Do we deserve to survive?

Created: Monday, 08 December 2014 19:26 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

Does the human race deserve to survive?

When we look at reported events around the world we must ask that question. Man’s inhumanity to man knows no bounds. The most efficient thing we can do is kill each other, often over what are really insignificant differences in opinion, or interpretation of words in an ancient script. Do we have any redeeming features at all?

Is this view of the human race skewed because of what we see reported in the media? Do the media only report the bad things because they are considered newsworthy or is it because that’s what the readership wants? Do we want only the bad news because that is what we have become used to or is that what we prefer? Recently a Russian news site only posted good news for a day and lost two thirds of its readership that day. 

What we write influences the way people think. It is something we should use with care. I am not saying we shouldn’t report bad news, of course we should; but we should not dwell solely on disasters and wars. There are many good deeds occur in the world on a daily basis. Perhaps we should give balance to what we report. It may not sell newspapers initially, but I know I for one would buy a newspaper if I thought the news was accurate, genuine unbiased and balanced.

In answer to the question, yes I believe the human race does deserve to survive because we do have much more to offer than death and destruction. I just wish we could see it reported a little more. Perhaps you disagree; if you do, please let's not start a war over it.

Revelation.

Created: Saturday, 29 November 2014 08:17 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

Just lately I had lost sight of my story. I knew where it was going as the ending is already written, but I couldn't see all the parts I needed to get it there. Every time I tried to see the path I would get sidetracked into making some minor edits in a piece that was already edited.

Procrastination. I was kidding myself and making very little real progress though on several days I had hit my word target, I really was skirting around the main problem.  Then I made the decision to split my writing into four parts, so I could see the story arc. This is easy to do in the writing program I use, Scrivener.

I set up folders so that each section had the relevant chapters, and bingo. I could now see where I needed to add more and where I needed to leave well alone (apart from the edits). The final part, which I though was fine, was shy of several thousand words. My midpoint, where I thought I needed more was bang on target.

Sometimes we need to step back, take stock then make a fresh approach.  Now my arc will hit the targets right where they need to be and I should have a story that moves forward taking my readers with it.

I am sure what I am saying will not be new to many writers, but being a newcomer to the game it was certainly a revelation to me.

I just need to write another thirty thousand words and I'll be home free, (apart from the editing, and the rewrites, and more editing, well you get the idea.)

Who decides?

Created: Friday, 21 November 2014 11:33 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

As I’ve mentioned previously I tend to edit as I go along. Every so often I will start again from the beginning and edit some more. We are told not to do this, it breaks the creative flow. I’m not so sure.

A lot of my creativity goes on well before I sit down to write. I create scenarios and dialogue in my head. I’m sure I’m not the only one listening to those voices. (They are not real by the way, so stop panicking).

Who has decided there is a right and wrong way to be an author? Is it because it has always been done that way, then it must always be done that way?

I know what works for me and I’m not saying it will work for everybody. Just as being a pantser or a plotter suits people differently, then surely being a ‘tinkerer’ must also suit some people and not others.

One thing I have found is my writing has changed. I am finding ways to avoid overused words, sticky sentences (I always thought that came from typing after eating toast and marmalade), and the various nasties my online grammar checker tells me I should avoid. This change in my habit has resulted in having to spend a little less time editing, leaving more time for writing.

Whether it is the correct way to do it remains open to question, but it certainly seems to work for me.

