I've actually not written much in the way of words on paper in the past few weeks. Mainly, I've been thinking of the future and where the story will turn next. I had a 'eureka!' moment concerning the opening line to chapter four, which caused me to click my fingers and shout 'Ha!' to myself at home. But I didn't go further than that. Just letting things gel in my mind, ensuring that I capture the thought process that made me think of it. I have to be careful. I'm sure I'll be writing over Christmas and New Year, though I'll be as social as possible while doing it!
I had a similar moment of limbo while rewriting the beginning to Sword. The very beginning I came up with was written a bit wooden-like, but the idea was right. For some reason, I had a flashback about it - probably because I am using flashbacks as part of that dreaded word 'exposition' - to when I posted the new beginning at Litopia. I got something like four reviews. FOUR! Or something like it. PALTRY! That was the beginning of the end for me there, but not before I made sure everyone knew it wasn't good enough - the number of reviews, I mean, not my work. I've never felt such disgust and I suspect the memory of it will stay with me forever, as I've never forgotten it. It hit home to me how alone a writer is. I've mellowed now, of course, though I'll never be an active member of a forum again because of that time. I've pointed a few writers in the past year at Litopia, as I still believe it's a worthwhile website for any writer, and I understand it has changed a bit since then. But I've no idea if they joined or even looked.
This made me think of something. Something I learned while at Critters. If you can help another writer, then do it. Even if you don't have fantastic thoughts about what you've read, just do the best you can. Be honest. Always be honest. But do it. Never, ever, ever do nothing. And especially if someone's helped you, then you must return the favour at least. Everything helps.
That is the writer's lot: to help yourself, of course; and, while doing it, help other writers. Make sure you do!
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
To catch a moonbeam
And reveal it to the world.
That is my quest in writing.
I was never sure if I'd done anything like that when I wrote Sword - though I stand by what I did and the plans I made for its future. But I learned so much from writing it, so I'm glad I did.
With my latest work, I'm more aware of what I'm doing. And showing more patience in allowing the moonbeams to shine and play upon the page. But am I able to record the glitter of their light - at least, in a manner artistic enough to reflect their lustre back into the critical eyes of the reading world? You'll have to wait and see!!
I'm very happy with the prologue and the first chapter. Two very different pieces, but linked, nonetheless.
The introspection of chapter two reflects very well the introspection of my blog. The beginning of chapter two, however, is causing me some concern, even though I feel this chapter has a very good feel to it. I'm working on it.
Chapter three begins the movement into the narrative through dialogue. The ending of chapter three needs to be improved, which I'm also working on. Polishing both these last two chapters is a little more difficult, as they were written before the prologue and first chapter. But they are beginning to match. More than that, they are helping make me more aware of the immediate future of the story. I've just left them for a day or two, so I can gather my thoughts a bit more and also allow some freshness when I look at them again.
Pretty close to moving into chapter four, though I won't do until I'm happy that two and three are as they should be.
At the last check, there were 29 pages typed up so far, including two later chapters. Ha! They say an agent or editor can tell from the first page - even from the first few lines or seconds - whether a piece of work is any good. But I know I may have to send more than the prologue and first three chapters. Maybe that's all I need. Maybe not. I'll ask. But not before I've written enough to satisfy my need to prove I've created a true beginning. A beginning worth reading.
Then there's the synopsis. And the covering letter.
Cor! I'm making plans already!
Actually, it feels great. Two months and I'll be sending it off. It's a fact, an actual deadline. Hold on to your hats!
That is my quest in writing.
I was never sure if I'd done anything like that when I wrote Sword - though I stand by what I did and the plans I made for its future. But I learned so much from writing it, so I'm glad I did.
With my latest work, I'm more aware of what I'm doing. And showing more patience in allowing the moonbeams to shine and play upon the page. But am I able to record the glitter of their light - at least, in a manner artistic enough to reflect their lustre back into the critical eyes of the reading world? You'll have to wait and see!!
I'm very happy with the prologue and the first chapter. Two very different pieces, but linked, nonetheless.
The introspection of chapter two reflects very well the introspection of my blog. The beginning of chapter two, however, is causing me some concern, even though I feel this chapter has a very good feel to it. I'm working on it.
Chapter three begins the movement into the narrative through dialogue. The ending of chapter three needs to be improved, which I'm also working on. Polishing both these last two chapters is a little more difficult, as they were written before the prologue and first chapter. But they are beginning to match. More than that, they are helping make me more aware of the immediate future of the story. I've just left them for a day or two, so I can gather my thoughts a bit more and also allow some freshness when I look at them again.
Pretty close to moving into chapter four, though I won't do until I'm happy that two and three are as they should be.
At the last check, there were 29 pages typed up so far, including two later chapters. Ha! They say an agent or editor can tell from the first page - even from the first few lines or seconds - whether a piece of work is any good. But I know I may have to send more than the prologue and first three chapters. Maybe that's all I need. Maybe not. I'll ask. But not before I've written enough to satisfy my need to prove I've created a true beginning. A beginning worth reading.
Then there's the synopsis. And the covering letter.
Cor! I'm making plans already!
Actually, it feels great. Two months and I'll be sending it off. It's a fact, an actual deadline. Hold on to your hats!
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Help!
The Fab Four are on tonight. For me, this particular era showed them at their coolest - the ultimate boyband. I've always regarded myself as the fifth Beatle - a title also given to George Best, among others, so I guess I'm in high company.
Help! is a brill movie and I couldn't resist posting a small video excerpt from it on this blog. It's been up for a while now, and I can't imagine ever taking it off. One of my favourite songs ever.
Help! is a brill movie and I couldn't resist posting a small video excerpt from it on this blog. It's been up for a while now, and I can't imagine ever taking it off. One of my favourite songs ever.
Holograms
I was listening to the Litopia podcast and the discussion concerning the Kindle. It's pretty obvious that there is scepticism, however much there is acceptance that something needs to happen. As I see it, what it comes down to in this modern world of aesthetically-driven products is how it all looks, not what it does. And the Kindle can be made to look a whole lot better.
The advantage the music world has over the book world is that, as far as listening goes, it just had to get the sound right and the rest was easy.
The book, however, is reliant on the eye. If it doesn't look right then you've lost. Infinitely more difficult.
To me, you have to try to reproduce the look of the book: it's a natural entity that has evolved into what it is now.
My idea of what should happen is possibly a long way away from what can actually happen at this moment. I don't know very much about that bit, so it might be a lot closer than that. But I do think that they should give up this idea of temporary 'bridging' with things like the Kindle, and raise the stakes a notch or two. Perhaps everyone should be trying to reproduce the book using something like holograms, probably via mobile phone technology.
I was reminded of Jean Michel Jarre and his use of lasers to create musical sound.
I've actually no idea how far away from this kind of thing holograms are, but can you imagine how great it would be to not only read a virtual book which is hovering before you in mid-air, but to also be able to view 3D pictures and even watch videos designed especially for the book.
Imagine merging The Lord Of The Rings book and film!!!
Are holograms such a crazy idea? Maybe there is something even better - ahem! and don't say the book itself!!!
The advantage the music world has over the book world is that, as far as listening goes, it just had to get the sound right and the rest was easy.
The book, however, is reliant on the eye. If it doesn't look right then you've lost. Infinitely more difficult.
To me, you have to try to reproduce the look of the book: it's a natural entity that has evolved into what it is now.
My idea of what should happen is possibly a long way away from what can actually happen at this moment. I don't know very much about that bit, so it might be a lot closer than that. But I do think that they should give up this idea of temporary 'bridging' with things like the Kindle, and raise the stakes a notch or two. Perhaps everyone should be trying to reproduce the book using something like holograms, probably via mobile phone technology.
I was reminded of Jean Michel Jarre and his use of lasers to create musical sound.
I've actually no idea how far away from this kind of thing holograms are, but can you imagine how great it would be to not only read a virtual book which is hovering before you in mid-air, but to also be able to view 3D pictures and even watch videos designed especially for the book.
Imagine merging The Lord Of The Rings book and film!!!
Are holograms such a crazy idea? Maybe there is something even better - ahem! and don't say the book itself!!!
Saturday, 24 November 2007
The Fourth Chapter
I know how the fourth chapter begins. I haven't considered fully the whole of it, though I have briefly thought of what it should be about. Another step forward, though I can only apologise to you, the reader, for the lack of proof here in this blog.
My revision of the prologue and first three chapters is almost complete. Because the third chapter was written before the prologue and first chapter, I needed to rethink a few things. Changes have been made and I'm nearly there.
This is a critical stage in the story, where the narrative must swing into action after the scene has been set - though I've been careful not to overdo the scene-setting: the flashbacks will explain a lot of the whys as the story moves along.
I'm not afraid any more. It's a time for boldness, a time for looking at my notes and re-evaluating and reaffirming. And acting on what I believe.
Solvey is absolutely right: the narrative must be relentless. But when I do need to move backwards, and sideways, the quality of my writing must make it a pleasure and not a bind. The prologue is a look backwards, a look into the past, and I like it very much. It informs as well as introduces. I must keep that up.
No matter how excited I feel, I can't allow it to affect my thoughts while I'm writing. I'll applaud myself one day, but only when I'm actually in print. Of course, that may never happen. So applauding now would be the wrong thing to do, wouldn't it?
My revision of the prologue and first three chapters is almost complete. Because the third chapter was written before the prologue and first chapter, I needed to rethink a few things. Changes have been made and I'm nearly there.
This is a critical stage in the story, where the narrative must swing into action after the scene has been set - though I've been careful not to overdo the scene-setting: the flashbacks will explain a lot of the whys as the story moves along.
I'm not afraid any more. It's a time for boldness, a time for looking at my notes and re-evaluating and reaffirming. And acting on what I believe.
Solvey is absolutely right: the narrative must be relentless. But when I do need to move backwards, and sideways, the quality of my writing must make it a pleasure and not a bind. The prologue is a look backwards, a look into the past, and I like it very much. It informs as well as introduces. I must keep that up.
No matter how excited I feel, I can't allow it to affect my thoughts while I'm writing. I'll applaud myself one day, but only when I'm actually in print. Of course, that may never happen. So applauding now would be the wrong thing to do, wouldn't it?
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Kindling interest
It's an oddly untechnical word: Kindle. For a new computer gadget, I mean. Doesn't grab you by the wotsits, does it? Still, it's by Amazon, so I suppose they know what they're doing.
I've been waiting for ages for a proper ebook gizmo-thingy - I believe it's the single-most reason for the lack of progress in ebook downloads and sales. Books just don't look the same, even on a laptop, and they certainly lose their lustre when printed out on A4, no matter the quality. The problem, I guess, is that the reader has to display flexibility. Not a good marketing ploy when the reader is the one who's paying!
The music industry has experienced a right old shake-up with the ease of download and portability of whole albums and catalogues. The consumer has won hands down - and so have the record companies, if they've got their marketing right.
I can't say any more until I've had a go with one. I will be asking: is it big enough to forget the technology involved? is it small enough (or unobtrusive enough) to carry around? is it heavy? is it too thick (it really needs to be thin)? if it's big, will it be foldable, say, into mobile phone size? I could go on, and the number of models will go on, I'm sure - sounds a bit critical of me, but the mobile phone world has ensured a cynical view until I'm convinced otherwise!
A very interesting development.
I've been waiting for ages for a proper ebook gizmo-thingy - I believe it's the single-most reason for the lack of progress in ebook downloads and sales. Books just don't look the same, even on a laptop, and they certainly lose their lustre when printed out on A4, no matter the quality. The problem, I guess, is that the reader has to display flexibility. Not a good marketing ploy when the reader is the one who's paying!
The music industry has experienced a right old shake-up with the ease of download and portability of whole albums and catalogues. The consumer has won hands down - and so have the record companies, if they've got their marketing right.
I can't say any more until I've had a go with one. I will be asking: is it big enough to forget the technology involved? is it small enough (or unobtrusive enough) to carry around? is it heavy? is it too thick (it really needs to be thin)? if it's big, will it be foldable, say, into mobile phone size? I could go on, and the number of models will go on, I'm sure - sounds a bit critical of me, but the mobile phone world has ensured a cynical view until I'm convinced otherwise!
A very interesting development.
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Revision
Right now, I'm in the middle of revising chapter three (the prologue and the first two chapters read very well, I feel, preparing for the third chapter and the movement into the story proper), but I was feeling a mite concerned about where I was heading. Of course, I forgot to remember(!) that I had made some notes concerning the fourth chapter - though I never named it as the fourth chapter - and the fifth chapter, then the sixth. My problem being that as I hadn't given these chapters numbers, I was causing myself a problem: where to go next. Now that I've identified where I'm going, I don't feel so bad. It's there! Slight panic over. My worry lines have now receded a touch.
Once I've revised chapter three, and improved the writing around its ending, chapter four takes a physical shift away from the hero (though the focus remains on him - he is being watched), and chapters five and six return to the hero and the movement into the story proper.
So, the first six chapters after the prologue are devoted to the hero. Despite the short-ish lengths of these chapters, there is a lot there - at least, I believe there is a lot there. And if this is truly a swing into the main narrative, then I will have achieved the objective I was working towards: a great beginning swirling into a great narrative. Ha! Even though I say so myself.
This is my reminder to myself, in my chronicle of thought processes while writing my latest work. In case I forget again!
Just gotta do it.
Don't worry: I will.
Once I've revised chapter three, and improved the writing around its ending, chapter four takes a physical shift away from the hero (though the focus remains on him - he is being watched), and chapters five and six return to the hero and the movement into the story proper.
So, the first six chapters after the prologue are devoted to the hero. Despite the short-ish lengths of these chapters, there is a lot there - at least, I believe there is a lot there. And if this is truly a swing into the main narrative, then I will have achieved the objective I was working towards: a great beginning swirling into a great narrative. Ha! Even though I say so myself.
This is my reminder to myself, in my chronicle of thought processes while writing my latest work. In case I forget again!
Just gotta do it.
Don't worry: I will.
Friday, 16 November 2007
Looking back...
For some reason, I found myself looking back. Just looking back, not chasing anything. Just looking back. Everywhere. Probably, my looking forward in time to the end of January caused my brain to do an about-turn!
You know, the one thing I miss the most is forums! Ha! You'd think I'd have had enough of them by now, but nope - even though I feel I can't go back to them, I do kind of wish I could post my latest work and have a stack of guys offering their opinions on it. I never seemed to fail to cause some kind of worthwhile discussion on my stuff, so I probably can claim to have an element of 'thinkability' buried inside my words of wonder! Might have been an illusion, so I won't push that one...
Only, I know my forum days are over - hell, I even helped kill 'em off! (My 'to thine own self be true' motto can get me into awful bother sometimes, though I can also claim to mean well, where some would probably say that I'm more like 'well mean'! lol)
I do ask myself, though, what's the point of doing all that stuff, getting involved, getting involved in discussions, arguments, other people's works, if it all isn't meant to help you stand on your own two feet? The whole point of it all is to get you to think all of the things that need to be thought, without anyone else having to prompt you. Or at least, you should try to. And it 's not like you actually do it all alone, as you meet people along the way who offer so much in the way of help and advice, and most of all friendship. The links on my blog show that. You can't have enough friends in life. Never forget that.
I guess what I'm really asking is 'If you pick up a guitar and strum a few chords, does it make you a musician?'
If you write a book, but go unpublished, are you a writer? Who will know that you are? Yourself? Great, but the memory of it will die when you do.
This isn't negativity I'm spouting here - the opposite, rather. I'm telling myself that sending off to agents is no proof of ability - authenticity, yes, if I've done all that I can. But it's no consolation if the reply is 'no', however well-put or well-mannered it is. I've had a few of those, you know: praise with a negative ending! Sends your head into meltdown, I can tell you.
So, January it is. I've said that. But I have to mean it. Only my best will do.
'You've set yourself a mammoth task, Peter,' Noel said. He's dead right, too.
I have to prove I'm up to it. I have to prove it before January. Not to myself. I will always call myself a writer. And so I am. But if I don't prove it by getting published, then the question will always be 'So am I?'
You know, the one thing I miss the most is forums! Ha! You'd think I'd have had enough of them by now, but nope - even though I feel I can't go back to them, I do kind of wish I could post my latest work and have a stack of guys offering their opinions on it. I never seemed to fail to cause some kind of worthwhile discussion on my stuff, so I probably can claim to have an element of 'thinkability' buried inside my words of wonder! Might have been an illusion, so I won't push that one...
Only, I know my forum days are over - hell, I even helped kill 'em off! (My 'to thine own self be true' motto can get me into awful bother sometimes, though I can also claim to mean well, where some would probably say that I'm more like 'well mean'! lol)
I do ask myself, though, what's the point of doing all that stuff, getting involved, getting involved in discussions, arguments, other people's works, if it all isn't meant to help you stand on your own two feet? The whole point of it all is to get you to think all of the things that need to be thought, without anyone else having to prompt you. Or at least, you should try to. And it 's not like you actually do it all alone, as you meet people along the way who offer so much in the way of help and advice, and most of all friendship. The links on my blog show that. You can't have enough friends in life. Never forget that.
I guess what I'm really asking is 'If you pick up a guitar and strum a few chords, does it make you a musician?'
If you write a book, but go unpublished, are you a writer? Who will know that you are? Yourself? Great, but the memory of it will die when you do.
