Wednesday, September 22, 2004Moving discoveries...It's always good to try and find the positives in stunningly boring tasks. I'm moving house on Friday and have been facing the mind-numbing work that is packing. As always, it leads to long periods looking at empty boxes and wishing Mary Poppins was on hand to help out filling them up. But it also forces you to look through everything you've accumulated and bring it or sling it. I've found some great stuff... When I was plenty younger, I owned a couple of synthesisers and a drum machine and used to compose lyrics and (some) music. I found my old folder in a trunk. And you know what? Some of those lyrics aren't bad. A little pompous seeing as I was in an Ultravox phase and dealing more often than not with terribly depressing subjects like loss and death but still, not bad for a spotty herbert. Far more entertainingly though, I found my two first stabs at long-fiction. One written when I was 13, the other at about 16. The first, 'Troja: Dawn' is notable mainly because of the comment my English teacher, the splendid Stuart Widd, added to the end of it. He noted that he enjoyed the story but that the killing off of a major character half way through was rather a surprise. As readers of The Raven will know, something just stay with you, don't they? The second, 'What price civilisation?' is a terrifically awful piece of work notable for its derivative nature and its natty hand-drawn cover which I have a feeling is in fact a sketch of Elric's soul-stealing blade. Mind you, it was the fore-runner of my first full length MSS, 'The All-God's Gift' so it stil retains a place in my affections and will always be a source of cheer and comedy. Found my old paintball gun too, a pump action Line SI Bushmaster... used to be top of the range when I was playing for The Turks back in the late 80s and very early 90s. Utterly obselete now but it brings back fine memories of the characters that were around the game at the time. I'd experiment to see if it worked if I could only remember how to screw the bloody thing together. Thank heavens I'm a hoarder... Wednesday, September 15, 2004The benefit of introspectionI wrote at the end of August about a crisis of confidence and the examination of the work I'd done on my new book. It was an uncomfortable exercise but, ultimately, has been very valuable. Not least in my mind has been the benefit of being that bit inward looking, even if only briefly. It's like a sanity check. There you go, writing away and thinking it's all good for the final draft and then you get the alarm, look back and begin to question. It's been an education. First, it's made me question, critique and improve the overall structure of the novel. Second, it's forced me to examine the characters, how they develop on the page rather than how I imagine them to have done. And third, it's given me enormous fresh impetus. It's like seeing the path after the mist has risen. It's shown me I can achieve what I want and know how to get there. In short, a little introspection has been a massive benefit. What's that cliche about stepping back to go forward. True in this instance. Wednesday, September 08, 2004Website forumJust a quickie (oo err, obviously). I just wanted to publish a note of thanks to all those who have signed up for and are using the new forum on the website. It's been great to swap posts with people, read some very interesting thoughts and get criticism of my work so far. And heavens, it isn't always good criticism. Whatever next? A bit like this journal, I can't concentrate on it all the time but its value is growing day by day. Many thanks to you all. Friday, September 03, 2004Demonstorm out... emails inOne of the very gratifying things about being an author is the heartfelt emails and messages I receive from readers and fans. Of course by default, I'm unlikely to get too much abuse via website mail so yes, I know it can give a skewed view. But the fact that people have taken the time to write and say how much they've enjoyed something I've done is very special and frankly, makes the grind (and it occasionally is that) worthwhile. Never more so than this week. Readers of my last post will have gathered that things don't necessarily always go smoothly in the writing process. Indeed on Tuesday, I uncovered more significant problems in my latest work that needed addressing and if I'd had a cat, it would have had a bruised backside from the kick. Not because I don't expect problems but because I didn't see them sooner, or had chosen not to see them until forced. It was like looking under stone after stone only to see the rot go deeper... The scale of the issues was such that it was going to take me two days to fix them all and this was at a time when I couldn't afford that sort of delay. So, somewhat despondently, I downloaded email before diving in and found two emails from people who had already read Demonstorm. Both had loved it, both had been with me through the entire series, and had taken every blow and enjoyed every triumph in The Raven experience. Timely messages indeed, reminding me that the setbacks, the irritations, the frustrations and the low moments are all part of this writer's journey through a novel. And that every single one of them is worth going through. Thank you Jessica and Adrian... your messages were more valuable than you know. |
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