New Perspectives on Old Works

Well, it's a rainy, miserable day here today - perfect writing weather, to be honest! The garden is looking great outside, our fur babies are snuggled up in their hay inside, everybody's wrapped up warm, and there's not much to do except... work on the novel.

So, about that.

I've decided, in a fit of madness, that I'm going to re-write the entire book from a different angle. It's something I've been toying with for a while, but haven't been able to bring myself to do, purely for how huge an undertaking it will be. However, I feel now as if the time is right and it's the best thing to do. Eek.

One thing I've always wanted, first and foremost, is for it to be personal, realistic. A fantastical tale that readers can get involved with, full of characters they can fall in love with, to enthrall and to captivate and to transport you to another dimension, yet still retain its reality and normality, so readers can still relate to the characters and get inside their heads. So trying to decide whether it should be in the first person, from the protagonist's point of view, or third person - or first person from a combination of character's points of view - has been a difficult decision, and something that I've been pondering since the outset of the project.

I figure first person is more personal. You get inside their head; their thoughts, feelings, ideas. They tell you their story and you can feel as if you're really there. However, telling it from the omniscient viewer's perspective in third person gives an opportunity for less clumsy detail and more interesting notes that the protagonist wouldn't know and therefore cannot say, so it can round out the story a lot better. A dilemma, indeed!

Last night, I decided that unless I saw the whole thing written in first AND third person, I'd never really know which would be better. And ultimately, I want this work to be the best version of itself it possibly can be (obviously). So I've begun to re-write in the 'other' person from how it is at present.

I'm not sure which I prefer, to be honest. The first chapter is done, and it's difficult to say at this juncture which I'm happiest with. Just personally, I adore the first few chapters regardless, I think they set the scene beautifully and introduce the setting and the people well, so it's very difficult to see which is best. I'm hoping by chapter five or six I'll have a better idea.

Either way, it's a great exercise to be doing, giving a whole new level of understanding of the minutae of the work, the prose, the subtle nuances I somehow wrote but missed on a conscious level. I'm glad I'm doing it for the sheer way in which it's improving the work on every level anyway. Tidying up the mess and clearing out the unnecessary.

I think, perhaps, the best way to decide will be to let the readers do it for me, and find a few people willing to read and critique and give an opinion. If you're interested, let me know.

Until then, however.... back to the books!!

Blatant bribery for your Saturday night

Just to let you all know, you can follow me on Facebook too.

Once I reach 100 'likes', a big secret will be revealed... spread the word.

Twitter coming soon.

Musings on Musical Muses: Pure Reason Revolution - The Bright Ambassadors of Morning

Like many other writers, I suspect, I find it almost impossible to sit down and get to work without listening to a good playlist of inspiring music. Etymologically speaking, the word 'music' derives from the Greek (and later Latin) word for Muse, as it was thought these goddesses inspired all creative arts and literature - so to have the work of various artists playing in the background, contributing to atmosphere and the creative mood, is rather fitting.

As I was putting together yet another playlist this afternoon - the aptly-named 'Writing Music 5' - I thought about how much they help the process along, and figured a series of posts highlighting some of these artists would be a nice little tangential path to go down.

So here we are, Musings on Musical Muses Number 1.

This is a band called Pure Reason Revolution. I listen to them a lot while I write; I find them haunting, atmospheric, a perfect fit for the tale I'm weaving. Divinely inspired, you could go so far as to say. One of those bands whose music is so hard to describe and define, because it gets underneath your skin and speaks to your heart and to your soul. They hail from London, England, and segue between prog-rock and electro-folk, if you can imagine such a thing. This track - the name taken from a line in a Pink Floyd song  - is a classic example of their earlier work.

Listen and enjoy.

Pure Reason Revolution - The Bright Ambassadors of Morning

Running Up That Hill

Finally, after three years, I'm two days away from finishing university - woohoo! It's a very strange feeling, I have to say. Somewhat like having run a mental and emotional marathon up the equivalent of the Himalayas and finally being back on solid ground. It also means I'll be able to get back to writing properly again, which right now is the most exciting aspect for me.

For the past few months I've had to knuckle down and put every spare moment into writing wellness plans for clients (as part of my clinical practice) and putting together assignments. Which has, of course, led to many hours spent dreaming up new twists and turns in the story, themes and elements to introduce, but having to store them in the back of my mind to put down on paper at a later date.

Well, that date is here.

Two exams down, one to go.
Twenty-five clients seen, zero to go.
Twenty-four wellness plans handed in, one to go.

If I don't know how to pass this exam after three years of full-time work on three different qualifications, then I probably shouldn't have the degree. That's how I'm justifying spending the next three or four hours penning the tale of a young woman with a massive secret, anyway...

Until next time.

Sharing is Caring

It's almost time for me to start recruiting readers for this work - which, I must confess, is beginning to scare me a little. As much as this book is planted firmly in the realm of the supernatural (yet still firmly rooted in a small town and suburban high school for much of the story), and is utterly fantastical and unrealistic, it's hard not to feel as if you're opening up your heart and soul for criticism every time somebody reads just a single sentence.

These characters are people you've created, their lives something you've designed from scratch. It's not like introducing your friends to somebody in the real world, where their actions and words and choices are of their own making and their own directive, and you can excuse any offensive or embarassing personality quirks as being 'just them' and having little to do with you. This is all from your own mind, your own heart - and it's scary.

I'm scared.

Yet, this is something all writers must deal with and must get over, if the work is to be a success and read by a wide audience. It takes courage and gall to even put together a decent-sized opus, let alone have people scrutinise it and give their opinion. And it's something I've known for a very long time.

I found this great quote to sum it up:

There's nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.  ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

Yeah, sounds about right.

It's exciting too, though, I have to admit. So many late nights and long days have gone into this, assignments hurried as I've been too busy working on a chapter to put 100% into my schoolwork, appointments missed... and at last it's almost at the point of being read. Which is, ultimately, the point.

Guess I just have to man up and get over it, and pretty fast, huh?

How do you other writers deal with it?

Newish Beginnings and Not-Quite-Endings...

I never know where to start these things. At this particular moment in time I'm not by any means beginning this project, so I can hardly start there. It's not the end, though, either - so a retrospective will never do (yet). But starting in the middle would only serve to confuse you, the reader, and condemn my blog to the pile of nonsensical rubble accumulated over the past two decades of self-indulgent internet waffle undertaken by the global community.

So I'll begin right.... here.

Hello!

I'm Erin. I'm writing a book - a book I hope you'll all enjoy. It's been a long time coming, a huge undertaking, a labour of love and at times the only thing keeping me sane in the madness that is full-time study. Escapism in its most glorious form. Currently it's about two-thirds written, outlined well, plot continually changing and upgrading, and fast on its way to being complete. At least, this first segment is. After this, it'll be onto part two. And part three. Maybe even part four. Oh, the possibilities!!

But that's enough of that, for now. Domestic duties - and dinner - are calling. Welcome to my online outlet, please do stick around, wipe your feet and mind the ink drops.