Tag Archives: Writers Resources

F is for Forster

Posted on by

20130404-223329.jpg

Edward Morgan Forster was born in 1879 in London and at the age of 8 inherited a large sum of money (nearly £700,000 at todays rates) from an aunt. This enabled him to attend University and pursue his dream of being a writer.

The first of the 5 novels he completed (Where Angels Fear To Tread; The Longest Journey; A Room With A View; Howards End; A Passage to India; Maurice) was published when he was 26, but he was still working up until his death at the age of 91, leaving an unfinished manuscript (Arctic Summer). His biggest success was with the novel “A Passage To India” which stemmed from his love of the country, which he first visited after he left University. He returned again to India in the early 1920’s and in the 30’s and 40’s he was a well-known broadcaster on BBC Radio.

His novels and numerous short stories remain popular today and generally deal with class differences but also with elements of sexuality and symbolism.

My favourite E M Forster quotes:

“One always seems to overpraise a long book, because one has got through it.”

“Only a writer who has the sense of evil can make goodness readable.”

“I have only got down onto paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I’d like to be.”

“The king died then the queen died is a story. The king died, then the queen died of grief, is a plot.”

Forster was a “pantster” and liked his writing to happen, rather than approach it planned. “How do I know what I think unless I see what I say?”

I am again, ashamed to say that this is yet another author, who’s work I haven’t read (although I do have a copy of Maurice on my huge pile of books in the bedroom), but I have at least seen the film adaptation of A Room With A View lol. I found it interesting what Forster says about a large book. I personally just tend to avoid anything that has over 350 pages!

Are you a fan of huge tomes? Or do you avoid them like I do? 😉

Related articles

E is for Eco

Posted on by

20130403-143721.jpg

Umberto Eco was born in 1932 in Alessandria in Northern Italy. He is the first of the writers I’ve looked into who is actually still alive! Lol. Urged by his father to become a Lawyer, Umberto instead chose to go to University to study medieval philosophy and literature and subsequently became a University Professor. Now, he divides his time between studying semiotics, writing essays, philosophy, literary criticism and writing fiction.

He has written books for children, dozens of non fiction books and 6 novels. But his most famous work was his first fictional novel “In The Name Of The Rose” which was published when he was 48 years old. A historical murder mystery set in a monastery it encapsulates everything that Eco had studied and taught about in the previous years and has sold approximately 50 million copies.

The intricate plots of his fiction are full of references to literature and history. He sites Jorge Luis Borges and James Joyce as his influences. He currently lives in Italy, dividing his time between two homes. In one he has a library of 30,000 books and in the other, 20,000 (and I thought I was bad!!!!).

My Favourite Eco Quotes:

“The real hero is always the hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.”

“It is a myth of publishers that people want to read easy things.”

“Every time I write a novel I am convinced for at least 2 years that it is the last one, because a novel is like a child. It takes 2 years after its birth. You have to take care of it. It starts walking and then speaking.”

“I love the smell of book ink in the morning.”

“Thus I rediscovered what writers have always known (and have told us again and again): books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told.”

Check out Umberto Eco’s Rules Of Writing and this rather wonderful interview about his most recent novel.

Ive never read any of Eco’s work (although The Hubster has) and I don’t tend to read books that have an intricate plot structure. So does that mean I choose books that are easy to read? I probably do you know *blush*

What do you think? Do readers want to read easy things? Do you?

Related articles

D is for Dickens

Posted on by

20130331-221805.jpg

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth England and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the 19th Century. During his lifetime he wrote 16 novels (one remained unfinished) and numerous collections of short stories. He suffered from severe insomnia and is widely regarded as a genius, his novels remaining popular today.

Dickens first found success with “Sketches by Boz”, which were weekly pieces published when he was just 24 years old. From there he was approached by a publisher and the rest, as they say is history.

Often described as the greatest creator of characters since Shakespeare, they were often based on people he met as he walked the streets of London. The settings for his novels were also based on real places, and many still exist today (especially in Rochester where I live…lucky me!).

He wrote extensively about London, appalled at the conditions the lower classes were subjected to and campaigned for social reforms. He died of a stroke in 1870 (just up the road from me) at the age of 58.

My favourite Dickens Quotes:

“An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before t will explain itself.”

“Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fulfilled all the rules of art.”

“My advice is to never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.”

“The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.”

“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”

Here’s a great video from a fellow Wrimo who went to visit the churchyard that inspired Great Expectations….one day I will do something like this 🙂

Dickens used his fiction as a springboard to highlight social abuse and deprivation in Victorian society, bringing the subject to the attention of the reading public. It’s generally believed that many of the reforms that were made during that period are down to Dickens influence. This got me thinking about how, as authors, it is easy to sound off about what we think is right and wrong about our societies, in a work of fiction. Personally, its not something I’ve ever done, consciously….yet, but an interesting concept that i’d like to explore…. Have you ever based one of your stories on a social problem you’d like highlighted?

Related articles

C is for Capote

Posted on by

20130331-134045.jpg

Truman Capote was born in New Orleans in 1924 and is best known for his novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s and “nonfiction novel” In Cold Blood.

He taught himself how to read and write and having discovered his passion for writing when he was 11, spent the rest of his childhood honing his craft. He started by writing short stories, the first of which was published when he was 21.

A close friend of Harper Lee’s, both Capote and Lee have characters based on each other feature in their work and Lee worked along side Capote as he researched In Cold Blood.

Capote embraced being a celebrity and would seek out the company of authors, critics, business tycoons and Hollywood A listers. But, after years of drug and alcohol dependency, rehab clinics and break downs he died of liver cancer at the age of 59.

My Favourite Truman Capote Quotes:

“I write my first version in longhand (pencil). Then I do a complete revision, also in longhand.”

“Everything a writer writes is in some way autobiographical.”

“Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.”

“All literature is gossip.”

“Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade, just as a painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.”

I love this whole idea of literature being gossip. The stories we tell each other, going right back to the days round the campfire. I picture two women in their back yards, hanging their washing and discussing the recent events of the street where they live. I think we’ve kinda lost that nowadays, probably because, here in the UK, I think we’ve lost a sense of community. People are too busy now to stop and chat in the street don’t you think?

When was the last time you sat down to have a chat? (Or as we say here, a natter lol)

Related articles

B is for Bronte

Posted on by

20130331-132454.jpg

Emily Bronte was born in 1818 in Yorkshire, England and is best known for writing my favourite novel of all time, Wuthering Heights. Although published in 1847, it wasn’t until 1850 that her name appeared on it.

With her siblings Anne, Charlotte and Bramwell, she spent her childhood writing stories and creating fantasy worlds, inspired by Bramwell’s toy soldiers.

Wuthering Heights is a classic piece of English Literature, but when it was initially published it was controversial because of its subject matter (mental and physical cruelty) and hence received mixed reviews at the time.

Just like Austen, Emily died young, at the age of 30 and it was rumoured that she was working on a second novel. Unfortunately, no trace of it has ever been found.

My favourite Emily Bronte quotes:

“If I could, I would always work in silence and obscurity, and let my efforts be known by their results.”

“I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water and altered the colour of my mind.”

“A person who has not done one half of his days work by 10 o’clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.”

Because I’m a true romantic, I love Emily Bronte’s passion for her characters and her setting. The Yorkshire moors became a character itself under her touch. It wouldn’t surprise me if there had been a part of Emily that was in love with Heathcliff herself, I know I am 🙂 *sighs* How I would so love to write like that!


My Favourite film adaptation of Wuthering Heights with Timothy Dalton as Heathcliff (PHWOA!)

So do you think it helps to be a tiny bit in love with your hero?

Related articles

A is for Austen

Posted on by

It’s the start of the A-Z Challenge today. If you’re not quite sure what that is click the link above 🙂

20130331-131001.jpg

I thought id start off with a great writer who everyone knows…. Jane Austen

Born in 1775 in Hampshire England, she is the earliest of the writers I’ll be looking at over the course of April. With no real formal education, Austen started to write poems and short stories when she was 12 and published her first piece of work at the age of 19.

Its incredible to think that at the age of 36 she would have had no idea that by publishing Sense and Sensibility she was about to become one of the most well known and widely read writers of English Literature, ever!

Her observation on social behaviour features heavily in her work and has meant that she has become an important writer amongst critics and historians. Her novels are witty observations of the lives of the middle and upper classes of Georgian Britain.

