Nicole R. Murphy's Blog

Today's writing habits come courtesy of Andrew McKiernan, who's recent publication in Aurealis Magazine is a really good one. If you're not getting Aurealis, you should – now available electronically and currently for free!

http://nicolermurphy.com/post/A-writere28099s-habitse28093Andrew-McKiernan.aspx

So as I said in Friday's post, I was going to finally stop procrastinating and start writing my new contemporary romance. Within two days, I had the grand total of 18, 623 words on the page.

I'll wait until you pick your jaw off the floor before I move on.

Yes, I write fast. Sometimes, like the past couple of days, I write ridiculously fast. Generally, this happens more at the beginning or the end of the novel, when things are flowing along nicely. This time, it mostly happened because I've spent the past couple of weeks with these scenes growing in my mind, so they were there ready to slap down onto the page.

I can't write at this pace all the time. I find that an aim of 3000 words a day, five days a week works well for me (which over the course of four weeks, or a month equals 60,000 words – or two months to draft a gadda book, one month for the short contemporaries). Some weeks, I can easily dash down 5000 words a day. At the writing retreats that my friends and I hold in January, I mash down 50 to 60,000 words in the two weeks because for weeks leading up to it, my brain has been getting me ready to go, go, go, go, go. Plus, it's just a bunch of writers, with no family commitments or responsibilities. Splitting the cooking and dishes means there's not even as much housework to be done. Writing is the name of the game.

I first realised I could write this fast back in early 2003. Funnily enough, this all equates back to the initial drafts of the Dream of Asarlai trilogy and my decisions to a) write a romance and b) teach myself how to edit.

I decided I was going to write 60,000 word novels, and I thought about my writing and decided that yep, I could do a 60,000 word novel in a month. And I did. Secret Ones was written in February, Power Unbound in March, Rogue Gadda in April.

It's worth noting that this was during the period when I owned a second-hand bookstore, and so I was able to sit at my desk, waiting for customers, and bang those words out. The shop was open six days a week, so I was writing six days a week.

Ever since then, I've written fast. It's the best thing for my brain – when the story's ready to come I've got to get it out or I'll lose it. My brain tends to run fast in many things – when I start something, I need to finish it. When I get up in the morning I can't take time to relax – need to eat, shower, and get to work in one rush. Waiting for other people is the thing I hate MOST about committee work. Being slow is a real challenge for me in everything.

So that's why I think NaNoWriMo is a good idea for people to try out. You won't know if this is the way your writing should be done unless you give it a try.

The flip side of all this is – what happens to those words? Two different people asked me yesterday how many of those words I keep. The answer is – depends how much of the plot I keep.

I can find sections of Secret Ones and show you the EXACT words that I wrote in February 2003. That part of the plot or setting stayed, so those words stayed. When I edit, it's for plot. Very little of the wordage itself gets re-done because of the style in which I write.

My voice is pretty pared back. Simple. Straight to the point. I don't shy away from the use of cliched sentences – if that's the best, fastest way to get the point across, I'll use it. Some of my language can be a bit repetitive because of that and so at the final editing stages I will go through and look at that. My beta readers are also relied upon to pin-point me to misuse of language (Donna Hanson is my great de-juster).

But if you look at any of my edits – even the copy-edits of the novels from HarperCollins – the massive slashes of red pen are generally related to plot or character problems. There's generally not much done at the word level. I've been told I'm very 'clean'.

That said, I do know when I'm drafting that there are times the words aren't coming out right. I don't stop to think about them – I just use the bad selection now and I'll go back and pick them up later. I'm feeling that quite a bit in the current WiP, so it's possible that this draft may lose more words than normally happens. The opening pages in particular aren't sitting well at the moment and may involve extensive revision.

But on the whole, not only do I write fast but most of the words I write are usable.

This feels right to me. However, I know it's not the case for other people. Some will focus on the words at the very beginning and so for an entire day's writing will only put out a few hundred very carefully considered and probably extremely beautiful words. Others will go back and re-do sentences again and again until it's right.

I couldn't work like that. I shouldn't work like that. Nor should those people work like me.

