Day 128 - How do you write a novel?

Well bloggees after much encouragement, verging on stern prodding from some of my lovely friends and family, Baggy has finally let Creative Clara loose on a book. Now technically it is her second book. She has already written one. But the first is a serious, factual book about Grotty Groom's relationship with horses. How to get that elusive "connection" with them that many aspire to, but fail to achieve. However, the one and only person who has read it apart from Creative Clara, is Baggy. Hormonal Hannah has so far prevented her from doing anything with it at all. So the draft is sitting somewhere or other (no idea where The flipping Domestic Goddess has put it) in the house gathering dust. She hasn't even had the confidence to let Calum read it. Silly really, as Clever Bird thinks it might well actually be quite good. So with that in her mind Baggy did not see how Clara could write "a book". Which of course means a proper book. A story. A novel. Fiction. Various people suggested a children's book. But Baggy doesn't do kids, so wasn't particularly keen on that plan. But try as she might, no idea or book plan would appear for Clara to develop.

 

Clever Bird decided that what she needed was a notebook so that she could jot down any ideas that came to her. Notebook acquired last weekend along with special pens. No ideas. No book plan. Nothing. So a few days ago, Baggy decided that Clara needed to write something. Anything. She opened her little notebook, grabbed her easy-flowing pen and started to write. And write. And write! The words just came. They seemed quite interesting. Baggy reads novels. Constantly. She must have read hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. When she read back what Clara had written, it seemed like the kind of book that she would buy when she trial-read the first few paragraphs of books in bookshops. Trouble is Baggy has no idea where it is going. Thing is bloggees, neither does Creative Clara. At the moment, the novel is creating itself. Clara is just writing it down! Maybe it will go nowhere. Maybe it will come to a grinding halt. Maybe it will turn boring. At least that's what Freda Fretter thinks. But in the meantime it is taking over Baggy's life!

 

Clever Bird bought Baggy another little notebook that she can write in on the move. Ideas keep arriving in her head. When Furry Mama is walking Minty Mutt. When Gloria Gardener is planting. When Grotty is grooming the Boy Wessles. Even when The Goddess is burning stuff. Of course Hormonal Hannah keeps making Baggy forget to take it with her, but you can't have everything. But the fact is that the novel is started! In fact it's already on its third chapter. Of course when the rest of the gang is supposed to be doing things, instead Clara is writing. If it's not her blog or her diary or her www.channillo.com Journal entry (she now has subscribers - oh yeah!!!) it's her novel! She's going to have to go to the library. Books are going to be needed for research. She will also have to type it! But for now, it is literally writing itself. Thank you Psychic Ploppo, the gang look forward to seeing where it goes. In the meantime, oh the guilt! If Baggy was an author, spending so much time writing would be justified. She is not. So it isn't. Or is it? Every author of fiction has to write their first novel at some point..........