Okay let’s get the laughter out of the way whilst I lose all my intellectual credibility. I do a LOT of the research for my writing on Wikipedia… Yes I take my information from a less than reliable source which can be edited by anyone and the facts are not checked properly if at all. I am aware of all of this.
I compare my use of Wikipedia with my love of Marvel comics and WWE wrestling. (Bear with me I may ramble) Many of my friends, reasonable people, often intellectuals and deep thinkers in their own right, watch shitty soap operas and reality TV shows. Can’t bear them myself but the principle is the same. WWE is my soap opera, everyone needs something where they can just switch off and kill a few meaningless hours, it’s how I unwind.
The story writing in WWE varies from just above average with enough genuine surprises to keep me interested to abysmal. But I watch it for the action, the slams, the big falls, the blood and the glory. (Before you start I am not an infant, yes the matches are scripted and they know how to fall but just because you know you are about to fall of a 10 foot ladder does not mean it won’t hurt. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK! Anyone who disagrees with me I challenge to take a bump themselves… No scratch that I challenge you to a match, name the place and time brother, because I am the best there is, there best there was and the best there ever will be. And that’s the bottom line cos Luke Warm says so… Ahem… Sorry)
Where was I? Oh yeah, After getting into one wrestling promotion I started looking at the others, WCW, TNA, ROH, CZW and other such acronyms, all of which with something different to offer whether it be well written story lines, more violent action, high concept main events, they all offered something different to WWE that made them worth watching and eventually WWE nicked the best idea’s… Because they could I suppose. It is all crap of course. But it is MY crap, and I love it.
By the same token Marvel comics have created some of the best, and worst, storylines and characters in comic book fiction. With Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers and The X-Men Marvel had created heroes that were flawed and had real problems, whether it was partners, family or money, the villains were almost just a bonus obstacle to overcome whilst they were job/house hunting, whatever. This was so much better than the likes of the holier than thou heroes like Superman with their perfect lives. Oh, go stick some Kryptonite up your arse.
Marvel comics are far from perfect. Particularly in the 90’s the plots became convoluted and you were unable to just “dip out” and come back later. Often there would be “universe-wide” conflicts which would involve you having to get scores of comics starring all the heroes to be able to get the full picture of what is going on. Like with WWE, I went forth to see what else was out there.
If I had never started on comics I would have missed out on amazing graphic novels (comics if you must) like Preacher, The Walking Dead, Y the Last Man, The Watchmen, The Sandman, Powers… I could go on… And on… Ad nauseum.
I guess what I am trying to say is, like with WWE and Marvel, Wikipedia is my jumping off point for information. It is where I start when I need to learn more about any given subject. I am not daft enough to take everything on the site as Gospel, but it points me in the right direction of where I need to look to go deeper, and occasionally I find some real gems.
Right I am now off to fight against the evil demons that have my beloved muse captured in a pit of despair.
FLAME ON!
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Tuesday 11 August 2009
Affirmation
Hey all,
Soooo yeah, back in the swing of things now got a fair bit jotted down, expanding on themes, characters, plot and sub plots and felling pretty damn good about it too.
Problem being for each minor tweak I make, for each slight modification to character, I have to go back and rewrite what I have done so that everything measures up.
My habit of constantly re-writing my work has reminded me of the story of the never-ending novel...
"There was once a novelist who wrote a very long book. It took him ten years of hard work. When he reached the end and read back what he had written, he realized that he was no longer the person of ten years ago. His wisdom had deepened, his skill had increased. And so he sat down to rewrite the book. Ten more years passed. When he reached the end of this second draft, he read back what he had written. Again, he realized that he was no longer the person who had begun the rewrite. His wisdom was deeper still, his skill more profound. And so he sat down to rewrite it a third time..."
In an effort to stop messing about with my book I have put the first chapter up for consideration on enovella.co.uk. If you are feeling particularly curious you may see this first draft at http://enovella.co.uk/read.php?work=1701
There have been a couple of nice comments posted about it so far… Both from the same person but it still counts.
Hope you enjoy.
Soooo yeah, back in the swing of things now got a fair bit jotted down, expanding on themes, characters, plot and sub plots and felling pretty damn good about it too.
Problem being for each minor tweak I make, for each slight modification to character, I have to go back and rewrite what I have done so that everything measures up.
My habit of constantly re-writing my work has reminded me of the story of the never-ending novel...
