Published Author Or Bust!

I still intend to get a book published in print some day, but for now I find the concept of podiobooking so enticing that I can’t help but want to try this first. After all, from the many author columns I’ve read, my first novel will not be my best work and may not be publishable at all. Even as I write it now, I recognise its limitations, but I’ve been wanting to share this story for so long that I’m determined to finish it. And what better way to share it than as a podiobook?

While the end of the book is still a long way off – almost depressingly so – I have taken my first steps into this phenomenon. Over the last few months I’ve done voice work for a couple of bit parts in projects from the talented chaps behind The Dead Robots Society, and I’ve even been contacted on the Podiobooks community by an author to narrate his entire novel for him.

I’ve been really enjoying all of this, both the voice acting and the narration, and I can’t wait to finish my own book so I can start transferring it to audio. And now my oh-so-lovely voice is available in a fictional podcast for the first time.

Today, Justin Macumber of the aforementioned Dead Robots Society has released the first part of his short story podcast series, Tales Of The Breaking Dawn. I only make a brief appearance, but it’s still an important first step.

I encourage everyone to give The Ties That Bind a listen. Not just because I’m in it, but because it’s a great sci-fi romp with some fantastic production values.

James Uncategorized

Work on my novel is proceeding fantastically. At a chapter a week, I could well stand to finish the book by the end of the year. This year.

This is of course dependant on me continuing to lose four hours a day to commuting, refraining from doing anything on the London – Hertford East train but write and never driving to work again, but we’ll see what happens.

Chapter Four is also now finished, and work on Chapter Five has begun. This is an important hurdle because in every draft of this story so far, it is always the events of Chapter Four that have prompted a complete stop and a return to the drawing board.

The chapter basically revolves around Jolku breaking into General Druart’s mansion to steal something from his bedchamber. The first time, it seemed to be too easy and actually occurred in half of Chapter Two, which was far too short for such a key even.

The second time it was given an entire chapter and featured a conversation that hints at the overall plot of the trilogy. It was overly descriptive and when I read it out to a writer’s group, they suggested trying a different perspective or writing style – which led to me writing the book in first-person.

I’ve now finished this chapter once again, and while I’m happy(ish) with the way it progresses and am keen to push beyond this sodding point into the actual storyline, there is an issue that needs to be overcome: it’s too long. I’ve tried to keep the chapter and description as simple as possible, but it’s over 7,000 words. In fact, there’s a bit of a length problem in general.

Through the various writing podcasts I listen to, I gather that no agent will look at a novel longer than 100,000 words. I’m currently on Chapter 5 of 31 and I’ve exceeded 25,000 already.

Has anyone got any tips on how I can trim things down as I go? I’ve already got to trim down Chapter One, and there’s an entire chunk I could probably cut out of Chapter Two, but beyond that, I’m stuck.

Has anyone else had this problem? Should I worry about it now, and try and cut down or hold back as I progress? Or shall I ignore the word count and deal with the length when I edit?

(see, even this post is too long!)

James Uncategorized

For some people it’s a basement or attic away from the family. For others, it’s a coffee shop surrounded by people. For me, the best place to write is on the daily commute.

Recent car troubles (short version: split coolant hose, long version: same but with more comedic exaggeration) have forced me to get the train to work for the last couple of weeks. Now due to horrendous oversight in the construction of Britain’s railways, this means I have to catch a 45-minute train into London, then another 45-minute train out again on a different line. And vice versa to get home. Which means I’m travelling for three hours a day (minus delays and walking between trains and home) - perfect time to write.

Admittedly, I’ve only been using one of the two trains to write on. The first train is too busy for me to get a seat, but the second train is always empty, so I can sit down comfortably(ish), whip out my mini laptop and get cracking, racking up an hour and a half’s writing (and anywhere between 600 and 1500 words, depending on how well it flows each day).

So while I failed to even write a word of Chapter Three the other weekend, I did manage to write the entire chapter in four days’ worth of commuting last week. This week I’ve started and almost finished Chapter Four.

