For those of you not familiar with the growing annual online event, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a challenge for anyone with the desire to write a novel, to start writing on November 1, and finish a minimum of 50,000 words by midnight November 30th. That’s a very tall order of 1,666 words per day.

If you’ve ever tried to write 1,666 words of quality in a day, then you will no doubt fear the thought. But NaNoWriMo is all about quantity. Forget ideals of writing the next literary classic, just write all the words you can and edit them later.

I haven’t done it yet

Timing has always been off for my participation. Either I have been travelling, have heavy day-job workloads, or, like last year, was already enveloped in my first novel, Persistent Spirit.

This year, if all goes according to plan, I might manage to make it, providing I can get the latest draft of Persistent Spirit off my to-do list. I have no concerns about working on two books at the same time, particularly because one follows the other and involve many of the same characters. But I need to get Persistent Spirit finished and delaying that another month is not something I want to do.

Yet, I am also itching to write the first draft of the second TableRappers book, A Shot in Time, which was planned for this year’s NaNoWriMo.

UPDATE (Oct 19): Decision made, I’m pausing Persistent Spirit editing for a month and doing NaNoWriMo. This way I can get the first draft (equalls “totally shite draft”) of book two out of the way then have a gap to let it simmer (while completing book one edits) before writing the second draft. You and me, NaNoWriMo, outside, now…

Persistent Spirit is undergoing a re-write. After having been away from it for a few months, I have returned to write the third full draft. I now fully understand the necessity of the breathing space to allow time before returning to the editing process.

I am spotting errors and problems I never saw last time through the text. Silly mistakes such as passive verb use (my pet-hate, in particuar), and duplicated words in consecutive sentences. All are getting fixed.

It’s laborious, but I love this part of the editing process. The chance to polish and fix problems and make it a better product overall, can’t be anything but good.

So, that’s why there’s been little activity on this blog: when you are buried in the words, there’s little else to say!

Our immediate impression was of a room filed with people who do not get out much. But what else might you expect of writers who are forced to spend endless hours shut in a room on their own? It was a fascinating to see the dress decisions some had made, some clearly eccentric, while others deliberately attempting to appear so.

Session 1: Macmillan New Writing

Will Atkins, editor at Macmillan New Writing, described how it was set up to publish first novels of previously unpublished writers. Clearly crafted as a means of minimising the publisher’s business risk when exposing the work of new writers – and who can blame them? – the relationships they create with writers are based on a standardised, fixed contract: no advance and the writer must sign-over world rights (see the second session notes for a Literary Agent’s advice on world rights).

Beside Will sat a success story, the recently published author Maggie Dana with her novel, Beachcombing. Her story was of many years struggling to have a novel published until Macmillan New Writing snapped her up. Something smacks here of the ideal signing for Macmillan New Writing is the writer desperate to become published regardless of the contract deal. I’m not suggesting Macmillan are exploiting new authors, but I suspect the actual opportunities for new authors are more limited than the name suggests.

Interestingly, Macmillan New Writing publishes novel across a diverse range of genre, including fantasy.

Conclusions:

1. Macmillan New Writing is not a potential submissions target for my project.
2. The non-negotiable contracts with writers seems a little exploitative
3. Macmillan New Writing seems genuinely interested in discovering and nurturing commercial fiction, but will seek that which provides a minimal financial risk to them

Session 2: Literary Agents

The two agents, Michael Alcock and Sarah Nundy, appeared to be terrified not of talking to the room, but of talking to a room packed with desperate authors, and the swarm of bodies heading for one-to-one conversations with the agents after the session looked much like zombies at the scent of fresh brains.

The information was useful, understanding the relationship between agents and authors, a slightly defensive explanation of why agents take so long to respond to submissions, and I finally understand how primary and secondary agents work together on negotiating international rights.

Interestingly, they advised never to sign global rights with a publisher for fiction books. I noted how this contradicted the requirement to sign such rights in the Macmillan New Writing relationship.

Conclusions:

1. Approach an agent in exactly the way they want you to approach them. Provide what they ask for and only what they ask for
2. Personality of the writer is very important as agent and writer will have a long relationship
3. Agents rarely give up on writers they believe in
4. Ian Rankin released 9 novels before he really took off – sometimes it takes time
5. Agents are a filtering mechanism for the larger publishers who do not accept direct submissions, particularly from new authors

Session 3: Other opportunities for writers and earning income

Oh dear… With a session focused on alternative ways for writers to earn money, I found it puzzling why the session featured Litro, a London short story magazine that offers writers exposure but no money, and a new social network promising to match writers with audience. The subject of money, even though specifically brought up twice during the Q&A, was skirted and dodged.

