Chapter Seventeen

It's been a few days now, trauma in the house (#dogslife).

However seventeen is progressing well. As I blogged about a few days back its decision time. Do I head for the hills or continue to amble around the foothills. I already know the answer but lets go through how I got to my decision. It may just be useful if you ever find yourself in the same situation.

So lets start with some background of the project I am currently working on.

Title: TBD
Method: Solo
Editor: Onboard

Basically the whole thing is a convoluted mess of who killed who and when they did it but at some point all of the characters need to be in one place at one time.

This is the crux of the end of the second act. So three act system in play here:

Act One: Set-up and character introductions.
Act Two: The main plots and subplots come into play.
Act Three: The twist.

Yes the above is pretty self explanatory but the problem is once you introduce the high point in act two its time to wrap up and aim for the end game.

So the question is, when is it the right time to head for the hills? Should the book be longer, is it too long already? How many words should it be?

The questions have plagued me throughout my writing career, I am sure it has yours too. So here are my responses. A chapter needs to be as long as it is to get the point across, yep cryptic but good advice. If you think its too long, then it is. Again if you think its too short then add some more detail in. On this last point, if you rush a scene because you're excited or you are bored then your ready will spot this a mile away. Remember to reward them for sticking with you in the book.

So here we go. I have headed for the hills. Yep, the end is now in sight, for this book at least (get out of jail free card being played right here). Plot points and end story is all charted out so there is no reason to delay other than to keep the reader guessing and after convulsions of this magnitude they need to be rewarded (there it is again).

All of this will be music to the editors ears as they have been wondering just where this one was going. In` short for a while back there I did not know but every meeting was filled with confidence and 'yes, it will all become clear'.

Not really a help guide more a way of you seeing my thought process.
My plot points are at the stage they should be wrapped up or fizzled out.
The characters have enough depth to them to make you love them or hate them.

In principle it is all downhill from here. Hopefully it will be one of those stories you all love to hate.
You know the ones I mean, the oh no I only have one hundred pages left. I do not want it to end. I hope the author writes a second one.

Don't forget to like if this helps, retweet or rip me off. I do not care just spread the word that writing is awesome and help all of those people who take it up as we all need someone to bounce ideas off.

www.leethomasrichards.co.uk

New website in the making

So after many many years (2012) the website is finally in the process of getting a much needed update.  That's not to say that the content will change much, more that it might actually look like something that was coded this century instead of one that was made in the late 90's.

In all fairness though it has served me well and has help to promote both my work and also my blog. This blog. Never fear though this gem of nuggets will remain a feature of any changes that are made.

Now to explore the mind field of content editors and WYSIWYG drag and droppers. To hell with coding it by hand like the old days, I just don't have the time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It will be a shame to see if go though, so as a homage I will make sure it is backed up and archived somewhere. It may even feature as an easter egg on website 2.0 if you can find it.

Updates: I was thinking about developing the whole site off my android tablet, just because you know. Why make it easy. Any suggestions would be welcomed. 

As you may have guessed off my more recent posts, I am doing anything I can to avoid writing. Funny that. Deadline is looming but all I seem to want to do is mess about on the web and play with the dog. Oh and there's that work thing, yep, that's pretty important too.

Anyway, whatever you're reading or writing. Good luck have fun. I hope it ends well or the words continue to flow in the right direction.

Rewind for the win!

So, just over a week ago now a new puppy came into the household and everyone was ecstatic.

Yes everyone. A week later I can already see the cracks starting to begin to break through.

It's not his fault. Like most new things that come into your life and rip it apart. He is just doing what he was born to do. Cause havoc and be cute. Whilst never sleeping and giving everyone the run around. He is a puppy after all.

 

So what does all this mean, well in short for the past week I have put exactly zero words to the page. This is not really a big deal to be honest. I can always catch it back if needed. I am however worried about the impact to the rest of the family. The emotional rollercoaster they all on at the moment and the inevitable question of doubt.

 

Yes, we all doubt ourselves. The decisions we make and the actions we take from time to time. We are only human after all. My worry here is that the doubt is centred around the obvious questions, should we have a dog at all.

