Goodbye, 2009!

Hello, everyone! I am back from my Christmas break a bit fatter but a lot more relaxed. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.

It has been a typical Christchurch day - warm and fine in the morning, cold and windy in the afternoon. I'm actually quite pleased to get some cooler weather, though, as it means I can wear this velvet jacket that I thrifted last week! That thing on the floor behind me is one of Mink's Christmas pressies - a catnip mouse. He had more presents than we did (as usual), and they are strewn all over the house in varying stages of disintegration. Sorry about the bad photo quality - my camera is dying of old age, I'm afraid. Poor thing.

I can't believe that it's almost 2010. I have no idea what the new year holds - exciting plans are afoot for us but are not yet confirmed and solidified, which means that the whole year is going to be fairly unpredictable. It has been a big year, though - an amazing year - and I wanted to look back on some of the major events in my 2009.

1) Had a major breakthrough regarding The Cry of the Go-away Bird, and completely rewrote it. So glad I did! As well as improving the book, it taught me an awful lot about plot, structure and story.
2) Successfully completed a film for the 48-hour film festival with LOML and friends.
3) After many rejections, signed with a wonderful agent!
4) Got a new haircut! And then another one.
5) Was mugged. I still find that weird.
6) Signed a publication contract with Harvill Secker, an imprint of Random House UK!
7) Went on a six-week trip to Europe with LOML, stopping in the States on the way back. I met my agent and editor in person for the first time - very exciting! - and we visited both our families, which was lovely. I also visited Germany for the first time.
8) Made my best thrift find ever, and wore it!
9) Completed my Masters with High Distinction.
10) Finished the first draft of my second novel (still a long way to go, though).
11) LOML and I welcomed our nephew, Thomas, into the world!

I don't make traditional resolutions: instead, I like to choose a word that describes how I would like my year to be. For 2010, that word is 'mindful' - I want to be more present and aware in my everyday life, and appreciate every moment - particularly as it will be a year of big change for us. What word would you use to describe your hopes for 2010?

Another Christmas Party!

I've been dying to wear this 1950s cocktail dress (thrifted for $10!) for ages. It still needs taking in at the bust, but I couldn't resist wearing it tonight - it is a very Christmassy colour, after all. Excuses, excuses.



Again, sorry for the brief and patchy posting this week - I'm continuing to blame it on Christmas. I hope you're all having weeks that are as happily busy and full of social events as mine is - after all, it's only Christmas once a year.*

*Except in New Zealand, where a lot of people celebrate it in mid-winter as well as in December. But apart from that.

Queenstown!

Wow, less than a week till Christmas! I am suffering from December-itis, also known as 'being really busy,' and I think a lot of other bloggers are suffering from it too. I apologise in advance for what is sure to be patchy posting and commenting over the next couple of weeks as the festive season kicks in, but hope that you are all enjoying the holidays. Now that I've finished all our Christmas shopping, I'm starting to get excited about the parties and events coming up.

Last weekend LOML and I went to Queenstown - the adventure capital of New Zealand, and the birthplace of bungee jumping. I am never going to bungee jump. It just isn't going to happen. LOML has done it, and has tried to convince me, but it just doesn't appeal at all. We did go jet-boating, however, down the rapids of the Shotover River, which was fantastic! We both got completely soaked. Lots of gorgeous meals out on the waterfront, lots of stunning Lord-of-the-Rings scenery, lots of rain (I have learned, though, after my seven years in New Zealand - I always take warm clothing on summer holidays), a ride on the beautiful steam-ship T.S.S. Earnslaw, a day in Wanaka exploring Puzzling World (a place where optical illusions are the key, as you'll see in a couple of the pictures below) and a lot of lovely Otago wine. I can't believe it was only a week ago - it already seems like we've been home for a month. December-itis again, I think!

Christmas party!

LOML's work held a formal Christmas party on Saturday night. I had honestly been looking forward to it for months - how often do you get to wear evening gloves and travel in a limousine, after all?

I'm wearing that vintage dress I thrifted from an Oxfam store in Northern Ireland. It's actually the first time I've worn it - I wanted to save its debut for a special occasion!

Doesn't LOML look dapper?

We rented a limo to take us to the hotel - complete with red carpet! There were six of us altogether. The photographs are not going to be of super-duper good quality, I'm afraid, particularly as the evening wears on, but they will give you a flavour. LOML and I got to show off our ballroom dance skills (or should that be skillz?) but, unfortunately, only the confused moments were captured on film. Usually the ones where I was saying, "Wait, what are the steps here again? Oh, okay, I've got it. No I haven't."

Here's the group! (Stand up straight, Andrea).

Nanowrimo Wrap-up Week Four

Keeping it simple at the moment, because it feels like bits of my brain are crumbling off like wet cake (thanks, Bernard Black). I am making good progress with the revisions, but there is SO MUCH to do, and a lot of client work on top of it, that I am going slightly mad. The cold weather doesn't help. Curse you, Christchurch weather! Curse you!

Anyway, on to more important things. Congratulations to you all! So many of you have won Nanowrimo, and I hope you are feeling suitably impressed with yourselves. I only made it to 42,000 this year, but I'm actually feeling pretty happy with that.

I am so sorry everyone, but I am swamped with work this week and don't have time to go through and list links as usual, although I have been following your progress. Instead (if you would like), please leave a comment saying whether you finished Nanowrimo, and how you feel about your end result and the experience in general! If you would like to post a link to one of your blog posts, please do so. As the comments come in, I will transfer them to the main body of this post, so that everyone can read your thoughts here. Thanks, and congratulations again!

The full list of group participants is here.

Amber Lough

I technically have an hour left, but I couldn't possibly write any more. I made it to 33K words. I'm pretty happy about it, even though I didn't "win." Without NaNo, I wouldn't have written nearly as much this month. I discovered that when I really mean to, I can write and write and write, even if I don't "feel like it."

Yay everyone!

Now I'm going to sleep.........

moremagicalways

This is my first year ever doing NaNoWriMo.........and I WON!! I'm so proud of myself, because I was able to prove to myself that just because I am a 14 year old high school student in small-town-nowhere doesn't mean I can't do things.

I've never written so much in my life, and I think I could probably fly right now!

Shannon

I'm still a bit amazed that I actually finished this year. Well done for getting as far as you did with so much other stuff on your plate - I had nothing to do but write and I still didn't make the 50,000 until the 29th!

Icy

I made it to 50K, and I'm so proud of myself. I had such a fabluous time. Thanks Andrea ^_^. And I'm not stopping either. I've started spell/grammar checking and plan to do corrections in Jan.

Andrea

I only made it to 14,000, but I feel that it has given me a good inroad into what writing fiction entails. I've managed to work in writing times into my everyday life and so on. I think that I have a good base to move on from! Thanks for the inspiration :)

Juli Ryan

I made it to 50K, and I had a great time. Now I'm going to print out my book and leave it in a drawer for a while. Thank you for inspiring me to try this challenge, and for organizing the NaNoWriMo group. I learned that I can write a little bit every day and make lots of progress. I can't wait to do it again next year. Loads of fun!

