What do I find hardest to write? An author I admire, Seanan McGuire (who writes the October Daye series of urban fantasy),gave the following list in her blog:

1. Killing some characters.
2. Not killing some characters.
3. Justifying what moves a character from #1 to #2.
4. Those long stretches of plot between explosions.
5. Leaving out the science.
6. Trusting [her] instincts where the science is concerned.
7. Endings.
8. Writing sex.
9. Ending conversations.
10. Balancing the action with the reaction.

She also said, “The painful parts of a project are like ninjas, and they sneak up on you.” Of course, she  then ‘unpacked’ each difficult thing and suggested ways to bash them over the head/deal with all of them.

It made me think about my own difficulties and how I tackle them. I came up with my own list of ten, (in random order) .

1. Beginnings. Deciding which scene should be the beginning. Sometimes the scene that begins a story in the author’s head isn’t the first one the reader wants to read.

2. Submissions. Submitting anything to an agent, a publisher or a competition. I feel both sick panic and a sense of hopelessness. Anything that involves an element of luck has that effect on me, not just writing!

3. Fight scenes. Not individual fights but mass battles. I find them totally confusing, skim them when I’m reading and look away when they’re on film. The skimming and looking away are an effect of the confusion but also make sure it continues!

4. Dialogue. I hear/write it in my head but sometimes forget to put it on the page. Or I summarise it.

5. Explanations. Remembering to explain things to the reader, who should not be expected to be psychic.

6. Medical matters. Describing medical conditions – anything from wounds to disease – is hard for me and requires a lot of research.

7. Physical cause and effect in world building. Something that looks pretty in an invented world (e.g. two moons) might have physical implications I haven’t thought through.

8. Formatting. Keeping everything in the same format drives me insane. Fonts, sizes, chapter headings, etc. And checking I’ve used the same symbols to divide sections, used italics consistently, and single or double speech marks. Checking for extra or missing spaces between words. Getting things into the right spacing etc. This is the part of writing I really hate as well as finding it difficult.

9. Timelines. Keeping track of a timeline can be hard; sometimes I get carried away by the main story and forget what else is going on.

10. Names. I frequently have to check the names (and other things e.g. how many children they have) of minor characters.

How do I tackle them?

1. Beginnings. I rely on my betas to tell me where the story starts and try not to set the sequence in stone in my head before I have their feedback. Occasionally my initial idea is right. But often I personally like a slow start (in my reading, too) and most people seem to prefer exciting action to draw them in.

2. Submissions. One of my betas is preparing to act as my agent. She has already submitted a couple of things on my behalf. But if I go ahead with the self-publishing, the problem will be solved. (Submitting to agents to try to find one is as bad as submitting to publishers.)

3. Fight scenes. I have to take a deep breath and try to visualise them. Then I have to put the results to my betas and work through what they say until we’re all happy. Or reasonably happy. I have to remember not to use the coward’s ways out (flashbacks, recounting, abstract-style descriptions that are heavy in emotion but don’t enlighten the reader). I’ve been guilty of them all. I even at one point had my hero imprisoned below decks so that I could avoid a naval battle. My betas made me bring him out. It’s often the choreography of close physical interaction that defeats me. I can cope with it in situations with two individuals (whether it’s a duel or sex). But you see then I can use an artist’s ‘doll’ to simulate positions if my imaginatiopn fails me. I should maybe take up war gaming with models. But in fact I simply try to avoid battles in my stories altogether.

4. Dialogue. I’ve learnt to go through and check that there aren’t too many pages of uninterrupted narrative. If there are, I’ve missed out some dialogue… I can write it; I just forget.

5. Explanations. My betas need to tell me if they haven’t understood something. The chances are it’s my fault, not theirs.

6. Medical matters. As well as doing online research and bookmarking websites (like http://www.dplylemd.com/DPLyleMD/Home.html)I have bought some books in the ‘Howdunit’ series (Scene of the Crime by Annie Wingate and Cause of Death by Keith D. Wilson) that help. And of course there is extrapolation from my own experiences, both as a patient and as a carer/visitor. For simple things I check them out with my daughter – see next point

7. Physical cause and effect. I run through things with my daughter, who is a scientist. She saves me from mistakes arising from things like extra moons or odd weather in sci-fi/fantasy stories. I have too little scientific education in some subjects (physics, chemistry, geology) and whilst I understand her explanations I rarely have sufficient instinctive grasp of these matters to avoid errors in the first place.

8. Formatting. As I said, this is what I hate most, and find hardest. It would probably be enough to drive me to a publisher (and editor/proof reader/etc.) except that I want to make sure my work is the best it can be before submitting it to a publisher… So I rely on my beta/agent/guardian angel, who is fortunately good at these things. Even so, I try to sort things out to some extent before enlisting her help, and that’s hard enough!

