Pace and Structure

I belong to two online writing groups. On each you upload chapters of your manuscript to seek reviews from other writers. I've been getting some very encouraging reviews for my current work in progress, The Glass House. Although the name is in a state of flux as I search for a new title. These are snippets from recent comments:

After a crappy day at work I was very happy to read 'The Glass House'. I really enjoyed this. In part because Caitlin is a very engaging character...I hope to see her use her undoubted yet hidden...ish charms on the local menfolk.

I enjoyed the family relationships and excellent Irish banter...and despite myself also rather liked Niamh and her nouveau riche ways!

I also liked how the story was about to have a large change of direction with the introduction of the presumably rather challenging Ellie....

All in all a thoroughly good read....I would read more.

What a fascinating look at rural life in Western Ireland with excellent description...I also rated your Dialogue, Voice and Language 5. (5 is full marks)

This is very good. I can't think of very much to criticise. It is well written and the characters are all well drawn. The dialogue is good and natural sounding.

This is a well-written story with well-drawn, believable main characters and pretty good dialogue.

The chief complaint has been the pace. There isn't enough happening to get the reader sitting on the edge of their seat. So pace is my new focus. The opening chapters are set in rural Co. Tyrone and reflect the slower pace of life away from the city. The intended hook in the opening is the family dynamic and questions over Tom's financial dealings. 

To help me tackle this I tried a new method of editing. I mentioned in previous posts that I've been reading Write A Blockbuster by Helen Corner and Lee Weatherly. The authors recommend using memo cards to plot out your story. This WIP is complete so I'm beyond that stage. Instead I used individual memo cards to map out the characters, scene, action and points of tension in each chapter.

That gave me a picture of how each chapter contributed to the pace and plot. 

As a result I've already cut 4000 words, which included two chapters, and restructured the opening. Let's hope that improves the reviews further. With some hard work and a bit of luck maybe this one might get closer to publication. 

Spring

Spring seems to be creeping into Northern Ireland. The temperature's nudging double figures, the floods are receding from the fields, I've spotted buds on trees and even some flowering daffodils. Our rabbits have been allowed back into their runs on the lawn, the dogs are bouncier than ever and the children cleaned their trampoline and spent an afternoon testing all sorts of shapes and jumps on it.

Perhaps that's what inspired me to try a new angle to the editing process this week. I've been reading 'How To Write A Blockbuster,'  - lots of scribbles and post-it notes now adorn the book. I found their ideas about passive voice clear and concise and decided to check my MS for how many times was and were appeared. So, what was the most effective way to do that? The trusted Find and Replace feature. There I was, feeling pleased with myself as I worked my way through the MS, finding each was, checking how appropriate, passive or overused the word was. Tad ironic ending to that last sentence. I'd reached the halfway point and come across something else I wanted to change. I still don't know how I did it but here comes the cautionary tale to the spring clean. I made my changes and saved them (always very careful to keep saving as I work). Then I pulled up the Find again, typed in was and waited for the answer. Not a single one to be found. I ran it again. Surely I couldn't have been that good and not used was again for the rest of the MS? Right - I wasn't that good. I'd managed to delete every was in the entire 274 pages, including all occasions when those three letters formed part of another word.

It's been an exercise in finding every double blank space and every misspelt word in the MS but I've finally done it; I've replaced each missing was and am ready to continue where I left off. I hope.

The change in weather we've seen this week has been a welcome distraction from my mistake. Caitlin would be proud of me, digging over and starting to prepare the greenhouse for the new growing season. The children are off school so we had a day out and I have plenty of pictures to share the beauty of the Mournes on a Spring day.

Newcastle, Co.  Down 

Foot Bridge Over The Shimna River, Newcastle

Newcastle, Co. Down

Shimna River, Newcastle

Newcastle Beach

Newcastle Beach. Towards Slieve Donard Hotel & Dundrum

Up In The Mourne Mountains

Approaching Spelga Dam From Kilkeel

Spelga Dam

Spelga Dam

Your Theme Tune

I was asked on The Next Big Thing blog hop about who I'd like to see act the roles in The Glass House.

I suspect there are plenty of writers out there who dare to let the mind wander; have a little daydream about your story in print and on the big screen.

It got me thinking about theme tunes.

