Tag: Thoughts

Writing a book in 365 days – 35

Day 35

Dialogue—don’t we all just love writing dialogue? Well, we have an exercise that starts with the line “I dare you to tell me the truth.” Yes, we all know the answer to that: “You couldn’t handle the truth,” and the truth might be that we couldn’t.

Can you imagine someone you know and trust walking up to you and saying they just had a conversation with aliens from another planet? You’d probably laugh and walk off.

I think the problem is that we have been conditioned by the very people we are supposed to trust, who lie to us constantly, so often, we no longer know what the truth is. Politicians in particular are very good at it, and sometimes our partners.

But, anyway, what difference does it make, one way or another.

So, let’s give it a go….

…

“I dare you to tell me the truth.”

Evelyn glared at me with such intensity that it made me feel hot under the collar.
Perhaps that was a tinge of guilt, not that I had done anything wrong, but her meddling sister had been in her ear again, and I was never going to live down the fact I chose Evelyn over her.

It had taken me a week to realise Darcy, her older sister, was a manipulative and evil woman like their mother had been. And years before I had rediscovered Evelyn, and another after that before we started dating.

Now it was the week of the wedding, and Darcy was up to her old tricks. Her sister was happy and settled, Darcy was not, and she didn’t like it.

“The truth about Elizabeth.”

Oh, Elizabeth. The other girl I’d liked at school, and was out of my league, then and now. Darcy trotted her out every time she wanted to make Evelyn unsettled, hinting that we had had a long-standing relationship the whole time, and secretly, I was more in love with her.

The truth? I was not. She had told me a long time ago that anything with me was impossible because of her parent’s expectations.

“Well, the obvious truth, is she’s a lovely lady, single, simply because she doesn’t trust any man, and probably will remain so now that she has taken over the running of her family business. You and I both know for a fact she has spent three weeks at best this side of the Atlantic this year, so I’m not sure when we’re supposed to have found time to be together.”

It was the same answer I gave her the last time and the time before that. And it would be the next time if there was a next time. I always took it as a sign that if Evelyn was looking for excuses, she was prevaricating.

“You’ve made four two-week trips to England in the last six months.”

This was true, and I told her the details of each trip, where I went, who I saw, and called her twice a day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

I sighed. I just caught a glimpse of Darcy outside the door to the room listening to the fruits of her labours, to break us up. Perhaps it was time to do so. Darcy was never going to give up, and Evelyn was always going to not fully trust me.

“The truth is always going to be what you believe, Evelyn, not what I say. And if you want a truth, right now, it is that whatever it is we think we have, it’s not going to work. Not if you’re going to let Darcy undermine our relationship. So, here’s the truth, Evelyn. We should not get married and spend the rest of our lives regretting it. There has been and always will be, only one girl for me and that’s you. It’s a pity Darcy can’t see that. So, another truth, Evelyn, let Darcy pick your husband, get her seal of approval, and perhaps then she’ll stop making everybody else’s life as miserable as hers is. I’m sorry Evelyn, but enough is enough.”

“The wedding is off?” Why did she suddenly sound incredulous?

“It’s what Darcy wants, and you apparently agree with her. As for me, I’m done with Washington, I actually quit my job yesterday, and in about three hours I’m getting on a plane to go home. Since my father died, my mother has not been coping with the business, and Joey is about as useless as Darcy is. Pity they didn’t get married, they certainly a pigeon pair. But there it is, you live and learn. Goodbye, Evelyn. I really do hope you find what you’re looking for, but as far as I can see, it’s not me.”

I gave her a final look up and down, realising that I would never find another like her ever again. Then I shook my head and walked out of the room. Had she asked me to come back, I would have. Had she said she was no longer going to listen to her sister, I would have believed her, but she said nothing.

Darcy was waiting at the front door and opened it as I approached.

“How does it feel to be a loser?” she asked.

“You always said you’d get your revenge.”

“Yes,” she smiled, the cat who ate the canary, “I did.”

I smiled back. “What do you do for a living again? Portfolio management?”

“I pick and choose companies that I believe are very good investments for our clients, and we make a lot of money. I make a lot of money.”

“What was your prediction for Billingsgate?”

“Not what happened. That was an aberration. Whoever owns it just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Twenty-five billion dollars.”

“Thirty-two, but who is counting. That was my brainchild, Darcy. And like I said, and I know you were listening in, I quit my job, well not actually quit, just sold the company, and now I’m going home. I only ever did any of it for Evelyn, and now, thanks to you, she’ll never get to find out. Hope you’re pleased with yourself. Goodbye, Darcy.”