"There was once a novelist who wrote a very long book. It took him ten years of hard work. When he reached the end and read back what he had written, he realized that he was no longer the person of ten years ago. His wisdom had deepened, his skill had increased. And so he sat down to rewrite the book. Ten more years passed. When he reached the end of this second draft, he read back what he had written. Again, he realized that he was no longer the person who had begun the rewrite. His wisdom was deeper still, his skill more profound. And so he sat down to rewrite it a third time..."
In an effort to stop messing about with my book I have put the first chapter up for consideration on enovella.co.uk. If you are feeling particularly curious you may see this first draft at http://enovella.co.uk/read.php?work=1701
There have been a couple of nice comments posted about it so far… Both from the same person but it still counts.
Hope you enjoy.
Friday 31 July 2009
Bah and indeed Humbug!
Okay lets get the crap out of the way...
Not updated my blog for a bit as my posts would consist of "not done much writing really, doubting my ability, struggling to get motivated, blah blah blah..."
Lets face it, that is crap and boring to write about so it is hardly going to interesting to read.
So basically I told my bosses to stick their job in April and was gainfully unemployed until recently and have been focusing more on getting money - you know so I can eat and live and stuff - not a lot of time left for writing.
Next week I am off from Monday through to Thursday so much writing will be done next week.
I have not been a completely lazy tool; the writing that I have been doing is less plot focused and more character based, not bad, pretty happy with it to be honest.
I have finished "The Corrections" which has given me a few ideas about the structure of my own work. The book focuses five different plot threads each one from the point of view of a different family member. In mine I have three plot threads, (mainly because my sub plot's have spun wildly out of control) so reading that has been helpful in the extreme.
I am now tackling "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis, great so far but I have only just started it so we will see how that goes.
Enter the dragon.
Exit Kieren King.
Not updated my blog for a bit as my posts would consist of "not done much writing really, doubting my ability, struggling to get motivated, blah blah blah..."
Lets face it, that is crap and boring to write about so it is hardly going to interesting to read.
So basically I told my bosses to stick their job in April and was gainfully unemployed until recently and have been focusing more on getting money - you know so I can eat and live and stuff - not a lot of time left for writing.
Next week I am off from Monday through to Thursday so much writing will be done next week.
I have not been a completely lazy tool; the writing that I have been doing is less plot focused and more character based, not bad, pretty happy with it to be honest.
I have finished "The Corrections" which has given me a few ideas about the structure of my own work. The book focuses five different plot threads each one from the point of view of a different family member. In mine I have three plot threads, (mainly because my sub plot's have spun wildly out of control) so reading that has been helpful in the extreme.
I am now tackling "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis, great so far but I have only just started it so we will see how that goes.
Enter the dragon.
Exit Kieren King.
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Victory!
All is well again in the world of Kieren.
My work has been salvaged, backed-up, printed off, not going to leave anything to chance.
Going through what I have written so far I felt that something was missing, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The writing was okay, dialogue was a little flat in places but nothing major, the characters were different and interesting, I had enough twists and cliffhangers to make it exciting... So what was wrong?
Well eventually I figured out that I had ignored my unifying theme, my centralised idea that was supposed to run through all the different plot threads making everything flow correctly. Not just a bunch of stories that just so happen to link slightly as the story progresses.
The theme is the effect of religion on society, both the positive and negative aspects. Celebrity worship being a new religion, the serial killer's murders have a ritual to them, the main characters have religious backgrounds... some have turned their back on their upbringing, some haven't.
But I have made one major change; the character of Sam Worthington has become Samir Begum. Sam was always intended to be a gay character, but when I thought about what I wanted to do with the character it made more sense to make the character Muslim. It helps me illustrate my point that you can choose not to drink, to only eat halal meat never to eat pork, but you cannot change who you are. I need to do a LOT more research on Islam before I continue writing this character (http://www.imaan.org.uk/ has been very helpful so far) otherwise I am going to come across as ignorant and ill-informed.
So off to the grindstone. Until next time.
My work has been salvaged, backed-up, printed off, not going to leave anything to chance.
Going through what I have written so far I felt that something was missing, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The writing was okay, dialogue was a little flat in places but nothing major, the characters were different and interesting, I had enough twists and cliffhangers to make it exciting... So what was wrong?
Well eventually I figured out that I had ignored my unifying theme, my centralised idea that was supposed to run through all the different plot threads making everything flow correctly. Not just a bunch of stories that just so happen to link slightly as the story progresses.
The theme is the effect of religion on society, both the positive and negative aspects. Celebrity worship being a new religion, the serial killer's murders have a ritual to them, the main characters have religious backgrounds... some have turned their back on their upbringing, some haven't.
But I have made one major change; the character of Sam Worthington has become Samir Begum. Sam was always intended to be a gay character, but when I thought about what I wanted to do with the character it made more sense to make the character Muslim. It helps me illustrate my point that you can choose not to drink, to only eat halal meat never to eat pork, but you cannot change who you are. I need to do a LOT more research on Islam before I continue writing this character (http://www.imaan.org.uk/ has been very helpful so far) otherwise I am going to come across as ignorant and ill-informed.
So off to the grindstone. Until next time.
Saturday 6 June 2009
Disaster
Oh boy... Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
I had an amazingly productive week, improvements were made to chapters 1-3, 5 & 6, chapters 7 & 8 were drafted and I was really happy with the content. I pressed save and... SAVE ERROR.
"No, no, no, no, no. Do. Not. Do. That."
I lost it... all. Chapters 1-6 were salvaged because I had already printed them off but everything that I had written in the last week had gone. Poof. Bye bye.
Needless to say I was not in the best mood yesterday.
Today I have gone back to the old fashioned pen & paper method. Chapters 7 & 8 have been salvaged from my memory, I managed to recover the amendments that I made to chapters 1 & 2. So it's not the end of the world, but I am going to have to spend the next few days re-typing everything. Fun times.
Well, I'd better get cracking. Hopefully next week happier things will be blogged & I will be up to chapter 10... Hopefully.
I had an amazingly productive week, improvements were made to chapters 1-3, 5 & 6, chapters 7 & 8 were drafted and I was really happy with the content. I pressed save and... SAVE ERROR.
"No, no, no, no, no. Do. Not. Do. That."
I lost it... all. Chapters 1-6 were salvaged because I had already printed them off but everything that I had written in the last week had gone. Poof. Bye bye.
Needless to say I was not in the best mood yesterday.
Today I have gone back to the old fashioned pen & paper method. Chapters 7 & 8 have been salvaged from my memory, I managed to recover the amendments that I made to chapters 1 & 2. So it's not the end of the world, but I am going to have to spend the next few days re-typing everything. Fun times.
Well, I'd better get cracking. Hopefully next week happier things will be blogged & I will be up to chapter 10... Hopefully.
Saturday 30 May 2009
Characters
Six chapters in and I couldn't be happier with how this is going. I am still a long way from the finish line but everything is moving along nicely.
As I mentioned previously my characters are beginning to come alive, beginning to act on their own. I have divided them up for you into protagonists and antagonists. (All names are just working names and are subject to change)
Protagonists:
Sidney Hollinger: The hero of the piece, killed in a hit and run accident Hollinger has come back from the dead with psychic powers and he doesn't know why. He was a rebellious youth but has worked all his life in menial work being beaten down by the system unable to change anything. The main thrust of the story is his journey from someone who is submissive and events carry him along into a strong individual who takes charge of his life. I have put a lot of myself into this character even though he is a good twelve years older than me. I tried to imagine what I would be like if I had stayed in my dead end office job. I have also used Winston Smith from Nineteen Eighty-Four and Bernard Marx from Brave New World as inspiration for this character.
Nick: The mysterious stranger who knows a lot more than he is letting on. He helps Hollinger discover and use his powers and he is not what he appears to be.
WPC Hayes: This heroine is damaged goods, abused as a child she threw herself into the police for what she sees as all the right reasons. She is willing to go to lengths that the other heroes may not.
Sam Worthington: A journalist, confident, cocky and naive. This character is the me that was. An uber lefty, he sees the way of the world as a problem that can be fixed, he hasn't yet been disillusioned. And that is all you are getting on this guy, there are twists coming up that I am NOT going to reveal in this blog.
Leonard Noone: A reality TV star whose actions - although they seem irrelevant at the time - have a massive impact. He suffers from depression and sex and drug addictions. His story is one of redemption.
Antagonists:
The Praying Mantis: A serial killer whose actions bring the cast of protagonists together.
Gabriel: Quite literally the angel of death. Hollinger has cheated him and he is out to get his soul.
The Government: Yes I know that old chestnut. The backdrop of the story is a pre-dystopia, the events leading up to a Big Brother style dictatorship taking control. I believe that it adds a bit more flavour to the world I have created and if I write a sequel - I have a whole "Hollinger Trilogy" planned out - they will have a more central role as the villains.
