My Writing Process – Third Draft

1st March 2015Leave a comment

The third draft should be easy. I’ve planned, I’ve edited, I’ve spotted and solved every problem. The comments from my agent tend to be minor and easy to fix. I should be able to do the third draft in a matter of days.
However sometimes my agent spots something more fundamental. If this is the case, I go back to first draft mindset and run through my whole writing process again.

My agent, Anne Clark, was an editor for many years. I respect her views and always try to address the issues she raises. She is the first professional editor to look at the manuscript but she is also my sales executive. She has to have total confidence in me and my work to be able to sell it.
We are a team. We work together to get my manuscript right enough to convince a publisher to publish it.

But luckily I don’t usually have to make too many changes to the third draft. I might add a line to strengthen a character or crank up the tension another notch.
And then I’m done. I’ve made every change I’m going to make at this stage, my To Do list is empty and I’m dying to work on something else for a change.
It’s time to hand my book over to Anne, who either forwards it to my publisher if the book is already under contract or she starts her process of submitting it to publishers hoping to find someone who loves it as much as we do. I try and forget all about that book and start pinning cards on the board to develop a new story

My Writing Process – Second Draft

5th February 2015Leave a comment

The second draft is where all the real work happens. My first draft has been left to gather dust while my brain has been focused on something else, but I can’t put it off any longer. I choose a day when I’m not going to be interrupted and I read my printed out first draft straight through.
I’m not interested in the punctuation or vocabulary at this stage. I might mark a paragraph with ‘Extend’ or ‘Cut’ or ‘Dragging here’.
I also add things to my To Do list.

It’s a weird mixture of research points I need to check (I try not to interrupt my first draft by browsing the internet), reminders of things to check over all – 40 illustrations is the number of illustrations the publisher has budgeted for – and nitty gritty stuff like how I refer to the competition in the story – National Brainiac Championship Final.
Often it has more scribble than typed out notes, although if it gets to the point that I can’t read my own writing, I’ll type it all out afresh.

If I feel the book is dragging, normally in the first half, I print it out in small font and lay it out on the floor and mark the chapters that need condensing. If I’m lucky someone helps me.
I find looking at the manuscript as a whole, rather than the words on the page, allows me to be more subjective and therefore more brutal with my axe.
If the beginning part of the novel is dragging, then I need less pages. I don’t argue with Louie the editing cat because I’m working with the door open now. If something needs changing, I change it. I go back to my cards on the board (see my blog post on planning) and work out which cards to pull down or condense into less chapters. I often find the flabbiness has crept in because I ignored my plot outline and wrote a few extra chapters I hadn’t planned. But I needed to write those chapters to make certain points. So I try and work out how to make those points in less chapters so I can get back to the lean book I wanted to write.

Now it’s time to start writing the second draft.
On the first day I work on the first chapter. On the second day I look at Chapter One and Two. Day Three – Chapter One, Two and Three. On the fourth day I don’t bother working on Chapter One any more.
I work through the book working on three chapters at a time. I’m on the computer now. If I need to write anything more than a sentence, I go back to pen and paper. Sometimes I’m cutting and sometimes I’m adding. The word count doesn’t change that much, but the story becomes clearer and stronger.
Once I’ve worked on some of the early chapters, I share my work with my critique buddies. These writers are some of my closest friends. We share our work and share our thoughts on our work. I reflect on what they say and then adjust my work again until the second draft is finished. The second draft takes months rather than weeks. For me, it is the hardest part of the process.
When I’m done, I send the manuscript to my agent and then it’s time for the third draft.

My Writing Process – First Draft

4th February 2015Leave a comment

I prefer to write my first draft longhand, in A5 notebooks. The handwriting is illegible. The pages are scruffy and full of crossings out full of half finished sentences with not much punctuation. The most important thing is to get it written not get it right. It feels fantastic when I’ve finished a chapter and I don’t have the energy to write another crazy jumble of words. So I type up what I have written, adding a few full stops and commas but not much else.
Stephen King, the great horror writer, describes the first draft as ‘writing with the door shut’. No one else is going to see what I’ve written so I can write anything.

I feel good when I’ve finished a chapter, but I feel ecstatic when I’ve finished the book. This is a very dangerous time for me. I am invincible. I have written the best book ever. I am going to be more successful than JK Rowling.

