Inspired

Today I sat outside under our lanai in Orlando, Florida, watching the tropical storm make its afternoon visit with style and gusto. Brilliant flash of lightening followed by a terrifying clap and rumble of thunder that literally travelled the sky from horizon to horizon, one after the other with barely a pause for breath. It was incredible. I don’t know why, but the atmosphere really inspired me to write. So I did. I took out my netbook and settled happily in a chair to sort out my writing. I feel good. Like I have achieved something spiritually worthwhile. I don’t care if I never get read by anyone, I feel good about having written. I haven’t written much, as it took all of two hours to get the new netbook up-to-date enough to open half of my files. And to synchronise it with my desktop back in England.

Speaking of which, the new villa is beautiful. The furniture is great, the pool-deck furniture is comfortable (as I found out this afternoon) and basically the American Dream my family has always wanted has arrived. Not many people can boast a family villa in a sought-after area of Orlando. It’s not huge, being four bedroom-three bathroom, but it is plenty big enough for our family of four and our grandparents, and will sleep eight. So it’s more than good enough.

Our ever-so-handy pool manager came and lowered the pool level so that the adjusted pumps could circulate the water past the filter, which caught most of the little bugs that end up floating on the surface. This is a very good thing. I shall try it out over the next few days, to see if it has had the desired bug-free effect.

Back to my afternoon organising my writing. I started a novel in September that progressed to chapter three and then inevitably ended. Real life got in the way. Which sucks, but what can you do? Besides ditch something important, like sleeping. And in a profession where you have to keep on top of 30 kids, being awake suddenly becomes more important. So writing got put on hold. No wonder I was miserable for the year.

Still, I learned something from reviewing my three chapters. Well, several somethings, actually, but I’ll start with one. Chapter length. I write my chapters in separate files. And checking the word count of these files has told me that I need to get my chapter lengths sorted out. The prologue was a simple line explaining what was to happen, to be filled in later. Chapter one was over 6,800 words. Chapter two was under 2,500. This obviously is not right.

After reading a lot of gumph on the web, I decided to make up my own mind about chapter length. I like the idea of ‘cutting the movie scene’. Basically, the writer ends the chapter in the same way a movie editor would cut a scene. When it ‘feels’ right. But from now on, I’m going to aim to keep chapters between 2,500 and 5,000 words. Which means chapter one will probably become two chapters. Thus upsetting the sequence. But at least the sequence only goes as far as chapter three. If I had to re-name twenty-three chapters I’d be less happy.

The second thing I discovered is that I have a thing for men with red hair. I need to have fewer of them in my stories. End of discussion.

Thirdly, I have a tendency to describe a character’s mundane, every-day chores. As well detailed as they are and quite well written – if I don’t say so myself – they contribute very little to the story and will probably end up cut-and-pasted into the dreaded ‘edit out’ file. Darn. There goes my chapter lengths again.

Finally, I think I need some encouragement. I know my writing improves with every word I write and that my style will develop on its own if I let it, but this isn’t easy when everyone around you is trying to distract you because their need is more important (the dishes, making a pot of tea, the need to discuss the hoovering of the rug in the living room, and so on). I need someone to tell me I’m doing good and to keep it up. It’s amazing how well people thrive when they have a little encouragement from someone. Anyone.

We never grow up, really. Do we.