And it's a wrap

The final story of the sequence is done and out for initial comments with Rosie and Rach. It is a bit rough around the edges but on the whole I'm pleased with it.

I'll get round to looking again at the final two stories and the entire sequence in 2016 once the dust has settled. I already know that That I May Swim is going to have a fairly heavy revision, not least because I now know a lot more about the real Isobel Mein's family history.

The whole sequence comes in at around 92,000 words before revision.

In the meantime I have submitted The Estate of Edward Moorehouse to a call for "respectable horror stories" for a projected anthology of such from a small press.

My mind is now working through a plot for a non-genre story, a novel, which will begin in Edinburgh around 1944/45 and work through until, probably, the mid 1950s. A lot about it is falling into place, at least at a high level: I have a working title and a notion of the underlying metaphor/imagery.

Strictly Come Daunsing

The story/plot of the final story in the current sequence popped into my head about 15 minutes ago. It's odd how ideas swirl around a bit and then one comes out which has a certain ring about it, a lustrous quality that says "pick me".

I suspect it will be a tricky one to write, but it is a lot easier to point myself in the right direction when I have a mental map of waymarkers on the journey. At this rate, it will all be over by Christmas: what could possibly go wrong?

(And yes: Daunsing in the title is deliberate.)

Catch Up

Funny old world. I thought I could wrap up this collection with one final story, albeit one with several strands. I couldn't get the final story to work out in my head, though, until, in one of those moments when I wondered how I could be so dense, I realised that one of the strands was a complete story in its own right.

It's now done in first draft: 10,000 words, titled The Beast Astray. It ties up two or three threads from earlier stories, and I like it. It still needs work, but I like it. It was also a pleasure to research (it's set in the US in 1954). It didn't take long to write it either.

The title comes from another Herman Hesse novel.

Where now? I'm not sure. Either one or maybe two stories are needed to finish this collection off. Partly this depends on some transcripts I commissioned of some 17th century Scottish documents (two wills and a marriage contract). These may, or may not, give me the basis of a story set around about that time. If not, then probably just one story will wrap up the sequence.

I've been gratified, too, by the reaction of my sister and niece to the previous stories, which has been very positive. That suggests I'm on the right track. I know I've said that I write these things for my own amusement, but it's obviously good if someone else likes them too.

Longer term, ideas are shaping up for a second set of stories (or possibly a novel) in the same universe. I also have reasonably advanced notes for two other distinct novels. I have no idea if or even when these will be written. If I could afford to stop work and write full time I would, but I can't, so they'll be written around whatever time I can carve out.

round and round we go

I've gone quiet. I do that a lot; not just here, but on my other blogs too. And I haven't written much new stuff, or at least not fiction. I've written other stuff for work.

I've also revised some of the earlier stories in this sequence, which has been an interesting experience. I had to leave enough time for objectivity to set in, but it was worth it, I think.

The new story, the last in this sequence, is coming together slowly, with some research required.

In the meantime, here's some thoughts of a real writer:-

http://www.advicetowriters.com/interviews/2012/1/14/harlan-ellison.html

Arid?

It is odd now to find myself not writing most days of the past few weeks. This isn't because the well is dry, just that I'm still working out how to weave some threads together to make what I think will be the final story in this collection. It is likely to be quite a long tale, and the lesson I learned from The Fourth Craw is that structure and planning at the beginning save a lot of work half-way through. So I'm trying to work this one out before I start.

I'm toying with submitting an earlier story, The Executry of Edward Moorehouse, to a small press looking for stories for an anthology. Looking back at it, it stands up quite well, I think, albeit that it could be tightened up here and there.

Still here

The story I mentioned in my last post, provisionally titled Coyote in the Corner, is finished in first draft. As with a lot of these stories I need to revise it once I have some distance from it. Having said that, I usually find myself disliking the stories while I write them and then finding that they're not as bad as I thought when I finally read them through. This is probably because I am in the habit of revising the previous day's writing before continuing.

I had hoped to write the final story in this sequence soon, but Coyote in the Corner sets up a sequel that has to have happened before the final story can take place. So I will now have to write two more to wrap up the necessary loose ends. I think that means the first draft of the collection will come in around 100,000 words.

Stepping back from the stories, I'm pleased with how this whole thing has gone. I make no claims for the quality of my writing, but I do flatter myself that it is better now than it was a year ago. I'm also pleased that by taking this a piece at a time I will have generated a book length collection. They may only ever be read by a very small number of people, but that's OK because I'm mainly writing for my own pleasure with no other expectations.

I also have a queue of future stories building up in notebooks. These constitute two stand alone novels, which carry no macabre payload, and a further sequence of "vamp" stories which follow on from the events of the current series.

Double Oops

After the last, I went for a walk and kind of worked out where the final story in this sequence will go to finish of the arc (and set up the next sequence), and resolved to sketch it out for myself.

So there I was, staring at the blank sheet of paper in front of me, trying to pull story threads together. One of the characters was shifting in his seat with his hand in the air, trying to attract my attention. I ignored him as best I could until, finally, I snapped.

"Yes? What do you want?"
"Please sir, I need my own story."

I was about to curse and throw something at him, when I realised he was right. I'm 4500 words in and kinda liking it so far.

Oops!

Previously on Elegies...

