Eat Pray and Be Positive

I was looking for an example of writing for my talk at the RNA Conference and came up with this bit from Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Despite recommendations I was a bit sceptical I would like this book but I've liked what I've read so far. Here's an extract to show why.

They come upon me all silent and menacing like Pinkerton Detectives, and they flank me – Depression on my left, Loneliness on my right. They don’t need to show me their badges. I know these guys very well. We’ve been playing a cat-and-mouse game for years now. Though I admit that I am surprised to meet them in this elegant Italian garden at dusk. This is no place they belong.

I say to them, ‘How did you find me here? Who told you I had come to Rome?’

Depression, always the wise guy, says, ‘What – you’re not happy to see us?’

‘Go away, I tell him.

Loneliness, the more sensitive cop, says, ‘I’m sorry, ma’am. But I might have to tail you the whole time you’re travelling. It’s my assignment.’ .......

.....‘It’s not fair for you to come here,’ I tell Depression. ‘I paid you off already. I served my time back in New York.’

But he just gives me that dark smile, settles into my favourite chair, puts his feet on my table and lights a cigar, filling the place with his awful smoke. Loneliness watches and sighs, then climbs into my bed and pulls the covers over himself, fully dressed, shoes and all. He’s going to make me sleep with him again tonight, I just know it.

First of all, there's lots of pzazz here. I like the overall image, Depression and Loneliness being detectives, and the way the idea is carried throughout the rest of the piece. Each time a phrase that compounds the image eg showing their badges it adds a bit of pzazz.

And what does all that pzazz do? It takes a section - and it's several pages in the book - about a woman succumbing to a bout of deep depression and turns it into something fun to read. We're aware that this is going to be painful for her, but the reading experience is anything but. It's a really good example of how to write something negative in a positive way.

At last! I've got my finger out and have committed to running some day courses:

Writing a Novel - 31st July in Bath and 18th September in Truro

Getting a Novel Published - 1st August in Bath and 19th September in Truro

Contact me on sarah@sarahduncan.co.uk for more info...

Practice What You Preach

I woke up this morning and immediately my thoughts turned to the new novel. It's still not going well. Oh dear.

I've done the pep talk. I've tried jumping. I've tried writing rubbish (yes, I think we can safely say I've explored that one to the max). And still flabby prose lies on the page like week-old tripe in a plastic bucket. It's not going well.

Yesterday, looking for a justified alternative to writing, I planned my speech for the Romantic Novelists Association Conference. It was called Mind the Gap in a whimsical moment, and is about how to get your manuscript across the great divide between unpublished and publishable. And as I was lying in bed this morning, in my head going over my sad excuse of a novel, I suddenly thought - there's the answer. I must practice what I preach and apply the same principles to my own work.

At which point I discovered that I have written an unpublishable novel, given I fall down on so many of my own points.

The worst one, the unforgivable sin, is my central character. Oh, she 's busy all right, rushing here and there, but her actions are about filling time. She is reactive, rather than active. In short, she is not a Positive Person Planning with Purpose. This is one of my top commandments, so it's rather awful that I've got this far without realising I've missed it.

But no matter. I've had a quick look back, and I can see how I can give her a Purpose which she can Plan for in a Positive way. Phew. It's going to mean a lot of extra work, and I'm pretty sure I'll miss my deadline (which is a dangerous thing in the current climate) but it's got to be done. An unpublishable novel is an unpublishable novel. End of story. I must practice what I preach.

Fancy a holiday in France with me? I'm teaching a week long course on Writing Mainstream Fiction at a fab chateau in the South of France in September. More details? Contact Chateau Ventenac.

Positive People Planning with Purpose

When I started writing I made lots of new friends. One of them was a woman who was working on an intriguing project of interwoven short stories. I found the theme fascinating and enjoyed it when it was her turn for workshopping. The stories were beautifully written, with lyrical descriptions and such interesting situations, they always triggered good discussions. Over a five year period those stories were always about to be sent out but somehow, nothing ever happened to them. It was as if the talking was enough for her, doing anything other than passively receiving comments wasn't required.

I've met other people like that, both in real life and in student writing, but it's rare to find a passive central character in published work. Let's face it, most of us can do procrastination and day dreaming at home, so the last thing we want to do is read about it. Instead we want to read about characters who do stuff, whatever that stuff may be. We want to read about characters who make things happen. Characters who are active. Characters who plan with purpose.

Suppose your main character is about to lose their job. Do they...cry in corner? Or start up their own business?

They discover their partner is having an affair. Do they...fall into depression? Or stalk the lover?

Their novel is turned down. Do they...rant and rage about how stupid agents are before ripping up the ms? Or reach out for the Writers and Artists Yearbook and send it out to six agents at once?

The second action is always going to be better for a story character, no matter how true to life the first action may be. (BTW Positive refers to the energy of the action, not how morally reprehensible it may be. Scarlett O'Hara is a Positive Person Planning with Purpose. Melanie Wilkes isn't.) Get your characters going. Motivate them. Don't let them be passive victims. If they dream of sailing round the world then they'd better start making it happen from the outset. It took about five years for my real life friendship with the passive writer to wither; it'll take about five minutes for a reader to up sticks and read elsewhere.