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.

Writing Projects - Planning Ahead

'Year of the thesis' is taking its toll. Not just on my sanity (though I am rather worried about that) but also on my writing. When I said I was taking a 'writing break' two months ago part of the reason was that I just didn't want to write any more. I'd lost the spark, it had been smothered under thesis work and personal problems, and I couldn't force it to come back with everything else going on. I'd said I'd see how I felt in the future. Well, I know how I feel now. I want to damn well write. Only problem is that I can't.

The kick I needed was a short story acceptance (I'll tell you about that next week) which gave me some confidence in my writing again. Then I had an epiphany about the first novel I ever completed and has been through four rewrites already. I know what to do with it. Suddenly the writing bug was back.

But - but - but... The thesis is killing me. I need to focus on it and I need to finish it as soon as possible. In addition to that, I'm giving papers at three conferences in the next six weeks and that in itself is causing me some considerable anxiety. There's no time for writing novels to fit into this. I've consoled myself by working on short stories longhand but it's not the same and it's not really what I want to be doing. So I've decided that, if I'm telling myself I can't write, I can at least plan. Then when I can write again, I'll be off like a shot... In theory. So here's the list of how my projects are looking and what planning I can do about them until that luxurious moment I actually get to write them again. These are in order of when they were written:

1. 'Lily' - This is the one that prompted the epiphany. As I consequence I've been sort of secretly working on a plan for the sixth draft which I finished the night before last. It details the major changes in each scene and, of course, there will be many minor ones too. I'm raring to go on this one.
2. 'Danni' - I'm actually happiest with this novel. I finished the fifth draft earlier this year and I don't think there's major work to be done, just tweaks. So this is the one I want to submit (and I know where to) once this pesky PhD is done with.
3. 'Liz' - I stopped working on the second draft of this in March when I was about a third into the rewrite and thesis work started to take over. The good thing is, I've also got a scene-by-scene breakdown of changes written for this. Just a case of implementing them. 
4. 'Lauren' - I mentioned back in January that I've changed so much with this that the second draft is essentially another first one. And, to be honest, the draft's nearly there. I've got two of the six sections left to complete and one of them is completely planned out. So I just need to plan the last section to get that ready for work.
5. 'Max' - There are massive changes to be made to this first draft, including switching from one POV to two and doing some serious characterisation work on the two protagonists. That all needs to be planned out. 
6. 'Vic' - There are changes to be made to back story on this first draft and more characterisation work to be done. I can plan that out. 
7. 'Izzy' - This first draft needs major change and I need to work out what those changes are going to be. I've started some protagonist characterisation work so I need to finish that then plan the new progression I guess. 
8. 'Carys' - My most recent NaNoWriMo success obviously needs major work. I have no idea what form this is going to take so I need to think about that.
9. 'Kathy' - This unfinished draft needs rewriting from third to first person and then planned from there to the end. That's doable. 

So there we go. There's a lot of planning I can get my teeth stuck into there, as long as I resist the temptation to actually write the drafts. Hopefully by the time I'm finally allowed to indulge, I'll be chomping at the bit. Though when that may be...who knows? 

Blogging NaNoWriMo 2013: Halfway There

At this point I'm just tempted to rehash my 2011 'mid-point' post because it involved a Dumbo picture and made me smile. However, I'll try and pull something new together... I'm halfway there! Yay for me. Even Judy's smiling benevolently at me.

So I'm a little ahead of schedule. At the moment, with no writing done yet for today, I'm where I should be tomorrow. It's not great but it means I only have to write 1,458 words a day to finish on time. Easy...

I may be dealing with a plot problem though. I'd thought through most things up until this point but as soon as they leave Gibraltar to sail for Malaga, my mind goes blank. My protagonists are not exactly getting on well at this point but with only a week left until they get back to England they need to make some serious progress. And there's that ending I'm working towards...

Anyway, I shall keep going, while I battle away on my final thesis chapter, of course. The days where I had only one thing to do at a time are a distant memory. I think I'd stand there gaping if such an opportunity was given to me now. I'll leave you where I left my characters last night - having a very deep and painful conversation under these fading skies...

