Jethro Weyman

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 1 month ago

    Dilemma:

    Book 1 with publisher being edited. Waiting for their response to my responses.
    Book 2 with publisher, waiting to see if they like it – though I know it needs work.
    Book 3 story outlined in notebook.

    Question is, do I get stuck into writing up Book 3 properly on the computer, knowing I’ve got 1 & 2 to work on edit-wise; start…[Read more]

    • Do whatever excites you the most? Or do something else entirely? If neither of those are the answer, then I’d crack on with Book 3. Having a better idea of what happens in it, will inform your edit of Books 1 and 2 when the time comes.
      If ’twere me, I wouldn’t start yet another project (planning Book 4) as that’ll create more unfinished-ness and…[Read more]

    • Take time out to write something completely different and come back to this with fresh eyes and unexpected directions?

    • Personally, I’d get started with book 3, but that’s possibly not the wisest, knowing you’ll have to switch away from it again. BUt it’s not like you are having to enter an entirely new world, is it? (this is the next in series, isn’t it?). So perhaps it could even be good to keep you in the right place mentally and keep you enthused for the…[Read more]

      • Thanks all… I actually went on to outline book 4 after all, but pretty loosely. Rather lost my writing mojo this week due to a bout of hormones… I tend to want to sit in a corner and shut the world out when that happens. Not helped by a few things going rather wrong this week that left me feeling disappointed with life. But hey ho, we get back…[Read more]

      • @Raine – don’t worry re beta reading; as and when! I’ve begun to realise that book 2’s not as oven ready as I thought it might be…

    • Boo to the hormones, but pleased you’ve found a way to keep things moving forwards nonetheless. It all has to be done at some point, so in a way it doesn’t matter in what order. Whatever helps keep the momentum flowing(ish)

      • good for you, @squidge. Moving forward despite all that is a major achievement. My (belated) approach would be to move on with the next bit of the story, I think. especially if you’ve got exciting bits to look forward to writing! I also find that writing the future can often inform the ‘past’ in that you can tweak and foreshadow knowing what comes…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago

    So… I’ve seen an advert for a ‘Write a book in an hour’ event run by a bookshop. To give the author credit, he has actually written a book that’s been well received.

    But surely, ‘writing a book in an hour’ is a poor description? Surely, the most you can hope to achieve is the outline of your story? There is no way on earth you can write teh…[Read more]

    • YEah, that would irritate me too. LIke one of those godawful gimmicky diets/fitness regimes/etc. It’s both deeply unrealistic and misleading, but also demeaning to the effort it takes to create worthwhile writing. If he means an hour to *plan* your novel, then, meh, perhaps, in the roughest of rough outlines. But *write*? At 80k for a book, that’s…[Read more]

    • So glad to hear it’s not just me, then. Mind you, I don’t suppose it would have the same appeal if it was called ‘Write a book over the next few years that might never see the light of day.’ 😉

      • No but it would be a lot truer! Which brings me to a serious question…. if you had known just how much work was involved in writing a passable book, would you have started in the first place?

        • A single book, yeah I’d probably have still dived in. Being six zillion books in and still nowhere… I think I’d run a mile, screaming. Maybe I still will!!

  • Squidge replied to the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    Laughing @jonathan! Comes out publisher-ready… in our dreams!!

    I understand what you mean about the ‘something bigger’s going on’ scenario. I had places where I could definitely see that happening and rewrote whole sections. And I also know what Jonathan means about being in a particular mood.

    I think my rule of thumb is going to have to be…[Read more]

  • Philippa East replied to the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    Such an interesting post, Squidge. In general, if I find myself changing something then changing it back again, it’s usually because that isn’t really the problem, and there’s something slightly different which I actually need to fix.

    For example, I might fiddle around with a sentence structure or a word choice and then realise the real problem…[Read more]

  • Oh my God, I’ve begun writing Book 2.
    I wrote a first 2,000 words today, and my plan is to write 2,000 words a day, five days a week for the next 2 months (=80,000 words). I am writing without editing or looking back. I have an outline which covers the first half of the book, but the second half is still pretty foggy in my head. I feel I’ll only…[Read more]

    • YAY for starting book 2! That’s fantastic. And oof to that target, but you can totally do it, go girl!!
      That is similar to me, when I start out. I have a pretty solid character arc for my main characters, a moderately clear plot for the first half, and although I do plot the rest, I always have to redo that once I get to that point as so much c…[Read more]

      • Thanks Raine! Good to know I’m not alone in my fogginess. Not sure I’m ready to share what it’s about yet. Better get more to grips with it myself first!