This isn't negativity I'm spouting here - the opposite, rather. I'm telling myself that sending off to agents is no proof of ability - authenticity, yes, if I've done all that I can. But it's no consolation if the reply is 'no', however well-put or well-mannered it is. I've had a few of those, you know: praise with a negative ending! Sends your head into meltdown, I can tell you.
So, January it is. I've said that. But I have to mean it. Only my best will do.
'You've set yourself a mammoth task, Peter,' Noel said. He's dead right, too.
I have to prove I'm up to it. I have to prove it before January. Not to myself. I will always call myself a writer. And so I am. But if I don't prove it by getting published, then the question will always be 'So am I?'
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Night Train
Noel the Ultimate Proofreader's thoughts on my writing alone seem to have struck a chord. Noel's normally right, so whether I was really listening or not never entered the equation. The fact that he said it was enough.
Writing as I do at night (mainly), sometimes gives me a feeling that I'm on some kind of night train, heading out on a journey whose ultimate conclusion is uncertain. However, the timing of this conclusion, I've come to understand, must not be uncertain - at least, I have to ensure that the timing is not uncertain.
It's now the middle of November, and I'm really pleased with the level of writing and the level of depth, or strength, I've achieved so far. After a year or so of thought, consideration and notes, the output of prologue and first three chapters - although written in a different order to which they now appear - gives me great cause for optimism.
I have certain vaguenesses concerning one or two events in the future happenings inside the tale, but they are largely deliberate (honest!) in that I want some form of flexibility in the writing of these events. I feel they are too important to attempt to decide right now, although I have already decided most of the future directions from this early point. I do want a new idea or two to jump out at me, and I hope this is a good way of allowing space for them to do just that. The ending of the first book (oh yes, there is to be a second book at least) has already been decided, so only a handful of roads can be taken before this ending. And there are some already-written chapters to help me decide the right way to go.
By the end of January, I hope to be about a third of the way in. This may not be a realistic aim. Then again, I may be even further along than that. It's impossible to say. But if I do get at least that far, then it's probable that I'll be on that part of the journey that can be described as the most critical: trying to find an agent. I may not actually be at a good enough point to enable me to send it off to agents, but I will be considering it seriously round about then.
I can tell you, the point I'm at right now seemed light years away when I first began it all. The mixed-up thoughts, the jumble of ideas, the vague events - I tied myself in knots trying to sort everything out, to unravel what I was thinking, feeling.
Jeez, to be able to even consider January to be a deadline!
So: January. Yeah. Has to be January.
This is becoming real now.
Writing as I do at night (mainly), sometimes gives me a feeling that I'm on some kind of night train, heading out on a journey whose ultimate conclusion is uncertain. However, the timing of this conclusion, I've come to understand, must not be uncertain - at least, I have to ensure that the timing is not uncertain.
It's now the middle of November, and I'm really pleased with the level of writing and the level of depth, or strength, I've achieved so far. After a year or so of thought, consideration and notes, the output of prologue and first three chapters - although written in a different order to which they now appear - gives me great cause for optimism.
I have certain vaguenesses concerning one or two events in the future happenings inside the tale, but they are largely deliberate (honest!) in that I want some form of flexibility in the writing of these events. I feel they are too important to attempt to decide right now, although I have already decided most of the future directions from this early point. I do want a new idea or two to jump out at me, and I hope this is a good way of allowing space for them to do just that. The ending of the first book (oh yes, there is to be a second book at least) has already been decided, so only a handful of roads can be taken before this ending. And there are some already-written chapters to help me decide the right way to go.
By the end of January, I hope to be about a third of the way in. This may not be a realistic aim. Then again, I may be even further along than that. It's impossible to say. But if I do get at least that far, then it's probable that I'll be on that part of the journey that can be described as the most critical: trying to find an agent. I may not actually be at a good enough point to enable me to send it off to agents, but I will be considering it seriously round about then.
I can tell you, the point I'm at right now seemed light years away when I first began it all. The mixed-up thoughts, the jumble of ideas, the vague events - I tied myself in knots trying to sort everything out, to unravel what I was thinking, feeling.
Jeez, to be able to even consider January to be a deadline!
So: January. Yeah. Has to be January.
This is becoming real now.
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Maria's moving house!
And then there were three!
Probably much more than that, but my time capsule from Litopia is from a little farther back. Solvey, Rich and myself. Ah well, it is ladies first! The guys don't worry me, really - they will be published, one day, and go on to run blogs from their own websites. Just a matter of time.
Pretty soon, though, mgharris.net will be teeming with young people and bristling with technology. I can just see the orange phones, and ipods and t-shirts. It's gonna be fun, I'm sure.
I shall be watching with interest - from a safe vantage point, in case I get knocked over in the rush!
Probably much more than that, but my time capsule from Litopia is from a little farther back. Solvey, Rich and myself. Ah well, it is ladies first! The guys don't worry me, really - they will be published, one day, and go on to run blogs from their own websites. Just a matter of time.
Pretty soon, though, mgharris.net will be teeming with young people and bristling with technology. I can just see the orange phones, and ipods and t-shirts. It's gonna be fun, I'm sure.
I shall be watching with interest - from a safe vantage point, in case I get knocked over in the rush!
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
The magic of Turner!
Wednesday evening should see me officially no longer under the doctor and back in the land of job-seekers! Feeling so much more alive than at any time in the last couple of years, I find myself dotting around the Net and blogs and newspapers, scanning for information and inspiration. Every now and then I'll take a sidelong glance at my latest work, knowingly and unknowingly preparing for my latest writing surge. It will come, I know it will - and I'll be one step closer to the sending-off.
Looking around as I have been doing, my eyes have fallen on a few pieces concerning the Turner Prize. With Noel The Ultimate Proofreader's assertion that 'You've set yourself a mammoth task, Peter!' echoing in my head after I'd run through the plot and future events within the tale - and Noel is right, so I must be ultra-careful and diligent - a rather odd thought occurred to me that my 'off the wall' internal impression of my latest work could haunt me forever if I do not get it right. I love the Turner Prize, as it's incredibly challenging. Nowhere else is the question 'But is it art?' asked so frequently, and so seriously. Of course it's art. Thought is art! But the line between brilliance and mediocrity is incredibly thin. It is so apparent in the Turner Prize. I feel I'm close to that line and I have to be aware of it at all times. I don't want to end up at the wrong end of the Turner spectrum. Brilliance? I have to make it brilliant. One day I will be judged for real. That's for certain. If it's not brilliant, I will deserve to be unsuccessful.
Ha! This is some talking-to I'm giving myself! I'm close to writing something again and the tension is growing. Gotta be careful. If Noel's impression is one of hugeness (and it is my impression, too, and I didn't prompt him), then I know I'm going somewhere with it: it's what I intended. I got that part right, at least!
Looking around as I have been doing, my eyes have fallen on a few pieces concerning the Turner Prize. With Noel The Ultimate Proofreader's assertion that 'You've set yourself a mammoth task, Peter!' echoing in my head after I'd run through the plot and future events within the tale - and Noel is right, so I must be ultra-careful and diligent - a rather odd thought occurred to me that my 'off the wall' internal impression of my latest work could haunt me forever if I do not get it right. I love the Turner Prize, as it's incredibly challenging. Nowhere else is the question 'But is it art?' asked so frequently, and so seriously. Of course it's art. Thought is art! But the line between brilliance and mediocrity is incredibly thin. It is so apparent in the Turner Prize. I feel I'm close to that line and I have to be aware of it at all times. I don't want to end up at the wrong end of the Turner spectrum. Brilliance? I have to make it brilliant. One day I will be judged for real. That's for certain. If it's not brilliant, I will deserve to be unsuccessful.
Ha! This is some talking-to I'm giving myself! I'm close to writing something again and the tension is growing. Gotta be careful. If Noel's impression is one of hugeness (and it is my impression, too, and I didn't prompt him), then I know I'm going somewhere with it: it's what I intended. I got that part right, at least!
Monday, 5 November 2007
Arthur of the North
Rich's exploration of Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight is particularly interesting to me. It's funny, but my main inspirations for Sword Of Isgarion came from Peter Pan and King Arthur. An odd combination, perhaps, but life's a strange trip at the best of times, so I'm not too worried about my mental health in that respect!
Every now and then I take a trip up the North East coast, to visit the island of Lindisfarne, usually with Noel the Ultimate Proofreader, and sometimes Noel's lovely wife Chris comes, too. Windswept, bleak even in summer, Lindisfarne is a place you never forget once you've been there. In winter, the winds feel like they are cutting you in two, and as you look across the sea and capture the sky above the stormy waves, images of vikings and longships flash inside your mind, and pitched battles resonate along the deserted beach.
And there, I picture time and time again the legendary figure of Arthur, who is now named King Arthur in legend-history, fighting the invaders who often pillaged the settlements and murdered the people of the North. The true Arthur. The Northern Arthur. Oh yes - Arthur is a northerner. It's a northern name, for sure. Never a king, possibly a captain of some kind, he was a mighty leader in battle. Little is truly known about him, and the main source of information is basically legend. A great one, too - the most romantic of all legends in the history of literature in England. To me, it stands above them all.
Arthur, now though, is classed as a southerner, dwelling at Camelot, with roots in Glastonbury and the like, and cuts a dashing figure - unless you read Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists Of Avalon, where Arthur is portrayed as an infertile king and Camelot is turned virtually into an old people's home. There, Lancelot didn't actually get together with Guinevere until he was an elderly, failing knight, by which time the great writing had faded, along with my interest, and the story drifted away into the mist of its own title.
This, of course, brings me to the Isle of Avalon. Can't find it anywhere down south. Neither can anyone else. A mythical place.
Perhaps.
Until you visit Lindisfarne Isle in the north east of England, when the mist has cleared and the tide has gone out, and you can drive or walk across to its shores from the mainland, as people have done for centuries. And when you visit the ruined castle and stand inside the abbey, it dawns on you that you are there. That you are in Avalon. You feel it every time. At least, I know I do.
Every now and then I take a trip up the North East coast, to visit the island of Lindisfarne, usually with Noel the Ultimate Proofreader, and sometimes Noel's lovely wife Chris comes, too. Windswept, bleak even in summer, Lindisfarne is a place you never forget once you've been there. In winter, the winds feel like they are cutting you in two, and as you look across the sea and capture the sky above the stormy waves, images of vikings and longships flash inside your mind, and pitched battles resonate along the deserted beach.
And there, I picture time and time again the legendary figure of Arthur, who is now named King Arthur in legend-history, fighting the invaders who often pillaged the settlements and murdered the people of the North. The true Arthur. The Northern Arthur. Oh yes - Arthur is a northerner. It's a northern name, for sure. Never a king, possibly a captain of some kind, he was a mighty leader in battle. Little is truly known about him, and the main source of information is basically legend. A great one, too - the most romantic of all legends in the history of literature in England. To me, it stands above them all.
Arthur, now though, is classed as a southerner, dwelling at Camelot, with roots in Glastonbury and the like, and cuts a dashing figure - unless you read Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists Of Avalon, where Arthur is portrayed as an infertile king and Camelot is turned virtually into an old people's home. There, Lancelot didn't actually get together with Guinevere until he was an elderly, failing knight, by which time the great writing had faded, along with my interest, and the story drifted away into the mist of its own title.
This, of course, brings me to the Isle of Avalon. Can't find it anywhere down south. Neither can anyone else. A mythical place.
Perhaps.
Until you visit Lindisfarne Isle in the north east of England, when the mist has cleared and the tide has gone out, and you can drive or walk across to its shores from the mainland, as people have done for centuries. And when you visit the ruined castle and stand inside the abbey, it dawns on you that you are there. That you are in Avalon. You feel it every time. At least, I know I do.
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Life Imitating Art
Tonight, I'm going to do what I've always maintained I wouldn't do: I'm going to post a piece of my latest work. I wrote it some months ago and it's relatively unedited. There's nothing there to give the game away, so there's no real problem. I just had to, that's all...
...And yet, as he stood back, something flew out of the night, landing upon the road. It skidded and clattered for a few seconds, then stopped after hitting the kerb a couple of metres away.
Jael could see that it was an empty, scrunched-up Coke can. On a windless night? Jael knew that it must have been thrown – or kicked.
He looked into the dark, sensing something: a presence. Someone was there, watching him. He knew that he was being watched. How had he not noticed?
Jael stepped back into the relative obscurity of the shadows. And waited.
After a while, it was clear that whoever had been watching him was gone. But not before a voice had spoken to him. A voice that he did not recognise, though he knew that it was not human.
“Kamal,” it said, the voice falling like a whisper into his ear...
Fast forward to 7.30 p.m., October 31, 2007.
I was making my way back home along Commercial Road, just up from The Dolly Peel, though I hadn't been there for a drink. It was a quiet night, quite still, apart from a party of youngsters and an accompanying adult trick-or-treating further down the road. I stopped at a convenient point, checking for traffic before crossing to the other side. Suddenly, something clattered along the road towards me, something metallic, hitting the kerb a few metres away. It looked like a scrunched-up Coke can. I looked at the buildings at the other side of the road. There was no movement, no sign of life anywhere. I waited for a few moments, half-expecting to hear a whisper in my ear. Not even a laugh or a bang from a firework. Just silence. I looked at the can again, then back across the street. Nothing. After a few more moments, I moved warily on, looking back a couple of times down the still-empty road before turning off into the next street.
This happened.
On Hallowe'en.
...And yet, as he stood back, something flew out of the night, landing upon the road. It skidded and clattered for a few seconds, then stopped after hitting the kerb a couple of metres away.
Jael could see that it was an empty, scrunched-up Coke can. On a windless night? Jael knew that it must have been thrown – or kicked.
He looked into the dark, sensing something: a presence. Someone was there, watching him. He knew that he was being watched. How had he not noticed?
Jael stepped back into the relative obscurity of the shadows. And waited.
After a while, it was clear that whoever had been watching him was gone. But not before a voice had spoken to him. A voice that he did not recognise, though he knew that it was not human.
“Kamal,” it said, the voice falling like a whisper into his ear...
Fast forward to 7.30 p.m., October 31, 2007.
I was making my way back home along Commercial Road, just up from The Dolly Peel, though I hadn't been there for a drink. It was a quiet night, quite still, apart from a party of youngsters and an accompanying adult trick-or-treating further down the road. I stopped at a convenient point, checking for traffic before crossing to the other side. Suddenly, something clattered along the road towards me, something metallic, hitting the kerb a few metres away. It looked like a scrunched-up Coke can. I looked at the buildings at the other side of the road. There was no movement, no sign of life anywhere. I waited for a few moments, half-expecting to hear a whisper in my ear. Not even a laugh or a bang from a firework. Just silence. I looked at the can again, then back across the street. Nothing. After a few more moments, I moved warily on, looking back a couple of times down the still-empty road before turning off into the next street.
This happened.
On Hallowe'en.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Holding Court
I was in a real ale pub in South Shields called The Dolly Peel, sharing a drink with an old mate who'd come up from London, when a guy I'd just been introduced to mentioned he'd got hold of a second-hand copy of a book about the Mayans. Can't remember how it cropped up, but it did. Ha! This then got me name-dropping, and I found myself talking about how I knew someone online who was about to be published in February, and that I'd read Fingerprints Of The Gods a while back - or is that Footprints? There were only four of us (it was about 2 p.m. on a quiet Monday), but I was holding court, answering questions put to me about blogs, the internet and Maria Harris (M. G. Harris, I corrected myself). Mexico, Litopia and Critters also entered the discussion - though I made it clear I hadn't been to Mexico and was no longer a member of Litopia or Critters, so there was no real claim to fame for me there. I was asked for Maria's blog, and mine. Perhaps a few more new eyes will glance at my online ramblings. I'm actually more likely to comment on someone else's blog rather than type thoughts onto my own, but I don't claim to be the world's greatest blogger, so I hope it won't be held too much against me.
Just follow the links to the rest of blogland and you'll be fine, fellas! And entertained as well as informed!
As for my own work, I didn't mention it. Maybe one day someone will be standing in a pub talking about it. Probably me...
Just follow the links to the rest of blogland and you'll be fine, fellas! And entertained as well as informed!
As for my own work, I didn't mention it. Maybe one day someone will be standing in a pub talking about it. Probably me...
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Andean Lounge
I got around to listening to Kalx, and the album I bought in Ocean Road.
As with all albums, there are highs and lows. Each track is heavy on atmosphere, and rather light on memorable tune - although they do slip in their own unannounced version of Samba Pa Ti. Once again, it is a more generalised rendition, with little of the mournful guitar that made the original so unique.
I did enjoy the album as a whole, but feel that they are first and foremost a live band. They will never get to the top of the charts in the UK! They've appeared a few times now in Ocean Road, and I still stop and listen. So do quite a few others, which seems to point to them being more of a live band.
Not bad, all in all.
As with all albums, there are highs and lows. Each track is heavy on atmosphere, and rather light on memorable tune - although they do slip in their own unannounced version of Samba Pa Ti. Once again, it is a more generalised rendition, with little of the mournful guitar that made the original so unique.
I did enjoy the album as a whole, but feel that they are first and foremost a live band. They will never get to the top of the charts in the UK! They've appeared a few times now in Ocean Road, and I still stop and listen. So do quite a few others, which seems to point to them being more of a live band.
Not bad, all in all.
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
One small step
I was wondering why I'm not diving in and writing away at my latest work, and trying not to over-analyse how I am doing things right now.
