Natalie Gordon's Blog

"Never come back to a blank page in the morning."

Stop when you know where you are going. Plan the next day's writing. Stop in mid-flow. Just never finish a section and leave tomorrow for tomorrow's version of you. The procrastinator in you will have a field day.

Just saying.

"Plot grows out of character...if you sit and write about people you are getting to know better day by day, something is bound to happen. Characters should not serve as pawns for some plot you've dreamed up."

This is currently my favourite quote, on a post-it stuck above my desk. I thought it was one worth sharing.

Getting a little stuck with my current wip, I recently wrote five chapters, all from the PoV of a different potential character with the idea that I would audition them for a role in my book. I've now trimmed my protagonist cast list down to two and shifted the theme of the story, based on the direction given by these two characters. Thanks, Anne Lamott!

The blog tour for Mr. Nobody took place in August and I've been overwhelmed by the positive reviews. So many lovely comments in such a short space of time! Many of the reviewers also related to it from their own perspective of dealing either with Alzheimer's in the family or needing to discuss other difficult issues with their children. I hope, on the strength of these reviews, it can reach more families and encourage kids and their parents to discuss their feelings. Thanks to everyone who took part!

Check out Amazon to read the reviews and buy your copy

Brilliant news that Mr. Nobody joins King Worm Jack in the Indie Books We Love listings curated by LoveReading4Kids

A well-written and heart-wrenching tale of family upheaval and coping with Alzheimer’s.

"An intriguing story about a typical family's life - mum, dad, a teenage girl and a girl aged 9 - which is completely disrupted when their Gran moves in. A sympathetic story about dealing with Alzheimer's.

The introduction of Gran's imaginary friend, Mr Nobody, adds humour and relief from the worrying elements of Alzheimer's and potential disaster.

Told by Katie, the story is a brilliant way of introducing Alzheimer's to young children, especially those who have family who are living with this debilitating disease.

There are a lot of tough subjects and emotions handled within this book, with lighter moments when Katie spends time with Margaret and Hugo. The writing is very emotive, and I really felt for Katie, as she has to move rooms and feels lost with the events around her."

I’ve been wrestling with myself. I’ve written 12,000 words of a new work in progress. It’s shaping out to be a literary historical romance. That’s not a genre I’ve written in before, but I’m following my passion and I know it’s what I want to be writing.

The trouble is, I think I need to pause this emerging novel and return to a previous genre: suspense thrillers. Let’s call the new novel, Betty for now, after my central character. It took me a while to get going on Betty, for multiple reasons, but one of them being a niggle that I should keep writing in one genre. After all, if I’m successful in publishing Scratch, then my readers are going to want more. I put that thought to bed, instead following the philosophy of write what you’re passionate about.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I attended the Self Publishing Show Live, organised by Mark Dawson. I learned all about the importance of a consistent author brand. It’s important down to the technical details of not confusing Amazon by placing author ads for different genres. Different genres need different author brands. That got me thinking that really I need to focus, because I now have 3 potential brands: children’s fiction, literary fiction, suspense thrillers.

Secondly, an indie publisher wrote to tell me they’d like to publish Scratch. I am beyond excited with this news! But if I’m going to make the most of it, I need another thriller in the works. So, I’ve decided: pause Betty and start thinking up the next thriller. I’ve set myself the challenge of having a first draft by Christmas. I shall definitely return to Betty, but for now, a new thriller is calling.

And that's just the writing. I haven't got started on building my thriller author brand yet.

Wish me luck…

Delighted to receive my first review and the official stamp of approval from LoveReading4kids

An intriguing, amusing and imaginative story about two brothers - the younger one feels 'useless' when he compares himself to his older brother. What follows is a fantastical and uplifting tale set in two worlds - the real world and Jack's escapism worm world.

Themes of friendship, kindness, loyalty, persistence, success, love and sorrow are what makes this book a must-read.

A feel good read, perfect for young readers who also get to illustrate parts of the story left blank by the author.

