Once Upon a Time...

Today I started chapter one and have managed just over seven hundred words. This is a considerable amount considering the way in which I work; self drafting as I go. I had planned on starting last week but it ended up becoming a brainstorming session on the finer detail; the curse of the historical novel. It also meant an emergency dash to the library and a crash course in Futurism, purely for the sake of one paragraph. Today was one of those days where I was in the right frame of mind and felt that I was able to communicate the ‘vision’ in my head. I will probably review the draft in a week and change this opinion but it’s a good start. It is incredibly hard work but I love it.

Private Peaceful

I am taking every opportunity to immerse myself in the world in which my novel is set. This week I went to see a stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful. The novel is written for children but the play is equally aimed at children and adults. Private Peaceful (acted superbly by Mark Quartley) spends the night before his execution for cowardice, looking back over his life. Once again, I come back to the importance of story. It sounds so obvious but if you are going to write a novel you must have a story; a strong and beautiful thread that leads the reader through the world that you have created so that by the end they have a sense of satisfaction about the place in which they end up. Every incident that Morpurgo uses from Private Peaceful’s childhood is used to illustrate an aspect of that character but they are also subtly linked to create the story; otherwise it would just be eighty minutes of reminiscences.
Morpurgo is a previous Children’s Laureate and the author of War Horse, the stage adaptation of which is the most incredible play that I have ever seen. If you ever get the opportunity to see it, please take it.

Day at the Museum

When I drafted the novel plan last year, I had to carry out a fair amount of historical research; bringing together my two loves. Now that I have my detailed chapter plan, it is time to get into the really detailed research. This week I have been to the Imperial War Museum and worked through diaries, letters and documents. Some of the accounts are very matter of fact and provide information on the processes that my character would have gone through. Others are descriptions of experience and are written in the most beautiful language. I became completely lost in one collection of letters: the minutiae of their daily life; their innermost thoughts and feelings; their closest friends. It was as if I were reading a novel. I haven’t finished going through them yet and am looking forward to going back. As I stated in a previous post, I do not want this novel to be filled with page upon page of historical detail. To be honest I would be overwhelmed at the task of faithfully recreating every feature of that time and place. It is not a history book. Rather, this research is intended to assure the accuracy of the narrative framework and find those beautiful gems that help to make real the world I am creating. I have a few more visits to go as there are also sound and film archives to go through. I cannot wait.

Grid

In my last post, I wrote that I was working on translating my novel plan into chapters. As someone who likes organisation, planning and spreadsheets I was intrigued by Emma Darwin’s post on using a grid to plan a novel. Please see the post at the following link. http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2010/05/help-yourself.html I don’t normally follow the different ways in which writers approach the technical side of writing; I believe you need to find your own way rather than become a Frankenstein of different methods. However, this grid fitted with the way that I work. I now have a grid of thirty chapters, setting out the characters, the detail of what happens, the theme and any relevant background. The beauty is that I can now see where there are areas that deaden the pace (although quieter chapters are needed to allow the reader to take a breath and reflect), where there are too many chapters focussed on one character etc. Today I had that lovely feeling of being able to make subtle links between events and characters due to the fact that I was able to see the novel in its entirety at one time.

Hovering

I couldn’t get to sleep the other night. I was thinking about how I am going to take the novel plan and translate that into a narrative. The plan, drafted for one of my MA modules, is written in the first person. As I lay there it was frustrating me that it felt very linear and constrained. I was only seeing the story through the eyes of the lead character. Then I started to view it as if I was hovering above it and all of a sudden the other characters came rushing forward, clamouring to be heard. The lead character is an unreliable narrator and this will come over more effectively if I can see her from the perspective of the characters that she interacts with. Yesterday I started to break the plan down into chapters and examine each character in turn. Instantly it feels more comprehensive and there is more material and depth. So, that is the question of point of view answered.

First Tutorial

I had my first tutorial this week. There is good news with regard to my MA dissertation but hopefully more of that in later posts. In terms of the PhD, one of my concerns was the ‘chicken and egg’ question with regard to research. I have a propensity to want to complete a piece of work almost as soon as I have begun it but that is not possible with something that is designed to take three years. My tutor made me feel better by telling me it was ok to go and just read for a few months before starting the novel. I am still going to make a start on it next week but I feel the pressure is off.
Although the novel is planned in terms of the story, I have not yet decided on the point of view. My initial feeling is that it should be first person and linear. But can I hold the reader’s interest? Again, my tutor took the pressure off and told me to simply play around with it, try different approaches until it feels right.
I do have a good feel for the tone that I want to create. Although it is an historical novel, I want it to feel contemporary. I want the focus to be on the characters and not too much historical detail. The aim of a good historical novel is to help the reader explore contemporary issues that are perhaps still too raw or that have not yet had a line drawn under them; an ongoing social discourse. I have read Frederick Manning Her Privates We (1929) and Rose Macaulay Non-Combatants and Others (1916) this week and am struck by just how contemporary they feel.

New Start

Today is my first day of studying. When my other half left for work this morning I felt guilty at being off work. When you do a taught degree it becomes real from the first lecture and the fact there is a term deadline. I am now in the wonderful but frankly scary position that I am in complete control of what I do and when, there are are no specific deadlines and no regular lectures where I can share thoughts and concerns with others. What I have got is a timeline on Excel and a tutorial on Monday. I spent today reading the first of many novels on the list and marking relevant pages ready for inputting into my research framework. I am not even touching the novel until next week. The good thing is it's already planned and that plan has been graded as part of my MA. You will have noticed that I have already started blogging as a distraction...Right, back to the study!