The Stare of The Blank Page

One of the worst and best things for a writer is the stare of a totally blank page in front of them, because it means two things:

1. It's the start of a new creative journey which could lead absolutely anywhere
2. It's the start of a new creative journey which could lead absolutely nowhere

It's hard starting from scratch, delving into the depths of my unconscious to find inspiration. I've always hated that moment when I am faced with the bare white screen (as it is usually), even if the idea is already in my head, because I know I'll be fighting an inertia that is always inside me, one that is perversely fighting my wish to create. The fight is to get into the flow, find the zone and it usually takes me a page or two to really get going, especially it I have been through a dry period of not writing much.

However, this July I've been doing this stare once every two days since the beginning of the month while developing the short stories that we're giving away in the Wittegen Press Giveaway Games. And what I can tell so far is, the inertia is always there, BUT, the more I write, the easier it becomes to fight my way through it, the same way when I exercise, I build up stamina to go faster and cycle longer. I was a little disappointed that, as the creative juices began to flow more easily with the practice I'm getting (over 70 thousand words so far this month) that the inertia didn't go away, but it appears it is a quirk of my psyche that, whether I want to write or not, part of me wants to be lazy.

Something else that this crazy schedule is teaching me is that, I can write even when I'm tired and I think I can't. I don't necessarily like it and that inertia is much, much stronger at times like that, but I can do it.  However, I do have to be more careful then, because, 'bored in' equals 'boring out', so I have to search for what is engaging me about a story before I try and convince the reader with my words. This happened to me a couple of days ago, I was launching into a short sci-fi story, a story that I've had the concept for since I was a teenager, a story, therefore, that I have an investment in and thought was a jolly nice idea. Yet, I looked at the words on the page, and I was more than 1000 words in and I thought, this is boring, this is not engaging. Doesn't mean I don't like the story still, but the realisation did kick me into changing stories. I just wasn't in the mood for sci-fi! I ended up flipping and writing a horror story.

So now, since one of my stories that I finished yesterday went out today, Girl In The Mirror, a paranormal adventure, I'm at the start of that cycle once more. I have the bones of a story in my head, it's erotic science fiction, but the blank page awaits me. Wish me luck! :)

The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy Radio Show Live

Went to see the live show yesterday and it was fabulous! The band were awesome, especially in 'the overture' - even a little nod to other great sci-fi in there :).  The actors were also great and hilarious for (mostly) the right reasons! There's only two more nights, London and Edinburgh left, but if you can nip down to see it, I thoroughly recommend it. Then I have to mention the 'not quite behind the scenes' folks - the people doing the sound effects and much, much more. They just powered the show from soap bubbles to bowls of petunias, and of course, the wonderful new marvin puppet, I've always hated Marvin, but I adored this one, he had a right to be grumpy! - the guy working him was rather cute too :P (Oh yes, and seeing middle-aged men 'groove' - I use the term very loosely, think a-la dad at a disco - to Marvin's song, well, that was hysterical)

They had just the right blend for those of us who are fans, but don't know every line from every book and for the rabid fans, the ones with the towels round their necks and dressing gowns on :)  That was fun too, being around all the fans, I haven't been surrounded by so many fellow geeks since I stopped going to conventions regularly.

Anyway, I now own a babel fish USB stick - yes, I am a sucker for souvenir tat :P And the tour program is brilliant, lots of info to read before and after the show and none of the awful advert crap you get with most show programs.

And finally, two things:

• I think the star of the show had to be Mark Wing-Davey's glow in the dark socks and kilt!
• BUT - the bit that nearly had me on the floor crying with laughter was the doors on the space ship. I won't quote, because it would spoil the laugh for anyone going to see the last two shows, but well, let's just say, innuendo is the flavour of the day ;P

My Goodreads Review of Stein & Candle Detective Agency, Vol 2 - almost perfect, but left me miffed with the last story!

The Stein & Candle Detective Agency: Cold Wars by Michael Panush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, I'm going to tell you what I liked about this book first and then I'm going to tell you why I'm also a little bit miffed so only gave it four rather than five stars! BEWARE - the miffed bit will contain spoilers.

Well, as in vol 1, this book has lots of action, blazing guns, occult nasties and is mostly written with a touch of humour (although Crimson Catch gets a bit dark). And the best bit of that is, it's better written than vol 1. The stories flow better, the author really seems to have found his voice for Mort and this book is an easy read. Less typos too. I just love Weatherby, he's adorable: a hard-shelled, soft-centred kid doing what he thinks is right, and he even gets to meet a girl :). We also get an origin story for the S&C Detective Agency.

