Just had a great night out watching Ardal O'Hanlon on stage doing stand up. Amazes me how stand ups remember everything they are going to say; I wonder if there is a trick to remembering several hours worth of material.
Anyway watching him reminded me of course of Father Ted, ie Dermot Morgan who died age 46, and then I thought too of Douglas Adams who died aged 49. Both men were born early in 1952, both died of heart attacks. Is being genuinely funny a death risk I wonder? Both men seemed fit and active - in fact I believe Douglas Adams died in the gym. They were both very successful - perhaps the stress of success and the need to be frenetic got to both men in different ways. Maybe being unsuccessful is safer - that way you might live longer - or perhaps it simply seems that way?
Enough of that - anyone with an infallible way of staying alive and healthy, let me know.
Just started a new set of creative writing classes, and once again struck by the fact that some people believe writing is a mysterious process, whereby you are either good or bad at it, but as if this quality were imposed from above. I thought of an analogy - plumbing. No-one would say they would quite like to be a plumber but don't know if they would be any good at it. No, they would go on a course, perhaps do an apprenticeship - they would learn on the job, practice, and get better at it through practice. This is the same for writing. You do it, you practice, you get better at it.
Perhaps the problem is that many people write on their own and don't get feedback. After all as a plumber there is feedback - your pipes leak, the sink falls off the wall, whatever. You don't ask your beloved to come and look at it - they would probably say, very nice dear. No, someone turns on a tap and sees if it works. You soon know if you are any good.
But if you write, you may show it to your nearest and dearest who are probably not writers and would say again, very nice dear. Actually since the enjoyment of writing is subjective, the feedback is even less helpful than the tell tale leaky tap. And relatives are no more likely to say, actually dear I don't think it is very good, any more than they are going to say, yes dear you need to lose weight or yes dear your bum does look big in that.
So if you want to write, you need to do it, practice it, and get feedback preferably from other writers who don't want to make you feel better.
I think the only pre-requisite for being a writer is to be organised and diligent enough to make time to write regularly, to read lots and lots of good writing (not Hello magazine and cereal packets) and to develop your powers of observation and your memory and recall. I think being able to remember stuff in detail really helps. I have a great memory of my childhood (I mean I can remember it vividly - good and bad stuff). I wonder if it helps to be an only child? I am sure only children spend more time in their heads, and perhaps then are more suited to imaginative work. how many other writers out there were only children?
Get writing!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Why do writers ignore the world of work?
I have just finished reading PD James' latest book, and without spoiling the plot for potential readers, it involves writers and their writing and the plot was threaded through this to some extent. I remember too reading another crime thriller by Elizabeth George where the murderer was an artist, who murdered her victim as revenge for having a piece of her art destroyed.
This made me reflect on a couple of interesting thoughts.
Firstly would a piece of work you created- novel, painting, sculpture, etc - be so personally meaningful to you that you would commit murder for it? Perhaps that is a test of how good you are? Would you murder someone if they threatened your work? Perhaps literary critics should take more care.
But the second thought was, how often do we really describe a working life in a novel? I know of course that crime writers describe police work, but apart from that - how many novels really take the world of work seriously and make it an integral part of the novel? Surely we should, as for most people, that is where they spend the vast majority of their waking hours - yet sometimes we can read a novel and not believe that the world of work exists.
Oh yes the characters go to work and come back from work and so on, but how often is the workplace actually an integral part of the landscape?
I would be interested to hear of any such novels, apart from, as I said, the crime genre.
This made me reflect on a couple of interesting thoughts.
Firstly would a piece of work you created- novel, painting, sculpture, etc - be so personally meaningful to you that you would commit murder for it? Perhaps that is a test of how good you are? Would you murder someone if they threatened your work? Perhaps literary critics should take more care.
But the second thought was, how often do we really describe a working life in a novel? I know of course that crime writers describe police work, but apart from that - how many novels really take the world of work seriously and make it an integral part of the novel? Surely we should, as for most people, that is where they spend the vast majority of their waking hours - yet sometimes we can read a novel and not believe that the world of work exists.
Oh yes the characters go to work and come back from work and so on, but how often is the workplace actually an integral part of the landscape?
