One-In One-Out

Don't you just love it when a writing project develops legs and waddles in a completely different direction to the one you'd carefully plotted out for it?

Back in November, I wrote about the perils of naming a walk-on character in the fourth draft of my current WIP. One of my protagonists had walked into a cafe and started chatting to the owner. It's very unusual for me to actually want to write heterosexual romances into my novel drafts but these two just clicked. So I began hastily thinking about rewriting that protagonist's arc a little bit. Fine. It was going to be tricky but I could do it.

But something else was niggling. My other protagonist becomes embroiled in a fling halfway through the novel that doesn't add much that couldn't be taken on by another character. The more I thought about it, the more I had to concede that my novel was operating a one-in one-out policy of its own accord and I'd be foolish to argue. For all the good reasons it threw at me to bring in Ed, there were correspondingly sound ones to remove Selina.

This character extraction is proving a little trickier. I've been working from a heavily marked-up third draft with notes that are now completely obsolete as I rewrite entire scenes from scratch. To combat that sensation of being adrift, I've created a chapter check list about what needs to be added/removed in each chapter. Once the fourth draft is done some earlier chapters will need ironing out to remove stuff that's now irrelevant. Yet it's all perfectly doable.

The fourth draft's currently at 31,170 words and I'm making slow and steady progress. I'm labouring under the assumption that the novel knows what it's doing. Let's hang onto that for as long as possible, shall we?

And the good news? At least I'm writing again.

Peril of Naming a Walk-On Character

I've written a bit recently about attacking the fourth draft of my WIP 'Max' (by recently, I mean Friday!). Funny how just when you think you're on track with a project it decides to surprise you all over again. You see, this one follows a mother and a daughter (from the perspective of the daughter and the mother's lover) and I'd pretty much accepted the fact that the interactions that needed fixing in this draft were the ones involving the lover. Apparently not.

I was in my writing haunt yesterday afternoon warming through with caffeine and clutching my editing rock for inspiration (don't ask) while I was reading the detailed notes for the rewrite of chapter eight. The location needed to have greater significance so I began wondering why my character chose that cafe out of all the others and a waiter trots into the scene. Fine, I thought, let's give him a name. Big mistake.

As soon as I named him and he started talking to my viewpoint character, I liked him. Disaster. The love interest for this character is a little bit square and boring and, ultimately, they don't end up together. But this guy... Well, he comes from a completely different background, he's cheeky and he has connections with her past that the other lad doesn't understand. In short, he's perfect for her and, what's more, it fits the overall narrative of the parallel plot of the mother.

Now, I may be stuffing a new character into my novel for no reason. I may have to extract him from the fifth draft with tweezers. However, I think it's definitely worth a shot. It's going to mean some exceedingly careful consideration of the rest of the novel. To be fair, though, that was already necessary anyway. The extensive notes I marked up for the fourth draft aren't obsolete as much as complementary to the notes I'm keeping in my head about new directions and backgrounds. What I really need is to get this written down. And, in the meantime, Ed's here to stay. As is my editing rock.

The Best Laid Plans...

A few weeks ago I came up with some tangible goals for those ten (how'd it get to ten?!) novels I've got in various states of...undress, for want of a better word. It requires motivation on my part, which I've currently got in spades, and sticking to a fairly rigorous schedule.

December's plan is to write the second draft of 'Max'. I'd been trundling along quite nicely with it, although I was still running behind schedule (but since I'm planning on working Christmas morning and possibly evening, I doubt it matters). However, the other night I realised that the chapter plan I'd sketched out back in September was failing me. The first half was fine but one character has evolved to the point where my initial plan doesn't work any more. This is a pretty good example of character development kicking a writer in the shins but I'm not complaining too much. The fact that I had to stop and think is evidence that the pieces of this novel are falling into place and that can only be a good thing.

Of course, I wasn't so congenial about it yesterday. Actually, I was really angry because I still wanted to stick to my December rewrite strategy. Fortunately, I had to do a Sheffield trip for a supervisor meeting and, in a bid to distract myself, I focused my mind on fixing the problem. A new end-point flashed upon me, making perfect sense, and I spent the rest of the day working back from there. The chapter plan is rough and needs some depth but the sequence and development works.

