THE STORY SO FAR: PART 184

IT’S A GORGEOUS DAY—AND SPRING, AND THE SOUND OF LEAF BLOWERS, IS IN THE AIR

You can debate heaven and hell all you like, but I know there is a Devil, because who else could have devised a more hideous machine than the leaf blower. It’s a truly vile invention, guaranteed to remove tranquility for impressive distances—guaranteed to make it near impossible for a writer to write. This is not a culturally friendly device.

I once had the experience of trying to edit a book in Brooklyn—in high summer—with two leaf blowers screaming away nearby. In addition, apart from the fact that it was hot enough already—my hosts turned the central heating on accidentally (or so they said). Now, when I see scenes on TV or in movies about being captured and tortured, I can relate.

But why should someone be using one in early March? I have absolutely no idea. I encountered it as I was on my daily walk today. And yes, it was accompanied by a figure that looked vaguely human—but I could have sworn wore horns and had a tail. Hard to be sure amidst the swirling dust.

Leaf blowers apart, Seattle is rather wonderful in good weather, and pretty tolerable even in the rain. Today, I could see the snow-clad top of Mount Rainier in the distance. This is quite a city.

The above—very striking and rather creepy—illustration is from the New York Journal of Books—not to be confused with the New York Review of Books (though of course it is). I’m delighted to see it. Traditionally, print media reviewed books, but poor old print is taking a hammering, and though blogs have taken up the slack—some very well indeed—I still feel there is something to be said for the magazine format, even if in electronic form.

I wish the New York Journal of Books well. They are making us all more aware of books—which has to be a good thing—and what I have read from them so far has considerable merit. They have also evolved a rather neat way of reviewing books on Facebook. Check them out.

But surely I am biased in favor of anything—preferably without horns and a tail—that promotes books?

I would like to think I have some discrimination—but I plead guilty.

www.nyjournalofbooks.com

www.facebook.com/NYJBooks

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 176

“MARCH OR DIE”—OR DO I MEAN “WRITE?”

JUST REMEMBER: IT MAY WELL BE A LONG MARCH

My beautiful sister Lucy’s web site has once again produced an admirable graphic. She must be telepathic.

Sometimes I think that everybody can write, but what stops most people is the amount of stamina required. We are talking years, at best, and probably longer. Of course my comment about everybody being able to write is not true—a great many people can scarcely construct a coherent paragraph, let alone write a 400 page book, but I am just saying it to emphasize that making a living from writing requires more endurance than you can imagine. And the number of people who believe in you may shrink to a frighteningly small total. The good news is that all you need is one. The bad news is that you may not have even that—unless, and until, you are financially successful. Becoming a good writer, in the critical sense, does not cut it because we—such value being part of our current cultural norms--are conditioned to regard financial success as the only determinant. True, it is important and useful—but, it is not, and should not be, the sole standard by which we judge achievement.

People will support almost anyone doing anything for a limited time—frequently without understanding it—but they get very exasperated when months stretch into years; and their support evaporates and tends to be replaced by frustration, irritation and anger.

Why so? Because most of us live corporate or government manipulated, structured lives which are divided into predictable bite-sized bits within the context of short time frames. Pay is generally predictable—as long as you have a job, which you can lose if you step out of line—and comes every couple of weeks or every month. Accordingly someone who is prepared to wait for years for an uncertain payoff is considered both irresponsible and arguably insane. And he or she is certainly different—and different is not considered to be good. People are uncomfortable around you. They wonder what you do all day—suspect it has to be something dubious—and marginalize you. If nothing else, you are the antithesis of the corporate/government mindset—so your very existence threatens the status quo. You really need to be put down—literally, metaphorically; or both..

Welcome to my writer’s world. Is it worth it? Many would think not. I can’t think of anything more invigorating. Do I mind the setbacks, the judgmental attitudes, the negative comments and the criticism?

What I mind is irrelevant. I just know I have got to continue. I guess, if we were talking about religion, we would call that faith—and perhaps it is.