Sara

I have to say that when I got to 25,000 words (it might have been earlier than that, even), I already felt proud of myself - it's 25,000 words I hadn't written before, and a start of something that I might want to revisit next month or next year. All word counts, I think, are impressive.

That said, I am amazed that I won. It feels wonderful to have 50,000 words of this novel written and I have continued to add to my word count, hoping to reach 100,000 words by the end of December.

More than word count, though, NaNoWriMo snapped some of my bad habits out my writing day - the words come much easier now that I'm not constantly in "must edit it all" mode.

Thank you, Andrea, for organizing this group, and for all the inspiration you all have provided. Can't wait til next November!

Lola Sharp

Yes, I "won", and am thrilled...it's over! ;o)

Okay, seriously, I am excited to have completed the word count goal in 30 days, but now I can write "properly" ( and fix my "cheats").

By that I mean:
I can take the time needed to fill in with research, proper time lines, flesh the plot lines out, and make sure they collide properly... and just generally "pretty it up" that one has no time to do when churning/speed writing.

I can fill in my "cheat-ish" drop downs.

This began as my usual genre of literary fiction, but quickly evolved into a political suspense/thriller. Which I have never attempted before, nor ever wished to, but my characters took over and had put me through hell. I know nothing, zero, zip of computer technology, the CIA, real governmental politics,stalkers, the secret service, gun laws by state, privacy laws, spyware, or the Patriot Act. But that's where the story went. And so my time spent yesterday at the library was lengthy.
I am also quite sure that I am now "flagged" by some US govt. task force that watches for people checking out the types of books I needed to check out...which would be ironic, since that is not too distant from how things got rolling downhill in my novel. Life imitating art imitating life. Or something like that.
(Of course, their time would be far better served watching out for who is actually invited to attend their White House parties and other such minor details.)
Anyway, more on my writing escapades on my blog.

Let's get to the fun stuff...

CONGRATS to ALL of YOU who either WON, or at least feel good about how far you did get and what you learned in the process!!! Woot Woot!!

To the 14 year old ( sorry, I forget your name, but I enjoyed checking your blog out)--CONGRATS! Muchos Awesomeness!!! On top of school and homework and keeping up a blog...totally rocks. I hope you have a lit teacher giving you school credit for accomplishing this major feat.

Andrea, Congrats on hitting such a high word count on top of all your other tasks, projects and deadlines. And for still finding time to shower, dress so adorably and look so darn cute. Not to mention posing and posting a photo daily for us. (some days I'm lucky if I get a shower or even get out of my sweats when I am on deadlines. I'm guessing no one wants to see me post those daily photos. eeek)

Lastly, I invite everyone who is planning on continuing their Nano-WIP and polishing it for publication, to please leave a message on my blog so I can link us and we can all make sure to keep up with each others progress, cheer each other on.

Much Love,
Lola

eveningreader

I made it to a little over 40,000 officially, but to over 48,000 in actuality. The last time I went to upload my numbers, even though they showed time on the clock, they had disabled the upload. Still, I am thrilled with either result, and did not think I would even get that far. It was a great experience, and I am looking forward to the next round. Thanks very much for hosting this group!

cottonclippings

4,200 words.

I'm not upset, life happens.

resolute twig

I also made it to 50k and I am really excited. This is the longest piece of writing i have ever done. Now I just need to finish the story!
It's also great to have completed a goal, something that I really wanted to do, but that at times felt completely out of reach.
Thanks for introducing me to NaNoWriMo!

Mercurie

I actually won, although I was shocked I did. I spent most of the month fearing I would not finish. Anyhow, I am happy with what I wrote, even if it is hack work that needs a lot of reworking! Anyone wanting more details can read my post on it.

Chic

I was right on track with my word count until my husband arrived in Germany and spent my birthday and Thanksgiving with me here. I wrote exactly zero words for each day that he was with me. But we're spending this year apart and I didn't mind for a second giving his visit my full attention.

So I finished NaNoWriMo with a word count of 32, 646. I am very happy with that though. I may not have won by reaching the 50k word count goal, but I now have about 63 pages of single spaced narrative and a really exciting story idea that I will by no means abandon now that the month is over. NaNoWriMo and the support of other writers (such as all the great people in this group) really inspired me to do something I never thought I'd have the time or ability to do.

Valerie Storey

Hi Everyone! Late as usual. I work fulltime and I write fulltime so it is difficult for me to comment as much as I would like. Congratulations to Nanowrimo winners--and even if you didn't make 50K, no matter, you have a new story to keep working on and that's what really matters. Two things I got out of this year's Nano: 1. I want to turn my story into something very experimental with collaged artwork, even if it's just for me, and 2. I love to write more than I thought I loved to write. Going to my story every day was a pleasure not a chore. Maybe because I didn't care or think about "the market." It was fun to think of writing with you all too. If anyone would like to link up to my blog, I would be very happy to list you there. Yesterday I put up a "revising Nano ms." post that you might find helpful. Keep writing! Thinking of you all even if I'm a lousy commenter. And Thank You!!

Snidder

Thank you everyone for inspiring me - a special thanks to "chic" for introducing me to NaNoWriMo via her blog and to Andrea for letting me be a last minute participant in the group. I'm new to NaNoWriMo and to blogging in general so this has been a great experience overall. Congratulations to all who won! How fantastic to finish. I didn't make it but loved the experience and will repeat next year.

Nanowrimo Round-up Week Three

Yesterday I spent the day with Laurel from Ooh La La Vintage - it started with brunch at the Honeypot Cafe, continued with a Magical Mystery Tour of all the best vintage shops and thrift stores of central Christchurch, and ended with a glass of wine in a pavement cafe by the river! So much fun. These pictures were taken in the 'retro room' of one of the thrift stores - a cupboard-sized space stuffed with 'retro' clothing of dubious origin. I've never had much luck in there, but it's so much fun to crawl right in and rummage.

I'm still mooching along with my Nanowrimo novel, but an influx of client work and the revisions on Actual Book that Needs to Go to Agent in December (working title) have been eating up most of my time. Excuses, excuses! In reality, I could make time to catch up on my word count, but at the moment it is more important to me to make steady progress and not become too stressed. Particularly since a cold is hovering at my writing desk, threatening to descend and fill my head with glutinous goo.

Here's this week's A Cat of Impossible Colour Nanowrimo Round-up! As always, please don't be offended if you are not featured - I choose posts that I think will appeal to the largest number of people, and I read all your Nano reports with pleasure. Go here for the full list of participants.