Targets

Created: Monday, 17 November 2014 07:02 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

In recent weeks I have been taking tablets for an ongoing problem in my joints. Nothing serious but it was keeping me awake. One of the side effects of the drugs is a feeling of lethargy. As a consequence I have not felt like getting my backside off the sofa and in front of the computer to get on with my writing.It is far easier to sit and let the moving wallpaper wash over me from the box in the corner. (Strange we still call it a box when it is more of a sheet these days)Every day I fall further behind with my word count and at the end of each day I feel guilty for not having achieved my self-imposed target.
   This got me thinking; always a dangerous thing.When we miss our targets and get these feelings, does it affect our creativity? I seem to more be hung up on ‘making the count’ than I do on writing something that others can read.
   On days without this lethargy I watch the little counter in the corner of my screen steadily rise toward the target and have a feeling of achievement when it turns green. (Those of you who use Scrivener will know what I’m talking about). When it remains resolutely amber and my eyes start to droop, then so does my mood.
   The following day I feel obliged to add the words missed from yesterday onto the total required today. By doing this I am making a rod for my own back and my mood spirals downwards when I fail to achieve this new target.      When my mood is low, my creativity becomes non-existent.
   So should I ignore the word count altogether? I don’t think so. I need a target to keep me going but what I need to do is accept sometimes I won’t make the target and not get hung up about it.
   The best way to overcome the problem is to take a break, come back fresh and ready to tap into the creative part of the mind. 

Fulfillment?

Created: Saturday, 15 November 2014 20:34 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

I suppose like many people I have spent my entire life trying to find an answer. The problem has been I have never really known what the question was. 
I think I finally know what the question and answer is for me.
For many years I have wanted to write a book. I didn't care what book, just a book. Some twenty odd years ago I wrote a page. I kept it to remind me how awful it was. But you know what? It doesn't matter. It was my page, and it was my first baby steps to writing.
At junior school we did something called 'composition', and I loved it. We wrote stories from our own imaginations. Wonderful times, and then we grow up. We dismiss the ideas from our childhood. Writing? Leave that to the professionals, the authors, the clever people. 
I have finally realised those professional people were children, like we all were. They had to learn to write, they had their baby steps, they made mistakes, and still do. It doesn't matter. Mistakes are how we learn. As a new writer I am making them by the bucket full. I want to be good, but I am sure Michelangelo ruined a few ceilings in his time before the Sistine chapel, da Vinci painted a few horrors before the Mona Lisa.
What we do as writers is art. It is a creation from within us. Not everybody will like it, maybe no one will, but it is your creation. No one can take that away from you. Whether others think it is good or bad is irrelevant. It is yours.
I know I would like my books to be appreciated by others (for that read 'sell') but in the long run I don't mind if they don't. Why? Because I will have done something that no one else in this world will have done. They may have done something similar, but it won't be the same. And that is what makes art, and that is what makes each writer unique.

Fish Fingers

Created: Tuesday, 11 November 2014 09:13 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

Last night I finally took the plunge and went along to the local writers' circle. Something I have shied away from until now.  I was finally spurred into joining because of the guest speaker, Seumas Gallacher.

Seumas has self published three books on Kindle. He knew nothing about social networking and had to start from scratch. This can be a bit of a nightmare for, how shall I put it, those of us that are more mature.

Fortunately I have had computers in my life since the Sinclair ZX81 and for quite a time in my full time job. Still, trying to understand how some of the sites work has, and in some cases still is, a bit of a struggle.

Do they matter? After all we are just going to put our books on Amazon and away they go. Not quite. Suppose you had brought out a new brand of fish fingers, would you expect people to know that you have brought out a new product? Not really. You would have to market them.

If you think I am comparing my book and yours to fish fingers, you are not wrong. We have to work just as hard to sell our books as Findus and Birds Eye (yes there are other brands available) had to do when they first launched the fish finger.

Now anyone who wants fish fingers can go to the freezer and there they are. But imagine if there were millions of brands available. Where would you start? With the one that pushed itself to the front, and that is what you have to do with your books.

Get it now? Seumas got me to see the light. I hope he gets you to see it too.

Seumas can be found at http://seumasgallacher.com/ 

Go and pay him a visit. He is well worth reading.  

ps. tell him I sent you. He might buy me a drink. 

pps. The Bahrain Writers' Circle are a lovely bunch of people. I will be back.

Competitions

Created: Tuesday, 04 November 2014 07:31 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

Last year I entered the CWA Debut Dagger competition with Fishing for Stones. Was it the right thing to do? Despite thinking  I wouldn't stand a chance (I always think the worst) I was nevertheless disappointed to not even be shortlisted.

Having gone back over what I submitted I can now see why. This past year of writing, and reading other novels has taught me some of the fundamentals of writing. Like everything else writing is a skill to be acquired, something to polished, honed. None of us are born with the gift of writing. Maybe some have better imaginations than others, but that does not mean you have the gift of writing.

This is where competitions can be useful. Look at the entries that are shortlisted or win, and compare that to your own work. Can you see a significant difference? If so you need to go back and re-write. If not, then maybe your work is not quite what the judges are looking for. The main thing is not to be disheartened. You can't please all of the people all of the time. Keep writing and the writing will improve.

Editing or Head hitting?

Created: Thursday, 23 October 2014 11:30 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

The dreaded word, editing. We all have to do it, it doesn't necessarily mean that we like it. Or do we?

I have found over the last few weeks I am getting to like the process more and more.

 Leaving a chapter, then going back to it a few weeks later shows it in a new light. Even though you wrote it, you are now seeing it as the reader sees it, and that is when some of the glaring errors just leap off the page at you, snarling and spitting.

Of course, like many in this age of the computer, I do line editing as I go along. Sometimes that will cause me to lose the overall view of the story and focus on the details. Nothing wrong with attending to the details, after all that is where the devil lives, but sometimes we do have to step back and look at the overall picture again.

Don't approach editing as a task, approach it as a chance to improve and see your manuscript through the eyes of a reader.

Research

Created: Sunday, 19 October 2014 09:41 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

I came to realise recently that some of the research  I am doing is going into areas the average person would not go.

Most of this research is carried out online.

 On my computer are articles about strangulation, neck breaking, weapons of all kinds, ambush techniques, CSI investigations etc.

This made me start to think. There is much debate about how much the internet is monitored by the authorities, and I know some places do monitor more than others. The question is, how much would those authorities believe these articles and web page visits are only in the interests of research for a novel, and not for some other nefarious activities?

Maybe there is nothing to worry about, but it certainly does give food for thought.

So why not just write?

Created: Wednesday, 08 October 2014 08:22 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

As a new writer I have been keen to learn the ins and outs of writing. How should I format my writing? When do I redraft?  How many chapters should I have? The list goes on. Most new writers will have been here.

I joined writer's circles and I trawled the internet looking for comment on what I should be doing and how I should be doing it.

Inbetween all this I was looking at ways of promoting myself and the book, the pitfalls and benefits of self publishing, and anything concerned with the book and ebook trade.

The one thing I wasn't doing was writing. There is no point in doing all of this research if I am not actually writing anything to get out there to the public.

We all have to remember the purpose of a writer is to write. Anything else has to be secondary to this. Our task is to get those thoughts, ideas and fantasies onto the page for others to see.

Writer's Block

Created: Wednesday, 20 August 2014 10:47 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

Writer's block. defined as when your imaginary friends stop talking to you.

I'm not sure they ever stop talking, but sometimes what they say just isn't relevant to where you are in the story. Don't ignore them though. Listen to every word and get it down in your notebook. If you don't own a notebook, get one. 

Carrying your notebook ensures that when something is triggered in your mind you can record it straight away. You may never use it, though I'm sure you will find your notes will grow at a surprising rate. I was recently looking for some images on Shutterstock.com, when one of them triggered the title for a book. I have no story to go with it yet but I'm sure that in the coming months I will. I didn't need my notebook in this case, as I can save the image to a lightbox for further use, but it does illustrate the point that you need to record every little trigger.

Am I carrying my notebook with me right now? Yes I am. I wasn't carrying it yesterday though, and a thought I had then refuses to come back. C'est la vie.

Revolution?

