A novel fear (or confessions of a short story writer trying to become a novelist)

Today I'm handing the blog over to The Indoor Writer as she wants to make a confession ...

In the last few weeks I've been suffering from an odd form or writing procrastination. Most writers commonly seek out any task (housework, gardening, shopping etc) to avoid writing, but I've been writing just about anything (short stories, fillers, letters, articles etc) to avoid ... working on the novel. Why? Because it terrifies me. And I can't fully explain why. I've completed one adult novel and a children's novel - so I know I can finish a longer piece of writing. I do feel under some pressure, from friends mainly, but also the writing world in general that I'm not really a writer until I get a novel published. But I think I'm scared of the commitment in time it will take to complete the first draft (not to mention editing, re-writes etc), when I could be writing other stuff that has a chance to be published.

The first novel I wrote in one year (2006-2007) when I was still working full-time and it was purely an exercise in proving I could write 80,000 words. Many of the words were okay, not bad in fact, but I've learned so much about the craft since then that I know little of the work is worth salvaging (ie it needs a complete rewrite). In 2011 I wrote a children's novel for 9 -12 yrs. Recently, this did well in the Cornerstones Wowfactor competition and I subsequently paid for a full manuscript review. The feedback was extremely positive and constructive, but before I can start submitting this again it does need a significant plot change. I'm currently letting ideas stir around in the back of my brain before restarting again.

The current WIP reached 50,000 words and then stalled, but I've recently begun writing it from scratch again. To kickstart this process I wrote several short stories around major characters. I really enjoyed this and realised that for some chapters I now have sections already completed. I also realised that I did enjoy spending time with these characters and they were easy to write. (I could go all writerly  and say they were 'speaking' to me but that sounds as if I need treatment). A further goal was to submit a synopsis and the first 3 chapters for a 1:1 review at Swanwick Summer School. I'm ashamed to admit that I sat down and completed this within 2 weeks, submitted then waited until the 1:1 meeting. In some ways this was a test. If the feedback was bad then I was prepared to abandon it before investing any more time. Wonderfully, the feedback was very positive, in fact I hardly received any negative comments at all, which was surprising for an early first draft.

When all the writing omens are good then why can't I get on with it? The 2 weeks in which I wrote the first 6,000 words were brilliant in that the words flowed, the characters did speak to me and the structure began to emerge. But I slept badly l as I couldn't shut down at the end of the day. And I was sitting in bed writing before breakfast. What's wrong with that you cry? Isn't that what novelists are supposed to do? What scares me is having to sustain this obsession for six months - as I've set the target to complete first draft by end Feb 2014 - when I have other writing goals I want to focus on as well. The joys of writing short fiction are: the craving is quickly satisfied, you can flit between genres and experiment with each new story, and a piece is ready to submit within days. Working on a full length novel (Contemporary literary fiction is my chosen genre - eeek) fails on all these points.

I am going to write Chapter 4 in September (see I've written that down now so it HAS to happen) and get the first 10,000 words ready to submit to Exeter Writer's Novel Opening Competition (closes 31 October). I'm trying to break the novel down, as if I were writing a series of short stories because I can write 1-2 a month easily. It's plotted and I'm reasonably certain I know where it's heading. But if anyone out there in blogland has any helpful hints or wise words on how to balance different writing tasks, stay (reasonably) sane and a pleasure to live with then PLEASE SHARE!

Good. Now I've got that off my chest I feel much better. Thanks LitPig.

Slipstream poet at Sentinel Quarterly

Sentinel Literary Quarterly (SLQ), an online and print magazine of international writing and art, has just appointed poet and novelist Mandy Pannett in the role of Poetry Editor. As well as poetry SLQ invites submissions of fiction, drama, essays, interviews and reviews. Check the Sentinel's website  for full submission guidelines. Mandy is Chair of the Slipstream Poets (based in West Sussex) and her fourth collection of poetry All the Invisibles was recently published (SPM Publications). She is already reviewing submissions in preparation for the next issue and says, ‘I am looking forward to being part of the team as poetry editor for SLQ, sharing the international aspect of it and hoping for lots of fine submissions from which I can select strong, innovative, meaningful poems’.

If you have suitable poems ready for submission then please send them to Mandy at poetryeditor@sentinelquarterly.com. SLQ also run fiction and poetry competitions on a quarterly basis and details of forthcoming competitions are listed here.

Can we write it?

YES WE CAN!

Okay, if you have offspring under the age of 25 then you may get that reference to 'Bob the Builder'. We're just back from Swanwick Writers' Summer School and one of the highlights of the week was hearing Curtis Jobling talk about his career in animation, film and publishing. Most recently he's known as author of the 'Wereworld' fantasy series. But he is of course best remembered for drawing 'Bob the Builder' (and not forgetting the other characters: Wendy, Spud and my favourite Pilchard the cat). He talked, at supersonic speed without drawing breath, his career history, which also included working at Aardman studios (Wallace and Gromit), drawing 'Frankenstein's Cat' and 'Ra-Ra the Lion'. Curtis drew several of these characters, which were later auctioned off (the spoof cartoon of Bob the Builder transforming into hairy WereBob sold for £165!). His latest animated creation is 'Curious Cow', which airs on Nickelodeon. If you don't get that channel then here's a link to watch  CURIOUS COW on YouTube. If you, like me, were always shouting at Wile E Coyote NOT to light the dynamite then you'll love the 'Curious Cow' - trust me, you will start shouting NO! DON"T!