• Sara shares one of her Polyvore sets and explains the inspiration behind it. She has made some gorgeous ones for the different characters in her novel - check out the Polyvore group to see them!
• Kate discusses the importance of the reader when writing memoir.
• Andrea is debating whether to take a different direction with her novel.
• Lola talks about plot snags and procrastination.
• This isn't exactly Nano-related, but huge congratulations to Teresa, whose short story In a Seaside Cafe was one of the thirteen winners of the Bridport Prize. This is a really big deal, a prestigious award, and a huge achievement. Well done!
• Valerie has posted yet another great list of writing prompts to take your story in crazy directions and save your sanity. If you feel like you're stuck in a rut, check them out! (And if you're really, really stuck, start a chapter with 'And then the aliens arrived,' and see what happens).
• Susie is looking for a name for her female main character - see if you can help her out.
• Priscilla shares her Nanowrimo playlist.

And today's Nanowrimo challenge: list three to five things that you LOVE about your book. The things that make you want to keep going. Go!

(And here are mine:

Living graffiti
Creepy moments with dead animals left on doorsteps (I'm not as evil as I sound, I promise)
Reverse empaths
A really bizarre love story
The setting, which I'm too superstitious to describe).

Shiny New Thing

Thank you to all of you who let me know that I had been featured on the Queens of Vintage Top 100 list - I was so thrilled to see it! I love Queens of Vintage, and feel very honoured to be a part of their feature.

An idea for a new book has been percolating in the back of my mind for a while. Yesterday, when I was mired in a particularly difficult writing moment, it started tap-dancing in my forebrain. "Look at me! Look at me!" It was Shiny. It was New. It was much more exciting than what I was working on. So I did look at it. And, naturally, I became completely distracted - I created a new folder on my computer, wrote reams of notes and started writing the first chapter. It was only when I had written 2,500 words that I realised I had been seduced by its Shiny Newness and had completely abandoned poor little Current Book. Whoops!

All books begin as Shiny New Ideas. There's nothing wrong with them. I think, however, that the key is to finish what you're working on first, and to dangle the new thing in front of yourself like a carrot, to give you an incentive. And, of course, the Shiny New Thing will become a Tedious Fatiguing Thing at some point, too, and up will pop a new idea. The cycle continues.

This post was just going to be about Shiny New Ideas, but I actually thrifted something shiny and new (to me) this afternoon, on the way back from visiting my nephew - an emerald-green satin 1950s cocktail dress! So gorgeous, I can't wait to show it to you.

In other news, I went to visit my friend Christina's new bunny rabbit yesterday. His name is Brett - they have a cat called Murray, so there's a bit of a theme developing. Isn't he cute?


Band meeting!

Nanowrimo Week Two Wrap-up

Hello, everyone!

I am still dreadfully behind on word count: I have only written about 15,000 words. I actually feel pretty good about this, however, and I am planning to have a dramatic writing frenzy one day this week to bring myself up to where I should be.

This is the stage of Nanowrimo where you usually have to stop and take stock of the material you have before moving forwards. At the start of the month, you create characters and storylines with gay abandon, throwing everything you can think of into the mix. In the middle stages, however, it is difficult to carry on with your story if you don't know where you're going. The middle can be a dreary drudgery, as you work out the logistics of your plot and sub-plots, but it can also be very satisfying. You might be surprised at how coherent your story is; unexpected connections may appear.

If you do find yourself feeling a bit jaded, this post from Laini Taylor will help you to fall back in love with your idea. One of Laini's tips is to write a list of all the reasons why your story is cool (because you tend to forget these things when you're wading through the mire). Does your story have time travel? A knee-weakeningly handsome male lead? Cats with wings? A really fantastic action scene? Anything at all. Write all these things down, and read them through. It will help to re-ignite some of that initial excitement.

Time for the round-up! Again, please do not be offended if you were not featured. I try to single out blog posts that I think will appeal to most people, but I had great fun reading through all of your blogs. For the full list of group members, and links to their blogs, go here.

• Mercurie has written a great post about Nanowrimo, pointing out that a lot of the pulp writers of the mid-20th century wrote their novels in a month.
• Vikki raised a concern that I think most of us will have faced at some point - how big an influence other writing has over our own.
• Andrea is doing some really fascinating research for her novel.
• Cyn introduces one of her characters - a receptionist.
• Ashley Louise has posted a short story on her blog. Here's part one and part two.
• Kate talks about the difficulties of writing an emotionally draining section of the novel which deals with horror and death. I struggled with this in both my last novels - The Cry of the Go-Away Bird is set during the farm invasions in 1990s Zimbabwe, and The White Shadow (working title) was set during the atrocities of Rhodesia's Bush War in the 1970s.
• Valerie provides a great list of Nanowrimo writing prompts.
• Snidder stays positive even while stuck!
• Priscilla recommends some excellent books on writing that will help provide some Nanowrimo inspiration. Bird by Bird is definitely one I read and re-read.
• Amber talks about overcoming negative self-talk, the importance of finishing, and the guilt that can come with writing something that isn't 'literary' (at least in the traditional sense).

I'd like to ask everyone in the group to share a short excerpt from any part of your novel - either in the comments here or on your own blog (if you choose to do it on your blog, please provide a link in the comments!), if you feel comfortable doing so . I know that the excerpts will be rough and unedited - that's the whole point of Nanowrimo! - but it would be so exciting to get a taste of what everyone is working on.

Here's mine:

If I can create something, can I destroy it as well?

The baby rabbit stares at me with blank eyes. Its delicate, furred ears are flat on its back, its nose is twitching and soft. It scrabbles at my hand with tiny paws. In a sense, I am its grandfather.

I will its nostrils to close. Its tiny mouth opens in a pleading triangle. I can hear the rasp of its tongue against its front teeth, and I force its mouth closed and watch in interest as it struggles for breath. It kicks against my hands and squirms with surprising strength. It takes all of my strength to hold onto it.

I can feel the softness of its fur between my hands. I stroke it as I watch it die. The urgency in its eyes becomes resignation, then a greasy film. I can feel the life leaving its body. When it has drained, I let the rabbit drop to the ground.

Now it is just an object, like a discarded glove or an old shoe. I feel mild interest, nothing more. The other rabbits are seemingly oblivious to the fact that I have just killed one of their brothers – or sisters? I don’t know. I watch them chewing the grass. In the stormy light, it is an unnatural blue-green.

I hear something, a voice, so quiet that I am sure I have imagined it.

Yes.

(I just wanted to say thanks as well to Chantele of Daisy Dayz and Reachel of Cardigan Empire for featuring me on their blogs today. It was very sweet of you both!)

Pampering your subconscious

Last night I went to the Christchurch launch of Rachael King's Magpie Hall. I finished the book this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it! If you like Victorian Gothic novels, tattoos, taxidermy and cabinets of curiosities, you'll love this book. And I got a free magpie tattoo, which I wore today as my tribute to the book's great cover.