I have a fear of going too far down the road with it and not being able to unravel it if I happen to do just that. So I'm spending a great amount of time thinking and looking at different angles before making the next move. I've said this before, and it's worth realising the amount of tension and focus involved in doing this. I'm not actually doing this by choice - it just seems the way of my current world.
Once I've reviewed the next couple of chapters, that will make it prologue and three chapters in, with an already-written chapter to fit in somewhere, and another already-written chapter to fit in somewhere, too.
Each chapter is not great in size, reflecting my newer style of modern writing, but I believe they contain a lot of information and movement. A lot is made of 'show, don't tell' - and rightly so. I'm writing it in third person, allowing any person in the story to have his/her own life separate to the hero. And I'm doing my very best to ensure 'show'.
I did dally with first person, but really I would have got it all wrong at the very beginning, as I needed to have learned a lot of things - most of all how to counter the 'monologue effect'. A lot of works get away with murder, with huge amounts of tell, simply because they are in first person. Dean Koontz does first person brilliantly, so I have a first class teacher there. But the work has to match the decision of which way to write. My decision this time is to write in third. It is the right one.
I have a feeling inside me that says I should have written more than I have, that perhaps I should be further down the road with it all. But as I've said earlier, I seem unable to write until I've spent quite a while preparing for the next piece to be written. A kind of 'in-progress' structuring, maybe. And out of my control. I guess I shouldn't write if I'm not ready to write - possibly my main fault (if it should be called a fault) when writing my earlier stuff. Then, I just wrote until I had nothing left to say. Enjoyable and artistic - but I can say exactly the same about writing my new stuff. It's not a criticism. I find I can do it both ways, so it's a bit of self-praise as well as self-analysis. Neither way is wrong. You have to do what is right 'in the moment'.
I have a fear of going too far down the road with it and not being able to unravel it if I happen to do just that. So I'm spending a great amount of time thinking and looking at different angles before making the next move. I've said this before, and it's worth realising the amount of tension and focus involved in doing this. I'm not actually doing this by choice - it just seems the way of my current world.
Once I've reviewed the next couple of chapters, that will make it prologue and three chapters in, with an already-written chapter to fit in somewhere, and another already-written chapter to fit in somewhere, too.
Each chapter is not great in size, reflecting my newer style of modern writing, but I believe they contain a lot of information and movement. A lot is made of 'show, don't tell' - and rightly so. I'm writing it in third person, allowing any person in the story to have his/her own life separate to the hero. And I'm doing my very best to ensure 'show'.
I did dally with first person, but really I would have got it all wrong at the very beginning, as I needed to have learned a lot of things - most of all how to counter the 'monologue effect'. A lot of works get away with murder, with huge amounts of tell, simply because they are in first person. Dean Koontz does first person brilliantly, so I have a first class teacher there. But the work has to match the decision of which way to write. My decision this time is to write in third. It is the right one.
I have a feeling inside me that says I should have written more than I have, that perhaps I should be further down the road with it all. But as I've said earlier, I seem unable to write until I've spent quite a while preparing for the next piece to be written. A kind of 'in-progress' structuring, maybe. And out of my control. I guess I shouldn't write if I'm not ready to write - possibly my main fault (if it should be called a fault) when writing my earlier stuff. Then, I just wrote until I had nothing left to say. Enjoyable and artistic - but I can say exactly the same about writing my new stuff. It's not a criticism. I find I can do it both ways, so it's a bit of self-praise as well as self-analysis. Neither way is wrong. You have to do what is right 'in the moment'.
Howard's End
The England football team's, too, by the look of things. They fell asleep for the first goal, and the Russian momentum brought about the second. Out of the European competition, virtually. I dunno...
In an effort to distract myself from such defeatist thoughts, I did a few things, and then found myself watching Howard's End - anything with Anthony Hopkins in is normally at least good. I've never read the book, so looked it up in Wikipedia. The synopsis is a horror story, and surely would result in any book not being published if sent out with sample chapters. Perhaps Howard's End really is a handful of smaller plots welded together to form a better whole, but it set me thinking again.
My latest work (calling it work is surely wrong, too, as it is such a pleasure to be involved in the writing of it! :-)) has smaller plots which I hopefully will meld properly into a larger whole. And I'd better get the synopsis right, otherwise I will be finished. That, of course, will come later, but it's vitally important to the selling of the story. I won't forget that.
Noel the Ultimate Proofreader has already raised the subject with me. Definitely: I won't forget about the quality of the synopsis.
In an effort to distract myself from such defeatist thoughts, I did a few things, and then found myself watching Howard's End - anything with Anthony Hopkins in is normally at least good. I've never read the book, so looked it up in Wikipedia. The synopsis is a horror story, and surely would result in any book not being published if sent out with sample chapters. Perhaps Howard's End really is a handful of smaller plots welded together to form a better whole, but it set me thinking again.
My latest work (calling it work is surely wrong, too, as it is such a pleasure to be involved in the writing of it! :-)) has smaller plots which I hopefully will meld properly into a larger whole. And I'd better get the synopsis right, otherwise I will be finished. That, of course, will come later, but it's vitally important to the selling of the story. I won't forget that.
Noel the Ultimate Proofreader has already raised the subject with me. Definitely: I won't forget about the quality of the synopsis.
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes! pt 2
I was going to write about bread next. In the end, I realised that there's no point. Who on earth is going to be interested in my opinion of bread, and who on earth is going to change their eating habits on account of my blog?
Ridiculous. The idea, that is.
So, the first sequel to Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes! is rather shortlived. And there will be only one. I'll just change my life quietly, and my presence here will be proof that I've survived. Unless I become a ghostwriter!
While we were chatting this evening, Solvey reminded me that the Man Booker Prize winner was being announced. How could I forget the timing! Oh, what it must be like to stand upon the stage, making the acceptance speech. No point in dreaming about it. Have to keep things real. Actually, yes there is a point in dreaming about it - it's a great way to start the reality. So first, I gotta get published. Erm, first I gotta get an agent.
No: first-first, I gotta write this story...
Ridiculous. The idea, that is.
So, the first sequel to Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes! is rather shortlived. And there will be only one. I'll just change my life quietly, and my presence here will be proof that I've survived. Unless I become a ghostwriter!
While we were chatting this evening, Solvey reminded me that the Man Booker Prize winner was being announced. How could I forget the timing! Oh, what it must be like to stand upon the stage, making the acceptance speech. No point in dreaming about it. Have to keep things real. Actually, yes there is a point in dreaming about it - it's a great way to start the reality. So first, I gotta get published. Erm, first I gotta get an agent.
No: first-first, I gotta write this story...
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
More surprise
(I've been standing behind the prologue and looking along the line of the story, trying to view the future.)
No wonder I was struggling to come up with a way forward after the second chapter: the second chapter seemed to be in the wrong place. That is, I put it in the wrong place. As good as I believe this chapter to be, the impression given is that the story is jumping from one place to another, or from one person to another. If I place another chapter before it (one I'd already written), the story stays with the hero and moves in a more natural line towards the narrative, and forces me to focus on the narrative. And there is another chapter already written to follow on from that. They just need me to review them. The replaced chapter, coming later, will allow a rivulet or stream to form afterwards, adding a further layer to the story.
Once again, I surprised myself with my initial idea - that the story should begin with the hero and stay with him for a while until a natural break occurred. I was right the first time. I must learn to trust my instincts more. Introducing other people is an art, and not only in 'how', but in 'when'. Timing is vital.
Of course, I can't show this to you, like I can't show you anything else to do with the story. But that is where I am.
I feel more at ease, but I think I've stated this before, only to change things again. I don't think so, this time. This change should prove to have been the right one.
No wonder I was struggling to come up with a way forward after the second chapter: the second chapter seemed to be in the wrong place. That is, I put it in the wrong place. As good as I believe this chapter to be, the impression given is that the story is jumping from one place to another, or from one person to another. If I place another chapter before it (one I'd already written), the story stays with the hero and moves in a more natural line towards the narrative, and forces me to focus on the narrative. And there is another chapter already written to follow on from that. They just need me to review them. The replaced chapter, coming later, will allow a rivulet or stream to form afterwards, adding a further layer to the story.
Once again, I surprised myself with my initial idea - that the story should begin with the hero and stay with him for a while until a natural break occurred. I was right the first time. I must learn to trust my instincts more. Introducing other people is an art, and not only in 'how', but in 'when'. Timing is vital.
Of course, I can't show this to you, like I can't show you anything else to do with the story. But that is where I am.
I feel more at ease, but I think I've stated this before, only to change things again. I don't think so, this time. This change should prove to have been the right one.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Study
Tonight, I'm looking to the movement from chapter one onwards. How the beginning merges the introduction of the hero and the flow of the story into the next chapter and subsequent chapters. Now that I've established a beginning, it's time to consider everything else and form the river that must flow throughout - the main story narrative.
This means that I will be looking at everything I have, feeling out the way forward; deciding which is a part of the river, and which is a rivulet slipping back and forth from the river, running alongside it, now and again affecting it, or being affected by it.
Lol, you might think my analogy is a bit odd, I don't know, like my colour association, but that's okay - I like how I do things and I like what I'm doing in my latest work. It's my way, that's all. It works for me!
How I get on will probably determine the future of this chronicle. I've enjoyed it - most of the time - but I need to concentrate and don't think I've done that properly. I need to think about that. But that's the far future. The immediate future is tonight, and progress!
Keep you posted!
This means that I will be looking at everything I have, feeling out the way forward; deciding which is a part of the river, and which is a rivulet slipping back and forth from the river, running alongside it, now and again affecting it, or being affected by it.
Lol, you might think my analogy is a bit odd, I don't know, like my colour association, but that's okay - I like how I do things and I like what I'm doing in my latest work. It's my way, that's all. It works for me!
How I get on will probably determine the future of this chronicle. I've enjoyed it - most of the time - but I need to concentrate and don't think I've done that properly. I need to think about that. But that's the far future. The immediate future is tonight, and progress!
Keep you posted!
Monday, 8 October 2007
Inspiration
Sunday night saw me searching for inspiration. I was worried that I was losing my way with my latest work, and even that I was blowing it a bit. Not sure where the feeling of panic was coming from, but it was there.
I looked at the scans of my handwritten stuff - I scan everything, which allows me to have two copies in case I lose the originals.
Suddenly, just by looking at the names of the people in the story, and some of the things they say or do, I found the fear disappearing. I was being inspired by my own work! Amazing!
I saw, too, that the second chapter after the prologue probably could come later. As I already had further chapters typed up, I found I had another version of the beginning to hand, so really I needed to consider which was the more likely version of the beginning. I have to remember that I will not be able to judge the strength of the beginning until I have gone further into the future with it. I love the chapters I've done so far, so no criticism of myself is necessary. It's an evolution, and I have to understand that. Beginnings, middles and ends will appear and then shift around, whatever the level of planning.
Planning is funny - in life, whatever you plan, things change and you have to be ready for this change. Writing must reflect life, no matter what kind of fantasy you place within it, otherwise your readers won't be able to associate with it. So I can't advocate planning as the way to write, if it doesn't also reflect change, or unexpected change. It must also reflect fluidity. If you can see the joins, that you are writing by numbers, then it will show. That's my main concern: I'm not a natural planner, so I'm mixing and matching. It's all part of the evolution of the story. The people in it are all different, and they each have their own ticker going. Like they should be. Just reading them again kickstarted my head into action. That's gotta be a good thing.
I looked at the scans of my handwritten stuff - I scan everything, which allows me to have two copies in case I lose the originals.
Suddenly, just by looking at the names of the people in the story, and some of the things they say or do, I found the fear disappearing. I was being inspired by my own work! Amazing!
I saw, too, that the second chapter after the prologue probably could come later. As I already had further chapters typed up, I found I had another version of the beginning to hand, so really I needed to consider which was the more likely version of the beginning. I have to remember that I will not be able to judge the strength of the beginning until I have gone further into the future with it. I love the chapters I've done so far, so no criticism of myself is necessary. It's an evolution, and I have to understand that. Beginnings, middles and ends will appear and then shift around, whatever the level of planning.
Planning is funny - in life, whatever you plan, things change and you have to be ready for this change. Writing must reflect life, no matter what kind of fantasy you place within it, otherwise your readers won't be able to associate with it. So I can't advocate planning as the way to write, if it doesn't also reflect change, or unexpected change. It must also reflect fluidity. If you can see the joins, that you are writing by numbers, then it will show. That's my main concern: I'm not a natural planner, so I'm mixing and matching. It's all part of the evolution of the story. The people in it are all different, and they each have their own ticker going. Like they should be. Just reading them again kickstarted my head into action. That's gotta be a good thing.
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Attack of the killer tomatoes
Or rather: what on earth are we eating?
I decided I needed to change my diet to something healthier than it has been of late. And that a healthier outlook might help my writing, and concentration etc. All this thinking is wearing me out! More roughage, less sugar in my tea, more water, less pastries, more fruit and veg, less sandwiches. It sounded good, anyway.
First off, I'd read the latest milk debate, and felt that maybe milk was not the healthy drink it was said to be. So I tried goat's milk - it's creamy, nourishing, much more digestible than cow's milk and so on. So the container said. Except, there is an aftertaste that suggests unhealthiness. Even tea didn't taste so good with it. Goat's milk was out.
I looked at, and tried, oat milk, soya milk and rice milk. None of them actually replace cow's milk fully - you can't heat them up too much, would you believe, and you have to let tea cool first before putting them in. Cool to what? And I've never seen such a contrived list of ingredients. Who actually gives the okay for these to go on sale? They are now out.
But I like coffee, too. With cream. Hmmm...
Perhaps the answer is to stick to organic milk and cream. Should have less gunk in it to what is apparently healthy enough in non-organic milk. Beginning to wonder what the food industry has been doing to us. And that's just looking at milk!!
Next up is bread. Keep you posted...
I decided I needed to change my diet to something healthier than it has been of late. And that a healthier outlook might help my writing, and concentration etc. All this thinking is wearing me out! More roughage, less sugar in my tea, more water, less pastries, more fruit and veg, less sandwiches. It sounded good, anyway.
First off, I'd read the latest milk debate, and felt that maybe milk was not the healthy drink it was said to be. So I tried goat's milk - it's creamy, nourishing, much more digestible than cow's milk and so on. So the container said. Except, there is an aftertaste that suggests unhealthiness. Even tea didn't taste so good with it. Goat's milk was out.
I looked at, and tried, oat milk, soya milk and rice milk. None of them actually replace cow's milk fully - you can't heat them up too much, would you believe, and you have to let tea cool first before putting them in. Cool to what? And I've never seen such a contrived list of ingredients. Who actually gives the okay for these to go on sale? They are now out.
But I like coffee, too. With cream. Hmmm...
Perhaps the answer is to stick to organic milk and cream. Should have less gunk in it to what is apparently healthy enough in non-organic milk. Beginning to wonder what the food industry has been doing to us. And that's just looking at milk!!
Next up is bread. Keep you posted...
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
Just write!
I've often wondered about the great authors of the past. About whether they knew they were writing something that would be viewed as great. Did they believe it would be great, or did they hope? I know that Tolkien never expected to be published. I also know that he was 62 when the first part of The Lord Of The Rings was published in 1954. What on earth happened (or not) that it took that long? Well, he was married with a family, he was a professor of English, delivering classes and lectures, he wrote other stuff including The Hobbit, so it can be seen that he lived a very full life. Although he couldn't have foreseen the effect his work would cause from the 60s onward, I would hazard a guess that his preparation in life was leading to it. Tolkien was working on a great piece of writing - consciously working on what he subconsciously believed was a great work. It is the only explanation I can give for his writing of the epic and beautiful story he wrote for us. He couldn't know, but his subconscious did, his instincts did.
How about his contemporary and friend C. S. Lewis - did he know how great his own work would be viewed? When we speak of The Chronicles Of Narnia, did he believe that people would speak of it as they do? And how about J. M. Barrie? Or Lewis Carroll?
Dickens? Now here is a writer who wrote a lot of things, brilliant things.
And in the modern world, how about Iain Banks, or Dean Koontz?
Is it belief, confidence, or hope? Modesty would say hope, or even belief. Definitely not confidence - no-one can be confident that they are writing a great work. The thing is that you go ahead and try. Something is telling you that you must try.
Self-doubt, of course, can and will creep in. There may be less of it if you are already published, or have been given a guarantee of publication, but it will creep in with its own depth at some point. That is a human reaction - a subconscious kick in the pants not to let your standards drop. If you have ability, I don't believe it is a self-doubt about your own ability. It is an instinctive, subconscious reminder not to let your standards drop. Failure is only a complacent pen-stroke away.
I think you have to believe you are a writer. I think you have to do the preparation which will help ensure that you are shown as a writer. I think you have to follow your own muse and write what you believe you should write - hopefully, that should ensure the individuality of your work, and help you to stand out from the crowd. I think you should listen to your contemporaries - it's a rare contemporary who would wish you ill-luck, or deliberately give bad advice, and you will know these people, or your instincts will, for sure. You need support - all of the greats have had their critics: Tolkien, Dickens, Keats to name a few, have all taken shots to the heart. Why shouldn't you? And you only have to witness the criticism levelled at JK Rowling to know what's coming whether you make it or not.
