Writing Goals and Resolutions - July Update

Here we go with July's update on my writing goals for 2009, and my general New Year resolutions. This month has been very much up and down for me, and this is reflected in my goals again - more misses than hits I'm afraid.

Writing Goals

• Write every day, aiming for a minimum of two pages each day.
  I'm beginning to start looking at the creative page again. I'm writing my Sunday column, and I've been writing the odd little snippet, but my main focus has been on the anthology and associated work. Well, what focus I have left. I'm looking at a new outlet for my creativity though, whilst blocked as a writer. I used to paint. This week I picked up some acrylics and pastels, and I'm going back to that. We'll see if that helps me.
  
• Compile an electronic anthology of my best short stories from 2008.
  Last month I said I didn't think I'd see this happening, but I still think I'd like to do something with these stories. They were good, and I think with a little polish they could shine.
  
• Launch the Chinese Whispers anthology.
  Well, it looks like the website is completed and we're hoping to be launching the anthology in November!
  
• Enter six writing contests.
  Still only two. Missed most deadlines, but there are still one or two that are out there. Again, with focus being on the anthology, I'm unlikely to hit this.
  
• Complete two manuscripts to a publishable standard.
  Oh Long Watch. How I have neglected thee!
  
• Participate in, and complete, NaNoWriMo 2009.
  3 months to go. Yikes!

New Year Resolutions

• Read at least one book per month.
  Books read this month - Tales of Ordinary Madness by Charles Bukowski, Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham.
  
• Get my 5k time down to 18 minutes.
  
• Run the BUPA London 10,000 in 45 minutes.
  
• Take part in a half-marathon in late summer.
  
• Take part in a full-marathon at the end of the year.
  All of these goals came off the rails due to my accident. I'm sorely missing running, and I'm going to start very gently running for very short distances to see how my back takes to it - if all is good, I'll extend my distances.

Small changes From Write Anything - 12 April 09

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on April 12, 2009. The original text can be found here.

Small changes

Let me share with you something I saw recently:

Distractions. There are many distractions in life. Some are unavoidable. We all have other commitments. But some distractions are very avoidable, and it is these distractions that prevent us from achieving that which we need to achieve.

I've spoken in the past about the benefits of simplifying. Small changes can make a big difference.

I made a small change recently, and it may sound silly, but it has worked. I changed fonts.

Have you ever sat down in front of your computer, and agonised over which font is best to use? Started to change fonts back and forth, trying to find the best one? That's a distraction – shouldn't you have been writing rather than worrying about the appearance.

So I switched to something simple. Courier. It is clean, it is simple, and it looks like I'm using a typewriter. And you know what? Since switching to Courier I've started writing more. Perhaps it is the psychological effect – if it looks like I'm using a typewriter, then the writing feels more "real". Perhaps it is the starkness of the font that helps me focus on creating the words, instead of creating the look. Whatever the reason, it works for me.

It is amazing how one tiny little shift in behaviour can break you from complacency. Take some time to assess your own writing habits and see if you can identify one change, no matter how small or how crazy it seems, that could reap you benefits. It can be as crazy as switching fonts like me, or perhaps as drastic as this guy.

Hmmm, maybe his second suggestion is better...

A comment on commenting

One spam comment gets your comment deleted.

Seven spam comments in under four minutes, all from the same IP and e-mail address, gets you reported to Haloscan, and a lifetime IP address ban from coming to this site.

That is all.

God from the machine From Write Anything - 5 April 09

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on April 05, 2009. The original text can be found here. A little later than normally posted, should have been posted on Sunday, for which I apologise.

God from the machine

Are you a lazy writer? Are you a writer with no sense of plot, no respect for their readership, who ruins a story by resorting to the use of a deus ex machina?

Chances are that if you write about magic or fantasy, or have "godly" characters in your story, then yes, you are. Lazy, disrespectful and a poor author.

At least, that appears to be the opinion if you look at some of the reaction to the final episode of Battlestar Galactica aired recently in the US.

As an urban fantasy writer who's stories feature demons, angels, monsters and gods, I'm a little insulted by the insinuation that I'm lazy and disrespectful.

For those who have not yet seen the final episode of BSG, the ending has upset more than a few fans, both casual and hardcore, who have viewed it as a betrayal of the high quality writing and storylines that had been the hallmark of the series.

One of the criticisms levelled at it, is that after so much build up, it quickly resolved the plot points by resorting to a quite literal deus ex machina. Now, resorting to a deus ex machina is (rightly in my opinion) criticised as a sign of weak writing.

