tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post8638385660600445425..comments2023-09-21T12:38:29.150+01:00Comments on The Pocketeers: Writing in the NowThe Pocketeershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07124101740561917118noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-3420767921502954592013-11-27T07:58:29.897+00:002013-11-27T07:58:29.897+00:00Thanks Noelene. That sounds like a good book too. ...Thanks Noelene. That sounds like a good book too. I can see my 'to be read' pile growing all the time.<br /><br />I'll very often write a prologue to get some of the back story in my own head, but then delete it when the novel is completed. Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-52932935528280057392013-11-27T07:57:15.180+00:002013-11-27T07:57:15.180+00:00I like the sound of that series, Jeannie! I'll...I like the sound of that series, Jeannie! I'll have to check it out.Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-65487648903501065932013-11-26T21:06:20.741+00:002013-11-26T21:06:20.741+00:00Absolutely agree, Sally. We need to jump straight ...Absolutely agree, Sally. We need to jump straight into the story and drip feed the background. That's why I'm a plotter and need to get all the bits and pieces of scenes and story planning done up front before I start to write. Even then he story will change as I write but the basics of what info needs to go in where would probably remain.<br />I don't usually like flashbacks. I find them annoying and confusing unless done well but I've just finished reading THE PERFUME COLLECTOR by Kathleen Tessaro, a mainstream historical, that jumps between the 1920/30s and the 1950s when a young woman inherits from an older woman she doesn't know and the flashbacks tell the story of who and why. I found that held my interest although you still have to adjust your mindset each time you go back or forward to take up the story from a different era again.<br />Great discussion you've generated, Sally. :)<br />Noelenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189586588231645515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-55801198526020693042013-11-26T20:31:36.080+00:002013-11-26T20:31:36.080+00:00Aargh! I didn't want to remove the comment, ju...Aargh! I didn't want to remove the comment, just add to it! <br />What I wanted to say, Sally, was that I'd just finished reading Sue Grafton's 'U is for Undertow' where there are alternating strands of the present (actually the 1980s) and the past (the (1960s). It works well. <br /><br />It's not romantic fiction - it's her alphabetical detective series - but the structure is the same.Jeanniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09273622164197138471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-22245198234303232802013-11-26T20:26:54.487+00:002013-11-26T20:26:54.487+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jeanniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09273622164197138471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-89657255212025099752013-11-26T19:44:15.320+00:002013-11-26T19:44:15.320+00:00Thanks Womag! And that's a great idea. I like ...Thanks Womag! And that's a great idea. I like novels with flashbacks that reveal a little more of what really happened each time. Though I can't for the life of me think of one offhand.Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-26530681113734519872013-11-26T19:34:16.384+00:002013-11-26T19:34:16.384+00:00Really interesting, and I agree about starting at ...Really interesting, and I agree about starting at the point of most conflict. However if I were writing this novel (and I love the idea of it - you should go for it!) I would probably write it in two strands. One starting now with the conflict, and one telling the back story starting from them meeting at university. I would alternate the chapters (but would definitely start with a Now chapter).<br />This is probably because I love novels with interwoven stories from different time periods, even if as in this case it would be the same characters just ten years apart.<br /><br />Just shows there are so many ways to tell the same story! Kath McGurlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02526923882402757423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-71907391492174088652013-11-26T11:44:55.808+00:002013-11-26T11:44:55.808+00:00Thanks Kate! Yes, I agree beginnings are crucial. ...Thanks Kate! Yes, I agree beginnings are crucial. They're what will help the reader (and editor!) decide whether to read on. Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-62610517911115406462013-11-26T11:37:03.154+00:002013-11-26T11:37:03.154+00:00We were talking about this very topic on my Arvon ...We were talking about this very topic on my Arvon course! And about how to weave in background/backstory. It's an important subject as good beginnings are crucial. Good post.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365185962131795210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-45623217077626022342013-11-26T11:21:45.733+00:002013-11-26T11:21:45.733+00:00And yet, Fay, that's how Sunset Boulevard begi...And yet, Fay, that's how Sunset Boulevard begins. Then we get an extended flashback about how the body came to be there. So it can be done. Though Sunset Boulevard was hardly a 'romance' and the flashback was done in such a way, leading us right back up to the present moment, that it felt immediate.Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-55026086897300155922013-11-26T11:18:16.891+00:002013-11-26T11:18:16.891+00:00I agree, Sally. Starting in the now also provides ...I agree, Sally. Starting in the now also provides that necessary hook. The novel I have been working on for some time starts in the present moment outside a house.<br /><br />Cassandra Moon stood outside the house and wondered what was bothering her. The house looked beautiful, but something wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t the house itself. The new building gleamed white in the late afternoon sunshine, the freshly laid turf almost too green, the paths free from all the grime that normally accumulates on garden paths, the windows still factory clean – everything as near perfect as it was possible to get. <br />So why the scary feeling? <br /><br />You still have to pick your moment, though. If I had started with the body floating in the new swimming pool it would have taken away the suspense.Fay Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08272589694665680806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-84091737864791630752013-11-26T10:49:36.633+00:002013-11-26T10:49:36.633+00:00Thanks Jeannie. I know too well how hard it was to...Thanks Jeannie. I know too well how hard it was to start a story where it needs to be started. I always remember the advice about starting at a point of change in the character's life.Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-34443897467297511492013-11-26T10:47:26.688+00:002013-11-26T10:47:26.688+00:00Sally, I think one of the big difficulties for a n...Sally, I think one of the big difficulties for a new writer is how to get from here to there (or from past to present) without detailing all the steps on the way. You almost need 'permission' to cut out the boring bits! <br /><br />I like the advice about not having to start at the very beginning, and about avoiding infodumps. <br /><br /><br />As usual, lots of useful and thought-provoking points.Jeanniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09273622164197138471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-87675677748114174872013-11-26T10:33:38.042+00:002013-11-26T10:33:38.042+00:00Thanks both. Yes, it is always a job where to star...Thanks both. Yes, it is always a job where to start, isn't it? But that's where rewrites come in, because if you find the first three chapters only build up the premise, it's easy to get rid of them and feed in any necessary information later. Quillershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148636009202550512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-64300884011146261212013-11-26T10:30:32.314+00:002013-11-26T10:30:32.314+00:00Interesting points, Sally, about how to use 't...Interesting points, Sally, about how to use 'the now' in different kinds of writing. I'd say that important advice - to avoid information drops - is a major cause of re-edits. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327129601484697455.post-90438254976754500962013-11-26T10:29:02.747+00:002013-11-26T10:29:02.747+00:00Thanks for this, Sally. It's often a bit of a ...Thanks for this, Sally. It's often a bit of a puzzle as to where to start a story. Perhaps it depends whether it's a short story, novella or saga, but the reader wants to be enthralled not bogged down, so it's good advice to start in the 'now'.<br />Patricia Keysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14082225991760220713noreply@blogger.com