Tag Archives: Novel

Getting Ready for (More) Revision: My Favourite Revision Tips

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I’ve read a lot of writing craft books in my life, but until recently, none of these were about revision.

The reason being because, until recently, I never had a completed, novel-length work in need of revising.

Never being the sort put the proverbial cart before the horse, I always wanted my education in writing to occur in an orderly sequence, comprising only those aspects of which I’d have immediate use.  This way of thinking served me well for the past 16 years, less the six of those I temporarily gave up writing altogether.

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Living the Knight Life in the Middle Ages (Medieval Mondays #8a)

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Few aspects of medieval history capture the imagination quite like the medieval knight.

In many ways, it is the knight who seems to embody the spirit of the Middle Ages.

With his horse and sword, his armour, and the perception that he fought with honour and for good, the knight seems to harken back to a simpler time of when the forces of evil had a singular face and could be vanquished with a noble heart and a strong forearm.

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A Small Sample of My Writing

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Not that those who read my blog don’t get a sample of my writing every week.

And not just a small sample either.  I’m hardly one to skimp on either my words or the ideas conveyed with them.

No one has ever accused my writing style of being “spare”.  In university, I played the usual word-processor tricks with font size and margins, but in my case it was because my reports were always too long, not too short.

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A (Holi)day in the Life in the Middle Ages (Medieval Mondays #7)

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The medieval year during the 13th century in England was noticeably different than in modern life.

To begin with, the four seasons – marked in accordance with the medieval agricultural calendar – were observed at different times of the year than we recognize then today.

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It’s Greek to Me: Five Surprising Facts I’ve Learned So Far Researching the Ancient World

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Ancient Greek men at a symposium (being entertained by a female musician) (painted mixing bowl, c. 420 BC)

It took me two whole years, which is at least a year and a half too long.

Ever since I decided my next writing project would be my first (incomplete, shelved) novel – a fantasy – rewritten as historical fiction and set in Ancient Greece, I knew I had to seriously beef up my knowledge of that period in history.

In many ways, this would be me starting from ground zero in my research.

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For the (Carnal, Courtly, and Hypocritical) Love of Books

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Books I’ve stolen borrowed from others (and haven’t even read yet)

I almost never lend people books.  But I have no problem borrowing those that belong to others.

I fully acknowledge the hypocrisy, and perhaps even level of selfishness, that applies to this policy of mine.

I’m not even a particularly good borrower of other people’s books.  Or rather, good returner of them, I should say.

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Medieval (Forest) Law & Order (Medieval Mondays #6e)

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No examination of medieval hunting would be complete without a more thorough discussion of forest law.

1225 reissue of England’s 1217 Charter of the Forest

To say nothing for the corresponding legend – one that lives on to this day – that grew up surrounding it.

As mentioned in my first post about medieval hunting, forest law stipulated such matters as who was permitted to hunt what and when, what the punishment for poachers would be, and even how many talons were permitted on dogs that lived in households and villages within a royal forest.

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All the Bells and Jesses: Falconry in the Middle Ages (Medieval Mondays #6d)

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In the medieval times, hunting with dogs was the most typical form of the sport.

It wasn’t, however, the only way to bring down prey – or even the most popular one, particularly among the noble class.

Neither were deer and boar – which were restricted to all but the king and his favourites – foxes, hares, squirrels, and other beasts of the warren the only quarry that was hunted during the Middle Ages.

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Thoughts on Completing My Novel’s Second Draft

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Thirty-one chapters rewritten and accounted for

It took an entire year.

In not even counting the two months where I purposely did no writing at all, it took an entire year to write the second draft of my historical fiction novel-in-progress, which amounted to a complete rewrite of my first draft.

It took longer to write than the first draft itself, which I completed in 10 months back in in 2005.

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