In her talk last night, Rachael spoke about 'pampering your subconscious.' This really struck a chord with me - possibly since I have been semi-torturing my subconscious lately, with all the churning-out of words. I think this is another way of expressing Julia Cameron's idea of 'filling the well.' As writers, we are constantly dipping our little (battered, leaky) buckets down into the well of our unconscious mind and pulling up stories. If we do this often enough, however, without putting anything back into the well, we are eventually going to run dry. It is easy to dismiss that part of our mind, or abuse it, treating it as a story-telling machine that must do our bidding, but our subconscious is one of our most powerful tools: it writes our books far more than our conscious mind does (although the conscious mind goes to town in the editing stage). It definitely needs some love and pampering.

And here are some of the ways in which I think you can do it:

Daydreaming

Also known as puttering, pottering, faffing, fluffing and pootling about. Letting your mind wander where it pleases. As a writer, you need to spend a lot of time daydreaming. Think of it as brewing ideas, if that makes you feel less guilty for sitting and 'doing nothing.'

Pursuing what interests you

It can seem self-indulgent to spend an afternoon reading about cigars, or taxidermy (I have it on the brain at the moment after finishing Magpie Hall), or twelfth-century China, or Communism, or tea-cups, or whatever your current obsession may be. You might ask yourself (or unkind people might ask you) what the point of this knowledge is, aside from the fact that it makes you happy. Well, you never know when a piece of information or a remembered image will pop up in your writing. Your subconscious mind knows what it's doing. You are interested in this subject for a reason, and by giving in to your desire to pursue it, you are filling your well with colour, imagery, new words and knowledge that will be useful later on.

Immersing yourself in the world

I go stir-crazy sometimes, and can't see anything outside my own little world. When that happens, I grab my notebook and go somewhere. Anywhere. Wherever appeals. Sometimes it is into the city, to sit in a cafe and people-watch. Sometimes it is to the park, or the beach. Writing is an art form that requires all of the senses, and you need to give those senses something new to chew on sometimes.

Making creative surroundings

Or, as my husband would call it, 'collecting piles of random junk.' Having physical objects that reflect the ideas in your head is a great way to inspire your subconscious. Collect things that speak to you, whether they be objects, quotations, pictures ... anything at all. Surround yourself with these things. It may be that no one else will understand why you want a handful of old typewriter keys, a box of crayons and an old photograph of some mysterious, unnamed Victorian. It doesn't matter. You will know.

Napping!

I am a huge advocate for naps. I suggest them as cures for all sorts of things: hangovers, writer's block, heartbreak, indigestion, tax bills. They are also a wonderful way to refresh your mind. They give you a break from the endless mental chitter-chatter, circular thinking, mild paranoia and base-level anxiety that is a part of every day (in my world, at least), and leave room for other things - like ideas - to float to the surface.

Have you got any more tips for giving your subconscious mind a good pampering?

Nanowrimo Update

Apologies for the hiatus! I have had an exceedingly busy couple of days that involved meetings, writing, more meetings, vast and mighty amounts of laundry, and building shelves with my BARE HANDS (from a kit set. I am very impressed with myself), and Life overwhelmed other, more interesting things. Back now, though. Nanowrimo took a bit of a beating over the last couple of days, too - oops. I have only just hit the 11,000-word mark today.

You may, like me, be feeling a slight waning of enthusiasm at the moment. Is it really worth it? Have you bitten off more than you can chew? Can you ever catch up?

Well, of course you have bitten off more than you can chew. That's the whole idea. I can tell you from experience, though, that the feeling of printing out your work at the end of the month is absolutely worth it. Printing it out makes it real. A concrete, physical thing exists that would not exist (and possibly never would have existed) if you hadn't spent November 2009 doing this crazy, glorious thing.

Of course, distractions start to emerge at this point, too.

"I'm so behind with my word count. I'll never catch up."

I'm behind too! And feeling wonderfully relaxed about it. That is what all-nighters are for. Book a couple in for later in the month - and be sure to plan for pizza and wine (or the like). If you have a friend who lives nearby and is doing Nanowrimo as well, do it together.

Don't worry if you are behind. That is absolutely fine. You will catch up. You will!

"Maybe I should be working on something else. I had this brilliant idea ..."

Ah, the siren call of the New and Shiny Idea. It seems like a much better idea than the one you pledged your undying (or rather, month-long) loyalty to last week. It is curvaceous and sparkly and glamorous and full of exciting, untapped potential. I understand. I am willing to nod and smile sympathetically as you tell me what a wonderful idea this is. And then I am going to tell you to write the idea down in a notebook and tackle it some other time, when you have finished the Nanowrimo book that you started. Your job is to finish this draft and develop this idea, not to express every thought and idea you have ever had. Or ever will have. Trust me. Love the one you're with.

I probably wouldn't give you the same advice quite so quickly if you weren't doing Nanowrimo - but, even when writing novels is your job, these seductive little critters come along and try to distract you. Yes, sometimes your work-in-progress is going nowhere and never will and you should abandon it. But this is so rare. And it's dangerous to give into this feeling in the first draft, I think, because it's easy to misinterpret 'this is difficult' as 'this is not worth pursuing.'

"Wait, I've just figured out this important plot point. I should go back and change everything that I have written so that it fits in with the change."

No.

"But ..."

No.

"But I need to ..."

You can do it later. Finish the damn book. FINISH THE DAMN BOOK. Write those four works on a post-it and stick it to your screen. This is your mantra. When November is over you can spend all the time you like fiddling about with your plot and characters and semi-colons. Right now, all you need to do is write that idea down in a notebook with a big sign saying 'DO THIS LATER,' and carry on.

"Andrea, you're mean."

Yes. Yes I am.

Good luck, everyone! I am a bit behind on responding to comments, and I still haven't caught up with everyone's Polyvore creations. I'm looking forward to doing that tomorrow, though, and featuring some of them on the blog.

Countryside

We spent the day in the country with my mum and her husband, and now I am dreaming about farmhouse kitchens, fresh-laid eggs and vegetable gardens. Idyllic! I would go completely mad living in the country, I know, but I can't wait until we own our own place in the city and I can keep chickens again.

I have just started my Nanowrimo work for the day. I love how putting a book together feels like doing a jigsaw puzzle (for me, anyway): you find a bit of blue sky, a piece of someone's face, perhaps a hand or a window, and you start making these disconnected images into something coherent (helped along by those all-important corner and side pieces - the ones that give the whole thing shape). I hardly ever write chronologically. For me, it is as if the whole story exists somewhere already, and I'm uncovering it bit by bit, scene by scene, in no particular order, until the whole thing is revealed.

How do you write? Chronologically, or with a jigsaw method like mine? Or some other way entirely?

Nanowrimo Week One Wrap-up

The time has come (the Walrus said) for the first of my Friday Nanowrimo posts! I've really enjoyed this first week - reading about your experiences, reading your first paragraphs and your main character names. I have been through all your blogs and picked out a few posts that I think the rest of the group will find interesting or helpful (please don't be offended if you are not featured - I chose things that I thought would appeal to most people or that struck my fancy, and there are more Friday posts coming during the month!).

For the full list of group members, go here.

