Writing Novels
I really wish I could write like that: Can I perfect my own writing style?
Regular readers will be glad to hear that the much-anticipated writing buddy system is finally bearing fruit, so to speak. We’re both about a week behind our timetable but a few days ago I sent the next chapter of my novel over to Katrina and have started work on the following one.
Writing this novel is [...]
A fluffy, funny novel for NaNoWriMo?
So if I’m not planning to write my serious second novel for the 2008 NaNoWriMo month, does that mean I skip the event altogether? Or should I turn my hand to some of the other writing ideas I have, for something a little less literary and more fun to write?
Recently I’ve really enjoyed reading a [...]
A real plan for the Bratislava novel, and a buddy system
So, I’m determined to finish a great draft of this novel I’m setting in Bratislava by the end of the year. Originally I’d thought of making it my NaNoWriMo novel in November, but there’s two reasons I’ve decided against that: firstly, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law will be visiting from Switzerland for the first part of [...]
Visual inspiration: My wall of photos
When I started thinking about my second novel, to be set in Bratislava, I knew I wanted to do things differently from the first time, when I set my novel in Japan.
I set off writing about Japan with barely a look back at my diaries, notes and photographs of my time there. I did this [...]
Novel planning and novel non-planning
I had another decent session of in-class writing last week while my lovely students were doing their weekly test - but I had such a small class that there was no need to write on the prowl, I sat down and wrote and wrote instead. The most exciting thing is that what I was writing [...]
15,000 words in 8 hours: I’m an insane writer
This past weekend, I did one of the most stupid things of my writing career. Stupid, but also quite productive. Remember how I had some new ideas and useful feedback for my Japan novel? The insanity all stemmed from this.
It started out calmly on Sunday morning. The sun was shining for the first time in [...]
New ideas and new chapters for my first novel
It’s nearly a month since I lovingly printed my first manuscript to send it out into the world by its little ol’ self. For a couple of weeks I didn’t think about it at all, but confusingly, since I got properly started on my second novel, ideas for changing the first one keep popping into [...]
The first chapter is well underway
Don’t worry, dear Cadbury factory, you won’t be going broke: it appears that I will be allowed to eat chocolate again. My second novel is finally on a bit of a roll.
On Saturday night, in front of a TV show, curiously, because my concentration doesn’t normally work that well there, I got some notes down [...]
Deal with myself: I will write the first chapter this weekend, or I will never eat chocolate again
It was no idle or random thought that led me to subtitle this blog with the tag “a whole lot of procrastination”. Despite my repeated promises to plan my second novel I have made barely any progress. But I know if I don’t get some serious words happening this weekend, the whole procrastination thing is [...]
Getting ready to start novel #2
As I’ve mentioned before, I have quite a collection of novels sitting up in my head. With the first one down in a reasonable form - I do have some changes to make to it, but I want to let it sit just a little longer - it’s time for me to get started on [...]