Imran Siddiq's Blog, page 9

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The New Year can’t be Ignored #writing #write

 

From May 2016 to now, my output has been restricted. I’ve always set my eye on 2017 to make amends with redrafting a few novels, and getting other out there, as well as reworking one that I want to pitch to agents.

Well, 2017 is here.

Like, 11 days go to be exact.

So, here goes the fluxing-capacitating-jigging-and-poking-all-sparking-oomph.

January is reserved for tweaking a novel one last time before handing over to my Kindle Formatter. Whilst the novel is with them, I can work on the cover and paperback copies of Novel 7. I have a dozen ideas for the cover, but just have to work on a few and then let my Followers pick/decide.

February to March will be editing and tweaking another novel – due for release.

April to July will be a truly focussed overhaul of Novel 11 (the one to be pitched to agents).

Change to 3rd Person POV
Remove love interest
Make the novel more appealing to the Middle Grade 11/12 year old market
Reduce word count from 70k to 50k (well that’ll be easy)

Onwards.

No excuses.

Onwards.

 

Deja Vu with Novels vs Movies #writing #write

 

Heck … it’s happening again.

Like – why me?

In 2012, I set out to write a novel that was aimed at the MG/Just turned Teenager-YA Market where the characters were to be based on Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc, with the Bogeyman as the villain… and then I heard about Rise of the Guardians. When watching it, my jaw dropped at the similarities, especially with the Sandman and the whole dream thing because my character at the time named Tyler Nitbone, was meant to the dream creator for the Sandman who’d just been sabotaged by the Bogeyman.

Yup … my idea had already been done in a different way.That’s life.

I dealt with it. I still created a Tyler Nitbone novel about Parallel Universes, and in some way, I’m rather glad I went in a completely different direction.

 

 

But it’s happening again. In spades. Both ways. Deja-flipping-vu!

Novel 9, currently being tweaked, has big-Big-BIG similarities to plot threads in the great Sci Fi robots show: Humans. There have been episode reveals that have made me curl up and die – because I’ve got the same reveal. Cringe. Hmm… I’ll just do mine different. I’ll try. Cringe. Cringe. Cringe.

 

 

And then there’s Novel 11, in redraft mode, which is similar in concept and overall plot of the new Sci Fi movie: Passengers. Argh! Someone shoot me now.

It’s great and frustrating and mind-boggling and brain-warping.

In a fantastic way, it drives me to take my novels elsewhere, and that’s the mission I accept.

However, why me…?

Images taken from Google. And yes, when writing blogs, I tend to bash all grammatical sense, make typos  and let my commas go missing. I do my blogs on the fly. Like a fly. Except not a fly.

TV Appearance Coming – #ThisTimeNextYear

 

Secrets are tricky things to keep – especially when you want to unleash it with enthusiastic joy.

I had to do it.

In September 2015, I met Davina McCall and the amazing production tram behind the new TV Series: This Time Next Year. The concept was fresh and full of opportunity for people from all walks of life. I made a pledge to achieve something by next year, and until it’s broadcast, I can’t reveal the pledge, the outcome, or the good and the bad.

In a nutshell, you make a pledge, and then you’re followed by a camera crew for the best part of a year, sharing how you plan to achieve the pledge, and how you overcome hurdles. And then, I returned to meet Davina again to reveal the outcome. It’s been nerve-wracking when in front of an audience (whereas I normally thrive on presentations when at work).

Soon, or in the next 5 weeks at least, I’ll be on TV.

And then afterwards, I’ll cringe, smile, or rewind and rewatch.

Who knows?

I’ll provide links to the footage once I know it’s out there.

Can you #NaNoWriMo ? – Be a #Writer – #Writing

 

 

November is the marker of each year, known as National Novel Writing Month, even more as NaNoWriMo (and that’s the one of the few times when abbreviations are welcomed). In fact, the title itself is misrepresentative as NaNoWriMo is an international phenomenon embraced by thousands, discovered by many, and is the ultra-savvy- way to get those darn novels completed – or at least begun.

Little time causes a dilemma between other things in your life and transferring words out of your mind. However, too much time can create the same problem because we keep putting off the task.

“I’ll do it tomorrow for sure.” Of course you will.

“Once I get those chores out of the way, I’ll bash out another chapter.” And then you switch the television on to watch drivel.