Nanowrimo Round-up

• Sara is writing a fictionalisation of her family history that I find really fascinating.
• Ally wrote a story about merzombies. Merzombies are the new sparkly vampires.
• Luinae, who is our youngest group member (as far as I know) at fourteen, has posted an excerpt of her Nano novel on her blog!
• S. from Academichic has posted some of her Nanowrimowear ...
• I love Andrea's description of her Nano project. It sounds like the kind of thing I would snap up in a bookstore (from The Rainbow Notebook).
• Lola's commitment to her Nanowrimo novel is pretty amazing (hope she remembers to eat).
• I really love Kate's first paragraph, and the Toni Morrison quote she keeps above her workspace.
• Juli's novel has some high school scenes, and she's posted a few of her most embarrassing memories from her teenage years. I don't even want to think about some of mine - my ears go red, even now.
• I just love Valerie's idea of creating a Polyvore set that reflects the inspiration behind her Nano novel. Also, she is intimidatingly organised!

I am so impressed with all of you. This is not an easy thing you have taken on, and you should be proud with your progress, however many words you have written. I'm a bit behind, I'm afraid, and have only written 7,000 words so far, but I'm very happy with the direction in which it's going. One of the best things about Week One is just sitting back and watching the stuff that comes out of your head. It's amazing what we manage to cram in there, and what chooses to pop out during November. Whether it's drivel or complete brilliance, you should feel proud - no one else could write the novel you are writing, and, if you had not taken on this challenge, those pages of prose might never have existed at all. You are pulling ideas and characters out of the cluttered attic in your head, and making them real. We are the only animals that can do that. And I think it's pretty cool.

If you would like to share your first-week experiences or any links that you have found interesting or helpful, please do so in the comments. And now for this weekend's challenge for the group members! I have borrowed Valerie's idea, and created a Polyvore group. If you would like to take part, join up and create a collage that reflects your Nanowrimo novel, and post it to the group. I'm looking forward to doing this one! And, of course, I'll post some of my favourite collages on the blog next week.

P.S. There are already some fantastic sets in the Polyvore group! You guys are great. I've uploaded mine, now, too.
P.P.S. For those of you who have asked, I don't have a title yet, unfortunately, but my novel is turning out to be sort-of-New-Zealand-based, neo-Victorian steampunk with cyber-athletes, living graffiti, parasitic parallel worlds, possessed trains and rabbits with no eyes. Naturally.

Celebrate good times come on

It has been a tricky week for me, for various reasons, and I have been feeling very down. Today things are looking brighter, however - hooray! To celebrate, I wore one of my very favourite vintage dresses this afternoon.

A few congratulatory messages are in order today!

My friend and mentor (and agent buddy - as in, we share an agent, rather than one of us being a secret agent of some kind) Rachael King's new novel Magpie Hall is now available in New Zealand. Described as a 'modern-day ghost story with a twist', Magpie Hall "explores the fleshly taboo around class and tattoos in the Victorian era; the intimacy and atavistic nature of a marriage and contemporary relationships; the potentially obsessive/ compulsive behaviour of collecting flora, fauna (and other things) that can decimate native species and ruin lives."

Another lovely mentor and friend, Coral Atkinson, has just released her Young Adult novel, Copper Top. It tells the story of orphaned, red-headed Irish immigrant Aisling Lynch, who searches the goldfields for her missing brother Tim and friend Rory. I love the fresh, generous approach Coral took when it came to publishing this book. She is a tutor of the Whitireia Post-graduate Diploma in Book Publishing (which is how I met her - I took the course in 2007), and she worked with four students to take the manuscript all the way through the publishing process - from editing and typesetting to production and publicity.

And, on a different note, LOML's brother and his wife have just had their first baby: Thomas Owen. He was born three weeks ago, but I didn't want to announce it on the blog until I was sure that all the family had heard about it through the normal channels (nothing worse than someone stealing your exciting-news thunder!). I am extremely excited to be an auntie, although I still have no idea how to hold a baby properly. And probably never will.

P.S. Whopping-Great-Mother-of-a-Nanowrimo post is coming tomorrow, as I feature some of the participants and open up the comments for discussion - be warned! Alert the media.

Pardon my gormless expression ... (and today's Nanowrimo request)

... but it is apparently the expression one has after getting only a couple of hours' sleep and then working on Nanowrimo, novel revisions and a big client job simultaneously. I might be slightly incoherent.

I am terribly behind with replying to comments, and I'm very sorry - I'll catch up with them as soon as I can.

I loved reading all the first paragraphs from my Nanowrimo group - there is such a great mix of genres and ideas. I would love to learn one of your main character's names today, what it means, and how you chose it.

Here's one of mine:

Merril - from Merle, meaning falcon - a captive bird of prey that hunts for its owner. I chose her name instinctively, and only discovered the meaning afterwards. It pleased my writerly brain that it was strangely appropriate; Merril is an assassin in someone else's employ.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

P.S. Goodness, that was rambling. Sorry about that.

Nanowrimo: group is super-duper closed now

Hi everyone! Just a quick announcement: I let a few latecomers sneak into the Nanowrimo group today (welcome Surya, Snidder and Priscilla!), but I'm afraid that I'm not going to add anyone else this month. It just becomes too hard for me to keep track of everyone - particularly when it comes to reading all the participants' blogs for my Friday posts.

Good luck, everyone! I hope it's going well.

Nanowrimo: and so it begins

Hello there, Nanowrimo group!

I just thought I would check in on the first day (in my time zone) and say good luck to you all. I hope your first writing day went well.

My plan is to write 1,000 words a day on the weekends and 2,000 words a day during the week. I reached my target of 1,000 words today - hooray! If you would like a handy-dandy word-count-matic like mine (in the sidebar), go here. As you can see, I started the month with just under 14,000 words written. I aim to reach 64,000 by the end of the month. We'll see how well that works alongside the heavy revision I'll be doing on my recently finished draft.

In honour of the occasion, I thought I would ask everyone in the group to share the first paragraph of their novel in the comments, if they feel comfortable doing so. I know that they will be extremely rough and subject to change at a moment's notice - such is the nature of Nanowrimo - but it will give everyone a taste of what you're working on. I would certainly love to see them.

Here's mine:

The world is formless and desolate. There is no raging ocean; just nothingness that pulls at the eye like a missing front tooth, the stump of a leg, the uncoloured edges of a child’s drawing.

Can't wait to hear yours!

A Cat of Impossible Colour Nanowrimo Group!

Wow, we have a great group! I'm so excited about Nanowrimo this year, and I think it's going to be great fun. Thanks to everyone who signed up: it's lovely to have you on board. And the very best of luck to you all for 1 November!

All the participants are listed below, along with the information they gave me upon signing up. Click on their names to visit their blogs.

Andrea (me)

Username: theluckyblackcat
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Title: No idea whatsoever. I have a terrible habit of saving my novels as "Book", "Book3", "Newbook" and things like that, and I usually only think of a title right at the end. So the title is to be confirmed.
Blurb: Too superstitious to share, in case I jinx it!

