Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Category Archives: Writing


by 2 Comments

Planning for 2015

sextantI was reading this interesting post on Percival Constantine’s blog, the other day.

Now, I’m always thinking in serials, when I write.
Granted, I wrote a few one shots, but – probably due to my preferences in reading – I tend to prefer short fiction that goes in series.

Right now I’m working on my first English-language novel (I know, I know, I told you so already, ad nauseam), and I’m thinking of it in terms of the first episode in a serial.
I’ve two other stories featuring the same character – both currently in the form of a logline, but promising.
Then, of course, we’ll see what the publisher and the readers have to say about that.

As soon as I deliver the finished novel, I’ll start on my next project – once again, a serial. Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

Warm Up – I remember my cat

ensoI mentioned last week I’d post some of my warm up exercises, like described in Nathalie Goldberg’s Wild Mind.
The idea is writing for ten minutes solid, without re-reading or editing, starting with “I remember…” (or some such phrase) and see were our writing carries us.
Ten minutes, keep the fingers dancing (or plodding) on the keyboard.
It’s a good exercise to clean up the systems after a long day of work – and I’ll try it as a start-up exercise, too.
Anyway, here’s my first attempt. Continue reading →


by 1 Comment

Writing Prompt – Jazz Singer

5e0f8d444da53c471b41d460a7cdb59b

Let’s stick to the theme of these weeks – Shanghai, 1930s.
Let’s do some “blitzkrieg characterization” (to use Michael Stackpole‘s turn of phrase).
Pick five fields (work, romance, family, hobbies etc.), and start writing a single sentence for each field, describing some this character’s background in that field.
Once you’re done, expand each sentence, adding two others.
Then, for each field, write also some contrarian detail.

Cheers!


by 4 Comments

Revision and final draft in Scrivener

Scrivener (software)

So the final draft of my novel is coming along, and I’m doing it in Scrivener.

Now, the first draft was written two years back using my usual Gedit + LibreOffice.
I hammered away at a chapter in Gedit, then I pasted it in LibreOffice, revising and cleaning it up.
Then on to the second.
In this way I wrote a workable first draft of a 40.000 words novel in 20 chapters, and I did it in ten days.
Nice and smooth.

Now, for the revision.
I have here the editor’s notes – I know what my editor and my publisher want from me.
We discussed the details, we worked out what worked and what not.
Time to do the final.
And I’ve to do in in English (the first draft was in Italian). Continue reading →


by 7 Comments

Spreadsheets and action

I already discussed action sequences and combat and whatnot in a previous post. but we got talking, with my friend Claire, and I described how I use a spreadsheet to plan my scenes.
So why not share it, too?

6a00d83451f4a069e2019b0026c43d970b-800wi
Now, to me choreographing an action scene in a story is a fine balance of three processes

  • I have to imagine the sequence, run it in my mind like a movie
  • I must know exactly who does what and when, in what order etc.
  • I must find the right words to show it all on the page

Continue reading →