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| Writer's
Blog - 13. |
Last
week was one of the bigger weeks in what
I am cheeky enough to regard as my
career as a writer. I'd aimed to
complete a chapter of my book so that I
could read it to the writing class that
I attend. In the event, I
surprised myself by writing two of the
damned things.
That brought me up to about the
23,000-word mark, or, as the tutor put
it, "about the end of Act
One". He's assuming
(correctly) that my magnum opus will
have a three act structure and that
"Act One" will introduce all
the main characters and set up the plot.
As usual the feedback from tutor and
class was priceless. I'd
introduced one element to the story that
was going to become quite an important
factor. Unfortunately, it was
judged to be a false note - a judgment
that, on reflection, I could see was
correct. So out it
goes.
I'd also done a very dangerous thing for
a bloke: I'd gone inside the heads of a
couple of female characters. But
there was good news there, as the female
members of the class thought that these
characters rang true - and I got some
good pointers about the female
perspective on one particular scene.
I think I'm now getting even more out of
the class than before. I've always
thought that the comments from the tutor
were full of telling insights.
That's maybe not surprising, since he
writes full-time for radio as well as
having books published on a regular
basis. But the class members are a
terrific sounding board too.
That's not just because they're all
pretty decent writers themselves, it's
partly because they are great readers
too. I know now that if I actively
seek their comments on particular
aspects of my work I'll get some
valuable feedback. And, once I've
elicited their views, I know that I
shouldn't ignore them.
So it's back to writing more new stuff -
and re-writing existing chapters so as
to remove the false notes!
©
David Gray
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