Opposite Day

My kids have a favourite little game where they give me the response I don't want and then tell me it's "Opposite Day", they say there should be a day at school like that. I ask how would you know it was opposite day and they respond that you would ask someone. The trouble is if you asked on the day and they said it was, then that would mean it wasn't? And if they said it wasn't then it might be, but if it actually wasn't opposite day then that would still be the response? My 11yr old said you should ask the day before. Sometimes the answer is so obvious it takes a child to find it.


As writers for children we need to tap into that magical way of viewing the world where even the complicated things are simple. I think this can apply to our plotting and structuring of narratives.


I came across this talk that seemed to prove to me there would no one right or wrong way to write my story, I'm hoping it will ignite your imagination too (it's very short):



This week I watched Monsters Inc (again) and thought the opposite idea applied to this script. If kids are scared of monsters then couldn't monsters be scared of kids? And what would happen if a kids wasn't scared of the monster, but loved him instead?


While writing Dog Show Detective I carefully plotted and planned every step. This was helpful for most of the story, but when you get to one section that doesn't seem to fit, it can be hard to let go of all that planning. This certain event 'needs' to happen in the story because that is what we planned. Maybe not.


Freewriting or Riff-writing is a way of approaching edits for dull or awkward parts of your manuscript.  Romance Writer's Revenge has more information about this style of writing. To over-simplify, instead of writing to the plan, just write anything. 


Go random, go wild, maybe go 'opposite'. If you planned for your villain to escape into the night, have him trip on his way out and break his neck - then what? Everything in your story might change, and that might be scary - but it might be brilliant too. You're not married to this idea, if you write a scene the opposite way to what you intended, it may just prove that your original idea is better, now you'll have depth because you'll know why the characters act that way.


There is no wasted writing, you can always find hidden treasures for your story or ideas to be gently put away and returned to for another day and another story.

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Editing the Mystery Novel.

I'm editing Dog Show Detective, a novel aimed at kids between 8-10yrs about 11yr old Kitty who takes her Miniature Schnauzer to dog shows and solves mysteries. This week I started the editing process. Okay, I skimmed the manuscript and made a coupla' notes. It's the festive season, time has been short.

Last week I told you Kitty's dog would go from being called Shakespeare to Spade because it had more significance to the story. This week I've found a few more necessary changes.

Sometimes ideas come to us after we've already written a scene, so I make notes in my notepad. For each manuscript I dedicate a MS Word document for chapters, another for notes and ideas, a Plot Builder file to see how the manuscript is shaping together and a handy-dandy notepad (tip I learned from Steve in Blue's Clues), to jot down ideas when out and about. I find ideas and corrections come when I don't plan them, so the notepad gets filled and the doc file stays empty.

I was halfway through the Dog Show Detective mystery before I realised I only had one suspect. Not much of a mystery then. Instead of going back, I ploughed on and wrote in more characters as if they had been there from the start. Now in edit time I need to find ways to believably introduce them and start to drop hints about motives.

Motives act as clues, they tell us who we can suspect and who to dismiss. A character's motive must be realistically weighted for the crime, for example, most people won't commit murder these days just because they've fallen out of love with their spouse. Divorce seems a much easier solution. BUT, if the person stood to loose a lot financially, they were dedicated to a religion that forbids divorce, they are scared their spouse will beat or kill them if they try to leave, or if they're having an affair with their under-aged student and their wife has discovered it, then you have a strong enough motive.

Writing-World has a great post about dropping clues into your mystery narrative and explains the different types of clues you can use. Another great site is Perpetual Prose on Crafting Twists and Dropping Clues.

You will need to have several characters with strong motives for the crime, which is where I originally went wrong with my manuscript. Once I placed in a few more characters with various motives, I discovered two chapters from the end that my original suspect would not be the perpetrator at all! I love it when our narratives surprise us.  :-)

For newbies to mystery I strongly recommend reading and dissecting Agatha Christie novels, she had several formulas that worked well. The Christie Mystery is a site that has some very helpful tips for mystery writing, including a post on 'The Least Likely Suspect', one of my favourite Christie novels had ALL the suspects commit the crime.