I have just under 14,000 words of this written already. I started writing it in 2006 but never pursued it. The story is still very strong in my mind, however, and I would love to see it completed.

Icy @ Individual Chic

Username: Icy
Title: Miss Lyon and the Mystery of the Jade Mask
Genre: Mystery
Blurb: Miss Lyon is asked to investigate a mysterious journal and to find the Mayan jade mask it leads to. But someone else is after it as well, and will use any means to stop Miss Lyon getting there first.

So far: I have 18000 words written previously, so I'm aiming to add another 50000. I'd done some planning, but I'm doing a lot more now. Hopefully this should help me keep writing through the hard spots. Planning is working well, as the baddy has finally revealed themselves to me (I had no idea who dun it before).

Mercurie

Username: Mercurie
Genre: Probably Fantasy, Horror, or Spy Thriller (or all three...)
Title: I have no idea right now, but I know I'll think of something.
Blurb: To be honest, I have a few ideas, but I am not quite sure what this one is going to be about (I decided not to use the novel I have been working upon for NaNoWriMo).

Autumn Rose

Username: autumn_rose.

Sara

Username: esstea
Genre: historical fiction
Title: right now, "And Sons," but it'll change
Blurb: I also fear the jinx! I'll share more once I get cozy with it.

IT IS ALLY

Username: Axsis
Genre: Short stories
Title: They will all have different ones, that is how short stories work
Blurb: Currently taking story suggestions. Not v organised.

Tamara Hellgren

Username: tjhellgren
Genre: dark fiction

I have a title and some notes and character sketches, but that's all. It'll sure be interesting to see how things develop!

Moremagicalways

Username: Luinae (oooh, creative)
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Title: I can never think of titles!
Blurb: Uh, don't have one?

Stéphanie

Vikki

Username: Vikki56
Genre: horror/fantasy
Title: At the moment The Horror, the horror, this is very likely to change though...
Blurb: It was going to be a vampire novel set in Russia but I'm experimenting with other dark literary forces at present. Still set in Russia though, but Scotland may be edging in there...

la

Username: buttonista
Genre romance!

Kate

Username - Kateforsyth
Title - don't know yet
Blurb - too hazy to put into words (doesn't sound promising does it??)

Chic

Username: Academic Abandon
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Title: Nope, don't have one...
Blurb: I have a few ideas but all I will share for now is that it's set at the turn of the century in Vienna and that it's about a young girl being married off to a much older man whose daughter is almost her age.

Redeemed Diva

Ali

Username: ABD1350
Genre: Literary Fiction
Title: TBA (not the title; seriously has yet to be announced!)
Blurb - TBA...again...

Andrea

Username: andreastaats
I'm torn between a few ideas. We'll see what wants to be written on Nov. 1!

Madam0wl, a.k.a Sandra

Username: madam0wl
Genre: sci-fi / romance
Title: not sure, probably not until the end?
Blurb: Day-in-the-life-in-near-future (2040) imagining what it might be like for my kids once they are grown...

I'm taking a tip from a character in one of the books I like (I think, or maybe it was the author), that one way to write fiction is to use bits of your own life but imagined / reworked.

Andrea

Username: The Rainbow Notebook
Genre: Fantasy
Title: I haven't settled on one yet.
Blurb: I'm interested in working with a mix of genres and am calling it an aesthetic/fantastic/gothic/melodramatic/folkloric/ mix as I'm interested in working across some of those genre ideas in particular. There is going to be some poetry interspersed within the text as well. The actual story is set in rural Northern Norway between the wars. Expect woods, reindeer, romance and mystery!

Beautiful Witch

Username: mareejones
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy
Title: Gods and Jukeboxes (well, working title at least!)
Blurb: You know, I have no idea. I'm just waiting to see the bats that fly out of my attic on November 1!

Mirabel

Username: all your stars are out
Genre: ....
Title: ....
Blurb: ....

... (these will come to me soon won't they?)

Cyn

Username: KleinKatze
Genre: Fantasy (Children's Literature)
Title: Wishing Well
Blurb: Jobyna spends the summer at her grandmother's cottage where she learns a fairy-tale about a magic well that grants wishes.

Ashley Louise

Username: Fraxinilucia
Genre: Will propbably get shoved in the romance section if it was ever published, but is intended as a young adult fiction on growing up and falling in love.
Title: Something about growing up and falling in love.
Blurb: She grows up and falls in love.

Lola Sharp

Username: the-sharp-pen
Genre: Literary fiction

Hannah

Username: spitout
Blurb: A community is divided over certain events and so becomes mother and daughter. Young Adult Fiction.
Title: Crossing the Spit (work in progress!)

Teresa Stenson

Username: they.fall.back
Everything else: hasn't made itself known to me yet.

Amelia

Username: furtherado
Genre: Literary fiction
Blurb: Una is in exile, travelling the world to collect antiques for the store to which she can never return, searching for a daughter lost long ago.

Kate

Username: stellarkate
Title - none as yet - will be last thing, I'm sure.
Genre : historical fiction I think
Blurb: it's about food, and people, and the forces of history, and the power of memory . . .

Laurel

Username: bettyblue
Title - no idea!!!
Genre: fiction
Blurb: a series of strange encounters ... those moments in life that leave you baffled, confused, in fits of laughter, crying, fearful, and more than anything aware of the nonsensical nature of people and our relationships to each other in general. Well, I say people but at least one encounter I plan on writing about involves a dog ...

Kelly

Username: wellreadkitty
Genre: Chick Lit
Title: Not sure yet but I have several plots, characters and settings all sorted out. The title will come later I hope.

Rachel

Username: sevenswans
Genre: literary fiction? mainstream fiction? i'm not 100% sure (yet)
Title: "the birthday party". possibly.
Blurb: nerdy guy invites the coffee shop girl he has a crush on to a birthday party that doesn't yet exist: watch disaster and (hopefully) hilarity ensue as he tries to throw one together.

Carrie

Username: goldentouch
Genre: Not 100% sure yet but probably some sort of Fantasy.

Christina

Username: Distant_duck
Genre: still coming up with that one
Title: also still not decided.

Fields of Paper

Username: fieldsofpaper
Genre: Hmmmm. Think I'll defer a decision on that one for now. Mainstream fiction? Adventure? Let's see where it goes.
Title: I have a title in mind but I want to see where I end up before I attach it umbilically to my delicate little WIP!
Blurb: It's about a female war photographer. I'm about 10,000 words in right now. And that's all I'm saying. Superstition must be a common trait for us writers!

Bucca

Username: whatevershesaid
Genre: er no idea yet
Title: ditto!

Juli Ryan

Username: juliryan
I usually don't name my books either until the end either, but I was intimidated by the Nanowrimo website. So...
Working title: The Phoenix From the Flame
Genre: I'm hoping for Mainstream Fiction, but it may end up Romance
Blurb: coming of age story about a woman who finds her HS boyfriend on Facebook.

