THE WRITING LIFE - YORKSHIRE POST LITERARY LUNCH

I feel I should start this blog, 'it has been three weeks since my last confession...'

You'll see why. Anyway, a slightly late post this time, partly because if I'd kept to the fortnightly posts, the next one would fall on Easter Monday, when anyone with any sense will be eating chocolate, not sitting at a computer reading my blog. The other reason is that this time last week, I was at the point of despair with my current draft and I couldn't quite bear to talk about it. I'm feeling a little more positive now, though, so here's what's been going on.

First, I was ill. Not properly, seriously ill, but a lingering head cold which then turned to sinusitis. With a painful, bunged up head, I couldn't even think straight, never mind sort out the complex structural problems with my novel. Even worse, I spotted a major plot flaw, and not surprisingly, this induced an intense plummeting in confidence. This was all Not Very Nice. I racked my brains (my poor, thickening, stuffed up brains) but I couldn't think of a solution. Then I had a good chat with an author friend who reassured me that it was a solvable problem, that I'd just got myself into a can't see the wood for the trees state. She made a couple of suggestions, I wrote the scene I'd been so worried about, and hey presto, it works! At least, I think it does.

I still have structure/viewpoint problems, but I'm sure I'll find a way through those eventually. So not much tangible progress since last time, I'm afraid. Time has been a bit of an issue, mainly because of my teaching work, which involves a lot of reading as well as the face-to-face meetings. But, as I always tell my students, you need to make time, so I'm ring-fencing some days over the next two weeks to really focus on the issues with this draft.

Last week, I was lucky enough to be a guest speaker at the Yorkshire Post Literary Lunch at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate. There were around 120 guests, which is the largest audience I've addressed so far, so I was a teeny bit nervous. However, I managed to get through it without making a tit of myself. I could see smiling faces, I got the odd laugh, and a few people came up afterwards and said they'd enjoyed my talk, so phew! I was made very welcome by the organisers, and had the pleasure of meeting my fellow speakers, the acclaimed crime writer David Mark, and the poet and novelist Wendy Bardsley.

As you can see from this is not very flattering (of me) press photo, David, who writes 'gruesome' thrillers and is charming and funny, was more the star turn, with Wendy and me as his backing group! It was a lovely event, though, and I enjoyed the day immensely.

Being at the Old Swan in Harrogate was tinged with sadness for me, because the last time I was there two years ago, was to attend a family gathering in memory of my dear grandma-in-law, Winifred, who'd died aged 96 the previous year. I first met Winifred when I was in my forties and she was approaching ninety. My husband hadn't seen her for some years, and we prepared ourselves to 'make conversation'. But Winifred turned out to be an attractive, fiercely intelligent, witty, wise woman with whom I hit it off immediately. We soon became close friends, despite a 40-odd year age difference.

It was nice to be able to mention this at the lunch in connection with The Secrets We Left Behind. One of the themes in the book is female friendships, and my central character has developed a close friendship with her much-older mother-in-law. Yes, that character, Estelle, is based on Winifred! One of the joys of being a writer is that you can play God to a certain extent. Ian Rankin said in a documentary recently that if someone annoys you, you can 'bump them off' in a book. I wrote Estelle partly as tribute to Winifred, and perhaps as a way of feeling I was spending a little time with her. My great sadness, as I told the Literary Lunch guests, is that she died a few months before I got my publishing deal. She would have floated up to the ceiling with pride.

On the subject of publishing, my first novel, The Things We Never Said, is published in Germany this week, under the title Ich Habe Dich Immer Geliebt, which translates as, I Have Always Loved You. It has a rather lovely cover, too.

That's about it for this time. I hope to have moved forward much more decisively by next time. My novel group is meeting this week, so I'll get some feedback on that tricky scene, and I'll also run my structural problems past them to see if anyone has any bright ideas. I have a few appointments over the next two weeks, and I need to start preparing the short story course and teaching after Easter, but apart from that, I should be able to crack on.

