Four people in a café

Due to many birthday activities, I have been very remiss and as you will have realised, I didn't get to blog last week. I was out partying. Oops! But it was fun. Lots of champagne and good food. Catching up with great friends and really taking time to chill out. A real me weekend.

I have recently passed out a few of samples of my current WIP. This has received mixed reviews. Some love the extra detail, others preferred it as it was before the reworking. I know which I prefer, but wonder if it would be worth trying again to get a better balance.

On the upside one of my 9+ novels is shaping up nicely after its jigsaw puzzle re-edit. I just need to get all the edits typed up, reread and sent out.

So this week’s writing challenge is to see how the dynamic changes in a room. For this you need to select four friends and bring them into a café one by one until they are all in the same room at the same table. One of your characters has to pass on a message about another friend, who is having an affair, but before they can pass on all the juicy details another person joins them. How do they get the message across? And when they do how does that change the atmosphere? How you get them there is up to you. Will they all know each other or will the first two know each other and notice another friend who they introduce into the group. What happens to the energy these characters create? Do they all get on? What happens when one goes to order/to the loo or nips out to the car? Will they all leave together or will one leave before the rest? What happens to the conversation? How do the new characters bounce off each other? Don’t forget to use all the bells and smells for this piece.

So go on, get writing.  

The Dark Side.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, I've been so busy editing, cutting and re-editing that the weekend has just disappeared and suddenly it is Monday evening! How does that happen? On the upside. I think the new opening of the thriller has improved, but I'm still unsure if it is right. I can only hope that when I send it out it will be favourably received.

I have also been working on a children's book which has been a WIP for a good few years. It has changed from a 500 word competition winner to a 20,000 completed 9+ novel. I have over the years taken it thrown it up in the air, many time,s and put all the pieces back in many different orders. I've added and removed scenes and written and rewritten my characters, until they all, at some point, drive the story along. I've loved the process and once again, will send it out and see what the response will be.

For this weeks writing challenge. We are looking on the dark side.

1. He had brought her out here for one reason only.
2. She could see beads of blood appearing where the binding was cutting into her wrists.
3. Nolan's VX-Car hovered above the ground as he looked down at the crumpled body oozing blood.
4. He bent low to avoid the club that flew towards his head, but his low wasn't low enough.

Pick one or have a go at them all and see where they take you.

So go on, get writing.

The person within the character.

I'm feeling so much better this weekend, it is about time, and I've been making the most of it. Apart from the normal household chores which always have to be done, I've been out in the sun making the most of the natural warmth. I've put the garden tables out, all three, I've scrubbed them down and cleaned the chairs. I've brushed over the back yard with a good stiff broom. I've pulled down sections of broken fence panels and prepared an area for future potting up. I'm keen to get the gardens looking good again, it’s been a couple of years since I've really managed to get out there and look after it. This year I want the garden to look neat and pretty this summer. It used to look like this, it doesn't any more.

I'm also going to make changes to my much neglected front garden. Today I've marked out the sections I'm going to dig out and where I'm putting the weeping mulberry tree and the delicate white blossomed cherry tree.

Tomorrow will be a day for friends and writing.

It was a comment from a friend today that gave me the idea for this week’s writing challenge. We are going to look into the qualities of those around us, but not the visible ones, the qualities that they themselves don’t realise are there.

Character development is a very important section of any piece of writing, get it wrong and you work will not be character driven and it is the characters that the reader, loves, hates or admires, whichever way you portray your characters make sure the reader feels the way you want them to. For this challenge you are going to show us three characters from the outside and at the same time let us see the sections that they don’t know they have. Are they kind beneath the hard exterior, are they stronger than they realise, when others might think them weak or lacking.

As the second section of this task, using one or more of the characters write a piece that shows how they are made aware of the their inner self. Will they like it, be surprised by it or horrified?

So go on, get writing.