How Do You Know It's Good Enough - Part 2

I know I owe you a few posts about the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature but I keep coming back to the question of how do you know when your work is ready. This of course does tie into the discussion that came up at the panel on First Fictions...

First off let me state...the first draft is never the one to send.

And in my case nor was the sixth for The Cornish House. It was the seventh.  At the moment I am working on book two of my contract with Orion, August Rock. This will be draft 27, yup 27. August Rock is the book that i really began to learn the skill required to write and I wrote the thing to death. Now I am trying to breath life back into a good story...

This morning in order to find a scene I had long since cut, I went back to 2007 or to be precise draft two (remember nothing is ever wasted). Now the scene is written in a point of view that no longer exists but the concrete details of the setting were what I was looking for...they are like gold dust. Much of the writing made me wince...and yes, this version was submitted and rejected. And boy do I know why now.

So I come back to when is it ready...first, it's not ready because you are heartily sick of it or your brother told you it's good, unless of course your brother is Jonny Geller. It's not ready if it's still filled with mistakes..grammar, spelling or otherwise...

Luigi Bonomi stated clearly in the First Fictions section that the spark has to be there in the first three pages...ideally on the first.

So they are not going to see the great story if they are pulled out of it by mistakes...I know there are huge success stories out there with bad writing but they are few. More importantly is that what you want people to saying about your book...great story but crap writing. My hope is that my writing serves the story...it should be invisible.. But that's me and others may well feel differently but never does bad writing help a story unless that what's it's about...Saw a link again this morning to the book HOW NOT TO WRITE A NOVEL...it had me howling with laughter which of course is it's intention.

So as a test - pick out your favourite book in your genre and then your book and have someone else read the first three pages aloud... now in all honesty how does your compare? Good? OK? Needs work?

Don't submit yet if your in your heart know that it needs a bit more work but you're thinking ...surely the agent/publisher will see through that...they won't. They don't have time. Treat them with respect and polish that submission to within an inch of it's life...you may only have one shot.

ps...I can tell I am truly a nerd now thanks to being edited - copy edited and proofed. In the fabulous YA book the HUNGER GAMES I was pulled out of the story on page two...

'I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has moulded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid up into a cap, and grab my  forage bag.'

I was out of the story...trying to figure how she put her boots on before her trousers...what type of boots or trousers can you do this with... Yes I know I am very sad...But I need to hold onto that to apply it to my own work....but not in the first draft- there my characters run free and dress as they damn well please

Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature - Heritage Evening with David Nichols

I wasn't sure I would be able to stay awak having landing at 1 AM and had a wonderful time in Sharjah during Education Day but boy was I happy I'd had a double espresso and attending last night's session with David Nichols.

First the setting...coming down the to the boardwalk the venue was beautifully lit up and the sound of Arabic music filled the air. Carpets and cushions line the way and people we sitting relaxing watching Emirati men sing and dance. It created such a lovely feeling as we walked down the red carpet into the 'heritage' venue.

So here are my hastily scribbled notes of Rosie Goldsmith in conversation with David Nichols author of ONE DAY...(as always these are just my notes...and will not be represent what I could capture when not laughing :-))

Rosie Goldsmith and David Nichols

-He's working or not as the case may be on his 4th novel
- writing novels took him by surprise as he wanted to be an actor and spent years trying
- this is his first trip to Dubai

Rosie asked if he still recognized ONE DAY as it has taken off? He replied yes and that he still loves the book but this is the last event he is doing with it as his focus. He needs to move on. In his house he has packed away all copies as they are distracting him from getting on with book 4.

-his first book, STATER FOR TEN did well in the UK but didn't travel. His second book THE UNDERSTUDY didn't do as well and he expected ONE DAY to continue the downward trend.

- ONE DAY was pleasure to write.

- He hasn't written fiction now for three years other than a short story

-ONE DAY is like 20 snap shots, a love story in 20 photos...it's about friendship and it's a social & political novel

- he loves the hidden significance of St Swithan's Day

- for a screen writer structure is everything...before dialogue and action must come structure which is not the case with novels. About half way through ONE DAY he shared it with ket people and they told he needed more exposition in it so he rewrote at the stage.

