This morning I have been looking at the bottom of page 105 (in part three - this time I have written with only scene break and divided the document up into three parts) and realizing that in order to really pull all the threads of the story together to reach a good end I need to go back to the beginning - so for me this means first draft is done. Once I go to the beginning again it will be start of major work especially as poor Penderown has been written in large chunks separated by months at a time. It is very disjointed however the basic story is there. Now it needs to rest....
So onto the next project...I spoke a bit about my Cornerstones' Workshop and that it gave me fuel for thought.....I had a one-on-one with Julie Cohen in which she played devil's advocate. It made me stop and think through exactly what I was going to do next. Based on her experience she felt I should now just look forward - leave A Cornish House resting, finish the draft of Penderown and move onto Pilgrimage - not to look back. These were fighting words! Since I took up the fiction mantle again after years absence I have learned to love the that which I had despised - the rewrite. I worked August Rock to death (but this year breathed life into it again by yet another rewrite) and A Cornish House has not be rewritten many times (total 4 which included the one for the NWS submission this summer which I didn't feel was a full rewrite as I was so rushed) as I didn't want to make the mistake of killing it with rewrites BUT I can see its faults now and I think I can fix them without losing its soul.
So I chewed on Julies words - I respect her opinion. I quizzed Helen Corner over coffee. She looked at it differently than Julie. She asked was A Cornish House the book to launch me? Was it the right subject and characters? I knew as she asked this that Penderown as it stands certainly wouldn't be as older heroines (remember Victoria began the novel as the villain but I let her have her way and she stole the book and unlike with ACH and Serena I don't feel it would be right to change it). So she gave me something else to chew.
I then shared some emails and eventually chatted with a lovely agent - her advice was to follow my heart....so it's now been a few weeks and quite frankly my jaw is tried of all this chewing. I am going to rework A Cornish House one more time...........and in the meantime Penderown will rest and I have started researching Pilgrimage.
Showing posts with label Helen Corner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helen Corner. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
I feel so bad that I haven't blogged in ages - not really like me, but it has been for very good reasons. Since I last appeared I have been to Dubai and back, attended two publishing/writing related events, written about 4k on PENDEROWN, and managed to catch up briefly with DH!
First, as you know I was worrying about DD going away to school...well, she loves it - which is a huge relief. It doesn't mean that we aren't both at times falling all over ourselves in misery missing each other but she is happy!
Now the How to Get Published conference at Kingston Uni was great. Unfortunately I have left my notes back in Dubai so you will have to wait for the details but it was soooo worth changing my flights to attend.
The past few days I have been tucked away in ancient manor in Oxfordshire (somes like one of my books!) on Cornerstone's Workshop on Women' s Fiction. Magic. You know when you have reached something of an impasse and you can't see the forrest for the trees, well I was there.
Since 2004 I have learnt so much. I have moved from being able to write a complete book to being able to write a pretty good book. I have been told I am so close - but just couldn't see how the hell to take my writing to the next level. I am one of those people who has to 'see' how - if that make sense. Maybe it's my dyslexia but I need concrete examples of where I have missed the mark. Once I can actually 'see' the error then I can learn to fix it and find the rest them in the script or at least that is what I have been able to do in the past.
I had hoped that this workshop might help me on my way. In fact i had high hopes because the person teaching this workshop was Julie Cohen. I know Julie from the RNA, love her books and have been lucky enough to have attended one of her workshops on Pacing at a conference. So I knew that at the start the teacher could write (that is an understatement) and possibly more important that she was a gifted teacher - these things do not always go hand in hand.
So let's just say I wasn't disappointed. I knew before I began where I perseceived my weeknesses and I wasn't wrong, but I didn't quite have it all and I certainly was stumped how to fix it...During the workshop I was put through exercises on my own work and others on the course which helped me to 'see'. I learnt different ways of approaching my totally organic process of plotting and conflict which should improved it, tighten it, or even sometimes find it!
In the past Julie has gifted me with many lightbulb moments and I wasn't disappointed in anyway. It was a wonder I wasn't blinded by the flashes. Now I need to cement these tools into my brain, if possible, so that they become more a part of my natural writing process, which I know will take time...
The other part of the workshop was a chance to learn more about the 'business' end. Helen Corner provided this side. She armed us with the tools to help break through. The pratical nuts and bolts of submission prep and approaching agents. There also a chance to question her indivually about specific concerns - worth it's weight in gold.