So yeah, all in all it is going really well. I still reckon that I won't be finished this year but if I am going to do this I need to do it properly.
Hasta la vista, baby.
As I mentioned previously my characters are beginning to come alive, beginning to act on their own. I have divided them up for you into protagonists and antagonists. (All names are just working names and are subject to change)
Protagonists:
Sidney Hollinger: The hero of the piece, killed in a hit and run accident Hollinger has come back from the dead with psychic powers and he doesn't know why. He was a rebellious youth but has worked all his life in menial work being beaten down by the system unable to change anything. The main thrust of the story is his journey from someone who is submissive and events carry him along into a strong individual who takes charge of his life. I have put a lot of myself into this character even though he is a good twelve years older than me. I tried to imagine what I would be like if I had stayed in my dead end office job. I have also used Winston Smith from Nineteen Eighty-Four and Bernard Marx from Brave New World as inspiration for this character.
Nick: The mysterious stranger who knows a lot more than he is letting on. He helps Hollinger discover and use his powers and he is not what he appears to be.
WPC Hayes: This heroine is damaged goods, abused as a child she threw herself into the police for what she sees as all the right reasons. She is willing to go to lengths that the other heroes may not.
Sam Worthington: A journalist, confident, cocky and naive. This character is the me that was. An uber lefty, he sees the way of the world as a problem that can be fixed, he hasn't yet been disillusioned. And that is all you are getting on this guy, there are twists coming up that I am NOT going to reveal in this blog.
Leonard Noone: A reality TV star whose actions - although they seem irrelevant at the time - have a massive impact. He suffers from depression and sex and drug addictions. His story is one of redemption.
Antagonists:
The Praying Mantis: A serial killer whose actions bring the cast of protagonists together.
Gabriel: Quite literally the angel of death. Hollinger has cheated him and he is out to get his soul.
The Government: Yes I know that old chestnut. The backdrop of the story is a pre-dystopia, the events leading up to a Big Brother style dictatorship taking control. I believe that it adds a bit more flavour to the world I have created and if I write a sequel - I have a whole "Hollinger Trilogy" planned out - they will have a more central role as the villains.
So yeah, all in all it is going really well. I still reckon that I won't be finished this year but if I am going to do this I need to do it properly.
Hasta la vista, baby.
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Between the Spirit & the Dust
Wow - what a week!
Anyone who follows me on Twitter will already know that I have suffered from writers block recently; I couldn't seem to get anything down on the page. But the last few days something just clicked and I couldn't stop writing if I tried. First drafts of chapters 2 and 3 are done I am half way through chapter 4.
I have had to change the title of the book. "Sympathy for the Devil" is already taken, not just by any writer but by Holly Lisle whose workshops and web pages I use as a resource regularly (if you are interested in becoming a writer I strongly recommend visiting http://hollylisle.com/)
The working title is now "Between the Spirit & the Dust". It is a reference this Emily Dickinson poem:
Death is a Dialogue between
The Spirit and the Dust.
"Dissolve" says Death -- The Spirit "Sir
I have another Trust" --
Death doubts it -- Argues from the Ground --
The Spirit turns away
Just laying off for evidence
An Overcoat of Clay.
Next week I will give a bit more of an insight to my characters, but right now I am going to crack on with finishing chapter 4. Strike whilst the iron is hot so they say. Whoever they are.
Anyone who follows me on Twitter will already know that I have suffered from writers block recently; I couldn't seem to get anything down on the page. But the last few days something just clicked and I couldn't stop writing if I tried. First drafts of chapters 2 and 3 are done I am half way through chapter 4.
I have had to change the title of the book. "Sympathy for the Devil" is already taken, not just by any writer but by Holly Lisle whose workshops and web pages I use as a resource regularly (if you are interested in becoming a writer I strongly recommend visiting http://hollylisle.com/)
The working title is now "Between the Spirit & the Dust". It is a reference this Emily Dickinson poem:
Death is a Dialogue between
The Spirit and the Dust.
"Dissolve" says Death -- The Spirit "Sir
I have another Trust" --
Death doubts it -- Argues from the Ground --
The Spirit turns away
Just laying off for evidence
An Overcoat of Clay.
Next week I will give a bit more of an insight to my characters, but right now I am going to crack on with finishing chapter 4. Strike whilst the iron is hot so they say. Whoever they are.
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