Phillip Gold
Submission Ready
30/08/10 07:34 Filed in: Writing
I finished printing the elements of my novel
submission last night. All that's left is to address
the envelope, affix the stamps and mail it.
I feel a great sense of accomplishment, with a wash of fear lending interesting highlights.
It's an interesting process. The website for the publisher gives you instructions on what they expect you to send. You read books and articles that help you to understand what the website actually means. And friends who have done it before offer their insights as well.
The first step is the cover letter. In that, you include the name of the novel, its length in words, a brief, jacket-blurb-style description, the tiniest bit of information about yourself (to convince the publisher that you are the right person to write the book) and a dignified request that the publisher take your book on for publication. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it's not. It's one of the toughest things you'll ever have to write. You feel like all your hopes for that novel rest on that single page.
Then you have to write a longer synopsis of the novel. But how long? The guides say one page of synopsis for every 25 pages of novel. But the whispers say no publisher wants it that long. Make it short, make it snappy. So you sweat over every word and die a small death every time your word processor moves onto a new page. You want to keep it short but you worry that you have to make it as thorough a summary of the events in the novel as possible. So you suffer.
And last but not least, there's the sample of writing: in this case, 15 to 25 pages from the novel. Some publishers want the first 25 pages of the book, which might be easier. All you'd have to do then is work and rework every word in those 25 pages, recognising that you have to grab this particular reader and convince him or her that your novel will sell better than any other. In my case, however, the website does not ask for the first 25 pages: it asks for any section of the novel, so long as it's between 15 and 25 pages.
That makes it, in my opinion, much, much tougher. The question is: which 25 pages? Do I simply go with the first 25? Do I look for the section that I feel is best written? most exciting? most indicative of my style and approach? What if I choose the wrong section? What if I choose action and the publisher really wants to see character development? What if I choose a section in which I've tried something inventive and the publisher wants to see plain ol' solid writing?
Two different people told me the trial scenes in The Silent Goodbye are excellent and advised me to use one of those. So I quickly narrowed it down to two different parts of the trial. But which one to use? I weighed the pros and cons, carefully reviewed and revised each. Sweated the decision. I went so far as cutting and pasting each into its own file and then formatting both, just to see how they looked. I had hoped that I would find one to be too long or too short and the decision would be made for me. No such luck. They both turned out to be around 20 pages. Perfect.
So I let my gut choose. I picked the one with the stronger opening. Get the publisher interested early. The decision as to whether he or she wants to see more will be made in the first couple of pages, I thought. So, I went with my gut, printed the section and got the rest of the submission package ready.
Today I mail it. Then wait. Worried. Hopeful at times, fearful at others. For how long, I don't know. We'll see.
I feel a great sense of accomplishment, with a wash of fear lending interesting highlights.
It's an interesting process. The website for the publisher gives you instructions on what they expect you to send. You read books and articles that help you to understand what the website actually means. And friends who have done it before offer their insights as well.
The first step is the cover letter. In that, you include the name of the novel, its length in words, a brief, jacket-blurb-style description, the tiniest bit of information about yourself (to convince the publisher that you are the right person to write the book) and a dignified request that the publisher take your book on for publication. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it's not. It's one of the toughest things you'll ever have to write. You feel like all your hopes for that novel rest on that single page.
Then you have to write a longer synopsis of the novel. But how long? The guides say one page of synopsis for every 25 pages of novel. But the whispers say no publisher wants it that long. Make it short, make it snappy. So you sweat over every word and die a small death every time your word processor moves onto a new page. You want to keep it short but you worry that you have to make it as thorough a summary of the events in the novel as possible. So you suffer.
And last but not least, there's the sample of writing: in this case, 15 to 25 pages from the novel. Some publishers want the first 25 pages of the book, which might be easier. All you'd have to do then is work and rework every word in those 25 pages, recognising that you have to grab this particular reader and convince him or her that your novel will sell better than any other. In my case, however, the website does not ask for the first 25 pages: it asks for any section of the novel, so long as it's between 15 and 25 pages.
That makes it, in my opinion, much, much tougher. The question is: which 25 pages? Do I simply go with the first 25? Do I look for the section that I feel is best written? most exciting? most indicative of my style and approach? What if I choose the wrong section? What if I choose action and the publisher really wants to see character development? What if I choose a section in which I've tried something inventive and the publisher wants to see plain ol' solid writing?
Two different people told me the trial scenes in The Silent Goodbye are excellent and advised me to use one of those. So I quickly narrowed it down to two different parts of the trial. But which one to use? I weighed the pros and cons, carefully reviewed and revised each. Sweated the decision. I went so far as cutting and pasting each into its own file and then formatting both, just to see how they looked. I had hoped that I would find one to be too long or too short and the decision would be made for me. No such luck. They both turned out to be around 20 pages. Perfect.
So I let my gut choose. I picked the one with the stronger opening. Get the publisher interested early. The decision as to whether he or she wants to see more will be made in the first couple of pages, I thought. So, I went with my gut, printed the section and got the rest of the submission package ready.
Today I mail it. Then wait. Worried. Hopeful at times, fearful at others. For how long, I don't know. We'll see.
An Inside Look
A busy week for me, with work heating up and the
sudden but welcomed exertion of pressure on me to
complete my manuscript submission package for The
Silent Goodbye and send it to the publisher. I
am now absolutely determined to have it on its way to
the publisher by the end of the day Sunday.
First, a word on Dick Francis. I finished reading Come to Grief yesterday and very much enjoyed it. After the brief dip in the quality of writing in Wild Horses, Come to Grief represents Francis at somewhere close to his best. It seems Sid Halley demands as high standards of his writer as he does of himself as investigator.
What is really special about Come to Grief, however, is that you get the feeling that, in a way he's never done before, Francis is writing about himself, at least that part of him that was a champion jockey. Come to Grief pits Halley, a former champion as a professional, against Ellis Quint, his arch-rival, the champion amateur jockey against whom Halley rode aggressively and often. Despite the fact that they are on opposite sides of a vicious crime, there is a mutual respect between the characters and Francis draws back the curtain on some of the raw, primitive drives that make a jockey a champion. It's quite amazing to read.
Now I'v taken up To The Hilt, a late 1990s book featuring an artist as the protagonist. The nice things about these later books is that I've only read them once or twice over the last fifteen years, meaning I can come at them almost new. I remember very little about them, even less than I do about the earlier books that I have read any number of times.
As for my own deadline, my friend Ross has informed me that he has spoken to his publisher and told him to expect my submission. This is a massively huge favour and one for which I am extremely grateful. Publishers receive thousands of unsolicited submissions each year (many from agents, which is already an advantage I do not enjoy) and it is a minor miracle for such a submission to make it off the slush pile for serious consideration. Ross has provided me at least a step toward that miracle. I will now be an unsolicited manuscript from an unknown writer that might actually be lifted from the pile and given a good read.
No guarantees, of course. The odds are against me. But at least now it's the quality of the writing that will make or break me, not the stuff of miracles. Thanks Ross. I hope to do you proud.
First, a word on Dick Francis. I finished reading Come to Grief yesterday and very much enjoyed it. After the brief dip in the quality of writing in Wild Horses, Come to Grief represents Francis at somewhere close to his best. It seems Sid Halley demands as high standards of his writer as he does of himself as investigator.
What is really special about Come to Grief, however, is that you get the feeling that, in a way he's never done before, Francis is writing about himself, at least that part of him that was a champion jockey. Come to Grief pits Halley, a former champion as a professional, against Ellis Quint, his arch-rival, the champion amateur jockey against whom Halley rode aggressively and often. Despite the fact that they are on opposite sides of a vicious crime, there is a mutual respect between the characters and Francis draws back the curtain on some of the raw, primitive drives that make a jockey a champion. It's quite amazing to read.
Now I'v taken up To The Hilt, a late 1990s book featuring an artist as the protagonist. The nice things about these later books is that I've only read them once or twice over the last fifteen years, meaning I can come at them almost new. I remember very little about them, even less than I do about the earlier books that I have read any number of times.
As for my own deadline, my friend Ross has informed me that he has spoken to his publisher and told him to expect my submission. This is a massively huge favour and one for which I am extremely grateful. Publishers receive thousands of unsolicited submissions each year (many from agents, which is already an advantage I do not enjoy) and it is a minor miracle for such a submission to make it off the slush pile for serious consideration. Ross has provided me at least a step toward that miracle. I will now be an unsolicited manuscript from an unknown writer that might actually be lifted from the pile and given a good read.
No guarantees, of course. The odds are against me. But at least now it's the quality of the writing that will make or break me, not the stuff of miracles. Thanks Ross. I hope to do you proud.
Lots of Developments
Friday night and we've just come back from walking
the dog. We're debating cancelling our satellite TV
subscription since we are currently paying about $45
per month for practically nothing. I watched for four
hours the other night and couldn't find one show I
wanted to watch. So I open up Safari and find out
both the PGA golf championship and tonight's CFL
football game between Winnipeg and Hamilton are
available live on-line for free.
Hmmm... What are we paying $45 a month for anyway?
But that's not what I was planning to write about today. I was planning to write about writing.
Why? Because, after a long drought, I can feel the creative juices start to flow again.
Why? Several reasons: first, because my conversations with my nieces got me started on what seems to be a fantastic new Phillip Gold novel, one that is constantly running across my mind, even as I spend a day trimming tree branches; second, because a friend at work mentioned, out of the blue, that she had come across my website some time ago and had really enjoyed reading my new Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward ("It's like the seventh book never ended," she said); and third, because my chat with that same friend, which touched on our mutual love for the old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, reminded me of my own Abigail Massey stories and I feel like I want to get back to them as well.
It helps as well that I finally got around to starting the much-abbreviated synopsis of The Silent Goodbye in preparation for my submission of that novel to a publisher.
So things are percolating on the writing side.
On the reading side, things are not so good. I started Dick Francis' Wild Horses on the weekend, only to lose the darn thing. I'm worried that someone accidentally packed the book up and took it back to Ontario with them when my in-laws left on Monday. I might have to go and buy another copy, since losing my original copy stalls my reading plans completely.
And if I could just manage to catch my sister on Skype, life would be even better!
Hmmm... What are we paying $45 a month for anyway?
But that's not what I was planning to write about today. I was planning to write about writing.
Why? Because, after a long drought, I can feel the creative juices start to flow again.
Why? Several reasons: first, because my conversations with my nieces got me started on what seems to be a fantastic new Phillip Gold novel, one that is constantly running across my mind, even as I spend a day trimming tree branches; second, because a friend at work mentioned, out of the blue, that she had come across my website some time ago and had really enjoyed reading my new Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward ("It's like the seventh book never ended," she said); and third, because my chat with that same friend, which touched on our mutual love for the old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, reminded me of my own Abigail Massey stories and I feel like I want to get back to them as well.
It helps as well that I finally got around to starting the much-abbreviated synopsis of The Silent Goodbye in preparation for my submission of that novel to a publisher.
So things are percolating on the writing side.
On the reading side, things are not so good. I started Dick Francis' Wild Horses on the weekend, only to lose the darn thing. I'm worried that someone accidentally packed the book up and took it back to Ontario with them when my in-laws left on Monday. I might have to go and buy another copy, since losing my original copy stalls my reading plans completely.
And if I could just manage to catch my sister on Skype, life would be even better!
Launching The Final Curtain
30/07/10 21:30 Filed in: Writing
So I'm sitting at dinner with my sister-in-law,
brother-in-law and my two nieces, 14 and 10. And the
14-year-old tells me I should write a novel using the
names of her three "BiFFLes" (Best Friends For Life).
So I say, "Okay, tell me the plot and I'll do it."
She thinks for a minute and says something like, "There's this 14-year-old movie star whose name is X (she inserts her own Facebook pseudonym) and she's murdered during filming." Great start and we go from there. The 10-year-old wants a little sister to play a major role so we come up with not one but two little sisters with big parts to play. Within a half hour, we have the whole concept for the mystery laid out, including back story on the two major characters. We've developed motivations and even character traits.
And it's really pretty good. I set them the task of coming up with physical descriptions for the six or seven new characters in the book as well as, if possible, a quirk or behavioural quirk for each one. They've been working hard at it and I have been impressed with what they've developed.
So this morning, using the work that we'd done together and that they'd done on their own, I dashed off about 500 words of the opening of the novel. Wow. It works.
So now The Final Curtain, a new Phillip Gold Mystery, is off and running.
She thinks for a minute and says something like, "There's this 14-year-old movie star whose name is X (she inserts her own Facebook pseudonym) and she's murdered during filming." Great start and we go from there. The 10-year-old wants a little sister to play a major role so we come up with not one but two little sisters with big parts to play. Within a half hour, we have the whole concept for the mystery laid out, including back story on the two major characters. We've developed motivations and even character traits.
And it's really pretty good. I set them the task of coming up with physical descriptions for the six or seven new characters in the book as well as, if possible, a quirk or behavioural quirk for each one. They've been working hard at it and I have been impressed with what they've developed.
So this morning, using the work that we'd done together and that they'd done on their own, I dashed off about 500 words of the opening of the novel. Wow. It works.
So now The Final Curtain, a new Phillip Gold Mystery, is off and running.
Life Gets In The Way
25/07/10 07:02 Filed in: Writing
Okay, okay. So I'm not living up to my promises. In
my last post, I said I planned to "push through" and
get my novel submission ready and sent off to the
publisher. I really intended to as well but life just
got in the way.
First, work heated up something fierce. Crazy busy. So busy that, even though I am off on vacation this coming week, I had to book both Monday and Wednesday mornings with meetings. Tuesday I'm going whale watching at St. Andrews by the Sea with family and friends -- a lovely break, to be sure.
Second, golf jumped to the fore with a day in Moncton playing the revered Fox Creek course last Friday (I shot a 124, a miracle in my mind considering the course) and, if the rain stops, Kingswood this morning.
And third, bi-focals. Arrived last Thursday. A real improvement for my vision but, man, do they ever take getting used to!!! I spent yesterday battling bouts of dizziness from the in-and-out focus of these things. I mean, they're great and I'm sure I'll adjust but right now it's hard. I already gave up on the bi-focal contact lenses, which made me dizzy, gave me headaches and hurt my eyes.
I'll get to the novel submission soon. Phillip Gold must see the light of day! In the meantime, life will have to be dealt with before I can do anything of the sort.
First, work heated up something fierce. Crazy busy. So busy that, even though I am off on vacation this coming week, I had to book both Monday and Wednesday mornings with meetings. Tuesday I'm going whale watching at St. Andrews by the Sea with family and friends -- a lovely break, to be sure.
Second, golf jumped to the fore with a day in Moncton playing the revered Fox Creek course last Friday (I shot a 124, a miracle in my mind considering the course) and, if the rain stops, Kingswood this morning.
And third, bi-focals. Arrived last Thursday. A real improvement for my vision but, man, do they ever take getting used to!!! I spent yesterday battling bouts of dizziness from the in-and-out focus of these things. I mean, they're great and I'm sure I'll adjust but right now it's hard. I already gave up on the bi-focal contact lenses, which made me dizzy, gave me headaches and hurt my eyes.
I'll get to the novel submission soon. Phillip Gold must see the light of day! In the meantime, life will have to be dealt with before I can do anything of the sort.
Pushing Through
21/07/10 08:21 Filed in: Writing
I know myself well enough to recognise that, when I
don't do something that's important, there's some
reason hidden in my psyche. So the fact that I
haven't finished up and sent off my novel submission
to the publishers tells me there's more going on than
just a busy life, with guests and travels and work
and other stuff.
I fear that it's fear. I'm concerned that I am not putting the finishing touches on my submission because, once I do, I will have no choice but to send it off and then no choice but to accept the very distinct possibility that it will be rejected once again. They can't reject me, I figure, if I don't send it in. I'll reject myself, in other words.
Scary.
So I spent part of last night formatting the first twenty-five pages of the novel for my package, then went through the synopsis again, trimming here and editing there. All that's left is my biographical note and the printing. I am trying to keep on course and get it done.
You have to face down your fears, I figure. As Joey says, "If you're afraid of bugs, get a bug."
I fear that it's fear. I'm concerned that I am not putting the finishing touches on my submission because, once I do, I will have no choice but to send it off and then no choice but to accept the very distinct possibility that it will be rejected once again. They can't reject me, I figure, if I don't send it in. I'll reject myself, in other words.
Scary.
So I spent part of last night formatting the first twenty-five pages of the novel for my package, then went through the synopsis again, trimming here and editing there. All that's left is my biographical note and the printing. I am trying to keep on course and get it done.
You have to face down your fears, I figure. As Joey says, "If you're afraid of bugs, get a bug."
Odds and Sods
Heat wave in NB. Hot, humid, air-conditioner-less
province. UGH. Couldn't get much done other than
surviving and keeping as cool as possible.
I did manage to take another look at the synopsis for my novel, The Silent Goodbye, and do a little polishing. Hoorah for me.
I also spent an afternoon in a local pub, with a huge, sweaty crowd, cheering on the brave Dutch soccer team in the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. Fun times. After they surprised Brazil, it was good to see the Netherlands didn't have a let down against lower-ranked Uruguay. A little scary at the end but still great. Hup Holland! Beat Spain!
And on the reading front, I have finished the 1980s in my journey through Dick Francis. The latter part of that decade produced some great novels, including the matched pair involving Kit Fielding as the protagonist (Break In and Bolt) as well as another of my personal favourites, Hot Money, and the only one of Francis' novels set in Canada, The Edge. The decade ends with Straight, the intriguing story of a jump jockey who finds himself thrust into the shoes of his recently deceased older brother as he tries to resolve the estate and the mysteries it hides.
Break In, Hot Money and Straight are all interesting because they involve Francis exploring family relationships in a new way: Break In deals with a pair of fraternal twins, still sorting out a long-standing feud with another family; in Hot Money, the outcast son of a prolific multi-millionaire takes on the task of figuring out which one of the patriarch's three living ex-wives and numerous off-spring is trying to kill the old man; and Straight offers a soulful exploration of what it means to be brothers.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is golfing, then cheering on the Oranje in the final against Spain. Hup Holland.
I did manage to take another look at the synopsis for my novel, The Silent Goodbye, and do a little polishing. Hoorah for me.
I also spent an afternoon in a local pub, with a huge, sweaty crowd, cheering on the brave Dutch soccer team in the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. Fun times. After they surprised Brazil, it was good to see the Netherlands didn't have a let down against lower-ranked Uruguay. A little scary at the end but still great. Hup Holland! Beat Spain!
And on the reading front, I have finished the 1980s in my journey through Dick Francis. The latter part of that decade produced some great novels, including the matched pair involving Kit Fielding as the protagonist (Break In and Bolt) as well as another of my personal favourites, Hot Money, and the only one of Francis' novels set in Canada, The Edge. The decade ends with Straight, the intriguing story of a jump jockey who finds himself thrust into the shoes of his recently deceased older brother as he tries to resolve the estate and the mysteries it hides.
Break In, Hot Money and Straight are all interesting because they involve Francis exploring family relationships in a new way: Break In deals with a pair of fraternal twins, still sorting out a long-standing feud with another family; in Hot Money, the outcast son of a prolific multi-millionaire takes on the task of figuring out which one of the patriarch's three living ex-wives and numerous off-spring is trying to kill the old man; and Straight offers a soulful exploration of what it means to be brothers.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is golfing, then cheering on the Oranje in the final against Spain. Hup Holland.
New Videos, New Headaches
A brief entry this morning to announce that I've
posted two new videos on the "Video" page of this
website: Marlee playing at East Point, PEI and Marlee
playing at Basin Head, PEI. They may not sound that
exciting but they're both kind of fun. And they're
short too.
On the writing front, my friend Ross asked me to send him my draft cover letter and the first 25 pages of the novel to review for me. I'm happy to oblige as Ross is a good guy, an excellent writer and a helpful editor/reviewer. What I didn't realise, however, is that I had lost track of which computer file was the latest version of The Silent Goodbye. This is a huge problem when a writer does numerous revisions, sometimes on several computers (as I do). So I ended up formatting and sending one version of the opening to Ross, then realising it was missing a couple of fairly significant revisions. So I had to search around to find the latest one; it turned out to be on another computer altogether.
Lesson learned: be very careful about how you save files. Keep all drafts on one computer but make sure to move older drafts into a separate folder called "Drafts", while keeping the latest version separate. I am trying to name the files according to the date they were last revised, which is good, unless you have files on two or three computers!
Oh well. I figured it out and sent the right file finally. It just took a while and involved more tension than necessary.
On the writing front, my friend Ross asked me to send him my draft cover letter and the first 25 pages of the novel to review for me. I'm happy to oblige as Ross is a good guy, an excellent writer and a helpful editor/reviewer. What I didn't realise, however, is that I had lost track of which computer file was the latest version of The Silent Goodbye. This is a huge problem when a writer does numerous revisions, sometimes on several computers (as I do). So I ended up formatting and sending one version of the opening to Ross, then realising it was missing a couple of fairly significant revisions. So I had to search around to find the latest one; it turned out to be on another computer altogether.
Lesson learned: be very careful about how you save files. Keep all drafts on one computer but make sure to move older drafts into a separate folder called "Drafts", while keeping the latest version separate. I am trying to name the files according to the date they were last revised, which is good, unless you have files on two or three computers!
Oh well. I figured it out and sent the right file finally. It just took a while and involved more tension than necessary.
Holding Pattern
28/06/10 07:52 Filed in: Writing
I have completed drafts of my synopsis and cover
letter. I can easily print off the first 25 pages of
the novel in proper format. The bio should be no
problem at all, since I write brief bios all the time
for workshops and conference papers I present. So
what's holding me up?
Could it be fear? The concern that The Silent Goodbye is the best thing I've ever written and it still might not be good enough?
I've had poetry and short stories published. I am the author of one and co-author of two other published legal texts. Why does it feel so important to get a novel published?
I hereby commit myself to revising the documents and getting them in the mail to the publisher by Friday. The only way to deal with fear is to stare it in the face. So I have to force myself to stare and to take my lumps if that's what I'm in for.
Could it be fear? The concern that The Silent Goodbye is the best thing I've ever written and it still might not be good enough?
I've had poetry and short stories published. I am the author of one and co-author of two other published legal texts. Why does it feel so important to get a novel published?
I hereby commit myself to revising the documents and getting them in the mail to the publisher by Friday. The only way to deal with fear is to stare it in the face. So I have to force myself to stare and to take my lumps if that's what I'm in for.
A Monumental Task
20/06/10 06:58 Filed in: Writing
My trip to Ottawa is now a part of the past. I spent
five busy days in our nation's capital and, while it
was a good trip, I found it completely exhausting.
It's nice to be home.
I didn't get the chance to write the cover letter for my submission while I was away. If I am ever going to get my new Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye, out on the market, I am going to have to get my submission package completed. The draft synopsis is done but I am having problems getting myself to sit down and write the cover letter. Yes, I've been busy. Very busy. But I am also starting to feel like this simple letter is something of a monumental task.
The challenge is to accomplish so much in so small a space, all the while making it seem effortless, easy. I figure the letter should be no more than a page long but should pack a punch. It has to convince the publisher that the novel is marketable. It has to convince the publisher that I am marketable. It has to convince the publisher to take a chance on me and my work.
And when you think that about a thousand other people are currently writing letters hoping to convince the same publisher that their books are better and more marketable than mine, it becomes kind of scary. I plan to get a draft of this scary letter done by the end of this week. With luck. And guts.
I didn't get the chance to write the cover letter for my submission while I was away. If I am ever going to get my new Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye, out on the market, I am going to have to get my submission package completed. The draft synopsis is done but I am having problems getting myself to sit down and write the cover letter. Yes, I've been busy. Very busy. But I am also starting to feel like this simple letter is something of a monumental task.
The challenge is to accomplish so much in so small a space, all the while making it seem effortless, easy. I figure the letter should be no more than a page long but should pack a punch. It has to convince the publisher that the novel is marketable. It has to convince the publisher that I am marketable. It has to convince the publisher to take a chance on me and my work.
And when you think that about a thousand other people are currently writing letters hoping to convince the same publisher that their books are better and more marketable than mine, it becomes kind of scary. I plan to get a draft of this scary letter done by the end of this week. With luck. And guts.
Everything But The Letter
Yes, this past week I've done just about everything
but the cover letter for my novel submission. First I
was knocked out by the blood tests. Then work heated
up a lot. Later in the week, I played golf a couple
of times and then, just to wind things up, Patti and
I walked home from our local Canadian Tire with a new
10-foot ladder, perfect for cleaning our eaves
troughs, replacing light bulbs in our car port and
getting to dead branches high in trees.
Tonight, I fly out to Ottawa for a week-long course. On top of participating in the mediation training, I'll also get a chance to see my brother and his family and, if possible, spend some time each evening on my novel submission. With luck, I'll complete first drafts of my cover letter and biographical statement this week. If I'm really focused, I'll also do a revision of the draft synopsis of The Silent Goodbye, my latest Phillip Gold novel. I sure hope it sells!
I played the Gage Golf Course in the lovely town of Oromocto, NB on Friday with some friends from work, people with whom I had not yet played. I would like to say I put on a good show for them but I didn't: 123 over 18 holes. Terrible. The Gage course is much longer than my home course and the grass on the fairways is deeper and thicker. It took me a while to get used to the density of the grass and, let's face it, when every third shot you hit is terrible, a longer course is a scary place. Anyway, I got through. I don't know if they'll ever want to play golf with me again.
Thankfully, I settled down and played 18 decent holes at my home course, the Kingswood executive, Saturday morning. I wasn't great but I was steady and, after working out a few kinks, played pretty well.
This morning, I tackled the clogged eaves and then cut away some of the branches that were contributing to the clogging. The experience convinced me that we really need to get a professional arborist in here. And soon.
I won't be able to blog while I'm away but will catch up on all my writing progress next weekend.
Tonight, I fly out to Ottawa for a week-long course. On top of participating in the mediation training, I'll also get a chance to see my brother and his family and, if possible, spend some time each evening on my novel submission. With luck, I'll complete first drafts of my cover letter and biographical statement this week. If I'm really focused, I'll also do a revision of the draft synopsis of The Silent Goodbye, my latest Phillip Gold novel. I sure hope it sells!
I played the Gage Golf Course in the lovely town of Oromocto, NB on Friday with some friends from work, people with whom I had not yet played. I would like to say I put on a good show for them but I didn't: 123 over 18 holes. Terrible. The Gage course is much longer than my home course and the grass on the fairways is deeper and thicker. It took me a while to get used to the density of the grass and, let's face it, when every third shot you hit is terrible, a longer course is a scary place. Anyway, I got through. I don't know if they'll ever want to play golf with me again.
Thankfully, I settled down and played 18 decent holes at my home course, the Kingswood executive, Saturday morning. I wasn't great but I was steady and, after working out a few kinks, played pretty well.
This morning, I tackled the clogged eaves and then cut away some of the branches that were contributing to the clogging. The experience convinced me that we really need to get a professional arborist in here. And soon.
I won't be able to blog while I'm away but will catch up on all my writing progress next weekend.
A Real Knockout
Who would have thought that something as simple as a
blood test would knock me so much for a loop? My
doctor set me up to have some blood tests done and,
15 phials of the red stuff later, I was a sagging bag
of pooh. For the entire day. I fell asleep in a
meeting, fell asleep at my desk and had to cancel a
golf date for the evening. Amazing.
I'm better now, thank goodness, and ready to turn my attention to the cover letter for my novel submission to a publisher. With the draft synopsis fermenting in my brain (and on the hard drive of my trusty net book), I have to compose a friendly, one-page invitation to convince someone that my work is worth publishing and will, in fact, sell. This might be as tough a task as the synopsis. But, if Phillip Gold is ever going to see the public light of day, I have to do this and do it effectively.
The blood-test-induced lethargy did, on the other hand, put me in a nice position to spend some more time with Dick Francis. I'm now reading Proof, a novel from the mid-1980s, that seems to me to mark the beginning of a new stage in Francis' writing. Proof is a much more philosophical novel with a main character, wine-merchant Tony Beach, who is still dealing with the recent death of his beloved wife and, on a perhaps deeper level, with his long-term feelings of failure and inadequacy. He is, perhaps, the deepest, most complex of the protagonists to this point in Francis' library.
Further, this book explores masculine friendship much more than it does male-female romance, as Beach experiences the birth of relationships with three male characters: a sharp but friendly corporate sleuth, a crusty police inspector and his crafty and determined Chief Inspector. In fact, for the first time in a Francis novel, there is no blossoming male-female romance in this one.
Francis also makes much better use of suspense in this book: early on, a minor character is murdered in an extremely grotesque way; this forms a terrifying backdrop for all of the confrontations between Beach and the villain, as the timid wine merchant sweats through the thought of being similarly treated. It's quietly effective and very interesting.
I note as well that the back cover of the book features a quote from Kingsley Amis, the noted English author, rather than a series of slogans gleaned from the popular press. As Proof hit the market, Francis was finally being taken seriously not just as a mystery writer but as a capital "A" Author, respected, admired, and the Amis quote is clear evidence of his ascension.
I'm very much enjoying Proof. And I'm impressed with the continued development of Dick Francis as a writer that it represents.
I'm better now, thank goodness, and ready to turn my attention to the cover letter for my novel submission to a publisher. With the draft synopsis fermenting in my brain (and on the hard drive of my trusty net book), I have to compose a friendly, one-page invitation to convince someone that my work is worth publishing and will, in fact, sell. This might be as tough a task as the synopsis. But, if Phillip Gold is ever going to see the public light of day, I have to do this and do it effectively.
The blood-test-induced lethargy did, on the other hand, put me in a nice position to spend some more time with Dick Francis. I'm now reading Proof, a novel from the mid-1980s, that seems to me to mark the beginning of a new stage in Francis' writing. Proof is a much more philosophical novel with a main character, wine-merchant Tony Beach, who is still dealing with the recent death of his beloved wife and, on a perhaps deeper level, with his long-term feelings of failure and inadequacy. He is, perhaps, the deepest, most complex of the protagonists to this point in Francis' library.
Further, this book explores masculine friendship much more than it does male-female romance, as Beach experiences the birth of relationships with three male characters: a sharp but friendly corporate sleuth, a crusty police inspector and his crafty and determined Chief Inspector. In fact, for the first time in a Francis novel, there is no blossoming male-female romance in this one.
Francis also makes much better use of suspense in this book: early on, a minor character is murdered in an extremely grotesque way; this forms a terrifying backdrop for all of the confrontations between Beach and the villain, as the timid wine merchant sweats through the thought of being similarly treated. It's quietly effective and very interesting.
I note as well that the back cover of the book features a quote from Kingsley Amis, the noted English author, rather than a series of slogans gleaned from the popular press. As Proof hit the market, Francis was finally being taken seriously not just as a mystery writer but as a capital "A" Author, respected, admired, and the Amis quote is clear evidence of his ascension.
I'm very much enjoying Proof. And I'm impressed with the continued development of Dick Francis as a writer that it represents.
Busy Days and Conferences
The past couple of days have been extremely busy and,
to be frank, exhausting for me. While I was hoping to
make more progress on drafting the synopsis for
The Silent Goodbye, most of my energy was
taken up preparing for and then delivering three
workshops at conferences here in Nota Bene.
The first two took place Monday afternoon in Saint John, at the conference for an organization that is called something like "Atlantic Association of University and College Student Services". I spoke first on the issue of the challenges and opportunities faced by institutions of higher education as they seek to expand their representation of international students. Then I led a workshop on the conflict that too often arises between the legal obligation to provide academic accommodation to students with disabilities and the "defence" of academic standards mounted by some members of the academy. Both are highly controversial topics and, with exceptional turnouts of some amazing people at each workshop, I really enjoyed and learned from the experiences.
This morning found me back in Freddie, facilitating a half-day workshop at the annual conference of the group known (to me at least) as the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education. Sorry but I have a really hard time remembering these long, involved names, especially since the organisations are often referred to simply by the acronym: AAUCSS and CAUCE. Today's 3.5 hour-session attempted to help participants move past the "buzz words" about inclusion, positive environments, wellness, empowerment and all that currently being bandied about by universities in Canada and to understand what it really means for an institution to commit itself to be an inclusive, positive place. Again, a fantastic group of participants who, I'm afraid and pleased to say, probably taught me more than I taught them.
Preparation for these kinds of workshops is intense and the performance itself is both exciting and exhausting. Doing three in the space of 24 hours is more of a challenge than I'm used to so I'm now in full crash mode. I tried to play a round of golf this afternoon to kind of let myself down easy but heavy rain and lightning ended the game after seven holes. Still, I shot three-four on the first two holes so I'm pretty pleased.
Meanwhile, I managed to edit together a video of Marlee playing with her beloved orange balls, which will be available soon on the Video page of this site. That's good. And my net book came through with flying colours at today's conference, the Open Office suite performing admirably through my first attempt to create and use a powerpoint-style slide show in a presentation. Kudos to that.
I also want to send out a big "Happy Birthday" to my sister Janice. June 1st is her day and I wish her all happiness today.
