March Reflections
Voice-led pivots, gothic instincts, and trusting the reader.
An honest update on my writing life this month…
March was an incredibly productive month for me. I’ve been low-key working towards submitting the first 5,000 words of a novel to a competition aimed at beginner/unpublished writers, just for a bit of fun, but the end-of-the-month deadline certainly whipped me, and my writing, into shape.
WIP progress
However, in true ‘Jess’ style, in the middle of February, I decided to change my WIP. Originally, I had been working on a literary fiction novel exploring how far a family will go to protect their own when their teenage daughter claims she is the new Virgin Mary, set against the backdrop of a small, close-knit village in 1970s England. I had written my 5,000 words to submit, and I was genuinely pleased with what I’d written.
Yet, during one Thursday afternoon in February, inspired by the song Me and the Devil by SoapSkin (a TikTok classic), an idea came to me almost fully formed. It is very different to the family drama story, as it probably falls under the contemporary/modern gothic genre. I’ve always been fascinated by gothic horror, having studied it in great detail during my later academic years, as well as exploring ‘monstrous homosexuality’ in Victorian gothic novels such as Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. My earliest memories of being in college and reading Dracula for the first time are still so clear in my mind now; the feeling that book produced in me is as potent as it was over a decade ago. I can probably recite word-for-word the scene with Dracula’s brides and Jonathan Harker.
With the story idea ruminating in my mind for days, I took pen to paper and wrote 5,000 words from scratch. I really honed in on the vibe I wanted to create and the type of unreliable narrator I want readers to feel uneasy about from the very first moment we meet her. I edited the first few chapters, and I even sent them out to some very beloved and honest beta readers from my book club, and edited again. All in the space of a month. All whilst brewing what promises to be a BIG baby.
I’m really happy with what I submitted, and even though I know I won’t get very far in the competition, the whole experience taught me so many things about the way I write and also helped me create such a clear vision for the story I want to continue with. There are so many things I want to achieve with this book, but I keep having to remind myself that the first draft just needs to be me telling myself the story. Let the story be told first, and then finesse afterwards.
I’ll probably write a whole other essay on the lessons I learned during the process, but for now, you can find a little snippet in the ‘Craft Lessons’ section below.
Writing workshop with Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb
This month, I invested a little in myself and indulged in purchasing a ticket to a workshop with bestselling author of The Lamb, Lucy Rose. The event was organised by Literary Atelier, and it focused on creating strange and surreal literary fiction. The main thing I want to explore with my current (new) WIP is the sense of the ‘uncanny’, so Lucy’s two-hour workshop was exactly what I needed to get myself into the right frame of mind.
One exercise I particularly loved involved thinking about my main character’s possessions, e.g., everyday objects in her home, and exploring how these items help create an uncanny feeling; something just slightly off-kilter and strange. The session was pivotal for me whilst writing my 5,000 words for the competition, as it reminded me that for the reader to feel uneasy, everything has to look normal, yet something is off. Something must not feel quite as it should.
Another really useful exercise during the workshop was the introduction of writing flash fiction. Lucy admitted that when she was writing the first draft of The Lamb, she mainly just wrote each scene as a piece of flash fiction and then went back and organised scenes and re-worked the plot and key story elements. I’d never heard of flash fiction before, but it’s usually a short story somewhere in between 750 and 1,500 words. Having read Lucy’s debut novel, I can see why this form of writing really helped her craft the book, as each chapter does feel like its own snippet of story, that eventually leads up to one big crescendo. It has definitely made me want to explore this way of writing more, as sometimes writing chapters or scenes can feel daunting, and flash fiction feels, to me, more about getting something down on paper in the most natural style.
Snippets from my work-in-progress that I’m proud of this month…
‘When I arrived, the North Sea was battering the sides of the bay, and the grey, looming clouds had huddled together overhead in solidarity with its temperament. The audacity, I thought, for my new home to not welcome me with piercing blue skies and calm, inviting waters.’
‘The apartment felt like somewhere I shouldn’t be. The previous tenant lingered on every surface, and I felt like an intruder in a space that wasn’t ready to move on. At any moment, I expected them to walk through the door and find me. I didn’t close the door fully behind me at first, just in case. I listened out for footsteps coming up the stairs that led to the front door, but no one came. Instead, the rhythmic tones of the music playing in the shop below echoed up the stairs, occasionally drowned out by the sound of a hairdryer or the voices of various men. Still, I stayed where I was, hand on the door, longer than I needed to.’
‘There was, however, another man featured on the wall who looked strikingly different. Amidst the row of fair-haired men, his mass of jet-black hair, slicked back away from his defined facial features, was striking. His smile seemed more forced. His eyes blacker than a crow’s feathers. The name underneath in block capitals read: JULIAN WATERS. ‘
Craft lessons
I’ve learned quite a lot this month about the way I write. When it came to editing my first few chapters, I was astonished at how many times I had made the same errors throughout the 5,000 words I’d written. This included:
Being too literal: I happened to find a great YouTube video by chance on being too literal and underestimating the capability and understanding of the reader. In the video, subtly named “How To Tell If Your Writing Is Bad”, Alyssa goes through the ‘iceberg theory’ which is where only the surface-level facts (dialogue and action) are presented, while the deeper emotional meaning and story context remain submerged. It is Ernest Hemingway’s theory that by leaving certain details unspoken, the reader is invited to uncover deeper, implied meanings within the text. Alyssa used some great examples of books that do this SO well and books that really don’t (we’re looking at you, 50 Shades and Twilight).
