General – Page 131

Scotland - June '12 001 — Pitlochry Fish Ladder – viewed from the Hydro Electric Power Station on the River Tummel

What has the superbly designed Pitlochry Fish Ladder in Scotland and a book by a respected author have in common? Answer: They both offer an alternative to being stopped on a quest. The Fish Ladder was built in 1952 alongside the Hydro Electric Power Station. It means that when the trout and salmon return to the River Tummel after their arduous trans-Atlantic journey they have an alternative to being stopped at the reservoir dam.

Scotland - June '12 004 — Pitlochry Fish Ladder – viewing some of the 34 tanks (or locks) from the pathway over the dam.

Thanks to the ladder they can continue their task, swimming upstream so the life cycle goes on. The fish follow their natural instinct to swim upstream but they use the large plastic tubes fitted into the locks of the fish ladder. There are even three ‘rest’ tanks which must surely be appreciated by the fish. Anyway, I digress.

‘Write to be Published’ by Nicola Morgan is a ‘How to …’ book like no other I’ve read. It’s not written in the accepted format of telling the writer what makes the recipient say ‘yes’. It helps the writer leap over the hurdles by presenting what provokes the recipient to say ‘no’. When I say recipient I mean agent, editor or publisher. In other words, instead of the writer being stopped in his or her tracks having completed their writing mission, Nicola has offered sufficient advice to help the writer move on.

This book is written with a real sense of ‘been there, done that,’ and Nicola’s humour shines through page after page as she makes many relevant points. I’m sure she’d agree that much of the information is logical or common sense, but she presents it clearly.

I read this book in three days if I include the time I spent going back to make notes whilst certain things preyed on my mind. This will join my small shelf of ‘must have’ books for writing reference.

Nicola takes the writer from the point before writing, through the various stages of writing and editing and on to submission. Four main sections followed by a resources list make it easy to return to an area of particular interest. The language and tone are aimed at writers of all abilities which is always a positive step and there is no preaching to the newer writers.

I’ve already made changes to my new novel purely by heeding advice given in this book and I thoroughly recommend ‘Write to be Published’ to writers, no matter how much you think you know about the writing process. Thank you Nicola.

Before I leave the subject of common ground, which is where this post started, I think it’s only right that I mention The Watermill Bookshop in Aberfeldy. It’s only a few miles south of Pitlochry and it was during my visit to that bookshop that I found Nicola’s book. Now with any luck, as the trout and salmon go on to procreate thanks to the ladder, I’ll go on to have my book, ‘Ten Days’ published, thanks to Nicola’s advice and guidance.

Picture front page — Pacific Ocean viewed from Panama’s west coast

What is the significance of the title of this post, ‘Ten Days’ ? It’s got a lot to do with my absence from this blog but it’s not the length of time I’ve been away. ‘Ten Days’ is the working title I’ve given to my attempt at writing a romantic novel. What is the significance then of a Central American coastline? It sets the scene for my romantic tale. Having gone as far as Chapter 12 with the first draft and had it carefully critiqued by a collaborator I’m now satisfied that I’ve learned a few more lessons and I’m ready to go on with the serious work.

I read and reported here on ‘Shades of Gray’ by E.L. James, and learned that I don’t want my intimate scenes to over-promise and under-deliver. Next I read ‘Want To Know A Secret’ by Sue Moorcroft and found a lot of things I liked although, once again I wasn’t blown away by the intimate moments. In that area I wanted to find my own voice. Now that I’ve had a practise at it and had somebody I trust to read it, I’ll confidently go on with the job.

Like any romance there will be the relationship-building of a variety of characters, which will include conflict because it’s not simply a boy-meets-girl scenario. Dialogue, body language, the rollercoaster that is life and characters having a history will all feature, as of course will lovemaking. I’m not capable of writing a riveting tale of two people falling in love so there will be some elements of danger for certain characters which I’m hoping will maintain the interest for readers. My aim is to complete this project by December and now that I’ve had a serious attempt at introducing the main characters and scenarios I’m more confident of success.

Fighting (or writing) in my corner I have a secret ingredient which I believe will be the making or breaking of the idea. I have not only a collaborator, but a female collaborator. She has insisted that she isn’t a co-writer but that will always remain our only difference of opinion, which in itself comes from a mutual respect. Her identity will remain a secret at her request but she will nevertheless have a serious amount of influence on this work. Why do I consider her so important? First of all because she was the inspiration for the story but her key feature in checking the writing is that she knows the female psyche better than any man could.

The aim is to complete writing and any re-writing by December and then go through the process of self-publishing on Kindle as an e-book. I know it’s fraught with dangers of all kinds, but I’d like to go through the process to see how it works and how much work is involved for me. I’ve now read examples of some particularly bad writing on there so I’m confident that though I may not be the best, I’m by no means the worst. This is not being done as an ego trip to get published quickly, it’s because I’d like to go through the motions with this tale because I believe in it.

My other novel, ‘Hawk, A Human Hunter’ has been put on hold for now to let me concentrate fully on the new story. I felt I needed a break from ‘Hawk’ and the writing of something totally different is the most effective way of doing so.

In regard to other projects, I achieved another minor success this month by having a ‘Reader’s Letter’ published in Writing Magazine. I didn’t win the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook’ this time, although I have won it in the past. Just getting a letter published in the magazine is good for the confidence. My letter is about Wunderlist, the time and project management programme – which I use extensively now. I have as always a handful of short stories at various stages that can be revisited. Poetry is almost non-existent these days for me although I may write a few verses to get the creative juices flowing.

On the subject of creative juices, I have a date with some characters in a tropical location. If I manage to lose myself in this project I’ll post an update here, possibly with a bookjacket blurb for practise.