The first two took place Monday afternoon in Saint John, at the conference for an organization that is called something like "Atlantic Association of University and College Student Services". I spoke first on the issue of the challenges and opportunities faced by institutions of higher education as they seek to expand their representation of international students. Then I led a workshop on the conflict that too often arises between the legal obligation to provide academic accommodation to students with disabilities and the "defence" of academic standards mounted by some members of the academy. Both are highly controversial topics and, with exceptional turnouts of some amazing people at each workshop, I really enjoyed and learned from the experiences.
This morning found me back in Freddie, facilitating a half-day workshop at the annual conference of the group known (to me at least) as the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education. Sorry but I have a really hard time remembering these long, involved names, especially since the organisations are often referred to simply by the acronym: AAUCSS and CAUCE. Today's 3.5 hour-session attempted to help participants move past the "buzz words" about inclusion, positive environments, wellness, empowerment and all that currently being bandied about by universities in Canada and to understand what it really means for an institution to commit itself to be an inclusive, positive place. Again, a fantastic group of participants who, I'm afraid and pleased to say, probably taught me more than I taught them.
Preparation for these kinds of workshops is intense and the performance itself is both exciting and exhausting. Doing three in the space of 24 hours is more of a challenge than I'm used to so I'm now in full crash mode. I tried to play a round of golf this afternoon to kind of let myself down easy but heavy rain and lightning ended the game after seven holes. Still, I shot three-four on the first two holes so I'm pretty pleased.
Meanwhile, I managed to edit together a video of Marlee playing with her beloved orange balls, which will be available soon on the Video page of this site. That's good. And my net book came through with flying colours at today's conference, the Open Office suite performing admirably through my first attempt to create and use a powerpoint-style slide show in a presentation. Kudos to that.
I also want to send out a big "Happy Birthday" to my sister Janice. June 1st is her day and I wish her all happiness today.
Oh So Slow Progress
I find myself still daunted by the prospect of trying
to write the synopsis for The Final Goodbye.
I've never been good at writing these things and I'm
not feeling much more confident now.
My research has told me that my synopsis can be up to 16 pages long, which is a really good thing to know. That fact alone makes the task seem less frightening: until recently, I had thought the synopsis to be only four pages long and still a full and complete summary of the events in the story. And I've even now made a start at writing it. I'm three paragraphs in and feeling fairly good about what I've produced.
In the meantime, I'm continuing my journey through the novels of Dick Francis. I'm now into the 1980s and the books are becoming longer and more complex. I've read all of them before, at least once, so I often pick up a new novel with some sense of what it's about. What amazes me is how unconsciously resistant I am to continue reading the ones that have particularly violent or nasty plots.
I had to force myself to read Banker, the first novel with what I would consider a truly monstrous villain. In Banker, Francis displays a hard edge, a willingness to kill off characters, even very innocent ones, for the sake of the plot, an interest in moving beyond your regular kinds of mayhem into pure nastiness and evil. Calder Jackson, the villain, is actually willing to poison pregnant brood mares to ensure badly deformed babies and destroy the reputation and value of the stud, a magnificent horse named Sandcastle.
Francis pulls no punches in this book and it is gut-wrenchingly effective.
He is also branching out when it comes to the nature of the romantic interest in the novel. In Banker, the protagonist is in love with the wife of his aging boss, feelings she apparently returns. But both keep their emotions under wraps throughout the book, finding small comfort in stolen moments and social niceties. It's a surprising sign of how far Francis is willing to go at this point in his career, however, when he not only writes of the illicit relationship with approbation throughout the novel but also goes so far as to bring news of the aging boss's death in the last paragraph, promising future happiness for the star-crossed lovers.
Nothing I'm saying here should suggest that Banker is anything but a highly effective, thoroughly entertaining novel. It's truly great. It's just interesting to see Francis pushing so boldly the boundaries of his own successful blueprint.
My research has told me that my synopsis can be up to 16 pages long, which is a really good thing to know. That fact alone makes the task seem less frightening: until recently, I had thought the synopsis to be only four pages long and still a full and complete summary of the events in the story. And I've even now made a start at writing it. I'm three paragraphs in and feeling fairly good about what I've produced.
In the meantime, I'm continuing my journey through the novels of Dick Francis. I'm now into the 1980s and the books are becoming longer and more complex. I've read all of them before, at least once, so I often pick up a new novel with some sense of what it's about. What amazes me is how unconsciously resistant I am to continue reading the ones that have particularly violent or nasty plots.
I had to force myself to read Banker, the first novel with what I would consider a truly monstrous villain. In Banker, Francis displays a hard edge, a willingness to kill off characters, even very innocent ones, for the sake of the plot, an interest in moving beyond your regular kinds of mayhem into pure nastiness and evil. Calder Jackson, the villain, is actually willing to poison pregnant brood mares to ensure badly deformed babies and destroy the reputation and value of the stud, a magnificent horse named Sandcastle.
Francis pulls no punches in this book and it is gut-wrenchingly effective.
He is also branching out when it comes to the nature of the romantic interest in the novel. In Banker, the protagonist is in love with the wife of his aging boss, feelings she apparently returns. But both keep their emotions under wraps throughout the book, finding small comfort in stolen moments and social niceties. It's a surprising sign of how far Francis is willing to go at this point in his career, however, when he not only writes of the illicit relationship with approbation throughout the novel but also goes so far as to bring news of the aging boss's death in the last paragraph, promising future happiness for the star-crossed lovers.
Nothing I'm saying here should suggest that Banker is anything but a highly effective, thoroughly entertaining novel. It's truly great. It's just interesting to see Francis pushing so boldly the boundaries of his own successful blueprint.
Marketing My Novel
27/05/10 22:39 Filed in: Writing
After receiving some lovely, very positive feedback
on The Silent Goodbye from a good friend
back in Hamilton, I'm feeling inspired now to begin
the process of attempting to find a publisher for the
novel. Of course, that means more writing: a cover
letter, a biographical note on myself as well as a
synopsis of the entire book.
I don't mind doing the cover letter, and the biographical note is no big deal, but the synopsis is something of a nightmare. From what I understand, editors and agents want you to give a detailed summary of the entire book, in present tense, in a way that conveys both the excitement of the story and every major incident that takes place. It's no easy task. I've tried to write synopses in the past and have always hated them.
But it's something I have to do if I want to get this novel in front of a publisher so I have to accept that writing a synopsis of The Silent Goodbye is my next writing task.
In the meantime, I'm starting to turn my mind (and my typing fingers) to the job of integrating my short story "Violet" into the original novel, All That Glisters, at the same time as changing both into third-person narration and bringing the writing style more in line with The Silent Goodbye. No easy task. But one I think I'll enjoy, once I get into it.
I am also considering changing the name of the resulting novel. What do you think of The Smell of Blood or The Scent of Blood or A Taste for Blood? My original plan was for all the novels to have titles with the word "Gold" either in them or implied by them (like A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters [Is Not Gold]). I'm not sure I'm so fond of that idea any more.
From what I've seen, of course, if I ever find a publisher for these books, she'll probably want to change the titles anyway! And, if she wants to publish my novels, quite frankly she can name them whatever she wants.
I don't mind doing the cover letter, and the biographical note is no big deal, but the synopsis is something of a nightmare. From what I understand, editors and agents want you to give a detailed summary of the entire book, in present tense, in a way that conveys both the excitement of the story and every major incident that takes place. It's no easy task. I've tried to write synopses in the past and have always hated them.
But it's something I have to do if I want to get this novel in front of a publisher so I have to accept that writing a synopsis of The Silent Goodbye is my next writing task.
In the meantime, I'm starting to turn my mind (and my typing fingers) to the job of integrating my short story "Violet" into the original novel, All That Glisters, at the same time as changing both into third-person narration and bringing the writing style more in line with The Silent Goodbye. No easy task. But one I think I'll enjoy, once I get into it.
I am also considering changing the name of the resulting novel. What do you think of The Smell of Blood or The Scent of Blood or A Taste for Blood? My original plan was for all the novels to have titles with the word "Gold" either in them or implied by them (like A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters [Is Not Gold]). I'm not sure I'm so fond of that idea any more.
From what I've seen, of course, if I ever find a publisher for these books, she'll probably want to change the titles anyway! And, if she wants to publish my novels, quite frankly she can name them whatever she wants.
Back in Freddie
I'm just back from a week in Ontario where I took
care of some personal business and visited with
family and friends. It was a great trip, if a bit
emotional, and I'm afraid I didn't get the chance to
see everyone I had hoped to see. I did, however, get
a lot of reading done and delivered copies of the
second draft of my latest Phillip Gold novel, The
Silent Goodbye, to my next round of readers.
I'll be posting blogs on a number of topics over the next couple of days, including the three Dick Francis novels I read on my trip, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (a book recommended strongly to me by Emily and Clare, who even suggested that some of their friends feel Colfer's book is better than Harry Potter), birds I saw on the trip and even perhaps a commentary on the state of my garden here in Nota Bene. We've had a warm, wet spring and the jungle in my backyard is threatening to overwhelm us.
Right now, however, my energy is at a low ebb so I won't be blogging more tonight, just posting a promise new entries soon. Good night!
I'll be posting blogs on a number of topics over the next couple of days, including the three Dick Francis novels I read on my trip, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (a book recommended strongly to me by Emily and Clare, who even suggested that some of their friends feel Colfer's book is better than Harry Potter), birds I saw on the trip and even perhaps a commentary on the state of my garden here in Nota Bene. We've had a warm, wet spring and the jungle in my backyard is threatening to overwhelm us.
Right now, however, my energy is at a low ebb so I won't be blogging more tonight, just posting a promise new entries soon. Good night!
Mission Accomplished
29/04/10 22:05 Filed in: Writing
I sit here stunned. Just twenty-four hours after
writing on this blog that I still hoped to be
able to get the draft of The Silent Goodbye
reviewed, revised and copy-edited before my trip to
Ontario next Tuesday, I actually finished the task
tonight.
Every last detail of it. I reviewed the novel line by line, with the macro and micro comments of my first three readers in my mind (and, often, on sheets in front of me). I corrected minor errors and revamped entire scenes. I brought consistency to names and descriptions and made sure that words requiring capitalisation (like "Alderman" and "Jury") were, in fact, capitalised throughout. I added in chapter breaks and even made sure the chapter numbers made sense.
I'm impressed with myself. I'm pleased with the finished product.
I saved the revised draft as a PDF file and will have a copy printed tomorrow, double-sided, to carry with me to Ontario next week. While there, I'll have several more copies made (See how clever I am? Why make the copies here and have to tote them to Ontario when I can make them there instead!) and deliver them to my next set of readers. These readers aren't going to be asked to review and offer comments: just to enjoy while I start looking into the possibility of getting the novel published.
That's the next major task: trying to get the thing published. I know it's a long-shot but I have to say this is the best piece of fiction I've ever written. I think it's of publishable quality. I believe it's interesting and exciting enough to sell pretty well. I just hope I can find an editor and publisher who will feel the same.
Every last detail of it. I reviewed the novel line by line, with the macro and micro comments of my first three readers in my mind (and, often, on sheets in front of me). I corrected minor errors and revamped entire scenes. I brought consistency to names and descriptions and made sure that words requiring capitalisation (like "Alderman" and "Jury") were, in fact, capitalised throughout. I added in chapter breaks and even made sure the chapter numbers made sense.
I'm impressed with myself. I'm pleased with the finished product.
I saved the revised draft as a PDF file and will have a copy printed tomorrow, double-sided, to carry with me to Ontario next week. While there, I'll have several more copies made (See how clever I am? Why make the copies here and have to tote them to Ontario when I can make them there instead!) and deliver them to my next set of readers. These readers aren't going to be asked to review and offer comments: just to enjoy while I start looking into the possibility of getting the novel published.
That's the next major task: trying to get the thing published. I know it's a long-shot but I have to say this is the best piece of fiction I've ever written. I think it's of publishable quality. I believe it's interesting and exciting enough to sell pretty well. I just hope I can find an editor and publisher who will feel the same.
Back Into It
28/04/10 04:44 Filed in: Writing
I've been too busy lately (both at work and at home)
to spend much time on the revisions of The Silent
Goodbye, my latest Phillip Gold novel. That's
put my self-imposed deadline of getting copies of the
completed second draft printed in time for my trip
back to Ontario next week in some jeopardy.
I hate missing deadlines. Ever since I worked in the newspaper business (first at the student paper at McMaster University and later at a daily newspaper in Lindsay), I've always believed that deadlines are frightening but necessary things. In fact, I've learned to value them a great deal simply for the fact that they force you to finish one project and move on to the next. Most writers (no matter if they write fiction, poetry, news or academic work) could probably spend a lifetime on a single piece, revising and polishing, updating and improving. Deadlines curb that perfectionist tendency and ensure that the writer actually shares his or her brilliance with the world.
So I wasn't very happy with myself as day after day passed with no progress on this review and rewrite process.
Yesterday, however, I managed to turn things around, find some time to work and create some real momentum. I followed up one good day's work with a second today and, with luck (and tenacity), my newly found energy might carry me long enough and far enough to meet that deadline.
What is amazing me, however, is how slow the work actually goes. I'm trying to balance a number of things as I work my way through the novel: the macro comments on character, plot, action that have been offered up by my three first readers; their micro comments on punctuation, grammar, diction, paragraph structure and the like; my own dedication to addressing consistency issues (characters whose hair changes colour, for example, or whose names change spellings); as well as the need to insert chapter breaks into the body of the book.
I've done pretty well, I think, with the first three on that list but, I have to admit, I've already lost track of the chapters. I think I got up to Chapter 11 and then simply forgot about it. Maybe that's something I have to add in at the end of the revision process.
Still, the progress of the past two days has given me heart. I'm about a third of the way through and have high hopes of getting the revisions done and copies printed before next Tuesday, when I board the plane heading east. No guarantees but the deadline is looming. And helping to motivate me as well.
I hate missing deadlines. Ever since I worked in the newspaper business (first at the student paper at McMaster University and later at a daily newspaper in Lindsay), I've always believed that deadlines are frightening but necessary things. In fact, I've learned to value them a great deal simply for the fact that they force you to finish one project and move on to the next. Most writers (no matter if they write fiction, poetry, news or academic work) could probably spend a lifetime on a single piece, revising and polishing, updating and improving. Deadlines curb that perfectionist tendency and ensure that the writer actually shares his or her brilliance with the world.
So I wasn't very happy with myself as day after day passed with no progress on this review and rewrite process.
Yesterday, however, I managed to turn things around, find some time to work and create some real momentum. I followed up one good day's work with a second today and, with luck (and tenacity), my newly found energy might carry me long enough and far enough to meet that deadline.
What is amazing me, however, is how slow the work actually goes. I'm trying to balance a number of things as I work my way through the novel: the macro comments on character, plot, action that have been offered up by my three first readers; their micro comments on punctuation, grammar, diction, paragraph structure and the like; my own dedication to addressing consistency issues (characters whose hair changes colour, for example, or whose names change spellings); as well as the need to insert chapter breaks into the body of the book.
I've done pretty well, I think, with the first three on that list but, I have to admit, I've already lost track of the chapters. I think I got up to Chapter 11 and then simply forgot about it. Maybe that's something I have to add in at the end of the revision process.
Still, the progress of the past two days has given me heart. I'm about a third of the way through and have high hopes of getting the revisions done and copies printed before next Tuesday, when I board the plane heading east. No guarantees but the deadline is looming. And helping to motivate me as well.
Ahh Spring!
The air is warm and the sun is shining. Bits of plant
life are turning lovely shades of green. Golf courses
are opening their gates and manicuring their
fairways. Spring is in the air!
I spent this past weekend celebrating spring with 27 holes of golf, some gardening and not much else. I hardly touched the revision of The Silent Goodbye and managed to finish reading only one Dick Francis novel: Knock Down, another of my favourites. I did get a chance to watch Bon Cop, Bad Cop, a very successful, very Canadian action comedy that provided lots of laughs, some great characters but falls down on the plot.
Patti finished her reading of The Silent Goodbye, my latest Phillip Gold novel, and has already provided some excellent insights and pages of micro-comments on the smaller stuff. I hope to get back to the revising process today with a view to getting the finished, polished draft done before my trip to Ontario in early May. I find that setting myself deadlines is very helpful in sparking me to complete tasks.
The break from actual writing work has not been a complete loss from a creativity standpoint: while lazing about or walking the fairways I have been thinking about how to revise and improve my first and second Gold novels, A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters. I am so pleased with how much action there is in The Silent Goodbye that I have been trying to come up with an interesting, preferably court-base subplot for each of the earlier novels and, while Fleck continues to provide challenges, I believe I have come up with a good approach to Glisters.
The idea I've had for Glisters involves incorporating a Phillip Gold short story I wrote a couple of years ago into the beginning of the book, then using it to flow into the main plot of the existing novel. The introduction of Violet, the short story, should add punch to the opening, a court-room counterpoint to the main Kevin Dallanger kidnapping plot and a great deal more action overall. The rewrite process will also allow me to transition the book into third-person while moving it in time from a point before the events of The Silent Goodbye to a time following that novel.
I know. I know. I'm full of ideas. It's putting them into action (or written words) that is the problem.
I spent this past weekend celebrating spring with 27 holes of golf, some gardening and not much else. I hardly touched the revision of The Silent Goodbye and managed to finish reading only one Dick Francis novel: Knock Down, another of my favourites. I did get a chance to watch Bon Cop, Bad Cop, a very successful, very Canadian action comedy that provided lots of laughs, some great characters but falls down on the plot.
Patti finished her reading of The Silent Goodbye, my latest Phillip Gold novel, and has already provided some excellent insights and pages of micro-comments on the smaller stuff. I hope to get back to the revising process today with a view to getting the finished, polished draft done before my trip to Ontario in early May. I find that setting myself deadlines is very helpful in sparking me to complete tasks.
The break from actual writing work has not been a complete loss from a creativity standpoint: while lazing about or walking the fairways I have been thinking about how to revise and improve my first and second Gold novels, A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters. I am so pleased with how much action there is in The Silent Goodbye that I have been trying to come up with an interesting, preferably court-base subplot for each of the earlier novels and, while Fleck continues to provide challenges, I believe I have come up with a good approach to Glisters.
The idea I've had for Glisters involves incorporating a Phillip Gold short story I wrote a couple of years ago into the beginning of the book, then using it to flow into the main plot of the existing novel. The introduction of Violet, the short story, should add punch to the opening, a court-room counterpoint to the main Kevin Dallanger kidnapping plot and a great deal more action overall. The rewrite process will also allow me to transition the book into third-person while moving it in time from a point before the events of The Silent Goodbye to a time following that novel.
I know. I know. I'm full of ideas. It's putting them into action (or written words) that is the problem.
There's Nothing Better Than Constructive Criticism
14/04/10 21:56 Filed in: Writing
I am well into the process of reviewing and editing
The Silent Goodbye very carefully, on a
line-by-line basis. It's an interesting task: you
pick up each word, examine it, test it, consider it,
then either leave it in, chuck it out or change it.
You do the same with each phrase and every sentence.
Is it working? Is it effective? Is it interesting?
It is slow work but important. My friend John is especially keen on this kind of editing job, constantly encouraging me to delete as many adjectives and adverbs as I can. He hates the word "suddenly" and has even suggested that I use the "search and replace" function on the word-processing software to find and delete every word in the book with "ly" at the end of it. He has also reminded me that dialogue tags should be simple: use "he said" over any other tag in almost every situation.
Meanwhile, still on the micro-comment level, Ross has reminded me that publishers and editors hate ellipses ("...") and told me to remove them all. Patti has found several occasions where I refer to a character as "Watson" where his real name is "Weston". Yikes. She's also realised that I have gotten the names of the two street gangs in the novel confused at times, more proof of my terrible memory.
Those things are easy to fix and I plan to address them during this careful edit. It's the bigger, macro comments that represent more work.
Two of my readers have expressed concern that Gold is too relaxed even while he is on the run from a professional killer. "Would a guy who's got a price on his head go grocery shopping in public?" one asked, sarcasm dripping. Ross wants me to make a secondary female character stronger and more assertive. Patti thinks I need to rewrite the backstory for Stacey McLean to make it more realistic while John has strongly encouraged me to review and rewrite the climactic scenes to make my hero more proactive and heroic.
I wish I could reject these suggestions outright. It would be a lot less work. But you don't ask good, intelligent people to critique your work and then refuse to implement their excellent suggestions just because you're lazy, do you? Not me. Guess I've got some rewriting to do.
It is slow work but important. My friend John is especially keen on this kind of editing job, constantly encouraging me to delete as many adjectives and adverbs as I can. He hates the word "suddenly" and has even suggested that I use the "search and replace" function on the word-processing software to find and delete every word in the book with "ly" at the end of it. He has also reminded me that dialogue tags should be simple: use "he said" over any other tag in almost every situation.
Meanwhile, still on the micro-comment level, Ross has reminded me that publishers and editors hate ellipses ("...") and told me to remove them all. Patti has found several occasions where I refer to a character as "Watson" where his real name is "Weston". Yikes. She's also realised that I have gotten the names of the two street gangs in the novel confused at times, more proof of my terrible memory.
Those things are easy to fix and I plan to address them during this careful edit. It's the bigger, macro comments that represent more work.
Two of my readers have expressed concern that Gold is too relaxed even while he is on the run from a professional killer. "Would a guy who's got a price on his head go grocery shopping in public?" one asked, sarcasm dripping. Ross wants me to make a secondary female character stronger and more assertive. Patti thinks I need to rewrite the backstory for Stacey McLean to make it more realistic while John has strongly encouraged me to review and rewrite the climactic scenes to make my hero more proactive and heroic.
I wish I could reject these suggestions outright. It would be a lot less work. But you don't ask good, intelligent people to critique your work and then refuse to implement their excellent suggestions just because you're lazy, do you? Not me. Guess I've got some rewriting to do.
Positive Responses Spawn Positive Feelings
12/04/10 21:18 Filed in: Writing
Writing is a solitary art. You sit alone at your
computer, or with your pad and pen, and compose a
story. It takes hours and hours, weeks upon weeks,
even years to complete a single novel. And, when
you've finished a draft, you have only your own
perception of whether or not it's any good.
That's why those first readings are so important. You pass along your precious draft to your partner, a friend or two, your colleagues in your writing group, and you hold your breath. Will they like it? Will they find horrible flaws in your plot, your characters, your writing itself? Will they be too kind to tell you it needs a heck of a lot of work?
I'm lucky to have some fantastic readers in my life, people I know will give an honest opinion and criticism that I can use to make my writing better. My partner, Patti, is one of those readers. She's making her way slowly through The Silent Goodbye and she's already compiled a long list of comments and corrections. My former writing group pals, Ross Pennie and John Hewson, are also trusted and valued readers: they know good writing, they know how to offer constructive feedback and they aren't afraid to tell the truth (both positive and negative).
So the last little while has been quite a nervous time for me, as Patti, Ross and John have worked their way through the novel. I'm glad to say that Patti, though she still has a way to go in the book, has been very positive and has provided some excellent insights and suggestions. Ross is also about half-way through the novel (at last report) and he, too, seems to be enjoying the writing while giving some excellent and useful feedback.
And then the other night I heard from John, the first of my readers to finish the book. And, I'm thrilled to say, he appears to have liked it a lot. He, too, has made some really excellent suggestions on how to make it better but he is also clear that he thinks it's of publishable quality. That's great to hear. And such a relief.
I have really felt positive about The Silent Goodbye since I was well into writing the first draft but it's nice to have my positive perceptions verified by my trusted readers. Oh, sure, there's still a lot of work to do. I've just started a line-by-line review where every word comes under scrutiny (is it necessary? is it the best word to use?) and every scene is tested to make sure it makes a worthwhile contribution to the book.
But I also now feel much more secure in the knowledge that three trusted readers have read at least part of the book and have enjoyed it.
That kind of feedback gives me a boost as I start the revisions. And creates excitement for a review of the other Phillip Gold novels as well as the Abigail Massey stories too!
That's why those first readings are so important. You pass along your precious draft to your partner, a friend or two, your colleagues in your writing group, and you hold your breath. Will they like it? Will they find horrible flaws in your plot, your characters, your writing itself? Will they be too kind to tell you it needs a heck of a lot of work?
I'm lucky to have some fantastic readers in my life, people I know will give an honest opinion and criticism that I can use to make my writing better. My partner, Patti, is one of those readers. She's making her way slowly through The Silent Goodbye and she's already compiled a long list of comments and corrections. My former writing group pals, Ross Pennie and John Hewson, are also trusted and valued readers: they know good writing, they know how to offer constructive feedback and they aren't afraid to tell the truth (both positive and negative).
So the last little while has been quite a nervous time for me, as Patti, Ross and John have worked their way through the novel. I'm glad to say that Patti, though she still has a way to go in the book, has been very positive and has provided some excellent insights and suggestions. Ross is also about half-way through the novel (at last report) and he, too, seems to be enjoying the writing while giving some excellent and useful feedback.
And then the other night I heard from John, the first of my readers to finish the book. And, I'm thrilled to say, he appears to have liked it a lot. He, too, has made some really excellent suggestions on how to make it better but he is also clear that he thinks it's of publishable quality. That's great to hear. And such a relief.
I have really felt positive about The Silent Goodbye since I was well into writing the first draft but it's nice to have my positive perceptions verified by my trusted readers. Oh, sure, there's still a lot of work to do. I've just started a line-by-line review where every word comes under scrutiny (is it necessary? is it the best word to use?) and every scene is tested to make sure it makes a worthwhile contribution to the book.
But I also now feel much more secure in the knowledge that three trusted readers have read at least part of the book and have enjoyed it.
That kind of feedback gives me a boost as I start the revisions. And creates excitement for a review of the other Phillip Gold novels as well as the Abigail Massey stories too!
Net Book Starts to Net Results
10/04/10 18:37 Filed in: Writing
I have now transferred a great deal of my Phillip
Gold material (the latest drafts of the three
completed novels, for example) onto my cool tool net
book and am in the process of review: first, A
Fleck of Gold, the first Gold novel I wrote,
which I completed I think a decade ago.
The fact that I have deliberately chosen not to add word processing software to the WIndows Vista OS on the net book, choosing instead to stick with the simple Text Edit program that comes with Vista, means that I have had to resave each novel as a plain-text document, losing all formatting in the process. It sounds like a pain but, in fact, it has had the positive impact of forcing me to work my way through each one, reformatting and revising as I go.
I'm only part of the way through Fleck but I am already finding it to be a useful and worthwhile endeavour. As you may remember, my plan now is to revise the first two novels (Fleck and All That Glisters) completely to bring them into line stylistically with The Silent Goodbye, to address inconsistencies in character descriptions and behaviours and, if possible, to bump up the action along the way. I often find that, when I'm trying to revise, I get caught up in what's already written and skip my way through the book, defeating the purpose of revising: the reformatting task is forcing me to slow down and my revision work is all the better for the slow pace.
It's also great to have an instrument that I can take anywhere, that I can pull out whenever I have a half hour available, and that provides a comfortable typing platform and a screen large enough to read easily.
I know I have a habit of making big plans but I'm already thinking about bringing the Abigail Massey stories onto the net book and beginning the necessary work of editing and rewriting them as well. It's hard to imagine that, two years ago now, I was banging those stories out almost one per day and posting them on this website, almost entirely without revision! I think it's about time I gave them a rigorous review and rewrite. As one famous author once said, writing without revision is just typing.
It may be happening later than I had hoped but this new cool tool is indeed inspiring me to get back to work.
The fact that I have deliberately chosen not to add word processing software to the WIndows Vista OS on the net book, choosing instead to stick with the simple Text Edit program that comes with Vista, means that I have had to resave each novel as a plain-text document, losing all formatting in the process. It sounds like a pain but, in fact, it has had the positive impact of forcing me to work my way through each one, reformatting and revising as I go.
I'm only part of the way through Fleck but I am already finding it to be a useful and worthwhile endeavour. As you may remember, my plan now is to revise the first two novels (Fleck and All That Glisters) completely to bring them into line stylistically with The Silent Goodbye, to address inconsistencies in character descriptions and behaviours and, if possible, to bump up the action along the way. I often find that, when I'm trying to revise, I get caught up in what's already written and skip my way through the book, defeating the purpose of revising: the reformatting task is forcing me to slow down and my revision work is all the better for the slow pace.
It's also great to have an instrument that I can take anywhere, that I can pull out whenever I have a half hour available, and that provides a comfortable typing platform and a screen large enough to read easily.
I know I have a habit of making big plans but I'm already thinking about bringing the Abigail Massey stories onto the net book and beginning the necessary work of editing and rewriting them as well. It's hard to imagine that, two years ago now, I was banging those stories out almost one per day and posting them on this website, almost entirely without revision! I think it's about time I gave them a rigorous review and rewrite. As one famous author once said, writing without revision is just typing.
It may be happening later than I had hoped but this new cool tool is indeed inspiring me to get back to work.
Peaceful Days
I had hoped the purchase of my new cool tool would
have spurred me into a writing frenzy. Alas, no such
luck. I love my new netbook and its ultimate
portability; I've taken it to numerous meetings and
kept useful notes. But I haven't actually gotten back
involved in the writing process yet.
That really shouldn't surprise me, however. I have just completed the long process of writing and revising my latest Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye, which currently sits with some of my readers, and I know it often takes some time to "change gears" before getting involved in another big writing project. So I'm not letting it worry me. I'm just noting it and waiting patiently.
And with the weather here in Nota Bene finally smiling down on us, it's hard to think of anything but getting ready for spring: I've got my vegetable seeds planted in their indoor gardens; I've tidied up the backyard; I've stowed the snow blower and rolled out the BBQ. With the long Easter weekend, everything is pointing to peaceful days with low stress and maximum sunshine.
To keep with that theme, I'm doing a lot of reading. I finished Dick Francis' Enquiry yesterday. I always forget about this novel when I'm thinking about my favourite Francis books and yet, when I read it, I always enjoy it thoroughly. Kelly Hughes is a jump jockey who is "warned off" racing in the book's first lines; that means his license to ride is suspended and he is not allowed to be anywhere near horse racing. The charges are trumped up and the evidence faked but it's up to Hughes to figure things out before it's too late to revive his career and before the villains finish him off. It's not a complicated story but it's a good one and I find the two major characters (Hughes and Roberta Cranfield, the snobbish daughter of Hughes' social-climbing employer) really fun.
I also have Stieg Larsson's second novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, on the go. I'm having a hard time getting into it, perhaps because I can tell it's going to be intense and perturbing. At the same time, I'm dipping my toes into Voltaire's Candide in the original French. For that, I need to find time to focus. That's not going to happen while Patti's away and Marlee is entirely my responsibility. The dog just demands too much attention.
I had mentioned in an earlier post that I was planning to rewrite my first Philllip Gold novel, A Fleck of Gold, entirely from scratch, without going back and reviewing the now-six-year-old original final draft. I'm faltering on that plan. I feel a deep-seated urge to go back and re-read the original. Maybe that hesitation is also contributing to my current slow period for writing.
That really shouldn't surprise me, however. I have just completed the long process of writing and revising my latest Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye, which currently sits with some of my readers, and I know it often takes some time to "change gears" before getting involved in another big writing project. So I'm not letting it worry me. I'm just noting it and waiting patiently.
And with the weather here in Nota Bene finally smiling down on us, it's hard to think of anything but getting ready for spring: I've got my vegetable seeds planted in their indoor gardens; I've tidied up the backyard; I've stowed the snow blower and rolled out the BBQ. With the long Easter weekend, everything is pointing to peaceful days with low stress and maximum sunshine.
To keep with that theme, I'm doing a lot of reading. I finished Dick Francis' Enquiry yesterday. I always forget about this novel when I'm thinking about my favourite Francis books and yet, when I read it, I always enjoy it thoroughly. Kelly Hughes is a jump jockey who is "warned off" racing in the book's first lines; that means his license to ride is suspended and he is not allowed to be anywhere near horse racing. The charges are trumped up and the evidence faked but it's up to Hughes to figure things out before it's too late to revive his career and before the villains finish him off. It's not a complicated story but it's a good one and I find the two major characters (Hughes and Roberta Cranfield, the snobbish daughter of Hughes' social-climbing employer) really fun.
I also have Stieg Larsson's second novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, on the go. I'm having a hard time getting into it, perhaps because I can tell it's going to be intense and perturbing. At the same time, I'm dipping my toes into Voltaire's Candide in the original French. For that, I need to find time to focus. That's not going to happen while Patti's away and Marlee is entirely my responsibility. The dog just demands too much attention.
I had mentioned in an earlier post that I was planning to rewrite my first Philllip Gold novel, A Fleck of Gold, entirely from scratch, without going back and reviewing the now-six-year-old original final draft. I'm faltering on that plan. I feel a deep-seated urge to go back and re-read the original. Maybe that hesitation is also contributing to my current slow period for writing.
A Cool New Tool
29/03/10 16:29 Filed in: Writing
Yes, I am an avid and vocal Mac user. Yes, we have
five Macs in our home (including an ancient Mac
Classic and an almost-as-ancient MacBook with a tiny
screen). Yes, I have just obtained a new dual-core
iMac for work, complete with a TB hard drive, 8 MB of
RAM and a 24-inch screen. Yes, Yes, Yes.
So please don't throw me out of the club when I admit that, yesterday, I went out and bought myself a new Hewlitt Packard Netbook (see photo), which operates on a Windows XP platform (the horror! the horror!). I feel guilty about it, I really do. But the thing was on sale and I am sick and tired of lugging around a very heavy iBook just to have some portability. I'm also tired of having no idea where the latest passage I've written for my Phillip Gold novel is stored.
