Novel Notes

The world appears to be going to hell in a hand basket. Everywhere you look around is dreadful news. Trump pulling a ban on landmines on top of the farce that is the impeachment proceedings. There's Brexit. And don't get me started on the Australian Federal Government, which is as incompetent as it is corrupt.

So I've been avoiding the news. I'm also in Sydney. I'm holed up in a lovely hotel room - an old favourite. A place which has been rebranded, and this is not a bad thing, though the wonderful toiletries they used to have are no longer here - thankfully, the new ones are just as nice, but still. I loved this place for the way it smelled - the white tea scent was glorious. That's gone, along with the dodgy mural and the water feature in the lobby.

But I have to my writing to do today. Blogging daily gives me some focus. It's also good for my writing as I'm making myself write for an hour a day - and as soon as I start school I'll have to be writing more.

Which gets me onto the topic of the novel I'll be working on at school. And I start to get rather scared.

I was explaining to my mate over lunch just what an undertaking writing a novel really is. It's not something that you just sit down and write you have things to think about.

Things like:

• Who's your main character going to be?
• What are their arcs? (i.e. what do they learn along the way?)
• What is the story?
• What are the themes?
• What voice do you use?
• What is the driving force of the novel?
• What is the setting like?
• Does the setting lend itself to the characters?
• What about minor characters? (Oh I wish I could use Bede in this one - I love writing about Bede)
• What are the plot points that drive the story? 
•  How are you going to write this?

And these are the big questions, then there are all sorts of decisions and revisions that a minute, and an attempt to write then, will reverse (Sorry TS Eliot).

So I'm trying to start thinking about this stuff for the dystopian novel, which has all sorts of other things to consider like: 

• Where is it set?
• What conditions are changing?
• What is the government like and why is it dystopian?
• What rights are being curtailed / amended?
• How does the protagonist react to this?
• How do they get around the restrictions?
• What is the way forward?
• What is the environment like in the dystopian land?
• What are the consequences of going against the powers that be?

This is also only a short list of things to consider.

And now I'm getting nervous.

Why am I going to do this again?    (Yeah, yeah, I know I love it - but this is what it is like inside a writer's head.

It's not fun. I'm grabbing a gin and tonic and going to have a bath now. 

Today's Song: