writing about writing

My editing is out of order! (WriteBlog #1)

October 9, 2013 by Nick Bryan

As avid Twitter followers will already know, I’ve been entering a difficult phase of editing recently. My current novel in progress (the Satan one I mentioned earlier) is coming along well, but thanks to both my own instinctive genius and some insightful feedback from my writing group, I have a lot of changes to make already.

I am currently roughly 57% through the book – I worked that out with a calculator – and already I know I need to rewrite four chapters from close to the beginning and probably massively rejig even the most recent ones I’ve done.

Yesterday’s editing project: work out how to combine chapters 4 and 5 into a new, unified chapter 4, whilst sticking the original end of chapter 4 at the end of chapter 3.

Last week’s editing project: chapter 10 became chapter 12, and then I needed to write a new chapter 10 to fill the gap, and in the future probably rewrite chunks of chapters 11 and 12 to get everything in line.

I mean, I haven’t even reached two thirds yet – the rough plan is to write the final third for NaNoWriMo, and I’m sure you’ll here more about that on the blog and/or Twitter in a few weeks – but presumably more stuff is going to come up as I work on that?

I’m not particularly used to editing happening in so big a way; I’ve struggled in the past with working out how best to move parts around on this scale, so this is a big step forward for me. It’s exciting, and I’m 99% sure I’ll emerge with a much better story at the end of it, presuming I survive, and maybe I’ll even hone the necessary instincts to get the plan more right when I start the next book.

Still, as someone who has more or less always written in order until now, rewriting so many different parts of the same story hurts my head a little when I stand back and think about it, and I still feel a bit glum about the amount of already-done work I’ll end up throwing away. But I think this is still a positive progression, and at least I’ll always have Hobson & Choi, forced to be linear thanks to the weekly release schedule.

If anyone has sympathetic time-warping editing stories, feel free to toss them out in the comments. In the wrong order, if you like.

The Most 1000th Post On This Website! Thoughts! Updates!

August 4, 2013 by Nick Bryan

Hello, everybody. This is the 1000th post on this blog (or at least it was on the old site, ahem), so I thought it would be nice to do a proper entry. So, let’s talk a bit about how things are going, a little about the future, maybe some thinking out-loud too. I’ve got a couple of topics to hit, but I’m allowing myself space to improv around the edges.

Hobson & Choi – Twenty-Five, Still Alive!

My ongoing detective serial Hobson & Choi hit twenty-fifth episodes on Thursday, and it looks like we broke the top twenty best-voted serials for the first time in July too. Exact placing still to be revealed, but thanks to anyone who did vote for us. The best is yet to come – seriously, I’ve read #26 and it’s great fun.

But aside from the broad progress update, how are things really going? I wrote a post a while back about the conflict inherent in me, a slightly awkward British man, having to aggressively plug something, and since then, I’ve played with a few strategies to get things working. I submitted an item to the EpiGuide podcast, I created the Official Hobson & Choi Twitter account, where I can ramble about the serial and play with hashtag promotion without feeling bad about infuriating old Twitter followers.

Surprisingly, we’re over 80 followers on that account, which is better than I expected it to do. People seem to be voting for the story on Jukepop, and not just the ones I force with guilt, so I gotta assume it’s going okay.

Still, there’s always more to do. In mid-August, Jukepop’s six-month exclusivity period on early H&C chapters starts to run out, and that means I’ll probably be slapping the first few episodes around other websites to try and raise awareness. May even play with formats beyond text – want to hear my beautiful authentic nasal-Essex accent reading out some Hobson & Choi? You may not have to wait long.

So in the meantime, you can read the serial on Jukepop, and if you know anywhere good I could post some Hobson & Choi in late August, let me know.

Writing About Writing More Or Less?

Not as many solid plans about getting more original content on this blog. I’m not a huge fan of declaring “tips” about writing – to be honest, I’m still learning what works for me, so although I’m happy to talk about it when I do hit on a winning strategy, they don’t come along often enough to keep this blog humming. I tried a slightly self-indulgent post about my creative process last week, and that was enjoyable enough.

