Research & Resolutions

Writing really is hard work, if anyone tells you any different can you please do me a favour...

Kick them...

Hard!

Without putting pen to paper to write a first draft I have done a lot of planning, trying to get some sense of structure to the plot. It is not easy, but hopefully by the time the year is through it will be worthwhile.

A friend of mine has told me this week that "It doesn't matter if your book gets published. It only matters that you finish writing the book and get into the habit of writing regularly." Truer words have never been said. Also I recently found out that books such as Catch 22 and Watership Down were rejected over 20 times before they were published, so I will not be disheartened when the inevitable happens and my books do not get picked up. I will just keep trying.

Finally as 2008 comes to a close I have decided on my resolutions for 2009:

• Exercise more.
• Eat better.
• Drink & Smoke less.
• Read at least one book a month.
• Write a damn book instead of just talking about it.

It will come as no surprise that these are pretty much exactly the same resolutions that I had last year. Here's hoping that I am more succesful at completing them this year.

Happy New Year everyone.

Twas the night before the night before Christmas...

This last fortnight I have been reading Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", I got the same buzz from reading it that I got when I first read "Catch 22" (otherwise known in my little world as The Greatest Book Ever Written). Then, with the smile fading from my face, I placed the book down upon the coffee table, and with a sad wistfulness proclaimed:

"I will never be that great"

But then a wave of realisation came upon me. It is suicidal for an aspiring writer to compare himself to his favourite writers, as I have done far too many times in the past. How many drafts did it take for the best books to become that good? Two, or ten or twenty? Did the authors have the same doubts in themselves as me? Yeah, probably.

A couple of weeks ago I promised that I would write a short story. I started it, it was ok for a first draft, but I have shelved it... For now.

I have decided to retain focus on my main ideas, I want to write the stories that really give me a buzz. As literary critic Cyril Connolly once said "It is better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self".

Luckily for me my lovely housemate Alex has got me an early Christmas present. "Teach yourself how to write a novel" by Nigel Watts, it really is brilliant and I seriously advise anyone who is thinking of becoming a writer to pick up a copy. The chapters on subplots and the eight point arc have been invaluable to me, as is the passage near the beginning which simply tells you not to ignore your ideas in favour of attempting to write something more noble, or exciting or intellectual, because the story you wind up writing will feel strained or artificial.

This week, I am going to take the daunting task of planning out my five previous ideas properly and I am just going to go with the idea that my instinct draws me to the most.

I have decided that the next book I read will be by Jilly Cooper. If after reading that I don't say to myself "I can do better than that shite, and she's sold thousands of books" then it probably is time to call it a day.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Inspiration, Coins and "Dirty Dave"

Wow, what a week it has been!

I started by working on the characterisation of the heroes from my last post, the underlying theme's that could run through these stories and the internal, external and interpersonal conflicts that will move them forward. But then they all got put on the back burner... for now.

Why?

Because, this past weekend, I have had a massive rush of inspiration that has left me, quite literally, frothing at the mouth with excitement.

Firstly, I had an idea which just snowballed. A story where the main focus is not a person but an object. This object would pass through the hands of many people over a period of time, giving me the potential to tell several stories, all losely linked by the object in question. After about ten minutes of deliberation I decided on a coin.

Why a coin?

Well, just take all the coins out of your pocket and look at the date of the oldest one. I just did, I have 3 from 1987 that have been flying around the country for 21 years. How many hands have they passed through on their journey from the mint to me?
How many stories could those coins tell?

Many street magicians use coins in there performances, so there's one character. Coins are used to practice sleight of hand by thieves and pickpockets, another character. Poker players use the coin roll as a way to unsettle their opponents, and obviously there are numismatists and coin collectors. That's four characters without even trying!

I can go into theme's like fate, chance, destiny (no they are not all the same thing), and by having a character make decisions with the flip of a coin I can go into the very nature of free will as well. As there are two sides to a coin I can bring duality into the equation: good and evil, yin and yang, mind and matter, I could go on...