My heart goes out to my fellow struggling writers—and all writers, whether successful or not, struggle. Hang in there! You may have no immediate support, but you are not alone. I doubt you give a damn. You have writing.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 174

“LONG, COMPLICATED CONVERSATIONS” 

WORDS, AND HOW THEY ARE USED, HAVE A SPECIAL STATUS IN IRELAND—AND IT SHOWS

My gorgeous sister, Lucy, featured the above anecdote on Facebook—and it set me to thinking. Lucy’s observations have a tendency to do that. She is the youngest member of the family, and almost certainly the wisest—and she has an excellent visual sense.

Where conversation is concerned, the reputation of the Irish is already legendary—whether the Blarney stone has been kissed or not. If you haven’t heard of the Blarney stone, I will say no more except to report that legend has it that if you do kiss it (you need a head for heights to do this) you will have the gift of the gab forever. Frankly, I don’t think most Irish need such encouragement.

So, let me turn to the written word. Here, I am nothing if not biased because my life is focused on just that—words—and written words at that. Whether such words are printed on paper, or read on an e-reader, tablet, or Smart Phone makes scant difference to the process of writing (although I detect a tendency for e-books to be shorter). But writing is writing.

Where writing is concerned, as it happens, Ireland, an extremely small country in terms of population—a  little over 6 million in a world of 7 billion—has produced an impressive number of world class writers, and continues to do so; one of them being that truly admirable teller of tales, the late Maeve Binchy quoted above.

Another being my own son, Christian O’Reilly, who apart from being an award winning playwright, has one movie to his credit—more than I have so far—and now writes for the BBC (which is the literary equivalent of qualifying as a Navy SEAL; it’s that tough).

They are both part of a magnificent tradition.

I could go on. There is that phenomenal poet, Seamus Heaney, and that beautiful writer, Peter Cunningham.

And then we come to to movie director Neil Jordan, who is also an author of surpassing talent. Can you place Neil Jordan? Think INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE with Tom Cruise—and much else besides.

All in all, even if one does not hark back to such literary luminaries as Swift, Yeats and Wilde, the roll call of Irish talent (both past and current)constitutes a long, long, list—longer than most people realize because Irish writers are also often claimed by the British as well! Indeed they claim the Duke of Wellington, himself a very fine writer, as a British military hero. But the man was Irish, I will have you know. Yes he did say: “Being born in a stable doesn’t make one a horse,” but nobody is perfect.

What can I say! It’s a complex relationship, and the British are not exactly short of bards (let me throw in Shakespeare, who is generally reckoned to be culturally acceptable)) but they still like to claim the successful Irish as their own, when they can. I suspect this stems from their empire complex—a feeling that they have a right to sail the world and grab whatever they can. Appreciate that a lot of Vikings settled in Britain and contributed to the gene pool. Indeed, the Normans, who won the Battle of Hastings and thus conquered England in 1066, were originally Vikings. Not many people know that.

But let me offer a few thoughts on how Ireland’s continuing literary tradition has come about. Much as the Vikings long had a tradition of raiding, pillage, rape and destruction (which somehow has produced the extraordinarily peaceful and economically successful Scandinavian countries) the Irish have long been besotted with words. Think “grand passion.” This is not a minor dalliance.

And here we are talking about a love affair that has endured for roughly a millennium and a half—a singular display of affection and fidelity. For most of that time it has been predominately oral, but the written word has been present—principally because of the influence of monks—for longer than most people realize. Nonetheless, the dominant tradition was oral.

Here is an insight from Wikipedia:

Poetry in Irish represents the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe. The earliest examples date from the 6th century, and are generally short lyrics on themes from religion or the world of nature. They were frequently written by their scribe authors in the margins of the illuminated manuscripts that they were copying. The best known example is Pangur Bán.

It was practical for poems to be short because the Irish recognized that it was necessary to use any means necessary to make the poems lasting in their oral culture. To accomplish such a feat as well as they have, they used complicated rhyme schemes that would render a poem nonsensical if any of the key words were changed from the original version.

