tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546495618362380142024-03-04T23:44:58.903-08:00Garry’s Writing Blog<br><b>Hello and welcome to my Blog.
This, mostly, consists of my thoughts and ramblings on writing in general, and occasionally to my own writings in particular: but don’t let that put you off...</b>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-12148447835760400792013-12-19T03:09:00.002-08:002013-12-19T03:31:58.003-08:00Hello to anyone still reading this….It’s almost Christmas again and I’ve hardly written anything this year, well I’ve hardly written any fiction. I’ve been too busy with other non-fiction stuff (mostly programming related projects) and have spent a lot of my spare time on my Indie games programming.<br />
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Hopefully 2014 is the year I get my OtherWhere stories finished once and for all, maybe then I can try and actually do something with them… or not.<br />
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I don’t get book-tokens for Christmas anymore, but the pre-paid Waterstones and Smiths cards are already arriving (so I can buy myself something I’d like for Christmas), isn’t progress wonderful.<br />
Once again I can unwrap the books I’ve bought, from them to me, on the 25th and get a big surprise… well to be fair my family and friends do all know my memory is <i>really </i>bad. <br />
The thing is I’ve no idea what to get this year. There’s the latest DiskWorld book of course, but I will be getting that as part of my presents from my wife… which is why I haven’t bought it already.<br />
I’m changing jobs at the end of January as well, so I’ll probably need some more programming books, but I’m loathed to get these as someone’s present to me –looks of disappointment and confusion generally follow this, as they’ve told me to ‘buy something nice.’ <br />
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So any ideas on what good Fantasy/SF books are out there?<br />
What is Santa bringing you?Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-14448729848038968232013-10-25T04:26:00.002-07:002013-10-25T04:36:04.815-07:00Being creative…<br />
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I haven’t written much in this blog for a while, but then I
haven’t written much fiction at all for a while. It’s not that I've eventually
came to my senses, decided I'm not good enough, will never catch a break, and decided
to do something less ethereal with my limited time or anything, err nothing ‘normal’
like that… <o:p></o:p></div>
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But I have been productive. I’ve been spending most of my
free-time, which isn’t much, on my other ‘hobby’ recently… Ah, yes, you noticed
the quotes did you. I was always under the impression that hobbies were
supposed to be something you did to relax. Well my hobby is writing, writing fictional
stories, and writing computer games, the type of thing that is referred to as
Indie. And the latter has largely taken my attention away from the former over
the best part of the past year... Although I have done a bit of writing, honest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I read a few blogs on why people write recently. It’s always
an interesting subject because, although you do get the same old tropes rearing
up, every single person has a different take on what makes them write, or be
creative. I've also noticed that there seems to be an ever-increasing number of
people seriously intent on becoming a fiction Author out there. Not that I’m
saying that’s a bad thing by any means. Perhaps I lucky to have an established career
away from fiction writing, or perhaps this is a safety-net that stops me taking
it more seriously than a hobby and pipe dream. Although I honestly don’t think I’m good
enough to make a living out of it anyway, which brings me back to my other
writing hobby, writing games programs… And it is writing, and it is creative. I
program computer applications for a living and am often amazed at how dry
people perceive this to be, compared to the similarities I find with fiction
writing. You have to design things in your mind and write them out in a format
that works for other people, you have to design your output to appeal to people
and to be easy to take in and understand, and most of all you need to be
creative.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And I think that’s the root of why I like to write, it’s why
I like to make Indie computer games, and why I have an avid interest in art; and
like to draw and paint, although I’ll never be all that good; it’s because, even
though none of it is ever going to make me rich or famous, I am a naturally
creative person, and sadly not everyone is. To be honest if the point of someone’s
writing, or doing any of the things I mentioned, is solely to make money I
think they must be forcing it and surely there must be much better, and easier, ways for
most people to make money. But hay, if they have the talent and skill why not. People
do jobs they don’t particularly like every day, for most of their lives…<o:p></o:p></div>
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I'm by no means bread-line poor, and would quite like to be comfortably-well-off,
but I don’t think I’d like to be famous, and nowadays writers tend to be ‘sold’
as a commodity much more than before. I’d like to eventually finish my OtherWhere
stories in one form or another, and would be quite happy if they were moderately
successful. I still have some games to finish off, but next year will be the
year I get back to fiction writing and finish off those stories, even if nobody
else on the planet notices. I do think the ‘hobbyist’ is generally being squeezed
out, scoffed at and looked down upon a bit more in general now though,
especially in on-line writing sites. I don’t know why because some of the best literature
came from people who, at least initially, saw what they were doing as a hobby
or pastime. But if you are a serious beginner write, I sincerely wish you the
best of luck… And know you are going to need it.<o:p></o:p></div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-40011219054379707642013-05-17T03:10:00.000-07:002013-05-17T10:14:51.371-07:00Interactive Literature<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wasn’t sure whether to put this on my games blog or on here. Obviously I decided to put it here… for reasons that should hopefully become apparent…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">People have been talking about fiction becoming interactive since the inception of the ‘text-based adventure game.’ I recently come across an essay written in the 1989, purely by chance, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and soon realised that nothing much has really changed in the general public’s attitudes to this medium from then till now, which is surprising really, as our general attitudes to pretty much every other aspect of computing has changed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember spending many hours of my youth playing these text-based adventure games, and have probably spent more time on this type of program than on any other. I remember eagerly awaiting the release of the next <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams_(game_designer)" target="_blank">Scott Adams</a> Adventure game for my VIC-20, then later drooling over the hype machines from <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the likes of Level 9, Infocom, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and Magnetic Scrolls, to name but a few. And make no mistake, these games releases were major events, with many people more than ready to part with their cash for the next game in a series or for the latest brand new story. The best-selling text-based adventure games were easily amongst the bestselling entertainment software of their day, and it very much was about the story and its, often reoccurring, characters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a recognized gamming genre that only seemed set to stay and grow with time. Then everything changed. As computer gaming become gradually more mainstream the emphasis was firmly placed on graphics and easy to access gameplay. By the time of the Sony Playstation heralded in an era of 3D gameplay for everyone, the traditional text-based adventure game was already commercially dead and largely forgotten by the general games-playing public.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So was it because this medium was purely thought of as a computer-game that caused its commercial demise? Form experience I’d same many of the people who played these games, especially the later ones, had already begun to think of them as interactive stories, fiction that made the reader interact with the story in much the same way as the ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure" target="_blank">Chose your own Adventure</a>’ type game-books did. Only the electronic medium seemed much more at home using this concept, with the best programs making the interactivity seem almost seamless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The term ‘Interactive Fiction’ seems to have first come into use around the mid 1990's to 2000's and appears to have mainly come about because of the increasing mainstream use of ‘Adventure game’ to describe something very different from those early text-only programs. Personally I’ve never quite taken to the ‘Interactive Fiction’ term used to describe what I still see as text-adventure-games, although I can understand why the opinion of someone born in the 1990’s, or later, could be very different. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me a ‘text-adventure’ denotes a program with strong game elements that focus on puzzle solving to advance through the story, whereas ‘Interactive Fiction’ can be used to describe a much broader and more story-driven experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, a quick Google will reveille a thriving; albeit generally unnoticed, and commercially ignored; interactive fiction community of both writers and readers, so why isn’t this a more publically recognised media form? The medium has evolved, now ‘Interactive Fiction’ is used to describe much more story-driven, and dare I say it even ‘literary,’ works that are much more involved and fiction-Novell like than the older text-adventure games ever were. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Authors of this interactive fiction are no longer restrained by the amount of text they can use, and the parser technology (the part of the program that takes your written instructions and interprets them) is much more advanced than those early efforts ever were – although some authors have taken their cue more from the early adventure-books than from the games, and yet more have taken elements of both. Some authors have even experimented with going the browser-based hyper-text route. Nobody has ever said there was a right or wrong way to make interactive fiction, possibly because of the non-commercial underground origins of the genera. But whatever the general preconception is still seems to persist. Even although we now have the e-reader technology capable of bringing this type of fiction to the masses the commercial and general public interest just doesn’t seem to be there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again personally, I think a modern audience for the interactive Novell could be found amongst the e-Book, iPad, and phone/tablet based book readers of today, rather than market this type of fiction as a computer-game. Surely the lack of a market can’t just be down to a perception of ‘readers’ being too aloof or haughty to play a mere ‘computer game,’ an outdated idea by now surely? How many ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Layton" target="_blank">Professor Layton</a>’ puzzle games players were also avid readers? I’d be willing to bet it’s fairly high…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interactive fiction is now a genus in its own right and already has moved beyond the ‘game’ label. It’s just a pity that hardly anyone noticed…</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-62562485418228892452013-05-16T07:06:00.001-07:002013-05-16T07:06:37.328-07:00Dan Brown - An Inferno in a Tea-Cup?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ok, so I more-or-less knew what the reaction to the latest Blockbuster by Dan Brown was going to be before it was launched earlier this week. People were always going to buy this in their droves, and the ‘literary’ critics were always going to berate it as ‘badly written pulp,’ which they did – and worse. Still the book was already on Waterstones best-seller list even before it was released, due to the quantity of pre-orders… Not that you really needed to pre-order it. One day after launch I walked into Tesco’s to be greeted by a huge pile of the inferno Hardbacks, bundled up right in-front of the doors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t pick one up though, even though I have read the other three books in the series and freely admit that I quite liked them. No they won’t win a Pulitzer, but they will make an absolutely ridiculous amount of money for all concerned, and be honest, which one would you really, really like? I didn’t not buy it because of any moral or literary stance though, I didn’t buy it because I still had a couple of Waterston’s gift cards left over from Christmas, and I decided to opt for the e-reader version. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m only a little ways into the book at the time of writing this, but it’s already abundantly clear that this is exactly what I thought it would be, more of the same formula. If that sounds a bit dismissive it isn’t meant to be. As I said, I liked the formula. I liked the last books. They were simple adventurous fun ‘fluff,’ but what’s wrong with that? I liked the previous stories and I liked what I’ve read of this one. I will finish it, smile, put it down, and forget about it until the next one comes out… Just like I did with the rest, and there is nothing wrong with that. I suppose this series can be my ‘Hary Potter’ or dare I say it even my ‘Twilight’ (shudder)…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s not rocket-science, it’s not high-brow, and it probably won’t ever be seen as ‘literature’ whatever that’s meant to be. But it is a good crowed pleasing story, and yet more proof, if it were ever needed, that precise clinical ‘literary’ writing we are all told to practice isn’t necessarily what the general public (the people I actually seen one critique refer to as ‘the unwashed masses,’ tells you bucket-loads about the reviewer that does) really want, what they want is a good story…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">… then in our hearts I think we all know that, so good luck to Mr Brown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-84654292770897787132013-02-20T06:04:00.002-08:002020-06-14T08:10:31.217-07:00Working Draft Cover Idea…<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This is the working draft of my cover Idea for a book comprising of three of my Novella length OtherWhere stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’d appreciate any comments, but would especially like comments on what type of story you think this is illustrating, what demographic you think it may appeal to, and whether or not it looks eye-catching enough. <span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Also, do you think it still looks OK thumb-nailed and in full?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4I7EZ-hUKliRCesysgjTImsx47uf3qpCQJzRuwO5qqZ6OJM6O50_WdFVKxol4Pnv2g1Sc3Epho9aijoe2jCXf3ABaxv1JCyGP7dAjdLBCpLek2WN3jezdjbwgUmddhOhT2lBqyg9monaB/s1600/begend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4I7EZ-hUKliRCesysgjTImsx47uf3qpCQJzRuwO5qqZ6OJM6O50_WdFVKxol4Pnv2g1Sc3Epho9aijoe2jCXf3ABaxv1JCyGP7dAjdLBCpLek2WN3jezdjbwgUmddhOhT2lBqyg9monaB/s200/begend.jpg" width="125" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIt9spyHCEjOTRtwLkbCfIr4BgjJ5DpxzRKJyao-GkVRLUAVjicT2C_2wQ5PjHxWk73E3oRxJeaOeSRwHlu_kEhCU9XBrs0F2ccnI5BI7ih3m8RJ63WLURX28zmu86A6cNj6BEx7-fMP2/s1600/mm3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIt9spyHCEjOTRtwLkbCfIr4BgjJ5DpxzRKJyao-GkVRLUAVjicT2C_2wQ5PjHxWk73E3oRxJeaOeSRwHlu_kEhCU9XBrs0F2ccnI5BI7ih3m8RJ63WLURX28zmu86A6cNj6BEx7-fMP2/s200/mm3a.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It does what I wrote in my description, but… Does it look ‘professional’ enough or too amateur… I honestly can’t tell with cover art!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-39851153452095870472013-01-31T07:03:00.002-08:002013-02-01T03:42:53.431-08:00I did something a newbie writer should never really do today…<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">… I had a slow day at work, so I went on-line and read <em>all</em> the reader’s reviews/comments on my work, on as much different sites as I could see.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now I’m a bit happy, a bit disheartened, and a lot confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The good news is that some readers game me top marks! The bad news is some gave me bottom marks… The slightly better news is that there are more top marks than there are bottom ones, and a fair portion of middling scores as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what do all these scores tell me? Well possibly not anything we don’t all already know before looking at stuff like this. Some people will like our writing, some won’t, and others will say “Meh…” and go on to the next. I did read some very well thought out and cohesive reviews though; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and some one line ‘this is rubbish’ / ‘this is great’ stuff, that doesn’t say much; some of which gave me as much insight as a good critique, pointing out both good and bad things from the readers’ point of view. These will all be helpful, as I’m building on one of these stories to be included in something much larger that I’m currently in the middle of writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Reading this stuff definitely brings home the reality of letting the public loos on your story. People will hate it, with luck some may love it, and most will be mildly interested to ambivalent. If this third group read to the end and actually recommend it to others I count that as a win, and some did. What you do get are real unregulated responses from people who, for the most part, do not write themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So; as long as you bring a large spoonful of salt, and a very thick skin with you; there is some genuine experience to be gained from doing this, just remember to fight the urge to respond, however strong it may be, or how misjudged or put-upon you may feel. Remember these are not tame critters, these are the ‘readers in the wild’ and cornering one may set the pack on you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-75265008118908727772013-01-28T05:26:00.001-08:002013-01-28T06:17:18.225-08:00Judging a book by its cover...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Of course we all know the old axiom, don’t judge a book by its
cover, and we all know that there is an entire industry dedicated to making
people do exactly this.</div>
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At this point in commercial fiction publishing, I think it’s
fair to say they the industry has ether intentionally or by accident created a
certain expectation of what cover art should look like, and perhaps more
importantly what it should look like for each genre.</div>
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People primarily lift a book up of the shelf for one of two reasons, ether because of the author’s name, or because of the cover design.<br />
I believe there
are certain characteristics that now say ‘Romance Novell,’ ‘Thriller,’ “Scienc
Fiction,’ ‘Fantasy,’ and ‘Horror.’<br />
Yes, of course any potential reader/customer may be able to tell the genre by
the book’s name, or by the picture illustration used, but it’s deeper than
this...</div>
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Look at all the crime/thriller novels, for example. They do
have a certain ‘look,’ or template that is different
from the average romance of
SciFi-Fantasy book. And, perversely, if a beginner writer or self e-publisher wants
their book to ‘stand out from the crowd’ they also have to get a cover design
that ‘fits in nicely’ with this self same throng. Because if they don’t the conditioned
book buying public may subconsciously pass their work by based solely on the
unspoken notion that it ‘doesn’t fit’ what they are looking for.</div>
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Unless you really know what you are doing I wouldn’t advise
anyone to design their own cover for any serious attempt at self publishing. I’ve
seen some fairly bad attempts, as well as some very good designs, in the past.
Ss I’m not saying it can’t be done. I’m just saying you have to be careful, and
I’m not just talking about using unprofessionally drawn cartoon covers, or
picking a stock photo and slapping some default text over it (some of the less
reputable publishers are guilty of going the second route) but on making the
correct style choice for that you want your cover to say about your content.</div>
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I’ve heard people get the same advice over and over again...</div>
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Use a picture or illustration that focuses
on the theme of your book.</div>
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Use a design that feature one or
more of your characters.</div>
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Make sure it depicts a scene from your
book.</div>
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But most of all keep it a simple and
bold image.</div>
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Most of this all always sounds a bit contradictory to me,
and how many times can you say you’ve seen a cover that truly ticks all these
boxes?</div>
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I used a painting type cover for my little self-publishing
experiment, and while some people said they quite liked the picture, most said
it didn’t make them think of a fairytale come fantasy type story, even though
it could be said to tick all of the above boxes. Some readers said they assumed
it was a more literary, introspective work based on the cover. Why? Well
because the cover looked ‘arty’ their words not mine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the type of story it was most people seemed to expect a
more cartoony type of cover. And this is the type of market imposed characteristics
I’m talking about. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, it must have evolved
from somewhere, so maybe the situation we have today is just a reflection of
peoples’ inherent ideas of what is and isn’t filling for certain types of fiction.
Most crime books have stark, gritty photographic pictures on their cover, most
romance books have warm, fuzzy illustrations, which can never be to cartoony in
design.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sci-Fi and Fantasy on the other hand, can be cartoony, or
have more life-like illustrations, and in some, rarer, cases these may even have
photographs: although these do all tend to be of non real-world situations. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This current covers culture situation is, of course,
designed to sell books and not to make life easy for the beginner novelist...
then not much is geared up to do that, or ever has been.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So am I saying this situation is good or bad?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, yes, I suppose I am!</div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think I’m just saying that you probably do have a preconceived
perception of a book by what cover art, style, and layout you see on the shelf,
even though you don’t realise it.<br />
And if you are releasing a book yourself you
really should do some research into what others have done, then make up your
own mind, or, let a publisher do it for you and trust their deal if you are
looking to go the traditional publishing route. Most reputable publishers know
what sells, it’s their business to.</div>
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Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-44329495412970239892012-11-27T04:33:00.001-08:002012-11-27T04:48:07.259-08:00Why don’t dyslexic writers untie?Quite by accident I recently come across a news story about
a dyslexic boy winning a national writing contest, but the fact that this was
seen, and reported, as almost miraculous news made me think about people’s perceptions
about dyslexics and writing in general... Not that I’m belittling or taking
away from this boy’s achievement in any shape or form, he’s obviously much
better than I was at that age (and probably still am) and has a great deal of
potential to become a good writer. But it’s not ‘in spite of his dyslexia’ it’s
because he inherently shows promise as a writer.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really got strong undertones of the normal ‘<i>Aww, didn’t he do well</i>’ arrogance,
accompanied by a metaphorical, if not possibly even physical, head-pat. Well, yes,
he did do well. He did well because he’s probably already a better writer than
most of the cooing condescending onlookers can or will ever be. So why don’t
they have that attitude with non-dyslexics? I even read one report that talked
about him ‘overcoming his learning-disability’ with the inference being that he
was able to compete with ‘normal’ students... A<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ww,
didn’t he do well</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A
little further digging showed that this instance was far from an isolated case. Someone
with dyslexia winning writing or literary awards isn’t that an unusual occurrence.
