What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? Since this was a novella, it’s shorter (by about two thirds) than my typical novels. I started writing it on Fe. 18, 2021, and finished it on March 18, 2021.
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please include a photo? I typically do at least 95 percent of my writing at my desktop computer in my home office. I’ll enclose a photo of the office where I wrote this work. I’ve since moved, so my new office is different.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? Typically, I write 5 to 7 days a week. I exercise first thing every day, go to my computer and read email and check social media, then I start writing. I shoot for about 1,000 words a day. The only time I’m not writing original pages on my desktop computer is if I happen to be traveling, like on a cruise. Then I’ll write on my laptop or on my iPad with an accompanying keyboard. But I always prefer writing in my home office on my home desktop computer. If I know I’m going on a trip (my husband is retired), I will save up several chapters to edit with pen and paper while on a plane or other times during my trip. It’s easier for me to edit anywhere (including while waiting at doctor’s offices), but I don’t do well writing fresh scenes just anywhere. Though I edit extensively as I write, my hard-core editing is always done with printed chapters and pen. Then, upon completion of a book, I usually do two through read-throughs where I continue to edit.
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. The following excerpt introduces my Cinderella-inspired heroine, Diana:
“I don’t see why Diana has to come with us to the assembly rooms tonight,” Frances said to her mother. “It’s not as if anyone ever asks her to dance.”
“It’s all about how things look,” Mrs. Marian Furness replied. “Never let it be said that I ever slighted my stepdaughter. I have always tried to treat Diana the very same as I would my own two daughters.”
It mattered not to the two that Diana sat within hearing range, madly drawing at the sketchbook that was as much her constant fixture as her nondescript brown hair. She was accustomed to being treated as one who was invisible. Not since her Papa had died when she was ten had anyone ever deferred to her.
She dared not even contradict Marian’s statement that she was treated the same as her stepsisters. The modiste knew Diana was never the recipient of new dresses for it was the modiste who altered Frances’s and Alice’s discarded dresses to fit Diana. Were Diana to point out such a difference, she would be accused of ingratitude and sent to her bedchamber without dinner, and Diana did not wish to be denied tonight’s roast beef. It was her favorite meal.
Were she asked—which was a non-existent occurrence—she would have begged not to go to the assembly rooms that night. Any money that had been spent on her dancing lessons had been wasted on Diana. She could count on the fingers of a single hand how many times a man had asked her to stand up with him since she had come out six years previously.
Attending assemblies ranked highest on her list of dreaded activities.
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Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? It’s human nature to cheer for the underdog. I also think most of us have vulnerabilities that can make us identify with and cheer for that wallflower.
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt. Since I recently moved, I purged all those old rough drafts, and this book was written in early 2021. However, here’s a photo from one of the books I’m now working on. It’s pretty typical of how I edit.
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Most of the INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links can be found at the very end of the below feature:http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/03/stephenson-holts-arranged-marriage-is.html