Gown and Writing

In looking through the gowns my daughter made for me, these are my favorites. Along with the one below.

Looking for test readers for my book. My sister/editor thought since I had already used the pool of my other sisters, maybe my nieces would read it. So I approached one and it is in her hands (computer) as we speak. Looking for a couple more nieces to read it. The problem is that the nieces that are not in college, work alot. So I hate to ask. I'll keep you updated.

Contest

After a rush of revising and changing the final scenes to be realistic, I sent my book off to the contest. It seems in my haste to get the book in the right format, in the right category and before the deadline, I inadvertently signed up to be a judge. I am not sure what I will be asked to do, but it looks like I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

I thought this gown would be wonderful for a dinner with friends. I love the leaf pattern on the hem, sleeves, high waist and neckline. Plus who doesn't love pleats. They are wonderful to look at and elegant to wear. 

Contest looms

Two weeks until the contest and my last chapter needs reworking. It seems in my excitement to finish the book, I forgot that in order for it to be a good book, it must have an amazing ending. The action needs to tie up each story line. But I made it a summary instead of a story.

Ahhhh!!!! Back to working on it day and night.

It has been so cold. I think it was 1 degree overnight and a high todayof 14. Not looking forward to it. However, hope is on the horizon, it might reach up to 45 degrees later in the week, yeah!!

Gearing up for Thanksgiving. In a family of mom and dad, seven siblings and all of our husbands and wives, add to that our kids, two son-in-laws,and a few friends, it gets a little chaotic.

I like to bake and enjoy preparing for Thanksgiving.  I like the day and visiting with so many people. But I dread the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hate running around trying to find gifts. What do you give people who have everything? What do you give to
those who have nothing?

Jane Austen Movies, gowns and the writing contest

Still on a marathon of watching Jane Austen movies.  Saw Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant. Wonderful!! I've seen it before but it was such a pleasure to see it again.

I know, I said I would not watch another Persuasion but I did. It was truer to the book and only left out half-dozen intricate plot points. But it was very well made from the BBC from 1995.

Now, from my sister's library, my daughter and I have only one movie left - Emma.

Working on writing and I think  - one is never done. It is something that you must at one point just say, "This is all I will do on it for now. It is time to set it aside."  Will read it through 3 more times before the contest. My editor is painstakingly going through it - asking all sorts of important clarifications. She is wonderful.


And then however it turns out, I am sending it in to the contest and then will wait to see what happens.

It turns out to write a very bad book takes a lot of time. To write a good book takes even more. I wonder which category I'm in.  Until next week.


  

Jane Austen movies, day gown, and writing

Watched Pride and Prejudice this weekend. The 6 hour version from the 1995 British Television Program with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and the movie version with Keira Knightley from 2005. Both were wonderful.

So since I was on a roll thought I would try and watch the British Television Program for Persuasion, my all-time favorite book from Jane Austen. Perhaps, it is because there is so many intricate stories that make up the whole story that caused the program to fall flat.

Or it could be because I know every detail of the book and feel not one iota of it should be changed. But it was not to my liking. I have resisted watching any versions of it due to the above reasons and I see now that I was correct to do so.

Back to my writing adventure. There is only 7 weeks until the contest deadline. Everyday I work on two or three chapters. Every week, my editor asks questions like - Are you sure a Navy battle would have shrapnel injuries.

Researching has been so much easier to do with the internet. I should try to verify what I read in a couple of places but time has me finding what I need to know and moving on. 

Reading, Writing and a day gown

Reading, reading, reading. 367 pages, 104,022 words. I have made it to Chapter 10 of my novel trying to get it ready for the upcoming contest in 8 weeks.
So in preparing to make sure I answer all the questions that arise, I have been working on a storyboard. How I wish I would have started with organization instead of writing first.

The next novel I will certainly follow the model of Brainstorming 25 different scenes or plots. Making a large W and starting with Act I, the protagonist is living in her normal world and then boom something triggers everything into motion.

