Tag Archives: writing fiction

An accidental novelist, or was I?

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You could say I became a novelist by accident. Sometimes the best things in life happen when you’re not quite paying attention.

CIRCUIT BREAKERS

Previous writing was non-fiction or articles, with the occasional interview or editorial thrown in for fun. However, NaNoWriMo, the national novel writing month, sneaked up on me and challenged me to have a go at it.

Along the way, I encouraged Raven to do the same thing. However, he already had one novel written. NaNoWriMo was his excuse to try a slightly different genre (murder mystery) while he kept me company.

Nowadays, I can hardly imagine life without plots in the background, characters whispering about new adventures, and the lure of words. I am quite caught by the writing bug and expect it will never again let me go. Every day, there is some new plot or sub plot that springs to mind. I have been parking the non-fiction for the while, however, over the summer I plan to get a couple of the how-to books out of the way. They’ve been calling to me from the back of my mind, demanding their own attention.

Time to dream, perchance to solve a plot or two whilst sleeping.

Cheers

Ria

Working with Scrivener

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I was new to Scrivener for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November last year. I had previously written in Word, however that had a tendency to make it hard to keep all the folders and files together. Scrivener changed all that. Suddenly I could write a novel, a short story and keep character sheets and notes all in the one place. I could add images and place notes in much the same way I’d done in one-note, and then decide what I wanted to export later.

It didn’t come for free or without a learning curve. That’s where the course on using Scrivener came in handy. It’s called “Learn Scrivener Fast” from Joseph Michael . Why learn it all on my own when I could take a tutorial to learn how the experts did it. Now this isn’t intended to be a push to buy the product, though I do think it’s great. If you think you can intuit your way into the best method on your own, knock yourself out. Personally, while I like to make how-to stuff, I rarely follow the directions exactly. So yes, there’s bits in the course you may not want. I encourage you to skip around and only do the bits you want to use. Sooner or later, the other bits will be there for you. All I want to say is that it saved me oodles of time and headaches.

The main thing I do with a Scrivener project is determine what the overarching world is.

  • Start with the project name
  • Change the name of the Chapters to the Sections I want
  • Start a side ‘section’ for related stories (which I inevitably have)
  • Make a bunch of text files inside the sections for scenes I know I’ll want to write
  • Then add text scenes before and after those known scenes
  • Make a set of character files
  • Then start making notes to myself over in the right
  • I use a corkboard to see the scenes all together – and drag and drop them into a different order

Then I start writing just about anywhere, sometimes at the start, though usually it’s the first scene where the action is. Then I just keep adding scenes as I go. Sooner or later, I’ll pop back out and make an outline – that means more scenes get layered in, though those are just a ‘stub’ with the outline of what will happen in them. I leave the stub in place until that scene gets written. I’ve been known to just stub in a scene and then keep going onto the next thing. I can always come back to it later or lose it if it’s not needed.

In November, I found that I was writing short stories that are back story for the main character, at the same time as I was writing book two. It should bother me to be writing at two very different points in time but it was fine. Each day, I’d just decide what I wanted to write and the variety made it less likely I’d get stuck. On days when I didn’t want to write anything in the stories, I spent my writing time outlining or building character sheets instead. When neither of those appealed, I edited something my partner wrote in his stories or wrote blog posts for one of my other blogs. That way I generally got 2000 to 5000 words a day some way or another.

I’d love to hear some of the ways others use Scrivener. Go ahead and use the comments section to add thoughts.

Happy writing – Ria

A writer exploring her medium

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It is an exciting time to be living in as an author, exploring the medium of fiction in multiple formats. The electronic book feels so ephemeral, while the trade paperback feels more lasting and tangible. Both have their charms but I am struck by how different the same work can feel in the two different mediums.

Print will always have my heart I think with the feeling of the pages, the smell of the ink, and the whole experience of interacting with an artifact. Yet my kindle has made it possible to keep a whole library with me; as long as I have a power charge, I can visit with old friends any time I like, no matter where I am. I no longer run late for work in searching for a book to add to my bag before I run out the door; it’s sad to admit how many buses I’ve missed over the years just because I couldn’t bring myself to leave before I had a book in hand. As an author, each of print and ebook is satisfying in its own way – both get into the hands of readers and that’s a happiness.