I walked out the door and didn’t look back. It was a cheap shot, but after everything she had done, I allowed myself that one thing.

…

©  Charles Heath  2025

Writing a book in 365 days – 35

Day 35

Dialogue—don’t we all just love writing dialogue? Well, we have an exercise that starts with the line “I dare you to tell me the truth.” Yes, we all know the answer to that: “You couldn’t handle the truth,” and the truth might be that we couldn’t.

Can you imagine someone you know and trust walking up to you and saying they just had a conversation with aliens from another planet? You’d probably laugh and walk off.

I think the problem is that we have been conditioned by the very people we are supposed to trust, who lie to us constantly, so often, we no longer know what the truth is. Politicians in particular are very good at it, and sometimes our partners.

But, anyway, what difference does it make, one way or another.

So, let’s give it a go….

…

“I dare you to tell me the truth.”

Evelyn glared at me with such intensity that it made me feel hot under the collar.
Perhaps that was a tinge of guilt, not that I had done anything wrong, but her meddling sister had been in her ear again, and I was never going to live down the fact I chose Evelyn over her.

It had taken me a week to realise Darcy, her older sister, was a manipulative and evil woman like their mother had been. And years before I had rediscovered Evelyn, and another after that before we started dating.

Now it was the week of the wedding, and Darcy was up to her old tricks. Her sister was happy and settled, Darcy was not, and she didn’t like it.

“The truth about Elizabeth.”

Oh, Elizabeth. The other girl I’d liked at school, and was out of my league, then and now. Darcy trotted her out every time she wanted to make Evelyn unsettled, hinting that we had had a long-standing relationship the whole time, and secretly, I was more in love with her.

The truth? I was not. She had told me a long time ago that anything with me was impossible because of her parent’s expectations.

“Well, the obvious truth, is she’s a lovely lady, single, simply because she doesn’t trust any man, and probably will remain so now that she has taken over the running of her family business. You and I both know for a fact she has spent three weeks at best this side of the Atlantic this year, so I’m not sure when we’re supposed to have found time to be together.”

It was the same answer I gave her the last time and the time before that. And it would be the next time if there was a next time. I always took it as a sign that if Evelyn was looking for excuses, she was prevaricating.

“You’ve made four two-week trips to England in the last six months.”

This was true, and I told her the details of each trip, where I went, who I saw, and called her twice a day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

I sighed. I just caught a glimpse of Darcy outside the door to the room listening to the fruits of her labours, to break us up. Perhaps it was time to do so. Darcy was never going to give up, and Evelyn was always going to not fully trust me.

“The truth is always going to be what you believe, Evelyn, not what I say. And if you want a truth, right now, it is that whatever it is we think we have, it’s not going to work. Not if you’re going to let Darcy undermine our relationship. So, here’s the truth, Evelyn. We should not get married and spend the rest of our lives regretting it. There has been and always will be, only one girl for me and that’s you. It’s a pity Darcy can’t see that. So, another truth, Evelyn, let Darcy pick your husband, get her seal of approval, and perhaps then she’ll stop making everybody else’s life as miserable as hers is. I’m sorry Evelyn, but enough is enough.”

“The wedding is off?” Why did she suddenly sound incredulous?

“It’s what Darcy wants, and you apparently agree with her. As for me, I’m done with Washington, I actually quit my job yesterday, and in about three hours I’m getting on a plane to go home. Since my father died, my mother has not been coping with the business, and Joey is about as useless as Darcy is. Pity they didn’t get married, they certainly a pigeon pair. But there it is, you live and learn. Goodbye, Evelyn. I really do hope you find what you’re looking for, but as far as I can see, it’s not me.”

I gave her a final look up and down, realising that I would never find another like her ever again. Then I shook my head and walked out of the room. Had she asked me to come back, I would have. Had she said she was no longer going to listen to her sister, I would have believed her, but she said nothing.

Darcy was waiting at the front door and opened it as I approached.

“How does it feel to be a loser?” she asked.

“You always said you’d get your revenge.”

“Yes,” she smiled, the cat who ate the canary, “I did.”

I smiled back. “What do you do for a living again? Portfolio management?”

“I pick and choose companies that I believe are very good investments for our clients, and we make a lot of money. I make a lot of money.”

“What was your prediction for Billingsgate?”

“Not what happened. That was an aberration. Whoever owns it just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Twenty-five billion dollars.”