Sadly, she died at the age of 42, but fortunately for the world with 6 timeless novels for us to enjoy.

My Favourite Jane Austen Quotes:

“An artist cannot be slovenly.”

“The person, whether it be a gentleman or a lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” OUCH!

“Life is a quick succession of busy nothings.”

“Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.”

“For my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.”

In my opinion, Jane Austen was, is, the mother of chick lit, so I find myself asking…why the hell have I never read any of her work? The problem is that I feel I know it so well already, from the numerous TV adaptations and films that already exist. There have even been books and films written about people reading Austen! 😉

So are you an Austen fan? Or do you wonder what all the fuss is about?

Related articles

Fun With The Liebster

Posted on by

This is a loooong post….but I did have to answer 22 questions! 😉

I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award, twice. There seems to be different versions of this floating about, so I’ll combine the two when it comes to nominating 🙂

Firstly, by Blackrooster for this version:

20130305-121405.jpg
And then by Mandy Webster at Write on The World for this version:

20130305-121547.jpg

Thank you soooo much, both of you! 🙂

So I’m sure most of you know the rules by now of these things, listing facts about yourself, but this one involves asking specific questions. I do like questions, and here I get to answer 22! Lol

Blackrooster asked me:
1. Your favorite book is… I have a couple. The first would be Wuthering Heights and my second would be Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

2. What bugs you the most about the times we live in? Hmmm, that’s a hard one! Probably that people don’t care about each other anymore. Everyone seems to be thinking of number one, what’s in it for me 😦

3. What do you love the most about the times we live in? The Internet! Although The Hubster will be shaking his head lol. Look at the people who are now part of my life who would never have been so 20 years ago. It’s brought people together!

4. Do you have a nickname, if yes, what it is? No, I’ve never really had one to be honest. Boring I know.

5. Do you have a pen name, if yes, what it is? Ahhhhh, well, I have this dream, that me and The Hubster will write a book together and then we’ll be Vikki Roberts *sniggers*

6. When did you start writing? Fiction, in 2010, when I joined a creative writing class in the September. But I’ve been journal writing for years.

7. Is the computer your friend? My iPad and my Mac are my friends 😉

8. What’s your most pronounced personality trait? Oh gawd, naivety? Trying to see the good in people when sometimes there really isn’t any. I’m too trusting and end up getting hurt.

9. When do you think robots will be “smart” enough to do our dirty work for us? Ha ha ha, I hope not, not ever!

10. Who’s the funniest person you know? Probably my daughter, her wit is so quick and sharp…I don’t know where she gets it from lol.

11. Horror or comedy? Comedy, definitely!

Mandy asked me:
1. What made you start blogging? I think I started blogging in 2004 on LiveJournal. I used it like a diary, all personal stuff, but then I stopped in 2008 and haven’t been back to it. There’s lots of stuff on there that isn’t for public consumption lol (it was friends only). One day i’ll go back and read it all then delete it. I started again in 2011 when I did an online writing course. It was their suggestion.

2. You have one month, unlimited funds, and zero repercussions; what do you do? Oh wow, now that’s hard! Lol. I would probably spend it on eating at the finest restaurants! I love food, especially gourmet stuff and of course, there would be no weight gain 😉

3. What is your Spirit Animal? (Hint: does not have to be a REAL animal). Not sure, but I’ve always been drawn to foxes. When I was a child and came face to face with my first one I was scared but fascinated. Then, about 2007 I killed two. It was awful 😦 I had a huge 4 wheel drive at the time and they ran out in the road. I was on my own. A woman stopped to help me, or rather comfort me as I was hyperventilating and then 2 young guys stopped and moved them out of the road. It was awful 😦 I guess I’ve been trying to make up for that ever since, I feed them when I can.

4. Remember that one thing you did that you hoped nobody would ever find out about? Go ahead and tell that story now? I’m pretty much an open book and believe that when making decisions, don’t do anything you’d be ashamed of later. I try to live by that. It’s really not worth the guilt is it? Ok, nearly beating (note I said nearly) my son over the head with a remote control because he’d got me so angry (he was about 12 at the time). But, like I said, I knew it was wrong, I knew I’d hate myself (not to mention how it would affect him), I knew how I’d feel so I stopped, and apologised. I just snapped. It had never happened before and never happened again.