Building tension, and immediately ruining it: There were so many times in my very first draft where I’d created a real moment of either tension or unease, but within the next sentence or so, I’d ruin it by explaining either what I meant, or using moments where the narrator tells us how she feels or thinks. Ultimately, this ruined the whole experience of what the reader should feel. This was a really interesting exercise of going back through the first couple of chapters to see not only how many times I’d done this, but also noticing how and where I can begin to trust the reader.
Overexplaining: I think at one point I had written ‘fatal death’, which shows you everything you need to know.
I just have to give a big shoutout to one of my favourite Substack articles The Narrative Thread written by Megan Beth Davies, who every week, publishes a weekly writing practice which focuses on ‘three thoughts to sit with, two questions to ask yourself and one writing exercise to try’ to not only kickstart your writing week, but to also provide some really clear writing advice that aims to get you thinking about the way you write.
Books I’ve read this month
I had a bit of a slow reading month, to be honest. I started out reading The Talented Mr Ripley, but it wasn’t quite what I thought it was going to be. I wanted Ripley to make me feel uneasy and tense, but instead I found him quite annoying and one-dimensional. Much like all the other characters in the book, too. Even after he had committed his murders, I just felt like the emotion was missing from the text, and not in an American Psycho way, just in a boring way. So unfortunately, I did end up not finishing the book after 70% in. Life’s too short sometimes, I guess.
Upon looking for inspiration for my new gothic novel idea, I’ve vowed to myself to read some more books within this genre (both classic and contemporary) to see how others have achieved what I want to achieve. Learning from the best, of course, Daphne Du Maurier was a frequent recommendation and having read a number of her novels, I wanted to explore her collection of short stories too. I wrote a Friday Footnotes article on what I thought/learned from reading The Birds and Other Stories, but I have to say I was absolutely blown away by the sheer craftsmanship of The Birds. The feeling it created in me whilst reading was exactly what I had been looking for. The descriptions of the sea and nature were gold dust. I think I underlined every sentence.
I then also read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd with my local book club. Having read Christie several times now, Roger Ackroyd was one on my bucket list, so when it was picked for book club, I was ecstatic. And it didn’t let me down. I think it was one of the highest-ranking book club picks, achieving an average of 4.3 out of 5, purely because of how it’s masterfully crafted; the power of an unreliable narrator at its finest.
Films and TV I’ve watched
I haven’t really been watching too much TV as I’ve been busy with writing 5,000 words from scratch. Yet the TV I have watched has been hit and miss.
I’ve been a huge fan of Peaky Blinders from the very first season. I fell hard for the brummy, moody but kind-eyed Tommy Shelby and became obsessed with the Shelby family dynamic. The bleak and grey scenes were something I’d never seen done before, accompanied by music I’d grown up with during my teenage years (here’s looking at you, Alex Turner). Yet I felt like a Netflix film wasn’t necessary. I was happy with where the final season had left the story, and to be quite frank, I’d actually left the whole thing in a small pocket in the back of my mind. It was probably due to this fact that I felt extremely disappointed in the Netflix film. It felt like a gimmick, with scenes wedged in to make it feel nostalgic for what the first few seasons had created. The pace was unbelievably quick, and I honestly think they could have made one great final season with the two stories of Tommy’s son and the Nazis that were incredibly rushed to deliver the final scene. When it came, I didn’t even become emotional, which really says a lot when a hormonal, pregnant fan of Peaky Blinders doesn’t shed a single tear for the final blow.
Sticking with the theme of dark and bleak scenes, I also watched the new season of Fallout, which I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed. I was hooked by the first season, with each character’s ARC providing little snippets of the whole overarching story. I felt like they carried on this trend really well in the second season. Although I did find myself getting annoyed at the random scenes that inevitably will mean something in the final reveal. I felt like the pacing was really slow in some areas, but for the greater good of the plot, I was willing to just bide my time. When it came to the penultimate episode, I quickly realised that no answers would yet again be given in this season, and I’d have to wait for another season to answer the ever-growing list of questions I have about each character. Not complaining, though, Walton Goggins is an incredible actor!
April goals
So, looking to next month and what I would like to achieve. Breaking it down for the little wins (of course!):
I want to ensure I have a bit of time away from my WIP to think and digest all my ideas. I’m going away for Easter to a caravan on the Isle of Anglesey, so I’m sure this will help.
I want to attend at least one writing group, whether that be online or in-person.
I want to catch up with my writing friends that I met during my writing retreat last year.
And if you got to the end of this article, thank you so much for reading. I appreciate more than you could ever know.
Here’s to another fantastic month of writing and learning!