Please come and talk to me. Just for some general writing chat and support...

[BiglyBadgers]

I am about a third of the way through editing my stupidly long book (this'll teach me for writing epic fantasy) and need some chat!

I really loved the chat and support on the nano thread, but now novel writing month is long gone and I am alone! There must be other people out there bumbling along needing a friend to chat to...surely....I can provide coffee, cake and excellent free WiFi

My cat has fallen asleep on my hand so I am now having to type left handed. This is probably not helping.

Planning is going to be very useful for me. For example i know my main character gives up the love of her life to save her family member and his wife, but she doesn't know they are related at the beginning of the story or when they first meet. I know, ive constructed their family tree, so how and when this happens is gonna be important

I do love that warm glow when you rewrite a chapter and read it back to find it is so much better than when you started.

I have realised this particular character pretty much spends all his time getting into fights and escaping from trouble. Maybe I should give him a break and let someone else have a go at stabbing people and running away.

I've fallen in love with one of my characters in what was supposed to be a short, fun, fic with no strings.

I really like her though, so going to do a rewrite on it, even though it's already on the web, and keep the story going. Damn it.

I struggle to write descriptively when I write in first person, but I'm going to try to make this better.

Can't finish my love story where i had a junior officer wanting to get with her boss. I mean, I've written the scene where they finally melt into each other's arms, but no idea how to close the scene and the story. ARGHHHH

Checking in. I am massively behind on writing and studying so not much to input right now

I had panto this weekend, so nearly done, although as costumes the aftermath is nearly as manic as before-and many fewer willing volunteers. As a rough guide the more involved they are on stage the less keen they are to do anything menial like washing costumes.
I've done a few critiques but haven't got round to seriously editing the chapter I've had critiques on, but don't really want to put another up first or I'll have too much to think about.

Hey Witch, how did the panto go?

I started placement today, so not sure how I am going to find time for writing much for the next couple of months. Had an awesome day though

That sounds hectic witch, hope it goes smoothly.

Glad you enjoyed the placement Bigly do you know if there is there a workaround for urgent cat furniture duties? I'm stuck under a sleepy furball and achieving nothing!

The only solution have found is DH walking into the kitchen and looking like he might possibly by thinking about food. This seems to get the cat up in no time.

Half way through. We do two weekends.
It is hectic. Made slightly more hectic by one main cast losing their voice for the opening night, and another main cast member probably coming down with the same thing and going faint about 3/4 the way through (thankfully) the last performance of the weekend.
I vow every year not to get as involved the next year.

Start writing, I thought. It will be fun, I thought.

It's taking over my entire life and I'm not even sorry.

Welcome to the dark side, honeyboo.

I wrote such a bad scene last night that I could hardly make my fingers move to type it. But at least it's done and I can move on. Hopefully I'll work out how to fix it. I've never found it so hard to write a first draft before. Normally I churn it out then struggle with the editing. I'd like to think this means this book will be easier to edit because there's more effort upfront, but more likely it's my internal editor telling me the idea is crap and I should abandon it.

Hello all, can I join? I am not far off a first draft of a memoir (about a specific job I did over ten years). Can't wait to get to the editing stage!

hello!
Spent last night editing and deciding I had made my love interest too nice, so had to cut bits I had liked. Don't ask...

Welcome Hamon! Do come and join us in this madness.

I managed to actually do some writing yesterday after training session finished early. I feel so much better. Hoping I can get some more in over the weekend.

All my characters are pretty unpleasant honey so I am trying to make a few of them a bit more sympathetic.

I've been thinking about the 2.5 books I've written and what I should do with them, if any can be made publishable etc etc, which always forces me to confront what genre I'm actually writing. Anyway, I came across this article and thought you all might find it interesting as we were discussing something similar earlier: lithub.com/what-do-we-mean-when-we-say-womens-fiction/

Hello bigly and all.
I'm writing a non-fiction book st the moment. I was so thrilled when the proposal (which I'd written so long ago I'd pretty much forgotten about it) got picked up, and having a promised advance is amazing. But sitting down to write the actual thing (around a busy life which includes other work, breastfeeding baby, newish husband and 3 teenagers!) is making me tear my hair out!

I really admire those of you who are writing fiction. I'd love to one day, because I'm a huge reader. I'm trying to view this non-fox project as a bit of training, though obviously the approach for the two is a bit different.

Welcome Somerville! Having an actual advance sounds both very exciting and rather terrifying. Suddenly you have to actually deliver something.

What's the general area of your non-fiction, if it's OK for me to ask? (I'm basically just being nosey)

Thanks for the article Tippety. I find the whole concept of a genre called Women's Fiction makes my head explode. That books involving half the flipping population can be shoved out the way into a special lady genre rather than judged equally as valid as books by men is dismissive to the extreme. Heaven forbid men might actually enjoy reading books with women in. I think if anyone described something I wrote as Women's Fiction just because it featured women doing things that women sometimes do I would be forced to break with years of pacifism and punch them in the face

I'm chugging away with some writing this morning, which is nice. Have to go out this afternoon though. Boo! Would much rather sit and write my next fight scene (says the lifelong pacifist ).

Yes, DH has to keep talking me down from trying to refuse the advance:
"You cannot tell them to only pay you if it's good enough, Somer!"
Specific genre is hard to define with it still unfinished, but it was pitched as narrative non-fiction, though it isn't strictly biographical either - more like a set of interlinked, reflective essays. (God, that sounds dull!) Writing fantasy fiction sounds so much mor exciting - to write, and as a reader!

Hello all.

I'm creeping in tentatively. I write short stories, with little success - one published in Mslexia.

I have also had a poem published in a writing magazine and a piece of erotic fiction published online.

I really, really want to write a novel, but it daunts me beyond belief.

I've lurked a lot on these boards, but haven't posted much. I love reading about everyone's writing habits though. I find it really encouraging and inspiring!

Wow somer, congrats on the advance. Can you try and see it as someone having faith in you and your idea and use that to give you courage. But I think I'd feel the same way. As much as I'd desperately love to be published (as in, sell my soul etc) the idea of my scribblings being taken seriously and revealed to the world is scary.

Hi tossdaily, congrats too on getting things published! Weirdly I find short fiction so much harder than novel length and have never really finished a short piece. I think the structure is so important in short pieces to make it feel complete and satisfying, and structure is something I struggle with. Meandering and pontificating I can do and churn out loads of crap but actually writing a story... nope. That's hard.

bigly that's exactly my issue. Why is it women's fiction? I was googling Nick Hornby etc and only saw him described as a fiction writer, not 'men's fiction'. I have heard the term 'bloke lit' used a few times but half heartedly, definitely not as a widespread term in the same way as chick lit. It's like men need to be warned certain books are about women in case they accidentally end up buying one.

Interlinked, reflective essays sound pretty fun to me Somerville. I love writing essays, even though they do tend to turn into pontificating waffle

Do come in tossdaily. The water's lovely. I've never had anything published, so you're way ahead of me. This is my first attempt at a novel after just noodling about on short pieces. I started it for national novel writing month, which gave me a good push to just plough on through the fear and get a lot written very quickly. Of course I am having to completely rewrite the whole thing now, but it did break the barrier as it were. My advice is just to sit down and splurge some stuff out and see what you end up with.

While rewriting I seem to have accidentally created a whole new storyline. I'm not sure I was supposed to make it even more complicated.

Oh well, epic and sprawling it is.

I like it when that happens. It's like when you know a sourdough starter is coming to life... it just starts doing its own thing.