By going over a large period of time (say the 50's to the present) I can contrast the vast social, cultural, economic and political changes that have happened in the last 50-60 years.

I haven't decided yet whether to use anthropomorphism or personification as a plot device and give the coin itself an awareness or personality. For example, whenever the coin is flipped it literally makes the decision for its owner... It may be a step too far.

So yeah, I'm excited about that one.

Secondly, I have stumbled upon a little known but fascinating figure from the Old West - Dave Rudabaugh.

"Dirty Dave" was an outlaw of limited fame himself but he crossed paths with many of the Old West's most famous individuals:

• He was, at one time or another, a member of the Dodge City Gang, Bily the Kid's Gang and Ike Clanton's Cowboys - and during his time in Dodge City became friends with Jesse James.
• It is rumoured that he taught Doc Holliday how to use a pistol while Doc taught him how to play cards.
• He fought on the losing side in the Railroad Wars, the Gunfight at the OK Corral and the Battle of Iron Springs, but survived them all,
• He is also the only outlaw to have been captured by lawmen Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, and Bat Masterson.

Many accounts of Dave Rudabaugh are of failed train robberies and getting caught by the law, leading me to believe he was a little inept as a criminal. I think that this could make a half decent comedy mini-series, Deadwood meets Maverick if you will... Not that I know anything about screenplays!

And now to the nitty gritty, procrastination being the thief of time and what not. I am now very aware that for all my jibberings and jabberings these last three weeks I am yet to actually put pen to paper.

This time next week I will definitely have written something. I think I need to do a bit more preperation and research for my main idea's, but I will have written at least a short story or poem which I will put in my next post. Oh lucky you!

But until then... Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Rip-offs, Reality TV and Remakes

As I said last week the ideas that I have for plots and stories come pretty easy to me, but tying them all together coherently has been a problem. I've had a load of idea's recently that I am going to share and hopefully one of these will be worth working on in the near future.

So why am I not scared that people may steal my idea's if I put them online?

Because every idea that I am ever going to have for the writing of a story has already been written a million times before and will be written a million times again, but the essence of the characters and the spirit of the writing will come directly from the writer... and no one can steal that.

Also I don't expect anyone to read this anyway...

My first idea, for example, has been done to death countless times - a cop in a cat and mouse game with a serial killer.

But I am going to tweak the formula a little, it won't be as black and white as that. The cop is working on the serial killers case but the killer leaves no clues beyond his calling card, frustrated the cop uses the killers MO to get rid of criminals who have got away with crimes on technicalities (therefore becoming a criminal himself). As a result messing with the killers grand plan the cop becomes a target of the killer...

I am going to have to give a bit more thought to the killer, I don't like 2D villains and I need to find a way to make him/her more complex or sympathetic... watch this space.

My next idea focuses on a former reality TV contestant whose star is waning, and becomes involved with a group of anarcho-terrorists who challenge the authority of the totalitarian government. The guy doesn't believe in their principles and is just using them to keep himself in the public eye, the anarchists are just using him to further their political agenda.

I am going to use multiple points of view to tell this story, one from the point of view of the media, following the story from a tabloid's-eye-view. Another is from the point of view of the leader of the government. As I said earlier I don't like 2D villains, this guy will be a fascist, but he truly believes in fascism and doesn't understand why people oppose him. He just wishes to be accepted and loved by his people because he believes he is doing what is best for them. This means that I am going to have to adopt the mindset of a fascist, there may be danger of me going native. So if you see me in the future walking down the street with a skinhead and a swastika tattoo, just shoot me... its the kindest thing to do.

Lastly, I am going to rewrite Shakespeare and set it in my beloved hometown of Manchester. It is about the dangers of a lust for power and the betrayal of friends. I am going to call it Mancbeth... no really!

So that's just a few idea's, they aren't really thought out properly and need a lot of work, but its a start.

Exit, pursued by a bear.