My first completed novel length MS, Twisted Truth, is a romance. It tells the story of Charlotte and Mark, their coming-of-age, the disappointments that tore them apart and what happens when that first love is reignited over a decade later. I've always been able to hear The Undertones and Teenage Kicks play in the background to that story.

The Glass House is women's fiction, revolving around the lives of three women and the turmoil they are thrown into when a blackmailer finds a use for Caitlin's Victorian Glass House. Sticking with the Northern Irish theme, I'd choose Snow Patrol's Open Your Eyes.

Have you thought about theme tunes and if so, care to share?

Writing Group

I recently got in touch with a fellow Northern Irish writer, Suzi Hull. We're both looking for other like-minded female writers in NI who would be interested in joining a writing group. Suzi has suggested organising ourselves into an online writing group, initially swapping chapters and critique online. 

If you're a published writer or an unpublished writer, with a strong desire and ambition to be published, who is willing to swap honest and constructive feedback, we'd love to hear from you. 

I can be found on Facebook and Twitter - just follow the links to the right. 

This link will take you to Suzi's writing blog, Promenades and Parasols

Things That Drive You Mad

Do you ever have one of those little things that niggles at the corner of your mind and starts to drive you mad?

The children landed home from school with a fundraising quiz. Unscrambling 28 anagrams to find the name of famous couples. I've found 27 answers so far, spanning literary, scientific, small and large screen, celebrities, sports, biblical and royal pairings but one is alluding me and no matter how much I look at it I'm not finding any inspiration. It's sitting by my laptop taunting me to try it again. I'm trying to resist but can't stop my attention sneaking a peek at it.

It has to be completed by Friday so, one way or another, it will be out of my sight soon but I'll be disappointed in my word skills if it continues to evade me.

Want to have a go at it yourself? Well, here it is but don't tell me the answer if you work it out (even if I beg).
aoiYhToawrrrrtekaoBhGodss

Writing.ie

I live in a rural area and, combined with my family circumstances, it's difficult to find a writing group. Instead I turned to the internet and sought out writing communities, joining two writing forums, each providing peer review and beneficial in their own way. One in particular has a critique group for women's fiction, which I've found invaluable.

Through the chasm of Twitter I discovered writing.ie and joined their emerging writers programme. It's already proving to be a useful resource and way to meet other writers. Thanks to a link on it for Cornerstones I discovered Write A Blockbuster And Get It Published. This is one of the more pragmatic and easy to follow writing guides I've purchased, dealing with not only writing but the submission process. 

http://www.writing.ie/member-emerging-writers/lesa-clarke/
Cornerstones: Write a Blockbuster

Snow Day

We woke up to another blanket of snow in County Down this morning and we're having a snow day. The kids have been having great fun playing snow ball fights and finding make-shift sledges, while the dogs chase each other round the snow and then take a break to eat some.

It's all very picturesque when you aren't attempting to travel in it.

Going to be fun getting that coat brushed after snow running.

Might be cold enough to make this setter's tail stand on end but it's not stopping her eating it.

Our view of the Mourne Mountains a few days ago, when the last snow was still clinging to them.

Northern Ireland 2013 & Famous Faces

It's no secret that I love to read and create stories. I also get fed-up with the negative press this little corner of the world gets. There's no denying we've had more than our fair share of bad news but there's just as much, if not more, good about Northern Ireland.

For both of those reasons it always pleases me to see positive stories and the recent surge we seems to be having as a film location is no exception. I've blogged before about some of our beauty spots and the tv/film crew they've attracted; Your Highness, Game of Thrones and Blandings have all been mentioned here.

Last week Liam Neeson returned to Northern Ireland to receive the freedom of his home, Ballymena.

Lian Neeson receives Freedom of Ballymena


This week starts with the news that Sir Ian McKellen has also visited Northern Ireland and, like James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson, it turns out he has roots in Ballymena. He was here to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster. It was presented at the Magee Campus, in Derry-Londonderry, the 2013 City of Culture.

UTV: Ian McKellen
City of Culture 2013

Maybe, someone out there might even take a chance on a little story set in Northern Ireland by an unknown Northern Irish writer! One that has some reference to the residue of our past but focuses on family, the Northern Ireland setting and how first impressions can taint how we view people. Fingers crossed The Glass House finds an audience.