9. Timelines. I create a rough timeline at the beginning and refer to it every time I am about to start writing. Then when I finish, I add to it if necessary. It doesn’t have to have details, just basic information to stop me writing anachronisms within a story.

10. Minor names etc. I also create a kind of glossary before I start and add to that as well as to the timeline as I go along. Sometimes details of minor characters arise during the writing process. I don’t refer to it at the start of each writing session but I am aware that is there for me to refer to. It is also there to use at the end, doing a find-and-replace on names, both invented fantasy ones and ordinary ones – it’s so easy to turn Ann into Anne or Steven into Stephen. As for whether Brianna, in one of my novels, has one ‘n’ or two, I have no idea and have to check!

Most of the above are easily dealt with in short stories. They are much, much harder in novels.

What do you find hard? What do you do about it? Any tips?

I suppose that in a blog about writing I ought to say just what I’m writing and the stage everything has reached. Then I can refer to it and you’ll know, or you can look back at this post. So here goes!

The order in which I deal with these is alphabetical by title.

(1) Angus (and other stories)

Angus has been published by Forbidden Fruit, an e-zine that is now defunct. I rewrote it for submission to one of the I Do Two anthologies but it didn’t suit the theme. I am thinking of putting it with some of my shorter non-fantasy pieces as an anthology on Smashwords.

(2) Answering Emily

This is a children’s story. It was originally written as letters to a friend’s grandchild who left notes for the fairies at the bottom of the garden. Nobody wants to publish as it is because it relies on coloured fonts, different fonts, etc. and would cost a lot to print. I have had favourable but negative responses from agents. Emily’s family are pushing me and we are currently saying that if the new Kindle colour version takes off, then it might be a self-publishing venture – but then I’ve been warned that Kindles are quite fragile and not child-friendly. Any comments? I suppose Kindle for PC would somewhere children could access it. Meanwhile, I have changed computers and no longer have the fonts I originally used. I have downloaded some new ones but there is quite a lot of reformatting to do. The work is thoroughly beta’ed and finished in other respects. Incidentally, it was the springboard for the Harlequin diaries.

(3) Evacuees

This only exists in planning form. It is a story based on my mother’s WW2 experiences as a teacher taking children to the countryside under evacuation plans. I have a lot of notes and also audio-tapes of her recollections. I have a plot roughed out. It will contain a heterosexual romance based loosely on my parents but will focus mainly on the wartime ‘adventures’.

(4) Executors

This is another in planning form only though I have tried out various chapters within a writing group. The story is based very loosely on my experiences as executor for the UK will of a non-UK citizen. It contains a bitter lesbian relationship between two of the lawyers involved – totally fictional and in no way based on the actual lawyers I dealt with.

(5) Harlequin’s Diaries (working title)

These started when the older brother of the fairy in Answering Emily demanded a book of his own. I ignored the demand but started a Live Journal muse account, interacting with others in extended role play and answering prompts. The whole thing just grew and grew. I was fortunate to find a beta/editor/co-writer/agent who helped to sort it out. So far, we have at least three volumes but there might be more material (especially the stories of Harlequin’s father’s present life) that doesn’t fit in these and will spill over into a fourth. And the ideas keep coming… My co-author (from vol 2 onwards and editor in chief on vol 1) has suggested we give the author’s name as Harlequin, avoiding concerns about human editors, co-authorship, etc.

Volume 1. Growing up Fae

This is ready for submission and is having a final proof read. We decided to submit it to a recommended publisher. If they don’t want it we will consider self publishing. This first volume starts with Harlequin’s childhood and finishes with the birth of his nephew. It covers his sexual adventures (he is bisexual) and his eventual established relationship with another (male) fairy. But it is not primarily a romance. It deals with fae culture, unicorns, travel, monsters, family problems, etc.

Volume 2. Life on the Edge

This is the sequel, following Harlequin and his family and friends through their adventures on and off Alderley Edge in Cheshire. It starts immediately after the first volume and finishes as various nieces and nephews are beginning to grow up. It is all written but is still in a muddle as some of the sections (especially the role play ones) were created out of sequence. Plus, some of them still need to be reorganised into narrative form.

Volume 3. Tales from Tara

This is not a sequel though it could be read as such. It is concurrent with the other books and recounts the adventures of Harlequin, and Yarrow, his lover, in the court at Tara (separately, not together). It also contains the adventures of some of the fae they met there. A great deal of it is written but there is still work in progress.

