Not a Bowl of Cherries

When I returned from holiday accompanied by the virus my car would not start. I phoned the AA for help. The mechanic replaced the battery. Today, feeling a lot better I popped up to the local Allotment Society to get some tomato feed. When I returned to the car it would not start. I called the AA again. The diagnosis is faulty starter motor is. Matters turned into a nightmare. The mechanic told me that if I turned off the engine the car would not start again and I must take it to a garage to be repaired. If I didn't and the car would not start again I would not be entitled to the AA Relay service, which would mean paying a proverbial arm an a leg to have it towed. (I am going to query this with the AA when the office opens tomorrow.) Well! It's Sunday. My only option was to take it to Quickfit. Their mechanic would have to confirm the diagnosis and the mechanic will not be available until Friday or later. By then the virus was kicking in. My daughter collected me and took me home. I phoned a mechanic. He said that if it is the starter motor the whole engine would have to come out in order to replace it so it might not be worth repairing the car. Oh dear, oh dear, last time my car had to be scrapped it took ages to find another one  second hand one. The loss of freedom to go out whenever I wanted to was very depressing and I can't stand the thought of going through it again.

When I returned from holiday accompanied by the virus my car would not start. I phoned the AA for help. The mechanic replaced the battery. Today, feeling a lot better I popped up to the local Allotment Society to get some tomato feed. When I returned to the car it would not start. I called the AA again. The diagnosis is faulty starter motor is. Matters turned into a nightmare. The mechanic told me that if I turned off the engine the car would not start again and I must take it to a garage to be repaired. If I didn't and the car would not start again I would not be entitled to the AA Relay service, which would mean paying a proverbial arm an a leg to have it towed. (I am going to query this with the AA when the office opens tomorrow.) Well! It's Sunday. My only option was to take it to Quickfit. Their mechanic would have to confirm the diagnosis and the mechanic will not be available until Friday or later. By then the virus was kicking in. My daughter collected me and took me home. I phoned a mechanic. He said that if it is the starter motor the whole engine would have to come out in order to replace it so it might not be worth repairing the car. Oh dear, oh dear, last time my car had to be scrapped it took ages to find another one  second hand one. The loss of freedom to go out whenever I wanted to was very depressing and I can't stand the thought of going through it again.

Not a Bowl of Cherries

When I returned from holiday accompanied by the virus my car would not start. I phoned the AA for help. The mechanic replaced the battery. Today, feeling a lot better I popped up to the local Allotment Society to get some tomato feed. When I returned to the car it would not start. I called the AA again. The diagnosis is faulty starter motor is. Matters turned into a nightmare. The mechanic told me that if I turned off the engine the car would not start again and I must take it to a garage to be repaired. If I didn't and the car would not start again I would not be entitled to the AA Relay service, which would mean paying a proverbial arm an a leg to have it towed. (I am going to query this with the AA when the office opens tomorrow.) Well! It's Sunday. My only option was to take it to Quickfit. Their mechanic would have to confirm the diagnosis and the mechanic will not be available until Friday or later. By then the virus was kicking in. My daughter collected me and took me home. I phoned a mechanic. He said that if it is the starter motor the whole engine would have to come out in order to replace it so it might not be worth repairing the car. Oh dear, oh dear, last time my car had to be scrapped it took ages to find another one  second hand one. The loss of freedom to go out whenever I wanted to was very depressing and I can't stand the thought of going through it again.

Back from Holiday

Life is not a bowl of cherries. During my holiday in glorious Devon I felt very unwell. I returned from holiday last Saturday and went to the doctor on Monday. Deep sigh, I have a viral infection and am taking antibiotics. At the moment, I have no energy.

Offline

I shall be without internet for two weeks, after which I shall post T is for Telling,

 

All the best,

Rosemary Morris

 

Historical Novelist

 

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

Show Don't Tell in Fiction

Many of us grew up listening to stories which began, for example: 'Once upon a time there was a king and queen had no children, until, after they thought they would never have a child, they were delighted when the queen became pregnant.." This is an extreme example of telling, which is boring. It includes the followingwords which should be avoided whenever possible:- 'had', 'was' and 'were'.

An alternative could be:

Queen Anne looked out of the window at children playing with a ball in the courtyard of the castle. She sighed. "If only we could have a child."

King James put his arm around her. "Perhaps we will."

Queen Anne doubted it until, several months later, she disturbed her husband in a council meeting to speak to him privately.

"What is it," the king asked, "you know you shouldn't interrupt me when-"

"Shush, your majesty. I couldn't wait to tell you I am expecting a child."

When I finish a novel, I highlight 'had', 'was' and 'were'. I then see if I can rephrase text containing these words.

Of course, the culprits are part of the English Language that we cannot avoid using, but we should make sure we are showing the reader what happens not telling them what happened.
.



