Category Archives: #am writing (and all things writing related)

Q is for  Questions Answered

(Post 17 on my WIP)

On my Facebook Page I asked for Questions to answer about my WIP or my attitude to writing, life, the universe or anything. Thanks to those that responded.

Nicola King asked

‘What attracts you to the YA genre?’

I actually made an attempt to answer that for my Y post last year – here – but I’m going to try and expand on that here.
Firstly, because it’s the genre I mainly remember reading and enjoying and I suppose I’m still a teenager at heart.
Secondly, because I think generally it is really well written and lacks the ‘pretension’ of some adult fiction. The books are not just about the writing or the message but are about the story. I think story and creating characters that you care about are vital.
Thirdly, because I think reading literature is a fantastic way to learn about the world and to test out your opinions. Teens are forming their identities and their worldview and are potentially more open to possibility – this brings with it a certain amount of responsibility in writing for that audience though. There was a really interesting blog post about this, and specifically the topic of incest within YA, on Serendipity Reviews yesterday.. Nicola Morgan says though (in the comments on this post here) ‘NOTHING is too dark for YA! (Though it does have to be handled properly.)’

Stacey Woods asked

‘How many books to you envisage in this series? Would you limit yourself and set it as a trilogy, or would you like it to be seven books for example?’

It was interesting that Stacey asked this the day after I had spoken to another A-Z blogger KC – here -  about investment in a series and wanting to know how many books it was likely to be up front. I have to be aware that I do like to know up front and do get a little bit irritated when just one, or two or three extras are added so I need to be careful what I say here because I may be tying myself to it. I am starting to come to the realisation that I am a bit of a control freak and I like some certainty in my life.

So I would want to set some sort of limit and I’m going to say 4 (I have some kooky reasons why) – I think any more and I may run out of fresh ideas for the series but any less and I’m not sure I can say everything I want to about particular events. It seems like a nice balanced number too.

Jay Sawdy asked

‘As a reader I get very attached to characters and can feel annoyed if unpleasant things happen to them. Is that also a problem as a writer? Do you find yourself wanting to give everyone a happy ending even if that’s perhaps less realistic?’

Hopefully you can see from my Names post that I am already attached. Already some pretty unpleasant things have happened to Jane. Of course I feel bad for her and want her to have the happy ending but, if she gets it, it won’t be an easy ride. When learning about writing you learn that characters grow through the challenges they face. There are certain things I won’t put her through but I do have a tendency to find darker ideas easier to write. I think for me it is a way of working through certain issues that I do or would find challenging.
Who doesn’t love a happy ending? But bittersweet ones can work well too. I’m not sure I can do the whole wrap everything up in a neat bow and have everyone walking into the sunset together thing but on balance I hope the good outweighs the bad, who knows I might be feeling all sappy when it gets to the end.

And

‘How do you go about doing research for writing ideas?’

The way I’m reading this question (sorry if it’s not the right interpretation) is that Jay is asking that once I have come up with a general idea how do I use research to develop that idea. I guess as this is my first attempt at a novel this is tricky to answer. I do mostly try to do the whole ‘write what you know thing’ but there have been times when I have researched elements of a story. I mostly use the internet or buy books or watch films maybe that will give me the information I need. Like I said I took the forensics course to find out some things but may well once the first draft is in the can ask to work with some of the students on the forensic science course at the uni I work at. I’d also like to do a ‘Castle’ and spend some time with the police – I think that would be really interesting but not sure how feasible that would be.
This is going to sound odd and isn’t really relevant to the WIP but I kind of have always wanted to go to a huge library and sit sifting through some microfiche. Maybe I should add that to my Bucket List. Actually maybe I could look up something from the 1960s for this book (an era I did look at on one of my OU courses) – anyone fancy a trip?

Finally, Catherine Donald asked

‘I’m interested in the way you write the characters. Do you already have their personalities pre-formed in your mind before you start writing, or do they develop as you write the story?’

I don’t know if you saw the Ideas post and the comments http://kirstyes.co.uk/2012/04/10/i-is-for-atozchallenge-2012/ but Teresa, I believe correctly, identified that I am more of a ‘pantser’ when it comes to writing. This means that, although I have some rough snippets of plot and some ideas of general personality traits, that I make it up as I go. I’ve only got very basic character profiles which at some point I’m going to have to fill in to ensure consistency. Like I said in answer to Jay’s question it is through the challenges that the characters face that we learn about them – I learn about them  when I put them in those situations too. For instance I originally had one character doing something that they told me they wouldn’t do thank you very much and so I gave someone else that function. I’m really not sure where they come from but they seem to arrive fairly formed or at least I hope it seems that way. I think I’m going to have to start making notes to myself about why I make certain decisions so that I can answer questions like this easier.