“Thirty-two, but who is counting. That was my brainchild, Darcy. And like I said, and I know you were listening in, I quit my job, well not actually quit, just sold the company, and now I’m going home. I only ever did any of it for Evelyn, and now, thanks to you, she’ll never get to find out. Hope you’re pleased with yourself. Goodbye, Darcy.”

I walked out the door and didn’t look back. It was a cheap shot, but after everything she had done, I allowed myself that one thing.

…

©  Charles Heath  2025

Writing a book in 365 days – 34

Day 34

The importance of backstories for characters.

This is an interesting topic to pop up, especially after the writing of the previous blog post in this series.

I always create legends for my characters, and perhaps the only planning I do for any story, that notion I should know each of the characters inside out so that I have a good idea of where they’re going to go.

There’s no point suddenly deciding the main character has an allergic reaction to cats. All this stuff needs to be known before putting pen to paper.

Then there are locations. I’m a bit like a movie studio in that I have the script and then send out the scouts to find places to follow the story. In this case, I’m looking for locations and writing the story after I have found them.

All the background work starts to feed the story. I usually have an idea before I start, and rather than sketch it out on a running board, at this beginning stage, nothing is concrete.

Sometimes this creation process can evolve over a long time, or, in others, it could go from a spark of an idea to the first draft complete, in a month.

Like the novel I’m going to write over the course of the 365 days. Just yesterday I was working on the main character’s back story.

Searching for Locations: Venice, Italy

Venice is definitely a city to explore.  It has an incredible number of canals and walkways, and each time we would start our exploration at St Marks square when it’s not underwater

Everyone I have spoken to about exploring Venice has told me how easy it is to get lost.  It has not happened to me, but with the infinite number of ways you can go, I guess it is possible.

We started our exploration of Venice in St Marks square, where, on one side there was the Museo di Palazzo Ducale and, next door, the Basilica di San Marco.  Early morning and/or at high tide, water can be seen bubbling up from under the square, partially flooding it.  I have seen this happen several times.  Each morning as we walked from the hotel (the time we stayed in the Savoia and Jolanda) we passed the Bridge of Sighs.

Around the other three sides of the square are archways and shops.  We have bought both confectionary and souvenirs from some of these stores, albeit relatively expensive.  Prices are cheaper in stores that are away from the square and we found some of these when we walked from St Marks square to the Railway station, through many walkways, and crossing many bridges, and passing through a number of small piazzas.

That day, after the trek, we caught the waterbus back to San Marco, and then went on the tour of the Museo di Palazzo Du which included the dungeons and the Bridge of Sighs from the inside.  It took a few hours, longer than I’d anticipated because there was so much to see.

The next day, we caught the waterbus from San Marco to the Ponte di Rialto bridge.  Just upstream from the wharf there was a very large passenger ship, and I noticed there were a number of passengers from the ship on the waterbus, one of whom spoke to us about visiting Venice.  I didn’t realize we looked like professional tourists who knew where we were going.

After a pleasant conversation, and taking in the views up and down the Grand Canal, we disembarked and headed for the bridge, looking at the shops, mostly selling upmarket and expensive gifts, and eventually crossing to the other side where there was a lot of small market type stalls selling souvenirs as well as clothes, and most importantly, it being a hot day, cold Limonata.  This was my first taste of Limonata and I was hooked.

Continuing on from there was a wide street at the end and a number of restaurants where we had lunch.  We had a map of Venice and I was going to plot a course back to the hotel, taking what would be a large circular route that would come out at the Accademia Bridge, and further on to the Terminal Fusina Venezia where there was another church to explore, the Santa Maria del Rosario.

This is a photo of the Hilton Hotel from the other side of the canal.

It was useful knowledge for the second time we visited Venice because the waterbus from the Hilton hotel made its first stop, before San Marco, there.  We also discovered on that second visit a number of restaurants on the way from the terminal and church to the Accademia Bridge.

This is looking back towards San Marco from the Accademia Bridge:

And this, looking towards the docks:

Items to note:

Restaurants off the beaten track were much cheaper and the food a lot different to that in the middle of the tourist areas.

There are a lot of churches, big and small, tucked away in interesting spots where there are small piazza’s.  You can look in all of them, though some asked for a small fee.

Souvenirs, coffee, and confectionary are very expensive in St Marks square.

Writing a book in 365 days – 34

Day 34

The importance of backstories for characters.

This is an interesting topic to pop up, especially after the writing of the previous blog post in this series.

I always create legends for my characters, and perhaps the only planning I do for any story, that notion I should know each of the characters inside out so that I have a good idea of where they’re going to go.