Boom, I'm overwhelmed to the point that I might tear up every single piece of paper that holds something I've written on it. Talk about motion. ha ha

Back to work.

Day gown and the Logistics of Writing.

By my calculations, By February 2015, my editor and I will have reread each chapter of my novel making sure the characters stay true to who they are. The plot is clear. And the places the characters visit and reside in are correct. 

I've already found one logistical problem. I had a family walking to church from their square. However, even the most athletic could not turn an hour long trip into 15 minutes. 

This part is actually fun. Chapter One and Two are done. Onto Chapter Three.

Writing process Pink polk-a-dot gown

Now that I had the story line going, I needed to work on my pacing. In order to do that my sister/editor showed me a great tool. It basically is for each scene in a chapter. Each chapter should have 3-5 scenes.

1.  What is the character's problem?

2.  What is stopping the problem from being solved?

3. What is the complication that prohibits problem from being solved?

4. How does character solve the problem?

Bridge

Next Scene

It looks easy, but when you start to look at each scene and then have to decide what does the character actually want . . . I had a lot of thinking to do.

Writing process and day gown

Not having access to the book I had written, I was surprised that the essence of the story started to come alive. It took me another three years to finish the book. 

When I was done, I called one of my sisters, and she volunteered to read it. While it was in her hands, I changed the ending three times. Running over to her house, I gave her the freshly printed endings. She was kind and generous and even went so far as to correct punctuation and ask questions about things that had happened.

What's more she told me how my lead character must have been feeling at certain points in the book which would explain reactions at various events. She was wonderful. Every writer needs someone to visit their world and then to interpret why they wrote and why.

Writing and day gown

So I talked to my sister who actually is an author/writer/editor and asked her for some advice on what to do about my problem of having a story evolve but not a solid idea of where it should go. She advised me to throw all my work away. To be brave and trash it all. Then to sit down and write the story from memory.

I nearly had a heart attack. Thanked her for her advice and then quickly left her home. How could I throw away my life's work? How would I remember all the intricate details, all the over- developed descriptions of corner tables and rugs?

I like the ordinary. This is one of those gowns that doesn't actually stand out. However, could you just imagine Eleanor or Maryanne wearing it in their little cozy cottage?   

Day gown and writing

When I first started writing, I didn't have a whole story in mind. I wasn't that organized. But I had scenes that I would hammer out and then re-read and re-work until I thought they were exactly what I wanted.

While I was driving my kids to their various sports' practices I would get an idea. Then during the practice, I would write on scraps of paper. Time went by. Actually three years of time. I was no closer to the end of the book than I was at the beginning.

One day while I was outside, all 12 inches of my great novel flew apart. It was all over the yard. Paper by paper my kids and their friends picked it all up. It was then that I realized as I tried to put it back together without page numbers, of course, that my book was not actually coming together.

I wasn't sure what to do about it.

How much would a Regency England gown cost today?

When I describe my heroine’s gown, I give little thought to what it would have cost. So yesterday, for fun and to take a break from writing, I began researching prices in the early 1800’s.

Just a simple gown of silk - a day dress like this one would cost around 1 pound 6 shillings for the material, which would equate today to be about $90.00. Add in the ribbons and the other essentials to make the dress, thread, interfacing, the pattern etc as well as the fee for the seamstress.

In my estimation in today's currency including silk stockings, at 20 shillings which is 1 pound $98.00, shoes at 11 shillings $36.00 and cotton undergarments at 6-10 shillings or $33.00. The total for just a gown to be worn in the morning would be $257.   

Trying my hand at drawing Regency Fashions

 Here are a few more gowns. If you are wondering why the caliber of drawing and painting are substantially poorer, it is because I tried my hand at trying to duplicate what my daughter does effortlessly. It took me three days to complete these two gowns. Whereas, I've watched Jordan complete multiple gowns in as little as an hour.

And yes, I am still writing. Working every day. 

Same gown, one day

Here’s a before and after gown. The one on the left would have been worn with a matching spencer. It would have been perfect for a spring or summer drive through Hyde Park. 