Cottonclippings

Username: AKCotton
Genre: Mystery (not cozy, more thriller)
Working Title: LV Spy Story 2 (I started LV Spy Story 1 last year, and have nearly 50K words).
Blurb: A young woman ends up nearly dead in a shopping center/mall after hours, the EMTs think it's a drug overdose, but looks can be deceiving. Can the investigator solve the crime before something worse happens to the hospitalized woman?

Valerie Storey

Username: poppywriter
Genre: Literary
Title: Ghazal
Blurb: Thirty years, thirty doorways. Every breath, every door we take matters to someone.

Courtnee

Username: moder_millie
Genre: undecided; probably chick lit
Title: unknown or should I say undiscovered

S

Username:Selkie73
Genre: (young adult?) fantasy
Title: no idea
Blurb: Too superstitious to go into it just yet!

Susie

Genre: fantasy / chick lit
Title: dont know yet, maybe something with Athena in it...
Blurb: The Goddess Athena had a daughter who was half human, she was told her mother died in childbirth, now she is in her early 20's trying to figure out what to do with her life and her Mother shows up out of the blue telling her about her real history and giving her a task that she must do or very bad things will happen.

Surya

Username: silenteloquence
Working title : A bumpy ride

Snidder

Username: Snidder
Genre: either short story collection or mainstream fiction but as yet undecided
Title: nothing yet
Blurb: woman extricates herself from a difficult 10 year marriage that was near violence. She leaves her husband and the house they built together and never returns. The story explores the complicated nature of the relationship through an epic journey, possibly an archetypal journey. still working it out. Hopefully it will all come together as I write.

Priscilla

User Name: EveningReaderWrites
Genre: literary fiction
(Working) Title: What Hope Looks Like to Other People
Blurb: Story of a family in West Texas in the 1980s, during the downturn of the oil boom.

Amber Lough

Username: amberlough
Title: Jinn
Genre: Young Adult

Nanowrimoprep

After a lovely batch of sunny days, we have been plunged back into winter. I enjoyed the dramatic hailstorm last night, but it's not so much fun today - drizzly and cold. Ah, well. Today's outfit was inspired by Bonnie Parker - or, rather, by Faye Dunaway's depiction of her.

I'm trying to look tough, but this just goes to show that I should never start a gang - apart from the Nanowrimo writing gang, of course, which provides a neat segue into reminding anyone who wants to sign up and hasn't already done so to visit this post.

There are only so many ways that you can prepare for a month of novelling (I know that isn't a word, but it should be), but there are a few things you can do to make the whole experience easier.

1) Clean the house!

Your house will be semi-neglected for a month. If you do a big whole-house clean before the end of the month, the mess will be more bearable - especially if you're a neat freak like me.

2) Warn friends, family, partners and pets

They are going to be semi-neglected too.

3) Stock up on nutritious snacks

The temptation to eat pizza and chocolate and drink wine and coffee all month will be strong. Resist it. Drink plenty of water during your writing sessions and eat healthy snacks like raw vegetables or yoghurt.

This is actually pretty good advice for leading a writing life in general!

And finally - attention New Zealanders! I am starting to sell a large amount of my clothing - vintage and vintage-inspired - on Trade Me (all proceeds to the Andrea-needs-her-remaining-wisdom-teeth-out Fund). I've only uploaded a couple of items so far, but over the next couple of days I'll be gradually adding more listings. If you feel like shopping in my wardrobe, now is the time! And sorry, Trade Me is only available to New Zealanders - international postage frightens me, so I'm keeping it local.

Sign-up sheet for Nanowrimo group!

Here it is! I'll keep linking back to this post over the next ten days, in case anyone misses it. I'm sure you are all up to speed with what Nanowrimo is by now, but, just in case, you can read all about it here.

Here's what you need to do to join this particular Nanowrimo group (I'm still trying to think of a catchy name: coofimpoconanowrimo? Ouch. If you have any ideas, let me know):
1) Sign up on the official Nanowrimo website.
2) Leave a comment on this post with your Nanowrimo username (if you want to make it known) and any information about your Nanowrimo novel that you want to share - title, genre, blurb, anything along those lines. Some of you may have notes and outlines already; some of you may just start writing on 1 November and see what happens. Some of you, like me, might be planning to write 50,000 words of a book that is already in progress. My friend Ally is planning to write 50,000 words worth of short stories. Whatever works for you!

That's it. Easy! Here's my plan for our little sub-group in November:

1) I will post a link to all members of our little writing gang on 1 November (New Zealand time), so that people can follow our progress on our blogs. If you have a title and blurb planned for your Nanowrimo book (which you will have left in a comment on THIS post), I'll post that with your name.
2) Every Friday during Nanowrimo I will open up the comments to participants who want to post links to their own blogs and talk about their progress and experiences. I will also feature posts by any participants that take my fancy.
3) If you are following me on Twitter, I will be hosting Timed Writing Frenzies now and then for anyone who wants to join me in furiously upping their word count.
4) At the end of the month, I will post the names of everyone who successfully completed their 50,000 words, and we will all be filled with the pride of a job well done. And we will also probably be filled with wine. I know I will be.

Taking a break, and a Nanowrimo reminder (Nanowriminder?)

I am having a wonderful couple of days off. Yesterday I sat in Borders for most of the day and read books - do any of you feel that illicit thrill when you read an entire book in a bookstore? It feels like shoplifting. You leave the actual book behind, but you carry the contents away in your head, perhaps giving a merry wave to the shop assistants ("Ha ha! Little do they know!") and lingering by the security gates for longer than is necessary.

Today may well be the momentous day when I print out my first draft and put it on a shelf for a few weeks. It is always satisfying seeing the fat stack of paper - of course, that's assuming that our printer ink does not run out halfway through the book, which usually happens. Printer ink is dashed expensive, perhaps because it is made from the black blood of mountain trolls.

It's the old archeological or paleontological method for writing: You sit there with a little brush and maybe a little pick, and you keep excavating until suddenly you discover you've dug up a T Rex—and you're at the end of the first draft. That's what rewrites are for. Thank God. Then you can go back and saturate the metaphor. This is what I was really writing about all along. - Tamora Pierce

Tomorrow I am going to post the official sign-up sheet for Nanowrimo - well, not quite the official official sign-up sheet, because that would be the Nanowrimo website. This one just means that you are signing up to my little sub-group of writing buddies. Here's a link to my original post on the matter, in case you missed it. Basically, here's the plan:
1) I will post a link to all members of our little writing gang on 1 November, so that people can follow our progress on our blogs. If you have a title and blurb planned for your Nano book, I'll post that with your name (if you want to reveal it).
2) Every Friday during Nanowrimo I will open up the comments to participants who want to post links to their own blogs and talk about their progress and experiences. I will also feature posts by any participants that take my fancy.
3) If you are following me on Twitter, I will be hosting Timed Writing Frenzies now and then for anyone who wants to join me in furiously upping their word count.
4) At the end of the month, I will post the names of everyone who successfully completed their 50,000 words, and we will all be filled with the pride of a job well done. And we will also probably be filled with wine. I know I will be.

