Saturday 20 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 41. Plot and sub-Plot

I started off the day by creating a new Plot/sub-Plot grid for the novel to clarify how it all fits together. I started with a list of the main events in the plot line of the protagonist, writing it down out of my head without reference to any other notes or lists. Then I identified the other key characters (antagonists) and marked a + sign against each event in which they were involved. I ended up with seven lists of + signs. 

The next step was to fill in the missing events, that is, events that do not primarily involve the protagonist. I have to admit that at this stage I did refer to a previously compiled list of chapter headings just to make sure I was not missing anything and there were a few things that needed to be added in.

I am pleased with the result. It gives me a check list against which I can measure my progress in compiling and rewriting the chapters.

I have a busy week coming up and so this will be my last blog post for a few days but I will be back and continuing with the rewrite asap. Have a good week!

PS I listened to CD Review on BBC Radio 3 while I worked on the plot grid: a perfect Saturday morning.
Ends.

Friday 19 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 40. Action. Intention. Reveal.

I went into town first thing to the Town Library, returned four books and borrowed three and last night, at the poetry reading, I bought two books so now I have five new books in the house vying for attention. The two poetry books are:
The library books are:
And so to work.
I have been reworking the chapter list of the novel in the sense that I have been annotating it under the following categories: Action, Intention, Outcome and Reveal.
Action is fairly straightforward although it is frustrating how often I am still confused about what happens in a particular chapter.
Intention refers to the protagonist, Broderick Arnold and what he intends to get out of the situation.
It is surprising, or maybe not, how often the Outcome is other than the expected and contrary to the Protagonist's intention.
Under Reveal, I note what kind of revelation is given in the chapter. It may be obvious. It may be a surprise.
Ends

Thursday 18 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 39. A mad dash to the top.

I have compiled four chapters, Chapters 22, 23, 24 and 25. 
I wanted to get to the top. 

They all need work, of course, and there is a lot of editing to be done, but the basic stuff is there. It is something to work with. I am eager to get on and I want to get past the summit, and the put crisis that it involves behind me. I want to get onto the descent and work towards the resolution. But I cannot avoid the crisis and I will have to work my way through it. It is the big turning point of the book and, after that, everything is downhill even if the descent is rocky.

I have also done some editing on Chapter Two. 
Things are moving in the right direction.

I have discovered that my protagonist is an angry man. That's a given, I suppose, considering his age and status, but I had not realised how all pervasive it was. By the point of the crisis, the climax, he is anger personified. This does not bode well.

Tonight I am going to hear two special poets, two poets laureate: Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke.
Carol Ann Duffy was appointed Britain’s poet laureate in May 2009. She has won the Somerset Maugham Award; the Whitbread Poetry Award; the Dylan Thomas Award from the Poetry Society and in 2012 the PEN/Pinter Prize. Her most recent book, The Bees, won the 2011 Costa Poetry Award and the 2011 T.S. Eliot Prize.
Gillian Clarke has been the National Poet of Wales since 2008 and she was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2010 and the Wilfred Owen Award 2012.
Poets at Aberystwyth Arts Centre:
Ends

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 38. Putting myself under pressure.

Today I went to the National Library of Wales (NLW) to pursue my research into Memory, Mind and Identity. I had not realised it was such a major topic. There's loads of stuff out there! (-'in there', as regards the NLW). You would think, as I wrote earlier in my daily 750 words effort:
A day spent at the library *should be* one of the most therapeutic experiences one could imagine  
I put myself under pressure.
I rush to catch the bus already goading myself with the thought that I should have caught the earlier bus and that time is already, has already, slipped away. The bus is delayed by roadworks and I fret at the minutes lost.  
I tell myself to slow down, but:
Once in the library, I hasten to the Reading Room. My books! Give me my books! I don't actually say that but I might as well have.
My books! My books! Give me my books! It could be my epitaph. I have not yet 'put pen to paper' today or done any work on the novel. 
Slow down. Breathe. Give yourself a break.

