Blagging Blog

 

So writing a blog isn’t the easiest thing to do. Every day, or week, or month depending on how often you update it, you must find something to write about. If you’re writing a blog about a specific subject, like I do, (writing, in case you didn’t guess) then the subject matter can be very limited. Most of my blogs have deliberately been about writing novels, because that is what I enjoy doing, but today I am briefly blogging, about blogging.

Some people use their blog as a diary; others update it like statuses from a social networking site. I just write about writing, and I never plan what I’m gonna say. I may think about it for a moment and wonder,

“Should I blog about that?”

But it is never orchestrated, and I very rarely edit. I leave the professionalism to my novel writing, and the blogging is my chatty way to impart wisdom/say stupid stuff. I love blogging; it means I can leave the spell check and grammar check alone and just let go. It is very liberating to write without too much care about whether a publisher is gonna like it or not. No editors or proof readers, and the only critics are you guys. If you don’t like it, you read something else. Simple! It’s a fantastic way to say what you want, when you want and how you want, but what if you become a professional blogger?

If you somehow make money out of blogging on a regular basis because a lot of people read your blogs, do you start to pander to your audience? Do you change your writing style to suit them? Do you start using spelling and grammar checks? Do you lose the free form flow of your narrative and therefore your early audience who enjoyed your individual way of expressing yourself? I’m not sure, but I hope I don’t fall into that trap. If people want to read my writing, (that in itself would be awesome) when it is polished and perfected, then they can read my novels. If they want to read my work when its raw, rough and bashed out on the keyboard in a matter of moments, then they can read my blog. But I don’t expect the two to be similar, and I hope my readers don’t either, otherwise they could be very disappointed.

What do you think? Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x

Family Fiction

My brother has been writing a book for almost ten years now, and is currently in the process of editing it. He has a full time job elsewhere, a part-time social life and a very active interest in computer games, (Sound familiar?). He wants me to read through his work once he has completed it. He has a belief that the dialogue in his manuscript is superb, which is possibly true, but no-one has read it yet so it cannot be confirmed. What sounds great in our heads isn’t always the case when on paper. The main problem being that we understand what we want the dialogue to mean, so know how it is supposed to sound, but will other people know what you are trying to say?

One of the hardest things for an un-published author is getting people to read their novel. Obviously the first people who read their book will be friends and family, and friends rarely ever want to hurt someone’s feelings. So first-time, un-published authors think their work is good enough to send to agents and publishers, when in fact it still needs work. Once rejected a few times from said agents/publishers they tend to put the book in a draw and forget about it, so the kindest thing would be to give honest, constructive criticisms. Then we hit another problem, authors are as sensitive about their manuscripts as artists are about their art. That is who we are, artists that are never satisfied with their own work. So we keep trying. I’m sure all authors will say that even when their book is published, there are one or two pieces they would like to change, but that is personal criticism.

When we are writing, we have little time for reading, and no time for anything else, let alone judging somebody else’s work, especially when criticism is rarely appreciated. So what can we do? When approached by a member of the public who asks if we can read their work, do we? We should, as I believe all up and coming authors should be encouraged. But do we have the time, and will it be worth it? That sounds bad I know, but what people want is for us to read the book they’ve spent so much time and effort on and to tell them it is fantastic and doesn’t need to change. That is never the case. I know that when I’ve finished reading my brother’s book, he will sit and listen to any constructive criticism I give, but he won’t like it. Are we too sensitive about our work? Do we need to listen more? Or should we listen to our instincts? What do you think?

Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x

Fan Fiction

Fan Fiction

Fan fiction is usually young people writing stories about their favourite TV shows and computer games. Now I have mentioned in the past that I am not keen on novels based on TV and games, but fan fiction is a whole different story. When professional writers try to change their style to suit a storyline already written, it can come across as clumsy. But when an inexperienced writer, or young writer, tries their hand a creating stories about their favourite things, the most amazing tales can come out. Ok, so they’re not the polished gems you’d pick up in a book store; the grammar is awful and spelling is atrocious, but look beyond that and you’ll find wonderful imaginations spurned into working by the shows they watch and games they play.

These authors of tomorrow are starting out in the wonderful world of writing, and nothing can stop them. They will inherit the empire we leave behind and all we can do is help them. If the younger generation only wants to write about one particular show, then encourage it. As long as the story they write is original, they will use their imaginations and from that will spring whole worlds that we of the “slightly more experienced” generation could never have thought of.

I called us “Slightly more experienced” as I don’t believe there could ever possibly be a fully experienced writer, and there definitely is no such thing as an expert writer. But as we continue to concentrate on our craft, the young ones will be learning to appreciate it, through their own interests, and I can’t help but look forward to what this new batch of writers will produce and how much they could teach us. This is an exciting world where anything can happen, with only pen and paper.

Everywhere, I see people belittle the works of fan-fiction as not real fiction, but that is nonsense as any writer worth his/her salt would tell you. Anything written from the imagination is a work of fiction, even if facts are twisted to tell a story, its fiction. Even if the world ended because a purple unicorn rode a rainbow to the milky-way and farted the earth into darkness, that’s still fiction; and it would take a massive imagination to come up with it. Don’t mock fan-fiction, it inspires the novelists of tomorrow.

Tell me what you think. Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x

Writing What I Want

Writing What I Want

So now I can to write about anything I want, but what do I want to write about? That is one of the hardest questions a writer asks themselves. It’s easy to say that you write about what you’re interested in, but how do you go about writing it if you’ve never done it before? Maybe you are a sci-fi fan, but when you try writing sci-fi, you find a lot of it doesn’t make sense. Same with fantasy, it doesn’t ring true somehow. Maybe you don’t know how to plan a murder, or to write someone’s biography. Perhaps you want to write non-fiction on a specific subject, but don’t know what points to emphasize.