  

R is for Romance

Many of the most famous novels are either romances or have an element of romance in them.

Most of us have experienced romance which novelists can draw on when writing about the subject. Whatever we write the characters must spring to life from the page and, if the reader is not going to lose faith in them, their circumstances and behaviour be believable.

Consider Pride and Prejudice which contains the classic ingredients of an engrossing romance with many obstacles which inhibit it until the happy ever after ending.  When the couple first meet they should not fall in love at first sight, although they can be attracted to each other, on the other hand they could be angry or suspicious, be reluctantly drawn to each other, be wary, embarrassed or annoyed.

The setting must be romantic - a holiday in a five* hotel or cottage with rambling roses round the door, an exotic place - a houseboat in Kashmir, a log cabin by a lake in Canada, Venice, a beautiful island.

When writing about the location, descriptions and language needs to be sensuous, employing the five senses, and conveying food, perfumes etc. Everything should be larger than life.

Romance has it's own language to draw the reader deeper and deeper into the story. Short sharp sentences emphasise conflict and drama. Longer sentences allow the reader 'to smell the roses'.

Historical romance requires extensive research - a foolish mistake will cause the reader to lose faith in the author.

Finally, the reader should be able to fall in love with the hero or heroine in spite of their faults. After all, in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind Rhett Butler understood Scarlet's flaws and loved her passionately in spite of them.

Q is for Quest

Quests are a crucial part of fable, fantasy, legend and myth. To name only a few, there are a wealth of fascinating quests in The Odyssey, the search for the Holy Grail by Arthur's knights of the Round Table, which so many novelists have written about, Tolkien's novels beginning with The Hobbit, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson's The Olympians and Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials series).

Perhaps it is significant that the child in all of us enjoys children's novels with riveting quests.

Quests in fiction are important. What does the hero or  heroine want? At the beginning of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, her self-absorbed heroine, Scarlet O'Hara's quest is to attract every man at a barbecue, whether she wants them or not, and, above all, to marry Ashley Wilkes, who she pursues until the final chapter.

I have yet to read a novel in which there is not a quest - for love, to find out who done it, to take revenge, to be a successful businessman or woman, actor, actress, artist, poet or author etc.

So, before I write the first line of a new novel or short story I ask myself what the main characters' quests are

Q is for Quest

Quests are the foundation of oral history, fantasy, legend and myths.

Surely one of the most famous quests, about which so much has been written, is the quest for the Holy Grail in the days of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

P is for Pace

Instead of telling a reader about an event it would be more interesting in dialogue.

e.g. Jane remembered the day on which her dog ran away and is glad to get him back.

e.g. Tears filled Jane's eyes as she hugged Rover. "Thank you, thank you for returning him. I've been out of my mind with worry since he ran away."

Involve the five senses to show the reader characters. Allow them to bring back memories of the past. For example, a whiff of a particular perfume brings my mother to mind. A snatch of Indian music reminds me of a performance of a dancer's amazing performance as a peacock. Your characters will have their own memories which lead into the present.

Involve the protagonist instead of relying on description. Instead of, for example, describing a character's new gown, allow her to admire it, smooth it and tweak it into place. Let your reader see her.

Show a scene through a character's eyes, what does he or she like or dislike about it? Show the character touching things. If he or she is outside on a rainy, windy day show how they react perhaps by struggling with an umbrella, perhaps wishing he or she had worn a raincoat.

Conflict increases the pace and so does danger. To heighten them, use short sharp sentences. However, don't rush the pace throughout the novel, alternate tense scenes with calm ones.

O is for Opening Lines

When I write the opening lines of a novel, I visualise a customer reading the first sentences. No matter how attractive the front book cover is, or how intriguing the blurb on the back cover is, if the first lines don't grip the reader, the sale will be lost.

When I submit a novel or short story, I send it with a prayer, hoping the agent or publisher will be hooked by the first lines and be reeled in by the following ones.

My historical novel Far Beyond Rubies begins:-

 

' “Bastards, Juliana! You and your sister are bastards.”

'Aghast, Juliana stared at William, her older half-brother, although, not for a moment did she believe his shocking allegation.' 

William's accusation and Juliana's reaction are intended to grip the reader and make them want to read on.

The first sentence of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind is:-

"Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realised it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton Twins were."

In his book, Writing the Blockbuster Novel, Albert Zuckerman comments. "This sixteen-year old girl is presented as someone out of the ordinary."

The first lines are crucial and the author needs to give them very careful consideration.

N is for Names

I like to read novels - particularly historical ones, including historical romance, by authors whose fiction I have not read before. When choosing what to read, the character's names are very important to me. If, for example, the hero, who is a mediaeval knight', is called Wayne and the heroine is a mediaeval lady, for example, called Flossie, I don't choose that book. If the names are inappropriate it indicates the author's research might leave much to be desired.