Hey, I’m not preaching here, but I’ve done the same, until I found NaNoWriMo – ‘cue Gospel Choir lifting the airwaves’.

NaNoWriMo is a simple concept, Write 50,000 words during the Month of November. How you achieve this goal is your plan of action, but hit it you will and yes, you can. You don’t have to just aim for 50k – go higher if you can, and if you do miss out on the 50k by the end of November, then look back and be proud of the words you did put down. It all counts in the end. NaNoWriMo doesn’t have to be about a new first draft. It can be a redraft, an edit, or a tweak of an edit. Even finetuning words and pages are as good as writing for me. Do it. Do it. Do!

Go for what works for you, such as;

1,612 words every day,
806 words in the morning, and 806 in the evening,
1,000 words per weekday, and then 3,750 each Saturday and Sunday, or
2,000 per day, to leave less to do on the weekend, to help with your chores.

Your words. Your choice.

For the last 4 years, I achieved my NaNo target, and each time it’s been a fist-punch into the air. To know that there are thousands taking part is like having your own mascot nearby pushing you to keep going. You’re not alone!

Usually, I aim for 8,000 words per week, and often I’m close to that, but the NaNo Target makes you focus. I didn’t have time to ponder, over-plan, or think about the correct word in each sentence, let alone if the sentence was needed, or that the chapter began and ended with a beat forcing the reader to continue. Heck no. The mission was to pump out words, and that’s all I required. I put aside my thinking to do the plain and simple thing: write.

Incorrect spelling, grammar, and every writing rule (formal or informal) can be corrected later. That’s why we redraft and edit. For now – I had to write.

My idea in 2015 came during a drive back from a meeting. It couldn’t come more basic than a human in space. Over the next few days, further characters formed, and I found myself researching space stations on the Internet. By Day 3, I’d planned the outline plot on an Excel Spreadsheet. Why am I telling you this, because Day 5 was November 1st, and that meant I could leap into the novel with oomph and motive.

Driving to and from work became episodes of self-reflection over the chapters, the direction of the plot, the need to deviate and to alter events. I didn’t go back and add/remove characters or redo a chapter – no – I kept writing. All the time, I wanted to reach the end.

It’s not a race. It’s not a contest. It’s all about self-achievement.

In the end, I did more than 50k. I knocked out 58k. And I didn’t stop. I kept the momentum burning in my thoughts, until hitting the end by 14th December with 82k for the first draft. Overall, that put me almost 2 months ahead of how long I envisaged it’d take to complete the novel.

I was ecstatic.

NaNoWriMo 2016 will see the same. A novel I wrote in 2010 is due a major update with a new plot, and because I know my characters so well, I will reinvent with gusto. This year will be the most difficult, as I have a new son, and he does eat into my writing time like my cats do into their treats. The challenge is to smuggle in as much writing time as I can, no matter how early or late, and if I only manage to hit 49,999 words by the end of November then so be it. Either way, it’ll be better than no words.

Go forth and be courageous.

#Write

Standard Format for Manuscripts @Sirra_Girl #Writing

 

A fantastic Guest Post by Su, a great multi-talented editor who does’t hide behind words. I strongly recommend in following her on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/sirra_girl

http://www.sirraedits.com

Standard format for manuscripts. This was not unfamiliar term to me as a translator/editor. In fact, it’s common sense. Each MS should error-free in every sense including the format when submitting to a literary agency or a publisher. Well, I knew that, but not all writers did. So I decided to do a post for all the writers. I hope this helps.

Standard Manuscript Format

1)   Margin: 1-inch all around

2)   Font Size: 12

3)   Font Type: Times, Times New Roman, Courier New (may change with the trend)

4)   Indentation before paragraph: 10-space (Use a set tab instead of spacing 10 times)

5)   Space between all text: Double

6)   Space between sentences: Single space after period

7)   Scene break: Use special characters (***, ###, —, etc) in a new line, centered

8)   Do not use bold or italics throughout the entire MS

9)   Do not underline text to emphasize. Put quotation marks or italicize the text

10)  Book title, your last name, and page number:  On the right-justified header (upper right corner)

11)  Chapter heading: On top of the page in either same or different sized fonts, centered or left justified. The first line of the paragraph about a third way down.

12) The End: The end of the manuscript should be marked with a clear ending.

