The First Sentence

I am embarking on the most creative part of the MA - an original novel outline and 40,000 words of a different novel. I had a rather intimidating experience yesterday when Fay Weldon told us to start the first paragraph of our novel and then left the room. Half an hour later she returned and we each had to read out our scribblings. I had not expected this. Fay then discussed each one. No pressure there then. It was a very valuable session. I knew that I had to start in the middle of the action but I was not setting up the entire novel in the first 250 words. That is what I now aim to do. There are a few elements to include: the 'cosmic sentence', the middle of the action, setting up the problem to be solved, dialogue etc. It sounds impossible but I think a balance can be achieved. Mmmmm...

Back Again

I haven't been in the land of the living for a while and am glad to be starting a new year. I have finally finished my coursework and am pleased with it although I know in a few years time I will probably look back on it and cringe. I can already see an improvement on my coursework from the same time last year so hopefully I will keep getting better. I am now heading into the final term which looks at planning the novel. I already started to look at this in the summer but need to revisit it, particularly as I now know this is a book that will be written (hopefully more on this in future posts). My dissertation (40,000 word extract of another novel) is due in September. If the time taken to write my 2,000 word creative piece is anything to go by I had better to get started now. To an extent I envy writers who can get a first draft down quickly. I try to let it flow but just can't stop the self editor within me. I almost go into a trance so I can really see and feel what I want to express and then agonise over the exact words, scared that if I move on too quickly I will not be able to get back to that place. It can be tiring and frustrating but I wouldn't swap it for anything.