- he is trying to improve as a novelist

- of any character he's most in Ian

- everyone journey into writing is unique

- he pointed out that there is an in-built hostility to university student in the UK. There is no sympathy for them and for actors and so some of TV ideas were turned down

- STARER FOR TEN is a coming of age story

- he finds now trying to write book 4 he is becoming self-conscious about writing

-Screenplay writing is different...something a bit lazy in adapting the a screen play - the genius is already there- this work is more editorial - it's a privilege and you get to keep all the brilliant bits

- all adaptations have a little bit of the writer in them as the you get to chose what bits go in

- he loves Rom Coms and sites Much Ado About Nothing as his favourite

- Mismatched couples create great friction in a story

Rosie asked how he kept is the love story of ONE DAY from becoming too sweet? He replied  that he undercuts, keeps a meanness, a darkness/bitterness, an irony that makes them more enjoyable and more meaningful.

In the Q&A session here were the key points...
- always tries to write the best book he can
-he writes to be read
unlike many other writers of popular fiction he gets reviewed
- he's worried about book 4 because it needs to be different but not too different
- planning is less fun but the planning for ONE DAY had to be quite rigorous because of the structure and in the end it was quite close to the plan
- it took him two years to write it
- his key tips for writers was to print the book off..hand write the edits and then retype the whole book...when it's on the screen and your editing it's too easy to say 'thanks okay, it will do and ignore it' if you are retyping then you look at every word..

The Queue for David Nichols' signing

Well, that's the it for now...hope to be able to bring you more tomorrow depending on access to a computer (I left my brain behind in London...did I say brain I meant laptop)....

The RNA RoNA Awards and Education day at the Emirates Airlines Festival of LiteratureJust what Jill mansell is doing

Monday was the RNA RoNA awards and today was Education Day at the Emirates Airlines Festival Festival of Literature...and i'm not sure where i am....

Good guess what Jill Mansell was up to...

But here are a few of the out takes from the photos i took on Monday...the rest are here.

My killer heals

Jane Wenham Jones and Judy Astley

Today i have the pleasure of running two creative writing workshops in Sharjah for the Education Day. It was such fun. The girls were interested and I loved the questions they asked....

The Dreaded Question - What's your Favourite Book?

As I mentioned yesterday, I was interviewed for radio about the upcoming Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature...which was scary enough in itself but then the lovely Lucy asked me...what's your favourite book???

How can I answer that? It can vary from day to day or from period in my life....how do you define favourite book? The one that lives in your head and that you escape to during quiet or stressful moments? The one that has altered your world perspective? The one with the hero you never forgot? The one with the heroine you always wanted to be? The one that took to you to a place you always wanted to go? The one where you learned so much it hurt?

Put on the spot (yes, I know I should have anticipated this question) I answer Katherine by Anya Seaton and Leo the African by Amin Maaloof. And they are two of my favourite books...but there are so many more for all of the reasons above.

I could have said...The Daughter of Lir by Diana Norman or Constance:A Story of Early Plymouth by Patricia Clapp (note to self - must find a copy of this for DD) or Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, or Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant...the list could go on and on...

What are your favourite books and why?

And because I think it's one of the best first lines ever...from Leo the African...

'I, Hassan the son of Muhammad the weigh-master, I Jean-Leon de Medici, circumcised at the hand of a barber and baptized at the hand of a pope, I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia.'

Note: will be running a contest for free tickets to my session...(description session here) - First Fictions at the Emirates Festival of Literature. Details to follow...

Reading and Books Set in Cornwall

First I'm not sure if I've posted this before but it's certainly worthy doing so again. Over on Read_Warbler's blog, she has a wonderful list of books set in Cornwall here.

