Tag: Story Development

Writing

Read Like A Writer.

Grace M - Writer

To be a good writer requires a lot of reading. Not just in your chosen genre of writing, but widely, across other genres.

What can other genres teach us?

  • Thrillers/Crime – tension, pacing, mystery, plot twists, morally grey characters.
  • Romance – self-explanatory, but relationship dynamics, love triangles, sexual tension, attraction, heartbreak.
  • Horror – as with Thrillers/Crime, but with added supernatural elements, murder mystery, serial killers.
  • Fantasy/Sci-FI – all of the above with added magic, monsters, technological advances, space travel, secondary worlds.

My genre of choice to read and write is fantasy. The worlds of Narnia and Middle Earth shaped my love of all things other worldly when I was very young, and I’ve always been drawn to stories of places and people that only exist in the imagination.

However, the importance of reading other genres is so important and a trawl through my bookshelves reveals titles such as Lord of the Flies, The Hate U Give, Hard Times and the Divine Comedy nestling amongst Brandon Sanderson, Terry Pratchett, and Sarah J Maas titles; to name a few.

Which leads me to the point of this post: Reading as a writer.

This is just as important as reading different genres widely. As a writer, you will learn about characterisation, structure, tone, pace, plot, sub-plots, voice, and point of view. You will also spot things you don’t like, which teaches you about your own writing style and what you are likely to avoid.

For instance, my biggest bugbear is repetition of a phrase. I’ve noticed this in a few books I’ve read, and it comes across to me as if the author thought, “that’s a great phrase!” and they keep on using it. By that time, it’s jumping off the page at me like a flea! When it came to editing my own book, I found I had done exactly the same thing with variations on, looked to be, seemed to be, and appeared to be. I was so annoyed with myself, but at least I was able to find those phrases, rewrite them, and trim the novel down. It’s lazy writing, but I appreciate that during the drafting stages, repetition doesn’t matter as editing provides the chance to weed out superfluous words and phrases.

Another benefit from reading as a writer is coming across words I’m not familiar with. I always quickly jot them down in my notebook, check their meaning, and try them in my own work to see if they fit. Broadening vocabulary as well as my reading material is another way of learning from other works and improving my writing skills.

One obvious disadvantage is not switching off from writer mode, which can detract from the enjoyment of reading. It’s so easy to be in the middle of reading something, and thinking, “I wouldn’t have written it like that,” so it’s important to try and separate the two. Reading for pleasure should not be relegated to second place.

Writing

10 Years Later…

Grace M - Writer

Horizon Skies is 10 years old!

It has indeed, been a decade since I put pen to paper, and started on the story that eventually became Horizon Skies. 10 years during which I not only went through a lot of life changes, but my novel also metamorphosed from a messy, directionless fantasy into a manuscript that hopefully, resembles something a bit more polished.

In those years, other than writing, I moved house three times, changed jobs five times including relocating out of London, worked full time, and battled with depression and anxiety.

  • 2012 – Drafting on Red Sky Dawn begins.
  • 2017 – First draft finished!
    • A year spent on edits and revisions.
    • Title change to Horizon Skies.
  • 2018 – First round of querying literary agents.
    • My first experience of rejection.
  • 2018 – Worked with Lucy Rose York (editor) on improving manuscript.
  • 2019 – Procrastination, editing, revising, and more work with Lucy.
  • 2020 – Sporadic work on Horizon Skies.
  • 2021 – A very tough year, copy edit on opening chapters done.
  • 2022 – Fresh beta read, deep dive editing and revising.
  • 2022 – Back out to literary agents!

I’ve been at the point of no return with Horizon Skies several times, hence why it’s taken five years to get from the first draft to what is now the 6th or 7th. The overall story has remained the same, but there have been chapters and paragraphs cut, new chapters added, and the word count has fluctuated from its original 93k to 108k to 103k. All that’s left to do is create my query formats so they’re tailored to agent requirements.

What I have learnt from this process is invaluable though, and has certainly encouraged me to approach the next project with a different plan of action. I have lots of other ideas, more stories I want to tell, but in realising my ambition, I’ve had to learn not just how to write a novel, but what it means to be a writer.

As much as I want to work on other stuff, I have to prioritise Horizon Skies 2 (title undecided). I did work out a rough plan a few years ago, but as I’ve improved, new story arcs and back stories emerged. When I first started the process, I didn’t know what HS was about (the true mark of a pantser!).

So, my new plan is:

  • Review story plan for HS part 2.
  • Plan the story arc.
  • Character backstories.
    • Dynamics.
    • Relationships.
    • Tragedy.
    • Legends.
  • World building.
    • Book 2 has a whole new world to explore!
  • Structure.