It’s fantastic, and I feel like I’m being really productive. There are no distractions, and because the journey only lasts 45 minutes, I have a strict deadline to write to (it’s not like I can put it off and make it up later). Plus the bonus is, I don’t have to worry about finding time to write more when I get home, meaning I get to enjoy all the other stuff that usually distracts me from writing.

My car will inevitably be fixed, and I’ll have to find another time and place to write (might try the coffee shop idea), but until then, I’m going to get as much written as I can.

James Uncategorized

New plan. Unrealistic, and I know I’m going in with an air of defeat, but I’ve been crap recently so I need to get my arse into gear.

This weekend, I’m going write all of Chapter Three.

I finished Chapter Two ages ago, and keep meaning to get started on Three, but by the time I’ve got home from work, cooked dinner, and done whatever else I need to do (podcast, scouts, blog, etc), I can’t be arsed to write. I keep putting off those ‘20 minutes a day’ I was using till last, meaning when I get to the stage I can sit down to write, I’m too tired to care. I need to start doing those 20 minutes FIRST and the doing all the other stuff.

But yes, to kickstart this initiative, I want to write an entire chapter in a weekend. It’s only a short chapter, literally just introducing the third character (I need to stop waffling and learn there’s nothing wrong with short chapters), so it should be doable. Although I won’t be able to start until I’ve recorded the podcast tonight (3 hours gone already), washed the car, posted a few bits in town, tidied the house. Then I’ll be able to write until 6/7pm when I have friends coming over. And Sunday’s been written off by more scouting.

Figured I’d get my excuses out there first!

James Uncategorized Misc

The Dead Robots Society Podcast: Episode 72 Interactive Storytelling is available. In it, I was lucky enough to chat with Justin Macumber and Ryan Stevenson about the various narrative techniques used in video games, how game storylines and game writing compare to those of traditional fiction and the challenges games writers face today.

I cannot thank Justin and Ryan enough for giving me the opportunity to join them. Thank you so much, guys!

James Uncategorized

As I type, I’m waiting for The Dead Robots’ Society’s Justin Macumber to appear on Skype, as I’ve been invited to speak as a guest on this week’s DRS Podcast. I’ve been talking with Justin over the past couple of months, and I’m lucky enough to be appearing on this week’s episode of the show!

We’ll be discussing narrative techniques in video games (an area I’m more than a little familiar with). Despite how much podcasting I do on a regular basis, I find I’m actually starting to get nervous… :S

James Uncategorized

I really need to do some more reading. Actual reading, not podiobooks. The thing is, I’ve got in the habit of listening to podiobooks and podcasts on the drive to and from work, which essentially adds up to two hours reading per day - so surely that will suffice for a day’s literary intake? I’ve recently finished Scott Sigler’s Earthcore and I’m currently enjoying Playing For Keeps by Mur Lafferty.

I know I should read more actual books, and I’ve actually built up a pile by the side of my bed: The Time Traveller’s Wife, Bernard Cornwell’s Holy Grail Trilogy, The third and fourth Thursday Next novels, The Wheel Of Time: Book one, Peter Hamilton’s The Reality Disfunction, Red Dwarf: Last Human, Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire, Indiana Jones And The Seven Veils a Wilbur Smith double bill - and my recent encounter with the Golden Compass movie makes me want to read Northern Lights again (if only to confirm how much they got wrong).

But - and this will sound silly - until this weekend, I didn’t have a reading lamp, so reading in bed (my preferred reading location) meant getting out of bed to turn the lights off afterwards. Which is irritating. So now that I have one, I can read some more actual books - when I’m not writing my own.

That pile’s depressingly big now. Need to cut it down.

James Uncategorized Misc

To prove my dedication to The Plan, I have purchased www.thethievesguild.com. And - through a typo during the process - I’ve also purchased www.thethievesguid.com (for anyone as stupid as me!).

Eventually, they will have a website dedicated to the novel (and possibly the podiobook. We’ll see), but that won’t be for at least a year. In the meantime, they’re directed at my novel’s page here on the blog.

James Uncategorized Novel, The Thieves Guild

The loss of my job should have been the best thing to ever happen to my writing routine. Whole days at home, no obligations beyond the occasional evening at Scouts or with the family, and complete peace as I try to settle down to write.

No.