Thoughts on Broadchurch

This would've been a review. Actually, it would've been a fairly positive one. I enjoyed seven out of the eight episodes of Broadchurch, with the finale a little too long and meandering for my liking. There were some truly memorable scenes in the series, particularly those with David Bradley as Jack Marshall and Pauline Quirke as Susan Wright. Those are two characters that will live on in my mind long after the final episode. Some of the cast were less successful but being in the shadow of performances like that isn't really their fault.

But, like I said, this isn't a review. This is a rant.

I have in my hands the TV Choice for this week. Quoting the creator, it says: 'And when the curtain comes down, it really will be the end. 'There won't be a second series,' confirms Chris. 'It was an eight-part show. And anyway, perhaps I've ended up ruining that whole world!'' I was happy with that. I wanted complete closure from the series, I wanted a decent ending with closure for the characters.

Lo and behold, this is announced a few minutes after the series ends: the recommission!

I'm actually furious with this. Don't make a big deal out of ending something if you have no intention of ending it. That's just plain rude and disrespectful to your audience. That audience who expected complete closure from an episode because it had been touted as the last episode.

Oh, I know that the viewing figures were good, phenomenal by recent standards. And I know it was talked about all over the country, bets were taken on it, it really gripped the imagination. But there's nothing to stop you creating another show with the same writers! This is lazy, both on the part of the production team and ITV.

You might think I'm being a bit harsh. If I've enjoyed most of a series why wouldn't I be delighted that there's going to be another one? Well, if it uses the same setting or the same characters it's just the sign of an arrogant team who want to milk the British public's attention as much as they can. It's nothing to do with storytelling and THAT is the thing that bothers me.

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: 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!

That Lip Service Shock (Spoilers)

I feel a little guilty. At around the fifteen-minute mark of Lip Service series two, episode two I paused and let rip a monologue about how much I hated Cat as a character and where I thought things would go next. I predicted a long, drawn-out affair with Frankie that would eventually culminate in her leaving Sam only to be abandoned by Frankie again. I thought I knew where it was going. Then BANG. Quite literally. Cat steps out into the road without looking and gets hit by a car in one of the most shocking scenes I can recall watching on television. I'd managed to avoid spoilers and had absolutely no idea what was about to happen. It was one of those moments when I just stared at the television, unable to believe what had just occurred on the screen. In fact, I felt pretty much like all the characters did on learning of her death.

Afterwards, I composed myself and read Harriet Braun's blog on the episode that I'd deliberately avoided beforehand. It helped me to understand why she'd chosen to end Cat's story so abruptly: actress Laura Fraser had commitments elsewhere and, leaving series two aside, probably wouldn't be able to appear in any future episodes. With that in mind, I can fully understand why she chose the death option. After all, it was completely unexpected (every reaction I've heard about involves a jaw hanging open) and it gives some sort of finality to the storyline which wouldn't have been possible had Cat just, say, got a job somewhere else and moved. If she had done that, we'd have lost another main character as well with either Frankie or Sam going with her long-term. In that situation, it would've been a betrayal of the fans to have anything else but a happy ending and a goodbye. But would it be plausible - given all we've learned about Cat - that she'd do anything so conclusive as make a decision like that? She'd be tortured about leaving, not only leaving her friends and family but the place she lives and the job she's worked hard at. Maybe that would be a betrayal of the character. So what do you do? You kill her.

My concerns now seem to be shared by a lot of Lip Service fans across the web. For starters, Cat was integral to the show. She was involved in relationships with both Sam and Frankie, she was good friends with Tess, she worked with Jay and Ed was her brother. Her death risks fragmenting that group completely. Equally, her death has to be dealt with. She left a hell of a lot unresolved so how much of series two is going to be spent dwelling on that? If the most important character in your show remains a corpse then you're in trouble. I don't think the new characters already introduced (notably Lexy who wants to jump into bed with Cat's bereaved partner) have made much of an impression and, though there are two more to come in the next episode, it feels very much like starting over again and getting to know a host of new people without any warning.

You see that I'm a bit conflicted. I freely admit to disliking Cat's indecisive and ultimately selfish nature but I can't deny she was the show linchpin. I don't know what happens next and perhaps that's a good thing but generally I like some idea of direction.

