The Good (Expat) Life

The Good {expat}Life is one of the projects I'm working on at the moment. It's a humorous contemporary story about Penny and George who have to make a choice between their life in England and their retirement plan in Italy when their business falls flat on its face. They can't afford to keep both and they bravely decide on new beginnings, helped by best friends Daphne and Roger. 

To say that the story is loosely based on the truth is a bit of an understatement, Penny and George live out some of the experiences and situations we may have endured since moving to Italy almost seven years ago. And I can say that I do identify with Penny, though I don't think I'm quite as tough on Simon. He, of course may beg to differ. All the characters are based on a mish-mash of people, a trait here, a habit there and a splash of physical features and abracadabra! So to all the friends (and others) that I have met here, I can put hand on heart and say I defy them to identify with one of the characters. What they may see is a hint of others they know, but one rule of writing is never to use a real person. So apologies, but if you want to audition for a role in the TV sitcom, happy for you to apply.  

Most people, those who don't live abroad, have a very rose tinted vision of people like us who have moved away from our natural home. Mainly they think that we have a swimming pool - ha! First we couldn't afford the maintenance, never mind the installation. And our land slopes downwards, a little tricky unless we were going to install a water ride. And, apparently, we sit on our terraces, sipping Prosecco until the sun goes down after a day at the beach basking in the sun. Well, the odd day may be spent like that, but more often than not we're growing and picking vegetables (cheaper), strimming (initially with two old hand scythes that were left here along with a number of other hand-made tools) the two acres of field-like land that is loosely called our 'garden' and feeding an array of abandoned animali that we've adopted. 
But like Penny and George, we wouldn't swap it for the world.

More about P & G later...

SHORT OR LONG STORIES

Or maybe somewhere in the middle?
Like many writers, especially amateur ones like me, I've been honing my authoring skills by writing short stories. I chose to do this for many reasons:

• On the face it of it short stories seemed to be an 'easier' option. In reality this is so not true!
• I wanted to develop my characterisation and dialogue skills and I think short stories allow you to do this
• There are many different markets to target including competitions, anthologies not to mention the on-line opportunities. However, recently I get the feeling that this market, particularly for womag writing, is reducing
• I had the vague notion that if I could write a short story, I could apply those skills to writing a chapter of a larger piece of work. To date, the jury is still out on that one

I find writing short stories quite hard. By short story I mean up to 3000 words, which seems to be the average figure given though there are some guidelines which specify longer. For me a short story should be one that can be enjoyed in one sitting, whilst waiting for an appointment or a fairly short train/bus journey. 

I find it hard because I either overwrite, which means that by the time the word count is reached I've only just got into the tale, or I underwrite. The second is much easier to manage because it can usually be formed into a  piece of flash, with more opportunities to place.

Having said that I've actually had quite a good week in terms of short story success, not only did I discover one of my short stores had been shortlisted but I had an email from the Creative Cafe Project to say they would be publishing my submission 'no edits required' and a rather nice 'no' from an editor but inviting me to submit other pieces of work for her to see.

So I'm in a bit of a dilemma in terms of my planning, which I so wish I could just be cool about. Should I continue to struggle with developing complete short stories or spend more effort in letting the stories develop into longer pieces and be happy with the bits of flash in between? 

Decisions, Decisions....

WRITING DECISIONS

Plotting, Submitting and Hibernation
It's not been a bad week. I'm working on several short stories at the moment and sometimes it's hard not to let them blend into one huge story. So every now and then I just put them all to one side and do something different. 


Having skimmed through the email plotting course I talked about last Monday here are three things that I've been playing about with.

• Start with a character. Without a character (at least one) there is no plot! I've made this my starting or returning point for all my stories this week. 
• I've thrown out the stuff written about 'basic plot outlines' - I read somewhere this week that these aren't plots, they are a series of conflicts which help to create and develop the plot. I was beginning to get a bit hung up about that which means no writing. How sad is that. Instead I shall think about the problems my character could have and what they might do to solve them.
• I've also ditched the 3 Act Structure,  again I became caught up in the technicalities. So for a simple soul like me, it's will be Beginning, Middle and End but after I have some idea of my character and their conflicts.  

I've taken this approach with the stories I've worked on this week and I have made great inroads. That's not to say the course I've been reading through is rubbish. I've just made some decisions about how it best works for me and I will continue with lessons 4-7 next week.

I now have three short stories which are coming together plus I've reviewed another short piece of fiction for submission today (part of my Write 1 Sub 1). And I've finally decided to put my first draft novel (All Will Be Well) into hibernation. It's not working and again, I'm tying myself up in knots with it. I just need to forget about it and learn from the process. Maybe in years to come I'll pick it up again, but now just isn't right.

Until Later...