I'm wondering, though, if this issue is symptomatic of something else. You see, this novel wasn't going to have a happy ending. It was about pain and realising something wasn't meant to be (sort of fitting considering my mental state when I wrote the second draft plan). However, that just didn't work. Way back in 2010, I wrote a post called 'So Much For My Unhappy Ending' about one of my other projects (which has since been through a metamorphosis of its own). After planning a dismal ending, I couldn't follow through on it. Is it just that I don't want to make my characters miserable? I don't know. But if a happy ending is remotely possible, doesn't everyone, fictional or otherwise, deserve a crack at it?

The current state of my WIP is 33,704 words and my projection calculator has me completing the draft on the 7th January. Now that I have my new plan, maybe I can get back on track.

Book Review: Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

Although it doesn't have the depth of Bleak House (reviewed earlier in the year here), Little Dorrit has an array of characters and subplots that are enough to make your head whirl if you let them. The title character is a young woman who was born in the Marshalsea prison and has lived her life there - with certain excursions outside of the walls to make money for her family. When, eventually, her life changes beyond belief she finds herself whisked away from not only the home she knew but the man she's come to love - Arthur Clennam.

Little Dorrit contains an impressive collection of truly Dickensian characters. For instance, there's Flora, Arthur's childhood sweetheart, who has been married and widowed and now comes complete with 'Mr F's Aunt', a batty woman who announces random things and has taken quite a dislike to Arthur for no tangible reason. Flora reminds me irresistibly of Miss Bates from Jane Austen's Emma (reviewed here) - you feel like you need a sit down after all of her appearances as she rabbits on and confuses even the most attentive reader. Other stand-out characters include the grotesque Mr Flintwinch, Arthur's mother's business partner, and the excellent Mr Pancks, a man who has been content to do 'difficult' work all his life because that's just what life is but the worm eventually turns. I have to admit, I was actually cheering when it happened. Such a Victorian 'comeuppance' but satisfying to the reader nonetheless.

On occasion, the subplots of this novel become a little blurred and take up too much time. That's a pitfall of serial publication but Dickens's prose style kept me interested throughout. Of particular amusement were the descriptions of the Circumlocution Office - a timely reminder that bureaucracy is a needless waste of resources and we'd be well advised to take the same lesson from that satirical depiction as the Victorians were encouraged to. As with most Dickens novels, the parallels between his era and ours are startling but they do focus on enduring human characteristics: people will cheat, manipulate, have a change of fortune, become jealous, fall in love and hide it for all eternity and perhaps it is those qualities which make Little Dorrit as readable today as it was in the 1850s. Add to the characterisation and plot the amusing depictions of London and, most poignantly, the depictions of the Marshalsea and you have an excellent book on your hands. This wouldn't make a good introduction to Dickens for those who haven't read any of his work before but it's certainly a good addition to the canon.

Blogging NaNoWrimo 2012: Inching Closer

Well, I'm still behind! That said, I'm inching a little closer to where I'm supposed to be. I finished writing last night at 33,120 when I should've been at a round 35,000 (that sounds a hell of a lot better than 'I'm at 33,120 today and should really be at 36,666'). I still need to write 1,876 words a day to catch up but since I'm physically forcing myself to stay at the computer until I've reached at least 2,000 words on any given evening I'm fairly confident - so long as I can keep it up.

There are a couple of things that could get in the way of success though. After a positive meeting with my supervisor I've got a rather large task to complete before our next meeting. I could viably leave it until after NaNo but the danger with that is that the enthusiasm I've somehow managed to muster will disappear. So doing both things at the same time is necessary (and could possibly drive me further round the twist than I already am).

The second problem is a practical plot consideration. I've got the next two and a half chapters planned and these contain some pretty important scenes (yes, I'm killing my characters, it's very therapeutic) but I still have no sense of an ending. I've been floating along towards this indefinable ending, which I know is a capital offence in NaNo planning terms, hoping that the idea would come to me along the way. It needs to be dramatic and my characters don't seem inclined to want - or be able to deal with - a neat happy ending so I'm a bit lost.

We'll see what happens. I'd say the next two and a half chapters will take me close to the 40,000 mark. Once I'm over that mark I'll start believing I can make it to the end. I honestly don't remember it being this difficult last year!

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2012: Barely On Track

Well, my little 'holiday', if you can call it that, was a bit of a mixed bag as far as writing went. I had a couple of days of excellent productivity (2750 and 2500 words) but they were making up for the days I wrote a little but not a lot. It was a good job I'd built a little cushion into my plan or I'd be lagging too far behind to make catching up a viable option. As it happened, I managed to persevere yesterday, writing 2500 words and bringing my word count up to what it should've been last night - 20,000 words.