I would be interested to hear of any such novels, apart from, as I said, the crime genre.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Romantic fiction
I have been pondering some feedback I was given at one point about a sample chapter in my novel - I was told that it was a "bit Mills and Boons". Argh horror mortification! Luckily no-one else has agreed with this rather damning analysis, including my agent whose job it is to make sure I am producing something reasonable, but when I took this feedback to other writers, one said, "actually what is wrong with romantic fiction? Have you read any recently? Some of it is quite good."
And I have to admit, no I have not read any since I was 15 and used to borrow them from the mobile library van, sneaking them into the house and hiding them under the mattress - see even then it was shameful.
So I went and got one from the library - one recommended to me in fact by said writer. It was a quick and easy read, and by the second or third page I knew what was going to happen and with whom, it was simply a case of finding out how, and seeing how good the sticky bits were. (One of the great excitements at the tender age of 15 was finding out just how detailed the sticky bits were - most of the time not very I have to say).
Reading the book now with the heavy weight of experience I have to say that I don't think this one sample (and as a scientist I admit this is poor sampling) was particularly well written. It felt as if it had been a rush job, not much attention to prose, and the descriptive passages were pretty poor. The hero was tall, dark, rich, bit scarey and of course nearly twice the age of the heroine who was poor but plucky and of course virginal.
Why do these books do so well? I think it is female porn actually. Many women like reading them for the titillation - it is a turn on. Romantic fiction is for women what porn mags are for men. Women generally get turned on by romance, tenderness and detail and men get turned on by the quick anonymous f... That's not to say that this is what we want in real life, just what gets the juices flowing. Actually to be truthful it did not do that for me last night but I remember that it did at 15. So just as porn can trot out the same old stories over and over and over and men get off on it, so romantic fiction churns out the same plot line over and over and women go for it. I think it is sobering to think about, any women out there - this is what taps into the female psyche.
I read Lynn Segal's new book Making Trouble, recently. It's just come out and for anyone who was involved in 1970s feminism - do read it, she captures that period exactly. (She obviously did keep good diaries - see previous post). She talks about women needing passivity in sex, and how feminism really tried to deny all this. Interesting coming from one of the women who was really central to the WLM in that period.
I am sure you are all going to take issue with me, but consider it seriously. Why do these books, each one a variation on the same theme, sell in their millions? Surely if it was about literary content someone would complain, "oy! this is just the same damn plot and characterisation as the last one!" And then look through a pile of porn mags and read the story lines (such as there are such things) in these and see if you can see a theme here.
Then shoot the messenger if you must.
Caroline
And I have to admit, no I have not read any since I was 15 and used to borrow them from the mobile library van, sneaking them into the house and hiding them under the mattress - see even then it was shameful.
So I went and got one from the library - one recommended to me in fact by said writer. It was a quick and easy read, and by the second or third page I knew what was going to happen and with whom, it was simply a case of finding out how, and seeing how good the sticky bits were. (One of the great excitements at the tender age of 15 was finding out just how detailed the sticky bits were - most of the time not very I have to say).
Reading the book now with the heavy weight of experience I have to say that I don't think this one sample (and as a scientist I admit this is poor sampling) was particularly well written. It felt as if it had been a rush job, not much attention to prose, and the descriptive passages were pretty poor. The hero was tall, dark, rich, bit scarey and of course nearly twice the age of the heroine who was poor but plucky and of course virginal.
Why do these books do so well? I think it is female porn actually. Many women like reading them for the titillation - it is a turn on. Romantic fiction is for women what porn mags are for men. Women generally get turned on by romance, tenderness and detail and men get turned on by the quick anonymous f... That's not to say that this is what we want in real life, just what gets the juices flowing. Actually to be truthful it did not do that for me last night but I remember that it did at 15. So just as porn can trot out the same old stories over and over and over and men get off on it, so romantic fiction churns out the same plot line over and over and women go for it. I think it is sobering to think about, any women out there - this is what taps into the female psyche.
I read Lynn Segal's new book Making Trouble, recently. It's just come out and for anyone who was involved in 1970s feminism - do read it, she captures that period exactly. (She obviously did keep good diaries - see previous post). She talks about women needing passivity in sex, and how feminism really tried to deny all this. Interesting coming from one of the women who was really central to the WLM in that period.
