Getting into writing...

I find it hard sometimes to make time to write. I have all these ideas that are floating around, scraps of paper with chapters and scenes on, and so so many word documents of character development and the like. Having all this is great, but no if there isn't the time to turn it into something that actually makes sense, or even makes a story of some sort.
My dream is to make money out of writing, whether that is fiction or not. This is proving to be difficult as we all know this isn't the best time to be looking for jobs. Everyone is applying for the same roles and there is always someone more qualified than you. I would love to spend 6 months in London, soaking up all the work experience I can, then putting it on my CV. I can't do this, I have a mortgage to pay and can't afford to not be paid a decent wage.

I know one day the opportunities will come to me, perhaps I am being impatient, after all I am only 25 and am doing fairly well for myself. I own a home, have a loving boyfriend, have a great editing job which pays well. Perhaps I should stop asking for more? Deep down I have ambitions and I know where I want to be, and now is the time to be doing I guess. I am young and have the drive to succeed in a ruthless and competitive world.

One day it will all come together, patience is the key.

And let the fight begin.

Recently I have got to a point in editing my work where I realise that some parts lack a certain reality. Dialogue used to be a huge issue, where the characters voices just sounded too similar and far too stunted for it to read as an actual conversation. I have worked on this and I think I am now at a place where this has been rectified. However, the scenes that stick out like a sore thumb are the fight scenes. Be this with fist or sword, or even magic, as some end up, they just don't flow as they would if you were watching them.

Research is the key. I have been trawling websites and other blogs to see if I can find the advice I've been looking for.
Here is what I have found so far...

- Body knowledge:  If you want to draw a reader into your world, you need to make them believe that the people who are fighting know what they are doing. Your characters would know which parts of the body to hit to make the killing or maiming blow, so you should know them as well. Even if you don't write these technical names into the narrative, knowing how to describe them will certainly help.
- Weapon information: I think it is essential to know the name and function of the weapons you want your characters to use. Be this swords, bows, guns or any other form of wielding weapon. By doing this you can study how your characters would move when executing certain types of blow. It is also important to note how certain attacks would impact upon the characters own stamina. Doing this research will also mean that you won't give them something that is beyond their skill level either.
-Not being afraid to go into detail: By this I mean gore and guts! If someone gets slashed by a broadsword for example, it will do some damage, and by not recognising this I think some reality is lost.

Here I have found a really good list of things that writers can forget to do when writing fight scenes.


Bearing all these things in mind, I have re-written some fight scenes in the hope that I can change them from a list actions, He sliced his opponent, who moved away from this next attack and blocked it on his shield, for example, to passages with more detail and to scenes that are more believable as a fight.

I will let you know how I get on...

Well, well, well...

So, here we are again. Same blog, bit of a shake up. As a new years resolution I have tried to write more (including on this blog), although considering as this is the first post it is clearly going well. 2015 will be the year of the novel. I have several pages and word documents with half mashed scrawling and ideas, I only need to put them into some sort of coherent order and make sense of them and there will be some sort of story in there somewhere.

Inspiration and time are against me so far, with just moving house and having a lot to sort through, I am lacking in both recently, but hopefully all will settle a bit and I can get back on track with the novel. I have an idea of where the story will go, and a multitude of characters and settings, so I am using those as a starting point in kicking off once more with the writing.

Here we go then...

Let's see where I end up.