The Importance of Reading. In Writing.

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.
Confucius

When studying music at college, I was taught how to use one of those big mixing desks you find in recording studios. I learned how to make things sound better: how to make a kick drum sound sharper; how to pan sounds to give it a more spread-out, stereo effect; how to put reverberation on the vocals, to enhance their voice. Why do you think so many people love to sing in the shower? Good old acoustics.

Anyways, learning all those things changed the way I listened to music.

For every song I listened to, I couldn't help but notice the "gated" effect of the drums, or the duplication of vocals, amongst other production techniques. I couldn't figure out whether this new found, heightened awareness enhanced or detracted from my enjoyment of music. It doesn't matter now; that era of my life was so long ago, I hardly notice these things anymore. I've just about returned to the world of the average listener.

The reason I mention all this, is that it appears I'm going through the same thing with reading fiction.

I’ve been reading voraciously since I completed NaNoWriMo. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve spent more time reading than writing this last fortnight. Reading and analysing. I'm happy with this; I’m confident that reading will make me a better writer. I don’t understand the mentality of writers who say they don’t read books; do you?

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to read a book the same way again. I’ve been picking up on all sorts of things: how other writers switch scenes (some do it in the same chapter, some use a chapter per POV), how other writers deal with certain situations without making it look too contrived, and how well they manage to build tension, to entice me as a reader.  It's a writing skill I'm very interested in honing!

I've always immensley enjoyed reading, but it's different now. Now, I find myself wondering how the author developed the story, and I have a new, deeper respect for writers because of it!

I have no intention of returning to the world of the regular reader. And I don’t feel it has hampered my enjoyment of fiction. Quite the reverse, in fact! 

This must be what it’s like for wine connoisseurs. They appreciate a decent wine once they’ve educated themselves a bit more.

That's all good and well, but we know a wine connoisseur can’t solely educate themselves by drinking lots of wine (although I’m sure they might try!), and in the same vein I know I can’t educate myself on writing, by only reading lots of books. I have to write, and plan and detail and organise. Then write some more.

My current draft feels more like a 50,028 word outline at this point. Yes, it’s got the backbone of my story in it, but I’m confident that I will rewrite every single word of it. I hope to make a start on that during the Xmas holidays (oh, sweet release).

In the meantime, I’ve been a major spreadsheet geek. I didn’t use any of my fancy NaNoWriMo spreadsheets during November, which taught me Lesson No. 1 in writing a novel: My lovingly prepared spreadsheets have no place in the first draft. I shall post about my wee spreadsheet in more detail next time, lest I waffle on just now.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the benefits of reading, as a writer. Do you have any specific (fiction) books that influence, or spur you on to write? I know there are millions of books on how to write fiction, but I'm starting to feel I'd get a better writing education by reading works of fiction I enjoy and figuring out what it is about those books that work for me!

On a separate note, I discovered last week that the practice of putting two spaces after a full stop was obsolete. I'm gutted! I keep having to correct my spacings after every sentence now. Why, goddamnit, why?


*huff*

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The Importance of Reading. In Writing.

It's not over till I say so, alright?

"Just keep swimming... just keep swimming..."
Dory, Finding Nemo.




Ah Disney.  You may have ruined my expectations of men forever, but you sure know how to motivate me.


Having completed my 50k target for NaNoWriMo (50,028 words, to be exact), I initially decided I was going to take a break from writing; just for a week or two.  I deserved it, after pushing myself to the kind of writing extremes I'd never reached before.


Thankfully, I've realised I have no desire to take a break.  I can't stop thinking about my story!


And that's all it is as the moment.  A story.  No chapters; no deliberate thematic structre, no real craft.  In this project, I gather I'm about 20% complete.


What I want to do now, is go through it all, write more scenes, delete the guff (which is a good chunk of the beginning, from what I can see!), make the characters as strong at the beginning as they were at the end (I knew they'd come to life), do some more research, and give the story some... fluidity.


This is my first attempt at writing a novel.  I've toyed with novel software and was left scarred when it disappeared from my computer one day (my fault, but still...).  So, it's all on one 84-page document, looking messier than my hair in the mornings. 


