Writers: a lonely occupation, made up of odd people lost in the worlds inside their head, people a bit cut-off from normal real life. That's the impression a lot of people have of writers. Many more think of writing as an essentially solitary activity - I certainly did that. Until I went to a write-in today, in London. For the non-NaNoers amongst you (and I shall flatter myself that one day, someone who isn't a NaNoer will read this blog entry, even if it's just because it accidentally comes up under a search for purple polka dotted umbrellas, or something - sorry about that, if you were really looking for purple polka dotted umbrellas. I own one, but that's probably not much help to you - I bought it in C&A in Nice. They probably don't have any more. Umbrellas are like hen's teeth down there.)
Anyway, write-ins - a whole load of writers - in this case, all doing NaNoWriMo - meet in one place, and sit for two hours writing. Interspersed with chatting, and eating and drinking. It was surprisingly fun, the people weren't at all weird like I half-feared, and I shall definitely make an effort to go again soon!
Thank you, London NaNoers, for making me feel welcome - and for helping me boost my wordcount to a very respectable 6674! I've now caught up from Tuesday's almost complete failure and am back where I should be!
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Hah! Nearly caught up!
4243 words and I think it might be bedtime now. I ought to be on 5100, but given that I started the day on just 1957, I think I'm doing pretty well! Today has been remarkably productive, particularly given that I had to go to the post office at lunch, instead of writing...
Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try to go to one of the London NaNo write-ins, and be brave and meet new people. Unless I chicken out, obviously. In which case, we'll pretend I never mentioned it...
Tomorrow, I think I'm going to try to go to one of the London NaNo write-ins, and be brave and meet new people. Unless I chicken out, obviously. In which case, we'll pretend I never mentioned it...
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
In which events overtake me and writing is abandoned. Temporarily.
My Etsy shop is doing surprisingly well. Which is awesome! My mum and dad came to London today and took me out to dinner. Which is also awesome!
My writing hasn't really progressed today, though, as a result...
I'm up to a whopping 1957 words today, a whole 110 words further than yesterday. This is... not ideal. I will have to do better over the next few days. Wish me luck?
My writing hasn't really progressed today, though, as a result...
I'm up to a whopping 1957 words today, a whole 110 words further than yesterday. This is... not ideal. I will have to do better over the next few days. Wish me luck?
Monday, 1 November 2010
And we're off...
A late plane ride back to London meant that I was, in fact, awake at midnight so could make an early start to my new and shiny story. I managed to get 250 words done before I got home and slept, and am now up to somewhere near 900, handwritten on the train to and from work. Plan for tonight: type up the words done so far, and carry on bravely into the night. My goal is 1700 words a day, though I probably ought to aim for nearer 2000, since chances are that my Saturdays, at least, are going to be non-writing days. We'll see - slow and steady might be the way forward, after all...
I also think I have a working title: The Island. Not very imaginative, but it's a crime novel, not fantasy, it doesn't need so much world building. (I hope. I may yet regret the rash impetuousness of that statement, I realise.)
Other NaNo participants, do feel free to chime in in the comments at any time to let me know how you're doing, or send me a message on Twitter - I'm @nicolehill.
Good luck everyone!
ETA: 1848 words! Stopping for dinner now...
I also think I have a working title: The Island. Not very imaginative, but it's a crime novel, not fantasy, it doesn't need so much world building. (I hope. I may yet regret the rash impetuousness of that statement, I realise.)
Other NaNo participants, do feel free to chime in in the comments at any time to let me know how you're doing, or send me a message on Twitter - I'm @nicolehill.
Good luck everyone!
ETA: 1848 words! Stopping for dinner now...
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Change of plans...
In best NaNo tradition, I've completely changed my mind about my story. At the last minute. I'm now going to write a murder mystery, set in a small Breton island village of 800 inhabitants, where there has been no murder for 100 years. Until now. The island doesn't even have a policeman full-time - someone comes over during the summer.
Think of the festering resentments that would build up there. And the coverups of murders during the world wars, the Algerian war, the blackmail and bullying that could take place. It's going to be like Midsommer Murders, but French. Awesome. Also, based on a real-life story that this weekend's papers talked about - I can't wait, I can almost smell the mist and rotting fish in the harbour now...
Think of the festering resentments that would build up there. And the coverups of murders during the world wars, the Algerian war, the blackmail and bullying that could take place. It's going to be like Midsommer Murders, but French. Awesome. Also, based on a real-life story that this weekend's papers talked about - I can't wait, I can almost smell the mist and rotting fish in the harbour now...
Friday, 15 October 2010
Friday update
NaNoWriMo is getting closer... I'm getting more and more excited, and hope to meet up with London NaNoers when things are more settled in my flat and I have functional internet again!
