Jean Levy's Writing Toolkit

WRITING TOOLKIT gives you an idea of an author's writing process through the tools they use. The tools can be anything (real or virtual) that they think is essential for their writing - serious, fun or even a fetish (that they're willing to own up to)! 

I am delighted to welcome 

JEAN LEVY

AUTHOR OF WHAT WAS LOST

TO SHARE HER WRITING TOOLKIT

FOR HER BLOG TOUR

What Was Lost was published on 13 September 2018 by The Dome Press.

Where I write

Mostly, I can write any place, any time. I have few requirements. I suppose it comes of years of leaving things to the last minute: homework on the school bus, research reports scribbled on the train, editorials dispatched as the deadline closes. That history of brinkmanship, of just scraping in under the wire, means that I’m not that fussy about chaos.

This is the dining table in my flat. It’s one of two places that I do my writing. Needless to say, we eat out a lot. The other place I write is the family barn. There’s a bigger table there, but there’s also a large bath and that’s probably one of my essentials. If I’m about to start a new sequence, introduce a new character or put the finishing touches to a critical conversation, I run a really hot bath, infused with a Seaweed and Arnica concoction that Father Christmas brings me every year (he gets it from Neal’s Yard). I think the combination of heat and fragrance helps me focus. Probably an increased blood supply to the brain, although I prefer not to think about that. Obviously, on these occasions I have to resort to traditional writing methods: sheets of A4 paper folded twice and an inky pen that writes upside down. (Do not attempt this bath-writing using electronic devices. Dunking iPads/mobiles into an infusion of seaweed and arnica never goes well.)

And those critical conversations … I rehearse them way before bath time, whilst weeding, whilst staring out the flat window at the Cathedral, whilst driving. The floor of my car is littered with quick notes scribbled on till receipts and parking tickets. Of course, silence is essential. I can’t expect my characters to have conversations with noise going on around them. In fact, I mostly can’t write surrounded by noise: the TV, seagulls, pneumatic drills, dripping taps, and definitely not music. Music imposes emotions and sometimes those emotions are not appropriate to what I’m writing.

Wine, food

Wine is not really essential, although I find a glass of prosecco always encourages creativity. Or a Pinotage when it’s cold outside. And I don’t really eat during the day, just cups of tea/coffee and the occasional bowl of pistachio ice cream.

Apps, books, software

Apart from the till receipts and the soggy bath notes, I write directly onto my laptop and back up on a flash drive (constantly), an external hard drive (occasionally) and by sending myself an email attachment (daily). I write in Word, the enemy that know. I search/check using Google and an online dictionary and thesaurus. As far as creative writing books are concerned, I had my fill of those during a Creative Writing degree. They are often a bit flaky, although some are good regarding plot, characters, dialogue. I’d recommend Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’. But I’ve found that the best sources for writing technique are books on basic narratology:

Cobley, P. (2001). Narrative: The New Critical Idiom. Routledge, Oxford.

Martin, W. (1986). Recent Theories of Narrative. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

There are many others more recent than that. And there’s a good website I’ve used:

http://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Discourse01.htm

The major considerations for any writer are plot, character, location, time and tense, sequence, description versus action, pace, use of dialogue, point of view, status of the narrator and narrative focus, but their expression rests upon good grammar and I’m a bit of a pedant when it comes to that. It’s a result of seven years of research into temporal linguistics … but that’s another story. David Crystal has written some very readable books on basic grammar. ‘The Elements of Style’ by Strunk, White and Kalman bridges the gap between creativity and serious grammar, and there’s always Lynne Truss’s  ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’.

By far the best way of realising writing techniques is to read good writers: Sebastian Faulks, Virginia Woolf, Ian McEwan and James Joyce for the beauty of their words, Margaret Atwood for her parallel and non-linear plots, Angela Carter for her imagery, Winterson for her experimental and challenging narratives, Philip Pullman for sheer imagination, Douglas Adams for his humour, and Jane Austen as the pioneer of the techniques of psychonarration.

Social media

I’m not a big fan of Twitter, although I’m going to try harder. I visit Facebook most days, but I find myself watching YouTube dog and cat and Trump videos. And that gets you nowhere.

Exercise and other alien activities

I don’t really do sport, gym, jogging, running. I haven’t got time. Although I know people who strongly recommend such things.

Characters

I’ve often been asked where my characters come from. Well, apart from the occasional evil antagonist, they are hybrids of people I have known. The arrogance, dithering, mendacity, the eccentricities and outrageous affectations, love and friendships I have portrayed in What Was Lost are all drawn from experience.

Time

I suppose the actual process of writing is the result of days, even weeks of mulling things around in my mind, and I find the best time to do that is in the dark, in bed, before I go to sleep. When you’ve given up on everything else and your time’s your own. However, I learned long ago that those perfect plot solutions can disappear overnight, so if I do think of something inspirational I grope for my phone and make a note of it. Just a word or two to jog my memory.

