Distractions and Progress on that novella

I’m exploring new strategies with Randy Ingermanson’s SNOWFLAKE method of planning a novel, because I’m working on plotting and scaffolding and character descriptions instead of simply spinning out scenes.

Because my story is set in Scotland in the 1840's, I keep running into research plot holes where I need to know something. So I'm researching the food eaten by various classes, living conditions, slums in Edinburgh and Inverness, epidemics of cholera/typhus, emigration of the Irish to Scotland, various working conditions, and railroads in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow in the 1840's. And I keep finding fascinating little bits that tell me 'what life was like.'

If I keep in mind the GOAL, that is to write a prequel of about 40K to tell what happened with Dylan and Moira after the end of Standing Stones, I’m encouraged as all this information swirls around and informs the story, even as I doubt the story will hold to 40K words.

And I want to go back to Scotland. Maybe another research trip of two months in September and October this year? Another 6-floor walk-up on the Royal Mile, just about halfway between Edinburgh Castle (where, yes, the royal crown jewels are under guard) and the Holyrood Abby, a ruin . . . but so beautiful. Around the corner, a lovely library; I already have the library card! 

View from Edinburgh Castle (Camp 2009)

Bagpipers coming down the Royal Mile (Camp 2009)

Maybe a day trip up to Inverness to visit Ardkeen House once again (now a private home, but still, once it was a home for wayward women. 

Now I’m checking the internet to confirm that Ardkeen House was built in 1834-1836 by the Inverness United Charities Institution to house the Inverness Juvenile Female School, the Ladies' Female Work Society, and the Inverness Infant School. 

Moira

Moira lived here at Ardkeen House in Inverness until her daughter Rose was born (in Standing Stones). In the novella, she will return to Ardkeen House.

Oh, how the plot thickens.

Here's GERARD BUTLER
(Wikipedia)

The next step in Randy's SNOWFLAKE is to develop character sketches that reveal everything. Some people use Excel to organize all those factors that make a character unique.  

I couldn’t quite visualize what my main characters looked like, so turned once again to the internet.

Gerard Butler jumped off the page as Dylan. And a nameless model became his brother, Michael -- at least nameless, until someone pointed out he's Michael Fassbender.

This is MICHAEL FASSBENDER (Wikipedia)

Now, truly the plot thickens. I have to tell their story. Don't you want to know what happens next?

Storytelling: Happy for now?

I started work on a novella.

I 'm trying out Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method of step-by-step drafting, actually ten steps in total. After two weeks, I'm about half way through mapping out the story of Moira and Dylan. My goal is a novella, some 40-50,000 words. Perhaps I'll be able to tell this story a little faster than the three years it usually takes me.

Why this story of Moira and Dylan?

If you've read Standing Stones, you may remember that Dylan left their island home to go to Inverness, seeking work and leaving Moira behind. But he doesn't know that Moira is pregnant. Moira searches for him, can't find him, and winds up in a home for wayward women, baby Rose on the way. 

Readers have let me know they want to know what happens next, and they want a 'happy ever after' ending! In fact, just this week my doctor stood in the hall before her next patient to call after me, "You have to write a happy ending. You can't leave them apart like that."

So it's back to Inverness for me!

"River Ness, Inverness" by Avarim (Wikipedia)

Will I find that happy ending? 

I hope so, but I'm drawn to the stories of people who struggle to make a good life for themselves and those they love. For some reason, perhaps my own childhood, I want to write about those working class people who lived in crowded 19th Century tenements, worked in windowless factories, and fought over bread. In Inverness, the elite disdained a district filled with 'Irishers' called Cowgate. Maybe Moira will find Dylan there. 

Even as I sit in my office, surrounded by 21st Century luxuries, including more books than I can read, I'm thinking 'happy for now' might be a more realistic fit. For our lives are filled with challenges that change over time, each decade shaped by policies beyond our control, and we grow older. Somehow we face down loss; hopefully, we find love to ease the way.

IWSG: May check-in, challenges, and a free read!

I'm just one day late to report in for that wonderful online community (rich with resources), the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

I always hesitate a little at the title of IWSG. After all, writers aren't insecure -- are they? And I'm not insecure, am I? Yesterday at my small writers' group, I did hesitate a little before handing out my stuff to read. What will they say? Will they just hate my latest effort? 

Actually, I'm thankful for my colleagues, for this group meets weekly, and we burrow down into rough drafts with critical and helpful comments. We try to remember we're commenting on the author's voice, the intent of the story, and look at the underlying structure and implications as well as surface 'corrections.' 

My biggest challenge this month has been organizing and rejuvenating my marketing strategies while waiting for comments from beta readers for my nearly-ready-novel, Rivers of Stone. 

1. I experimented with both Google Ads Express and Amazon Sponsored Product online ads to learn that despite thousands of 'impressions,' my book was invisible. No sales.
2. I discovered podcasts (Joanna Penn) that opened up entirely different strategies. Instead of 'selling books,' I'm starting to think about relationships with my readers and what would appeal to them. Nick Stephenson's free video training inspired me to create a magnet (a bonus story or novella) as an incentive to encourage readers to sign up for my newsletter. 

What I learned so far: Getting ideas/inspiration is the good part. Drillling down into the "how" takes time and tenacity. Luckily, I'm stubborn. 

MailChimp offers many templates that can be edited with photos and text. And I'll need to highlight this (and upcoming discounts) in each of my books. Did you know that authors are now putting their promos right inside their Kindle books (first page)?

Perseverance furthers! I have a 'prequel' ready to go once I learn how to use MailChimp to automatically deliver my 'magnet' to new subscribers!

Mark your calendar for a free ghost story! Indie writer Annette Drake has written an enchanting cozy mystery about two sisters. Building Celebration House is set in an antebellum South mansion with its own crop of ghosts. Free now through May 7. Check it out.


Happy Spring! May you have a good month -- and success in finding out what at least 12 other participants in the Insecure Writer's Support Group are up to this month.