Hello everyone,

Welcome back:
Good to have you back (or nearly back) in the fold, Margie. Don’t bother about all that unpacking – let things like Alpha take priority!

Words:
This was the title of my first section in the last circular, but this time, I’m looking at things from a very different angle.

Sometimes, we have descriptions which are extremely difficult to put into words. I’ve just come across an example of this, which is in the attachment. Study this, and then think about whether you could put those instructions into words.

Even if you don’t want to do that, you may still find it amusing. I saw it originally at Gisborne in New Zealand – but I don’t know if it has a New Zealand origin. Perhaps Betty will know?.

Christmas Quiz:
I’m pleased that some of you rose to the challenge in the way that you did. I suggested that Q2 and Q6 might be the easiest, and these were the only two questions that all 4 entrants got right.

Challenge Points:
No-one disputed the marks last time, so let’s hope this continues.

Challenge 5 results:

Zena is the clear winner (3 points)

Christine and Clare are the next two (2 points each)

And David and Rosemary are joint third. (1 point each)

Plus one point for each entrant. (that includes Sally!)

Zena and Rosemary get 1 point for their efforts in my Christmas Challenge.

Leading after 5 challenges (note - alphabetical order within marks!):

Rosemary	13
Zena	13
Clare	12
Geoff	10
Sally	10
Christine	9
David	9

The results of the last challenge, the definition of the new challenge, and the collection for you to judge will all arrive from their separate members.

Discussion topic:
As Christine says, it’s time we had another discussion going. So I’m going to pick up on her suggestion – and use largely her words, but I’m turning them into direct questions (which are more difficult to duck!):

Are you a closet novelist?

Some of us have bravely pushed our creations into the cruel world where thick-headed agents and publishers arrogantly bin anything that isn't Harry Potter's Da Vinci Code II. How much courage did it take to do that?.

And who has still got a novel still locked up in the closet? Are you going to leave it there forever? Has it had a timid little outing? Are you waiting for some special configuration of circumstances before you take the plunge?

Just to start the ball rolling, I’ll admit to having a novel in the closet, and I have only ventured out with it once. That was to an agent (recommended by the local Arts Council) who offered to read through a synopsis and a chapter from anyone on their circulation list, and pass comments on it. Unfortunately, something happened, and the chapter and synopsis got returned after just over a year, with an apology from the Arts Council saying something had gone wrong with the agent (I forget what it was, but I hope it wasn’t my synopsis or chapter that caused it).

No, I’m not going to offer it anywhere else. The plot is OK, but the development and chunks of the writing isn’t. I thought at the time of writing that it wasn’t too bad, but as the years pass, I realise that the only thing that can be done is to rewrite it completely. Actually, I only wrote it because I broke my leg, and had to occupy myself for about five or six weeks. I might rewrite it when I get the opportunity – or break my leg again.

I learnt one very specific thing from the exercise. At the outset, I designed the personality of the characters to fit the plot (which covered a span of about a year or so), and wrote and weaved them in. But as I progressed through the novel, the personalities changed, and for a time this worried me as I felt I had lost some kind of control. Then I realised that of course, in real life, that’s exactly what happens: you form an opinion of a person, and then as time goes by, you learn more about them. It is this learning about people process which changes one’s opinion of them, especially as you are learning about their hidden agendas. I think everyone has hidden agendas, some just hide more than others. It is often the revealing of them that needs careful touches, and is an essential ingredient of a novel.

A second thing which I have learnt, though more in later reflection, really concerns my own style of writing: it may not be relevant to you, but it may be worth mulling over. My writing has, as a background, a scientific approach, and as a result, I tend to write about – and describe - the elements that are relevant to the plot, generally treating other features in a cursory manner. (I think this creates a rather plodding style). Recently, though, I have been studying Tess Gerritson (I find her writing compelling). Because she is such a successful crime writer as well as a very accomplished ‘hard’ scientist, I specifically chose to look at her work analytically. She has specific plots to unfold, but it is her inclusion of irrelevancies that paint a much fuller and better picture. Again, that is life, for it is the irrelevancies that make life fun.

For example, in driving to work, the essential requirement was that I got there. Who wanted to know that on one particular morning, I had to follow a hare down the road for about a mile? Nothing hinged on it, and it has no relevance to the day’s activities, and I would never have included it in anything other than a study of a mad hare. On the other hand, it might have had some kind of relevance in creating a frustration or a developing urgency.

Anyway, that’s my ramblings to start discussion on Christine’s questions!

Over to you all, now. I'll be away until next Wednesday evening, and out of email reach.

- Olaf