And that's the other part of NaNoWriMo – consider it an experiment. Some people use it to re-establish habits that have fallen away, which is a good idea. But if you're not the type of writer who CAN hammer out 50,000 words in a month – it doesn't mean you've failed. You're just not that type of writer. You and I can stand and look at each other in wonder – never quite understanding how the other person works, but enjoying the end result just the same.

If we have to talk about words that form a narrative structure on the page – the answer is none. No progress at all.

But if we're talking progress on the story – that's a different matter. It's been buzzing in my head. I've been making notes. Watching movies. Reading contemporary romances and plays. And today I take the plunge and we start with the wordage.

I've NEVER done this much pre-thought and planning of a novel. And all my contemporaries thus far have involved much more planning than the paranormals. I wonder if that's because I started writing the paranormals before I got a handle on plotting and so my default position is to just start writing and work the rest out later. Perhaps it's because I've been writing fantasy for so long and I'm just a newbie with contemporaries and so I feel the need to be sure of what I'm doing. Perhaps it's because I've been a contracted writer and want to be again, sooner rather than later, and so I feel more pressure to get things right from the beginning.

For this book, I have to say it's because I'm taking on some of the bard. It's a bit scary, to be trying to re-do a master like Shakespeare. But then if I don't start, I'll never know if I can do it.

Such is the strangeness of writing. Every book is a new adventure and so every start is a new step into something you've never done before. You know you can writing novels – but you've no idea that you can write THIS novel. Most jobs, once you've learned to do it, you've nailed it and just keep repeating over and over again. Not with writing.

Tomorrow, I've got some writerly folks coming over for a day of writing. I'm looking forward to it – it's lovely to have the rare moments where writing becomes a communal activity.

My plan is by next week to have a good 20,000 words of this novel written (not taking the weekend off) and hopefully by then to have a really clear idea of how it's going. That should be about a quarter of the way through.

Today, Angela talks about how she approaches her stories, and some of her concerns on moving onto longer works.

http://nicolermurphy.com/post/A-writere28099s-processese28093Angela-Slatter.aspx

This week, my guest at my main blog is Angela Slatter, talking about strong words like schedule and the work of the muse.

http://nicolermurphy.com/post/A-writere28099s-habitse28093Angela-Slatter.aspx

You can find the other interviews here:

http://nicolermurphy.com/page/Writers-habits-and-processes.aspx

Equals not much. Knowing I was going to Melbourne for a few days meant starting a new project wasn't worth it. So I kinda pottered, but in the process did some interesting things.

a) In the pursuit of improving and learning more about the craft, I did some exercises with the various narrative voices. I had some folks on Twitter help me establish a scenario, then I wrote it in first person (four different styles – basic, as spoken, as written and stream of consciousness); second person and third person (limited, omniscient and objective). I'm still processing my thoughts about the experience – one thing I will say is that I was surprised (although I shouldn't have been) how much what I read affected my ability to write in particularly voices. I'll do up a full report next week.

b) I wrote a new Gadda short story. For a while, I've been thinking I'd like to write Kenyon's story – there's a lot in his past that doesn't come up in the novels. Then, while I was thinking about the narrative voice experiment, the entire story came to me – as letters. So I've written my first epistolary story. It's a very rough draft, with lots of thinking to be done about it but if it works, I think it might be another story I self-publish.

When I return from Melbourne, my plan is to get stuck into my modernised Shakespearean contemporary romance. I hope to have the draft done by Christmas.

*This message brought to you by my belief that we should be honest about all the ups and downs of this crazy business*

So yesterday evening, I found myself have an internal hissy fit over publicity. How do I get people to buy my books, I silently screamed at myself. How? HOW?

I know the answer is – I can't. Not really. All I can do it write the best books I can, and then hope that they mean so much to people who read them that they'll talk about it, and word of mouth will build.

Note – this assumes that I will not take the Duncan Lay route of actually going to bookstores and selling my books to passers-by. It's really not something that I think I can do.

Of course, I'm not doing nothing. There's my blog, my Twitter and Facebook accounts, my newsletter. I do giveaways. I comment on other people's blogs. I'm involved with two group blogs that get my name out to a wider group of readers.

And I'm continuing to write, and submit, and try to make my work appear as something that people will want to read.