Eric Akoto of Litro magazine knew virtually nothing about additional opportunities for writers. Even when talking about his own magazine, the information was shallow and uninformative. The only real clarity came in the statement that short stories are a very difficult art to master. When asked to expand on a throwaway statement to earn money through blogging, he revealed he knows practically nothing about the subject other than writing some blogs. OK, thanks for that.

The representative of completelynovel.com did very little to convince those of us with solid online community experience that they have anything of value to offer other than another place to scatter one’s promotional efforts. But when describing how authors can improve their published work, by “… looking at other book covers and copying them [because] that’s what designers do…”.

Coming from a poorly visually and functionally designed site and brand that clearly has been put together purely by web developers with access to a cheap clip-art library and no real designer even remotely involved (if there was, they need, frankly, to be shot), the trivialising of the value of design is not surprising. It was around this point I tweeted: “Third session bullsh*t meter on overload”. The site and company are 3 months old, I doubt they will be around by the end of the year unless they stop engaging their audience with misinformation.

Conclusions: pay no attention to both speakers.

Session 4: Commissioning editors.

Peggy Vance, Commissioning Editor at Dorling Kindersley, was a thoroughly entertaining speaker, balancing what was more of a performance with imparting a far more thorough understanding of non-fiction author relationships with publishing houses. Most interesting was the comment that there are places that pay pay rates for authors of around £100 per 1000 words, is little different than a couple of decades ago (and that there are plenty of capable authors happy to work at such rates).

Jenny Parrot’s talk was very negative. The Commissioning Editor for Fiction at Little Brown Group riled at the poor quality of submissions coming from new British writers: “Americans work much harder on their books [than British] and it shows”, adding the number of British novels she currently signs is very much a minority as a direct result of the submission quality. The wave of silent grumbling around the room was almost tangible. Bordering on a rant about how much rubbish she is forced to wade through from British writers, the insight was enlightening.

Conclusions:

1. American writers work harder and longer at crafting their manuscripts before submitting to publishers – probably down to the stronger work ethic out there.
2. New British writers are submitting poor quality and unpolished books
3. Earnings for general non-fiction writing is low unless you are a spectacular, well-known figure in your area of expertise (think celebrity chefs, perhaps)
4. The opportunities to collaborate on a non-fiction title are broadening
5. Don’t be a pain in the butt for your commissioning editors or you will not get work

Session 5: Meet the authors

A session I selected purely because the other running simultaneously was a repeat of an earlier one I attended, turned out to be interesting and thoroughly entertaining. No major revelations from the three authors Nick Harkaway, Lucy Beresford and Simon Rae, but educational to hear the different paths each had taken to being published, and some of the motivations behind their writing.

The end

We skipped the final session on Children’s Books due to fatigue and only a partial interest in the subject, and headed home with a positive experience for what was a worthwhile day as a whole (though still fuming a little over the third session’s ignorant misinformation). In addition, we were able to pick up a copy of the 2010 edition of The Writer’s Handbook for a fiver!

Best line of the day? One author asked the Literary Agents about reaching agents outside the UK as she felt her book had more appeal to the Germans and Americans. “Just submit your work in the same way”, explained the Agent. “But how do I find where to get in touch with these agents?” came the question. Surely an odd question at an event organised by The Writer’s Handbook, the bulk of which consists of detailed listings of publishers and agents in the UK and the rest of the world. “Erm, in here” responded the perplexed Agent as he pointed out the distinctive yellow book that had sat front and centre on the table for all to see since the day began.

The very reasonably priced day (just £30) appears to be packed with informative sessions tailored to the fledgeling writer.

Sessions cover specifics of the publishing business, talks from literary agents, and appearances by authors willing to share their personal experiences on the road to being published.

From my experience in the past I do have some reservations about how useful this will be. Now and then such events can be too dumbed-down for my taste. Fingers crossed there will be some valuable insights to help on the road ahead.

I’ve held off the next round of submitted query letters this week just in case I learn something here that will help.

A proper report on the day once it’s all over and suitably digested.

For the first time, eyes other than mine are looking over the words I have been poring over for well over a year. I guess it should be a scary time, but it is not. Could this be due to the story already having been released in audio format – and the very positive response I have received from many listeners?

Making a better book

When I gave it a little more thought, I realised something very important about this proofing process: whatever comments I receive, they can only result in a better novel.

There is no room for egos and sensitivities at this stage. If the work fails to provide its first, amateur readers with a positive experience, it stands virtually no chance of passing the infinitely more discerning eyes of a professional publisher’s reader.