I finished the draft of The Fourth Craw and readied myself to plunge into researching for something else, happy to leave the macabre behind for a while...

Four and a half thousand words later I typed END on the initial draft of Lighten Our Darkness, another vamp tale, that insisted that it be written. I think I'm going to have to finish of the sequence before I can concentrate on other stuff. The whole lot will require a proper revision once the last one is done, and I should be able to be objective about them by then.

The Fourth Craw

The latest story, The Fourth Craw, is out with Rosie and Rachel for their initial thoughts. It is in that state where I've put it aside until I can come back to it with a bit of objectivity. Readers' reactions help with that.

I mentioned on 19th June that I've had the idea for a completely separate tale and I'm currently plotting and researching that--and still giggling at some of the ideas I'm having. But, unbidden, a new vamp story popped into my head, down my fingers, and into my notebook. It's based on a core idea I had last year but it has taken this long for detail to filter out from my subconscious and into coherence. It too requires a bit of research, but I think it will probably get written before the non-macabre one.

Since part of the research for the latest vamp idea means listening to early polyphony, I'm not complaining one bit.

More tea!

And ... the first draft is done, at 24,000 words.  As the King of Welsh Noir has wisely said, I can now go back and rewrite it so that it looks like I intended it to end that way all along. Also I need to work on some of the characters' dialogue to individuate them some more, and intensify the weirdness while simultaneously culling redundancies in the text. I quite enjoy that process

The story has a conclusion, of sorts, I make an exception this time and observe a genre trope, and I leave a couple of strands to pick up in what is likely to be the concluding story in this sequence. And that, happily, means that I will be able to make them cohere as a series and call them done.

What happens after that I'm not sure. I'll certainly let an editor have a look at it, but I also want to move on to the next story, or at least researching it.

nearly done

The current story is still not done and has been a lot more work than I expected. I'm not complaining--I'm enjoying writing it--but it has been a lot harder to put it together properly than any of the others in this series.

So far I've stripped it back a long way by removing redundant verbiage, cut some scenes that took me down rabbit-holes, and restructured elements of the plot. It is back up to 22,000 words, but they are better words.

Having said that, once I've worked out how to bring this draft home, I am acutely conscious that it will need a thorough re-write before I can let anyone else see it. I'm also conscious that I am putting in bits of information that only make sense if you have already read the earlier stories in the sequence.

In my notebook, waiting patiently, is a bare outline of the next thing I'll write, which contains no macabre elements at all. I have been giggling a lot as I make notes. I'm not sure of that is a good or a bad sign.

grump, grump, grump

This current story is getting me down. I'm at the "this is the worst thing I've ever written" stage. I'm told this is normal

musings

I see a lot of articles and blog posts about writing and editing. Some of them speak to me more than others, but it is handy to at least skim them for something I might steal use.

One thing that strikes me, though, is that most of them run on a set of assumptions, the main one of which is that one is writing with publication in mind. I can understand why that is, but it is a bit of a fault line in my case: first and foremost I am writing for me, not for publication. A couple of people who have seen my stuff have made positive and flattering comments, and have suggested publication. That is good of them, and I really do appreciate it, but it misses my main motivation in writing which is to entertain myself. Everything else is secondary to that.

Sweet Words Flow Softly

An odd thing is happening with the current story. For all that I've said recently that I'm comfortable writing to around the 8000 word mark, this one is already at 17,500 and there's still a way to go. I'm guessing the first draft will come in around 25-30,000 words. Of course that will change on revision because it is a bit flabby at the moment; but I'm surprised by how it is developing.

I also like how it is linking together some of the other stories in this series and that, when I'm through, they should all give hints and tips as to the others.

Last year I wrote what I thought would be the last story in the sequence to give me something to aim for. In fact the story has changed and I'm now plundering that "last" story for paragraphs :-) I'm no longer sure how the sequence will end, or if I'll just keep adding 'same universe' stories.

I also haven't forgotten that this all began when I started writing notes for a novel and realised that I didn't have the skills to write it. One day I do plan to write it,although my initial conception for it was a series of inked stories, before I got ambitious.

Disaster

I am caught in the midst of an ongoing catastrophe. I am trying to write BUT I HAVE NO CHOCOLATE.

Spring Forward

Strange how things are going well and then grind to a halt in a standing wave of distractions. I quickly got about 2000 words into a draft of a new story, but haven't written a word for several days now.

The usual suspects are implicated, but I have this strange sense of guilt if I'm not sitting in front of my laptop making something up.

Crystal Tips

Two writing tips from the great M John Harrison:

1. Write as if it's the 1st time anyone wrote. When they tell you you've reinvented the wheel, slowly work one of the spokes into their left eye.

2. You are here to fuck with people's heads. Here's the stick.

March Hare

"The best thing about writing books is being at a party and telling some pretty girl that you write books. The worst thing is sitting at a typewriter and actually writing the book". Len Deighton.

After some persuasion, I agreed to put one of my stories to an editor for a manuscript evaluation. The response:

I was quickly drawn in, and your style is certainly one which is something I feel can be placed with the right publisher.

Followed by a positive appraisal (with some suggestions) and a researched list of potential publishers.

I'm not yet ready to consider publication--I need a more substantial body of good writing behind me, I think. But I feel validated, which is a great outcome.