(6) Lords and Gentlemen

This is an anthology of m/m romance stories loosely based on legends and fairy tales. Most of them have been published to at least a limited readership but I think they go well together and as they are all mine and there is therefore no problem relating to prior publication I intend to use them as my first venture into self-publishing later this year. Apart from checking the font consistency across the five stories, they are ready to upload to Smashwords/Kindle.

i.The Lord of Shalott

What if the curse of the Lady of Shalott was that in fact ‘she’ was a man, a transvestite youth (not a curse in our day but certainly one then)? This has been ‘published’ on Live Journal to a literary community. It has now been removed from the archives and extensively re-edited so is ready to meet the world. Torquere Books didn’t want it because it’s the wrong length…

ii. Silkskin and the Forest people

I wrote this recently for a ‘fanfic’ challenge. It’s the story of Snow White, turned into an m/m romance and relocated in mediaeval Africa. It’s ‘published’ on Archive Of Our Own, but as fanfic in the fairytales fandom. It has been well received and as fairy tales have no copyright to worry about I think I would like it to reach a wider public.

iii. Jingling Geordie

I wrote this some years ago as a gift-fic for one of the organisers of a fanfic convention I sometimes attend. It is based on a local legend set in Tynemouth, Northumberland, the seaside resort where the convention was held that year. The legend deals with caves of treasure, hero explorers, magic and mystery. My version attempts to answer the mystery but in a supernatural way.

iv. Hare’s Children

This is a short story set in early mediaeval England which is in the form of a legend but is not in fact based on anything I have read or heard. It was published in the e-zine Gay Flash Fiction which has now closed and re-opened in a different format. The story has timed out and has been removed from the archives.

v. The Time thief

This is another short piece that was published in Gay Flash Fiction. It is a modern fairytale, in which a new lover is not quite what he seems.

(7) The Skilled Investigators

This is a fantasy detective series. (In fact it’s the series I wish someone else had written for me to read…so I had to write it myself.)It is set in a world where there are both elves and humans, and follows Genef, a young elf, as she tries to become an official investigator or detective. Helping her in her ‘cases’ are her gay brother (who provides some romance interest), a young dragon who imprinted on her accidentally when she was present at his hatching, and an older elf, her mentor in the guild. It is aimed at the upper end of the Young Adult market, and is a coming-of-age series. It is, however, suitable for anyone, from younger teens to adults who like fantasy. I read some advice that to write a sequel before a novel has been accepted for publication is brave but to write a third book is foolhardy. I must have taken this firmly on board as it is only now, as I consider self publishing, that I feel able to set volume three down on the screen! There will be six books in the series, based around the magical skills that Genef is gifted with each time she solves a case. The first book is ready. The second needs a final proof read. The third is in progress. The other three are planned but not written.

i. The Scroll

Genef has to fight to follow her ambitions, and in the process has to solve a murder that occurs at home but takes her on a journey to the capital, the court, and of course the guild of investigators. She gains the help of Fel, one of of her brothers, Scratch, a young dragon, and Rath, a guild mentor. This is ready to self-publish.

ii.The Market

Genef and Fel travel overseas to trace some royal jewels that are missing. There is murder to muddy the trail, Fel is kidnapped, and Genef has find the jewels as well as the murderer and get everyone home safely. I hope to have the final rewrites/proof reading done within the next few weeks.

iii. The Snow Queen

When Genef and Rath travel to the Ice Kingdom to find the last of the jewels, Scratch succumbs to the lure of the ice dragons and as well as her official task, Genef must try to rescue him (if he wants to be rescued) and solve a couple of murders that get in the way. I will almost certainly have this written at least in its first typed version by midsummer.

iv. Undercover

Genef and Rath go undercover to investigate some thefts and a murder. The trail leads across the border into the kingdom of men and the elves have to pass as human to fulfil their mission.

v. Caves

There is murder, mayhem and smuggling in the sea caves where Rath was born. He and Genef have to tread a fine line between officialdom and family matters.

vi. Home Run

Genef, fully qualified, goes back to her parents’ house to celebrate but there are dark mysteries in her home village. This is her first solo case, officially without Rath’s guidance, but he is still available to advise. Fel finally finds love, Scratch matures gracefully and Genef is all set for an illustrious career.

(8) The Virgin and the Unicorn

This is written but needs extensive editing after a lot of beta work. It concerns an arranged marriage between a young nobleman from one country and a prince from another. The story is perhaps more explicitly erotic than most of my writing. It explores themes of culture clash, arranged marriage, attitudes to same gender marriage, and the problems of compromise faced by any young couple. The setting is a fantasy one but there is little magic; however, there are unicorns. I think it could be ready to self publish later this year. I used a group on LiveJournal as betas and more than one person has asked for a sequel – mainly for more unicorns. We shall see.

So, quite a lot of unpublished work and nothing worrying in terms of finishing/plotting/etc. I told you, I think, that I have submission block rather than writer’s block. Self publishing should sort me out! And then I can justify to myself carrying on writing Genef’s third adventure and more of the Tales from Tara.

