wildwriting

For posterity...

2009-08-27T17:00:00.003+01:00

Today I had my first film script optioned by a production company. :-)

Hiatus

2009-05-29T11:37:00.003+01:00

It's been a long time since I posted here - mostly because of the death of Friday Snippets.

But I have been up to some writing-related nonsense, so I suppose it's a good idea to set some of it down:

An agent is interested in C&C, but I need to rework large chunks of it. This is on my To Do list, but has been overtaken by a handful of other things.

Rachel and I decided to bite the bullet and just 'publish-and-be-damned' a children's book to coincide with the birth of our friends' first child. It is available via Lulu and has now mysteriously found its way onto the American Amazon store. It is a parody, it's about language, it's full of picture-based double entendres, and will therefore probably only work properly for the British. (Also - I've been told off for only giving us 4 stars. I never was any good at self-promotion!)

I've produced a film script in collaboration with a friend. It's far better than my earlier attempts at scriptwriting, and we're both rather proud of it (certainly of the underlying ideas and the characters, although my script formalism may be lacking in places).

I am currently turning said film script into a graphic novel script for an artist friend of mine. Where it'll finally end up, who knows?

I am currently in collaboration with another artist on a second children's book, also a parody, but this one much darker.

Rachel and I are working up ideas for a second TV series. The first one is, sadly, on the shelf, due to the BBC producing a very similar series. *sigh* Isn't it always the way that similar ideas all blossom at once?

Gasoline is currently sitting on a shelf niggling at me.

I was asked to do a reading for a wedding. Unfortunately the friends in question couldn't think of a suitable passage. So I had to do a writing as well as a reading; standing up there reading your own words for the first time is nerve-racking! Still, it seemed to go down well, and I was quite pleased with it.

All this and running a technology company, too!

Ooh!

2008-08-14T17:39:00.004+01:00

An email from an agent who is interested in being sent the full draft of C&C!

:-D

And another rejection!

2008-07-21T08:11:00.000+01:00

They're coming thick and fast now. :-D

Freshly Fuelled

2008-07-20T11:40:00.002+01:00

Having had a long discussion in a car with Rach, I've finally nailed down some stuff about Gasoline that was bugging me. Put a lot more structure in place.

So, believe it or not, I'm now starting the second draft before the first is finished. :-)

Mostly because the first draft kinda lost its way, and a lot of the new structure really affects the half-way point of the story (which is where I was).

Second Rejection

2008-07-20T11:39:00.002+01:00

...which was something of a nice surprise, because I had assumed the agent wouldn't bother to reply at all - it being nearly four months since I sent the manuscript.

Again, not a bad rejection, although I suspect it's a form note.

Death of Snippets

2008-07-01T10:02:00.002+01:00

Well - it's been an interesting year-and-a-half.

But I've decided - finally - to abandon snippeting.

Partly because of the reasons in the last post - I don't have any more to say in the current story without drastic spoilers, which I think would be a shame.

And partly because I've decided to pull all the old snippets from this blog because it is rather too public. After taking a bit of advice from experienced authors, I think it's the right thing to do.

Which is a shame.

This blog will, therefore, only be updated sporadically for the time being, I guess, as writing-related things happen in my life. It may become no more than a personal record. Who knows?

Good luck with whatever you're working on! I'll try to keep reading other people's entries from week to week, assuming anyone else keeps going!

Accomplished

2008-06-27T17:14:00.003+01:00

3 more submissions of Coin and Candle sent off, despite a small kitten sitting on the back of my neck.

Slight rewrite of the last few scenes of Gasoline to accommodate something which connects up all the plot of the story so far; a sudden inspiration which I'm really happy with.

All in all, not a bad day so far.

To post, or not to post?

2008-06-26T19:26:00.003+01:00

Well, I missed the snippet last week for reasons which this post'll make clear.

I've hit a difficult story point with regard to snippeting purposes.

Something has happened in Gasoline. A real turning point, after which none of the characters will be the same.

Now, the purpose of these snippets - as I see it - is to give the folk reading something fun to read; to keep me writing, as I feel a certain obligation to deliver a snippet; and to hopefully get a few folk interested in my story worlds.