Writers Workshop have opened booking for the York Festival of Writing
How can I squeeze £525 out of zero earned income?
Ends

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 37. Progress.

I spent the morning rearranging Chapters Two and Three, turning them inside out and putting the story in a more logical order. I feel as though I know what I'm doing. This may not last. Yesterday I was depressed and feeling that it was never going to work out but today I feel positive. It is going to work out.

I ordered up some books at the National Library of Wales for tomorrow. I plan to go in the morning and do some more research. The National Library of Wales is such a good resource with a great catalogue and I am conscious that I am very lucky to have it on the doorstep. I requested four books to add to the three I have reserved from last week. I will not read them all but I will find some essential information. It's fun!

Today, I chased up an important object on the Internet. It is something called the Arras Medallion and I want to know where it is. One web page said one thing and another said something else, so I sent an email to the British Museum to ask them. Someone there should know but whether I get a reply or not, we shall have to see.

This afternoon, I edited Chapter 18 and compiled Chapters 19, 20 and 21. Chapter 19 was a joy. It uploaded straight from draft and apart from a few judicious cuts it will stand as it is. I am close to the summit. The pivot is very close and I am almost at the tipping point. I can feel the balance starting to shift.

Exciting days!

The National Library of Wales
British Library - the Arras Medallion
Ends

Rewrite: Day 36. Nearly at the top.

I compiled Chapters 17 and 18. This takes me past the mid-point of the novel but I have not yet reached the top of the mountain. As I wrote the other day in one of my 750 words exercises:
I am almost at the top of the hill. In another day or so I will pass the pivot point and start the long descent to the end. From here I can survey all of my creation, the whole story. I can follow the route I have come, climbing up to this point and I can look forward to the descending path. Perhaps I have arrived here in company of my characters, a garrulous band, chattering and joking as they explore the Trig Point and the Cairn, those monuments, memories in stone, the evidence that others have passed this way before. Or perhaps I come alone, no sounds but the raven croak and the mewling of a buzzard spiralled on thermals, and the wind. perhaps I am alone with the mountain top and the rocks and sky, covered by the shadows of passing clouds, exposed by the sun, swept by the winds that come from any point of the compass. It is a heady moment. I sit down and lean my back against the rock. Yes, I have climbed here to commune with God, to receive testaments of stone and with them to descend, bringing word to those below.
Fanciful, maybe, but true in the sense that I can see what I am doing from up here near the top of the story and I feel in command. There is still a lot of work to do! I will be revising from the beginning as I push on towards the end and I have revised Chapter One, added a little, rearranged, and brought it better into line with the story I am trying to tell.

Ends

Monday 15 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 35. The Storyline.

I've been watching the US Masters' golf from Augusta, Georgia, live on tv. Earlier, I watched the highlights of the Formula One GP from Shanghai. I have had an evening of television, starting with Songs of Praise.This turned out to be a school choir competition and, quite by chance, one of the choirs was Tonbridge (Girls) Grammar School, my sister Alma Mater, if that's not a confusion of terms; I went to The Judd School which is the Tonbridge Boys Grammar School. The girls won through to the final next week. Well done!

I watched a re-run of CSI: NYon 5USA and a Time Team repeat on More4. This is serious research. In CSI: NY I am studying the portrayal of Mack Taylor as the protagonist and the plot dynamics while Time Team is research into how to tell the archaeology story. I'll claim it against tax.

I did do some work. I edited Chapter 16 down from 6000 words to 3600 words and I have been searching out the storyline. Storyline is similar to plot but I think storyline is more fluid and organic. It is the story that wants to be told. This month, I want to rework Chapters 1-15 and compile Chapters 16 onwards, trying to draw out the storyline as I go.