Fiction is a new departure for me and I’m as happy as a kid in the candy store. For the past twenty odd years, I’ve been focused on technical writing and non fiction. I had no idea fiction could be so rewarding! The characters are about as noisy and demanding as a screech of lyrebirds in the Australian bush. Those pesky creatures are mimics who love to make the sound of squeaky playground swings. My characters keep up the racket in my head until I get their words and stories out.

I must admit to experimenting with the novella format more than a bit; Child of Time is a story in three parts that could be considered three separate short stories. Thematically, it moves through time and explores a single protagonist as she grows up and grows into her magic. It is a single story, yes. It is also a set of stories about a character at different ages. Will be experimenting with the novella form more as time goes on. I already have ideas for another sequence of three stories, threaded together through time.

For me, it feels like around a hundred pages, or around 20,000 words is a good chunk of story. I hope that the readers agree as it means publishing is feasible as soon as there is a sequence to share in ebook and print. Less than 100 pages doesn’t feel print-worthy to me, but other folks mileage may vary.

Stages of writing – the first draft

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The first and quickest part of the writing process, for me, is getting the first draft done. Quite like writing non-fiction, I start anywhere. It might be an introduction to the character, a scene that may be incorporated, or a piece of dialog. From there, I figure out where that piece fits in and write scenes before and after it. Only then does an outline emerge.

I use scrivener for writing for the most part, however, if I’m stuck in a meeting I’ve been known to scribble in the back of a notebook or put some words down into one-note when an idea comes to me. On my phone I use one-note and am learning to use some audio recordings while I’m driving in the car.

Before the first draft there is usually an idea about the scene, some questions that reveal something about the main character and their cirsumstances.

  • Mira has issue with her family that sets her at odds with them. What is that?
  • About the magic? Her place in the family? The arranged marriage they’re trying to get her to agree to?
  • What is it about her magic and power that is at odds with their pursuit of power?
  • What does she see with her gifts that makes her step away from them?

I throw the main character into the first scene against the backdrop of the questions and see what happens. During this phase, I pay attention to the rhythm of the scene – quick, quick, slow or slow, slow, quick – depending on the energy of the events. As the stories are urban fantasy, I want to ground the action in everyday events. The mundane is punctuated by the magical actions and, ideally, the rhythm brings the aspects of the scene into balance.

I may decide to do a second pass on the draft to add action sequences or dialog that shows more of the motivations, especially for the political tensions.

During first draft phase, I also read it aloud to my partner or one of my beta readers. Getting their initial feedback helps me to refine the story on the next pass. It also lets me know which pieces to keep, especially if they clap their hands or laugh in delight. My partner is great at asking questions I hadn’t thought of, or asking about motivations.

Occasionally I’ll plot out a whole short story. For the most part, however, I allow the characters to tell me what they would do as I write. It’s more exciting to me that way and I get to learn as I go along. My first draft is usually in chunks of around 2000 words a day, with the odd day of 5000 words; I live for the 5000 word days. Being that much in the story makes me happy.

New story by Ria Loader

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ChildOfTimeGreen300x400

A story of magic

What a lovely feeling to have a new story published today. Child of Time  is a novella in three parts, inspired by questions from readers who enjoyed my first novel, Library of Time. Fiction is a new departure for me and I’m enjoying the character driven story line.

This sequence started with a foundation story. One reader asked “what happened when Mira threw her brother off a cliff – how did that happen?” I asked my character, who was more than happy to tell me all about it.

“He said he could fly!” Mira said indignantly when her Gran came to find out what had happened.

And who is to say otherwise in a family with such strange and otherworldly magic? Why would she think he was exaggerating? Pushing small girls can be an unpredictable thing when they have strong magic to defend themselves. To find out what happens next, read Child of Time on paperback or kindle today.

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