Good News...

The good news arrived too late for Sunday's post, so I'm sharing it today...

I have received the report from this year's RNA New Writers' Scheme submission.

It was a partial of 12,000 words and a two-page synopsis (as it wasn't the full draft). 

After last year's experience I was a little apprehensive. 

Fortified by wine and chocolate, I downloaded and opened the report; and discovered encouraging, supportive, and insightful feedback. 

As expected it identified the areas I knew would likely be picked up and need further working on, but other things I'd missed. 

There was nothing I disagreed with, and the suggestions on possible avenues to consider has been most helpful. 

My working title is okay for now, but I'll need to give some thought to a better one. 

I don't know who the reader was- and never will, but I'm grateful for their comprehensive report, and encouragement. I hope they won't mind me quoting a couple of lines from their conclusion:

You write well, and I think you have made an excellent start, capturing the feel and style of a light contemporary romance with a bit of suspense thrown into the mix very well. 

When I submitted the first 12,000 words of this second draft (or 1.5 as I think of it) I wasn't sure if I would go beyond that, but reading the report again, I'm determined to complete the draft. 

I'll be going through the report with the highlighters this week...

Image by Alexas_Fotos from pixabay.com

Deadlines are Hard Work...

The last day of August is here. For me that's the deadline for submitting my entry to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme.

Last year I put in my submission in at 4.30 am on the last day. Well I'm pleased to say this year it was only eight minutes into the last day when I clicked save and finalise.

I've submitted a partial this year; five chapters and the synopsis. 

I decided not to edit and submit the first half of chapter six. That turned out to be sensible with the deadline looming.

Giving myself the the whole of August to edit the chapters was important- I didn't do that last year.  It's given me a better idea of how much time I need in future...

2020's manuscript has a contemporary, rather than a historical setting. Not a sub-genre I've tried before.

As to the synopsis... I'm not good with them. Suspect I'd have needed the whole of August to edit it and still wouldn't have been right. The only positive from writing it out, I can see what might be better to cut, and potential plot holes.

There's outstanding research to do before I move on to the next chapters, so I'll get on with that meanwhile.

My family will be glad to get meals without chips. As the end of the month deadline approaches they get fed up of take-away's. Been no time for baking either...

Time in the garden has been helpful too. Colour and textures reminded me to be aware of the senses. 

So much has changed while I've been working on the manuscript. The berries on the Hawthorn have gone from orange to red...

Wonder what progress will be made by next spring when the blossom returns.

I've Survived August- Now for September...

It's the last day of the month and as of 4.30 am (BST) this morning, my submission to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme went in.

Now I just have to wait for the eventual email telling me the reader's report is ready. I don't know who the published writer reading it will be, nor whether they're male or female. But whoever gets to read it- thank you.

The part I hadn't expected was how much time checking through the manuscript takes.

When I start the next draft I will be tougher on myself. I know I can do it now, it's about me being better prepared and organised during those busy everyday life events. Even 300-500 words a time soon builds up. I know I still have a lot to work to do in the next draft...

This weekend I relax, catch-up with all those things I didn't have time for- Sanditon on catch-up is first on my list...

Next Saturday (7th September) I'll be attending a half day workshop (I've been involved in organising it) at Nottingham Writers' Club.

Our guest is friend and blogger Patsy Collins The Travelling Writer, with her Effective Characterisation and Dialogue workshop from 1-5 pm.

Patsy Collins is coming to
    Nottingham...

There are still places available, so if you, or anyone you know are within reach of Nottingham and would like to attend, do please pass on the link.

Nottingham's Tram network links the railway station to a nearby tram stop less than 5 minutes walk away from our venue; plus the Victoria bus station and bus routes into the city centre are 5-10 minutes walk...


Then on the 14th I'll be at my desk tuning in to #SelfPubCon2019 it's 24 sessions online over 24 hours. (I won't be sat at my desk for 24 hours though...)

You need to register via ALLi (The Alliance of Independent Authors) you'll find them on Facebook, Twitter and their website. The three-day pass is free- just register with name and email.

I've tuned in to the past two: spring this year and fall of 2018. Both times I've learnt something I could put into action...


Do you have any writing related plans for September?



Image provided by Patsy Collins.

