From Writing 101 to 50,000 words #NaNoWriMo

Inheriting a country hotel just in time for Christmas turned out to be more of a turkey than a cracker for Jane, especially when one of the guests is murdered… Will she find the killer in time for the traditional family Christmas she’s always dreamed of?

Well, I’m feeling pretty chuffed with myself.

From not having a plot 30 days ago, apart from the vague idea that my main character would inherit a country house and a murder would happen, I’ve finished a rough draft that has a storyline that just about makes sense, a bunch of red herrings and a plot twist at the end.   There’s a bit of sex, plenty of Baileys and a few mince pies thrown in.

I haven’t done much housework (alright, any), meals have been a bit random (‘Oh, just eat those sausages with a bowl of cereal if you’re hungry’) and Christmas is quickly looming with no presents, cards or decorations organised but I don’t care.

I wanted to do NaNoWriMo to get me back into writing and hopefully get something to the stage where I can follow the example of friends such as Suzanne and actually publish it.

I’ve got three novels figuratively tucked in a drawer, at various stages of editing and I would like to actually put one out there. For public consumption. And public criticism – which is the scary part.  At the moment, it’s the literary version of Schrödinger’s cat: it could be be best book in the world or it could be the worst. I could always publish under the pseudonym Barbara Wordington and then no one will know it’s me so they’ll never know if I’ve written a book to rival To Kill A Mockingbird or one that ranks with Fifty Shades of Grey (just how many times can one person bite their lip?? 28 apparently). Except that I’ve told you now so I’ll have to come up with a different alias. Babbington Wordle??

NaNo – I feel like we’re on first name terms now – has got me excited about writing again and I really want to get this latest story polished enough to publish for next Christmas.

Both classics in their own way…

I love Christmas books; I have two shelves full of them and reread most of them every year. From ones I had when the kids were small like Merry Christmas Maisy and Richard Scarry’s The Night Before The Night Before Christmas to Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien and The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder. The thought that I could publish a Noel novel is very motivational.

Right, I’m off to edit. Obviously it’s not my favourite part of writing but I will deny myself any mince pies until it’s done.*

*Oh, who am I kidding?  Brandy butter anyone?