So I'm technically on track but it doesn't feel like it. I only have two more chapters planned and the ones after that are going to be extremely complex. Not only am I juggling an overarching storyline and my romance plot, my 'little' characters have sprouted wings and are trying to take over the novel. Keeping up with them is proving difficult. Above all, I need to get my next three chapters planned but that involves thinking about how the consequences of these developing strands are going to affect the rest of the novel. I have to work out who's going to, erm, die and who isn't. I have one definite but I'm growing far too attached to the rest.

Actually, as I've been typing this I've had another good idea. Well, I think it's a good idea. At this point I'll take any idea going: good, bad or somewhere in the middle.I just need to collect them and keep going. I'll feel better once I'm over the halfway point. It's all downhill from there.

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2012: Decent Start

The good news so far is that I'm exceeding my daily target, despite what life seems intent on throwing at me. My daily average (including the fact that I haven't written anything yet today) stands at 1,888 but I'm getting at least 2,000 words done each day. That even included the night I was babysitting for two gorgeous three year-olds who wanted to go to bed as much as I wanted to leap around the garden in a bunny costume (that's not much, in case you're confused). However, there's a hitch: I'm going away for a few days. While I am going to be 'permitted' to write, I don't envision it going down particularly well. There will be a battle of wills and, me being me, I'll capitulate for an easy life. That could lead to some serious catching up next week. Hmm...maybe for once I'll hold my ground.

So how are my characters behaving? Well, I've got two female protagonists and the quiet, shy one has suddenly turned a little mouthy when she's riled. I think she might be channelling me on that one. Whether she's supposed to is a different story, although that's definitely a second-draft problem. At the moment they're both talking to me so that's all good. I'll start panicking when they stop.

The story's progressing nicely. I've written five and a half chapters (alternating viewpoints) and I've got chapter outlines until chapter ten. If I try and get too far ahead then I lose my way and, in all honesty, I'm a little vague on the detail after chapter ten. I've had to do a little medical research and that needs to factor in from chapter eleven onwards. Also, my large array of characters are being a little unruly. One of them suggested another twist in a subplot and it's a decent suggestion - working that in before chapter ten finishes. Keeping this many characters under control is as difficult as I thought it would be.

Onwards past 10,000 words!

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2012: Trying Something New

So my idea this year is one which has been percolating for a good few months. But it is a little of a departure for me. While it still has a love story at the heart of it, it's mainlyan ensemble story. Thirteen mini character profiles is far beyond my usual core cast. Last year I had seven characters who I considered central to the story (though, in true NaNo fashion, another one became very important halfway through when I realised my tension was slipping). Thirteen is a new high for me and I'm a little concerned about whether I can juggle them properly. But - and there's always a but - the numbers are necessary for this story.

I've moved out of my comfort zone of the city into a village. That shift is also necessary for this particular story to work. Altering the character dynamic is going to be tricky but I'm lucky in one respect - I found myself writing character tensions into my profiles. I particularly like my vicar's wife, Celia, and her sworn enemy, Joyce. I can't wait to see how that's going to play out.

That's the fun of NaNo - I really have no idea how it'll all work out. I know the big overarching plot but the impact on the villagers? No idea as yet. I don't even know if my love story will succeed. Though I do have some serious issues giving characters unhappy endings, one of my current projects will definitely have that since there's no way love can survive. I've no idea where this will leave my NaNo project but I suppose I'll find out when I get there. If I get there. No, when I get there. Certainly can't go into this with my pessimistic head on.

So my characters are assembled. That's phase one of making NaNo a plausible prospect complete. Next: plan my first few chapters. Possibly more than a few. Preparation is everything this year.

What A Character Blogathon: Marjorie Main

When I think of Marjorie Main I can't help but link her with Judy Garland. Others may remember her as Ma Kettle but, for me, the pictures that spring into my head when I hear her name are from Meet Me In St. Louis (1944), The Harvey Girls (1946) and Summer Stock (1950). This seems a shame since she didn't have leading roles in these films but they cemented my view of her as an excellent character actress and someone who always enhanced a film, although you didn't always pause to notice her.