I hope everyone has a good Easter break, and let's hope the weather is a little more clement two weeks from now!

To find out more about me and my work, please visit my website, follow me on Twitter @sewelliot, or like my Facebook page

THE WRITING LIFE - A FEW STEPS FORWARD

As I write this, the sky outside my window is an unbroken blue and the sun is bouncing off rooftops and windowpanes. Snowdrops are out, and even daffodils are stretching their heads upwards. Everything is growing, everything is full of life. This is the perfect time to be 'creating', and I'm trying to harness all that wonderful creative energy so that I can pour it into my novel.

In last week's post, I talked about the feedback I'd received and the massive amounts of work I now realise I have to do on novel number three. I said that undertaking a major re-draft is a bit like climbing a mountain. Last week, I was standing at the foot of that mountain looking up into the foggy distance and wondering where I would be now, a week later.

Well, the summit is still shrouded in mist, but I have taken a few steps up the mountainside. I've been working pretty hard this week, although it feels a bit frustrating, because I still haven't done any actual rewriting. There's been a great deal of thinking and planning, making new timelines, writing scene summaries and moving index cards around.

Finding a timeline that will work has been incredibly difficult. I thought I had it sorted until I realised that it made one of the characters much too young for what happens at the time. The timeline is a microcosm of the whole novel in that if you change one thing, everything else shifts as well. Anyway, I think I have a workable timeline now. I've written a list of the key scenes chronologically, including dates of birth and deaths, and now I just (ha! "just"!) have to work out the order in which these things are revealed to the reader. This is fairly complicated, because there are two viewpoints and the story happens both in real time, and over a number of years before the novel opens. One day, I'm going to make life easy (well, easier) for myself and write a novel that is set in real time and where the story happens as we go along!

The amount of work I have to do is daunting but I'm also feeling excited about it again now, because even though I can't quite see the top of my writing mounting, I've started the trek, and that feels good.

If you're at a similar stage with your work, it might help if I share this comforting advice from my lovely agent when we were discussing this recently. She told me to look after myself and be kind to myself, because this stage is the literary equivalent of the metaphorical 'eating for two' in pregnancy – not literally 'eating', of course, but nourishing and nurturing yourself in order to feed the baby (novel) you're growing, and building up your strength in readiness for the massive output to come,

So I've been trying to do that. Yes, I've been working every day, but I'm also allowing myself time to read, time to think and the odd non-working trip to a coffee shop – maybe even featuring cake!

I'm going to leave it there for this week. I'll post again in two weeks' time when I come back from my retreat in the Forest of Dean. details here I'll have four clear days where I don't have to think about shopping, cooking, walking the dog or any other domestic responsibilities. I'm hoping I'll have significant progress to report on 23rd of February.

Oh, and before I go, I should mention that I'm running a couple of one-day writing workshops in Sheffield soon, on 28th of February and 28th March. These days are always fun, always productive, and, people tell me, incredibly inspiring. If you know anyone who might be interested, the full details are here.

Happy 'almost Spring' everyone, and happy writing!

If you'd like to keep an eye on what I'm up to, please visit my website, 'like' my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @sewelliot

THE WRITING LIFE - IT OFFICIAL, THE FIRST DRAFT IS CRAP!

Just a short post this week to keep you up-to-date. The last post was about me celebrating – drinking champagne, no less – because I'd finished and sent off the first draft of my 3rd novel. In that post, I made it clear that I was expecting to have to do a lot more work. I knew there were problems, particularly with the structure, but I'd got too close to be able to look at it objectively.

My wonderful agent and editor both read it quickly – they knew I'd be biting my nails down to the knuckles. Also, I've never pretended this book wasn't proving particularly difficult, so perhaps they both suspected there would be a lot to do and wanted to get a head start!

Anyway, there is a lot to do, as expected. From our initial chats and emails, it looks like it will be a VERY, VERY LOT. More, even, than I'd anticipated. I'll know more after we have a meeting next week, but it seems there's a lot that's not working at the moment. I suspect it won't be so much a case of murdering a few darlings as embarking on some wholesale slaughter!