I read an essay on writing this weekend by Hilary Mantel (in The Agony and the Ego) and it made me reflect on the novel I’m currently writing. Her key message was that you shouldn’t force a plot, but you should develop your characters, and out of your characters, the plot forms. I’d remembered also reading a while ago some advice from Patricia Highsmith that you should only start writing when you can’t stop yourself, when the characters are clamouring to be put onto paper. I’m heavily paraphrasing – it’s a while since I read her book, Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction

So, I thought about the pain of getting to my first 5,000 words and wondered, ‘has it been painful because I’ve been forcing it?’ I came to the conclusion that I haven’t been forcing the plot or the characters, but I have had to force myself to sit down and commit some words to paper. Sometimes, despite the joy that writing brings, it can be hard to get beyond all the self-doubting ‘what if’ questions.

The novel idea has been stewing in my head for over a year, while I’ve been busy doing other things. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been jotting down ideas, playing with fragments of writing, trying to seize the ideas in my head and shape them into something more tangible. All the while, my possible characters have been growing personalities. At some point, I’ve just had to write the words, ‘Chapter One’ and plunge in, in order to get that elusive first chapter on the page. I know from experience, that once I’ve done that the rest will follow – even if it changes later down the line. That doesn’t matter: it’s the jumping off point which I need.

Two things have helped with that, which I wanted to share. Journalling and a deadline.

Fans of “the morning pages” (see The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron) will be familiar with journaling, the idea of free writing and just letting what’s in your head into your journal. The rules I use are: set a timer for five or 10 minutes, pick up your pen and just write without stopping, not crafting perfect sentences or editing or stopping to think along the way, just writing. You can use it in the morning to dump what’s whirling around inside your head onto a page. You can take a random line from a novel or poem and then continue to write, using it as a creative writing prompt to warm you up. You can give yourself a starting line, such as ‘the book I am writing is…’ and explore what your subconscious thinks it is. You can motivate yourself by starting with ‘I write because…’. If you’re stuck, you can use it to write your way out of a problem, for instance starting with a line like, ‘my character behaves like this because…” and see where it takes you. I’ve done all of these things, but this last week, for five mornings in a row, I’ve started with, “my book is about” and it’s helped me to get to chapter one.

Secondly, I set myself a real and ambitious deadline. I had taken a week off work, which coincided with the deadline for entry into the Bridport Prize. I had two days to write 5,000 words if I wanted to enter. The novel didn’t need to be a completed work. Could I do it? There was an outside chance. So, I decided to give it a go. It was in my head, I had a vague outline for the first three scenes and I went for it. Amazingly, I hit the deadline and I entered my first (and only) 5,000 words alongside a 300 word synopsis.

I harbour no expectations of making the long list with a first draft written in 48 hours, but I now have a jumping off point and a 300 word guide for the rest of the book. Foundations and direction. Not bad for two days work. Oh, and at least a year of stewing.

The local book tour continued at the Easter weekend as I dropped off signed copies of King Worm Jack at Westwood Books in Sedbergh. Run by Paul and Heather Thomas, it boasts the reputation of being the largest bookstore in the Yorkshire Dales. With 70,000 books over 2 floors, including antiquarian, used and new, you'll struggle to leave there without a book or two in your hand. Well, I did anyway!

It might seem counterintuitive when you’re just trying to figure out what your book is, but if you’re struggling to get going, skip to the end. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the end is. In fact, that’s the point. Knowing your destination makes it much easier to get there.

I’ve just done it for my current wip. There are so many forms my story could take, and I’m struggling to pin it down, so I sketched out three possible end scenes, just a sentence for each. I then picked one of them and spent a few minutes to think about the context and the overall feeling I wanted to evoke. Next, I set my timer for thirty minutes – a trick I’ve recently learned when I know I’m fighting an urge to go off and procrastinate – and then I started writing.

Half an hour later, I had something. It may well bear no resemblance to my eventual final scene, but it did throw up some interesting questions on the theme of the book. I’ve got more questions than I had when I started, and I have a possible new angle for one of my characters.

The point of writing the end before you’ve even begun, is that it gives you a goal to aim for. And when you know where you’re going, it’s easier to start. It doesn’t mean you’ll arrive at the destination you’ve just sketched out, but it makes it more likely that you’ll arrive at A destination.

You can’t reach the end if you don’t start, and sometimes you can’t start until you can see the end. So, if you’re not sure where to start, don’t. Go to the end instead.

Delighted to deliver the first copies of King Worm Jack to The Book Lounge in Kirkby Lonsdale. The shop is a treasure trove of old and new books across multiple genres. I'm proud to be represented on Valerie's shelves!