Saturday 30 August 2014

IT'S SO MUCH FUN CREATING A MONSTER!

I love creating a baddie - they're so much more colourful than the goodies. Here's Great Aunt Dorothy from my children's novel THE MYSTERY OF CRAVEN MANOR:

As his eyes became accustomed to the dimness he saw something bulky in the corner, motionless in the shadows. Then the hum of wheels and Great Aunt Dorothy moved forward to greet him. He tried not to stare at the grotesque figure in the wheelchair. Great Aunt Dorothy was immense. He thought she was probably the fattest person he had ever seen. Her flesh - so much flesh that it overflowed the sides of the chair - was swathed in black, and in spite of the warmth of the day a fur cape hid her shoulders. Her dark hair was coiled in an elaborate pyramid of curls, held by a large tortoiseshell comb. Matt wondered if it was a wig. He wondered if she was bald underneath.
Thick white powder clogged the heavy folds of her face and neck. Against the whiteness her scarlet lips and the dabs of rouge on her cheeks gave her the look of a sinister clown.  Her eyes were sharp and black as basalt. 

On her lap was a large open box of chocolates. A plump hand hovered over it, chose and popped one into the scarlet circle of her mouth.

'You may sit on the bed,' she said. He stared at the rumpled satin sheets. A heavy musky scent rose from them.

She laughed, a slurpy chesty laugh that set her mounds of flesh shaking in several directions at once.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

DESIRE AND OBSESSION

These are really strong, meaty themes in a novel. When you encounter them, it's hard to put your book down, turn off the light and go to sleep.

Here are some unforgettable characters whose lives revolved around one or both of these themes: 

JAY GATSBY
Jay Gatsby's life is ruled by his obsession for Daisy Buchanan, a beautiful but shallow young woman who had a slight flirtation with him several years ago which she promptly forgot. But Gatsby can't forget her and everything he has done - the fortune he's amassed, the huge mansion he has rented on Long Island Sound, his incredible wardrobe of clothes, his possessions, his staff, the parties he throws for hundreds of minor and major celebrities, slight acquaintances and hangers-on - all of these have the sole aim of impressing Daisy when he meets her again. (THE GREAT GATSBY by F Scott Fitzgerald)

THE SECOND WIFE
The shy young second wife of Maxim de Winter is timid, inexperienced, gauche and lacking in confidence and self esteem. After a -whirlwind engagement and marriage she becomes the mistress of Manderley, Maxim's legendary Cornish house. Everywhere at Manderley she finds traces of Rebecca, Maxim's beautiful first wife who died in mysterious circumstances. The second Mrs de Winter, who is never given a name by the author, thus making her even more insignificant, becomes obsessed with Rebecca, comparing herself unfavourably with her predecessor. (REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier)

MRS DANVERS
Mrs Danvers is the housekeeper at Manderley who doted on Rebecca and enshrines her memory. She is resentful of Maxim's new wife, still fiercely loyal to her beloved Rebecca and refuses to let anyone usurp her place, even though she is dead. She keeps Rebecca's bedroom, Rebecca's clothes, even the nightdress she had last worn, exactly as they were, and does her best to destroy Maxim's new marriage. (REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier)

MISS HAVISHAM
Miss Haversham was jilted on her wedding day. On that day her life stopped, and in the decades that follow she has become obsessed with taking revenge on men through the medium of the young Estella. Her obsession has warped and twisted her mentally and physically, so that she has become a cruel and monstrous person. But knowing of the tragedy and humiliation that befell her, the reader can't help but feel sorry for her. On the one hand we see a monster. On the other, we have a vision of an innocent, trusting and happy young girl experiencing a terrible rejection. (GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens) 








Saturday 23 August 2014

USING ALL THE FIVE SENSES


Bring the settings of your story or novel to life by using as many senses as possible. Three examples below.


A LEAFY STREET IN A WEALTHY SUBURB
The street dreams in the sleepy afternoon sun. The great oaks and sycamores that shadow the manicured  lawns are still. Not a leaf trembles, not a bird stirs to search for food or to send a message to its neighbours. High above the roofs of the houses an aeroplane travels slowly across the haze blue sky, so high it cannot be heard. A piano tinkles in a room somewhere. A dog barks half heartedly. It is three o'clock and the street waits. For the children to race each other home from school. For the husbands to motor back from the City. For the houses to shake themselves awake after their afternoon nap.