I am totally deluded.

I don’t need anyone to confirm my delusions. I don’t show my first draft to anyone. I print it off, file it away and go and work on something else for a while.

The first draft is my way of ensuring that the story hangs together. That it is ‘enough’. That I have enough characters, enough action, enough theme, enough subplot.

I’m dressing the skeleton I created in the planning stage in loose fitting clothing and I’m the only one who thinks it looks beautiful.

It’s only in the second draft that I make my skeleton something I can share with others.

My Writing Process – Planning

1st February 2015Leave a comment

I like to plan my work because it stops me worrying about where I am going. I only need to concentrate on how to get there.
I like to kick an idea about in the back of my head for a few weeks/months/years before I start scribbling notes down. Character notes, snatches of dialogue, a first stab at a first chapter, how it’s going to end.
When I feel I’ve got the basis of a story, I write a few words for each ‘chapter’ on a card and pin it on the plot wall in front of my desk.

I’m not really sure if each card will end up being a chapter, but I put them up in the order that the story progresses. I spend ages staring at the wall of cards, rearranging them, adding new ones until I think I’m done.
Next I write the story out in a page or two. This document will one day turn into the synopsis that my agent will use to sell my story. If I find it difficult to explain what is happening on the cards (and in my brain) then I realise I’ve got a problem with the story which needs to be fixed.
I work between my written synopsis and my cards on the wall until I feel happy that everything hangs together. If my agent agrees and I decide to go ahead with writing the book, I create my control document.
This consists of a To Do List (which is blank at this stage) followed by a detailed chapter by chapter plot outline. This document is for my use only.

Here’s an example from Help I’m a Genius. This one has got scrawled additions to it. I probably wrote them after I’d finished the second draft and before I started the third.
The first line of Chapter 5 reads ’He’s going to humiliate himself. It’s going to be torture.’ That was probably the words I had written on the card on the wall. I’ve added ‘He feels left out’. It’s important I know how my character is feeling at this point and I want the reader to have maximum sympathy for him. I then go on to describe what sort of things are going to happen in this chapter. His sister has got another tap dancing certificate, his baby brother has a sticker from nursery. Dan has nothing to celebrate. Hopefully the reader is now feeling ‘Poor Dan!’
Then Dad drops the bombshell. He has a new job in another country. The whole family are going to have to move to America.
In my plot outline I try and make sure every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, a joke or a dilemma.
I now have my story in three different formats – cards on the wall, synopsis and plot outline. By using different formats, I see my story from different angles. The story has a shape rather than being a jumble of thoughts.
When I’m done – usually after a few weeks – I’ll start writing. Next step – First Draft.

My Writing Process

1st February 20152nd November 2016Leave a comment

Every writer has their own way of working. There is no right or wrong way. It’s a personal thing but however a writer does it – they spend many hours doing it.

The process I have developed over the last ten years is :
1. Plan
2. First Draft
3. Second Draft
4. Third Draft
If I’m really lucky, I then get the chance to work with a publisher to turn the book I have written, into the one they want to publish. Whoever knew I was going to be published in German first?

I didn’t used to plan my writing. I was so thrilled to have an idea that all I wanted to do was write it. I wrote four books that way. The first two had no ending. In book three, I didn’t introduce the baddies until the last chapter. No wonder it was so boring. By the time I had ‘finished’ book four I knew it was too thin but I didn’t know what to do about it. I even had an agent and an editor very keen on the idea but I hadn’t got a clue how to whip it into shape.
It suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t know how to construct a plot or a story. I only knew how to enjoy writing. Over the next two years, I taught myself plot, structure and planning and it changed my life forever.

Over the next few blog posts I am going to share my writing process with you, so get a hint of what it is like to write the way I do.

Library No More.

31st January 2015Leave a comment

In my last blog post I claimed to do all my writing in libraries, Peckham Library being my favourite. That was true for about eight years, but that has all changed now.

This is my new writing companion, Mickey. He is a rescue dog and is about two years old. He appears to be a collie/lurcher cross which means he is always into mischief, loves chasing things and is very fast. Sometimes he is a distraction, but mostly he is a lovely friend who nags me when I don’t get enough exercise.

He takes a good selfie.

He has his own chair in my study.

He likes to choose a book to read.

