After the storm

I’ve decided to add a touch of – not tragedy, more like disaster – to the second novel.  The township was wrecked in a fierce storm, and now the town’s people have a monumental task before them.

Interesting though, is that Bentley is now aware of an old legend of gold and jewels and other valuables locked away in the deep ocean.  Is it possible that the legend is true?  That there is gold?  And that much gold could do wonderful things (repair work etc. 😉 )

The whole point of this part of the story is to show what can be done when we all pull together and try to help each other.  When we are one, who knows what we can accomplish?

A wild tempest

After a lovely weekend away with my partner and Bentley (who saw the beach for the first time 🙂 ), I sat down to work on chapter six.  And what a scary night!

So, Bentley is off exploring and meeting new friends and, you know, doing what all heroic Jack Russell’s do.  Meanwhile, his town of Appleby has been lashed by a fierce storm the likes of which no one remembers.  Houses have been picked up and shifted to new addresses, trees uprooted, the beach reshaped, the whole nine yards.  Bentley is going to have quite a shock when he comes home.

I think that the storm is a good metaphor for coming together and being there for one another, at least in this story, because the townspeople, as well as the four-legged, winged and eight-legged inhabitants, will band together and rebuild the town with stoic resolve.

After all, isn’t that what communities do?

A chapter a night, and going strong

So I’m trying for one chapter per night, and when I sit down to write, I write one chapter as a minimum.  If I got any more out of myself, great.  But one chapter.  For me at this point this equals roughly 1800-2200 words.  (Though tonight it only equaled just under 500 because it was only a short chapter.)

One great piece of advice I’ve heard in my life is – when you have a challenge (not a problem, a challenge, because that’s what problems are), isolate the problem areas and work through bit by bit, step by step.  A novel is a huge undertaking – my first novel finished up at 25000+ words (I’m not actually sure whether this qualifies as a novel in terms of word count, but there it is 🙂 ), and I didn’t focus on that number – that’s WAY too overwhelming to contemplate.

So instead I aimed to write a certain amount of words every time I sat down (I averaged about 1400 words per session, give or take) and I was done with the book in about five to six weeks.  Had I focused on 25000+ words instead of 1400 or so, I wouldn’t be writing this blog (or my novel, for that matter).  I broke the challenge down (a novel) into a set of steps (1400 words per night over 5 weeks or so.)  That was how I overcame the challenge.

So whatever you’re doing, when you get stuck (and you will sooner or later), take it steady, one chunk at a time.  You’ll get there.

An excellent resource

http://www.yourwriterplatform.com/

I discovered this website a little while ago, and it’s changed my entire outlook and way I conduct myself as an author and blogger.

It’s geared towards authors, but I think some of the resources and ideas are applicable to other creative types as well.  Ideas and suggestions on websites, using Twitter effectively, all kinds of odds and ends.

Check it out – it’s well worth it 🙂

Hidden treasure and a grumpy octopus?

The working title of my first novel is ‘Bentley The Brave: The Silver Mountains’.  I always liked three-word titles (The Holcroft Covenant, The Two Towers etc.) so I decided to stick with that for the first book.

In other news, the second novel is at the outline stage.  This one’s taking a little longer to outline.

When I began the first novel, I wrote the first nine chapters off-the-cuff, with no plan, no outline, no help of any kind.  I simply started writing what came to mind, and stalled at around chapter nine.  After I stalled, I gave up for a couple of months, then realized I REALLY enjoyed writing, and didn’t want to leave my novel unfinished.  So I went back to the start and wrote an outline to finish what I’d started.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to write without a plan – I’ve read that some pretty big names do precisely that – but it doesn’t work for me, so this time I’m making it easier on myself 🙂

So the rough scene outline involves a wild storm, a crazy seagull, a cranky octopus, a ticklish octopus, a rather large amount of treasure, and a grumpy, sleep-deprived merman.  Bentley’s in for an interesting few days 🙂

Watch this space.

Taking stock of my work, plus a little break.

I penned the rest of chapter twelve tonight, and having done so I skimmed over my work and took stock of what I’ve achieved so far.

Having passed the halfway point, and realising it’s all downhill to the finished first draft, I realised that I’ve come close to finishing something a lot of people start but never finish.  I’m proud of that, even if the book is a total failure.

But I always try to keep myself grounded and humble.  I also realise that I have been blessed to be alive in this day in age, where everyone with a laptop and a dream can achieve virtually anything in the world.  Things like writing a novel, releasing albums and the like are now options for everyone, not just people with record deals or publishing contracts.  The technology and the tools necessary to achieve these things are wonderful, and I thank the universe and God that I am here to experience that, and to pass on the good cheer with the world.

I’m taking a few days away from the story to chill and focus on other things that need attention, and I will be returning to writing probably next week.  I’m thinking five more chapters and I’ll be at the draft stage, so I think a little breather is in order before taking on that last slog.

But in the meantime, I’ll be posting a draft of chapter three on the weekend, so keep an eye out for that.  As always, comments and criticism are appreciated 🙂

See you next week!

Some significant progress

Tonight I managed to double the usual word count I write every time I sit down to work- 2,200 words!  Not a bad effort for about two hours work if I do say so myself.

So Bentley has a new friend – all I will say at this point is his name is Arti, and he is a large creature reminiscent of someone who enjoys hunny.  And I will reveal nothing more 🙂

Looking back at my work for the night, I know there will be some significant re-writing when the time comes to edit, but I’m happy with progress tonight.  Still, no hurry, I like to take my time and let things gestate properly.

Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog since I started posting.  Please feel free to share this blog with your friends/co workers/colleagues etc., I would appreciate it very  much.