'Never Underestimate The Daylight'

Editor's Note: I found this post sat in my drafts from absolutely months ago, and couldn't remember why I hadn't posted it. I feel it is still relevant as it describes the rediscovery of an old scene which I was able to breathe new life into. Enjoy.

I have a story, and stories are good.

I was listening to Circa Survive’s ‘Get Out’, reflecting on the interesting fact that many of Anthony Green’s lyrics seem to be about writing, or use it as a metaphor. Anyway, I decided that these four walls were doing me no good and decided to do as Anthony Green suggested and ‘Never underestimate the daylight.’ I picked up my laptop and transferred to The Last Word Cafe on Newland Avenue (best cafe in the world because of it’s simple honesty, local spirit and shelves upon shelves of books). Ironically, by the time I settled down the daylight had begun to recede.

Typing away, and I look up to see an old classmate walk in. I think his name is Daniel, but I forget. Seeing him reminded me of one class excercise we had to do; we had to take a character and write about them either in an environment that fitted them perfectly, or an environment in which they stuck out like a sore thumb. I decided to use Lauren, and to merge the two. This was about the time I was trying to get to know Lauren a bit better, and still figuring out the complicated relationship between her and Ryan. I wrote about her in her art class, where everyone else was dossing or vaguely working, and she was working intensely. But I did it from Ryan’s perspective, looking through the window with Joe.

The reason that ?Daniel? reminded me of it was because when I read out my little scene, he had really liked it and asked me all sorts of questions about Ryan and Lauren. He asked what happened between them? I said I didn’t really know yet (lies), but he said he really wanted to know. I was pleased with that because, well, that’s what a writer wants to hear. I realise, thinking back, that I forgot to smile at him in Last Word yesterday. You see, sometimes when I’m writing, I find it very easy to forget that I’m a real, physical entity that other people can actually see, and not just some fly on the wall observing. So, sorry Daniel.

I realised that it would fit perfectly just after the scene I was editing at the time, when Joe and Ryan have just made up. Otherwise I would have completely forgotten about the scene altogether. All thanks to Anthony Green’s writing about writing.

The End.

I'm sat in Last Word again, which is practically empty and nice and quiet, just to emphasise my super-nerdy text alert (CTU ringtone from 24) and my wonderfully screamy ringtone (Numb by Envy On The Coast) which always makes everybody else jump but me. I love it. 

EN: My current ringtone is 'Caves' by Chiodos. Have a listen. It's even better for making people jump. I'm so cruel. 

A View from Year's End

Welcome to 2011 everyone. Let's make this one count. I can't say I'm sad to see the back of 2010. It was a tough year. I shan't say it was long, because honestly, everything since Spring has been a bit of a blur. A lot has happened, A lot has changed. I turned 21, gained a degree and graduated with a 2:1, moved house, bought a wedding dress, even got a job, finally. And I've lost people. Two wonderful people. The greatest role model I think I will ever have the privilege to know. But we carry on. We just have to.

Rob has just set down my manuscript and is staring at me. I'm worried.

I'm actually very impressed. He set out to read  just after lunch (fajita pancakes - lovely), and has got to page 167 just after 10:00. I knew when I handed it to him that there are a lot of gaps, a lot of rushed, unedited scenes, and a lot of things that just don't work, which made it even harder to hand over. But, I had a deadline, and I wanted to keep to it. I should say, I started this post on the 1st, it is now the 3rd. I got distracted, as Rob then proceeded to give me feedback. I have been tangled up in a confusing state of elation, pride, frustration and sulking.

But, all feedback is helpful, I should remind myself. And I should remember not to focus on the negatives too hard. Because a lot of what Rob said was good, and was very encouraging. Certainly for the first two thirds, he laughed in the right places, smiled at the bits I am most proud of, I would say he gasped at the revelations, but he didn't, as he pretty much already knew most of the secrets. This was a shame, as I'd like to see the impact these would have on a first reading. I try to remember his initial reactions when I first told or showed him . 

