Last week I discovered a book of Rachael Muirhead original poems from the mid to late 1990s. Most are angst-ridden, exaggerated nonsense about drugs I had never taken and love I had never felt.
This Roald-Dahl-esque one made me laugh. It's called "Listen".
Listen
What do you hear?
Your heart thumping loudly
Shaking with fear.
Listen
What was that sound?
Approaching footsteps
On the ground.
Listen
What could it be?
A burglar? A monster?
Open your eyes, see.
Look
It's just Uncle Fred.
Now go back to sleep.
Wait - isn't Fred dead?
Monday 29 February 2016
Saturday 20 February 2016
The rejections continue...
Yesterday I had a reply from an agent I had submitted to on 20th August last year, 5 months ago. I had given up ever hearing from her, though I was really pleased to get the email as this agency represent three authors of a similar style to me: Santa Montefiore, Rachel Hore and Lucinda Riley.
It was heartening to hear that this agent likes to consider each submission thoroughly, hence the delay. She said:
It was heartening to hear that this agent likes to consider each submission thoroughly, hence the delay. She said:
"While I enjoyed reading your submission, which stood out from the many we receive, I'm afraid I didn't feel enthusiastic enough about the material to take it further. I feel your work would benefit from further editing and refinement. I would encourage you not to give up on this work and if you do polish this further, consider resubmitting to Curtis Brown in the future."
This is very encouraging! So why do a few months of editing and refining fill me with a sense of lethargy?
I am now thinking about doing something I never thought I would... Paying someone for some professional editorial services. This means I will totally become a writer, the kind that can say "Oh, my Editor says...".
There are several different options, depending on how advanced your manuscript is:
- A review of the first chunk of your novel, the 'package' you will send to agents (£100-£150)
- A manuscript critique looking at the overall plot (around £350-£500)
- Substansive Editing - this service can vary between editors, but largely it is editing for plot, pacing, characterisation, style and flow, flagging up specific passages for improvement, with suggestions. More expensive than a manuscript critique.
- Line Editing or Copy Editing - looks at sentences for logic, clarity and efficiency
- Proof reading - checks for errors
I'm somewhere around 1-3. Would love to hear from anyone that has used professional services and can make recommendations.
Monday 1 February 2016
Creative Writing Exercise: First Lines
What do good first lines do?
1) Have a hook. They draw the reader in so that they keep on reading (be that because they are surprising, curious, or just plain odd).
2) Introduce the main character, and lead us to understand the place, the setting, the period we are being taken to. The reader needs to find context pretty swiftly in order to get a grasp on the story.
First line exercise:
This is an exercise designed to get you writing quickly and freely. Take a first line below, whichever inspires you, and write for ten minutes to see where it takes you. Don't plan, don't edit, just write.
1)
Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, “That afternoon when I met so-and-so…was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon.”
2)
I’m glad there’s only one more week of school before summer vacation.
3)
4)
It happened every year, was almost a ritual.
5)
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
6)
Have I made terrible mistakes? In bed beside me, my husband sleeps, his breathing deep and heavy.
After you have written, it may interest you to see where the first lines actually came from. Did your story go in a completely different direction? Most likely.
1 = Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
2 = Otherwise known as Sheila the Great, by Judy Blume
3 = The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins
4 = The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
5 = The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
6 = American Wife, by Curtiss Sittenfeld
1) Have a hook. They draw the reader in so that they keep on reading (be that because they are surprising, curious, or just plain odd).
2) Introduce the main character, and lead us to understand the place, the setting, the period we are being taken to. The reader needs to find context pretty swiftly in order to get a grasp on the story.
First line exercise:
This is an exercise designed to get you writing quickly and freely. Take a first line below, whichever inspires you, and write for ten minutes to see where it takes you. Don't plan, don't edit, just write.
1)
Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, “That afternoon when I met so-and-so…was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon.”
2)
I’m glad there’s only one more week of school before summer vacation.
3)
She is buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the
old train tracks, her grave marked with a cairn.
4)
It happened every year, was almost a ritual.
5)
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
6)
Have I made terrible mistakes? In bed beside me, my husband sleeps, his breathing deep and heavy.
After you have written, it may interest you to see where the first lines actually came from. Did your story go in a completely different direction? Most likely.
1 = Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
2 = Otherwise known as Sheila the Great, by Judy Blume
3 = The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins
4 = The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
5 = The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
6 = American Wife, by Curtiss Sittenfeld
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