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Lust & Liberty

Lust & Liberty: 4 Changes I’d Make

July 2, 2021 No Comments

Our latest blog-vlog deals with a bit of retrospect. Looking over our first book, after having gained more education on writing, how many rules did we break? And what changes would we make to Lust & Liberty if we had our time again…?

I chucked a post up on my socials the other day with a relatively simple caption. Concerning how I could look over my past work and realise how many rules I broke before doing a Masters in Creative Writing and Publishing. For years up until that point, I was always a believer that there are no rules in writing. And, indeed, a few followers told me that the rules are there to be broken. All the same, it left me wondering… if I had my time again, what changes would I make to Lust & Liberty?

The video below, and the blog post that follows, explores that question further.

REMOVE ADVERBS

This is something I have refused to believe in the past. Having grown up reading the likes of J. K. Rowling, who uses adverbs quite liberally in her work, I was given to understand that this was normal practice. And then I read Stephen King’s On Writing and realised that that is not the case at all. When I first heard about this rule, I was torn between thinking it was just a well-established author being pretentious, and believing that it made sense. Obviously not enough to avoid phrases in Lust & Liberty like “returned caustically.”

If I were to completely redraft the first Berylford Scandal, I would take some of the gratuitous adverbs out.

REDUCE FONT SIZE AND MARGINS

NOT Reduce SPACING and Margins as in the video — this was a mistake, and it was too late to amend it. The font size in the paperback version, despite being 12pt in fact, looks HUGE. It is single-spaced, 12pt size, and yet there is room for about 13 or 14 lines per page. It looks ridiculous in hindsight, and I made doubly sure to make the margins narrower and knock the font size down to 10pt for the sequel. That looks like a natural size for a book. It would also bring the 500-odd page count down considerably. Which in turn, makes for cheaper printing costs.

EXPAND SOME STORYLINES

If we’re bringing that page count down, why not take the opportunity to expand certain storylines? I cut out a lot of subplots when I was fine-tuning Lust & Liberty, and others ended up diluted. Such as that between Mrs Haffisidge and her nephew-in-law Luke Warwick. I also felt like Mrs Urmstone, intended to be a deuteragonist of the entire story, was given a lot less to do in the end. In both cases, I would seek to expand.

IMPROVE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

While we’re on the track of major characters, feedback has suggested that the main anti-heroine, Lady Vyrrington, doesn’t undergo much development. Fair point — she doesn’t have so much a character arc as much as a full circle. She begins the story grieved and, spoiler alert, she ends the story grieved. Her character is much changed by the end, and only accelerates leading up to the events of the second book. However, I don’t think it was as clearly pronounced in Lust & Liberty as it could have been. So I would go over that, if I had my time again.

WHERE CAN I BUY LUST & LIBERTY?

You can buy my first novel, The Berylford Scandals: Lust & Liberty, from Amazon in paperback or on Kindle by clicking here.

Do you agree (or disagree)? Why not let me know in the comments? For more author news and views, my Facebook and Instagram pages are here.

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Written by: Dale Hurst

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The Berylford Scandals (1. Lust & Liberty, 2. Sin & Secrecy) 📚
Podcaster | The Dale Hurst Writing Show🎙️

Dale Hurst | Author
Are you tempted? 😆 . Jump into The Berylford Sc Are you tempted? 😆
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Jump into The Berylford Scandals the right way – at the beginning! This is the first instalment, Lust & Liberty Prices are still slashed, so grab a copy from Amazon while the getting's good 😘 read more about the books on my website (#linkinbio)
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📸 @jkw.media 
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#bookstagramuk #amreadingmystery #amreadinghistoricalfiction #amreadingromance #booksofinsta #readersgonnaread #readingcommunity #histfic #theberylfordscandals #lustandliberty
While it's too drizzly to enjoy a Sunday on the Bo While it's too drizzly to enjoy a Sunday on the Boulevard down here in Bournemouth at the moment, I've instead reflected on my most recently published piece 'Sunday on the Boulevard with my Pet Lobster' and chucked it all in a new post on my website. Have a read if you want to find out more about what inspired this bizarre little tale (#linkincomments)🦞🚬🏖️📖📚✍️🖊️
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📸 @jkw.media 
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#bournemouthwriters #bournemouthwritingprize #comedy #amwritingcomedy #sundayontheboulevard #surrealism #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #authorcommunity #authornetwork
And with that, he was 30... 🥳 I was going to do And with that, he was 30... 🥳
I was going to do a huge carousel post with some of my favourite photos taken across my 20s. But having done two degrees, practised and retired from journalism, independently published two novels, hosted two podcasts, and met countless amazing people in that time... to sum that all up in 10 photos would be impossible 😆 so... more of the same in the next 10 years? Why not? 🤣😱🧐 In the meantime me and my MVPs right here 
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#ladsladslads #crimefamily #writersofinsta #ignovelist #authorcommunity #writingcommunity #30thbirthday
2022 was a funny old year... new job, new home, pu 2022 was a funny old year... new job, new home, published something new, lost someone dear, and saw two of my oldest and best friends get married... Not sure about you but I'm a bit knackered 😆 anyway, Happy New Year everyone 😘🧐
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#happynye #nye2022 #writersofig #igwriters #ignovelists #authornetwork #writingcommunity #novelists
The listener favourites of Season 2 of #thedalehur The listener favourites of Season 2 of #thedalehurstwritingshow have been totalled up. The following episodes are evidently NOT to be missed!
▪️The most-listened episode of Season 2 was our spooky special Episode 17, featuring author @alex_colvin_ 
▪️Second-most was Episode 12, featuring crime novelist @jasonrvowles 
▪️Third was Episode 19, which featured actor and playwright @conor_jquinn and director @tazy_hm 
▪️An honourable mention goes to our somewhat different Episode 11, starring singer-songwriter @calum_lintott 
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Listen to my podcast now on Spotify and Google Podcasts🎙️📚📖🖋️🎧
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#writingwisdom #writingpodcast #podcastsofig #podcastlife #podcastersofig #writerslife #novelist #creativewriting #authornetwork #writingcommunity
2022 has been eventful to say the least... I won't 2022 has been eventful to say the least... I won't go into the personal stuff, but my latest blog post - link in comments - sums up my professional updates for the year (in case you missed them 😉) 📚
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#authorsofig #amwritinghistfic #amwritingthriller #amwritingcrime #podcastersofig #igpodcasts #writercommunity #authornetwork #writersofig #ignovelist
To all friends and family, personal and profession To all friends and family, personal and professional, domestic and international, I wish a wondrous Christmas 🎄🥰🎄 
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#merrychristmas2022 #christmaswishes #elegantchristmas #bookstagram #amreading #amwriting #authorsofig #writersofig #ignovelist
I'll say thank you again to everyone who guested a I'll say thank you again to everyone who guested and listened to Season 2 of The Dale Hurst Writing Show. If you haven't caught it yet, it's on Spotify and Google Podcasts. Swipe 👈👈👈 for a snippet of each episode 😉😉😉 📚🎙️
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#podcastaddict #thedalehurstwritingshow #writingwisdom #writingpodcast #podcastsofig #igpodcasts #writingcommunity #authornetwork #writerslife #igwriters
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