But the criticisms of the final episode of BSG have gone beyond that. They don't just criticise the specific plot resolutions. Some commentators have decried the use of religion, deities, magic, and by extension fantasy as cheating. That if you can make up the rules of how your world works, then somehow that is lazy and doesn't respect your readership.

Excuse me? Tolkien, a lazy writer? I think not. Whilst I agree that if you paint yourself into a corner with your plot, then it is lazy to suddenly produce a magic item that resolves all difficulties. But if you create a fantasy world that presupposes the fantastical and the magical as an actual reality, then to rely on these elements to drive the plot is no more "lazy" than to rely on emotions and motivations in any other story, so long as you remain consistent to the internal logic of the story or world you have created. That is what separates a deus ex machina from a more acceptable, albeit fantastical ending – the extraordinary event or item is in-keeping with, and respects the reality created.

It is highly uncharitable to dismiss the fantastic as lazy and disrespectful. To do so is to dismiss the work of hundreds of writers who's work relies on the supernatural, the religious, the magical. Yes, there can be lazy writers, lazy endings – but these are problems that affect all writing, and are not peculiar to the genre.

Maybe the criticism is the explicitly spiritual ending to a previously hard sci-fi story. Again, this doesn't wash with me - Star Wars took a highly spiritual and mystical element and wove it in with unashamedly hard sci-fi. BSG is steeped in biblical references, and so the religious nature of the ending should have been no surprise to those who spotted the references, particularly for those who remember the original series.

It may have been disappointing. It may have been unexpected. It may even have been a lazy deus ex machina. But to dismiss the entire corpus of horror, fantasy and spirituality because one prime time show disappointed is just lazy criticism.

How embarrassing....

When your recording equipment has a very large spider's web hanging between microphone and pop filter, you know it has been a little too long since you last recorded a podcast...

Might record one tomorrow, I have a few ideas for another Write Anything podcast.

I've had suggestions that my recent memory slips might make for an interesting story - certainly I've explored memory (both real and false) in a story from last year that I've been wanting to get back to. This cigar smoking alter ego I've created could well be the model for Adam in that story.

In other news, the Chinese Whisperings anthology project is gathering pace. Despite my external appearances, I am actually quite excited about this, and I'm frustrated with myself that I'm not able to push myself further into it. The website is really taking shape well (all hail Dale Challener Roe and his l33t webskillz!) and we've got some interesting ideas about subsequent anthologies. So, if anyone wants to take part in future editions, contact either me or my co-editor Jodi Cleghorn.

Tricksy brain...

The human mind is an extraordinary thing, and whilst in terms of creating fiction and capturing it on the page, mine appears to have become somewhat useless, it is nice to see that my mind is still capable of invention.

As if to compensate the massive gaps that are opening up in my memory - and let me tell you that not being able to remember what you did the previous day is a distinctly unpleasant sensation - my mind has decided to begin creating false memories that are somewhat confusing.

Late last week I had the sudden urge to buy some cigars, as it had been some years since I had last smoked a cigar, and as I used to be a fairly regular cigar smoker, I was missing it. Since I'm not running, and I don't have many pleasures to occupy my mind at the moment, this seemed an excellent plan.

A little niggle at the back of my mind made me check something though. If I was a regular cigar smoker, why couldn't I remember why I had stopped?

Upon checking I discovered that, contrary to what my mind was telling me, I have never smoked a cigar in my life.

I don't know what triggered it, but boom, there you go, in one instant a non-smoker became a heavy cigar smoker with a desperate craving.

I'm assured that this is just a combination of the depression and side effects from the drugs, but I'm not exactly enthused by the prospect of no longer being able to trust my own thoughts.

Influence From Write Anything - 29 March 09

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on March 29, 2009. The original text can be found here.

Influence

Consciously or not, we are all of us influenced by the work of others. Which authors writers do you bear a debt of gratitude to?

Anyone who has read my columns will by now know that one of my major influences was Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was an eclectic author of satire, poetry, crime, detective drama, but is best known for his Gothic horror and macabre short stories. I grew up with these, and Poe has had a palpable influence on the thematic content of my work.

He had a similar heady influence on another writer to influence me, H P Lovecraft. Lovecraft created an entire reality (or unreality) of creatures, gods to the mortal world, a mythos that has been adopted and used by a raft of writers after him. I came to Lovecraft's work comparatively late, but the effect was immediate, so much so that I have now explicitly set my own Long Watch story arc within the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos.