About halfway through writing this draft (which had already gone through a major change of plan from the original idea – I cut a whole storyline and about 30,000 words!) I began to understand what I was really writing about. And therein lies one of the major problems, I think.

Of course I went back and did a lots of rewriting when my characters began to go in a different direction, but in hindsight, I wonder if what I was doing was the equivalent of realising I'd made a chicken dopiaza instead of a chicken madras and then trying to sort it out by pouring off half the sauce and whacking in the extra spices. What I really need to do is wash all the sauce off, grab some fresh garlic and ginger and start combining the spices again from scratch.

I have lots of ingredients; some of them are good ingredients which are right for this novel; some are good ingredients but need to be set aside for something else, and the remainder need to be binned completely. I also need to bring in some fresh ingredients. Okay, I can no longer bear the screams of that metaphor so I'll stop torturing it. But you get the gist.

On the upside this week, I've been catching up with some reading, including 50,000 words of a novel I started writing a few years ago and abandoned because I got stuck. While I can't instantly see where that novel should go, there's a lot of good material there which I'm sure will form the basis for my 4th novel.

I'm thinking a lot about book three, of course, but am very much looking forward to those thoughts becoming more focused after the meeting next week. There's a lot of thinking ahead, and a serious amount of hard work, but I know it'll be worth it, so bring it on!

Here's a picture that may just be the light at the end of the tunnel – something I hope to see before too long!

If you'd like to know more about me and my work or keep an eye on what I'm up to, visit my website, 'like' my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @sewelliot

MY WRITING WEEK – THE FINAL ANALYSIS...

Well, not really final, but still. When I started this blog 10 weeks ago, my word count was 36,594. I ended up dividing the 10 weeks into a block of six, during which I was writing new material and discovering the story, and a block of four, during which I was focusing more on rewriting and looking at structure. So for the first six weeks, I kept track of the word count, and for the last four, I focused more on the time spent at my desk. So here’s how it added up:

In the first six weeks, I wrote just over 41,000 ‘new’ words. This total doesn’t include words added while editing/rewriting. But I also cut around 16,000 words. Again, this total doesn’t include smaller cuts. The current word count is 68, 252.

Over the last four weeks, during which I’ve been measuring time spent working on the novel (that’s time spent actually at my desk, so not counting the hours I think about it while cooking meals, walking the dog, etc) I’ve spent at least 74 hours at my desk, working on my novel.

As every author knows, an important part of the working day is the point, usually before coffee but after checking emails, watching funny videos on Facebook and chatting on Twitter, when you look up your latest Amazon reviews. No? You mean it’s just me? Sorry, don’t believe you. Over the 10 weeks, The Things We Never Said received a total of 29 reviews, of which 17 were 5-star, seven were 4-star three were 3-star and two were 2-star. The Secrets We Left Behind received 32 reviews; 19 were 5-star, eight were 4-star, three were 3-star, and (gutted) one was 1-star and one was 2-star.

I also received 13 lovely reader emails (and four more that I haven’t included in this total because they’re from people I know)

I've just realised I have no pretty pictures for this post, so just to break it up a bit, here's a photo of the new sofa in my study. Can't think how I managed without one – it makes for a damn good sit down!

Has keeping this blog affected my work?

In order to write the blog post at the end of each week, I’ve kept a daily record of what I’ve been doing, so it’s been quite time-consuming. But it’s made me much more aware of how I spend my time. I wanted to write a completely honest account of my working week, so it’s felt a little bit like working in a goldfish bowl in that, if I’ve wasted a whole morning faffing about on Twitter, or bunking off to meet a friend for coffee, that’s fine, but I know I then have to confess it on the blog. I think this may have helped to keep me on the straight and narrow a little more than I might otherwise have been.

