Monday 29 April 2013

Detailed Instruction Are Hard to Write...

Essential: they have to be written better than flat-pack instructions...

Now I've been having a busy few days in a writing related way- must add to my word count.

Nottingham Writers' Club have a one-day workshop taking place on the 11th May, (plug, plug :-) ) but with all the road closures and tram track construction going on, it's been necessary to update our direction information.

Issue one: You can no longer use the walkway from inside the station to get to the tram platform. You need to leave the station and get to the tram from outside- down the road in this case...

Issue two: The station building is undergoing a massive update, so entrance and exits are different.

So I needed to write out detailed instructions for anyone arriving by train and needing to know how to get to the workshop via the tram.

It was tough.

You have to start with putting yourself in the role of the person needing to access the tram- not something I need to do as I use the bus.
Getting left or right correct.
Instructions to get to the access point for the tram via stairs/ lift depends on whether you come out the front of the building- through a hardboard walk-through tunnel, or via the side exit- nearer to where you have to go...

Once you get off the tram it's a brief walk. But it only takes being vague about where you cross over the road and the hapless writer could end up in the cinema or the shopping centre, so it does become a little bit like dot to dot with a few landmark buildings thrown in to help.

Almost there.
Crossing the road without getting run down by the traffic coming round the corner, it takes you a little out of the way you need to go, so remember to say, go right then immediately left.

I had to mentally imagine what would be seen, and produce the right description to ensure the walker looked in the correct direction; one minute you're following the road and then you suddenly have to ignore it - as it turns away from where you're going.

The last fifty yards was rewritten three times!

And then I began editing- well it was a bit long, and people might give up reading it.

Changing one word for a much better descriptive word, then realising that no, the first one was the best, and yes I could make that sentence shorter...

Finally I was finished. I tell you, writing fiction is much easier and less headache inducing.

Now I just hope the powers-that-be don't make any more changes between now and the 11th May...

Thursday 25 April 2013

Fortunately I Can Sit Down to Write...

I've been suffering since last week.
Apple Tree in Spring

I woke up last Saturday morning with a pain in my left foot- looked like my instep was bruised as it was red and I could only hobble on that leg. :(

So I was a pitiful sight getting round the garden with my secateurs trying to help with the 'spring' (ha ha) tidy up- that should have been completed a month ago!

I've just about stopped hobbling now and can flex my foot without discomfort. But I could have done without the busy week as it limited my writing time, and meant I've not given my foot much rest..

But I've made up for it, today I added 897 words to yesterday's 482. The novella is about to pick up speed as I head toward the last three or four chapters. I'm on chapter 12 currently.

The break from writing over Easter did help me get my thoughts in line, and the content of a couple of chapters have changed order from my original outline.

I have decided that working on the skeleton of the first draft does seem to work for me.

Scene order and content, along with dialogue has been my framework, with any detail where I knew what I needed to know already, written in as I've gone along.

I've got some questions noted too- like yesterday, my heroine Sarah, was weeding the vegetable patch when the baddie turns up.
We have lots of tools for gardening nowadays, but what did they use in the early 1800's- and could it have been used as a defensive weapon if needed? I thought holding a nearby spade in front of her might work, but were they heavy, easy to lift?

Fortunately I have a few reference books which might have details, otherwise I'll be Googling...

Draft 2 is going to be a lot harder work as quite a few of the chapters lack description, and I have one scene that I marked in place on the manuscript, but haven't written yet- as the description elements in the scene need to be right.

It's very true about only ever needing about 10% of your research in the book, but you still need to understand the other 90%...

Draft 3 will be the checking for inconsistencies, plot holes, corrections; then Draft 4 will be editing.

Once I'm at that stage I have a couple of readers to give me feedback- if I've missed anything, or something isn't understood, they'll tell me.

Meantime I have a few competition entries for the writers' club to get on with...


Image courtesy of Vlado and www.freedigitalphotos.net