Women’s fiction and chic lit

February 20, 2018

‘How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics’ – Valerie Poore

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‘How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics’ – Valerie Poore

Valerie has been a follower and commentator on my blogs for a few years, and I’ve always admired her honest, cheerful style, and been so thankful for all her support here. So when one of my other friends recommended ‘How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics’ I quickly got a kindle copy.

I wonder why it took me so long.

‘How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics‘ is an enjoyable, confidently written and entertaining account of one woman’s attempts to get to grips with small-scale farming. In this account, ignorance makes for some delightfully funny stories, which had me giggling late into the night, desperate not to wake my husband by laughing too loudly.

It was lovely to relax and read of other people’s misadventures, flirtations with disaster and a whole host of characters straight out of a modern-day Thomas Hardy. A boyfriend needing love, a dangerous(?) flirtation with a dodgy other, a mother with a carefree dress sense, and enough plot twists to leave me wondering, right up to the end.

Is this a true account, or a simple story? It could be either, and it hardly matters. ‘How to Breed Sheep, Geese and English Eccentrics’ is a delightful insight into so many of the things I should have liked to try – country living, self sufficiency, flirtation with disaster… At a time, in the 1970’s when internet, mobile phones and on-line living was a distant mirage, this account reads like an affectionate tribute to simpler times, and is instantly engaging.

Thank you, Valerie.

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February 18, 2018

‘The Dare Club’ – Margaret K Johnson

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‘The Dare Club’ – Margaret K Johnson

I first read this book a couple of years ago; so on opening the file again on my kindle, I was relieved to discover that the writing has lost none of its charm, and that the characters and situations are convincing, endearing and well drawn.

 

It becomes ever more challenging to me, to find writers that I can not only empathise with – being an author, I do empathise with a great many authors – but whose work has the ability to take my away from my everyday concerns. Call me an escapist fool, but there are times in my life when I need the suspension of my reality, and sometimes more than ever. Yet, in the past decade, I have morphed from a straight-forward reader to an author with ten years editing experience, so it becomes increasingly challenging to find a book I can read wholeheartedly, without feeling the dire necessity of assuming my ‘editor’ hat and itching to rewrite or rephrase…

Thankfully, ‘The Dare Club’ is such a book, and as I read it I heaved a sigh of relief for Margaret’s sympathetic writing, her careful editing and her attention to detail. I can recommend this book to all readers wanting a bit of fun, a bit of vicarious adventure and a few ‘There but for the grace of God’ moments too. It takes a rare book to both entertain and humour me, as well as reminding me of all the privileges I enjoy in my life.

Thank you, Margaret.

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November 23, 2017

Tiptoeing through my words

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Tiptoeing through my words

I don’t know about you, but I find writing a story an exhilarating, but somehow unnerving, experience.

What if I tell the story all wrong? Miss the chance to commit something wonderful to the page and end up with an account that is merely satisfactory? In some ways, the blank page of the empty book is so reassuring, because, in it, anything is still possible, nothing is committed, fixed or final.

I’m not a commitment-phobe, I hasten to add, it’s simply that I worry I have the wrong story, when there are so many out there to locate and try to frame with words. One might feel a certain sympathy for youngsters starting out in the world, where their horizons are so broad they too, might be wary of taking the wrong paths, a detour – or a derailment? – that might alter one’s whole course.

And in some ways, that’s how I feel every time I start a new novel. My characters will of course help me to write what they want me to – they are usually quite clear about that – but there is still this sense of embarking on a new, smooth path, which, if I am careless, might end up all crinkled and awkward.

A good friend says I have a habit of deciding that it is better to do nothing, rather than the wrong thing; what she calls a ‘clever delay mechanism’ though I suspect she is being kind. If in doubt, I do nothing; which is something my mother used to say – “If in doubt, do nowt.” So that I have very often done nothing.

Perhaps that is a little bit defeatist, and perhaps a better way when I am unsure is to inch forward with small steps. Hopefully, that will get me used to the idea of constant momentum, even if by tiny degrees; a small step is better than a stand-still.

 

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October 23, 2017

One step at a time

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One step at a time

One step at a time, one paragraph. One page, one chapter. That is how we write anything – novels, memoir – and there are no short cuts, really, in the process of producing reams of writing.

So the best thing I can recommend if you are in a hurry is to learn to type properly. It always astonishes me that in this age of technology, that people still type with one finger…Must drive them nuts! You cannot write anything well if you are typing one finger at a time.

I can only give some indication of knowing what to do, by sharing with you what I would do. So, I would, at this juncture in the creative process, ask for the words to come into my fingers, pay attention and write whatever comes, without thinking too much about syntax. That is what I do, when life works for me.

I don’t work all that well with pressure, with any sense that I have to work at this or else…! I hate the sense of threat that comes from setting a routine and then failing to meet self-imposed deadlines. So I write best when I know I’m going to enjoy it, or even, when I feel as if the words are flying through me, without conscious thought. It’s hardly deliberate, it’s more a case of an itch that has to be scratched. I can write direct onto computer, or longhand with a pen.