In an oral culture, Irish poetry had many uses. A poem could be used to immortalize both the poet and the subject of the poem; oftentimes kings would commission poets to create a piece about them. Such poems would be passed on to descendants so they would remember the great deeds of past generations.

But why are the Irish oral and literary traditions so distinctive and so enduring?

• They are endemic to the culture. Words and what you can do with them, are enormously important to the Irish—and wit is considered fundamental to the human condition.
• Oppression under English rule for many hundreds of years meant that, for many, words and dreams were all the Irish had left—so they made the most of them. In Ireland, dreams have substance.
• Success breeds success. It is singularly inspiring to have so many extraordinarily talented role models for generation after generation.
• The juxtaposition of the Irish and English languages—with Irish adding something very special to the way English is both spoken and written.
• The high status of education in Ireland which has long resulted in an extremely literate population.
• The active support of the Irish government from the foundation of the state in the belief that the nourishment of the culture was –and remains—singularly important.

The results, I am delighted to say, have been—and continue to be—spectacular, despite Ireland’s current economic woes. Enlightened societies have long known that investing in a nation’s culture generates  both tangible and intangible added value—and that the free market alone is not sufficient. This raises the interesting question of what tangible benefits could be generated if the U.S. ever decided to invest in the arts in a serious way. Current support for the arts, in a nation of about 315 million, is little more than tokenism.

I suspect we would be agreeably surprised, economic growth would be stimulated, and the quality of our lives would be enhanced.

It would be interesting to pick one state and really experiment—because if one could show definitively what the effect of supporting the arts could be, the consequences could change our thinking profoundly.

If you doubt me, just take a trip to Europe and there just imagine the economic effects of the Renaissance. Wander, browse, look and think. Stare in awe. Wander around Verona. Soak up the beauty of Florence. Watch the palio—it’s a horse race--in Sienna. Gaze in admiration at St. Peters. Consider what these people created.

The impact of that extraordinary time must have exceeded that of the Marshall Plan many times.

I rest my case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE ALSO SERVE WHO REWRITE

Image by San Diego Shooter via Flickr

"A battle is fought to be won!"

Department of Excellent Writing Advice

As part of learning how to blog – and these days I sometimes wonder whether I’m not more student than writer (or whether the terms should not be interchangeable), I’m currently subscribing to a number of blogs who specialize in giving blogging advice and advice on writing in general.

I’m not just interested in the specifics of such advice, but how they present themselves in general. Inevitably, there are similarities, but all the good blogs have distinctive personalities.

Today, Walt Shiel, author of VIEW FROM THE PUBLISHING TRENCHES http://www.waltshiel.com  offered a nugget that resonated:

“Begin your writing, fiction or article, where the action begins. This action can be internal (e.g. An important insight or personal decision) or external (e.g. a calamity or key even). Begin too early and you lose your reader. Begin too late and you lose your story.”

Now that is good writing.

Department of Book Doctors

Editors used to do all that that is necessary when it comes to critiquing and developing a book. Unfortunately, with the ever increasing of the corporate ownership of publishers followed by the inevitable pressure to cut costs, the editors of traditional publishing houses rarely have the time to do what may be necessary. 

That is a pity for all sorts of reasons starting with the fact that even the most talented writer cannot bring perspective to his or her own work.

Enter ‘Book Doctors’ who do much the same thing as editors used to but who are prepared to do even more than a commercial editor to save book. Here I refer you to Jason Black at PLOT TO PUNCTUATION  www.plottopunctuation.com  I have neither met Jason, not done business with him; but his site is impressive.

I have done some book doctoring myself, and once spent six exhausting months on a project trying to rescue and restructure a truly excellent book about THE BATTLE OF 73 EASTING. The topic was the famous tank battle that took place in the first Gulf War in 1991. The patient survived and you may read the result as WARRIOR’S RAGE by Douglas Macgregor.  

I should probably have claimed co-author status, but he was the one who had been under fire and had seen his men die so it was, quite rightly, HIS story; and a fascinating one at that. 

We also serve who re-write.

I have to say it is a pretty good book.