It's also saved on some external hard drives and memory sticks of course (Ahm no daft, me!!).


Once I've done all the above, then I'll take a break.  Even if I'm itching to get on with it.  I'm going to look at it like a good casserole, or marinade.  Sometimes it's better to leave it alone, to develop (sorry, my food-geekiness is starting to show). 


Obviously I can't neglect it for too long, or it will go off, but it's essential for me to stay away for a while.  Just not yet though.


For now, I shall just keep swimming.











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It's not over till I say so, alright?

It's Over

Sorry I haven't been blogging recently, I've been bleeding, sweating and crying into my first ever attempt at NaNoWriMo.

1st December marks The End.  So... did I win?

Damn right I did!

I'll update in more detail soon.  Congratulations to everyone who participated in NaNoWriMo.  Even if you didn't get to 50k, you're still amazeballs.

x ◦

It's Over

Lest. They've Forgotten

When I read articles about Fifa trying to ban poppies (since corrected), or Poundland attempting to ban their staff from paying tribute, for fear of offending others, I can’t help but think to myself…

… Lest.  They’ve Forgotten.

It seems there are innumerable ways to honour (and dishonour) Remembrance Day.  Perhaps you have a political or religious agenda; perhaps you have a loved one in the Army.  The sight of Poppy may fill you with sheer pride.  Or contempt.

On 11/11/11 I, personally, will be remembering those who were sent to their deaths through conscription.  When that one minute silence starts, year after year, these are the things that go through my head:

I try to imagine how it would have felt to have been forced into battle, or to witness a loved one be involuntarily drafted into the Army.  Even the confines of my imagination produce a feeling of immense terror.

I try to imagine how it would have felt on 11^th November, 1918, when the Armistice was signed, marking the end of World War 1.  I’m sure there would have been immense relief, though not without unspeakable trauma and loss.

I try to imagine how it would have felt to go through it all again only 21 years later.  What was going through the minds of those who’d survived WW1, knowing what lay ahead of them?

I try to imagine those who lost their lives taking a long, hard look at our world today. Would they feel it had all been worth it?  Even those who willingly entered the Army in a fit of Patriotism… what would they think?

As we face the onslaught of more displays of forgetfulness, I will be remembering the Armistice Agreement and what it represented.  Not through a sense of Patriotism, but through a sense of human compassion for ALL casualties of war, regardless of origin.

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Lest. They've Forgotten

The Story So Far...

Nearing the end of my first week of NaNoWriMo, I'm sitting at 9120 words.  By the end of the day, I should technically be at 10002 words.  I intend to spend a good chunk of my day writing, so I'm feeling comfortable with the pace I'm writing at.


I haven't been devoting too much time to writing this week, to be honest.  I thought I'd be rushing towards 10k on my first day, in the height of my delirious enthusiasm.  In reality, I got off to a somewhat awkward start.  I started writing scenes that were a) not part of my lovely outline and b) not in keeping with the natural order of how the story unfolded.  I naively assumed I'd start from Chapter 1 and go from there! *blush*


I've been guilty of doing that forbidden thing in NaNoWriMo: Going back and fixing bits.  Not full scale editing or anything, but there have been a few amendments here and there (ok I'll stop heh heh). I also found myself hitting that proverbial brick wall at times.  Not writers block, per se (I don't believe in that), but just... reaching a point where I'd lost concentration, gotten restless, and had to Step Away From The Laptop.  I know a change of scenery will always recharge my creative batteries.


I haven't used the spreadsheet I made a big fuss over before November 1st.  I've steered clear of social media, lest I get too sucked into the "race" aspect of it all.  Don't get me wrong, it looks like fun and I'm sure it would push me that bit further than my current mellow flow, but I'd run the risk of leaving myself too susceptible to procrastination via Twitter and blogs; I could spend hours on them!


I keep reminding myself that although NaNoWriMo is a global event, it's also a personal journey; one that I would like to complete!  In order to give myself the best chance at it, I need to refrain from distractions and focus on the story.  A story which, I'm delighted to say, I'm loving more and more with each word written.