Each of us has different strengths that we bring to writing, and each of us has to have the courage and honesty to face up to our techniques and consciously devise a method that works. It doesn’t matter if other people call it ‘haphazard’ or ‘casual’ – if it works for you, believe in it.

And believe in your writing.

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September 26, 2017

Writing Update – works in progress

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Writing Update – Works in Progress

Okay, so perhaps three weeks ago, I completed what I thought was the ‘second full edit’ of my first novel, Lisa Somerville, and set it aside with a great sigh.

Then something rather strange happened. Quite apart from editing, I really itched to write again. And I discovered that I write best in silence. I have been listening and writing in the silence and what I have discovered quite surprises me. Perhaps you can recognise some of this.

I love, love, love!! to write. I really do enjoy giving voice to my characters, and in silence I can do this enthusiastically and with real joy.

Each character in every story has her or his own life and motivations. They each need to fully inhabit their own space. That’s to say, Susan, Sheila and Richard deserve to fully inhabit one novel; and Lisa, Simon and Chrissie to inhabit another. I humbly apologise for my failure to appreciate this sooner and beg their collective humble pardons for this oversight.

I now have to rewrite Lisa Somerville again, because when I read it afresh, I am itching to make changes and bring it to life in new ways. But before I can do that, I need a clean, clear outline for the second book of the series, Susan Scott. Because what happens in book 2 affects what happens in book 1, I must avoid repeating scenes where the lives of the characters intersect.

By writing the second book before I complete the first, I am hoping to clinch that illusive requirement, internal consistency. (I used to complain about writing backwards, but honestly, I’d rather know this has to be done, than wait around wondering why my writing is stalled.)

Though I enjoy writing, and write better with a sense of urgency, there is no especial hurry. I can enjoy writing in my own time. But while I have the enthusiasm, I must write. No dawdling please. Keep going slow and steady.

It’s all about timing. Instead of worrying that I have to do a thing by next week, I’m beginning to notice that all things happen in perfect timing, and that there is no reason in the world of what we do, to make our doing of anything any more painful, stressful or worrisome than it already is. If we are not enjoying what we are doing, why are we doing it? What might seem like a hard knock, or a tall order, simply becomes fun again.

Happy writing!

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September 25, 2017

I work best in silence

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I work best in silence

A strange discovery, hardly worthy of a blog post, you might think.

But despite the joys of free music on the internet, and despite our obsession with free, instant, brilliant music available 24/7; despite knowing that some of my best musical discoveries – Take That, Bruckner’s seventh symphony, Frank Field – have been made while I was writing, I have also re-discovered that I work best in silence.

Yes, you might think, that was fairly obvious for the close-focus line-by-line editing. But it stands true also for the creative leaps that come out of no-where, the shape shifting uplifting ideas that simply pop up one day and refuse to lie down.

So I then have to re-write the whole book, again? Introducing a whole new theme bang in the middle, with a looming deadline? No problem. I best get on and do that, then. At least I know how to start again, whereas two weeks ago – hey, even last week – I would probably have panicked. I could panic, but what would that achieve? We have to accept the ideas when they arrive, and welcome them.

I listen for ideas, and I suspect that music and noise simply drown them out or drive them away. It might make my office space a bit too quiet, sometimes, but still, is such an enormous relief to get back to some kind of system that will allow me to work consistently, and produce work that begins to approximate to what I think is good. We are such harsh critics of our own writing, but I do know when my work is not at my best, and when my enthusiasm has fled. Lately – until I rediscovered the creative power of silence – my work felt lacklustre and my enthusiasm like a wilted summer lettuce.

Now I begin, at last, to discern a solution to that, in going back to good old fashioned silence.

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March 27, 2017

Two books at once

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Two books at once

I am writing and re-writing my work. We all do this, and for me, it is an essential part of the process of proving: Allowing a work to lie fallow for a time, then going back to it, in a different mood, with new thoughts, and a more reader-like, objective view. And for most of last year, particularly because I’ve been busy with loads of other stuff, I’ve been writing one work, one book, to get it finished, I said to myself. Writing one book does, admittedly, help us to keep all our plot lines and timings internally consistent. And it is good to make a virtue of finishing a book.

But, remembering that enjoyment and motivation are what this writing is all about, I have to admit that singledom is not how I work best. Though I find it takes me quite a long time to feel that any piece of writing has reached its best – I suspect at eighteen months to two years – I don’t thrive when I’m writing only one book. Call me faithless, call me flirty…. but

Ideally – as I did when I was writing Trapped – I like to write two books at once; I need another work in the background, so that I have a kind of ‘double weave’ arrangement going on. For me, that adds flavour and depth to both works, in different ways.

When writing and editing Trapped I also had Happiness Matters on the go, which actually motivated me, adding ‘cross-fertilisation’ rewards, and helping me to take both tasks more seriously, and in the best spirit. It’s hard to explain, but two books make the whole adventure more real, and I’m less hung up – in all the wrong ways – on the one project that has all of my current attention.

It’s as if, with only one to focus on, the tone gets too serious and pedantic. Does anyone else find themselves needing two books to work on, or am I unusual in that way?