It seems to be far more common than you may expect, but still, on each occasion
the story is based on the fact that they are dyslexic, not on their
achievement. It saddens me to think that we may not have moved the public
perception on much since my terrible time at school. It’s attitudes
like this that put me in remedial classes from primary school. I was eventually
able to educate myself to post-grad level after leaving school, by being able
to do things my own way. I don’t personally see this as exceptional, although I also got the '<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">didn’t he do well</i>' attitude. I think it’s
simply something they should have helped me with at school, although there obviously are
truly exceptional dyslexics out there, Richard Branson to name but one.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
Could you tell I was dyslexic from my blog? Dose it matter?
Do you now think of the blog, or me, any differently now? If so, you should ask
yourself why. I’m not blaming or berating anyone for their attitude. But I
would like you to think about the culture that would make someone think ‘Aww,
didn’t he do well.’ Why shouldn’t I/we do well?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was discussing dyslexia on a message-board fairly recently,
and a few things became obvious...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first is that, like me, many dyslexics are, or were,
very self-conscious about what they write. This is quite understandable as the
2D world of squiggly little shapes isn’t our natural environment, and most had
been told they can’t write or spell at some stage.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second thing I learned is that, unless the dyslexia or
dyspraxia is very acute, it doesn’t mean we can’t learn to read and write to an
above average level on our own terms. And it doesn’t mean we can’t be as good
as, or better than, those ‘normal’ authors. It doesn’t mean we will be, but just
like anyone else it means we ‘could be,’ if we have the aptitude, patience and
determination... Just like everybody else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The third thing I learned is that there are numerous ways in
which different people approach their writing. I was recently talking with
someone who uses audio-reading software during editing to spot their
homophones, and missed punctuation. Something I would never have thought of,
but it makes perfect sense to how someone with medium to severe dyslexia would
look at things. Writing homophones is one of my biggest bug-bears, and a
standard spelling editor won’t pick this up. It is also a problem with editing
as my eye tends to see the word I expect to be there, and not ‘read’ the
spelling as most people would do. Suffice to say a wrongly spelled word would
not put me off reading, and I personally have no idea how anyone could be put
off by this. Not that I’m saying spelling things wrongly is ok. If you are
writing something for commercial or public purposes (whether it costs money or
not) you should always endeavour to make that as correct as you possibly can,
and that includes proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some may think it somewhat odd, but a lot of dyslexics are drawn
to creative fields and to the arts in general where work and leisure are
concerned. The top professional jobs for dyslexics include Artists, Writers,
Engineers, and funnily enough Computer Programmers... Guess what I do for a
living.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, ‘Writer’ is right up there. Most people would be
surprised at just how many writers have some degree of dyslexia – the learning difficulty
that means you can’t read and write, right... Well, no, wrong actually. By ‘writers’
I don’t just mean fiction Authors. Writing covers wide range of professions,
from news reporters, and technical writers to mainstream authors. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The only strange thing I’ve noticed in all this is a
distinct lack of writers’ groups, resources, or competitions specifically tailored
for, or set up to help, dyslexic writers. We are very much out there, and
although I don’t rate myself as anything more than an interested amateur, there
are other very-good professional writers currently working in all aspects of
the craft.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Oh, and the title... Yes, I know exactly what I wrote... Do
you?</b></div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-62018830856057260602012-11-19T06:13:00.000-08:002012-11-19T06:16:58.513-08:00It’s almost Christmas again, and I’ve hardly wrote a thing this year...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]-->Other things seem to have taken over my life a bit lately; pushing
my writing into a very poor second, or sometimes a sad third; still, at least I
know what my new-year’s resolution will be. I’ve been thinking of ways to get
myself ‘back on the horse’ lately as I think a bit of a metaphorical, or possibly
physical, kick would get me up to speed again.<br />
<br />
With this in mind I’ve discovered
a few writers groups that aren’t too far way. I’m just not sure about approaching
them. Is there an entrance requirement? Do I have to saunter up cap-in-hand and
say “Hello, my name’s Garry and I’m a writer?” Would my cap-full of short-story
publications and extensive collection of rejection letters be enough to prove
this?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seriously though, writers groups and writing courses have
always held a bit of a fascination and more than a touch of mystery to me.
Although I have had 'professional' writing experience as part of my work, you could say
I’m pretty much self-taught as far as fiction writing is concerned, having never
had any formal fiction writing education or tuition. I wouldn’t want to find
myself in the middle of a classically educated ‘literary’ crowd, where I’d
probably feel like I was trying to write ‘Janet and John’ books to their ‘War
and Peace.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d be interested in people’s experiences or perceptions of
writing groups and of formal writing courses, whether they are distance-learning
or college based.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do all on-line or mail-based courses fall into the ‘We can
make you into a PUBLISHED writer in 60 days!!!!!’ category or are there genuine
legitimate ones that are worthwhile?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s your experience with college/university based
courses, whether they lead to a qualification or not, are they more or less worthwhile?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And not to forget those writers groups and workshops, are
they helpful, and who is likely to attend?</div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-57259281764531243082012-10-15T03:40:00.000-07:002012-11-19T06:27:50.628-08:00Writing for fun or profit<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, ok I’ve heard the old ‘people who only try writing to
make a quick profit will never make it’ truisms many times before, and I’m sure
most ‘wanna be’ or beginner writers would agree with this. You have to want to
write first, and then want to become good enough at the craft through diligent practice
and learning to become publishable. And although everyone’s definition of ‘publishable’
is different, it’s only really the editors/publishers definition that matters.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I may be wrong here, but I seem to have noticed a distinct
lack of the ‘fun’ part amongst the new wave of ‘beginners’ lately. Now, to set
the scene, I would consider myself a beginner writer, and have done so for at
least the past ten years. I say I’m a beginner because during this time I’ve
only just scuffed the surface of the magical mystical publishable barrier.
Although I would consider the substance (telling a cohesive story) and the technicality
(the craft aspect) of my writing to have improved during that time I will
always still see this as learning until the increasingly unlikely event of me
getting a publishing deal. It’s the last level of fine punctuation and grammar editing
that remained my biggest bug-bear, and I can’t afford to personally employ a professional
editor. But hey, that’s just me being grumpy again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The point I’m trying to get at is that I’ve come across a
lot of very driven young writers (in experience if not years) on various
web-sites and forums lately that are intent on getting their first Novel
published. They seem to have the common traits of pushing very hard to get
their work finished and edited very quickly, and are equally as focused of aligning
themselves with agents and learning the publishing industry as they are with honing
their writing... Now I’m not saying this commitment isn’t a laudable trait. I
would freely admit that they are definitely a lot more driven and focused than
I am, but they do seem to have a very dismissive attitude to anyone who doesn’t
share their world view. Yes, fiction writing is very much a hobby to me, and I
have no expectations of it ever becoming a full-time vocation. In the grand
scheme of things very few people make a living out of fiction writing, and I
can’t help but think that a significant amount of these, very goal orientated
and focused, people are in for a big reality-check. They may be talented, but at
the end of the day the writing industry is very much a commercial animal, and as
such it’s just as money-focused as any other. Personally I’v never made any
more than pocket-money, and don’t think I ever will, but that really isn’t the
point for me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like many other writers, published and unpublished, I write
primarily because I want to, because I like to tell a story. But that’s why it’s
something I keep coming back to whenever I can find the time. I’m not saying it’s
for some form of internal therapy; I want people to read and enjoy my work, I want
to make it as good as I can; and of course I want it published. Being published
both facilitates and validates all the reasons I write for, and rightly or
wrongly, also seems to bring a certain degree of legitimacy to the work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One thing we do seem to have in common is the belief that
writing is work. It can be fun work, but anyone who doesn’t see it as a job of work
is ether very talented and extremely lucky, or more likely not focused enough
to seriously have a shot of becoming good enough to write at a professional and
commercial level. If that sounded derogatory it wasn’t intended to be. The writing
world can be harsh. Even self publishing your beloved manuscript can result in scathing ‘reviews’ from people who read as being barely literate. If you put
it out there in any form you should always be prepared for the worst. People
will read a 30 to 50K story and point out the one spelling, grammar or punctuation
mistake they have found... Then say you should have spent some time editing it...
Just hold your breath and count to ten.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given the current climate of publishing change I think
writing now seems like a much more acceptable and achievable career path for a
wider range people: possibly spurred on by the recent ‘rags to riches’ stories of
a few well known and very successful authors. Initially this influx sound’s
like a good thing. Authors have historically always seamed to be a bit of an elite
group, and the further back you go the more ‘elite’ and exclusive the group
gets. Maybe it is about time general Joe Public got in on the act. There are a
lot more ‘how to’ writing books and web-sites and courses etc available
nowadays, so obviously the Market for this is there. The Internet has had a big
influence in persuading people that there is money to be made in writing, and
this probably isn’t a lie. I just wonder how realistic the prospects of much of
these people being able to attain the heady heights of ‘Published Author’ are.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what will the future hold for this new wave of
wannabe-authors? Well realistically for many it will be disappointment. But I
do think more people seem to be setting themselves up for this. Many of this
new breed are very money and fame focused, possibly at the expense of them
taking the time to fully learn their craft properly first. Many also seem to
have come straight for academic writing course backgrounds with high aspirations
of ‘breaking into the industry.’ Again laudable goals, but from what I’ve
learned over the years this may be a somewhat misguided view. Writing is an
industry and there are many people who have the talent and skill to knock out a
steady stream of ‘paperback pulp’ books. No I’m not being derogatory here, it
does take skill and talent to make a living out of pulp fiction, and I dare say
some of these new authors will possess the necessary skill and determination to
succeed at whatever literary level they are aiming for. I just can’t help
thinking that we are gearing up for a lot more disappointed writers that ever.