It’s also shown me just how much my teaching and domestic/family commitments impinge on my writing. One thing I discovered through the blog is that when I have a family commitment later in the day, it really affects my ability to get started on the novel. What I should do about this is to start on the novel first thing in the morning and leave emails/admin/social media, stuff until later. But I really struggle to do that. I have this feeling that I should ‘get things out of the way’ first. Anyone else have that problem?

The other thing that’s happened is that I now know what the novel is about. This may or may not have anything to do with writing the blog, but I suspect it's helped because it’s made me think more closely about the decisions I’m making and why am making them.

Where I’m up to now

I’d say I’m virtually at the end of what I’ve been calling the ‘zero’ draft – I now know what the novel is about, I know the characters, I know how the novel ends, and I know most of the things that happen to the characters along the way, although I still have ideas for a couple more scenes I want to add in. I've also come to the conclusion, having tried various other options, that telling the story in a linear way, possibly in five parts, may be the best way option.

I’ve had lots of positive feedback on these posts, so as I said last week, I am going to continue posting about my progress with this book right up until publication. I’ll probably post every two weeks or so while I’m still working on the draft. Then there will be gaps while my agent and editor read the manuscript and give me their feedback, then I’ll post again while doing the rewrites, and eventually we’ll get to the point where there will be infrequent but hopefully exciting bits of news, such as a decision on the title, the unveiling of the cover, etc etc. By that stage, though, I’ll be starting to work on book four…

If you’ve missed any of the posts, you can find them through the archives. To find out more about me and my work, visit my website It would also be great if you would 'like' my Facebook author page and follow me on Twitter @sewelliot

MY WRITING WEEK – WEEK 10

Been on holiday so posting rather later than usual. This is the last post that will include a daily look at my writing life, but the blog series has been so popular that I’ve decided to keep it going (although in a shorter form) right up until this novel is published – that’s assuming I don’t make a complete and utter cock-up of it, obviously! So for the foreseeable future, I’ll be posting every two weeks or so, and as we get nearer to final draft and publication, the posts will probably be less frequent.

I was going to include a summary of the 10 weeks in this post, but that would make it rather long, so I’m going to do that in a separate post in a few days’ time – look out for it!

Wednesday 27^th August

All I’ve done on the novel today is make some notes because I’m suffering from severe lack of sleep which, ironically, it’s the novel’s fault! As you'll have seen from the last couple of posts, I’m at the point where I’m considering changing the linear structure to something a bit more interesting (and therefore more difficult). Went to bed thinking about this, slept for two hours then woke up with it all buzzing around in my head. Got up for an hour and read something else to take my mind off it, then went back and dozed for another hour, but that was my lot. Gave in and got up at 5am, made lots of notes, because another possibility has occurred to me, although after making the notes, I don’t think that will work. So although it doesn’t feel like I’ve achieved anything (too tired to do anything involving brain work for the rest of the day) the idea was something I had to explore and I had to go to the process of thinking it through on paper in order to discover the pitfalls and rule it out. Time spent: two hours.

Thursday 28^th August

Wrote for an hour first thing, trying out another possible angle. Don’t know about it yet – will read later and think about it. Off on holiday for a week tomorrow, so spent most of the day doing laundry and packing for the week, and doing an online shop to be delivered to where we’re staying. What clothes to pack? If the weather here in the last few days have been anything to go by, I'll need thick jumpers and wellie boots. Still hoping for an Indian summer. Time spent on novel: one hour

Friday 29^th August

Long drive to Scarborough, but worth it. Cottage is gorgeous – tastefully decorated and more spacious than our house! Had a lovely walk along the cliff top under dark, brooding clouds with the constant hum of wind coming in off the North Sea, and the haunting cry of seagulls swirling just above us. Lovely. Time spent on novel: 0