Other highlights of the week were:

• James Moran's talks on screenwriting. (He wrote the screenplay for 'Severance', episodes of Spooks, Doctor Who etc)
• Zoe Lambert's workshop on writing Contemporary Short Fiction (her collection of short stories is
  
  'The War Tour')
• Morning meditation sessions before breakfast down by the lake (see picture right)
• Helping to direct a  5 min play as part of 'Write, Camera, Action' (also undressing an ex-Chief Constable - he needed help getting out of his spacesuit ... enough said)
• Workshop on comedy writing with Margaret Boulton. Just wish this had been longer than 1 hr as she had so much experience to impart.

Unfortunately Tame Teen's A/S results came out while the Indoor Writer was away and she did get horribly homesick. Five days of talking writing non-stop is tiring, by Friday her extrovert batteries were virtually flat and she almost lost it at the last breakfast when asked 'and what do you write?' Thankfully, she took a deep breath (the meditation worked), didn't reply 'It's none of your business!' and instead politely answered the question with a twitchy smile.

Here's a pic specially for Wendy of THE rucksack. It was needed to carry around: notebook, folder, laptop,

bottles of wine, spare wine glass, books and the essential umbrella. This year I got an invite to one of the infamous Swanwick parties so the wine glass came in handy...

Interlude

There will be a short interlude as we're off to Swanwick Writers' Summer School next week. If any of

you out there in Blogland are also heading to Swanwick then please search out the Indoor Writer and say hello. Meanwhile ...

Keep writing!

July round-up

According to my word count spreadsheet (yes, I'm sad enough to keep a daily tally of words written) I churned out 9,963 words in July. Primarily this was writing the opening chapters of my novel. Why did I finally pull out the finger and start this? A deadline, that's why! I'm off to Swanwick Writers' Summer School next week and have booked a 1:1 with author Alex Radcliffe-Hart. She's reviewing the synopsis and initial 3 chapters and will feedback in a face-to-face. We're meeting in the bar, which is good news as I will probably need several glasses of wine to recover. I HATE feedback, but know it's an essential part of the writer's life. I can hear you all groaning: why did I rush out something without polishing it to destruction? Because I leave everything to the last minute and this is how I tend to write short stories - I know I have to improve this process for the novel, but initially I just want some early feedback on the plot and characters i.e am I on the right track? or do I give up now and bin the whole thing... you'll have to wait to post Swanwick for the answers!

It did feel odd to be writing something longer than 2,000 words. This novel writing malarkey is a different beast to short fiction. I enjoyed spending time with the characters so am keen to continue, but also craved getting back to the delicious short sharp hit of writing flash or a short story. Will have to work out some strategy to continue working on all projects.

Here's the stats for July:

Write 1 Sub 1:
New - 1 x ten min play, 2 x fillers, 1 x reader's letter, 1 x pitch for feature
Total subs - 11

Income: Amazon book token (always useful!)

The Good News: Runner-up in Retreat West short story competition (read post here),
The Not-so-good News: unsuccessful in the following:
Frome, Munch the cow (children's story competition), Swanwick 5 min play, Flash 500
Have to confess not making the longlist for Flash 500 summer competition was a shock. I've consistently been reaching the shortlist so this came as a bit of a blow.

With the start of the MA looming (Sept) I'm also working through the reading list and writing exercises. This prompted me to think about what I want to achieve before the end of the year, so here goes:

• Research and write a radio play
• Complete first semester and assignment of MA (Creative Writing)
• Complete 10,000 words of novel by end October (to enter Exeter Writers Novel Competition)
• Continue to write at least one new piece a month and submit

Phew, I think that's enough for now.

Keep writing and submitting...

One hour a day

Diana Cambridge's feature 'The will to write' published in August's issue of Writing Magazine really stirred up the Indoor Writer. Particular a section entitled 'One hour, more work', where Diana promoted the importance of setting aside one hour a day "thinking about how you could increase your writing income". She advocated using this hour to focus on visualising your writing future i.e. "Imagine yourself giving a reading or signing books..." The Indoor Writer has been working on this, though using the ring fenced hour primarily to research new markets and submit work. Okay, this used to happen anyway but it gone done in dribs and drabs throughout the day and the actual (real) writing got

pushed out. The kitchen timer is set for exactly one hour, but only after finishing 1-2 hours of writing  and then the focus is totally on income tasks. Does it work? Well, her productivity has soared and over several days she pitched a feature (which had been on the to-do list for weeks), sent off a reader's letter, submitted competition entries and researched new markets for short stories. It is fun to devote some of the hour to thinking and visualising too, you can start running through your acceptance speech for the Man Booker Prize or whatever other literary ambition floats your boat.

Why not try it? And don't forget to let me know how you get on.

Keep writing ...

Samantha Tonge chats with Shirley Blair of The People's Friend

Over at Samantha Tonge's blog today she's having tea and cake with Shirley Blair, Fiction Editor for The People's Friend. Shirley shares what she's looking for in a good TPF story and just as importantly what she's NOT looking for... read more here