Yesterday, I experienced a profound sense of accomplishment. The four-month writing period of the Six Month Novel Programme is coming to an end, and I actually finished writing the last scene of my current draft about three weeks ago. That felt pretty great, not least because it happened on a writing date with a […]
Tag: Novel
Same Lesson Every Time
I didn’t write anything all last week. Then, I had a tiring, somewhat stressful but ultimately enjoyable weekend away at a gaming event, getting home later last night than planned. And I’d completely forgotten about my dentist appointment this morning. All I wanted to do with the rest of today was sit on the sofa […]
Dreaded Revision Not So Dreadful
After two writing weeks on the Six Month Novel Programme, I am six chapters and over 30,000 words into the new draft, which is way more than I anticipated. The outline has changed multiple times, I’ve discovered major issues with the order of events, my favourite character has disappeared from the story altogether, and I’ve […]
The Wonders of Outlining
When I wrote the first draft of my novel, it took five years, a lot of teeth-pulling, and a gradual progression from the original 1,500 word story to the eventual 90,000 word novel. There was a lot of mystery and excitement along the way, coupled with periods of staring into the void, wondering what on […]
A Novel in Six Months? I Must Be Mad!
Whilst on the retreat in Devon last month, I got to talking to my lovely host, Charlie of Urban Writers’ Retreats, and she mentioned she was taking applications for her annual Six Month Novel Programme. Since I had just reached the conclusion that the next step for my novel was a blank page rewrite, I […]
Donations now open for Narrathon!
I’m part of a collaborative writing project this year, called Narrathon. It’s being organised by NAWG and involves 19 writers completing a chapter each to produce a children’s novel for publication in the second half of the year. The project is now open for donations, and all the money will go towards the upkeep of […]
Just when you think you’re out of the running…
The very day I pretty much decided to abandon my novel as a ‘useful first experiment’, I got an email telling me I’ve been long-listed in the UK Novel Writing Competition! Out of 3,112, mine has been selected along with 249 others to go forwards to the next stage of the competition. So, yay! I’ll […]
Less is More
I’ve been thinking about my writing goals for the year, in conjunction with my renewed pledge to write 150,000 words for Get Your Words Out in 2017. And, interestingly, my main goals for this year are actually about writing less, rather than more. 1) Put the novel in a drawer and forget about it […]
Distracted by the Shinies
I’m supposed to be finishing a final polish of the novel, ready to send it to Cornerstones for a professional edit report. My deadline for doing that, set by my wonderful husband who is paying for report as my birthday present, was 2 November. But it’s now nearly three weeks later and I’m only halfway […]
Under The Microscope
In this month’s Writing Magazine, author James McCreet analysed the first 300 words of my novel, doing a line-by-line commentary and providing a summary overview of his thoughts, as well as a suggested re-write. When I first heard that this was going to happen (so many months after submitting that I’d forgotten all about it), […]