Take her role as Katie in Meet Me In St. Louis for an example. She blends almost in the background of the Smith family as the sarcastic maid who, on being asked if she's seen the cat says, "I don't know. A while back she got in the way and I kicked her down the cellar steps. I could hear her spine hit on every step." But she's also an integral part of the family unit, keeping secrets for the girls. As she says, "Miss Smith, if I have to keep lying for your daughters, I'll have to have more money."

I think one of the things that attracts me most about Marjorie Main are those facial expressions. She's an excellent comic actress because of the way she involves every feature of her face in a simple smile or frown. And those eyes! One look from her can tell you more than eight pages of dialogue.

In The Harvey Girls she plays a stalwart Harvey 'girl'. She steals her first scene simply by chewing rhythmically. Sonora Cassidy is a no-nonsense woman and this allows Main some wonderful moments. She gets to dance with Ray Bolger and club Chill Wills over the head with a frying pan for a start.

Summer Stock sees her revert to being Garland's house helper. Esme works for Jane Falbury (Garland) but, as usual, isn't shy about making her thoughts known. Two women on a farm are susceptible to snoopers, she says, so she asks Jane to get some blanks: "If any man's willing to snoop around me, I don't want to kill him, just stun him." She gets all the best one-liners in her films. Summer Stock was Garland's last MGM film and it works because she's surrounded by people she works well with - Marjorie Main is certainly one of those. 

Perhaps the thing I appreciate most about Marjorie Main is the comedic warmth she exudes. Whenever she comes on screen all you have to do is keep your eyes on her and she'll do something funny, whether she's the focus of the action or not. Very few actors make me smile simply by chewing but she's one of them. 

First Draft Hiatus

I'm a big fan of pushing on with first drafts and I've made that known in the past. However, in March I discussed a problem I was having with my first draft. I needed to change something fundamental but was a little anxious about stopping and rewriting because I thought I'd lose momentum. Well, I did. In May I stopped writing that story and other things took their rightful place at the head of the queue. Little things - PhD work, rewriting another novel following advice from my agent, blogging for 2020UK. I wondered then if forcing myself to stop and go over 'old' ground with the first draft had led to me losing interest in it. In fairness, I'm not sure that was it.

You see, two weeks ago I opened up the document and started writing again. I was on a bit of an unauthorised break (I'd kidded myself I was waiting for feedback to give myself some downtime) and wanted to have a crack at one of the four first drafts I've started and abandoned in the last few years. I chose this one because it's still the one that's closest to my heart, it's still the one I've thought about most in the last few months despite the pressing obligations of others things. And you know what? I got straight back into it. I've written ten chapters, effectively doubling the length of the draft. It's now up to 36,000 words. And now I've stopped again.

There's one main reason why with several parts. I've just gone back into 'extremely busy' mode. I've got feedback from my agent so need to crack on with rewriting the other twenty three chapters of that novel. I've also got a lot of secondary reading for my PhD to get on with along the theme of disability within Victorian fiction. Then, when that reading is out of the way, I have to finish writing the disability chapter with a long and complicated analysis of at least three Victorian novels. All in all, my plate's looking a little full.

My ideas for this first draft haven't dried up as such. But they're not clear cut. I couldn't give you a breakdown of what's going to happen in the next few chapters and, unfortunately, I haven't got the time to spend working it out. I'll just have to do what I did before: get on with everything else and wait for the characters to talk to me. They get bored of waiting for me to come back to them eventually and make themselves known.

I suppose the moral of this post is that you should always try to finish a first draft in one painful gulp. But if you're a bit busy that might not be possible so don't be afraid to let it go. If it's a good story you'll want to come back to it.

Two Classic Film Events I'm Participating In

Just wanted to draw your attention to these two excellent events that I'll be participating in during the coming months. The first is the annual writing contest hosted by Film-Classics.com. There are four categories to choose from (and only thirty writers slots available) but I'm probably going to end up in the 'Film Review' category. I could tell you what my topic is but then I'd have to kill you. It's going to be new and in-depth though! The deadline for submissions is 27th July but the judging is a fairly rapid turnaround - well done to them for that!

The second event is the 'What a Character!' blogathon hosted by a trio of sites. This is an event dedicated to those unsung heroes of Hollywood, the character actors whose names have largely disappeared from the Hollywood dictionary. My topic for this one is the marvellous Majorie Main and I'm looking forward to writing about her in three of my favourite films! The schedule on this one is a little more spaced out - the actual blogathon takes place in September so there's still plenty of time to get in on this one if you want to.