However, why I'm miffed comes in more than one packet, two to be exact.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT

The first one isn't really too big a miff, it's the story The Hollow, which I loved as a premise, but, really, was not much of a story for me, because it broke from the formula that I like about S&CDA. Biggie for me, Weatherby is hardly in it, sidelined for a preacher and Weatherby's sister, Selena. That's not my only problem with it though. Because it jumps in in the middle, it's quite difficult to get a feel for the bad guys (only a bit of tell, not showing about their history) and we jump right to the prep for the big confrontation, no build up, no skirmishes, nothing. So I was a bit disappointed. Although I did like the final battle, monsters gave me the creeps, even if Weatherby had been written out!

I will add that breaking from the formula is not all bad, it works sometimes, like in Business Proposition, where it's told from Weatherby's POV - that really worked.

My second peeve is a bigger one for me, because it is a pet peeve of mine. The last story, Crypt Crashers, is not a story in its own right, it's a starter for an arc. Now, I don't dislike arcs completely, what I dislike is when the reader (or watcher) satisfaction is sacrificed to feed the arc. And there was absolutely no reader satisfaction in this story, because it was failure for the heroes, not once, but three times. First, they ignore perfectly good warnings from someone they trust, when, really, they should at least have taken precautions based on said warnings. Second, they lose the first round, okay, not a deal breaker, could just be a set up for the next round, but when they lose the final round as well, I was left really let down. There should have been something, they should have come away having at least bruised the big bad, so that he was going away to lick his wounds, but no, they just lost, plain and simple, leaving me, the reader, feeling very flat - at the end of the book, no less. I wouldn't have minded the big bad getting away, it means they have a classic arch nemesis to pop up in the odd story, but just rubbing it in my face that the guy got away and beat them hollow and it was all their own fault, well, thanks for nothing!

So, I still love Mort and Weatherby. I like their adventures, I like the gung-ho approach to dealing with the supernatural. But 4 out of 5 rather than the perfect five, mainly because of the arc-teaser story at the end.

View all my reviews

Literary+ Blog Tour - JD Savage - Day 05: Guest Post 'Paralysis by Analysis'

Today, I am very happy to be introducing JD Savage as a guest to my blog as part of his blog tour via Literary+.

JD's topic today is : Paralysis by Analysis.


Wikipedia describes it like this: …refers to over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation, so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. … A person might be seeking the optimal or "perfect" solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution.

Sound familiar? If you immediately said, “No!”, good for you. You’re a hard charger ready to make decisions and get things done. If you kinda groaned a little, well, you’re in good company.

Most people suffer this plight sooner or later to varying degrees. As a writer, it can be even more difficult. You’re staring at that big white space, trying to form that next great line, or coming up with the ultimate retort for a character to hurl at another. But, instead of trying out a few quips just to see if they work, you sit… and think… and sweat… and eat… and

Ok, maybe that’s just me. But, indecision is a time sink when you’re working on a deadline or you are facing failure to hit your self-imposed word count target. Before you resign yourself to mentally circling the drain, take heart! There are ways of blasting through it!

We’ve all read those creativity builders; get up and take a walk, do some stretching exercises, throw something soft and non-lethal at one of your kids, (again, maybe that’s just me). Sometimes, these things work to get the juices flowing. Sometimes, you do these things, come back to your desk, and… nuthin’. Now you’re all sweaty and still don’t know what to write.

Try those clinically-tested, psychologically valid techniques, and then, try this.
Write the stupidest thing you can conjure up. And then imagine your character reacting to that.
Dad: “You’ll never amount to anything! You are not my son! You’re dead to me!”
Son: ” Puppies in doorways are almost always purple! And tall!”
Dad: “You’ve been eating paint chips again, haven’t you?”

This sort of nonsense always makes me chuckle, and that’s a good thing. 

One of the byproducts of Paralysis by Analysis is what I like to call Tragic Importance. After staring at a blank space where your writerly brilliance is supposed to be for a while, it begins to form its own gravity. A few minutes ago, you just couldn’t hit this next line. A few minutes later, your worth as a writer begins to be questioned by your inner voice, (I hate that guy!). As time passes, the weight of your indecision begins to effect your view of the whole piece you’re working on, until finally you come crashing into the realization that if I can’t write this one line, maybe I should just quit! Maybe I was never cut out to be a writer in the first place! My mother was right! I should have been a dentist! At least I’d have access to nitrous oxide!”

This is a sign that the line you need to write has taken on its own Tragic Importance. Making yourself laugh is the only cure.

