Monday 25 April 2016

Confessions of a Part-Time Writer: Structure, Pacing, Plot and Everything Else, Actually

I typically open any given manuscript I’m working on knowing one thing: I haven’t got much time to work on it.

Writing exists around that other time-consuming thing in my life: a full time job. And I love my job, so that’s OK by me.

But is does mean that when I come to work on a manuscript, I feel under pressure to do something Great with it. 

I jump right in. Maybe I re-read the last few paragraphs I wrote, maybe I just get on with it. Maybe I pick up an existing scene, maybe I write a new one. Maybe it’s planned, maybe it’s not.

Whilst I have usually planned the plot out, I have always been someone more comfortable with winging it than properly planning it.

And that’s fine, except that I was reading Candy Gourlay’s post from a few weeks ago and felt the need to try to do things a little differently.

Why don’t I plan more? Is it because it doesn’t work for me, or because in the limited time I have I prioritise the writing itself? Or is it – gulp – because I’ve never taken the time to learn how? 

In an odd turn of events, I currently have the time, and it’s coincided wonderfully with having the inclination. Sitting next to me on my desk: Story by Robert McKee, Writing Children’s Fiction by Yvonne Coppard and Linda Newbery (from whom I have already been lucky enough to glean pearls of wisdom and kindness generously gifted on an Arvon course), On Writing by Stephen King and Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose.



Just as importantly I have surrounded myself by my favourite books, and have gone through each wondering for the first time why exactly they stick in my mind as favourites. Michelle Magorian's Goodnight Mister Tom and Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity for the depth of friendship invoked, Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels and Bernard Beckett's August for their wondrous use of language, Amy Butler Greenfield's Chantress for its use of setting to reflect the characters perfectly – the list goes on.


Reading these books again and trying to break them down goes against instinct, but as Sarah Waters wrote in a 2010 Guardian article, “Read like mad. But try to do it analytically – which can be hard, because the better and more compelling a novel is, the less conscious you will be of its devices. It’s worth trying to figure those devices out, however: they might come in useful in your own work.” 

Diving head-first into learning how to write better, rather than spending the time writing the manuscript itself, feels somewhat intimidating, but cometh the time, cometh the writer. Probably.

17 comments :

  1. Cometh the baby, cometh the pressure! I was just thinking the other day as I sat down to tear my hair out over my third novel: every book I write feels like my first because learning how to write is a never-ending process! Happy reading ... and writing!

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  2. Read like mad - I like that. Cometh the time, cometh the writer. Definitely.

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  3. I never used to plan. Never used a notebook! Now I have awesome spreadsheets and know what's going to hapen in each scene. Then after I've written it I go in and play. I think we all change our habbits as we grow as writers. And adjust according to our changing circumstances!

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    1. Well, any opportunity for a good spreadsheet ;o)

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  4. I've asked myself these questions and never satisfactorily answered them!I think the truth is, it's easier to plot first but not as exciting so you're less driven...you'll have to sort it out in the end though - and through the muddle of your text! Doesn't stop me...self-sabotage agogo!

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    1. Then again, having a detailed plot first night mean I can enjoy the writing more, without having to constantly find my way through a plot? Then again, maybe not!

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  5. Do what works for you. I'm pretty similar - like you, I have a full time day job. So writing time is precious. If I spent it planning I'd never write anything.

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    1. Thanks Sue! It's a bit of an experiment - we'll see how it goes!

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  6. I know what you mean about analysis going against instinct. I haven't yet been able to do it to a book I love unless it's a review request. I do think you absorb good technique subconsciously as well as by disection.

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    1. actually I agree: the more you read, even without consciously analysing what you are reading, the more you absorb how story works - and the things you like and don't. I rarely set our to analyse a whole book, though will occasionally go back to parts of things I've written before - for e.g. if I'm writing a scary scene and remembering something I read that was scary, I might go back and look at it and try to work out why I found it so. But I can't say I've ever analysed a whole novel in that sort of way.

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    2. I agree, but I do find that when writing a novel in small sections around work there isn't the continuity of writing for subconscious understanding to necessarily have an impact. Or rather, I don't feel I can rely on it to. So for me, I suspect the more conscious understanding I can have, the better I'll be able to apply it. If that makes sense?!

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  7. So lovely to see Chantress in your stack of favorites! And even lovelier to know that you're getting time to think about writing. I find it's tremendously useful to study books I love - though sometimes it's very hard to pin down the source of the magic. I plan some books more than others, but they all change as I write them. Still I'm comforted if I have at least some kind of map to start with, even if I toss it out later.

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    1. Yes, I think that as long as I plan in much more detail, and more consciously, then I will understand the book I'm trying to write much better, so even if I stray from the plan I'm much more likely to come up with something structurally sound!

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  8. Happy plotting and analysing!
    It's interesting what you said about when you have limited time, you want to dive straight in to writing. Now that I think about it, when I was working first time and used to write a chapter in the morning before work, I always started writing straight away when I began. But even though I didn't generally set time aside to plot, that doesn't mean it wasn't happening - but it tended to be more in my mind, at odd times during the day, rather than part of my writing time.
    I certainly spend much more time consciously plotting now that I'm writing full time than I used to. Though whether that is because I have more time, or because things have naturally evolved that way, I can't say.

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    1. working FULL time, not first time! I seem to have lost the ability to string a sentence together without an editor looking over my shoulder..!!

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  9. As very much a part-time writer, I agree about the desire to jump in. In fact, that's very much an indicator for me that a project is worth me pursuing. But having endured the pain of several big structural rewrites in the past, the need to plan more carefully is definitely coming to the fore, especially as I'm not actually that keen on the first draft bit.I know there are some writers who think the first draft is where all the fun is, but I find the blank page stage tough to get past.

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  10. I think I work best when I've planned enough to know what I'm doing but not so much I lose the excitement of writing the scene.

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