So I bought the cool new tool. For those of you
who have not looked into netbooks, they're basically
stripped down versions of laptops, with small hard
drives, no disc drives and miniature bodies. The one
I bought has a 1.6 GhZ processor, 2 MB RAM and a 160
GB hard drive. Its screen is only 10 inches across
but it also only weighs 2.6 pounds! Amazing.
For the limited uses to which I wish to put it (taking on trips and to meetings, writing first drafts of stories and novels, picking up e-mail and staying connected on the web), it's perfect and wonderfully portable. And the price is right: about half the cost of some of the cheaper laptops.
I have already taken it to one meeting at work and wowed my colleagues. Lots of questions, lots of interest. For me, I hope to develop the habit of taking it with me just about every where I go so that I can write (and keep my writing all in the same place) and keep up with e-mail where possible. I don't even plan to add a real word-processing software: Microsoft's Text Edit, which comes with Windows XP, is fine for the raw stuff. I'll do the finer formatting later, on a standard-sized computer.
So please don't throw me out of the club when I admit that, yesterday, I went out and bought myself a new Hewlitt Packard Netbook (see photo), which operates on a Windows XP platform (the horror! the horror!). I feel guilty about it, I really do. But the thing was on sale and I am sick and tired of lugging around a very heavy iBook just to have some portability. I'm also tired of having no idea where the latest passage I've written for my Phillip Gold novel is stored.
For the limited uses to which I wish to put it (taking on trips and to meetings, writing first drafts of stories and novels, picking up e-mail and staying connected on the web), it's perfect and wonderfully portable. And the price is right: about half the cost of some of the cheaper laptops.
I have already taken it to one meeting at work and wowed my colleagues. Lots of questions, lots of interest. For me, I hope to develop the habit of taking it with me just about every where I go so that I can write (and keep my writing all in the same place) and keep up with e-mail where possible. I don't even plan to add a real word-processing software: Microsoft's Text Edit, which comes with Windows XP, is fine for the raw stuff. I'll do the finer formatting later, on a standard-sized computer.
Chatting with Writers
27/03/10 10:39 Filed in: Writing
One of life's great joys for a writer is to get the
chance to chat with other writers about the craft.
Writing is something of a solitary business so it's
nice once in a while to kick back and talk with
someone who cares as much about point of view,
building tension, writing dialogue as you do.
I had that chance a couple of nights ago when my friend Ross Pennie and I got together (via telephone wires) to talk about the novels we are each working on. I had finished reading the draft of his new Zol Szabo mystery while he is about halfway through my latest Phillip Gold offering. Ross and I have a great relationship as writers (nurtured through our writers' group with John Hewson) and respect each other enough to be able to offer and receive constructive criticism in a positive way. This makes these conversations all the more enjoyable.
We spent much of our time together discussing the issue of building dramatic tension in a novel: how to get the reader caught up in the plot and characters and how to ensure your novel is a "page turner" that readers can't put down. We also talked about the importance of having an objective reader review your draft, someone who can see the problems and weaknesses that you, as the writer, are too close to notice.
It's such a great feeling to have a talented writer hear what you have to say about his work and immediately jump on board with your suggestions. It's also great to receive similar comments about your own work and to feel genuinely invigorated by the feedback so that you want to go back to your draft and start the rewrites.
I am fighting that urge, however, since I want to get feedback from all my readers before I dive back in. Still, Ross has helped me to see some things I need to work on with The Silent Goodbye and he's also confirmed for me that the book is worth the work.
I can see now how much I miss my old writers' group and its regular meetings. I wonder if there's anybody out here in Nota Bene who might be interested.
I had that chance a couple of nights ago when my friend Ross Pennie and I got together (via telephone wires) to talk about the novels we are each working on. I had finished reading the draft of his new Zol Szabo mystery while he is about halfway through my latest Phillip Gold offering. Ross and I have a great relationship as writers (nurtured through our writers' group with John Hewson) and respect each other enough to be able to offer and receive constructive criticism in a positive way. This makes these conversations all the more enjoyable.
We spent much of our time together discussing the issue of building dramatic tension in a novel: how to get the reader caught up in the plot and characters and how to ensure your novel is a "page turner" that readers can't put down. We also talked about the importance of having an objective reader review your draft, someone who can see the problems and weaknesses that you, as the writer, are too close to notice.
It's such a great feeling to have a talented writer hear what you have to say about his work and immediately jump on board with your suggestions. It's also great to receive similar comments about your own work and to feel genuinely invigorated by the feedback so that you want to go back to your draft and start the rewrites.
I am fighting that urge, however, since I want to get feedback from all my readers before I dive back in. Still, Ross has helped me to see some things I need to work on with The Silent Goodbye and he's also confirmed for me that the book is worth the work.
I can see now how much I miss my old writers' group and its regular meetings. I wonder if there's anybody out here in Nota Bene who might be interested.
Moving on to New Projects
The past week has been incredibly busy here in Nota
Bene. After a week of sunshine and warm temps, we
found ourselves back into the rain, sleet and, yes,
snow just in time for our long-anticipated visit from
my sister Janice and brother-in-law Harry earlier
this week.
It was a great visit, though much too brief and much too busy. I know we wore ourselves out with the whirlwind tour and I think I dropped two pretty exhausted people off at the Freddie airport on Tuesday afternoon. It was still, however, a great deal of fun and so nice to see them again.
On the Reading and Writing fronts, there's a great deal to report. The Silent Goodbye has been sent to some of my readers (Patti, Ross, John and now Janice and Harry) and I'm starting to receive some very positive responses to it. Ross has sent his comments on the first 80 pages of the book while Patti has given me verbal responses on the first half. I'm happy to report that both readers seem to like it and both have made suggestions and offered criticisms that are remarkably consistent. That's good news when you're a writer: when multiple readers find the same things strong and the same things needing work, it's much easier to do the revisions.
In the meantime, I have begun a full rewrite of my first Phillip Gold novel, A Fleck of Gold, to match the narrative style of TSG. Since I wrote the original version of Fleck more than a decade ago, I've decided to try to write it again from scratch. I know the plot and characters very well so I'm avoiding rereading the original draft; I'm writing it again fresh. It's a weird feeling, to be sure, but I think the approach will help. I'm a better writer today than I was back then and, were I to try simply to revise the original version, I don't think I would be aggressive enough in my revisions.
I have also come up with a better working title for the next completely new Phillip Gold novel: instead of Luke, as I had at first proposed, I'm now working with the title, The Shadow of the Father. Not as snappy but I think it captures well the central theme of the book.
On the reading side of things, I finished Stieg Larsson's epic first novel, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, last week. It was great. An impressive book with a complex, challenging plot and several truly fascinating characters. I thought the denouement went on a little long (the climax takes place a full 120 pages before the book finally skids to a stop) but it was still a pretty fantastic read.
I dove right into Larsson's second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire, but, after reading the four-page prologue that is told entirely from the point of view of a thirteen-year-old girl who has been imprisoned by a sexual predator and chained to a bed, I had to put it aside for a while. The first book was pretty intense; I think I'm going to need a little bit of psychological rest before I tackle this second one.
Instead, I'm back to Dick Francis for a while. Less stressful. I'll return to Larsson in a couple of weeks, I think.
On the music front, my brother-in-law Gavin helped me figure out how I can turn my old cassette tapes into MP3 files. Unfortunately, most of my store-bought tapes from the '80s (Kate Bush, Thompson Twins, Pat Benatar, et al) have proven themselves to be completely degraded and virtually unusable; fortunately, the tapes I really wanted to preserve are still in good shape.
My main goal was to save a series of tapes I have that feature a Hamilton band I hung out with while in University in the late 1980s: the Dik Van Dykes. I have seen some discussion of the Dykes on the internet and even a couple of cover versions of their iconic tune, "The Birthday Song", on Youtube. I was surprised to read people lamenting the fact that so many of the early Dykes recordings are not readily available on the net.
So I've spent some time converting four tapes I have of the Dik Van Dykes into MP3 files. Once I figure out how to do it, I'll share some of them with the public (unless of course Mike, Renee, Stu, Sarah, Steve or Paul contact me to ask me not to post them online), either through this website or Youtube. In case you're wondering, I've converted the Dyke's second major album, Waste Mor Tape, into digital format as well as three live tapes I've got: New Years Eve 1988 at the Gown and Gavel (a simulcast on CFMU radio hosted by yours truly); a live show at Chuggies bar in Hamilton from 1989 (I think) as well as an earlier live show from the Gown, date unknown.
We'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading and writing.
It was a great visit, though much too brief and much too busy. I know we wore ourselves out with the whirlwind tour and I think I dropped two pretty exhausted people off at the Freddie airport on Tuesday afternoon. It was still, however, a great deal of fun and so nice to see them again.
On the Reading and Writing fronts, there's a great deal to report. The Silent Goodbye has been sent to some of my readers (Patti, Ross, John and now Janice and Harry) and I'm starting to receive some very positive responses to it. Ross has sent his comments on the first 80 pages of the book while Patti has given me verbal responses on the first half. I'm happy to report that both readers seem to like it and both have made suggestions and offered criticisms that are remarkably consistent. That's good news when you're a writer: when multiple readers find the same things strong and the same things needing work, it's much easier to do the revisions.
In the meantime, I have begun a full rewrite of my first Phillip Gold novel, A Fleck of Gold, to match the narrative style of TSG. Since I wrote the original version of Fleck more than a decade ago, I've decided to try to write it again from scratch. I know the plot and characters very well so I'm avoiding rereading the original draft; I'm writing it again fresh. It's a weird feeling, to be sure, but I think the approach will help. I'm a better writer today than I was back then and, were I to try simply to revise the original version, I don't think I would be aggressive enough in my revisions.
I have also come up with a better working title for the next completely new Phillip Gold novel: instead of Luke, as I had at first proposed, I'm now working with the title, The Shadow of the Father. Not as snappy but I think it captures well the central theme of the book.
On the reading side of things, I finished Stieg Larsson's epic first novel, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, last week. It was great. An impressive book with a complex, challenging plot and several truly fascinating characters. I thought the denouement went on a little long (the climax takes place a full 120 pages before the book finally skids to a stop) but it was still a pretty fantastic read.
I dove right into Larsson's second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire, but, after reading the four-page prologue that is told entirely from the point of view of a thirteen-year-old girl who has been imprisoned by a sexual predator and chained to a bed, I had to put it aside for a while. The first book was pretty intense; I think I'm going to need a little bit of psychological rest before I tackle this second one.
Instead, I'm back to Dick Francis for a while. Less stressful. I'll return to Larsson in a couple of weeks, I think.
On the music front, my brother-in-law Gavin helped me figure out how I can turn my old cassette tapes into MP3 files. Unfortunately, most of my store-bought tapes from the '80s (Kate Bush, Thompson Twins, Pat Benatar, et al) have proven themselves to be completely degraded and virtually unusable; fortunately, the tapes I really wanted to preserve are still in good shape.
My main goal was to save a series of tapes I have that feature a Hamilton band I hung out with while in University in the late 1980s: the Dik Van Dykes. I have seen some discussion of the Dykes on the internet and even a couple of cover versions of their iconic tune, "The Birthday Song", on Youtube. I was surprised to read people lamenting the fact that so many of the early Dykes recordings are not readily available on the net.
So I've spent some time converting four tapes I have of the Dik Van Dykes into MP3 files. Once I figure out how to do it, I'll share some of them with the public (unless of course Mike, Renee, Stu, Sarah, Steve or Paul contact me to ask me not to post them online), either through this website or Youtube. In case you're wondering, I've converted the Dyke's second major album, Waste Mor Tape, into digital format as well as three live tapes I've got: New Years Eve 1988 at the Gown and Gavel (a simulcast on CFMU radio hosted by yours truly); a live show at Chuggies bar in Hamilton from 1989 (I think) as well as an earlier live show from the Gown, date unknown.
We'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading and writing.
Making Progress
I have finished my initial review of The Silent
Goodbye, first draft. I worked much of this
evening on the task and am pleased to say not only
that I have completed the review but also that I very
much enjoyed the novel, now that I am able to get a
little distance from it.
I won't spend much time on the self-praise but I was pleased with how well it flowed, how much action it contained and how much depth there was to the characters. I have since e-mailed the revised draft to my writing-group colleagues, Ross Pennie and John Hewson, to get their feedback on it as well. Patti continues to read it carefully for me and we've already had several very helpful conversations about her thoughts on the book.
It's a very exciting part of the writing process: receiving your first feedback from readers. I just love it. And Patti is a fab reader who notices things most others wouldn't, who is not afraid to question things that others might let slide, and who is willing to say good things too when they are merited. I'm looking forward to hearing more from her and also from John and Ross as well.
In the meantime, I've been enjoying reading the draft of Ross' second novel. I'm deep into the story now and find myself firmly caught up in the mystery. Ross plunges his reader into the detection process and I just love that. We're right there with the investigators as they work their way methodically through the evidence; we learn as they learn, make connections as they make connections. It's a very exciting way to tell a story.
I have also been reading Stieg Larsson's first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The first fifty pages or so were interesting but perhaps a little slow; now that Larsson's actually introduced the "Girl", however, it's really taking off. What a fascinating character she is and what an interesting relationship Larsson has created between the "Girl" and her boss. I'm still in the early stages of the book but it's got me well hooked.
It seems like a very busy time for me right now, what with the three writing/reading projects on top of a demanding full-time job and a family as well. But it feels really good too. I feel like I'm accomplishing things, both as a writer and as a reader. Who knows, maybe that excitement will help me get back to writing my next Phillip Gold novel, Luke.
I won't spend much time on the self-praise but I was pleased with how well it flowed, how much action it contained and how much depth there was to the characters. I have since e-mailed the revised draft to my writing-group colleagues, Ross Pennie and John Hewson, to get their feedback on it as well. Patti continues to read it carefully for me and we've already had several very helpful conversations about her thoughts on the book.
It's a very exciting part of the writing process: receiving your first feedback from readers. I just love it. And Patti is a fab reader who notices things most others wouldn't, who is not afraid to question things that others might let slide, and who is willing to say good things too when they are merited. I'm looking forward to hearing more from her and also from John and Ross as well.
In the meantime, I've been enjoying reading the draft of Ross' second novel. I'm deep into the story now and find myself firmly caught up in the mystery. Ross plunges his reader into the detection process and I just love that. We're right there with the investigators as they work their way methodically through the evidence; we learn as they learn, make connections as they make connections. It's a very exciting way to tell a story.
I have also been reading Stieg Larsson's first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The first fifty pages or so were interesting but perhaps a little slow; now that Larsson's actually introduced the "Girl", however, it's really taking off. What a fascinating character she is and what an interesting relationship Larsson has created between the "Girl" and her boss. I'm still in the early stages of the book but it's got me well hooked.
It seems like a very busy time for me right now, what with the three writing/reading projects on top of a demanding full-time job and a family as well. But it feels really good too. I feel like I'm accomplishing things, both as a writer and as a reader. Who knows, maybe that excitement will help me get back to writing my next Phillip Gold novel, Luke.
Multi-Tasking
Oh my goodness! With my birthday now over (but very
happily celebrated) I find myself with a fistful of
reading and writing priorities staring me in the
face.
I finished Dick Francis' Blood Sport, a novel I very much enjoyed for the pure detective work in it. Set mostly in the US, this one involves a trio of missing horses and the cold trails leading to them. Francis' hero, Gene Hawkins, struggles with severe depression as he works to piece together what happened to a prize stallion that went missing on its trip from New York to Kentucky, the third such disappearance in the past ten years. Although the depression stuff is a little heavy-handed, the mystery is a good one and the personal stories are also finely developed.
But now I've had to put my journey through Francis aside for a short while to focus on other pressing tasks. First, my sister and brother-in-law have sent me Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, an international best seller that will soon come out in movie form here in North America. Larsson's sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has just appeared in paperback form and my sister assures me it's on its way to Fredericton as well. Having finished Blood Sport last night, I'm only 42 pages into the first Larsson book but so far it's pretty good. I like the main character and the prologue promises an intriguing story.
At the same time, I've received my friend Ross Pennie's draft second novel in electronic form with a request that I give it the writers' group treatment. So I'm trying to spend some time with that book as well, mostly on my lunch hour at work. I've gotten well into it already and am really enjoying it but, since it's still in draft form, I won't go into much more detail than that.
My third major project is the review and revision of my own Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. I finished writing the first draft in December and promised myself I'd set it aside for a while, asking only Patti to review it. Well, Ross indicates that he's looking something to occupy his time while people review the draft of his own novel so I figure I better do at least a quick review and then send it along to him. John Hewson has also indicated a willingness to read it for me; I value both of their input and plan to strike while the iron is hot.
Once I've got those projects finished, I'll turn my attention to another gift I received for my recent birthday: Voltaire's Candide, in the original French. My understanding of French (written and spoken) is passable but I'm interested to see if I'm up to the task of reading this classic. We'll see, I guess.
So it's a busy time out here in NB. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
I finished Dick Francis' Blood Sport, a novel I very much enjoyed for the pure detective work in it. Set mostly in the US, this one involves a trio of missing horses and the cold trails leading to them. Francis' hero, Gene Hawkins, struggles with severe depression as he works to piece together what happened to a prize stallion that went missing on its trip from New York to Kentucky, the third such disappearance in the past ten years. Although the depression stuff is a little heavy-handed, the mystery is a good one and the personal stories are also finely developed.
But now I've had to put my journey through Francis aside for a short while to focus on other pressing tasks. First, my sister and brother-in-law have sent me Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, an international best seller that will soon come out in movie form here in North America. Larsson's sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has just appeared in paperback form and my sister assures me it's on its way to Fredericton as well. Having finished Blood Sport last night, I'm only 42 pages into the first Larsson book but so far it's pretty good. I like the main character and the prologue promises an intriguing story.
At the same time, I've received my friend Ross Pennie's draft second novel in electronic form with a request that I give it the writers' group treatment. So I'm trying to spend some time with that book as well, mostly on my lunch hour at work. I've gotten well into it already and am really enjoying it but, since it's still in draft form, I won't go into much more detail than that.
My third major project is the review and revision of my own Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. I finished writing the first draft in December and promised myself I'd set it aside for a while, asking only Patti to review it. Well, Ross indicates that he's looking something to occupy his time while people review the draft of his own novel so I figure I better do at least a quick review and then send it along to him. John Hewson has also indicated a willingness to read it for me; I value both of their input and plan to strike while the iron is hot.
Once I've got those projects finished, I'll turn my attention to another gift I received for my recent birthday: Voltaire's Candide, in the original French. My understanding of French (written and spoken) is passable but I'm interested to see if I'm up to the task of reading this classic. We'll see, I guess.
So it's a busy time out here in NB. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Getting Ready to Revise
My recent conversations with writing buddies back in
Ontario have re-lit the fire, so to speak. I look at
the black binder containing the first draft of
The Silent Goodbye, sitting there on our
coffee table between Patti's reading sessions, and I
have to hold myself back from taking it up and
starting the revision process.
I am interested to read Patti's comments, however, and don't want to start revising until I've received her input. She's a careful and interested reader with a good eye both for the macro issues (character, plotting, thematic development, narrative consistency) and the micro stuff, like grammar, spelling, consistency in names and hair colour and stuff like that. I know I'll regret it if I don't wait for her to finish and provide her feedback.
The copy she's reading has been printed in eight-point type to save paper so it's a bit of a challenge but she's gamely marching on. She tells me she had nightmares last night related to the novel: I'm taking that as a sign that it's fairly effective so far.
Meanwhile, I've moved on to Dick Francis' fifth novel, Flying Finish. It's not quite as successful as the first four, to my mind. This is the first novel that focuses on the English class system as one of the sources of conflict, perhaps explaining why I, as a lowly Canadian, don't find it so effective as a novel. Henry Grey, the hero, is a fastidious young man who stands to inherit his ailing father's Earldom; to combat both that paralysing eventuality and his own insecurities about being accepted on his own account, he follows a career in horse transportation, working first as a clerk for a bloodstock agency and then as head travelling lad for an air cargo firm. In his spare time, of course, Grey rides as an amateur jockey in steeplechase races while supporting an addiction to piloting small planes.
I find this book too heavy-handed and slow moving. The suspense doesn't really start until at least half way through and I simply don't find Grey and the characters by whom he is surrounded that interesting. The love story is weak and the class war between Grey and Billy, an angry young man who accompanies Grey and the horses on some of their flights, simply isn't powerful enough to keep my interest.
On the up side, Flying Finish represents the first time that Francis introduces and explores a profession other than jockey. The level of his research/experience is impressive and, in a surprisingly clear way that does not interfere with the story, he gives his readers a detailed introduction to the ins and outs of flying aeroplanes. Francis would follow this pattern in many of his later novels, introducing us to such professions as wine expert, chef, architect, banker, gemologist and many others in equal detail.
I think it's one of the real strengths of the series.
I am interested to read Patti's comments, however, and don't want to start revising until I've received her input. She's a careful and interested reader with a good eye both for the macro issues (character, plotting, thematic development, narrative consistency) and the micro stuff, like grammar, spelling, consistency in names and hair colour and stuff like that. I know I'll regret it if I don't wait for her to finish and provide her feedback.
The copy she's reading has been printed in eight-point type to save paper so it's a bit of a challenge but she's gamely marching on. She tells me she had nightmares last night related to the novel: I'm taking that as a sign that it's fairly effective so far.
Meanwhile, I've moved on to Dick Francis' fifth novel, Flying Finish. It's not quite as successful as the first four, to my mind. This is the first novel that focuses on the English class system as one of the sources of conflict, perhaps explaining why I, as a lowly Canadian, don't find it so effective as a novel. Henry Grey, the hero, is a fastidious young man who stands to inherit his ailing father's Earldom; to combat both that paralysing eventuality and his own insecurities about being accepted on his own account, he follows a career in horse transportation, working first as a clerk for a bloodstock agency and then as head travelling lad for an air cargo firm. In his spare time, of course, Grey rides as an amateur jockey in steeplechase races while supporting an addiction to piloting small planes.
I find this book too heavy-handed and slow moving. The suspense doesn't really start until at least half way through and I simply don't find Grey and the characters by whom he is surrounded that interesting. The love story is weak and the class war between Grey and Billy, an angry young man who accompanies Grey and the horses on some of their flights, simply isn't powerful enough to keep my interest.
On the up side, Flying Finish represents the first time that Francis introduces and explores a profession other than jockey. The level of his research/experience is impressive and, in a surprisingly clear way that does not interfere with the story, he gives his readers a detailed introduction to the ins and outs of flying aeroplanes. Francis would follow this pattern in many of his later novels, introducing us to such professions as wine expert, chef, architect, banker, gemologist and many others in equal detail.
I think it's one of the real strengths of the series.
Catching Up With Writing Friends
04/03/10 21:38 Filed in: Writing
Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the chance
to get back into contact with some old writing
friends: Rickie Pattenden, Ross Pennie and John
Hewson. I met all three of these talented people
through writers' groups in the Hamilton area and am
fortunate enough to have been able to keep in touch
with them, even after I left Ontario. I miss the
meetings, the support and the camaraderie of those
groups so it's nice to be able to catch up with my
old friends from time to time.
Rickie is a wonderful writer, whose short stories are excellent and whose major project has been writing her mother's life story. Rickie is still in Burlington and has been writing poetry of late, a great way to take advantage of the lyrical quality of her writing.
Ross, meanwhile, is busy completing the first draft of his second novel, which is expected to be published by ECW Press later this year. His first novel, Tainted, came out early in 2009 and is still selling very well. Ross tells me he's putting in two separate sessions of writing each day to try to meet his deadline for the draft. I'm looking forward to reading a new Zol Szabo mystery from start to finish, since John and I workshopped Tainted as it was being written, several years ago.
As for John, he continues to work on his wonderful novel, Corbett's Daughter. One of John's writing mentors has suggested some major revisions to this book and John has leapt right in to making those changes; I'm interested to read the revised draft since I thought the original version was pretty spectacular.
I'm trying not to let the industriousness of my friends make me feel guilty for my ever-lengthening hiatus from writing. Ideas continue to pop into my head but I'm not yet able to get myself in front of the computer for a serious stint. Luke, my next Phillip Gold novel, is on hold while plans for Abigail Massey, another young adult novel and The Way Forward, the Rowling-world sequel, are all in the offing. Distantly in the offing.
There's a play-writing contest here in Fredericton that I'm considering trying to enter but, beyond some ideas on interesting character for a play, I'm getting nowhere on a plot. I've got four more weeks before the deadline so I'll keep trying but, to be frank, I seem to be stuck right now.
I'm not complaining. Sometimes fallow times are as important as periods of great creative production.
Yeah, Mark. Keep telling yourself that.
Rickie is a wonderful writer, whose short stories are excellent and whose major project has been writing her mother's life story. Rickie is still in Burlington and has been writing poetry of late, a great way to take advantage of the lyrical quality of her writing.
Ross, meanwhile, is busy completing the first draft of his second novel, which is expected to be published by ECW Press later this year. His first novel, Tainted, came out early in 2009 and is still selling very well. Ross tells me he's putting in two separate sessions of writing each day to try to meet his deadline for the draft. I'm looking forward to reading a new Zol Szabo mystery from start to finish, since John and I workshopped Tainted as it was being written, several years ago.
As for John, he continues to work on his wonderful novel, Corbett's Daughter. One of John's writing mentors has suggested some major revisions to this book and John has leapt right in to making those changes; I'm interested to read the revised draft since I thought the original version was pretty spectacular.
I'm trying not to let the industriousness of my friends make me feel guilty for my ever-lengthening hiatus from writing. Ideas continue to pop into my head but I'm not yet able to get myself in front of the computer for a serious stint. Luke, my next Phillip Gold novel, is on hold while plans for Abigail Massey, another young adult novel and The Way Forward, the Rowling-world sequel, are all in the offing. Distantly in the offing.
There's a play-writing contest here in Fredericton that I'm considering trying to enter but, beyond some ideas on interesting character for a play, I'm getting nowhere on a plot. I've got four more weeks before the deadline so I'll keep trying but, to be frank, I seem to be stuck right now.
I'm not complaining. Sometimes fallow times are as important as periods of great creative production.
Yeah, Mark. Keep telling yourself that.
Challenging Times
09/02/10 08:37 Filed in: Writing
These are trying times.
And not just because it's winter. Yes, both Patti and I have been feeling under the weather recently (both literally, with New Brunswick in the grip of brutal cold combined with incessant wind, and figuratively, each of us dealing with a variety of illness as well as aches and pains) but then comes the bad news.
My brother-in-law lost his mother on the weekend, a difficult period in any one's life, made even more challenging by the fact that an ocean separates them. And I learned from a good friend and writing buddy back in Ontario that she has been diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer, that she's been told it's a battle she can't ultimately win.
I sit in awe of the grace and dignity with which both my brother-in-law and my friend are dealing with these difficult developments in their lives. I lost my mother to cancer just under a year ago and I believe I have some small idea of what each must be going through right now. I wish them both comfort and consolation as they move forward.
In the meantime, Patti has been kind enough to start a review of The Silent Goodbye, my latest completed Phillip Gold novel. She's an intense and intent reader, with amazing insight into the process of writing, and I value her comments immensely. I do find it hard, however, to sit in the same room with her while she's reading it: I find myself watching for any sort of positive response, for a nod or a smile or even an excited widening of her eyes. She's so intense, though, that I have no clue if she's loving it, hating it or bored (I was going to say "to tears" but, as I said, she's so intense she gives away nothing as she reads).
So far, she's made a number of comments that are very helpful, mostly on small points. I'm quite interested to read her comments in detail and to hear her overall assessment when she's done. I have already started considering rewrites I might make but I'll hear from Patti first and then take a close look.
To all my other trusted readers, be ready. The Silent Goodbye will be coming your way soon.
And not just because it's winter. Yes, both Patti and I have been feeling under the weather recently (both literally, with New Brunswick in the grip of brutal cold combined with incessant wind, and figuratively, each of us dealing with a variety of illness as well as aches and pains) but then comes the bad news.
My brother-in-law lost his mother on the weekend, a difficult period in any one's life, made even more challenging by the fact that an ocean separates them. And I learned from a good friend and writing buddy back in Ontario that she has been diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer, that she's been told it's a battle she can't ultimately win.
I sit in awe of the grace and dignity with which both my brother-in-law and my friend are dealing with these difficult developments in their lives. I lost my mother to cancer just under a year ago and I believe I have some small idea of what each must be going through right now. I wish them both comfort and consolation as they move forward.
In the meantime, Patti has been kind enough to start a review of The Silent Goodbye, my latest completed Phillip Gold novel. She's an intense and intent reader, with amazing insight into the process of writing, and I value her comments immensely. I do find it hard, however, to sit in the same room with her while she's reading it: I find myself watching for any sort of positive response, for a nod or a smile or even an excited widening of her eyes. She's so intense, though, that I have no clue if she's loving it, hating it or bored (I was going to say "to tears" but, as I said, she's so intense she gives away nothing as she reads).
So far, she's made a number of comments that are very helpful, mostly on small points. I'm quite interested to read her comments in detail and to hear her overall assessment when she's done. I have already started considering rewrites I might make but I'll hear from Patti first and then take a close look.
To all my other trusted readers, be ready. The Silent Goodbye will be coming your way soon.
Ten Days Later
Back from a great trip to Ottawa, exhausted but
happy. While in Ottawa, I not only attended a very
interesting course on alternative dispute resolution,
I also met some great people, got to spend time with
Mike, Elizabeth, Stephen, Isabelle and Edward, met up
with Rob, had meal after meal of fantastic food, went
through the fabulous National Gallery and even attend
the Kub Car races of my nephew's Scout Troop (and,
yes, Stephen won the entire competition for the
second year in a row!).
I got absolutely no writing done. Not a word. I feel like I was on a whirlwind the whole time I was there. I did read the first forty pages or so of Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass on the flight to our nation's capital but, quite frankly, it was so terrible I couldn't go on. I kept turning the page, waiting for something to happen, only to find more back story. Listen, Ms. Grafton, just about anyone who picks up T has already read A through S. We don't need to reread them all in capsule form. Get on with it.
So I put the book in my suitcase and never went back to it.
I had thought I might get the chance to work on Luke, my latest Phillip Gold novel, but I never even looked at it. That's not due to lack of interest (I'm quite looking forward to getting back to work on it); it's just that Ottawa kept me so busy!
I got back last night, enduring a rather windswept landing at Fredericton Airport along the way. After my first good night's sleep in a week, I spent some of the day today working on a Star-Trek-based workshop I'm facilitating later this week. I just love iMovie and iDVD, which make the whole task of creating multimedia so easy.
And it has occurred to me that, with February upon us, I have now left The Silent Goodbye sit on the shelf for more than a month. Pretty soon I'll be able to go back to it with a more objective eye to do the first major revision. That will be fun too!
I got absolutely no writing done. Not a word. I feel like I was on a whirlwind the whole time I was there. I did read the first forty pages or so of Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass on the flight to our nation's capital but, quite frankly, it was so terrible I couldn't go on. I kept turning the page, waiting for something to happen, only to find more back story. Listen, Ms. Grafton, just about anyone who picks up T has already read A through S. We don't need to reread them all in capsule form. Get on with it.
So I put the book in my suitcase and never went back to it.
I had thought I might get the chance to work on Luke, my latest Phillip Gold novel, but I never even looked at it. That's not due to lack of interest (I'm quite looking forward to getting back to work on it); it's just that Ottawa kept me so busy!
I got back last night, enduring a rather windswept landing at Fredericton Airport along the way. After my first good night's sleep in a week, I spent some of the day today working on a Star-Trek-based workshop I'm facilitating later this week. I just love iMovie and iDVD, which make the whole task of creating multimedia so easy.
And it has occurred to me that, with February upon us, I have now left The Silent Goodbye sit on the shelf for more than a month. Pretty soon I'll be able to go back to it with a more objective eye to do the first major revision. That will be fun too!
Has It Really Been A Week?
20/01/10 17:33 Filed in: Writing
One of the things I like about the writing process is
the fact that, even if you are not actually sitting
down and writing, your mind (subconscious?
unconscious?) is still working on the book. That's
what the past week has been: me not at the computer
but my mind at the proverbial grindstone working its
way through various thoughts and ideas for
Luke, the new Phillip Gold novel.
I am still very excited with the idea for the book and have great confidence that the writing process will be fairly smooth. The plot is clearly established in my brain and the characters are starting to take shape. I will have to do some research in the field of psychiatry, especially child psychiatry, even beyond watching old Frasier episodes, but that's okay. Research isn't my strong point but I figure I need to get better at it someday.
I have several five-day long business trips coming up so I hope to take advantage of quiet nights in dreary hotel rooms to get some writing done. I asked Patti the other day: do you think it's reasonable to set a goal of completing the novel by the summer? The look she gave me suggested "perhaps not" but what's the sense of setting goals if their easy to meet, right?
Meanwhile, I finished re-re-re-re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the weekend. I tried to force myself to savour every word but I'm afraid some scenes were still just too exciting for me. What a great book. I always feel a slight sense of loss when I finish it, like something wonderful is coming to a close. And I always start thinking again about my own Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward, which currently rests, slightly abandoned, here on this website.