I'll keep you posted on how I get on with these but I'll looking forward to reading some fantastic entries about my favourite eras of film.

The Syndicate - Thoughts (Spoilers)

This isn't so much a review as me musing aloud. I enjoyed The Syndicate, the BBC drama about five winners of the lottery who find the money changes their lives in ways they never expected. When I heard it had been renewed I was happy - then I read the fine print. The second series will focus on a new set of characters.

In all honesty, I understand why but I'm still very disappointed. It took me until the second episode and the portrayal of Denise (Lorraine Bruce) in-depth to actually come to like the programme. The first episode really didn't chime with me much at all but I stuck with it, primarily because I'm always complaining that channels don't give shows enough time to prove themselves before axing them. I was rewarded by excellent characterisation in Denise, Leanne (Joanna Page) and, when he grew a backbone, Stuart (Matthew McNulty). The truth is, I spent five hours with these characters and I'm not sure I'm happy leaving them where we did. Okay, Jamie (Matthew Lewis) is dead but will we never learn what happens to Leanne and her daughter and whether Stuart will chase after a relationship with Leanne when/if his legal issues are sorted out? It feels like a terrible place to deliberately leave a set of characters.

For that reason alone, I don't think I'll watch the second series. I don't want to invest time in characters when I know their storylines are likely to be left as unresolved as Stuart and company. It's different when a show is axed or characters are forced to leave for, say, actor commitments (see Lip Service!). That's beyond the control of the programme creators. However, a rejuvenation of a show with fresh characters is very much the choice of the creators. And that irritates me in this instance.

Book Review: The London Train by Tessa Hadley

The London Train is split into two sections. The first half concentrates on Paul who has just lost his mother and travels to London from Cardiff in search of his missing eldest daughter, Pia. As soon as he finds her he realises why she's lost contact - she's pregnant. Sleeping on her sofa, Paul lingers in London when he should really be going home to his family. The second half of the novel focuses on Cora, a woman who moved from London back to her childhood home in Cardiff after the breakdown of her marriage. What forces her back to London once again is a call to say that her husband has disappeared.

I'll admit I was underwhelmed by the first half of this book. Paul is not the most likeable of characters - he's a selfish man who disappears off to London and leaves his two young children and his wife without a clue about his whereabouts. His thirst for a different life to the one he's found himself living is an understandable one and his journey is well-written but I couldn't bring myself to like him until the final pages of his story. Conversely, there were things that attracted me straight away about Cora. Working as a librarian, trying to carve out a life after being someone else for twelve years, she comes across as a woman very much living in the present and avoiding thought of the future. Her past is explored as and when it becomes pertinent and this slyly slow reveal is one of the things I most enjoyed about the book. Aside from the deliberate interweaving of the two stories, there are also deliberate touches that draw parallels between Paul and Cora, notably the death of their mothers which indirectly kick-start their stories. Paul would not have gone in search of his daughter if his mother hadn't died; Cora would not have inherited a house and moved back to it had her mother not died.

This is an atmospheric book with some vivid descriptions. A few lines about the death of Cora's mother produced a lasting effect on me, for instance, and there is a minor character (Bar, an old flame of Cora's husband) who is so unique that the novel is worth reading just for the few pages about her. My favourite passage came towards the end of the book when Cora contemplates the point of memories:

"Once, Cora had believed that living built a cumulative bank of memories, thickening and deepening as time went on, shoring you against emptiness. She had used to treasure up relics from every phase of her life as it passed, as if they were holy. Now, that seemed to her a falsely consoling model of experience. The present was always paramount, in a way that thrust you forward: empty, but also free. Whatever stories you told over to yourself and others, you were in truth exposed and naked in the present, a prow cleaving new waters; your past was insubstantial behind, it fell away, it grew into desuetude, its forms grew obsolete. The problem was, you were always still alive, until the end. You had to do something." (p312)

Unreliability

As I write this I'm sat waiting for a housing association plumber to arrive to fix a problem we first reported over a year ago. Aside from mucking up the repair in the past (including a month of scaffolding disruption while they decided to fix the roof tiles for no apparent reason), they were supposed to arrive between 8:00am and 12:00pm today. My father took the morning off work in order to make sure they got it right this time. Unfortunately, they haven't yet arrived and he's gone to work.