US Masters Golf- Adam Scott wins on a play off!
Formula One - Alonso wins in China.
Songs of Praise - Senior School Choir Semi-Final.
Tonbridge Grammar School - (for girls).
The Judd School - Obviously the best.
CSI: NY - Wikipedia listing of episodes.
Time Team - Many episodes are available to watch on 4oD
Storyline: Wikipedia distinguishes plot, narrative and narrative thread.
Ends

Sunday 14 April 2013

On feeling inspired

This morning, I feel inspired. 
It doesn't often happen but when it does it's worth celebrating. In fact, though, I would say that most of the time I feel anything but inspired and I'm sure that is true for most of us. So, how do you get those creative juices flowing? Here are some suggestions:

1. Music
Listen to a cantata by JS Bach. There are plenty to choose from, so you can listen to a different one every day. There is a fantastic series of recordings by John Elliot Gardiner (Amazon link) available on audio CD and later volumes are available as MP3 (Amazon link). Music unlocks my mind. Music like JS Bach disentangles and re-orders pathways in my brain.

2. Words.
Read a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays, or read one of his sonnets. You can find the sonnets on-line, for example, at Shakespeares-Sonnets and the plays at Shakespeare Online. The rhythm of the pattern of the words releases rhythms in our own bodies and we become more attuned to ourselves. This releases our own words when we start to write or to do whatever we are doing.

3. Activity.
Go for a brisk walk and a short jog. Physical activity gets the blood flowing and, more importantly, it gets the blood flowing to our brains; and the deeper breathing induced by the activity helps transport oxygen and energy to where it's most needed. At the moment, in the field behind our house, the lambs are at the age where they gather in gangs to chase and run about, jumping, skipping and leaping. It is great fun to watch. It is a visual paradigm of Spring and inspiration. Try this little YouTube video to see what I mean; from Trulithian - Gambolling Lambs.

4. Water.
Drink three glasses of cold water. Water refreshes and cleans our body and mind from the inside, washing out the toxins that lurk deep in our cells and liberating our biochemistry to support and not hinder our mental processes. You know what water looks like. Images from Yahoo!

5. Smile.
Go on. Look in the mirror and smile. An article from Scientific American (below) based on research at Cardiff University suggests that the actual act of smiling makes us feel better and more positive.  
And if we feel more positive, we will feel more inspired.
Have fun. Be inspired.
Ends

Rewrite: Day 34. Chapter One.

Up bright and early this morning to catch the sun before the rain came. I watched the Formula One qualifying session live from Shanghai on tv over breakfast then I took the dog out for a good long walk in the woods. There was sun and bird song and I discovered that the larches had already started to turn green. I looked for larch flowers but found I was too late. They had moved on and were developing into baby fir cones. 
I bought the Saturday paper from the shop on the way home and, once home, I made myself some coffee and set to work to rewrite Chapter One. 

I have this obsession with Chapter One. 

After my thorough analysis of Chapters 1-15 yesterday, I had a clear idea of what I needed from Chapter One and I was keen to try it out. It worked pretty well, I think, and I was pleased. I wrote 1000-1300 words before lunch and another 1200 in the afternoon but, when I went back for a third session, I had nothing left. To finish off the day, I compiled Chapter Sixteen from an earlier draft.  

I spent the evening watching Masters' golf from Augusta.
Ends

Friday 12 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 33. Disintegration.

What have I done today? Have I written a poem for napowrimo? No. Did I write 750 words this morning? No, not his morning or any other time. Have I rewritten the novel? Not so that you would notice.

In my defence I would say that this morning was our turn to man (and woman) the Oasis Coffee Bar in town and then the wife went off on her travellings on the 13.30h train. She's gone off to see her Mum for the weekend which is all part of the multi-generational support services we seek to provide.

When I got home it was gone two o'clock.

I did add a thousand words to Chapter 14 and then I made an audit of the chapters I have accumulated over the past month. I had this nagging feeling at the back of my brain that all was not as it should be. I knew, to be honest. I had stacked up chapters and ticked them off but I knew that many of them were a mess, incoherent, a jumble. It was as bad as I feared. Part One was disintegrating, had disintegrated.

I made a list. I went through all the chapters from one to fifteen and noted the major topic for each 1000 words. I analysed the list to remove obvious duplications and inconsistencies. I rewrote the list by topic in line-of-sight order, that is, chronologically and I highlighted the topics for which the protagonist was present and created a chronological, protagonistical topic list. Some order began to appear.