I've already had some new ideas for it so, perhaps once I've got the first draft of Luke put to bed, I'll get back to Aberforth and George for a while.
I am still very excited with the idea for the book and have great confidence that the writing process will be fairly smooth. The plot is clearly established in my brain and the characters are starting to take shape. I will have to do some research in the field of psychiatry, especially child psychiatry, even beyond watching old Frasier episodes, but that's okay. Research isn't my strong point but I figure I need to get better at it someday.
I have several five-day long business trips coming up so I hope to take advantage of quiet nights in dreary hotel rooms to get some writing done. I asked Patti the other day: do you think it's reasonable to set a goal of completing the novel by the summer? The look she gave me suggested "perhaps not" but what's the sense of setting goals if their easy to meet, right?
Meanwhile, I finished re-re-re-re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the weekend. I tried to force myself to savour every word but I'm afraid some scenes were still just too exciting for me. What a great book. I always feel a slight sense of loss when I finish it, like something wonderful is coming to a close. And I always start thinking again about my own Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward, which currently rests, slightly abandoned, here on this website.
I've already had some new ideas for it so, perhaps once I've got the first draft of Luke put to bed, I'll get back to Aberforth and George for a while.
Apparation Confusion
Not much progress recently. I've kind of fallen into
a bit of a lethargic state on the creative work, with
my career work heating up and a number of extra
projects coming my way. It's not the worst thing in
the world, to be frank, but it certainly makes
creating a "Writer's Blog" a little more difficult.
On the reading side of things, I'm back into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this time trying very hard to read it slowly and thoroughly. I always find myself getting so caught up in the action that I whistle right through it so I am making a conscious effort this time to savour every word. And most of the words are worth savouring. I've noticed one significant issue, however, that I still can't figure out.
It has to do with Apparating, that process whereby a witch or wizard can transport themselves to another place simply by turning on the spot with a wand in their possession. In an earlier book, our crew takes apparating lessons. Hermione, as usual, does fine but Harry and Ron struggle. At the end of The Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore has to help Harry apparate since Harry is still not good at it and does not have his apparating license. Once Dumbledore is rendered incapable by the potion in the cave, however, Harry is forced to do the apparating for both of them and he is successful.
What I don't understand is why, in The Deathly Hallows, sometimes Ron and Harry are capable of apparating on their own and at other times they have to have Hermione's help. For example, when they move from Grimauld Place to the Ministry of Magic to put their plan into action, Rowling is quite specific that Hermione first takes Ron and then comes back for Harry. It's possible I've missed something but I can't figure out this inconsistency.
I know. Those of you who haven't read The Deathly Hallows eleven times like I have probably don't care but it still stumps me.
With regard to Luke, my new Phillip Gold novel, I hope to use some upcoming business trips to Ottawa (during which I'll have some evenings alone in a hotel room) to get back to writing. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
On the reading side of things, I'm back into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this time trying very hard to read it slowly and thoroughly. I always find myself getting so caught up in the action that I whistle right through it so I am making a conscious effort this time to savour every word. And most of the words are worth savouring. I've noticed one significant issue, however, that I still can't figure out.
It has to do with Apparating, that process whereby a witch or wizard can transport themselves to another place simply by turning on the spot with a wand in their possession. In an earlier book, our crew takes apparating lessons. Hermione, as usual, does fine but Harry and Ron struggle. At the end of The Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore has to help Harry apparate since Harry is still not good at it and does not have his apparating license. Once Dumbledore is rendered incapable by the potion in the cave, however, Harry is forced to do the apparating for both of them and he is successful.
What I don't understand is why, in The Deathly Hallows, sometimes Ron and Harry are capable of apparating on their own and at other times they have to have Hermione's help. For example, when they move from Grimauld Place to the Ministry of Magic to put their plan into action, Rowling is quite specific that Hermione first takes Ron and then comes back for Harry. It's possible I've missed something but I can't figure out this inconsistency.
I know. Those of you who haven't read The Deathly Hallows eleven times like I have probably don't care but it still stumps me.
With regard to Luke, my new Phillip Gold novel, I hope to use some upcoming business trips to Ottawa (during which I'll have some evenings alone in a hotel room) to get back to writing. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
Tentatively Titled "Luke"
06/01/10 05:58 Filed in: Writing
Much to my surprise, I started writing the fourth
Phillip Gold novel the other day. And a good start I
made of it, as well, completing a full seven pages.
Wow.
I haven't arrived at a title for it yet, so I'm using "Luke" as a placeholder title, as in "I am your father, Luke," from Star Wars. That's because the book is all about the eight-year-old Phillip Gold's relationship with his abusive father. Not a great placeholder but better than nothing, I guess.
I'm experimenting with this new book, obviously, since my protagonist is just eight years old. That's fun but challenging to write. I keep having to go back over the dialogue to make sure his diction isn't too adult and his thoughts are no as well developed as an older person's might be.
The first seven pages are made up entirely of dialogue: not a single word of exposition. Another experiment. The idea is to alternate between dialogue-only scenes involving young Phil and the court-appointed psychiatrist and third-person narrative scenes that take the reader into the events of the novel. If it works, it should allow an exciting mix of insight into the character and straight-out action, with details of what occurred emerging slowly and with some amount of tension.
If it works. The jury is still out on that. Still, it's fun to write so far.
I haven't arrived at a title for it yet, so I'm using "Luke" as a placeholder title, as in "I am your father, Luke," from Star Wars. That's because the book is all about the eight-year-old Phillip Gold's relationship with his abusive father. Not a great placeholder but better than nothing, I guess.
I'm experimenting with this new book, obviously, since my protagonist is just eight years old. That's fun but challenging to write. I keep having to go back over the dialogue to make sure his diction isn't too adult and his thoughts are no as well developed as an older person's might be.
The first seven pages are made up entirely of dialogue: not a single word of exposition. Another experiment. The idea is to alternate between dialogue-only scenes involving young Phil and the court-appointed psychiatrist and third-person narrative scenes that take the reader into the events of the novel. If it works, it should allow an exciting mix of insight into the character and straight-out action, with details of what occurred emerging slowly and with some amount of tension.
If it works. The jury is still out on that. Still, it's fun to write so far.
A Christmas Break
December 28. Still off work, with Christmas itself
now fading slowly into the past, become more happy
memory than happy times.
It's odd not to have a writing project on the go. I am forcing myself not to pick up the printed copy of the draft of The Silent Goodbye but just to let it sit for a while. Reviewing it now would be largely a waste of time since I haven't gotten enough distance from it to be objective. Still, it's hard not to do so.
I have thought about starting the next novel, thought about working on an Abigail Massey short story, thought about getting around to the Star Trek presentation I have slated for February but I don't seem to have the energy to tackle any one of them.
So I read, watch movies (looking forward to seeing the first season of Madmen, one of my Christmas gifts) and putter around. Not a bad life, really, but not overly creative nor productive.
Meanwhile, I did the editing work on a new Marlee video, this one with her enjoying the snow and nice weather on Christmas day. I'll paste it onto the video page of this site for everyone to enjoy.
Hope you are all having a great holiday.
It's odd not to have a writing project on the go. I am forcing myself not to pick up the printed copy of the draft of The Silent Goodbye but just to let it sit for a while. Reviewing it now would be largely a waste of time since I haven't gotten enough distance from it to be objective. Still, it's hard not to do so.
I have thought about starting the next novel, thought about working on an Abigail Massey short story, thought about getting around to the Star Trek presentation I have slated for February but I don't seem to have the energy to tackle any one of them.
So I read, watch movies (looking forward to seeing the first season of Madmen, one of my Christmas gifts) and putter around. Not a bad life, really, but not overly creative nor productive.
Meanwhile, I did the editing work on a new Marlee video, this one with her enjoying the snow and nice weather on Christmas day. I'll paste it onto the video page of this site for everyone to enjoy.
Hope you are all having a great holiday.
Mission Accomplished
22/12/09 11:47 Filed in: Writing
The Silent Goodbye is finished.
Well, draft one of The Silent Goodbye is finished but that wouldn't make a very dramatic opening, would it?
I am sitting here in a surprisingly emotional state, having just typed the last sentence of my third (unpublished) Phillip Gold novel. I'm a bit of a softie in that I always like to include a denouement that tidies things up and gives my character a moment to reflect back on what's happened. That's what I finished writing this morning, in between doing some of our Christmas grocery shopping and cleaning the downstairs bathroom in preparation for the arrival of our guest tonight.
Funny thing is, I find the final passages as emotional as my character does. But it's nice to know I've left him sitting there in his office, his injuries healing, most of his friends safe and his enemies vanquished, contemplating the meaning of life and everything it encompasses.
My plan is to leave the draft for a bit (perhaps as much as a month or so) to get some objectivity and distance, then go back and do a rewrite before sending it to my readers for their input.
In the meantime, life offers plenty of creative challenges: preparing a Star-Trek based presentation for work, completing the character and setting summaries for the Gold world, perhaps writing an Abigail Massey Christmas story and finally starting work on the next Phillip Gold novel.
Yes, that's right, published or not, I'm moving on to number four. This time, it's the prequel of all prequels: Gold at eight, dealing with the violence his father brings raining down on his family. No easy task, for him or for me.
Well, draft one of The Silent Goodbye is finished but that wouldn't make a very dramatic opening, would it?
I am sitting here in a surprisingly emotional state, having just typed the last sentence of my third (unpublished) Phillip Gold novel. I'm a bit of a softie in that I always like to include a denouement that tidies things up and gives my character a moment to reflect back on what's happened. That's what I finished writing this morning, in between doing some of our Christmas grocery shopping and cleaning the downstairs bathroom in preparation for the arrival of our guest tonight.
Funny thing is, I find the final passages as emotional as my character does. But it's nice to know I've left him sitting there in his office, his injuries healing, most of his friends safe and his enemies vanquished, contemplating the meaning of life and everything it encompasses.
My plan is to leave the draft for a bit (perhaps as much as a month or so) to get some objectivity and distance, then go back and do a rewrite before sending it to my readers for their input.
In the meantime, life offers plenty of creative challenges: preparing a Star-Trek based presentation for work, completing the character and setting summaries for the Gold world, perhaps writing an Abigail Massey Christmas story and finally starting work on the next Phillip Gold novel.
Yes, that's right, published or not, I'm moving on to number four. This time, it's the prequel of all prequels: Gold at eight, dealing with the violence his father brings raining down on his family. No easy task, for him or for me.
The End is Near
19/12/09 20:28 Filed in: Writing
After a productive Saturday afternoon (following on
the heels of several productive evenings this week),
I now have the distinct and very satisfying feeling
that the novel is finally nearing completion.
I've been working on The Silent Goodbye for more than a year now. It started as the second in a projected series of short stories featuring Phillip Gold that I hoped to market to mystery magazines in the States but, when I started to spin the plot out, it grew into a full-length novel. And, I think, a pretty good one.
I decided today that, before I sit down to write the climax and denouement, I would re-read the entire draft from the beginning. The impetus to do so was my own faulty memory: I could not, for the life of me, remember if I had killed off a particular character already. If she still lived, I figured she should have a fairly major role in the final scenes; if she's dead, however, I'd have to change my plans.
That's what I get for writing the novel in fits and spurts, with a terrible memory to boot. I do know that, at one point several months ago, I seriously considered killing her off. I just wasn't sure if I had put that thought into action.
The re-read not only confirmed that the character is still alive; it also allowed me to address some inconsistencies, to smooth out the tone and narrative style and to reinforce some themes and ideas that had become more important as the novel progressed.
It's a kind of fun exercise, to be honest. I re-read, for example, early sections of the novel that I had written months and months ago, which allowed me to review them with an almost objective eye. I also got a chance to experience the story as a whole rather than in discrete little chunks, written with long breaks between. I was amazed to see how much action I had packed into the book and how much character development as well.
I have about 25 to 30 more pages to write and then it's done. I'm amazed and pleased to find myself so close to the end, with a draft novel that pleases me. It's a nice feeling. Perhaps tomorrow I'll start writing the climax.
Wow. Feels good.
I've been working on The Silent Goodbye for more than a year now. It started as the second in a projected series of short stories featuring Phillip Gold that I hoped to market to mystery magazines in the States but, when I started to spin the plot out, it grew into a full-length novel. And, I think, a pretty good one.
I decided today that, before I sit down to write the climax and denouement, I would re-read the entire draft from the beginning. The impetus to do so was my own faulty memory: I could not, for the life of me, remember if I had killed off a particular character already. If she still lived, I figured she should have a fairly major role in the final scenes; if she's dead, however, I'd have to change my plans.
That's what I get for writing the novel in fits and spurts, with a terrible memory to boot. I do know that, at one point several months ago, I seriously considered killing her off. I just wasn't sure if I had put that thought into action.
The re-read not only confirmed that the character is still alive; it also allowed me to address some inconsistencies, to smooth out the tone and narrative style and to reinforce some themes and ideas that had become more important as the novel progressed.
It's a kind of fun exercise, to be honest. I re-read, for example, early sections of the novel that I had written months and months ago, which allowed me to review them with an almost objective eye. I also got a chance to experience the story as a whole rather than in discrete little chunks, written with long breaks between. I was amazed to see how much action I had packed into the book and how much character development as well.
I have about 25 to 30 more pages to write and then it's done. I'm amazed and pleased to find myself so close to the end, with a draft novel that pleases me. It's a nice feeling. Perhaps tomorrow I'll start writing the climax.
Wow. Feels good.
Brutal Weather Makes Writing Happen
17/12/09 14:54 Filed in: Writing
The weather these days in Fredericton is brutal.
B-R-U-T-A-L. It's now coming up on 3 p.m. and the
temperature outside is still hovering at about minus
15 Centrigrade. Add in an unrelenting wind from the
west at 50 km/h and you've got absolutely disgusting
weather. Wind chill factor of minus 30 or lower.
I've taken Marlee Marie out for two walks today. Both times I've been dressed in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, snowboarder's coat complete with hood, knit hat, heavy gloves and winter boots to my knees and I'm still cold! Even Marlee, with her natural protection, doesn't want to go outside except with good reason. Usually, we have a hard time getting her to come in.
Still, brutality like this gives me good reason to stay inside and write. And that's exactly what I've been doing.
I've written almost 20 pages in the last two days. The Silent Goodbye, first draft, is rapidly reaching its climax. It's very exciting for me, quite frankly. This will be my third completed Phillip Gold novel and by far the longest and most complex. It may never sell but it has made me proud.
My plan at this point is to finish the draft, then put it aside for a while. Maybe use that time to complete the Phillip Gold concordance, a compilation of descriptions of recurring characters and settings so that I can make sure I'm consistent throughout the entire collection of Gold stories and novels.
That will lead to a review and revision of each
piece to correct inconsistencies, a process that will
also allow me to address some of the other failings
of the earlier works. It will be a big job but I hope
to have it done by next summer.
I will, of course, try to find a publisher once again but, failing that, I think I will try to find a way to create readable hard copies for myself, my family and friends. Not quite self-publishing but close. I think the stories are pretty good, perhaps not publishable quality but not bad. I'd like to be able to look over at my bookshelf and see them, sitting neatly beside my text books, short stories and poems. Sounds like a nice idea to me.
In the meantime, I've inserted into this blog a photograph of yours truly from when I was maybe one year old or so. My sister digitised it and sent it to me. I have always thought of this photo as my seminal baby picture. I'm glad to have it to share with you.
I've taken Marlee Marie out for two walks today. Both times I've been dressed in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, snowboarder's coat complete with hood, knit hat, heavy gloves and winter boots to my knees and I'm still cold! Even Marlee, with her natural protection, doesn't want to go outside except with good reason. Usually, we have a hard time getting her to come in.
Still, brutality like this gives me good reason to stay inside and write. And that's exactly what I've been doing.
I've written almost 20 pages in the last two days. The Silent Goodbye, first draft, is rapidly reaching its climax. It's very exciting for me, quite frankly. This will be my third completed Phillip Gold novel and by far the longest and most complex. It may never sell but it has made me proud.
My plan at this point is to finish the draft, then put it aside for a while. Maybe use that time to complete the Phillip Gold concordance, a compilation of descriptions of recurring characters and settings so that I can make sure I'm consistent throughout the entire collection of Gold stories and novels.
I will, of course, try to find a publisher once again but, failing that, I think I will try to find a way to create readable hard copies for myself, my family and friends. Not quite self-publishing but close. I think the stories are pretty good, perhaps not publishable quality but not bad. I'd like to be able to look over at my bookshelf and see them, sitting neatly beside my text books, short stories and poems. Sounds like a nice idea to me.
In the meantime, I've inserted into this blog a photograph of yours truly from when I was maybe one year old or so. My sister digitised it and sent it to me. I have always thought of this photo as my seminal baby picture. I'm glad to have it to share with you.
Talking about Talking
15/12/09 08:05 Filed in: Writing
On holidays now, so that means I have a little time
every day for writing. I have a number of other tasks
I want to get to but my year-end deadline is looming;
I'm trying to make The Silent Goodbye a
focus so that the first draft is completed by
December 31.
I spent about 90 minutes at the computer just after lunch yesterday. That seems to be a pretty good time to write: after Patti's gone back to work, Marlee has just been walked and food is not on my mind. It felt good and went well: I went over the passage I wrote the other day, where Gold recounts his childhood trauma to Constable McLean, then did a first draft of what I've called the "Discovery Scene". This is the scene where Gold discovers the key piece of evidence that will set his client free.
It was a fun scene to write. Breathless action (well, dialogue, really, but I love writing back-and-forth dialogue that includes mostly three-word comments back and forth) and interesting developments. You want to write what's happening, of course, but you also want to make sure you allow your characters' reactions to what's happening peek through as well.
Dialogue is an interesting thing. I'm reading Dickens right now, as I think I mentioned, and he wrote some amazing dialogue of the "monologue-to-monologue" type. You know, one characters speaks for several paragraphs, with long flowing sentences and lots of metaphors, then the other character launches into her own extended monologue on the subject? It's witty and fun but also not even close to realistic (well, maybe they did in fact talk like that in the 19th Century!).
Me, I like the more natural dialogue. Like a game of ping pong. Short comments, often part sentences. Interruptions. Laughs. Physical responses rather than verbal ones. A single page ends up having maybe seventy words on it. Something like this:
"Phil?"
"Yeah."
"You awake?"
"No... yeah."
"I got something."
He sat up, rubbed his eyes. "What?"
"It's important, Phil. Game changing."
"What?"
"Go to your computer."
"Yvonne, it's three o'clock in the..."
"Just go, Phil. I mean it."
"Okay, okay." He rubbed his eyes again, dragged himself out of bed.
"You there?"
"Hold on a minute." He reached the computer, touched a button. "Okay..."
"Go to Youtube."
"Youtube? You got me looking at..."
"It'll be worth it, I promise."
"Okay. I'm there."
I love that kind of stuff. Things just motor along and it's fun to write. I hope it's fun to read too. Needless to say, that little snippet (which I just made up now so it's not polished and it's not taken from the draft novel) is just an example. I like the pace, the punch. Passages like that make the pages turn and the action roll.
I enjoy writing dialogue so much that I've often considered writing plays. Maybe someday. Hard to do, though, writing plays. I'll have to keep considering it.
I spent about 90 minutes at the computer just after lunch yesterday. That seems to be a pretty good time to write: after Patti's gone back to work, Marlee has just been walked and food is not on my mind. It felt good and went well: I went over the passage I wrote the other day, where Gold recounts his childhood trauma to Constable McLean, then did a first draft of what I've called the "Discovery Scene". This is the scene where Gold discovers the key piece of evidence that will set his client free.
It was a fun scene to write. Breathless action (well, dialogue, really, but I love writing back-and-forth dialogue that includes mostly three-word comments back and forth) and interesting developments. You want to write what's happening, of course, but you also want to make sure you allow your characters' reactions to what's happening peek through as well.
Dialogue is an interesting thing. I'm reading Dickens right now, as I think I mentioned, and he wrote some amazing dialogue of the "monologue-to-monologue" type. You know, one characters speaks for several paragraphs, with long flowing sentences and lots of metaphors, then the other character launches into her own extended monologue on the subject? It's witty and fun but also not even close to realistic (well, maybe they did in fact talk like that in the 19th Century!).
Me, I like the more natural dialogue. Like a game of ping pong. Short comments, often part sentences. Interruptions. Laughs. Physical responses rather than verbal ones. A single page ends up having maybe seventy words on it. Something like this:
"Phil?"
"Yeah."
"You awake?"
"No... yeah."
"I got something."
He sat up, rubbed his eyes. "What?"
"It's important, Phil. Game changing."
"What?"
"Go to your computer."
"Yvonne, it's three o'clock in the..."
"Just go, Phil. I mean it."
"Okay, okay." He rubbed his eyes again, dragged himself out of bed.
"You there?"
"Hold on a minute." He reached the computer, touched a button. "Okay..."
"Go to Youtube."
"Youtube? You got me looking at..."
"It'll be worth it, I promise."
"Okay. I'm there."
I love that kind of stuff. Things just motor along and it's fun to write. I hope it's fun to read too. Needless to say, that little snippet (which I just made up now so it's not polished and it's not taken from the draft novel) is just an example. I like the pace, the punch. Passages like that make the pages turn and the action roll.
I enjoy writing dialogue so much that I've often considered writing plays. Maybe someday. Hard to do, though, writing plays. I'll have to keep considering it.
Snow Throwing Not Word Crafting
11/12/09 08:11 Filed in: Writing
I finally got the chance to use our new snow thrower!
How much fun is that? With the 15 centimeters of snow
Fredericton and area received the other night, I woke
up Wednesday morning with a tough task ahead of me:
set up the snow thrower, learn how to use it, and
clear our driveway, all before going to work.
It took about 45 minutes, all told, but probably 35 of that was the set-up part and 10 the actually snow throwing. Man that thing is powerful! I didn't realise I had it in the highest forward gear when I first engaged the engine and it nearly dragged me down the drive, throwing snow as merrily as you please in front of it. So I disengaged, moved the shift lever to low, angled the snow chute to throw the stuff onto the lawn and started again. Much better.
It's big and it's heavy but it certainly can plow through the snow. But with that round of heavy lifting and my new commitment to taking the dog for a jog in the morning, I get home in the evening exhausted and ready for bed. Not conducive to writing.
Fortunately, there's no more snow in the forecast until the middle of next week so, with any luck, I'll plow ahead with Phillip Gold instead this weekend.
It took about 45 minutes, all told, but probably 35 of that was the set-up part and 10 the actually snow throwing. Man that thing is powerful! I didn't realise I had it in the highest forward gear when I first engaged the engine and it nearly dragged me down the drive, throwing snow as merrily as you please in front of it. So I disengaged, moved the shift lever to low, angled the snow chute to throw the stuff onto the lawn and started again. Much better.
It's big and it's heavy but it certainly can plow through the snow. But with that round of heavy lifting and my new commitment to taking the dog for a jog in the morning, I get home in the evening exhausted and ready for bed. Not conducive to writing.
Fortunately, there's no more snow in the forecast until the middle of next week so, with any luck, I'll plow ahead with Phillip Gold instead this weekend.
Telling a Story (Within a Story)
09/12/09 08:05 Filed in: Writing
The hardest part about writing seems to be making
yourself sit down at the computer and write. Once I'm
in that chair and focused, things go pretty smoothly.
It's just the job of putting aside all the other
things I could be doing in my life and making writing
a priority.
I'm going to have to do it better throughout the rest of the December if I'm going to hit my deadline: a first draft of The Silent Goodbye completed by the end of the year.
The other night I made myself sit down and work. First step was to review the fight scene I had written the previous week, the one I thought might be pretty terrible. Actually, with a week's worth of distance, it wasn't too bad. In fact, I was quite happy with it.
That left me with an exhausted Phillip Gold being helped back to his apartment by Stacey McLean, the lovely police officer for whom my hero has a bit of a thing. What followed is a scene that presented its own challenges to me, the writer. How do you have a character in your story tell another character in your story a story and not make it boring?
And how often do you write a "reaction shot" from the listening character? I mean, you can only write so many "Her eyes widened" or "She gasped" or "'Holy s--t,' she whispered"s?
As I think I have already mentioned in this space, I have decided to revise Gold's backstory somewhat and this scene was intended to allow him to share it with McLean, as they both sat there, physically and emotionally drained, sipping rye-and-gingers after an evening filled with excitement.
As I said, a new challenge for me. I'll know how I did when I convince myself to sit down again to review, revise and carry on writing.
I'm going to have to do it better throughout the rest of the December if I'm going to hit my deadline: a first draft of The Silent Goodbye completed by the end of the year.
The other night I made myself sit down and work. First step was to review the fight scene I had written the previous week, the one I thought might be pretty terrible. Actually, with a week's worth of distance, it wasn't too bad. In fact, I was quite happy with it.
That left me with an exhausted Phillip Gold being helped back to his apartment by Stacey McLean, the lovely police officer for whom my hero has a bit of a thing. What followed is a scene that presented its own challenges to me, the writer. How do you have a character in your story tell another character in your story a story and not make it boring?
And how often do you write a "reaction shot" from the listening character? I mean, you can only write so many "Her eyes widened" or "She gasped" or "'Holy s--t,' she whispered"s?
As I think I have already mentioned in this space, I have decided to revise Gold's backstory somewhat and this scene was intended to allow him to share it with McLean, as they both sat there, physically and emotionally drained, sipping rye-and-gingers after an evening filled with excitement.
As I said, a new challenge for me. I'll know how I did when I convince myself to sit down again to review, revise and carry on writing.
A Little Progress
28/11/09 09:10 Filed in: Writing
I found a brief period one evening last week to sit
down and do some writing on The Silent
Goodbye. It felt good, sure, but it made me
realise just how long it had been since I had worked
on the novel. It's kind of frightening, really.
The story took on a life of its own as I was writing and I ended up with a very interesting confrontation between Gold and his nemesis, Pim. It was at that point, of course, that I came to the realisation that I don't write fight scenes very well. Never having been much of a fighter myself (I once got jumped from behind by a kid from my school and, instead of trying to fight him, I just carried him on my back for a block or two until he gave up and ran away), I don't have a good grasp of the physical movements that make up a fight, nor how to describe them.
I told myself to be satisfied just to get the basics down and then schedule some time to work it through, step by step, movement by movement. I think it's a good scene and it adds some physical oomph to a part of the novel that has been getting caught up in all the talking at the criminal trial. It also allows me to put Gold and Pim face to face for a moment, to make that threat real again both for the reader and for Gold.
I'm pleased to report that Gold holds his own in the battle, though, of course, he enjoys the advantage of surprise and the battle is brief. Still, good on you, Phil!
Work and life are so busy right now that I may not get back to it for a little while. I still hope to take a couple of weeks off leading up to Christmas to be a homebody and rest so maybe I'll be able to focus on it then.
In the meantime, now that I've finished all the Peanuts books I have (including the two new volumes Patti gave me as an early Christmas present), I've moved on to reading Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and Winston Churchill's series of books on the Second World War. Light reading, to be sure!
The story took on a life of its own as I was writing and I ended up with a very interesting confrontation between Gold and his nemesis, Pim. It was at that point, of course, that I came to the realisation that I don't write fight scenes very well. Never having been much of a fighter myself (I once got jumped from behind by a kid from my school and, instead of trying to fight him, I just carried him on my back for a block or two until he gave up and ran away), I don't have a good grasp of the physical movements that make up a fight, nor how to describe them.
I told myself to be satisfied just to get the basics down and then schedule some time to work it through, step by step, movement by movement. I think it's a good scene and it adds some physical oomph to a part of the novel that has been getting caught up in all the talking at the criminal trial. It also allows me to put Gold and Pim face to face for a moment, to make that threat real again both for the reader and for Gold.
I'm pleased to report that Gold holds his own in the battle, though, of course, he enjoys the advantage of surprise and the battle is brief. Still, good on you, Phil!
Work and life are so busy right now that I may not get back to it for a little while. I still hope to take a couple of weeks off leading up to Christmas to be a homebody and rest so maybe I'll be able to focus on it then.
In the meantime, now that I've finished all the Peanuts books I have (including the two new volumes Patti gave me as an early Christmas present), I've moved on to reading Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and Winston Churchill's series of books on the Second World War. Light reading, to be sure!
An Experience in the Theatre
15/11/09 08:09 Filed in: Writing
After more than a week of sunshine, New Brunswick is
getting pounded with rain this morning. Rainfall
warnings and everything: 50 to 60 mm expected; 75 mm
or more possible. Sounds to me like a day to stay
inside and write. Of course, I'll probably watch or
listen to football instead.
My Hamilton Tiger Cats play their first playoff game in years this afternoon, taking on the BC Lions in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final. I know: how does a team from Vancouver get into the "Eastern" conference semi-final? Don't ask. We don't get the TV network that's showing the game so I may have to listen to the radio broadcast from Hamilton on the internet. Gotta love the internet!
Last night, instead of writing, I went with Patti and some friends to see a play at the local University. The play, Marion Bridge, was written by maritime playwright Daniel MacIvor and performed by something called the "Nasty Shadows Theatre Company". Having never heard of MacIvor, the Nasty Shadows group nor any of the actors, I didn't go in with high expectations.
I was pleasantly surprised.
The story of three very different sisters coming together as their mother sinks slowly into death, Marion Bridge inspires both laughter and tears. Two of the sisters, Agnes and Theresa, have responded to their family-of-origin issues by swinging their personal pendulums as far apart as they can. It is through the process of their mother's passing that the pendulums start to come together again and they discover, or re-discover, that which connects them as family.
Director Scott Shannon (who also voices soap opera character Justin, filtering into the action from off stage) does an excellent job of keeping up a brisk pace while providing visual interest by moving his actors deftly around the very simple, single set.
Julie MacDonald plays Agnes, a demoralised actor who returns to Cape Breton in an alcohol-induced daze, filled with anger and resentment toward a mother who forced her to give up a baby early in her life. MacDonald handles the part well, taking great care to let her character's deep-seated issues ooze slowly out while providing the interpersonal fireworks that drive much of the first act of the play.
Elizabeth Goodyear is terrific as "Sister" Theresa, the self-sacrificing middle sister who chose to become a Nun as her way of dealing with the family-of-origin stuff. Tightly wound and usually self-contained, Theresa breaks down in an extended diatribe aimed at Agnes in the second act. It's a difficult scene for any actor, with MacIvor's dialogue spiralling towards over-wrought emotion and silly melodrama, but Goodyear manages to maintain a perfect balance to her delivery, filling the words with emotion while avoiding going too far.
Rebekah Chasse plays Louise, the youngest sister, who apparently never left home. In perhaps the most difficult part in the play, Chasse must convey a wide range of the character's personal issues (her loneliness, her resentment at being treated as "different", her uncertain sexuality, her simple but complicated relationships with her mother and her two elder sisters), all the while constrained by the character's limited mental capacity. Chasse is not perfect in the role (struggling from time to time with her lines, failing to sell her character's emotional reactions to her childhood, her mother and her mother's death as effectively as her co-stars) but her performance is strong enough to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the play.
The only real negative on the night was the behaviour of several members of the audience. At various points throughout this poignant and emotional experience, the following took place among the spectators: two audience members in the front row got into some sort of whispered discussion that lasted for at least 45 seconds; one spectator allowed his cell phone to go off, very loudly, and ring four times, then instead of turning it off entirely he set it to vibrate so that those sitting anywhere near him could still hear the buzz of the vibrating phone; and another audience member first dropped a full can of pop heavily to the floor and, in trying to pick it up, rolled it noisily back and forth under his seat and then, during a particularly quiet scene, decided to crack the can open and take a swig. It's a credit to the actors on stage that they managed to ignore this rude behaviour and keep the play moving; it's a credit to the other people in the audience that they didn't turn on these inconsiderate cretins and forcibly remove them from the theatre.
All of that aside, it was an enjoyable theatre experience. Playwright Daniel MacIvor is new to me but, on the basis of this complex and interesting work, I will look out for more from him. And from Nasty Shadows.
My Hamilton Tiger Cats play their first playoff game in years this afternoon, taking on the BC Lions in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final. I know: how does a team from Vancouver get into the "Eastern" conference semi-final? Don't ask. We don't get the TV network that's showing the game so I may have to listen to the radio broadcast from Hamilton on the internet. Gotta love the internet!
Last night, instead of writing, I went with Patti and some friends to see a play at the local University. The play, Marion Bridge, was written by maritime playwright Daniel MacIvor and performed by something called the "Nasty Shadows Theatre Company". Having never heard of MacIvor, the Nasty Shadows group nor any of the actors, I didn't go in with high expectations.
I was pleasantly surprised.
The story of three very different sisters coming together as their mother sinks slowly into death, Marion Bridge inspires both laughter and tears. Two of the sisters, Agnes and Theresa, have responded to their family-of-origin issues by swinging their personal pendulums as far apart as they can. It is through the process of their mother's passing that the pendulums start to come together again and they discover, or re-discover, that which connects them as family.
Director Scott Shannon (who also voices soap opera character Justin, filtering into the action from off stage) does an excellent job of keeping up a brisk pace while providing visual interest by moving his actors deftly around the very simple, single set.