At what point will this new “I’m going to become a successful writer,” bubble
burst?</div>
Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-18640766328943036742012-07-09T03:47:00.001-07:002012-07-09T03:47:11.569-07:00Book Festivals, good bad or indifferent?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been browsing through the latest events list for the
Edinburgh Book festival again this year, and as usual I’ll probably try to
attend something. I’ve generally turned up for at least a passing look at what’s
happening most years for longer than I care to remember. Although I’ve seen
some interesting things during that time, my most abiding memory of events-past
is being stuck at work and missing the Terry Pratchett talk, something I really
would have liked to attend ever since picking up a brand new just-of-the-press
hardback copy of ‘The Reaper Man’ way back in my college years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="172" imageanchor="1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvwb1QgrDdGj3H6MeBniLiZ-yl3U6jAdM-DxzRW23oeda_7yVQTrlGKkAbWjjip_b-uwm9fmH6PjsZC3vViScQdqaVNvyfNAj62xD3JSfXk6RYJv0yYPyyt76SjtlliN2QEX5LsWVGxCXG/s200/ebf.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" width="200" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But is that the thing. Are they just pandering to our
misty-eyed remembrances? Or to the poke-it-with-a-stick interest we have in the
lives of the famous or controversial figures that generally turn up to promote
their autobiographies etc. Is there still real merit to Book Festivals in our modern
digital age?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One thing I have noticed is that there seems to be a lot
more emphasis on promoting new authors this time around, something that has admittedly
been growing over the last few years. Surely that can only be a good thing. As
normal the ‘recognisable names’ are there. Paddy Ashdown’s talk on “WHY THE
WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>seemed
to sell out quickly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(shouting capitals
and all!) </i>while the more ‘literary’ based events take a bit longer to sell.
Yes, I know that’s just the way things are. But it does make me wonder who is
attending these events nowadays, and why. Are they avid book readers, does it
matter? Should these festivals be trying to pull in the off-the-street punters?
I would say yes, they should, the more ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">diverse’</i>
the merrier. But when you sit in the book festival beer-tent and look around
you see a very different crowed to those attending the seemingly less hi-brow
events.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I see people sitting in bars or on benches or on a bus with
kindles now, but I don’t think the majority of these readers would ever consider
browsing around the book festival. It’s a perception thing, but I also don’t
think the look and attitude of many of the attendees help maters ether. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what do you think? Is there a future for book festivals
in general? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Are they still relevant to our modern reading habits?</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-47713422552362180372012-04-04T02:01:00.000-07:002012-04-06T01:46:10.618-07:00Writing in tongues. (Part 2)<div class="MsoNormal">
I recently read an interesting article about fantasy writing
on the BBC magazine site. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The article, titled ‘<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17554816">Why are fantasy world accents British?</a>’ looks primarily at TV
shows and film, and explores the peculiar phenomenon of why most fantasy characters
speak with Brittish accents, but its arguments and logic can equally as well be
applied to the written word.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The article gives examples of the ‘Game of Thrones’ TV
series, taken from the books of the American author George RR Martin, and the
blockbusting ‘Lord of the Rings’ and upcoming ‘Hobbit’ films in support of its
argument. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think it does make a compelling case for appropriate regional
accents, and it goes someway towards explaining why America audiences in particular,
and the world in general, seem to like British-English voices in their fantasy
fiction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I read this article not long after receiving the news that
one of my own short-stories written in my native Scottish vernacular (that I posted about before) is likely
to be published in an upcoming anthology of ‘Scottish Voice’ stories. On
reading the article I was reminded of the overwhelmingly positive response a
draft version my own story got from American readers when I posted it to a critique
site...<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems that many non-Britons seem to have a rather quant ‘oldie-worldy’
view of the place. And I’m certainly not going to say the history isn’t here, I
have at least two castles within walking distance of my (18<sup>th</sup> century)
house. But it is still very much a first-world country and we don’t all constantly
toss cabers, eat haggis, or wear kilts... well, except the kilt-wearing at
weddings that is. <i>I think I read somewhere that more Scottish kilts have now
been sold in North America than ever were in Scotland. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, I digress... My point was that there is a historical
setting for at least the medieval type fantasy adventure to take place in a
historic British type environment, and many are loosely based on our rather turbulent
history. Of course these could equally as well be set in medieval Europe or the middle-east, but the British accents are generally
seen as more palatable for a primarily American, then a wider world, audience.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that leads me on to the other thing I’ve noticed.
Although the Brittish accent seems to be more widely accepted for specific
types of fiction, and characters, other accents still seem to be neglected, or
even looked down upon. These are often only ever used for very specific, and stereotypical,
comedy or one-dimensional character-building effects. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Does this attitude stop other writers from using their
native accent when writing?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a relatively healthy thrust to keep the ‘Scottish
voice’ alive in Scotland.
And there are outlets for this type of writing, fact and fiction. But can the
same be said for regional American accents? Being Scottish I don’t know, but I do seem to hear a ‘standard’
American accent in most mainstream American TV and movies. Is this purely for
ease of understanding, like our old ‘Queens English’ announcers on the BBC?
Things have changed rapidly within British broadcasting and differing regional accents
can now be heard on practically any program type you can think of, including
the news. I think that’s a good thing, but I also think books are a good few
yers behind other media in this respect.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are constantly being told to write ‘properly’ and that
seems to entail writing to a standard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I understand spelling is important, but can’t that
importance still have an impact in writing where it is bent into a regional dialect
shape, and not just talking about a smattering of ‘direct speech’ here and there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-8016886831455221322012-03-30T03:14:00.002-07:002012-03-30T06:20:47.273-07:00The lean, meme, writing machine...<div border="0" style="float:left; margin-bottom:10px; margin-right:10px; overflow:hidden;">
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=garswriblo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1590207106&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=FFFFFF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height:150px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div>
I've been reading a book titled 'Epic Win for Anonymous' by Cole Stryker recently.<br />
It's a, sort of, history of the Anonymous Hacker group and their rise to... <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">notoriety</span>, lets say... through the 4chan image-board network.<br />
The book is a decent read if you like this type of thing, but that's not what this post is about. You see the first few chapters of this book explore memes in general and internet memes in particular.<br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" imageanchor="1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsNEzBsw5vO1GYX3QxkyhAVDfWhfXTLBaaZ3SsGulWhj0TPGwWZZ6qEvYeoxu7GSYUX6LOyEVmYkPyV4Lvu9-OydCnRHtnL_pnTrKo5affRl27VdT_BPxb3kGiv6z4D2hyphenhyphenfOPJ2ecnulp/s1600/memekill.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" /></div>
<b>Anyone heard of LolCatz? </b><br />
<br />
That's probably one of the most widespread Internet memes 'alive' today, and it was birthed from the rather fetid hive-mind that is 4chan.<br />
<br />
Please don't be too tempted to go have a look though, as there are certain things you just can't un-see...<br />
<br />
<br />
Anyway all this talk of memes got me thinking about how much our current memes are imbedded in today's writings, especially fiction writing. I think a lot of modern memes are present both in the finished stories and in the way we are now taught, or told, to write. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
First off I <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">suppose </span>I should attempt to <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">explain </span>exactly what a meme is. I <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">actually </span>did a bit of research for this and asked a few <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">different </span>people what they thought a meme was. Some had no clue, and some (<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">generally </span> younger people) said pretty much what the book told me they would say, e.g. they <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">tried </span>to <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">explain </span>a meme to me in terms of the 'Internet Memes' they had heard of, and although not <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">completely </span>wrong it is a rather blinkered <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">view </span>of the concept.<br />
<br />
So here <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">goes</span>, an explanation of memes in my own words (so possibly not 100% compos mentis), but:<br />
<ul></ul>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A meme is a self-perpetuating idea that mimics the behaviours of
genes, and can spread like a thought-virus.</span></span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>It can be passed from on mind to another through direct speech,
the written word, or imagery, and just like a virus it generally has a
life-cycle.</b></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Really successful memes can permeate a society’s thinking so
thoroughly that they become part of our popular culture and may be present
in every-day thinking and behaviour without us ever recognising or knowing
it.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
Yes, memes can be very powerful and are all around us. It's a fascinating
subject and, perhaps apart from the Internet, books are the single most virulent
breeding ground for memes, and of course have been from long before the term
was coined. So a book can indeed be a 'Meme Machine.' In the wider sense even
religions and governmental structures can be thought of a memes.<br />
<br />
I took a look at some of my favourite books with a view to looking for
memes, and as expected they were full of them. One of my favourite classics ‘Alice in wonderland’ has even
managed to spawn at least a couple of memes that I think have permeated our
culture. After all, doesn’t everyone know what “going down the rabbit-hole” entails?