 

The girls would argue yes and when I have broached this subject with them it has been faced with lost of childhood tears and panic. Yet I am left with a bigger issue, the health implications it is having on my wife. It cannot be overlooked and more importantly I have to do something about it.

 

For now I am taking all the night time wake ups and toilet breaks. My super power of Insomnia coming into play but I am not sure if this is enough to balance the underlying fact that the dog may just not fit with us as a family.

 

This is a really hard realisation to come to and to rationalise in my head. There's lots of help and advice out there on this subject and yes I am reading lots of it but its hard when I am just not there to help.

Update: It was a good day today, the girls and my wife have all gelled with Cosmo. This is a good thing. We are crate training and hopefully things may be looking up. It's a hard thing to do but hopefully the total disruption will be worth it.

The Climb

So, not much of an update today I am afraid. Lots go on here and between both work commitments which I am afraid must come first and a new pet in our lives its all a little hectic.

That said, the ideas still flow so its really important to remember to have a notepad or a tech device close to hand so you can capture them for later.

On average I am currently driving around 3+ hours a day, to and from work. So this is a great time to both listen to eBooks (remember to be a writer we must also read) and to dictate new ideas or sections of work whilst on the go.

There are a number of Apps for this kind of work, including inbuilt memo Apps that are included in most connected cars these days. Which one suits you best, again a little trail and error goes a long way here. Find one, use it. Try another, find the best one for your needs and off you go.

Right now I tend to use the inbuilt memo app on my phone when paired to the car and then convert to the written word on an evening. For reference, the memo's are more like crib notes. The characters did this, then that. Places, scenes and settings. The heavy lifting of writing, when I get back in front of the keyboard the rest is gelling it all together.

On that note, I have used a number of writing Apps over the years. From my first beginnings on a 464k using a tape loaded processor with no spell checker or grammar tools. (Such freedom) through the words and the Scrievener and now finally back to Google Docs. I used to be all about the project approach but now I feel I am back to where I started. One chapter at a time, sequential, one page after another.

All of which have been executed on a number of platforms from home micro through to early x86's and through the laptop generation. The UMPC, the tablet, phone and now back to micro tablet with a folding keyboard. I suppose what all this means is, find something that works for you and exploit it. When you suddenly run out of steam, change the platform or the way in which you record your ideas and start again. It is surprising how much the right keyboard can affect your input levels.

Personal recommendations, IBM Model M (FTW) or a microsoft surface folding keyboard. Opposite ends of the noise spectrum but both equally good in their own rights.

The endless chase.

Well here we go then.

I am at that point in the book where I need to make the choice, there is always a choice in any book you write. Do you want to extend or do you want turn the corner and head for the finish line.

So, when is the right time to wrap up any book. If it's something you love and you're having a blast writing the story then this decision is all the more harder to make. Lets be honest whilst we are on a roll who would want to get to the point where it stops.

However, if you've reach a block it can be sometimes be a little to easy to close it out too soon instead of blasting on through the hard parts.

So which path will I take, to close it down or open it up and take to a whole new level.
Right, so here's where I need to take a heartbeat rating of the work so far. What do I mean by this?

Well let me tell you:

1. Am I getting bored of the subject?
2. Am I running out of ideas?
3. Do I know how to finish it / want to finish it?
4. Is there room for another book?
5. Am I on a deadline / feel under pressure to conclude?
6. Have I lost faith in the book and its direction?

OK, so some of the above questions are a little OTT but in short this is the kind of thing I ask myself each time I start a new chapter or think about a major plot point. I recommend you do to.
If all of the above are answered with a negative response then odds are you need to stop writing on this project. Stop now before you do any damage. If the answers are positive then either push on or strap wrapping up.

I will talk about the end game of novels and writing a little later but for now there are two ways out of my current situation:

1. Turn left and head for the end.
2. Turn right and keep on pushing and adding.

Either way, you and only you will know when the end is right and when just one more chapter will be the right thing to do.

Watch out for repetition, repetition.

Beware the repeat.

Yes we can be all guilty of it. The same sentence, the repetitive character. Beware you don't just rinse and repeat.