I'm not unreasonable, I know that sometimes things happen that prevent appointments being kept. However, a phone call doesn't cost a lot. What I hate most is being left in limbo, unable to do anything because I'm waiting for somebody else. Unreliability irritates me more than I can articulate when it can be eased by just a word or an apology during the wait - I think this applies mainly to companies who should really know better. Perhaps it's because I wouldn't dream of keeping people waiting if I could help it. I used to work on the switchboard for a company and frequently had to deal with customers angry that a promised call had not materialised. Mostly, I was on the side of the customer - if you're going to promise something then adhere to it most of the time, not some of the time.

When I look at my characters I see that they all err on the side of reliability, even those indulging in affairs which seems rather odd to me! I think I need to mix it up a little, create an unreliable protagonist somewhere down the line. However, as things stand, it's easier for me to get inside the head of a murderer who keeps their appointments than a pleasant person who doesn't. That may say something profound about me...

I'll ponder that while I wait. And wait. And wait. Until 3:00pm. Then I'm out of here.

EDIT: He turned up in the nick of time but can't touch it because it's a heating-related issue. That sound was my head exploding.

A Classics Challenge: February Prompt

The prompt for A Classics Challenge this month is 'character'. My text is Bleak House (reviewed here) and my chosen character is Mr John Jarndyce.

Mr Jarndyce is one of those characters who remains consistent in his goodness. In fact, though some characters doubt him, I don't think the reader ever does. This is probably because we see him primarily through the eyes of Esther Summerson and, since we trust her judgement and honesty, we trust him. Jarndyce is the epitome of a good man: secretly giving money to sustain people who need it, settling debts for irritating people like Harold Skimpole, wishing good will towards people like Richard Carstone who have started to doubt his integrity. His relationship with Esther is a highlight of the novel, and I admit to being a little upset when he sacrifices her to the younger doctor whom she loves. However, this act settles his placement as the unchanged and decent man in the novel. Several characters - Mr Smallweed and Mr Tulkinghorn for instance - are unchanged but comparatively few are unchanged for the better (another one that springs to mind is Mrs Rouncewell, Sir Leicester Dedlock's faithful housekeeper). In a novel populated with unsavoury characters, Mr Jarndyce is an unmovable rock.

I find him to be very believable, due to his consistency in personality and relationships with Esther, Ada, Richard and Harold Skimpole. However, I do accept that his inherent goodness could cause others to label him as one-dimensional. Still, I find that his odd little romance with Esther defies that categorisation and I persist in liking him, whatever anyone says. He's the kind of father/uncle figure that is prevalent in Victorian fiction but I haven't found a specimen that I like quite as much.

Mr Jarndyce was portrayed in the 2005 adaptation by Denis Lawson. I haven't yet watched this but I look forward to enjoying the character on screen as much as I did in the book.

My Favourite Dickens Passage

Jeremy Vine asked the public on his Radio 2 show to share their favourite passage from Dickens to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth today. I thought I'd share one of mine on this blog. I read Oliver Twist last month and noted in the review that I particularly enjoyed Mr Bumble's flirting with Mrs Corney. My favourite passage from that novel comes at the end of chapter twenty-three.

"Mr Bumble's conduct on being left to himself, was rather inexplicable. He opened the closet, counted the teaspoons, weighed the sugar-tongs, closely inspected a silver milk-pot to ascertain that it was of the genuine metal, and, having satisfied his curiosity on these points, put on his cocked hat corner-wise, and danced with much gravity four distinct times round the table. Having gone through this very extraordinary performance, he took off the cocked hat again, and, spreading himself before the fire with his back towards it, seemed to be mentally engaged in taking an exact inventory of the furniture." (p210)

I don't know why I love it so much. Perhaps it's the image of Mr Bumble putting his hat on especially to dance around a table. Whatever the reason, when I think of Oliver Twist, I don't think of the orphan or Fagin or the Artful Dodger - I think of Mr Bumble and his spoon-counting.

Happy birthday, Mr Dickens!

Using Profanities - Pure Laziness?

Caroline Thompson, a senior BBC executive, said recently that swearing in comedies was all right now because there is an "enormous intergenerational difference about what is acceptable". This got me thinking about things I've seen, read and written lately and how they used language which could be deemed offensive.