Wayne or Waine is not listed in The Oxford Book of English Christian names, but "Wainwright. Old English waegnwyrhta 'wainwright, wagon-builder" is mentioned in The Reader's Digest Great Encylopaedic Dictionary as a surname.

 Florence, which is shortened Florrie, Flo, Floy or Flossie, became common in the 19th century.

The name, Florence, derives from Florentia, female and Florentius, male. Florence was used in the Middle Ages about equally as a man's or a woman's name but died out as a man's name.

That's enough about the origin of the name, Florence, but as I have already mentioned a heroine in the middle ages called Flossie would put me off the novel.

When choosing names for my characters I refer to The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary useful for both Christian and Surnames,  and Burke's Peerage as well as a book of first names for Babies which includes names from many parts of the world. As for Burkes, it's fascinating, and provides a treasure trove of unusual first names and surnames some of which have been handed down from generation to generation.

Until I have named my main characters they do not spring to life in my imagination. I spend many happy hours browsing names in my search for appropriate ones.

M is for Memory

It is mortifying if a novelist describes a character's eyes as blue and later refers to them as grey. In order to avoid such mistakes I fill in a detailed character profile, which includes appearance, for main characters and a simpler one for minor characters, which also includes their appearance.

In my new historical novel Monday's Child there are many minor characters. Instead of depending on my memory, I have a card index in which I record the names of those who have a very minor role.

These aids to memory are very useful. I remember reading a historical novel which began with the main character, who was called - say - Lady Violet. Half way through the novel Lady Rose was introduced. What had happened? The author had changed her mind about calling the main protagonist Lady Violet and re-named her. Unfortunately, she forgot to change the name in the first half of the novel and - amazingly - neither the contents editor nor the line editor notice so the name  Lady Rose replaced Lady Violet when the novel was published. Of course, this is an extreme example, but novelist's beware, but I wonder what the readers made of it.

L is for Line Editing

Before I begin a new chapter, I read through the previous one and tweak it prior to submitting it to an online historical critique group for constructive comments and suggestions. My 'critiquers' are kind enough to point out missing commas, awkward phrases and much more as well as letting me know what they like. After I apply whatever I agree with, I read chapters aloud at Watford Writers where I receive invaluable feedback,  including suggestions re editing.
,
The hard work begins after I finish a novel. First of all, I highlight words I want to use sparingly, such as and,  was,  were,  had,  as, etc.I then look, for example , for   phrases  joned by and. Frequently, I divide sentences into two by deleting and, which makes my prose more concise.

I then use the spelling and grammar check to correct spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Afterwards I check both the spelling and grammar when I re-read the entire novel.

I make sure that I have not either repeated any words frequently or used the same word too close together.

For example: in the sequel to Sunday's Child, Monday's Child I wrote the following:-

"Appreciative of his well-schooled, black gelding, Langley mounted and settled on the saddle. He patted the powerful animal’s glossy neck.

A wagon pulled by powerful Flemish horses approached from the opposite direction."

When writing I was concentrating on the story, when editing I replaced ' the powerful Flemish horses' with 'the strong Flemish horses.'

I remove clichés, unless a character uses them in dialogue - but I still use them sparingly - get rid of anything trite and make sure my metaphors read well.

I also rewrite sentences and sometimes move a scene from one part of the novel to another.

Finally, prior to submission, I check the novel by reading it aloud bit by bit because if I read too much at a time my concentration wavers.

K is for Kaleidoscope - novelist's.

One definition of kaleidoscope in Collins's English Dictionary is "any complicated pattern of frequently changing shapes and colours."

When writing my novels shapes and colours develop and enrich my writing.

For example, in my new historical novel, Monday's Child, the sequel to Sunday's Child, I wrote:  "Helen shook her head and looked down at the path riddled with tree roots." This is more interesting than writing: "Helen looked down at the path." Also, although it is unnecessary to describe the precise shape of the roots the reader will be able to imagine them.

Helen has to make a life-changing decision so I used shapes to develop the sub-text. "Helen traced a pattern with the tip of her toe on the ground between two roots that resembled hands reaching out to grab her." This is more effective than writing. "Helen traced a pattern on the ground with the tip of her toe." The reader can visualise the shapes of roots shaped like hands.

After I have written the first draft of a novel, I imagine it as either a patchwork waiting to be finished with stitches binding it to the backing, or as an incomplete piece of embroidery. To embellish the fabric of the novel I employ the five senses, or faculties, of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.

One example of sight and smell in Monday's Child, which I have not yet submitted to my publisher,  is:- "Near the kiosk he thought he saw a movement by an oak tree, where sunlight kissed bluebells at its base. An errant breeze wafted their fragrant perfume to him – a fragrance so different to smoke- laden air on battlefields. " ('He' is a captain serving under the Duke of Wellington.)

