Books, submissions and my WIP

Spring and new beginnings

 I'm drawn to any book with river in the title, or about rivers. They are a bit of an obsession, a bit like islands. I recently read If the River is Hidden by Cherry Smyth and Craig Jordan-Baker. Set in Ireland, two friends walk the length of the River Bann from source to sea. Part prose and part poetry, they re-live past experiences of living in Ireland, as they walk, The troubles, living away from Ireland, of feeling Irish or English, these are mixed in with descriptions of the river itself. A very different kind of book and obviously personal to the authors. This is one of the books I bought at the Alternative Book Fair a few weeks ago.

Currently I'm reading a book by Haruki Murakami. My youngest son is a fan of his, and although I read his book on writing, I'd never read any of his fiction. So, this is a bit of a punt, chosen at random. My son tells me he hasn't read this one, so I'll save it for him when I've finished. Different from books I normally read, it has taken a while to get into it, but I understand it has a surprise ending, so I'm interested to see how that goes. About five friends from school days, one day the other four tell the main character, Tsukura, this they never want to speak to him again. When he asks why, they just say 'You know.' But he doesn't. He is bereft, and it is only years later when he meets Sara that she suggests the experiences from that time are blocking him and he must see them again and find out why he was cast out from the group. I'm three quarters of the way through and he has met two of them and he knows now why he was cast out and it comes as a total shock. 

Away from books, I have been on a submission spree. I call submissions my bread and butter, though I rarely get paid! Should I have some acceptances, these are my morale booster to keep writing and it helps to get my name out there. The thing with writing just novels is that it all takes time and rejection sends you (or at least me) into a downward spiral. I started out as a poet, so mostly what I'm submitting is poetry. 

The online writing course has finished. Two things have emerged from doing this course. Firstly, I realise my WIP has been an outline story. Working with it during the course enabled me to take a hard look at it. While I was waiting for my laptop to be returned, I took pen to paper and drew up a map of the island along with family trees. Now I know how people are related and the tension the events would cause between them. Things are beginning to make sense. Whilst writing a new scene for the pacing section of the course, I added a new character called the storyteller. He is now being written in! I'm now re-writing The Island with lots of new scenes, though I have to keep referring to my family trees as I don't automatically remember who is who! Adjustments and new notes are being added all the time, so the details on the photos below are changing. This is part plotting, something I don't do. However, I've not plotted further in as I let my characters lead me. This is probably a haphazard way to write, as plotting avoids so much editing when going back, but I can't bring myself to do it any other way. I need the creative to flow as I write with no restrictions. What I've done here is to set up the background to people, their relationships with one another, and this helped so much with the story. It has more substance. I have to remember that this began as a short story some years ago and just grew! I don't always know when I write, where a piece of work may go. I've turned poems into stories and vice versa when they haven't worked or seem to need more space.

Family trees and maps still evolving!

The second thing that came out of the course, is that as this was such a good course (plus the one I took on my holiday), is that I have all the tools now. I've taken courses similar before, but usually shorter day courses. Years ago I also took a novel writing course, but for some reason it didn't work for me. Indie Novella's course was more detailed, had video's and didn't keep using the author's own book to use as examples. That first course was also more intense as it was to write 50,000 words so for a full novel. Indie Novella's course worked better in several ways. There were masterclasses included and we were encouraged to form peer groups outside of the course once it had finished. And this is what we have done. Someone from the group I was in set up a group on Slack, so we will continue to keep in touch and read each other's work. We even have a London support group started by one member, and this is an in person group. I have gained a great deal from this course, and the whole thing was amazingly free! I'd highly recommend it.

In future, the courses I take will be specific to other things I want to find out about. Occasionally I take online courses in a genre that interests me that I know little about writing. Later this month I'm taking one about websites. It has always been my intention to have a proper website and try to gather a bit more of a following, yet it has been shoved to the back burner, partly because it involves technology! I could pay someone to create a website for me, but I'd rather have complete control, which is probably good until things go wrong. 

While I was at the Alternative Book Fair, I met a lady who was trying to find an agent for her travel book, creative non-fiction. She showed me all the work she'd done. She had a website and was out there promoting herself. Is this what I should be doing? I suppose I should. She said I should be sharing snippets of my work. I've always been a bit unsure of that. 

So, taking her at her word, here's a bit of blurb about my WIP:

Fifteen-year-old Ralph lives on a remote island, ruled by elders and council with Old Testament hell-fire teaching. When Ralph's cousin, Lester, is drowned on an ill thought out adventure, his friend Aaron is accused of murder. Judgment lies with the elders. Will they send Aaron to Exile or will his punishment require more....his life? Tensions run high in this close community where everyone is related to someone else and knows their business. Life on Home Island begins to unravel as rumours abound and the truth of the tragic accident slowly emerge. What can Ralph do to help his friend, and where will help, if any, come from? Will the secrets of the elders finally be exposed and rid the island of its fear and find freedom? This is a tense and dark story of friendship and what you would do to save a friend. 

I never set out for this to be a YA novella, but I think this might be. Until I get beta readers and feedback I won't know for certain. It feels like one, but I'd love adults to enjoy this. Right now I'm writing a lot of new scenes. I'm taking my time and kind of editing as I go. I learned a lot from the book coach I used for Tinsel Street, about slowing the pace (I write extremely fast when I'm on a roll, meaning there's more action than description!). I finally feel I might have a handle on all the aspects of writing. I know my strengths and weaknesses, so I can play on the strengths, and watch for those weaknesses. I feel as if I've really pushed forward in the last year and especially pressed through my comfort zone a few times in trying to network. I'm still happier behind the keyboard, but I need other writers, especially in face-to-face meets. It's what encourages me because we understand one another and the agony and ecstasy of writing. It spurs me on to write because it can be lonely out there.

Until next time, happy writing and happy reading.