In short, I believe that you should do what you feel you should do. As best you can. Believe in yourself. The rest, for good or bad, is out of your hands. Why worry about that?
How about his contemporary and friend C. S. Lewis - did he know how great his own work would be viewed? When we speak of The Chronicles Of Narnia, did he believe that people would speak of it as they do? And how about J. M. Barrie? Or Lewis Carroll?
Dickens? Now here is a writer who wrote a lot of things, brilliant things.
And in the modern world, how about Iain Banks, or Dean Koontz?
Is it belief, confidence, or hope? Modesty would say hope, or even belief. Definitely not confidence - no-one can be confident that they are writing a great work. The thing is that you go ahead and try. Something is telling you that you must try.
Self-doubt, of course, can and will creep in. There may be less of it if you are already published, or have been given a guarantee of publication, but it will creep in with its own depth at some point. That is a human reaction - a subconscious kick in the pants not to let your standards drop. If you have ability, I don't believe it is a self-doubt about your own ability. It is an instinctive, subconscious reminder not to let your standards drop. Failure is only a complacent pen-stroke away.
I think you have to believe you are a writer. I think you have to do the preparation which will help ensure that you are shown as a writer. I think you have to follow your own muse and write what you believe you should write - hopefully, that should ensure the individuality of your work, and help you to stand out from the crowd. I think you should listen to your contemporaries - it's a rare contemporary who would wish you ill-luck, or deliberately give bad advice, and you will know these people, or your instincts will, for sure. You need support - all of the greats have had their critics: Tolkien, Dickens, Keats to name a few, have all taken shots to the heart. Why shouldn't you? And you only have to witness the criticism levelled at JK Rowling to know what's coming whether you make it or not.
In short, I believe that you should do what you feel you should do. As best you can. Believe in yourself. The rest, for good or bad, is out of your hands. Why worry about that?
One idea reveals another
Having discussed my new ideas (with myself), and not having written further than the prologue and first two chapters, I then found another idea lurking inside my head. It's a good one, and also an old one i.e. it's been used before and is probably necessary, in that it provides an authentic link between what I'm doing and what has been reported in alien sighting history as fact. I'm writing science-fantasy, but there is factual content contained in what I'm attempting to do.
It's been fun, and also frighteningly difficult, tying up all of the different loose ends. Each of those first three chapters contains links to the other two, and establishes a beginning and a firm base upon which the rest of the story can grow. It's taken such a long time to get to this point, and I almost ruined it after reading something else. Now that I'm back on the right road again, I'm detemined that nothing will go so wrong again. Noel the Ultimate Proofreader has suggested that maybe now is the time when I should be approaching agents. Agents do, after all, prefer to be involved in their clients' projects, and this would be a help, not a hindrance.
Noel is usually right - I actually can't remember him being wrong! I'm not averse to this, but I'm really not sure which way to go: the writing is in its early stages, although the planning and thinking is not. I do feel that maybe I need to wait until I'm a bit further down the road, where I can prove that the story is one worth taking on, and that I can actually write it.
Noel has also asked me if I believe it should be written alone. It's a big project, and I'm expecting to write at least another book after this one. You might think that that was a strange question to ask of me, but as I've said before, Noel is no ordinary proofreader and he doesn't spare a thing. He asks what has to be asked. I've given other writers a hard time when critiquing their work, so why should I be treated any different.
I said to Noel that you could ask a million writers to write it, and maybe only five would write it properly. And each of those five would write it in exactly the same way, so it would be difficult to find someone who could help. Difficult, though not impossible. You have to remain openminded in everything, or you will eventually get it wrong.
All sounds a bit precious, doesn't it? Ha - 'My preciousssss!' I'm wearing this new story around my neck like a ring on a chain - only I'm not about to take it to the Crack Of Doom to destroy it. And if an agent likes it, and offers to take it on, would I howl and say 'He wantssss it, my preciousssss!'
Jeez, I'm cracking up...
It's been fun, and also frighteningly difficult, tying up all of the different loose ends. Each of those first three chapters contains links to the other two, and establishes a beginning and a firm base upon which the rest of the story can grow. It's taken such a long time to get to this point, and I almost ruined it after reading something else. Now that I'm back on the right road again, I'm detemined that nothing will go so wrong again. Noel the Ultimate Proofreader has suggested that maybe now is the time when I should be approaching agents. Agents do, after all, prefer to be involved in their clients' projects, and this would be a help, not a hindrance.
Noel is usually right - I actually can't remember him being wrong! I'm not averse to this, but I'm really not sure which way to go: the writing is in its early stages, although the planning and thinking is not. I do feel that maybe I need to wait until I'm a bit further down the road, where I can prove that the story is one worth taking on, and that I can actually write it.
Noel has also asked me if I believe it should be written alone. It's a big project, and I'm expecting to write at least another book after this one. You might think that that was a strange question to ask of me, but as I've said before, Noel is no ordinary proofreader and he doesn't spare a thing. He asks what has to be asked. I've given other writers a hard time when critiquing their work, so why should I be treated any different.
I said to Noel that you could ask a million writers to write it, and maybe only five would write it properly. And each of those five would write it in exactly the same way, so it would be difficult to find someone who could help. Difficult, though not impossible. You have to remain openminded in everything, or you will eventually get it wrong.
All sounds a bit precious, doesn't it? Ha - 'My preciousssss!' I'm wearing this new story around my neck like a ring on a chain - only I'm not about to take it to the Crack Of Doom to destroy it. And if an agent likes it, and offers to take it on, would I howl and say 'He wantssss it, my preciousssss!'
Jeez, I'm cracking up...
Sunday, 23 September 2007
In The Shadow Of Peter Pan
Way back, when I was struggling to come up with a style that worked for me in writing Sword Of Isgarion, I was advised to write some short stories a) to improve my vision of story-writing i.e. beginning, middle and end; and b) to possibly help create a fan base if any of them were published.
The Christmas story on the Bedtime-Story website was the very first of my short stories. When I look at it now, I can see what I could have done differently every time. But it was a great help in getting me started.
My main impetus for coming up with an idea was to scan newspaper, magazine or teletext headlines and see what I could come up with as an alternative story. My own take on Bowie's cutting-up of newspaper text and rearranging them into a different order for use in songs.
Of all of these stories, the one that intrigued me most was the one I didn't write: In the Shadow Of Peter Pan. A piece of fan-fiction with a different and sinister slant. I decided I wasn't ready to write it, was never sure that I'd be able to sell it (it being fan-fiction), and I was at a point where I needed to begin writing Sword again. So I never got round to it. I still have no idea when I would ever get round to writing it, but every now and then I will find myself thinking about it.
I do feel that we are all in the shadow of Peter Pan. That we all would live forever or never grow old, given the chance. And that this is part of the subconscious mystery of art: why we do it. It is a form of expression, for sure. But I believe it is the driving force in the recording of history, in recording the development of human existence. It's just a belief, and not a theory that can be substantiated by me. I don't think that art has been viewed entirely in that way - as the driving force. Probably, I feel, because it is seen as a subconscious process. Like my theory on instinct, I believe it is much more conscious than that. It is there for us to use, or control. We know, understand, that the recording of history has been changed, modified, to suit the purposes of whoever changed it - or we know that it hasn't been recorded at all, or fear that it might not. Art is smart! In my story, so was Peter Pan's shadow. We are all in the shadow of Peter Pan.
The Christmas story on the Bedtime-Story website was the very first of my short stories. When I look at it now, I can see what I could have done differently every time. But it was a great help in getting me started.
My main impetus for coming up with an idea was to scan newspaper, magazine or teletext headlines and see what I could come up with as an alternative story. My own take on Bowie's cutting-up of newspaper text and rearranging them into a different order for use in songs.
Of all of these stories, the one that intrigued me most was the one I didn't write: In the Shadow Of Peter Pan. A piece of fan-fiction with a different and sinister slant. I decided I wasn't ready to write it, was never sure that I'd be able to sell it (it being fan-fiction), and I was at a point where I needed to begin writing Sword again. So I never got round to it. I still have no idea when I would ever get round to writing it, but every now and then I will find myself thinking about it.
I do feel that we are all in the shadow of Peter Pan. That we all would live forever or never grow old, given the chance. And that this is part of the subconscious mystery of art: why we do it. It is a form of expression, for sure. But I believe it is the driving force in the recording of history, in recording the development of human existence. It's just a belief, and not a theory that can be substantiated by me. I don't think that art has been viewed entirely in that way - as the driving force. Probably, I feel, because it is seen as a subconscious process. Like my theory on instinct, I believe it is much more conscious than that. It is there for us to use, or control. We know, understand, that the recording of history has been changed, modified, to suit the purposes of whoever changed it - or we know that it hasn't been recorded at all, or fear that it might not. Art is smart! In my story, so was Peter Pan's shadow. We are all in the shadow of Peter Pan.
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
New ideas
Ran into a couple of old friends today, one of whom nearly died last year after suffering a brain seizure of some kind. He looks fine now. There's a bunch going out on Friday night and they wondered if I was coming. I couldn't say no ;-) I'm under doc's orders not to drink for a month or so, so I shall exist on orange juice or water on Friday. Should be fun, though I will feel out of it without being out of it.
This is good, writing-wise, as I'll be taking a proper night off: I've had a couple of new ideas for my latest work and I need time to consider their effect. It looks like a further bout of planning will be necessary. I'm not too concerned - if the next three chapters turn out as good as the first three then I will be extremely happy. I've got a feeling I may be writing everything in waves, as opposed to writing clean through. We'll see.
This is good, writing-wise, as I'll be taking a proper night off: I've had a couple of new ideas for my latest work and I need time to consider their effect. It looks like a further bout of planning will be necessary. I'm not too concerned - if the next three chapters turn out as good as the first three then I will be extremely happy. I've got a feeling I may be writing everything in waves, as opposed to writing clean through. We'll see.
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Perhaps I should explain...
A friend who works down London way came up to Shields for a flying visit.
"Here, Pete - have a read of this and tell me what you think." And he gave me a book, entitled 'The Damned Utd'. The story of Brian Clough's 49 days in charge of Leeds United, written from the point of view of Cloughie himself. I couldn't resist.
The book was a great read. I can recommend it to anyone - and it's a must-read for anyone with an interest in football.
The problem was that I picked up some of the writer's style and transferred it to my own. The effect was poor when mixed with my own, and that was what caused me to become angry with myself after reading the second chapter of my latest work.
I can read newspapers, magazines, teletext, trawl the internet and even critique stuff without being affected in a literary sense. Anything in book-form and I'm immediately affected by it.
One for the men in white coats! I won't do that again.
"Here, Pete - have a read of this and tell me what you think." And he gave me a book, entitled 'The Damned Utd'. The story of Brian Clough's 49 days in charge of Leeds United, written from the point of view of Cloughie himself. I couldn't resist.
The book was a great read. I can recommend it to anyone - and it's a must-read for anyone with an interest in football.
The problem was that I picked up some of the writer's style and transferred it to my own. The effect was poor when mixed with my own, and that was what caused me to become angry with myself after reading the second chapter of my latest work.
I can read newspapers, magazines, teletext, trawl the internet and even critique stuff without being affected in a literary sense. Anything in book-form and I'm immediately affected by it.
One for the men in white coats! I won't do that again.
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Belief, not hope
About a week ago, I looked at the beginning of my latest work. As much as I was pleased with what I'd done thus far, I knew that there would be some things I wouldn't be too pleased to find. I wasn't wrong. After moving things around, deleting, adding back, putting in something new, then re-reading it all, a slight feeling of depression came over me. I couldn't put my finger on it - well, I could really: I was more angry with myself than feeling depressed. I was horrified at some of the mistakes I'd made. Great ideas almost ruined by some shoddy thinking.
I immediately rang Noel the Ultimate Proofreader and asked him not to read what I'd given him as I had made some changes and was planning more changes. I think Noel had second-guessed me (I've done this before) and he was pretty casual about it: he hadn't read anything and was busy, so wouldn't for a while. Thank heaven he hadn't read it.
A couple of days later, I looked again at what I'd done. Still some rather moderate writing in places. So I changed things some more.
Last night, I was rewriting again. At about 1.40 a.m., I was copying the revised prologue and first two chapters onto disk. At last, I felt I was getting to the heart of what ailed things.
The result today is that I was dying to read what I'd done, and I felt in a much more buoyant mood. I've kept away from it, though. Friday night will be my next look. But I already know that I won't be disappointed. All of the ideas I'd had during the prolonged and intense planning were all there. Initially, they had been moderately executed in places, but they were at least there. But the last few days had seen them come to life. There was a soul there. I could see it, feel it.
Reflecting on all of this, I wondered if I was again doing what I always seemed to enjoy doing: being hard on myself. Noel has mentioned this to me quite a few times. After all, leaving my work alone for a while was actually part of the writing, a part of the plan. Fault-finding is a part of the plan.
For the first time, I don't feel in any way scared of my new story. I'm looking forward to it because I'm feeling so much happier about it. I really do believe that I will stand and not fall with my latest work. It's not just a hope that I feel.
I hope!
I immediately rang Noel the Ultimate Proofreader and asked him not to read what I'd given him as I had made some changes and was planning more changes. I think Noel had second-guessed me (I've done this before) and he was pretty casual about it: he hadn't read anything and was busy, so wouldn't for a while. Thank heaven he hadn't read it.
A couple of days later, I looked again at what I'd done. Still some rather moderate writing in places. So I changed things some more.
Last night, I was rewriting again. At about 1.40 a.m., I was copying the revised prologue and first two chapters onto disk. At last, I felt I was getting to the heart of what ailed things.
The result today is that I was dying to read what I'd done, and I felt in a much more buoyant mood. I've kept away from it, though. Friday night will be my next look. But I already know that I won't be disappointed. All of the ideas I'd had during the prolonged and intense planning were all there. Initially, they had been moderately executed in places, but they were at least there. But the last few days had seen them come to life. There was a soul there. I could see it, feel it.
Reflecting on all of this, I wondered if I was again doing what I always seemed to enjoy doing: being hard on myself. Noel has mentioned this to me quite a few times. After all, leaving my work alone for a while was actually part of the writing, a part of the plan. Fault-finding is a part of the plan.
For the first time, I don't feel in any way scared of my new story. I'm looking forward to it because I'm feeling so much happier about it. I really do believe that I will stand and not fall with my latest work. It's not just a hope that I feel.
I hope!
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Pavarotti
As soon as I heard about the death of Pavarotti, I hightailed it off to Youtube to watch one of my favourite music videos: Pavarotti singing with James Brown. As ever, I found myself smiling all of the way through. Can you believe it? Two of the most recognisable and iconic songsters ever to have graced the musical stage, singing together on the same stage. Bowie's thoughts on texture being the most important ingredient in music are heard coming to pass in a rather unlikely, but emphatic, way. It doesn't get much better than this. The video has now been added to my blog playlist.
I'll shut up now and let you listen...
I'll shut up now and let you listen...
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
The gods are probably laughing
Just been to sfsite, and had a read of yet another flamewar. Seems like where there is a forum there is a way. I like sfsite - there is a wealth of information there for any reader. But I get the feeling the place is shrinking. This always seems to happen where the 'live' online usefulness to the writer has begun to wane, or where the site gives the impression that it is more important than the writer, or its members. Couldn't say whether any of that is the case there. I haven't been there long enough, and I've also stayed out of discussions recently. I've seen what happens too many times when they get out of hand, and there are plenty enough dead websites around (or not!) to illustrate the future of an overbearing hand. I even had someone interrupting a conversation I was having about Tolkien, with someone sticking a link concerning Tolkien in the middle of the conversation, with neither a 'please' or a 'may I' while doing it. Arrogance defeats any argument. It also defeats any purpose.
There is a lot of bitterness at sfsite, illustrated in discussions there, that SF is not regarded as literary work both within the publishing industry and by the reading public. This appears to be reflected in fact, as SF writers tend to win SF awards, but not the literary awards these days. Probably sets the tone for the site. I always feel that sites need new members and new moderators regularly. Change helps change. Not always for the good, but usually for the good - and that's all it needs, really: change.
Anyway, enough of that. Here was an argument that centred aound someone apparently trying to bury someone else's argument by quoting some notary from somewhere, and then the other person replying that they obviously can't sustain their own argument so they have to quote someone else, thus giving rise to the idea that they don't have thoughts of their own. And it went on and on. This was by no means the longest argument I've seen there - one or two appeared to have been rethreaded in order to allow more space to accommodate them!
Now, I myself quote the odd (famous) writer or musician. Ha! I've even quoted Noel the Ultimate Proofreader. But I do it sparingly, and only in support of my own on-going journey. I ain't never gonna put someone down by quoting someone else - you know: look at me, I know more quotes and references than you, so you really should be listening to what I'm saying!
I believe firmly that any kind of artist should learn from someone. You need someone, or some thing, to refer to, that actually means something to yourself. But I also believe even more that this is all secondary to yourself. No matter how great the artist you admire, or teacher, they are not more important than yourself. You have to regard yourself as the new standard bearer, that you are the one who is carrying the baton while you have the ability, and/or the inclination or momentum.
Always give credit where it is due. Never not do this. You will create dark corners in your own mind, and they will shade things where there is no need for it.
But always stand up for yourself, give yourself due credit, and say and do what you believe in. Do it for the right reasons. Create your own world.