Julie MacDonald plays Agnes, a demoralised actor who returns to Cape Breton in an alcohol-induced daze, filled with anger and resentment toward a mother who forced her to give up a baby early in her life. MacDonald handles the part well, taking great care to let her character's deep-seated issues ooze slowly out while providing the interpersonal fireworks that drive much of the first act of the play.
Elizabeth Goodyear is terrific as "Sister" Theresa, the self-sacrificing middle sister who chose to become a Nun as her way of dealing with the family-of-origin stuff. Tightly wound and usually self-contained, Theresa breaks down in an extended diatribe aimed at Agnes in the second act. It's a difficult scene for any actor, with MacIvor's dialogue spiralling towards over-wrought emotion and silly melodrama, but Goodyear manages to maintain a perfect balance to her delivery, filling the words with emotion while avoiding going too far.
Rebekah Chasse plays Louise, the youngest sister, who apparently never left home. In perhaps the most difficult part in the play, Chasse must convey a wide range of the character's personal issues (her loneliness, her resentment at being treated as "different", her uncertain sexuality, her simple but complicated relationships with her mother and her two elder sisters), all the while constrained by the character's limited mental capacity. Chasse is not perfect in the role (struggling from time to time with her lines, failing to sell her character's emotional reactions to her childhood, her mother and her mother's death as effectively as her co-stars) but her performance is strong enough to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the play.
The only real negative on the night was the behaviour of several members of the audience. At various points throughout this poignant and emotional experience, the following took place among the spectators: two audience members in the front row got into some sort of whispered discussion that lasted for at least 45 seconds; one spectator allowed his cell phone to go off, very loudly, and ring four times, then instead of turning it off entirely he set it to vibrate so that those sitting anywhere near him could still hear the buzz of the vibrating phone; and another audience member first dropped a full can of pop heavily to the floor and, in trying to pick it up, rolled it noisily back and forth under his seat and then, during a particularly quiet scene, decided to crack the can open and take a swig. It's a credit to the actors on stage that they managed to ignore this rude behaviour and keep the play moving; it's a credit to the other people in the audience that they didn't turn on these inconsiderate cretins and forcibly remove them from the theatre.
All of that aside, it was an enjoyable theatre experience. Playwright Daniel MacIvor is new to me but, on the basis of this complex and interesting work, I will look out for more from him. And from Nasty Shadows.
Lions for Peanuts on a Star Trek
My writing slump has gotten so bad people are now
calling me on the telephone to see if I'm okay. "You
haven't blogged in days," they say. "We thought
something was wrong!"
Well, many things are wrong but none of them terminal. I haven't been able to sit myself down at the computer and write. That's the long and short of it. I actually built a fire the other night, got it going good and strong, then promptly fell asleep on the floor in front of the fireplace.
My mind is working on the next scene (a conversation between Gold and Stacey McLean) but I just haven't started writing it yet. It's getting quite frustrating. And the fact that my Rapidweaver program has now decided it doesn't want to insert Em Dashes any more I'm really upset.
So instead I've been spending my time reading The Complete Peanuts, watching movies (Lions for Lambs, starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise, for example) and taking advantage of the surprisingly warm New Brunswick November to go golfing rather than working on the novel. My end-of-December deadline for a finished draft is still in play but I think it's getting more challenging with each passing day.
Meanwhile, Star Trek (2009) has finally come out on DVD. Of course, they have to make it complicated by releasing both a single disc version (which I take it just has the movie and not many special features) at about $20 and the two-disc steel box set that costs around $10 more. I have to admit, I'm less excited about this DVD release than I was about the last Harry Potter but I think, if I'm going to break down and buy it, I'll have to get the two-disc set, at least to see what kind of extras they include.
Lions for Lambs, by the way, was surprisingly good for a film that Rotten Tomatoes rated at about 18%. Structured more like a stage play than a major movie, it was a lot of talk but interesting talk and we thought the scenes involving Streep, as a cynical reporter, dueling with Cruise, a powerful Senator, were exceptionally good. Redford does a better job of directing this one than he does acting in it: I find the older he gets, the flatter his performances. The film's worth seeing, however. At least we think so.
Well, many things are wrong but none of them terminal. I haven't been able to sit myself down at the computer and write. That's the long and short of it. I actually built a fire the other night, got it going good and strong, then promptly fell asleep on the floor in front of the fireplace.
My mind is working on the next scene (a conversation between Gold and Stacey McLean) but I just haven't started writing it yet. It's getting quite frustrating. And the fact that my Rapidweaver program has now decided it doesn't want to insert Em Dashes any more I'm really upset.
So instead I've been spending my time reading The Complete Peanuts, watching movies (Lions for Lambs, starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise, for example) and taking advantage of the surprisingly warm New Brunswick November to go golfing rather than working on the novel. My end-of-December deadline for a finished draft is still in play but I think it's getting more challenging with each passing day.
Meanwhile, Star Trek (2009) has finally come out on DVD. Of course, they have to make it complicated by releasing both a single disc version (which I take it just has the movie and not many special features) at about $20 and the two-disc steel box set that costs around $10 more. I have to admit, I'm less excited about this DVD release than I was about the last Harry Potter but I think, if I'm going to break down and buy it, I'll have to get the two-disc set, at least to see what kind of extras they include.
Lions for Lambs, by the way, was surprisingly good for a film that Rotten Tomatoes rated at about 18%. Structured more like a stage play than a major movie, it was a lot of talk but interesting talk and we thought the scenes involving Streep, as a cynical reporter, dueling with Cruise, a powerful Senator, were exceptionally good. Redford does a better job of directing this one than he does acting in it: I find the older he gets, the flatter his performances. The film's worth seeing, however. At least we think so.
Revising and Re-Visioning
05/11/09 21:11 Filed in: Writing
Still writing in fits and starts. Today, I had to
force myself to sit down at the computer and work.
Instead of writing anything new, however, I performed
the very necessary task of conducting a hard,
thorough edit of the entire third section (the Trial)
of the novel. It's a worthwhile endeavour for two
reasons: first, it gives me a chance to focus on
shoring up the tone of the book and, second, it
allows me to make progress on the novel even though
I'm not ready to write new material.
I like the trial scene. I think it flows well, has decent levels of tension and drama, and feels right. That's all good.
Now comes the challenge of writing the turn: when Gold makes a key discovery and uses it to turn the case around. I'm not sure it will be easy to write. I'll try to take a crack at it this weekend.
Not helping me is the fact that I have started rewriting Gold's entire personal history in the back of my mind. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part; it just started happening out of the blue the other day. And now I think there might be a new novel in the revised backstory, an interesting tale featuring a eight-year-old Phillip Gold as the protagonist. Its development, however, means I will have to go back through all the Gold stories I've written so far and adjust them to match the character's new personal history. Ugh.
Not fun. But necessary. And a lot more work for me.
I like the trial scene. I think it flows well, has decent levels of tension and drama, and feels right. That's all good.
Now comes the challenge of writing the turn: when Gold makes a key discovery and uses it to turn the case around. I'm not sure it will be easy to write. I'll try to take a crack at it this weekend.
Not helping me is the fact that I have started rewriting Gold's entire personal history in the back of my mind. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part; it just started happening out of the blue the other day. And now I think there might be a new novel in the revised backstory, an interesting tale featuring a eight-year-old Phillip Gold as the protagonist. Its development, however, means I will have to go back through all the Gold stories I've written so far and adjust them to match the character's new personal history. Ugh.
Not fun. But necessary. And a lot more work for me.
On Points of View
02/11/09 07:10 Filed in: Writing
A weekend of work around the house and catching the
odd play, sports-wise, left room at the end for some
writing. So Sunday night I sat down at the old
computer (as opposed to this new one) and started to
re-work the scene on the courthouse steps.
I'm writing in third-person limited point of view, which places my narrator outside my main character but "on his shoulder" so to speak. I usually write my Phillip Gold stories in the first person: Gold himself tells you the story as it plays itself out. Many of my favourite mystery writers use this point of view to tell their stories because it creates an immediacy to the action and ensures that the reader pieces together the puzzle at the same time the detective does. I find it also helps the reader to identify with the main character, since we are part of his or her thoughts.
That being said, the first-person approach does not allow the author to create dramatic irony, where the reader knows something the character does not. It also requires that the reader will know the resolution to the mystery as soon as the character works it out, meaning it can be difficult to build as much tension at the climax of the story. Once the mystery is worked out, the source of tension often becomes the question of whether or not the main character will be able to catch the evil-doer, not who the evil-doer is.
Unless of course the author resorts to a one of several hackneyed tricks to hide information from the reader. But I hate that approach.
Third-person limited allows a certain distance between the narrative voice and the main character, so that the narrator can comment on the action or on other characters without implicating the main character in those opinions. It also allows the narrator to criticise the main character, to see or notice things the character fails to see, and to provide a broader view of the action than the character might have.
The style is "limited" because the narrator stays close to the main character, knows and understands the thoughts of the main character and of no other character. As a result, if the narrator is describing a conversation between the main character and his client, the narrator would be able to tell you what the character is thinking but would not be able to "go into the mind" of the client to know what she is thinking.
An omniscient narrator could do just that. Such a narrator can enter the mind of any character in the book to see her thoughts, understand her behaviour. In some books, the narrator moves from character to character within a single scene.
Okay, it's early morning and I'm running off at the fingers.
All of that is to say that I am finding it a challenge to write the bigger scenes from the third-person limited point of view. With so much going on around Phillip Gold, I often find myself either being too focused on him or allowing my narrator to see and know too much.
It's hard to get the balance right.
But, as always, I enjoy the challenge.
Next up in The Silent Goodbye: the great discovery that turns the trial around for Gold and his client. So exciting!
I'm writing in third-person limited point of view, which places my narrator outside my main character but "on his shoulder" so to speak. I usually write my Phillip Gold stories in the first person: Gold himself tells you the story as it plays itself out. Many of my favourite mystery writers use this point of view to tell their stories because it creates an immediacy to the action and ensures that the reader pieces together the puzzle at the same time the detective does. I find it also helps the reader to identify with the main character, since we are part of his or her thoughts.
That being said, the first-person approach does not allow the author to create dramatic irony, where the reader knows something the character does not. It also requires that the reader will know the resolution to the mystery as soon as the character works it out, meaning it can be difficult to build as much tension at the climax of the story. Once the mystery is worked out, the source of tension often becomes the question of whether or not the main character will be able to catch the evil-doer, not who the evil-doer is.
Unless of course the author resorts to a one of several hackneyed tricks to hide information from the reader. But I hate that approach.
Third-person limited allows a certain distance between the narrative voice and the main character, so that the narrator can comment on the action or on other characters without implicating the main character in those opinions. It also allows the narrator to criticise the main character, to see or notice things the character fails to see, and to provide a broader view of the action than the character might have.
The style is "limited" because the narrator stays close to the main character, knows and understands the thoughts of the main character and of no other character. As a result, if the narrator is describing a conversation between the main character and his client, the narrator would be able to tell you what the character is thinking but would not be able to "go into the mind" of the client to know what she is thinking.
An omniscient narrator could do just that. Such a narrator can enter the mind of any character in the book to see her thoughts, understand her behaviour. In some books, the narrator moves from character to character within a single scene.
Okay, it's early morning and I'm running off at the fingers.
All of that is to say that I am finding it a challenge to write the bigger scenes from the third-person limited point of view. With so much going on around Phillip Gold, I often find myself either being too focused on him or allowing my narrator to see and know too much.
It's hard to get the balance right.
But, as always, I enjoy the challenge.
Next up in The Silent Goodbye: the great discovery that turns the trial around for Gold and his client. So exciting!
Detectives, Trekkies and Young Girls Gone Old
One of the great things about writing is the rush of
ideas that comes after you've written a substantial
section. On Wednesday, I wrote a significant bit
involving a confrontation between my hero, Phillip
Gold, and the Alderman on the courthouse steps, then
Gold's dinner with the attractive law student at one
of Hamilton's best Italian restaurants. It's a good
section and I like it.
But the two days since have been filled with ideas bursting into my mind about how to improve the scenes, how to heighten the tension, how to lay the ground work for what is to come. It's an amazing process. Literally, you write knowing that, once all the conscious and subconscious work has been done, you'll have to rewrite. Often significantly. You need to have written something in order to be able to do the imaginative work to write something.
So now I'm planning to go back and do a massive rewrite of the section I just wrote, deepening the conflict, involving other characters and setting up for the next step in the plot. Two steps forward, then back again to take the same two steps forward.
That's the writing process that I love.
In the meantime, Lynn and Gavin have headed back to Ontario, making the entire 14-hour drive in a single day. They left here at 7:30 a.m. and likely made most of the drive in daylight, an amazing feat at this time of the year. They're great guests to have, interesting and creative, self-sufficient and self-motivated, and not demanding at all. In fact, I think they did as much cooking over the seven days they were here as we did. And now I have a series of tasks set for myself with regard to this website that will make it really cool, I hope.
Of course, anyone who is willing to sit through an entire screening of the movie Trekkies without complaint is alright by me!
Also on the movie front, Patti and I wanted to watch something fun last night so we slipped 13 Going On 30 into the DVD player. We inherited this little Jennifer Garner/Mark Ruffalo vehicle from my Mom but had never watched it. For the first 30 minutes, we weren't sure we were going to be able to get through it all. A blatant rip-off of the Tom Hanks' classic Big, this movie seems silly and flimsy by comparison. Then, suddenly, it takes flight. Garner, who seemed awkward and gawky in the first half-hour, takes on new life and, amazing for a Hollywood leading female, shows a willingness to be wacky and weird. The Thriller dance sequence is especially funny and she sells it well. We were also pleased to find a film that finally gives the likable Ruffalo a believable role that suits him.
It's no classic but it was a good choice for a cold Friday night.
But the two days since have been filled with ideas bursting into my mind about how to improve the scenes, how to heighten the tension, how to lay the ground work for what is to come. It's an amazing process. Literally, you write knowing that, once all the conscious and subconscious work has been done, you'll have to rewrite. Often significantly. You need to have written something in order to be able to do the imaginative work to write something.
So now I'm planning to go back and do a massive rewrite of the section I just wrote, deepening the conflict, involving other characters and setting up for the next step in the plot. Two steps forward, then back again to take the same two steps forward.
That's the writing process that I love.
In the meantime, Lynn and Gavin have headed back to Ontario, making the entire 14-hour drive in a single day. They left here at 7:30 a.m. and likely made most of the drive in daylight, an amazing feat at this time of the year. They're great guests to have, interesting and creative, self-sufficient and self-motivated, and not demanding at all. In fact, I think they did as much cooking over the seven days they were here as we did. And now I have a series of tasks set for myself with regard to this website that will make it really cool, I hope.
Of course, anyone who is willing to sit through an entire screening of the movie Trekkies without complaint is alright by me!
Also on the movie front, Patti and I wanted to watch something fun last night so we slipped 13 Going On 30 into the DVD player. We inherited this little Jennifer Garner/Mark Ruffalo vehicle from my Mom but had never watched it. For the first 30 minutes, we weren't sure we were going to be able to get through it all. A blatant rip-off of the Tom Hanks' classic Big, this movie seems silly and flimsy by comparison. Then, suddenly, it takes flight. Garner, who seemed awkward and gawky in the first half-hour, takes on new life and, amazing for a Hollywood leading female, shows a willingness to be wacky and weird. The Thriller dance sequence is especially funny and she sells it well. We were also pleased to find a film that finally gives the likable Ruffalo a believable role that suits him.
It's no classic but it was a good choice for a cold Friday night.
Great Ideas Come to Town
27/10/09 19:38 Filed in: Writing
It's been an interesting couple of days. First, my
sister, Lynn, and her partner, Gavin came to town
from Toronto for a visit. We've been having a great
time. And, as an added bonus, they are both extremely
computer and internet savvy, so I've been picking up
a lot of tips for my website.
For example, I've added a new page to the website entitled "Video". This page allows me to embed the videos I've posted on Youtube so that people can simply access them from this webpage rather than having to find them on Youtube itself. It's pretty cool. I don't know if any of you will take advantage but I like the idea.
Second, and arising out of that first item, Lynn and Gavin have also suggested that I think about videotaping myself reading sections from my creative writing. I can post the videos on Youtube, then add a link to them on this website. That way, you can read my writing or let me read it to you. Sounds like fun. Of course, it will take a lot of planning since I'll have to make sure everything looks and sounds good. I'm also now feeling some self-inflicted pressure to revise the earlier Phillip Gold books before I do the reading. Or is that just a delaying tactic?
I'm quite interested in trying it with The Way Forward, my in-progress Rowling-world novel featuring Minerva McGonagall, Aberforth Dumbledore and the surviving Weasley twin. I wonder if I'll have the guts to do voice characterizations for each.
Third, Gavin showed me how I can put more photos on my website without making the computer file too big. It seems Rapidweaver saves each picture in its original size, even though what you see on the website itself is a much smaller version. By the press of a button, however, I can tell the program to shed the massive versions of the photos and just keep the smaller ones. So the size of the website dropped from about 15 MB to just two and a bit, without any loss of quality on the web. Cool. It means I can get back to putting more photos on the site and not worry about overloading my computer.
Best of all, I actually broke out of my slump, at least for the day, and wrote an entire scene for The Silent Goodbye. I'm pleased about that since it had been a while since I had been able to get myself to sit down and write. As so often happens when you start writing after a long absence, I had to leave a gap between where I left off in the plot and where I started up again; that way I can simply write the bridge section later, rather than having, say, two versions of the same scene to reconcile.
I wish I had a better memory, though. I have already forgotten some character names and many of the physical descriptions. That's really bad. That's why I've had to create the character and setting outlines: so that I can maintain consistency throughout the Phillip Gold collection, in spite of my bad memory.
A good day all around, thanks to Lynn and Gavin.
For example, I've added a new page to the website entitled "Video". This page allows me to embed the videos I've posted on Youtube so that people can simply access them from this webpage rather than having to find them on Youtube itself. It's pretty cool. I don't know if any of you will take advantage but I like the idea.
Second, and arising out of that first item, Lynn and Gavin have also suggested that I think about videotaping myself reading sections from my creative writing. I can post the videos on Youtube, then add a link to them on this website. That way, you can read my writing or let me read it to you. Sounds like fun. Of course, it will take a lot of planning since I'll have to make sure everything looks and sounds good. I'm also now feeling some self-inflicted pressure to revise the earlier Phillip Gold books before I do the reading. Or is that just a delaying tactic?
I'm quite interested in trying it with The Way Forward, my in-progress Rowling-world novel featuring Minerva McGonagall, Aberforth Dumbledore and the surviving Weasley twin. I wonder if I'll have the guts to do voice characterizations for each.
Third, Gavin showed me how I can put more photos on my website without making the computer file too big. It seems Rapidweaver saves each picture in its original size, even though what you see on the website itself is a much smaller version. By the press of a button, however, I can tell the program to shed the massive versions of the photos and just keep the smaller ones. So the size of the website dropped from about 15 MB to just two and a bit, without any loss of quality on the web. Cool. It means I can get back to putting more photos on the site and not worry about overloading my computer.
Best of all, I actually broke out of my slump, at least for the day, and wrote an entire scene for The Silent Goodbye. I'm pleased about that since it had been a while since I had been able to get myself to sit down and write. As so often happens when you start writing after a long absence, I had to leave a gap between where I left off in the plot and where I started up again; that way I can simply write the bridge section later, rather than having, say, two versions of the same scene to reconcile.
I wish I had a better memory, though. I have already forgotten some character names and many of the physical descriptions. That's really bad. That's why I've had to create the character and setting outlines: so that I can maintain consistency throughout the Phillip Gold collection, in spite of my bad memory.
A good day all around, thanks to Lynn and Gavin.
New Determination
24/10/09 21:20 Filed in: Writing
This dry spell has got to end. It's now been almost
three weeks since I've written a single word of the
Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. I'm
not sure what's causing this extended interruption in
my writing but I've got to break out of it.
It's not like I'm spending my evenings doing exceptionally valuable things: watching TV, reading Peanuts comic strips, sleeping. No big deal there.
Of course, this week Patti and I are enjoying a visit from my sister, Lynn, and her partner, Gavin, up from Toronto. They're easy guests, enjoying sitting by the fire and chatting as much as we do. And they cook and help us with computer problems and do dishes and all kinds of great things. It's nice to have them here.
The hand-knit miracle socks, talking Star Trek bobble-head dolls and massive posters also contribute to how welcome they are in our home.
But their visit means I'm still not able to devote time to Phillip Gold. Once again, the problem seems to me that I've set up a barrier between me and continuing to write the novel: in this case, it's the compilation of my summary sheets for each recurring character and setting. I've done the raw work, reading through all the stories and novels and copying all the descriptions into compilation files, but now I have to sit down, review it all, and address inconsistencies over the various works.
I'm afraid that seems like a long and arduous task to me and I am a little fearful of starting it. If I don't start it, I can't finish it and I can't get back to writing the novel.
Next week. I promise. I'll take care of the barrier, then get back to the novel. I'm too close not to meet my goal of finishing before the end of the year.
It's not like I'm spending my evenings doing exceptionally valuable things: watching TV, reading Peanuts comic strips, sleeping. No big deal there.
Of course, this week Patti and I are enjoying a visit from my sister, Lynn, and her partner, Gavin, up from Toronto. They're easy guests, enjoying sitting by the fire and chatting as much as we do. And they cook and help us with computer problems and do dishes and all kinds of great things. It's nice to have them here.
The hand-knit miracle socks, talking Star Trek bobble-head dolls and massive posters also contribute to how welcome they are in our home.
But their visit means I'm still not able to devote time to Phillip Gold. Once again, the problem seems to me that I've set up a barrier between me and continuing to write the novel: in this case, it's the compilation of my summary sheets for each recurring character and setting. I've done the raw work, reading through all the stories and novels and copying all the descriptions into compilation files, but now I have to sit down, review it all, and address inconsistencies over the various works.
I'm afraid that seems like a long and arduous task to me and I am a little fearful of starting it. If I don't start it, I can't finish it and I can't get back to writing the novel.
Next week. I promise. I'll take care of the barrier, then get back to the novel. I'm too close not to meet my goal of finishing before the end of the year.
Time Out Continues
My extended break from writing continues. I don't
know what's behind it but I also don't seem to be too
interested in fighting it. As a result, I'm getting
nothing done.
I've taken up reading the Peanuts comic strips from start to finish. I have the first eight volumes of The Complete Peanuts in my book collection so I have finally taken it upon myself to read them through. I've always been a big Charlie Brown fan so this is a very nice way to appreciate the art and wit of Charles Schulz in a more concerted, comprehensive way. I'm only on the second volume right now but it's fun to watch as the now familiar characters take shape across the pages.
Phillip Gold remains on the back burner but much in my mind while Abigail Massey lingers as well. About the only writing I have been doing lately is an almost daily blog on sporting topics on the Fannation website associated with Sports Illustrated online. It's interesting to post a brief splash, say, on US college football and then watch as 10 or more people read it in the first half hour. Not that things continue at that pace for long: my most popular post has been read by all of 85 people. But it's kind of fun.
I have also added a temporary special section to this website. It's a page called "Buttons" (see top left) which offers a photo gallery of all kinds of different accessible door buttons and elevator buttons from around my place of work. We're planning a campaign to stop people from using these assistive devices if they don't need them; the more they're used, the sooner they wear out, the more often the accessibility of a particular building or room is compromised.
I like the photos, though, for some reason. So I thought I'd post them here for a while. Their presence on the web also gives our poster designers access to them without resorting to massive e-mails.
I will, I trust, be back in the courtroom with Philip soon; I'll let you know when that happens.
I've taken up reading the Peanuts comic strips from start to finish. I have the first eight volumes of The Complete Peanuts in my book collection so I have finally taken it upon myself to read them through. I've always been a big Charlie Brown fan so this is a very nice way to appreciate the art and wit of Charles Schulz in a more concerted, comprehensive way. I'm only on the second volume right now but it's fun to watch as the now familiar characters take shape across the pages.
Phillip Gold remains on the back burner but much in my mind while Abigail Massey lingers as well. About the only writing I have been doing lately is an almost daily blog on sporting topics on the Fannation website associated with Sports Illustrated online. It's interesting to post a brief splash, say, on US college football and then watch as 10 or more people read it in the first half hour. Not that things continue at that pace for long: my most popular post has been read by all of 85 people. But it's kind of fun.
I have also added a temporary special section to this website. It's a page called "Buttons" (see top left) which offers a photo gallery of all kinds of different accessible door buttons and elevator buttons from around my place of work. We're planning a campaign to stop people from using these assistive devices if they don't need them; the more they're used, the sooner they wear out, the more often the accessibility of a particular building or room is compromised.
I like the photos, though, for some reason. So I thought I'd post them here for a while. Their presence on the web also gives our poster designers access to them without resorting to massive e-mails.
I will, I trust, be back in the courtroom with Philip soon; I'll let you know when that happens.
Bye Bye Facebook
30/09/09 17:46 Filed in: Writing
So I closed my Facebook account today. Well, at least
as far as the people at Facebook will allow you to do
so.
Have you ever tried to close a Facebook page? It's not easy.
First, they move you to a page upon which they've posted photos of some of your "friends" with the caption, "X will miss you", under each one.
Then, if you insist on continuing, they force you to answer a questionnaire, justifying why you want to close your page.
If your reason is good enough, they require you to decipher some funky-shaped letters and identify them, on the grounds that you are proving you're not faking the whole thing. But, while I've done that funky-shaped letter thing before (when posting a comment on another person's website, for example), this is the first time the letters are so funky-shaped that it's practically impossible to tell what they are. It took me four tries to get it right and, if I hadn't, Facebook would have refused to close my page.
I even wrote into my questionnaire a specific request that they erase all of my data and information from their database. Did they do it? No. Moments later, I got an e-mail from Facebook telling me (surprise surprise) that I had closed my page and assuring me that, if at any point in the future I come to my senses, I can simply e-mail them and they'll relaunch it exactly as it is today. In other words, they're going to keep it in their memory banks.
I've been becoming increasingly uncomfortable with taking part in the whole Facebook phenomena (the lack of privacy, the fact that Facebook plays all kinds of games with your data) so my decision to quit should come as no surprise. I'm just grateful that I never really put much up there in the first place.
I doubt I'll miss it.
On the writing front, my fab sister Janice has gotten back to me with her comments on the first draft of the trial scene. Great comments! Really useful inside information on what goes on at a criminal trial. She even indulged herself in writing some fiction herself, which was a lot of fun to read too. Janice, you really should give writing a shot. Your prose is fun and entertaining.
I'm not much in the mood to write of late, however, so I'll probably hold off on continuing for a couple of days yet. But it is coming. And with help from Janice (and no more Facebook drivel) I can look forward to making more progress soon.
Have you ever tried to close a Facebook page? It's not easy.
First, they move you to a page upon which they've posted photos of some of your "friends" with the caption, "X will miss you", under each one.
Then, if you insist on continuing, they force you to answer a questionnaire, justifying why you want to close your page.
If your reason is good enough, they require you to decipher some funky-shaped letters and identify them, on the grounds that you are proving you're not faking the whole thing. But, while I've done that funky-shaped letter thing before (when posting a comment on another person's website, for example), this is the first time the letters are so funky-shaped that it's practically impossible to tell what they are. It took me four tries to get it right and, if I hadn't, Facebook would have refused to close my page.
I even wrote into my questionnaire a specific request that they erase all of my data and information from their database. Did they do it? No. Moments later, I got an e-mail from Facebook telling me (surprise surprise) that I had closed my page and assuring me that, if at any point in the future I come to my senses, I can simply e-mail them and they'll relaunch it exactly as it is today. In other words, they're going to keep it in their memory banks.
I've been becoming increasingly uncomfortable with taking part in the whole Facebook phenomena (the lack of privacy, the fact that Facebook plays all kinds of games with your data) so my decision to quit should come as no surprise. I'm just grateful that I never really put much up there in the first place.
I doubt I'll miss it.
On the writing front, my fab sister Janice has gotten back to me with her comments on the first draft of the trial scene. Great comments! Really useful inside information on what goes on at a criminal trial. She even indulged herself in writing some fiction herself, which was a lot of fun to read too. Janice, you really should give writing a shot. Your prose is fun and entertaining.
I'm not much in the mood to write of late, however, so I'll probably hold off on continuing for a couple of days yet. But it is coming. And with help from Janice (and no more Facebook drivel) I can look forward to making more progress soon.
Second and Last Chances
It's been an interesting week. New Brunswick has
tumbled headlong into fall, with temperatures
dropping sharply and rain alternating with sunshine
on a day-to-day basis. Most importantly, however,
almost every night brings a warning of frost, that
enemy of all things vegetable.
Since I planted most things late, as in at the end of May, my veggie plants are only at about the three-quarters stage of growth as autumn falls. While we've had a pretty good crop of beans (both string and runner), the tomatoes are still small and green, the cucumbers are just pickles, the carrots really want to be fully grown but aren't and the brussels sprouts, well, the poor brussels sprout plants. They just can't seem to generate enough oomph to put out a sprout or two.
And now comes frost. Tonight's forecast doesn't say "Frost Warning" it says "Frost". I guess it's time I accept that my lateness in planting is going to mean no vegetables whatsoever after tonight. So sad.
On the writing front, however, things are definitely more productive. I went back last night and did a full revision of the scene involving Shannon Olivier's appearance in court. I expanded it quite a bit and made some small adjustments and additions to the existing sections. Again, I think it reads pretty well. In fact, I'm quite proud of it.
I hope I can keep up the momentum. Time is such a challenge, though, with work hyping up and fall house chores arising and life just keeping on trucking.
And, of course, there are the other writing projects that keep calling out to me too. I had a really interesting conversation with a colleague in Saint John, who has read the Abigail Massey stories and seems to agree that a longer work (maybe a novel) that takes Abigail and her pals to Saint John in 1943 would be a good idea. So my colleague has been feeding me nifty tidbits about Saint John history, lots of ideas upon which I could base the book.
Abigail, it seems, is getting restless. She's bored just hanging around the McAdam Station and Hotel and craves another adventure.
Since I planted most things late, as in at the end of May, my veggie plants are only at about the three-quarters stage of growth as autumn falls. While we've had a pretty good crop of beans (both string and runner), the tomatoes are still small and green, the cucumbers are just pickles, the carrots really want to be fully grown but aren't and the brussels sprouts, well, the poor brussels sprout plants. They just can't seem to generate enough oomph to put out a sprout or two.
And now comes frost. Tonight's forecast doesn't say "Frost Warning" it says "Frost". I guess it's time I accept that my lateness in planting is going to mean no vegetables whatsoever after tonight. So sad.
On the writing front, however, things are definitely more productive. I went back last night and did a full revision of the scene involving Shannon Olivier's appearance in court. I expanded it quite a bit and made some small adjustments and additions to the existing sections. Again, I think it reads pretty well. In fact, I'm quite proud of it.
I hope I can keep up the momentum. Time is such a challenge, though, with work hyping up and fall house chores arising and life just keeping on trucking.
And, of course, there are the other writing projects that keep calling out to me too. I had a really interesting conversation with a colleague in Saint John, who has read the Abigail Massey stories and seems to agree that a longer work (maybe a novel) that takes Abigail and her pals to Saint John in 1943 would be a good idea. So my colleague has been feeding me nifty tidbits about Saint John history, lots of ideas upon which I could base the book.
Abigail, it seems, is getting restless. She's bored just hanging around the McAdam Station and Hotel and craves another adventure.
One Step Forward
23/09/09 09:19 Filed in: Writing
A good session of writing last night produced a draft
of the appearance in the witness box of the
complainant, Shannon Olivier. I'm pleased to say I
think it's a pretty good first effort. Thanks to some
sound advice from my sister Janice, a former Crown
Attorney, I think the cross-examination section is
especially effective.
I have sent the draft to Janice for her review.
Even still, however, I have now spent the last 12 hours ruminating over the draft and thinking up ways to improve it. While I think what I've done is good, I've also realised there are some key issues and key points that I have left out, both in the direct examination of the witness by Sharon Kyle and in Gold's cross-examination. So I have to go back again, hopefully tonight, to revise and add.
I'm finding this an interesting process. It involves a great deal more rethinking and revision than the usual prose because the criminal trial is such a specialised business. I'm also learning new respect for the lawyers on both sides of the bar who have to get it right the first time. They can't go home at night, realise what they've missed, then go back the next day and take another crack.
It's slow work for me as a writer but I'm very much enjoying it.
I have sent the draft to Janice for her review.
Even still, however, I have now spent the last 12 hours ruminating over the draft and thinking up ways to improve it. While I think what I've done is good, I've also realised there are some key issues and key points that I have left out, both in the direct examination of the witness by Sharon Kyle and in Gold's cross-examination. So I have to go back again, hopefully tonight, to revise and add.
I'm finding this an interesting process. It involves a great deal more rethinking and revision than the usual prose because the criminal trial is such a specialised business. I'm also learning new respect for the lawyers on both sides of the bar who have to get it right the first time. They can't go home at night, realise what they've missed, then go back the next day and take another crack.
It's slow work for me as a writer but I'm very much enjoying it.
And Finally, Progress
15/09/09 20:15 Filed in: Writing
Just getting up from 90 minutes of solid writing.