Just a couple of notes on the episode itself. I think everybody involved acted their socks off. I've seen various comments praising Phyllis Logan (of Downton Abbey fame) and her performance as Cat's mother and I have to agree with them. Equally, although there's been some debate about Tess and Ed's reaction at the news, I think the shock of the characters was all too evident. Ed cried when he spoke at the funeral and I think that was true to the character and the situation - it only began to sink in then. Heather Peace was outstanding throughout but the episode arc did feel rushed in places. One notable omission was Jay learning of Cat's death and I would've given a lot to see his reaction.

I will be watching for the rest of the series but I'll echo the words a few people mentioned over on Harriet Braun's blog: I really hope that this grief-stricken series doesn't affect the chances of a series three renewal. I want me some more Tess. And more and more...

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?

The Cull of Male Detectives

I've just read this article about the BBC. In a nutshell, it says that BBC One controller, Danny Cohen, aims to limit the number of male detectives on television and, possibly, the number of crime dramas full-stop. Zen (something I admit I haven't watched) was axed due to this new policy. Apparently there are enough male detectives on television already.

I'm all for female-led drama. I covet it. I think it's true to say that I would be more inclined to give a programme a shot if it had a prominent female character BUT if I hear good things about something I don't avoid it simply because it has a male lead. There are so few good returning dramas around these days that I cling on to a good script or an innovative idea like a child clutching a prized toy. Zen attracted 5.7 million viewers on average for its three-episode run. In the current climate that is pretty damn good. Why should it be axed merely for some political correctness stunt which the BBC should be above?

Their remit is to be a public service. Yes, they have a duty to offer equal opportunities and to portray as many sides to our society as possible. But to axe a popular programme because it's another show with a man in it? Can you imagine if that was the other way round? David Cameron's 'calm down, dear' would be lost in the amount of mud Westminster would be slinging at the BBC.

Of course we need more female-led programmes on television. But, as with most things, if you try and force something into a box it just doesn't work. I don't know if the BBC are running around telling scriptwriters they must work on female characters but, if they are, they're shooting themselves in the foot. I hate television by numbers. I hate the inclusion of a token gay character or a disabled character or anything that reeks of people wanting to tick a box. As soon as you start doing that you lose the organic element of a narrative, the thing that popped into your head the moment you started playing 'what if'. I can tell you something; if a character pops into your head and he's fully formed with a family you can identify, flaws you can exploit and a firm story you can tell, it's not just a case of swirling him around, popping a bra on him and having the character be a woman instead. That works the other way too: characters cannot and should not be manipulated for the sake of political correctness.

So, my wish for the BBC? I'd like to see the main channels take a gamble on some of those fantastic programmes relegated to BBC3 and 4 where you have to be clairvoyant to find them. I'd like to see better scripts, tighter drama and riveting television. I'd like see fantastically-acted characters, male AND female. I don't want to see apparently good dramas tossed into the rubbish bin because they don't fit a perceived image.

That's what I want.

Characters Who Stand On Their Own Feet

Whenever I hear the phrase above - or a variation of it - I'm immediately transported back to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Cook and waitress, Millie, soon to be married to her customer, kindly informs Adam Pontipee that her stew doesn't need ketchup, it can stand on its own feet. Although the analogy may seem a little strange, in my head it applies to certain characters of my own creation.

There are various arguments on how you're supposed to craft fiction. Oh, you start with a plot idea, don't you, and take the character from there? Or you get a character and tangle up the plot from there? The apparent rules to writing fiction are both baffling and irritating. But what about those characters, usually secondary ones, who you can lift from one situation and put into another? They're not linked to plot and they just plopped into your head fully grown. You have to use them but you don't quite know where they belong yet. But, it's alright, because due to their versatility you can play around with them until you're satisfied.

I've got two characters like this. One, Mervyn, emerged from a rather amusing train guard I encountered during my trips from Lincoln to Wakefield during my undergraduate degree. He sang, he helped you out: he was the most good-natured train guard I've ever come into contact with, and I knew I had to take his premise and put him into a story. However, I tried him in one short story - about trains, funnily enough - but the story didn't work. Mervyn did, however, along with the little cast of characters I assembled around him. So I gathered all of them up and changed the transport system - they were now working on buses. Hmm, that story stalled for a good two years. Then, quite recently, I had an epiphany. I don't think Mervyn was happy in short stories because he's a much richer character than that. I know him; I know his speech patterns, his background and his temperament. I know his lifelong infatuation with schoolmate and now colleague, Linda. I know that he's a father figure to a younger workmate, although neither of them would admit it. In short, I know how to fit him into a novel. And best of all? I've got the plot as well. I haven't got the time to write the thing but we'll deal with that problem later.