    • Well done Phillipa. Good policy to just dive in and I’m sure you’re right that the plot will get clearer. I write in the same foggy way, heading into the mist with just the odd tree top showing through. I’m about to hit mid point on my current WIP and really don’t know what happens next, so I understand that terror. Just don’t let yourself think…[Read more]

      • Thanks Kate! What is it about second halves, eh? I think maybe I’m still not clear yet about what core elements a second half needs to have (other than a climax), whereas I feel I quite naturally understand first halves now. Hum.

  • Squidge started the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    I’m editing Book 1 of Tilda’s story series at the mo for Bink (good news – looking like it’ll be published earlier than I thought, in Sept. Yay!)

    I was told that there weren’t many things to look at – all nit picky stuff. Woo-hoo!

    Thing is, I had worked my way through half of the MS on paper, because I needed to get more into Tilda’s head (if…[Read more]

  • I certainly blog less when I’m writing – or busy, generally. The Scribbles are sadly neglected at the moment…

    I try to keep some level of engagement with the Den going, but when writing it can be either extreme; popping in to read but not comment, so I appear absent, or lots of posts asking for opinions or having a rant or despairing about the…[Read more]

  • Just back from Mallorca with lots of new writing ideas. Well, one.
    I see we have a few more spammists – they’re getting smarter, using names and not anagrams!

  • Thanks Squidge and Woolleybeans – really interesting.

  • I think you have to activate reply threading, but I don’t know for sure.

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago

    Tilda Book 2 got formatted and sent off to the publisher yesterday… Not sure it was the best way to spend a Bank Holiday Monday, but hey ho.

  • I think it feels sometimes as though it’s trying too hard… The kinds of words used, particularly. I know there’s a place for fabulous language – certain Denizens often take my breath away when I read what they’ve written, for eg! – but sometimes it feels laboured. As if the author thought ‘I must describe this thing beautifully to get across how…[Read more]

  • “Some of the stuff I see posted is very…not pretentious, exactly, but it is fairly obvious that for some on the courses, they are still at the experimental and learning stage which means they are sticking to tried and tested formulae in order to ‘make their way’ in the world.”

    This is really interesting, @squidge. Can you describe more what you m…[Read more]

  • Guidelines suggest not posting on the thread with the entries, until after judging is complete, but you can make a general discussion comment tagging the appropriate person. I think I have that correct.

  • I think some ARE young, Sandra, but what I’ve seen of the Masters, it tends towards a fairly older crowd, often folks who’ve been doing other things in life first.

  • I think there is a different approach to writing if you do a degree/Masters in it. It’s almost as though, at the point of graduation, most folk have a perceived idea of what writing should be. Qualifying this because I know a creative writing lecturer, and am in a facebook group for one of the CW courses at a local uni. Some of the stuff I see…[Read more]

  • For anyone wishing to avoid me over on JT, I’m Wildman. (I’m not really wild at all, Wild is my mother’s maiden name).
    I’m having fun trying to spot Denizens over there, it’s quite tricky.

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago

    Anyone else been tagged by fellow ex-cloudies to say that the JW Townhouse is now free? Or does anyone in JW know anything about it? Not particularly tempted, but interested…I opted out of their mailings a while back.

    • I posted an update here a couple of days ago when JW issued an email. Some here have joined – some have not. The Forum looks far more useable than their last effort, but not many posts yet.

      • It could hardly have been worse! For me the Word Cloud was all about the people, the Cloudies, who made it what it was, and I don’t think Harry ever understood that. Let’s see what happens.

        • Yes, the Cloud was something very special, and I don’t know if that particular vibe can ever be recaptured. Though it has to be said that it had already soured before it vanished, due to the efforts of A Certain Person. My daughter has wide experience of forums devoted to her ruling passion, football, and when I told her about the souring of the…[Read more]

      • I’m giving it a tentative try but doubt the same vibes can be captured

  • Apologies…409 words. 😉

    By Tilda’s twenty-sixth attempt to produce an illuminorb, Silviu’s patience was wearing thin.

    “Concentrate, Tilda,” the Ambakian powermage snapped.

    “I am concentrating.” Tilda rubbed her palm against her trouser leg. It felt hot; surely she must’ve been close to pulling the Power down that time?

    “Aga…[Read more]

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