I am sure you are all going to take issue with me, but consider it seriously. Why do these books, each one a variation on the same theme, sell in their millions? Surely if it was about literary content someone would complain, "oy! this is just the same damn plot and characterisation as the last one!" And then look through a pile of porn mags and read the story lines (such as there are such things) in these and see if you can see a theme here.
Then shoot the messenger if you must.
Caroline
There is no such thing as a favourite book
OK here is a challenge for you. I believe that it is impossible for a writer to have a favourite book. Having a favourite book means a) you have not read that many books and b) you have not changed over time. Both fatal flaws in writers.
I have literally (sic) thousands of books in my house, nearly all of which I have read, and which I am keeping because I think I might want to read them again. Then there are many, many books which I have read and not kept because I did not like them, more still which were lent to me or borrowed from the library. How could I choose just one of these and say it is my favourite? My favourite is probably the last one I read and enjoyed. My favourites from 10 years ago are completely different to those I enjoy now.
In my teens and 20s I was addicted to SciFi and to a lesser extent, fantasy. I picked up a Robert Heinlein the other day and had to put it down - it was so dated! I read every Doris Lessing and Fay Weldon going in the 1980s - don't really like their more recent stuff.
So I have not listed favourite books on my profile; my favourites are fluid. The best reads I have read in the last few months are: Time Traveller's Wife, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell (incidentally I left her off yesterday's post, she is an Edinburgh writer too), Human Traces - Sebastian Faulkes. Can I also have Maggie O'Farrell's After You'd Gone even though I read it more than a year ago?
Hey if you are into lists of books then don't miss Nick Hornby's the Polysyllabic Spree - a list of all the books he has bought in the last year. A great read if like me you are depressed by the number of books left in the world that you have not yet read, and the number of days left to you in which to read them.
Please don't recommend any books to me (unless they are exactly like the ones above and therefore you are sure I will love them) simply becuase it will make my list of books I must read before I die much longer and more impossible than it is now.
I have literally (sic) thousands of books in my house, nearly all of which I have read, and which I am keeping because I think I might want to read them again. Then there are many, many books which I have read and not kept because I did not like them, more still which were lent to me or borrowed from the library. How could I choose just one of these and say it is my favourite? My favourite is probably the last one I read and enjoyed. My favourites from 10 years ago are completely different to those I enjoy now.
In my teens and 20s I was addicted to SciFi and to a lesser extent, fantasy. I picked up a Robert Heinlein the other day and had to put it down - it was so dated! I read every Doris Lessing and Fay Weldon going in the 1980s - don't really like their more recent stuff.
So I have not listed favourite books on my profile; my favourites are fluid. The best reads I have read in the last few months are: Time Traveller's Wife, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell (incidentally I left her off yesterday's post, she is an Edinburgh writer too), Human Traces - Sebastian Faulkes. Can I also have Maggie O'Farrell's After You'd Gone even though I read it more than a year ago?
Hey if you are into lists of books then don't miss Nick Hornby's the Polysyllabic Spree - a list of all the books he has bought in the last year. A great read if like me you are depressed by the number of books left in the world that you have not yet read, and the number of days left to you in which to read them.
Please don't recommend any books to me (unless they are exactly like the ones above and therefore you are sure I will love them) simply becuase it will make my list of books I must read before I die much longer and more impossible than it is now.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Why is Edinburgh so great for writing?
hey this blogging is seriously addictive, especially after 1/2 bottle of red wine.
Well has anyone considered why Edinburgh is full of excellent writers at the moment? Is it something in the water? Perhaps we should all go there and inhale deeply. I have to tell you, having been a student there for four years, inhaling deeply between the months of October and February will probably result in a lung transplant. The air is seriously cold. Having grown up in the far north of Scotland, a good 150 miles further north, I tell you this was tropical compared to Edinburgh. The wind howls off the N sea and funnels down these grand Georgian boulevards straight into your ears. I put a wooly hat on in October and didn't take it off again till the spring. And on the subject of those beautful Georgian buildings and being a student; when you can't afford to heat them, and when the university only supplies meagre two bar fires whose measly heat shoots straight up 20 feet to heat the ceiling - well.. no wonder we spent so much time in the pub.
