Complete Rewrite

Okay, so the book needs a complete rewrite from the start.

That's fine, I'm being really zen about it. I will admit, I wasn't very zen about it last night when I realised this isn't my best work.

I am zen about it now and looking forward to really bringing out my story in a way that will delight and inspire awe.

What I've done to help me realise my dream is to print out some artwork I've found online which is inspiring. Some pictures that will keep me focused and on track. I've printed out some drawings of how I envision my characters and hopefully that will keep me on the right track.

I wish I had a writing room where I could put these pictures up and use them to focus. Polly Pockets in my folder will have to suffice.

One of the elements that was letting me down was not having a title. Working title is Galactic Team. This title is crap but it helps me to focus on the end game here. The book will not be submitted under this title but the gist of the thing is there.

So... word count right now is currently: 0.

New Characters

Tim and Lexi

My current work in progress features two protagonists, Tim and Lexi. I wanted both a male and female character not because the female character needs the male, but because I wanted to show equality.

I wanted to create realistic and fun characters that are cheeky, brave and impulsive. I don't go into a lot of detail about what they look like because to me, that's not important. I want the children reading my book to imagine themselves and their friends in the roles of Tim and Lexi.

Whether or not this will remain true after I've edited the second draft, I don't know.
This is what I have so far.

Lexi

Alexia comes from a single parent home. She has a brother and a sister who live with her dad and his new girlfriend, and she has her mum. She recently moved with her mum to the town in which Tim lives and have moved in on the same street as Tim.

She's loud, outgoing and plucky. She loves adventure but there's something quiet about Lexi. While she is loud, she has a quiet thoughtful side. She has a thinking side of her which processes what's happening and makes her ask questions that are important but are also unexpected.

Lexi is an experience collector. She likes to do things and find out what happens later. However, she's not completely careless and knows when she needs to use caution. She has her own boundaries and is very happy with them. She is smart and while her impulsiveness doesn't always allow her to show how smart she is, she has a depth of maturity that is very heartwarming.

Tim 

Timothy is the youngest of two boys. His older brother David is a teen

and the possessor of all the best computer games, which Tim covets. It's not until he meets Lexi that he's brave enough to pinch one of his brother's games to play with her.

Tim is used to being one of the cleverest people in the room. At school, he's learnt that the teachers know he's clever and he acts accordingly. He's reserved, thoughtful and proud. Yet, there is a vulnerable side to him. He knows he's not as clever as people make out and he's not as 'spur of the moment' as he would like to be. He envies Lexi's ability to just give things ago and see what happens.

Tim is not an experience collector. He picks and chooses what he wants to do and if he feels a bit out of his comfort zone, he may withdraw. The one thing that makes Tim shine is where something is out of his comfort zone, particularly in the climax of Book 1 where Tim can put aside his worries and reservations.

Tim is kind, loyal and friendly. He welcomes Lexi as a friend on their first meeting and while he doesn't agree with everything she says or does, he accepts her immediately as someone he can trust and be friends with.

How I Feel 

I really like these characters. When I'm writing about them, and I know
other writers have said this as well, I almost picture my own children. They are very loosely based on my own children although my own are much younger than the characters here and haven't quite settled on their own personalities yet.

What I Wanted to Achieve

I want to show that while they are different genders, there's an equality between them. Lexi and Tim both have strengths and weaknesses and they support each other. I want to say that it doesn't matter that one is a boy and the other is a girl, they are both people who can achieve anything they want to.

Overcoming Writers Block

My Tips

I've been struggling with writers block while writing these contemporary middle grade novels. I was starting to think that maybe I'm just not a very good middle grade writer. That may well be the case, but with my experience I think maybe not as awful as I was thinking.

The problem is, I haven't been giving myself breaks when I needed them.

Having two wonderful children, I've been trying to squeeze in as much writing as I can when they're asleep or otherwise distracted. This means I can't write when the muse inspires me but when I have the time. That's fine, but I was putting pressure on myself to write as much as I could in the little time that I had. This meant that what I was writing wasn't always of good quality and I didn't like it when it was all done.

What I've started to do, when I feel the writer's block descending, is to stop writing. I've started doing something else, reading more again and simply distracting my mind.

I have found that when I'm not forcing myself to write, what I do write is of better quality and makes more sense. Mainly it comes when I'm relaxed and chilling out and what I produce in that time is much better than what I'm forcing myself to write.

This has helped me in other areas of my writing as well. I have rewritten one scene in my current work in progress three times because instead of being a tense scene where my protags are in danger, it becomes a sinister scene for completely different reasons and that's not the tone of the book. Normally, this would really dishearten me and I'd be wondering why I can't get this scene or character right. Instead, now I'm giving myself a bit of a break, having a think about it and coming back to it afresh and with different ideas.

So my tip, when writer's block descends is to take a step back, have a break and think about anything else.

I hope that helps!

Stories of my Absense

Have been fairly accurate

So where have I been? And why haven't I been blogging? Well.

I just finished a contemporary middle grade fantasy where the main protag flies away to a magical land where she meets a number of interesting characters, solves the mystery of why she, over everyone else, was chosen to go to this magical land and... well, I can't give away the ending.

It was nice, and a cute story. I read it to some children who found it gripping. They don't pick up on the subtle clues, though, but it was ok. I pointed them out. Ha har! I had the Faraway Tree

And now?

I'm currently writing a contemporary middle grade science fiction. I'm not sure what made me move away from my young adult novel. I still have it, it's not been binned but I'm currently working on middle grade.

I was thinking about my own children when writing this science fiction. I was thinking about what sci fi my own children are exposed to.

I am a huge sci fi fan. I like fantasy and contemporary, I even like historical fiction but science fiction is my favourite.

I was thinking about introducing my own children to science fiction and what I'd want their first experiences of science fiction to be. So, I came up with the current story I'm writing now.

There are two main protags: Tim and Lexi. Tim is smart, knowledgeable and brainy. Lexi is also smart and she's impulsive, brave and practical. Unusual happenings have been in the news and then something particularly unusual happens to these rather ordinary children. Then the adventure begins.

Blurbs are not my forte obviously. I will work on it.

The reason I haven't been blogging is because I have been writing. Furiously! Once my fantasy had finished I was able to focus on this science fiction.

I do suffer with a lot of self doubt as a writer. I wonder if it's any good and if anyone would actually enjoy reading it.

I think that it's a very honoured position to be in, being a successful published author. It sort of means, in a way, that people have looked inside your imagination, liked what they see, and have come back for more. I think it's amazing.