not in one go!) To check for repeated words, clumsy sentences and the general rhythm of the writing. Then I sent it off to my editor again. I know there will be more to do, but I don't think it'll be huge. Watch this space!<br />
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I'm off on an Arvon retreat today with the aim of getting started on my fourth novel. Again, watch this space! Dashing off now to get packed, but will blog again next week with an update.<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to sign up for a workshop in the How to Write a Novel series, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">Twitter</a><br />
<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-12254063019256840262015-10-19T10:51:00.000+01:002016-03-08T10:50:12.554+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - Off-The-Shelf Q&A OCTOBER 2015It's been a few weeks since my last blog, because I've been unable to tear myself away from editing the new book. I'll do a post specifically about that in the next couple of weeks – I'm aiming to get this round of edits finished by the end of the month. And although I'm desperate to get back to it, I thought I'd take a little break to tell you about a talk I did last week as part of the Off-The-Shelf literary festival here in Sheffield.<br />
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As you can see from the flyer, the talk was called A Slice of Sheffield, because although I talked about my books and writing in general, I wanted to focus on the importance of setting. My first two novels are set in London, where I grew up, Sheffield, where I live now, and Hastings, a seaside town I fell in love with when I lived down south. The new book, which is still untitled at the moment, is set in south-east London and Scalby, near Scarborough. I do like a bit of seaside in my books!<br />
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For me, setting is massively important. As a reader, I really want to feel the place I'm reading about; I want to see it, smell it, hear it, and understand how I might feel while walking around it. So as a writer, that's exactly the experience I want to offer my readers.<br />
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It was lovely to be able to talk to a group of Sheffield people about how I'd used Sheffield in the novels, and during the Q&A session and discussion afterwards, I discovered lots of lovely little titbits about Sheffield that I wish I'd known earlier!<br />
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There were some interesting questions that came up in the Q&A, and I thought I'd share three of these with you:<br />
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1. Question: What sort of research do you have to do? Do you need to approach organisations or individuals with certain areas of expertise, or do only need to research the location?<br />
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Answer: For <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-We-Never-Said-ebook/dp/B0098MEMNC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445247452&sr=8-2&keywords=susan+elliot+wright" target="_blank">The Things We Never Said</a> I needed to know how DNA evidence is used by the police when reviewing 'cold' cases. I read a lot about actual cases where DNA was used in evidence to help prosecute perpetrators many, many years after the crime. I also talked to police officers and forensic scientists so that I understood (after a fashion!) how it actually worked.<br />
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For that book I also needed to know about psychiatric hospitals and treatments in the early 1960s, in particular, electro convulsive therapy. Again, I read widely, and included in my reading actual accounts of patients who had been treated with ECT at that time.<br />
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As for location, I relied on memory for my descriptions of south-east London, I'd taken a lot of notes when I was last in Hastings, and I wrote about Sheffield as a newcomer to the city, so I probably noticed things then, that I wouldn't notice now – more of which in a moment!<br />
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For <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-We-Left-Behind/dp/1471102351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445247449&sr=8-1&keywords=susan+elliot+wright" target="_blank">The Secrets We Left Behind</a> I talked to a coroner, and a former scenes-of-crime police officer officer (even though it's not a crime novel!) Apart from that, it was just the location. By the time I wrote this novel, it was several years since I'd been to Hastings so I arranged a short research trip during which I took photographs and made notes. I was still able to write the London sections from memory, but I made the mistake of assuming that, having been in Sheffield for a few years, I now knew the area well enough to write it from memory. When my editor read the first draft, she pointed out that, while she felt she could 'see' the scenes set in Hastings and London, she wasn't 'getting' Sheffield.<br />
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I learned a valuable lesson here – don't assume that just because you've walked through the city centre many times you will be able to recreate it meaningfully on the page! So, I took my notebook and I went and walked around the city centre again, really looking this time, taking notice of what I could see, smell, hear etc. And it worked – the setting came to life.<br />
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2. Question: Do you do your research before you start writing or as you go along?<br />
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Answer: A bit of both. Research can be an excuse to procrastinate, and believe me, I can procrastinate with the best of them! But I try to restrain myself and only research as much as I need to in order to start writing. In the early stages of the book, I won't know everything that is going to happen and therefore I won't know what I'll need to research until it actually happens.<br />
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So basically, I do the minimal amount of research before I get started, I do a few little bits as I go along, and I do a fair bit at the end of the draft – I put notes in the MS in capital letters along the lines of: 'check how this would happen'; 'find out how much this would cost'. Stopping to research these things along the way would detract from the writing and if I don't <i>need</i> to know in order to carry on, then researching at this stage would probably be an avoidance technique.<br />