One student flat had overseas students from N Africa - they took to bed in November and did not get up again, they could not bear it. Come spring they went home, or perhaps went to England - Edinburgh is not for those who are used to heat.
I assume these writers have central heating becuase I personally can't bear writing in the cold. I have to have lots of jumpers on, thick socks, and preferably a heater blazing close enough to give me mild burns. A couple of cats are useful, but mine will insist on sitting on the keyboard. Apart from the somewhat erratic spelling that ensues, I hate the cat hairs between the keys.
I think though, the reason there are so many fabulous writers in Edinburgh right now is that it is a heartstoppingly beautiful place. If you have never visited, then make it the top of the list of "places I must see before I die." Actually scrub that - aren't those books a seriously depressing idea even if they are stonkingly commerical? I don't want to see Prague and croak it, really I don't. I want to see Prague and then witter on about it to all my thousands of descendants until they pull their own ears off in despair, "Oh Great-granny, not Prague reminiscences again, please!" If you get through one of those lists, I am sure you are tempting fate. Someone up there is going to say, ok you've done it, now here is your well deserved rest. A tip: keep at least two, fairly uninteresting ones back to wave under the nose of the Grim Reaper and perhaps you can stave off the inevitable.
So back to Edinburgh and its beauties, and inspirations for writers. I'd like to know what other writers feel is the ideal environment for writing. For me, it is actually sitting looking at a great view, preferably Scottish mountains. I am so fortunate at the moment that my desk is in front of a big picture window which looks straight down the Great Glen. An added bonus is that this is where the prevailing weather comes from, so I can also see when the washing is going to need to be taken in.
When we moved here we created two studies - one for me and one for my other half.He refuses to share a study with me any more - says I am too noisy. Imagine! A writer who is noisy. Presumably it is the sound of rusty cogs. The choice was this one with the great view, or the other one which looks out into the small back garden and the dog kennel. So I get to muse the mountains, and he gets the dog staring solefully at him all day saying, "please walk me now, please walk me now, please walk me now..... "
I used to live in Rotherhithe in London and all I wrote was seriously bad, depressing poetry. I think vista matters. My ideal environment would be small croft (with 21st century heating) in remote glen with views of mountains and sea, and not a soul within a hundred odd miles, but some good delivery services, ideally from Sainsburys. Anyone know of such a place?
So who are these great Edinburgh writers? Well of course apart from our dear JKR, there is Alexander McCall Smith (who spoke in Inverness a while ago and was very entertaining; recommended) Ian Rankin of course (who overlapped with me at Edinburgh - does this make me famous by proxy??) Irvine Walsh (I think) Christopher Brookmyre - any others? Apart from of course all the oldies like Walter Scott etc. And if you are a great writer in Edinburgh and stand still long enough, they'll put a statue of you up. Edinburgh was the first city I lived in and I thought all cities had statues and banks on every corner. Couldn't understand when I went to London and couldn't find a bank or statue within a few yards of my first digs.
So Edinburgh - go for it. But take your woolies.
Caroline
Well has anyone considered why Edinburgh is full of excellent writers at the moment? Is it something in the water? Perhaps we should all go there and inhale deeply. I have to tell you, having been a student there for four years, inhaling deeply between the months of October and February will probably result in a lung transplant. The air is seriously cold. Having grown up in the far north of Scotland, a good 150 miles further north, I tell you this was tropical compared to Edinburgh. The wind howls off the N sea and funnels down these grand Georgian boulevards straight into your ears. I put a wooly hat on in October and didn't take it off again till the spring. And on the subject of those beautful Georgian buildings and being a student; when you can't afford to heat them, and when the university only supplies meagre two bar fires whose measly heat shoots straight up 20 feet to heat the ceiling - well.. no wonder we spent so much time in the pub.
One student flat had overseas students from N Africa - they took to bed in November and did not get up again, they could not bear it. Come spring they went home, or perhaps went to England - Edinburgh is not for those who are used to heat.
I assume these writers have central heating becuase I personally can't bear writing in the cold. I have to have lots of jumpers on, thick socks, and preferably a heater blazing close enough to give me mild burns. A couple of cats are useful, but mine will insist on sitting on the keyboard. Apart from the somewhat erratic spelling that ensues, I hate the cat hairs between the keys.
