PLOT - A to Z CHALLENGED

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.

P is for PLOT

Characters, conflict and
complications are present whenever
there's more than one
person in the novel.

P is for Plot because all you have to do is control the key elements of character, conflict, complications, climax and consolidation to write the perfect novel ;)

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

Dizzy, Hal slid down the ladder. His nerveless fingers couldn’t grip. His feet slid from the rung as if it had been coated in grease like the Maypole on the feast day. 

He landed at the bottom of the steps. Digging in his heels, he pushed himself back through the straw and dust. Fear beat at him, a stinging pain, he thought he would be sick.

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           pale into insignificance

•           pecking order

•           plain as a pikestaff

•           point of no return

•           practice makes perfect

•           press on regardless

•           pride and joy

•           put two and two together

•           put your foot down

•           put your nose out of joint

FOR P, I CHOSE PLOT. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR P POST?

OBSTACLES - A to Z CHALLENGED

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.

O is for OBSTACLES

SOME ENEMIES TRY TO LOOK,
 AND ACT, LIKE FRIENDS.

O is for Obstacle, internal or external, because without an antagonistic force to trip the MC and make them falter there is nothing to compel the reader to turn the pages.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

Suddenly, a clump of mud splattered against Hal’s cheek. “Ugh!” he gasped, startled. The courtyard was bustling, most of the servants had found a reason to see what was going on outside. None of the other stable boys, or the lads who minded the dogs, were near. Or, anywhere he could see.

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           off the beaten track

•           once bitten, twice shy

•           once in a blue moon

•           only time will tell

•           on the spur of the moment

•           on the tip of my tongue

•           out of sight, out of mind

•           over and done with

•           over my dead body

•           own worst enemy

FOR O, I CHOSE INSIGHT and INTUITION. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR O POST?

INSIGHT and INTUITION - A to Z CHALLENGED

I is for INSIGHT
and INTUITION

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself. 

Groups of others can
be so welcoming.

I is for Insight and Intuition because when you are the MC, and conflict is crushing you, it takes insight to see beyond the face that is being presented to you. It takes intuition to know something is wrong, and to work out what could help to put it right.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

Hal couldn’t bear to look. He pulled his four-quartered hat lower on his head. The woolly lining didn’t drown out the sound but at least it covered his eyes. He couldn’t stop the images that flickered through his mind. He already knew how a page dressed. They were soft in their fabrics, and clean.What did they have to worry about?

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

•           if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen

•           ill-gotten gains

•           ill-starred venture

•           impossible dream, an/the

•           in all conscience/honesty

•           in a nutshell

•           it never rains but it pours

•           it’s not the end of the world

•           it will all end in tears

FOR I, I CHOSE INSIGHT and INTUITION. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR I POST?

HERO - A to Z CHALLENGED

H is for HERO

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself. 

A reckless hero is no hero. Only after
weighing up the problem, and recognising
how impossible the situation is,
does the real hero act.

H is for Hero because every MC must be a unique collection of human, quirky, flawed and, above all, likeable traits.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

When the knight, de Moreville, prepared to take his second shot, there was surge of spectators. Men-at-arms with clanking armour and the staff from the kitchens, everyone who’d finished their jobs, rushed to watch the drama unfold. The crusader knight glanced around, and he gripped at his chain mail vest, just above his heart, as if the movement of the crowd had startled him.

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           hale and hearty

•           hanged for a sheep as a lamb, we might as well be

•           heaping ridicule

•           hell or high water

•           high and dry

•           hit the nail on the head

•           hold your horses

•           hope against hope

•           howling gale

•           how long is a piece of string?

FOR H, I CHOSE THE HERO. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR H POST?

GOALS - A to Z CHALLENGED

G is for GOALS

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.

Sometimes people's goals
conflict ;)

For me, in writing, G is for Goals because it is the difference between theoretically writing and challenging yourself to produce sections or chapters that build up to the end.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

Hal licked at the rough and torn skin beside his nail. Then, he gripped his hands over the top of his hat. He edged away from the shadow and risked moving little further forward. He climbed on to the water trough and rested a hand on the stable wall for balance. He still wasn’t tall enough to see over the crowd. It wasn’t that he cared about the result. He had to know what was happening.

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           give a dog a bad name

•           give up the ghost

•           glutton for punishment

•           goes without saying, it

•           goes from strength to strength

•           grasp the nettle

•           greatest thing since sliced bread

•           great unwashed, the

•           green with envy

•           grim death, like

FOR G, I CHOSE GOALS WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR G POST?          

FINISHING - A to Z CHALLENGED

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.

Becoming a page was the first
stage on the path to becoming
a knight

F is for FINISHING.

When it comes to writing, I think F is for Finishing and not letting your focus fizzle out in the face of the shiny, new idea.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

Hal shook his head. He’d seen pages around. The ones at Brockley Castle served at Lord Courtney’s table, they learned to read with the priest and trained to fight on foot and on horseback too. Usually, pages arrived to begin training when they were seven years-old. He was already ten.

Hal frowned again. People were either servants or masters. Pages were the sons of knights and lords. He was a servant. That was his place in the world. 

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           fast and furious

•           fate worse than death

•           fighting fit

•           fish out of water

•           flog a dead horse

•           forlorn hope

•           fraught with danger/peril

•           frenzy of activity

•           from the sublime to the ridiculous

•           fullness of time, in the

FOR F, I CHOSE FINISHING. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR F POST?

DIALOGUE - A to Z CHALLENGED

D is for DIALOGUE

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.

Dialogue: because what people say,
 and how they say it, is revealing.

D is for Dialogue because it reveals everything about your character as long as it is realistic, and not loaded down with plot information.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

“I see you’re keeping out of the way.”

“Edith!” he said, quickly. He darted a look around. He hadn’t heard her arriving over the noise in the courtyard. “I don’t want to watch.”

She smiled. “Delicious food and a warm bed instead of leftovers and straw in the stable - give me worries like that.”

“All I know is how to work with horses.”

“Sure. And, that will come in handy.”

“Maybe.” Hal gripped his sore thumb inside his fist. 

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           deadly accurate

•           dead of night, in the

•           dead to the world

•           deafening silence

•           deaf to entreaties

•           death’s door, at

•           death warmed up, like

•           dicing with death

•           drop of a hat, at the

•           dry as a bone

FOR D, I CHOSE DIALOGUE. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR D POST?

CHALLENGE - A to Z CHALLENGED

Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.

C is for
CHALLENGES

FOR THE KNIGHT, de MOREVILLE,
ARCHERY IS A CHALLEGE

C is for the Challenges a character must face and try to overcome. Although, it is the struggle rather than the success that make the concept strong.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH

Hal gripped the ladder, and he dug his fingers into the space between the blocks of stone. He held his breath. What could the knight do that was better than Lord Courtney’s shot? “Please,” Hal whispered, even though he had no idea what he was hoping for. “Please.” He shook his head. 

Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           calm before the storm

•           card up his sleeve

•           cat among the pigeons, put the

•           centre of the universe

•           chalk and cheese, as different as

•           champing at the bit

•           chorus of approval/dispproval

•           cold light of day, in the

•           crack of dawn

•           crisis of confidence

•           cross that bridge when we come to it, we’ll

FOR C, I CHOSE CHALLENGES. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR C POST?