The phrase has been replicated in practically any media you can think of.<br />
Another of my favourite books, ‘Vurt,’ repeatedly attempts to spin its own memes,
although it falls back on an older, more well-worn and entrenched, one towards
the end of the story.<br />
Are you familiar with the concept of ‘the sleeper,’ ‘the dreamer,’ or
the ‘life is just a dream’ meme? Yes that concept is also a meme. Most are.<br />
<br />
By now you may be wondering what the difference between a meme and a good old-fashioned
cliché is? Well, I’d say the whole concept of a ‘cliché’ is simply another meme
in itself. Are you confused yet?<br />
Memes can be clichéd, but they can also be
much more powerful and stealthy than that.<br />
Most story concepts are derived from
memes and the whole ‘Heroes Journey’ structure can be thought of as a classic
story-telling meme, because as we all know ‘there’s nothing new under the sun;’
another meme. They define how we structure a story, and help us chose the turn
of phrase we use, they even subvert our plots into propagating their own
message, and we do all this without every really realising it. It’s what makes books
from different cultures and different times... well different, but somehow the same.<br />
<br />
But memes aren’t just present in the finished story, I think they are also
becoming increasingly prevalent in the advice we receive when writing and
planning any modern day book, whether fact or fictional based.<br />
As I said, memes
have always existed, but I think the Internet has vastly influenced the way we
now write, or are now taught to write. And the Internet is perhaps the largest
single Meme Machine on the planet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So what’s my point? </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, I’m not going to argue that memes won’t have an effect
our writing, of course they will. The world we live in and our experiences of
it will affect our writing, and so it should. That’s how writing stays relevant
and evolves. It’s also at least partly Why We Don’t Start Each Word With A
Capital Letter Anymore... and that’s a good lead in to my point:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Memes <i>have </i>helped craft modern story telling techniques: on
the whole I’m all in favour of this.<br />
The evolution of writing has to keep in
tune with its contemporary culture, and many of the ‘rules,’ ‘tips,’ and ‘tricks’
that are now employed in today’s writing have evolved through means of memes. But,
just like cells, it’s in the nature of memes to evolve by means of mutation,
and also like cells it’s something that happens, largely unnoticed, over time. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Internet is arguably speeding up this evolution, and
although some avenues will undoubtedly dead-end, others will form the basis of tomorrows
writing.<br />
What this currently means for the wannabe writer using the internet as
a tool, is that they are constantly bombarded with often conflicting advice.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Memes fight each other until the strongest one wins out. I believe this is where most, if not all, the
familiar advice comes from, and this isn’t just an internet thing. As the advice comes into vogue people regurgitate it in ‘how to’ books, they pass it on by word of mouth, in their critiques, and in innumerable other, sometimes almost imperceptible, ways.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If I have a gripe about any of this it’s that memes propagate by people
blindly passing on what they were told. So suggestions evolve into rules, then you are punished by the meme for not following and propagating it. Is this why all
new writers are told to write ‘properly’ by the majority of the ‘how to’ books
and by their Internet savvy peers? Remember all this <i>advice </i>is being given in a world where most of the blockbuster
fiction doesn’t seem to adhere to these same rules. This may possibly be because readers don’t know
much, if anything, about these ‘writing rules’ the meme machine has imposed
upon our particular little sub-culture.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what do you think of memes? Are they a force for change,
for good or evil... or simply a part of how human thinking has always learnt
and evolved?</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-84863467445678247482012-03-12T05:20:00.004-07:002012-03-12T05:22:32.635-07:00Anyone can be a writer!<b>...Or at least that's what a lot of the 'How To' books would have you
believe. </b><br />
I read in the blurb of one such book that 'anyone who can write a
letter can write a Novel.' But after looking at the ever-increasing pile of
rejection notifications and 'one star' reviews I
think most wannabe writers could be forgiven for being little sceptical
of this advice. <br />
<br />
Writing is a craft, and crafts can be learned and mastered. So in one real sense
anyone <i>could</i> become a writer, that isn't a lie. But I don't think it necessarily
means that anyone who can compose a decent letter <i>can</i> write a Novel.
It's like saying anyone who can drive a car could become a top formula 1 racing
driver. Maybe in theory they could, but unless they have the drive, not to
mention nerves of steel, they won't get far in practice...<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
...And to become good at writing you do need to put in a lot of
practice. Not forgetting about that drive, determination, courage, and most of
all sheer bloody-mindedness, not to mention a healthy imagination and disregard
for pesky reality - so I won't.<br />
The craft is learning the tricks that help you put the words together
in the right way so as to form a readable story. But good writing skills alone
don't make a good story. That's where that active imagination kicks in. And
when you finally hone your masterpiece to perfection you have to put it out to
a ruthless and unfair industry, which will probably promptly return it with a
bog-standard 'Thanks, but no thanks' letter. Even worse when you finally get
something, anything, published you then start to read the reviews...<br />
Someone loved it, you swell with pride... someone loathed it and said bad
things... you feel fit to burst with anger... But that's only the first few
times, after that you just shrug ether way and carry on writing.<br />
<br />
And I think that's the thing than makes a writer. You need the will, no
the urge, to carry on regardless. I think there are many writers who have never
been published in any form who are simple people who want and need to write.
You will come across people who refer to themselves as 'published authors' and
that's ok. I can see why some see it as a form of validation or verification of
their ability, a sort of prize for all the effort. Of course the big names are
well beyond referring to themselves as 'published,' and the beginners, or those
who have never been graced by the publishers, don't want to refer to themselves
a 'writer' for fear of the dreaded questions 'What have you written? Anything
I've heard of?'<br />
<br />
<br />
So to sum up I'd say no, not anybody can become a writer. Not because of
some innate ability, or the lack there of, but simply because those who want to
write will write, regardless of the rewards or lack there of. And anyone who
simply sees writing, especially fictional Novel writing, as a means to an
ends has a very hard uphill struggle. Because, as well as becoming technically
good enough, they have to provide the imagination, a lot of time and hard work,
and then battle their way through a saturated and antiquated industry. Who
would choose that if they weren’t already pre-wired to write?<br />
<br />
Now I'm not an expert, I'm on the bottom rung and am likely to stay there or
there about, for the foreseeable future if not the rest of my life. I don't
know if I have the talent to go further. Then again who does? Talent often
seems to be bestowed upon people as much as anything else. But I have read the
stories of those lucky few that have made it, and for someone wishing to follow
in their footsteps some biographies make grim reading.<br />
<br />
But, hay... That's just me. Do you still believe the hype? Do you think
anyone can become a writer?Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-83747027672232816102012-03-03T14:10:00.002-08:002012-03-03T14:12:07.917-08:00Is there anybody out there?I've just noticed a rather drastic drop in my monthly page-view count this month.<br />
For the last eight months it's mostly been a good few hundred posts over a thousand, and never fallen below.<br />
last month it was only just over 200! Has something changed with blogger, or with any major site that links on to posts in blogger?<br />
<br />
Surely my blogs can't have got that bad that quickley?<br />
Anybody else noticed a drop in their page-views last month? Have I missed something?Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-84852123410842381362012-02-27T04:51:00.003-08:002012-02-27T04:51:54.524-08:00Writing-aide applications, are they any good?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was reading thorough some blogs and forums lately and
noticed a few people talking about some of the programs they use to help with
their writing. From what I made out there are two main types of programs, the
ones that are intended to help with the technicalities of your writing and the
ones that let you store and organise both your writing and your ideas. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, the only application I’ve ever used to help with my
writing is MS word, and the benefits of that ‘helping’ are dubious at best. Ok,
so the built-in thesaurus is sometimes worth its weight in gold, and I do use
the spell-checker... but I’ve learned that I should definitely not rely on it.
I’m not too sure about it’s concepts of grammar and punctuation ether. And that
leads me into the programs purporting to help with your technical writing. Now,
suffering from a touch of dyslexia, as I do I was quite interested in context
sensitive spell checking software, although I was also a bit dubious. Would it
detect ‘theme’ instead of ‘them,’ possibly. But how about ‘bed’ instead of
‘bead’ ... probably no so much. Anyway I decided to have a look and begun some
on-line trawling for example/demo applications.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, so first off I’m not going to mention any names heer,
this isn’t an advet, but I will say that a quick Google brings up quite a lot
of programs that purport to be ‘<span class="st">groundbreaking</span>’ in the
field of computer assisted grammar and spelling support. I did try a few demo
versions of these and to be honest, I don’t think they offer much above what is
available with word. The ‘grammar’ part wanted to change my story text to
something I didn’t want it to say, although to be fair some do have a decent
grasp of basic sentence structure and you can set some to look for and correct
(well attempt to correct) common grammatical ‘errors’ like passive sentences etc.
Is it worth paying for something like this if you already use a word processor
with built in checking? It’s hard to say, and definitely is a judgement call.
Some of these programs do look at your writing fairly closely, and do suggest
much more changes than something like work. I can see where these could be a
help for the beginner writer to understand good writing techniques. In quite a
lot of cases it’s offering the same type of thing that critiques often say to
beginners about voice, tense, and sentence structure etc. How much benefit
there is to this entirely depends on you. I would say have a look at a few of
these and see if you think it’s for you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second type of ‘helper’ programs promised to get rid of
all those scribbled notes and held together with bent paperclips. They said you
could give me a clear and concise way to outline and organise my work as well
as providing a versioning system... not concepts I’m overly familiar with as
far as my writing is concerned I have to admit. So again I decided to trawl the
internet for some demo software... </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think this type of program is even more subjective. There
are quite a few decent things out there if you like organising things, but to
be honest I don’t think much of these commercial packages offer much more than
is available of free to join critique sites like CritiqueCircle.com.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I use free versioning software for my day-job (programming web
sites) and this type of thing could equally well be used properly time-stamp and
store different revisions of your writing. Yes some are quite good at allowing
you to outline your story or novel, and have things like chapters built in. But
most people could probably do a similar thing in pre-existing software like
word or even (god forbid) an excel spreadsheet. Please don’t think I’m flatly
dismissing these types of program here. On the contrary, I think they can be useful,
and there are people who would be much more at home using an all-in-one system
like many on offer instead of fabricating a roll-your-own system from
pre-existing applications. If you think you may find a use for this type of
app, another quick Google will find many examples to be getting on with.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what have I deduced for all this Goggling and playing?
