Instead of 80 empty pages, I’m beginning round two of my short story with 72 pages and just over 19k words. I’m also starting with a list of changes I want to make. With the first draft, I don’t like to keep going back and rewriting as I go along, partly because it’s too much like taking two steps forward one step back but also because it can be confusing starting a day’s writing two chapters back from where you left off the day before. Even if I’ve decided on a fundamental change I still won’t go back and change it. I’ll make a note and then continue writing as if I had made that change and pick it up in the next draft. So that’s where I am now, picking up those changes as well as coming up with some new ones. Oh, and pretty much rewriting every word and sentence I’d written in draft one. What else could I possibly do on a Bank Holdiay Monday?!
Amanda Brooke
DAY 15: Knowing when it’s the end
I’ve only gone and done it! I’ve just finished the first draft of my very first short story and I’m as pleased as punch. I had a bit of a debate with myself about where to end the story and maybe this is going to be something I’ll pick up with my editor, Kim. It’s not that I didn’t know how to end it, it’s just a matter of deciding how much of Elle’s story is left for the reader to decide for themselves and how much I describe what I think would have happened next.
As it stands, I’ve included a final chapter which is essentially an epilogue. Although it doesn’t tie up all of the loose ends, it does point the reader in the right direction. The question is; does it need to be there? I could just as easily have left the story at the climax which was when…hmm…so hard to write about my deliberations without giving away too much so I’d better leave it there. Enough said!
DAY 13: No time to relax…well maybe a little
Less than two weeks into my short story and I’ve just finished the section where Elle comes face to face with the past. She’s already uncovered some secrets but there’s a heart wrenching discovery that she isn’t prepared for and I’ve set the scene for this in a restaurant close to the Albert Dock in Liverpool. It’s called the Brasco Lounge and is on the ground level of one of the new apartment blocks at the waterfront close to the Museum of Liverpool…and it just so happens to be around the corner from my office. This photo was taken in there the other week…maybe I should have moved all of those wine bottles out of the way before I took the picture!
But there’s no time to relax this weekend, I’m at 16k words already and the end is in sight. I’m having sleepless nights working out how those final scenes should play out and wondering Elle should be reacting to everything she’s discovering. I knew before I started what I wanted to happen to my heroine but now I’m getting to know her, I have to think about what feels natural and I’m already revisiting those preconceived ideas so I can come up with a satisfying ending, not only for the reader but for Elle too.
DAY 9: Half way there already!
I’ve managed 10,000 words so far which is half way through my targetted word count even though I’m still working on the fourth section of the eight I’d split the story into. I’m not too worried though because I know the final section is relatively short and I’m happy with the pace so far.
A new character has appeared (as planned I should add). Angie is Elle’s best friend and has recently separated from her husband Chris, who just so happens to be a work colleague of Rick’s. Part of my story revolves around the changing relationships between the two couples and is adding to the shifting foundations of Elle’s marriage. Next on my to do list will be the introduction of Corrine but I don’t think I can even say who she is or how she fits in without giving too much away. It’s only a short story after all and if I explain too much here then what’s the point in reading it??
But it’s not only in this blog that I have to work out how much to reveal, that same concern is a feature of my writing at the moment. I’m deliberating over what pieces of the puzzle should be revealed and when. I’ve already decided that some of the conversation between Elle and Charlie in the earlier sections are giving away too much so I’ve made a note and when it comes to the second draft, I’ll have to remove some references.
I took time out yesterday to go to the cinema but it’s hard to completely put the story out of my mind at the moment. We had gone to see a 3D movie and I was sitting there thinking about what I was going to write next when my daughter nudged me. The film had started and everyone except me had put their 3D glasses on. I hadn’t even noticed the blurry screen!
And as for what is preoccupying me, it was the conversation that will happen between Elle and Corrine. Now that’s going to be interesting…
DAY 6: It’s not all about the writing
Having to balance a full time job with my writing means that I tend to wring out every available minute in the day. During the working week, I’ll come home from work and immediately switch the computer on and get some words on the page. I’ve told myself, 500 words a day is a perfectly reasonable output but I don’t listen to myself very much and have been managing over 1000 on good days. But it’s not all about the word count or sitting in front of the computer and yesterday was a good reminder of that. I spent far too long last night writing and rewriting the same paragraph until I eventually had something I was almost happy with. It was only after sleeping on it that I woke up this morning and thought…that’s what I needed to do!
That’s why I like to have a long pause between one burst of writing and the next. It gives me time to carry on the conversations my characters are having in my head or to visualise the scenes I’ve just created. It’s usually when I don’t even realise I’m thinking about the story that the best ideas pop into my head. More often than not I get my best ideas when I’m doing something mundane like shopping or driving to work and suddenly I’ll think…why didn’t she say that? Would she really do that? Wouldn’t she notice this? Wouldn’t she ask that?
Hopefully it’s that part of my editing process that makes the conversations flow more realistically and sometimes it can add a new twist to the story. I’m certainly doing that with Elle and there’s one scene I’m about to write that came to life while I was sitting in the car at the traffic lights on Aigburth Road coming home from work. Apologies to my fellow drivers for missing the light turning to green!
DAY 3: I have pages…with words on them!
Remember all of those empty pages? Well not any more. I’m now on day three and I’ve already completed nine pages.
As I mentioned, I’ve broken the story up into eight sections, allowing 2000 words per section which gives me a little bit of wriggle room if I need to extend some sections. Amazingly I’m on track and have finished the first section. The hardest thing has been to switch my mind from the characters in my third book (which was originally The Bench but now has a more imaginative working title of The Lonely Swan). In The Lonely Swan, my main character Maggie is blind so I’ve spent months describing surroundings and situations in a completely different way, concentrating on sounds and smells rather than visual descriptions. It’s a hard habit to break but the more I’m writing, the more I feel like I’m getting under Elle’s skin.