I found an amusing site. http://iwl.me/

If you load a sample of your writing, a few paragraphjs rather than a single sentence, it tells you which famous author you can compare yourself with…

Of course, if you have a variety of styles for different genres, there might be problems. I uploaded some of my non-fiction writing.

It told me I write like Cory Doctorow.

Now, I’d heard of him, but I’d never read a single word. Research showed me he writes sci-fi so I bought a novella for my Kindle. And that he’s a founder member of EFF, fighting to protect the internet against things like SOPA, P~IPA and ACTA. Someone I could be proud to emulate, then. I did more research and ended up subscribing to his blog. All because of an idle moment internet surfing!!

I write in my head.

Yes, I really mean that. All my planning and the bulk of my writing is done inside my mind. Commiting the results to the keyboard is a kind of after-effect though I do fill in some details at that stage. The writing is a purely mental thing, so much so that occasionally I write a blog post in my head and forget I’ve never posted it.

At school, I was frequently scolded for not producing essay/story plans (in all subjects, not just ‘English’). I never really understood the need for them. Why would I spend time writing things down when they were already written in my mind and I could refer to them there? The only possible reason for writing them physically would be to share them with others. Why would they want to share my plans? Surely the outcomes – the physically written essays/stories would be proof that some planning had taken place?

At uni nobody seemed very bothered about planning; the outcome was everything, and I relaxed.

When I was training to teach, as a post-grad, I finally realised that not everyone thought/wrote the way I did. Some people would always need a physical written plan to work to and much of their work would only form as they wrote/typed it. I was surprised, almost shocked, to learn about different ways of thinking and learning, but I was also fascinated.

I needed to accept that children should be encouraged to formulate plans, and that I could help them with that if they shared those plans with me. That was fine, although I have to say that just as people have different learning styles, they have different planning styles; once someone’s finished work shows evidence of good planning they should not, I think, be forced to share those plans at any age, and someone who feels as I do could be encouraged to prove their planning ability at the outset. It can be very counter-productive and time-consuming all round to have to deal with pages and pages of  unnecessary notes.

I complete summaries and plans in my head, arrange and rearrange their components, rough out a few pivotal scenes, play with dialogue and descriptions, interview my characters and even ‘write’ extra scenes that will never reach the keyboard but which help me to develop the main plot.

I do, of course, commit some things to physical files and folders, either in notebooks or on my laptop. I thought long and hard about why I might find it essential to do this and realised that it all concerned dates, timelines, chapter sequences, indexes, etc. Then I understood. They’re all to do with numbers, to some extent. I have almost no memory for numbers. I can handle them and my maths ability is at least average and probably slightly above that, but I am capable of forgetting my car numberplate, and have never managed to learn my own mobile phone number. So anything that involves numbers needs to be recorded in such a way that there is an external reminder, something I can refer to!

The other thing I record on the laptop is research/website information I have come across. I defy anyone to memorise quantities of URLs and assign them correctly. In that respect, bookmarks (I use Firefox but whatever you use is almost certainly just as good) are brilliant. Before the age of the internet I had card indexes with that sort of thing on them but those are harder to keep up to date.

So by the time I reach the keyboard, whatever I am going to write is in a sense already written. This means I can type a story or an account at what must seem like astronomical speed.  I am mostly ‘copy-typing’. Yes, I tweak and add as I go but what gets recorded is definitely a second draft.

Writer’s block has never made sense to me. If I approach the keyboard I already know what I am going to write, in detail. Thinker’s block? Well, no, not as a rule; I just have to suppress some of the wilder ideas that make their way into my consciousness and sort out the gold from the dross. If I didn’t have the story ready to roll I wouldn’t sit at the keyboard in the first place. I have plenty of other things to do.

Note that I talk more about my laptop than about pencil and paper. I dislike writing by hand for any length of time; I literally get writer’s cramp. So as I don’t need to plan in note form, I am unlikely to write a story, poem or essay on paper. I keep paper for shopping lists, appointments, addresses, that kind of thing. I plan menus in my head but the number thing kicks in again and I have to write a plan of timings to enable me to produce a dinner party meal.

I started to hate teaching when we were made to commit our lesson plans to paper for the head’s approval. It took so much time and was such a sterile exercise. It felt like hard work, in a physical sense, when I had been used to planning my lessons in my head while I was ironing or walking the dog.

A lot of people have said they have ideas while e.g. ironing or walking the dog but forget them unless they write them down. So far as I know that has never happened to me. Of course, I suppose I could have written a best-seller in my head on a long car journey and then suffered amnesia and I wouldn’t know but it seems unlikely.

I wrote this post a few days ago, while tidying the house. In my head. And decided it deserved a wider audience. How about you? How do you write?