There’s no point suddenly deciding the main character has an allergic reaction to cats. All this stuff needs to be known before putting pen to paper.

Then there are locations. I’m a bit like a movie studio in that I have the script and then send out the scouts to find places to follow the story. In this case, I’m looking for locations and writing the story after I have found them.

All the background work starts to feed the story. I usually have an idea before I start, and rather than sketch it out on a running board, at this beginning stage, nothing is concrete.

Sometimes this creation process can evolve over a long time, or, in others, it could go from a spark of an idea to the first draft complete, in a month.

Like the novel I’m going to write over the course of the 365 days. Just yesterday I was working on the main character’s back story.

Writing a book in 365 days – 32/33

Days 32 and 33

A weekend to review the work so far, or if you haven’t had a chance to apply some basic questions to an existing project that you started…

I have a few of those.

So I picked a pile of pages out of the unfinished, run-aground, bin, stories I’d started and couldn’t go on after the initial wave of inspiration died off.

Does that mean I should have planned, with an outline, from start to finish, and that wouldn’t happen? No. Either way, plan or no plan, a story can run aground.

And the basic questions…

First – what sections do you like reading?

Well, most of it. When the spark is there, the story writes itself. Just re-reading some of the story reminds me that I am better at this and that I give myself credit. The spirit comes and goes, but when I’m in the grove, it doesn’t take long to write.

Second – what parts don’t you like, and should they be tossed or reworked?

There are no bad parts to be discarded, though sometimes when editing, a whole chapter can change in a rewrite, but the worst of those rewrites is when you write something later on that hasn’t been thought of or had been dealt with differently because the new stuff reflects where the story should go. Then you have to go back.

Third – is this the book you meant to write?

Yes. I find by some remarkable quirk that even if I plan an ending, sometimes it actually gets there, and if I don’t I find it was the ending and the story I was going to tell. It’s just it takes me a few rewrites to get it into shape.

That’s why sometimes I have to walk away from a story for months, sometimes a year, before I come back and the whole story has crystallised in my mind.

In the time I’ve looked at it for this exercise, I realised what was needed and made extensive notes for when I get back to it.

Searching for Locations: Venice, Italy

Venice is definitely a city to explore.  It has an incredible number of canals and walkways, and each time we would start our exploration at St Marks square when it’s not underwater

Everyone I have spoken to about exploring Venice has told me how easy it is to get lost.  It has not happened to me, but with the infinite number of ways you can go, I guess it is possible.

We started our exploration of Venice in St Marks square, where, on one side there was the Museo di Palazzo Ducale and, next door, the Basilica di San Marco.  Early morning and/or at high tide, water can be seen bubbling up from under the square, partially flooding it.  I have seen this happen several times.  Each morning as we walked from the hotel (the time we stayed in the Savoia and Jolanda) we passed the Bridge of Sighs.

Around the other three sides of the square are archways and shops.  We have bought both confectionary and souvenirs from some of these stores, albeit relatively expensive.  Prices are cheaper in stores that are away from the square and we found some of these when we walked from St Marks square to the Railway station, through many walkways, and crossing many bridges, and passing through a number of small piazzas.

That day, after the trek, we caught the waterbus back to San Marco, and then went on the tour of the Museo di Palazzo Du which included the dungeons and the Bridge of Sighs from the inside.  It took a few hours, longer than I’d anticipated because there was so much to see.

The next day, we caught the waterbus from San Marco to the Ponte di Rialto bridge.  Just upstream from the wharf there was a very large passenger ship, and I noticed there were a number of passengers from the ship on the waterbus, one of whom spoke to us about visiting Venice.  I didn’t realize we looked like professional tourists who knew where we were going.

After a pleasant conversation, and taking in the views up and down the Grand Canal, we disembarked and headed for the bridge, looking at the shops, mostly selling upmarket and expensive gifts, and eventually crossing to the other side where there was a lot of small market type stalls selling souvenirs as well as clothes, and most importantly, it being a hot day, cold Limonata.  This was my first taste of Limonata and I was hooked.

Continuing on from there was a wide street at the end and a number of restaurants where we had lunch.  We had a map of Venice and I was going to plot a course back to the hotel, taking what would be a large circular route that would come out at the Accademia Bridge, and further on to the Terminal Fusina Venezia where there was another church to explore, the Santa Maria del Rosario.

This is a photo of the Hilton Hotel from the other side of the canal.

It was useful knowledge for the second time we visited Venice because the waterbus from the Hilton hotel made its first stop, before San Marco, there.  We also discovered on that second visit a number of restaurants on the way from the terminal and church to the Accademia Bridge.