Redundancy ripped my world apart, and a mixture of panic and determination saw me dedicating entire days to job hunting, CVs, cover letters, interviews, etc. On the days when there was nothing to do but wait, hope, and keep checking for replies from potential employers, I just didn’t have the heart to write.

Sounds like an easy excuse, but I genuinely couldn’t bring myself to do anything creative. All my effort was saved for looking for a job and the rest was left to fending off despair. Any time I even thought about writing, another mindvoice told me ‘no, get a job. If you have time for writing, you have time for jobhunting’.

That’s all over now.

I’m currently on my second week at my new job, so once again, life is a tad more cheerful and I feel the urge to write once more. Unfortunately, an hour-long commute either way to the office (and an insatiable appetite for gaming I developed while at home, jobless) means I have even less time for writing than I did before. When I had finally established a writing routine, it was based primarily on using the train journey to work as writing time, but I’ve yet to find a way to type as I’m driving!

That’s not to say my journeys have been wasted. I’ve been fuelling my creativity with the inspiration works of Podiobook authors and writing podcasters. My time in the car is now taken up by J.C. Hutchins’ gripping 7th Son trilogy and Tee Morris’ superb Billibub Baddings And The Case Of The Singing Sword - two Podiobooks I cannot recommend enough!

I’ve also been listening to Writing Excuses, perfect for brief bites of inspiration and encouragement, and Mur Lafferty’s somewhat soothing I Should Be Writing. If anybody can recommend any other podiobooks or writing podcasts, please do.

In terms of my own work, I think it’s time to crack on with The Thieves’ Guild. While my Nano, Paralocks, was fun to write (well, the first 4000 words - didn’t get any further than that), I need to get The Thieves Guild out of me. I know writers have a little too much pride in their own work, but it’s such a great story and there are a few twists I’m really keen to see on paper - put simply, it’s the story that’s been eating me up from the inside, and it’s time to unleash it on the world.

No more putting it off with ‘trimming’. No more worrying that the early chapters aren’t strong enough. No more fussing over names, or events, or timelines, or minor details. I have the story, I can polish it later.

Of course, I don’t know when I’m going to start a new writing routine, cos I’m busy every evening this week (genuine busy, not gaming busy). Might have to leave it till the weekend.

Or the Christmas hols… or New Year…

James Uncategorized

No, I haven’t been sucked into the money guzzling world of MMOs – I’ve been searching for a writers’ community.

It’s deadline day at work and, having finished the current load and decided not to start the next one until tomorrow morning, I’ve been listening to Mur Lafferty’s I Should Be Writing podcast. While I’ve been focussing on episodes that discuss confidence (something I feel I’ve been lacking for the last couple of years), a topic that has also come up frequently is friends.

Mur recommends that you have a group of friends that you can talk to and discuss work with, and that if possible they should be writer friends, fellow would-be authors that understand what you’re going through. I used to have these. Three, in fact. One changed her medium of choice and took up art, the second has apparently stopped writing and spends most of our conversations begging for me to come and visit her and the other is an arrogant, ego-tistical, melodramatic twat.

However, what Mur said makes to much sense to ignore, and I miss being able to discuss our work with those three. So, with the age of the Internet opening new doors, I’ve started looking for new friends – either a writing group or a forum. The NaNoWriMo forums initially fit the bit, but they’re currently locked out until October 1, preparing for the upcoming competition. Once they are unlocked, the problem is temporarily solved, but since the vast majority of the community seem to be focussed on these annual challenges rather than ongoing works, I’ve been searching for a general writers forum.

I used to moderate one, but it became overrun by spambots, and none of the groups or forums I’ve found today seem as welcoming or as active as my old boards used to be. If anybody can recommend one, please let me know!

And one minor point/rant: I’m becoming increasingly frustrated that, while I’m getting more of my novel done, I’m falling behind with my professional blog. It’s already over a month since I returned from Leipzig and I’ve only written up two previews – and I’m putting off all other entries until I’ve got these done. Think I need to sit down and write them all up this weekend, but it feels too much like work compared to my own fiction.

So yeah, anybody a member of a friendly writers community, email me please…

James Uncategorized Misc