MUMMY, DADDY! WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?

Image by _gee_ via Flickr

A COMPULSION TO
TAKE RISKS.
CLEARLY A WRITER...

Department of The Twins Are In The Tulips

I’ll let you into a secret: mostly ideas don’t come from under a cabbage. Babies, of course, do; as I’m sure you know. I can confirm that for a fact. I’m the eldest of twelve (true) and I remember full well that our garden always featured a healthy crop of cabbages. Mind you, we also grew much else, but I don’t recall any of my siblings being found under the rhubarb. 

Department of Heavenly Voices

Though I’m fascinated by innovation, and have worked with creative people for significant chunks of my life, I don’t profess to understand the creative process to the extent I would like. Then again, perhaps that’s a good thing. Who doesn’t like a good mystery! Nonetheless, this morning I gained an insight into the process. I have been thinking about writing a science fiction novel for some time but had failed to come up with a theme. On the other hand, I had a location – Seattle.  Then this morning, as I was gazing out at the snow falling into Lake Washington, the whole concept came together in a flash and a voice thundered from the heavens: “And don’t forget my byline.”

Did the heavenly voice have an American accent? Doubtless: I don’t recall. But the incident made me realize that one of the ways I assemble a story is by racking up a series of elements on a mental shelf and not worrying about whether they connect or not. 

Time, one’s subconscious and faith does the rest. Here I don’t mean faith in a religious sense but more in the sense of the confidence of a high-wire walker. Somehow, you know that things will work out even though any observer with his or her head screwed on would say that your chosen profession was hazardous, insecure, stressful in the extreme and scarcely conducive to marital stability. 

Yet you persevere because it’s what you do; and you can’t conceive doing anything else. It’s not a job. It's a mission in life. It’s a compulsion - and it is truly satisfying. 

Sounds like writing to me.

FOR MY NEXT TRICK, I INTEND TO INVADE RUSSIA

Cover of The Devil's Footprint

THIS QUAINT TAIL WAS BASED AROUND
THE NOTION OF A TERRORIST THREAT TO
THE U.S. EMANATING FROM
A LAWLESS PART OF MEXICO...
FICTION, OF COURSE!

Department of Blogs, Blogging & Bloggers
Here is the plan – and like all plans subject to change. As matters stand, it’s a work in progress but my overall intent is to:

Keep Victor O’Reilly – Letters From An Author as my personal blog mainly devoted to my fiction writing, my life, and the business of writing in general. There will be separate pages for my different fiction books so, as matters stand, these pages will be headed:

• New! THE BLOOD OF GENERATIONS 

• New! SATAN’S SMILE 

• GAMES OF THE HANGMAN 

• RULES OF THE HUNT 

• THE DEVIL’S FOOTPRINT 

How will I know when I’ve got my blog writing approach right? Almost certainly as a result of your telling me – plus the ‘inner voice’ that we writers are supposed to possess. But right now all of that is academic because I know perfectly well what you want – from thousands of emails - and that is to get the books I have already written published as soon as possible.

Set up separate sites for my non-fiction works because they each cover distinctly different areas. They are:

Economic & Political Stuff: TITANIC NATION: How To Avoid Icebergs: The Case For Fundamental Change In The American Way Of Life

Military Stuff & Memoir: GETTING TO KNOW THE WARFIGHTERS: The Fascinating True Story Of Victor O’Reilly’s Research Into The U.S. Army For His Book ‘The Devil’s Footprint.’

Personal Memoirs: MY COTTAGE IN IRELAND: A True Story Of Dropping Out To Write, To Find Love, And To Live A Very Different Way Of Life

My intention is to update my main blog, Victor O’Reilly – Letters From An Author, roughly five days a week, except when interrupted by traveling, particularly intensive writing and so on, and to update the other sites only when particularly relevant content comes in. With the next Presidential Election now only two years away, that may be quite often where Titanic Nation is concerned.

So far, Victor O’Reilly – Letters From An Author and Titanic Nation are up and running. The main delays have more to do with my lack of technical competence than anything else. The time has come to get some compatible technical help.