And this leads me on to reading of which I have been doing a fair bit- both novels and research. I tend not to read novels or more correctly more recent ones when I am writing a first draft for fear that the writer's voice or style will creep into my head and then into my work. However when I'm rewriting/editing it's different....so recently I have read some fabulous books - THE SOMNAMBULIST by Essie Fox, JUBILEE by Shelley Harris, HARNESSING PEACOCKS by Mary Wesley and a book I won't name. I won't name it because I didn't like it. I made me angry. I found the writing sloppy and the head hoping annoying and plot trite. It held me back on other books for a long time. I could only take about ten pages at a time and at one point I threw the book out of the bath and across the room. Yes, it made me that mad...

Now I know you are wondering what book and what writer but I won't say...you are also wondering why I persevered???? Well, this book has sold in the shed loads as have all this writer's books. I felt there must be something to learn from it aside from how not to head hop....

Let me jump away for a second...because in Harnessing Peacocks there is some head hopping but it didn't upset me - the changes were pretty well signalled without me having to go back a reread the paragraph to find out which head I was in...so let's just say that it was head hopping well done, but when rating the book on Goodreads I gave it a 4 even though I loved the story....

So I found myself wondering does head hopping bother most readers? Do they notice? Is it just a thing that pisses off writers like me? I have tried to remember my reading days pre-writing to see if I can remember if it upset me or pulled me out of the story....and I can't.

Let me just say...I love books with multiple points of view, but not in the same scene... or page but definitely not in the same paragraph....but I may be alone in this. Also I found it frustrating investing energy in minor characters whose head I was in for maybe three scenes then they were never heard from again (there has to be another way to get that information to the reader in my opinion)....enough said...

Now, I had to stop reading another book recently but not because it was bad...in fact it was the exact opposite....just too good and written in first person and that's what I'm trying to rewrite August Rock in so I'm afraid I will try and copy the excellence and fail....I will tell you this book though - Julie Cohen's THE SUMMER OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY. It will have a wait a bit more until I am sure of my voice in the first person...

On a final note...I was interviewed for radio here in Dubai regarding the upcoming Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature...and they asked my most feared question which I'll blog about tomorrow.

Oh and it's so exciting...on Monday evening I'm going to the Orion author party!!!! Will try and take pictures to share...just not sure what I'm going to wear yet and oh, what shoes to wear.....

All Writers Are Different

I know the statement above is stating the obviously but this morning I read a good post by fellow writer here in Dubai, Alexander McNabb. His post is here. All of it is excellent, but it is also very different from the advice I might give.

I'll begin with his point on 'writing books'. He doesn't hold much in store by them but I do. This is probably just down to how different minds work, but I know hand on heart I wouldn't have an agent or a contract today if I hadn't used all the Donald Maass books to revise. In fact they are beside me as I work on rewriting book two. There are other books as well that have helped me along the like like Sol Steins Solutions For Writers. Every writer has different needs or should I say has different problems with their work and whether a book can help fix them depends on what they are and what type of person you are...

McNabb lists blogs that have been helpful for him...aside from The Bookseller none have been ones that have helped me but I will now check them out (hate missing out). There is so much choice out there but my list is:-

BubbleCow
Sarah Duncan
Rachelle Gardner
and just recently Kristen Lamb

Then he gives great advice on how to write a book....here's my additional thoughts....

-Write the book of your heart...so that it has your passion in it. This is for your first draft. Put it all onto to the page. In this stage don't worry about market, genre or anything else but the story you have tell.

The editing process is where you carve out the refined book from the mass of words. Editing is the point where you take your knowledge of the publishing world and make the book marketable. This is the time where you work for your reader and not for yourself.

-McNabb recommends plotting...this works for some and not for others. I'm not a plotter. I normally begin with a title, a character and a location and sometimes the end - that is it. See the point above. On my first drafts I fly into the wind and let it all happen. However in revision I then plot. I look at where the story has gone...does it make sense...could it be better/stronger? This is where the Maass book come into their own for me. His questions and exercises help me to pull more out of the book.

