Streamwriting

It’s me again!  Popping up amongst all these worthy articles….which is a very productive way of using the blog when I am tied up at work.  So, I hope you’re finding the articles useful - there’s plenty more to come including my fave.  One on erotic literature.  Liking it.So, it’s summertime.  It’s hot.  Maybe you’re thinking of going on holiday?  Maybe you’re even thinking of going on holiday to Marbella?  Well, look no further.  A very good friend of mine (who I met when I led a series of writing workshops in Marbella) has a fantastic resource website for holiday-makers jetting off to the bling bling chic boat capital of Spain.  He pointed me toward his site the other day because if you look very carefully in the twitter box - there I am!So, a little link back to him -http://www.gomarbella.com/marbella/malagabus.htmlIf you’re not going to Marbella, don’t worry.  It’s not everyone’s cup of chardonny.  But if you are going to Spain, pack your sunscreen.  It’s a scorcher out there.  Not that I would know - because this year, the first time in YEARS, I am in England for the summer.And it’s raining.  Boo.For those of you who still remember a book I was once bleeting on about - well, get this - it’s finished!  And I’m now editing it.   Now re-modelled as a sexy teen paranormal romance, I’m on chapter 15 out of 40.  Yes, gone are the days when I was writing a mind, body, spirit adult out to transform the world.  The closer the deal comes, the more I have sussed out what the market wants and, dare I say it, conformed.   Of course, I haven’t lost my dream of transforming the world, i.e., I haven’t completely sold out!   The message of actualisation is still in there.  And to be honest, it’s probably better than it’s not being rammed down the reader’s face!  The book carries the message that there is something else out there and if you look hard enough, you might just find it….The dream moves ever closer.So, keep dreaming, keep sunning.  Keep smiling.

This is the week where my brand new sparkly writing website goes live. 

It has lots of great resources for writers of all levels.  There’s articles about the art of writing and getting published - the first one is called ‘How to Handle Rejection’ and is written by friend I met on the Harper Collins site, authonomy.  We all get rejections in writing so it’s a good pick-up if you’ve just got one of those nasty no letters through the post.  Robb is also going to come onboard and help out with the critique service.  Based in Washington D.C., he will handle all my American enquiries. 

I have expanded the critique service a little bit so please do check it out if you have a mss you want given the once over before submitting to an agent or publisher.  I’m offering a special spring discount for a full manuscript critique so don’t miss out!

Also on the website, you will find a retreats page - perfect if you want to get away from it all and get on with your writing. This page is still in its early days so if you have a retreat venue you want showcased on my site please email me asap and I’ll upload the details for you.   I am listing private rentals and official retreat/course venues. 

Finally, I couldn’t resist including a link to my book, The Voices of Angels.  My first novel is a Young Adult story about a girl who can predict death.  Currently a work in progress, here’s a chance to read the synopsis and some of the reader feedback I’ve had from authonomy.  In November, The Voices of Angels was voted number one book on the authonomy website and went on to be submitted to the editor’s desk at Harper Collins. 

So, please take a wander round and enjoy!!!!

Ok, ok, has anyone actually noticed I wasn’t here for nearly THREE weeks? 

It wasn’t a deliberate absence.  My laptop decided to play havoc on me.  Either that, or it was the universe’s way of saying - take a break!  I came back from Almeria (where I have been running a magazine this past yr) with a long list of To Do’s.  Day one and I turn on the laptop only to discover the damn thing won’t turn on.  Frustrating, but I decide to let the battery run down and then re-try later. 

I spend the day aimlessly.  Most of it propped up in Bar Oscar drinking cafe con leche and announcing to the world I am having a ‘day off!’

That night, I return home and am SHOCKED to discover the laptop still won’t turn on.  I *think* I pressed the on button about 100 times.  Quick discussion with dad and we decide it must be the battery - it’s been playing up for weeks.  That’s ok, we can order a new one and it’ll arrive within the week.  (That’s the downside to living up a mountain - no immediate access to a fully stocked Apple Store.)

I spend a computerless week.   The shock is immense.  I go walking.  I join a pilates class.  I read.  I make notes on Lizzie.  I sit in sun.  I realise how much time I fritter online.  I realise how much my life is depedent on the computer.  I am childless, husbandless and now computerless. 

I am *sad*.

Week two and cue one very distressed Hannah.   I fret that it’s NOT the battery.  The man in the Apple store in London said the ibook ought to work fine without the battery, if plugged into mains.  Mine DOES NOT!

‘Yeah, but you made a hard copy, didn’t you?’  say all my friends.

*gulp*

No.  Not even of my book!  How careless is that?!!!  I’ve had the memory stick staring me in the face for weeks and I kept putting it off. 