Another editing pass at the start of the trial scene,
then the complete examination and cross of the first
witness. Good, I hope.
What a feeling! Those kinds of blocks are really hard because they build upon themselves until they seem insurmountable. Scary, even. And you don't even really know what's causing the block.
I hope now I'm past it. I am hopeful that tomorrow night I'll be able to sit down and work some more on it, start to build a rhythm again.
I realise, even now, that I have probably had the Crown start with the wrong witness but that's okay. I can go back and insert the proper first witness (the victim) tomorrow. At least I got down to work and accomplished something.
Writing is hard work. In many cases, generating the ideas and working out the plot and character points is, actually, the easy part. Sitting down and writing each and every word, painting every scene, imagining the tiny moments and the little details of the larger scene, that's where the real work often comes in. Decision after decision, challenge after challenge.
An amazing process, really. In one simple scene, the writer makes a million decisions from how much description of the setting or a character to include, to whether or not there is a bench or two chairs, to how the character speaks, to whether or not she would light a cigarette before she gets angry or because she gets angry, to whether or not she gets angry in the first place. Millions of decisions.
Amazing. Exciting. Difficult.
What a feeling! Those kinds of blocks are really hard because they build upon themselves until they seem insurmountable. Scary, even. And you don't even really know what's causing the block.
I hope now I'm past it. I am hopeful that tomorrow night I'll be able to sit down and work some more on it, start to build a rhythm again.
I realise, even now, that I have probably had the Crown start with the wrong witness but that's okay. I can go back and insert the proper first witness (the victim) tomorrow. At least I got down to work and accomplished something.
Writing is hard work. In many cases, generating the ideas and working out the plot and character points is, actually, the easy part. Sitting down and writing each and every word, painting every scene, imagining the tiny moments and the little details of the larger scene, that's where the real work often comes in. Decision after decision, challenge after challenge.
An amazing process, really. In one simple scene, the writer makes a million decisions from how much description of the setting or a character to include, to whether or not there is a bench or two chairs, to how the character speaks, to whether or not she would light a cigarette before she gets angry or because she gets angry, to whether or not she gets angry in the first place. Millions of decisions.
Amazing. Exciting. Difficult.
New Barriers
13/09/09 09:44 Filed in: Writing
More excuses. That's all I've got. More excuses.
This time, golf is getting in the way of the writing. I was bound and determined last week to get back to The Silent Goodbye and then my favourite local golf course sent around a flyer saying, "If you pay 50% down on a membership for next year, you can play the rest of this year for free". How could I pass that up, especially since I didn't get a membership this year but planned to rejoin next summer?
So I paid the money and have now played five rounds of golf in the past week. And it is glorious! It gets in the way of finding time to write but it feels so good.
To add further distraction, today (Sunday) offers a sports-watcher's nirvana, with the first week of NFL football on several channels, the men's semi-finals and women's finals of the rain-delayed US Open Tennis Championships and the final round of the BMW Championship, the penultimate playoff golf tournament in the PGA's FedEd Cup competition, all playing gloriously across the TV this afternoon and evening.
Absolute heaven.
So I played 15 holes of golf yesterday, nine more first thing this morning and now I'm ready to settle in. Oh, I have a work-related meeting later this afternoon but I'll get through that and then settle in.
But I promise I'll be writing again this coming week. The goal, to have a draft of the entire trial finished by the middle of October. And, once that's done, the climax and conclusion is all that's left.
I may actually meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing the first draft by the end of 2009.
So all is not lost. Just delayed. Proof of how important it is to get on track when writing and stay the course (in non-golf terms, of course).
This time, golf is getting in the way of the writing. I was bound and determined last week to get back to The Silent Goodbye and then my favourite local golf course sent around a flyer saying, "If you pay 50% down on a membership for next year, you can play the rest of this year for free". How could I pass that up, especially since I didn't get a membership this year but planned to rejoin next summer?
So I paid the money and have now played five rounds of golf in the past week. And it is glorious! It gets in the way of finding time to write but it feels so good.
To add further distraction, today (Sunday) offers a sports-watcher's nirvana, with the first week of NFL football on several channels, the men's semi-finals and women's finals of the rain-delayed US Open Tennis Championships and the final round of the BMW Championship, the penultimate playoff golf tournament in the PGA's FedEd Cup competition, all playing gloriously across the TV this afternoon and evening.
Absolute heaven.
So I played 15 holes of golf yesterday, nine more first thing this morning and now I'm ready to settle in. Oh, I have a work-related meeting later this afternoon but I'll get through that and then settle in.
But I promise I'll be writing again this coming week. The goal, to have a draft of the entire trial finished by the middle of October. And, once that's done, the climax and conclusion is all that's left.
I may actually meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing the first draft by the end of 2009.
So all is not lost. Just delayed. Proof of how important it is to get on track when writing and stay the course (in non-golf terms, of course).
Hard Reality
08/09/09 19:30 Filed in: Writing
I have to accept it. It's a hard reality but it
is reality: I'm blocked.
I've been making excuses on this blog for some time now but it's time I faced the fact that I am now facing a pretty nasty case of writer's block with regard to The Silent Goodbye. Even as I type that, my mind is coming up with all kinds of excuses: I'm too busy, work is overwhelming, too much to do at home, I'm working on other projects, etc. But the fact is, I'm blocked.
That's hard. And it's even harder because I know exactly what I should be writing. I just can't force myself to sit down and write it. That's sad. I am still working on the Phillip Gold Concordance and I'm still reading through the Harry Potter series again (I'm actually savouring book seven once again, forcing myself to read it slowly and deeply). That's fine. But I should be writing.
I'll get there. I set as my goal to complete a draft of the novel by the end of the year and that is still extremely do-able. I just wish I could get going again.
Maybe tonight.
I've been making excuses on this blog for some time now but it's time I faced the fact that I am now facing a pretty nasty case of writer's block with regard to The Silent Goodbye. Even as I type that, my mind is coming up with all kinds of excuses: I'm too busy, work is overwhelming, too much to do at home, I'm working on other projects, etc. But the fact is, I'm blocked.
That's hard. And it's even harder because I know exactly what I should be writing. I just can't force myself to sit down and write it. That's sad. I am still working on the Phillip Gold Concordance and I'm still reading through the Harry Potter series again (I'm actually savouring book seven once again, forcing myself to read it slowly and deeply). That's fine. But I should be writing.
I'll get there. I set as my goal to complete a draft of the novel by the end of the year and that is still extremely do-able. I just wish I could get going again.
Maybe tonight.
A Brief Update
04/09/09 23:05 Filed in: Writing
In the meantime, life has gotten very busy, both at work and at home. That makes things somewhat stressful and leaves less time for writing and other interesting stuff. I'm pleased with the progress I've made on the Concordance but it does mean that I have not written any more of the novel itself, The Silent Goodbye. So much for the good rhythm I had gotten into some time ago.
This entry also gives me a chance to show off two photos I took of a Great Blue Heron during a recent trip to Alma, NB. I'm pretty happy with the photos and with the massive bird that let me get that close before flying away!
Rounding Things Up
30/08/09 20:34 Filed in: Writing
I am still proceeding very slowly in writing the
courtroom scenes for my new Phillip Gold novel,
The Silent Goodbye. Lots of research, lots
of consideration and reflection, lots of care in the
selection of each word and phrase. So slow going.
I have also decided that it is time for me to start addressing some of the inconsistencies that have sprung up in my Gold collection. Okay, okay, that's a grandiose way of saying: my memory stinks and I'm not going to get away with changing characters names (eye colours, hair colours, height, weights, vocal patterns, etc.) in mid-novel any more. I honestly write a character's name, then forget it two pages later.
It's really quite sad.
So, just as I am in the process of preparing a Harry Potter concordance, so I have decided I need to create a Phillip Gold concordance to ensure that characters and locations are consistent from book to book, page to page. It should also help me create signature descriptions for each recurring character, recognisable behaviour patterns, even pet words and phrases. I have always been impressed with how J.K. Rowling was able to create, very quickly, speech patterns that allowed me to recognise characters immediately from what they say: Dolores Umbridge's "Hem Hem" and Ron Weasley's "Are you mental?" to name but two.
I started the process on Saturday and spent four hours working on it. It was then that I realised both that I have written a lot of fiction involving Phillip Gold and also that I have created a pretty impressive collection of people and places that populate his world.
Here is a list of the Phillip Gold fiction I've written to date:
A Fleck of Gold, a full-length novel;
All That Glisters, a full-length novel;
The Gold Figure, the first chapter of a novel;
The Prequel, the first 60 pages of a so-far untitled novel;
"The Rare Book", a short story;
"Violet and Gold", a short story; and
The Silent Goodbye, a three-quarters complete novel.
That's a lot of writing. And it also represents a great number of characters and settings, both ones that are specific to a particular work and ones that recur throughout the collection.
My job now is to identify those characters and settings that do or might recur, locate every section of each story in which I have provided useful details about them, and copy those details into a encyclopedic entry. Once that's done (and, including today's three hours, I'm up to seven full hours of work on this task), I will review and revise each collection of entries so as to create a useful summary of each person or place.
I will also have to make some decisions between conflicting descriptions of a particular person or place. For example, Stacey McLean's eyes have been described as blue, green and hazel in different stories. I'm going to have to decide what colour they are, then go back and correct the descriptions throughout the various novels and stories.
The process also gives me a chance to flesh out the back stories for some of the major characters, especially Phillip Gold himself. This will allow me to ensure that his reactions to current situations are true and appropriate according to his life history. It will also, I trust, make him a more interesting, well-rounded character.
Of course, it will be a lot of work. But I'm finding it interesting. And kind of fun to think I've written enough about Gold and his world that this is necessary and possible.
The final product should also help me remember the names of characters from page to page as I continue to write The Silent Goodbye.
I have also decided that it is time for me to start addressing some of the inconsistencies that have sprung up in my Gold collection. Okay, okay, that's a grandiose way of saying: my memory stinks and I'm not going to get away with changing characters names (eye colours, hair colours, height, weights, vocal patterns, etc.) in mid-novel any more. I honestly write a character's name, then forget it two pages later.
It's really quite sad.
So, just as I am in the process of preparing a Harry Potter concordance, so I have decided I need to create a Phillip Gold concordance to ensure that characters and locations are consistent from book to book, page to page. It should also help me create signature descriptions for each recurring character, recognisable behaviour patterns, even pet words and phrases. I have always been impressed with how J.K. Rowling was able to create, very quickly, speech patterns that allowed me to recognise characters immediately from what they say: Dolores Umbridge's "Hem Hem" and Ron Weasley's "Are you mental?" to name but two.
I started the process on Saturday and spent four hours working on it. It was then that I realised both that I have written a lot of fiction involving Phillip Gold and also that I have created a pretty impressive collection of people and places that populate his world.
Here is a list of the Phillip Gold fiction I've written to date:
A Fleck of Gold, a full-length novel;
All That Glisters, a full-length novel;
The Gold Figure, the first chapter of a novel;
The Prequel, the first 60 pages of a so-far untitled novel;
"The Rare Book", a short story;
"Violet and Gold", a short story; and
The Silent Goodbye, a three-quarters complete novel.
That's a lot of writing. And it also represents a great number of characters and settings, both ones that are specific to a particular work and ones that recur throughout the collection.
My job now is to identify those characters and settings that do or might recur, locate every section of each story in which I have provided useful details about them, and copy those details into a encyclopedic entry. Once that's done (and, including today's three hours, I'm up to seven full hours of work on this task), I will review and revise each collection of entries so as to create a useful summary of each person or place.
I will also have to make some decisions between conflicting descriptions of a particular person or place. For example, Stacey McLean's eyes have been described as blue, green and hazel in different stories. I'm going to have to decide what colour they are, then go back and correct the descriptions throughout the various novels and stories.
The process also gives me a chance to flesh out the back stories for some of the major characters, especially Phillip Gold himself. This will allow me to ensure that his reactions to current situations are true and appropriate according to his life history. It will also, I trust, make him a more interesting, well-rounded character.
Of course, it will be a lot of work. But I'm finding it interesting. And kind of fun to think I've written enough about Gold and his world that this is necessary and possible.
The final product should also help me remember the names of characters from page to page as I continue to write The Silent Goodbye.
Toe Dipping
28/08/09 19:47 Filed in: Writing
I dipped a toe in the water of my trial scene. I'm
very proud of myself. The thing had been intimidating
the heck out of me so I thought I'd take two steps to
get myself re-started: first, I went on the web to
see if I could find sample Crown openings for jury
trials (I could); second, I decided to proceed very
slowly, very carefully while trying to be cognizant
of what each character would be thinking, doing,
aiming for with every word.
So I wrote about 300 words of Sharon Kyle's opening to the jury. I spent some time not only on what she would say but also thinking about how she would act and what impact her words and actions would have on Phillip Gold. And there's a lot going on there.
The last time Gold saw Kyle in action in a court room, he was on the witness stand and she was tearing him to pieces. So he's feeling a little bit vulnerable and embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Gold is not very confident as a trial lawyer while Kyle is the consummate professional. He wants to watch her closely so as to learn from her as much as he can.
And Kyle is drop-dead gorgeous, a fact that is not lost on Gold (nor on any one else in the court room).
This gives me lots to think about and lots to write about.
Going slowly seems to be working. I just hope my sister will be ready to receive a draft when I'm done. I'm thinking I should probably send her it piece by piece as I go along, rather than in one big chunk. That would give her a chance to review in brief spurts, focusing on each individual aspect of the trial (are you reading this, Janice?).
On the other side of the process, I think I mentioned that I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series (surprise, surprise!) from the beginning. I have just completed the fourth and fifth books (The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix, the first two longer novels) and was surprised to find that I have only read each of them once or, at most, twice. As a result, the movie versions were more prominent in my mind. I was delighted to rediscover how really excellent these books are, how much detail Rowling puts into them and how complex and layered the plots are.
It brought home to me, again, the deficiencies in the films. I guess I'm going to have to work hard to ensure that it is Rowling's originals, rather than the film derivations, that stay uppermost in my mind.
Anyway, back to work on Phil and Sharon, Gold and Kyle.
So I wrote about 300 words of Sharon Kyle's opening to the jury. I spent some time not only on what she would say but also thinking about how she would act and what impact her words and actions would have on Phillip Gold. And there's a lot going on there.
The last time Gold saw Kyle in action in a court room, he was on the witness stand and she was tearing him to pieces. So he's feeling a little bit vulnerable and embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Gold is not very confident as a trial lawyer while Kyle is the consummate professional. He wants to watch her closely so as to learn from her as much as he can.
And Kyle is drop-dead gorgeous, a fact that is not lost on Gold (nor on any one else in the court room).
This gives me lots to think about and lots to write about.
Going slowly seems to be working. I just hope my sister will be ready to receive a draft when I'm done. I'm thinking I should probably send her it piece by piece as I go along, rather than in one big chunk. That would give her a chance to review in brief spurts, focusing on each individual aspect of the trial (are you reading this, Janice?).
On the other side of the process, I think I mentioned that I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series (surprise, surprise!) from the beginning. I have just completed the fourth and fifth books (The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix, the first two longer novels) and was surprised to find that I have only read each of them once or, at most, twice. As a result, the movie versions were more prominent in my mind. I was delighted to rediscover how really excellent these books are, how much detail Rowling puts into them and how complex and layered the plots are.
It brought home to me, again, the deficiencies in the films. I guess I'm going to have to work hard to ensure that it is Rowling's originals, rather than the film derivations, that stay uppermost in my mind.
Anyway, back to work on Phil and Sharon, Gold and Kyle.
Not Quite So Fast
23/08/09 21:02 Filed in: Writing
After my brash statements in my last post about being
"back at it" and all that, I am ashamed to admit that
I haven't been working on The Silent Goodbye
as diligently as I should be. I can come up with all
kinds of excuses but the simple fact is I am
intimidated at the thought of writing the trial
scenes, even with my sister's expert help, and
therefore am stalling.
A terrible thing to have to admit, to be sure, but it's true. I revised the section including Gold's opening address to the jury immediately prior to my last post (and, hence, my optimism therein) but wrote what I think is a terrible opening statement by the Crown. It is so flat and uncreative, lacking in drama and pizzazz, that I'm quite embarrassed by it. It must be rewritten.
That being said, I'm a little scared at the thought of trying to rewrite it. I guess I have to force myself simply to sit down and hammer something out, then revise revise revise, get input, and revise some more.
It occurred to me that I am trying to write in one sitting an oral presentation that the Crown, herself, would probably spend a long time preparing. And she has all kinds of experience doing this kind of stuff. Maybe I just have to accept that I have to put in the same kind of work in preparation for writing the trial scenes that the various lawyers would put in to prepare for the actual trial.
Seems obvious, once I've written it out like that. It's kind of arrogant for me to have allowed myself to think for a minute that I could just sit down and, in a couple of hours, hammer out an effective, dramatic, realistic opening statement to a jury.
So it's back to work for me. And work it will be.
A terrible thing to have to admit, to be sure, but it's true. I revised the section including Gold's opening address to the jury immediately prior to my last post (and, hence, my optimism therein) but wrote what I think is a terrible opening statement by the Crown. It is so flat and uncreative, lacking in drama and pizzazz, that I'm quite embarrassed by it. It must be rewritten.
That being said, I'm a little scared at the thought of trying to rewrite it. I guess I have to force myself simply to sit down and hammer something out, then revise revise revise, get input, and revise some more.
It occurred to me that I am trying to write in one sitting an oral presentation that the Crown, herself, would probably spend a long time preparing. And she has all kinds of experience doing this kind of stuff. Maybe I just have to accept that I have to put in the same kind of work in preparation for writing the trial scenes that the various lawyers would put in to prepare for the actual trial.
Seems obvious, once I've written it out like that. It's kind of arrogant for me to have allowed myself to think for a minute that I could just sit down and, in a couple of hours, hammer out an effective, dramatic, realistic opening statement to a jury.
So it's back to work for me. And work it will be.
Back to It
After a break of about a week to work on other
projects, survive a heat wave and deal with some
weird family issues, I'm getting back to Phillip Gold
and The Silent Goodbye. Finally.
Much of the credit for the return has to go to my sister, Janice, whose enthusiastic response to some questions I posed to her over e-mail has led to a rekindling of my own enthusiasm and a genuine belief that, with her help, I might just be able to write an entertaining, convincing trial. Janice, you see, was until recently a Crown Attorney extraordinaire and her insights into how a criminal trial would be run have been most helpful.
Janice has offered guidance on the mundane details of criminal procedure, such as who speaks first and what would the judge do in certain situations, but she has also been kind enough to share her insights into the more exciting stuff, like how the Crown would design her case, how the defence attorney could attack that case, legal and psychological gambits each might employ with the jury and such like.
The conversations themselves have been fascinating and she's been kind enough to agree to read the first draft once I've finished it and offer more guidance, more insights and more insider info. I'm quite excited at the thought.
The only problem is, I have to keep reminding her that my character, Phillip Gold, is not supposed to be a very good lawyer: I think Janice has a hard time playing down to his level, so to speak.
It is still challenging for me to sit down and work through the narrative on my own since every sentence seems to bring up another question but Janice's help does make me feel like, when all is said and done, the trial will be a realistic, exciting part of the book.
At the same time, I found out that a local library has a pretty sweet collection of films on DVD, including classic stuff and international films as well. One of the first DVDs that jumped out at me was the film version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard's excellent play. The movie version, also written and directed by Stoppard, stars Tim Roth and Gary Oldman as the title characters and is a fabulous piece of cinema.
I won't try to write a review here but will offer this: if you haven't read the play or seen the play or film, do so immediately. Well, do so after you've re-read Hamlet, Shakespeare's play from which Stoppard's work spins.
What I love about Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead, apart from the sheer cleverness and entertainment value of it, is the fact that Stoppard created two different versions of the same idea, each designed to take best advantage of the medium in which it will be delivered. Stated simply, he rewrote his own highly successful play to create a screenplay that is filmic, rather than just a filmed version of the stage play. He made some major changes in writing the movie to take advantage of film as a medium, while still remaining true to the soul of the original.
It's genius. And the DVD I borrowed from the library is a two-disc set, the second disc offering indepth interviews with Stoppard himself, as well as the two main actors in the film. I'm halfway through the interview with Stoppard and it's excellent. Great insights into the play, film and the creative process itself.
I have been a huge fan of Stoppard for some time and this DVD gives me all the more reason to admire him.
There's a personal connection for me too. While working at a hotel in Toronto in the early 1990s, I had occasion to meet and actually chat with Derek Goldby, the man who directed R&D Are D in its first professional production in London in the late 1960s. He was in town directing another Stoppard play, Rough Crossing, for one of Toronto's professional theatre companies. A very exciting opportunity for me and it was neat to hear Stoppard himself talk about Goldby in the interview on the DVD.
I'm looking forward to watching the film again and to seeing the rest of the interviews. It helps that Gary Oldman, who plays Rosencrantz, also plays Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films.
Much of the credit for the return has to go to my sister, Janice, whose enthusiastic response to some questions I posed to her over e-mail has led to a rekindling of my own enthusiasm and a genuine belief that, with her help, I might just be able to write an entertaining, convincing trial. Janice, you see, was until recently a Crown Attorney extraordinaire and her insights into how a criminal trial would be run have been most helpful.
Janice has offered guidance on the mundane details of criminal procedure, such as who speaks first and what would the judge do in certain situations, but she has also been kind enough to share her insights into the more exciting stuff, like how the Crown would design her case, how the defence attorney could attack that case, legal and psychological gambits each might employ with the jury and such like.
The conversations themselves have been fascinating and she's been kind enough to agree to read the first draft once I've finished it and offer more guidance, more insights and more insider info. I'm quite excited at the thought.
The only problem is, I have to keep reminding her that my character, Phillip Gold, is not supposed to be a very good lawyer: I think Janice has a hard time playing down to his level, so to speak.
It is still challenging for me to sit down and work through the narrative on my own since every sentence seems to bring up another question but Janice's help does make me feel like, when all is said and done, the trial will be a realistic, exciting part of the book.
At the same time, I found out that a local library has a pretty sweet collection of films on DVD, including classic stuff and international films as well. One of the first DVDs that jumped out at me was the film version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard's excellent play. The movie version, also written and directed by Stoppard, stars Tim Roth and Gary Oldman as the title characters and is a fabulous piece of cinema.
I won't try to write a review here but will offer this: if you haven't read the play or seen the play or film, do so immediately. Well, do so after you've re-read Hamlet, Shakespeare's play from which Stoppard's work spins.
What I love about Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead, apart from the sheer cleverness and entertainment value of it, is the fact that Stoppard created two different versions of the same idea, each designed to take best advantage of the medium in which it will be delivered. Stated simply, he rewrote his own highly successful play to create a screenplay that is filmic, rather than just a filmed version of the stage play. He made some major changes in writing the movie to take advantage of film as a medium, while still remaining true to the soul of the original.
It's genius. And the DVD I borrowed from the library is a two-disc set, the second disc offering indepth interviews with Stoppard himself, as well as the two main actors in the film. I'm halfway through the interview with Stoppard and it's excellent. Great insights into the play, film and the creative process itself.
I have been a huge fan of Stoppard for some time and this DVD gives me all the more reason to admire him.
There's a personal connection for me too. While working at a hotel in Toronto in the early 1990s, I had occasion to meet and actually chat with Derek Goldby, the man who directed R&D Are D in its first professional production in London in the late 1960s. He was in town directing another Stoppard play, Rough Crossing, for one of Toronto's professional theatre companies. A very exciting opportunity for me and it was neat to hear Stoppard himself talk about Goldby in the interview on the DVD.
I'm looking forward to watching the film again and to seeing the rest of the interviews. It helps that Gary Oldman, who plays Rosencrantz, also plays Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films.
Film Work Rules
New Brunswick is sweating through its first real heat
wave in two years with day-time temperatures climbing
into the 30s and the humidity closing in on 100%.
Fortunately, our basement stays pretty cool so we
spend a lot of time down there and, today, we went
for a drive through the Fundy National Park to Alma,
New Brunswick, an interesting little tourist town
with massive tidal variations to the water levels in
its little part of the Bay of Fundy.
We got there just at the right time to enjoy low tide, meaning a great shelf of often-submerged ocean floor is walkable. How neat to pick your way through drying seaweed, pools of water, barnacle-encrusted rocks as well as sand, mud and sea shells. Unfortunately, we got fooled by the optics: we decided to walk to the water's edge, thinking it would take maybe ten to fifteen minutes; instead, we spent almost 90 minutes on the trek. We were exhausted and sun-stroked by the time we got back to the car. Poor Marlee was at her puppy-wits' end.
Of course, the temperature at the Bay of Fundy is about 10 degrees cooler than in Freddie, so that was something. We drove back via the Hopewell Rocks (we didn't pay to go in; we were just too tired) and then Moncton. A nice way to spend a hot day. Too bad we had to come back to the oven that is Fredericton.
With regard to writing, I've completed the draft of The Silent Goodbye up to the start of the trial. I'm actually quite stunned by my progress to date. I am currently on a little break from writing both to collect myself before diving into the trial itself and to spend some time doing video editing work in preparation for a training program I have to put on at my work in about 10 days.
My plan is to use scenes from popular movies and TV shows to show the participants examples of harassment, discrimination and other such issues. I have, therefore, been hard at work at this computer arranging the editing the scenes I want into usable shape. It's fun but frustrating since video files are so big. Even this very new iMac dual core I'm working on takes a long time to manipulate video files. I am, for example moving a one-hour TV show into iMovie and it is going to take more than an hour do so.
I'm training myself to set the computer to work, then go off and do other things. I should really be using that time to write but there's so much else to do. And some nasty heat to get through.
We got there just at the right time to enjoy low tide, meaning a great shelf of often-submerged ocean floor is walkable. How neat to pick your way through drying seaweed, pools of water, barnacle-encrusted rocks as well as sand, mud and sea shells. Unfortunately, we got fooled by the optics: we decided to walk to the water's edge, thinking it would take maybe ten to fifteen minutes; instead, we spent almost 90 minutes on the trek. We were exhausted and sun-stroked by the time we got back to the car. Poor Marlee was at her puppy-wits' end.
Of course, the temperature at the Bay of Fundy is about 10 degrees cooler than in Freddie, so that was something. We drove back via the Hopewell Rocks (we didn't pay to go in; we were just too tired) and then Moncton. A nice way to spend a hot day. Too bad we had to come back to the oven that is Fredericton.
With regard to writing, I've completed the draft of The Silent Goodbye up to the start of the trial. I'm actually quite stunned by my progress to date. I am currently on a little break from writing both to collect myself before diving into the trial itself and to spend some time doing video editing work in preparation for a training program I have to put on at my work in about 10 days.
My plan is to use scenes from popular movies and TV shows to show the participants examples of harassment, discrimination and other such issues. I have, therefore, been hard at work at this computer arranging the editing the scenes I want into usable shape. It's fun but frustrating since video files are so big. Even this very new iMac dual core I'm working on takes a long time to manipulate video files. I am, for example moving a one-hour TV show into iMovie and it is going to take more than an hour do so.
I'm training myself to set the computer to work, then go off and do other things. I should really be using that time to write but there's so much else to do. And some nasty heat to get through.
Bean There, Done That
Beans! About a pound of them. Fresh, green, crisp and
delicious, straight from our garden to the table.
What an amazing feeling of accomplishment it is to
find the garden you dug and planted is now turning
out fabulous-tasting morsels of freshness.
Even more exciting, the pound we picked the
other day represents just a portion of the beans that
were hanging on the plants. I had been worried that
we'd have to pick some of the smaller, younger ones
to round out the meal but I was pleasantly surprised
to find there were quite enough full-sized beans to
satisfy our hunger. And they were so good. Much
better than the pathetic, thin-skinned things you
find at the grocery store.
As if that wasn't enough excitement, I have also been making excellent progress again on The Silent Goodbye. I wrote an entire section the other day, as much as 3,500 words in one sitting. I have further developed and deepened the relationship between Gold and Constable McLean and I think I have done a decent job of providing some of the backstory from previous (unpublished) novels without dragging things out.
So far, so good. I have one more major scene to write before Gold starts the trial. That's going to be fun to write. I'm calling on my sister and brother-in-law, both legal professionals, to help me make sure I get points of procedure right.
I know, stop writing about writing it and get back to writing it.
As if that wasn't enough excitement, I have also been making excellent progress again on The Silent Goodbye. I wrote an entire section the other day, as much as 3,500 words in one sitting. I have further developed and deepened the relationship between Gold and Constable McLean and I think I have done a decent job of providing some of the backstory from previous (unpublished) novels without dragging things out.
So far, so good. I have one more major scene to write before Gold starts the trial. That's going to be fun to write. I'm calling on my sister and brother-in-law, both legal professionals, to help me make sure I get points of procedure right.
I know, stop writing about writing it and get back to writing it.
A Slow-Down and an Enjoyable Play
02/08/09 17:09 Filed in: Writing
A surprise long weekend. Monday is, apparently, New
Brunswick Day. I didn't know it was coming up but,
fortunately, I didn't plan any meetings so I have a
nice three-day weekend.
Patti has gone back to Ontario for the weekend so it's very quiet here. Marlee and I are spending quality time together, going for walks, lying on the couch watching movies, sleeping. Perhaps not surprisingly, though, this means I'm not doing much writing. I'm not too concerned about it, though. I am doing a lot of thinking about the next patch so it's not all wasted time.
I have been amazed at how much this last part of the novel expanded and how important it became. It was supposed to be simply a bridge passage between one major plot development and the next and, instead, it has taken on a life of its own. I think it's quite good and there is both some good suspense and some strong character development, so that too is exciting.
Friday night, some friends and I went down to Saint John to catch the opening of a new theatre group dedicated to reviving Irish Theatre in the port city. Headed up by a colleague of Patti's from work, Patrick Toner, the theatre company —"An Amharclann" — put on a performance of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. Now, I personally like Brian Friel's work very much, having read and attended a performance of his lovely piece, Dancing at Lughnasa, in Toronto some years ago. As a result, I was interested to see what this fledgling company would do with Faith Healer, a fairly challenging play.
I have to admit, I attended more to support a colleague than with the expectation of quality theatre but was pleased to find myself impressed with the performance. Faith Healer consists of four monologues by three different characters, all telling their own recollections of their lives together. It's funny in parts, heartbreakingly sad in others and it is in the inconsistencies of the different versions of the stories that we learn the most about the characters.
I felt David Cook was excellent in the title role, Frank, the Faith Healer. He was both natural and entertaining, sympathetic despite the often horrific portrait that is painted of his character, often unintentionally, by the others. Mr. Cook could have projected better into the balcony, where we were sitting, but I associate the Irish with quiet, lilting voices so the fact that I missed the occasional word or phrase seemed appropriate.
Willow Edwards also delivered with her performance as Grace, Frank's companion (lover, mistress, wife, care-giver, etc.). Edwards, in my opinion, faced the toughest task, taming an often over-the-top emotional monologue to make it sympathetic, effective. She did a nice job, capturing the audience's attention and working us nicely through a very sad set of stories.
The weak link in the chain was Bob Vienneau, in the role of Teddy, Frank's manager. One hallmark of Teddy's character is that he is Cockney, as opposed to the other two, Irish characters. Unfortunately, Vienneau's struggle to produce a Cockney accent often undermined his presentation of the character and, perhaps more importantly, his version of the story. As one of my companions suggested, the company would have been better off to adjust the play's script slightly to rescue Vienneau from the accent. With a little tweaking, it might have been fun to allow him simply to be a French Canadian.
As I said above, I was impressed with the play. This is an excellent start for the new company with another play to come for St. Patrick's Day next year. I will look forward to that.
In the meantime, to my amazement my tiny little cucumber vines have suddenly popped out bright yellow flowers. These six-inch plants are actually going to try to grow cucumbers — heavy veggies that will outweigh the plants themselves long before they reach full size. I wish I could convince them to wait!
Patti has gone back to Ontario for the weekend so it's very quiet here. Marlee and I are spending quality time together, going for walks, lying on the couch watching movies, sleeping. Perhaps not surprisingly, though, this means I'm not doing much writing. I'm not too concerned about it, though. I am doing a lot of thinking about the next patch so it's not all wasted time.
I have been amazed at how much this last part of the novel expanded and how important it became. It was supposed to be simply a bridge passage between one major plot development and the next and, instead, it has taken on a life of its own. I think it's quite good and there is both some good suspense and some strong character development, so that too is exciting.
Friday night, some friends and I went down to Saint John to catch the opening of a new theatre group dedicated to reviving Irish Theatre in the port city. Headed up by a colleague of Patti's from work, Patrick Toner, the theatre company —"An Amharclann" — put on a performance of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. Now, I personally like Brian Friel's work very much, having read and attended a performance of his lovely piece, Dancing at Lughnasa, in Toronto some years ago. As a result, I was interested to see what this fledgling company would do with Faith Healer, a fairly challenging play.
I have to admit, I attended more to support a colleague than with the expectation of quality theatre but was pleased to find myself impressed with the performance. Faith Healer consists of four monologues by three different characters, all telling their own recollections of their lives together. It's funny in parts, heartbreakingly sad in others and it is in the inconsistencies of the different versions of the stories that we learn the most about the characters.
