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Tuesday 18 December 2012

What's your writing plan for 2013?

  

This will be my last post of 2012. I need to move away from the computer and make mince pies with cheesy Christmas tunes as the soundtrack.

Whilst researching The Painting over the past few months, I've learnt a great deal about the late eighteenth century, both here and in Italy. Now I can step into that world with more confidence.

I've found that researching daily life and past events wasn't enough. I also needed to look at vocabulary and the way of speaking. The task of writing prose for historical fiction could be compared to writing in a different language or dialect (previous post: Do you use dialect or other languages in your writing?). Peppering the text with words and phrases from that time will hopefully give the writing authenticity without making it difficult to read: eg. she was 'fatigued' or she was 'melancholy' and 'he was a worthy character'.

My writing plan for 2013 is:

1. Continue with my quest to get The Grandson published

2. Produce a decent draft of The Painting by August 2013 for the RNA New Writers' Scheme

3. Write and submit a short story to at least one competition

4. Submit flash fiction to competitions

5. Come up with the plot for Book 3

What is your writing plan for 2013?

Thank you to everyone who reads and comments on this blog. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas!

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19 comments:

  1. I don't have a writing plan for 2013 but you've made me realise I should have! My first to-dos will be enter the FlashBang competition for tickets to CrimeFest (I was shortlisted this year) and decide whether to persevere in trying to find an agent or take the plunge and self-publish my completed novel.
    Have a great Christmas and New Year and lots of luck for 2013.

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    1. Hi Janet, that sounds like a great plan! Hope you have a lovely Christmas and good luck to you too.x

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  2. Hope the mincepies go well. I'm planning to finish edits on the Victorian novel FINALLY!! and get it to my long ffering agent! And I'm going to go in for a few short story comps. And survive! Happy Christmas Neets and everybody else! And a productive writey New Year!

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    1. Can't wait to find out more about the Victorian novel. Hope you have a great Christmas Carol! x

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    2. Ooh look what happened-Christmas Carol...

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  3. My writing plan is to balamnce my time better this coming year so that I have more time to lose myself in my writing, without neglecting the other things that must be done.

    A Happy Christmas to you, Anita and everyone who reads this, and a very Happy New Year.

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    1. Best of luck with your writing for next year Liz. Looking forward to reading A Bargain Struck. Hope you have a great Christmas! x

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  4. Thank you for this, Anita. 'Almost Love' still needs work and then No. 3! Phew!
    Oh, and a bit of blogging! Does that count?
    Festive felicitations to you and all who have the great good fortune to call in here.

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    1. Thank you Christina for visiting! Good luck with your writing next year. Look forward to reading your blog posts.

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  5. Ah, that song! It's got to be one of my favourite Christmas tunes! I'm big on planning, so I have lots of goals for 2013 but I won't bore you with ALL of them right now... My main goal for next year is to self-publish my first novel. Have a lovely Christmas and I wish you lots of luck for 2013! X

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    1. Yes, who'd have known when that song came out that we'd be listening to it so many years later?! Thanks for your best wishes. Good luck with your writing goals for next year.

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  6. I hope your writing goes well in 2013, Anita. I shall be editing my novel and generally doing publishy stuff, not entirely sure exactly what I will be doing! But probably editing, checking copy-editing, proof-reading, having a look at the cover and stuff like that.

    Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy those mince pies :)

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    1. Thanks Louise. Thrilled for you re the news your book will be published. How exciting! Hope you have a great Christmas.

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  7. Hi Anita,
    My main writing plans for 2013 are to start Bk 3 in January and keep trying to find an agent. Fingers crossed!
    Very best wishes for 2013 :-) xx

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    1. Best of luck to you Elle. Hope you have a great Christmas (loved your post from yesterday by the way)x

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  8. Good luck with your personal challenges! I aim to finish the 3rd book in my children's series, my 3rd adult novel, edit Special Deliveries and hopefully get the commission I have applied for.

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    1. Thank you Dee! Wow-sounds like you have a lot on your plate for next year. Best of luck.

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  9. Great plans, Anita - I have lots too! First of all, though, my new Victorian novella, Mischief at Mulberry Manor, should be on Amazon by tomorrow hopefully - and yes, I only use slightly different speech patterns and occasional words for my historicals.

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    1. Best of luck with your plans Rosemary and with Mischief at Mulberry Manor. Hope you have a great Christmas!

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