But how much of the story do I tell?

At this point, if I show you the story-changing episode, does that spoil the story for you? I've only skimmed over the tale to this point, avoiding a couple of pretty deep spoilers, but this is a biggie.

I could skip forward a bit (when I've finished writing a bit more). But then the world will have changed, and you won't be able to avoid noticing that change. Because the characters will talk about it and react to it. Whatever I do, spoilers abound, so to speak.

Personally, I think the story-changing episode itself is great, if only as catharsis for myself. It injects a huge chunk of life into something which I was struggling with.

So, what to do... do I:

Post the story-changing episode and be damned with it, and continue showing you snippets and sequences for the duration of the story?

Skip the story-changing episode and post other snippets from Gasoline as and when I get them done, risking you realising (pretty rapidly, I think) what the story-changing episode did?

Stop snippeting Gasoline? I don't have anything else to put snippets in from really... so that would be the end of snippets for me, at least until November.

Any thoughts?

And another week flits by...

2008-05-24T11:43:00.003+01:00

Nothing from me again.

About 5k added since Sunday, which isn't bad going considering how hectic this week has been. However, nothing is really snippet-worthy; I'm in danger of posting the whole book as it is, so I'm trying to avoid that. Hopefully by next Friday I'll have a couple of worthy scenes.

In the meantime I'm sitting here in the office trying to get some bits and pieces out of the way whilst half-watching some DVDs I've been meaning to get around to for ages.

Oh - someone tells me that Robert Aspirin has died.

I'd almost forgotten him; I met him back in '94 at a convention. Three or four of us sat and drank with him in a bar, listening to his anecdotes for an evening. He told one about a gerbil; and later in that same convention - when presented with gaffa tape - regretted it.

And again...

2008-05-16T09:40:00.002+01:00

...no snippet this week.

But things are better; I've started writing properly again, and the wordcount is picking up. I suspect draft 1 of Gasoline will be an ill-targeted mess, but then that's what first drafts are for, right?

Writing will slow down again this weekend - we're off to London, partly to see friends, partly to see family, partly to see Derren Brown's new stage show. I caught his TV show last night, "Trick or Treat", and it's deeply scary stuff.

Ideas are already creeping in for the next book... which I guess will start in November again this year. So I'd best stop typing this, and get back to writing!

Friday...

2008-05-09T14:15:00.002+01:00

No snippet from me this week - I'm doing some plotting work on Gasoline. Hopefully I'll have something relevant next week. We'll see how it goes.

And away this weekend again, so will be late looking at other snippets.

Not this week...

2008-04-20T17:33:00.003+01:00

No snippet this week. We have mostly spent the weekend building an underground lair... uh... a new library in what was our basement, and a desk to work at. Finally all our (fiction) books are in one room and in a sensible order.

And so it begins...

2008-04-01T09:48:00.001+01:00

First rejection. :-)

Zhura

2008-02-20T08:58:00.000Z

If you're interested in screenwriting - Zhura.com - is a collaborative screenwriting site with an online script editing tool.

Conquests and Goals

2008-01-02T10:51:00.001Z

Well, a quick writerly-round-up of last year and what I hope to get out of next year.

2007

Achievements in 2007:

I took my first attempt at a novel, Coin and Candle (started during NaNoWriMo 2006) to 150k words and the end of the story.

I spent most of the year editing and polishing C&C and sent it out to people as beta readers. I also got Lulu to print me a few. Having a hardcopy that looks like a proper book is wonderful. :-)

Feedback from the beta readers was more positive than I'd expected. The result is that I 'finished' editing C&C on the 30th of December, and am going to try to find out whether anyone wants to buy it...

I wrote my first 90 minute screenplay (which I'll codename Project J, for now). The atmosphere isn't what I'd originally wanted, but it was a good learning experience and a story did come out of it; now I need to go back to the person I wrote it for, and we need to talk the whole thing through (and the practicalities of filming) and rework it for draft 2.