Real edits

The first reader to return edits was one I trusted would not tip-toe around my sensibilities, and tell me exactly what she thought. She did not fail me. Thankfully, she enjoyed the reading, wanting to continue with the rest to learn how the story unfolds. 

Minor typos, misspellings, and glitches aside, I found most of her more significant comments matched quite closely to those areas I have either struggled with or have had a gut feeling myself that something was not  quite right. Now someone else had spotted them, there was no denying the need for a little repair.

This is not tedious (yet)

I’m enjoying this editing process. Again, I think it comes down to an underlying realisation that the book is being improved, polished, and made more complete. 

I have spotted some issues myself while going through someone else’s comments. Focusing merely on how to fix issues they have highlighted, have detached me a little from the emotion of the words, and enabled me to spot – and fix – a couple of quite significant continuity errors, plus a chronological discrepancy.

I suspect, once the editing gets down to nothing more than individual word tweaking, I will get sick of the sight of the book. But I think I’ll retain my optimism, because at that stage, it is very close to being complete.

Book one is in the early stages of its third draft. Well, to be more accurate, it’s second novel draft as the physical second draft was written with the serialised audiobook in mind. Confused? No matter, so long as I can keep track!

In October last year I announced the title of Book 6. The announcement defined it as Book 5, but since that time I have restructured the sequence of books following the current unfinished Persistent Spirit.

Here is the list of books as it stands today:

1. Persistent Spirit
2. A Shot in Time
3. The Casebook Files: Volume 1
4. The House of Mrs. Benson
5. The Diabolical Seven
6. The Casebook Files: Volume 2
7. They Wear Black

There you have it, book 7, entitled “They Wear Black”. I’m giving nothing away of it’s content at this time as to have any relevance a number of events planned throughout several of the other books must first be permitted time to play-out.

As I have described in the past, titling a novel – or any project for that matter – solidifies it in my mind and enables me to attach and organize ideas around it. The title brands the concept, and offers me the bare-bones upon which to gradually nurture the flesh.

What is notable about this plan is the appearance of a “casebook” volume every third book. These casebooks will each contain a number of short stories, some set before the events of Persistent Spirit, some intertwined between all the above books, and a few set well after this period.

They provide an opportunity to explore additional scenarios, different times and societies, and help to complete some of the unanswered questions regarding Keynes’ past which are deliberately omitted from Persistent Spirit in particular.

Persistent Spirit re-write

Persitent Spirit is currently undergoing a re-write of the initial ten chapters – while simultaneously completing the final few chapters. These will form a submission to a publisher who is experienced with publishing series works in addition to individual novels.

I have no hopes, fears, or expectations regarding the submission, but there is always a lingering optimism that someone will enjnoy the work enough to want to work with me in bringing TableRappers into print.

There are pros and cons to this method as you might imagine. As the Persistent Spirit story begins to enter its final phase and the end of the book is on the horizon, I find myself contemplating whether I might undergo the same process for the second book, A Shot in Time.

The cons

Time: writing and recording an episode consumes 15-20 hours of effort. Maintaining that each week with an increasingly demanding and unpredictable day-job has been, frankly, stressful.

Structure: episodes have a completely different structure to a novel, requiring continuing momentum, restructured scenes, and some point of tension at the end of each one. Unedited, this brings the novel a strange, pulse-like pace which now needs a further re-write.

The pros

Progress: episodes promoted regular writing. I believe I am further along in the story than I would have been without to self imposed demands of a regular episodic production.

Story momentum: despite the structure issue mentioned above, the story has a pace and continues to move along ithout getting bogged down and sluggish. Once the “episodic pulse” is edited out I think the novel will have an enhanced page-turning pace.

Feedback: reaching out with even an unpolished story to potential audience around the globe has generated feedback that has helped both encourage the work and help shape it.

What’s in store for 2009?

Not another audio book, that’s for sure. The pros most certainly outweigh the cons, so the audio book of the second Table Rappers book must correct some of the negatives of this years’ experience. Most importantly is the frustration from being unable to produce regular, weekly episodes. Book two (titled A Shot in Time) will not be released as serialised audio until it has completed the second draft.

That does not mean there will be nothing from the Table Rappers in 2009, however. I’m planning some short story dramatised episodes, including a cast of actors, full sound effects, etc. Doesn’t that mean even more work? Yes, but the work flow can be controlled around the production, and such a project is free from an ongoing, weekly deadline.

2009 is already promising to be a challenging year on both personal and professional fronts, so careful planning will be essential to achievement of my goals. I’m thoroughly looking forward to what might prove to be a formative year for the future!

I posted on the TableRappers site yesterday an announcement about the fifth book in the series. The concept I have had hanging around for a while, but the title escaped me until quite recently.