Any more questions?

M is for Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder)

(Post 13 on my WIP)

I obviously can’t stop letting my day job (as an Occupational Therapist) creep into my writing. My main character Jane has Bipolar Disorder, which is more colloquially known as Manic Depression. This is a psychiatric condition that results in severe shifts in mood, from depressive lows to manic highs.

My hope is to present this condition in the book in a balanced way. For Jane it is not her ‘defining feature’ but just another part of her and, in fiction terms another barrier for her to overcome, but not an insurmountable one. One incident happens in the book that happened to Silver’s character in 90210 – I was really annoyed when I saw it because I’d already thought of the idea and obviously my version will now come later. Just goes to show there are no (or at least very few) truly original ideas in fiction.

The Time to Change campaign aims to end the stigma experienced by those with mental health conditions – why not show your support by Liking them on Facebook or by visiting their website to find out more. 1 in 4 of us is likely to experience some form of mental health problem at one point in our lives but we are still too scared to talk about it for fear of being seen and treated differently. Often those who have never experienced mental health conditions are also scared to talk about it because there is fear of the unknown. Will you pledge to at least start talking?

Writers and creative people in particular seem to, at least anecdotally, experience mental health problems frequently. I know I personally find it difficult to manage stress and have always been a very emotional person who tends to cry a lot (often when I am frustrated rather than always to do with low mood although some people struggle to understand this). I have felt judged at times when discussing this with others. One of the people on the Time to Change blog discusses the suggestion that people think you ‘can’t cope’. I also think that far too often in life people are pressurised to withdraw from stressful situations rather than the stressful situations being addressed and managed. There needs to be a balance between looking at the person and looking at the environmental aspects (as well as looking at occupations – but that discussion’s for another post).

To find out more about bipolar disorder why not start here at the Royal College of Psychiatrists website.

Do you think there are enough ‘positive’ portrayals of characters with mental health conditions in fiction?

K is for Kyle Carey

(Post 11 on my WIP)

Kyle Carey is the first man that Jane meets after joining the academy, and after having sworn off men to concentrate on her studies. Like Jane he has a connection at the academy, his cousin Brian works as the chief administrator. Unlike Jane only a few people know this. He really doesn’t want the nepotism comments Jane’s been getting. He worked bloody hard to secure his place at the academy thank you very much.
Kyle’s skills are ‘more of the physical kind’ and he is one of the few trainees to pass the circuits test first time, just.
Being an attractive type, it isn’t long before he has female attention, not least from Gabrielle. But he has his sights set on Jane and he’s not shy about letting her know.

Michael Trevino is actually a fair bit shorter than I envisioned Kyle but he’s got the dark brooding looks.

If you were Jane would you cancel Man-Lent early for Kyle?
In general how do you decide what to prioritise in your life?

J is for Jane Thomas and Jamie Trainer

(Post 10 on my WIP)

Like Gabrielle, Jane has already said hello – here. But, as our main character I think she is allowed more blog exposure. I’m also going to more formally introduce her stepbrother Jamie Trainer (initialling things to distinguish ownership wouldn’t work in their house).

I see Jane as being similar looks wise to Amber Tambyln – an actress I’ve admired since seeing her in Joan of Arcadia.

Here’s a glimpse of Jane and Jamie’s first meeting.

Jamie scuffed in first, he had a mop of brown hair that a comb would probably get stuck in. Jane thought he’d be better off cutting it all off and starting again.
‘Jane, this is Jamie Trainer,’ Jamie gave her a nod and a grin that made her feel that perhaps he wasn’t like the sullen teenage boys in the higher school. ‘and this,’ her mum continued, ‘is his father, Sergeant Benjamin Trainer, he’s a policeman with the local station. We met,’ her mum shot him a coy smile, ‘when I parked somewhere I shouldn’t have. He gave me a ticket and his phone number.’
Sergeant Benjamin appeared very serious. Surely if you liked someone you would have let them off a ticket. Jane realised that they had probably been told more about her than she had about them but decided to introduce herself anyway. ‘I am Jane Violet Thomas, I am nine years old and six months and,’ she faltered not quite sure what she wanted to say next, so plumbed for something in between the whole truth and a lie, ‘and I think I’m happy to meet you.’
She got another grin from Jamie, a sideways glance from her mother and a frown from the sergeant. She chose to ignore the adults and wink conspiratorially at the boy who would, within six months become her stepbrother.