The plot for Krystal is bubbling slowly at the back of my mind - it's going to tell the story of how she came to join Lerrix's army, the civil war, and her relationship with Derryn. It's going to span a much, much longer period of time than Exile did (that covered only a year or so) and be a challenge to write. I can't wait to get started!
The plot for Krystal is bubbling slowly at the back of my mind - it's going to tell the story of how she came to join Lerrix's army, the civil war, and her relationship with Derryn. It's going to span a much, much longer period of time than Exile did (that covered only a year or so) and be a challenge to write. I can't wait to get started!
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Updates, news and general musings
So, I'm now back in England. It's rainy. I got married 2 weeks ago and am still getting used to having a husband. And being a wife. I relaunched my jewellery website.
These three events are not unrelated to the recent lack of posts. This will be remedied shortly, since it's nearly NaNoWriMo! I'm really excited about this - last year, NaNo led to the first draft of Exile, and this year, I'm hoping to be similarly productive and driven and produce a prequel, telling the story of Krystal, one of the main characters in Exile. I'd never written a long piece of fiction before, never even really thought of myself as being someone who could write a book, but I did and I'm fascinated by the way it's changed my perspective of myself and the world around me.
You will no doubt hear more about this new story than you ever wanted to, in the coming weeks. If you're NaNoing too, let me know what you're writing about in the comments - Id love to follow your journeys too!
(I haven't forgotten about Emperor's Assassin; it's sitting here waiting to be drafted. But NaNo takes priority for now, in amongst flat-hunting and pesky things like employment, so EA is shelved for the minute...)
These three events are not unrelated to the recent lack of posts. This will be remedied shortly, since it's nearly NaNoWriMo! I'm really excited about this - last year, NaNo led to the first draft of Exile, and this year, I'm hoping to be similarly productive and driven and produce a prequel, telling the story of Krystal, one of the main characters in Exile. I'd never written a long piece of fiction before, never even really thought of myself as being someone who could write a book, but I did and I'm fascinated by the way it's changed my perspective of myself and the world around me.
You will no doubt hear more about this new story than you ever wanted to, in the coming weeks. If you're NaNoing too, let me know what you're writing about in the comments - Id love to follow your journeys too!
(I haven't forgotten about Emperor's Assassin; it's sitting here waiting to be drafted. But NaNo takes priority for now, in amongst flat-hunting and pesky things like employment, so EA is shelved for the minute...)
Friday, 10 September 2010
Emperor's Assassin
OK, so I've only written another thousand words in the last week. I have cleaned my flat twice though, and even gone to the supermarket a couple of times. I rock at domesticity, clearly.
This story I'm writing is a fantasy story about an assassin, called Juri. (At least I think it's a fantasy story, we might change this as it actually gets written. But for now, a fantasy story.) It's set on a made-up world, with 3 moons. Which is great because it means I get to play with tides and all sorts of things. (Unless that gets to be too much of a hassle, then I'll just delete the idea.) Juri works for the Emperor of Ertia, who is engaged in a low-key civil war with his younger brother; they each go round killing each others supporters, and decrying these terrible crimes afterwards. Ertia has recently emerged from a proper civil war, and not everyone is happy with the way in which the Emperor has managed the aftermath; his brother isn't lacking in supporters.
The Emperor has a daughter, Taris, who Juri is assigned to guard from her uncle's own assassins. Taris and Juri fall in love, obviously, but their relationship is interrupted when Taris meets and falls in love with the Prince Kalim, of A-Land-I've-Not-Yet-Named, who she marries. When she goes to live with him, Juri accompanies her. The Emperor is slain, and his brother takes over the ruling of Ertia, declaring Taris to be a traitor to the nation.
Prophecy tells of a hero that will arise to save the nation. Juri, in addition to being an assassin, is also - unbeknownst to him - that hero. The hero has a magic weapon, as is so often the case, which is death to anyone else to touch. In this case, the whole story came from this knife, and it's based on a real knife I saw in Italy:
There are relationship twists for Taris, Kalim and Juri, and there are frequent flashbacks to Juri's youth in training as an assassin. (Brutal training, social services should be called...) And, of course, the climactic battle to save Ertia from its new increasingly tyrannical ruler.
So, that's pretty much the summary of my new story - now there just remains to flesh it out into a novel-length piece of work. Easy!
This story I'm writing is a fantasy story about an assassin, called Juri. (At least I think it's a fantasy story, we might change this as it actually gets written. But for now, a fantasy story.) It's set on a made-up world, with 3 moons. Which is great because it means I get to play with tides and all sorts of things. (Unless that gets to be too much of a hassle, then I'll just delete the idea.) Juri works for the Emperor of Ertia, who is engaged in a low-key civil war with his younger brother; they each go round killing each others supporters, and decrying these terrible crimes afterwards. Ertia has recently emerged from a proper civil war, and not everyone is happy with the way in which the Emperor has managed the aftermath; his brother isn't lacking in supporters.