I felt David Cook was excellent in the title role, Frank, the Faith Healer. He was both natural and entertaining, sympathetic despite the often horrific portrait that is painted of his character, often unintentionally, by the others. Mr. Cook could have projected better into the balcony, where we were sitting, but I associate the Irish with quiet, lilting voices so the fact that I missed the occasional word or phrase seemed appropriate.
Willow Edwards also delivered with her performance as Grace, Frank's companion (lover, mistress, wife, care-giver, etc.). Edwards, in my opinion, faced the toughest task, taming an often over-the-top emotional monologue to make it sympathetic, effective. She did a nice job, capturing the audience's attention and working us nicely through a very sad set of stories.
The weak link in the chain was Bob Vienneau, in the role of Teddy, Frank's manager. One hallmark of Teddy's character is that he is Cockney, as opposed to the other two, Irish characters. Unfortunately, Vienneau's struggle to produce a Cockney accent often undermined his presentation of the character and, perhaps more importantly, his version of the story. As one of my companions suggested, the company would have been better off to adjust the play's script slightly to rescue Vienneau from the accent. With a little tweaking, it might have been fun to allow him simply to be a French Canadian.
As I said above, I was impressed with the play. This is an excellent start for the new company with another play to come for St. Patrick's Day next year. I will look forward to that.
In the meantime, to my amazement my tiny little cucumber vines have suddenly popped out bright yellow flowers. These six-inch plants are actually going to try to grow cucumbers — heavy veggies that will outweigh the plants themselves long before they reach full size. I wish I could convince them to wait!
Fruitful Pursuits
Beans! Beans! Actual, real life, edible beans,
popping out all over the place in our garden. We
already have enough to serve ourselves for a single
dinner. Twenty beans or more! Hooray.
And everything else seems to be coming up very
well too. The tomato plants are about six inches
high, the cucumbers are starting to come along and
I'm honestly starting to think I may have to pull
some carrots soon. Parsley, arugula, thyme also
becoming available for eating. I'm so impressed.
And Patti's experiment with planting nasturtiums along the carport in my recently moved sod has actually produced flowers. Amazing. All the books told us they'd be killed by the grass. Very exciting, to say the least.
In the meantime, work continues to go well on The Silent Goodbye. I am again in a rhythm and things are moving along very nicely. I think I'm going to have some rewriting to do to even out the tone and style but that's okay. I like the flow and I think it's working out well.
I'm not sure what to do about the sexual tension between Gold and the lovely constable Stacey McLean. So far, she's kept him at a distance but...
Of course, some of my hesitation might be
because I'm not sure I can write the romantic stuff.
We'll see.
In the meantime, the writing is flowing and the veggie garden is producing. What more could a guy want?
And Patti's experiment with planting nasturtiums along the carport in my recently moved sod has actually produced flowers. Amazing. All the books told us they'd be killed by the grass. Very exciting, to say the least.
In the meantime, work continues to go well on The Silent Goodbye. I am again in a rhythm and things are moving along very nicely. I think I'm going to have some rewriting to do to even out the tone and style but that's okay. I like the flow and I think it's working out well.
I'm not sure what to do about the sexual tension between Gold and the lovely constable Stacey McLean. So far, she's kept him at a distance but...
In the meantime, the writing is flowing and the veggie garden is producing. What more could a guy want?
Update on all the Stuff in My Life
I have to come clean: I haven't written any Phillip
Gold in three days. Okay, there, I said it. I
admitted my fault. Work has been extremely busy and
so has life in general. Add that the constant rain of
the past few weeks has finally broken out into
glorious sunshine (and the resulting golf game) and
you'll see why I haven't been able to get back to
The Silent Goodbye.
My subconscious has been working on it (or is that my unconscious?) and I expect to be able to get rolling again when I next sit down. Too many things have gotten in the way.
By way of update on other things, however, I still have not heard from the publisher about my Abigail Massey submission. I have also given up trying to figure out what that means: they don't review new submissions very often so they simply haven't taken a look at it; they have looked at it and rejected it but figure bad news can wait; they like it but it has to go through the channels for approvals before they contact me again.
I"ve heard all the possibilities and have no clue which is true. I don't want to give up but I'd feel a lot better if I had heard one way or another.
My vegetable garden is coming along surprisingly well. Although we have little critters that seem to go after certain plants, the whole garden plot (so brown and barren two months ago) is alive with varying shades of green. I even had to go out and do some heartless thinning to most of the rows of veggies but learned from the way the remaining plants suddenly exploded in growth thereafter that thinning is a good and kind thing for plants. No actual, edible vegetables yet but we're getting there.
With regard to backyard birds, I made the mistake of buying the really cheap seed and ended up, perhaps not surprisingly, with a yard filled with grackles, crows, doves and pigeons. I'm surprised the neighbours didn't come to complain. So I took the main feeder down and put it in the shed. Within two days, most of the undesirables had disappeared and, for the last two days, we've enjoyed the company of gold and purple finches as well as chipping sparrows and chicadees at our finch feeder. Much better. Lesson learned.
In the area of reading, well, I've gotten myself caught up in Harry Potter again. In preparation for the disappointing film that came out a couple of weeks ago, I re-read The Half-Blood Prince, then followed the natural course of things and read The Deathly Hallows. Now I'm whipping through the first three books, reading the novel and watching the movie in rapid succession to see the changes. I can't believe I never realised how different the ending of the first book was from that of the first movie: in the book, Harry's battle with Quirrell/Voldemort is killing both of them when Dumbledore intervenes to save Harry; in the movie, Harry is victorious over Quirrell but knocked out by Voldemort's escaping spirit and wakes in the Infirmary. Very different.
And, still on the video front, I am now watching the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series again. You can feel the change in quality from the opening moment. For one thing, Kirk and the rest have been allowed to grow their hair out from the military cuts of the first two seasons to hippie styles of the sixties. It just looks bad.
Anyway, that's the update. Off to the golf course now!
My subconscious has been working on it (or is that my unconscious?) and I expect to be able to get rolling again when I next sit down. Too many things have gotten in the way.
By way of update on other things, however, I still have not heard from the publisher about my Abigail Massey submission. I have also given up trying to figure out what that means: they don't review new submissions very often so they simply haven't taken a look at it; they have looked at it and rejected it but figure bad news can wait; they like it but it has to go through the channels for approvals before they contact me again.
I"ve heard all the possibilities and have no clue which is true. I don't want to give up but I'd feel a lot better if I had heard one way or another.
My vegetable garden is coming along surprisingly well. Although we have little critters that seem to go after certain plants, the whole garden plot (so brown and barren two months ago) is alive with varying shades of green. I even had to go out and do some heartless thinning to most of the rows of veggies but learned from the way the remaining plants suddenly exploded in growth thereafter that thinning is a good and kind thing for plants. No actual, edible vegetables yet but we're getting there.
With regard to backyard birds, I made the mistake of buying the really cheap seed and ended up, perhaps not surprisingly, with a yard filled with grackles, crows, doves and pigeons. I'm surprised the neighbours didn't come to complain. So I took the main feeder down and put it in the shed. Within two days, most of the undesirables had disappeared and, for the last two days, we've enjoyed the company of gold and purple finches as well as chipping sparrows and chicadees at our finch feeder. Much better. Lesson learned.
In the area of reading, well, I've gotten myself caught up in Harry Potter again. In preparation for the disappointing film that came out a couple of weeks ago, I re-read The Half-Blood Prince, then followed the natural course of things and read The Deathly Hallows. Now I'm whipping through the first three books, reading the novel and watching the movie in rapid succession to see the changes. I can't believe I never realised how different the ending of the first book was from that of the first movie: in the book, Harry's battle with Quirrell/Voldemort is killing both of them when Dumbledore intervenes to save Harry; in the movie, Harry is victorious over Quirrell but knocked out by Voldemort's escaping spirit and wakes in the Infirmary. Very different.
And, still on the video front, I am now watching the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series again. You can feel the change in quality from the opening moment. For one thing, Kirk and the rest have been allowed to grow their hair out from the military cuts of the first two seasons to hippie styles of the sixties. It just looks bad.
Anyway, that's the update. Off to the golf course now!
The Work Continues
22/07/09 08:20 Filed in: Writing
I continue to make consistent progress on The
Silent Goodbye. This is somewhat remarkable
considering how much has been going on in my life of
late but, if you can commit time and energy every day
to writing, you can actually create some momentum.
The story continues to unfold according to my plan, with some interesting and unexpected twists arising during the process of writing. I always find it very exciting when, as I write a scene, the characters themselves start to take charge and direct the action. In this case, the scene I was writing involved Gold, his favourite cop and an attractive assassin sitting down to compare notes. Through the course of their conversation, an entirely new possibility for the story announced itself, an exciting interlude that will increase tension and create another opportunity for action.
I had not planned it to happen but suddenly the assassin started talking and out came this marvellous new idea. It was natural to the character, to the conversation and to the situation. So I went with it.
Of course, this new idea requires me now to go back and do a little bit of revision of the earlier parts of the scene but that's okay. And, as I do the rewrite, I have to do some hard thinking about how these three characters would put this particular plan into action.
That's the fun part of the job: the mental work of taking a good idea and making it work, for the characters and for the novel.
The story continues to unfold according to my plan, with some interesting and unexpected twists arising during the process of writing. I always find it very exciting when, as I write a scene, the characters themselves start to take charge and direct the action. In this case, the scene I was writing involved Gold, his favourite cop and an attractive assassin sitting down to compare notes. Through the course of their conversation, an entirely new possibility for the story announced itself, an exciting interlude that will increase tension and create another opportunity for action.
I had not planned it to happen but suddenly the assassin started talking and out came this marvellous new idea. It was natural to the character, to the conversation and to the situation. So I went with it.
Of course, this new idea requires me now to go back and do a little bit of revision of the earlier parts of the scene but that's okay. And, as I do the rewrite, I have to do some hard thinking about how these three characters would put this particular plan into action.
That's the fun part of the job: the mental work of taking a good idea and making it work, for the characters and for the novel.
Another Challenge Faced
17/07/09 07:10 Filed in: Writing
My pattern for success has been to write, if
possible, during my lunch hour at work and then to
come home and spend between 30 and 90 minutes each
evening at the computer. It's worked well and I've
managed to build up that much-sought-after rhythm in
the writing.
So what happens when the pattern falls apart, when barriers arise in the form of other demands on my time? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that work will often get so busy I don't really take a lunch break and that part of the pattern unravels. It's when work is busy and things come up in the evening that the whole enterprise is threatened.
Yesterday provided an example of the perfect storm. Work began early and kept moving at rapid pace until the end of the day. I had a meeting over lunch so I figured it would be rude to try to write during that. So I got home with not a word written.
Then came life. First, since I haven't been sleeping well, I fell asleep almost as soon as I got home and stayed asleep for three hours. Dinner, then I had realised that one of the reasons I wasn't sleeping well was because Marlee Marie was interrupting my sleep with demands for play. Why was she doing that? Because I hadn't been spending my usual half hour playing with her recently.
So I committed myself to play with her for a while. That was a great idea. She's just been groomed and she's in a very happy mood and we had a lot of fun. At that point it's nine o'clock and ABC has a special on TV about "A Day In the Life of JK Rowling". So I watched that. Great show.
Now it's 10 p.m. and, guess what? A whole day has passed and I haven't written a word. Not good. Rhythm shaken. Progress threatened.
So I plopped myself down at the computer for about 20 minutes and worked. I wrote maybe six paragraphs. But it was a full scene, an important transition scene that shows Gold, on a bus to London, ruminating over what had just happened on the streets of Toronto.
Sure, it's not a lot. But it's something. It's a brief but important scene and it represents continued progress. I felt very good about myself as I lay my head on my pillow: despite a very busy and challenging day, despite the possibility that I would just let it overwhelm me and not write at all, I hung tough. I kept my focus and at least accomplished something.
Sometimes, on the busy days, "something" is a success story.
So what happens when the pattern falls apart, when barriers arise in the form of other demands on my time? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that work will often get so busy I don't really take a lunch break and that part of the pattern unravels. It's when work is busy and things come up in the evening that the whole enterprise is threatened.
Yesterday provided an example of the perfect storm. Work began early and kept moving at rapid pace until the end of the day. I had a meeting over lunch so I figured it would be rude to try to write during that. So I got home with not a word written.
Then came life. First, since I haven't been sleeping well, I fell asleep almost as soon as I got home and stayed asleep for three hours. Dinner, then I had realised that one of the reasons I wasn't sleeping well was because Marlee Marie was interrupting my sleep with demands for play. Why was she doing that? Because I hadn't been spending my usual half hour playing with her recently.
So I committed myself to play with her for a while. That was a great idea. She's just been groomed and she's in a very happy mood and we had a lot of fun. At that point it's nine o'clock and ABC has a special on TV about "A Day In the Life of JK Rowling". So I watched that. Great show.
Now it's 10 p.m. and, guess what? A whole day has passed and I haven't written a word. Not good. Rhythm shaken. Progress threatened.
So I plopped myself down at the computer for about 20 minutes and worked. I wrote maybe six paragraphs. But it was a full scene, an important transition scene that shows Gold, on a bus to London, ruminating over what had just happened on the streets of Toronto.
Sure, it's not a lot. But it's something. It's a brief but important scene and it represents continued progress. I felt very good about myself as I lay my head on my pillow: despite a very busy and challenging day, despite the possibility that I would just let it overwhelm me and not write at all, I hung tough. I kept my focus and at least accomplished something.
Sometimes, on the busy days, "something" is a success story.
Impressive Progress
16/07/09 03:18 Filed in: Writing
Almost a week into the new plan and things continue
to go well. I have made good progress on The
Silent Goodbye, with what I think is some
reasonably good writing along the way.
The key is consistency. Write at least a little bit every day. A second key is setting reasonable goals for each day's writing: I'm finding that I try to start and finish at least one scene every day. Some people say you should leave off in mid-scene, even in mid-sentence, so that you can relaunch fairly easily the next day. That doesn't work for me. I'd prefer to write a scene, then spend the intervening period allowing my mind to work through the next scene or two before I sit down to write again.
Although I do the bulk of the writing in the evening (I set aside between 30 and 90 minutes a night to write — again, I'm setting reasonable goals for myself), I also try to do at least a little bit of writing on my lunch hour at work. This creates a bridge period between the major blocks of writing, a chance to work through the transitions from scene to scene, that kind of stuff.
Once I've done maybe 20 to 30 minutes of writing at work, I block and copy whatever I produce into an e-mail and send it to myself. The first step for the evening session is then to open the e-mail, block and copy the passage into my working file for the novel and, then, as I go through to correct formatting errors caused by the movement from Word file to e-mail file and back to Word file, I also revise the passage. This kick starts the evening's writing session and off I go.
Of course, when my work is as busy as it has been for the past couple of days, I can't always get to the writing. Some days are just train wrecks of meetings, drop ins, counselling sessions, and e-mail correspondence. It can be overwhelming.
Even on those kinds of days, however, it's good to get at least some writing done, if only in the evening. It keeps me sane and it keeps the rhythm going. Writing seems to feed on itself: once you get going, you keep going. If you grind to a halt, it's hard to get started again.
So Phillip Gold is moving along well. Abigail Massey, on the other hand, is still sitting in the Ladies Waiting Room, hoping to hear from a publisher. Soon, we hope.
On the down side, my commitment to my writing has had at least one negative impact: less time to play with the dog. I kind of got that message when Marlee Marie marched into our bedroom this morning at 2 a.m. and dropped a ball noisily at the end of the bed, then let out a big sigh and collapsed dramatically to the floor. Message received, Marlee.
The key is consistency. Write at least a little bit every day. A second key is setting reasonable goals for each day's writing: I'm finding that I try to start and finish at least one scene every day. Some people say you should leave off in mid-scene, even in mid-sentence, so that you can relaunch fairly easily the next day. That doesn't work for me. I'd prefer to write a scene, then spend the intervening period allowing my mind to work through the next scene or two before I sit down to write again.
Although I do the bulk of the writing in the evening (I set aside between 30 and 90 minutes a night to write — again, I'm setting reasonable goals for myself), I also try to do at least a little bit of writing on my lunch hour at work. This creates a bridge period between the major blocks of writing, a chance to work through the transitions from scene to scene, that kind of stuff.
Once I've done maybe 20 to 30 minutes of writing at work, I block and copy whatever I produce into an e-mail and send it to myself. The first step for the evening session is then to open the e-mail, block and copy the passage into my working file for the novel and, then, as I go through to correct formatting errors caused by the movement from Word file to e-mail file and back to Word file, I also revise the passage. This kick starts the evening's writing session and off I go.
Of course, when my work is as busy as it has been for the past couple of days, I can't always get to the writing. Some days are just train wrecks of meetings, drop ins, counselling sessions, and e-mail correspondence. It can be overwhelming.
Even on those kinds of days, however, it's good to get at least some writing done, if only in the evening. It keeps me sane and it keeps the rhythm going. Writing seems to feed on itself: once you get going, you keep going. If you grind to a halt, it's hard to get started again.
So Phillip Gold is moving along well. Abigail Massey, on the other hand, is still sitting in the Ladies Waiting Room, hoping to hear from a publisher. Soon, we hope.
On the down side, my commitment to my writing has had at least one negative impact: less time to play with the dog. I kind of got that message when Marlee Marie marched into our bedroom this morning at 2 a.m. and dropped a ball noisily at the end of the bed, then let out a big sigh and collapsed dramatically to the floor. Message received, Marlee.
One Good Shot Deserves Another
I have received some really positive responses to my
photo of the bald eagle, which I published both in
this blog and on my Facebook page. Lots of people
said they liked it, several made very kind comments,
and several responded with some of their recent
wildlife photos.
My friend Thanna sent along a beautiful
photograph of a Great Blue Heron that she took while
canoeing with her family in the Princess Point/Cootes
Paradise area in Hamilton. She said they had seen
numerous such herons that day.
Another friend, my brother-in-law Gavin, sent along an amazing close-up photo of a fox that he took while he and my sister Lynn had a brief break near Lakefield, Ontario. I am reproducing these photos here without their permission so please don't copy and use them. If you want info on the owners of these photos, e-mail me at mark.walma@gmail.com and I'll facilitate the communication.
And there's good news from the writing front. I have been able to maintain my discipline and work on The Silent Goodbye every day. I got the chance to write four pages on my lunch hour at work today and plan to spend more time tonight. So things are progressing. And, if I do say so myself, progressing quite well.
I also completed my re-watching of the second season of Star Trek (The Original Series), which was easily the best, most consistent of the three seasons. Now I'm on to season three, the worst of the three, which gets off to an inauspicious beginning with an episode entitled "Spock's Brain". This episode is so bad I don't know where to begin. Even the actors seem to recognise it's awful and play down to the material.
And finally I'm in the middle of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a final re-read before the movie opens here in Canada on Wednesday. This is easily my least favourite book of the series but I'm interested to see what they do with it on film. To be honest, the advance glimpses I've had suggest the film-makers have taken a great number of liberties with the source material. In this case, that might not be a bad thing.
Another friend, my brother-in-law Gavin, sent along an amazing close-up photo of a fox that he took while he and my sister Lynn had a brief break near Lakefield, Ontario. I am reproducing these photos here without their permission so please don't copy and use them. If you want info on the owners of these photos, e-mail me at mark.walma@gmail.com and I'll facilitate the communication.
And there's good news from the writing front. I have been able to maintain my discipline and work on The Silent Goodbye every day. I got the chance to write four pages on my lunch hour at work today and plan to spend more time tonight. So things are progressing. And, if I do say so myself, progressing quite well.
I also completed my re-watching of the second season of Star Trek (The Original Series), which was easily the best, most consistent of the three seasons. Now I'm on to season three, the worst of the three, which gets off to an inauspicious beginning with an episode entitled "Spock's Brain". This episode is so bad I don't know where to begin. Even the actors seem to recognise it's awful and play down to the material.
And finally I'm in the middle of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a final re-read before the movie opens here in Canada on Wednesday. This is easily my least favourite book of the series but I'm interested to see what they do with it on film. To be honest, the advance glimpses I've had suggest the film-makers have taken a great number of liberties with the source material. In this case, that might not be a bad thing.
The First Real Challenge
10/07/09 15:50 Filed in: Writing
Day three and I have run into the first real
challenge for my plan: a busy day combined with a
stalled narrative.
Even when you have the entire plot planned out very carefully, sometimes it is not so easy to figure out how you are going to move your characters from one major event to the next, plausibly and in an interesting way. I've got Phillip in Toronto to hide for a week before the trial, I've got him set up in an interesting place and I've even provided an interesting woman to distract him. But how do I use the three days he has left in an interesting way that still advances the plot?
That's the problem I'm facing and, since I don't know how I'm going to resolve it, I'm having trouble diving back in. And life isn't helping since it's given me an incredibly busy day: today is our fifth wedding anniversary and we're planning an evening of kayaking/canoeing with friends. So I have to cram all the after-work stuff into a much shorter time, which may mean the writing gets sacrificed.
I've taken ten minutes to write this but, as I look at the clock on the computer, I realise my time's up. Marlee is fast asleep at my feet but I'll have to wake her in order to be there in time to pick Patti up and get us both to the boat launch!
Still no word on Abigail either!
Even when you have the entire plot planned out very carefully, sometimes it is not so easy to figure out how you are going to move your characters from one major event to the next, plausibly and in an interesting way. I've got Phillip in Toronto to hide for a week before the trial, I've got him set up in an interesting place and I've even provided an interesting woman to distract him. But how do I use the three days he has left in an interesting way that still advances the plot?
That's the problem I'm facing and, since I don't know how I'm going to resolve it, I'm having trouble diving back in. And life isn't helping since it's given me an incredibly busy day: today is our fifth wedding anniversary and we're planning an evening of kayaking/canoeing with friends. So I have to cram all the after-work stuff into a much shorter time, which may mean the writing gets sacrificed.
I've taken ten minutes to write this but, as I look at the clock on the computer, I realise my time's up. Marlee is fast asleep at my feet but I'll have to wake her in order to be there in time to pick Patti up and get us both to the boat launch!
Still no word on Abigail either!
Two Days, Not Bad
09/07/09 20:57 Filed in: Writing
I am now two days into the grand plan and things are
working pretty well. I have written two new sections
of The Silent Goodbye and, even better, I am
finding that the story, characters and plot are
settling again into my subconscious and percolating
away in there.
That's a good sign. And it makes the writing so much easier.
On the fun side, Phillip Gold has fled to Toronto to "disappear" for a couple of days in preparation for the trial. That's given me a chance to take him back to some of my old haunts — the University of Toronto law school, the Villager Suite Hotel, the Big Slice — and spend a little time there as well. It's sort of a break for him and a fun moment for me. The trick will be to make sure I keep it interesting enough as a bridge section that readers won't put the book down and never go back to it.
Of course, I will follow the old hard-boiled axiom: every time you wonder what should happen next, have someone come into the room with a gun.
I'm going down now to write some more. It feels so good when the words are flowing. Of course, I'm also still waiting for word on the Abigail Massey submission.
That's a good sign. And it makes the writing so much easier.
On the fun side, Phillip Gold has fled to Toronto to "disappear" for a couple of days in preparation for the trial. That's given me a chance to take him back to some of my old haunts — the University of Toronto law school, the Villager Suite Hotel, the Big Slice — and spend a little time there as well. It's sort of a break for him and a fun moment for me. The trick will be to make sure I keep it interesting enough as a bridge section that readers won't put the book down and never go back to it.
Of course, I will follow the old hard-boiled axiom: every time you wonder what should happen next, have someone come into the room with a gun.
I'm going down now to write some more. It feels so good when the words are flowing. Of course, I'm also still waiting for word on the Abigail Massey submission.
The First Step
07/07/09 17:44 Filed in: Writing
I start the new regimen today.
Moments ago, I e-mailed off my query letter for the Abigail Massey at McAdam Station episodic novel to a Canadian publisher, leaving me free to start focusing on one project: The Silent Goodbye.
I am going to attempt to find at least an hour every day to work on this novel, with a view to completing the first draft by the end of 2009. Patti is on board and supportive and I am committed (or at least I should be). I have set up my laptop computer as my principal place of writing and, at some point in the not too distant future, I will take steps to establish my own office in what we call the "Green Room" of our home.
This time, it's SERIOUS.
I have completed the extended (and action-packed) set up of the novel and, from here on out, I will be weaving together the two major plots: Phillip Gold's duel with Alexander Pim, the professional killer, and the sexual assault trial of gang member Billy Watson, Gold's latest client.
The idea is to have one add tension to the other with the two finally coming together in an exciting climax. We'll see. I have the plot carefully planned and more ideas started coming to me while I was showering this morning (I do seem to do some of my best thinking with the water flowing!). My hope is that, by breaking down the remaining writing into bite-sized chunks, I might just be successful at getting the writing done.
Sounds funny, doesn't it? Writers are supposed to enjoy the process of writing, to love sitting at the keyboard and creating a fictional world. I'm not so sure it works that way. The part I love is the thinking and planning, the mental process of imagining the plot, developing the characters, working through the challenges and problems that present themselves. The writing is, to me, a much more mechanical process. Taking those wonderful ideas and manufacturing them with words.
That actually sounds like a pretty negative characterization of the actual writing. Maybe it explains why I have so many ideas for projects but such problems completing them.
While I am committed to completing The Silent Goodbye in good order, I won't be too upset if my work is interrupted by one particular distraction: a call from a publisher asking me to focus on rounding Abigail Massey into shape for publication!
Moments ago, I e-mailed off my query letter for the Abigail Massey at McAdam Station episodic novel to a Canadian publisher, leaving me free to start focusing on one project: The Silent Goodbye.
I am going to attempt to find at least an hour every day to work on this novel, with a view to completing the first draft by the end of 2009. Patti is on board and supportive and I am committed (or at least I should be). I have set up my laptop computer as my principal place of writing and, at some point in the not too distant future, I will take steps to establish my own office in what we call the "Green Room" of our home.
This time, it's SERIOUS.
I have completed the extended (and action-packed) set up of the novel and, from here on out, I will be weaving together the two major plots: Phillip Gold's duel with Alexander Pim, the professional killer, and the sexual assault trial of gang member Billy Watson, Gold's latest client.
The idea is to have one add tension to the other with the two finally coming together in an exciting climax. We'll see. I have the plot carefully planned and more ideas started coming to me while I was showering this morning (I do seem to do some of my best thinking with the water flowing!). My hope is that, by breaking down the remaining writing into bite-sized chunks, I might just be successful at getting the writing done.
Sounds funny, doesn't it? Writers are supposed to enjoy the process of writing, to love sitting at the keyboard and creating a fictional world. I'm not so sure it works that way. The part I love is the thinking and planning, the mental process of imagining the plot, developing the characters, working through the challenges and problems that present themselves. The writing is, to me, a much more mechanical process. Taking those wonderful ideas and manufacturing them with words.
That actually sounds like a pretty negative characterization of the actual writing. Maybe it explains why I have so many ideas for projects but such problems completing them.
While I am committed to completing The Silent Goodbye in good order, I won't be too upset if my work is interrupted by one particular distraction: a call from a publisher asking me to focus on rounding Abigail Massey into shape for publication!
A New Project
02/07/09 19:17 Filed in: Writing
The other day I had a chat with my friend Ross,
author of the highly successful novel
Tainted. This book, his first medical
thriller, has apparently sold out its first printing
and is now under order for a second printing. Cool.
During this conversation, Ross told me he simply could not deal with the number of projects I currently have underway: he'd prefer to focus on one completely, get it done, then move on. Considering he's now published and in the "highly successful" category, I had to admit that his approach is probably better than my scattershot, multiple project approach.
So what did I do? I immediately went out and started a new project. To add to all the others. In case you've forgotten, here's what I'm working on from a writing standpoint: 1) Phillip Gold, The Silent Goodbye, a novel; 2) Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, a collection of short stories for young readers (ages 9 to 12 or so); 3) the Harry Potter Concordance; 4) The Way Forward, a Rowling-world novel; and 5) this blog.
I'm going to keep the new project something of a secret for now, considering the ones I do talk about never seem to get done. Suffice it to say, it is inspired by how much I enjoy writing the Abigail Massey stories and it will feature a protagonist who is named after two of my favourite people: her name will be Emily St. Clare. That's not to say that my character will in any way resemble Emily or Clare but I like the names and I like the way they come together.
With regard to a status update on the projects, here goes:
The Silent Goodbye: I have written more than 50,000 words of it and recently completed a fairly detailed plot plan for the remainder of the novel. I have dabbled with writing the remainder and will make this a focus for the remainder of the year;
Abigail Massey at McAdam Station: I have written 12 of these stories which, when counted together, total approximately 45,000 words. I am in the process of drafting query letters to several Canadian publishers of children and young people's fiction with the hopes of finding someone to take the project on. I also dream of the stories one day forming the basis for a family television comic drama, in the style of Road to Avonlea and Anne of Green Gables;
Harry Potter Concordance: this is a personal pet project that I'm doing simply for my own enjoyment. I'm part way through The Goblet of Fire and having a great time with it. But it is slow work;
The Way Forward: Despite a very impressive burst of energy when I started it, this project has lost some steam. I will likely get back to it at some point but it is strictly back-burner for now.
This blog: as long as I enjoy writing it, which I do, I'll keep doing it.
In the meantime, I have started posting simple videos on Youtube under the user name "markwwnb": so far, two short, silent vids of Marlee Marie, our puppy.
So I've got a lot on the go, creatively. That's on top of life, the universe and everything.
And I've come to accept that, even with a clear picture in front of me of a brown and white bird with streaks and speckles, I am incapable of identifying it using bird books like Peterson's. I'm hopeless.
During this conversation, Ross told me he simply could not deal with the number of projects I currently have underway: he'd prefer to focus on one completely, get it done, then move on. Considering he's now published and in the "highly successful" category, I had to admit that his approach is probably better than my scattershot, multiple project approach.
So what did I do? I immediately went out and started a new project. To add to all the others. In case you've forgotten, here's what I'm working on from a writing standpoint: 1) Phillip Gold, The Silent Goodbye, a novel; 2) Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, a collection of short stories for young readers (ages 9 to 12 or so); 3) the Harry Potter Concordance; 4) The Way Forward, a Rowling-world novel; and 5) this blog.
I'm going to keep the new project something of a secret for now, considering the ones I do talk about never seem to get done. Suffice it to say, it is inspired by how much I enjoy writing the Abigail Massey stories and it will feature a protagonist who is named after two of my favourite people: her name will be Emily St. Clare. That's not to say that my character will in any way resemble Emily or Clare but I like the names and I like the way they come together.
With regard to a status update on the projects, here goes:
The Silent Goodbye: I have written more than 50,000 words of it and recently completed a fairly detailed plot plan for the remainder of the novel. I have dabbled with writing the remainder and will make this a focus for the remainder of the year;
Abigail Massey at McAdam Station: I have written 12 of these stories which, when counted together, total approximately 45,000 words. I am in the process of drafting query letters to several Canadian publishers of children and young people's fiction with the hopes of finding someone to take the project on. I also dream of the stories one day forming the basis for a family television comic drama, in the style of Road to Avonlea and Anne of Green Gables;
Harry Potter Concordance: this is a personal pet project that I'm doing simply for my own enjoyment. I'm part way through The Goblet of Fire and having a great time with it. But it is slow work;
The Way Forward: Despite a very impressive burst of energy when I started it, this project has lost some steam. I will likely get back to it at some point but it is strictly back-burner for now.
This blog: as long as I enjoy writing it, which I do, I'll keep doing it.
In the meantime, I have started posting simple videos on Youtube under the user name "markwwnb": so far, two short, silent vids of Marlee Marie, our puppy.
So I've got a lot on the go, creatively. That's on top of life, the universe and everything.
And I've come to accept that, even with a clear picture in front of me of a brown and white bird with streaks and speckles, I am incapable of identifying it using bird books like Peterson's. I'm hopeless.
Revving It Up
28/06/09 20:58 Filed in: Writing
So it seems I'm revving up again to do some writing.
I have again been reading over what I've written for
The Silent Goodbye and doing some small
adjustments. This is in preparation for actually
doing some more writing.
I'm feeling quite distracted with regard to my writing right now. I think I have too many projects on the go and I don't feel confident that any of them are going to lead to that great Holy Grail: being published.
We'll see. I guess I'll keep plugging away and hope something good comes of it.
Not much of an entry, I know, but they can't all be gems.
I'm feeling quite distracted with regard to my writing right now. I think I have too many projects on the go and I don't feel confident that any of them are going to lead to that great Holy Grail: being published.
We'll see. I guess I'll keep plugging away and hope something good comes of it.
Not much of an entry, I know, but they can't all be gems.
I Actually Wrote Something
Read that title again. Yes, it's true. I actually
wrote something. Honest.
With the plot plan for The Silent Goodbye now complete, I took it upon myself to write the first page (yes, all of a single page, perhaps 250 words) of the next section. Not much but it is something. Gold begins his long walk through the humid darkness back to his apartment.
It felt good. Really good. It took a while and I have already identified several revisions that I have to do to that single page but it felt sooo good to be writing again.
