Hello again,

For the next few Blogs I will be presenting a Guest Blog by Kate Bloomfield on How to write a novel (in 2 months).

Don't forget you can leave a comment or two on this topic.

Kate's website: http://www.bloomfieldkate.com/

Part 2 of How to write a novel (in 2 months)
BY KATE BLOOMFIELD

Day 5-6: Research

Now, I don't know much about 18th century England, apart from what I've seen in movies, so some research was in order. I learned quickly that women in the 1700's were not allowed to own property, so I had to alter my story to fit.
•    Elizabeth cannot inherit Apothecary, so she dresses as a man to obtain it.
There. That's nice and neat, isn't it?
Apart from that, I looked into laws and customs of 18th century England, researching women's roles and traditions. I then started to shape my plot around that. I learned that my character would be considered "strange" if she was not married by the time she reached her twenties. This was useful for a lot of dialogue between mother and daughter. I also found that couples would never be left alone, and always have a chaperone.
 
Day 7 onwards: Composition

Okay, now you've got your story outline in bullet-point format. You've researched the customs of the people/era you're writing about. (Not so important if you've made up your setting entirely). Now you need to break up these bullet-points into finer points. Let's say you had 10 bullet points. Break them up into 20, giving each one more detail and depth. Once you have done this you should be able to clearly see how your chapters will pan out. Think of the bullet points as chapters.

Once you've done this, you're pretty much ready to begin writing, and after only a week! You've got a fully planned story to go ahead and write!

Now, when I wrote 'Passing as Elias' I cheated a little bit, and I do not advise doing this unless you've REALLY got the whole thing planned.
Get ready for it ... I wrote the middle of the book first. Yup, that's right. I took the most interesting/fun bullet points and I wrote those chapters first. It was probably a silly thing to do, but it was super fun. I got to write all of the saucy, sexy, action packed fun bits first, without taking the long and tedious road to get there. Now, this was LARGELY part of the reason why I finished the book so fast: because I was enjoying it. I'd write pages upon pages every day, because I got to write all the good bits first. (I also wrote a majority of this book during work hours at my office job. I'd sneakily type a few paragraphs into an email and send it to myself) Shhhh.

So what happens when you've written all the best bits? Well, it's time to stitch them together, I guess. This is the hard part (if you do what I did) but I did find it got the work done quicker.

Those in between bits are called 'Filler'. Scenes/Conversations/Events that move the story along at an even pace without having one thing happen after another. If you don't have the filler then the book won't flow nicely, it'll be short, and be an absolute mess.

Filler is a good time for you to explore your characters and give them depth during their 'down time'. What does your character do on a Sunday afternoon? Do they have hobbies? Use this time to improve upon your characters relationships. Some of my filler included the following:
•    A funeral (to enhance the characters important relationship with the deceased).
•    A wedding (to enhance her sense of entrapment)
•    Time at a bar (to study the way males behave)
Okay, so now you've written the exciting bits AND the parts in between. Now what? Is your novel finished? No way.
 

I will post more in about two weeks

Until then, remember to write. Also leave a comment.

John

Hello again,

For the next few Blogs I will be presenting a Guest Blog by Kate Bloomfield on How to write a novel (in 2 months).

Don't forget you can leave a comment or more on this topic.

You can see more about Kate at her website: http://www.bloomfieldkate.com/

How to write a novel (in 2 months)
BY KATE BLOOMFIELD

Okay, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert. I published my first novel 'Frost Arch' in February 2012. It took me 2 years (on and off) to finish the book, and another 2 years to publish it through amazon. Looking back, if I'd spent a couple of hours each day focusing on this book, I could have finished it within 7-8 months. It took 2 years because I kept getting distracted, didn't plan properly, got stuck, and gave up multiple times. Looking back, there is A LOT I would change about this book. (Whoops! Too late now!) However, here are a few techniques I implemented when writing my next novels.

My novel 'Passing as Elias' was published in March 2012. That's right. One month after I published Frost Arch. I'll use this novel as an example in the following steps. Click here to read the synopsis of the novel: LINK

How long did it take me to write Passing as Elias? 2 months.
Word count: 50,000

I was able to complete a full length novel in 2 months without rushing. How? Planning.
 
Day 1-2: Conception

An idea is born. I knew I wanted to write about a lesbian in 18th century England. After I thought up my initial idea I began to write down plot-points, and major happenings in the story.
For example, my plot points looked like this:
               •    Woman dresses as man
               •    falls in love with another woman
               •    true identity is revealed
That's it. 3 plot points. You have a beginning that starts the story, the "problem/complication" in the middle, and an ending.



Day 3-4: Design
Start planning the series of events that will take place in your novel. You're going to need characters and sub-plots to make your story interesting.
Who is the character in question? Where does he/she work? What does he/she look like? Who is his/her love interest? What problems can arise from the decisions they make?
After asking myself these questions I realised that I needed a reason for my character to crossdress. So, after careful deliberation my story outline looked something like this:
                •    Woman (Elizabeth) works as an apprentice at an apothecary
                • The death of her employer/professor sets the story in motion.
                •    The Professor has left Elizabeth the Apothecary in his will
                •    Business turns sour with a female apothecary so Elizabeth dresses as a man to help business.
 