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3. Question: Would you ever set a novel in an imaginary place?<br />
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Answer: No! Again, this is based on my preferences as a reader – I love to read about real places, preferably places that I know or have visited. I'm sure writing about imaginary places would make my life as a writer slightly easier, but it's just not something I ever see myself doing. I am slightly worried that I might run out of real places, though – the new book was originally set in York, but despite several research trips, I just couldn't get the place right. Maybe I'm just not good enough at research, but I think I need to either live in a place or know it very well indeed before I can write effectively about it.<br />
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There were lots of other fascinating questions as well, but too many to go into here. One thing the audience wanted to know was which of my books was the most difficult to write. They were slightly surprised when I replied that, though I found them all incredibly difficult (the writers among you will know that you have no idea just how very, very hard it is to write a novel until you actually do it!) the most difficult has definitely been the most recent one – the one I've been blogging about for well over a year. There were some expressions of dismay that it doesn't necessarily get easier!<br />
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Ah well, onwards and upwards!<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you're interested in attending a novel writing workshop (currently planning a series of these for 2016) please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>. You can also follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a> or like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter" target="_blank">Facebook page</a><br />
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Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-64525208147583891972015-09-06T13:51:00.001+01:002016-03-08T10:50:47.944+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - THEY LIKE IT!!! OCTOBER 2015<br />
Hello! If you're new to this blog, I've been blogging about my experience of writing (and rewriting) my third novel for just over a year, although I blogged for quite a while before that on more general writing and book related matters. Last week, I submitted the draft I've been agonising over and already I have feedback from my brilliantly wonderful editor and fabulously marvellous agent. You may guess from my hyperbole that I am happy. Very, very happy. In fact, I've been doing the happy dance ever since I got the email, singing, <i>they like it, they like it, they really, really like it!</i><br />
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Those of you who've followed my progress will know that it's been a bit of a nightmare. I've really struggled with this book, and with the structure in particular. I knew that there was a story I really wanted to tell at the heart of it somewhere, but I got horribly lost along the way. There were points at which I despaired. Could I really do it? Had I had bitten off more than I could chew? There were times when my confidence was so low that I honestly wondered whether I would have to abandon the whole thing and start a different novel. But some part of me refused to give up.<br />
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The main point of this week's post, is partly to share my absolute joy with you – I've been quick enough to share my frustrations and misery along the way so it's only fair to share the good stuff too! And partly because I hope it will encourage and give hope to those of you who are battling with your own novels as we speak.<br />
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First of all – the joy! Picture this: you've sent off your second draft (the first having been an absolute pile of crap); you know it's better, you believe in the story and care passionately about your characters, but a little niggle of self-doubt tells you it may still not be good enough. You know you won't have to wait long for feedback – your editor knows you're biting your nails – but you expect it'll be at least a week or two. And then, a mere five days later, the email arrives, Telling you she loves it, you've cracked it, she started reading it and couldn't put it down. Hoorah!!<br />
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Now you know why I'm doing the happy dance! Yes, there will be rewrites, but she assures me they're small and nothing to worry about, and what's more, she is deliberately not sending them through for a couple of weeks so that I can take a bit of a break.<br />
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So the other point is just to say, if you're struggling with your novel, stick with it. It may take a long time, you may even need to go back to the beginning (I did – this draft is almost 80% completely new writing.) You may have to get rid of characters (see last week's post); you may have to completely rethink your structure. But the chances are, there IS a way through, and you just have to keep working until you find it. My editor and agent both talked about my dedication, hard work, and commitment; I'm not saying that to show off, just to reiterate what all writers are told again and again:<i> it's 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration</i> or <i>it's 10% talent and 90% sheer hard graft </i>or however else you want to put it.<br />
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My favourite quote on the subject (and I have this pinned above my desk) is this;<br />
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'Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.'<br />
Calvin Coolidge<br />
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I'm going to have a break from the blog for a couple of weeks now and I'm off to Whitby for a few days to see the sea, eat fish and chips and catch up with some reading. I'll start the blog again towards the end of September, and I intend to keep it going as I work through the editorial notes for book three and find a suitable title etc.<br />
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And then, dear readers, I invite you to come along with me as I take the perilous journey through the writing of novel number four...<br />