This is not really a problem if only one of your novels makes it to the shelf. However, if you have learnt heavy on the reuse, the cookie cutter, the classic two dimensional character. Then you might just be in trouble.

I use a number of methods to avoid this.

If it writes itself, it usually means I have already written it before. With so many in the back catalogue this can often be a danger that just cannot be avoided but if you feel yourself writing the same go to scene over and over then stop.

Change of character. Yep, we all love that one character. That Han Solo cheeky rogue. The lady in red that drives you man. The Bruce Wayne alter ego. Either way. Write it once and once only. If you love it enough to write it again, it probably means you did not right it to its fullest potential the first time around. If this is the case and you feel you have more to offer, then do just that. Interweave them into another story, rewrite the original or just begin again. All are acceptable. What is not acceptable is writing the same character with a different name, just because it is safe.

Kill them all. Easiest way to get that feeling to return out of the way is to kill them and bury them on paper and emotionally. OK this one is for fun but you know what I mean here. As a writer each character is a part of you. Use them, do not abuse them.

This one is for the win. Mirror your favourite char, black and white. The best way to continue the thread is to mimic and augment. If your favourite character is a good guy, make them mad. Take everything you love and make your readers hate them. This can ensure you avoid any issues with replication and duplication.

A quick and dirty list I know but it works for me at the moment. To recap:

• Keep track of your characters, A6 cards work well for this.
• Do not rinse and repeat. Make sure when you spot the reuse you nip it in the bud there and then.
• Don't be scared to borrow but unless they are the same character in total do not clone and go. Your readers over time will spot this lazy way of writing and call you out for what you are doing. 

The flip side of all of this is a double edged sword. For those that you do wish to reuse:

• Keep track of them
• Make sure your timelines fit.
• Flesh out their back stories, make them interesting and multi dimensional.
• Determine where you are going with them before you start investing in their story.

A new member of the family

After many years of pestering by my girls, I am excited to say that we have finally got a dog.

Personally I would have a whole pack of them but that would just not be practical. So far so good, little bundle of brown fur. It takes me back to when I had a dog growing up and the times I used to spend writing with him curled up next to me.

A few years to go before he will be doing that with me but for now I am just happing in the knowledge that my children will grow up with the same experience of a family pet that I had. 

Timelines, the way I track them.

Well it happened again. Totally lost fifteen minutes of blogging due to some sort of sync issue.

Anyhooooo's. So where was I again, again.

That's right. I was going to launch into a big spiel on how I manage timelines. How the writing process can differ between authors and how as of late I have being working with a new fellow writer.

When asked how I write, I always find this a very interesting question. Mainly because my process for writing has evolved dramatically over the 30+ years I have been undertaking it. Some of my methods for getting the idea from mind to paper have been good, some I can tell you right now have been a complete disaster. That is not to say that those failures will not work for you.

So I suppose what I am trying to say is that the question even though straight forward has many different answers but from a personal point of view which one is right for you. Now that is the real question. 

So timelines and how to manage them:

Big piece of A3 paper, this one is still my favourite. Visual and lots of scribbles to sort out the mistakes if or should I say as and when you discover them.

Kanban boards, this is a good way of keeping track of items between joint writes and multiple stake holders. There a number of free tools out there you can use for this task.

One note, this is another handy tool with great connectivity and sharing capabilities for multi device, multi user engagement. Think virtual whiteboard meets big A4 folder.

Timeline management on large projects can be complex and scary. A good example of this in my recent works would be (the tower - not confirmed title).  Lots going on here but each chapter needed to track, floors, items, characters, moods, who was alive, who was dead but in flash back. This was quite confusing and needed to be visualised in someway so that both myself and my editor could keep track of where we were. Especially when we started to move things around.

I must admit, I have read it a few times now but I have a niggle in the back of my mind that we have missed something obvious. I will let you guys spot it for me.

Back to it, I suppose what the original version of this thread said was this. There are many different ways to write and to keep track of it all. Find one that suits you, work with other writers and see what suits them. Find something that works in the middle.

It's late, I am tired but sleep will not find me. #insomnia.