To Prologue or Not...

After taking a break over Easter to start sowing vegetable and herb seeds in pots and tubs, I'm getting back to the novel.

Moving to Scrivener was definitely a good move, I can concentrate much better using it.

I'm working my way through writing the new scenes (missing from draft one) and am now finding a few of those original scenes in draft one have changed, moved or are no longer needed.

I even have a scene that I thought I'd put in the first draft but hadn't!

On Friday I got together with a couple of fellow romance writers and shared my concerns over how I deal with a particular piece of important information, currently in the second chapter, that still comes over as an info-dump.

Working it out...

While a small part can be slipped in naturally in conversation (where it is now) I need to remove the rest but find some way to show the really important part. As the rewriting has progressed it still can't be worked in elsewhere.

(It has to be dealt with in the third draft...)

So I decided the only way to overcome the problem was to create a short prologue.

Prologues are like Marmite, love them or hate them.

I don't mind them if they are used for a valid reason, but did wonder if my decision for it was reason enough.

So I did some Googling and came across two articles that discuss the do's and don'ts of prologues. First there's a post from the Writers Digest and the Writers & Artists website...

Having had a couple more days to consider the possibilities, I'm sure it's right for the story, as the consequences of that moment will lead to incidents that bring my hero and heroine into contact and eventually together...

By the time I'm ready to go back and finalise the first couple of chapters (I'm not totally happy with them yet) I'll be ready to write that prologue.

Now over to you; what's your view on prologues?





Image by Geralt from Pixabay.com

Scrivener: My Progress So Far...

Last month I downloaded Scrivener.

I was warned it is a steep learning curve but taking the time to watch the videos and work through the tutorial is definitely worth doing. The basics start to stick- well some of them!

So far I've written chapter 10 on it. Admittedly it's a short chapter and was originally in chapter 9...

The issues so far have been remembering where certain things are, but that's probably more to do with having used Word for so many years.

Then there's how to delete something in the side bar that's wrong- it must be in the settings somewhere.

The Manual which you just click on- good- has a well set out index- also good- but sometimes it's hard to find the simple things, almost as if it makes the assumption that it's so obvious it doesn't need more detailed explanation (of course it may just be me).

Writing in a different font has definitely helped and my short chapter 10 didn't seem to take as long to type out (considering I can't touch type) but I was keeping the format simple.

I liked being able to switch to the cork board easily and back to the text without having to worry about losing anything meanwhile. Though I do think I'm going to need to watch the video on the cork board section again as I think I'm missing a stage somewhere.

Undecided...

I've still got trial days left and I'm now 50/50 about whether I will go on to purchase Scrivener or not.

Suspect how well I get on with the next two chapters will be the deciding factor...







image from pixabay.com

Review of 2018 - July to December...

Welcome to part two of my 2018 review. In part one it was January to June, and now the busy exciting aspects start with July...

July to December 2018...

July 

This was the busiest month of the year and consequently wrote the most blog posts!

The month began with a guest visit from Leicester RNA Chapter member, Madalyn Morgan with her latest book release Chasing Ghosts.

Quickly followed by another mini-workshop for NWC, along with the deadline for my article for Writing Magazine the day after. Then the weekend of the RNA Conference starting the day after my article went in...

My Writing Magazine article...

Then on the 30th the article was published, a double-page spread in Writing Magazine; Womag Rights, came out and gave the new 'all rights' contract at Woman's Weekly wider attention on social media.

(I even get a mention on Wikipedia.)

August

My office was (unexpectedly) decorated.

September

A much needed weekend away in Scarborough. Attended a dialogue workshop at NWC. And whenever possible took photos of the #Hoodwinked statues around Nottingham before they went off to be auctioned for charity. One of the pictures was used on the back cover of NWC's Autumn issue of the club magazine 'Scribe'.

October

Trying out using file cards for keeping consistency with the characters in my WIP.

November

Taking care of my eye health and moving to a new monitor screen with low blue light- it has really made a difference to my eyes.

December

Fantastic way to end the year, Christmas parties and the NWC Awards Night all in one week.

I won the Mary Street Memorial Shield for a romance novel. One of those ideas that get in the way of what you're working on so you write it down to get it out of the way- for later. Well the 1920's story idea (the vintage fair earlier in the year) became the first three chapters and synopsis for this year's entry.