By the way, all the above books are finished – subject to any fresh ideas that may hit me – so any delays in launching them have to do with matters other than writing. However, I’m confident that once the publishing process starts, which will be the ebook phase, it will happen at some speed.

Next Book Department
I’m planning to write novel inspired by my own recent experiences which will seem at first to be a classic short novel, free of action and primarily concerned with the human condition, which will morph into a thriller; and which will end with a scene of absolute violence and a twist. It’s proving to be something of a challenge because I’m not relying on action to hold your interest but am more dependent on character and story; that said, I expect the action in the book to blow your socks off. After that, I intend to write the fifth Fitzduane in the series. Not sure about a sequel to TITANIC NATION. I would like to do one but am far from sure there will be the time before November 2012. But, I could be tempted.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG?

Image by anomalous4 via Flickr

IF A CAT CAN LEVITATE, SURELY AN AUTHOR CAN.
IT SHOULD ADD A CERTAIN SOMETHING
TO MY WRITING.

Department of Introspection While The Internet Is Down

I have had so many computer problems since I first started a using a personal computer seriously in 1986 – over a quarter of century ago – that I’m surprised that I now deal with them with equanimity. I must be mellowing. Today, for instance, though offline due to some gremIin despite the ever increasing use I’m making of the internet (though using Chrome, Gmail, Google Apps, Blogger, Evernote, and other web based software), I’m continuing to work by operating the old–fashioned way. I’m utilizing the copy of MS Word that’s installed on my laptop instead of the Cloud. As long as that continues to function, and I can write, I seem to be able to get through the day temporarily disconnected from the digisphere without frothing at the mouth. Writing is my Zen, so to speak. I may move on to levitation.

Why am I blogging?

Am I doing it because everyone says authors should if they are to sell any books, or to indulge my ego; or am I seeking to build it into a high traffic web site to make money; or am I just writing for the sake of writing? Or do I merely regard blogging as a test of my writing skills, a challenge I’m determined to master.

I am definitely of the view that billions of us are being manipulated to spend a great deal of time doing stuff in the digisphere that is more distraction than substance, and decidedly destructive in its effects. However, I don’t automatically include blogging in that category. True, some blogs are so bad that one is tempted to advise the author to go stand on the edge of a skyscraper in a high wind while drinking a pint of beer while doing a handstand, but at the top end of the scale many blogs are terrific; and it’s still an evolving format.

As best as one can know one’s own mind – we humans are funny in that regard – the primary purpose of this particular blog is to enable me to talk to talk to you, my readers (both current and prospective), both to say thanks for the extraordinary support I’ve received over the years, and to encourage you to buy new books (which you will soon be able to do after a long hiatus). Everything else, if I am to be honest about is, is secondary.  

Have I found the right blend of content, humor and length as yet? I don’t think so – but the journey is half the fun.

Department of “The Damn Internet Isn’t Working Yet.”

Quote from my friend Chris Carrdus after an abortive conversation with Technical Support who, as normal, admitted no corporate fault: “The Cloud – a fabulous parking space for responsibilities.”

WHERE DOES AN AUTHOR PARK AN IDEA?

Image via Wikipedia

OBSERVE THAT SHAKESPEARE'S CUFFS - NORMALLY
 COVERED IN NOTES, ARE NOT SHOWN.
THE MAN WOULD WRITE ANYWHERE - A CUFF HERE, A BOSOM THERE

Department of Missing Ideas & Half-Formed Thoughts

Words are fine and beautiful things, but they are of limited value to an author unless they add up to a fully formed thought or idea; and they are rarely so obliging. Instead ideas have an irritating habit of arriving in fragments, in an untimely manner, and sometimes litter one’s mind for years. Worse, they have a disconcerting habit of retreating into one’s darkest recesses to the point where even the most brilliant thought can be forgotten. That is a tragedy of Hamlet-like proportions for a writer. That raises the question of where one should park an idea until needed; in such a form that it can be found. The latter is the really important bit and the hardest.

