WHAT CAN I WRITE ABOUT?

IS YOUR BRAIN EMPTY OF NEW IDEAS? PICK UP A NEWSPAPER!

If you're a writer and you're suddenly needing new inspiration, check out your local or national newspapers.

Not the inch high headlines but the small paragraphs that  are hoarded by editors to be used as fillers on their pages.

Odd, intriguing, funny or just plain weird, they're a wonderful storehouse of starting points for short story writers or novelists. 

Here are a few which I've keyed into my IDEAS file :

A FRENCH HUNTER HAS HAD HIS RIGHT HAND AMPUTATED AFTER BEING SHOT BY HIS DOG WHILE DEER HUNTING

BELGIAN WOMAN SETS OUT TO DRIVE 38 MILES TO BRUSSELS USING HER SATNAV,  ARRIVES IN THE CROATIAN CAPITAL ZAGREB 2 DAYS AND 901 MILES LATER.

PUB LANDLORD FINDS DEAD BODY OF REGULAR CUSTOMER IN THE GENTS' LAVATORY. FEARING THE POLICE WOULD CLOSE THE PUB FOR INVESTIGATIONS, HE HIDES THE BODY IN ONE OF THE PUB'S BEDROOMS FOR 4 DAYS.

AMERICAN FARMER EATEN BY OWN PIGS - here's one for the horror fiction writers. ALL THAT'S FOUND IS HIS SET OF FALSE TEETH.

COMA MOTHER LOSES 13 YEARS OF MEMORIES.

MOTHER RUNS BROTHEL TO PAY FOR CHILDREN'S SCHOOL FEES.

These are all genuine reports - mainly from my regular English  newspaper, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.

And here's my own favourite, possibly my next project:|

WOMAN LEAVES NOTICE ON DOOR OF HER ANTIQUE SHOP - 'BACK IN 2 MINUTES'. THIRTY  YEARS LATER SHE STILL HASN'T RETURNED.

NOBODY SAID WRITING BOOKS WAS EASY!

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) 

HOW LONG IS A NOVEL? HOW SHORT IS A NOVELLA?

A novel typically has around 95,000 words, although the range can cover anything from about 65,000 to say 350,000 or even longer. Children's novels for those who can read on their own may be shorter, say 35,000 to 40,000 words.

My own adult novels, those published on Kindle, are around 70,000 words, but if I were looking for a traditional publisher I would aim for at least 95,000 words to make the printing and distribution costs worthwhile.

A novella  is a short novel, say 20,000 to 40,000 words. It's difficult to get published traditionally in print, as the cost of printing outweighs its popularity and the price it can fetch in the bookstores, but it's now quite a popular format for e-books, eg Kindle.

The same rules apply for both novels and novellas.

Generally they must have a beginning, a middle and an ending. There should be a theme (which can usually be described in one word, eg loss, loneliness, courage, power, survival, ambition, greed, hatred, love, escape, justice, childlessness, disability) and a plot, which relates how this is overcome and reveals what happens first, what happens next and what happens at the end.

Writing a full length novel can be pretty hard graft, and it can be tempting to try and reduce your story to novella length. But generally a novel has far more 'meat' and gives you space to introduce more characters - oddball, funny or malevolent, but (of course!) always relevant to the overall theme and plot. 

FIRST DRAFT, FIFTH DRAFT - WHY BOTHER REVISING

However amazing your plot, however vital your characters, however seductive your setting, if your story/novel is poorly written it will be rejected.

So  revise, revise and revise again. Is your beginning attention-grabbing? Does your plot meander? Are there long periods of
nothing much happening?
What about superfluous adjectives, adverbs? Over-long descriptions? Telling, not showing?

What about the time scale? Have you allowed sufficient days, months or years for the action to take place?

I could go on forever, but why not make your own checklist? Here's a page from one of my own novels after a first time rewrite -, but not the last.