After dinner (fish for Friday), I settled down to a bit of tv, an episode of CSI: NY on 5USA followed by Eugene Onegin on BBC4tv, and reviewed my analysis. Simon Keenlyside as Eugene Onegin proved the perfect companion for listing the now logical protagonist-driven plot line topic by topic and reassigning the topics to chapters. I ended up with thirty-three topics attributed to ten chapters. It made a lot more sense.

Of course, it is only a list. Did I say that I was rewriting my novel? I have rewritten my novel. I am rewriting my novel. I will rewrite my novel. I will have rewritten my novel. Eventually.

Tonight's episode of Season One CSI: NY on 5USA
Eugene Onegin from The Royal Opera House on BBC Four tv
This is a wonderful production. See it if you can.
Information on Simon Keenlyside
Ends

Thursday 11 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 32. Slow progress.

Up in the night again with coughs and colds and, subsequently, a late start, so not much progress today unfortunately. If this goes on much longer the situation will go critical. I fiddled with Chapter 14 and changed a few words. Chapter 14 now stands at 1000+ words and needs more. I am working to a chapter length of 3000 words or there abouts. I uploaded a more or less complete chapter into Chapter 15 so that was a quick achievement. Something else I learnt today was that 'hoist with (not on or by) his own petard' comes from Hamlet and my protagonist found himself in a Hamlet kind of situation at the beginning of Chapter 14, wishing he wasn't there.

Today, I subscribed to The North, a poetry magazine and found a poetry competition that looks 'real cool', closing date 30th April. Worth a shot at. The contributing poets all act as judges. And I spent a profitable couple of hours this afternoon at the National Library doing some reading on social and cultural memory as a means of transmitting knowledge of and maintaining connection with the past. Really interesting. I hope to follow it up with another visit next week.

Learn more about Petard at Wikipedia
Poetry magazine The North from The Poetry Business
Poetry competition at Poetic Republic
I spent the afternoon at the National Library of Wales
Ends

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 31. Reaching into the past.

The big discovery of the day was that Chapter 14 turns out to be the big reveal. I knew there was one revelation in the offing but, as it has turned out, there were two. But, before I moved on to Chapter 14, I got stuck in to Chapter 13 and made some additions and adjustments to the opening and found myself faced with a conundrum. As an aside, it was interesting to hear this morning on the radio that Sir Walter Scott sometimes referred to his house, Abbotsford, as 'Conundrum Castle'. That speaks volumes because, as novelists, we spend our days solving conundrums.

You can catch the excellent 30 minute radio broadcast by Jim Naughty on Walter Scott, The Man who Made Scotland, for a few days more, at least. The Man who Made Scotland. BBC Radio 4 / iPlayer.

The conundrum I am currently trying to solve is how to allow the protagonist, Broderick, access to the past. I looked on the web for inspiration and found a couple of things. An example from Alice Munro demonstrates one possible solution. She uses mediated journeys to link her protagonist with history and she does it through the narrator and her immediate family making a number of specific 'journeys into the past'.
  • Her father takes her back to where they used to live
  • Her mother takes her back to a shop they knew
  • Her father takes her back to someone's house
By employing this technique, Alice Munro takes the reader back into the past.

See: Dragged into the past TheFreeLibrary.com

interesting observation:
Einstein argued that the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. By his logic, what one person may experience as four hours may be an entire lifetime for another person.
I'm not sure how this would work but the blog suggests two writing exercises:
  • Imagine a character and briefly write their past, future and present. 
  • Write about what “having control over time” makes you think of.
See: The Narrator 

The problem with these is that they both deal with the recent past, a past that can be reached within one or two generations. What if you want to connect to the deep past, not one or two generations but many generations? Kate Mosse successfully uses a double story line in Labyrith. Are there other ways it can be done? More work to do here, I think.
See: Kate Mosse on Amazon
Ends

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 30. Keep writing.