There is a lot of bitterness at sfsite, illustrated in discussions there, that SF is not regarded as literary work both within the publishing industry and by the reading public. This appears to be reflected in fact, as SF writers tend to win SF awards, but not the literary awards these days. Probably sets the tone for the site. I always feel that sites need new members and new moderators regularly. Change helps change. Not always for the good, but usually for the good - and that's all it needs, really: change.
Anyway, enough of that. Here was an argument that centred aound someone apparently trying to bury someone else's argument by quoting some notary from somewhere, and then the other person replying that they obviously can't sustain their own argument so they have to quote someone else, thus giving rise to the idea that they don't have thoughts of their own. And it went on and on. This was by no means the longest argument I've seen there - one or two appeared to have been rethreaded in order to allow more space to accommodate them!
Now, I myself quote the odd (famous) writer or musician. Ha! I've even quoted Noel the Ultimate Proofreader. But I do it sparingly, and only in support of my own on-going journey. I ain't never gonna put someone down by quoting someone else - you know: look at me, I know more quotes and references than you, so you really should be listening to what I'm saying!
I believe firmly that any kind of artist should learn from someone. You need someone, or some thing, to refer to, that actually means something to yourself. But I also believe even more that this is all secondary to yourself. No matter how great the artist you admire, or teacher, they are not more important than yourself. You have to regard yourself as the new standard bearer, that you are the one who is carrying the baton while you have the ability, and/or the inclination or momentum.
Always give credit where it is due. Never not do this. You will create dark corners in your own mind, and they will shade things where there is no need for it.
But always stand up for yourself, give yourself due credit, and say and do what you believe in. Do it for the right reasons. Create your own world.
Monday, 27 August 2007
Closer
I haven't looked at my latest work for over a week, nor have I written anything during this time. I have been thinking about it a lot, going through a scene or two, a few words or ideas here and there in my head.
I want to look at my work, but I won't until I feel I have to. There is a difference.
I will know when I can't sleep for thinking about it. That's the usual sign. Then I look. Soon, perhaps. It will take over and I keep writing until I come to a natural end somewhere. Stephen King calls it 'filling a hole', or something like that. Not sure if that's how I'd describe it, but we all get these points of stopping, of reflection, where you look back, look forward, and see how it's all going, or gone.
Coming soon to a laptop near me!
I want to look at my work, but I won't until I feel I have to. There is a difference.
I will know when I can't sleep for thinking about it. That's the usual sign. Then I look. Soon, perhaps. It will take over and I keep writing until I come to a natural end somewhere. Stephen King calls it 'filling a hole', or something like that. Not sure if that's how I'd describe it, but we all get these points of stopping, of reflection, where you look back, look forward, and see how it's all going, or gone.
Coming soon to a laptop near me!
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Reflections, reflecting...
I was hoping Man United would take my mind off things today. They did, but in a slightly depressing and negative way. We were rubbish up front - that, and some sterling defensive play by Citeh, conspired to produce our first defeat of the season. If we don't start scoring then we will lose a few more. I took some stick today - I had no defence and my team had no forward line. Enough! I can't think about it any more.
As consolation, I briefly thought about picking up my latest work. But only briefly. Give or take a word or sentence, those first three chapters will be the ones landing on an agent's desk- though it will be months before I approach agents with them. Still, they are as complete as I can get them as an introduction to the rest of the story. I believe in them as a true beginning. I've spent a lot of time on them, though I know that time itself is only part of the answer. I will do nothing more on them for at least a week - unless Noel the Ultimate Proofreader comes back to me before then. Noel's enthusiasm after listening to me read parts of the beginning down the phone tells me something. But the reading of it will be the real proof. He never sees what isn't there, only what is and what can be. A professional's eye. False praise never works - except to ensure that you are never published. True praise, and true criticism, can't ensure that you are published. But they will undoubtedly help.
I feel strongly about what I'm doing. If I can't get there with what I'm doing now, then I can't see how I will get there with anything else. That may not be a true reflection of how things really are, or will be. It could be just a reflection of how I feel about what I'm doing right now. Is that how everyone who writes should feel? Maybe if it means that much, then yes it is.
Just me, reflecting...
As consolation, I briefly thought about picking up my latest work. But only briefly. Give or take a word or sentence, those first three chapters will be the ones landing on an agent's desk- though it will be months before I approach agents with them. Still, they are as complete as I can get them as an introduction to the rest of the story. I believe in them as a true beginning. I've spent a lot of time on them, though I know that time itself is only part of the answer. I will do nothing more on them for at least a week - unless Noel the Ultimate Proofreader comes back to me before then. Noel's enthusiasm after listening to me read parts of the beginning down the phone tells me something. But the reading of it will be the real proof. He never sees what isn't there, only what is and what can be. A professional's eye. False praise never works - except to ensure that you are never published. True praise, and true criticism, can't ensure that you are published. But they will undoubtedly help.
I feel strongly about what I'm doing. If I can't get there with what I'm doing now, then I can't see how I will get there with anything else. That may not be a true reflection of how things really are, or will be. It could be just a reflection of how I feel about what I'm doing right now. Is that how everyone who writes should feel? Maybe if it means that much, then yes it is.
Just me, reflecting...
Thursday, 16 August 2007
A moment of truth
So then, I've been up to Noel the Ultimate Proofreader's house in Newcastle, complete with box of chocolates for his wonderful wife Chris (who gave me a scolding for doing this!) and with a disk containing the prologue and first two chapters, and some other chapters.
For me it's a moment of truth, as I feel that this is where I really need to dig deep and determine whether all of the plans I've made were good ones, and whether my writing has come up to scratch.
I'm not going to do this right now, though. I'm going to wait for a few days and give my brain a rest and just let it all sink in. What I've done and what I'm going to do.
I passed a comment to Noel that I was unsure whether the ending of the prologue led well enough into the first chapter, or that the first chapter began well enough after the ending of the prologue.
Noel said: 'Give your agent something to do, Peter.' Which made me laugh. If only!
I always feel I have to cover everything and leave nothing to chance. That's why I'm not going to do anything for a while in order to give Noel an opportunity to read what I've done and come up with his own observations.
I'm pleased with what I've done so far, packing in a lot of information into these initial chapters, telling virtually nothing and showing a lot - at least, I think so, which is where this rest will come in handy. I'll see things more clearly when I go back to it.
I really do wonder how long it will take me to write this story, and how far into it should I wait before sending the beginning off to agents.
There, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Stop it.
Now, where's that CD I just bought?
For me it's a moment of truth, as I feel that this is where I really need to dig deep and determine whether all of the plans I've made were good ones, and whether my writing has come up to scratch.
I'm not going to do this right now, though. I'm going to wait for a few days and give my brain a rest and just let it all sink in. What I've done and what I'm going to do.
I passed a comment to Noel that I was unsure whether the ending of the prologue led well enough into the first chapter, or that the first chapter began well enough after the ending of the prologue.
Noel said: 'Give your agent something to do, Peter.' Which made me laugh. If only!
I always feel I have to cover everything and leave nothing to chance. That's why I'm not going to do anything for a while in order to give Noel an opportunity to read what I've done and come up with his own observations.
I'm pleased with what I've done so far, packing in a lot of information into these initial chapters, telling virtually nothing and showing a lot - at least, I think so, which is where this rest will come in handy. I'll see things more clearly when I go back to it.
I really do wonder how long it will take me to write this story, and how far into it should I wait before sending the beginning off to agents.
There, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Stop it.
Now, where's that CD I just bought?
A taste of Peru!
I was talking to a couple of friends in Ocean Road, South Shields, when some rather lovely music drifted towards us. As one, we all stopped talking and began to listen to the band playing live in the street between The Ship And Royal and The Criterion pubs.
The music reminded me of Santana, with its bongo drums and clear melodic guitar - though it had a gentler feel.
In the end, I couldn't resist and I went over. Yep, they did have CDs for sale, so I bought one. Andean Lounge it's called and cost me ten quid. Worth it if it is as good as the live stuff. The band's name is Kalx, and the album was mixed in Newcastle, would you believe, at the Diablito Studios.
The first track is called Grito Del Diablo - Scream of the Devil. Nice!
I'll let you know what the album's like as soon as I've heard it.
The music reminded me of Santana, with its bongo drums and clear melodic guitar - though it had a gentler feel.
In the end, I couldn't resist and I went over. Yep, they did have CDs for sale, so I bought one. Andean Lounge it's called and cost me ten quid. Worth it if it is as good as the live stuff. The band's name is Kalx, and the album was mixed in Newcastle, would you believe, at the Diablito Studios.
The first track is called Grito Del Diablo - Scream of the Devil. Nice!
I'll let you know what the album's like as soon as I've heard it.
Monday, 13 August 2007
A glance back
Looking back over my blog, it's apparent that I've had rather little to say in terms of information, or education, for anyone involved in the writing world. Apart from the lucky few :-), I really have no idea who has read my blog. No idea, either, whether they found it interesting enough to read further than the first page.
Given that that's the criteria just about any agent would use to determine the publishability of someone's work, the phrase 'Must try harder' springs readily to mind.
However, there is a reason for that: I'm writing my latest work and can't find much inspiration beyond that to do little more than howl at the moon because of my perceived errors, or report now and again that all is well and my writing is progressing and that I'm getting on with it.
Looking at Solvey's, Rich's and Maria's blogs, it's great to know that there is no let up in true quality, and that whatever their levels of success, they really don't need me. I say that without any kind of ego attached, or that I wish that they did, or I hope that they do and all that. I'm actually getting on with my latest work, happy that I really don't need to think about them, or worry about them. They will be published and sell millions without my input. Maria's already there! I will be a reader when it hits the shops. It's great to know that.
I guess I'm really only worried about myself.
I glance at sfsite now and again, but say nothing. I glance at Litopia (solvey is a winner of the short story comp, you know! rich will be, too, I'm sure). I glance at critters. I'm a non-forumite forever, I believe. For my own sanity ;-) Then I check out bedtime story (dead, almost buried), and read everyone's blogs. My own blog, I just report my progress.
I'm only concerned with my latest work. That it is happening feels good - brilliant, in fact. I just wish that I could say more, share it even. I can't, though. Under wraps until it's well forward.
I will write it out to the end of the first book. There will definitely be a second, and hopefully a third. Gotta get the first one done, though. It is happening. No other projects can get in the way.
I'm glad I'm not worried about anyone else getting published. You only have to read their blogs to see they're going to make it. So I'm really only worried about me. And glad that I am. I can just get on with things. I've got no excuses for failure!
Given that that's the criteria just about any agent would use to determine the publishability of someone's work, the phrase 'Must try harder' springs readily to mind.
However, there is a reason for that: I'm writing my latest work and can't find much inspiration beyond that to do little more than howl at the moon because of my perceived errors, or report now and again that all is well and my writing is progressing and that I'm getting on with it.
Looking at Solvey's, Rich's and Maria's blogs, it's great to know that there is no let up in true quality, and that whatever their levels of success, they really don't need me. I say that without any kind of ego attached, or that I wish that they did, or I hope that they do and all that. I'm actually getting on with my latest work, happy that I really don't need to think about them, or worry about them. They will be published and sell millions without my input. Maria's already there! I will be a reader when it hits the shops. It's great to know that.
I guess I'm really only worried about myself.
I glance at sfsite now and again, but say nothing. I glance at Litopia (solvey is a winner of the short story comp, you know! rich will be, too, I'm sure). I glance at critters. I'm a non-forumite forever, I believe. For my own sanity ;-) Then I check out bedtime story (dead, almost buried), and read everyone's blogs. My own blog, I just report my progress.
I'm only concerned with my latest work. That it is happening feels good - brilliant, in fact. I just wish that I could say more, share it even. I can't, though. Under wraps until it's well forward.
I will write it out to the end of the first book. There will definitely be a second, and hopefully a third. Gotta get the first one done, though. It is happening. No other projects can get in the way.
I'm glad I'm not worried about anyone else getting published. You only have to read their blogs to see they're going to make it. So I'm really only worried about me. And glad that I am. I can just get on with things. I've got no excuses for failure!
Monday, 6 August 2007
A look into the future
As you know, I've spent a lot of time at the beginning of my latest work, looking at it from different angles and deciding which is the best way to begin. Writing it all out has been a new and learning experience as I had a lot of information already to hand. It feels like I'm not having to try too hard to write it all out in full. Slightly worrying, but if that is the effect of planning, the premeditated thought, then maybe that's how it will be throughout.
However, I do know that at some stage I'm going to have to call a halt and take stock as to where I am with it all. I do have some chapters already written from a while back, which seem to fit neatly after the new chapters I've done for the beginning. That is a real positive.
However, regardless of how many chapters I've done, and how many fit together, I'm going to have to stand behind the prologue, look down the line, and see if my story is going in the direction I've planned. And if not, decide if it's the best way to go, or whether I should attempt to change things to make it go where I planned.
This is on top of simply looking at what I've done thus far and checking that the writing is as good as it can be.
Anyone writing a book should do this on a regular basis. There should be no greater critic/editor/proofreader/reader than yourself. You have to develop an eye for problems in your own work. Not just problems, either, but positives, good things.
It's difficult when it's all such a subjective process. So, you have to become objective about your own work. Not simple.
One of the best ways of achieving this is to put your work down, close it all up, and leave it. Not just for a day or two, but for at least a week, maybe two. Enter it in your diary, or your computer reminder system. If you think of anything during this time, then think about it, properly, but not deliberately (let thoughts happen, don't force them) and write anything from this on separate sheets of paper. Then, at the end of that time, go back to your work. You will have removed yourself sufficiently enough to view your work with a little less subjectivity, and I promise this will help you look at things in a better light.
It doesn't take long to begin writing, or amending, and for you to become subjective again, so don't worry about that - you do want to be published, after all!
That's how I do it.
However, I do know that at some stage I'm going to have to call a halt and take stock as to where I am with it all. I do have some chapters already written from a while back, which seem to fit neatly after the new chapters I've done for the beginning. That is a real positive.
However, regardless of how many chapters I've done, and how many fit together, I'm going to have to stand behind the prologue, look down the line, and see if my story is going in the direction I've planned. And if not, decide if it's the best way to go, or whether I should attempt to change things to make it go where I planned.
This is on top of simply looking at what I've done thus far and checking that the writing is as good as it can be.
Anyone writing a book should do this on a regular basis. There should be no greater critic/editor/proofreader/reader than yourself. You have to develop an eye for problems in your own work. Not just problems, either, but positives, good things.
It's difficult when it's all such a subjective process. So, you have to become objective about your own work. Not simple.
One of the best ways of achieving this is to put your work down, close it all up, and leave it. Not just for a day or two, but for at least a week, maybe two. Enter it in your diary, or your computer reminder system. If you think of anything during this time, then think about it, properly, but not deliberately (let thoughts happen, don't force them) and write anything from this on separate sheets of paper. Then, at the end of that time, go back to your work. You will have removed yourself sufficiently enough to view your work with a little less subjectivity, and I promise this will help you look at things in a better light.
It doesn't take long to begin writing, or amending, and for you to become subjective again, so don't worry about that - you do want to be published, after all!
That's how I do it.
Friday, 3 August 2007
How does it feel?
I was watching America's Got Talent tonight. Having a laugh at Leonid (who I found very entertaining, but impossible to place in any kind of category), a thought occurred to me: 'What would people think of my latest work? How would they regard it?'
The thought had occurred to me ages ago, actually. It's the writer's job to persuade the reader of its merits, so I didn't dwell too heavily on it at the time.
A funny one. My subjective opinion would always hold anything I've done in a sympathetic light. Now that I've begun to write the story proper, and I understand where I'm going with it, I feel I have enough information to go on in order to gauge some kind of public (hopefully!) perception. It's probably evident that I'm enjoying what I'm doing and that's the reason I'm thinking in this way. I don't really want to get ahead of myself with anything I'm doing, but it was a thought that seemed worth exploring.
Music has played a hugely important part of my life, as it does in yours, I'm sure. One of my favourite songs from way back is 'Off The Wall'. I can't listen to it enough times to be sick of hearing it.
I don't mind saying that I believe that this is a serious story. It opens that way and continues in that vein mostly throughout. But there are lighter moments, too, and hopefully with the darker shades will provide a very fruitful contrast whenever they occur.
Yeah, at this early stage, off the wall would seem a valid description. This may still be true of it later, although I do hope that there would be a lot more to add to this description than that. But, for now, off the wall is good.
I've added Off The Wall to the Crawfish video. I wonder what Elvis would have thought of Jacko at his height. He was always complimentary to other acts, but I'd have loved to have heard his opinion.
The thought had occurred to me ages ago, actually. It's the writer's job to persuade the reader of its merits, so I didn't dwell too heavily on it at the time.
A funny one. My subjective opinion would always hold anything I've done in a sympathetic light. Now that I've begun to write the story proper, and I understand where I'm going with it, I feel I have enough information to go on in order to gauge some kind of public (hopefully!) perception. It's probably evident that I'm enjoying what I'm doing and that's the reason I'm thinking in this way. I don't really want to get ahead of myself with anything I'm doing, but it was a thought that seemed worth exploring.
Music has played a hugely important part of my life, as it does in yours, I'm sure. One of my favourite songs from way back is 'Off The Wall'. I can't listen to it enough times to be sick of hearing it.
I don't mind saying that I believe that this is a serious story. It opens that way and continues in that vein mostly throughout. But there are lighter moments, too, and hopefully with the darker shades will provide a very fruitful contrast whenever they occur.
