Editing and Tailoring

Edits of Coalface continue this week - the great thing of rewrites is I take a fresh look at elements of the story I thought were great, and get the chance to make them even better.
The downside is, when you've resolved one plot point, another three unresolved plot points pop up...

It's tricky work, then something lands in your laptop that keeps you going.

I'm a scribbler when it comes to illustrating the alternative Victorian England of Coalface - drawings with a lot of passion, but not much accuracy.



Stirling Single at NRM pic: wikipedia

I'm always on the lookout for things that reflect what I'm trying to bring to the page, and I have to give a big thankyou to Tor.com for posting some fantastic David Sims pics of Prada's forthcoming range of menswear.  The choice of actors to model the outfits is inspired, turning the shoot into something that crackles with potential for me as a writer.


If you want an idea of what Coalface looks like in my head as I'm writing and editing it, (and what I'm saving up to add to my wardrobe as of today) - this is a good place to start - just add one of these in the background...

Out and About - Lanhydrock

Inspiration comes in all sorts of places – one of the strangest things is when it comes back to meet you when you visit somewhere again…

Lanhydrock has been a National Trust house since the 1970s – it’s interesting because the exterior of the building is thoroughly Elizabethan, but a 19th c. fire gutted one half of the building.  The result is a Victorian version of Grand Designs, with the cutting edge of gadgets and ‘in’ designs of 1883 rubbing shoulders with the ancient plasterwork in the long gallery.



It’s my second visit to one of the places that fuelled my imagination as I began to create the alternate Victorian England of Coalface, and has inspired some of the places Cole encounters in his quest to avenge his father’s death.  The whole house exudes a unique character, so much so that it influenced one of my favourite lines in the story.  I’m working through re-edits of Coalface at the moment; fingers crossed the sentence makes the next edit – you never know until you finish.

I took these snaps at Lanhydrock while my tent was being tested to destruction on the Cornish coastline – I lost the tent, but got the pictures –enjoy.

Five runs?

I'm making up for lost time after three weeks of self imposed sitting down to edit Coalface - so I'm on my fifth run in as many days.

Five runs?  Yeah, five runs.

Okay, five short runs.

Day one was as much staggering as running.
Day two was all running, but I was good for nothing at the end.
Day three was... pretty good.
Day four better...
Day five, and I'm back up to speed.

After thinking I'd lost my running mojo, there it was - I just had to work for it.

I'm feeling the same thing about starting the follow up stories to Coalface and Hidden Daughter.  
Getting into the rhythm of being open to every possible new idea in an emerging story is a different discipline to making everything flow inside a finished one.

Then I find an old photo, or a quote, or work out the age of someone in 1882... and I'm off again.

Whatever you're working on, if you get the feeling you're stuck at day one or two, stick with it - day three is just around the corner.

Done.

Another milestone week - I've completed edits for Coalface, my YA Victorian adventure novel, after three weeks of intensive rewrites (there's always rewrites) and editing, while the rain fell and the sun shone outside, turning the back garden into a small jungle.  But now, we're done.  Spellchecked, backed up, saved.  Properly done.

It's a strange time.  I've spent a long time walking with the fantastic characters in the book, putting their hopes, fears, actions and reactions down on paper; but at some point, that has to stop.  I expected to feel a little anxiety about stepping out of my hero's amazing Victorian world, but the truth is, we've only just started.

Two glasses of very pleasant red wine and a page of scribbles later, the second book is underway.  New horizons to explore, new people to meet, new challenges to be faced.

Meanwhile, the grass outside is knee deep, and needs a cut; so I'd better get it sorted.  Well soon, anyway.