Day 30. That feels significant.
I'm a third of my way through my 90 days. I'm still labouring under the cosh with a vicious cold and, although my mind is sharper today than it has been for the past few days but there's a limit to how much brain time I can do.

I was a bit drowsy and slow to get going but I had a good session. I'm still fiddling with Chapter One but I think I will still be fiddling with Chapter One when I've finished. Chapter One is evolving with the rest of the book. I added a section and I'm pleased with it. I was thinking about it during the night.

I have already written this once but then the computer crashed and I lost it all apart from the first paragraph. It's late. I don't want to write it all again. I want to go and watch Later with Jules Holland on the TV downstairs.

Essentially, after a good session in the morning, I wrote a poem in the afternoon and I did my 750 words. Not bad. I've lost time over these past few days and I need to make it up.

Neil Gaiman gave this advice:
WRITE. FINISH SOMETHING. KEEP WRITING.

I wrote. I finished something. I will keep writing.

Some thoughts on Writing: Neil Gaiman (scroll down to the bottom of the post)
A poem for today: Look what the wind blew in: Phil Colbourn
Ends

National Poetry Writng Month: napowrimo (USA)

I've just joined napowrimo.net.  It's a bit late in the month, I know. But there you go. Now I have to write a poem, lots of poems. I need a poem for today. Convergent influences are the sun, cold wind, lambs, Tab2 tablet computer, photographs, Meredith's first birthday, Facebook, Twitter ... and the double glazing salesman.

A poem for today

Look what the wind blew in!
After weeks of leaking doors.
"All well?" The doors
Leak, the wind
Cuts across the room like
A knife and it has been
Blowing from the North
For a month.
"Oh dear!" says the
Double Glazing Salesman.
He said that last time too. He
Spends the time, adjusts
The screws, assures me
All is well and at the door,
Turning, says, "You need fascia
And soffit boards, I see, and
Gutters." Always such a friend.
Always something new to sell.
 Ends

Monday 8 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 29. Occupy the Liminal Lands.

It is at the edges, in between and in the places of transition that the writing is done, creative writing, of any kind, and where the story grows. You have to occupy the liminal lands to find the story and that is where I have been trekking today, uphill and down dale, looking for the way forward.

In fact, I have not done much writing today apart from my quota of 750 words. Instead I have toyed around with Chapter One, which is exactly where I should not be, and I have split Chapter One into two parts. I also uploaded some text to Chapter 13, so I have not been a complete slacker. Was it Chapter 13? Yes, it was. It begins:
The Summer Dig began at Water Lane, down the hill outside the village, on Wednesday 22nd July. The morning was interrupted by a shout from the far side of the trench and Broderick went across to see what was up.

Here is an extract from the 750 which  shows my drift, I mean, which way I'm steering.
An invitation to [a certain place] is the beginning of Broderick's journey into the liminal lands where he can meet and understand those who lived before and understand the connections that stand, perhaps unrecognised, across the divide. There is a divide, it is the divide within ourselves and within society wrought by rationality and pride, but there are connections and the connections are strong.
Ends

Sunday 7 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 28. Brain sieving the novel.

No rewriting today as such but I did manage a 750 words stint this afternoon in which I continued to put the novel through the brain sieve using the two headings:
  • Getting inside Broderick's head
  • Getting inside the story dynamic 
Here are some extracts (edited and expurgated):
Archaeology is the focus of Broderick's thinking. He is interested in what the excavation is telling him about the life and times of the site. He is interested in the broad scale, the big picture - the life in terms of social development and economic progress and the times in terms of politics, leaders and nations - but he is also interested in the small scale, the smaller picture of individual lives, people, families, births and deaths. This is what Broderick is thinking about. The [expurgated event] is unfortunate, yes, it is very unfortunate, but it is an irritation, a side show, it is not the main event.
Broderick organises his team to interpret the archaeology and he excavates further on the Corn Hill site but there is a time limit and they have to push on. It is also a student demonstration dig so he has to make room for the students and give them time and this increases the pressure. Although [certain events] are not important for him, they crop up around every corner, forcing themselves on his attention whether he likes it or not and as often as they crop up, he pushes them down and as often as he dismisses them from his life, they pop up again like corks in water.
A new student dig begins and they discover new archaeology but something goes badly wrong and [a certain person] is called in to help. They return for the second season but before they get started a tragedy occurs and Broderick is thrown off keel. [Another certain person] walks out and things go from bad to worse.
That gives you a flavour (without giving too much away, I hope)

