Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Misreading
I was fixing up a magazine on my website, a nice little part-work magazine just making sure it had enough information for some lovely person to buy and noticed what I was typing.
Transplant a heart and it will die unless its tissues match those of its new owner. Volunteers, who hope that when they die their still healthy organs will help another live, may carry cards that describe their tissues. Surgeons of the future plan ‘organ banks’ where hearts and lungs, livers and kidneys can be kept until they are needed.
I misread it slightly and thought I should share my thoughts with you.
So, I’m an organ donor but I don’t have a card to describe my tissues, maybe I should make one today. Having never seen most of my organs I’m not quite sure how to describe them but I could say something about my eyes.
Eyes: regular size, roundish, the colour changes depending on what I’m wearing, sometimes have flecks of green. You won’t need to put in coloured contacts, just change your clothes. Can’t guarantee you actually want these eyes as they’re old before their time. They’re short-sighted, the good news is they’ve stopped getting worse due to age and I now need to wear reading glasses to see the computer, my dinner, my tapestry…the other side of the table. Actually, maybe you do want them then you could have a blind date and you wouldn’t know what the person on the other side of the table looked like, they could look like a super model in your minds’ eye.
Studying genre
Last night I came across this article which had me intrigued. It talks about writing professors being partial to literature and against science fiction. The comments are even more interesting as some of them show not all professors are against science fiction. And this morning I was directed to this letter from Daniel Abraham, a genre writer.
It’s very interesting how so many literature writers, readers and reviewers still look down on genre books, books written in a particular genre such as science fiction or fantasy and it doesn’t really make much sense as some of these genre books are much better than some literature books. They make a lot more sense, are easier to read and have messages inside them which are the equal of literature.
Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series have distinct messages about women and their strength and show women to be extremely capable of thought and action. Many of the women in Pern are capable and run things quite nicely while in literature such as Bleak House the women are depicted as being rather silly and pandering to the men. I know Bleak House is based on people Dickens knew but surely he knew more capable women than that, there’s only a couple of decent women in it, most of them are silly and fluffy and only do what they’re told.
There are many examples of messages about society within the pages of genre books. Take Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. Both of these genre books take society into the future and show us what it could be like. Literature readers will often read these books and tell us they transcend genre, they mean this in a derogatory fashion but it’s not really because they’re using the wrong words, they mean they cross the borders between genres. These books are science fiction and literature together, what I’m really saying is that literature is a genre so the idea of calling a book a ‘genre’ book is actually really silly.
When deciding which category to put books into on this website I often just take the most well known category, so Anne McCaffrey’s books could go into science fiction or fantasy. I tend to think her Pern novels are more fantasy but as there is a lot of genetic engineering in some of them and that then filters through to all of them they could easily go in science fiction. If I had a category for women’s fiction I’d put them there as well, but that assumes I’m classing strong women as women’s fiction. Women’s fiction could be chick lit or romance but that’s just silly as I know men who happily read both chick lit or romance and I don’t read either if I can help it. Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire could be classed as horror or fantasy due to the vampires but there’s also a deep love element in there so could be slotted into romance, it also has a fair amount of philosophy so maybe I could stretch a point and file it under philosophy.
Anyway, I think I’m confused. I’m just going to finish by mentioning my English Literature teacher from last year who is partial to vampire fiction and even likes Twilight – I do hope no-one tries to categorise that as literature, maybe we could start a new category called Sparkly!
Balance of Power – Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik
Balance of Power is one of the Tom Clancy’s Op-Centre series. The description on the back is as follows:
Spain is a nation poised to suffer its worst internal strife in a thousand years. Certain well-place Spanish diplomats sense it. Op-Centre’s intelligence corroborates it. All the United States and Spain have to do is find a way to avert it.
Before they can, an Op-Centre representative is assassinated in Madrid on her way to a top-secret diplomatic meeting. Now all fears are confirmed. Someone very powerful wants another Spanish civil war – no matter what the cost.
