Losing the plot

I’ve been meaning to update this blog for days, if not weeks, and I’ve made several attempts, but each time I write something I think, ‘This is so boring. Why should anyone want to know about the progress of my novel?’ I keep looking for something topical to bring the subject alive and make it more relevant. Nothing, however, has materialised, so you’ll just have to make do with the bones. Which are as follows.

A few weeks ago, as you may remember if you’ve been paying attention, I completed the first full draft of the novel – ie, as far as I knew I had everything there and everything in the right place. It had taken me three years (on and off) to get to that stage and I felt as if I’d reached some sort of watershed.

I knew however that several of the chapters could do with rewriting and I knew there was lots of editing to be done plus pruning in some places and expansion in others. So I set to immediately, excited by the thought of all the fame and money that awaited me when my masterpiece was published, not to mention the joy of having someone else actually read the darn thing and hear what I have to say.

Disaster. The more I worked on the book the more confused I got. I changed one bit and all the rest fell apart. I seemed to have lost the plot – literally.

So I took the only course open to me. I abandoned it. What was probably happening, I thought, was that I needed time to detach myself from the book so that I could come back to it and see it dispassionately.

I’ve given myself three months. It may take longer than that, but I’ll see how I feel.

I do miss it though.

How I live now

 

We saw an extraordinary film last night called How I live now. It’s based on an equally extraordinary book of the same name by Meg Rosoff which I read a few years ago. Both are intense visionary accounts of an American girl who comes to stay with English cousins in the countryside and gets caught up in a war. Do check them both out.

You’ll probably find the book in the ‘Young Adult’ (teenager) sections of libraries and bookshops. I’m a great fan of YA books. They’re like pared-down versions of adult books – more emotional and less likely to stray off the point. Ironically they’re often deeper too, tackling the really important subjects.

Another YA book that knocked me sideways is Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. This deals with racial discrimination by making black people the race in control and whites the underdogs. What a brilliant way of bringing the subject alive.

 

Another one I remember is told from the point of view of a teenager who murdered another child when she was younger. Wow. When I remember the title, I’ll let you know.

Pictures from Amazon