I think though, the reason there are so many fabulous writers in Edinburgh right now is that it is a heartstoppingly beautiful place. If you have never visited, then make it the top of the list of "places I must see before I die." Actually scrub that - aren't those books a seriously depressing idea even if they are stonkingly commerical? I don't want to see Prague and croak it, really I don't. I want to see Prague and then witter on about it to all my thousands of descendants until they pull their own ears off in despair, "Oh Great-granny, not Prague reminiscences again, please!" If you get through one of those lists, I am sure you are tempting fate. Someone up there is going to say, ok you've done it, now here is your well deserved rest. A tip: keep at least two, fairly uninteresting ones back to wave under the nose of the Grim Reaper and perhaps you can stave off the inevitable.
So back to Edinburgh and its beauties, and inspirations for writers. I'd like to know what other writers feel is the ideal environment for writing. For me, it is actually sitting looking at a great view, preferably Scottish mountains. I am so fortunate at the moment that my desk is in front of a big picture window which looks straight down the Great Glen. An added bonus is that this is where the prevailing weather comes from, so I can also see when the washing is going to need to be taken in.
When we moved here we created two studies - one for me and one for my other half.He refuses to share a study with me any more - says I am too noisy. Imagine! A writer who is noisy. Presumably it is the sound of rusty cogs. The choice was this one with the great view, or the other one which looks out into the small back garden and the dog kennel. So I get to muse the mountains, and he gets the dog staring solefully at him all day saying, "please walk me now, please walk me now, please walk me now..... "
I used to live in Rotherhithe in London and all I wrote was seriously bad, depressing poetry. I think vista matters. My ideal environment would be small croft (with 21st century heating) in remote glen with views of mountains and sea, and not a soul within a hundred odd miles, but some good delivery services, ideally from Sainsburys. Anyone know of such a place?
So who are these great Edinburgh writers? Well of course apart from our dear JKR, there is Alexander McCall Smith (who spoke in Inverness a while ago and was very entertaining; recommended) Ian Rankin of course (who overlapped with me at Edinburgh - does this make me famous by proxy??) Irvine Walsh (I think) Christopher Brookmyre - any others? Apart from of course all the oldies like Walter Scott etc. And if you are a great writer in Edinburgh and stand still long enough, they'll put a statue of you up. Edinburgh was the first city I lived in and I thought all cities had statues and banks on every corner. Couldn't understand when I went to London and couldn't find a bank or statue within a few yards of my first digs.
So Edinburgh - go for it. But take your woolies.
Caroline
To blog or not to blog..
Well I have just joined the 21st century by attempting to join the hordes of bloggers. No idea why. Yes I do know why actually. I am a writer; I spend all day sitting at a PC writing, so why not spend yet more time here ruining my eyes, getting repetitive strain injury in my spare time?
I am hoping to link up with other writers I guess, and to hear about your trials and tribulations (cliche noted).
I've been writing as a freelancer for, well I guess about 12 years now, and make a reasonable living at it, but hey, how many of you out there have noticed that pay has not gone up in recent years, and editors want more stuff for nothing? Like using your articles for ever on websites, or keeping rates the same year in year out? And advances on books - way down.
Anyway I don't believe anyone sits writing all day because they seriously want to make money. Why do we write? Probably an over inflated ego and sense of own importance. There is a great kick in knowing that someone somewhere is reading my words of wisdom. Perhaps it is about connecting with other people - which brings me back to this blog I guess.
What am I writing? Well I am struggling to finish a book which is due with the publishers end of November (any excuse for procrastination - sorry I missed the deadline, I needed to write a blog). Non-fiction parenting books, that's me.
However... I do want to write fiction too, and have just finished my first novel - or at least ground to a halt with it. It's with my agent and so we'll see. It was one of the hardest things I've done actually. When I started, I thought, this will be easy! No research, no fact checking, all the stuff that takes ages in non-fiction. The first 20,000 words were easy, but then it was like hitting the wall in the marathon. All those little gremlins popped up, "what self-indulgence! What makes you think you could write! this is utter crap!"