I don’t think there is any one solution. Rumor has it that Shakespeare plotted everything on his cuffs (driving Anne Hathaway nuts), but the traditional way was to carry around a notebook and keep a journal. It remains a thoroughly sound approach, but so much is going on these days that I’m of the view that one needs some kind of free-text database as well. Ideally, it should copy a web page (in whole or part) with a click of a mouse, be always on hand in one’s browser, handle multi-media, and keep the data itself on both one’s computer and the Cloud – and work on PCs, and Macs and the full range of electronic gizmos. Such a product is Evernote which is available in both Free and Premium Editions. As I mentioned yesterday – while forgetting to explain Evernote (it was one of those days) - the definite guide to Evernote is Brett Kelly’s Evernote Essentials. Not only will it tell upu a lot but, above all, it will tell you how to find.

Department of Research Without Ending Up Dead

Some writers don’t need to do any research  - and such people have my respect and admiration – but where thriller writing is concerned, I’m a believer in a three pronged approach: (1) Read every book you reasonably can on the subject. (2) Research the Internet. (3) Talk to those who know, and get as close to the reality as possible – short of getting yourself killed.

The reading-oneself-in part should come first. People will respect you more if you have done your homework, and they’ll talk more freely if they respect you – and you are more likely to know what questions to ask.

When I was researching the character of Etan for GAMES OF THE HANGMAN I spent several days hanging around the set of an excellent current affairs program called TODAY TONIGHT. The impressive presenter,  Olivia O’Leary (I think I was smitten for a while), memorably remarked over dinner that her boyfriend, the famous journalist Robert Fisk, had advised her that the only way to assess the truth of a situation was “to be there and put your hands in their wounds.” 

CAN ONE MAKE A LIVING FROM BLOGGING ALONE?

Image via Wikipedia

Department of the Salt Mines, Talented Slaves Division

Clearly one can make a living from blogging though whether more than few make a good living – something of a personal matter – is an open question which I won’t attempt to answer. Currently, we’re going through a phase during which too many blog writers are chasing too few markets, so the fees paid to many writers are derisory; but that may change as the market mature and more attention is given to the quality of the writing. So far my impression is that a great many blogs are impressively mediocre, but  that some terrific talent is emerging In short, this new genre is going places.

I have been particularly impressed by some of the financial bloggers, and will shortly be posting a list on my TITANIC NATION blog (where I talk about the future of this country) but I am becoming increasingly aware of some marvelous writers who blog about writing and much more besides. One notable example is Carol Tice  who has just sent out a high content blog which lays out the details of how she earned $5,100 in a month. Her golden rule is “Never run out of story ideas” and she certainly seems to follow it because she wrote no less than 58 posts to earn her money. Frankly, she shouldn’t have to because she is damn good, but I suspect that reflects the current state of the market.

A feature of writers like Carol is that they are generous with their information and helpful to aspiring writers.  In that spirit, she is involved with The WM Freelance Writers Connection, a truly invaluable site that is updated every day. There is no doubt about it: If they don’t already, women are going to rule the world. If they are as talented as Carol, and work as hard, they may well deserve to.

But Men Write Too Department

We do indeed and here let me draw your attention to a highly entertaining writer called Brett Kelly who not only wrote the definitive guide to Evernote, Evernote Essentials but publishes a high content blog which helps computer illiterates like myself get the most out of our software. His extremely helpful blog is appropriately called Bridging the Nerd Gap – or chasm in my case. He’s just excellent.

Department of Sad News

About a year ago I did an assignment for the Piasecki Aircraft Corporation and was agreeably surprised to find that their director of administration, Vicky Myers, bore a striking resemblance to actress Jill Clayburg, a real favorite of mine since I saw her in that marvelous movie, An Unmarried Woman.  Today, we learned that Jill Clayburg had died – way too young – of cancer at the age of 66. I’m normally not much of a celebrity follower, but this news has touched me.

GIVEN THAT YOU, THE AUTHOR, ARE GOD, WHAT’S THE HARDEST PART OF WRITING A NOVEL?