Point of view is important for a crime novel, the most popular being limited third person (that's what I have chosen) or first person. The reason for this is because in most mysteries you don't want the reader to know the answers before the detective. You can experiment with different styles if you are little bit clever ;-). Check out Sylvia Dickey Smith Books if you need the different point of view possibilities explained.

This may sound repetitive, but reading mysteries is a great way to work out how to craft a mystery. I've been reading a couple of kids' mysteries such as Trixie Beldon, Nancy Drew and The 39 Clues (1st book by Rick Riordan). This has shown me another flaw in my narrative. I've focused on setting the story up to mislead and eventually lead to the solution, I've tried to have fun and exciting chapters, but I haven't had enough DANGER. 

Kids want action, they want their mystery fast paced and exciting, they want to worry about the characters. Don't underestimate your young reader, they learn quickly how to spot patterns. I'm often informed by kids that they know the main character will survive, so they don't worry so much about them, but when secondary characters are in danger, that can be scary because you just don't know how necessary they might be. I'm going to write in a few more near misses for Kitty's friends, family and even Kitty's dog.

Kids also love stereotype characters, Scooby-Doo almost always included a scary, old grounds-keeper that would seem really mean, but not end up being the villain.

Okay, so lots of work to do for me this week - I have to actually get onto making changes to my manuscript and I'll be reading How to Write Killer Fiction by Carolyn Wheat and Youdunit Whodunit by Nicola Furlong.

Time to edit - let's turn that good idea into a great narrative.

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I Love Links

These are the writer's sites/resources I'm lovin' this week (no particular order):

• Ink-fever - Writer's blog, check out The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Dogs. Also has the link to Think Sideways course with a discount.
• How To Think Sideways - I'm in the process of completing this course and have found it to be detailed and motivating. Takes you through writing exercises and step by step process of getting the job done. Well priced compared to more expensive but shorter courses (for a further discount go to ink-fever's site above). I'm finally keeping up my word count with this one!
• Critique Circle - For writers. Upload your drafts for other writer's to critique for you, and critique other people's work. Great way of polishing your novel. Feel free to look for me on there, I'm 'Cmclancy'.
• Lulu - I've only just discovered this one, you can publish your book online, in e-book format or hard copy. Me thinks it very exciting! (if I ever finish a book).
• The Creative Penn - Writer's blog - free downloads on writing and promoting your book, also really good podcast.
• Plot Builder - Tool for organising your notes, chapters and characters. Discount offered at the moment if you follow them on Twitter.
• Twitter - If you still think it's about people telling you what they had for breakfast, then I just can't help you *shakes her head*. Best used with an application - I like Twhirl.

Happy scribbles!

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Ask the Experts

If you read my last blog post, you will know I was having problems with the word bitch. Writing a children's novel about a young girl who enters dog shows and solves mysteries, I wasn't sure how to refer to the female dogs in the novel.

Now, I hang around dog shows and have entered a few with my own Miniature Schnauzer (a boy), I also have two female dogs. We've used the bitch word casually at home and my own children know what it means and don't think anything of the word, or so I thought.

I asked writers. I asked editors and publishers. I asked twitter and facebook. I got a lot of responses with varying opinions on whether it was appropriate to use the word in my novel.

Even Emily (my 11yr old) said I should just use the word because it is the proper word to use. I thought, maybe. I did a draft and asked her to read it out loud. All went well until she got to that word. Seems she can accept the word, but can't say it. That was all I needed to know I should leave the word out. I should have asked an expert. I should have asked an 11yr old.

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Paper Dolls

Sometimes when we take on courses on a topic we love (and think we already know) it isn't so much to learn something new, but rather to be reminded of something we already knew or that should be obvious.

In the course 'How to Think Sideways' on writing a novel (find a link at ink-fever), I am reminded of the importance of knowing your characters before writing their scenes. 'Well Duh', thinks I, only to be faced with my own shortcomings in this area.

I find I have thought through my main characters to the point of being able to predict their reaction in any given situation, but what of the surrounding characters? In the Dog Show Detective I've been satisfied with my building of my 11yr old girl, who upon embarking on Junior Handler dog show competitions also manages to solve mysteries, and I thought I had created her surrounding world well. Not so. I gave her a mother, a significant relationship with her mother, a father and a little brother - oh and of course a clever but naughty dog!