As I've won this trophy three times now I'm meant to judge the next time it runs in 2020...

My recent trophy win...

Had a fantastic time with the Belmont Belles RNA Chapter at the Christmas party. The guest was Sunday Times bestselling author Carole Matthews.

All of the Belmont Belles are a fantastic fount of knowledge, advice and support; I value their friendship and look forward to our regular meetings knowing I will go home inspired and encouraged to keep working.


So my final word count last year was 36, 444.
My 2018 total still has time to increase and I'll update it for an end of the year total in a few weeks, but I have exceeded last year's total...

Plans for 2019

Keep on with draft two.
Take up opportunities that may come along.
Apply for the RNA's New Writer Scheme in January (there's a limited number of places).

I always think I haven't done much, but when I look back I find I've achieved far more than I realised.

I'm still aiming to get a book out in 2019 under my Serena Lake pseudonym.

As long as I keep moving forward, I'm happy...

Services for Writers...The Quick Crit...

I hope the New Year has been kind to you all so far.

Today I’m welcoming writer Linda Lewis to the blog. Linda is a very successful womag (woman’s magazines) writer, and she’s now branching out to give the benefit of her experience to others.

Welcome to Carol’s Corner, Linda.

For any readers who are unfamiliar with your numerous successes with the women’s magazine (womag) market, please tell us a little about yourself and your writing?

I live in Exeter, sharing my house with a lodger and some fish.

I sold my first story to Take A Break in 1998. Since then I have sold about 600 stories to a variety of magazines. It’s been my main source of income since 2003.
I switched to fiction after the death of my husband in 1997. I found I was quite good at it so I stuck with it. Before then, I had various ‘proper’ jobs and wrote, mostly non-fiction, in my spare time.

 You’ve recently co-launched a new website Vanda ‘N’ Linda’s Write Space, so how did this collaboration come about?

Vanda lives in Cornwall. We met when I won one of her short story competitions with the theme of a modern day fairy tale (my story was an updated version of Snow White, told in epistolary form). She called to say I’d won, we got chatting, and that was that.
Our partnership came to an end when I moved away, but now I am back in Devon, it made sense to start working together again. Vanda prefers the admin side to judging or giving feedback and critiques, while I love the judging process and find giving feedback, so we are a very good fit.

What will writers discover when they visit the Write Space?

As well as advertising our books and running prize competitions (some free to enter, others not) the website offers tips, advice, courses and feedback. We wanted to offer an affordable service, delivered by people who knew their trade.

I was a tutor for the Writers Bureau for a while and really enjoyed it. I have also run workshops and courses for organisations including Swanwick Writers Summer School and NAWG.

Now that I don’t go away so often, I wanted to continue teaching people. Vanda already offered courses so adding my own made sense.
The first course went live a few weeks ago and is about writing stories with twist endings which is one of my specialities.

If there are any areas people would like to see covered in courses, if they get in touch, I’ll  see what we can do.

Among the writing services you offer there’s a quick crit of short stories that have been rejected by the womags*; what will the writer gain from using this?

The website offers a general feedback service for writers of fiction. Prices vary according to word count, but the quick crit idea was mine.

Whenever I judge competitions, I hate it when a story misses out on a prize due to simple or basic errors and I can’t tell the writer what was wrong or how to fix it.

Apart from The People’s Friend who go out of their way to help writers by offering feedback, it’s rare for short story writers to find out why their story wasn’t accepted. The £5 quick crit tries to fill that gap.

Sometimes the author DOES know what’s wrong. A fiction editor may have told them that the plot was thin, or the characterisation wasn’t strong enough. I have a knack of being able to read other people’s stories and see how they can be improved.

If I can, I will suggest different endings or extra plot strands, in short, anything that might help the writer improve their chances of making a sale.

Stories can also be rejected when there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them. For example, it might simply be that all the Christmas slots have been filled; that kind of thing. Again, it helps to know that it’s not the fault of the story - it’s just bad luck.

