Beats and How to Spice Up Your Dialogue

I’m just taking a short breaking from working through the line edits for Amy Green, Bridesmaid Blitz which will be out in October. The timing’s pretty tight so I’m trying to devote as many hours to them as I possibly can, day and night.

Line edits come after the structural edit (sometimes there can be more than one of these if the editor has encountered lots of things they’d like to see changed or worked through) and accompanying author’s re-write. It’s when the editor (or sometimes a different editor) goes through each line of the book, making notes and suggesting changes; some small, like changing a word or adding a line, some bigger, like moving a scene, or checking a character’s motivation rings true.

It’s a vital part of your book’s progression from manuscript to finished bound book, and it’s important to put everything you can into it. By the end of the editing process you should a/ know every chapter practically off by heart and b/ be ready to let your work go, knowing you’ve done all you can to make it the best book possible.

And yes, you can get more than a little sick of your own book by the end of things, that’s kind of normal. It drives you on to write the next book and start the whole process all over again. Like childbirth, you forget the hard bits and keep writing regardless.

There are several issues that are reoccurring throughout my Amy Green book, which is now in its fifth draft. The main one is my ‘beats’ or lack of. ‘Beats’ are (and I’m quoting a book on editing here by Renni Browne and Dave King) bits of action interspersed through a scene, such as a character walking to a window or removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes – the literary equivalent of what is know as theatre as ‘stage business’.’

So there you have it – ‘beats’. Bits that spice up the dialogue, and often, make sense of what’s happening when characters are talking.

My problem – this is book 3 in the series. I now know my characters so well that the action unfolds right in front of my eyes. But I have to keep remembering that my readers don’t know my characters the way I do. They may need some nudges in the right direction. They won’t know Amy is staring at her feet and mumbling unless I say or show she is.

But too many ‘beats’ and the dialogue starts to sound stilted and unnatural. It’s a difficult balance.

‘Beats’ – good word, isn’t it? Better get back to the line edit – it won’t wait!

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

The Mind of a 7 Year Old

Quick one today as I’m supposed to be writing my new Ask Amy Green book - book 4 - Party Drama-rama. I was flicking through my daughter’s school workbook this morning – Window on the World Activity Book B. She’s in Senior Infants and she’s just 7.

The book is fun, colourful and relevant. But the writer in me instantly thought how useful books like this are for finding ideas and stories to interest this early reading age group.

In the pages she had drawn things from her own life and things that interest her. Her favourite toy for example is her Nintendo DS. Computers are a big part of her life – lots of pics of those! (Draw things that need electricity). And boats. Lots and lots of boats! (Draw things from your summer holiday).

It’s a fascinating insight into her world – the things she likes, the colours she uses, the way she sees everything around her.

What a great way for a writer to get into the mind of a 7 year old. Grab your child’s (or rob your niece or nephews') workbook today and look, really look at what she or he is drawing and writing about. You may be surprised. I certainly was!

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

More on Writer's Stamina

More on Writer’s Stamina In yesterday's Irish Times, Frank McNally wrote about Michael Collins, the Limerick writer who now lives in America. I met Michael two years ago at the West Cork Literary Festival and he’s a most interesting man to talk to.

Anyway, according to Frank, Michael writes between 3am – AM! – and 6 am, then he teaches all day, writes again between 4pm and 6pm, and sometimes between 9pm and 11pm. Holy moly! Superman writing stamina that. Oh and he also runs ultra-marathons. And yes, the man really does exist.

But this got me thinking about writing mothers and their stamina. When Amy was a small baby I used to write while feeding her, scribbling in my notebook over her little prone body. And I’m by no means the only mum who has written a book while their child was tiny.

Most writing mums don’t really get much in the way of maternity leave. With Jago, my third, I gave myself a much longer break from writing, but it was still only a few months before I was itching to (and needed to financially) get back to my desk. I know, I know, it’s a disease!