Jane and Ben do not see eye to eye and part of it appears, at least to Jane, to be his favouritism of his biological child.

Jamie and Jane at first tolerated each other. Their mutual presence had meant that things were changing and neither of them much liked change. Jamie who had grown up with only his father’s influence and discipline after his mother died in childbirth was better behaved, at least on the surface. Jane who had been let off small bouts of naughtiness because she had just lost her father was not used to being told no. It seemed that no was one of the Sergeant’s favourite words. No Jane you can’t keep that big room, Jamie is older and needs the space to study hard so he can follow in my footsteps and join the police force, no Jane we can’t take you to ballet and horse riding, Jamie’s police cadets programme is very expensive, what about a horse riding lesson once every two months. No Jane you can’t get down from the table until we all, Jamie included, have finished.

But despite this Jamie and Jane become true friends and Jamie steps into the protective older brother role with ease. She is devastated when he dies and spends the book trying to solve his murder.

When I was searching for images of my characters I actually found this picture of Orlando Bloom and Amber Tamblyn together and found out they have acted with each other before (along with Colin Firth in Main Street, which I’d never heard of). How freaky is that?

Can you get a sense that our Jane may not always be the most reliable narrator?
Do you think Jane should break the ethics of time travel to get her brother back?

I is for Ideas and Investment

(Post 9 on my WIP)

I’d tried NaNoWriMo a few times with the same old idea that I’d had since before uni (which involved Vampires! – Pre-Twilight but Buffy had just started) and I barely made 2,000 words for a number of years, I think because I had already started it and was already invested in making it ‘right’.
So for November 2010 I decided I’d try something new that I wasn’t so invested in. The whole idea of NaNoWriMo is to go for quantity over quality, cutting off your inner editor and just writing, writing, writing that first draft with the plan to edit at a later date.

I really wanted to succeed having decided to gain sponsorship for completing the challenge. My Auntie had been diagnosed with cancer so I chose Cancer Research UK as the charity to support (she actually passed away in December 2011 and I still have plans to organise something to raise money for the Hospice that cared for her in her last days).

I read a post last week (sorry can’t remember where now, visited too many good blogs – do tell me if it was yours) about people thinking writers have to have some special power and one foot in a special world of inspiration and then once they have their idea everything forms and comes together like magic. But as most writers themselves know really it takes a lot more hard work and stress and hair pulling than that.

So, where did I get the idea for Training Time?

Well after I’d decided I was in NaNo for the long haul this year I woke up one morning with this idea. Magic, hey?
Well no, not really. To be honest I wish I’d written down then what the actual dream had been about because I can’t remember now. I just know that there was a girl and she was going to a time police academy. I think (sorry my memory really is shocking) this was actually only a few days before the challenge started but I decided to do a bit of work on identifying characters and I came up with a list of 30+ prompt images/scenes etc to keep me inspired. So I guess I started with a bit of ‘plotting’ but only at a basic level – then I moved to a lot of ‘pantsing’ writing in a notebook or iPad on trains in Italy while I was on holiday. Then I came back and went to work and didn’t get much written. Eventually in the last weekend of the challenge I wrote 12-15 thousand words on the Saturday and Sunday to reach my target skipping to the end because ‘I wanted to know how it ended’.

Then I literally did nothing with it until Nov 2011 other than look at it every now and then and only managed to add 10,000 words in that month before sending it off to Beta-readers (as I’d promised). Now I’m back to ‘plotting’ stage and using Scrivener (more about that in a later post) to organise myself. I think because this book is about time travel it is going to need more intricate planning to make sure everything is where it is meant to be (more on that later too). I also think I work better in chunks of time. I know all the advice is to write a little every day but this just doesn’t seem to work for me (it never has with essays either).

Of course I’ve heard all of the horror stories of your first completed novel being a load of rubbish and often consigned to the back os a drawer never to be seen again but I really hope thats not the case and that it gets to be published even if I’m the one doing it myself. Because now I’m well and truly invested and already talking about sequels before I’ve completed the first.

Do you write everyday or have a different routine?
Where do you get your Ideas from?
Do stories pop into your head fully formed or require lots of nurturing?

Actually I’m wondering if everyone just has a bad memory like me so thinks ideas come from nowhere.