URBAN SLUM - 1930'S
The street was almost empty. Head down, Jenny plodded stolidly towards the corner, eyes focussed on the stained and spotted pavements. Midday meals were being eaten behind net curtains, and the odours of fish and liver and frying fat and sausages fought each other down the long row of terraced houses. A greeting came from Mrs Fiskett, who was down on her knees scrubbing her front step. Her flowered pinny had soaked up the grey soapy water and her hands were reddened, almost raw. 

A NEGLECTED GARDEN
Years ago when the gardens were regularly tended they must have been beautiful, but now, like the house, they were abandoned and unkempt. Here and there the sweeping curve of a flower bed showed beneath the burgeoning weeds and in odd corners a few lank daisies struggled upwards through the summer strong nettles, but the unpruned roses were already gaunt and leafless, and ivy had strangled the gnarled old trees. Kathy ploughed through the orchard, unseen rotting apples squelching beneath her feet. The long grass billowed in damp hummocks around her legs.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

ADDING DETAIL TO YOUR CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

Getting to Grips with Character Descriptions

How to avoid the hackneyed 'reflection in a mirror' trick. Show your characters through the eyes of others or through dialogue or action. Here are some examples from my books:

Someone prodded me in the small of the back. I turned sharply, ready for an argument. The prodder was a woman. Small, middle aged. Round face, round eyes bright with recognition, faded curls below a yellow beret. A dumpy body buttoned tight into a brown tweed coat. A small pink mouth furrowed in disapproval. (I Knew It Was You.
The words are those of the main character, a middle aged accountant)

At the table on my right the interviewer is a young woman, pleasant faced and smiling, but at the moment she's trying to pacify the traveller sitting opposite. He's about fifty, overweight, flushed to the colour of a cranberry and in danger of exploding like a shaken up bottle of fizz. He's dressed as I imagine an affluent middle class guest on a cruise to dress: navy blazer, cream trousers pressed to a knife edged crease, a blue and white striped shirt. And a cravat. His wife, quiet but obviously tense, wears a button-through beige linen dress with hair and complexion to match.
'Now look here, young lady!' The man is practically spitting at the interviewer. 'I don't know what this is about but if it's part of the holiday cruise I shall be demanding a refund. This is disgraceful treatment!' 
Three characters described briefly by the main character, a stroppy young woman.

The barman who fetched my beer was a mountain of a man with a greasy ponytail and a tightly stretched tee shirt stained with sweat at the armpits. He took an age to reach my table and I watched the foaming liquid slop over the edge of the glass with every heavy footstep, until when he finally reached me more than a third had escaped. 

Here's an exercise to try. Describe a middle aged man standing outside the gates of a primary school -
a) through the eyes of a child in the playground
b) through the eyes of a teacher on playground duty
c) through the eyes of a mother waiting to collect her child
d) through the man's own thoughts


Thursday 14 August 2014

HOW TO WRITE EXCRUCIATING LITERATURE


A short lesson on how to improve(?) your writing skills.

When writing dialogue, don't use 'he said', 'she said'. There are so many wonderful alternatives:
'Help me,' she screeched. 'That's funny,' she giggled. 'My God!' he ejaculated. 'Is it raining?' he enquired. 'Come here!' he demanded. 'Go away!' he shouted.
Most published writers use 'he said' or perhaps 'he asked' most of the time, but it's nice to be different, isn't it?

What about adverbs? Lovely, aren't they? And they add to your word count. Here are some examples of tautology (ie saying the same thing twice over):
He hissed sibilantly, she laughed merrily, he shouted loudly, she ran quickly, he ambled slowly. 
Well, some readers are a bit thick, aren't they? They need that extra explanation.

What about word length? Naturally you want readers to appreciate your literary skills, and short simple words won't do it, will they?
So get out that Thesaurus and look up as many multi-syllabic options as you can. And while you're at it, why not scrap those short pithy sentences for longer, more comnplicated ones?

There! Isn't that better? Your 1500-word short story is now 3000 words (and totally unreadable).