We're going to move away from the Author Platform now and talk about How to be a better novelist.
I read a great article on turning writer's envy into inspiration and wanted to share a few of the highlights with you in this post. We've all been there, reading the most amazing, inspiring text and wishing we could be even so much as half as good, then realising with that horrible sinking feeling that we're never going to reach that high bar. It's simply not attainable to us. But stop right there! You're allowed a marginal amount of wallowing in self pity before you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back to your craft. Don't let envy eat away at you! Yes, it's a natural emotion, but why not harness its energy and turn it to your advantage? Everybody has a unique voice and you shouldn't try to write in a voice that isn't your own. By all means follow the market trends and advice, however stay true to your originality and stay true to your instincts. I strongly believe you can't be taught to write - you've either got the flair for it, or you haven't - but you can be taught to write better and hone those natural, inbuilt skills. Writing isn't a race or competition either. I personally see it as more of a journey - a journey only for me. People will always try to measure your success with how many book sales you've made blah blah blah, but I reach the pinnacle of my success when I finish writing the story. It's all to do with how you feel about your achievement, not how other people feel about it. Manage your expectations of yourself. Finally, study the work that inspires you and learn the techniques these writers use to capture the scene, the emotion, the whatever it is that's gripping you. I'll often dig out different books when I'm writing this scene or that scene so I can embrace the greatness of the writer and try to apply it to my own writing. Strive to be better at what you do, but for gawd sake don't waste time beating yourself up! Remember this definition of success from Maya Angelou: Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
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I've been dabbling with fast fiction these last few days to try and keep that uninhibited writing spirit alive. I've dubbed it fast fiction but it's more commonly referred to as flash fiction or micro fiction or even plain and simple short short fiction. Whatever we're going to call it, I thought it might help me because it gives an immediate result - and actually, just seeing some words on a page is a great source of joy at the moment. The definition of fast fiction varies greatly depending on who you talk to. Some people describe it as 1,000 words or less and it must have a beginning, a middle and an end with conflict and resolution. However, as with anything, this has evolved and you now get people tweeting fiction in the 140 character limit and there are websites like 100words.com which class diary like entries as works of fast fiction: You can write about anything you want. Anything. Some people open tiny windows into their lives; others write surrealist poetry. Some writers post finely tuned, perfectly crafted vignettes; others show up at the end of the night and spew drunken nonsense onto the screen. You bring the content. We set the format. This is an exercise in disciplined creativity. Writing exactly 100 words at a time -- not a single word more, not a single word less -- isn't as easy as it sounds. The word count may be arbitrary, but the motive is not. To borrow from Proust, the tyranny of rhyme often brings out the poet's best work. By working within a standardized form, the writer can concentrate on other matters. If you want to take fast fiction to the extreme, it's rumoured that Ernest Hemingway wrote the shortest ever fiction in just six words when he took on a bet. For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. When I first read this, I was completely against the idea that it could be classed as a fiction - and then I opened my mind and pictured a story behind those words. Imagine a mother who has lost her newborn. She wants to sell the shoes as a step to getting over her grief. And that little scene then starts to conjure up all sorts of storylines. For fun, I took on the 100words.com challenge to write exactly 100 words about something. It's more a musing than a true fictional work. I often write poetry when I'm feeling stressed or anxious or elated so this was a new outlet for me. Here's what I came up with: It's too easy to be trapped in the everyday, the patterns of routine wearing us down. Smiling, laughing, joking, crying, shouting, living, getting through it, challenging ourselves, having fun, planning and preparing, looking forward to. Sometimes it's a struggle. Sometimes it's a joy. Sometimes it's just plain overload. What to tackle first? All of these projects to get stuck into. Making the time to snatch at time so we can readdress the balance and do something that makes us happy. Squeezing the wants between the needs. Indulging is selfish but selfish is necessary. Keeping the path clear for feeling free. I stumbled across this and felt compelled to share it here. I've been working on my new novel but I've spent the last few weeks staring at a blank screen for hours on end and getting sidetracked and frustrated with distractions completely out of my control. I've worked myself into such a frenzied excitable state that I think my head is going to explode with the tension - I knew I should've booked that Writers Retreat! Anyhoo, finally I was able to prioritise the writing and more importantly start writing - and once I started, it was delicious.
I'm still using pen, paper and spider diagrams rather than fancy writing apps that log your characters, scenes, settings and the like. Maybe I'm not working efficiently, but I'm writing simply and freely again and that's all I care about as I knock out this first draft. _Some of my favourite writing and living tweets from the last few months or so:
"5 simple rules to be happy - Free your heart from hatred Free your mind from worries Live simply Give more Expect less" "There is probably no hell for authors in the next world - they suffer so much from critics and publishers in this one." C N Bovee “Writing is the hardest work in the world not involving heavy lifting.” Pete Hamill "Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move." Osho "If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done." "You control your own destiny. Happiness, sadness, positivity, negativity; it's all on you." "For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me." Jack Dann "Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." P.J. O'Rourke "To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting." Edmund Burke "Bring it back to what you really feel..." "The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." Walter Bagehot "Publishing is about passion and writing is a lifestyle, not a shortcut to a mansion and a Porsche." Seth dude "The actual writing is what you live for. The rest is something you have to get through in order to arrive at that point." Raymond Chandler |
AuthorBlogging is an amazing concept so here I am giving it a whirl. You'll get words. You'll get pics. Sometimes a vid or two. You'll get tongue in cheek, the odd humble opinion and an honest insight into my travels and writing life. Maybe even a few gems along the way. I'll be musing on home turf as I see more and more of the UK and sharing my experiences further afield on holidays and adventurous trips across the globe. Archives
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