-He makes a good point about knowing your market, genre and reader....this is very important as you edit. Before you are published and most definitely afterwards it is a key part of your job to know your market and to follow the industry. That does not mean that just because paranormals are on the rise that you should write them but you need to know what is happening.

Knowing your reader is important. If you write YA and you're 40 then you need to know their issues, read what they read and so. I was lucky because I was writing for me. I am my reader...I fit the demographic for women's fiction. To make it more exacting I now imagine my wonderful hairdresser here in Dubai as my reader. Since I have know her back the first time we lived here we have talked books. She reads everything and she reads a lot. So when I'm editing a book I picture her as the one sitting down and absorbing the world I have created. Will she relate to it? Would she pick my book up in a shop?

I recently read Mel Sherratt's TAUNTING THE DEAD. I loved it, it was gripping and I couldn't put it down but I'm not her reader. I don't buy crime thrillers...that's not what I normally spend my book money on. She shouldn't think of me when she's assessing her work.....she needs to think of those who auto buy Martina Cole and the like...

-I totally agree with him on POV in a scene (his pt 2)...keep it to one other wise the reader can become confused and that's the last thing you want. I'd also add make sure that the scene is in the POV of the character with the most to lose...

-I'd add another point...listen to your work. By hearing your work read it becomes distant from you. Don't read it yourself because you can put inflection etc in....try Natural Reader (the free version is good but the voice is unforgiving which dare I say it a good thing)...

But of course the best advice for writing a book is to just do it....

PS....Alex and I are on the same panel for one of the sessions at the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature...could be interesting based on yesterday's twitter discussion on Arab voices finding a global platform :-)

Peter James and Emirates Airlines Literary Festival of Literature

All things being equal or schedules working out, I would have been at the RNA Winter Party last night...instead I had to find a willing photographer to take the pics I normally do. The wonderful Talli Roland did a wonderful job and her pictures of the evening are here.

Now I have to thank the wonderful DJ Kirby for taking this photo of my wonderful agent, Carole Blake (she's Peter James' agent too!) and one of my closest friends, Brigid Coady, holding a proof copy of THE CORNISH HOUSE. So even if i wasn't there in person I was there in book form. (Biddy was hand delivering a copy of the book to the RNA for entry into the Joan Hessayon New Writers Award- thank you Biddy!)

Now, thankfully to take my mind away from a party I was attending the inaugural open door event of the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature....official post here....

It was a beautiful night to be sitting in a 'square' under the stars in my favourite part of  Dubai - the Bastakiya. It was a full 'square' as Isobel Abulhoul welcomed us to the first event of the programme of 'Open Door' evenst and thanked the Sharjah International Book Fair for loaning Peter James for the eveningss. The lovely Aspen quizzed Peter on many things and he entertained with his responses which included tales of his visits to Greek monasteries and favourite crime writers. He says the writer that influenced him most was Graham Greene and particularly Brighton Rock. He said all writers could learn so much from Greene especially how to deliver a character in two sentences.

It was wonderful to see the queues to buy his books...especially his latest thriller Perfect People. The line for to meet Peter after the talk snaked through the beautiful new home of the Festival...Dar Al Adaab (House of Literature).

A perfect evening and one excellent start to a new step for the festival....

Emirates Airlines Literary Festival of Literature and Me!

I've been dying to share this news, but couldn't until it was announced last night at the glamorous opening of the new permanent home for the Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature - Dar Al Adaab (House of Literature). 

This was exciting enough, but then to see my name projected on the wall as one of the authors appearing at the Emirates Airlines Festival 2012 when  Isobel Abulhoul, Festival Director, made the announcement....well I confessed I gasped and the kind Emirati poet beside smiled. 

It was also a brilliant opportunity to meet other local authors who will be appearing at the festival and to see the wonderful new facility in the heart of the Bastikiya, my favourite part of Dubai. Since my first involvement I have met so many interesting people and learned so much. I just can't wait for this year's festival.... And here's the link proving to me that I haven't been dreaming here....

 http://www.eaifl.com/Liz_Fenwick