I can’t wait to carry on with the story but tomorrow there will be no time to write as I’m at the Albert Dock in Liverpool for an author event with Jane Costello and Erica James (Blue Bar 6pm – 8pm). Drop in and say hello if you’re nearby!
DAY 1: Pencils at the ready!
My short story is still in the ‘planning phase,’ but not for much longer. I have the synopsis I sketched out a while ago and I’ve now split it into eight sections. That way I have a bit more of an idea of how to pace the story…it’s not a full length novel I keep telling myself! One of the hardest decisions I find at the start of writing a new project is picking names for my characters. I always seem to fall into the trap of plucking them out of thin air, thinking that I’ll revisit them later on only to find that I’ve become so attached to the character that I couldn’t possibly consider rechristening them. I have a feeling I’ve fallen into that same trap again…
Along with names for my characters, I’ve been trying to picture them in my head and I’ve listened in on little snatches of their conversations. There’s Elle who is thirty five and married to Rick and they have a six year old son called Charlie. So far it’s the conversations with Elle and Charlie that are capturing my imagination so that’s where I’m going to start the story. I already know how I want the very first scene to play out and what they’ll say to each other. Now I just need to start writing before I forget everything!
By my estimation, if I’m aiming for a story length of 20,000 words then that’s 80 pages…80 so far blank pages. Gulp!
Well they’re not getting filled while I’m messing about with this blog, are they? Bye for now!
How to write a short story
I’ve been tasked with writing a short story and I’ll have to admit it’s a bit of a challenge. Apologies if you’ve opened this post expecting me to tell you how to do it…I’m afraid the title of the blog is more of a question than a statement!
If I’m honest, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d read a short story when I was asked to write one myself but despite my initial reservations, I’m actually starting to come around to the idea. By short, were’ talking about one fifth the size of a full length novel. It’s not exactly something I can whip up in a couple of days but still, it’s not the mammoth task of starting a novel and it won’t need to be as complex. I don’t have to think about sub-plots or develop lots of different characters and when it comes to the inevitable rewrite and restructuring once my editor’s seen it then surely it’s going to be easier to deconstruct and put back together. There, I’ve talked myself into it!
I’ve already gone through some story ideas with my editor Kim Young at HarperCollins and we’ve agreed on one that I’d developed a while ago as a future project which she thinks would make a good short story. It’s about a married woman who has spent the last ten years trying to emulate her parents’ marriage but is failing miserably. The story begins shortly after her dad’s funeral. He died of a broken heart, unable to deal with the loss of his wife a couple of years earlier. As well as leaving my heroine feeling alone, it has also emphasised how devoted her parents were to each other. But there’s the issue of her dad’s pocket watch and the little bronze key hanging from the chain. It might open up a door to the past or a can of worms…or both.
So with the storyline agreed, Kim and I had to negotiate the word length. I had it in my mind that 10,000 words had been the original idea, Kim thought it was 30,000. When we checked the contract, it was slap bang in the middle at 15-20,000 but given that it’s going to be an e-book, I think she’s happy for me to make it longer if necessary.
So why am I telling you all of this? Well, ready or not I’m about to start writing it and I’m going to post regular blogs over the next few weeks to track my voyage of discovery. There, I’ve committed to doing it now and there’s no going back!
What’s your problem?
I tend to approach any TV drama about bereaved parents with a sense of trepidation. There is of course the fear of resurrecting all those awful memories and emotions of losing Nathan but there’s also a sense of dread that yet again, a bereaved parent will be portrayed as someone to be feared, a shadow of humanity that goes on to commit unthinkable acts in the name of their dead child.
Only rarely do I come across a drama that ‘gets it,’ and I’m glad to say that Mary and Martha shown on BBC this week was one of them. Written by Richard Curtis and with outstanding performances from Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn, it’s about two mothers who have lost their sons to malaria while visiting Africa. The story is intensely moving and has been produced unashamedly as part of the Comic Relief campaign to raise awareness for the prevention of malaria but at the same time it also gives a great representation of being a bereaved parent.
There was one particular scene that really encapsulated how perceptions of the world around you changes after losing a child. Hilary Swank’s character Mary returns to ‘normal’ life after losing her son and she’s listening to her friends complain about their daily lives and problems which clearly aren’t problems at all, not to someone who has just witnessed the needless loss of children’s lives in Africa.
Losing a child not only changes your perspective and your priorities but it changes you. For some bereaved parents, getting through the day is a challenge and in our darkest hours we look for hope. We find inspiration from those who have been through the same kind of loss and have gone on to do extraordinary things. Mary and Martha may only be fictional characters but they represent an army of parents who have fought many different battles but with the same objective, to prevent other parents from suffering the kind of loss that they have suffered. These are people who see beyond the trivia in daily life and want to make a difference so the world is a better and safer place. They are a force to be reckoned with not to be feared.
If you haven’t see Mary and Martha yet then please watch it and I dare you not to be moved by it. The drama is packed with heartrending statistics and you will most definitely want to support the Comic Relief campaign. It will move you and it serves as a good reminder to us all that too often our so-called complaints aren’t complaints at all. So I ask again, what’s your problem?
Happy Publication Day to me…
It’s finally out there! My first novel, Yesterday’s Sun is published today in the USA 🙂
Available in all good books stores across the USA including Amazon.
AMANDA BROOKE Author 