Quite often I catch myself inserting commas into places commas were never meant to be inserted. It’s a problem I’m all too aware of, and I’m making efforts to remedy it. Maybe because of this affliction of mine, this made me laugh:
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what it is. Maybe in a few months. January 2009 at the latest. Promise.
Let’s just say I may be going to write something which will boost my hero ranking with my 5 year old son by about a million points.
No word on my own series yet. I’ll have forgotten what the story’s about if I don’t hear something soon!
Found this on TheBookseller.com:
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown will contribute a story for children to a book coming from Scholastic in August. Wow! 366 will offer “mini stories from massive writers”, with 366 tales—one for each day of this leap year—told in just 366 words. Contributors include Terry Jones, Charlie Higson, Eve Ibbotson and Roddy Doyle, and £1 from each book (priced at £6.99) will go to a major children’s charity.
So not only is the Prime Minister of the country my – ahem – co-contributor, but so is Terry Jones, one of my all time heroes. I actually first discovered Terry through Erik the Viking (the book, not the movie) back when I was ten or eleven, and only learned of his Monty Python greatness a few years later. ‘Tis truly an honour to be in print alongside him.
Although obviously I’m still more excited about being in the same book as Tom from McFly …
It’s late. I really should be in bed. But I’ve just discovered this on Amazon:
This is the book I contributed a short story to recently, as some of you may recall. It’s published by Scholastic and is supporting the NSPCC.
I am amazed to discover my story is in a book alongside tales from greats like Roddy Doyle, Michael Bond, Charlie Higson, and … er … Tom from McFly. Suddenly I wish I’d spent real time and effort on my submission, rather than just churning out some guff about monkeys!
I’ve rather cheekily listed the title under ‘Barry’s Books’ on the right there, despite the fact I contribute at the very most 1/366th of the total content. You can click that little version of the cover to pre-order the book on Amazon. It’s not due out until August, so there’s no rush or that.
Oh, and on another note, at six feet four inches, I can confirm that the front cover of the book is correct. I am indeed a massive writer.
I’ve known for the last couple of years that my niece, Lauren, is keen on writing. She’s eleven years old, and is already shaping up to be a fantastic author. She has an unbelievable imagination, and I’ve told her several times that she’ll be overtaking me in the writing stakes soon.
And how right I was! At the weekend Lauren phoned to tell me she’s won the Young Writers’ Little Laureates poetry competition, and that her poem – entitled The Playground – is to be published in a book!
I’ve already told her I want her to sign my copy. One day I’ll sell it on eBay and retire on the profit it makes!
So a huge WELL DONE, Lauren, and I have no doubt we’ll be seeing much more of your work in print in the years to come.
Having spent most of last week working on the second draft of The SHiM, it was a relief when I found myself nearing the end. I didn’t have a lot of time to spare while doing the rewrite, so I was grabbing the odd half hour here and there and writing on my laptop, then saving the file to my USB stick, which I take everywhere.
Actually, make that took everywhere. You see, in my hurry to pack away my laptop one day, I left the memory stick plugged in as I shoved the computer in its case.
When I next took the laptop out I was somewhat alarmed to discover half a memory stick poking out from a USB port. Upon closer inspection of the laptop bag, I found lots and lots of little bits of plastic and circuit board. My stick had well and truly come unstuck. More importantly, draft two of The SHiM was lost forever.
I’ll say that again for emphasis: FOREVER!
Anyway, disheartened but not defeated, I started working on another version of draft two at the beginning of this week. Almost at once I spotted a massive flaw in the story, which I’d completely overlooked in my original rewrite. Had I not lost that one, I may not have realised how big a problem there was with the manuscript, and so I’d never have had the chance to correct it.
Now that I’ve realised what was wrong with the story, I’ve fixed it. It meant chopping out almost 7,000 words, but already the whole thing has dramatically improved. There’s still quite a bit to change, and probably another chapter to cut out, but draft two of draft two is a much better story than draft one of draft two. If you see what I mean?
So was it fate that my sheer bumbling ineptitude destroyed my USB stick? Was it good luck? Bad luck? Or merely random chance?
Who knows? But if nothing else it’ll make for an interesting anecdote when I make it onto Richard and Judy!
If you read this post, you’ll know that I am working against the clock on my current project, trying to keep up the chapter a day demands of my son and his bedtime story requirements.
I’m happy to report that things are so far, so good. He spent Sunday night at his gran’s house, so that bought me a bit of time. Tonight we read chapter four, and between him going to sleep and now, I’ve finished chapter five. Hopefully I’ll get a bit of time tomorrow during the day to make progress on chapter six, which will put me half a chapter or so ahead of schedule.
All being well I’ll have completed six by this time tomorrow, and possibly made a start on seven. If I can keep up that pace I’ll be finished the book by Sunday, and can take the Monday off from writing!
First of all, a disclaimer: I don’t claim to be an expert on the creative writing process. Yes, I’ve had screenplays optioned, books published, magazine articles printed, and all that jazz, but I still consider myself very much a beginner, with a whole lot to learn.
That said, I’ve been wracking my brains since starting this blog, trying to come up with useful writing advice to share. Now, many other writing bloggers – not least of all me old mucker, Tommy - already give advice, and by and large they’re a lot better at it than me.
Rather than just repeat any of the great advice which is already out there, I’m going to give you some writing tips I doubt you’ll find anywhere else. Every one of these mini-lessons will cover something which I think has helped contribute to my past and current writing successes. If you get something useful from any of them, then that’s great. If you think I’m an idiot and my tips are worthless, then that’s okay too. I won’t mind, really.
Anyway, let’s get on with it.
Barry’s Writing Lesson #1: Do a Bungee Jump
Wait, don’t stop reading yet! This is a serious tip, and possibly the single most important piece of advice I’ll give you (which gives you some idea of the standard of the lessons still to come).
Good stories involve conflict, right? I’m telling you nothing new, you’ve heard that a hundred times. The series I’m writing for HarperCollins – INVISIBLE FIENDS – is of the horror genre. In horror stories, people get scared. Really scared. Scared almost to death, in fact.
How do you describe that fear? Do you say “Oooh, they were dead scared”? Or do you talk about the feeling of nausea which grips your protagonist’s stomach? The crashing roar of their own heart, beating in their ears? The headspinning, blood-chilling, sensations of terror which almost overwhelm them as they struggle to face their worst fears?
I know which I’d find more interesting to read.
And how do you get a real, honest insight into that terror? How do you experience it so vividly that you can accurately recreate it on the page? You bungee jump. Or you sing karaoke. Or you let a spider crawl up your arm. You pick something which frightens you, and you do it. Just don’t forget to make a mental note of everything you feel while you are, or you’ll have terrified yourself for nothing!
This doesn’t just apply to horror, either. Jeopardy of some kind or another plays a major part in most stories, so whether your protagonist is scared of leaping out of a plane, asking a girl out on a date, or opening their school exam results, go live out your own fear and you’ll do a much better job of writing about theirs.
Check back soon for Barry’s Writing Lesson #2: Use Public Transport