BLOGGETTE # 2

And Counting...
Well, there is not long to go and the pressure is mounting. We've had discussions in the NaNoWriMo forum on Writers Abroad about Outlining, Plotting and Point of View. Yesterday I concentrated on my characters as for me, this is the way to drive the story and therefore the plot. There are writers who disagree and that's fine. There is no definable template for writing. Sometimes that can be frustrating, sometimes its the freedom that makes all the difference. We really wouldn't want it any other way. So I have been delving into my characters traits and habits, interviewing them for the job and fleshing out those bits of their character that make them come alive on the page. Some of them don't have names yet, but that will come. I love using the Zodiac to help me think about characters, so when I've defined their birth date, I look up their star sign. This can give you an indication of their physical attributes, their behaviour and personality, their likes and dislikes, what they are like as  a lover, friend, parent and what kind of ailments they are prone to. Of course as in real life, characters will not all meet the definitions, but that's what makes character real. Being People. So onto the next task. Settings...


Until Tomorrow (is that a line of a song?)...

National Write A Novel in A Month

Friday Report
Well, my report this week is all about a Work in Progress which is just at the beginning. I'm sure many of you are aware that in November, thousands and thousands of writers have their noses to the writing grindstone and collectively churn out millions of words. All in the name of NaNoWriMo - shorthand for National Write a Novel in a Month. 


This will be my third year, the first I didn't register and managed to complete All Will Be Well by completing around 35k words and last year I started  The Promise and wrote 56k word within 30 days. Many writers I speak to gasp in awe at this feat and prior to joining the merry gang, I think I did too. Whilst I would never say it is easy, what I did find out having dipped my toe into the mill pond, was that it provided me with great incentive to get writing. An incentive which far outstrips any other pressure I put on myself throughout the year. 


So why is that I wonder? I'm not sure its probably one of many things.

• Firstly because you literally sign up to it I found that small action sealed my obligation. Like a contract if you like (I wish!) and can daily upload your word count - you see your work growing. 
• Secondly averaging out the word count to meet the overall target of 50k words made it more achievable, its a little over 1600 if you write every day. So not a mammoth task.
• Thirdly I realised that this wasn't the end of the process, it was merely the beginning (something I've learnt post event) so it freed me up to just write what came along and not to worry about the inner editor, so I switched her off. Well onto silent mode anyway.
• Finally it's a group thing, you can sign up with buddies, read posting on forums, even connect with people writing in your genre, to see what obstacles and solutions they are experiencing.

For me it's been one of the most useful ways to spend November, the veggie garden has been put to sleep, the animals are snuggling down in semi-hibernation and dark mornings mean I can linger longer in bed with pen and paper. 
So give it a go, it doesn't matter whether you hit the target or not, what does matter is that you write...


Next week I'll share how I prepare myself for this writing extravaganza.
Best Wishes,

HAPPY ENDINGS?

End of Week Progress Report

I've put All Will Be Well to one side this week. I need to let things settle, the ripples soften out and accept some of the hard decisions I made during the analysis. Well, I say that but I've been thinking about it a lot (which to my mind is part of the writing process, but that's another story). A week on and it still feels like I've made the right decisions so I'm sure that must mean something. I shall now set a plan for the bits I need to rework, those I need to write from fresh and at the same time maybe look at some new markets for submission. 

The biggest dilemma I have at the moment is whether to change the ending. In the draft I have two major characters who I kill off. Now as many members at Writers Abroad know I am good at killing people off. But their feedback has always been spot on and I think most of them who have read the synopsis would really like a hint of a happy ending. I know it doesn't really always reflect real life, but if that's what the readers want, should a writer give them what they want? I've mapped out different endings and I suppose at the end of the day, I have to just make a decision and go with it. Someone once told me I was good at doing 'sad' and I like reading 'sad' but I get a lot of enjoyment out of 'happy endings' too. And I'm hoping that my novel will find its happy ending , hopefully on the shelves of some major book store. Well you have to dream, don't you?

Catch up next week...

Launch of Writer in Progress

This is my new blog dedicated to my 'Works in Progress'. It is supposed to provide me with inspiration to complete the four (maybe five) novels I have in various stages of birth. Two of them have been written during NaNoWriMo month and I'm planning another this year... but I need to get them off my editing pile and into the in-tray of a willing (and perhaps unsuspecting) editor. Each week I will plot my progress with each one (details of which can be found on my website, Louise Charles - Writer in Progress, with the hope that I will shame myself into action. I know, drastic measures but needs must and I think it will help to talk it through. I will also post future book reviews here, when I have the time in between editing of course... so please do check in regularly and give me the nudge that I so much need. I also will share a weekly tip, maybe mine, maybe someone else's, who knows? So that there will always be something new (or maybe not so new) to read. If you check in, please feel free to comment and criticise as you see fit, any feedback is better than none (and I have a tale to tell there, but more on that later...)
So without further rambling, I'll go and get on with my plan... after the usual half hour of procrastination. And don't forget my other blog  Joe Bloggs, will plots generally the life of a jobbing writer, the ups and the downs and news from my other projects including the community on-line writing group for ex-pat writers - Writers Abroad. Never a dull moment...