Saturday 30^th August

Started another scene this morning, writing by hand because the scene started to evolve by accident while doing my 'morning pages'. I don't do morning pages every day, but I'm always planning to. Writers who do this on a daily basis seem to find it very useful, as do I when I make the effort, so I really should do it more often. I find it much easier while on holiday, though, because I feel that any writing I do this week is a bonus, whereas at home I feel guilty for writing anything that isn't the novel. Stupid, because I know just spending 20 or 30 minutes a day 'warming up' could really improve my main work. I'm keen to hear others' views on warming up/morning pages – is this something you do regularly? Occasionally? How does it affect your writing? Time spent: two hours

 

Sunday 31^st August

Feeling stuck again in terms of structure. When I look at the overall story, there are big gaps in time when nothing particularly interesting happens. The best way to get over that would normally be to start the story perhaps two thirds of the way through, and then flash back to the episodes that are relevant. But the point at which it would be logical to start doesn’t have enough tension, and I’m not sure my reader, not having seen the buildup to where the characters are now, would know them well enough to stick with them. Spent the morning scan-reading through again to see if any new ideas leap out at me. Already found another chapter that I suspect is a bit of a filler. It may need to go. I seem to be cutting as much as I’m writing at the moment! Time spent: 2.5 hours

Monday 1^st September

Rainy day – good for writing! Having failed to come up with anything remotely clever in terms of structure,I've realised I need something in place just to help me move on, so I decided to try dividing the narrative up into a rough five-part structure. Having done this, I then made a list of things to do in order to make that work. The list includes writing new scenes, rewriting parts of existing scenes, and writing linking bits to explain time jumps. A paragraph of summary is often better than a whole chapter if the only purpose of that chapter is to  move you over a period of time. I realise I have two such chapters, and I'm afraid they've got to go, so today I cut another 3500 words. Started rewriting a scene that takes place a few years later with the aim of trying to give readers the information they need without boring the pants off them. Time spent: three hours

Tuesday 2^nd September

Wrote a new scene 1200 words, and started rewriting an old scene. It’s now lunchtime and I’ve been working most of the morning, so feeling that I’ve achieved at least something, I’m going to knock off for the day and be properly ‘on holiday’. Especially as the sun has come out. Glass of wine, Lisa Jewell's The Third Wife on my Kindle (wonderful!) Sorted! Time spent on novel: two hours 

Overall

Given that a good chunk of this week has been taken up with getting ready for, driving to and being on holiday, I'm fairly happy with having spent at least twelve and a half hours on the novel. I've done quite a bit of rewriting and editing, and lots of thinking! I've probably written about 2000 new words, but I've also cut 3500, which is why I'm focusing on clocking up hours rather than words at this stage. 

Horrible things this week

I know – this is a new one, a one-off, I hope. Horrible review for The Secrets We Left Behind, basically accusing me of ripping off the plot from another novel! I've read that novel and there definitely are similarities, but massive differences, too – apart from anything else, it's a crime/psychological thriller! Wasted a lot of time searching back through my computer files to find Word documents dated 2009 (other novel published 2011) showing that my plot idea was already in place. Resisted the temptation to respond to the reviewer.

Nice things this week

Being on holiday near the sea, obviously! But in writing terms, a couple of days after the review mentioned above, I had a really lovely one which cheered me up enormously. I don't usually quote my reviews, but can't resist this time: "It's a novel I will re-read and savour. Susan Elliot Wright's storytelling and empathy for her characters is second to none. Her prose style is almost perfect. She has become one of my all-time favourite authors and I can't wait for her next book." Isn't that lovely? Absolutely made my day. I know some authors don't read their reviews, but when you get one like this it gives you such an enormous boost. Thank you, lovely reviewer!

New Amazon reviews

The Secrets We Left Behind: Four new ones: two 5-star, one 1-star and one 2-star

The Things We Never Said: Two new ones, both 5-star 

Coming soon

Look out for my next post in a few days time, summarising the ups and downs of the last 10 weeks. The next post will be in a couple of weeks from now, and will give an overview of progress. Ooh, And if you're in or near Wakefield on 20th September, come along and see me at the Orangery. Details on my News and events page

To find out more about me and my work, visit my website Or you can 'like' my Facebook page Or follow me on Twitter @sewelliot