Either way, the thing that I take away from this initial feedback is that most of the characters, some more than others, are believable and likeable. One or two of the characters, though, need to be developed more, and shown more. Also, quite clearly, the ending needs work. A lot. Of work. 

This is what I have been sulking about. Ok, so it is the part that I have edited, reworked and looked over the least, but it upsets me that this is quite so obvious. There are other scenes I bashed out literally about half an hour before I 'submitted' my manuscript, which my lovely but honest marker said was great. Granted, they were much shorter, but still, I wonder why this is so? I guess it just is. 

But, I should be comforted that all that hard work on earlier chapters obviously paid off. So, more of the same for the latter part. 

Feedback is like medicine - it tastes bitter and like it's probably going to kill you, but in the end it's good for you. 

So, I have a workload for 2011. But the good thing about this whole exercise is that now I have my workload ordered. I have, for all intents and purposes, a manuscript template, with all the bits, or most of the bits, that should be in there marked as 'to be completed'. So for the most part, my second draft aim is filling in the blanks, joining the dots. A little bit of rewriting, then a third draft can be more focussed. That's the plan, anyway. 

And what was I doing while Rob ploughed through my manuscript? I was playing Oblivion, of course. I'm now the Arch-Mage, though it's taken me long enough, and I managed to kill a Xivilai in one hit, which I thought was rather impressive. I snuck up on him, so got 6x damage. I also bought a dress in the Shivering Isles, which I thought looks rather cool, alongside the Sanguine Rose staff. I'm a geek, I know.

Anyway, I hope everyone else is making good progress with their writing, and I wish you all a happy writing year. 

The 'C' words...

Welcome to all the newcomers. Thank you so much for coming on over to say hello, and thanks for your comments. It's wonderful to see a little community of sorts developing, and I hope you can all help each other out too.

Constructive Criticism. Oh, what a phrase. For so much of my life it has been a malevolent entity, wishing only to devour my precious words and taunt me from a place of condescending spite. 

I used to get so frustrated with other people's negativity about my work, and became very protective of it. I'd like to think I have grown since then. I'm still reluctant to show my work to anyone until I've had a chance to edit it, as many of my friends and family will tell you. But anyway, I quickly learnt that feedback that genuinely is intended helpfully, usually comes back to me at some point and turns out to be right.

Why do I mention this? Earlier this year, when I was still a student, I had one class which was essentially workshops for the work we produced for our prose portfolio. I was working on CQ then, of course, and overall I found the classes to be extremely helpful, not least because of the wonderful Kath Mckay. There was a guy who I was in a lot of classes with, and we were two of the few who ever actually turned up to workshops, meaning that a lot of my feedback was from him, which was good because it was consitent, and I knew he had a sense of how it had developed.
I remember once particular piece of Constructive Criticism he gave me, which demoted him to one of my least favourite people for a short time. The silly thing is, most of what he said were complements. There was just one tiny little thing that bothered me. This is what he said:
'You've got a great eye for detail and your characterisation of characters that aren't named Ryan is spot on ;)'

Essentially, he told me my main character was the least convincing of the entire thing. This upset me because he is obviously the character who has been with me for the longest, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what he was about.

Well, I'm starting to think that maybe he was right. As I'm adjusting certain things people are saying, it's all to do with how they are characterised, as in, 'this person wouldn't say that'. I now have what I would say is a good grasp on the way that Toby relates to people, and the way he speaks and moves. The same can be said for Lauren, Joe, Andy, Josh, even. And yet, when I come to editing Ryan's speech, all I seem to be doing is editing in terms of where I want the story to go. I rarely find myself saying 'he just wouldn't say it like that, it would be more like this.'

I'm worried that I've spent so much time looking through his eyes at the others, that I don't really know him.

I wonder if anyone has any advice on how to get to know a character better? I remember Kath's excercise of working out what is in their bag, and in Writers Forum a few months ago, there was an excercise that centred around knowing a character's diet.

While we're on the topic, does anybody else miss Penny Deacon? She used to do a monthly workshop article in WF. She helped me greatly with my fight scene, and is a lovely lady. Due to other commitments, she had to stop writing for WF every month, which is understandable, but a great shame.