I find titles vital in the early stages of a creative project. They help to create focus, to solidify the idea beyond simply vague concepts. From a practical viewpoint, they create opportunities to organise and schedule.

As a graphic designer, one of the first tasks for a new project is always to create a brand, develop a logo, construct a visual representation of the idea. This process transforms the idea from little more than a spark of inspiration, into tangible potential.

Planning that far ahead?

I have always had in the back of my mind to write a minumum of six TableRappers books. But for now, the premise for book six is little more than a vague notion regarding the story arcs of the main protagonists – the ‘big picture’ stuff – and with book one still being written, I have enough to concentrate on for the next two to three years.

In a recent interview published in Writer’s magazine, Iain Banks, when asked whether he works on future books while writing the current one, responded with “Good god, no”.

I simply could not work exclusively on just one project. Sure, the primary project gets 95% of my energy, but I’m always looking ahead, planning the future development, and setting my sights on ever expanding horizons. For me, if I am planning on writing full time (eventually), then I better have enough ideas up my sleeve to keep me occupied!

Avoiding disappointment

First criteria is to select something I will spend real money on that will not leave me feeling I should have spent that money on a couple of good cappuccinos. I think I have read more words of reader reviews than are contained within the books themselves!

I wrote recently about my continuing disappointment when searching for new writers to taste. Who can you listen to for advice? Thankfully, I am lucky enough to have someone close at hand who has intimate knowledge of many of the currently available best selling novels. It helped narrow the field.

Reading around what I write

I have written before about the trappings of reading works that are too similar in style to my own writing. My mind instinctively tries to emulate any other style I enjoy reading myself. Not a good prospect, of course, but less so now that I am over 100,000 words into my own novel.

However, as I do so little reading, each selection to some extent falls into the realms of research. Whether it be research around subject matter, or simply looking at how another author might have tackled particular situation, reading for me has to be more than pure pleasure.

I don’t want a real book

This one proved to be a rather inhibiting criteria. I am taking my new Sony PRS-505 ebook reader on vacation. This immediately limits my selection to what is available in ebook format, and the publishing industry, though accelerating, is still some way off having an adequately broad selection. Add to that sometimes poor implementations of the ebook sections of online bookstores – even Waterstones do not have the ability to search through just the ebooks! – and the search for a chosen title grinds to a sluggish shuffle.

Thanks to bloggers and Amazon

My selection is: Banquet for the Damned by Adam L.G. Nevill – get the ebook version from Waterstones
Few believed Professor Coldwell was in touch with an unseen world – that he could commune with spirits. But in Scotland’s oldest university town something has passed from darkness into light. And now the young are being haunted by night terrors. And those who are visited, disappear. This is certainly not a place for outsiders, especially at night. So what chance do a rootless musician and burnt-out explorer have of surviving their entanglement with an ageless supernatural evil and the ruthless cult that worships it? This chilling occult thriller is both an homage to the great age of British ghost stories and a pacy modern tale of diabolism and witchcraft.

I’ll report back what I think of this book, but with all eight Amazon reviews giving it full five stars, I think I am in safe hands. What could be better than sitting in the Spanish sun reading of ghostly happenings in dark, damp Scotland!

In addition to the big writing project (TableRappers) and its supplementary tales featuring its characters, I want to create some old-style scary stories. By old style, of course, I means some that are genuinely scary!

I have a pile of horror short story compilations in my reading pile, acquired in recent months on the search for what I find leaves me unnerved and disquieted after reading. I found I left more modern tales behind and was drawn more and more to older, classic stories from the 19th Century up to the 1950s. The purchase of a Sony ebook reader (full review on this great device in the pipeline) has helped as it came packaged with 100 classic books, one of which was the complete works of Poe.

I had not read The Pit and the Pendulum for many years and have a stronger memory of the Hammer horror movie (I’m guessing it was Hammer) of that name, than the originating story. Reading was disturbing. I began to sense what such stories once kindled within me. I was glad I had not read this alone in a dimly lit room. Fantastic!

This contrasts with most of the modern  – to me that is post 1950s – horror tales I have recently read which try, frequently too hard, and fail, leaving me with little more than wanting my time refunded.

And so I am on a mission….

I wrote on my personal blog about creating a classic spooky tale audio episode for this year’s Halloween. If you like that sort of thing, please leave a comment and let me know what you would like to hear.

In addition, I have been reading anything and everything in the genre that I can get my eyes on with the aim of developing some of my own concepts into actual stories.

At the very least I believe I can create somethig that scares the willies out of me, perhaps it will do the same for you.