I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of any current comedies. In my view they just can't match the class of previous decades. This may have something to do with the dependence on cheap laughs, partly stemming from bad language and partly from a buffoonery I just don't find endearing. But, as the article above says, classic comedies such as Porridge and Dad's Army didn't resort to swearing to get laughs. Yes, they sailed close to the wind sometimes but the laughs came out of what they nearly said as opposed to what they actually said. Modern British comedy has lost that to some extent.

But what of other genres? Well, I watch a lot of crime drama and hearing swearing on those feels acceptable to me because of the subject matter involved. I'm never going to get my knickers in a twist about the odd bit of swearing in a programme. My objections come from the fact that many writers (whether directed by broadcasters or not) seem to use coarse language as a crutch and as a substitute for meaningful dialogue. It's certainly easier to have a character swearing at a situation than figuring out a truly funny response to the events.  

I've seen a fair few plays this year. One thing that struck me was how the modern ones relied so much on swearing. It was something noticed by others as well as me - I had several conversations about it later, including with people who swear as often as they breathe in their day-to-day lives. One comedic play had a situation uncovered and two characters panicking about it. Instead of proper dialogue they literally just walked around the stage saying 'f**k, f**k, f**k' for at least a minute. As an audience member, I felt cheated. The word lost its resonance somewhat by the repetition and did nothing to further the plot or the characters. It was a substitute for what I'd deem 'proper writing' (as controversial as that term may be).

When I write I almost always keep to acceptable dialogue - until the situation calls for something else. I've sworn in most of my drafts to date but never just to fill space or to get a quick laugh. Profanity has to stem from both situation and character. It might be funny to have a grandmother spewing out a load of expletives but, unless you've got a reason for it, my patience wears thin.

All this may make me sound straight-laced and boring. I'm not (I hope!). I just want to see writers challenging themselves. How else are they supposed to challenge their audiences or, for that matter, entertain them?

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2011: At Night

I spent this weekend with a friend I haven't seen for too long (I'll swear here and now this relates to my mad November writing endeavour). We went to see The Vagina Monologues and I spent Saturday night on her very comfy sofa. She has a sixteen week-old kitten, though, who is a bit, well, mad. She was leaping around in the dark, bashing into walls and startling the very haughty and stately older cat (think Hyacinth Bucket in feline form). Every so often I would hear a bang then a hiss. The funniest part of proceedings was when I turned the light on to see why the kitten was so distressed and found her attached to a shoe insole which was flapping around and whacking her on the head every so often.

The point is, what goes on in and out of the house after your average human being goes to bed is usually a black spot. My novel is set in a laundrette where my protagonist works between the hours of ten at night and seven in the morning. What I have to be careful about before introducing customers is making certain I know why they choose to do their washing in the early hours of the morning rather than at customary times and why they haven't got their own washing machines. Here are my conclusions.

• Students - As a student I used to do my washing in the early hours of the morning. I have vivid memories of sitting on the floor of the laundry room in my block of flats and finishing off Middlemarch for a seminar the next week. How I expected that to keep me awake I'm not sure! Anyway, students generally keep more flexible hours and the likelihood of those living in private residences without proper washing facilities going to a late-night laundrette is not out of the realm of possibility. None of my major secondary characters are students but it's inferred they make up a large proportion of customers.
• Viv and Dot - Viv comes in once a week to wash her husband's overalls. She does have a washing machine of her own but just doesn't want to muddy up her own kitchen. Since she and Dot both work late shifts at a call centre their sleeping pattern accommodates their nocturnal visits to the laundrette. Dot tags along with Viv, mainly because she's slightly intimidated by her on occasion and wants to stay on good terms.
• Alan - He doesn't really come to the laundrette to do his washing. He did a few times to get away from his domineering wife but then he encountered Dot and fell madly in love - in his own special way. He coordinates his visits to fit with hers and brings a few shirts each time as a pretext.
• Ben - Here is another man who doesn't really need the services of the laundrette. He was enchanted by manager Shelley on a visit when his washing machine was broken and now patronises the place on a Saturday evening in order to manoeuvre his way into her life.
• Mavis - She was a character who came out of nowhere but I've got her pegged now. She brings all her washing in on a Tuesday evening in a trolley stolen from the local supermarket. She doesn't like people and she hates authority: she comes at the time she does in order to avoid all that rubbish. Also, she's a dangerous driver as far as the trolley is concerned and empty streets suit her purpose. She's an OAP who can't afford a washing machine of her own in the pokey flat in which she lives.