And of course, there was always the Friday stories, which were fun and did get the hits/comments in, but honestly, the amount of writing time I was spending producing them was not good. Work on my non-H&C projects has sped up enormously since I cut those out.

I have a few other stories out submitted, and hopefully there will be positive news soon, but again not enough to run this blog single-handed. The TV reviews continue, though, and I might be doing some other podcasty work in that region too. Maybe. Hopefully. Anyway, enough thinking out loud for now, I think.

Thanks to everyone who’s been following the blog and/or the Twitter account for a long time, I’m aware there are some out there who read along happily and don’t say much, and your support means a lot too. Now, back to the “real” writing. I got another thousand posts to fill.

Look! Book! Fook!

July 26, 2013 by Nick Bryan

Picture the scene, if you will. I was at Latitude festival last weekend – evidence of attendance visible to your right – and arrived early for a talk in the literature tent. The previous speaker was still going. We had been sleeping in a tent and were quite tired (I pray thee cry us a river), so my girlfriend did the only sane thing under the circumstances and lay down on the floor, instantly falling asleep.

However I am a sleep-masochist, so stayed awake on the nice carpeted floor and listened to this man talk. And as I processed his words, something stirred within me. After some soul-searching introspection, I realised it wasn’t exhaustion or my lunch, but an idea. Not just a small idea either, a large one that I could write a fair bit of stuff on. Hell, this might even be another novel idea.

I already have one book I’m writing, another I’m sending out to people, yet another I might write next, and of course my detective serial Hobson & Choi continuing on top of all of that.

So, much as I enjoy a bit of inspiration, there comes a time when it all gets a bit much, and I think we’re nearly there.

Inspiration – A Probable Humblebrag

Nothing personal, Shiny New Book Idea, you have a lot of potential, but I don’t want to start going off my current projects because I’m two or three items down the line in my mind. I have to keep myself grounded, focused and staying in the present, or I’ll never achieve anything. I’m already not doing that good a job of sending out my finished novel, because it’s just more fun to focus on the exciting creative process of writing new stuff.

Not sure what the solution is to this. Sell my new idea to someone else? Quit my day job, so I might actually have time to write everything I want to write? Work faster and stop typing ponderous blog posts when I could be churning out fiction? Spend less time on Twitter? Stop doing as much lurking on internet comics forums?

Yeah, let’s not get too crazy. But still, I need to lock the brilliant new idea away in its box for now, before it destroys the genuinely productive creative process I’ve built over the last few months. I’ve got nearly a third of the new novel done, I think it isn’t too shit, Hobson & Choi seems to be doing quite well, let’s not rock the boat, or indeed soak the tent with water up and down the walls. And, you know, there are worse things in life than having ideas, really.

So, end of the day, I’ve taken notes, so the brilliant new idea won’t slip away from me, and you never know, I may even get to write a few words of it by 2015. It saddens me that I’m already thinking that far ahead, but such is the slipping away of life.

Although the guy whose talk inspired me was an astrologer for the Daily Mail, so maybe it’s best this stays at the bottom of the to-do list.

Inspiration Vs Plagiarism Vs Heroes Vs Satan

June 17, 2013 by Nick Bryan

Recently on the ever-lovely Web Fiction Guide website, a discussion arose on whether it was wise to avoid reading other material similar to your work-in-progress, lest you subconsciously steal their ideas, and it’s an interesting one.

I’m sure I’ve seen the ever-blunt Warren Ellis post on one occasion that he was avoiding certain material as it was too close to something he was working on. This would be a better anecdote if I could remember any context at all.

But the point being: should we worry? After all, if it could happen to Ellis, it could easily happen to the rest of us.

I Could Be Your Heroes, Baby

Broadly, I think the general advice is to read widely around your area, filling your head with influences, thus allowing yourself to plagiarise from several people at once, replicating no one story whilst homaging several, putting yourself above criticism. But what if the one story came up that really was exactly like yours?

I mean, my first ever completed novel manuscript was uncannily similar to the TV show Heroes – both revolved around normal people getting comic book superpowers. It was more of a contained character drama, rather than going into the conspiracy stuff, but I’d used a lot of the same scenarios as them. Basically, we were both influenced by/ripping off roughly the same superhero comics. (Don’t worry though, I still got some use out of the characters – they are the suspects/cannon fodder in my current Hobson & Choi serial. Except now they have no superpowers to save themselves.)