Perhaps it is utter crap, but in the end it was satisfying to write, and after another few thousand words, the characters wouldn't let me give up anyway.
Since I've finished, I've been asked what the novel is about. I've now realised that I really cannot write good synopses, and everything I've read about themes etc has really thrown me. I have no idea what it is about really. It just is. Everytime I've tried to describe it, the person who I am describing it to has glazed over after a few seconds - not a good sign methinks. Anyone else had that problem? Or is it always obvious what it is about. Actually when I think of some of the books I have enjoyed, not sure I could really say what they are "about". Unless there is a really clever idea in there; like the Time Travellers Wife (do read if you have not done so - yes I know the first few pages are confusing, but stick with it) - ok that is about what happens if you can time travel - but is it? Really it is a love story first and foremost, and about how love moulds you to fit. Time travel is just the landscape of the novel.
Another great book I've read recently "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" (if you have not yet read Maggie O'Farrell then you have not yet lived) - you could say that it is about mental hospitals but doesn't that sound boring and depressing? That is its again its landscape - it is about family secrets I guess.
Hey this is great, writing all this stream of consciousness has really helped.For anyone who is still reading (for god's sake don't you have anything better to do?), to describe your novel, try to differentiate between the landscape or setting, and the theme. Ok so my theme is relationships between men and women and how power affects this (I guess - might change my mind on this...)
Back to the beginning. To blog or not to blog. Yes it is useful to pour out a stream of consciousness like this. If anyone reads it and has something to say, even better.
Caroline
I am hoping to link up with other writers I guess, and to hear about your trials and tribulations (cliche noted).
I've been writing as a freelancer for, well I guess about 12 years now, and make a reasonable living at it, but hey, how many of you out there have noticed that pay has not gone up in recent years, and editors want more stuff for nothing? Like using your articles for ever on websites, or keeping rates the same year in year out? And advances on books - way down.
Anyway I don't believe anyone sits writing all day because they seriously want to make money. Why do we write? Probably an over inflated ego and sense of own importance. There is a great kick in knowing that someone somewhere is reading my words of wisdom. Perhaps it is about connecting with other people - which brings me back to this blog I guess.
What am I writing? Well I am struggling to finish a book which is due with the publishers end of November (any excuse for procrastination - sorry I missed the deadline, I needed to write a blog). Non-fiction parenting books, that's me.
However... I do want to write fiction too, and have just finished my first novel - or at least ground to a halt with it. It's with my agent and so we'll see. It was one of the hardest things I've done actually. When I started, I thought, this will be easy! No research, no fact checking, all the stuff that takes ages in non-fiction. The first 20,000 words were easy, but then it was like hitting the wall in the marathon. All those little gremlins popped up, "what self-indulgence! What makes you think you could write! this is utter crap!"
Perhaps it is utter crap, but in the end it was satisfying to write, and after another few thousand words, the characters wouldn't let me give up anyway.
Since I've finished, I've been asked what the novel is about. I've now realised that I really cannot write good synopses, and everything I've read about themes etc has really thrown me. I have no idea what it is about really. It just is. Everytime I've tried to describe it, the person who I am describing it to has glazed over after a few seconds - not a good sign methinks. Anyone else had that problem? Or is it always obvious what it is about. Actually when I think of some of the books I have enjoyed, not sure I could really say what they are "about". Unless there is a really clever idea in there; like the Time Travellers Wife (do read if you have not done so - yes I know the first few pages are confusing, but stick with it) - ok that is about what happens if you can time travel - but is it? Really it is a love story first and foremost, and about how love moulds you to fit. Time travel is just the landscape of the novel.
Another great book I've read recently "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" (if you have not yet read Maggie O'Farrell then you have not yet lived) - you could say that it is about mental hospitals but doesn't that sound boring and depressing? That is its again its landscape - it is about family secrets I guess.
Hey this is great, writing all this stream of consciousness has really helped.For anyone who is still reading (for god's sake don't you have anything better to do?), to describe your novel, try to differentiate between the landscape or setting, and the theme. Ok so my theme is relationships between men and women and how power affects this (I guess - might change my mind on this...)
Back to the beginning. To blog or not to blog. Yes it is useful to pour out a stream of consciousness like this. If anyone reads it and has something to say, even better.
Caroline
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