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Thank you again for all your support, and remember, persistence is everything!<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to attend one of my events or workshops, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a><br />
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<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196270920705499712.post-64965707941751143482015-08-31T12:49:00.003+01:002016-03-08T10:51:20.900+00:00THE WRITING LIFE - BOOK 3 DONE! AUGUST 2015Weeks to deadline 0<br />
Days to deadline 0<br />
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At the beginning of January this year, I submitted a first draft of my third novel. It was a pile of poo. I knew it was bad, but I hadn't realised quite how bad.I was too close to it, I think.There were some parts that were good, and the heart of the story was in there somewhere, but I'd lost sight of it a bit, gone off at a tangent, and got myself in a hell of a state with the structure. Had I been a new, unpublished novelist trying to get an agent, that manuscript would have been returned with a polite rejection.<br />
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But fortunately, I have a track record and so my agent and editor were willing to spend a few hours with me talking through various ideas and ways forward. Almost exactly seven months after that wonderfully creative and productive meeting, I have finished this draft!</div>
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After that meeting, even more ideas dropped into my head, so I came home and took the novel apart, sacked a few characters, combined a few others, and more or less started again. Here's a fun post I wrote at the time about getting rid of characters: <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015_01_01_archive.html" target="_blank">The Home for Redundant Characters</a><br />
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I've been blogging for just over a year specifically about my experience of writing this novel. <a href="http://selliotmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/my-writing-week-one-of-10.html" target="_blank">First post here</a>. I called the blog The Writing Life, because initially, I'd only intended to write a series of ten weekly posts, partly to encourage myself by publicly committing to a certain amount of work, but also because I'm so frequently asked about my working day, especially the question "how many hours a day do you write?" If I'm editing, I have to be dragged away from my desk after eight or nine hours. However, if I'm drafting, I often only spend two or three hours a day actually writing. But that doesn't mean the rest of the day is spent reclining on a chaise longue drinking gin and tonic ( I wish!)<br />
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There are lots of other non-writing tasks, some of which are desk-based, others which involve being out and about, either for research, or for the purpose of talking with other writers – an essential part of the job, in my opinion. Also, we don't have normal weeks and weekends, so while it might seem that I have a lot of free time because I meet a friend for lunch on a Tuesday or have a day out on Thursday, that's only because I'll be here at my desk all day Saturday and Sunday.<br />
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Personally, I've always been fascinated by how other writers work, so I just wanted to open the door into my own daily life as a full-time writer. I had such a positive response to those first ten posts, I decided to continue with this blog, weekly or fortnightly, depending on what was going on. The response has continued to be incredibly positive, with frequent praise for the honesty and openness of the posts. Basically, I'm willing to admit that I find this job extremely difficult (though I love it and there is nothing I would rather do), and also that I am perfectly capable of writing rubbish and not recognising the fact until it's been pointed out.<br />
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Anyway, the point is, it's taken me seven months to complete this re-draft, but I have produced 94,000 words, around 75,000 of which are completely new. I have struggled enormously with this book – more than the first, I think, and definitely more than the second, but I've done it, and just before the weekend, I pressed the blue button!<br />
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I'm not kidding myself that it's anywhere near perfect, but I know it's much better than the first, or 'zero' draft. There will be more work to do, but it now seems like something that is actually doable. So I shall now bite my nails until I receive feedback from my agent and editor, and I'll blog about it when I do, good or bad. Well, good <i>and</i> bad - it won't be one or the other.<br />
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I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has supported this blog over the last year. It's been wonderful to know that so many of you have found my experiences encouraging in your own work. thank you all so much too for your comments, tweets, and re-tweets.<br />
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I think the point I'm always trying to make is, writing a novel is difficult, and it's incredibly hard work. You will go wrong, you will write crap, you will write yourself down blind alleys, and you will create characters who don't work, (or who do work, but don't belong in the novel you're writing.) Unfortunately, all you can do is cut the bits that don't work and start again; there are no shortcuts. But if you're determined, even if you end up rewriting the entire novel, as I have, it will improve, and you'll get there in the end.<br />
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I'm hoping I won't have to do another complete rewrite, but if I need to, I will. And I'll blog about it. Thank you again for your support, lovely readers! See you again soon.<br />
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If you'd like to know more about me and my work, or if you'd like to attend one of my workshops, please visit <a href="http://www.susanelliotwright.co.uk/" target="_blank">my website</a>, like my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/susanelliotwrightwriter?ref=bookmarks" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> or follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/sewelliot" target="_blank">twitter</a><br />
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<br />Susan Elliot Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07330077083045451606noreply@blogger.com1