The Emperor has a daughter, Taris, who Juri is assigned to guard from her uncle's own assassins. Taris and Juri fall in love, obviously, but their relationship is interrupted when Taris meets and falls in love with the Prince Kalim, of A-Land-I've-Not-Yet-Named, who she marries. When she goes to live with him, Juri accompanies her. The Emperor is slain, and his brother takes over the ruling of Ertia, declaring Taris to be a traitor to the nation.
Prophecy tells of a hero that will arise to save the nation. Juri, in addition to being an assassin, is also - unbeknownst to him - that hero. The hero has a magic weapon, as is so often the case, which is death to anyone else to touch. In this case, the whole story came from this knife, and it's based on a real knife I saw in Italy:
There are relationship twists for Taris, Kalim and Juri, and there are frequent flashbacks to Juri's youth in training as an assassin. (Brutal training, social services should be called...) And, of course, the climactic battle to save Ertia from its new increasingly tyrannical ruler.
So, that's pretty much the summary of my new story - now there just remains to flesh it out into a novel-length piece of work. Easy!
Friday, 3 September 2010
Progress: 9k words!
I've decided a weekly progress update will keep me actually doing something on this story, even if no one else is reading these posts ;-) (If you are reading this, do drop in and say hi in the comments...)
So far, I've got the rough structure for the first 7 chapters worked out, and I've got 9k words written - although a lot of those are just notes now for scenes I haven't got to, and half-started scenes like Taris' wedding. But they count!
I also have managed to work out some of the Lieroi storyline for Juri - Juri-as-hero - which is good; I know how that starts and how that ends, I just need some middle now. And I get to work out some different peace-keeping and post-conflict reconstruction scenarios - one of which (increasing authoritarianism and power vested in the army) doesn't work for Taris' uncle, one of which (as yet undetermined) does work for Taris. Or at least, will work, since the book isn't going to go long enough to see its success. I need to do some more research into successful post-conflict reconstruction theory and practice; I knew that MA degree would come in useful one day!
So far, I've got the rough structure for the first 7 chapters worked out, and I've got 9k words written - although a lot of those are just notes now for scenes I haven't got to, and half-started scenes like Taris' wedding. But they count!
I also have managed to work out some of the Lieroi storyline for Juri - Juri-as-hero - which is good; I know how that starts and how that ends, I just need some middle now. And I get to work out some different peace-keeping and post-conflict reconstruction scenarios - one of which (increasing authoritarianism and power vested in the army) doesn't work for Taris' uncle, one of which (as yet undetermined) does work for Taris. Or at least, will work, since the book isn't going to go long enough to see its success. I need to do some more research into successful post-conflict reconstruction theory and practice; I knew that MA degree would come in useful one day!
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Point of View
So, still struggling with this. I think I've decided to write it 3rd person, but from Juri's point of view, the main male character. Though there are scenes I need/want to have, to deepen the other characters, at which Juri isn't going to be present, which might complicate this slightly. OK, a lot. Maybe I can get someone to tell him about it afterwards...
Also, sex. Not just useful for google searches, but an issue I hadn't thought about when writing from a male characters point of view. I'm not a man, I obviously have never had sex as a man, and I don't know what sex feels like to a man. Nor what having an erection feels like. The rest of writing as a male character, I reckon I can make up as I go along, but this is proving an odd sticking point. If anyone has any suggestions, do shout!
Also, sex. Not just useful for google searches, but an issue I hadn't thought about when writing from a male characters point of view. I'm not a man, I obviously have never had sex as a man, and I don't know what sex feels like to a man. Nor what having an erection feels like. The rest of writing as a male character, I reckon I can make up as I go along, but this is proving an odd sticking point. If anyone has any suggestions, do shout!
Friday, 13 August 2010
Today's achievement: limited
Well, ok, so it's not been a spectacular writing week. But I've got much more of my outline done, I'm thinking about the story when I'm not writing, and I got 850 words done this morning. It's not been a waste of a day, after all.
The sticking point is that it's so complicated, my brain gets distracted and goes off on tangents about the other storylines, which while useful, doesn't help with the scene I'm supposed to be writing.
I think what I'm going to do with this story - unlike Exile - is to write each scene as a standalone, in chronological order, then rearrange them to where I want them to be. I'm struggling with the differing view points though. Assassin is narrated in the third person, and most of it is from the POV of the main male character, Juri. But there are scenes I want to have where he isn't going to be present, and I like the idea of having both him and the main female character as POV characters. It's just not easy, and I keep falling back into Juri's POV. Maybe I should just scrap the idea of multiple POVs?
Bah. Back to writing...