It also felt very good to re-read the court-room opening argument scene I had written several months ago and to find myself really enjoying it. It's a good scene. It's effective and dramatic and not so very far from what actually happens in criminal court that I have to be embarrassed by it. Opening arguments in criminal trials can go on for hours, even days, which makes it hard to make them both dramatic and realistic. Gold's opening is extremely short but I think it hits the right mark from a suspense and tension standpoint.
I'm pretty pleased with it.
So we start to work again. Slowly. Carefully. For now. Speed and stamina will come with time.
And another hummingbird appeared in our yard today. I saw him sitting on our clothesline and managed to snap all of two pictures, from long distance and through a dirty window, before he flew away. So check out the Backyard Birds page on this site for a grainy picture of the little humdinger (as my mother used to call them).
The photo is nowhere near the quality my friend Madeleine takes in her backyard back in Ontario but it will do for now.
Sexist Star Trek Note: In the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", Captain Koloth complains to Kirk that Klingon vessels don't carry "non-essentials", meaning women. He even waves his hands in what appears to be a description of feminine curves as he says it. Yikes!
With the plot plan for The Silent Goodbye now complete, I took it upon myself to write the first page (yes, all of a single page, perhaps 250 words) of the next section. Not much but it is something. Gold begins his long walk through the humid darkness back to his apartment.
It felt good. Really good. It took a while and I have already identified several revisions that I have to do to that single page but it felt sooo good to be writing again.
It also felt very good to re-read the court-room opening argument scene I had written several months ago and to find myself really enjoying it. It's a good scene. It's effective and dramatic and not so very far from what actually happens in criminal court that I have to be embarrassed by it. Opening arguments in criminal trials can go on for hours, even days, which makes it hard to make them both dramatic and realistic. Gold's opening is extremely short but I think it hits the right mark from a suspense and tension standpoint.
I'm pretty pleased with it.
So we start to work again. Slowly. Carefully. For now. Speed and stamina will come with time.
And another hummingbird appeared in our yard today. I saw him sitting on our clothesline and managed to snap all of two pictures, from long distance and through a dirty window, before he flew away. So check out the Backyard Birds page on this site for a grainy picture of the little humdinger (as my mother used to call them).
The photo is nowhere near the quality my friend Madeleine takes in her backyard back in Ontario but it will do for now.
Sexist Star Trek Note: In the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", Captain Koloth complains to Kirk that Klingon vessels don't carry "non-essentials", meaning women. He even waves his hands in what appears to be a description of feminine curves as he says it. Yikes!
Overwhelmed by Life
17/06/09 20:19 Filed in: Writing
Life is impressively busy these days. Work keeps
throwing me tough situations which seem to be taking
up a lot of time. Then there is this huge conference
in which I am taking part. And, of course, there's
the garden, the bird houses and feeders, the lawn,
the house, the laundry, cooking, cleaning, doing
dishes.
What you have just read is a series of excuses, my way of explaining why I have done no writing whatsoever in the past week. I did take some small steps (like researching Canadian publishers of young adult fiction and talking to a publishing rep at this conference) but, as for actual writing, nothing.
In some ways it's quite depressing. But every time I find myself with an idle moment recently, I just close my eyes or flip on a silly TV show or watch another episode of Star Trek, the original series. I think I'm brain dead.
I still have every intention of getting back to it. I hope to start to package the Abigail Massey stories for an attempt to get them published. I also hope to get back to Phillip Gold according to the plot plan I created and maybe even do some work on The Way Forward.
I even sat down at my laptop with the expectation of at least doing a little work on the Harry Potter Concordance but my mind just wouldn't let me go there.
Things have gotten so bad I'm not even writing this blog very regularly and, when I do, it's about how I'm not writing.
I need to shake this up and get going!
What you have just read is a series of excuses, my way of explaining why I have done no writing whatsoever in the past week. I did take some small steps (like researching Canadian publishers of young adult fiction and talking to a publishing rep at this conference) but, as for actual writing, nothing.
In some ways it's quite depressing. But every time I find myself with an idle moment recently, I just close my eyes or flip on a silly TV show or watch another episode of Star Trek, the original series. I think I'm brain dead.
I still have every intention of getting back to it. I hope to start to package the Abigail Massey stories for an attempt to get them published. I also hope to get back to Phillip Gold according to the plot plan I created and maybe even do some work on The Way Forward.
I even sat down at my laptop with the expectation of at least doing a little work on the Harry Potter Concordance but my mind just wouldn't let me go there.
Things have gotten so bad I'm not even writing this blog very regularly and, when I do, it's about how I'm not writing.
I need to shake this up and get going!
Plot Plan
12/06/09 19:39 Filed in: Writing
For some reason, my imagination kicked into gear
again yesterday and I found myself working through
the rest of the plot for The Silent Goodbye.
I think it started with the simple idea that the next
section of the novel will begin with Gold being
dumped off at the motel in the middle of the night
and deciding to take a long, hot walk back to his
apartment.
I started wondering what he would be thinking about as he made that journey and, even more interesting, I started to visualise the setting through which he would be walking. The motel is located in the west end of the city (Hamilton) and his apartment sits just east of the downtown core. So that makes it an hour-long walk, first down the hill along Main West, then through strip-mall heaven, past the University, across the bridge over the highway, then up the steep hill to Queen Street. Down hill once again past city hall and finally through the dangerous downtown area and into the residential neighbourhoods beyond.
I know. Nothing really special. But I like it as a backdrop. And I like being able to make the city much more a part of the story.
So that's the next part I'll write. I'll have him thinking about the two major challenges that face him: the trial of his client on a sexual assault charge and his own looming duel with the assassin.
I've got the timing down too. The first scene of Gold's journey back to his apartment takes place late on a Sunday night. Since the duel starts on the Wednesday, Gold has to sweat through two full days of fear and preparation. What follows is a full five days of tension, fight or flight, and near misses before the trial finally gets underway the following Monday. With the opening of the trial, the suspense builds as Gold defends his client in the courtroom while trying to defend himself everywhere else.
I had the structure of the plots, several scenes and even some snippets of dialogue wafting through my brain throughout the day, an amazing feeling. Not wanting to forget any of it, I sat down and did a plot plan for the remainder of the novel. Two separate plots which come together at the climax of the book.
It was a fairly large creative effort. Nothing like coming out of the blocks fast!
I started wondering what he would be thinking about as he made that journey and, even more interesting, I started to visualise the setting through which he would be walking. The motel is located in the west end of the city (Hamilton) and his apartment sits just east of the downtown core. So that makes it an hour-long walk, first down the hill along Main West, then through strip-mall heaven, past the University, across the bridge over the highway, then up the steep hill to Queen Street. Down hill once again past city hall and finally through the dangerous downtown area and into the residential neighbourhoods beyond.
I know. Nothing really special. But I like it as a backdrop. And I like being able to make the city much more a part of the story.
So that's the next part I'll write. I'll have him thinking about the two major challenges that face him: the trial of his client on a sexual assault charge and his own looming duel with the assassin.
I've got the timing down too. The first scene of Gold's journey back to his apartment takes place late on a Sunday night. Since the duel starts on the Wednesday, Gold has to sweat through two full days of fear and preparation. What follows is a full five days of tension, fight or flight, and near misses before the trial finally gets underway the following Monday. With the opening of the trial, the suspense builds as Gold defends his client in the courtroom while trying to defend himself everywhere else.
I had the structure of the plots, several scenes and even some snippets of dialogue wafting through my brain throughout the day, an amazing feeling. Not wanting to forget any of it, I sat down and did a plot plan for the remainder of the novel. Two separate plots which come together at the climax of the book.
It was a fairly large creative effort. Nothing like coming out of the blocks fast!
Busy Times
06/06/09 09:13 Filed in: Writing
Life is hotting up again. Work is very busy and, with
all the beautiful weather we've been enjoying, I've
got so many yard chores to do it's amazing.
So not much writing is getting done. My brother is in town for a couple of days of rest and recreation and we've been having a really nice visit. Yesterday, Mike and I went to see Star Trek (2009) again and then we went with Patti and Marlee Marie down to McAdam to introduce Mike to the magnificent station and hotel.
It was good to get back to McAdam, now that I've written all of those Abigail Massey stories. As I learned during our visit yesterday, my own fictional image of the station and hotel has actually replaced in my mind the real thing. In writing my stories, I have made several major errors in describing the design of the building and in setting the action in it.
For example, I wrote the stories on the assumption that there were sets of stairs at either end of the building that connect all three floors. Wrong. The stairs from the first to the second floors (from the station and eating areas to the hotel rooms) rise from a space almost a third of the way along the building from the western end, between the ladies sitting room and the formal dining room. The stairs located at the ends of the station connect only the second floor with the third-floor staff quarters.
I also realised that the hotel does not stretch the entire length of the building. It fills only the western two-thirds of the second floor. Another error on my part. Also, the girls' living area has a large kitchen room (where they probably ate) as well as a large shared bath, both located at the top of the stairs. I had the stairs opening directly into the sleeping area and the girls eating at a table in the sleeping area. Interesting. I'll have to do some re-writing to correct my errors.
Patti and I have also discovered the joys of iMovie. We work on Mac computers. We also have a fairly advanced digital camera that, with our memory card, can take up to an hour of good quality moving pictures (with sound, if we wish). That's led us to put the two together and figure out that, with iMovie, we can do some amazing things with the movies we take. I probably won't incorporate those movies into this website but I'll have to see about taking a more active part on Youtube. For example, as I sit here now I realise I should have done a film of our visit to McAdam yesterday. That probably would have become very popular on Youtube.
We'll have to go back.
And I'll have to get back to my writing. After, of course, I mow and edge the lawn, tend to my garden, clear out the dead, dying and unwanted tree bits in the back of the yard and tidy up our growing pile of refuse branches, sticks and trees.
Don't worry. I'll get there.
So not much writing is getting done. My brother is in town for a couple of days of rest and recreation and we've been having a really nice visit. Yesterday, Mike and I went to see Star Trek (2009) again and then we went with Patti and Marlee Marie down to McAdam to introduce Mike to the magnificent station and hotel.
It was good to get back to McAdam, now that I've written all of those Abigail Massey stories. As I learned during our visit yesterday, my own fictional image of the station and hotel has actually replaced in my mind the real thing. In writing my stories, I have made several major errors in describing the design of the building and in setting the action in it.
For example, I wrote the stories on the assumption that there were sets of stairs at either end of the building that connect all three floors. Wrong. The stairs from the first to the second floors (from the station and eating areas to the hotel rooms) rise from a space almost a third of the way along the building from the western end, between the ladies sitting room and the formal dining room. The stairs located at the ends of the station connect only the second floor with the third-floor staff quarters.
I also realised that the hotel does not stretch the entire length of the building. It fills only the western two-thirds of the second floor. Another error on my part. Also, the girls' living area has a large kitchen room (where they probably ate) as well as a large shared bath, both located at the top of the stairs. I had the stairs opening directly into the sleeping area and the girls eating at a table in the sleeping area. Interesting. I'll have to do some re-writing to correct my errors.
Patti and I have also discovered the joys of iMovie. We work on Mac computers. We also have a fairly advanced digital camera that, with our memory card, can take up to an hour of good quality moving pictures (with sound, if we wish). That's led us to put the two together and figure out that, with iMovie, we can do some amazing things with the movies we take. I probably won't incorporate those movies into this website but I'll have to see about taking a more active part on Youtube. For example, as I sit here now I realise I should have done a film of our visit to McAdam yesterday. That probably would have become very popular on Youtube.
We'll have to go back.
And I'll have to get back to my writing. After, of course, I mow and edge the lawn, tend to my garden, clear out the dead, dying and unwanted tree bits in the back of the yard and tidy up our growing pile of refuse branches, sticks and trees.
Don't worry. I'll get there.
Again With the Baby Steps
01/06/09 20:15 Filed in: Writing
Progress sure is slow. But it is progress,
so I guess I shouldn't complain.
Today on my lunch hour I wrote precisely one page of the Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. Since I didn't have my working draft with me and am, frankly, not sure where I am in the novel, I decided to write a scene that I know is coming. Facing the terrifying reality of being hunted by a professional killer, Gold gets himself piss-tank drunk on rye and ends up wandering, bleary-eyed, to the cemetery where he passes out on the graves of his mother and his sister.
Symbolism, methinks. Soon I shall join you and that kind of stuff.
It was slow going, which isn't a bad thing, with each word requiring hard work to emerge onto the page (or the screen, to be honest).
I haven't read it over again but I was quite pleased with it as it came out.
Having re-read most of the material on this website (well, The Way Forward and the Abigail Massey stories) I find myself being pulled in several directions. I was surprised by how pleased I am with the Rowling-world novel and I continue to be charmed by the McAdam Station stories. The Gold novel is well underway and, I think, pretty good, so I'm not sure where to turn my attentions first.
It will likely be Phillip Gold, since the book is so far along. I may also return to working on the Harry Potter Concordance, since that is a task in which I found a great deal of joy. Nothing like a close reading of a great writer to keep one inspired.
Don't forget to check out the new page on this site: Feathers In Fredericton. It shows often poor photos of wildlife we've encountered on our walks in and around this beautiful city.
Today on my lunch hour I wrote precisely one page of the Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. Since I didn't have my working draft with me and am, frankly, not sure where I am in the novel, I decided to write a scene that I know is coming. Facing the terrifying reality of being hunted by a professional killer, Gold gets himself piss-tank drunk on rye and ends up wandering, bleary-eyed, to the cemetery where he passes out on the graves of his mother and his sister.
Symbolism, methinks. Soon I shall join you and that kind of stuff.
It was slow going, which isn't a bad thing, with each word requiring hard work to emerge onto the page (or the screen, to be honest).
I haven't read it over again but I was quite pleased with it as it came out.
Having re-read most of the material on this website (well, The Way Forward and the Abigail Massey stories) I find myself being pulled in several directions. I was surprised by how pleased I am with the Rowling-world novel and I continue to be charmed by the McAdam Station stories. The Gold novel is well underway and, I think, pretty good, so I'm not sure where to turn my attentions first.
It will likely be Phillip Gold, since the book is so far along. I may also return to working on the Harry Potter Concordance, since that is a task in which I found a great deal of joy. Nothing like a close reading of a great writer to keep one inspired.
Don't forget to check out the new page on this site: Feathers In Fredericton. It shows often poor photos of wildlife we've encountered on our walks in and around this beautiful city.
Cardinal Sin
18/05/09 13:16 Filed in: Writing
I've committed the cardinal sin of writing: I've
fallen in love with my own work. I finally took the
brave step this morning of starting to re-read the
first 60 or so pages of The Silent Goodbye
with the intention of dong some hard rewrites and
adding some character stuff on Phillip Gold (you
know, some physical habits, habitual phrases, etc.).
Instead, I ended up just reading and enjoying.
I think it's really good.
Which means, of course, that I'm in trouble. If I like it too much, I can't edit it. I can't see the holes, the problems, the weak spots.
I made some small changes here and there — mostly word choice issues or tightening up descriptions — but nothing really major. I like this book.
So now I'm writing again, which is a great step, but I'm too uncritical of my own work, which is not so great. I think I need a writer's group. Where are you, Ross and John?
On the bird front, I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that, not only does the Princess-Point area of Hamilton now boast a bald-eagle's nest, it has also played host to a small flock of pelicans (of all things!). Amazing stuff. I feel so sad that my Mom is no longer around to see it. She would have loved both the eagles and the great white pelicans.
This morning, Patti and I took our puppy out for a walk in the UNB Woodlot and had the great good fortune of seeing a yellow-bellied sap sucker, up close. I had finally managed to bring my binoculars on one of these walks and, this time, they weren't needed. There he was, plain as day, about 10 feet above us on a tree trunk. Beautiful. Yellow on his belly (surprise surprise) and nice patches of red on his head. Too bad I didn't have my camera!
Any way, I'm at least toe-deep in my writing and will push on from here!
I think it's really good.
Which means, of course, that I'm in trouble. If I like it too much, I can't edit it. I can't see the holes, the problems, the weak spots.
I made some small changes here and there — mostly word choice issues or tightening up descriptions — but nothing really major. I like this book.
So now I'm writing again, which is a great step, but I'm too uncritical of my own work, which is not so great. I think I need a writer's group. Where are you, Ross and John?
On the bird front, I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that, not only does the Princess-Point area of Hamilton now boast a bald-eagle's nest, it has also played host to a small flock of pelicans (of all things!). Amazing stuff. I feel so sad that my Mom is no longer around to see it. She would have loved both the eagles and the great white pelicans.
This morning, Patti and I took our puppy out for a walk in the UNB Woodlot and had the great good fortune of seeing a yellow-bellied sap sucker, up close. I had finally managed to bring my binoculars on one of these walks and, this time, they weren't needed. There he was, plain as day, about 10 feet above us on a tree trunk. Beautiful. Yellow on his belly (surprise surprise) and nice patches of red on his head. Too bad I didn't have my camera!
Any way, I'm at least toe-deep in my writing and will push on from here!
Tough Month
12/05/09 08:45 Filed in: Writing
Yesterday's blog entry set a record for one-day
traffic to my website. I mentioned on my Facebook
page that I was opining on the new Star Trek
movie and 28 people came to visit in one day. That's
a record for me and my site. Gavin enjoys reminding
me that his site gets hundreds of visitors a day,
especially on windy ones, but I think 28 is pretty
good. So thank you, everyone.
That being said, my run of tough luck continues. We won't go all the way back to the sad events of April. We need only look at May. First, I put a great big gash in my finger. Then I crunched my thumb with a hammer. Now I have some fairly nasty flu-like symptoms that are keeping me home and unhappy. And that's just my own health. Did I mention that Marlee Marie is also experiencing "flu-like symptoms" and then, to top it all off, ran into a skunk yesterday?
Helpful that Patti left for Ontario last night for six days. Great timing. Actually, she's heading back to celebrate both her god son's confirmation and her sister's graduation from a graduate program in education so I guess those are pretty good reasons to leave her two sick loved ones behind.
Underneath all of my suffering, however, I am starting to feel some energy return. I hope to get back to working on Phillip Gold soon and I am starting to contemplate writing an Abigail Massey novel, either by stitching together some of the existing short stories or with a fresh new plot. I may also revisit the original stories to do rewrites; I dashed them all out pretty quickly so I have no doubt some polishing could be done.
And, of course, as a result of the Star Trek movie and the conversations I have been having since, I have started watching all of the episodes of the original series in order again. Just to get back into it.
What about the Harry Potter Concordance and The Way Forward, as it appears on this website? Well, we'll see what the future brings.
That being said, my run of tough luck continues. We won't go all the way back to the sad events of April. We need only look at May. First, I put a great big gash in my finger. Then I crunched my thumb with a hammer. Now I have some fairly nasty flu-like symptoms that are keeping me home and unhappy. And that's just my own health. Did I mention that Marlee Marie is also experiencing "flu-like symptoms" and then, to top it all off, ran into a skunk yesterday?
Helpful that Patti left for Ontario last night for six days. Great timing. Actually, she's heading back to celebrate both her god son's confirmation and her sister's graduation from a graduate program in education so I guess those are pretty good reasons to leave her two sick loved ones behind.
Underneath all of my suffering, however, I am starting to feel some energy return. I hope to get back to working on Phillip Gold soon and I am starting to contemplate writing an Abigail Massey novel, either by stitching together some of the existing short stories or with a fresh new plot. I may also revisit the original stories to do rewrites; I dashed them all out pretty quickly so I have no doubt some polishing could be done.
And, of course, as a result of the Star Trek movie and the conversations I have been having since, I have started watching all of the episodes of the original series in order again. Just to get back into it.
What about the Harry Potter Concordance and The Way Forward, as it appears on this website? Well, we'll see what the future brings.
Flickers of Life
My mind is slowly making its way back to my writing.
It's not a conscious thing: I'm not sitting around
forcing myself to think about Phillip Gold or Abigail
Massey or the Rowling world and what should happen
next to poor George. Instead, as I go about my
business, my mind is starting to go there on its own,
mostly to Gold and The Silent Goodbye.
I have been thinking about the character himself: Phillip Gold, the lone wolf, the lawyer turned investigator who does more for his clients than simply representing them in court. I like this character very much. Physically, he's based on my former law partner, Derek Fazakas, as handsome a man as you're going to find in the legal profession. Emotionally, he's more the Marlowe or Spade, a loner with his own sense of what's right and what's wrong, of justice and fairness and all that could be good in the world.
The idea for Gold sprang out of a thought I had about 15 years ago as I pondered Marlowe and Spade and the fact that it was so important to their success that they were alone in the world. I wondered to myself: has anyone ever written the story of how the loner found himself without friends, without family? As a result of that line of thinking, I sketched out a story, which eventually found the light of day as A Fleck of Gold, of how my newly minted character loses his last surviving family member, his mother, as a result of one of his own cases.
What has occurred to me recently is that I haven't done much to sketch out Phillip's current character, his interests and habits. He's not a whole person at this point, a rounded character in whom the reader can take a personal interest, can identify. I'm not asking myself to indulge in long-winded expositions on the man and his mind; I just feel I need to add a nugget of info here and there, a personal philosophy, a couple of habits, that kind of thing.
What does he do when he's nervous, for example? Does he tap his fingers, lick his lips, blink maybe? I'm not sure but my mind, at least, is working on it.
In the meantime, sore from the gardening work, I've taken time out to watch a couple of recent movies. Slumdog Millionaire first, then Marley and Me. I found Slumdog rivetting, with an interesting narrative structure based around the questions in the game show. Truly entertaining, with the opening of a suspense thriller and the finale of a romantic comedy. Neat. Marley, well, we're still trying to get through it. Owen Wilson is definitely a turnoff and the movie doesn't focus enough on the dog. We had it in the DVD player last night and have now taken two extended breaks (the second still on-going) in the middle. Clearly, we're either not that interested or we're in the wrong mood for this movie. Too bad, I was looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, my partner is helping to build the excitement around the opening of the new Star Trek movie this weekend. My brother-in-law and two nieces got the chance to see it at a sneak preview and loved it. The early reviews are all not just positive but absolutely glowing. I'm looking forward to seeing it this weekend.
I have been thinking about the character himself: Phillip Gold, the lone wolf, the lawyer turned investigator who does more for his clients than simply representing them in court. I like this character very much. Physically, he's based on my former law partner, Derek Fazakas, as handsome a man as you're going to find in the legal profession. Emotionally, he's more the Marlowe or Spade, a loner with his own sense of what's right and what's wrong, of justice and fairness and all that could be good in the world.
The idea for Gold sprang out of a thought I had about 15 years ago as I pondered Marlowe and Spade and the fact that it was so important to their success that they were alone in the world. I wondered to myself: has anyone ever written the story of how the loner found himself without friends, without family? As a result of that line of thinking, I sketched out a story, which eventually found the light of day as A Fleck of Gold, of how my newly minted character loses his last surviving family member, his mother, as a result of one of his own cases.
What has occurred to me recently is that I haven't done much to sketch out Phillip's current character, his interests and habits. He's not a whole person at this point, a rounded character in whom the reader can take a personal interest, can identify. I'm not asking myself to indulge in long-winded expositions on the man and his mind; I just feel I need to add a nugget of info here and there, a personal philosophy, a couple of habits, that kind of thing.
What does he do when he's nervous, for example? Does he tap his fingers, lick his lips, blink maybe? I'm not sure but my mind, at least, is working on it.
In the meantime, sore from the gardening work, I've taken time out to watch a couple of recent movies. Slumdog Millionaire first, then Marley and Me. I found Slumdog rivetting, with an interesting narrative structure based around the questions in the game show. Truly entertaining, with the opening of a suspense thriller and the finale of a romantic comedy. Neat. Marley, well, we're still trying to get through it. Owen Wilson is definitely a turnoff and the movie doesn't focus enough on the dog. We had it in the DVD player last night and have now taken two extended breaks (the second still on-going) in the middle. Clearly, we're either not that interested or we're in the wrong mood for this movie. Too bad, I was looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, my partner is helping to build the excitement around the opening of the new Star Trek movie this weekend. My brother-in-law and two nieces got the chance to see it at a sneak preview and loved it. The early reviews are all not just positive but absolutely glowing. I'm looking forward to seeing it this weekend.
No Enthusiasm
30/04/09 18:24 Filed in: Writing
I guess I should give myself a bit of a break. I'm
beating myself up for not being able to sit down and
write anything and I am starting to wonder if perhaps
I'm being too hard on myself. (Parenthetically, I'm
also wondering if I've used the words "I'm" and
"myself" too much in this post already). (Of course,
I then wonder if I've used forms of "wonder" too
often and then whether "I'm" should be considered one
word or two).
This morning was the three-week anniversary of my mother's death and I'm still finding myself haunted by it. I catch myself thinking about calling her, only to remember that she won't be there to answer. That makes me very sad.
The whole melancholy that has settled on my soul is making it very hard for me to sit down and try to write. Writing requires energy, maybe even joy, and I have little of either right now.
Should I beat myself up about it? Probably not. Should I give in to it? No. Maybe I just need to let myself wander to whatever tasks or vocations attract me in a particular moment and not worry too much about it.
That sounds about right.
This morning was the three-week anniversary of my mother's death and I'm still finding myself haunted by it. I catch myself thinking about calling her, only to remember that she won't be there to answer. That makes me very sad.
The whole melancholy that has settled on my soul is making it very hard for me to sit down and try to write. Writing requires energy, maybe even joy, and I have little of either right now.
Should I beat myself up about it? Probably not. Should I give in to it? No. Maybe I just need to let myself wander to whatever tasks or vocations attract me in a particular moment and not worry too much about it.
That sounds about right.
Spot Writing
03/04/09 20:14 Filed in: Writing
It's amazing how much writing you can do when you can
finally focus and when you know what you wish to
write. As many of you know, the past two weeks have
been extremely difficult ones for me and my family
and the challenges we have been facing have pushed
just about everything else out of my mind.
Now that things seem to be getting a little more settled (and now that I'm about 1500 km away from the scene), I am finding myself a little better able to focus on my writing. And that means, of course, Phillip Gold, The Silent Goodbye.
As per a friend's suggestion, I have been working on adding a subplot to the book, one that not only complements the main story line but also brings Gold's legal skills into the picture. I was surprised at how easy it was to slip the beginnings of this subplot into the first fifty pages I had already completed and then it was just a matter of working out the details of this legal subplot and figuring out how it will dovetail with the main plot at the end.
As so often happens, it was in the shower that my mind started putting things together. So now I've got a clear picture of where I'm going with the subplot (with both plots, actually) and I have a very good idea of how the climactic scene will play out. That has allowed me to start doing some "spot writing" — writing scenes from here and there in the novel, scenes of import, scenes that are already worked out in my mind, scenes that will have an impact on how the rest of the book is written.
The first such bit of spot writing I did was blasting out Gold's opening statement in the criminal trial in which he takes part. The legal subplot, not surprisingly, will involve a trial and Gold will show off his courtroom prowess along the way. So I took my lunch hour to write a draft of his opening statement to the jury. It was a fun piece to write but I think I'll have my sister (who was a trial lawyer) and my brother-in-law (who is a judge) read it over to make sure it's at least reasonably authentic.
The next scene I think I'll write will be the action-packed climax. It's clear in my mind what will happen and, once I have it in good shape, the climax will guide how the rest of the story is written.
I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep up this newfound momentum.
Now that things seem to be getting a little more settled (and now that I'm about 1500 km away from the scene), I am finding myself a little better able to focus on my writing. And that means, of course, Phillip Gold, The Silent Goodbye.
As per a friend's suggestion, I have been working on adding a subplot to the book, one that not only complements the main story line but also brings Gold's legal skills into the picture. I was surprised at how easy it was to slip the beginnings of this subplot into the first fifty pages I had already completed and then it was just a matter of working out the details of this legal subplot and figuring out how it will dovetail with the main plot at the end.
As so often happens, it was in the shower that my mind started putting things together. So now I've got a clear picture of where I'm going with the subplot (with both plots, actually) and I have a very good idea of how the climactic scene will play out. That has allowed me to start doing some "spot writing" — writing scenes from here and there in the novel, scenes of import, scenes that are already worked out in my mind, scenes that will have an impact on how the rest of the book is written.
The first such bit of spot writing I did was blasting out Gold's opening statement in the criminal trial in which he takes part. The legal subplot, not surprisingly, will involve a trial and Gold will show off his courtroom prowess along the way. So I took my lunch hour to write a draft of his opening statement to the jury. It was a fun piece to write but I think I'll have my sister (who was a trial lawyer) and my brother-in-law (who is a judge) read it over to make sure it's at least reasonably authentic.
The next scene I think I'll write will be the action-packed climax. It's clear in my mind what will happen and, once I have it in good shape, the climax will guide how the rest of the story is written.
I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep up this newfound momentum.
New Beginning, Long Break
20/03/09 12:41 Filed in: Writing
Just when I launch a new beginning of this blog, I
post an announcement that I, along with Phillip Gold,
Abigail Massey, George Weasley, Aberforth Dumbledore
and all the other characters I enjoy to write about,
will be taking a brief break.
I am about to board a plane back to Ontario for a week's visit. I'm hoping to see friends and family, visit the fabulously renewed Art Gallery of Ontario and just mope around Toronto and Hamilton for a while.
Since I can't take my RapidWeaver with me (well, I could but it would be a huge production) I'm afraid I won't be able to post anything during my vacation. Marlee Marie will probably put up a post or two of her Dog's Blog while I'm away so check out her action!
See you soon.
I am about to board a plane back to Ontario for a week's visit. I'm hoping to see friends and family, visit the fabulously renewed Art Gallery of Ontario and just mope around Toronto and Hamilton for a while.
Since I can't take my RapidWeaver with me (well, I could but it would be a huge production) I'm afraid I won't be able to post anything during my vacation. Marlee Marie will probably put up a post or two of her Dog's Blog while I'm away so check out her action!
See you soon.
A New Beginning
19/03/09 04:41 Filed in: Writing
This is a new beginning. My web-design program,
RapidWeaver, for some reason converted the original
files of this blog into "php" files, rather than
"html" files, rendering them unreadable for many (if
not all) people. Worse still, all my efforts to
correct the problem have failed completely. It's one
of the things I hate about computers (yes, I am
that old): things can go wrong in some quiet
little corner of program code and you have no chance
of figuring out what or why or of correcting the
problem.
So, I start a new page for the blog. This one seems to be working. Of course, if I want to have the 70 plus earlier posts available from this new page, I'll have to block and copy the text for each one into the new page. Right now, I'm not seeing that as being worth doing. Sorry. The text is still saved on my computer but, for now at least, won't be available on-line. No great loss, perhaps, but frustrating for me nonetheless.
Now, on to the last post.
I have some rewriting to do on the last section of Phillip Gold, more because I hammered out a difficult scene than because the writing is particularly bad. Sometimes I do that: I plow through a scene that I know is going to be complex and challenging, with several layers of meaning, numerous characters and a great deal of thematic and tonal importance just to get the basic elements and structure down. Then, I let it sit for a couple of days to get some distance from it. Finally, I go back to it fresh and start an intense rewrite, highlighting stuff I wanted to highlight, adding in elements I might have left out, etc.
It's a variation on the way Stephen King apparently writes. From what he says in On Writing, he hammers out the entire novel in rapid fashion, then goes back and expands on stuff he's given short shrift, identifies and heightens themes and images that have emerged in the writing and fine-tunes the writing itself.
I do that more on a scene-by-scene basis, especially with complex scenes. So I'll try to do some revising this evening.
On a public announcement note, my friend Ross Pennie has informed me that his new novel, Tainted, is now available in stores and through on-line book sellers (like Amazon). It's published by ECW Press from Toronto and it looks like they've done a great job of it. I had the honour of workshopping Tainted as Ross wrote it in and around 2007 so I know it's great. I'm interested to see the changes the professional editors asked him to do and excited to see it in its true, hard-cover form!
So, I start a new page for the blog. This one seems to be working. Of course, if I want to have the 70 plus earlier posts available from this new page, I'll have to block and copy the text for each one into the new page. Right now, I'm not seeing that as being worth doing. Sorry. The text is still saved on my computer but, for now at least, won't be available on-line. No great loss, perhaps, but frustrating for me nonetheless.
Now, on to the last post.
I have some rewriting to do on the last section of Phillip Gold, more because I hammered out a difficult scene than because the writing is particularly bad. Sometimes I do that: I plow through a scene that I know is going to be complex and challenging, with several layers of meaning, numerous characters and a great deal of thematic and tonal importance just to get the basic elements and structure down. Then, I let it sit for a couple of days to get some distance from it. Finally, I go back to it fresh and start an intense rewrite, highlighting stuff I wanted to highlight, adding in elements I might have left out, etc.
It's a variation on the way Stephen King apparently writes. From what he says in On Writing, he hammers out the entire novel in rapid fashion, then goes back and expands on stuff he's given short shrift, identifies and heightens themes and images that have emerged in the writing and fine-tunes the writing itself.
I do that more on a scene-by-scene basis, especially with complex scenes. So I'll try to do some revising this evening.
On a public announcement note, my friend Ross Pennie has informed me that his new novel, Tainted, is now available in stores and through on-line book sellers (like Amazon). It's published by ECW Press from Toronto and it looks like they've done a great job of it. I had the honour of workshopping Tainted as Ross wrote it in and around 2007 so I know it's great. I'm interested to see the changes the professional editors asked him to do and excited to see it in its true, hard-cover form!