Usually I've read at least something from the author, but feeling like the subject was bang on the money with where I was, I booked it and eagerly anticipated.
This is where our wonderful English language has fun with semantics. I'd interpreted it as a session for people who were slowly chugging to the end of the track, desperate for a few final pushes. But it actually focused more generally on endings as a concept, what type of ending a reader might expect from a genre, being unafraid to consider several, wildly different endings, what an ending should serve up; satisfaction, a tidying of loose ends etc.
Unlike my previous novels, this one has an end, organic and imagioned during a frantic explanation to my husband in a London pub. A true, aha moment (how rare those are). The second draft of my book has utterly revolved around my precious ending. I'm so dedicated to it that I've changed almost the entire book just so that this final chapter can live.
So whenever the workshop suggested that we reconsider the ending, I fell into a wheezy panic attack at the prospect. This was not Laura's fault. It is my fault for continuing to sign myself up to event after event, without squeezing any writing in-between. It's my fault for continuing to reach out for help, and tricks, and discussion, when what I really need to do is sit down, one eye on my roadmap, and crack the hell on.
Thanks in part to The Clockhouse retreat, where after six days of graft my map arose, and to Srivener (which I'll touch on loosely later, but will be no doubt singing the praises of for many blogs to come), the way before me is sign posted and lit.
So it must be fate that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. On the 1st of November, I'm going to force my sorry-excuse-for-a-writer self to the page, and bash out the day's required word count - 1667 words to be exact. And then on the 2nd. And again on the 3rd. And with any luck, come November's chilly close, I will find myself with a complete second draft at 90,000 words.
So briefly, but with so much love - Scrivener. How has it taken me so long to discover this beautiful, beautiful outstretched helping hand? It's been mentioned a few times over the years but like the idiot I am, I barely took notice. Then I saw that if you complete NaNo (that is sail over the finish line with 50,000 words), you get 50% off Scrivener, so I took a peek.
I watched a brief tutorial and impatiently imported my Word doc novel. Firstly, it happily kept my track changes - all the comments and highlights. Then I saw that I could add sections throughout (marking chapters if you want, or subplots - anything really), and jump around them easily, no longer painstakingly scrolling through in pursuit of a key scene. And, there's an index card view where you can add notes to all those lovely sections - which I've typed my chapter map into.
I'm keen to hear about how everyone else uses it, as I've only scratched the surface, but it's already put my novel back into a soft, rosy light.