Double weave takes longer, but for me, it’s stronger.

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March 24, 2017

Rewriting again and again

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Rewriting again and again

If anyone was to ask me, ‘How many drafts did you write of Trapped before you were happy with it, before you knew it was finished?’ I might, borrowing a phrase of my grandfather’s, reply reflectively, ‘Thoosands and thoosands….’ Which, over the course of a three year period of trial, error and reconsideration, is not such an exaggeration. At least fifty drafts, then.

The lesson I can draw from this, is that for me, it takes time for the right tone, the right angles and the comfortable, conversational colour to emerge. It takes time to shed the reserve that at first, I hardly notice, and get down to a more immediate and conversational style that I really do prefer, and that I know helps me to enjoy what I write. Perhaps it is the writer’s equivalent of shyness, or a need to come closer gradually, but this process of casting and recasting simply cannot be rushed.

I’ve tried rushing, and this is what happens:-

  • The tone of my book flattens out into business-like precision, (which has its uses)
  • I start to worry about timing, timetables, word-counts, daily disciplines
  • My work flattens out even more
  • I assume this is the best I can do and become disheartened.

Now if I assume that I can always please myself, I can always write exactly what I want, whenever I want – and last night, that happened to be from eleven pm ‘til one am – if I assume that I am free to be me not just sometimes, but all times, in all places and in the midst of all my work, this is what happens:-

  • I smile and feel liberated again
  • A sense of fun and assertive joy invades my work
  • My characters are let loose and can speak to me in much fresher, clearer voices
  • My plots twist and turn nicely, because I am intrigued, instead of scared, or bored.
  • I enjoy my work, and my life

If it takes me three dozen drafts to get my books right, whether they are memoir, MBS or fiction, I better just accept that and start having fun. No more timetables, no more strategies for writing ‘a book a year’, no more ‘must get this finished today’ – because all these …anxieties…. result in work that is not my best.

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February 24, 2017

Writers do it for fun

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Writers do it for fun

At least, that is the best motivation I can discover for doing it.  Writing, I mean, floating on words, drifting, or pelting, towards worlds new and refreshing.  That must be why we do it, right?  Not for fame, fortune, or to make money, exactly.  This writing lark costs time – precious days that will not come again in this lifetime! – so fun must be the only and best reason for doing it.

Not because we have a routine.  Not because we call ourselves writers, or authors, or wordsmiths so writing is what we should do, right?  Not because that is what we have always done, or always do on a Thursday between 9 am and 4pm with an hour break for lunch.  Not because our editors are waiting, or our reading public expects…. In fact, expectation often killeth the word, shrivelling up creative pools and leaving behind a sludgy mess that maketh a mockery of art….and why would we want to work in that?

It takes courage to look past all the business of writing, to the simple joy that sparked off this whole odyssey.  It takes courage to divest oneself of all the nuts and bolts, the ropes of duty and obligation and reconnect with the spark of light and colour that we call inspiration.  But surely, without inspiration, we have nothing to power us forward….

So, when I feel discouraged or empty, I recall the reason for all of it, take a deep breath and smile at the memory, you are doing all this for love, for enjoyment.  Don’t forget.

Submitting proposals and the like, it is very easy to become discouraged.  But, since joy is the well-spring of all that authors do, no amount of criticism from professionals should derail our ambition if, ultimately, that is what makes us enthusiastic.  In fact, in the face of rejection and discouragement, it is a good idea to keep going, and keep hoping to find a way through.  By walking the path, we find a way.  There’s no other way to find out what our limits are.

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January 25, 2017

Realism in writing

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Realism in writing

 

Realism, what is that?  When we write stories, is it simply the accurate recording of circumstances and events, the faithful rendering of our characters’ personalities and ways of speaking?  Or is it more to do with accurately reflecting what happens in the world, and being a faithful channel for wonderful characters who are very keen to see the light of day, who are longing to have their say?

Currently, I suppose, I tend to the view that realism is what we want it to be.  If we are writing about unknown worlds in the future, places and galaxies that exist mostly in our heads, (Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’, for example) we can do what we like, though our internal structure has to be consistent enough to allow the plot to hang together.  Our portraits may be incomplete, fanciful, annoying, but that hardly matters if we decide it doesn’t.  We might intend to be annoying, whimsical…. So long as we do, and we can carry that off, fine.

I write about people, mainly.  I like to think of them as realistic, like anyone I might meet.  But of course, I love to think of them as somehow special too, so the gentlemen tend to be handsome, the women are usually very pretty…. I like realism, but not so much that I feel as if I’m eating cold porridge.  Make-believe has to allow for a mix of fantasy and realism.  So for me there has to be a happy ending – or at least, a satisfyingly ambivalent one; though some people would say that realistically, there ain’t no such thing…!

But there could be.  Where fantasy and realism meet, that is where, for me, every happy ending might be.  That hope is, I believe, the magic factor that keeps us coming back to stories of ‘real people’, who are just magical enough to lift us up, raise our spirits and swell our hearts with hope.

I do hope you agree.

 

 

 

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