From writing to voodoo
It’s Sunday morning and so this is the day when I write about whatever is on my mind. Today is writing and photography. Writing is about expressing yourself and I try to do that with photography and with the editing in particular. I read a lot and some of the articles I read are boring, which is a crime for a writer.
How to write a novel | antagonism
If you have been following my story, you will know it’s about Nick, who went travelling in a camper van, after his parents were killed in a car accident. He met Lily, an American and formed a love-hate relationship. He is now working as an assistant gardener for Terrance Knight, the Lord of the Manor.
How to write a novel | Writers block
If you’re following my story about Nick and Lily, you’ll know that they have a love-hate relationship. Nick is typically English and Lily is American and almost his opposite. I need humorous dialogue between Nick and Lily, but I can’t think of any. Is it writer’s block? Do I need to be inspired? Maybe, I am approaching the problem wrongly.
How to write a novel | places
The story so far in my attempts to write a novella length story, is that our protagonist; Nick, buys a camper van and sets off on an adventure. He travels the English Countryside until he meets Lily, an American from New England and forms a love-hate relationship with her. I don’t really want to go on a road trip through the English Countryside and so I’ll have to use my imagination. I can imagine Nick stopping in a quaint village and watching cricket on the village green. It could look something like my picture!
How to write a novel | relationships
If you have followed my blog about writing fiction, then you know the story so far. Nick lives in Birmingham, England in his late parents house, near the airport. His parents were killed in a horrible accident while on holiday in America and Nick is now traumatised by those events. He travelled to America to bring his parents home and now hates all things American. He travels around England in a campervan until he meets Lily, a young American woman and forms a love-hate relationship. (more…)
How to write a novel | transatlantic ideas
If you have followed my blog about writing fiction, then you know the story so far. Nick lives in Birmingham, England in his late parents house, near the airport. His parents were killed in a horrible accident while on holiday in America and Nick is now traumatised by those events. He travelled to America to bring his parents home and now hates all things American. He is quite well off, having inherited his parents home and benefited from their insurance. Now he wants to run away and find adventure. He has bought a 30 foot long camper van and has decided to sell everything and drive around the English Countryside and look for adventure. (more…)
How to write a novel | English Countryside
If you are following this series of blog about writing fiction. You will know the story so far. Nick’s parents were killed in America and he now hates all things American. He is going to sell everything and travel around the English countryside, until me meets an American woman and forms a love-hate relationship with her. I think that gives us a basis for a romantic adventure with lots of twists and turns. I still need a name for the woman and I need a starting point for this journey. (more…)
How to write a novel | The story so far
If you have read the previous blogs in this series on how to write a novel you will know that I have some ideas for a novella. The story so far is about Nick, who is an only child and has lost his parents in a terrible accident while they were on holiday in America. He now hates all things American and has decided to get away from it all and travel around England in his camper van. Is he looking for something or running away from something? Maybe both? He does odd jobs on his travels using his skills as a gardener and handyman. He then meets a girl and forms a love-hate relationship with her. She is American! What is her name? I have one suggestion so far; Mauve. Well, I suppose it colourful… (more…)
How to write a novel | Research
You can make it all up when you’re writing fiction, but it makes it more plausible if you do some research. I tried to research this lake in the picture, to try to find the history of it this morning. Times change though and records get lost, so making research more difficult. You can however look at research from a different angle and that was what I did researching this lake which was enlarged in the 1980’s to prevent the river from flooding. I researched the river instead and that turned up more information. Incidentally, it’s Forge Mill Lake in Sandwell Valley, in case local readers don’t recognise it. The river that passes alongside it is the River Tame. (more…)
How to write a novel | details and authenticity
When you are writing fiction it’s a good idea to make it plausible by including a few details that might otherwise go unnoticed. Last week I introduced you to my character Nick who I said could be someone who dreams of becoming a gypsy and travelling. I thought maybe he could tour England in a camper van and that would give us a nice scenario for an adventure, a thriller or even a romance. If I wanted something really unusual, he could do the tour on a canal boat and experience England’s 17th century canals. Take a look at the picture and think what little details might make the story sound more authentic. There are fancy little benches along the canal on this stretch and notice the black and white mooring points too. A lot of narrowboats chose this place to spend the night a couple of weeks ago. (more…)
How to write a novel | The storyline
When you start to write fiction, whether it’s a short story, novella or a full length novel; you need some idea of what you’re going to write before you start. I find taking a notebook and writing a few notes helps and you also need to think about it a lot. You need a beginning, a middle and an end. You need a climax for the story and maybe an ante climax. First however, you need a protagonist, your main character and a place to start. I think I’ll call my protagonist Nick; it took me a while to think of that name. We often choose names we are familiar with, but they aren’t always suitable. We don’t really want our friends asking if we named our psychopath after them… (more…)
How to write a novel | perceptions
We all have different perceptions of our environment and of others. You write from your own particular viewpoint. I’ve given you another picture today, that might inspire you to be creative. Creativity can be a solitary pursuit, but it’s important to realise that you create for other people as well as yourself. You write, take photographs, create art, sing or dance. Others will have a perception of you based upon what you create, because it’s part of you; part of your personality. (more…)
How to write a novel | Planning
Before you start writing a novel, you need to plan a little. Who will be your narrator? It can be anyone. The narrator can be omnipotent, all knowing and even know what your characters are thinking. You have to be careful with your narrator, a neutral narrator who describes what is happening is one option. Your narrator could be a ghost, a neighbour, a pirate who says, ‘Ar’ a lot… Your narrator can be anyone. I thought about this when I was planning a story and considered having the narrator as a neighbour of the protagonist who observes him. It would be different… (more…)
How to write a novel | People and Places
I think a photograph can inspire us to write about a place, but you need people in that place. In this photo is the ruins of a priory, would that inspire you to write? In the novel I wrote in 2009 I had the main character travel from England where he complained constantly about the weather to a Mediterranean island where he hoped to enjoy beer, babes and sand. The contrast between the two places made it more interesting. We go through life going through a chain of events and we constantly make comparisons; so it can be useful to make comparisons between extremes in a story. (more…)
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