I started work (for NaNo 2007) on Gasoline, which I now haven't done anything on for a month or so. I wasn't happy with it while writing, but now I'm excited about it every time I read it. I'm probably about halfway through the story.

I dreamed up lots of ideas. :-)

Most importantly: for the first time, as C&C came to a close, I decided that I was actually able to write, and started to believe that I might be on to something. You know that whole 'one day, I'll write a book' thing - now I have written one, and the goal becomes 'one day, I'll publish a book'. One huge hurdle in life knocked down and (I think) a slightly lower one replacing it.

2008

Things on my plate for 2008:

Start along the 'getting a publisher' route for C&C - synopses, begging letters, all of that. It's all a learning experience; and for me, the pressure isn't huge, because it's all a 'nice to have' rather than 'my future depends on it!'

Finish Gasoline - this will be my default state for much of this year.

Adapt Project A (an ill-fated but - I think - very promising TV drama pitch) as a series of radio plays. Cast people, record them, podcast it for free.

Create a children's book (in collaboration with Rachel). It's written, just needs illustrated, so I've got to work on that one now... have graphics tablet and raring to go.

Try to be more disciplined about writing time - a set time every day. Probably first thing in the morning.

This, of course, doesn't list any of my non-writing activities, which probably outweigh everything on this page. Particularly running a business. Busy, busy!

I think that's it for now...

Rwarr?

2007-12-17T21:46:00.000Z

Colour me somewhat surprised. I have been awarded a Roar for Powerful Words by Gabriele, which I'm a bit taken aback at, not having really been involved in this sort of thing before!

As she points out, part of the suggestion from the original instigator (Seamus), suggests that everyone who's awarded a lion works out three things that they think make writing powerful and then pass on the award to five others.

So here goes...

Three things I think are important to make writing powerful
This is actually quite difficult for a couple of reasons:

Gabriele has already covered three things I think apply.

I'm not a hugely experienced writer. I (like to think that I) am a hugely experienced reader, so maybe that can help. :-)

So... my three things that are a bit different from what Gabriele said, and I'm cheating by winding them all into one:

Confidence, Faith and Belief

By which I'm not meaning anything spiritual - nor am I really meaning self-belief (although that helps). I mean have confidence in your world and your characters. Have faith that your characters inhabit their universe, and don't need the world to be explained to them; believe in your world vision, trust that it's strong enough for the reader to pick it up without having it all spelled out for them, as your characters will reveal it simply by living it.

No need for vast exposition -- no need to set the scene. Have enough faith in your creation that you barely need to mention it on the page; it'll shine through whenever it impacts on your characters, and that's all that really matters. And trust your reader - they're not dumb. :-)

Is that really about writing powerfully?

Well, maybe, maybe not, it's just what came to mind! I think it makes the characters stronger (they fit the world), and I think it makes the world itself much more solid and believable. To the text, it's the difference between it feeling realistic and feeling like a history lesson or a textbook.

So who would I give powerful words awards to?

That's tricky, because I don't read many fiction blogs. I may have to cop out and list some authors who I think manage to achieve really powerful and moving writing.

So...
Guy Gavriel Kay - without a doubt the most moving writing in my collection. The way he can turn a sentence to tug at your heartstrings is quite incredible.

George R R Martin - As with many people, I think his Song of Ice and Fire is amazing, and pulls no punches. He's not afraid of utterly destroying his characters.

Getting back to bloggers, I'd like to put Bri on the list. She hasn't posted anything for a few weeks now - but her stuff is very strong, characters well-drawn, and the world is conjured up in only a handful of words. Hope her exams are going well!

I'll muse on the other two and see if anyone else obvious occurs...

Apologies if I've got the wrong idea behind this blog award - it's been a very long day, and I'm half asleep!

Celtx

2007-12-13T10:15:00.001Z

CeltX, a useful piece of screenwriting/production management software for Mac, Windows and Linux.

Amazon Kindle

2007-11-21T09:25:00.000Z

Don't know how this one completely sneaked under my radar - have you guys heard of the Amazon Kindle? Amazon's attempt at the electronic book reader.