So, I'll keep you updated on my progress, and wish everyone else doing NaNoWriMo the best of luck with your stories.  I can't wait to read about them all in December! :)

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The Story So Far...

Keeping It Simple

Well, here it is.

My first novel outline.  EVER.

It's just under 6000 words, split into "developments".  Not scenes, chapters, plots, or POVs.  Just... development thingys.  This is Novel Writing: Catherine Stylee. 

I did try to do the "Chapter 1 = This Happens" structure, but it was messing with the flow of my story.  I'm taking a leaf out of Stephen King's "On Writing" book and telling the story first.  I'll work on the craft later.

Years of novel-structure research has been cast into the fire, in favour of Lazette Gifford's advice in her booklet: NaNo for the New and The Insane - A Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo:

"An easy outline is to list 30 points in your story which can be written in about 2,000 word clumps.  You only need 1,667 words per day to reach 50,000.  If you have 30 things and write one each day, you'll reach your goal. It's that simple."

So, my outline describes what happens, from start to finish, in very brief detail.  The different colours establish a new event, whether that be a change in perspective or new dilemma (but not restricted to such).  There are 34 "developments" in my outline.  My shoddy maths tells me that a 50k word target will boil that down to 1470 words per development. 

I'm confident that I can waffle on for more than 1470 words for each, so I might just get to that self-imposed 70k mark!  Fingers crossed...

I don't know if it will work; It's quite a haphazard approach for an organisational geek like me.  I've got no choice but to go with it, now that NaNoWriMo is 3 days (and 13 hours) away. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

How are you all getting on? x

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Keeping It Simple

Oh The Humanity

*Warning: Contains Disturbing Content.  And Much Angst.*

Today, I was listening to a podcast “Genres in Children’s Literature - Dealing with Social Issues in Realistic Fiction” (by La Trobe University) and it was talking about defining limits for Children’s Fiction, in relation to their emotional maturity. 

The podcast was quite timely for me, due to the book I’m reading at the moment (Micka, by Frances Kay).  I’m starting to think there should be defining limits for adults too!

I’m so traumatised.  I’m only half way through the book and stumbled across a scene where my 10 year old protagonist is raped by his big brother.  There was no previous build up to allude to this happening or anything (although I doubt that would even have softened the blow) and I know I sound oversensitive here, but it’s bloody affected me. 

If I’d known it was going to contain such disturbing scenes, I wouldn’t have taken it out of the library.  I know all the supermarket shelves are stocked high with books centred round child abuse (why is it so popular?), but it’s just not my bag at all.  Am I destined to remain unsubscribed to any specific genre (all you Harry Potter fans know what I’m talking about)?

My love of books stem from the ability to be absorbed in someone else’s world.  I do like dark storylines, and even intend on writing one for my NaNoWriMo novel, but this crosses my personal threshold. :(

The podcast talks about “Vicarious Experience”, where you feel the real emotion from the story.  I certainly don't claim to be suffering the despair that would befall a victim of child abuse.  I’m certainly in a state of anguish, however, 'cos I know this sort of bile goes on in the real world and my wee brain can’t comprehend it.  I hate this pishy world sometimes. 

I'm not taking anything away from the writing talent, neither am I writing a book review.  Of course, I need to finish the book.  I’m reluctantly gripped, and will only be satisfied with the story as a whole, if it ends with the big brother being slowly castrated, dying a slow and painful death (although it still wouldn't be enough retribution).

What are your boundaries?  Anyone else think there should be some kind of forewarning on books with such disturbing content?

On a happier note (I think), here is a brief synopsis of my NaNoWriMo novel, titled The Caretaker. :)

When a car crash leaves Harry crippled and his mistress dead, his previously idyllic world collapses around him.

He seeks forgiveness from his devastated wife, Wendy, who agrees to give up her teaching job to take care of him. Can she bring herself to trust him again? Or does she succumb to the advances of the school's Caretaker; so desperate to be someone's first choice again?

The mistress haunts them both, in more ways than one.

Experience the turmoil of both sides of the coin, in this tragic tale about the fragility of trust.

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Oh The Humanity