Tonight was a fun evening I went to my first ever blogger party! I didn't even know such things existed, at least not in rural Norfolk; but when I heard about it and that not only would I meet some other bloggers; but get to dress up too, I jumped at the chance. I had no idea what to expect; but it was a really fun evening with everybody looking very glam. I got the chance to wear my new dress, desperately holding on to a splash of summer despite the torrential rain. I talked to some bloggers including Hannah from NR11 Blog a lovely lady who reviews recipe books - how cool is that? She gets sent free cookbooks to review and I definitely like the sound of that. Then there was Mike a photographer at Rebel Heart Photography an awesome name. Just before I left, I talked to Vicky Myers who makes handbags - my idea of heaven! I'm looking forward to having a browse of their blogs, it will be nice to see what other people are getting up to. Blogging is quite a solitary past-time, so to get out and meet others made a great change. I picked up some ideas and a definite shot of motivation to keep going. We even got to take home a goodie bag - it was like being at a kid's party for grownups. No annoying tooters and balloons that burst in these bags though - we got tights from Tights Please, false eyelashes from PaperSelf, dried pineapple and chocolate from Drop Dead Chocolate and FabEast. A random mix; but a fun surprise to unpack. And can you tell that the majority of guests were female?! Is this a trend that more women than men blog? It's not something I'd considered before. I've made it through the first week of writing my first draft and I'm still standing. Okay make that curled up on the sofa; but I made it which is the important part. It has not been easy. In fact I have found so many things I would rather do than actually write - these include messing around on Facebook, re-doing my website, updating my Twitter account - hell I even was tempted to do my tax returns, it was literally that bad. It's so dumb because I have been desperate for the time to just write. I've rearranged my whole schedule so that I can use my precious energy in the morning to focus on my novel and once the time was there and I was there, all my creativity joy and desire to write just evaporated. I sat staring at this very screen with Scrivener open and I couldn't even string a sentence together. Words made no sense to me. I felt like someone had come in and scoured out my brain, leaving me with random thoughts like "why do I need to drink so much water" and "I wonder how many butterflies there are in my garden?" I counted up to seven in case you're wondering too. I resigned myself to the fact that I am a truly horrible writer and that maybe I should give up. Except for the fact that a) I've told everyone I'm doing this first draft so I feel accountable to actually do it and b) during NaNoWriMo I find this writing thing really easy. I can dash off my 1,667 words a day without too much of a sweat. So what was my problem? Then I realised that during NaNo we actually go through a process of locking our inner editor into a little box - we even make a box out of paper and put a picture of our editor inside. It sounds gimmicky; but it really works. So that's what I decided to do, not make a paper box, that would have been another fun waste of time. No I decided that when I went out to my writing room I would leave the editor inside the house. It was the trick I needed. Once I let go, stopped editing each word, each sentence, and just let myself write, it was fun and I rediscovered my joy. There were sentences I typed that made me cringe; but they got across the emotion I wanted to express and I know I can go back in the edit and spruce them up, give them the polish they deserve. I also discovered this amazing list of ten rules for writing your first draft - ironically while I was wasting time on Facebook. I hope they help you as much as they helped me! Like many people, one of my big dreams is to write a novel and to see it published. Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to write; but I never realised it was an actual career. Authors were just names on the front of covers, they weren't real people.
It wasn't until I was eighteen, bedbound and having Mum read books to me that I realised that I really wanted to write my own novel. I got so frustrated by a really bad story about a teenage detective who worked as a life guard that I decided then and there that I could do better and that one day I would. For a long time the dream has been hovering in the background, a one day goal; but this year I decided it was a now goal and it was time I made it happen. So September is officially First Draft Finishing Month. It shouldn't be that hard - I've completed NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) twice and even done Camp NaNoWriMo; but sitting down in front of my computer this morning was so scary. When you decide to stop putting off your dream and start making it a reality you suddenly become incredibly insecure and wonder why it is you want it in the first place. A short amount of procrastination later and I was typing rapidly away and loving seeing the story unfold. I have a feeling this process is going to bring up lots of emotional things and real world challenges; but I'm committed to making it a reality. Talk to any reader who has a favourite book that's been adapted for a film and you'll often discover a disappointed person. I'm definitely among them, there have been so many books that I love and then felt let down by the film.