The before part is as she is going for a drive. The after is when nefarious character’s chase her through the stews (The bad part of town). 

Clothes were looked after by lady’s maids and kept as clean as possible. They also kept them in good repair. The second gown would have been torn apart and all of the material would have been used for other applications. The lace would have been removed, cleaned and put into a sewing basket. Perhaps it would have found new life on another gown, on a handkerchief or a collar.  

Working on Chapter 3, now, I seem to be making headway. 

An Evening Gown and Writing

My daughter made these gowns in the same style but painted them differently. I think the one on the right is more vibrant, but if I were to wear one, would choose the softer toned one.

I have so much going on in each chapter. I hope it is not overkill and will have my reader putting down the book. I once read a book with so many plots and so many people in it that I was shocked when two of the characters got together at the end. I thought she had been working with another man to uncover espionage in France. 

Although I finished the book I wondered what exactly had happened and how I had missed the main plot.

A picture and a scan of the same gown and Writing

  

So between scanning the gowns and taking pictures of them, I think I have found a way to show them in the best light. The two gowns shown are actually the same one. The one on the right is a picture and the one on the left is a scan. The one on the right does not seem as washed out. The color looks just like the original drawing and watercolor gown. Which one do you like better?

I am so close to finishing the first chapter. It has been hard. It has to be gripping and hold the audience but at the same time set up the story and future conflicts along with their resolutions 

But even as I write that I know that there are multiple re-writes ahead. It makes no difference. I keep writing. In the back of my mind looms the thought. What if I never finish? What if what I am writing is never good enough? But thoughts like that don't stop me. If writing is only a hobby of mine, then it is one I enjoy. If, at some point, people like my work, and I am able to publish this book and others, then that will be a bonus. 

Epaulettes in 18th century fashion/Green gown

In England in the late 18^th century to the early 19^th century it was remarked that it was hard to discern the wealthy from the poor. Hard but to the trained eye one could easily see the economical state of a person by the clothes they wore. The rich had brighter colored attire and more decorative dress than the poor. The rich also had well-tailored clothes fitting them snuggly.

The poor wore the discarded clothing of the rich which was most likely ill-fitting and duller than a newly purchesed piece of material commissioned for a specific gown. 

This gown is in the style worn in the Regency Period showcasing a type of epaulettes that became fashionable during the War with France—the green color symbolizing prosperity (ultimate victory) with the black ribbon in memory of those who died in battle.

Writing, Regency Gown in Ink

I'm stuck. I’m writing and writing and writing everyday but don’t know if I’m on the right track. It turns out your heroine must be real and can’t run for three hours in a underground tunnel to escape from the horrors that are happening in her family’s remote home.

My editor suggested writing about something else. Something mundane to bring the five senses into my writing.   

Here’s my first attempt:

The stagnant smell of neglect permeated the room leaving a dusty taste in his mouth. In the corner, the hard corners of the dark wooden desk were hidden beneath mounds of crumpled and scattered pages. A torn sheet from a pad of lined paper was slightly visible among the disarray. The draft from closing the tiny room’s door caused a long forgotten ‘to-do’ list to dance.  At the same time, the window adjacent to the desk let a tiny whistle of air into the chaotic space. He touched his father’s desk reverently as if in doing so he could finally say goodbye to the man, he realized now he had idolized. 

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Psalm 24:1-2

Writing, Watercolor Regency Gown

So she told me to review her points and when I felt that I was successful to contact her. Successful. I’m sure it is already in line to win awards. How can I possibly work on changing names, combining characters, choreographing scenes and bring it to an engaging and realistic read.

I can't believe how hard it is to try to come up with ways to get certain things to happen that don't seem contrived. 

I'm now of the opinion that writing is much harder than I originally thought.  Those books that the heroine did something out of character  - I now must say - kudos to the author for making all the other scenes believable.

My daughter used watercolors and ink on the gown to the left and ink and colored pencil on the one below.

Which one do you like better?

The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed. The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame. Proverbs 3:33-35