Too many writers get ONE rejection and give up with a story. Our attitude to rejection affects our success. Rejections, and I must have had thousands, still hurt me, but I get over it.  I have another look at the story, Can I change it? Maybe I can lengthen or shorten it and send it elsewhere? And if I’m lucky enough to get feedback, I will almost always rewrite and re-sub.

When there were a lot more magazines taking fiction, I could send a story out five or six times before I gave up with it. Even then I might reuse the basic idea.

* I have been fortunate enough to have a one off trial of Linda's quick crit service and it's good value. Linda identified the main issues with my rejected short story- sent to Woman's Weekly a couple of years ago- and suggested possible routes I could consider when I rewrite. And I will rewrite it and submit it again.

Thank you for answering my questions Linda. I'm sure the website and quick crit service will be a success...

You can find Linda's books on the website, and via Amazon where you can discover them on her author page.

If you're interested in any of the competitions, books or the new critique service then pop along to www.vnlwritespace.com

If you're on Twitter you can follow Linda @writingiseasy

Finding Treasure in Boxes...

Now I need to say at the start this treasure is not the archetypal pirate treasure- coins, jewellery and other goodies along with the odd skull.

This treasure is my past writings.

As a teenager I used a pen and pages of A4. I moved on to a portable typewriter, and from there to a Brother Word Processor- work was saved to floppy disks. (Yes we're talking 20th century...)

Then I moved onto my first computer (an XP) with a floppy disk drive in the tower, so I carried on using them.

When that computer eventually died Windows 7 was the latest operating system; but it didn't have a floppy disk drive anymore, so I had to buy an external version with the USB connection.

I was able to access some of the items, but others were unreadable. I left them in the storage box and resigned myself to searching for a programme that would enable my computer to read my saved work. It never happened and I packed the box away somewhere.

After all I did have some of the work printed out ...somewhere.

Then last weekend, clearing one of the shelves in the corner bookcase- it needs to be moved for the rewiring work- I pulled out a compact blue box from the corner. I knew what it was instantly. My floppy disks.

A box of treasure

Downing the small paintbrush (for dusting books) and soft cloth I went to my office and rummaged on the shelf for the floppy disk reader- would it even work on the Windows 10 desktop?

I plugged in the USB and nothing, it wasn't recognised. All my excitement at my discovery went pancake flat. As a final check before unplugging I opened File Explorer and there it was.

Floppy disk reader, old manuscripts
file box...

Reviewing the floppies I chose one labelled short stories 1, inserted it into the reader, listened as it whirred noisily, and then a box opened on my screen displaying numbered stories (SS1, SS2 etc).

Clicking on the first one, Notepad opened the story; I scrolled down and I immediately remembered writing that tale- it was one I'd wanted to rewrite, but thought lost forever.

Opening more,assured me they were okay, so I set about copying and pasting from Notepad into a Word document.

Then I found the disks from my first incomplete novel; I'd started writing it in 2000 and got to about 40,000 words where I'd reached my planned ending. That was when I realised that I'd only gotten half way, there was more story to follow- the possibilities had quickly started flowing through my mind.

 But I stopped there. I realised that I didn't have the skills I needed to complete it- I didn't know anything about writing drafts. I had to go and learn how to write properly. That was how I came to join the local writers' club.

So it was with some trepidation that I now slipped the novel disk into the reader, but all that came up was a box showing formatting and asking me what I wanted to display it in, there were three choices, and in my disappointment I didn't really take in what it was asking me.

As I tried the other disks the same problem, my disappointment grew until I stopped and read what was being asked. I chose an option but nothing happened; it was a frustrated turn of the mouse wheel that scrolled down the box a bit,  and there among the little formatting symbols was text I could read!

I began the copying and pasting again but accepted I needed to do this a bit at a time, so saved and backed-up everything I'd transferred.

That box isn't going to be packed away anywhere for some time.

So if I'm ever irritated by something Windows 10 does, please remind me that it helped me retrieve my early writing that I thought had been lost forever...

Back to Work and Poetry...

An orderly routine at home has been restored with the academic year beginning, so that means undisturbed writing time.

Well that's the general plan...

I've bought my portable hard drive so I now have an ultimate back-up;  as I retype my Nottinghamshire short novel it's being saved onto it as well as the memory stick.

(Plus anything else I don't want to lose has been saved.)

