2016 has been an odd year. In spite of its cavalier attitude to celebrity lifespans and its blatant disregard for commonsense voting, opinion poles and the general prospects for the future of humanity, my 2016 has been a bit, well… meh! It’s not been a bad year, I’ve had some really good times, a fantastic …
The Editing Iceberg
If you’ve ever written a story you’ll know how important editing is to the process. Without it (unless you’re some sort of alien genius) your story will be flabby or under-developed or just not as good as it could be. Editing is the only way I know to make a story better. The first draft …
July Edit – part 3 – The End
Mission accomplished! Draft 4 is complete! It’s taken a month longer than I had originally planned but I’m there now, so who cares how long it took! Structurally the second half of the book is quite different than it was in draft 3, shifting the focus onto the characters rather than the situation. As Steve …
July Edit – part 2 – Hampstead reccy
I’ve made some actual progress this week. It feels like I’ve hit the brow of the hill and can see what’s left to do. I’ve just started on Chapter 24, so only 9 more to go! (Unless I decide to write some more new ones!) The good thing about getting lots done on the edit …
July Edit – part 1
Almost the middle of the month already? How did that happen? Well I’m at the beginning of chapter 18, so it’s been super slow going over the last two weeks, but I’m hopeful for a quickening of the pace now I’ve got some of the biggest changes in place. And I’m off to London later …
June Edit – part 5
“Here’s the challenge, Niel: you’ve got a month to do the next draft of The Death of Goldilocks. Thirty three chapters in thirty days. Are you in?” Yeah, I was in all right, right up to my neck! It was a good idea but hopelessly optimistic! (I might get that put on my tombstone.) I’m about halfway …
June Edit – part 4 – Euston reccy
Chapter 14 is my home now. Almost halfway. Ah well, I’ll finish when I finish, but it’s not going to be by the end of the month, that’s for sure! Still, I’ve made some good progress this week, and even did a reccy of some of the book’s London locations. I took a walk up and …
June Edit – part 2
One week in to my June editing challenge and I’m doing OK. I’m up to chapter 7, so I’m a bit behind schedule, but one of those chapters is almost completely new. I’m hoping I can pick up some pace this week but I’m entering a part of the book that needs some serious thought. …
June Edit – part 1
“Here’s the challenge, Niel: you’ve got a month to do the next draft of The Death of Goldilocks. Thirty three chapters in thirty days. Are you in?” This is the voice in my head, always challenging me, always taunting me, except when it’s singing songs I hate, or deleting important memories and replacing them with …