GippsGirl

@janeshuff – ah, the sweet sound of a scene being NAILED! That gives me shivers of satisfaction. Everything pulling together and resonating all over the place…can’t wait to read the rewrite 🙂

Should I look forward to seeing an entry? 😉

Pow, @kazg, you got it!

Not yet… although I think I started Francis Plug: How to Be a Public Author.

I like the sound of them as a publisher, if you’re going for the literary / experimental end of the spectrum.

Richard, that is truly a shocking piece of writing – awful to read but really well done. Very powerful. It doesn’t feel gratuitous to me, awful as it is.

Jane, I think I know the scene you’re referring to 😉 Reading through this thread and going back to my own comments to you, the issue I had with it was that it felt as if you were avoiding the…[Read more]

Aargh, spoiler!

It was so lovely to catch up with you @giselle 😊😊 Thank you for cheering me on. Hope the edits are going well xx

Well, clarifying the problem is always a good start! Yes, I can see better now what’s making it tricky. I guess the same principles still apply: focus on your onlooker’s reactions to what they are witnessing, rather that (just) the action itself. Maybe think about the onlooker experiencing the violence as a series of sounds, movements, colours,…[Read more]

Two bits of advice ‘freed’ me up wrt location, because I usually start with somewhere I know then make adjustments as necessary. Reading a disclaimer along the lines of “geographical liberties have been taken” I much appreciated.
Also, Eimear McBride said when she wrote of Camden, she did it from a 5 year old memory of the place and never…[Read more]

BTW I think your book DOES sound very original! Setting, the manananggal etc…. My point was that it is best to ‘show’ this through your blurb and chapters, rather state this claim directly.

Hi Alan,

I really enjoyed “Ice” although it is a very strange book. Worth reading to the end though, if you can.

Yes, my understanding is that Anna Kavan struggled with various problems, including depression and addictions.

It’s probably a bit of an old and obscure novel to use as a comp title, but hope it will lead to other relevant books

It sounds like a really difficult issue, Janeshuff. However well done on you for listening to your reader feedback.

I think as others have suggested, a close psychic distance is your answer. The character’s subjective thoughts, feelings, and reactions can never be gratuitous. These will also advance your plot, by contributing to your character’s…[Read more]

Thanks guys. That’s really helpful.

I’m leaning more towards going with a fictional place, although based on a real location to help me be consistent with geographical details. For me, I think it’s becoming clear that there is a particular kind of place I envisage as the setting for this particular story.

Trying to shoehorn my story into a…[Read more]

“if it doesn’t advance the plot or reveal something about character, don’t prolong it.” – excellent advice! Thanks Jane.

For severe violence done well I’d look at Malcolm Mackay, Ray Banks, Stuart Neville’s ‘The Twelve’. Benjamin Myers ‘Turning Blue’ had me commenting ‘Stomach-churning details precisely told’, or Sarah Hilary. Denise Mina might be good, but I cannot remember which is the most violent.