Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to have been asked to be part of the
The People We Were Before
Blog Tour
The People We Were Before
Blog Tour
Quercus
21 April 2016
Yugoslavia, summer 1979. A new village. A new life.
But eight-year-old Miro knows the real reason why his family
moved from the inland city of Knin to the sun kissed village of Ljeta on the
Dalmatian Coast, a tragedy he tries desperately to forget.
The Ljeta years are happy ones, though, and when he marries
his childhood sweetheart, and they have a baby daughter, it seems as though
life is perfect. However, storm clouds are gathering above Yugoslavia.
War breaks out, and one split-second decision destroys the
life Miro has managed to build. Driven by anger and grief, he flees to
Dubrovnik, plunging himself into the hard-bitten world of international war
reporters.
There begins a journey that will take him ever deeper into
danger: from Dubrovnik, to Sarajevo, to the worst atrocities of war-torn
Bosnia, Miro realises that even if he survives, there can be no way back to his
earlier life. The war will change him, and everyone he loves, forever.
I am delighted to welcome Annabelle Thorpe to the blog today and to share her thoughts about...
The Five Biggest Myths about Writing a
Novel
The
day The People We Were Before was published was, without doubt,
the best day of my life. It has taken
years for me to achieve, almost two decades of writing, editing, sending out,
and slipping rejection letters into battered folders. In that time I have read endless articles
about how to write a novel, why to
write a novel, and what getting a novel published means. Some of it was helpful, some of it not so
much. So here are the my five biggest
myths about writing a novel.
1.
You Can Plan It
The
biggest anxiety most people have about writing a novel is planning and
structure - not knowing quite where the
story ends, or what will happen to all the characters. This is normal. Even though your characters are creations out
of your own mind, at first they are only acquaintances. It takes time to get to know them, understand
them and see how they interact with other characters and in different
situations. Once you know them better
you may find the plot goes in a different way, or the story becomes quite
different. Not having it all planned out
in advance allows you the freedom to develop things as you go along.
2.
It's Fun
When
you first start writing a novel it feels fabulous; the first few chapters flow,
you're discovering your characters and playing around with scenarios and settings. But somewhere along the line, usually after about 30,000 words, it starts
to get hard. There's a relentlessness to
it; the sense that every day for the foreseeable future you will get up and do
exactly the same thing; sit at your desk, typing. Half the time you won't think what you've
done is any good. And there's no-one to
talk to. Allow yourself to feel daunted,
tired, isolated. Once you get past about
60,000 words, things start to look up.
3. It will make you rich
Very
few people can retire on what they make from writing novels. Most advances are small and the myth of
zillion-pound film-rights deals is usually exactly that; a myth. But here's the good news; a small advance
means far less pressure from the publisher to sell thousands of copies - which
makes things a lot less challenging for a debut author. Just don't give up the day job.
4. It will make you famous
For
every JK Rowling or Joanne Harris there are thousands of authors who quietly go
about the business of writing their novels, without ever disturbing the pages
of the Times' books pages, or being interviewed by Mariella Frostrup. Most authors will never make it to Hay or share
their prose from a stage at Latitude.
But somewhere, on sunloungers or sofas, people will be reading the story
that you wrote, drawn into a world entirely of your creation. That's got to beat being able to get a table
at the Chiltern Firehouse.
5. There's anything better
Anyone
who tells you there's anything better than writing a novel is, basically,
wrong. To have the freedom to create
characters and worlds and scenarios - to use your imagination in a way few of
us get to do once we leave childhood behind - what better way is there to
(almost) earn a living? It's not an easy
task and it may turn you into a bit of a hermit for a time. But it is the best job in the world.
Annabelle Thorpe has been a travel and features journalist
for fifteen years, writing for national print and online media. She currently
works as a freelance for the Times, Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Express,
and works as a consultant for the National Trust. Annabelle completed an MA in
Contemporary History in September 2012 and is an alumna of Curtis Brown Creative.
She lives in London and Sussex.
Huge thanks to the Annabelle for this lovely guest post today
and also to Olivia Mead at Quercus for the invitation to be part of this blog tour.
and also to Olivia Mead at Quercus for the invitation to be part of this blog tour.
For more exciting content - do visit the other stops on the tour which runs between
25th - 29th April
25th - 29th April
~***~
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