writer's cafe

I hope you all had a lovely Easter! I did, even though typically the weather was shite. I had the flat to myself, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I went to the gym, surfed around the net, watched bad television, ate delicious food, drank delicious red wine - and did some writing!

I got up to 15,000 words on Molly, writing some fun scenes. Again, more dialogue. I am really loving the dialogue between Molly and her best friend Geordie. I can hear them in my head, bantering and teasing.

Not so much written on Tom yet, although I've been doing lots of research for him. I found a great archive of WW2 memories, on the BBC website, which helps me get to know what people thought, how they felt, in wartime Britain.

I'm getting closer to the point where the story begins to get... "unwieldly" is the word that comes to mind - at least, in my experience. Where it has grown enough that there are so many strands to hold in your hand, to keep weaving with, trying not to leave any sticking out and forgotten about.

Maybe this time it will be easier to hold all those strands, as I have just started using a piece of software called Writer's Cafe. Geoff told me about this, so I downloaded a trial version to play with.

The best way to describe it - at least the way I'm using it - is a digital version of using post-it notes to build your storyline. You can write a scene on each note, assign it to a thread, and see how these threads align with each other as you proceed through the story.


I've set up two storylines for Molly. In the first, each column is a day, so I can keep track of how time is passing, and what events happened for each character on each day. I don't want to start writing that autumn has arrived, when it should still be summer. The first day is Saturday night, when Molly gets her heart crushed by Lucas. This storyline works as my continuity editor.

The second storyline is more like the 'heartbeats' of the story - the scenes and chapters - who has screentime, what did they do, what information was shared in that chapter, etc. I think this will be the most valuable display, but it's also the hardest to set up in a way which makes sense for me - I'm still working on it. But this will give me visual snapshot of my story and all its threads and, hopefully, I will be able to quickly see where one is beginning to unravel.

There's a lot more to the software (see the features here) but as I only have the trial version I haven't explored any further than these basic storylines.

books books!

Last weekend I went bookshopping (yay!) and bought a couple of books from my wishlist. I also tried to find Frankie magazine - artsy cute indie magazine from Melbourne - their website msg board says you can buy it over here in Borders, but I was not successful. Boo. Perhaps I just need to try a different Borders?

I have read this book already because it was so very fascinating:

The Unthinkable: who survives when disaster strikes - and why - by Amanda Ripley

I can't remember how I found out about this book, I actually think someone on my LiveJournal flist mentioned it.

It's a look into disasters and how we react in them - the common reaction of individuals and crowds. Denial, deliberation, decisive moments. How we more often than not just totally freeze up and very few will act quickly enough. How some people are 'heroes'. The author uses real disasters and survivors for reference - from 9/11, to the July 07 London attacks, Hurrican Katrina, plane crashes, fires & tsunamis.

There's something... voyueristic about reading this book as well, getting these glimpses into the absolute horror that some people have experienced.

It makes you think - how would you react?

I know that I'll definitely be reading the safety card in planes from now on...

I'm now reading:

Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed - by Jared Diamond

I've read part of this book before, as my Dad had it, but I never got to finish it.

I don't always agree with Jared Diamond, especially on some of his approaches to human sexuality (he's got a very, very masculine-centric view), but I did enjoy this book when I first started reading it a couple of years ago.

It's environmentally focused, but includes other elements, looking at how societies have failed or succeeded in the past - for instance, he looks at Easter Islanders and Mayans as those who did not manage to succeed, and Tikopia in the Solomon Islands as an example of a society which is in harmony with its resources and environment.

I'm also reading:

Half of a yellow sun - by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

- which I got for Christmas 07 and have only just cracked open! This is fiction, set in 1960s Nigeria, and so far is fine, although I did put it down to read The Unthinkable instead....