As a departure from the horrific, British writer Terry Pratchett has been part of my reading life since I was in my early teens. Pratchett's Discworld is a fantasy world that is an eerie parallel of ours, part steam-punk, part magic, Pratchett has created a world that satirises our own with such sardonic wit that I frequently have to stop reading as I am laughing too much to focus on the words. Pratchett does not shy away from powerful issues (recent books have focused on racism, war, corruption etc) but demonstrates the power of humour to tackle social issues. Even in quite serious pieces, I try to make room for at least some light touches of humour.

Which writers have had the most influence on your work?

Your opinion is needed!

***EDITED 8 JULY 2009***

Sorry folks, I hadn't realised that the poll would only allow 20 questions. There are now TWO polls, twelve questions each. PLEASE VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE QUESTIONS FROM BOTH POLLS.

Apologies to those who have voted already, please vote again, while I moan about technology...

Those paying attention will know that I have an anthology project in the works called Chinese Whisperings with my long time collaborator (and co-editor) Jodi Cleghorn and eight other writers.

Biography pages will soon be added to the site, and each week one writer will become the spotlight writer for a week. As part of this, and as a fun way to get to know the writers, we'll be answering five questions from a list of 24. Taking a leaf out of Jodi's book, I thought I would leave the choice of which questions to answer open to you, the readers/stalkers of this blog.

So, there's a poll there are two polls following with the 24 questions. I'd like you to tick the questions that most interest you, and the five with the most votes will be the ones I select to answer. As for the other questions? I might decide to give you the answers to them at a later date.

So please, if you would be so kind, get voting! And if you think anyone else would be interested, feel free to share, Digg, Tweet, Stumble etc the link to this post.

Thanks guys!

Which questions should Paul answer for the Chinese Whisperings Anthology? (Part 1)

Pick one book from each decade of your life. Who would you like to give that book to and why?

Which book do you wish you had written?

Would you rather have critical acclaim, or commercial success?

What was the first story you remember doing for the sheer joy of writing (ie It wasn’t a school project or homework!) and how old were you?

What was it that you read that made you want to write your own fiction? Why do you think it had that effect on you?

Looking at the fiction you’ve written to date, what kind of things does your work explore?

Do you write for a living or do you have a day job?

What do you love about writing?

Are there any other writers in your family?

What was the last book you read and why did you choose it?

What book are you currently reading? What do you like/hate most about it?

What is your favourite short story and why?

uggs

Which questions should Paul answer for the Chinese Whisperings Anthology? (Part 2)

Do you have a favourite place to write? If so where is it?

What has been your favourite story to write to date?

Where do you get your inspiration for stories and characters?

Which has been your favourite character to bring to life? What is it about that character you are most drawn to?

What is the worst "knock" you’ve had to recover from as a writer?

Who have been your mentors?

When do you normally do your writing? What do you most like/dislike about writing then?

If you could meet any published writer (dead or alive) who would it be and why?

Who are your favourite authors and why?

If you could trade places with any fictional character (yours or someone else's) who would it be and why?

What is the easiest element of writing for you? What is the hardest?

What advice would you gift your 18 year old self about writing?

ugg boots

Gender and literature From Write Anything - 22 March 09

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on March 22, 2009. The original text can be found here.

Gender and literature

Recently I had a conversation with someone who had come across my website. They asked if I was targeting a male audience in particular, as my writing seemed masculine in subject matter and style. As I pointed out in my blog, I'm not consciously targeting either male or female readers, although it has worked out that my "masculine" style has attracted a largely female audience!

But to complicate matters, there is the GenderAnalyzer, a software program that uses a text classifier, trained on blogs written by men and women, to determine whether a blog has been written by a man or a woman.

For both my writing blog and The Long Watch GenderAnalyzer correctly identified the author (me!) as male – but only just, declaring them both to be fairly gender neutral at 59% for my blog, and only 51% for The Long Watch (results reflect percentage certainty of gender based on text, results may vary as text changes over the life of the blogs).

Certain genres have traditionally been gender-biased, whether in readership or authorship. Mary Anne Evans had to write as George Elliot to be taken seriously, and there is anecdotal evidence that male romance writers sell better under a female pen-name. Earlier this month the Guardian newspaper wondered if the gender of an author makes us view the work of that author differently. As an experiment, think of well known authors and see if you would view their work differently if they were the other gender. Teri Pratchett, Stephanie King, Adrian Niffenegger, Simon Plath?

Would The Long Watch have more male readers if it were written by Pauline Anderson?