Ends

Saturday 6 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 27. What Broderick wants

No rewriting today. It's Saturday and the sun's shining. The biting east wind has dropped to a purr and you might almost believe that Spring was on its way. The air is cold, though. It is still Arctic, Siberian, and quickly freezes the hands.

No rewriting but I have done my 750 words. I set myself a task: write about what Broderick wants and do it in three instalments of 250 words each. Write about what Broderick wants at the beginning of the novel, at the end of Part One (Plot point One) and at the end of Part Two (Plot point Two). It's a useful exercise.

Short break: 
Aurora's Encore wins the Grand National! I should have backed it! Odds of 66-1. Trained by Sue Smith in Yorkshire, wife of the great Harvey Smith. 

Back to the writing... His wants change midway but some of them come back again towards the end, more urgent than before. Interesting. What does he want? What does he really, really want?

That's all for today. Back to the sunshine and another cup of tea.

The Grand National at Aintree
Show jump rider Harvey Smith
Race card for trainer Sue Smith
Ends

Friday 5 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 26. The lost file.

I could not find it anywhere but I knew I had altered the text and done some extensive editing. Where was it? I found three versions of the file all labelled Chapter 13 but they were all the same. They all contained the unedited text. I gave up. I closed the files and walked away. 

On the way out the door I thought - search. I went back to the computer and found the search box. It took a few goes before I found the appropriate keyword to search on. Then I found it and I got six results: three copies of Chapter 13 and three copies of a Chapter 4. Chapter 4? I opened the file and there it was, the altered text, edited and transposed into a completely different place. Chapter 4? I copied the text and pasted it into the file and saved it. It is now safely held in Chapter 12, the new Chapter 12 that is. Well, it is closer to Chapter 13 than Chapter 4.

I did do some other work on the novel. I did a bit of light editing on Chapter One. (Yes, I know, but my head still wasn't up to much and I'm still sore around the gills.) I did my 750 before lunch. That's four days in a row! After lunch, and after taking the dog for a walk, I did a bit of compiling for Chapter 12 (see above).

I have a plan and I'm still on track. I reckon another two months, give or take a year, should see it done.
Ends

Thursday 4 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 25. On having a sore head.

Woke up with a roaring sore throat and a thick head, so not conducive to writing. I did 750 words but it was totally uninspired. Worked on story structure for a bit. Tried editing but I did not have the required brain activity for that either. Late in the day I managed a better 750 words and some editing. But, with apologies to my principles, I was editing Chapter One! 

I'm sure it's better for it.

Sore throat and sore head to end the day; full blown cold approaching. But, on the good side, I am getting closer to the form of this novel and getting closer to the protagonist and what makes him tick. On top of that the computer is deleting text every time I try and make a correction so this comes complete with uncorrected errors. That's my excuse - perhaps the computer has a sore throat too. Ah! ESC has stopped the deletions. Good.
Ends

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 24. Tomorrow is going to work out just fine.

It's been a bitty kind of a day. I have driven into town three times for one reason or another, all legitimate and in some sense necessary, but it does nothing for your writing. I did my 750 words before lunch and I played around with the structure of Part One after lunch and I did another 1000+ words before tea but it all adds up to nothing very much, random shots like fireworks on a dark night.
I have to confess, I went back to Chapter One. It's been bugging me. It was so obviously wrong, looking back from the elevation of Chapter Eleven. I banged it on the head and relabelled Chapter Three as Chapter One. Don't ask what happened to Chapter Two. I've sent out a search party.
But I have a good feeling about the novel. I am sure it is going to get better. I feel I know where this is going now, and how it's going to get there. 
I have just deleted the words 'I may be wrong'.
End positive. Tomorrow, it's going to work out just fine.
Ends

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Rewrite: Day 23. Back in the day.