Image via Wikipedia

IGUANA IN MARATHON, FLORIDA
OR AUTHOR AFTER A HARD DAY'S WRITING

Department of Decidedly Difficult Things To Do.

One of the advantages of writing non-fiction is that before you, personally, start any work, the very raw material  you have collected will tend to indicate some kind of structure. This isn’t to say you can’t be unorthodox in your approach – starting a biography with a dramatic incident instead of writing it chronologically – but at least there will be an innate logic stemming from your research as to how you will present your writing.

Fiction suffers from the great advantage and disadvantage of offering infinite choice. Where a novel is concerned, the writer is God during the process of creation (though at a certain stage Satan will enter the process in the form of your agent or editor or both). True, being God means you can do anything, but it also makes you responsible for every single aspect of the world that is your book, a truly exhausting task given that one is faced with infinite alternatives. This leads me to the conclusion that when God created Free Will (this is an intellectual concept – you don’t have to believe in God to read on) He did so more in the spirit of delegation than as an act of ultimate generosity. Being no fool, He wanted us to do much of the work. God, as of course you know, is a capitalist.

This leads me to my main point. The hardest part of writing a novel – at least insofar as I am concerned – is the structural phase during which you drastically reduce the variables by making make the hard choices which will shape the actual work. Once that is done – within the six days or so generally conceded to be the standard for creating a world – you can put your feet up on the seventh day and let your characters get on with it. All they have to do is live (though dying is quite the thing where thrillers are concerned). But the hardest part is the plotting.

“ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE ACTUAL WRITING IS EASY?” I hear you scream.

Just not quite as hard; though considerable stamina in involved where a classic big thriller is involved. It’s more like running a marathon. True, running a marathon can kill you, as the pioneer of that race found out first hand, but at least you know where you are going.

Department of Discombobulating Details

Fundamentally, Al Qaeda are waging economic war against us; and we are assisting their efforts by over-reacting and waging the most expensive material war in history against that organization - thus draining our coffers and assisting Bin Laden in his objectives. For example, it costs us $50 million to kill one Taliban - and they are reproducing faster than we can kill them. This makes no sense. 

Department of Unusual Blogs & Fascinating People

I doubt very much that most of us have a handle on the kind of seismic changes which are taking place as a consequence of the digisphere but John Robb author Global Guerillas http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/ may be such a man. 

PRODUCTIVITY FOR WRITERS? THAT HAS GOT TO BE AN OXYMORON… OR DOES IT?

Image via Wikipedia

Department of Mindboggling Productivity: Enter ‘The Digiter.’

It’s rather hard to get a grip on an author’s productivity because such intangibles as ‘thinking’ come into the equation – and even then how can an observer detect what an author is thinking about, let alone the effectiveness of such thinking. Then there is the interesting fact that an awful lot of work is carried out by one’s subconscious (a tricky little fellow – or fellow-ess -  at the best of times) which seems to do its best work when one is asleep.  

Of course, a time and motion expert could count words; but that’s not as straightforward as it sounds since the quality of the words is a factor; and how does one judge quality since, all too often, neither author nor editor can agree? And how can you depend on measuring word-count when re-writing and polishing are so integral to the writing process?  

I rather like the idea of the languid lifestyle of a creative genius, and was brought up in an environment where a pre-lunch sherry was de rigeur, and lounging by the pool – drink in hand - looking at gorgeous women in Monte Carlo was just what one did every long and lazy summer, but the truth is that I work like a dog and take writing productivity very seriously.  Why so? Well, these days an author has to write, blog, market himself, and – for god’s sake - Tweet.  Hemingway would have had a heart-attack.

Enter ‘The Digiter, ’ the writer equipped with the range of skills and talents demanded by the digisphere – as much at home with multimedia as with wordsmithing, and with the talent for self-promotion and the thick skin of a Donald Trump. Is that a good thing? I’m skeptical but pragmatic. Writing is so demanding I suspect it needs total commitment, and every atom of air and molecule of blood you have left in your body. But I don’t make the rules and the current rules of the game in this Darwinian digisphere we are creating – but certainly not controlling - are demanding in the extreme. They remind me of the French Foreign Legion slogan: “March or die!” though in this case they might be better expressed as “Produce across the spectrum or be unrecognized.”