It's nobody's fault, the main problem is that we each imagine things very differently as we read. You will draw on your own experiences, which will vary greatly from mine, so your characters are going to be different to mine. We may read the same book; but we experience completely different stories. That’s one of the things I love about books and stories in general, they are completely open to your own interpretation and even reading the same book you can have a different experience. I think there's another reason why books can struggle when they are turned into films - the characters don't have enough time to truly form. Today I went to see The Mortal Instruments - City of Bones, having read the book. Overall I enjoyed it; but as with all adaptations there were bits that were very different from my imaginings. There were new bits, some of which I thought made great additions and some parts I really missed seeing. As I was watching I really missed the slow build of the characters, everything was much faster, as it has to be in a film. The book took me a few days to read, that's a lot to fit into two hours. I realised that I love the gradual process of discovery you get when you read, the unfolding of all the sides of the personalities, the strengths and the flaws, the things that make me fall in love with a character and make me keep reading. Some films do it brilliantly, the ones that give time for reactions on the actor’s faces that give pause to let the story breathe. These you walk away feeling satisfied that the director has done a great job. I realised that so much is said within a book, not just the dialogue; but the subtlety and nuance of thoughts and actions which if done well brings a character to life in a way that can seem even more vivid than on screen. It's given me pause and made me wonder how I can use it more in my own writing. Tomorrow is my official back to work on the novel day so I guess we shall see! Which film adaptations have you enjoyed? What do you think makes them work, or not? Yay! I've done it, 50,000 words in less than thirty days, so I am feeling very happy right now; but that hasn't been how I've felt throughout November. Last year I loved, loved, loved the whole experience, I flew through 104,000 words and just had the best time, you can read more about my 2011 experiences here... This year did not get off to the best start; I managed 800 words at midnight on 1st November and then proceeded to come down with a horrible cold that stopped me doing anything for over a week. Day 7 I managed to write a little and then increased it slowly as I started to feel more human and the cotton wool of cold and ME shifted from around my brain. I wondered if there was any point, since I was nearly 10,000 words behind; but I didn't want to give up without trying, so I just did what I could, because I knew I had a story I desperately wanted to tell. It's been more of a struggle; I've had to force myself to sit in front of the computer, unlike last year when I could barely tear myself away. The words have been dragged out of me a lot of the time, until I found my flow and out poured several thousand at a time. It was definitely stop and start, much more of a chore and there were days I wondered why on Earth I was bothering; but I'd set a goal and I don't give up easily. I've learnt different lessons from 2011. I've realised that if I set a small goal and reach it I feel like a rock star. It's easier to focus on doing 2,000 words than working out how much of 50,000 I have left. Or how many days I have to do it in - that's just scary! It's a lesson I intend to apply to other big projects in my life. I also learnt that it is possible to achieve big goals, even if they seem monumentally impossible and low-self esteem and doubt are whispering in my head to say there's no point, it's just too difficult. Nuh-nuh, voices you were wrong! My novel isn't complete; but it's nearly there. I've written the end at least! It's going to take a huge amount of editing and re-writing; but that's okay. This year I realised I have to write things in long hand first and then go back and boil it down, reduce it to what I want. I feel a little sad that the motivation of the NaNo deadline is over; but lying in bed last night, thinking back on the past month I got inspiration for another story. It won't be such a frantic experience; but hopefully the high from winning will carry me through for a few weeks at least. Will I be doing NaNo next year? I hope so, because who knows what I'll learn from it. One thing's for sure, no two years will ever be the same!
As you may have read on my previous post I am taking part in NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. I m going to be writing 50,000 words during November, I did it last year and had so much fun, so I'm making time to do it again this year.
I know that a lot of my readers won't have the energy to write 50,000 words, but that's ok instead of normal NaNo I want to extend an invitation - let's have a go at writing 5,000 words in a month - that's a short-ish story; but is definitely do-able. It works out at 167 words a day, which really isn't much, in fact it's less than this blog post. If we all write a story then I will put them together into a free e-book you can distribute to your family and friends - it would make a great Christmas/Non-holiday specific gift and you get the pleasure in calling yourself a published author. It's going to be lots of fun and a great way to get creative and tell some stories. Leave me a comment to let me know if you fancy having a go or drop me an email. Stories can be about anything you fancy; but a few guidelines and rules...
Last year I heard of a really insane sounding project called NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. The basic idea is that during the month of November, people from all over the world sit down and write the novel they have always wanted to write. It was something I had on my wish list - write a book, which I had always wanted to do; but had never found the time or the motivation to actually get down to. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in 30 days which sounds completely mad and impossible; but every year hundreds of thousands of people attempt the challenge and lots of them are successful! Some even get their books published - for example The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which we just read for the Live in Love in Laugh in book club. (Amazing book, a must read - we all agreed!) I know that a lot of my readers won't have the energy to write 50,000 words, but that's ok read on... I found out that you have to write 1,667 words a day to complete the challenge and I thought I could manage that, or at least have a go. I'd been doing a daily blog, so it didn't seem too much of a stretch. When I started I wasn't sure what to expect, I hadn't written anything creative since I left school, that is other than my virtual holidays from home; but they are factual with an imaginative twist, not a story. This was something completely new to me! I had been making up stories in my head since I was bedbound; I found it a great way to escape the boredom and frustration; but I'd never written them down and this was now my goal. The question was where to start? I had an idea for a story and set out with a huge amount of fear and trepidation - could I write? Was it even possible to have that many words inside me? Turns out there were a whole lot more than 50,000. I ended up doing two novels during November, writing a total of 104,000 words! I know I was totally shocked; but the truth was I loved every minute of it. It taught me a lot about working through blocks, keeping going and not giving up. I would really recommend it to anyone that has always dreamed of writing a book; but doesn't know where to start. Fancy joining me this year? We can be writing buddies - you just sign up here... It's free to take part and you get a snazzy badge like the one at the top to say you're taking part and another one if you finish! My goal this year is to just do one novel; but to go back and edit it, then send it to an agent. My ambition is to be a published, best-selling fiction author and it's time to make that happen. So for anyone that wants to write; but can't manage 50,000 words - it is a challenge, I have to work harder at my pacing so that I can do it; but I find it's worth it as I feel so much better in myself when I write. Instead of normal NaNo I want to extend an invitation - let's have a go at writing 5,000 words in a month - that's a short-ish story; but is definitely do-able. It works out at 167 words a day, far less than a third of this blog post! If we all write a story then I will put them together into a free e-book you can distribute to your family and friends - it would make a great Christmas/Non-holiday specific gift and you get the pleasure in calling yourself a published author. Leave me a comment to let me know if you fancy having a go or drop me an email. I can't wait, I know it's going to be so much fun! Hurry up November! |
Claire WadeI'm an author, disability activist, winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and The EABA for Fiction 2020 and founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI). The Choice is available from:DETAILS:
Title: The Choice Publisher: Orion ISBN: 1409187748 You can keep up to date with all my latest blog posts by signing up to my email newsletter.
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