Three forms of saving must be enough?

As friends on Facebook will have seen, I discovered that not only had I lost the first three chapters of draft 2, I had lost the whole 1st draft too.

The situation could have been horrible, but as mentioned last time, I print out each chapter as I complete it, so there is a copy of the completed first draft to work from.

Surprisingly I didn't panic, that is after the initial moment of horror at discovering the file was gone.

Rather than retyping the 1st draft again- which would take me too long- I decided the most practical solution is to retype the first three chapters from draft 2 (as planned), then once I start chapter four I'll rewrite using my print copy and the notes I'd previously made for draft 2.

The way forward...

Prevents me wasting time and ensures I still make progress despite the set-back.

As I read through and retype I've also started compiling reminder notes on a file card for each chapter. Not something I've tried before, but in the circumstances I thought I'd see if it helps with the rewriting and editing of future drafts.

Being open to new ideas is good. Which now ties into the poetry item...

I attended a short workshop about writing poetry (last night at the writers' club). The aim of the session was to encourage the attendees that even if they didn't think they could write a poem, they could discover methods that would help them do so.

Negativity was not allowed.

Admittedly by the end of the evening I was quite enthusiastic about working on the last poem I wrote, about an old glass bottle with the chemist's name - we were given a selection of objects to choose from and the little glass bottle immediately drew my attention.

Whether I can actually make a decent poem out of it I have no idea, but I said I'd try.






Image courtesy of Stuart Miles & www.freedigitalphotos.net

Lost and Found...

Saving the story...

I've now got my portable hard drive, so I'll be saving my work in progress as I go along, not just on a memory stick and a print copy (you can never have enough back-ups :D ).

There was near disaster when I discovered that one of the memory sticks lost the first three chapters of my second draft of my Nottinghamshire story. It was on the memory stick, then the next time I plugged it in, it was gone.

A writer friend suggested I download a retrieval programme and see if it could find it. Sadly it was gone forever.

Fortunately I print out the completed chapters as I go along, so I haven't lost all that work I did earlier in the year.

But it will mean retyping it into a new document. :(

So I better go and get on with it... :-)

Have you ever lost work due to digital mishaps?

The Rewrite Resumes...

Finally I can return to the second draft rewrite.

I'm grateful to Patsy Collins for guest posting last week while I was very busy with essential work for the writers club...

Anyway, to draft 2. I know it's advised that you read the whole manuscript through and make notes, but I'm not doing that for this draft.

I've got numerous minor and major changes to do, and the overview of the story in my head. And if I'm not sure of something I do have my chapter outlines with any changes that were made marked in.

The second half of the story was clearer, mainly because I had discovered more about my characters, their motivations, their reasoning, and the emotions and reactions that were lacking in some of the earlier chapters.

So the aim for draft 2 is: to take one chapter at a time, read it, make notes. Where I know a scene is missing I'll write it in, and deal with the points made in the notes.

The next drafts...

Spread throughout are various comments in brackets-research x. They're minor things and I've already found the information I need on most of them.

Once I've reached the end of draft 2, there will be a short break and then the complete read through and more note-making.

How I approach draft 3 is for deciding when I get to it.


I know what works for me to produce a 1st draft. Now I need to discover how draft 2 works...









image courtesy of Stuart Miles & www.freedigitalphotos.net

Novel Competitions and the Oddest Book Title...

The oddest book title was announced last week and the Winner was 'Too Naked for the Nazis'. It was nominated by the author himself, Alan Stafford, so it clearly was a good publicity move.

Though the subject of the book is quite ordinary in fact- a vaudevillian trio, Wilson, Keppel & Betty-  that anyone born early in the 20th century would have heard of, and perhaps seen black & white film of them performing.

You can find out the percentage each book achieved in the Bookseller article link above.

*   *   *

Unpublished novelists have two opportunities to get a publishing deal courtesy of two high profile competitions.

There's the recent Richard &Judy competition, and earlier this week the news about the competition being run between the Daily Mail and Penguin Random House.

They both offer a cash advance, an agent, and publication of the winning manuscript.

Find out more about the Daily Mail/PRH competition via this article.

