The Yellow Room Competition Winners and Website

Congratulations to Joanna Campbell, winner of the first prize in The Yellow Room Autumn Competition. I love Joanna's writing. She explores emotions so well and her use of language is sublime. Joanna really gets into her characters' heads and creates a believable, realistic, yet fascinating world.

Second prize went to Allie Rogers for her wicked fantasy story, Like A Great Black Chess Piece. This was probably the most unusual of all the entries and intrigued me from the first line. I love Allie's use of humour.

Third prize was awarded to Poppy Peacock for her story, Frontline, which focused on the 1984 Miners' Strike. Political, hard hitting and wonderfully atmospheric. I felt as though I was there on the picket line with the central character, a teenage girl who has chosen to depict the conflict for her school art project.

On a more prosaic note, I am currently experiencing problems updating The Yellow Room Magazine website. Apologies to those who have been inconvenienced by this. It is incredibly frustrating for me, as I don't have the technical knowledge to sort it out quickly and efficiently! It's all down to ftp server problems. I may have to change my web hosting service.

For most of today I've been looking out upon a magical winter wonderland scene with temperatures of -7 degrees. I haven't done any work on the novel for over a week (apart from some research into Bloody Sunday), because I've been caught up in Christmas preparations and Yellow Room admin. However, one of the most pleasant jobs of the last few days has been choosing the top three stories in this autumn's competition.

And next year, please can someone remind me to buy advent calendars for the children on 1st November, before they sell out of the ones they really want?

The Yellow Room Autumn Short Story Competition Shortlist 2010

 There was a total of 81 entries. 16 entries were shortlisted.


Carol Wolrich - The Golden Arch
Frances Gow - Shaking up With Al
Nicola Warwick - The Wounds That Words Make
Nina Milton - The Ultramarine Dress
Joanna Campbell - Half-Price Mondays with Helene
Stephen McQuiggan - Vinny Grasps The Nettle
Jackie Richardson - Frontline
Rebecca Lawrence - The History Of The Skies
Tracy Fells - Keep Turning Right
Allie Rogers - Like  A Great Black Chess Piece
Harriet Simpson - The Battle of Hatpin Folly
Sharon Birch - Blueprint for Murder
Ann Amari - Communication Skills
Eithne Nightingale - Google
Eithne Nightingale - Foucault Over The Garden Fence
Ruby McCann - Recognition

National Short Story Week

As this week is National Short Story week, I thought I'd ask you all to list your favourite short stories. Tom Vowler has listed what are considered to be the best short stories of all time. You can find the list here:

http://oldenoughnovel.blogspot.com/2010/11/all-things-short-and-beautiful.html

This week I'm busy reading the rest of The Yellow Room Short Story Competition entries. I hope to draw up the shortlist next week.

Displacement activities

Today has been one of those days when I've flitted around the house doing anything but writing. Well, I have done a little bit of writing, but it was like pulling teeth. I will go back and do more once I've written this blog. I promise. Yes, I will. Honestly.

These are just some of the things I do to avoid writing the novel:

1. Aimlessly surf the Internet, pretending it's for research.
2. Look for 'the perfect diet'.
3. Surf the Internet for recipes for 'the perfect diet'.
4. Read posts on The Beyond Chocolate Forum, because we all know diets don't work.
5. Eat cake and drink tea.
6. Watch Escape To The Country.
7. Wash floors downstairs.
8. Look at the guinea pigs.
9. Write in my diary.
10. Hoover the lounge and load dishwasher.
11. Eat lunch and watch a bit of Loose Women.
12. Read something vaguely writing-related.
13. Quick look at Facebook (repeat before and between stages 1-12).
14. Update blog.

A Bad First Draft

I once attended a workshop, which was run by the wonderful children's writer, Linda Kempton (http://tracearchive.ntu.ac.uk/em/directory/k.htm) where she told us to: 'Allow yourself a bad first draft.'
It was one of those Eureka moments for many of us and it's advice that has stayed with me.

How bad should a 'bad first draft' be? I struggle with the concept, I have to say. I guess it's the perfectionist in me. I have shaped and honed my prose in the first few chapters of my novel. I continue to go back to those chapters to fiddle and fine tune. But, just how useful is this when I haven't even finished the first draft of this blessed novel?

It's all getting a bit messy. Messy is good, I guess, because it's a 'bad first draft'. The further I go with this project, the messier it gets. I'm in danger of getting myself in a right royal muddle, as I can now see that some characters could be dispensed with altogether or that two characters could be moulded into one. I've killed two people off early on and now wonder if they should still be alive. Perhaps that would make things more interesting? Is this really a crime novel at all? Is it more of a mystery/thriller? Yes, probably. Can I write the police procedure stuff? No. Do I want to? No. Is my detective that important? Probably not, but I do love the character I've created. He is so flawed, it's untrue. Can I have an incompetent detective who doesn't really solve anything at all? I guess I could. Can the mystery be solved, but not the crime? At the moment, this novel raises more questions than it answers. Perhaps all will become clear at the end.

I'll just plough on regardless. After all, it's only a first draft and a bad one at that.

Thinking In Threes

This morning I've been re-reading Ansen Dibell's 'Patterns, Mirrors and Echoes' section in How To Write A Million. The emphasis on the pattern of three in traditional storytelling methods like fairy tales comes back to haunt any writer who has read 'how to' books and attended workshops.

I went back to my novel and started brainstorming my  plot. Something must have sunk in after many years of reading novels and stories, as I've sub-consciously incorporated 'the law of three' into my crime novel.

There are three victims and three important connections between those victims; three significant relationships; three tearaways; three siblings; three false alarms; three major events; three locations; three baby connections/lost children.

This led me to think about the themes in my novel, which are basically a) the lost child b) involvement/lack of involvement c) commitment/lack of commitment d) running away.

This then led to thinking about the imagery in my novel: fire and water (heat and rain/yellow and purple).

My head feels much clearer after all that.

Does anyone else notice that they subconsciously apply the 'law of three' when writing fiction?

The Long and Winding Road

Skrivener. Is it the answer to my prayers?

Those of you who read yesterday's posts will know that I've been looking for a way of organising my novel into manageable chunks so that I can see where I'm at without trawling through pages and pages of manuscript.

Debutnovelist gave me an idea when she told me about her methods with Word documents. Then I realised I hadn't got Word, as I use a Mac. I then did a search on 'tips for novel writers using Macs' or some-such in Google and came across Skrivener, a package for Macs, which helps you to manage and organise your novel all in one place. I suggest you have a go at the free trial to get a taster. (I think it's also available for PC users, but I'm not sure).

Well, I've spent a whole morning going through the step-by-step tutorial and, although I found it a challenge, I believe this could well be the way forward for me.

I still like the visual idea..... my novel in pictures, as that is very much how my brain works. The storyboards are very useful to me and help to work out both plot and character development. As Captain Black said yesterday, they are just as helpful as a source of inspiration.

I'm now experiencing tension in my shoulders, which is a sign I've spent far too long sitting at the computer in one session, so I'm off to do some reading before the dreaded school run!