I enjoy the Tom Clancy novels, whether they’re specifically written for young adults or for adults. This one is no different. It has all the elements we’ve come to expect from a Tom Clancy novel: politics; thrill; excitement and psychology. I notice from the description of the authors that Steve Pieczenik is a Harvard trained psychiatrist with a PhD in International Relations. This gives him the edge with the psychology and explains why it’s all written into the book.
One thing I thought about with this novel (and I’m sure it’s taught in writing classes, one day I’ll take one of these classes and learn stuff proper like) was how an author has to put in more than just the story line in order to have a good book. They have to put in motivation and stuff to describe their characters and background stuff like.
Our lead character is Paul Hood, he heads Op-Centre, the National Crisis Management Centre which deals with both international and domestic crises. Hood is currently caught between two worlds, he’s very good at his job but this calls him away from home a lot and his wife is trying to keep him home more often so he can be part of the family, it’s a problem many people can identify with. One of the things that makes this book good is how Clancy and Pieczenik examine this from both sides, we see Hood and wife discussing it on the phone getting more and more angry with each other, then we see each of them thinking about it and understanding the situation more.
There are more examples of this throughout the book with different scenarios and different people. Another Op-Centre representative was present at the assassination, her feelings are examined at the time and then later on, we’re given a good understanding of how she’s coping with the whole scenario. If the book was just a straight line from the assassination to the conclusion then it’d be fairly boring, but with all these little asides fleshing out the characters and the situations, making us understand how people work things change dramatically and the book comes alive.
You wake up…
I was reading some random stuff in my history, something the kids had been reading, and it got me thinking. The author was talking about his writing and how he’d written a story based on the scenario of “you wake up next to ‘x’ what do you do?” and it occurred to me it would make a fabulous writing exercise and could be extended in so many different ways.
Start off by describing some characters. Take them one at a time and write them down. Put in as much detail as you can:
- their body build
- are they flighty
- are they steady
- how brainy they are
- do they think things through a lot or do they just react
- their race and how this will affect their character
- their gender
- have they had a good childhood
- do they have a good memory
- do they have amnesia
- hair colour
- skin colour
- eye colour (one eye or two?)
- do they wear glasses (this could be important depending on how much they need them)
Then, take one of those people and put them in bed next to ‘x’, have them wake up, suddenly or slowly and come to the realisation that ‘x’ is next to them. How do they react? As this is a writing exercise rinse and repeat with each of your characters, if you want to be sensible you could give them all names appropriate to their race, if you don’t want to be sensible just give them numbers.
By the end of the exercise you should have several totally different scenarios, if you haven’t and all your people react the same way have a closer look at their personalities and add in more detail. Take two with added detail and see where that takes you. Try adding in more detail about their surroundings, describe the bed, the room, the sounds, time of day, just add lots more stuff.
Best of luck with the wilder personalities, don’t try to tame them just go along for the ride.
I’m prepared to bet this is in some writing course somewhere, I didn’t pinch it from them it was just an idea I had this morning.
10 Things I’ve Done to Find Inspiration
I might be lying there, it may not be ten, but it looks good as a header. I’ve been really struggling to find inspiration on writing matter this week, today is the worst day. I have thoughts for Tuesday as it’s Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday, then Squid Ink does Thursday but that’s it for inspiration.
I woke up early and didn’t feel it worthwhile to try and get back to sleep so I got up and started looking for inspiration. I know I can always scribble a few words about a book and I have two sitting in front of me that are prime candidates for that role but I don’t know I could do them justice today. I turned my computer on about 6:30am, it’s now 9:15 and I’ve given up. During that time I’ve had breakfast, talked to the rest of the family and tidied a little so I haven’t spent the entire time browsing the web looking for ideas. Onto the list:
1. Trade publications: I’ve looked at various newsletters and blogs including MM&M. It’s an interesting conundrum, how do you make a situation better without making it worse.
2. Facebook: I’m a member of a Melbourne Blogshare group and I wandered around their blogs. I found an article about the recent exhibition about Tiddalick the Frog at the Melbourne Museum and let people know she’s having a little competition until 4pm today.
