Telling Stories

When it comes to telling stories, what comes first for you, plot or character? I have found over the years that for me, the two things go together. I never know who a character is or what they can do until I have written something that involves them. For example, I'm working on a Victorian novel that I hope to have a complete first draft by the end of this month, April. I first got the two main characters some time ago in a writing group exercise. The characters emerged as part of a short piece of fiction written within the group and I knew that these characters were keepers.

Character and Plot

For me, the art of telling stories begins with both plot and character, i.e., I have a situation and some people enter it, how they act and react withing that scene or story tells me whether the character or characters have mileage for something longer. Character emerges, at least when I start writing, when I can see how they act or react in whatever scenario I put them in. The characters just seemed to emerge as a possible couple and that scenario is published in my book of short stories on Amazon under my pen name Susan Clayson - from this I started writing other scenarios that started my historical novel.

The Empire Detective Agency

The two main characters in my historical novel Ellie and the Cracksman, are, the series title. The first novel starts with their meeting after the death of Ellie's father, and towards the end of the book, they set up a private enquiry agency called The Empire Detective Agency, somewhat like Pinkertons. The couple work their own cases but they also work on projects that the government see as sensitive, and which they don't want the public to know they are involved with.  I hope to have this finished and up on Kindle and Createspace by the end of July.

Writing the Historical Novel

I've been working on the character for a novel set in the late nineteenth century and now the novel is beginning to take shape. I've got 30,000 words so far and hope to get the rest done during April's NaNoWrimo. I suppose that the difference between writing a contemporary novel, two of which I have completed and they are up on Amazon, is that more research is required into life in that period.

Two Protagonists

While Ellie is the main protagonist, at least for a major part of this first book, there is a second major character, the Cracksman - which is why the series is titled Ellie and the Cracksman. While I aim to give the characters equal weight in the series, in the first novel, much of it is about Ellie. Eventually, she and the Cracksman work together and form the Empire Detective Agency - a British counterpart to Pinkertons I suppose.

Irons in the Fire

I am not an organised writer, which is probably why I have several projects on the go at once. While this way of working doesn't suit everyone, there are other writers I know who work on more than one book at a time.  I think that I have the kind of mind that has to have more than one thing rattling around, but I know that this wouldn't suit everyone. I really am hoping to have a full draft of the Ellie novel by the end of April, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this. In the meantime, happy writing.

Writing a Novel: The Novel Notebook and Your Writing Process

One of the most important aspects of any kind of writing, but especially novel writing, is keeping a novel notebook. I've self-published two novels on Amazon, and currently working on another two, one set in the late nineteenth century, and the second set around 1920. I've found that the best way of handling more than one project (besides any freelancing you might do) is to keep a separate notebook for each project. While most writers will be familiar with the writer's notebook, they may not keep a separate notebook for each project as it helps to keep my mind focussed on whichever project I'm working on at the time.

Here is a short extract from the nineteenth-century notebook called Ellie and the Cracksman. "While the two major characters are now quite clear to me, and their main motivations are also clear; other characters are still a bit hazy. It's one thing starting out with a plan, quite another sticking to it, especially when characters want to go their own way. One thing I've realised from this is that the characters need to develop in their own way, which isn't always the same as the picture I have in my head." (Ellie and the Cracksman notebook).

I chose this particular extract because a novel notebook is not just about the book itself, but the writer's own problems with writing a particular book and how they might handle it better. The novel notebook I've found is as much an exploration of how the writer feels about what they are writing, as it is about the book itself. By and large, keeping these notebooks is aabout understanding your own writing process as well as about the work itself.