As far as time managing my writing is concerned, I have to admit that I would write all day long. And sometimes I do. Sometimes I reach a point in the plot which refuses to be paused. I have occasionally written through the night, stopping only to accept my morning cup of tea. My husband is very understanding. I can remember, a few years back, taking part in the NaNoWriMo Challenge … just writing all day, every day. I lost all sense of time. It was great, although I realised on one occasion that, for the first time in my adult life, I had started a day, ended a day and proceeded to the next day without having a shower in between. I suppose what I’m saying is I don’t not write. Only when something prevents me from doing so.

THANKS FOR TAKING PART, JEAN!

About Jean Levy

Jean spent several years in genetics research before abandoning the laboratory to pursue a career in academic publishing both in Holland and the UK. She has been a database trouble- shooter, an editor, and a writer for publishing houses, pharmaceutical companies and the EU. She has degrees in Botany, Pathology, Philosophy, English, Law and Creative Writing and is currently completing a doctorate in Linguistics. 

In her spare time she has campaigned for the environment and read a lot of books, the most memorable being Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, everything by Margaret Atwood and Jeanette Winterson, and a few things by Sebastian Faulks, Calvino, Ian McEwan, David Mitchell and Shakespeare. 

She currently lives in a converted barn in the South Downs with her husband and a Heritage Plant Collection, accumulates Christmas tree decorations and aspires to writing multi-genre fiction, travelling on the Orient Express and seeing the Northern Lights. 

Find Jean Levy on Twitter - @JeanELevy

About What Was Lost

Published by The Dome Press (13 September 2018)

Publisher's description

How would you live if you had no memories? And what if you were suspected of a terrible crime?

Sarah has no memories. She just knows she was found, near death, on a beach miles from her London home. Now she is part of a medical experiment to see whether her past can be retrieved.

But bad things seemed to have happened before she disappeared. The police are interested in her hidden memories too. A nice man she meets in the supermarket appears to have her best interests at heart. He seems to understand her - almost as if he knows her...

As she fights to regain her memories and her sense of self, it is clear that people are hiding things from her. Who are they protecting? Does Sarah really want the truth?

Here's a snippet from my review: 'What Was Lost is a compelling literary read - an in-depth multilayered psychological thriller based on science that's designed to question, explore and entertain.'

Read my full review here. 

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What Was Lost by Jean Levy

What Was Lost
By Jean Levy
Published by The Dome Press (13 September 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

How would you live if you had no memories? And what if you were suspected of a terrible crime?

Sarah has no memories. She just knows she was found, near death, on a beach miles from her London home. Now she is part of a medical experiment to see whether her past can be retrieved.

But bad things seemed to have happened before she disappeared. The police are interested in her hidden memories too. A nice man she meets in the supermarket appears to have her best interests at heart. He seems to understand her - almost as if he knows her...

As she fights to regain her memories and her sense of self, it is clear that people are hiding things from her. Who are they protecting? Does Sarah really want the truth?

My verdict
What Was Lost is a beautifully written psychological thriller covering themes of memory, identity and discovery.

The book is based on a frightening concept - losing your adult memories, so that all that remain are those of your childhood. This is what's happened to Sarah, after she was found, alone and badly injured, on a beach far away from home. She can't remember her friends, family, loved ones or colleagues. She's in a child-like state - physically an adult, but emotionally that of a young girl. She's learning how to live again, doing simple tasks and taking on responsibilities, questioning everything around her, including herself. At the same time, her doctors are hiding the facts about her life, trying to find out whether her memories will return on their own. And more importantly, trying to establish whether her memory loss is real or not.

Most of the story is told through Sarah's point of view, so the reader is relying on her experience of current events. I wasn't sure how easily she could be trusted from the start - you can't get a more unreliable narrator than someone with no memories. But then as she began to question everything around her, I wondered if maybe no one else could be trusted either. The author clearly knows her science as this is present in abundance, as Sarah's doctors and counsellors cushion, control and experiment to learn more about memories and the impact of amnesia. And then there are the police, lurking in the background, desperate to know the truth about what happened to Sarah and some recent tragic events.

What Was Lost is a slow burner, and I admit that it took me a little while to get into the story. But I soon found myself savouring the wonderful prose and stunning vivid descriptions, down to the finer detail of Sarah's life. I loved the London setting and little insights into the publishing industry.

There's plenty of mystery and intrigue, as gradually snippets of Sarah's past are tossed into the arena, like little sparks lighting up her fog-filled mind. I can't say much about the other people in the book as they are all carefully, cleverly and gradually revealed one by one, like shadowy figures on the side of a stage awaiting their cue. The reader is as much in the dark as Sarah, relying on these characters to fill in some of the memory gaps.

What Was Lost is a compelling literary read - an in-depth multilayered psychological thriller based on science that's designed to question, explore and entertain.

Claire Dyer's Writing Toolkit

WRITING TOOLKIT gives you an idea of an author's writing process through the tools they use. The tools can be anything (real or virtual) that they think is essential for their writing - serious, fun or even a fetish (that they're willing to own up to)! 

I am delighted to welcome 

CLAIRE DYER

AUTHOR OF THE LAST DAY

TO SHARE HER WRITING TOOLKIT

FOR HER BLOG TOUR

The Last Day was published on 15 February 2018 by Dome Press. 

Swimming

I swim every other morning and find it invaluable for clearing my head. As I swim, all I do is make sure I know which length I’m on and then let my mind wander. Many plot points or next sentences have come to me this way.

Silence
I don’t like noise when I’m writing: the best place for me would be a cottage on a remote hillside with only sheep for company. Unfortunately, real life isn’t like that and so I normally have to contend with building noise, traffic noise and when my husband is working from home, his music!

Footrest

I couldn’t write without this. It’s been invaluable in getting me to sit up straight when I’m at my desk. 

Sleeplessness
I love that moment when the day is over, the house is quiet and I’m lying in bed staring into the dark. Like with swimming, these are the times that I see things more clearly and in the quiet, can listen to what my characters are telling me.

Facebook and Twitter
Keeping in touch with people on social media is such a comfort. Being able to provide support to others and seek it for myself reminds me that I’m part of one big writing community.

TV
I obviously value my friends but I also love watching ‘Friends’ reruns on TV or, if I have a bit more time, I adore murder mysteries such as Morse, Lewis, Poirot, Foyles War, etc. For me, watching these programmes is like kicking off my shoes, getting under a blanket and having forty winks.

My characters
I couldn’t write without them. There’s that marvelous moment when I’m writing (at about 40,000 words) when they move in to my head and my heart and it’s almost as though they start dictating the plot. I see and hear them so clearly that when I reach ‘The End’ I find I mourn their going.

Boiled eggs and soldiers
This is what I promise myself after swimming and after a daily target of 1,600 words. If I’ve done both of these things and ‘Friends’ is on TV, making myself boiled eggs and soldiers is a little slice of heaven!

THANKS FOR TAKING PART, CLAIRE!

About Claire Dyer

Claire Dyer’s novels, The Moment and The Perfect Affair and her short story, Falling For Gatsby are published by Quercus.

Her poetry collections, Interference Effects and Eleven Rooms, are published by Two Rivers Press.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and teaches creative writing for Bracknell & Wokingham College. She also runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service.

In 2016, Claire penned and performed a poem for National Poetry Day, called The Oracle, for BBC Radio Berkshire. 

Find Claire on her website, on her Facebook page and on Twitter - @ClaireDyer1

About The Last Day

Published by Dome Press (15 February 2018)

Publisher's description

Every ending starts with a beginning; every beginning, an end. 

Boyd and Vita have been separated for six years when Boyd asks if he can move back in to the house they both still own, bringing with him his twenty-seven-year-old girlfriend, Honey. 

Of course, Vita agrees: enough water has travelled under enough bridges since her marriage to Boyd ended and she is totally over him; nothing can touch her now. Boyd and Honey move in and everyone is happy - or so it seems.

However, all three are keeping secrets.

Here's a snippet of my review: 'This was one of those books that I had to read out loud at various points to appreciate the author's well-crafted words and beautifully observed character descriptions and interactions. It's tightly plotted, with a underlying sense of mystery about events to come.'

Read my full review here.

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The Last Day by Claire Dyer

The Last Day 
By Claire Dyer
Published by Dome Press (15 February 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher 

Publisher's description

Every ending starts with a beginning; every beginning, an end. 

Boyd and Vita have been separated for six years when Boyd asks if he can move back in to the house they both still own, bringing with him his twenty-seven-year-old girlfriend, Honey. 

Of course, Vita agrees: enough water has travelled under enough bridges since her marriage to Boyd ended and she is totally over him; nothing can touch her now. Boyd and Honey move in and everyone is happy - or so it seems.

However, all three are keeping secrets.

My verdict
The Last Day is an emotional read with flowing poetic prose. This was one of those books that I had to read out loud at various points to appreciate the author's well-crafted words and beautifully observed character descriptions and interactions. It's tightly plotted, with a underlying sense of mystery about events to come.

The story focuses on three main characters - Vita, her estranged husband Boyd and his young girlfriend Honey. This sounds like a recipe for disaster, but this book isn't a love triangle. It's told in the first person through Vita's eyes and through both Boyd and Honey in the third person. Yet through the author's beautiful writing, I felt that I got to know the characters equally well - their thoughts, beliefs and inner turmoil. I was living their lives with them.

The Last Day is a story of relationships, love and marriage, grief, loss and tragedy, life's ups and downs, secrets, deception and lies. It's very much a story of people, rather than places, and is heartbreaking, compassionate and poignant. It's about who we love and how we love. What drives us and what breaks us. How secrets, and life events, can make us stronger but also weaken us. As the book evolves, secrets bubbling under the surface gradually spreading their wings towards the final page.

The Last Day reminded me of the importance of living each day to the full, as we never know what's coming next. No day can be like the previous ones as our lives are constantly changing, and every day influences the days ahead of us - for better or for worse.

I recently found these two quotes on 'last days'. Which path in life one do you follow?

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