The Joy of Rewriting

And So I Come to the Final Day I’m procrastinating. My book – The Shoestring Proposal (working title – The Shoestring Club is book 1, this is Shoestring book 2) - is one chapter away from completion. Yes, it’s only the first draft and a fairly loose one at that. Half way through writing it I changed all kinds of things: the name of one character, another character’s motivation, the age of a child. So it’s all up for grabs in the second draft.

After writing the book solidly since Thursday 3rd February (I keep a writing diary with daily output including a word count – it’s a way of staying motivated and it’s really interesting to read back over the entries too) I know exactly what I want the book to be, what I’m trying to say on the pages, how I want the reader to feel while reading it. I just have to re-write it now and craft it into the best novel it can be, the closest I can get to my vision of the book.

I love the rewrite stage. I love tinkering with scenes, making them stronger, cutting away the fat, leaving the good, lean stuff, the muscle if you like. Tightening the dialogue, making the characters BIGGER. Making sure each person’s dialogue is distinctive. It’s an exciting stage of the writing process and one that isn’t (as far as I know) taught in schools, which is a shame. The re-writing habit should start early.

A few weeks ago I was corresponding with a writer who wants desperately to be published. I asked her how long it took her to write her book. Nineteen days she said. I was impressed and slightly taken aback. She must have been going at it full tilt.

‘And the re-writes?’ I asked.

She seemed puzzled for a second. ‘The editing you mean?’ she said. ‘Oh, they’ll do that at the publishing house. I don’t have time for all that.’

I was about to explain how you might only get one shot to impress an editor or an agent etc etc, but I kept my mouth shut. She’s clearly a very busy woman!

Next week is the West Cork Literary Festival and I’m speaking to young readers about the Ask Amy Green books and also hosting a workshop, again for young readers. After that, my holiday proper begins. Two weeks to read, eat, sail, swim and read. Did I mention the reading? Monday’s post is all about the books I’m taking with me. After that, in August, I’m back on Ask Amy Green duty, writing book 5. I can’t wait! It’s all about a young Irish ballerina and is set in Dublin and Budapest. See – my job is so much fun!

Then, when I’ve written the first draft, it’s back to The Shoestring Proposal. I’ll read over the manuscript in hard copy, make copious notes and start rewriting, by hand in notebooks and also directly onto my laptop (shell pink Sony in case anyone’s interested). It won’t go near my agent or editor until I’ve done at least three rewrites. Then – probably half way through this process – my Ask Amy Green editorial notes will wing their way back to me and I’ll get stuck in to them quickly as that book is out next year. Shoestring 2 won’t be published until 2013. Phew!

But look at me now, still procrastinating. I’m due at the page but the honest truth is I don’t want to finish this book. I’ve had so much fun writing it. Typing The End means saying goodbye to Pandora and Jules and Iris and Bird and all the characters I’ve had so much fun writing about over the last 2 years. God knows what I’ll be like saying goodbye to Amy and Clover after 5 years! But such is the writing life. And it’s a good one.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

PS Look out for the shiny new sarahwebb.ie website in September – it’s only beautiful! PPS My book is now finished - yes! *sniff, sniff*

The 21 Books I'm Taking On My Summer Holidays!

http://askamygreen.blogspot.com/ Link to the picture - for some reason it wouldn't work on this blog - apologies! I'll try again later.

This is the pile of books I’m taking on my summer holidays, whittled down from a much larger selection. I’ve been collecting them for months and I can’t wait to get stuck in. The best popular fiction, a Patrick Ness short story collection I’ve been meaning to read for ages, some YA fiction that’s coming out in the autumn, some non fiction, including Moneyball, about baseball (I love good sports books and films), and a couple of research books for my next novel.

The problem is, I only have three weeks! But I love having choice. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for anything too heavy, other times I want to get my teeth into something a bit more challenging (which is when I’ll pick up one of the YA books!). Different books for different moods.

My idea of a blissful holiday is this: quiet beach, sitting in the shade, reading while my children play in the sand or sail.

What books have you packed?

Yours in writing (and reading!),

Sarah XXX

I’m off to West Cork for most of July, so see you in August. Have a great month, hope you too get some good reading time in. I’ll be launching my band new website in September. But don’t worry, I’ll be continuing the Yours in Writing blog.

Book Festivals and What They Mean to Writers

I spent a good chunk of last weekend at the Dalkey Book Festival. There was a lovely atmosphere – lots of multi-coloured bunting slung across the streets, face painting, music – a very happy, party feel to the village. I grew up in Dalkey, near the quarry, and it’s a place very close to my heart. It’s wonderful to see such a vibrant, lively festival take over the streets.

On Saturday I hosted a writing workshop for children. Billed as for age 9+, I had a 5 year old and a 7 year old ‘writing’, or more accurately drawing pictures of what they wanted to say in their work (and very good they were too). And one very brave boy who was full of excellent ideas and didn’t seem to be at all phased to be flying solo amongst so many girls.

We did several fun exercises, concentrating on using your senses in your work – especially smell – which writers starting out don’t use half enough. Certain scents transport us to different times of our life, to other countries, to sad thoughts, to happy times.

On Sunday I spoke to Amy Green readers about ideas and inspiration, and we acted out a scene from the first Amy Green book, Boy Trouble. I had a lot of fun, and I hope they did too! Meeting readers is always a pleasure and makes my ‘day job’ worthwhile.

I also got to see some of my writer friends: Martina Devlin, Don Conroy, Niamh Sharkey, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Judi Curtin, Conor Kostick and Sinead Moriarty. We had lunch together, chatted and caught up. It’s always lovely to talk to other writers, they truly understand the pressures and joys of living a writer’s life.