Created: Monday, 11 August 2014 10:26 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

I recently received an email from Amazon asking me to get involved in the ongoing dispute with Hachette. Not because I am well known, or have any ‘clout’ in the industry, but because I am registered with Kindle Publishing.

 I am not going to go into details of the dispute here; plenty of information is available online. It does pose the question though, why are the author’s rates the same for an eBook as a printed one, and why is the price so high from the publisher?

Think of the hours that you dedicate producing your masterpiece. Think of the hours your agent, editor and publisher devote to producing that in print. We can see why the writer only gets a small part of the pie. Now consider eBooks. You, your agent and your editor will have to devote the same hours. The publisher on the other hand only has to convert it into the correct format (my writing program can do that for me), and upload it to the server.  No paper, no printing, no warehousing, no sale or return and potential sales of forever. So why does their share of the pie remain the same? OK it may not be as simple as that but you do get the idea.

The publishing industry needs to wake up. There is a new kid on the block. One that is slick and efficient; not rooted in the old ways. They need to adapt and embrace the changes as they occur and learn to share a little. They can still have a slice of the pie, a bigger pie with enough for everybody.

With direct access to publishing, writers have no need for agents or publishers (editors, we still love you and need you). We can do it ourselves. That doesn’t mean we have to, or even want to. I would rather devote the time to writing than publishing. Just give us and the readers a fair deal.

Victor Meldrew?

Created: Wednesday, 06 August 2014 08:39 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

After my last blog post my wife accused me of sounding like Victor Meldrew. Well I don't believe it for one minute.

The point I was trying to make is sometimes people lose sight of what fiction writing is about. We writers are just as guilty.

How many times have you tried to sneak in a fact that you unearthed doing your research? Tempting isn't it? Sometimes you can because it forms part of the overall experience of a place or situation. Sometimes it just shouts 'Look what I found!'

 Our job is to entertain. We may not look like court jesters or jugglers but essentially that is what we are. Now there are writers whose job it is to provoke meaningful discussions or philosophical debates, and others to educate and inform. Don't get me wrong, fiction writers can educate and provoke debate in their writings, but my belief is that it should be secondary to the story. Believable characters the readers are desperately hoping will overcome their difficulties, and a story line that has them turning the pages. That should be our aim. I know that's where I am aiming. Whether I succeed or not is only for the reader to judge. In the meantime I'll keep striving to do my best.

Good story or good grammar?

Created: Monday, 04 August 2014 19:47 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

Recently I put a sample of my work up to be critiqued on a writer’s circle. This particular site allows a period when the articles and the critiques can be anonymous. There is a warning that to use this, the writer must have a thick skin.

They were not wrong. The piece attracted far more critiques than when placed on the site in the normal queue. Nothing wrong with that you might think, and ordinarily I would agree. It was no surprise therefore, that the promise of anonymity brought out new breeds of critique writer.

Social media is not the only place for trolls. They live under every story arc and bridge in the fiction world too. Grammar gurus and punctuation police emerge from the dark to pounce on every misplaced colon and needless passive construction, with the obvious zeal and excitement of one who has just discovered the lost city of Atlantis. Apparently I had several spelling errors in the first paragraph. Had they bothered to check they would have discovered  these 'errors' were differences between the Queen's English, and the version spoken across the Atlantic.

Now please forgive me if I am wrong, but I always understood the task of a fiction writer was to tell a story; to take the reader on a journey of discovery and escape from the realities of this world. To the trolls the story is completely irrelevant when a misplaced semi-colon comes to the fore.

 I ask you this, can you remember the last time you gave up on a book having discovered the writer had not digested a copy of the Oxford Book of English Grammar? I am not saying that as writers we should ignore the rules, but I do believe having a good story and delivery far outweighs perfect grammar and punctuation.

Would I go through this process again? Yes of course I would. The feedback that I did receive about the plot, the characters and 'voice' was invaluable.