3. The Bookshop Blog: Spent a bit of time there as they always have good articles and good information. Absolutely nothing to do with some of my writing being there; I should write more for them.
4. A Broom With a View: Browsed a couple of articles here and found nothing I could get a whole article about. Leighta does talk about the challenge of giving your book to someone else to read but as I don’t write books it feels a bit silly to write on that topic.
5. Book Hunter’s Holiday: Just as I’d given up and was planning to write about a book I was referred to this site. It looks good for the future but I’ve already spent far too much time browsing and not getting anything done today so it’s on the Blog Troll list.
6. TV Tropes: The random button on TV Tropes is a wondrous thing, it takes you to all sorts of information and I could see lots of use for it for the future but nothing sprang to mind today.
7. Melville House: There’s a lot of fuss in the ether about Amazon taking on the publishing industry, Barnes & Noble have taken a stand about it and will not sell books published by Amazon. The whole idea is interesting and I’ve been toying with writing something about it but I’m always reminded I don’t know enough about the publishing industry to write something legible about it. The wording used by Barnes & Noble is interesting and leaves a couple of holes, possibly for ebooks.
8. GnomeAngel: I mentioned my problem to a friend who told me she’d seen a mention of me on a blog. This took me to GnomeAngel’s blog, I do read this blog on occasion, making sure to catch up on all her news as she’s been through the IVF rollercoaster. This was really a distraction, not an inspiration and I mentioned how lovely she is on Twitter and Facebook, more procrastination.
9. Spoke to my daughter about the problem and she gave me an idea, but not one I can use right now as I’d need to do lots of research and lots of thinking. It would also help if I had another language and could check up some stuff in the original language as well, but I don’t. I tell people I have two languages, English and Australia!
10. Looked at my desk and surrounds to see the multitudes of books there. I pondered the idea of writing about the process of researching prices of books and how I go about listing them on the website or on eBay but that sounded way too boring.
If there was anything else I did for inspiration this morning I’m not going to list it as I suddenly realised I’ve made it to 10! It’s a stupid goal but I’ve done it.
Still in New Zealand
So, I’m still in New Zealand and this is the first post I’ve written from here, up till now everything you’ve been reading from me has been pre-written and scheduled, I do intend to change that from today and go back to my regular Monday to Friday publishing schedule.
It’s been lovely here, the country is beautiful with so many wow moments and the people are really nice. The weather has mostly been idyllic, we’ve had a little rain on occasion but have somehow managed to miss most of the really bad weather including the gale force winds forecast for the day we crossed from the South Island to the North Island on the ferry, they just never happened.
I’ve spent a bit of time writing about the events on my ipsd and some of that will make its way to the blog over the next few days. I have so much to talk about, a little to do with the Lord of the Rings, the scenery, roadworks, I could write a few words about the elections that were held last Saturday as we popped into a voting centre, one topic I must write about is Christchurch and their recovery. I haven’t managed to visit as many op shops or book shops as I’d hoped so I can’t regale you with the hundreds of purchases I was hoping to have made which would have put my baggage limit into overdrive.
I will be glad to get home, we’ve spent so many mornings packing everything and moving on, I’ve had so many meals of fish and chips and I’d really like to sleep in my own bed. The Internet has been interesting, mostly we’ve tethered a phone and used that as a hotspot, it makes for a rather slow connection and I’ve gradually reduced the amount I do until I spend most of my evening playing games or writing with just a couple of minutes checking the most important things, we’ve had two motels which have been kind enough to give us 100mb of free Internet access and I’ve tried to make the most of that.
I have tried to remember I’m on holidays and shouldn’t be tweeting or blogging or even checking forums or other blogs, sometimes I forgot technology makes it so easy to keep in touch.