So, go ahead, make up something utterly stupid. The more serious the tone of the piece, the stupider you need to be to break through the paralysis. Don’t worry, that oh-so-serious feeling will come back. When it does, you’ll be ready to write that next great line. Because without snowflakes, there are no frappichinos in my pants.

Useful Links Where to buy 'The Seeds' JD's Website JD's Writer's Blog JD's G+ Profile

This is not your grandmother's fairy tale. A fantasy novel that turns the genre on its head, "The Seeds" follows Trooper Angus Mayweather as he is thrust into the conflict faced by twin sisters Dartura & Varia, Generals of the Tarol Nation. As the sisters uncover a new threat from an old enemy, Angus must do what he can to help as the Tarol Nation faces all-out war.

Literary+ is a writer based project brought together and lead by Shen Hart. It brings together passionate, quality self-published writers to help each other promote their work, bringing more readers to every member. It was sparked by the simple fact that there are many top quality self-published authors being over-looked because they do not have the time and resources to efficiently and effectively market and promote themselves. With ambition and passion, Literary+ will take its members to the heights they deserve through a tight-knit community of like-minded writers. 

Literary+ Blog Tour JD Savage Day 03

Literary+ is holding its first blog tour featuring author JD Savage.  He'll be talking about the new book: The Seeds and much more.

JD's third guest blog post can be found on Masha du Toit's blog and is entitled: The Sequel - How Much From The Previous Book Is Too Much?

Useful Links Where to buy 'The Seeds' JD's Website JD's Writer's Blog JD's G+ Profile

This is not your grandmother's fairy tale. A fantasy novel that turns the genre on its head, "The Seeds" follows Trooper Angus Mayweather as he is thrust into the conflict faced by twin sisters Dartura & Varia, Generals of the Tarol Nation. As the sisters uncover a new threat from an old enemy, Angus must do what he can to help as the Tarol Nation faces all-out war.

Literary+ is a writer based project brought together and lead by Shen Hart. It brings together passionate, quality self-published writers to help each other promote their work, bringing more readers to every member. It was sparked by the simple fact that there are many top quality self-published authors being over-looked because they do not have the time and resources to efficiently and effectively market and promote themselves. With ambition and passion, Literary+ will take its members to the heights they deserve through a tight-knit community of like-minded writers. 

Literary+ Blog Tour: JD Savage Day 02

Literary+ is holding its first blog tour featuring author JD Savage.  He'll be talking about the new book: The Seeds and much more.

JD's second guest blog post can be found on Allisyn Bridges's blog and is entitled: Put This In Your Next Book

Useful Links Where to buy 'The Seeds' JD's Website JD's Writer's Blog JD's G+ Profile

This is not your grandmother's fairy tale. A fantasy novel that turns the genre on its head, "The Seeds" follows Trooper Angus Mayweather as he is thrust into the conflict faced by twin sisters Dartura & Varia, Generals of the Tarol Nation. As the sisters uncover a new threat from an old enemy, Angus must do what he can to help as the Tarol Nation faces all-out war.

Literary+ is a writer based project brought together and lead by Shen Hart. It brings together passionate, quality self-published writers to help each other promote their work, bringing more readers to every member. It was sparked by the simple fact that there are many top quality self-published authors being over-looked because they do not have the time and resources to efficiently and effectively market and promote themselves. With ambition and passion, Literary+ will take its members to the heights they deserve through a tight-knit community of like-minded writers. 

Literary+ Blog Tour: JD Savage

Literary+ is holding its first blog tour featuring author JD Savage.  He'll be talking about the new book: The Seeds and much more.

JD's first guest blog post can be found on Scott Roche's blog and is entitled: Profanity in YA Novels

Useful Links Where to buy 'The Seeds' JD's Website JD's Writer's Blog JD's G+ Profile

This is not your grandmother's fairy tale. A fantasy novel that turns the genre on its head, "The Seeds" follows Trooper Angus Mayweather as he is thrust into the conflict faced by twin sisters Dartura & Varia, Generals of the Tarol Nation. As the sisters uncover a new threat from an old enemy, Angus must do what he can to help as the Tarol Nation faces all-out war.

Literary+ is a writer based project brought together and lead by Shen Hart. It brings together passionate, quality self-published writers to help each other promote their work, bringing more readers to every member. It was sparked by the simple fact that there are many top quality self-published authors being over-looked because they do not have the time and resources to efficiently and effectively market and promote themselves. With ambition and passion, Literary+ will take its members to the heights they deserve through a tight-knit community of like-minded writers.