On the second evening the wonderful agent, Broo Doherty joined us for dinner and q & a. Opportunites to pick an agent's mind don't come much better than this. She was funny, honest, realistic (her agency of 2 agents receives 5000 submissions a year!), and generous with her answers.
The other bonus of the workshop was the other attendees. Being with other writers is brilliant. This talented group contained women in different parts of the writer's journey were tremendously supportive and helpful. They were inspiring and fun. It was great to spend the time with them. I have gained so much from them that they will never know. I hope they came out of the workshop ready to tackle their own persona challenges.
So I am pumped. The end of PENDEROWN is insight. PILGRIMAGE is bubbly in my head and after my one-on-one with Julie (not sure I like you any more!!!) I have decisions to make (May talk about this more later when i have had time to chew things through).
Between the two writing events though I have come away with three key things that I will share as they are not specific to me or either event:
1. Know your reader
2. Be professional in every way
3. Don't rush and ruin the chance your have by submitting to soon
Finally Anita Burgh has a wonderful post on GUILT on her blog and from that blog I am not called myself a YUP!
First, as you know I was worrying about DD going away to school...well, she loves it - which is a huge relief. It doesn't mean that we aren't both at times falling all over ourselves in misery missing each other but she is happy!
Now the How to Get Published conference at Kingston Uni was great. Unfortunately I have left my notes back in Dubai so you will have to wait for the details but it was soooo worth changing my flights to attend.
The past few days I have been tucked away in ancient manor in Oxfordshire (somes like one of my books!) on Cornerstone's Workshop on Women' s Fiction. Magic. You know when you have reached something of an impasse and you can't see the forrest for the trees, well I was there.
Since 2004 I have learnt so much. I have moved from being able to write a complete book to being able to write a pretty good book. I have been told I am so close - but just couldn't see how the hell to take my writing to the next level. I am one of those people who has to 'see' how - if that make sense. Maybe it's my dyslexia but I need concrete examples of where I have missed the mark. Once I can actually 'see' the error then I can learn to fix it and find the rest them in the script or at least that is what I have been able to do in the past.
I had hoped that this workshop might help me on my way. In fact i had high hopes because the person teaching this workshop was Julie Cohen. I know Julie from the RNA, love her books and have been lucky enough to have attended one of her workshops on Pacing at a conference. So I knew that at the start the teacher could write (that is an understatement) and possibly more important that she was a gifted teacher - these things do not always go hand in hand.
So let's just say I wasn't disappointed. I knew before I began where I perseceived my weeknesses and I wasn't wrong, but I didn't quite have it all and I certainly was stumped how to fix it...During the workshop I was put through exercises on my own work and others on the course which helped me to 'see'. I learnt different ways of approaching my totally organic process of plotting and conflict which should improved it, tighten it, or even sometimes find it!
In the past Julie has gifted me with many lightbulb moments and I wasn't disappointed in anyway. It was a wonder I wasn't blinded by the flashes. Now I need to cement these tools into my brain, if possible, so that they become more a part of my natural writing process, which I know will take time...
The other part of the workshop was a chance to learn more about the 'business' end. Helen Corner provided this side. She armed us with the tools to help break through. The pratical nuts and bolts of submission prep and approaching agents. There also a chance to question her indivually about specific concerns - worth it's weight in gold.
On the second evening the wonderful agent, Broo Doherty joined us for dinner and q & a. Opportunites to pick an agent's mind don't come much better than this. She was funny, honest, realistic (her agency of 2 agents receives 5000 submissions a year!), and generous with her answers.
The other bonus of the workshop was the other attendees. Being with other writers is brilliant. This talented group contained women in different parts of the writer's journey were tremendously supportive and helpful. They were inspiring and fun. It was great to spend the time with them. I have gained so much from them that they will never know. I hope they came out of the workshop ready to tackle their own persona challenges.
So I am pumped. The end of PENDEROWN is insight. PILGRIMAGE is bubbly in my head and after my one-on-one with Julie (not sure I like you any more!!!) I have decisions to make (May talk about this more later when i have had time to chew things through).
Between the two writing events though I have come away with three key things that I will share as they are not specific to me or either event:
1. Know your reader
2. Be professional in every way
3. Don't rush and ruin the chance your have by submitting to soon
Finally Anita Burgh has a wonderful post on GUILT on her blog and from that blog I am not called myself a YUP!
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