So now I have to stay home and keep him company while I work. Although he can be a very harsh critic when he gets his paws on my manuscript.

That page was rubbish. Can we go for a walk now?

My Writing Habit

26th January 2015Leave a comment

For me, good writing is all about a good writing habit. Routine is very important. I like to go swimming in the morning then I head for the library which is right next door to the swimming pool.
I need to write a chapter to feel that I’ve achieved something. That’s about 1,500 words if I’m in first draft mode. I write long hand, in fountain pen, first but always type up what I’ve written before I go home.
Writing a novel is all about re-writing and editing your work. When I’m editing the word count doesn’t mean much, it’s the number of hours that count. I like to stay in the library for between two and five hours. It’s normally hunger which drives me out.
I don’t have the internet on my laptop, but now I have a smart phone I tend to check my emails occasionally, especially if I’m waiting to hear from my agent. But I’ve taken Facebook off my phone and have given up Candy Crush Saga completely. As I keep reminding myself – I’ve got a book to write!

A Very British Book Launch

25th July 2014Leave a comment

It took thirty years, but my first book has finally arrived in the world.

Hilfe ich bin ein Alien was translated and published by German publishers Coppenrath in June 2014.

They have made a truly beautiful book, with illustrations by Der Anton. Even the endpapers are lush. But you’ll have to buy a copy to see for yourself!

Needless to say, having waited for 30 years, I had a massive party to celebrate. What are the essential elements of a British Garden Party? Rain, of course! Not enough to spoil the day, but enough to make it a truly British affair.

Between the raindrops, a huge gathering of friends – writers and non-writers – drank Pimms, Prosecco and tea, and ate cake.

My book cover was so brilliant I had it made into a cake.

I was thoroughly spoiled with flowers and gifts and great company. Thanks everyone for making my first book launch so special.

Me with Anne Clark (my lovely agent) and Cedric the Master of Ceremonies

A group of fantastic friends eating too much cake

Inspirational Books for Writers

21st May 2014Leave a comment

I have a massive collection of books that give writing advice. I’ve read loads over the years. I always borrow any I see in the library and buy any recommended to me by other authors or people in publishing.

I even have a bulging ‘How to Write’ bookshelf. Some books are more useful than others. Some have highlighted passages and those sticky pointers that remind me where the good passages are. Sometimes I read a book and only come out with one piece of salient advice. Other times a book becomes a bible to me and I carry it around with me like a favourite teddy.

I haven’t finished all the books on my shelf but I wouldn’t get rid of any of them in case there is something I can learn at a different stage in my writing journey.

One day I will read ‘Story’ by Robert McKee. I’m sure it’s full of great advice only I’m not clever enough to decipher his writing style just yet.
I find it reassuring to have my How To books at hand. I’ve had to learn how to write and these books have helped me. And I’m well aware that the process hasn’t ended yet. I never stop learning how to write.

There is one book I like to read every year in those dark days between Christmas and New Year when my SAD is at it’s worst and I’m feeling as black as hell-in-a-powercut. That is Stephen King ‘On Writing’. If you are a writer and you are thinking of giving up, read this life affirming book right to the end and you will return to your writing with a new vigour and realise how lucky you are.

And now there is a new book for me to read every year. ‘Bird by Bird’ by Anne Lamott is a funny, inspiring set of essays by someone who clearly understands the mind of a writer.
Big thanks to Sara O’Connor whose recommendation filtered down to me through a circuitous route of author friends.

‘On Writing’ and ‘Bird by Bird’ don’t tell me how to write, but they remind me why I write; which is the sort of inspiration I need on those dreary days at the end of the year. I am a writer and just like Stephen King and Anne Lamott I find it hard sometimes. But I love it just the same.

Stationery Awesomeness #1

10th March 2014Leave a comment

Like all writers, I am obsessed with stationery. Pens, notebooks, filing systems. I have them all and when something new comes out, I have to buy it.
Some stationery is beautiful like these rubbers which I don’t want to spoil by using.

Nine beautiful rubbers

Other stationery is practical like this pencil case which opens up into a pen stand when I am at the library. Just enough for the essentials. Compact and cool.

Pencil case closed

Pencil case open

All these items are available from www.bureaudirect.co.uk my current favourite stationers. Do check them out for more awesomeness and let me know what your favourite stationery items are.