March 24, 2007
I’ve been a bit busy with work lately and writing has taken a hit. The novel submission is off to a publisher this time, so that could take a while. And my current novel development has stalled as long as I’m not working it (well, duh!).
But, there is a short story competition I’ve had my eye on year-on-year. Its closing date is June, so is just the ticket to appease the writing hunger. A short story is so refreshing to write after a novel. I cut my baby teeth by writing stories before this novel, and was placed pretty highly in some competitions.
Short stories are just so simple and pure. No plot structures. No in-depth character histories to develop. No big research. Just one simple idea, expressed as cleanly as possible. Plenty of scope to focus on style. Nice!
Short Stories are the author’s gymnasium.
Entry Filed under: Writing
February 22, 2007
On Sky News this lunchtime, viewers were invited to visit the web site and get more information on three big news headlines of today. They were (and I kid you not):
1. Frozen Corpse
2. Giant Squid
3. Anna Nicole Smith
Hmm. If this is news, it’s no wonder why I’m so attracted to the world of fiction.
Entry Filed under: Observation & Musing
February 8, 2007
I sent another publisher submission off today. My fingers are crossed as usual.
While thinking about the structure of a re-draft (and the next novel), I was struck with a simple revelation.
Writer’s tend to find a particular difficulty in finding one or more of the following: a good beginning, middle, or an ending. Beginnings and endings are relatively easy for me to develop. It’s the damned middle that I have problems with. It is a particularly acute problem in a novel, because there is just so much of the thing. Middles can plod, drag and be generally uninspiring if not designed appropriately. The worst kind of middle (and I’ve read a few of these) is the one which you know is simply padding the length of the book, one that is only about connecting the two ends of the book with the mandatory number of words. Any reader would be suspicious of that.
So I was struck with an interesting concept for the middle: pull the ending forward. Take the ending that you think is the ending of the novel and move it so that it happens in the very middle or towards the end of the middle. Bam!- instant pace and volume added to the story without sacrificing tension building in the middle. Convert the ending into a turning point at the middle, and then all you have to do is extend and think up a completely new ending, and get to it.
Simple!
Entry Filed under: Writing
January 12, 2007
I was trawling back through a conversation with a prospective agent in my gmail viewer. Those of you not familar with it won’t be aware that, in the side bar, google tag on ads that are context sensitive to the email conversation. Now being a software engineer I’m always intrigued by the way the underlying algorithm decides what links are relative to the conversation. So it’s interesting to see that alongside a conversation during which my manuscript was rejected by the agent, Google deems that the most relevant ads to show me are: ’Custom Essay in 8 Hours’; ‘Have you written a book?’; and my favourite – ‘Laughter Lounge – The ultimate Comedy venue in Ireland’.
Who says computers don’t have a sense of humour … or a sense of irony?
Entry Filed under: Observation & Musing
January 2, 2007
I went through plenty of mental wrestling over the Christmas break. The novel is, I have decided, trying to sit in too many camps. It needs to be re-focused so that it is resolutely a techno-thriller, and a damned good one at that (it will need to be, if it is to be a debut break-through novel).
So while I may have thought that the third draft was the final one, it seems it will have to go a fourth draft (at least). That’s not so bad really, because the other product of my vacation musings is a new, stronger plot and a more satisfying ending for the reader. Any changes for the better must be a good thing. ’Better’ (in my experience) is a very subjective concept where stories are concerned, however there are some universal constants to making a satisfying story, and anyone looking to strengthen a story line from its roots could do worse than read Story by Robert McKee. Even though it is a book aimed at screenwriters, its theories on the structure of a story are useful to the novelist also.
The new draft won’t involve as much time as the previous draft, because it is a re-working of parts of an existing novel, which is less time-consuming than a whole new novel. Which brings me to the new novel … I thought about that too. I’ve come up with a pretty exciting premise and have started to develop it, but I’m curtailing myself to focus on correcting Broken Evolution first. I would rather get that right — go through the whole process of learning to sculpt a novel, and get it done on one book — rather than be a serial unpublished novelist!
Unfortunately new story ideas have a tendency to burrow untramelled into my brain, irrespective of any overriding priorities.
Entry Filed under: Writing
December 22, 2006
The other day I was driving behind a green Mini that brandished two noteworthy items: a learner driver’s plate, and a bumper sticker that simply stated ‘Examine your Assumptions’.
Up until this week, I had always assumed that a synopsis sent to an agent should be one page, no more. Why? Firstly, because agents do not like synopses to be too long. It makes for quicker processing of the slushpile, I suppose. Secondly, if you are constrained to describe your novel in one page, then the synopsis really stretches your writing prowess, and so is a quick way for the agent to judge your capabilities as a writer before deciding whether it is worth spending time reading sample chapters. The purpose of the covering letter is to get the agent to read the synopsis; the purpose of the synopsis is to get the agent to read the sample chapters; the purpose of the sample chapters is to get the agent to request the full manuscript. Or at least, that is what I thought, until this week.