My other character is one who made an appearance in the first draft of one of my (almost) completed manuscripts. Giorgio was universally disliked by the people who read that draft and, after thinking about it, I chopped him. However, unlike my test readers, I liked him. He was a nice old gentleman, obsessed with art and wanted dead by his money-grabbing son, Patrick. I haven't yet found a place for him, but I will.

To return to my Seven Brides for Seven Brothers analogy, I think that characters who are like Millie's stew are pretty rare. How many characters could you take from one story and substitute into another? We weave plots around character, build character from plot. In my experience, those characters who can stand on their own feet are rare and should be treasured as such.

Book Review: The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut

I picked up this book from one of the tables in Waterstone's, proving that sometimes they put a gem amongst the popular autobiographies that drive me up the wall. The Good Doctor was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2003 and the consensus amongst critics seems to be that iy should certainly have won. After reading, I can only agree.

Galgut approaches his setting delicately. The barren landscape which he imprints onto his reader could easily have been over-described but he highlights detail impeccably. The trees are 'ragged', the fountain is 'dry and full of old sand at the bottom'. Nor does he fail in creating a complete picture. By the end of the novel the town is a vivid image, solidified in the reader's head by a vast array of details, most of which exuded a brown murky colour into my imagination.

Indeed, in many ways this is a colourless novel. It deals with change: aversion to it, reaction to it, pursuance of it. In a nutshell, the narrator, Frank, works at a hospital which is unused and desolate. It was built as a symbol and remains one, even as the people supposedly working there see their lives passing unnoticed. The status quo is upset by a new arrival, Laurence, who sees the emptiness and, in a rather idealistic fashion, wants to create a functioning hospital from what is currently an empty shell. That's the main plot, although Galgut skilfully weaves in subplots and incidental characters whose reverberations contribute to the book as a whole.

It's a relatively short book at just over two hundred pages, but easily one that could be completed in one sitting. I allowed myself to be swept away by the simplicity of Galgut's prose whilst marvelling in his ability to take on massive issues and convey them without lecturing. It's a strength of his characterisation that at no point does the novel feel like a history lesson. Statements that could feel like sermons from a lesser writer slip easily out of the mouths of his characters.

For such a small book it's packed with information and detail. No sentence feels superfluous; no description incidental. There are scenes that I feel end too soon but that's as much about personal preference as any serious reflection on the book.

Simply put, this is one of the most thought-provoking and haunting novels I've read in a long time and I have a feeling I'll be revisiting it soon.

The Good Doctor is available here.

Downton Abbey S1: A Master-Class In Storytelling

Perhaps my review of this exquisite series of television drama could be summed up by the title alone. Many people have already expressed quite articulately why Downton Abbey is the best thing to happen to British drama in years. I'd just like to add a few points from a writer's perspective.

I deliberately waited until I'd watched the DVD through before I wrote this. I wanted to see if I caught anything I missed the first time around and I wanted to see how well it flowed as seven episodes placed one after the other. A lot has been made of the time frame and how irritating it seems for the series to begin with the sinking of the Titanic and end with the advent of WWI. I admit that on first viewing I found it jarred a little, but when I watched again and realised that several months pass within the first episode alone, it doesn't seem quite so terrible. If anything, it demonstrates the monotony of life, especially for the servants. It also allows for development of relationships so they can reach the point they need to before the close of the series.

One of those is, of course, Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley, the cousins whose marriage would be the answer to the family prayers but who aren't eager to be pushed into a match of convenience. Their relationship development is curious but almost inevitable, although writer, Julian Fellowes, is adamant it shouldn't be an easy ride. Throw in potential dalliances with Mary's sisters and Mary's own disastrous fling with a Turk who proceeds to die in her bed and you've got a very Edwardian soap opera. However, the sparks between Mary and Matthew are evident from their first encounter when Matthew despairs of having one of the Earl's daughters thrown at him. Their ending, while not happy, leaves potential and seems to suit the characters. After all, following their tumultuous ride through the series a conventional happy ending would've been rather bizarre.