I went some way today to fixing Chapter 9. Got a more Broderick approach to it and with the help of yesterday's twelve-cycle schema, I injected some much needed sense of purpose into the whole thing. This is all madness, of course, this twelve-cycle thing. You know it is and I know it is but don't tell anyone else. At one point, one of the characters asks "Are all archaeologists mad?" Archaeologists may not be but writers surely are.

I started the day by writing my 750 words on 750words.com - it is a way of dragging myself out of early morning grogginess and into the daylight of composition. I ended up with over 1k words which was a good effort. One thing the exercise demonstrated to me was that I could write 1000 words in an hour. In the light of that, a chapter a day should not be too much to ask. It depends on who you're asking and when.

Last week, I said that Part Two, where I am now, was a place for the author to let their hair down and go for broke. For that, I need to do more of these 750-word-type exercises, free writing, letting it all come out - which is what I did in the first draft, back in the day. I need to kick the (re-)structuring habit and kick-start the inspiration. Let the words flow.

Next 750+ words coming up.
Ends.

Rewrite: Day 22. A twelve-cycle story

Home. I'm home again after family journeyings over Easter. Today, it took me three and a half hours from Bristol because I did the sensible thing, crossed the bridge and paid the fine instead of driving half way round England to get into Wales toll-free. It was a good journey, clear roads and little traffic - more traffic coming the other way, going back home to England after the holiday weekend at the edge of the world. I came back by the usual route over the mountains. The snow is thawing now but it was still piled up in deep drifts in some points alongside the road. The thermometer dropped to 1C and then to -1C as I came over the passes.

I have the house to myself for two days, so tomorrow I will be writing which is slightly scary because I've totally lost confidence in my ability to pull this story through. While I was watching telly this evening I once again reviewed the novel's structure. What was it all about? What did Broderick do and why? It helped (or maybe it didn't) that I found an episode of CSI NY on 5 USA and I scribbled down the structure of the plot as I watched the episode. Is this obsessive or what? I reduced the plot to a twelve-cycle story line. You've never heard of the twelve-cycle story? Each cycle is a little story in itself with a beginning a middle and an end. Details will vary but, essentially, the scheme goes something like this:

The framing conceit: Protagonist, Antagonist 1 and the precipitating incident
  1. The scene/ Antagonist 2 & 3/ Investigators/ Problems with power brokers
  2. Red herring gives a false lead/ Dead end
  3. Techy analysis gives Lead 1/ Antagonist 4/ Closure/ Timeframe
  4. Snoop around related scene finds evidence/ Problem pressures increase
  5. *Backstory to incident gives Lead 2/ Antagonist 1/ Closure/ Timeframe tightens
  6. Techy analysis/ No lead/ Problem pressures increase
  7. *Crisis for Protagonist raises stakes/  
  8. Personal backstory gives Lead 3/ Antagonist 5/ Closure/ Timeframe tightens
  9. Forensic evidence fills in background to incident
  10. Reconstruction gives the mechanism behind the incident
  11. *New evidence gives Lead 4/ Antagonist 2 & 5/ Closure/ Timeframe tightens
  12. Techy evidence gives Lead 5/ Antagonist 6/ Result
Outrun: coda

The turning points are *marked. These are Plot Point One, Mid Point and Plot Point Two, if you are familiar with those terms. Notice the number of Antagonists and the way that Problem pressure increases and the Timeframe tightens progressively as the story develops. Notice, too, the number of dead-ends and leads that end in closure before finally getting to the result. That, all in an episode of CSI NY. Mac Taylor got his man and his team did their stuff. All in all, a satisfactory result and an effective screenplay. Act One builds up to cycle 5, Act Two runs from 5 to 11 and Act Three is short and downhill all the way. Just the way it should be. Look, learn and apply. (Note to self.) 
Ends