I had managed to deliver all this to an agent, successfully enough to be asked for the manuscript. (Note: Agents will not be identified, nor will any be harmed in the making of this blog.) When the manuscript was rejected it left me examining my assumptions about the length and content of a synopsis. It’s all very well to ‘hook’ an agent into requesting your manuscript, but then you incur cost of postage and the risk that the synopsis is not detailed enough to give the agent a reasonable expectation of where the full story goes. The agent then incurs the return posted also. From now on, I think I would rather ensure that the synopsis has enough detail to give the agent a sufficient knowledge of the story so that there are no big (and bad) surprises in store, even if that does mean soiling a precious second page with ink.
So while this thought was running through my mind, the philosophical Mini that invited me to examine my assumptions veered sharply to the right on the narrow road and hit the brakes. Slamming on my own brakes to avoid careering into the back of the learner driver, I managed to stop safely only to see the driver indicate a right turn. So while I sat there, examining my assumptions about learner drivers, I found myself thinking that perhaps ‘Indicate your Intentions’ would be a better philosophical motif for that particular learner driver to adopt.
It is a good motif, perhaps, for learner authors also.
Entry Filed under: Writing
December 16, 2006
“The title ‘Broken Evolution’ has a 69.0% chance of being a bestselling title!”
Yay! It must be true — the Internet told me.
Entry Filed under: Writing
December 13, 2006
Although I might be drawn toward the writing business by passion, or obstinacy, or whatever, I need always to keep in mind that it *is* a business. Like any business, it has its own rules and I ignore them at my peril.
A point in case: I just received another cold hard slap in the chops this week – a submission rejection. This time it was with some feedback, because it was for a requested (full) manuscript.
In the back of my own mind, I knew that the novel could still be improved. I suppose all novels could be improved, even at the time of going to press, but improvement is most critical for a writer trying to break in. A debut novel needs strong impact; I now know that I can write a good query letter and synopsis, and that the concept for the novel is intriguing enough to be requested by the third agent it was submitted to, but the novel needs to lead where the proposal points.
Feedback is a rare thing in the time-starved working day of any publisher or agent. Now I could get dispondant (and a short period of grief is only natural after any rejection), but that won’t get the book published. Rather, I choose to pick myself up, dust myself off, and — most important of all — take onboard the feedback of someone who knows the business ,and then do something with it. Taking that advice on board may require a radical re-focussing effort on my part, but in the long run it might proove necessary to break into the business. On the positive side, I now know my writing style, characterization, level of research, and ability to pace the story are commendable (by at least one person); I proceed from that.
I am reminded of something Mark Twain said: opportunity eludes most people, because it is disguised as hard work (paraphrased).
I’ll be doing a lot of reading, thinking, and typing over Christmas.
Entry Filed under: Writing
December 1, 2006
Hello. My name is Brendan Cody and I’m an aspiring novelist.
It sounds like an introduction more suited to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting than to a writing blog, but they do have more in common than you might think. Let me share a secret with you: writing fiction is not a career; it is a vocation. To decide to write a novel and enter the foray of the publishing world is an insane, obsessive thing, because the odds that you will ever earn a living from it are stacked firmly against you. If you doubt me, simply read this for a harsh dose of reality. Fiction writing is a capricious and mercurial career choice.
So why do it?
Because a writer must write. It is as essential to his existence as breathing. It is an addiction that compels you to tap and keep tapping until you have a novel, and then another, and another. It is passion for a good story, the best you can make. Only that passion to write will carry you across the rough waters of doubt, publisher rejections, your own fears, and bring you onto the sun-kissed island where you can create your own worlds, mould stories, determine fates, and learn to know and love your characters as intimately as if they were your very own children.
The hope that you can earn a living from doing what you love is always there. And that addictive dream, more powerful than alcohol or any drug, is what drives that passion to create. But a dream it is nonetheless. In the words of one of my characters from the final pages:
“Evaluate your dream carefully before you embark on the journey to achieve it, because dreams cost, sometimes dearly.”
I can only hope that, for me, reality will not imitate that particular piece of art in some cynically prophetic way. It is a journey that I have decided to share with you, in case you too are an aspiring writer. Perhaps you can find some useful perspective in here. For my part, I only hope it will not scare you off. After all, what alcoholic, knowing what was ahead of them, would have taken their first sup from the poisoned chalice?
Entry Filed under: Writing