Well, nothing startling really. And I do have to admit that I was sceptical
coming into this little experiment. Although I would have to say yes they can
be a help, if you are willing to put in the time to use them properly. But, for
what it’s worth, my advice would still be not to rely solely on any software
for vetting your writing. Don’t use them as a substitute for real-peoples
opinions. A good critique group, ether on-line or face-to-face, is still the
best option IMO. But don’t let that put you off having a look. You may find
something that works for you and both types of ‘helper’ program can indeed
help-out, just remember it’s ‘help’ and not a magic fix to replace hard-work,
planning, and diligence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d be very interested to here what you think,
especially if you do, or have used, one of these programs.</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-84908112783055539322012-02-01T06:07:00.001-08:002012-02-01T06:19:52.106-08:00Bloging is writing to...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
That may sound like an obvious and redundant statement, but after
recently discussing this I was amazed by how many people don’t seem to make the
connection.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I suppose it all depends on what type of blogs you primarily
read. I mostly ether read about writing from writers, or about gaming – from gamers,
and yes there is a general difference in
both presentation and style. That’s not to say the writing blogs are always
better written. I’ve read some very professional sounding and eloquent gaming
blogs. Remember that most gamers, and perhaps especially most of the ones that have
a blog, are at least in their mid twenties, and statistically most gamers are
above thirty. Not the spotty teenagers writing in text speak that the media
would have you believe they are.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m sure we all know that Blog is a concatenation of ‘’Web Log”
and unfortunately there are bloggers that do exactly that... log their daily endeavours,
or lack there off, onto their blog. But that’s no different from the same type
of accounts on Facebook or Twitter. And where this type if thing is getting increasingly
prevalent on those types of site, the rambling shambling blog is becoming rarer
all the time, as better outlets become available for this type of ‘personal log’
site...</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This means that most blogs are now about something. Writing
blogs about writing, gaming blogs about gaming, technical blogs, model aeroplane
blogs, collecting soap... <i>(Yes, I did find one)</i> you name it, and there is
probably at least one blog about it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I not see as the most polarising factor with blogs,
apart from the subject matter, is the use of ‘conversational’ verses ‘report’
type of posts. And although I do try to find a fair mix I have fallen into this
behaviour myself. I think my writing blog is much more conversational in style,
where my gaming blog both looks and reads much more like an on-line magazine.
This wasn’t a conscious decision; they just seem to have turned out how they
did rather organically.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve also noticed that the ‘Pageviews’ of my writing blog
are much higher (over 14 times as much) than those on <b><a href="http://garrysgamingblog.blogspot.com/" style="color: black;">the other one</a></b>. Of course
there could be many reasons why this is, other than the content and style. Or could
it possibly be that writers just read more than gamers... surely not!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It could be that my gaming blog is just more rubbish than
this one. Or being primarily an alternate/retro gaming site it doesn’t have the
same mass appeal as, hence exposure, of other blogs. But reasons aside I was
looking at my technical writing in both these sites. I’m not going for the
level of accuracy I would aim for when writing a story in ether of them. But
that doesn’t mean I just writing a ‘stream of consciousness’ mess ether <i>(well
mostly not, anyway)</i> I do try to have a structure in all the blogs, even if this
is more natural and less scripted than I would have when planning a
short-story. But it is still a planned piece of writing. You still have to put
some thought into it if you want people to be bothered reading it. So is that perhaps
what the least successful blogs are missing, and what the most successful have
in spades?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wouldn’t want to dissuade anyone from bloging though. The
whole point I’m making is that you don’t have to be a ‘writer’ <span style="font-size: x-small;">(quotes and
all)</span> to blog. But if you are going to put the effort in, surely you want to make
something interesting and worthwhile <i>(if only to yourself and perhaps a handful
of others) </i>and than means you have to think about what you write.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So maybe you can’t say you’re a writer simply because you
blog, but make the effort and you can at least say you are someone who writes!
And there’s noting wrong with that.</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-39834799902334647152012-01-05T01:45:00.001-08:002012-01-06T03:57:03.432-08:00Book tokens for Christmas.As usual I got a certain amount of book tokens for Christmas again this year... well I say ‘book tokens’ but it’s not really old-fashioned, redeemable at the store ‘book tokens’ anymore it is? What I got were gift-cards, credit-card sized pieces of plastic with arbitrated amounts of money, and wishes of ‘buy something you like’ attributed to them. All too often this translates to ‘buy something that I can see is worth the amount of money I gave you.’ This isn’t to say that the gesture wasn’t genuine and sincere. However most people give a ‘token’ with the intention of the recipient getting something tangible that they (the sender) can see the person will actually like, and/or enjoy. And this is of course totally understandable. They don’t want you to waist or squander their gift. This sometimes brings a bit of a dilemma for me though. The good thing about these gift-cards is that most can easily be used for on-line purchases. Often what I want to do is use the gift-cards on-line to buy e-books, and not necessarily all at once directly after Christmas. Unfortunately this doesn’t really give me anything to ‘show’ for my gift. And has resulted in some confused or even sorrowful looks from the gifters, along this half hearted comments of ‘Oh, well if that’s what you wanted...’ The other side of this of course is when I show them a shiny new, and importantly thick, coffee-table book full of full-colour pictures, then their face will light up with the ‘gift’ they have got me. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I know it’s not exactly an earth shattering dilemma, and sometimes I’ll just get a ‘real’ paper-based book or books to approximately the same value as the gift-card and say I got those with it, keeping the card to use for on-line purchases for convenience. As it means I don’t have to use my bank-card on-line. That way everybody is happy.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">This got me thinking about the current state of peoples understanding and perceptions about wholly ‘electronic’ on-line data purchases. After all it is still quite a new concept for a lot of people.</div><div class="MsoNormal">While it can be argued that your e-book purchase is a real thing in as much as you get to download a data-file it isn’t exactly the same as owning a brand new heavyweight coffee-table book is it?</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps an even more obscure example is the new OnLive gaming system that I also subscribed to over the holiday period. If you don’t know this is a ‘cloud gaming’ system where you only pay for the rights to play a game on the service over the internet. Absolutely nothing is downloaded to your computer; you are buying the right to play only. Now I don’t think I could ever fully explain this concept to my mother as ‘I bought a computer game with your gift-card.’ With no disrespect to my mum, she would try to grasp it, fail and nod her head at the right places, but again if I produced a big shiny box, her face would look a bit happier because she could see I’d got something I’ll like with the money.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think this attitude or perception is changing for a lot of people, although pockets of e-resistance are also already forming. I also think this is set to be something that will split people’s views for some time to come.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t expect e-book sales to come anywhere near eclipsing traditional book sales within my lifetime, if ever. But I do see e-commerce becoming an ever increasing every-day part of more and more people’s lives.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some people are already talking about ‘Living in the cloud’ whilst others are still saying ‘I don’t trust that Tinterweb thingy. It’s full of people trying to scam your money and steel your identity.’ And sadly enough it isn’t without those things, and those are the very people most likely to fall victim to the scammers.</div><div class="MsoNormal">But for a lot of us buying from Amazon is now second nature, and more convenient that the (possibly now rather run-down) local high-street... but that’s another rant.</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-3404644641189270162012-01-05T01:44:00.000-08:002012-01-05T01:50:02.263-08:00Let me tell you a story...I’ve been looking at some of the critiques I’ve received lately, and the old ‘show don’t tell’ seemed to be back with a vengeance. This could just be my rubbish writing of course, but I took a look at some critiques of other peoples work, on various sites, as well and they do all seem to latch onto the same things. This would be a good thing if all this ‘tell’ was indeed dry and slowing down the story. But it’s also an easy target. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">If you read any book from one of the latest popular mainstream ‘blockbuster’ series, like Twilight or Harry Potter for example, they are full of ‘tell’ sections. Not that I’m saying this is inherently a bad thing, or bad writing. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t think I’d like to read a book that is entirely written in ‘show’ and the popular authors certainly don’t write like this. Like everything in writing, I suppose the trick is to strike the right balance.</div><div class="MsoNormal">So going back to those critique sites. I don’t think a lot of people are looking for or getting that balance. And please don’t think I’m trying to defend my own writing here. I’m most definitely not, and I look at and take every comment I get very seriously, whether it’s from a good-selling author or a complete (hence usually very keen) beginner. I totally believe that everybody’s opinion counts. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I also don’t think most people are picking faults in their critiques with any malice, after all a good critique is supposed to pick holes in your writing. No, I think it’s more that writers, especially the complete beginners nowadays are being more and more bombarded with the same old ... truisms ... e.g ‘Show don’t tell,’ ‘always use active and not passive voice,’ ‘kill the ..lly.’ All snappy little titbits of wisdom, but they may also make people too focused on the technical mechanics of writing without sufficient regard to the ebb and flow of the overall story.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I try not to look for examples in my own work because it’s too subjective, but I have seen numerous examples of what I see as selective critiquing on other peoples writing. I’ve read sections that seem to flow perfectly well to me, but people have hit time and again on an often small ‘tell’ section with the standard ‘Show this, I want to see xxx yyy’ comments. Often my thoughts run along the lines of ‘Why would you want to see that? If you read the story you can plainly see it’s simple background information, and doesn’t play a major part in ether the plot nor the character development.’ I suspect that a lot of the time the honest answer would be ‘Well I saw a bit of tell and told them to show, like you are supposed to do.’ And I believe in all honesty that they are trying to do good.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think this type of rules reinforced thinking is leading to an interne entered writing culture that is constantly reinforcing the ‘do it right’ culture as defined by the rules of all new writers. And the good stuff can be daunting enough, without some people enforcing rules on the technical writing. But not actually reading the story to see if what was written fits and flows within the overall story.