Novel Writing – The Second Draft
After an intense eight months of novel writing, I recently left my manuscript to sit and breathe for a few weeks. Last Friday, I chanced taking a peek at the first three chapters again. My husband keeps asking to read them and I just wanted to be sure they made some kind of sense. Surprisingly,…
Analysis of Antiheroes
I’ve been thinking about Antiheroes this week. The topic cropped up in a conversation between myself and my husband. He asked if I considered the leading male character from my novel to be an antihero. I said ‘no’ and for some reason this worried me.
Poetry and Stories Make the Heart Sing
I’m taking a break from the novel this week. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have managed to fill a major gap, but when I started to look at a couple of other chapters that needed a reshape, I found myself getting a sinking, sludgy feeling that I didn’t like one bit. So,…
Write Club – a Force for Good Writing
At the weekend, I hosted the first meeting of a new group called ‘Write Club’. The group was formed from a small gathering of writers I have met at events / workshops or have chatted to on social media. The idea of ‘Write Club’ has been floating around my head for some time. I occasionally…
First Draft Complete
I’m quietly celebrating completing the first draft of my novel. I say ‘quietly’ because I know there’s no point in getting too excited. There is still a huge amount of work to be done. My aim with this draft was just to get the bare story down. Therefore, many layers will have to be added…
Flash Fiction: The Birds Tick Time
The birds tick time outside my door. I count the seconds, the colours. Such small lives. The bluetits and coaltits are the everyday ordinaries. If they were human they would wear a suit and tie, hold on to their jobs for dear life.
Summer Micropoetry
July can be a heady month; pollen still strong, the sun burgeoning. So far, this July has been a little damp and cooler than expected, but as a hay fever sufferer, I’m not complaining at all! I’ve been busy observing nature and scribbling fragments of summer micropoetry.
Unlit Sticks: Flash Fiction
The tractor scores bright lines in the field. Four bales of silage already loom, great barrel-shadows with a sheen of their own.
A First Draft takes Shape
I’ve made significant progress in the first draft of my novel and would say that I’m around two thirds of the way through. I feel as though I am pulling at threads, tightening them to create a secure and structured narrative. What was once a stream of words is now beginning to take shape.