Fellowes is careful to offer a good balance of relatively 'happy' endings along with the more open ones. Gwen, for instance, lands her dream job as a secretary, after a lengthy bid to escape service. There also seems to be hope for Daisy and William who appear set on a sweet little romance after a series of maybes. Troublemaker, Thomas, escapes service and the perils of dying on the battlefield by applying to join the doctors while Mrs Patmore regains her sight and is back to her formidable self.

Then there are the questions left unanswered. Lady Edith has hardly been a model of purity throughout the series. However, far from being a motiveless harridan, the forces that have made her the jealous woman she is are demonstrated directly to the audience. All thoughts have always been on Mary's marriage and Sybil has the sweetness to shine as the younger daughter. As Robert and Cora discuss in one episode, Edith is probably the one to look after them in their old age. Treated as such her entire life is it any wonder Mary inspires such jealousy in her sister? Her acts against Mary aren't completely justified but they are at least explained. It is also unhelpful that Edith was in love with the man Mary was reluctantly set to marry. Throughout, the sisters torture each other whenever opportunity arises and their antipathy towards each other is always simmering underneath. However badly Edith has treated Mary, though, I still felt sympathy for her when Mary took her revenge and scuppered her hopes of marriage with Sir Anthony.

The love story between Anna and Mr Bates is perhaps my favourite aspect of the entire series. Very shrewdly painted at first, it soon developed into something that was evidently mutual and beautiful to watch. Joanne Froggatt has been in the habit of scene-stealing in everything I've seen her in and this was no different. Such a straightforward character who holds the knowledge that there are some things she can't influence. Two of my favourite scenes had to be the dual scenes that, in effect, book-ended their opening flirtations. When Anna takes a tray up to Mr Bates in the first episode she hears him crying and deftly avoids showing she has heard while asking him to keep in touch when he leaves. A few episodes later Bates reciprocates the gesture, taking a tray up to a sick Anna even though it's strictly forbidden for her to open the door to him. The symbolism of that gesture is just one of the many light touches that Fellowes left for examination but, beside that point, it's a beautiful scene that demonstrates their relationship growth sweetly.

I can't possibly cover everything in this review so I'll wrap up with just a few more points. Sybil is a remarkable advocate for the coming independence of women, intelligent and self-assured even within a constrained environment. Mrs Hughes and Carson are exceptionally understated characters whose complexity I can't even begin to justify with limited space. Not one character was left out in gaining some sort of development, even if they only appeared in a few episodes, as was the case with Molesley and Branson. Also, the precision of the plots are evident on second viewing. The deliberate viewing of the snuff boxes in episode one sets up the theft in a later episode, for instance. There are recurring themes - Mrs Patmore's indignation at not being able to manage her own stores and Robert's irritation with O'Brien as his wife's maid. Nothing is really forgotten from episode to episode.

I am delighted there will be a second series but I won't speculate on the changes that Downton will have to undergo as the war takes hold. I'd just like to finish the review by pointing out that Maggie Smith's portrayal of the Dowager Countess was the most inspired and yet obvious piece of casting I've encountered in a long time. Her line delivery inevitably stole every episode and I won't be forgetting her interaction with a swivel chair at any time in the near future.

Yes, there were historical inaccuracies. But truth sacrificed briefly in the name of excellent drama is something I'm happy to compromise on. What Downton Abbey portrayed to perfection was a group of people and their interaction with the difficult world around them. What else is good drama about if not that?

Caution: Wet Paint

I wonder how many people in a hundred feel the urge to touch anything labelled ‘wet paint’, just to make sure it's wet. I do – every time. So far common sense has mostly won out and I haven’t actually stroked a window sill with a warning sign above it, but I have dragged my fingers lightly across the edge.

Human beings are naturally inquisitive creatures. However, something we have to remember as writers is that we’re a little more inclined to be nosy. Our characters might share some of our impulses to touch the things we’re told or advised not to but it’s possible they would draw the line before you. An old woman cautiously weaving through the crowds on the pavement might just be concerned she’ll be pressed against the paint and that it might stain her nice beige coat. Equally, a bouncy six year-old with a more adventurous spirit might run up and plop his hand straight into the squidgy mess. It’s all a matter of character – again!