The novels I enjoy most are those in which the authors have developed not only - in the words of Collins English Dictionary - "In addition to the five traditional faculties of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell ... are the means by which bodily position, temperature, pain, balance etc., are perceived."

 

 

 

J is for Juggling.

No, I'm not writing about throwing balls in the air and catching them. Yesterday I wrote about ideas.  Today I'm writing about juggling the ideas for novels, novellas, short stories and articles which are in my head.

I keep an ideas file, and when I am about to write something new I juggle the ideas and spend a lot of time tossing them up and down in my mind before choosing one.

At the moment I would like to enter a competition and in spare moments am juggling three ideas. At first, I thought of writing a ghost story and rejected it because I think a lot of competitors will write one, then I considered a love story with a happy ever after ending after many problems and rejected it for the same reason, and I also rejected a murder story. I like one of my new  shortlist of three ideas, but am not sure whether I can succeed in turning it into a credible, unusual story. While I'm going about my daily tasks I'll keep a notebook nearby and juggle my ideas for the first sentence, the characters, and the important questions, who? what? when? where? why? and how? At the thought of so much hard mental work my head is now spinning like the juggler's balls when he tosses them up into the air.

I is for Ideas

There are many triggers which provide ideas. Snatches of overheard conversation, snippets in newspapers, articles in magazines, non-fiction books, various situations in our daily lives and those of friends and acquaintances.

All of us have access to these triggers, but some people merely find them interesting other people use them to write fiction.  Sometimes ideas stay with us for a long time. Again and again we return to them and eventually write the first line of a short story or novel.  We have grasped the trigger and developed it by asking ourselves: What happened? Where did it happen? When did it happen. Why did it Happen? How did it Happen? Who did it happen to?

At a party hosted by another fiction writer, a gentleman followed me around telling me at length that he had many ideas and wanted to write a novel. Eventually, desperate to be rid of him, I said. "I'll tell you how to write one." He thought I had a magic formula but I told him. "Write the first word and continue until you reach the end." Good advice, although I say so myself, we never know where our ideas will take us.

I Am Anna Markland's guest blogger.

Today, I am a guest at Anna Markland's blog. http://annamarkland@gmail.com

I've blogged about the era's in which I set my historical fiction.

H is for Useful Historical Non-Fiction

I haven’t got time to count how many historical non-fiction books I own and use to research my novels.

Below is a list of books I chose to list at random to. As you might guess from the titles I’m in love with history.

 

Peter Ackroyd – Albion. The Origins of English Imagination.

 

Louise Allen - Walks Through Regency England.

 

Louise Allen - Walking Jane Austen’s London. A Tour Guide for the Modern Traveller.

 

Magi Black – A Taste of History. 10,000 Years of Food in Britain.

 

John Buke -  Life in the Castle in Mediaeval England.

 

Elizabeth – Burton – The Jacobeans at Home.

 

Anne de Courcey – The Fishing Fleet. Husband Hunting in the British Raj.

 

William Dalyrymple – White Mughals. Love and Betrayal in 18^th Century India.

 

Ian Fletcher - Galloping at Everything. The British Cavalry in the Peninsula War and Waterloo 1808-1815.   

 

Kristine Hughes - Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England from 1811-1901.

 

Sherrilyn Kenyon - The Writers Guide to Every Day Life in the Middle Ages.

 

Margaret Wade Labage. - A Baronial Household in the 13^th Century.

 

David Miller - Lady de Lancey - A Story of Duty and Devotion.

 

Ian Mortimer – The Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England.

 

Oxford History of England. May McKissack - The Fourteenth Century 1307 – 1399.

 

The British Museum - Georgians Revealed. Life, Style and Making of Modern Britain.

 

M & C Quenell – A History of Everday Things in Britain

 

Jenny Uglow - A Gambling Man. Charles II and The Restoration.

 

Jenny Uglow - A Little History of British Gardening.

 

C. Willet and Phillis Cunnington – Handbook of English Medieval Costume.

 

 

 

 

 

H is for some of my favourite historical novels

The following list is of historical fiction chosen at random from my bookshelves. Each of them have one thing in common – in future, I will read them again.

 

It would be interesting to know if anyone else treasures a book on my list.

 

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

Sara Dane by Catherine Cookson

Sharpe (series) Bernard Cornwell

The Red Kimono by Christina Courtenay

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Nightingale Sisters by Donna Douglas

Call Nurse Mille by Jean Fullerton

Angelique (series) by Sergeanne Golon

A Bargain Struck by Liz Harris

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer

An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer

The Far Pavillions by M.M.Kay

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullogh

Gwenevere by Rosalind Miles

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

The River Road by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Vail d’Alvery by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Katherine by Anya Seton

No Angel by Penny Vincenzi