13) Title pages should include: Your book information (Genre, word-count, no. of pages depending on publishers) in the upper left corner. The title should be in the middle of the page followed by your name (pen name) underneath it. Your contact information and your real name should be at the bottom, right corner.

———–

Thanks again to Su for this

Showcasing an Artist: @Renareve_Illust

 

I love art.

Like, I fill my lungs with art, and love to doodle. Working on covers, sliding my fingers across my Wacom tablet, and adding layers in Photoshop to manufacture characters and locations is an exquisite hobby that I’ll never give up.

That brings me to @Renareve_Illust, a talented artist I found on Twitter.

 

The images on their website are brilliant and spark multitude of stories just by gazing at them. I dare you to not be inspired!

 

A New Roadmap

 

It’s been a long time since I was here, and boy am I geared up to unleash the creativity bubbling away in my mind.

So where have I been since May 2016?

**Grand Announcement **

I adopted an amazing little boy who’s turned my life inside-out and upside-down in the most magical and fantastically awesome manner straight out of another world. (Summarised – it’s been great!)

Many projects since May came to a semi-standstill with bits falling out, or rolling over one another to create heaps of visionary visions in a visual-mess. There were days of non-writing, and moments of pondering about what he’d eat next rather than jotting down dialogue that sparked in my thoughts (as they do). It’s understandable that he’d become the life-force of my … urm … life.

"My study room has been taken over"

And I’m not sad about it.

Well, just a little.

I sure miss word-smuggling and word-bashing and word-devouring and word-cutting … and just words.

Time to reignite the word-cauldron.

Some side projects needed my attention, such as 3 Book Covers (commissioned by fellow writers), and 3 illustrations for an anthology. Yes, well they’re done.

Now, to focus on my projects.

Roadmap 2016 2.0

Proofread Novel 7 (YA 16+ Science Fiction): October
Release Novel 7: November
Proofread Novel 10 (MG 11+ Science Fiction): November
Release Novel 10 : December
Convert Novel 11 from YA to MG 11+ Science Fiction: Jan-Feb 2017
Redraft Novel 3 (written in 2012): Mar-Apr 2017

I’m hungry.

Very hungry.

 

 

 

Suz Korb’s Newest Cover Reveal and Live Novel Writing

 

Guest Post from fellow writer Suz – including details of an amazing project – LIVE writing!

Hello, I’m Suz Korb and my new book project is titled: Flutterby Girl. Welcome to this cover reveal blog post, with a twist. And here’s the cover…

The twist is that this book hasn’t been written yet. I’m going to write it live on Patreon. I‘ve written a novel live before, chapter by chapter, on my blog. And now I’m doing it again with Flutterby Girl!

I got the idea for Flutterby Girl, then I thought up a title, then I got the cover, and now I’m writing the story. It will go up on Patreon chapter by chapter, daily. You can read each chapter if you become my patron. I’m new at Patreon, so if problems arise I hope I can deal with them quick! It should be easy enough though.

I’ve decided to write my two most recent books live because it pushes me, and it makes my imagination flow more deeply.

Chapter 1 of Flutterby Girl is up on Patreon now and I hope you will join me in this young adult journey.

Author Suz Korb

Suz Korb Patreon

suzkorb.com

Twitter @SuzKorb

Facebook Author Page

Novel 12 is Novel 1 and more…

 

So you know that I’m revisiting my first novel (written 2007 to 2011) – but I’m overhauling it for the Middle Grade audience. Due to much replotting, changes in direction, characters, etc, I can’t just pick up Novel 1 and redraft. There’s maybe 5% I can reuse, but the rest is from afresh – so I class it as a NEW novel.

That’s a lot of pages to scrap – but hey – that’s what I need.

Because…

2nd Act is a whole new boom.
3rd Act will be very different.
1 Protag is now an Antag from the get-go.
1 Death does not occur – 1 does.
1 moment of deceit is overturned.
62 lives will be freed.
100s will lose theirs.

And as for time, well I am up against it. The next few months will be juggling other priorities, but I will aim to smuggle in words each day.

The end target for the completed novel is 45k. The first draft is likely to be 55 to 60k, giving me much words to play with. In fact. I’m not bothered if the novel comes in at 40k for the first draft. The main thing is to complete it!

Plan:

May – Write Chapters 11 to 20 (I hope.)
June – Reach the end, Chapter 32.
July to Aug – Redraft
Sept – Present at the Festival of Writing – York 2o16.