Offering small snippets of everyday occurrences like the wet paint scenario in the course of a novel, particularly towards the beginning, give the reader actual experience of how that character behaves. It’s the old adage of showing not telling. At the same time, though, be careful that you’re not inserting this information in a contrived manner. Everything in your novel should contribute in some way to the plot so don’t have a completely irrelevant scene where your protagonist juggles knives to demonstrate his fearlessness.

If I was to insert the wet paint example into my current WIP, for example, I’d have my protagonist, Lily, running the back of her hand across the window sill. But this derives from a number of factors. Lily’s a painter. As such, she has an idea when paint may be dry enough to touch safely. In addition to that, she spends most of the novel focusing on the world around her because she doesn’t want to face up to her own life. To someone intent on looking out instead of in the thought of touching something unpredictable can be extremely enticing.

There are certainly a few questions you need to ask yourself before you insert a demonstrative scene into your WIP.

1. Does this scene add to your plot? If I was to have Lily indulging in the wet paint scenario it would be on her way to a pivotal scene at the local bar and maybe it would show her anxiety or attempts not to think about the things really worrying her.

2. If your character is going to do something a little strange is it in character? Lily's an artist so in the paint scenario it would be plausible.

3. Is this for your benefit of the benefit of the plot, character and reader? Never ever let it be for you!

Fancy Seeing You Here...

Now here’s a tricky one to get right – the coincidence of chance encounters.

A few weeks ago I blogged about the kindness of strangers and how implausible that can appear in novels, short stories, screenplays or whatever. Over the last week I managed to bump into one individual and one small group of people who reminded me that chance encounters are another one of those sticky fiction problems. Too contrived and your audience will immediately lose faith in your story, but it’s also true they can be interesting plot thrusters.

I’ve heard of people going on holiday to Spain and bumping into the neighbour who lives down the road back In Huddersfield. It does happen in real life but if that scenario was to occur in fiction wouldn’t you get a few raised eyebrows? My two chance encounters this week at least had a fair amount of logic to them.

The first one was a friend from school. We both live in the same town we grew up in but we actually met in the canteen at my new temporary job that I started a month ago. Out of all the places we could’ve ended up working we’re both in the same prefab box just off the M1 motorway? That’s a pretty big coincidence, particularly because neither of us had any plans to work in the sector we’re in. But it has some logic to it: we’re both still living near the prefab box, administration is a fairly common field and our employer is one of the biggest in the area. What actually surprises me about this situation is that I’d been working here a month before I bumped into her.

As for the three distant relatives… well, this one feels a little more dubious as far as believability goes because it necessitates a change in habits for both parties.

I went into town on a Sunday morning, for starters. Sunday morning as a concept is alien to me – my aim in life is to be semi-alert in time for Elaine Paige at 1pm – so for me to be up and around required somebody else asking me to meet them. Already a stretch. Then there was the fact that my relatives were in Costa Coffee, a little different from the places they used to frequent, though it’s a regular haunt of mine. At this point, I’m ashamed to say, I pretended I hadn’t seen them. In my defence, they did the same! However, as I was walking through the nearby shopping centre half an hour later I met them coming out of New Look and couldn’t exactly carry on walking. Now, I don’t know what they were doing in the shop but as they informed me that another distant relative of mine had just died I think it’s a logical presumption to suggest it had something to do with the funeral.

So… I was out at a time I shouldn’t have been, they were in an unexpected place, and their visit possibly revolved around the death of a family member. That has to be the kind of coincidence a reader would scoff at, surely? Personally, I’d find it a bit contrived.

What we have to bear in mind is that any ‘chance’ encounters must have some basis in truth. For example, if your characters bump into each other in a specific shop in Dubai there had better be a very good reason for it. Coincidence can often be used as a tool to impart some information that needs to be learned for the plot to progress. Don’t succumb to it. Rather than lose your reader find another way to inform the reader. If the information is as vital to the plot as you think it is there must be a way for it to fit in elsewhere.

Four Tips To Avoid Bad Writing

This weekend I read (and, miraculously, finished) a very bad book. I won't annoy the author by revealing the title but suffice to say it's not someone I'm going to be hurrying back to.

I persevered because I was determined to get to the end. It's easy to think that I wasted several hours of my life but I learned a few things along the way - how not to write, if you will.