Looks strangely 1980s, but has some very interesting features; notably an e-ink display (like the Sony Reader), a direct mobile-phone-like connection to Amazon (no need for contracts or wireless or anything), and a battery life of about 5 days reading time (if you turn off the wireless). And no need to synch with a computer or anything.

I am yet-to-be-convinced that electronic readers are ready for general use (that is, unless they start making them waterproof).

I am also unconvinced that Amazon will win out with this one, mostly because of its styling (consumers are terribly style-conscious these days).

I suspect that Amazon's next redesigned version of the Kindle (after learning from any mistakes made on the first one - and after lowering the price a bit) might really take off. After all, they have the content...

Away...

2007-09-26T23:58:00.000+01:00

We're in London for the next couple of days (going to see the Terracotta Warriors, amongst other things) and then in Southampton for a house warming - so the snippet on Friday might be late, unless I stumble over a wireless network point!

I've just edited and sent out a screenplay I was asked for; and have discovered that a TV pitch put together a year or so ago is making a little bit of progress on its way to finding the right desks to cross. Only a tiny bit; but better than nothing!

And have had some good (by which I mean thorough - but also encouraging) feedback from some of the first few C&C test readers...

But really, my head is mostly filling up with ideas for Gasoline, my NaNo project this year. It's starting to take shape - and is going to be tricky, but fun. A complete departure from C&C.

Mental Note: Montage

2007-08-13T16:34:00.001+01:00

New screenwriting software for the Mac - looks promising.

Montage.

Slog, slog...

2007-07-30T13:10:00.001+01:00

I'm struggling through the first real edit of Coin and Candle, and have reached Day 11 (there are 12 chapters - arranged in days - at the moment). And here's where it all gets sticky; there are two main viewpoints/plotlines weaving through the book, and plotline 2 (Adaon) needs some serious attention. Essentially I need to rework it so that he's more proactive at this point, and so that the general ruling Council aren't taking some stupid decisions.

So - it's mostly about a selection of debating chamber scenes; and working through the real motivations of Puppetmaster #2 - Lady Constance White.

That's the trouble with writing characters who are a lot smarter than you. :-) Sometimes it seems to be quite difficult to pin down what their real motives are, damn them. :-D

But I have been quite pleased up to this point with how little reworking has really been needed. Some continuity stuff, some reworking to get rid of passive voice or 'global' third-person viewpoint/narration. It's only here that it really needs a good kick.

I have a bunch of ideas; just need to reweave it a bit. Without substantially affecting the ending (because I like the ending!).

Happily I have to change very little of storyline #1 (Rikke).

And then, of course, it all gets much tricker - I'm going to have to dump 30k words somehow. Eep.

Oh, and little matter of chapter headers - I'd planned a little snippet of one of Hugo Vass's plays for each chapter, to give more exposure to Adaon's motivation, and to show off a little more of the world/culture. But that'll up the wordcount! Bah...

The Spider's Bride

2007-07-25T12:54:00.001+01:00

A friend has had her first novel published.

Huzzah! :-)

Hooray!

2007-06-28T00:56:00.001+01:00

Finished ScriptFrenzy, with only a day or so to go, in the middle of a hellish time at work and all sorts of things going on at home.

Extra-curricularly - we're filming this weekend (pyros and SWAT-teams a-go-go).

So, writing wise - I'll do a little bit of a tidy up on the Scottish Screenplay, then take a break from it and skip back to Coin and Candle and plough on with the second draft. Then back to the screenplay for a quick second draft - then it can go to Bill for his take on it. It may not be suitable, it may be - we shall have to see.

Also on the horizon - kicking Richard about Project A, and pushing Gasoline along a bit on Worldforge.

But mostly - in between getting the screenplay into a state where Bill can kick it - I must, I must, finish draft 2 of C and C. It is starting to eat my soul.

ScriptFrenzy

2007-05-06T19:14:00.001+01:00

All signed up and ready to go... and let's hope that I get this one all wrapped up fairly swiftly after the month is over - rather than last year's 150k+ word Nano epic... which (for the uninitiated) I'm only just starting to do a second pass on.