This is just a brief hello and au revoir, I’ll be back in Melbourne on Sunday and will start answering the many emails and get back into routine on Monday, I will take some time out to see the kids and make sure they’re okay and have survived looking after themselves and the house for three weeks. I probably should also take some time to look at and start filing some of my photos I’ve only taken about 1,000 of them and I promise not to show them all to you.
SAC, the revised version
The boy looked familiar, I couldn’t quite place him, we see so many people in the store some of the faces blur. I do my best but if they only come in once it’s hard to remember them. He was at the table checking tickets and I had plenty of time to look at him, when we enchanged glances there was no recognition in his eyes.
I moved in and found my boys. It was the Scout Banquet, we’d been looking forward to this for some time, they were so excited. They were in the Order of the Arrow and quite proud of the fact. They are good boys, very well behaved and rarely in trouble, I trusted them to get themselves to the hall on time. I smiled at their enthusiasm. They were meeting friends they only saw on camps and jamboree, there was much running round greeting people, they took me with them and introduced me carefully each time. I suddenly thought about that boy in the store less than a half hour ago.
He was just wandering back and forth in front of the store, looking so normal I may not have remembered him if it hadn’t been for the horn-rimmed glasses he was wearing. They look uncomfortable on him as if he wasn’t really used to wearing them. There was nothing to make him really stand out, no taller than me and reminding me very much of my two boys.
I watched him as he came through the door and picked up a few things in the store, not much, just the Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest and a few things for an older person; aftershave, fingernail clippers and a package of pipe tobacco. I did wonder what his game was, had he been dared to steal a few things?
As he approached the cash register I acted normal, I smiled and asked how he was today. “Grand” he said. After I added up the bill I asked him if there was anything else. “I believe that will do the trick.” Polite, he was, it impressed me and made me think well of his mother.
He didn’t have any money, checked his pockets thoroughly and apologised for leaving his wallet at home. I liked him for offering to put everything back on the shelf but declined, I do like doing it myself to stop them taking it out the door. But he turned back to offer me a check and that’s when I realised what the game was. Play along, I thought, just for a while, then give Albert the signal to dial 911.
The check was loose, one of those convenience checks you pick up at the bank nearby. Didn’t make it out for the total but for $50. Oh, he did ask if it was ok but didn’t really expect an answer. I don’t think he heard the hesitation in my voice when I agreed.
Hard to continue acting as normal, my voice wavered when I asked for identification. No, no identifcation, claimed it was in his wallet, he did find a library card…eventually. Just the right amount of pocket checking, I wondered how often he’s done this. Checked this carefully hoping to find some sign of him being real. Even asked his address, couldn’t get that right, though, had to take the card back and read it.
I knew I had no choice, he was obviously not Thomas Findon as it said on the card.
Albert came when I called and I handed the card and check to him. Used all our signals so he could take them out the back and dial 911. The police are real fast in this area, I wouldn’t have to keep him long. Couldn’t though.
Passing time by putting his purchases in a bag, I made some small talk. Realised I should explain we didn’t keep that much cash on hand but that didn’t work. When he saw me almost in tears he understood and promised to come back later. We both knew he wouldn’t.
I came out from behind the counter when he started out the door and followed, calling his name, “Thomas”, then louder, “Thomas”. I knew he heard me as he didn’t run too hard, just enough to keep ahead. He seemed so much like my boys so I didn’t call “Stop thief”, didn’t even want to.
“Ma’am”
“Ma’am” a little louder.
I looked up. “Sorry officer, where were we?”
“Finish your coffee, ma’am. We’ll type this up for your signature.”
“That’s very good of you, Sergeant.”
The sergeant put some paper into his typewriter and started typing. The sound was mesmerising and I just sat and listened to it for a while. Suddenly it came to me…
“Sergeant! That boy at the ticket desk was the boy in the store. He was from out of town. He looked so different without his glasses.”
The sergeant noted it down and finished typing. I read it through carefully, signed it before standing up.
“If we have any more questions we’ll be certain to come by the store.”
“Yes, yes of course. Thank you for being so prompt.”
“All part of the service. You take care now.”