5. If you could have dinner with any 3 people, living or dead, who would you choose?
I watched Midnight in Paris for the first time recently. Oh wow!!! So it would have to be Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein!

6. When was the last time you tried something new, and what did you do? Last week I started Fasting. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be lol

7. What is your favorite film of all time? My Fair Lady

8. Favorite book(s) of all time? See above 🙂

9. If you could go 10 years into the past and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
Oooooo, that’s a good one. To not take things for granted, your life can change dramatically in just one day! Oh, and warn myself about things that were gunna happen.

10. I’m thinking of taking a vacation; where should I go? Anywhere in Italy!

11. Best reason you called in sick to work, when you weren’t actually sick at all? I’ve pulled sickies, occasionally, but not for any really good reason. Usually to go to job interviews for another job lol

So my nominations are (and please choose whichever logo you want):

Janet at Postcard Fiction
Catherine Johnson
Pauline Conolly
Rebecca Bradley
Cara Thereon
Sara Flower
Mel at Feather Pens Tartan Dreams
Pam at RoughWighting
Lori at Poetry Patio
Peter Germany
Marina at findingtimetowrite

And here are my 11 questions for you lovely bloggers:

1. If you could choose a new name for yourself, what would it be?
2. What is your favourite form of exercise?
3. What is your favourite smell?
4. What is your guilty pleasure?
5. What do you wish you were better at?
6. If you had a choice (but only one), would you rather have a cleaner, a personal shopper or a personal trainer?
7. What 3 things would you take to a desert island?
8. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
9. If money was no object what would be the first thing you’d buy?
10. What was the last meal you ate?
11. Milk or plain chocolate?

Can’t wait to read your answers, I’m nosey like that 😉

Related articles

Faber Session 28 – Notes and Thoughts

Posted on by

Apologies if you’ve received this post twice! In my excitement I mucked up the scheduling…. This one is the live link 🙂

I had a lovely day yesterday…..I went to a new cafe I’d never been to before and had a Cream Egg Brownie!

20130325-231410.jpg
Wandered through Covent Garden and then accidentally stumbled across the HUGEST Paperchase I’d ever seen! Three whole floors of goodies!!!!

20130325-231535.jpg
Well, as you can imagine, I was so overwhelmed that I came out with nothing, but, if The Hubsters reading this, I’d like a Paperchase voucher for my birthday please! Lol 😉

So last nights Faber class was the last one *all say awwwwww* Seriously, I’m quite sad 😦 But I can’t make up my mind if I’m a really good advert for their courses or a really bad one. I started the course with 65,000 words, by the middle of the course I had 24,000 and now I have 500! LMAO! Yeah, ok, this 500 are probably far better than the previous 89,000! My novel has gone from But Not Forgotten to The Last Word Cafe to Still and my structure has changed from 3rd person, to 1st person to both! 😉

Part of Saturdays session and most of last nights was about synopsis and pitch. We were given some examples of bad intro letters, bad synopsise and good ones. There aren’t really many tips I can pass on to you to be honest. I know, you’re disappointed right? The reason being is that our synopsises (spelling ??) are tailored to our Faber submission which will be going into the Anthology, which is then given to the agents. Last night we had to read them out and the feedback on mine was that it was too “facty” (is there such a word? Lol). I didn’t give enough information on how the past will affect the present and how my characters actually feel. Yeah, I can get that, but gawd only knows how I’m going to do it! 😉

So we ended up at the pub for a quick drink 🙂

I’ve got one more session at the Faber offices, a guest tutor and then we’re all meeting up (the students) a couple of times before we have to do our pitches in June.

So I guess I’ve got lots of work to do…..have to submit everything by the 19th April! *gulp*

I can highly recommend the course and Tim Lott has been a great tutor. But, it’s the guys on the course that have made it all worth while. Their advice, suggestions and support has been invaluable. I shall miss them so much.

So when I finally have my book published (notice I said when, not if) Anna, David, Gareth, Hannah, Janet, Jason, Linda, Marci, Michelle, Ros, Sam and of course, Tim, will all be in the acknowledgements 🙂

I hope you’ve enjoyed my little piece of Faber each week? I’ve enjoyed sharing 🙂
It’s been a ride, and I soooo, need a holiday! Lol….but first, there’s work to be done 🙂

Must Do’s 25th to 31st March

Posted on by

Sorry for the lateness of this post….I’m having Internet problems *mutter grumble* which should be sorted tomorrow….yeah, we’ll see!

