NaShoStoWriPaMo - Catchy, right?

So it has been NaNoWriMo, and as mentioned before, I don't join in as it isn't something I think I can constructively cram in right now. I ignore my kids enough already as it is. 

 But I do like the idea -on the understanding that what you have at the end is a raw splurge of words that you can then work with, as opposed to something ready to send out. And so, I made my own little month, and not because I can’t play nicely with other kids, but because I knew what was feasible for me.

 Therefore I present to you, NaShoStoWriPaMo, that is National Short Story Writing Part Month. (It's a part month as I knew that realistically I wouldn’t get to work on it properly at the weekends.) Aptly, National Short Story Week also fell in the middle. (OK, maybe that was coincidence, but let’s call it serendipity, yes?)

So today I finished a first splurge draft for a short story. Or maybe a 26,500 word outline for something bigger. And given that I have been blocked for months now, that feels just great. It was so good to fill the blank pages, and to rediscover how just doing it spawns lots of new ideas as you go, rather than just sitting there, waiting for  an idea to hit and stressing over the fact that it didn't.

Sometimes you just have to shape your next journey to something attainable and start with the small steps. 

Oooh! What's that?

Can you guess what it is?


Yup, spot on. Well done  you! It is of course my Winter TBR pile under construction.
There are more books on their way, but I'm already ridiculously excited.

What are they, you ask? Really? Do you open your Christmas presents ahead of time too?
Shame on you...

Looking for men

So this made me smile. It's a spoof photo spread  of male YA writers.

What  I also came away thinking was that in spite of having read almost exclusively YA for quite some time now,  I didn't know any of these chaps' work. At all.
So I took a good hard look at my YA shelves (yes, that's them over there. Can you spot the Dark Side?) It is very clearly a female dominant bookcase, but then in my defense so is the category. Looking at this season's TBR pile, of the 14 books I had in there, including the e-books, 11 were YA. Of those 11 only 2 were by men.

 I feel I have been remiss and should attempt to address this imbalance in my next couple of piles.
 I've already read books by David Levithan, John Green, Keith Gray, Patrick Ness, Kevin Brooks, Jon Marsden, William Nicholson, David Belbin and Charles de Lint, but that is about it.
 So is there anyone out there, who would like to recommend some more to me? I'm specifically leaning more to the YA Contemporary at the moment.

Obviously I will be looking a little harder at these photo spread guys too. I mean their books of course...

Twitter - because Life's distractions aren't enough...

So at the same time as starting the blog here, in fact the same day, I joined Twitter, because I'm allegedly from a binge culture, and so I need things as intense as possible.

 And indeed it was. My head was in a spin for a few days, having until then had fairly Amish habits.

But now, three months (and a bit) have passed and these are my thoughts on the mighty Twitter.

1)      I have never come across (or at least never appreciated) anything so aptly named. It genuinely feels like opening a window and hearing constant and frenzied chirping, from all sides. That bit still knocks my socks off.

2)       I love the fact that I can tailor my noise pool. Mine is currently made up of; writers, agents, publishers, comedians, and the few friends I know who also Tweet.

3)      I’m still getting used to the fact that you can tweet a person you have never met before, and especially if they are known faces.  At first I was worried about intruding, and wanted to start with a proper British “sorry to intrude...” I’m still not proficient and I doubt I’ll ever be prolific,  partly as I don’t have an i-phone, but also because I don’t want to just say things for the sake of it, and I can’t stand too much self promotion.

4)      Which brings me onto ditching people. I have Unfollowed several who just sang their own praises constantly – as in bombardment – or were just peddling their wares. But I do feel guilty about it. It is like telling someone that you don’t want to be friends with them anymore, only not actually telling them, just secretly sliding away... 

5)      I need to be discerning with Follow-backs. This is now a pre-empter to 4). I now read profiles before I hit the Follow button. The guilt is shorter-lived, and saves me the bombardment.

6)      I enjoy following agents and their industry banter. (However, for the ones who have my MS in, I can’t help myself from thinking that they should Tweet a little less and focus on their work... Self -absorbed? Moi?)

7)      There are clearly some very lovely, warm and supportive people out there. They are generous and willing to overlook buffoonery.

8)      Last but not least, I know now how Twitter can devour my time and attention, even as just a Lurker, but that it is all too late. I’m fairly addicted. 

Monday Morning Moby Dick Moment

OK, so it isn't like I am obsessed by Moby Dick or anything. That way madness lies, as those of us who have actually read it (yup, still smug) well know.

However, imagine my chagrin when I find out that rather than painfully laboring through the full 212,758 words, I could have done it in 12. Yes, 12. Like this;  Sailor. Boat. Captain. Leg. Mad. Sail. Find. Whale. Chase. Smash. Sink. Float.

So, thanks to Cozy Classics for being 15 years too late. And to the rest of you, for whom I have just saved you an enormous effort; You are most welcome.

A little liberation.

I’ve said it before and no doubt I’ll say it again – I do love a list. And this one makes me feel much better about some of my recent reading.

See, it isn’t just me that gives up on books! (Nor is it just me that hated Moby Dick, if you read the numerous comments, but there I did at least read to the end. Yes, I know, smug is not an attractive attribute...) 

And unlike the ditched writing mentioned in the post below, these are works that have actually made it to print.

This list is very liberating indeed.

I might not feel so bad about sliding Dracula back onto the bookshelf now.

First blood

Is it just me? Is this First Paragraph thing getting slightly out of hand? Or am I just refusing to look reality in the face (Admittedly it would not be the first time, but life can be much better that way...)

I am a fan of Miss Snark’s First Victim, and she bases many of her writing competitions on openings.  Fair enough. These are what you submit to an agent or publisher, and they need to be good. In the past there have been competitions based on the first paragraph and even the first lines, which offer invaluable feedback for writers.  Correctly, the feedback mainly focuses on whether the paragraph grabs the attention of the reader, and whether there is a clear sense of voice.

However, there are times where, based on just one paragraph or line, the feedback can be comments like "No, sorry. I don't get a sense of the protagonist’s beliefs, hopes, dreams, past, future, age, appearance, needs or desires. I wouldn't read on..."  (Perhaps I exaggerate a little.) When I read these, I want to shout "Whoa there. Too much pressure! One paragraph/line can only do so much." Is that just me? Is it just me that apparently cannot write a line that in its singular state is beautiful and deep and dynamic and insightful, lyrical yet punchy, leaves sixteen clues that will make you shout “Of course!” 280 pages down the line AND grabs you by the throat? In one line? You can do that? Ok, just me then. Must try harder...

 And then I read this link here, where a panel of agents listened to a set of first 250 words and indicated at which point they would stop reading. They didn’t have buzzers but it still sounds cut-throat. I guess agents see a million submissions a week, and so they are particularly honed to this, but surely they could give it a chapter, assuming that the writer is able to string a sentence together? What chance does the slow burn novel have? As a reader, I pick a book up based on a good blurb and I'll give it at least three chapters before I  think about ditching it. The first paragraph doesn't feature in that mix.

The panel also gave indications as to what put them off; i.e. generic beginnings with weather and dates. On this basis, Tess of the d'Urbervilles would never have got published. So perhaps they are onto something after all...