1. Don't overuse the adjectives. The number of unnecessary words in this book, obviously just there to fill space, was perplexing. As amateur writers we're told (not advised, told) to cut these out as if they were infectious diseases. It puzzles me how so many survived into the final draft of this manuscript.

2. Don't swear for the fun of it. If I did a Ctrl+F on this manuscript I dread to think how many times the word 'bitch' would show up. I'm not an innocent babe by any stretch of the imagination but the simple fact is that a word loses significance after repetition. If that's the effect the author was going for then fair play to them but I'm not sure it was.

3. Don't have a twist visible from the off. Now this one could be my own foresight or, again, it could've been a deliberate ploy on the part of the author. Perhaps if we saw it coming and then were wrong-footed only to be right in the first place we wouldn't feel cheated? I don't know, but I wasn't keen on spotting from the very first chapter what the twist was three chapters from the end. Keep your reader guessing is my view. Yes, keep the story rooted in whatever reality you've created but don't bore them with inevitabilities.

4. Don't make your reader invest in a relationship that's going nowhere. Again, this one could've been my own fault. The book was part of a series which had established a strong relationship between two people. However, this particular novel introduced a third dimension, a woman a lot more interesting and absorbing than the dutiful wife. Long-term readers might've been happy to see the affair fail but the fact that so much energy was given over to it (while only an epilogue explained the reconciliation of the main couple) felt very out of place. I would suggest that if a relationship must fail please demonstrate it in more than the epilogue.

Good points about this book? The setting was particularly evocative, some of the minor characters are cleverly sketched with just enough detail, and the climax involves both emotion and action. Those points make it bearable.

However, I do get the feeling that I learned more about how not to write a novel from this author. That does irritate me but I guess we've all read a book like that at some point in the last two years!

First-Timers

Today I was stood in a non-moving queue at the bank. Like any self-respecting writer in such a situation I turned my Ipod off and listened to the conversations around me. One woman, mid-twenties, went up to the cashier and was quick to say, 'Bear with me, it's my first time'.

How often do we hear those words these days? I wondered what she was talking about. Her first time in a bank? Had she been living in a cave for the past twenty years or storing her wages in the hollow gnome next to the fish pond? So much potential for a story there! No, in actual fact today was the first time she'd banked the takings for whatever business she worked for and she was nervous. Simple enough, yes, but it got me thinking about my characters and their first time doing... well, anything.

Sometimes I'm in danger of over-describing regular occurrences in my characters' lives because I feel the audience needs an explanation. My protagonist, for instance, is walking into a bar. Is it the first time she's set foot in a bar? No. Is is it the first time she's been in this bar? Again, no. I want to describe the place and show her in relation to it but for her to stand there marvelling at the decor would just be wrong. Someone seeing something for the first time makes life so much easier but it's seldom the case.

Then there's the danger of going the other way. My character has never seen a gun before. To have one suddenly pointed in her direction is going to provoke a reaction. It's a perfect opportunity to explore her character but on first approach I treated it almost like a non-event. A bit of common sense analysis told me that what I'd written was about as realistic as David Cameron's smile so I went back and looked at it again. Lily's just seen a gun for the first time!!! Wow!!!

The key is, I think, to remember your character at all times. It's tempting to focus on the reader but if your character is either gushing about the newness of something they've seen a hundred times before or nonplussed about a life-altering event you need a rethink. Forget what the reader needs, that can come later. What does your character need at this precise moment?

(Oh, and the woman in the bank had reason to worry - there was a ten pound discrepancy that had both her and the cashier tearing their hair out. Proof that first times can be interesting, however mundane they first appear!)

Saggy Middle Syndrome

Every writer knows the problem.

You're happily whizzing along, your plot's sorted, and you're pleased with your characterisation, when suddenly the floor turns to jelly and you're no longer sure of anything. You want to pack it in, or concentrate on another fledgling project for a few days - anything to get away from that half-written page. Unfortunately, every writer also knows that giving into those urges is the sure-fire way to never finish a single project.

The interesting thing about the novel I'm writing now (the first one ever to have a completed first draft) is that it was written for NanoWriMo 2009. For anyone unfamiliar with the concept it's an annual event that takes place in November of each year, the full title being National Novel Writing Month. It does precisely what it says on the tin: encourages you to write 50,000 words in a month. Not quite a novel but I pushed on ahead with mine and finished the 70,000 word first draft soon after November was up.

