All Went Well With the Names Session...

Pleased to say that the session I organised for yesterday's writers' club meeting went well.

Last month one of the writers had mentioned that they had 'holding names' for their main characters, and a couple of others agreed they did this too.

Personally it's not something I've ever done. I need at least a first name that is right for the man or woman of my imagination before I start writing.

But we all work in different ways, so if a holding name works for you then go with it. Sometimes it will be the right name. The important thing is that the character in the next story doesn't have the same name too...

I'd cut people images from old magazines, flyers and brochures (before they went in the recycling bin) so there was a mixture of ages, even action shots- a runner, and a climber.

I made two tables each for male and female names -  a mixture of traditional, modern, or shortened names. Plus I had two name books, an old one from 1991, and another from 2011 - classic and modern- it also included names from other nationalities. So if anyone wanted to browse for a different name choice they could.

Finally for anyone who wasn't sure of what a character bio was and what sort of things would be included I created a short explanation and half a dozen basic questions (with an example) to get started.

As I've found when doing the bios for my characters, there will often be a statement or remark that leads me to ask, why? It can get an interesting response, or even another direction for the character to go...

It was satisfying to see a room full of writers (of all levels) creating bios and sharing their experiences and views on naming characters with one another. And then hearing the results that the images had inspired was very interesting- a few had the potential to build a story around their new character because they had answers to why their character looked/acted the way they did.

I'll be back to the latest work in progress next week when my OH goes back to work- he's been busy in the garden tidying up, now the nesting birds have gone.

So I took a couple of fruit pictures, and below it's the Gooseberries. Even fruit bushes have names, and this one is 'Careless'.

A Gooseberry bush...

Multi-Tasking...

Very pleased that the temperature has gone done to nearer normal for this time of year. Last week it was a struggle to do anything, even writing was difficult.

I took a picture of the moon last Thursday night as I wanted to catch the polluted tinge that hung across it, but it was too low. By the time it was high enough it had gone above the that layer so looked a lot cleaner.

Early July Moon...

This week has been good so far. I've managed to get a couple of hours to write each day this week so I've added about 1,600 words.

It may not seem a lot but as I don't touch type that was a big improvement for me.

It's always difficult to write in the summer when it's sunny outside and there's lots of things you need to do- the plants need water and the grass needs cutting again to name but a few.

At least I'm on the downward path to the end of my current work in progress. Okay it's still only a first draft stage, but I can already see where I need to insert scenes, and make changes in the second draft.

At the moment my brain seems to be juggling thoughts on each of my three projects.

My Dorset novel has a synopsis and first four chapters. I needed to give myself some time to work on a few of the characters, to round them out a little. It's been a couple of years- longer than I intended- but now I know what works for me, I'm looking forward to getting on with it.

My Nottinghamshire novella has a complete first draft and is waiting for a complete read through before I start the second draft. I've pinpointed a few things that need changing, major and minor.

Then there's my current story, making steady progress.

There's at least another four ideas in varying stages, but fortunately those characters aren't hassling me.

(I've got a Pinterest board for each of the three stories, and adding to when I have time, but they're remaining secret.)

I'm also putting together the writing session for the writers' club next Wednesday- putting names to faces and creating bios. Hopefully some of the writers will use them as inspiration for a story...

Plus the final thing I need to do is get my entry sorted for this year's Festival of Romance, New Talent Award 2015. You can read more about it over on the website.

I'm going to enter the first chapter of my Dorset novel. It's an historical romance so fits within the specified 'romantic novel (of any kind)'. I just need to look at the word count of my first chapter as there's a maximum 2,500 word count.

So there's lots to do over the next few months.