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Because it doses well to remember that it’s the story that sells those blockbusters, not the technicalities of the writing. Most readers don’t notice the actual writing constructs, and that’s exactly as it should be. The writing should be invisible, or at least as unobtrusive as possible, to the reader, leaving then free to read the writing, the story.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m not saying that internet critique groups are a bad thing. I’ve used them myself and think my writing is the better for it. There are some really rather good writers out there that do help struggling writers at all levels. As long as you are seen to be putting in the effort you will find people willing to help.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t think I’m ever going to be capable of writing that blockbuster, but I do still like writing and am happy every time one person says they like what I’ve written, even though I may never make more than chump-change from it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I truly hope I’m wrong but I seem to see a sea change in the on-line writing and critique sites. One that is freezing a lot of new people out by a lot of people looking to bump up their critiques by very specific and formulaic targeting of some type of prose without really critiquing the story. This attitude may be unintentionally fostered, and even unwittingly encouraged, by the many ‘critique to gain post-points’ schemes employed by many sites. With many people feeling forced to critique work that they don’t really have any interest in or real desire to help with, in order to gain enough ‘ponts’ to post their own work... But surely this type of thinking is only destined to lead to a vicious spiral of increasingly formulaic and less useful reviews/critiques all around. Although it’s not all doom and gloom, the good people are still there, but for how long?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What do you think, are attitudes on the on-line sites changing, or is it just me being old and grumpy?</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-4716884350437937332012-01-04T02:03:00.000-08:002012-01-06T03:52:35.259-08:00Popular, esteemed, and accomplished...<div class="MsoNormal">I received two Terry Pratchett books at Christmas, one by him (Snuff) and one about him. And I asked, well hinted heavily, for the second one. Anyone who knows me will tell you ‘I don’t read autobiographies.’ So why, you may ask, did I want this book. Well I’d unashamedly say that the Discworld books are my favourite series, the only other series coming close would be the original Douglas Adams ‘Hitchhiker's Guide’ books. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Because of this I’ve developer at least a passing interest in the people who wrote these books, again something not particularly in my nature. Most times I would read a book without any interest in the author, like I would watch a film without any interest in the scriptwriters, director, or actors. But some people do stand out. I could only name a handful of actors, and I am only interested in about the same amount of authors.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A critic may say ‘you are interested in Pratchett because he is popular,’ and that may very well be true. But critics seem to all too often, and ready, to attribute popularity with some distain somehow. And I would argue that popularity in and of itself isn’t what made an author interesting to me, no that would be their work...</div><div class="MsoNormal">I wouldn’t dream of knocking J.K. Rowling’s work and she is definitely a very popular author, but that doesn’t make me personally interested in her books or in her as an author. I mean no disrespect, and it’s understandable because I was never in her target readership group. So what makes Pratchett, or Adams different for me?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To be honest it’s a hard question to answer. I like the work of other authors, in the same way I like the work of some actors or directors, but I have no interest in any of them as people. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I think this is where the ‘esteemed’ factor comes in, at least for me. I personally hold the work of some authors in higher esteem than most. Unlike professional critics I get to be entirely subjective in this choice, and I don’t need to justify anything past the fact that ‘I like it’ and the same holds true for all those ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Twilight’ fans out there. We do not have any ‘thought police’ (at least not yet) and I personally think some people should remember that a bit more.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Critics; and a certain portion of readers, the portion that often introduce themselves as ‘well-read;’ will talk about ‘accomplished’ writers, then reel of a list of ‘literary’ authors that most readers haven’t heard of. If they like these works, then fair enough. Who am I to nay-say? But if it’s for intellectual snobbery then why bother. The average Twilight fan will never read Tolstoy, and that is a snub neither at the Twilight fan nor at Tolstoy.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another one of my all-time favourite books, and another one that got me interested in the author, was ‘Alice’s adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll. Like most people I was introduced to this as a child and the images have stayed with me a lifetime... Now if that isn’t the mark of a ‘truly’ good book I don’t know what is.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I understand that people can attribute words like ‘esteemed; and ‘accomplished’ to the story constructs, construed ideas, and ‘perceived’ technical quality of the writing, which can lead to a leaning towards the ‘high brow’ road. But I think there are always two ways of looking at this. Unfortunately most critics may go for the ‘high road’ approach, whilst vastly significant portions of the potential readership are taking the ‘low road.’ So am I saying that most readers are low-brow? I’m sure most readers don’t think of themselves as particularly ‘low-brow.’ All I’m saying is that a lot of books which have often been described as ‘low-brow’ are very popular; in terms of sales, hence readership figures; while those lauded and accomplished ‘literary’ works are only ever bought by a much reduced audience.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some of these ‘accomplished’ and ‘esteemed’ authors were never popular. Some were not popular in their own life and have become so posthumously over time.</div><div class="MsoNormal">What I am saying is that there are no <i>writes </i>and wrongs when saying what people like. People like what they like, and conversely dislike what they dislike.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I do however get a bit irked when the intellectual snobbery factor comes into play. It can both discriminate and put large portions of potential readers off certain books, simply because they are seen as ‘arty’ or ‘literary.’ I have truly enjoyed some ‘literary’ books, I have also truly enjoyed some throw-away paperback pulp... it doesn’t make me a bad person...</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I know I’m not going to come up with any earth-shattering revelations here, or even change anyone’s perceptions, but I’ve read a lot of the same old types of reviews over the Christmas break, full of the same old biases, and just wanted to have a little vent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’d be interested in any of your views on this, and thanks for reading.</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-47724068420180510582011-10-11T02:27:00.001-07:002011-10-11T02:30:11.304-07:00The Write blog... I’ve been quite busy with work and at home lately, and haven’t had much time to write, so I’ve taken to popping in-and-out of some blog-sites during breaks and lull-times. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Now, I’m already fairly familiar with technical blogs, from doing research at work, and with a fair few writing and gaming blogs, from my extracurricular activities. But something I didn’t realise was just how much blogs were out there about... well, ‘Writing Blogs!’</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I suppose this type of blog could ether be seen as being akin to someone who has never written nor published a fictional story publishing a how-to book on writing and publishing fiction, not that I’m dismissing the relevance or usefulness of such books. Or in some cases the blog could be more akin to the successful writer publishing a how-to come chronicle type book... something like ‘<span class="st">A Memoir of the Craft</span>’ by Steven King for example. I know most of the blogs I visited seemed to be written to give this impression, although in many no credentials were given...<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> Here’s the thing though, like most stuff on the internet, these blogs all seemed to contradict each other in what they said was ‘good’ blog construction and etiquette. Some seemed overly concerned with the page layout and colours used, while others talked much more about ‘widgets’ and the mechanics of the underlying HTML code. Even then some site directly contradicted each other. For example, I read that you should always open linked to windows in a new browser on some sites, as this doesn’t take the reader away from your page hence they don’t get lost. Then I read more sites saying you should never do this since it can confuse the reader, making them lose your page as they can’t use the browser ‘back’ button, or irritate them as you may be seen to be ‘taking over their browser,’ something that I admit wouldn’t have occurred to me. I personally quite like when things open in another window or tab, providing it’s something you actually want that is. Yet others said ‘keep it simple, don’t clutter, and make it work how the user expects’ while others said ‘make something fresh, unique and interesting that captures the interest of the casual browsers, making them notice your site.’ It may just be me, but those two statements don’t seem all that compatible. Yet others said ‘never include adverts’ while others said ‘it’s ok to ask people to click your adverts if they like your blog.’ </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> This all got me thinking about how I laid out my own blog, not to mention the all important content... a whole other bone of contention according to these bloggers-of-blogs. I looked at my blog with a view to some of the things I’ve mentioned above, and had a look at some other writing-based blogs, trying to decide if there is a basic template that is more common for writing related sites. If there is I couldn’t see it!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> Now, I quite like seeing the latest ‘Add-Sence’ and automatically generated ‘Amazon Associates’ adverts etc. I find some quite interesting, or at least amusing at what they sometimes throw up in context. So does this type of thing put you off a blog?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I suppose my page is also quite cluttered, although the background and foreground colours seem fairly unobtrusive to me, making the page quite east to read. Most of my ‘clutter’ isn’t really trying to sell anything, it’s just things I found interesting and would like to pass on. A lot of these ‘guides’ said you should try to make some innovative use of the footer. I thought I’d don non to badly here, but now I’m thinking that maybe others will just see this as ‘clutter.’ I haven’t really done any pop-up windows in my writing blog but have in my Computer games one. Am I inadvertently irritating someone by ‘talking over their browser?’ I would like to think I am not.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> I realise this could all come down to a simple matter of taste, and no blog is going to appeal to all people. That’s pretty-much the nature of blogs I think... after all it’s quite probably the worlds largest niche self-publishing outlet.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">So do you think there is such a thing as a ‘good’ or ‘best’ layout for given types of blog? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Do you think the layout even matters all that much?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">We read with our eyes, so does an ‘eye candy’ site invite more readers or simply make the reader feel sugar-sick?</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-87494689933883728502011-09-26T03:02:00.001-07:002011-09-29T04:38:24.375-07:00Contrasting views up the AmazonI discovered something about Amazon recently. I’m not sure if it’s widely known but it definitely wasn’t known to me. Or a lot of the people I asked. <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">It all started when I went into my authors account and looked at the download history. At first glance it looked like I had ‘sold’ quite a few stories at 99 cents each. But the revenue columns remained suspiciously at Zero, well apart for one that said 70 cents!