I want to thank Kate for allowing me to post her work.

Be sure to check out her website, and find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Until next time (in about two weeks) I will post more of her How to write a novel (in 2 months).

John

Another year has come despite the warning from olden days. What it holds no one really knows.

I want to thank the over 1000 people that come here to read my ramblings on every new posting. Maybe some time this year they will be more interesting.

Seriously though, if you have what you think would be a great guest post on writing, please email so we can discuss posting it here. It would be wonderful to have some words from other authors. john@johnpoindexter.com

2012 - Good things - new baby in family, eBooks selling well, most of the family doing good health wise.

2013 - Maybe more eBook sales and if lucky even a novel. Hopefully, all will be healthy throughout the year.

I saw the best New Year resolution the other day on the "educational page". It read something like: My resolution will be to pay more for food and gas.  I would add utilities since they want to raise them too.

But, at least milk will not go to 8 dollars a gallon.  Sorry cows, no raise for you.

This is the time of the year where everybody is making resolutions that they will not keep. So, I think the one above I will be able to keep with no problem. Now, if I were to say lose weight, it could happen, but like Red Green said today, "Well here we are in a brand new year with the same old us. Resolution time. I'm going to try to lose a few pounds. I know I'll put it all back on but at least it'll be new fat. My version of recycling."

Okay, how was your New Year's Eve?   Anything exciting happen? Any resolutions you care to share?

Leave a comment down below and tell us all about it.

In closing:

My only hope is that I live long enough to be able to retire some day. Then I will have more time to read, write and play on amateur radio. Maybe even go fishing again, (no son not before the sun comes up) something I haven't done much since buying a lifetime license.

Okay, it is now your turn to tell us about what your plans are for the New Year. Just leave a comment down below and we will all enjoy it.

Until next time,

John

Dec 15th, there are only 6 more days before the predicted end of the world.  Will it be from the North Korean's shooting off rockets or will it be nothing at all? Or maybe Iran will try something and that will bring about the end of the world.

Many people are talking about all kinds of things.

If, we make it pass the 21st, then we can expect Santa to come in on time Christmas Eve. Right?

What are you hoping that Santa brings you this year?

A new Kindle?  A Nook? Ipad or what?

Maybe it is a new car you want?

All I want is time to get this novel done, but I guess I am the only one that can make that.

This is the busy season, final exams coming up this week and grading all of the projects and journals takes so much time.

I know the students would love not to have to do the projects, but they are a must. (Just like the big one next semester).


What are your plans for the holiday season?  Leave a message down below telling all of us what you are doing.

Everyone would love to know.

We get to have our new granddaughter on the weekends when both parents have to work.  It can be nice, but usually is noisy as she is a breastfed baby and does not want to take that bottle for anything.

It is a real struggle to get her take any milk at all even when it is breast milk she is getting. She knows the difference between the bottle and momma.

Today, I did get her to eat some and then she took a nice nap lying on Granny's chest.  But, when she woke up, oh boy!  It was all up her back side. 

Granny's comment was, "I felt it and knew it was going to be bad."


Almost time to take her home so will close, as when I get back it will be time for me to do some work around here.

Please leave a message letting us know how things are with you in your world.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and safe Happy New Year!


See you in the New Year!


John

Five weeks and two days left in this year.  Where did it all go?

I find it hard to believe that another year is almost over. Did you get done what you want to do this year?  I sure didn't.

I did publish some eBooks and have one more to go out, hopefully, before Christmas. But, I didn't get the novel re-written like I wanted to do.

It seems that there is less and less time to do any writing. I know, you must make time, but even that is hard to do.

Writing is hard even when you are sitting there typing or hand writing on that story.

It is just you and that blank sheet of paper or white screen. No one is pushing you, unless you have an agent or publisher that is hounding you to get that novel done because the deadline is coming.

Barrie Davenport said it best in the article Write to Serve: Giving Deeper Purpose to Your Craft. "Writing can be a lonely business. When it's just you and your fingers tapping away at your keyboard, it's hard to visualize your readers out there and how your words will impact them. Writers spend a lot of time worrying about deadlines and content and sources of inspiration. It can be a very self-focused activity where the rewards often appear long after the work is finished."

But, if you want to get it finished, you just have to sit your butt in the chair and type/write.

With Thanksgiving over and only these five weeks left, if you want to finish this year, you need to get it in gear. I know I do.

How was your Thanksgiving?  We had the whole family here.

Did you go Black Friday shopping?

We would love to hear how you did and what your plans are for the holidays.

Just leave a message below and tell us.  For some reason, the message system must seem hard, but it isn't really. As no one wants to leave a message.

So, come on!  Leave a message and tell us what is going on in your world.

Until next time, I wish you well.

John