The making of Judith Dillon

One of the most useful tools I have taken from my course is from the semester on writing plays. The short form biography – which isn’t always that short – comes from this book:

• The Playwright’s Process: Learning the Craft from Today’s Leading Dramatists by Buzz McLaughlin

It takes you through headings that go beyond simply what a character looks like and how old they are. It considers the external world; their family situation, their place in the community and their leisure activities. It also asks you to think about their internal world; their intelligence, personality type and sense of self. It asks you to identify one major secret that they keep from the world, one major disappointment they have suffered, their personal goals and any special qualities and talents they have.

It can take a while to get it all down on paper or on computer but it really helps to keep the continuity right. For example, on starting the edit I realised I had got muddled up with Judith’s age in comparison with her younger sister and her sister’s daughter who was seventeen and planning to go to university the next year. By having all the short form biogs handy, I could easily make comparisons and get everybody’s ages right in one go.

There is another system I use alongside that one to get to know my characters which I will share with you next time.

Developing the story

Finding a name for the main character was very important.  Her surname came quite easily for some reason, and in my head she was Ms Dillon for a long time, then I was thinking about someone I used to know and suddenly she became Judith Dillon.

Judith has moved to Carlisle to escape some scandal at home and is having to start a new life. So far she has a job that bores her, a supervisor that she resents and she doesn’t know anyone socially. She meets Joanna who works in a Café Bar and sets herself a mission to get to know her better.

The first 2000 words formed part of my assessment in Year 1 of the MA in Creative Writing. Having decided to extend it, my next job was to work on fleshing out the story. I started with a Mind Map to try to get the feel for how the story might progress. Mind Mapping really frees up my thoughts in a way that writing a list doesn’t do.

You may not be able to see the detail in this posting but you will get the idea. From the Mind Map I was able to identify the people that Judith Dillon would be interacting with in Carlisle and from there I developed each of their stories deciding where they would overlap with each other – and more importantly how they would overlap with Judith’s past.

Have a look at

          The Mind Map Book by Tony and Barry Buzan

How the story began

Like many people, I started a book years ago.  I come back to it from time to time, decide it’s worth continuing, write a bit more and then tail off again. I still think it's funny and I will finish it sometime but the one currently standing at 82500 words came from an exercise the tutor gave us to do in class. 

The exercise was in four stages, each one lasting about ten minutes.

We were asked to find something we had with us that had significance in our lives, and to write about it. 
          ‘I found the pink button yesterday; the one Amelia gave me soon after my dad died.’

Next we had to tell the same story but to write it using the voice of the 3^rd person.
          ‘She took the pink button, felt the smooth plastic cool from the evening air and ran her fingers over the four small holes.’

The next part of the task was to share our writing with the person sitting next to us. I had the great fortune to be sitting next to Kerry who told me about her object which I then wrote about in the 1^st person voice.
          ‘I put on my best-friend smile as he slid into the passenger seat beside me. The weekend away had been such fun and I felt as though he had seen me for the first time ever in all the years we’d known each other.’

The final part of the exercise was to write our partner’s story in the 2^nd person voice.
          ‘You thought it would be a laugh, didn’t you?  A weekend away with an old friend, drinking and reminiscing about the old days would just be a laugh; you weren’t prepared to fall in love with him again.’

The story has moved on and taken a much darker tone since then and has ceased to be Kerry’s Story.  For a while it was called Joanna’s Story but now looks like Clouded Leopard.

Writing exercises from books such as

What If? by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter.

are useful for stretching the mind and forcing ideas. Who knows where they may lead?

A new year begins

09.01.11

This year is IT.  No excuses and no hiding.  I am going for it.  By the end of 2011 I will be a published author and when people ask me what I do, I'll say 'I am a writer'.

There we go - I've said it out loud and told the world.

Years of day courses, weekend courses, summer school courses and distance learning courses have led to the expensive and time-consuming MA in Creative Writing.  Year 1 of said course is over and now I am working on my 'one big piece of writing'.

Shitty-First-Draft (I am assured this is a technical term) is complete at 82500 words and now I am starting the first edit.  Bring it on.  I have kept a journal for the last four months and will start this blog with some extracts from it.

Maybe my thoughts and points of learning will help other aspiring writers.  You will not do things exactly as I did, but perhaps you will get ideas tht you can adapt and use.  I would love to know what you think and would love to know how you deal with the common problems.

Areas of particular interest to me at the moment include planning the plot, getting to know my characters, time-lines, journaling, finding my own time and space to write, how to edit and how to ask for help.

Come along with me and I will join you in your journey.