Then came the difficult part.

My plot had fault lines bigger than San Andreas. My characters were more unhinged than realistic. My settings lacked life and my word choices were suspect at best. But it was a fully-finished draft and I was very pleased with myself. Several months later I got stuck into the second draft with gusto. All went well until I topped 20,000 words.

Suddenly, every word was a labour to write. I was doubting everything, even going so far as to rewrite for my plan for the ending... then my plan for the bit leading up to the ending. With a new plan in place I pressed on and, again, I faltered. What if I was to write the second draft and my structure was still wobbling all over the place? Wouldn't it be better to sit down and plan out every little thing minutely until I was certain of every variant?

Erm... no.

I'd never finish it. This second draft to me feels almost like a first draft. The first time around I couldn't stop to breathe and panic so I think I'm making up for it this time. I literally woke up panicking on several occasions about 'my middle, my middle!'. I've built the foundations for it and I've planned the bell-ringing finale but what if... Well, what if?! Those two words caused me many problems.

What if I couldn't live up to the requirements of a middle? What are they? Well, according to various sources the intention is to build on your premise, create complications, enhance plot/character, and work towards your conclusion. The simple things in life! If I spent too long thinking about all that at this stage I'd just curl up in a ball and contemplate my alternative career in a place where words aren't used at all.

I'm pushing on. My daily targets have become smaller as I acknowledge I'm struggling and that extra pressure wasn't helping at all. My most useful resource in the last few weeks, however, has been encouragement. Having friends and family around that maybe don't understand why the itch to write is so intense but understand you have an enthusiasm (or desperation) for it is invaluable. And I do think that when I get round to sharing my second draft with them they'll be painfully honest about my saggy middle. Good friends!

Does Your Character Have A Political Agenda?

The political scrum of the last few weeks got me thinking.

I've become very passionate, especially in the last couple of days, about expressing my opinion and supporting a certain party leader against adversity. As I've become more vocal, however, I've realised that the majority of my characters are not aligned with politics at all. I don't mean in the sense that I want them actively campaigning for the Lib Dems during election month, just that sometimes it's easier to tick the 'not political' box in the character checklist than to go through the implications of what a political allegiance might mean to plot progression.

I'm particularly guilty of this. My note about one of my protagonists, Joe, ran 'doesn't vote'. Well, that's that then.

Not quite.

I've realised Joe doesn't vote because I'm lazy, not him. I had so much going on with my characters that I didn't want to factor politics into it, whether it impacted on the story or not. Easier for me to keep track that way. Thinking about it for a few seconds, putting together everything I know about him, I decided he'd vote Labour. He's a simple man who likes what he knows, he cohabits with his girlfriend and has an aversion to upper-class twits.

That wasn't so hard, was it? Now I'm not intending to wave round a political baton in the novel but it adds an extra layer of realism to Joe. A character may legitimately not vote but you have to know why.

Is it down to them or you?

What's NOT Going To Happen?

I'm in that band of writers who try to plan out what's going to happen in their next few chapters. I also have a broader outline for my novel which invariably ends up being amended twice a week, though I know roughly where my characters will be come the finale. My 'chapter plans' are modest scrawls in an A5 pad that I have trouble reading at times. They consist of bullet points just telling me what I need to cover in the chapter, to make sure nothing's dragging or occuring where it shouldn't.

Then today I realised that this isn't working for the particular chapter I'm writing (seventeen, if it matters!). This is a pivotal scene: my protagonist, Lily, is trying to unravel the extent of the deception around her with the assistance of her friends. But certain things need to remain a mystery! There are conclusions she shouldn't jump to right now, even if the reader can see them plainly. It's not within her reach to figure everything out at this precise moment so I'm having to be careful. Instead of writing a chapter plan detailing what needs to happen, I'm creating a list of bullet points telling me what better not happen under any circumstances.

My main problem at the moment? Lily must not connect a chance meeting with any of her current troubles. There's no reason she would. But, of course, as the omniscient presence I know everything. Half the job at the moment seems to be forgetting what I know and concentrating on what my character can know.

I do hope I'm not the only person who struggles with this!