My Writing Progress

Tonight I started my writing staring at my monitor wondering how to piece a scene together. I'm still not sure I've got it right, but the best bit about writing is editing... editing makes writers look so clever. I've learnt that much. (Although I wouldn't say editing is easier! Far from it.)

Then, events that lead from that scene flowed beautifully.

Steve does something utterly stupid, because yes, his brain is back down in his pants - he might be a celebrity, but he's also male, and Ruby goes off the wall at him. And I thoroughly enjoyed writing that moment.

I am slightly worried that the story, albeit a romance, isn't very romancey at the moment. Ruby is really the heroine of the story, and she's Steve's sister. Lydia, Steve's intended love interest is the secondary heroine. I've not even written anything in her point of view - and not sure whether to, actually. I'd say 85-90% is Steve's (I'm going to need a male proof reader aren't I, to make sure he sounds bloke-ish enough). The other 10-15% I've done in Ruby's.

But this story is about Steve and Ruby too. And I've decided that Ruby will find a love interest of her own. And thanks to my present I received yesterday (that I've now blogged twice about, thanks to blogger losing original post) I've got a visual for Brett.

I suppose when you read a romance like Mills and Boon you expect the Hero and Heroine to meet practically on the first page, or at least in the first chapter. But I'm not writing this for Mills and Boon, so hopefully it will fit somewhere. I'm going to write my story, then worry about the publishing side of things. Let's just enjoy the writing, huh?

Don't panic, I think I know what I'm doing...  

As anticipated, this story has taken over. I'm supposed to be doing my second fiction assignment, too... but have failed miserably. Maybe I'll get some extra time at the weekend, if I get my 1000 words out of the way early and all that.

Oh, and I've put a counter on my blog which I update each day with my new word count, so you can see how well (or badly) I'm doing for May - You Write Your Novel challenge.

I've Started My Second Novel!

Badge courtesy of Dawn Amos

I've joined Sally Quilford's challenge May - You Write Your Novel. And it's not too late to join in. Basically, the challenge is to write 80,000 words in 80 days. 1000 words a day - easy!

I set off well last night, writing a whopping 2,400 words (approximately). And with my NaNoWriMo (2006) experience, I'm just carrying on - RUE -  resist the urge to edit. (RUE also stands for Resist the Urge to Explain, too).

I tend to have a read through bits of the chapter before, to get me back into full swing with the characters, and did fiddle and add a bit more today. But otherwise the editing (and some additing) is for after the first draft is finished.

I have got to do some research for this novel, silly things really. But I want to make him as real to an A-lister celebrity as possible. But for the challenge, I'm just punching away at the keys, and writing up notes when I think I will need to research something, unless I can do a quick check on the internet... (like looking at flight times from LA to London, and how long it is).

The working title is 'Perfect Isn't An Option.' So if you see me mentioning this title, you know it's my #MYWYN challenge. (That's the official Twitter hash tag!)

Would you like to meet the inspiration for this book?

Steve

Yes, it's Bradley Cooper. (This man will be a lot of 'hero' inspiration for me, I think!) Meet Steve. You can see writing this book is going to be really hard work. Not.

Steve's an A-lister celebrity, just hit the big time in Hollywood and he wants to find love. His sister convinces him to go 'normal' for a while. Ruby really is the heroine of this story - as it will be a little about the relationship of sister and brother. I realise I will have to work on his love interest (Lydia) playing a bigger part - I've decided she will need to be in the background from an early stage. If I can pull it off, I'm hoping this book will be a comedy romance.


Although I will be taking this challenge very seriously, I have to realise I have other writing stuff I need to do. I've written a list of competitions etc. I would like to enter, one being The Wedding Favour into the Yeovil Prize. So need to work on the synopsis and the first three chapters for that. And that's due end of May. I would also like to get another Writers Bureau assignment under my wing.

So busy girl, but going to try and get as much of this novel written per day, at least a thousand words where I can, bearing in mind I do have a two week holiday rapidly approaching.

Let's hope my moleskin notebook arrives from Writers' Forum, and I can do some writing in that on the beach!

*please note, all names are a work in progress, and may change. 

One thing I have noticed - I keep wanting to type Sophie instead of Ruby! I can't have two heroines called Sophie, I just can't!