This is looking back towards San Marco from the Accademia Bridge:

And this, looking towards the docks:

Items to note:

Restaurants off the beaten track were much cheaper and the food a lot different to that in the middle of the tourist areas.

There are a lot of churches, big and small, tucked away in interesting spots where there are small piazza’s.  You can look in all of them, though some asked for a small fee.

Souvenirs, coffee, and confectionary are very expensive in St Marks square.

Writing a book in 365 days – 32/33

Days 32 and 33

A weekend to review the work so far, or if you haven’t had a chance to apply some basic questions to an existing project that you started…

I have a few of those.

So I picked a pile of pages out of the unfinished, run-aground, bin, stories I’d started and couldn’t go on after the initial wave of inspiration died off.

Does that mean I should have planned, with an outline, from start to finish, and that wouldn’t happen? No. Either way, plan or no plan, a story can run aground.

And the basic questions…

First – what sections do you like reading?

Well, most of it. When the spark is there, the story writes itself. Just re-reading some of the story reminds me that I am better at this and that I give myself credit. The spirit comes and goes, but when I’m in the grove, it doesn’t take long to write.

Second – what parts don’t you like, and should they be tossed or reworked?

There are no bad parts to be discarded, though sometimes when editing, a whole chapter can change in a rewrite, but the worst of those rewrites is when you write something later on that hasn’t been thought of or had been dealt with differently because the new stuff reflects where the story should go. Then you have to go back.

Third – is this the book you meant to write?

Yes. I find by some remarkable quirk that even if I plan an ending, sometimes it actually gets there, and if I don’t I find it was the ending and the story I was going to tell. It’s just it takes me a few rewrites to get it into shape.

That’s why sometimes I have to walk away from a story for months, sometimes a year, before I come back and the whole story has crystallised in my mind.

In the time I’ve looked at it for this exercise, I realised what was needed and made extensive notes for when I get back to it.

Writing a book in 365 days – my story – 3

Some more about my book

…

Ever woken up in another part of the world in a strange bed, in a hotel or guest house, and wondered where you are?  It seems that would happen a lot if you were a road warrior.

I’m not but I still have those moments even at home in my own bed.

Is it the dreams we have that disorient us?  Like mine because they take me to different places, and different situations, and above all, it takes me out of my mundane and boring existence.

It’s time to immerse myself in a more vicarious existence.

The world of a spy.

I think an action start might work better than just introducing the main character.

The last time we visited him in a hotel room, very hot, very hungover, and not very ready to work.

Why is he there?

Most espionage works during meetings with sources, informants, and important people who defect with a bag full of state secrets.

For wads of money, of course.

Where is he, right now?  Perhaps it could be said he was not in a good place.  A very tough few years, in the firing line, and the loss of colleagues begin to make him question everything and everyone.

There is going to be a last straw, you know, that one that breaks the camel’s back.

I’m working on his background story, a legend if you like, so I’m more acquainted with the character.  I want to be able to slip into his character and be him.  It makes it easier to write when you know everything about him or her.

And, yes, there will be a her.

And yes, jaded, world-weary or not, he’s not quite done with the bad guys yet.

It’s just he wishes the moments of self-doubt would get less rather than more.

Writing a book in 365 days – my story – 3

Some more about my book

…

Ever woken up in another part of the world in a strange bed, in a hotel or guest house, and wondered where you are?  It seems that would happen a lot if you were a road warrior.

I’m not but I still have those moments even at home in my own bed.

Is it the dreams we have that disorient us?  Like mine because they take me to different places, and different situations, and above all, it takes me out of my mundane and boring existence.

It’s time to immerse myself in a more vicarious existence.

The world of a spy.

I think an action start might work better than just introducing the main character.

The last time we visited him in a hotel room, very hot, very hungover, and not very ready to work.

Why is he there?

Most espionage works during meetings with sources, informants, and important people who defect with a bag full of state secrets.

For wads of money, of course.

Where is he, right now?  Perhaps it could be said he was not in a good place.  A very tough few years, in the firing line, and the loss of colleagues begin to make him question everything and everyone.

There is going to be a last straw, you know, that one that breaks the camel’s back.

I’m working on his background story, a legend if you like, so I’m more acquainted with the character.  I want to be able to slip into his character and be him.  It makes it easier to write when you know everything about him or her.

And, yes, there will be a her.

And yes, jaded, world-weary or not, he’s not quite done with the bad guys yet.

It’s just he wishes the moments of self-doubt would get less rather than more.