I’m far from sure all writers seek celebrity status – there are considerable disadvantages to that condition – but I’m fairly certain that all of us seek recognition. As to whether we are all prepared to pay  the price, I can only answer for myself. Suffice to say that: yes, I take productivity very seriously indeed.

Department of Unexpected Feelings & Three Legged Cats

Unending wars and economic gloom apart, by conventional standards my current situation might be regarded as extremely difficult at present, and I have never worked harder in my life; but I find myself strangely content and optimistic. Can writing, so associated with angst, have that effect – or am I under the spell of Charlie, The Three-Legged Cat, and her companion, Chester The Molester? Or am I enjoying morphing into a digiter?  

Digitate on that, and when I know the answer, I’ll tell you. Probably.

DRAGONS, FIRE & HORNETS; & THE DUMBING-DOWN OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

Cover of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Dear You—

I’m just finishing the third book in the admirable The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. It’s called The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest - in the unlikely event you’ve been stuck down a mine shaft and you haven’t heard of it. The second volume is The Girl Who Played With Fire. All are deservedly blockbusters.

Though I’m enjoying the book thoroughly – it is making me recall some of the thoroughly bad editing advice I have received over the years (I have received some good advice as well) and wonder about two things: the dumbing-down of America, and the amount de facto censorship – principally enforced self-censorship - which exists in this Land of the Free of ours.

The two are connected because one of the core beliefs of many mass market media U.S. editors seems to be that the American reader is too dumb and too ignorant to deal with anything other that genre books, and that virtually all exposition and introspection should be eliminated from a thriller (to give but one example) because the typical reader has neither the intelligence nor the patience to follow anything other than a formulaic storyline.

This arrogant attitude isn’t confined to the book business. It’s not universal, but it’s prevalent throughout the media and entertainment business, and, as a consequence, has become something of a self fulfilling prophecy. If you put out a steady diet of mediocre work, you lower the standard. Dumbness, it appears, is infectious and features a ratcheting effect. You don’t stay dumb. You get dumber.

For all our human imperfections, I have come to the conclusion that the American people are more being dumbed down than innately dumb. Indeed there is extraordinary talent here. But pockets of talent do not compensate for a population that has lost its sense of cognitive excellence and is content with bread and circuses. Crass commercialism focused on the lowest common denominator, and the most cynical abuse of the First Amendent by the Rich and Corporate Interests, solely for reasons of power and profit, have a great deal to answer for. And I write that as a believer in capitalism. I just don't believe that dumbing down your market is good business.

Clearly the author of the Dragoon Tattoo trilogy, Stieg Larsen, a Swede, writing in Swedish, was unconcerned with the beliefs and practices of American editors because he has violated just about every one of their commandments, and in the process demonstrated through the extraordinary success of his books in the U.S.,that many American readers may be a lot brighter than they are credited with being, and that maybe readers know best.

The following are just a small selection of the editorial mandates and prejudices that Stieg Larsen defied with such verve and vigor:

• Keep exposition to a minimum. 
• Avoid introspection.
• Don’t have too many characters.
• Make sure your main protagonists don’t do anything your readers would disapprove of.
• Make sure your lead is an American Set your story in America.

I could go on, but this mindset is too depressing; and yet these attitudes are typical of the people whose output pervades, informs and influences our lives to the extraordinary extent it does in this infotainment oriented economy of ours. I’ll expand on this theme in future blogs, but believe strongly that we need to wake up to the fact that the mass media are powerful, largely unconcerned with the public good, and playing no small role in pushing this nation into entirely preventable decline.

On could make a very strong case that dumbing-down - the poisoning of the public mind -constitutes a very real ‘Crime Against Humanity.’

The underlying reasons for Stieg Larsen's appeal is that he treats his readers as intelligent adults.




Victor.