The sticking point is that it's so complicated, my brain gets distracted and goes off on tangents about the other storylines, which while useful, doesn't help with the scene I'm supposed to be writing.
I think what I'm going to do with this story - unlike Exile - is to write each scene as a standalone, in chronological order, then rearrange them to where I want them to be. I'm struggling with the differing view points though. Assassin is narrated in the third person, and most of it is from the POV of the main male character, Juri. But there are scenes I want to have where he isn't going to be present, and I like the idea of having both him and the main female character as POV characters. It's just not easy, and I keep falling back into Juri's POV. Maybe I should just scrap the idea of multiple POVs?
Bah. Back to writing...
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
I'm back...
Back from holiday, refreshed and raring to go! Or something - it's tempting to just sleep in the sun... But! I have plans!
I have a new novel growing in my head - its working title is the Emperor's Assassin, and it's got a fairly complicated plotline, with intertwined timelines, flashbacks and multicharacter points of view. It's going to be fun to write, if I can pull it off without my brain exploding!
The old novel is sitting gently stewing while I decide whether it needs to be gutted or not. My first brave beta reader has finished it and apparently not got so bored her eyes have started to bleed, so that's encouraging, and her suggestions have been very helpful. Her eye for detail is second to none!
I still think it needs a new opening scene, and a better-written ending. But, while I'm pondering that, if anyone would desperately like to read it, let me know. (Anyone who's coming to my wedding is ineligible, on the grounds that if you're that close to me, I'd be too embarrassed to know you've read my warped imaginings. Not because I don't like you, or trust your opinions. It's all about me, obviously.)
I have a new novel growing in my head - its working title is the Emperor's Assassin, and it's got a fairly complicated plotline, with intertwined timelines, flashbacks and multicharacter points of view. It's going to be fun to write, if I can pull it off without my brain exploding!
The old novel is sitting gently stewing while I decide whether it needs to be gutted or not. My first brave beta reader has finished it and apparently not got so bored her eyes have started to bleed, so that's encouraging, and her suggestions have been very helpful. Her eye for detail is second to none!
I still think it needs a new opening scene, and a better-written ending. But, while I'm pondering that, if anyone would desperately like to read it, let me know. (Anyone who's coming to my wedding is ineligible, on the grounds that if you're that close to me, I'd be too embarrassed to know you've read my warped imaginings. Not because I don't like you, or trust your opinions. It's all about me, obviously.)
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Holiday time
This blog is, however, about to be abandoned. Not the best time to start a blog, right before you go away, so I thought an explanatory post might be useful.
If you stumble across it while I'm away and notice the large gap between these first posts and whenever you're looking at it, don't worry. It's not abandoned for ever, I'm just away on holiday and then taking a break from the internet for a few weeks.
I will be back online in September, assuming I can't find any reliable access before then and that the lack of internet hasn't driven me insane. It will be by far the longest break I've taken from being online in the last decade.
Wish me luck!
If you stumble across it while I'm away and notice the large gap between these first posts and whenever you're looking at it, don't worry. It's not abandoned for ever, I'm just away on holiday and then taking a break from the internet for a few weeks.
I will be back online in September, assuming I can't find any reliable access before then and that the lack of internet hasn't driven me insane. It will be by far the longest break I've taken from being online in the last decade.
Wish me luck!
Fable and Fantasy
Fable and Fantasy is my new blog, where all my writing related blogging will be. This may, obviously, be cross referenced to my personal blog when I'm lacking inspiration, but should otherwise cut down on the number of posts over there that talk about word count and the like. Which probably interest no one other than me.
But that's ok, because this is my blog.
I intend, here, to document my writing progress, to share useful hints and information I've found (if only to remind myself) and generally to give myself a space to be "a writer", rather than any of the other aspects of me that constantly compete for time and attention!
To introduce myself to anyone reading this who doesn't already know me, I'm Nicole. I'm currently living in France, though due to move back to the UK soon. I'm in the middle of edits on my first novel, and have started outlining my second. In addition to writing, I make jewellery, try to keep vaguely on top of domesticity and sleep in the sun. (Always beats domestic chores, every time.) Hopefully the existence of this blog will help provide some sort of accountability and force me to set aside time to actually write.
But that's ok, because this is my blog.
I intend, here, to document my writing progress, to share useful hints and information I've found (if only to remind myself) and generally to give myself a space to be "a writer", rather than any of the other aspects of me that constantly compete for time and attention!
To introduce myself to anyone reading this who doesn't already know me, I'm Nicole. I'm currently living in France, though due to move back to the UK soon. I'm in the middle of edits on my first novel, and have started outlining my second. In addition to writing, I make jewellery, try to keep vaguely on top of domesticity and sleep in the sun. (Always beats domestic chores, every time.) Hopefully the existence of this blog will help provide some sort of accountability and force me to set aside time to actually write.
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