Ireland has produced an explosion of strong, intelligent, creative, witty, highly professional writers over the last fifteen years, women who are respected and loved all over the world. We have authors like Anne Enright and Claire Kilroy flying the flag for literary fiction; in the popular fiction corner, the great Maeve Binchy, and the other popular fiction giants, Marian Keyes, Sheila O’Flanagan, Cathy Kelly, Patricia Scanlan, and more recently Cecelia Ahern; Alex Barclay and Arlene Hunt heading up the crime team. And Galway based Kate Thompson has won more children’s literature awards than I can remember. And now, and now, our first Children’s Laureate is a woman – the wonderful Siobhan Parkinson.

Let’s hear it for the girls!

Last time I counted there are around twenty-five Irish women writers making a living from writing fiction. If you include children’s writers, illustrators and non fiction writers, I’m sure there are at least a dozen more. So there close to forty Irish women writers chipping away, day after day, creating, creating, creating.

Isn’t that something to celebrate? I’m proud to be part of the tribe.

McNally said in hsi piece ‘Any writer who starts work at 3am every day deserves some respect.’ Hear, hear. But please also raise a glass to the writing mums: the writing and minding toddlers at the same time women; the mothering by day, writing by night women; the juggling school runs, book launches and what’s-in-your-handbag-interview women; the ones desperately trying to keep their plot running in their head while sitting in the hospital waiting room with a teenager with a broken finger women (ie me!) so they can drop the teenager back to school with a strapped up finger and get back to work; the ones who wrote whole books while sitting outside the school waiting for their kids. Here’s to me and you, ladies!

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

Creating a Series Bible

As some of you will know I am currently working on book 4 of my Ask Amy Green series for young teens. My series was called Amy Green: Teen Agony Queen, which although it sounded pretty zippy, apparently means some parents, teachers and librarians weren’t buying it for age 10/11+ which it is aimed at. The clue was in the word ‘teen’! So Walker, who are very sensible when it comes to pretty much everything, tweaked the series name slightly.

I digress – yes, again! I know, I know, I’m always digressing!

Back to my point. In order to keep track of the ages, physical characteristics, birthdays, clothes, hair, eyes, dancing ability, musical tastes, name of ex-girlfriends/bands/schools and a myriad of other details I need to remember which is only growing and growing with every book, I have a big spiral notebook in which I jot down these things. I refer to if I get a bit confused/lost/freaked out.

And it’s proved invaluable. Each character has their own page, or in the main characters’ cases, pages. Even very minor characters are covered. And I have sticky notes attached to the top of pages with some of the characters’ names on them. It’s all messy, messy but it works.

For example on Mills’s page I have:

Mills Starr, age 13 Dog – Simba (Jeepers, quite honestly I’d forgotten I’d given the Starrs a dog – darn it!) Claire – Mills’s big sis – in Perm at a ballet school Mills – great cook Long dark brown hair she wears in a ponytail mostly Classic dresser – quite safe Good with engines – can jump start cars (with leads I mean, not stealing them – she’d never, ever do something like that.), check oil and water etc Dad – Allan – age 56 – mad into model boats and airfix – bit of a geek (Rex hasn’t actually appeared in any books but he has been referenced), Titanic nut Mum - Sue Starr – 51 - Cath Kidson addict and loves baking Mills’s birthday – Valentine’s Day Says ‘Holy Moly’ a lot Her real name is Amelia Salutes at magpies and is scared of crossed sticks Into star signs Lives in 21 Sycamore Park Hiccups in her sleep Fave food – choc brownies Fave colour – pink Collects stones from the beaches she’s visited In 2O, Mr Olen's class This list goes on and on and on and on . . .

I won’t bore you with any more – but you get the idea. You should see the pages for Amy and Clover if you think Mills’s is looking long!

As well as being useful, it’s also fun. I only wish I could draw so I could sketch my characters too. I do envy the author/illustrators.

Anyway yesterday I found out that what I’ve been doing – my notebook of characters – is called a ‘series bible’. Great name, eh!

So folks, how’s your own series bible coming along? Start one now before you need one - it will make your writing life a whole lot easier, believe me.

Yours in writing,

Sarah X