I’m at the end of my first year with the Open University and my final assignment has been submitted. The second year starts in October, and I intend to use the four months between to work on book two, as book one will be sitting with agents, and querying can take months. With everything I’ve learnt, I have made a promise to myself to not take another 10 years!

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that writing a book is actually easy, it’s the stuff afterwards that’s hard. My editing was crap to begin with, I barely cut 500 words. Fast forward a few years, and I’ve cut whole chapters, revised parts of the story, identified words and phrases I’m far too fond of, and improved my grammar.

I fell out of love with Horizon Skies for a while, it can be a soul destroying process, performing necessary surgery on something I’ve nurtured from the first word on a blank page. I’ve found my enthusiasm for it again though, and feel genuinely excited to have something to my name.

Writing

Nine Years of Writing, Faffing, and Editing…

Grace M - Writer

Back in 2017, I wrote those immortal words, “The End”. I had done it, I had written a book. An ACTUAL novel! The sense of achievement was amazing.

Horizon Skies has had many iterations over the years, but in 2012, I sat myself down, notebook and pen in hand, and I began to write. I knew the story, it had been playing out in my mind like a movie for years, it was desperate to be told.

After finishing it, I took a break, then went through the painful editing process. It was at this time, that I wasn’t ruthless enough. I loved the story, and didn’t feel it needed changing. I tweaked and tidied, made it look presentable, and then sent to to my betas.

Feedback was generally positive, no real changes were suggested, there were a few questions, and my magic system and world building stood out as elements that weren’t fully explored. Two areas of the book that, to be honest, I hadn’t dedicated much time to.

I pressed on, however and in 2018 queried with agents. Of course, I was roundly rejected, which I was prepared for, and I expected it to happen. How many first time writers are lucky enough to snag an agent straight away? I was encouraged by some of the positive rejections I received though, this at least meant I was on the right track.

I hired a professional editor, Lucy Rose York, (I highly recommend) and found her advice and feedback invaluable. She went through my manuscript in detail, gave me really concise editorial notes, and I realised I’d been too precious about Horizon Skies. Whilst the book didn’t need a complete overhaul, she pointed out areas for improvement, parts that could be moved to earlier stages in the story, and again reminded me to elaborate further on my magic system.

Who knew magic systems could be so difficult?!

For two years, I faffed about with Horizon Skies, picking it up, and thinking “I can’t do this again.” The thought of having to edit further was so disheartening.

I did though, during lockdown in 2020, I started working on it again. I made some major cuts, and fleshed out a character arc.

These changes weren’t enough though. I went back through the annotated manuscript Lucy had sent me, and worked through all her suggested edits. Some I didn’t agree with, but for the most part I did what was suggested. It was hard work, minor changes could take up hours, but when reading back the amendments, I could immediately see how they improved the story.

Yesterday, I finished writing my final interlude piece. I’ve been inspired by Brandon Sanderson to slot in some small chapters to provide a bit of background, make the world building a bit more interesting, and elaborate on the magic system. It’s still a rough draft, but I’ll tweak it up when I transcribe it into my Word document.

After that, I’ll do a grammar edit and proofread. Whether or not I get it beta read again, or go back to Lucy remains to be seen. I don’t feel I can do anymore with the story. How much editing, revision, and rewriting is someone supposed to do? I could tweak forever. I just want to get it back out to the agents, and see if this time, I can make a success of it.

Life, Mental Health, Writing

2021 So Far, So…

Grace M - Writer

If 2020 was the annus horribilis, then 2021 is shaping up to be the annus phaulia (courtesy of Google translate, forgive any etymological oversight).

If you’ve kept up with my blog, you’ll remember back in January, I had a breakdown, resulting in me taking almost two months off work, popping the happy pills, and signing up to an online CBT course.

I returned to work full time a few weeks ago, the pills seem to be working their magic, and the CBT course is proving to be very useful. There was, it turned out, light at the end of the tunnel after all. I am in a much happier place, and feeling a lot better. I must mention the fantastic care I’ve received from the NHS’ Mental Health services (severely underfunded and understaffed). If it wasn’t for having access to the service, I’d be in a straitjacket . We in the U.K. have a responsibility to fight tooth and nail for our wonderful NHS.

I digress…

My writing mojo made a reappearance! After months of languishing in the doldrums, my half hearted attempts at editing Horizon Skies almost put paid to me ever getting the damn thing back out there. During the last few weeks of my sick leave, I not only started editing properly again, but came up with some new ideas for the novel. I have worked out more backstory for book two, added in some interludes, put more detail in around the magic system, and tightened up elements of the plot. I’m really happy with the latest progress, and my aim now is to send the second round of queries out in the first week of May.