Don't forget to sign up on the Nanowrimo website, as well! I keep forgetting to say this, but my Nanowrimo user name is theluckyblackcat, if you would like to add me as a friend.

See you tomorrow!

Done!

See above. All 102,000 words of it (8,000 written today). Beginning, middle and end and all the fiddly bits around the edges: it's all there. I actually finished the first and third sections of the book long before the middle, so it has mostly been the middle that I've been working on for the past few weeks.

Of course, now I need to go through it all on screen and make sure it's a readable first draft - that there aren't any huge gaps that I've forgotten about. Once that's done, I'll print it out and leave it to stew for a while. Then I'll scribble all over it, rip it to shreds and completely re-build it. The revision process is my favourite stage, though, because I'm working with something that actually exists, not something that I'm trying to call into being.

Anyway. For tonight, I am finished. Woo-hoo! And I am going to pass out on the keyboard.

irtybveatg ckagfjytf TJY i87 o n;yo3;z z;8o aeihlbas .O RI&Fgj

Whoops, sorry. Time for bed.

First draft update!

Because every so often a dramatic gesture spurs one into action, I decided to complete the first draft today, come hell or high water. That represented about 8,000 or 9,000 words, at a rough guess - I knew exactly what needed to be written and it was just a matter of taking a deep breath and going hell-for-leather. The slight insanity of the task appealed to me. Doing something a bit crazy now and then has to be good for the skin. Or something.

I've been working since 8 this morning and have written just over 6,000 words so far, reaching the 100,000-word mark (which feels very significant, even though it doesn't have any intrinsic importance to this draft). Still going! I'll let you know when it is all done later this evening and will give you all a glass of virtual bloggy bubbly.

"Write the damn book." - Jane Yolen

"I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee." - Flash Rosenberg

"The only way [the book can be written] is to set the unbook - the gilt-framed portrait of the book - right there on the altar and sacrifice it, truly sacrifice it. Only then may the book, the real live flawed finite book, slowly, sentence by carnal sentence, appear." - Bonnie Friedman

P.S. I can't find a definitive origin for the phrase hell-for-leather, although there are quite a few theories: I always imagined it had something to do with a horse's leather tack and hard riding. Anyone else have a better idea?

Why grown-ups should not be allowed in the grotto

Here's something that you may not know about me: I used to be a fairy.

For two years.

It was my first job. I needed a job because I was a poor university student, but I didn't want to work at a supermarket (or anything along those lines). Spending most of my teen years in Zimbabwe meant that I had never had a job before, and I therefore had no qualifications nor experience. Quite the catch.

Still, I needed gainful employment, and I stumbled across it quite by chance when I got off my bus at the wrong stop and discovered Once Were Angels, a fairy shop. Magical. Glitter varnished into the floorboards, silver-painted tree branches hung with ornaments, swags of sparking green velvet looped from the ceiling, forest murals on the walls, toadstools on the floor. And fairies, of course, in the form of mobiles, paintings, ornaments, toys, books and sculptures. The place was gorgeously, luxuriously cluttered. I loved it. And I loved the white-haired lady behind the counter: well into her sixties and dressed in a pink satin fairy costume.

We chatted. She told me that they held fairy-themed birthday parties there, in the fairy garden and the grotto. The garden was at the back of the shop, and was just as flower-and-toadstool-and-statue-and-fairy-filled as you can imagine. The grotto was in a room above, filled with enormous papier mache trees. A team of fairy princesses ran the parties and provided the entertainment. And I had found my college job.

Here's how the parties went in the grotto:
1) A shop assistant led an excited, giggly crowd of girls aged anywhere between four and eleven up the stairs, and stopped outside the closed grotto door. She informed them with great solemnity that there was a fairy inside, but that she was very shy, and would probably be hiding. She also told them that only children could see her, and, even then, only when they had been sprinkled with fairy dust.
2) The assistant opened up a tiny wooden chest filled with glitter and sprinkled it on the girls' heads.
3)The door opened. The grotto was almost completely dark, with just a couple of small lights twinkling. The assistant pressed a button on the wall behind her and all the thousands of fairy lights looped over the walls and ceiling bloomed like white flowers, glowing brighter and brighter, lighting up the branches and leaves and glittering green carpet.
4) The girls fanned out into the room, looking for the fairy. One of them would find her hidden inside the trunk of a papier mache oak tree, behind shining leaves. And the party would begin.

We played games, sang songs and ate delicate party food (like fairy bread! Does anyone remember that? Slices of white bread spread with butter and sprinkled with hundreds-and-thousands). Those first few minutes were always the most magical for me, though: crouched inside the tree trunk, hearing the whispers and giggles and excitement, remembering how it felt to be that age. It really did feel like magic, and I was caught up in it as well. I also liked the story-telling session that came after lunch, when the children were full and a bit more relaxed. I'd ask all of them for different elements, and then piece those elements together into a story. The birthday girl was always the main character, naturally.

So why am I talking about this today? Well, I have been thinking about magic, and the kind of spell that is woven when you are completely immersed in something; the 'fictional dream' (John Gardner) from which you never want to awaken. It is something you experience when you are reading, and it is something you can experience when writing, too. If, that is, you are approaching the magic as an excited child and not as a cynical grown-up.

At the parties, there was usually one parent in the room - to supervise and make sure that the children were happy and staying safe. That was fine. In fact, it was fun: the grown-up had to play along with the 'only children can see fairies' story, and pretend to be amazed when a plate the fairy was holding seemed to hover in thin air. In theory, no other adults were allowed to attend. Sometimes, though, the parents would get bored and wander in to watch. They would finger the papier mache tree and laugh; snicker at the games; chat amongst themselves. Their palpable unbelief made the whole party seem like a cardboard cut-out: something sparkling, but also thin, and false. These parties never went as well as the ones where just one grown-up was in attendance.

I remembered this yesterday as I was writing a scene that flew along so fast that my fingers couldn't keep up. I was completely immersed in the story. And then the line of grown-ups showed up in my head, wandering around and examining things with critical fingers.
"Hey, didn't you just change that character's eye colour? Better go back and sort that out now."
"Where is this scene going to fit in? Bet you didn't think about that when you started."
"Whoops, typo."
"This really isn't all that good."
Not helpful: not when you are completely absorbed in the magic. My scene turned from something vivid and real into a cardboard cut-out, and I stopped, discouraged.

Not today, though. I gave into them yesterday, but today I've hung a wonky, hand-painted sign saying "No Grown-ups!" at the door to my brain. Don't want them, don't need them. They can have a cup of tea in the kitchen and grumble all they like, but they're not getting in.

They'll be useful when I get to the methodical, frowning-at-the-screen stage of revision, of course. Until then, though: no grown-ups allowed!