Lost The Plot

by Kate Rigby

LOST THE PLOT is a satirical piece about the process and rules of creative writing in today's climate. The narrative sets out to examine some of those rules in relation to novels eg plot, length, characters, tense, climax, endings etc in an off-the-wall way. It unashamedly loses the plot and doesn't stick to the main road but explores sidetracks. It doesn't stick to the knitting pattern but deliberately exposes the seams it's tacked together. You as reader are invited to collude with this approach to see whether, and for how long, it can be sustained. This is one of the central challenges for LOST THE PLOT.
The first port of call on the journey is the Restart course for the long-term unemployed. The Restart course, concerned as it is with prescribed rules, is a ripe environment for the exploration of writing as a valuable occupation in a world where 'market forces' predominate. Several visits are made here before going on holiday to France.
The writer as mother, and her novels as her children - conceived, nurtured, born and named - is another of the analogies visited. As mother, she blames herself for the faults in her children and also has the painstaking task of supporting them through their numerous rejections. She has the job of honing them, knocking them into shape, yet preserving their essential character. This is where the writer passes from mother to cosmetic surgeon, giving facelifts, grafting pieces here and there, as rewriting and redrafting takes place.
Comparisons between the cutting edge of writing and conceptual art are also explored. In writing terms, what is the equivalent to a pile of bricks? Blocks of SSSS's? Is it important to write for the eye as well as the ear?
These are just some of the themes explored in LOST THE PLOT which travels through the highs and lows of creative writing (among other things) en route to its target number of words (or not)!

ebook

First published June 20, 2011

About the author

I've been writing for nearly forty years. Good gracious, that long? I realized my unhip credentials were mounting so decided to write about it. Little Guide to Unhip was first published in 2010 and is now updated and republished.

However I'm not totally unhip. My punk novel, Fall Of The Flamingo Circus was published by Allison & Busby (1990) and by Villard (American hardback 1990). It's now been re-kindled.

I received a Southern Arts bursary for my novel Where A Shadow Played (now Did You Whisper Back?)

Skrev Press published my novels Seaview Terrace (2003) Sucka! (2004) and Break Point (2006) and other shorter work has appeared in Skrev’s avant garde magazine Texts’ Bones including a version of my satirical novella Lost The Plot.

Thalidomide Kid was first published by Bewrite Books (2007)

The following books are available in paperback at the following place (or by following the Amazon links below):

Far Cry From The Turquoise Room:
https://www.createspace.com/3634041

Savage to Savvy:
https://www.createspace.com/4210694

Little Guide To Unhip:
https://www.createspace.com/4847276

Down The Tubes:
http://www.amazon.com/Down-Tubes-Kate...

She Looks Pale & Other Stories:
https://www.amazon.com/She-Looks-Pale...


E-books available:

Fruit Woman:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013...

The Dead Club:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V0Y73DC

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Fall Of The Flamingo Circus:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088E29H2

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...

Suckers n Scallies (Formerly 'Sucka'):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WTARYY

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Down The Tubes:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UC51NK

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Seaview Terrace:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SV2DBG

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Break Point:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TNGRBU

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Thalidomide Kid:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008N3I904

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Far Cry From The Turquoise Room:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZF80N0

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Little Guide to Unhip:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C121N2E

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86...

Savage To Savvy
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ASBQAE

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

She Looks Pale:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00821360A

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Did You Whisper Back?:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077E2M26

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Lost The Plot:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...

Tales By Kindlelight:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005J0HNSI

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...


Short stories of mine have been published and shortlisted including Hard Workers and Headboards in various collections and anthologies:

On Your Half Century:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SJIR2OW

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Sharing Sarah:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PNVD5I0
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Cutting Edge:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1AQGLQ

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Coats:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1A47SU

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Family Tradition:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RARWYS2

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Hard Workers:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JW4OZM

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I'm also a reader - quit

Reviews

[Asterick Jones]

A very good chronicle of what it's like to experience those mandatory courses that the Job Centre send you on and what sort of characters you will meet, some are very sycophantic to the world of work and are very conformist to what is expected of them, others come across like they have dragged a hippie out of the middle of the Woodstock festival and sat him down in a chair and forced him to look for employment.