Yeah, at this early stage, off the wall would seem a valid description. This may still be true of it later, although I do hope that there would be a lot more to add to this description than that. But, for now, off the wall is good.
I've added Off The Wall to the Crawfish video. I wonder what Elvis would have thought of Jacko at his height. He was always complimentary to other acts, but I'd have loved to have heard his opinion.
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Great Expectations
Taking Maria's lead, I had a quick look back at what I like to read. And it really was a quick look, as my head is full of thoughts for future writing.
Once again, I found myself amazed at how similar are the writing styles of Great Expectations and The Lord Of The Rings. To me, they could have been written by the same person. The attention to detail is immense. Fabulous works, both. So similar, yet from such different times.
But would they be published today? I wouldn't have a clue. Time moves on and the writing world moves with it. Different wants, different needs.
Koontz and Banks have that touch.
Lots to look at, lots to read later, as that's as far as I can go. I've set them all aside.
A note to myself: study the masters; don't try to become them. Stand on your own.
Once again, I found myself amazed at how similar are the writing styles of Great Expectations and The Lord Of The Rings. To me, they could have been written by the same person. The attention to detail is immense. Fabulous works, both. So similar, yet from such different times.
But would they be published today? I wouldn't have a clue. Time moves on and the writing world moves with it. Different wants, different needs.
Koontz and Banks have that touch.
Lots to look at, lots to read later, as that's as far as I can go. I've set them all aside.
A note to myself: study the masters; don't try to become them. Stand on your own.
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Accessibility
I remember when Sword was first rejected. Six times in a row from the first six sendings-off to agents. I got some great replies, with compliments on my writing and bits of advice. But ultimately all said 'no'. Boy did it hurt.
'Never mind,' I told myself. 'Keep trying. Someone will want it.'
No they didn't. I got a barrowload of rejections. The most-used reason was 'I can't find a market for it.' The hurt never lessened. Sword now lies in a drawer.
I've since written other things - short stories, the beginning of a short story series, and I've plans for a children's story, although nothing written on that front yet.
Everything has been set aside, though, while I write my latest work.
Once again, I will not entertain rejection. The most important lesson I learned was that without the market, you will be lost. You must have some kind of unique selling point, and you must have market appeal. I'm not writing it from a marketing angle - for me, that would be literary suicide, and a soulless venture - but I do have an eye on the market. Hopefully, I will be proved right. At this point, I don't believe that I'm wrong. And I believe in what I'm doing, and really enjoy the feeling of it all unfolding before me. The more modern style allows me to write quicker, and the chapters (so far) are smaller than Sword. Is that significant? Possibly another confirmation of my new style. Getting there...
'Never mind,' I told myself. 'Keep trying. Someone will want it.'
No they didn't. I got a barrowload of rejections. The most-used reason was 'I can't find a market for it.' The hurt never lessened. Sword now lies in a drawer.
I've since written other things - short stories, the beginning of a short story series, and I've plans for a children's story, although nothing written on that front yet.
Everything has been set aside, though, while I write my latest work.
Once again, I will not entertain rejection. The most important lesson I learned was that without the market, you will be lost. You must have some kind of unique selling point, and you must have market appeal. I'm not writing it from a marketing angle - for me, that would be literary suicide, and a soulless venture - but I do have an eye on the market. Hopefully, I will be proved right. At this point, I don't believe that I'm wrong. And I believe in what I'm doing, and really enjoy the feeling of it all unfolding before me. The more modern style allows me to write quicker, and the chapters (so far) are smaller than Sword. Is that significant? Possibly another confirmation of my new style. Getting there...
The mind is an amazing thing
Having finished the first two chapters, give or take a word or two, I started looking at the third chapter.
Incidentally, I was always leaning towards a prologue and a first chapter with these first two pieces. When I read the first page of the second chapter down the phone to Noel the Ultimate Proofreader, his immediate reaction was that this sounded more like a first chapter. So, it seems I was right: prologue and first chapter.
The prologue does bother me a little: I like it very much, and it establishes a beginning way into the past while introducing three of the people in the tale. Hmmm, but does it detract from the first chapter? Does it reduce its effect, somehow? A question for later, with a fresher outlook, as they both exist and my thoughts are a bit too subjective right now.
Back to this next chapter, I became a bit anxious - I hadn't really got a next chapter to hand, and was unsure as to what it should be. To the point where I couldn't think of one.
I began to look through my notes. Inspiration was needed.
Suddenly, there it was: three quarters the way down a page I had drawn a line. Underneath, and continuing on the next page, were some notes about a passage that needed to occur near the beginning of the story. I knew about it, and sometimes thought about it now and again, but had put it to one side while I began the beginning. It seems to be a perfect fit. I won't know until later, but it feels like it.
Amazing how you can think of something and not realise why you thought of it. Is this why I couldn't think of a following chapter? Because I had already thought of it? Perhaps there is no better way forward in the story and that's why I couldn't think of another one.
Writing life!
Incidentally, I was always leaning towards a prologue and a first chapter with these first two pieces. When I read the first page of the second chapter down the phone to Noel the Ultimate Proofreader, his immediate reaction was that this sounded more like a first chapter. So, it seems I was right: prologue and first chapter.
The prologue does bother me a little: I like it very much, and it establishes a beginning way into the past while introducing three of the people in the tale. Hmmm, but does it detract from the first chapter? Does it reduce its effect, somehow? A question for later, with a fresher outlook, as they both exist and my thoughts are a bit too subjective right now.
Back to this next chapter, I became a bit anxious - I hadn't really got a next chapter to hand, and was unsure as to what it should be. To the point where I couldn't think of one.
I began to look through my notes. Inspiration was needed.
Suddenly, there it was: three quarters the way down a page I had drawn a line. Underneath, and continuing on the next page, were some notes about a passage that needed to occur near the beginning of the story. I knew about it, and sometimes thought about it now and again, but had put it to one side while I began the beginning. It seems to be a perfect fit. I won't know until later, but it feels like it.
Amazing how you can think of something and not realise why you thought of it. Is this why I couldn't think of a following chapter? Because I had already thought of it? Perhaps there is no better way forward in the story and that's why I couldn't think of another one.
Writing life!
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Beginning to dream...
Having half-throttled this cold, and feeling so much better, I took up my latest work again and went over the first two chapters. Things needed to be done, I realised (I knew beforehand, but hoped my last impression wasn't wholly correct).
I finished last night at about 2 a.m., and rather liked what I'd done. This was now so much more how I imagined it would feel. Reading it over again a few times more helped me to retire to bed in a rather buoyant mood.
This morning my cold still bothered me a bit, but not as bad as previously. And I still felt that something extra was needed for me to feel that I could step forward to the third chapter - a chapter which, in the back of my mind, I probably haven't written or created either in my notes or even in my head. Tonight will discover more on that.
I made further adjustments to the second chapter. Suddenly it clicked - I realised I was completing this first passage, not looking for problems or clues. And it reads like a dream. Totally divorced from my fantasy style, written in a modern english and pushing along, with thought, description and action all intermingled. Well, not totally divorced - I like a bit of poetry and description, but I've developed a new style that encompasses everything I've done, but written in a modern way.
I'm sure I'll get better at it as I carry on. Not worrying about it though, as the answers are all there in front of me.
Now then, this third chapter... tonight!
I finished last night at about 2 a.m., and rather liked what I'd done. This was now so much more how I imagined it would feel. Reading it over again a few times more helped me to retire to bed in a rather buoyant mood.
This morning my cold still bothered me a bit, but not as bad as previously. And I still felt that something extra was needed for me to feel that I could step forward to the third chapter - a chapter which, in the back of my mind, I probably haven't written or created either in my notes or even in my head. Tonight will discover more on that.
I made further adjustments to the second chapter. Suddenly it clicked - I realised I was completing this first passage, not looking for problems or clues. And it reads like a dream. Totally divorced from my fantasy style, written in a modern english and pushing along, with thought, description and action all intermingled. Well, not totally divorced - I like a bit of poetry and description, but I've developed a new style that encompasses everything I've done, but written in a modern way.
I'm sure I'll get better at it as I carry on. Not worrying about it though, as the answers are all there in front of me.
Now then, this third chapter... tonight!
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Bug Hunt!
No, I haven't been watching Aliens - I've got one of the worst cases of man-flu ever! Holland & Barrett's share price went through the roof after I raided their shop today. I got Aloe Vera, ginger capsules, garlic capsules, organic green tea, organic wildflower honey (not sure I like the honey), and, just for a bit more comfort, Green & Black's organic hot chocolate. I'm assured it's the best, but I'm sitting covered in sweat from head to toe after a bowl of homemade soup, so I think I better leave that until tomorrow. Oh, and I got some bananas and red grapes, too, with balsam impregnated tissues for afters.
What this means is that I'm in no fit state to write tonight. This is actually a good thing, as I've already revised the first two chapters - they read great (to my way of thinking). I'm getting more and more under the skin of the story; the layers are beginning to peel back, revealing more than I knew was there. It's that belief thing again - once you start doing it, the doubts begin to fade away.
Giving my eyes and brain a rest for a day or two is often the best way of ensuring improvement, if improvement is necessary - you give it all a fresher read the next time.
It still hasn't stopped me thinking about things, and though I know I shouldn't get too far ahead of myself, I'm having thoughts about the second book - title, storyline, why, how etc.
I also need to think very carefully as to where the flashbacks should occur in this first book, and how I should handle their content.
Need a tissue again - catch you later!
What this means is that I'm in no fit state to write tonight. This is actually a good thing, as I've already revised the first two chapters - they read great (to my way of thinking). I'm getting more and more under the skin of the story; the layers are beginning to peel back, revealing more than I knew was there. It's that belief thing again - once you start doing it, the doubts begin to fade away.
Giving my eyes and brain a rest for a day or two is often the best way of ensuring improvement, if improvement is necessary - you give it all a fresher read the next time.
It still hasn't stopped me thinking about things, and though I know I shouldn't get too far ahead of myself, I'm having thoughts about the second book - title, storyline, why, how etc.
I also need to think very carefully as to where the flashbacks should occur in this first book, and how I should handle their content.
Need a tissue again - catch you later!
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Two chapters!
I have actually written more than two chapters, but now I have what feel like the very first two chapters. The style is much more akin to the short stories I wrote as practice for writing full novels. Certainly, the literary style I employed in writing sword fantasy seems rather a long way away from my current style. Mentally, this is causing me a problem, as I always feel that I should be using more of a poetic lyric to get my point across. I know that I will, and so I should if I can. Me, the eternal artist! Uppermost in my mind, however, is an overriding desire that this latest work must be accessible to anyone, irrespective of their genre preferences - though this is definitely not a children's story, nor a story that should be given to children to read.
Neither chapter is the finished article - I may discover something later that may cause me to add to them, or remove something from them. But the main text is there. Moulding them into shape, the mental 'prodding', has begun, so I do feel that I'm writing the story proper, and not dabbling with it, or sparring around it.
I can write parts of this beginning better, so that is what I'm looking to do. Before I go any further I'm going to make it better. But it's good as it stands now, so if I can make it even better then what more could I ask of myself?
At the moment, it's all a ball of fire - but a fire I want to maintain throughout.
Exciting! Frightening!!
Neither chapter is the finished article - I may discover something later that may cause me to add to them, or remove something from them. But the main text is there. Moulding them into shape, the mental 'prodding', has begun, so I do feel that I'm writing the story proper, and not dabbling with it, or sparring around it.
I can write parts of this beginning better, so that is what I'm looking to do. Before I go any further I'm going to make it better. But it's good as it stands now, so if I can make it even better then what more could I ask of myself?
At the moment, it's all a ball of fire - but a fire I want to maintain throughout.
Exciting! Frightening!!
Friday, 20 July 2007
Cold, is wisdom
'Just keep thinking' was great advice! Well, it is my blog, set up to chronicle and assist me as I write my latest work. I nearly closed it down, once, but solvey (he of the maggotfarm) persuaded me not to. Glad he did!
I have, at last, managed to find a new name for Leon. In keeping with my agreement with Noel the Ultimate Proofreader (and he is 100% correct), I really mustn't discuss my latest story in any more detail than that. So I won't reveal what I'm writing about until I've written more than enough to enable me to send it to agents - in about six months, perhaps.
It's such a strange feeling coming up with this new name and substituting it for the old one. It feels rather like a betrayal, as I've been using the name Leon for a couple of years - from the first idea until the planning and writing I've thus far achieved.
There is already a book and film about someone called Leon, neither of which have been viewed by me. I know next-to-nothing about them, not even whether either, or both, were successful - though I know that Gary Oldman was in the film, so I guess I probably would enjoy the film, at least.
I feel a whole lot better for finding a new name - one that I can't find reference to in anyone else's story. Still can't relax, though. How can I, when I've really only just begun writing it all out in full? It's still great fun, but it's also become very serious. Serious fun - you can't beat it!
I have, at last, managed to find a new name for Leon. In keeping with my agreement with Noel the Ultimate Proofreader (and he is 100% correct), I really mustn't discuss my latest story in any more detail than that. So I won't reveal what I'm writing about until I've written more than enough to enable me to send it to agents - in about six months, perhaps.
It's such a strange feeling coming up with this new name and substituting it for the old one. It feels rather like a betrayal, as I've been using the name Leon for a couple of years - from the first idea until the planning and writing I've thus far achieved.
There is already a book and film about someone called Leon, neither of which have been viewed by me. I know next-to-nothing about them, not even whether either, or both, were successful - though I know that Gary Oldman was in the film, so I guess I probably would enjoy the film, at least.
I feel a whole lot better for finding a new name - one that I can't find reference to in anyone else's story. Still can't relax, though. How can I, when I've really only just begun writing it all out in full? It's still great fun, but it's also become very serious. Serious fun - you can't beat it!
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Just keep thinking
Every now and then, during the course of writing, you hit on a problem. Something doesn't match up; something doesn't follow. A bit like tripping on a paving stone: with a bit of forethought, a bit of care, you would have seen it coming and you wouldn't have tripped up.
However, some paving stones look perfectly fine - until you step on them and they tilt into a small hole, splashing your shoes and trousers with muddy water, and sometimes even worse things than that.
Yep, sometimes you can't see the problem until you've finished a piece of writing and have read it back. Well, don't panic. Just think. That's all you need to do. Don't gloss over things, don't pass over it, believing: 'Oh, no-one will notice.' They will. The people who will get you published will see, for a start: the agents, the editors. Your intended audience won't get the chance to see.
It's amazing, really, the number of times I think I've hit on a problem which threatens to send my latest story in a different direction to the one I intended it to take. It happens on a regular basis. Complications set in. Life is complicated, after all. But solutions can be found to anything if you put your mind to it.
The answer is to just think. You'll get round it. You'll think of something. Just don't panic, don't get the creeps. Just think. It can take a while for the answer to come through - days, weeks even. But it will.
However, some paving stones look perfectly fine - until you step on them and they tilt into a small hole, splashing your shoes and trousers with muddy water, and sometimes even worse things than that.
Yep, sometimes you can't see the problem until you've finished a piece of writing and have read it back. Well, don't panic. Just think. That's all you need to do. Don't gloss over things, don't pass over it, believing: 'Oh, no-one will notice.' They will. The people who will get you published will see, for a start: the agents, the editors. Your intended audience won't get the chance to see.
It's amazing, really, the number of times I think I've hit on a problem which threatens to send my latest story in a different direction to the one I intended it to take. It happens on a regular basis. Complications set in. Life is complicated, after all. But solutions can be found to anything if you put your mind to it.
The answer is to just think. You'll get round it. You'll think of something. Just don't panic, don't get the creeps. Just think. It can take a while for the answer to come through - days, weeks even. But it will.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Then I had an idea!
Taking a giant leap forward, I was thinking about the ending. How does it end? What are the circumstances leading up to it? Is it a valid ending?
Then I had an idea: the ending itself, happening where it does, leaves unanswered questions. Questions so important that they demand a second book be written in order to arrive at the answers. Fantastic! I now have something tangible upon which to base a second book - and, just as important, there is always the possibility of a third book. Only veiled thoughts of the future have happened inside my head, but they are there, growing.
Perhaps, some day soon I hope, the idea upon which the third book is to be based will come to me.
I do know that there doesn't have to be a third book, nor even a second. It's the quality that counts, not the quantity. At the very least for me. Just I always have to explore the possibility of future works.
Getting there...
Then I had an idea: the ending itself, happening where it does, leaves unanswered questions. Questions so important that they demand a second book be written in order to arrive at the answers. Fantastic! I now have something tangible upon which to base a second book - and, just as important, there is always the possibility of a third book. Only veiled thoughts of the future have happened inside my head, but they are there, growing.
Perhaps, some day soon I hope, the idea upon which the third book is to be based will come to me.
I do know that there doesn't have to be a third book, nor even a second. It's the quality that counts, not the quantity. At the very least for me. Just I always have to explore the possibility of future works.
Getting there...
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
About 30 pages...
I had a good look last night at everything I'd done in the way of planning and writing for the beginning of the book. Not strictly all of it, just what I thought was relevant to the very beginning.
I've got roughly 30 pages of handwritten notes concerning everything. And some chapters already typed up, which I didn't look at.
