By Elaine Carlson
First Day
It was three or four days ago when I set my mind on writing a novel. I admit it isn't a new idea but now I have to get going.
The first thing I did was set up a Writing Journal. Word Usage will be a big part – mainly the words (or word usage) I want to keep out of my writing.
I set up a list of Forbidden Words: propitious; plethora; splendiferous; eventuate; and transpire. I want to avoid such clunky words. But then I guess the obvious exception is for words used in conversations. A reader will learn a lot about a character who uses the word "splendiferous" especially as a guest commenting on the food served in a meal.
For me an absolute no no is to say a person gifts an item to someone. Gift is a noun and give is a verb. And that is not a language rule that needs to be sent to the dump. And I don't even want my characters to use that word that way.
I forget where I read it but someone said using gift as a verb has the advantage of only meaning that the item being given is a present. I know a police officer can give a person a ticket and a professional can give a client a bill for services. But the reader can tell what is being given by the context. And if that is not the case than the text needs to be rewritten.
Second Day
I am also putting in (or cluttering up?) my Writing Journal with my ideas of what I should put in and what my book should be about.
I am thinking of telling the story of a young defense attorney representing an unsavory character who has been accused of killing a security guard while robbing a bank. How she gets tangled up in her client's problems and attempts to figure out what happened will provide the action in the story.
I am a bit torn because there is another story I want to tell. Just after World War II ends, a sophomore in college meets the man she will marry. He is returning from the war and wants to study Russian. She goes on to medical school and becomes a pediatrician. The plot involves her experiences with her husband and the mix-ups in their lives. So far I am not sure if they will have five or seven children,
Third Day.
I am thinking of naming my young attorney Mercedes or April. And the investigator she has working for her will be called Cliff. But I am having difficulties thinking of the names for the characters in my other novel idea.
I could get inspiration from Edward Albee. In his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf he names one of his couples after our country's first president and his wife. And the names of the other couple are Nick and Honey. I wonder if he at least thought about naming them Abraham and Mary.
I don't want to name my Post World War II couple George and Martha and I also want to pass on Joe and Jill as well as Richard and Pat. And I certainly don't want to name them Woodrow and Edith. But I think it might be a good idea to look at wealthy people for some ideas. Maybe Melinda and Bill would be good names for a doctor and her husband.
Fourth Day
Yesterday two books I ordered came in the mail --- Richard Skinner, "Writing a Novel," Faber & Faber 2018 and Howard Middlemark and Sandra Newman, "How Not To Write A Novel," Harper Collins 2008.
In "Writing A Novel" at the end Skinner put in "39 Steps" and told his readers to '''Over the years I've found that most novels comprise around thirty key scenes. Use the slips overleaf to summarize your story. Then play with the order to find the most effective plot."
With that rearranging the order using a word processor seems more logical than using "the slips in the overleaf" but anyway I will do as he suggests. I will also check out Middlemark and Newman's book to see what I need to avoid doing while while writing.
Fifth Day
When I was checking my email I saw I got the message from Justin Cox, "You Need A Vacation." He went on to say, "This Week in Writing, we talk about the importance of pausing because you can't write all the time."
This is an article I don't need to read.
Lets say I agree wholeheartedly that writers (like all workers) need to take vacations. I don't deny that people can benefit from getting away from work once in a while.
I am almost always easy going (or lackadaisical?). So I am always putting pressure on myself to do more work. And the last thing I need is to read someone encouraging me to take a vacation.