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Being a bit perplexed by this I took a look at what Amazon told me my stuff was selling at in both the UK and the US (Ich verkaufe aber nichts in Deutschland) but all looked normal. There it was on screen for all to see. I was selling for both stories for 99 cents. So I went back to scratch my head over that Zero balance.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">When looking at my download history I noticed a sudden jump in uptake for one of my stories. The proverbial light-bulb went on and I posted on a forum asking what could cause this confusing read-out. It didn’t take long before I got word back from an American poster who said both my stories were ‘selling’ for 0 cents on the American site, but I couldn’t see that when looking at amazone.com. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not blaming Amazon for this. </div><div class="MsoNormal">For a while I dropped the cost of the story in question from 99 cents to Zero on Smashwords and this appears to have been uploaded to other sites, and Amazon simple price-matched as per the terms and conditions.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I knew I was waiting for one of these to price-match down to Zero on Amazone, as I have it at Zero on other sites. What I didn’t realise, from looking at the front end selling pages on both the UK and US sites, is that this had already happened and not just for the story I wanted it to happen for. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What caused my confusion is that for the UK (and Germany) the price match doesn’t seem to have been applied for any of the stories and the prices are, rightly and wrongly, being reported as (the equivalent of) 99 cents. In America however they are being sold at Zero cents, as the price-matching has took. But for where I’m standing it still appears that they are both being sold for a cost there as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As it all stands I’m not really fussed about this. I’m just putting these stories out there to try and expose myself… err try and gain some exposure, just now anyway. But in the wrong circumstances this could result in a substantial ‘hidden’ revenue loss to some people!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have you had any similar Amazon experiences? Does this situation work in reverse if you are living in America?</div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-53765314067797125072011-09-10T17:46:00.000-07:002011-09-29T04:37:53.770-07:00The benefits and pitfalls of replying to reviews:<span lang="EN-GB">I was checking up on my stories in Amazon recently, and felt compelled to write a reply thanking a reader for reviewing one of my Novelettes. <br />
I wanted to reply to this as I appreciated the work and effort they had obviously put into their review, and genuinely wanted to thank them.<br />
It wasn’t a glowing review by any means, but it was fair and their personal likes and dislikes were reasonable. A reply from another reader, who had stopped reading because they had become confused, even said they would now finish the story based on the review.<br />
Now, I did leave a comment and almost immediately had second thoughts. After reading my comments back it could be interpreted as a blatant plug for the other books in this series, and that really wasn’t my intention. Not that thers much unusual about an author blatantly plugging their work. After all, you haven’t much option until you can get someone who is much better at it than yourself to plug for you!</span><br />
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I think it really is that I’m just pumped up about this series. It’s turning into one of those things that just wan’t to tell itself. I’ve already got way more notes and ideas than I was ever intending to use. So I wasn’t really trying to sell, or gods forbid actually explain myself or argue with a review!<br />
I do hope they take my reply in the spirit it was intended. But I think I’m going to have to keep an eye on this review thread now. I don’t want it to get out of hand, as I’ve seen some other, especially beginner, authors get themselves into a right old mess with directly replying to reviews.</span><br />
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So this all made me think. Is it really a good thing to get directly involved with your reviewers on sites like Amazon? Or is it best to stick to forums and sites like Goodreads (I’ve had a couple of really good reviews from there).<br />
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I know much of this writing lark is about putting yourself out-there and taking the criticism on the chin and all… not that I think this review was unduly critical. They said what they likes, and what they didn’t and why. Then gave me three stars, so I’m honestly not complaining. On reflection I just hope my reply didn’t sound like I was. And that, of course, is where the problem with the Internet is. It’s difficult to judge someone’s tone and mood, hence their meaning, from text alone.<br />
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The review can be seen <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R16ZE8CAIZYSLJ/ref=cm_cd_NOREF?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1BFGMCEDG6MEB&cdPage=&asin=B005561FD0&newContentNum=3&cdMSG=addedToThread&store=digital-text&cdThread=Tx3JRYIRA5BTOBD&newContentID=Mx34HY2CWRLIF71#CustomerDiscussionsNRPB">HERE</a>. </span>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-76459896333511415522011-09-05T05:22:00.000-07:002011-09-06T01:51:03.518-07:00The moon was jumped over by the cow…<b>…or why passive voice is easy to write but not to read.</b><br />
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I was editing a few beginners’ short-story efforts recently, and kept coming up against the passive-voice monster. This got me wondering why people write like this, and we all did it. In fact I think most of up probably still do. We just get better at recognising and removing it.<br />
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The first thing everyone is told when learning to write is usually ether “Show, don’t tell” or “Don’t use passive voice.” Both are very good pieces of advice and both invariably leave the would-be writer reeling under the weight of these short sentences.<br />
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Subject and action, that’s how most of us think. ‘The dirty dishes were not washed by our son again’ a common enough occurrence, at least in our house. <br />
We may think that way. But we don’t talk that way. I think that’s where the problem is. We are more likely to say “You’re son didn’t wash the dishes again.” … and yes, the answer would probably be “He’s your son too.”<br />
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Why do we think like that? Well I’m not a psychologist, but I would hazard a guess that it’s mostly down to perception. We perceive an action, and think about the couse and or consequences. But our modern speech-patterns mean we don’t verbally say it like than, and when we do communicate it like that in writing the results come across as week and our brain tends to gloss over them., quite possibly because it registers more like an idle-thought rather than a strong, imperative, statement.<br />
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Anyway, my point is it’s easy to write in passive voice when you are ‘in the flow’ as you’re much more likely to stream what is in your brain directly onto the paper (or computer screen) unfiltered by any techniques you may know. Of course that’s where the editing comes in, and it takes time to both learn the techniques and to use them to their best advantage. It also seems to be linked to peoples understanding and use of verbs. New writers seem to over-explain and often use language that reads too formal. <br />
E.g. “This blog post explains my theory” not “This blog post is an explanation of my theory in which I attempt to show readers why some people write lots of passive voice.”<br />
OK, that may be a bit of an over-the-top example, but I have read many first-drafts that ‘speak’ like this, which usually lead to comments telling the would-be writer to ‘find their voice.’<br />
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So is this type of advice wrong? Is it a lazy answer on the part of the person giving the critique or review? I don’t necessarily think so. No matter whom the giver is any comments are always subjective, and largely depend on the level of knowledge held by the person commenting. So do we all just stay quiet, and keep our opinions to ourselves? Of course not, people learn by doing, listening to feedback and doing again, and again, and again… the people who don’t generally ever get any better are the ones that don't take the advice and stagnate. While the people who do, sometimes, end up getting cold-hard cash for their efforts.<br />
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So what do you think, and how do you explain this to newer writers?Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154649561836238014.post-9466898680477143432011-08-22T05:39:00.000-07:002011-08-22T05:44:55.602-07:00Getting Interactive on my Web-SiteI’ve had a bit of an idea for an interactive bit on my OtherWhere website, and I’d appreciate any thoughts on how to proceed with this. Or indeed if you think the idea has any merit, and is worth proceeding with at all?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a target="_blank" href="http://free.7host01.com/garryg/OtherWhere/intadv/adv/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9ddiTX8y_uh8EnEIR0iopxCkx5CvBcCaplXgN6nZfn0MN9pmAB7OLw6uW4Tx876LQWtvcs1Y7jLdJN1medK0t4fG8dBk0bZrCJXvkBEzywX_7XrS2sGuiUgl4EDDfDl5jzkI5SNvYPvV/s400/ow-ttbr.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">The idea was to make a blurb-text that was a bit more interesting than simply reading from some static web-pages. I was playing an old point-and-click style adventure game when I came upon the idea of implementing this type of thing over web-pages on my site. My initial idea was to use the format of old text-adventure games <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(now called Interactive-fiction)</i></span> and the later point-and-click programs to form a relatively simple interactive way for people to brows my site and learn something about the OtherWhere and my characters in hopefully a more ‘fun’ environment.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I eventually intend to include some puzzle elements, probably through java if anyone is interested, to liven up some of the screens, as well as providing simple icon-based actions that are use in an ‘adventure game’ style to interact with objects placed within the game.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve added a bit of a Beta version to the site just now. This doesn’t have any of the drag-and-drop functionality just now, although some example point-and-click stuff is implemented. The navigational system is functioning though, and the ‘random placement when wandering into the Nothing’ feature is implemented.</div><div class="MsoNormal">This version isn’t all that big, but if it seems worthwhile I can easily expand upon the locations, and maybe even give it a story of sorts.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I haven’t really seen anyone do this before. Then again that could be because it doesn’t really work or because it’s been tried and there was no interest!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I meant to put this test version up on my site some time ago but the free internet provider I used for testing stuff on-line had, in their wisdom, stopped FTP access to their free site. An unfortunate turn of events that left me with the option of finding another provider <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(but I couldn’t be bothered)</i></span> or adding all the new files one-by-one through the web interface… so some time later I’ve now got all these files loaded!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It seems to run ok from my work connection, but I haven’t had a chance to test it from my slower home connection yet. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I’d appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes to have a look, and possibly leave some comments at the bottom of this post?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">You can find the link from my OtherWhare site to this at: <a href="http://free.7host01.com/garryg/OtherWhere/intadv/">http://free.7host01.com/garryg/OtherWhere/intadv/</a> <b> </b><b>(Press the big grey button to start)</b></div></div>Garry G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10413895048743576038noreply@blogger.com0