(EDITED TO ADD: this is the URL they have given for the full terms & conditions and it displays a pdf: www.dailymail.co.uk/novelcomp )

Note you can't have had a novel published before-even self-published (so that will exclude lots of writers to start with); you can't currently be represented by a literary agent, and you must be over 16 years old, resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland.

The Richard & Judy 'Search for a Bestseller 2016' is supported by WH Smith, and the publishing deal is with Bonnier Zaffre.

Generally the terms are similar to the Daily Mail one, but the R&J competition terms specify that the partial novel hasn't been previously submitted to an agent, publisher, or entered into previous R&J competitions, or "released into the public domain in any format"- so bloggers beware.

So those will probably take quite a few entries out.

Sadly it does mean they're going to have to wade through entries from people who think writing a novel is easy.

They will find hidden talent in the end, but it's sad that they are excluding so many talented writers because they have self-published.

If you qualify and enter, then well done and I hope your entry is successful.

Nursing the Computer Along...

After a couple of stable days I'm getting the occasional issues again.

Nothing major, more annoying than anything. So I've made sure that all my photos and documents are backed up so I don't lose anything if it should suddenly conk out.

I just realised that I have a lot of bookmarked websites that it will be useful to save too, as I lost a few useful saved sites when my previous computer finally went...

So this week I will be researching what's available to replace my desktop.

Which to choose?

I'm also going into a busy spell for the next six weeks.

While everything is still working I intend to get back to the chapter two rewrite, having taken a break to get a couple of short stories out and on the way- and to get to know a minor character that needs to appear at chapter two or early on in chapter three.

I have a stack of competition entries to read for the writers' club national competition - I'm one of five readers; and while the Chairman is away I'm in charge too, so there's lots to do before the AGM next month.

There will be an online item later in the week too, but more about that on Thursday.

Any recommendations on the best computer brands? And what's your experience of Windows 10?







Image courtesy of Ventrilock & www.freedigitalphotos.net

Computer Gremlins...

It's been a busy few months and apart from getting the short story finished and sent off, I've not had time to make any progress on the Nottinghamshire story- though I have been doing needed bits of research (highlighted when I read the first chapter of draft 1 through).

Sometimes I can't imagine ever finishing it, but I know that's not true, it will get done.

Unlike the first draft I haven't found it as easy to do a bit, then stop, then do a bit more. That's the hard part at the moment, finding how to work with the second draft.

There has been other writing/editing going on though.

A factual piece that I wrote last month that required a final edit was rewritten with a different slant, and will appear this month.

There's an entry for the writers' club quarterly prose that needs finishing off. I started it twice and wasn't happy so put it aside. Then last week everything clicked together and I started again. It's working much better this time...

Sadly my desktop PC is showing early signs of future failure, and I'll need to replace it this year. I like Windows 7, but will have to move up to Windows 10 when I do change. :(

So I've been tidying up the programs, taking off those that are no longer needed, and avoiding putting the PC under any potential stress.

Glad to say it seems to be helping.

So if I suddenly stop posting you'll know what's happened... :D









Image courtesy of Stuart Miles & freedigitalphotos.net

Full Speed to Christmas...

Only 25 days to go...

Despite saying last year I'd start my Christmas shopping and card writing early, I haven't.

Honestly, the last months creeps up on you, and you wake up one Monday morning (today) and realise the countdown to Christmas has begun!!!

Though every time I cross something off my to do list, another task gets added.

My shredder has stopped working- so I've got to chase up the manufacturer- as it's not a year old yet. But of course, it happens when there's old, old paperwork to be cleared out.

I have a final few things to do for Awards Night on Wednesday. There's competition entries to be returned to members, along with the comments from the judges. So I have to sort them out.

It's always pleasing to look around the meeting room and notice a writer motionless, their head bent over their manuscript reading the comments, while around them there's noise and movement that they're oblivious to. Then when they look up there's a smile of pleasant surprise, that even though they didn't win they can work on improving the piece.

Until the New Year I'll be posting weekly- as I need to fit in all those regular Christmas tasks over the next 3 weeks.

If you've been doing NaNoWriMo, congratulations. Even if you didn't reach the target amount by today, 30th November, you'll still have learnt a lot from it, and have a story with potential waiting to be discovered.

Right, I'm off to get on with that list... :D