Tobias Buckell has a FABULOUS post on the difference between milestones and goals, and how we writers can focus on the milestones eg getting published when that's something we have NO CONTROL OVER.

I say that again, for my own sake if for nobody else's – YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHETHER YOU GET PUBLISHED. YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHETHER PEOPLE WILL BUY YOUR BOOK. YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHETHER PEOPLE HEAR YOUR MESSAGE OR NOT.

YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THESE THINGS.

So what do you have control over? As Tobias says – the words. The contracts. Your relationships with family and friends.

I realised long ago that my publicity work probably wasn't going to have any impact on sales, but being a minor control freak I needed to feel I was doing something.

Last night's freak out reminded me of that. I'm doing this not because I think it will actually achieve anything, but because it makes me feel good to know that at least I'm giving it a go.

Focus less on the end results that I cannot control, and more on making my actions here and now interesting and fun for me to do.

You can read Edwina's thoughts here: http://nicolermurphy.com/post/A-writere28099s-processese28093Edwina-Harvey.aspx

Catch up with previous responses here: http://nicolermurphy.com/page/Writers-habits-and-processes.aspx

My guest is Edwina Harvey. You can read about her habits here: http://nicolermurphy.com/post/A-writere28099s-habitse28093Edwina-Harvey.aspx

Missed the others – Gillian Polack and Alan Baxter? You can find the links to their posts here: http://nicolermurphy.com/page/Writers-habits-and-processes.aspx

October 30 marks 200 years since Jane Austen's wonderful words first saw print with the publication of her debut novel, Sense and Sensibility.

It was widely re-written before publication because it was originally written as a series of letters (apparently Jane re-wrote it because epistolary novels had fallen out of favour – see, commercial considerations were important even then!).

Four novels were published over her lifetime, two posthumously. Pride and Prejudice is my favourite, but I've read and enjoyed them all, and own several movies of the books.

In honour of Ms Austen, I've decided to re-write a section of Secret Ones as she might have written it. I doubt it will be any where near as good as she actually may have done, but let it stand as a sign of my love and admiration.

***

Mr Valeroso stopped under the sweeping bough of the apple tree. On the other side of the fence stood an orchard, silent and sweet. After the walk across the paddock it drew him and despite knowing he was undoubtely trespassing, he climbed over the fence and walked beneath the trees.

The orchard was well tended – the grass trimmed, the fruit rosy on the branches. The shade relieved the heat of the day and he was content.

"I say – what you you doing here?"

Valeroso watched a strange little man approach – cheeks florid, hands gesturing with furious intent. Dirt on his hands and face suggested he was the gardener.

"My apologies," Valeroso said. "I simply wished a moment of cool before returning to the town. I have not damaged anything."

"An American! I might have known." The man glared. "Your free ways may well be suitable in your land, but here in Ireland we respect a man's land."

"Again, my apologies. I will leave." Valeroso turned to leave but he was caught in the action by the sweet timbre of a woman's voice.

"Is anything the matter, Jefferson?"

A vision approached. Blonde curls bounced under a lacy blue bonnet that exactly matched the young lady's eyes. Her smile was bright and her cheeks rosy.

The man who had accosted Valeroso stepped in front of her, stopping her.

"You should not be here, Miss Margaret."

She looked not at Jefferson but at Valeroso as she answered. "I was walking and heard your argument. Is there something wrong?"

Valeroso bowed. "I mistakenly came to seek some shade before walking back to the village and disturbed this good man's work. I will leave at once."

"An American." She smiled. "You must be the new lecturer at the university!"

"I am."

"Are you attending the dance tonight? I am very much looking forward to it myself. Such a natural manner in which to introduce new society."

Valeroso had intended to miss it, but his mind was changed. "Yes."

"Then I look forward to us being formally introduced." She bobbed her head.

"You must leave now, Miss Margaret." Jefferson shooed her away. Margaret turned and Valeroso watched until she was gone from sight behind one of the trees.

Whistling, he doffed his hat to the gardener then climbed back over the fence to commence his journey home. Pleasant anticipation warmed his blood at the thought of seeing Miss Margaret again that night.

***

Thank you, Jane :)