I acquire a thousand more grey hairs with the thought of having lost my book, all my work, my files, my contacts.  Luckily I find young lad in town who also has G4 ibook.  I go round his house, borrow his charger and have brief computer action.  So, now I know what the problem is.

The next day, the brand new battery arrives (it did need a new one) and I send off for new charger. It’s another week before the charger will arrive, but that’s ok cos my brother is returning back to Spain and he can bring it with him.   Another week without my computer, except for the one time I charged it round the boy’s house.  Then his charger breaks.

I think the universe is trying to tell me something….

I try to listen, but it’s hard with all this internal noise going on inside my brain….

My brother fails to come back on the Monday.  Too much work, he says.  I have to sit for another four days whilst the charger flies its way over all by itself.  FOUR more days!

Today, the charger arrives.  I am back.    Thank God.

After heavy session of cutting and post it pasting, I decided to take break in bar.  Monday night and only one bar in town open - Oscars. 

Dressed up in combats, trainers and red fleece, looking casual, as per.  Finished off with winter coat and new olive green woolly gloves.  Coldest winter I’ve known in 5 years.  Ordered a coffee from the cute barman. 

All this lead-up to the main event.  I met my Lizzie!

Harper Collins’ main criticism of The Voices of Angels centred around the main character, Lizzie. Taking this advice on board, I wondered how I could improve.  A *friend* I met on authonomy (he will understand the asterisks!) suggested I befriend a young teenager to see if I could pick up any traits.

Well, tonight I got my chance!  A father and his three children, age range from 28 to 14 stood by the bar.  I knew them and they invited me into their family fold.  When not fending off the advances of father (and son) my eye was on the 14 yr old.  She was a wonderful mixture of insecurity, sensitivity, excitement and self-consciousness.  Though not exactly how I’d picture Lizzie, I loved the opportunity to befriend my core reader.  I watched how she pulled the cuffs of her jumper over her hands, how she twiddled her hair, how she flushed bright red, how she envied her pretty older sister, how she pulled me outside (into the cold) to tell me how she fancied some guy.  No, not fancied, loved! 

And I?  I felt maternal towards her.  I tried to adviseher  to wait for someone special.  I felt a tug of emotion.  I wanted to protect her, guide her, look after her. 

Back in the bar, she told me she’d been to the cinema today and seen Twilight.  I asked if she liked it.

‘I loved it!’

‘Why?’

‘Because of the characters and the story!’

‘Did your friends like it too?’

‘They loved it!’

‘What did they like about it?’

‘Edward.  He’s SO perfect!’

Wow!  If I can create a perfect love interest (am working on Jake, the gifted musician with a tortured soul….) then maybe I can tap into that same vein of intense emotion.  And that’s what this girl displayed - raw emotion swimming just below the surface.  I wish I could be more eloquent about this, but I can only feel it, rather than describe it.

I loved meeting her.  I wanted to give her all my confidence - to tell her it didn’t matter if the blond girl in the corner had nicer hair or if her sister was slimmer.  It didn’t matter!  She was still beautiful. 

That’s Lizzie’s journey - going from insecure girl to one of self confidence.  Tonight gave me some of the finer details. 

At 9.30am this morning I am pleased to announce I opened the Post It Notes.

Yes, it is true.

At 4.30pm this afternoon I started work on  my KEY POINT PLAN.  Yes!   I  got to work.  Interestingly, or rather creatively, I managed to concoct a rather elaborate system which pleased me no end.  This involved taking 8 pieces of A4 paper and cellotaping them together.  Originally I had planned to make this poster-esque wall chart thing, and then I thought….’I know!  I can arrange it structurally to mirror the plot.’  So one piece of A4 at the top, then 6 below and then another piece at the bottom.  Ended up looking like a CROSS or the Angel of the North.

Symbolic, I thought. 

I am on Blue Peter was the next thought.

Who cares!  I am having FUN!  Writing IS fun.  It has to be fun, not some odious chore.

Much better with some cellotape and some Post Its!

Anyway, so then spent a most pleasant couple of hours arranging Post It notes all over the paper.

The best part was being able to swap my Post It’s.  No, Ariadne’s backstory goes there - not after Lizzie sees a black mark in town, but before.   It’s Juan that shows Lizzie the gateway into Infinity. No, it’s Joopy.  Or is it Seth?  No scribbling out on the page, just a simple, lift and stick.  It was like making a jigsaw!

Am not saying this system works, but I am saying far more fun than staring at blank page and writing plot points in linear fashion.

I also worked out how many words per structure and plotted Lizzie’s arc of transformation.

Transformation being KEY word, remember?!

AND got a breakthrough too.  During the Infinity section of the film I got a plot insight.  Not to share now, but am excited by it.

SO - Post It’s work!  It’s official.