After a short while, I began to feel really pleased with what I'd done so far. The history, where it all began, was taking shape and the relevance to the present and the future was a lot clearer than it had been. As ever, the problem lies with that dreaded word 'exposition'. In this story, it's vital, and the illustration of it equally so.
I've just mentioned history. Well, this particular history began hundreds of years ago, and the absolute beginning is either a prologue, or the first chapter. Not 100% sure which, just yet. The explanations are really rooted way in the past, with the present and future continuations of this past.
Flashbacks. Can't do it any way else. Frightening! If they work, brilliant - if they don't, disaster! The first piece is a flashback on its own and works really well, introducing three of the people in the story very well. Just gotta be careful.
But I really like what I've done. Really like it - though I'm scared to death of it all, too!
Noel the Ultimate Proofreader likes it, too, and is as aware as I am that I have to get everything completely right. His laser-light questions and observations have me thinking long into the night.
It's clear that I'm spending a huge amount of time looking at the beginning. It feels like I'm on a knife edge, which is great - if the story, the narrative, can reflect this knife edge, then I will be doing rather well.
I've got roughly 30 pages of handwritten notes concerning everything. And some chapters already typed up, which I didn't look at.
After a short while, I began to feel really pleased with what I'd done so far. The history, where it all began, was taking shape and the relevance to the present and the future was a lot clearer than it had been. As ever, the problem lies with that dreaded word 'exposition'. In this story, it's vital, and the illustration of it equally so.
I've just mentioned history. Well, this particular history began hundreds of years ago, and the absolute beginning is either a prologue, or the first chapter. Not 100% sure which, just yet. The explanations are really rooted way in the past, with the present and future continuations of this past.
Flashbacks. Can't do it any way else. Frightening! If they work, brilliant - if they don't, disaster! The first piece is a flashback on its own and works really well, introducing three of the people in the story very well. Just gotta be careful.
But I really like what I've done. Really like it - though I'm scared to death of it all, too!
Noel the Ultimate Proofreader likes it, too, and is as aware as I am that I have to get everything completely right. His laser-light questions and observations have me thinking long into the night.
It's clear that I'm spending a huge amount of time looking at the beginning. It feels like I'm on a knife edge, which is great - if the story, the narrative, can reflect this knife edge, then I will be doing rather well.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Life as we know it...
Been reflecting on why I'm taking such exception to thoughts of characters and character study.
You know, none of my previous characters seemed to hit the heights. Except, maybe, in my first story - a children's short. Yeah, my protagonist was quite good, I thought. Except: protagonist - what an awful word to use for a child in a children's story.
Got me thinking again.
It seems such a mechanical thing.... that we are being asked to do (in writing). Plot characters. Why is it, or why has it become, such a mechanical thing?
Perhaps it hasn't. The lists of rules, and character-inducing plotting: maybe they are there just to act as a guide. A guide when you are stuck, somehow. But if it isn't mechanical, and is natural, then why should any writer be stuck with their characterisation? It could be that they aren't stuck at all, just looking for the correct direction in which the personality of the character would take in the circumstances of the story.
Would a list help you there?
It could kickstart your mind into finding the right direction, the right answer.
But if you didn't know this answer, then why did you allow the character to get to this point? You clearly don't know your character, or you don't know how to characterise. It could even be said that you don't know people.
Hmmm, argumentative. Some characters take a lot of sussing out. In life, they often cannot be sussed out. And writing should reflect this reality, not twist it so that characters are unrecognisable. Care is needed.
So when you created this character, you must have known why?
I ask myself why, too: why do we call people in stories 'characters'? What is it about the word character that causes it to be used almost universally?
So much is said about emotion, about engaging the reader with the protagonist (another bugbear), the story's emotional content, and so on. And all of this involving a 'character', or 'characters'.
Mechanical-sounding words.
Is this why writers so often under-sell their 'characters'? Because they are called 'characters'? The word itself: does it block human thoughts? Subconsciously?
Hmmm, is this why people feel the need to draw up lists?
In my latest story, I decided that each person in the tale had to be as human as possible. No mechanical 'arcing' (how can a character have an arc, when emotions are so up and down, so extreme?) Argumentative, again, I know, but something that needs addressing. What causes these terms to be used? And then misunderstood or forgotten, so a list is needed.
Anyway, I listed (!) all of the people (avoiding the character word) in my latest story, and just explained who they were, how they came to be there. The heading I put them under was 'Life'. I felt, as I talked about them (to myself), that I was talking about people and not characters. I was far more at ease. The title had added more subtlety to the way I approached things. Leon no longer hid - after all, I was now calling him a person, a part of life.
I wrote another heading: Wisdom. And here I began to write what I would previously have called the plot. Or narrative, or even exposition. Once again, the mechanical prodding gave way to a more serious consideration.
Yes, I'm sure you are right - whatever rocks your boat, Es: it doesn't really matter what you call it, as long as you get the job done. But is that true, though?
For back-story, I wrote: History.
For exposition, I wrote: Why? (Scientists may be right about its magical properties, after all!) Why? didn't actually make things any easier to explain, but I've kept it, as I like it a lot more than 'exposition'. I actually haven't got to the bottom of all of the 'whys' yet - still planning that!
Exposition? I really do wonder that it can be so readily accepted that the words 'emotion' and 'exposition' actually belong in the same thought process. How can your mind possibly join up the ends?
I think it can't, so we keep getting it wrong and start looking for lists and advice - which usually brings you back to characters and plots and exposition and narratives, thus perpetuating the problem.
Well, there has to be a reason for all of the forgetfulness, or non-understanding, in the writing world. I've been a part of it, so I know - something made me forget, to not fully understand. I probably knew more when I first started - I can see that now. I should have understood that then. Instinct buried by knowledge. My first, and greatest, mistake, I feel.
I'm hoping to put things right. So far, it feels like I've gone some way to doing that.
You know, none of my previous characters seemed to hit the heights. Except, maybe, in my first story - a children's short. Yeah, my protagonist was quite good, I thought. Except: protagonist - what an awful word to use for a child in a children's story.
Got me thinking again.
It seems such a mechanical thing.... that we are being asked to do (in writing). Plot characters. Why is it, or why has it become, such a mechanical thing?
Perhaps it hasn't. The lists of rules, and character-inducing plotting: maybe they are there just to act as a guide. A guide when you are stuck, somehow. But if it isn't mechanical, and is natural, then why should any writer be stuck with their characterisation? It could be that they aren't stuck at all, just looking for the correct direction in which the personality of the character would take in the circumstances of the story.
Would a list help you there?
It could kickstart your mind into finding the right direction, the right answer.
But if you didn't know this answer, then why did you allow the character to get to this point? You clearly don't know your character, or you don't know how to characterise. It could even be said that you don't know people.
Hmmm, argumentative. Some characters take a lot of sussing out. In life, they often cannot be sussed out. And writing should reflect this reality, not twist it so that characters are unrecognisable. Care is needed.
So when you created this character, you must have known why?
I ask myself why, too: why do we call people in stories 'characters'? What is it about the word character that causes it to be used almost universally?
So much is said about emotion, about engaging the reader with the protagonist (another bugbear), the story's emotional content, and so on. And all of this involving a 'character', or 'characters'.
Mechanical-sounding words.
Is this why writers so often under-sell their 'characters'? Because they are called 'characters'? The word itself: does it block human thoughts? Subconsciously?
Hmmm, is this why people feel the need to draw up lists?
In my latest story, I decided that each person in the tale had to be as human as possible. No mechanical 'arcing' (how can a character have an arc, when emotions are so up and down, so extreme?) Argumentative, again, I know, but something that needs addressing. What causes these terms to be used? And then misunderstood or forgotten, so a list is needed.
Anyway, I listed (!) all of the people (avoiding the character word) in my latest story, and just explained who they were, how they came to be there. The heading I put them under was 'Life'. I felt, as I talked about them (to myself), that I was talking about people and not characters. I was far more at ease. The title had added more subtlety to the way I approached things. Leon no longer hid - after all, I was now calling him a person, a part of life.
I wrote another heading: Wisdom. And here I began to write what I would previously have called the plot. Or narrative, or even exposition. Once again, the mechanical prodding gave way to a more serious consideration.
Yes, I'm sure you are right - whatever rocks your boat, Es: it doesn't really matter what you call it, as long as you get the job done. But is that true, though?
For back-story, I wrote: History.
For exposition, I wrote: Why? (Scientists may be right about its magical properties, after all!) Why? didn't actually make things any easier to explain, but I've kept it, as I like it a lot more than 'exposition'. I actually haven't got to the bottom of all of the 'whys' yet - still planning that!
Exposition? I really do wonder that it can be so readily accepted that the words 'emotion' and 'exposition' actually belong in the same thought process. How can your mind possibly join up the ends?
I think it can't, so we keep getting it wrong and start looking for lists and advice - which usually brings you back to characters and plots and exposition and narratives, thus perpetuating the problem.
Well, there has to be a reason for all of the forgetfulness, or non-understanding, in the writing world. I've been a part of it, so I know - something made me forget, to not fully understand. I probably knew more when I first started - I can see that now. I should have understood that then. Instinct buried by knowledge. My first, and greatest, mistake, I feel.
I'm hoping to put things right. So far, it feels like I've gone some way to doing that.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Do your characters belong to you?
Just a thought. Only, I've been reading such a lot about characters and character construction. Some very interesting and valid discussions. Not a lot for me to disagree with - which, for me, is some kind of hell, as I reject just about everything at first, then allow it to filter back into my head bit by bit. Which usually means eventually accepting most of what has been put to me, if only after a while of thinking/disagreeing about it. Accent on the word 'most'. Me, the eternal pedant!
It's actually not much of a thought, more a feeling.
If you accept everything you read, or hear, and if it's the same as everyone else has been hearing or reading, then I wonder if your character will maybe read the same as other people's characters.
But people are people i.e. they are individual to themselves and to the whole. They are unpredictable, to themselves and to the whole. You really don't know what they are going to do next. Not all of the time, and not most of the time. Just some of the time. People are flawed. They do not follow rules.
However, I'm sure they follow an individual's rules - each particular character's own rules, though not a set of general character rules.
If a character followed a set of rules, acting well-rounded, full of character-rule fullness, then is it possible that the element of surprise, and even discovery (for the character, reader and writer), will be missing?
A flawed character cannot follow rules. Something jolts, something goes missing, awry - in the journey, and even at the end of it. All characters are flawed: they are products of the writer's imagination, so they have to be, as the writer is also flawed. Unless you attempt to make them flawless. So that they follow rules. That is a flaw in itself. (Discuss.)
However, I do think you need to know rules, otherwise how do you flaunt one or two? Of course, you have to follow the number one rule: the reader must bond with your characters, especially the protagonist(s). Is there another rule? Hmmm, another discussion?
I wonder, if a character (and I guess we are really talking about the protagonist) follows every rule, then he cannot fail to come out the other side better than when he went into it. Of course, again, this is not true life. In fiction writing, though, he has to. Unless he dies!
Hmmm. In life there are characters. They don't follow all of the rules. They may follow certain rules belonging to a specific character-type, but not rules to any unspecific character-type. They will, I'm sure follow certain rules from A to F, but not from G to J. Being flawed they may miss out more letters than that, but if you hit the jackpot they will follow every single rule in the 'book'.
Does it really mean you've hit the jackpot if you've followed the rules? It may also mean that you've made a false call.
Jeez, this writing lark is so difficult... trying to please everyone... trying to please yourself... trying to please an agent... trying to please an editor (lol, neither of the last two exists... for now! That may be my problem!)
Which rules must you always follow, and which can be variable? All? None? Some? So easy to get lost. Perhaps it's best to follow the rules, otherwise you might not make it back. If you had followed the rules, you wouldn't have got lost. Nobody would. We'd all have well-rounded characters travelling on the same emotional journey. Is that what is wanted? Required? Well, what are the rules, then? Somebody must have them. Aha! Someone has a set - they've made them up. So has someone else. There are differences, though. We have no 'official' rules.
No, no. These aren't character rules, they are story rules. I think. Story around the character, then. Aha! Now that's different. Or is it?
But if these rules came from someone else, then they may be just what I need - I don't have any, other than 'get the protagonist to gel with the other characters and with the reader'.
See, I told you I can be persuaded.
Just me thinking. Or maybe not thinking all that well. Maybe I'm just floored - oops! Flawed!
It's actually not much of a thought, more a feeling.
If you accept everything you read, or hear, and if it's the same as everyone else has been hearing or reading, then I wonder if your character will maybe read the same as other people's characters.
But people are people i.e. they are individual to themselves and to the whole. They are unpredictable, to themselves and to the whole. You really don't know what they are going to do next. Not all of the time, and not most of the time. Just some of the time. People are flawed. They do not follow rules.
However, I'm sure they follow an individual's rules - each particular character's own rules, though not a set of general character rules.
If a character followed a set of rules, acting well-rounded, full of character-rule fullness, then is it possible that the element of surprise, and even discovery (for the character, reader and writer), will be missing?
A flawed character cannot follow rules. Something jolts, something goes missing, awry - in the journey, and even at the end of it. All characters are flawed: they are products of the writer's imagination, so they have to be, as the writer is also flawed. Unless you attempt to make them flawless. So that they follow rules. That is a flaw in itself. (Discuss.)
However, I do think you need to know rules, otherwise how do you flaunt one or two? Of course, you have to follow the number one rule: the reader must bond with your characters, especially the protagonist(s). Is there another rule? Hmmm, another discussion?
I wonder, if a character (and I guess we are really talking about the protagonist) follows every rule, then he cannot fail to come out the other side better than when he went into it. Of course, again, this is not true life. In fiction writing, though, he has to. Unless he dies!
Hmmm. In life there are characters. They don't follow all of the rules. They may follow certain rules belonging to a specific character-type, but not rules to any unspecific character-type. They will, I'm sure follow certain rules from A to F, but not from G to J. Being flawed they may miss out more letters than that, but if you hit the jackpot they will follow every single rule in the 'book'.
Does it really mean you've hit the jackpot if you've followed the rules? It may also mean that you've made a false call.
Jeez, this writing lark is so difficult... trying to please everyone... trying to please yourself... trying to please an agent... trying to please an editor (lol, neither of the last two exists... for now! That may be my problem!)
Which rules must you always follow, and which can be variable? All? None? Some? So easy to get lost. Perhaps it's best to follow the rules, otherwise you might not make it back. If you had followed the rules, you wouldn't have got lost. Nobody would. We'd all have well-rounded characters travelling on the same emotional journey. Is that what is wanted? Required? Well, what are the rules, then? Somebody must have them. Aha! Someone has a set - they've made them up. So has someone else. There are differences, though. We have no 'official' rules.
No, no. These aren't character rules, they are story rules. I think. Story around the character, then. Aha! Now that's different. Or is it?
But if these rules came from someone else, then they may be just what I need - I don't have any, other than 'get the protagonist to gel with the other characters and with the reader'.
See, I told you I can be persuaded.
Just me thinking. Or maybe not thinking all that well. Maybe I'm just floored - oops! Flawed!
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Does your protagonist listen to the rain?
I went out tonight for a few drinks with a couple of old friends. Well, it should have been the three of us, but one couldn't make it. It was still a good night: playing pool, a few beers and I got some advice about a new curry shop down the road: "You gotta have one - it's the best in Shields."
Vital information, as curry is a staple diet in South Shields. The best Indian-English curries are here, right on my doorstep. I love 'em!
Afterwards, I climbed out of a taxi, curry takeaway in hand, into the rain, just outside my front door.
I like the rain. It makes me think; it makes me dream. Tonight, it made me wistful. At least, I think it was the rain that did that. But I missed my other friend not being out tonight. The banter would have been sharper, wittier, because it would have involved more of us. I would have laughed more, for sure. It got me thinking: do my friends miss me if I'm not there? Well, I know they do - they always ring, or want to call by, or go for a drink. They always ask why I wasn't 'there', if I couldn't make it, when a bunch of us decide to go out for a drink. Sometimes it borders on the hostile, making me wonder if they think I don't care about them as much as they care about me. Sounds melodramatic, I know. But some of my friends are no longer around - life deals terrible hands, sometimes - and there is probably a lot more depth than usual to feelings when things happen to shake the 'secure' world we live in. Or believe we live in.
A funny thing, but the little Indian guy in a pony-tail who served me came up to me as I was waiting for the taxi, and asked if I remembered him from another curry house. Suddenly, I remembered where I'd seen him before - it was absolutely years ago! - and he brought quite a few memories flooding back. Hey, he was a great bloke to talk to then, while waiting the statutory half-hour for the curry. And he hadn't changed much in that respect, asking me how I was, and that I had to ask for him next time I came to his shop. Perhaps that was the real reason I became wistful as I ate my curry. It really wasn't all that nice, to be honest. I must say so to the friend who advised me to go to this new place. Curries are rather important. If you don't have 'the knowledge', then you aren't a true Sand-dancer!
Now then, I'm not building myself up to being 'Mister Wonderful', as I'm sure most everyone has friends, and memories that never die but just need a certain catalyst to bring them flooding back. I simply decided to put these (brief) thoughts up here, because they do relate directly to someone 'everybody who writes' needs to know: the protagonist.
Each writer must have a means of identifying the protagonist as someone the reader will care about, identify with.
Well, one great way (I believe) is through the people around him. Ask yourself: Does your protagonist have friends? Do they care about him? How do they show this? Do they help him? Hinder him? Advise him? Save him? From the world, or from himself? Even sacrifice themselves for him?