I also listened to Martina Devlin and John Waters speak about being ‘blow-ins’ in Dalkey, which was most interesting. I always learn something new at other writers’ talks and try to attend as many as I can. I greatly enjoyed Listowel Writers’ Week for that reason – and made sure to catch as many different authors and musicians as possible, from Joe Craig on the piano, to Joseph O’Connor with ‘his’ band, and Alice Sebold.

Writing can be a lonely occupation at times, and book festivals are a fantastic opportunity to get out and meet fellow readers and writers. Feeding the mind and the soul is always a good thing. And it reminds me how important books are in so many different peoples’ lives, which as a writer is heartening and inspiring to know.

I’m already looking forward to the West Cork Literary Festival in July – David Soul and Michael Morpurgo in particular. And the Mountains to Sea Festival in September in Dun Laoghaire with Oliver Jeffers, Patrick Ness, Meg Rosoff, Emma Donoghue and Edna O’Brien.

Yours in Writing,

Sarah XXX

Writing is Hard, But Not Writing is Even Harder

(I wrote this last Friday.) I should be writing my new novel, The Shoestring Proposal right now. But I’m not feeling great, I’m low on energy – in a word I’m grumpy. I’m finding it hard to settle to anything and all I want to do is to go back to bed and sleep.

But I can’t. Because I have to show up at work. If I don’t, the book won’t get done and I’ll get behind and I’ll get even more grumpy and fed up. So I’ve dragged myself to the computer and I’m now about to get back to writing. I’m at 60,000 words, so ¾ of the way there, and the final chapters are usually easier for me as I know my characters inside out by this stage of the story, and I also know how I want to end the book. Getting to that end will be the interesting bit.

Writing is not easy, especially when the only person forcing you to the desk is yourself. And sometimes it’s not a good idea to make yourself work when your heart isn’t in it, it can come across in the work. But today is different. I haven’t written for a whole week, and if I don’t write today I know I’ll feel guilty all weekend. I need to put in a good writing week next week, at least four days at the desk. And in order to do that I need to write something today, anything, to get me back on track and living in my book again. Not writing makes me twitchy and unbalanced, and it also makes me feel horribly guilty.

Full time writers have the luxury of more time at the desk. But in the case of genre fiction (and increasingly all kinds of fiction), writers have to produce at least one book a year. This year Melissa Hill produced two books – one romance and one crime. Last year I published four books – three for children, one for adults. It’s a busy, busy life and writing to a strict deadline can be stressful.

Writers also have other commitments – websites to run, blogs to write, Twitter and Facebook to upkeep, festivals to talk at, schools to visit, interviews to give (and during publication month, this increases x 100), emails to answer from readers, and the whole admin side of things – emails, letters and phone calls from editors, agents, banks, accountants . . . all the things that make up a normal working person’s life in fact. There is a huge (and increasing) amount of paperwork.

But here’s the thing – it’s not as hard as getting up at 5am to cook breakfasts in a café, or housekeeping in a hotel, or waitressing for a pittance, or spending all day on your feet in a bookshop, or minding young children, or trying to sell long distance telephone lines to people who slam down the phone on you – some of the jobs I’ve had before writing full time. Writing is mentally draining, yes, but you are your own boss, you are doing something you love, and the book world is full of interesting and passionate people, especially the children’s book world.

And above all I am hugely privileged to have readers who care enough to buy the books in the first place and then write to me, thanking me for giving them another story to get lost in. So for these reasons, I am going to give myself a good shake and turn up at the page. Because writing is hard, but not writing is even harder.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

PS Despite everything, I managed 2,000 words and I feel much better for it – see, writing really can be magic.

The Importance of Character’s Names

I was in Listowel last week for the Writers’ Festival and I had a very interesting discussion with my popular fiction class about characters’ names. Often new writers don’t put enough thought or effort (or any thought or effort) into choosing names for their characters. Names are so important. Think how many hours/days/weeks people spend choosing names for their children. Names say a lot about us and our background. Some families have Christian names that have been passed down through the generations, like Colm, Sean or John. Surnames are equally important and say so much about a family. My mother was a Stanford. The male Stanfords were church men and academics. My grandfather’s name was William Bedell Stanford and he was a Professor of Classics at Trinity College, Dublin. I have an aunt called Danae, my mum is Melissa and my uncle, Gully. Strong names.

Make your character’s names mean something.

In the Amy Green books I’ve named each character carefully. Amy Green is everygirl – and her name reflects this I think as it’s an open, inclusive name. Many girls, including my own daughter, Amy-Rose, are called Amy. Clover Wildgust (an old surname I found on a gravestone), Amy’s rather mad 17 year old aunt, is a BIG character, so deserved a big name. Sylvie Wildgust, Clover’s sister and Amy’s mum, can be a bit wispy and overcome by life, I thought Sylvie suited her. Art Green is Amy’s dad, a strong, but at times selfish man. Shelly Lame, Art’s second wife, is in a word, lame!

The mean girls – the D4s – are Annabelle Hamilton, Nina Pickering, Sophie Piggott. Seth Stone is Amy’s boyfriend, Bailey Otis is Mills’s singer/surfer boyfriend.

In the new adult book, The Shoestring Club, out next spring, the main character is Julia Schuster, ‘Jules’ or Julia Boolia or Boolie, a lovable mess. Her (bossy older) sister is Pandora, and she has an eccentric granny called Bird. Arietty Pilgrim is Julia’s outspoken and unusual friend, who is originally from Trinidad and now works in Dublin Zoo. Again, all carefully chosen and I hope memorable and a little different.

There are so many wonderful names out there – go on, stretch yourself! Read gravestones, telephone directories, programmes from school concerts (great for children’s names – which change over time – Sophie is v popular at the moment for 7/8/9 year olds!) – all are invaluable resources for the writer.

Happy naming!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX