Writing Difficult Scenes: Chronology

The first novel I ever completed was part of a writing programme called Write Here Write Now, it must have been about a decade ago and, I'm not going to lie, it was a bit poor. The plot was great, but the writing in places surpassed the speed of light!

But it was the first novel I finished.

Looking back at it, I can see the parts I hated writing and the parts I which I was, perhaps, a little overindulgent. But having the discipline to follow through the chronology of the story meant that new twists developed and enhanced the plot dramatically. Not a bad thing, since it was a murder mystery. It's not the sort of thing I would have chosen to write, yet having to walk in the footsteps of my characters, sometimes leading them, sometimes racing to catch them up, enabled me to complete the manuscript.

So here are my 3 pieces of advice:

1. Write chronologically. If you hit a difficult scene, keep writing, you can always improve it in the redraft. That's not to say that there isn't a place for writing sections out of sequence, but don't plunge into the complete narrative. I use Scrivener these days for my writing and have both Scrivener pages and postcards full of quotes and subsections of text for further in the novel. But I write the narrative in order.
2. If you reach a difficult scene try to consider the point of view of another of the characters in the scene. Sometimes having one person telling the story means that they become tired and bored of carrying the can. Consider what the other characters might be thinking of them, and then write your narrator thinking it.
3. Have a survival kit. Mine includes the following things:
   
   Music - Create a playlist to inspire even the most bland events of your story (although consider that, if you find it bland to write, a reader might find it bland to read)
   Distraction - I don't care what people say, bribing yourself is a good way of seeing through difficult scenes. At the moment that is painting for me, but it could be exercise, crafts, or an outing.
   Food - Especially after Christmas, there is no shortage of goodies. Although here consider that consuming 1kg of chocolate for two pages of text is a little excessive!

Occasionally I go back to that first completed novel. It's not horrendous and, one day, I might give it the redraft it deserves. But for now I quite like having it as a reminder. Someone once said (translated!):

"Writing is the only way to talk without being interrupted."

                                                       Jules Renard

So try not to interrupt your narrative. Remember: your characters are on a journey and they hate being interrupted as much as you do!

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You Are What You Read

We're currently selling our house (good chance to advertise), which means that we are looking around others. I have to admit that one thing which really sells a property to me are the titles of the books sitting on the shelves. On some occasions it has made the difference between being able to imagine myself living there or wiping it clean from my shortlist. If a house has no accommodation for books it can be entirely eliminated from the list, because we have a library of books here!

While the second point is honest logistics, the first might seem a little harsh. But it's not. You are can be defined by what you read. If someone can live happily in a location reading the same books as I do, chances are I can too.

I recently posted this picture up on social media:

(My Christmas Books)

These are the books I got for Christmas and, while I think they cover my interests succinctly, I was most impressed by the people who gave them to me, that they knew me well enough to do so! These books have now joined the others in my room, while some might eventually journey downstairs into the living room library.

(Existing Books)

I have to be honest, too. I like looking at people's bookshelves and trying to second guess who they are. 9 times out of 10 this is more reliable than sharing a ten minute conversation with them!

[Help a debut author's dreams come true]