And how about turning all this round: how does the protagonist feel about his friends? You can apply all of the above to the other way around.
There are other ways of gelling the reader and the protagonist. But using other people, for me, is the best possible way. If people care about him, then so might the reader. If nobody cares for him, then why should the reader? Of course, he may be on his own and have a pet dog to help make you think nice thoughts about him. Dorothy was on her own, and she had a pet dog, too. But she did make friends along the way. The most important thing, to me.
Just a thought, and I can be persuaded otherwise. But if your protagonist also doesn't listen to the rain, or something like it, then I doubt it.
Vital information, as curry is a staple diet in South Shields. The best Indian-English curries are here, right on my doorstep. I love 'em!
Afterwards, I climbed out of a taxi, curry takeaway in hand, into the rain, just outside my front door.
I like the rain. It makes me think; it makes me dream. Tonight, it made me wistful. At least, I think it was the rain that did that. But I missed my other friend not being out tonight. The banter would have been sharper, wittier, because it would have involved more of us. I would have laughed more, for sure. It got me thinking: do my friends miss me if I'm not there? Well, I know they do - they always ring, or want to call by, or go for a drink. They always ask why I wasn't 'there', if I couldn't make it, when a bunch of us decide to go out for a drink. Sometimes it borders on the hostile, making me wonder if they think I don't care about them as much as they care about me. Sounds melodramatic, I know. But some of my friends are no longer around - life deals terrible hands, sometimes - and there is probably a lot more depth than usual to feelings when things happen to shake the 'secure' world we live in. Or believe we live in.
A funny thing, but the little Indian guy in a pony-tail who served me came up to me as I was waiting for the taxi, and asked if I remembered him from another curry house. Suddenly, I remembered where I'd seen him before - it was absolutely years ago! - and he brought quite a few memories flooding back. Hey, he was a great bloke to talk to then, while waiting the statutory half-hour for the curry. And he hadn't changed much in that respect, asking me how I was, and that I had to ask for him next time I came to his shop. Perhaps that was the real reason I became wistful as I ate my curry. It really wasn't all that nice, to be honest. I must say so to the friend who advised me to go to this new place. Curries are rather important. If you don't have 'the knowledge', then you aren't a true Sand-dancer!
Now then, I'm not building myself up to being 'Mister Wonderful', as I'm sure most everyone has friends, and memories that never die but just need a certain catalyst to bring them flooding back. I simply decided to put these (brief) thoughts up here, because they do relate directly to someone 'everybody who writes' needs to know: the protagonist.
Each writer must have a means of identifying the protagonist as someone the reader will care about, identify with.
Well, one great way (I believe) is through the people around him. Ask yourself: Does your protagonist have friends? Do they care about him? How do they show this? Do they help him? Hinder him? Advise him? Save him? From the world, or from himself? Even sacrifice themselves for him?
And how about turning all this round: how does the protagonist feel about his friends? You can apply all of the above to the other way around.
There are other ways of gelling the reader and the protagonist. But using other people, for me, is the best possible way. If people care about him, then so might the reader. If nobody cares for him, then why should the reader? Of course, he may be on his own and have a pet dog to help make you think nice thoughts about him. Dorothy was on her own, and she had a pet dog, too. But she did make friends along the way. The most important thing, to me.
Just a thought, and I can be persuaded otherwise. But if your protagonist also doesn't listen to the rain, or something like it, then I doubt it.
Monday, 11 June 2007
Macca was right
You don't know how it's going to turn out.
Good or bad, before and during writing, you just don't know how it's going to turn out. It's only afterwards that the real worrying begins: did I get it right? Did I get any of it right? Which bit is good? Which bit is not so good? Should it be longer or shorter? And so on...
Hmmm. How do you not worry about it beforehand?
I guess what the great Fab meant was that you shouldn't worry about your ability to do things if it's already been demonstrated that you can. Draw confidence from the fact that you've already done it, so you can be confident that you can do it again.
You could say, though, that this doesn't help you very much if you haven't written anything yet. But maybe it does. My first story was a short, and I didn't worry about it in the slightest. I thought about it, dived in, and came out the other side. Once again, it was only afterwards that I was able to tell whether it was any good or not. It was probably the only time I didn't worry about my actual writing.
Aha! That's it: think like a new writer!
What, every time? It's not possible. Once you've completed your first story, it's not possible.
Perhaps if we substitute 'worry' with 'doubt', it makes more sense. Or rather, makes it easier to understand. Don't doubt yourself. Think about your work. Do the research, the planning. Be positive. If you are any good, it will all turn out fine. But you'll only find that part out afterwards. And the knowledge gained will help you with your next work.
Hmmm. But Macca chose to say 'worry', and not 'doubt'. Then again, he is mostly musician - John was more of a poet. I wonder who wrote the words to 'Paperback Writer'?
Perhaps, in this context, worry and doubt mean the same thing.
I know, let's do both: don't worry and don't doubt! Acceptable overkill. Yeah, that's the answer.
Good or bad, before and during writing, you just don't know how it's going to turn out. It's only afterwards that the real worrying begins: did I get it right? Did I get any of it right? Which bit is good? Which bit is not so good? Should it be longer or shorter? And so on...
Hmmm. How do you not worry about it beforehand?
I guess what the great Fab meant was that you shouldn't worry about your ability to do things if it's already been demonstrated that you can. Draw confidence from the fact that you've already done it, so you can be confident that you can do it again.
You could say, though, that this doesn't help you very much if you haven't written anything yet. But maybe it does. My first story was a short, and I didn't worry about it in the slightest. I thought about it, dived in, and came out the other side. Once again, it was only afterwards that I was able to tell whether it was any good or not. It was probably the only time I didn't worry about my actual writing.
Aha! That's it: think like a new writer!
What, every time? It's not possible. Once you've completed your first story, it's not possible.
Perhaps if we substitute 'worry' with 'doubt', it makes more sense. Or rather, makes it easier to understand. Don't doubt yourself. Think about your work. Do the research, the planning. Be positive. If you are any good, it will all turn out fine. But you'll only find that part out afterwards. And the knowledge gained will help you with your next work.
Hmmm. But Macca chose to say 'worry', and not 'doubt'. Then again, he is mostly musician - John was more of a poet. I wonder who wrote the words to 'Paperback Writer'?
Perhaps, in this context, worry and doubt mean the same thing.
I know, let's do both: don't worry and don't doubt! Acceptable overkill. Yeah, that's the answer.
Thursday, 7 June 2007
Time, infinity, and us!
I was reading through a few posts on a rather brilliant blog named 'fencingwiththefog' (there is a link to it on my blog here - any kind of writer, but especially screenwriters, should go there), when House, in the aptly-named series 'House', said 'If the world is infinite, then what use is life?' Or something like that.
Indeed.
That took me back to the eternal question: Will I ever get published?
Oops, sorry - the eternal question is: why? Why are we here? Why us? Why are we? Why anything?
I actually wonder whether that is a true, valid question. You can apply the question 'why?' to anything.
I always think that the real question is 'how?' Unfortunately, the answer to that also only goes so far back, too. It has its own unresolved theories.
This all got me thinking a bit further (House, you sod, I was trying to relax!). The world, the universe, apparently is growing. The planets are hurtling through the heavens, away from each other and at ever-increasing rates. This reminded me of the astronauts travelling through space, who appeared not to age too much, grew taller, and other physiological and psychological things, too. And time slowed.
Now, the advent of the computer/internet age, to me, has caused something: the world appears not to have too much use for time in its ordinary sense. We live 24/7. Minutes seem not to matter any more. Further to this, I keep getting the feeling that the '24' part is losing its significance. We are beginning to do everything 24/7 as a matter of fact, to the point where it really seems to be the '7' bit that matters.
And our children are getting taller, and people are living longer.
Could all of this be linked to the planets (includng Earth) moving faster?
How long before the '7' becomes irrelevant?
Could be a great idea for a story.
I've just tried a Coke Zero. It was probably that...
Indeed.
That took me back to the eternal question: Will I ever get published?
Oops, sorry - the eternal question is: why? Why are we here? Why us? Why are we? Why anything?
I actually wonder whether that is a true, valid question. You can apply the question 'why?' to anything.
I always think that the real question is 'how?' Unfortunately, the answer to that also only goes so far back, too. It has its own unresolved theories.
This all got me thinking a bit further (House, you sod, I was trying to relax!). The world, the universe, apparently is growing. The planets are hurtling through the heavens, away from each other and at ever-increasing rates. This reminded me of the astronauts travelling through space, who appeared not to age too much, grew taller, and other physiological and psychological things, too. And time slowed.
Now, the advent of the computer/internet age, to me, has caused something: the world appears not to have too much use for time in its ordinary sense. We live 24/7. Minutes seem not to matter any more. Further to this, I keep getting the feeling that the '24' part is losing its significance. We are beginning to do everything 24/7 as a matter of fact, to the point where it really seems to be the '7' bit that matters.
And our children are getting taller, and people are living longer.
Could all of this be linked to the planets (includng Earth) moving faster?
How long before the '7' becomes irrelevant?
Could be a great idea for a story.
I've just tried a Coke Zero. It was probably that...
The protagonist
So I sat up in bed with a new sheet of paper headed: Who Is Leon?
I thought I'd already done this, but in retrospect had merely scratched the surface. I'm new to this planning lark (I told myself). After some time of searching through what seemed like an impenetrable fog of uncertainty, I had a full A4 sheet of events and circumstances which had shaped Leon's arrival to this point in time i.e. the beginning of the book.
This has landed me with a problem: how do I show/illustrate this chain of events to the reader without it turning them off from the story in hand, and this first book becoming book 1 of 10. (Actually, I've just demonstrated longevity, so maybe that's a selling point!) Well, the past and the present are inextricably linked, and unresolved (the plot!), so this potential black hole has hair (see Prof. Stephen Hawking about that reference). My protag has a full head of it, so there's a further link!
I have an idea. No, I'm not going to write a blurb for the back of the bookcover to get round it -unless an agent/editor insists!
This is all mainly because I'm one of these freaks who actually like exposition. I need to know. Not only that, I need to know lots. And before you all jump on me, each brandishing a strait-jacket and crying 'Section this madman!', I have no intention of saying: 'Well, it's all because...' or 'Way back...' I want to be published and am well aware of the suffocating spectre of explanation.
The beginning I've chosen reads better than I originally thought. I know I mustn't spoil it.
Thinking...
Yeah, I have an idea.
Goodo !!
I thought I'd already done this, but in retrospect had merely scratched the surface. I'm new to this planning lark (I told myself). After some time of searching through what seemed like an impenetrable fog of uncertainty, I had a full A4 sheet of events and circumstances which had shaped Leon's arrival to this point in time i.e. the beginning of the book.
This has landed me with a problem: how do I show/illustrate this chain of events to the reader without it turning them off from the story in hand, and this first book becoming book 1 of 10. (Actually, I've just demonstrated longevity, so maybe that's a selling point!) Well, the past and the present are inextricably linked, and unresolved (the plot!), so this potential black hole has hair (see Prof. Stephen Hawking about that reference). My protag has a full head of it, so there's a further link!
I have an idea. No, I'm not going to write a blurb for the back of the bookcover to get round it -unless an agent/editor insists!
This is all mainly because I'm one of these freaks who actually like exposition. I need to know. Not only that, I need to know lots. And before you all jump on me, each brandishing a strait-jacket and crying 'Section this madman!', I have no intention of saying: 'Well, it's all because...' or 'Way back...' I want to be published and am well aware of the suffocating spectre of explanation.
The beginning I've chosen reads better than I originally thought. I know I mustn't spoil it.
Thinking...
Yeah, I have an idea.
Goodo !!
Sunday, 3 June 2007
The Longest Night
Way back, I wrote - and lost - a poem about what would happen in the event of a nuclear war. All very earnest stuff, and probably just as well for the world that it has disappeared. The poem ended with the rather unoriginal
"... And sullen mist shall hide the truth,
And the truth shall hide for ever."
A lady from the workgroup I belonged to at the time believed I could improve the ending by saying "And the truth shall be lost for ever." As ever, I railed against such impertinence, but (much) later, relented and accepted her version of the ending. It sounded better, if nothing else.
However.
Later, I remembered why I said 'hide' and not 'be lost'. It was a comment on the reality of life; that the truth is often not lost, but may be hidden i.e. is hidden, either accidentally or deliberately, until someone else uncovers it. The question is: uncovered by who? I had no answer. Aliens, perhaps, or some surviving race stumbling upon it centuries later. Of course, I couldn't illustrate this at the ending of the poem. It would have been silly to try, and would have ruined my attempt at a dramatic ending.
I feel this way about my protagonist. His truth is hiding from me. He seems to be hiding from me at the beginning I've chosen. It could be because I've called him Leon. There is already a book and film about someone named Leon (unread by me), and so I feel I will probably have to change his name. Perhaps he is upset with me, because, like me, he loves this name. Hmmm. Change of name or not, he and I have begun to talk; tentatively. I've begun to understand him, but still haven't captured everything about him. Who he actually is. How he actually came to exist. Once I've done that, I'm sure Leon and I will get along fine. There, I've called him Leon again. Guess it really must stay like that. I hope so.
"... And sullen mist shall hide the truth,
And the truth shall hide for ever."
A lady from the workgroup I belonged to at the time believed I could improve the ending by saying "And the truth shall be lost for ever." As ever, I railed against such impertinence, but (much) later, relented and accepted her version of the ending. It sounded better, if nothing else.
However.
Later, I remembered why I said 'hide' and not 'be lost'. It was a comment on the reality of life; that the truth is often not lost, but may be hidden i.e. is hidden, either accidentally or deliberately, until someone else uncovers it. The question is: uncovered by who? I had no answer. Aliens, perhaps, or some surviving race stumbling upon it centuries later. Of course, I couldn't illustrate this at the ending of the poem. It would have been silly to try, and would have ruined my attempt at a dramatic ending.
I feel this way about my protagonist. His truth is hiding from me. He seems to be hiding from me at the beginning I've chosen. It could be because I've called him Leon. There is already a book and film about someone named Leon (unread by me), and so I feel I will probably have to change his name. Perhaps he is upset with me, because, like me, he loves this name. Hmmm. Change of name or not, he and I have begun to talk; tentatively. I've begun to understand him, but still haven't captured everything about him. Who he actually is. How he actually came to exist. Once I've done that, I'm sure Leon and I will get along fine. There, I've called him Leon again. Guess it really must stay like that. I hope so.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
It's Only Words
Don't tell anyone, but I only wrote about 250 words yesterday. Actually, it was last night - late last night. And it was roughly 240 more than I did the day before. I'd love to have written more, but I couldn't. I kept thinking that I could have written it better, and that I could have added more to what I'd done. I also thought that I shouldn't - that I needed to think a bit about what I'd done. Having slept on it, I now have an idea or two of what to add. Hmmm, could I be turning into a writer of some sort? Nah...
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Planning and the beginning revisited
My mistake in the past was to just dive in and see how things looked when I came out the other side.
Planning as I have done, and talking as I have done with trusted voices (Noel, Solvey, Rich, to name an illustrious few), I have come up with a handful of beginnings. I need to consider them carefully before coming up with the one. I may even come up with a different one altogether to those I already have. I'll come up with one, I know.
This is gonna hurt...
Planning as I have done, and talking as I have done with trusted voices (Noel, Solvey, Rich, to name an illustrious few), I have come up with a handful of beginnings. I need to consider them carefully before coming up with the one. I may even come up with a different one altogether to those I already have. I'll come up with one, I know.
This is gonna hurt...
In the laptop of the gods
I went out with some friends on Friday gone. It was great. Except, one of my friends asked me if I was okay. Apparently, I was rather quiet and didn't seem my normal self. I knew why I had been quiet, but didn't feel inclined to say.
'Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit tired, that's all.'
Actually, I was thinking about my latest work. Writing was imminent. The building-up-to-it period was almost over. All I had to do was sort out a couple of things on a laptop, and I'd be on my way.
So I'm sitting here with a cup of decaff and some cheesecake, filling myself with comfort food before the pain and angst sets in. I know it's going to hurt. Not for me the 'statutory number of words a day and I'll be ok' routine. When I write, I write. All day and all night. I stop when I'm really too tired and I begin again when I'm really too tired. I think about it non-stop. Like now.
Last night I sorted out my laptop. I am about to begin this latest journey. In my heart I don't just want to be a writer - I want to be one of the gods. But I've knocked on the door to Valhalla before and nobody answered. Nobody heard me. Maybe I will knock harder this time. With Thor's hammer!
'Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit tired, that's all.'
Actually, I was thinking about my latest work. Writing was imminent. The building-up-to-it period was almost over. All I had to do was sort out a couple of things on a laptop, and I'd be on my way.
So I'm sitting here with a cup of decaff and some cheesecake, filling myself with comfort food before the pain and angst sets in. I know it's going to hurt. Not for me the 'statutory number of words a day and I'll be ok' routine. When I write, I write. All day and all night. I stop when I'm really too tired and I begin again when I'm really too tired. I think about it non-stop. Like now.
Last night I sorted out my laptop. I am about to begin this latest journey. In my heart I don't just want to be a writer - I want to be one of the gods. But I've knocked on the door to Valhalla before and nobody answered. Nobody heard me. Maybe I will knock harder this time. With Thor's hammer!
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