On a sorrowful note, my boyfriend lost his father to leukaemia on the 18th March. Pete’s dad fought a long, hard battle with the disease, and never truly let on to us the extent to which he was suffering. He was 79 when he died, which is a great age, but there is still a sense that he was robbed of a full life. He was robust, active, and always cheerful; were it not for the illness, I believe he would have had another good 10 years in him.

Grief is a strange emotion, and we all process it in different ways. With the difficulty of the last few weeks behind us, we can now start to move on, and work on healing. I’m enthusiastic about my writing, and have tried to do as much as I can so I can put the final draft of Horizon Skies together.

I’ve also given Instagram a second chance. I could never get on with it before; too many ads, spam messages from profiles I wasn’t interested in, and the inability to share posts a lá Twitter. However Twitter has become incredibly toxic, and I’m tired of seeing so many negative trends and events. I’ve discovered with Instagram, that I can avoid all that as my account is geared purely towards my passion for books. It is quite difficult to gain followers though, and takes a bit more work (hashtag the hell out of every post!), but quality over quantity is more important.

Watch this space!

Writing

The Deepest Cut

Grace M - Writer

Maybe that’s a bit melodramatic, but for a long time, I’ve resisted making major cuts to Horizon Skies. It’s my baby, why would I want to hurt it?

With, what I hope, are the final round of edits and revisions, I took a look at one of the opening chapters. A piece of critique I’d received from a literary agency a couple of years ago came back to me. They suggested the first chapter weakened the main protagonist as she’s just a baby with her first appearance. At the time, I resisted the idea, the readers need to know how she came into her family’s life, don’t they? Nope. Their idea was to weave her origin story throughout the book. With my level of inexperience at the time, all I could think was “how on Earth am I going to do that?” I had a finished book, wasn’t it perfect enough as it was?

Actually, no.

With the benefit of hindsight, time away from the manuscript, I look at some of the earlier chapters, and my inexperience shows. I wrote it with a very linear storyline, there are a couple of flashbacks, and every character has their own chapter; telling their individual stories until their destinies begin to merge in the latter third. I’m still happy with the structure, that doesn’t need to change.

But, the literary agency critique was right. Ava’s first chapter really just amounts to padding. I realised, her origin story can be told through snippets of conversation. I also concluded, it takes away some of the mystery as to her connection to another character. This really is an example of telling instead of showing, which writers are always told to avoid.

If you’re unsure what show don’t tell, means, it’s simply a way of allowing the reader to immerse themselves in the story through the actions and expression of the character. For example:

Angry – balled fists, red faced, growled responses.

Scared – rapid heartbeat, sweaty palms, the hairs standing up on the back of the neck.

This allows the reader to fully conjure the image of that character in their mind, thus creating engagement with the story, and empathy.

That being said, it won’t serve the story very well to show every aspect. Some elements do benefit from telling. For example, if your character is getting ready for bed, it’s not necessary to describe them having a bath or shower, towelling off, dressing in pyjamas, brushing their teeth, drying their hair, and then getting into bed. It’s a mundane activity that doesn’t need a deep level of commitment. The reader will simply get bored. In this instance, telling is preferable to showing.

After her usual night-time rituals, Bethany settled into bed, a book propped open on her knees.

By telling in this case, we’ve established the character’s actions in a single, succinct statement. The reader knows what’s happened, without getting bored, and the story can move on without slowing the pace.

After reading chapter two again, it became apparent to me, there was too much telling, and not enough showing. It had to go. I’ve already worked part of it back in to later chapters, and feel that works better. My character’s origin story still gets told, but in a more natural way that doesn’t do a disservice to her character arc. I’m hoping, it will enhance it.

Whilst cutting isn’t a fun prospect for writers, we know it’s a necessary evil. It helps tighten up the narrative, gets rid of clunky paragraphs that might be slowing the story down, and keeps the reader engaged to the final page.

Writing

Progress on Horizon Skies (and things I’ve learnt)

Grace M - Writer

Back in May, I was really pleased to have reached a milestone in my writing which you can read about here.

Five months later and yet another milestone has been reached!

Using the luxury of a well needed week away from the day job, I have been able to fit in some pretty decent writing time. My aim was to complete two chapters and possibly a short story.

As I am quite lazy by nature, the short story went out the window and the second chapter I wanted to write hasn’t yet made it to the notebook but I have completed chapter 24, which means I am now six chapters from the end.

I scheduled myself to write 500 words a day, a quantity which is more than achievable and considering I spent the first few days slobbing around, playing Red Dead Redemption on my PS3 and not much else, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get anything written.

Wise words from my boyfriend, advising me not to “moan about wasting time off”, as I have done in the past, spurred me into action and by this morning I had finished chapter 24 with a total word count of 3,362 which equates to almost 700 words per day (based on a working week). I more than beat my target and it gave me a huge sense of satisfaction to know that I am now three-quarters of the way through; a point I never dreamed of reaching.

If I wasn’t doing the #SoberOctober challenge, I would be looking forward to a glass of wine or three tonight by way of celebration!

However, this now brings me to what I have learnt during this process and I share this with you now.

Read, a lot.

I know a lot of writers say this but it’s so, so true and should be a Golden Rule for any aspiring writer. Reading helps you develop as a writer; by learning how other writers create their work you learn what works for you. Don’t limit your genre either. I’m a huge Fantasy fan but I do have Sci-Fi, Horror, Chick Lit and General Fiction in my collection.

Write, whenever you can.

Another obvious one but if you’ve never written before, how do you start? There are simple ways to hone and develop your skills, before diving into writing your masterpiece. Write a blog, short stories, flash fiction, anything that will help you find your voice and build your audience. The more you write, the less daunting it will seem to get started on your opus.

Plan.

Planning a book involves not just the book itself but the time you can spend on it. For many of us, this means fitting in our writing with full-time jobs, studying, families and social lives. My writing time tends to be in the evenings after dinner when TV is generally quite poor and I have nothing social on that night or at the weekends, as I’m an early riser and it’s nice and quiet. Even ten minutes writing is better than none at all. If it helps, draw up a timetable and stick to it. If you can block book time off, do it.

My Process

I play the chapter I want to write as a movie in my head. Sometimes it plays out very fluid and natural, other times it’s a bit slower. I let this part of the idea germinate for a few days, making sure I jot down any pieces I feel are worth remembering such as pithy dialogue or the environment in which the chapter is set.

Chapters are split into scenes which I have planned out in a spreadsheet. Writing in scenes is a great way to place the action into blocks as I am able to focus on a specific scene within that chapter before moving on to the next.

I write, longhand in a notebook. Even if I’m not happy with what I’ve written, I keep at it, reminding myself that this is simply the first draft and not the finished version. Edits and rewrites can be done later.

Once the chapter is finished, I transcribe into my writing programme. For this, I use New Novelist but there are others out there (check out these Reviews for other programmes). It’s important to find one that works for you. I usually find during the transcribing process that I make little edits along the way or add/remove sections, dialogue etc. that don’t seem to work.

From New Novelist, I copy and paste into a Word document which is formatted to the recommended style of Times New Roman size 12 font.

I keep a spreadsheet of my progress.

I back up my work to a USB flash drive – this is  VERY important!

I am, by no means, a professional writer and I’m sure anyone reading this will have their own methods and opinions. I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way of writing but I do believe that unless you find a method that works, you won’t progress beyond those first few pages before frustration sets in and you give up.

Writing is an incredibly rewarding process but it can be lonely and frustrating especially at those times when the words simply won’t come. My notebooks are full of crossings out and half-finished passages and there have been times when I’ve been so stuck on a chapter that I’ve almost given up but I keep my end goal in mind and it keeps me going.

Books, Writing

Progress on Horizon Skies

Grace M - Writer

The other day, I reached something of a milestone in the progress of my novel Horizon Skies.

Chapter 20.

Ok, I realise some of you will be thinking, “how is that a milestone?”

For anyone who has known me throughout my life, they will know that as I’ve been writing on and off for decades with nothing to show for it this is indeed, a momentous achievement. It means that for the first time in realising one of my ambitions I am actually sticking to the plan and getting it done.

My problem in the past has always been developing the story beyond its initial beginning. The ideas are always there, I can picture it in my mind’s eye but developing it on paper had always been difficult. I would find the story unravelling, like watching a thread pulled loose in a piece of fabric. My characters would meander, I could never work out how to weave elements together and this would always lead to me abandoning the manuscript and forgetting about it until I felt inspiration strike again.

This time, however, I have noticed a definite trend in a lot of books I have read which I believe has really helped me with my writing.

The dedication of a chapter per character is a brilliant writing skill. Not only does that character develop entirely within their own universe but there’s room for their back story and room for them to breathe within the pages. I’ve noticed it with a lot of writers (Morgan Rhodes and Trudi Canavan for example) and I find it provides a definitive line between each character’s story until such time as their destinies bring them together.

This is the approach I’ve taken with my story. I have five central characters, two of whom are thrown together fairly early on but it’s not until I’ve reached this final part of the story that I’m now at the stage of being able to bring them together which will move the story towards its finale and set the scene for the sequel.

I’m very excited about this; I look back through my scribblings and notes, little doodles in my notebook and feel I’ve done myself proud. When the book is finished I can get to editing and fine tuning and then take the next step on my journey as a writer 🙂