These are the conclusions I came to while listening to a kitten throwing itself down some stairs in the early hours of Sunday morning. I already knew it deep down but it's all concrete now. And, in case you're wondering, my word count's on target. I'm exactly where I'm meant to be at the moment. Let's hope that lasts!

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2011: Solid Start

A week into this annual pain session and I'm doing relatively fine. A glance at my stats page shows that I should have 13,333 words down by the end of today and, without having typed anything yet for today, I'm already at 14,310.  That all looks positive. However, yesterday I wrote a measly few hundred words. I knew what needed to happen in the chapter and I'd pretty much planned it out in my head but... Well, I couldn't be bothered trying to get it down. In my defence, I'd spent an afternoon being dragged around/stood on/laughed at by two adorable little girls. Once you've flopped down into a chair after that the desire to write goes out of the window. And I indulged in my laziness. I'm a bad person.

Things could really get dicey here. I have the end of chapter nine to write and the three chapters after that all nicely planned out. That should take me up to about 20,000. I'm a little unsure what happens once I get there. I know my ending - and I know my sub-plot resolutions - but I'm not sure I'm capable of stringing all that out for another 30,000 words at this stage. Still, this is what the challenge of NaNoWriMo is all about, I suppose.

My protagonist began channelling my own worst instincts in chapter eight. Having got into a disagreement with a caustic customer, Lauren began polishing the floor in an attempt to send her flying. This little segue came out of nowhere - it was not part of the plan. But then Lauren had an attack of conscience and put out a sign warning of the slippery floor. Unfortunately, in his haste to rush to the rescue of someone he wants to start an affair with, customer Alan fails to heed the warning and crashes into a washing machine. Although it almost knocks him senseless, he's happy because Dot pays him some attention for once: "I was eager to... Well, you understand. When a lady’s in trouble you have to help. It’s part of my DNA I think. Not that it’s served me to great advantage in the past but I feel my luck’s changing. Don’t you?" 

The sub-plot that needed a kick up the backside was offered a little help by my revenge fantasy. I love writing sometimes.

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2011: My Character Introductions

I'm 8,000 words into my novel and I've got one pesky thing out of the way: I've introduced all my major secondary characters. It's something I always find difficult and once they're in there I feel supremely satisfied. I'll worry about more/less detail when I revisit this manuscript (in about three years schedule permitting!) but here how things started from the perspective of Lauren, my protagonist.


Shelley - "A woman came into view with curly brown hair stretching beyond her shoulders. Lauren couldn’t catch her facial expression from this range but she instinctively knew she was good-tempered when the tension in the man’s shoulders gradually disappeared as she sorted out his problem for him. Then the woman calmly disappeared out of view."


Dawn - "A young blonde, probably mid-teens, reluctantly got out while he was shouting at her...On closer inspection, Lauren could see she was a petite girl, though probably with one hell of an attitude. She was dressed in jeans and a halter top, barely covered by the leather jacket she was half-wearing. Trouble was the word which sprang to mind."


Viv and Dot are originally depicted as something of a double act and Lauren hears about them from Shelley before she meets them. This is what Shelley says: "Viv’s got a mouth on her but take anything she says with a pinch of salt. Dot comes across as her sidekick but she’s a bit gentler. You’ll see what I mean when they turn up. Viv comes to wash her husband’s overalls and Dot mainly keeps her company. She lost her job, you see, in the last round of redundancies at the carpet factory. She was in accounts." 


Alan - "He entered looking like a train-spotter, a single bag under his arm that couldn’t have contained any more than four shirts. He nodded to Shelley but still seemed a little on edge with her. Methodically, he removed his anorak and hung it on one of the pegs beside the door. Then he glanced furtively to Viv and Dot who had paid no attention to his entrance whatsoever. A flicker of discomfort crossed his face and he commandeered the washing machine closest to the door."


Ben - "Waiting at the door was a small man in a suit and tie. He carried a holdall in the same way you’d carry a briefcase, utterly unconscious to the fact that the long strap was trailing on the floor. He was a weedy little man with thinning brown hair and thick eyebrows that dwarfed his thin nose. A small smile tugged his lips with effort as he saw Shelley. It disappeared when he caught sight of Lauren hovering behind her."


Trying not to think too much about whether the characters on the page match the characters in my head. Time enough for that later!