Here’s what you do, get the imagination going and write it anyway. So what if sci-fi doesn’t make sense, does it have to? Fantasy doesn’t ring true, because it is fantasy, not reality. If you want to write about a specific subject and don’t know how to go about it, or what points to emphasize, write it anyway. You’ll make the points you want to make. It’s your book, it’s your work, it’s your imagination.

If you want to know about factual elements to add to your book, then do some research, but don’t be bogged down by facts; they can detract from the story.

Too much detail = not enough tale.

Anyone heard that before? I know readers who like their novels to be filled with factual content, but not at the cost of the story. Let yourself go when you write, because until it’s published, it’s only you who’s going to be reading it, so you don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself. Writing what you want to write is a very freeing experience so give it a go. If it’s not for you, then stop. Simple, what have you lost? Nothing, so pick up a pen and see what happens. Let me know what you think.

Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x

Writing Stamina

Writing Stamina

Have you ever heard of writing stamina? I hadn’t until somebody mentioned it to me the other day. They asked, “How do you maintain your stamina?” I had no idea what they meant, but when they explained that if we don’t continue writing, then we fall out of step and find it difficult to ‘get back into it’ as it were. Finding the motivation for writing when we haven’t got the stamina is very difficult. I write every day except on weekends, sometimes my novel, sometimes my blog, but often it’s both. This is why I haven’t noticed a lag in my performance. But if I was to leave my work for more than a couple of days, I would probably find it difficult to regain my stamina.

I asked this person, a successful author of some years, what they did to maintain writing stamina, and their answer was simple.

KEEP WRITING!!

But what if we can’t think of something to write? That’s was my worry, but he had an answer for that too. Don’t worry if you have nothing to write about, write about having nothing to write about. Doesn’t matter if you’re writing a novel, a script, a poem, a diary or a letter to yourself, just write something, because once you lose the stamina, the ‘get up and go’, it is very hard to get back. This made sense, but I’d never thought about it before, and that got me thinking. If I had never thought about the stamina, it would probably have crept up and got hold of me at some point in my career without my realizing it. What else was out there that authors can suffer from, or problems they can come across that I don’t know about? If you know of any, please let me know.

One other worry I had was, if this already happened to someone, what’s the best way to get their stamina back? His answer was the same as before, just write and keep writing. Start off with some small stuff until you are able to write the way you used to and you shouldn’t have any problems after that.

Let me know what you think. Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x

A Writer's Life

A Writer’s Life

Any writer will tell you that the biggest sacrifice we make is to our lives. I’m not talking about life and death or anything like that; I mean our family life, our social life and our love life. Today is my Godson’s 2^nd birthday, and I took a fleeting moment out of my working day to wish him a happy birthday and give him his present. It’s only when I saw him, I realize exactly how much the boy has grown, and how long it’s been since I saw him last, which was a couple of weeks ago. Even then it was only a fleeting ‘Hello’ at the local supermarket during the brief time I’m away from my typing to gain sustenance (A growing boy can shoot up fast in only a couple of weeks).

So many relationships end due to writing. When someone takes up writing as a career or even as a hobby, there is very little room for anything else, and yet we try. The problem is that the others in our lives, especially the ones who were there before the writing took hold, suffer for it. If you have a successful relationship with your friends, family and significant other, then you have a circle of very understanding people around you. This is very rarely the case, as I have spoken to many authors on this subject, and a lot of them say they are no-longer with the person they were with when they started writing. Friends become neglected and though we still talk and try to see each other when we can, it is not always possible, days become weeks and then months etc...

These are the sacrifices we make when we write; this isn’t just a hobby, it becomes an obsession. We have to continue our writing, it is our work and it is hard work, but we love it. That is why we make these sacrifices, because it is something we must do. Do you guys agree, or do you think that writing comes last and should only be pursued in between seeing friends and family? Let me know below.

Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x

Depressing Dialogue

Depressing Dialogue

I’ve just finished writing an essential part of the story where the dialogue is deliberately depressing. (It is a murder mystery, after all.) The only problem with writing these chapters is that I find it gets me down by the time I’ve finished it. Is that normal for authors? To find that you are so into the story you’re writing, that you feel what they feel? Or maybe it’s just the context of the text, so to speak? The chapter I just finished included the sleuth speaking to the grieving mother of 2 dead children. This was not going to be a happy conversation. But was it the dialogue that depressed me, or the situation? Or maybe I’m just being a bit too sensitive about my own writing?

When it comes to reading, I enjoy stories that are entertaining, and I personally don’t find depressing novels entertaining. I know everyone is different, and that some may find this kind of literature enjoyable, but I don’t. These downer parts of your story are essential for the tale and must be included, even if you don’t enjoy writing them, because you are writing for the readers’ enjoyment, and it is they who must be entertained. But is there a way to write these necessary evils into a book without it bringing you down with it? If not, and all good authors feel what their characters feel, then how do you pick yourself up again from this slump?

As I’m writing this blog, I’m reminded of a novel I read some years ago called ‘Disco Bloodbath’ by James St James. When only the bare bones of this story are examined, you can see it is an incredibly depressing tale; it’s all about drug taking teens taking overdoses and killing each other. But the way the author has broached the subject and carefully used language, makes reading this twisted tale of depravity an enjoyable experience.

So no easy task, but it is possible to read a depressing tale and still enjoy it, so can we write it and still enjoy it? What do you think?

Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x