Curious about software for novel writing, I downloaded a trial for Plot Builder and started to play with it. I started with creating characters and managed to fill all sections easily for my heroine. Next I entered the mother. That was when I realised how little I knew about her. I knew her occupation, her family commitment, but by gosh, I didn't even know what she looked like! Another big shortcoming is that I had not thought through any negative aspects to her personality - and I'm pretty sure as part of the human race, we all have undesirable traits. Without that you are just dangling paper dolls around in the narrative and not people.

What have I learned from this? Don't assume you know what you think you know and writing software may be helpful after all.

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Interupting Characters

Where do characters come from? Well, when a Mummy character and Daddy character love each other VERY much.... Not quite what I was thinking, but probably as good as a response as any I could come up with.

My plan was to write a mystery novel set in Australia in the 1930's. I have the plot, I have the characters and I started to write. That piece of work has now gone to the waiting room, because there was another character forming that needed to be written first. She was a tomboyish 11yr old redhead that lived in the 16th century and wanted to be a pirate.

I resisted, after all it was a period I knew little about. However this little girl was adamant. So I started researching and writing the story of The Pirate Girl. Very quickly other characters formed around her, such as the Duke that has become an outcast and knows nothing about sailing...or survival.

While working away at this story, another 11yr old girl asked to be written; this time a contemporary young 'preppy' girl who, along with her canine companion, enters dog shows and solve mysteries.

Both girls wanted attention and I loved them both equally. How could I choose between my characters? So I write both and sometimes when I work on one too long, I hear the other complaining (kids!).

I'm not sure why I am drawn to this age. Perhaps it is the in between time of leaving being a little girl behind but not into the teenage years yet. The place of what is left behind and what is to come.

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I've got that Tingling Feeling Again!

I've been writing for pleasure since I could make the shape of letters with a crayon. I grew to create short stories, poetry, experimental pieces, scripts, blogs (obviously) and more. It makes me smile then that every time I approach a new piece, task or genre, I feel like I am approaching writing for the first time - I'm embarking on something untouched and unknown.

I feel that way now. I've created plot outlines, characters and begun writing on my Pirate Girl trilogy and now I'm also beginning a story about a young girl who manages to solve mysteries while attending dog shows. I've been there before, what's the big deal?

This time it feels different. The first module of a writing course How to Think Sideways (go to the ink-fever page for the link and a discount) has arrived in my inbox and I'm just starting to read through it. This is exciting. This is not just a course, this is the course that will take me from scribbling down ideas and plots and stories to working on completing and publishing my novels for children.

I chose dog showing as the setting for my most recent project and a young junior handler as the character because my 11yr old daughter is embarking on this activity. Write about what you know - isn't that what they tell you?

You also have to write to propel the story, as dubious as it may sound my setting will host many mysteries. I also like quilting, but can't imagine that craft propelling any narrative, 'the two men boldly stood, ready for the battle about to take place. One of them would surely die. Sarah pulled out her Irish Chain patchwork quilt and with her size 10 needle threaded with the special waxy thread, she began to stitch. One tiny stitch, then another. It was thick fabric with wool lining so the needle did not slide through easily...' You can see why I don't write about quilting in my fiction, now if I was a sky-diver, well that would be a different matter!

One of the things that impressed me when reading up on the How to Think Sideways course, was the mention of listening to your muse. I've always imagined I would write for adults, and even started a crime novel aimed at that market. When I create my characters, they have different ideas, they start to place themselves. The Pirate Girl evolved from a picture book idea for young children, but Grace became stubborn and stomped her foot and said she wanted to be in a big girl's book. Once the fight scenes commenced and some poor sailors lost their lives, I knew she was right - never argue with red-head (I should have known better).

Now I am finding inspiration everywhere. By attending a Commedia dell'Arte (Italian comedy theatre) yesterday with drama students, I was struck with desire to visit Italy. The costumes and masks were so expressive and colourful. I've now decided my little dog show detective is going to travel the world attending famous dog shows and solving mysteries. I may have to travel to Italy for research - darn it.

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