If you’ve read Fireside Fairy Tales or excerpts of my writing on Instagram, you might have spotted some Gaelic words. And lots of Scots.
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Setting is perhaps more important to Fantasy writers than any other genre.
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Hasn’t it been a while? Winter and lockdown wove a web of quiet days, book reading and nurturing creative seedlings. Now those seeds are nudging their way out of the snow, it’s time to come out of hibernation…
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Do writing affirmations really work? Yes, I’ve concluded, to a spooky degree. I took an interest after discovering that one of my key love languages (as a Scot, my toes curl writing that sentence) is Words of Affirmation.
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I’m going on an overdue adventure to the edge of a dark forest, where limbless horsemen canter in ghostly procession…
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I’m euphoric! I’ve just finished the first draft of Against the Sun, my latest novel, and it only took four months. Scenes are (mostly) in the right place and my protagonist’s arc is solid. There isn’t a spare character in sight and I’m confident this book will take less time to edit than my last. I owe it all to Eva Deverell and her One Page Novel course.
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Why can’t first drafts be perfect? I knew I wouldn’t get away scot-free, but wasn’t quite prepared for the mountain of revisions. Where was my Zadie Smith moment - grabbing a bottle of champagne and having a introspective moment of satisfaction and emptiness in my garden? Instead I’d reached a false summit, the way forward shrouded by mist. I didn’t know where to go next.
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On Monday I asked via Instagram Stories whether you’d like a post on searching for literary agents or how to keep a writer’s notebook - as you can see, the writer’s notebook won!
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I have a rocky relationship with word counts. They go down when I want them to go up, and soar out of control when I’d rather be concise. I’ve found word counts motivating, stifling, an uplifting measurement of progress and a way to disguise floundering as progress.
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I’ve been many different types of writer. Aspiring. Pantser. Plotter. Bad. Solitary. Slow. Multi-tasker. Recently my writing has shifted into a new phase. I’ve never felt more in tune with the way I write and what I want to write about. It made me realise I’ve changed a lot from my teenage, Tolkien-inspired scribbles…
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Today I want to show you what my writing process looks like - from first idea to finished story. I’ve avoided creating these types of post in the past because, being unpublished, I don’t feel like a ‘proper writer’. But you don’t spend the majority of your life writing without developing some kind of process. I like to think mine is pretty foolproof by now, so I thought I’d outline it here for anyone who might find it useful.
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I draw endless inspiration from my immediate surroundings, but every so often I like to escape. Usually, I do this by reading a book. I’m sure you do, too. But what if you don’t have a book? Or the worlds therein aren’t to your liking? What if you could escape to a world of your own invention with just a piece of paper, a pencil and your imagination?
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Six drafts, 569 pages and 116,235 words later, I finished writing my book. It’s been a bumpy road, and a longer journey than anticipated. If this process has taught me anything it’s how to not write a novel! I thought I’d reflect on some of mistakes, and how I’ll approach book two differently.
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I’m currently editing the end of my first novel. It’s a goal that’s long eluded me. My writing failures outweigh my writing successes, yet somehow I’m putting the finishing touches to a story I’ve tried to tell for years, but never had the skills to do so until recently. I’m chalking this win up to one defining trait…
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I’m sitting down to type this on a peaceful, snowy day. The kind that inspires curling up with novel edits and getting lost in a world of my own invention. Editing my book used to feel daunting, but once I found a process and surrendered to diving deeper into my story, I couldn’t tear myself away.
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Happy 2020 – I hope you all had a restful Christmas & New Year.
Mine was the perfect balance of sleeping in, hill walking and curling up with books and Christmas chocolate.
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I wanted to share this post to let you in on a little secret: I don’t have an ideal writing set-up. However, that doesn’t stop me from taking my writing seriously every single day.
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September always brings a flurry of creative inspiration and motivation. There’s something about the crisping leaves, sharp air that fills me with productive zeal. I get those ‘back to school’ feelings even though I’ve been out of ‘education’ for eight years.
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