Well, last week was a bit up and down. A mixture of highly productive and complete procrastination. On the plus side I now know all about the first ever legal brothel in America and what the expression “Bugger Bognor” means lol….don’t ask!

Highlight of the week was a luncheon on Friday with some RNA ladies 🙂

So last weeks list looked like this:

1. Continue to work on Still. I’ve been using prompts fairly successfully recently. To get me back into writing as I was really struggling. What I’ve been doing is using the prompts to prompt (lol) scenes for the novel, some of which will never actually appear in it. But I’ve found it good practice and its got me back in the mood. So no official word count as such, but I’ve probably written 5000 words that are fragmented scenes. I’m pleased with that 🙂

2. Finish 250 word Synopsis for Faber. Done, but it still needs work (thank you Jane!).

3. Do some work on the A-Z Challenge – Research. Nope, I must confess, I didn’t. No, actually that’s not true, I did have a look at some web sites, and bought a book, but that was as far as I got.

4. Catch up with blogs I haven’t read yet. I did, but I’m behind again 😦

Before I forget, thank you so much to everyone who’s commented on my character sketches. It’s been really helpful to hear other people’s opinions about Laura, Ruby, Ronnie & Daniel. I’m going to print them all off and stick in my “Still Bible” 🙂

So this week is looking like this:

20130324-113738.jpg

I’m going to work on a timetable, but rather than dividing my day up, I’m going to have specific days for specific things, and see if that works lol. I’m finding that reading is taking a huge back seat and I don’t want it to 😦 So perhaps if I can allocate different days for different things….that might work eh? Lol….wish me luck!

So what are your writing plans for the week?

Faber Session 27 – A Sense Of Time and Place

Posted on by

Firstly, HUGE apologies that I’m so behind with e mails and blog comments. I was out all day Friday, then my Internet went down Friday night, and I’ve been out all day today. We’ve luckily got 2 Internet connections in the house so I’m using the boys one at the moment….Engineer coming tomorrow, but in the meantime it’s a bit up and down so please bare with me 🙂

I’m not even gunna begin to tell you how cold it was in London today. When I arrived at 9.10 it was snowing, and it continued to snow until about 4pm. I’m just relieved it didn’t settle, especially as The Hubster was meeting me in Covent Garden after class for dinner.

So today’s class was about “time” and “place” but we also did some work on pitching & synopsis, but I’ll save that for another day 🙂 a really interesting session, especially with all the time frame/structure problems I’ve had with Still.

Some of my notes:

If you can, walk around the place your novel is set. Look for things you normally don’t notice, the tiny details, for example, what’s in the gutters.

Establish how important the setting is in your novel. Is it a minor character, or a major one? The bigger the part it plays, the more detail you need to add.

Don’t forget to remind the reader every so often where they are.

Use all the senses to describe a place. Even if its just a room, that room will have a smell.

Don’t use descriptive comparisons that the reader won’t understand, ie, not everyone knows what a Peony smells like, but will be able to relate to a Rose.

Compare the landscape to emotion but don’t forget if a character is describing a place, the way they feel, and the way they feel about the place will influence the words you use.

When setting your story in the past think about how society was. What they believed in, their morals. For example, someone in the 70’s wouldn’t care about the environment.

WHY is your novel set in the era it is? Do you have a good enough reason?

Be careful when using different time zones that it doesn’t end up too fragmented.

Cloud Atlas and The Hours are good examples of different time frames used successfully.

Read books, newspapers & magazines that were published the year your novel is set in.

Don’t forget that people don’t think in the present, our internal thoughts jump about between past, present and future. Use that when writing from a characters POV.

When writing a chronological story you don’t need to include every day. Jump days, months or weeks if need be.

This gave me a lot to think about….but I’d be especially interested if you guys know of any other examples of novels that use different time frames successfully?

Only a couple more classes left….I’m really gunna miss it 😦

Here’s the view from my class room window today of the British Museum….

20130323-223822.jpg
Oh, and of course, I bought a couple of books in my lunch hour 😉

20130323-223931.jpg