Most interestingly of all, my story had a villain called Skyler and Heroes had one called Sylar – does anyone know what we’re both “homaging” with that? I’ve never accurately traced it.

The Devil’s In The Doritos

I mention this because I’m considering reading more around Faustian deals for the current novel-in-progress, and although I’m sure there’s some great stuff, I’m a little concerned I’ll just subconsciously rip it off.

Thankfully, I haven’t yet stumbled across the one story which resembles mine so much, it makes me throw my hands up in despair and say “Fuck it, it’s all already been done, I’m off home to cry, put Heroes DVDs on and throw Doritos at the TV again!”

But will I, one day? Or do I need to grow a little writerly hubris and accept that my work is unique for its voice and slight resemblences are inevitable? (Especially when dealing with something as well-mined as the Deal With The Devil.)

Probably the second one. Anyway, more ruminations may follow, just wanted to get that out there. If anyone has any recomendations for Faustian deals in literature, feel free to mention them in the comments. I’ve already got Doctor Faustus itself on the pile, don’t worry.

Or, indeed, if you know where me and Heroes nicked Sylar/Skyler from. It was a decade too early to be Walt’s wife from Breaking Bad.

Against A Dark Background & Cuckoo In The Nest – Some Book Reviews

June 11, 2013 by Nick Bryan

Nowadays, there isn’t a huge amount of “original content” on this site. Yes, it’s good that other people want me to write for them, but I do feel bad having my own blog be nothing but links.

In the near future, I might try and ready a post or two about where I’m at (or something less horrific-sounding), although my actual process hasn’t changed much since I wrote this one, but for now – here are two books I’ve read recently and wanted to quickly get some thoughts down on. They have almost nothing in common with each other.

Against A Dark Background – Iain M. Banks

This one has ended up being accidentally topical since Banks sadly passed away last weekend, but I finished the book a week or two back. Fortunately, this is going to be a pretty positive review, otherwise I’d feel a tad guilty about posting it. Basically, Against A Dark Background is a sci-fi action-scavenger hunt adventure, with a lot of heisting, wisecracks and, at the end, a sudden tug into seriousness.

I read this as a rare experiment in “hard” science-fiction, and perhaps it wasn’t the best choice, as it’s actually quite breezy. Still, Banks throws some cool concepts around (especially the plant-planet in the middle segment, and the all-important “Lazy Gun”), and at least I didn’t feel alienated by it. The second half in particular really pulled everything together – after I’d started to worry this was a shallow book about people being snarky and running, we’re hit with a string of emotional sequences and reveals.

Really, I should’ve expected that an author this renowned would be pretty skilled. Banks toys with a constantly floating third-person perspective, very odd when I’m used to the standard close third, but it still works. Against A Dark Background is perhaps not a life-changer, but a fun, ultimately satisfying space-romp. As a first dip in the science-fiction pool, good stuff.

Cuckoo In The Nest – Nat Luurtsema

In my early twenties, I read a lot of “real-life” comedy books, by Danny Wallace, Dave Gorman and so on, where an author writes about their hilarious real life, while we laugh along and wonder how much of this crazy stuff was planned for the book. Cuckoo In The Nest has a similar chatty comedy style to those, but with added plausibility, which can only be a good thing.

Well, perhaps not for Nat Luurtsema herself, as she’s writing about being forced to live with her parents for six months, aged 28, due to chronic househunting disorder. It works, partly because Luurtsema is funny, but equally because she’s willing to be brutally frank about her life – or at least, honest enough to elevate this book beyond moany blogging. (It did, in fact, start off as a blog.)

It’s the right length, perhaps stabs a bit suddenly for pathos as the end approaches, but the scattershot sense of “Oh, um, yes, this is what I should do here” works with the voice, especially as Luurtsema proceeds to knowingly undercut her own conclusion anyway. As a creatively-aspiring late-twenty-something who lives in ongoing fear of boomeranging back home, maybe I’m rather squarely in the target demo, but still, enjoyed this book.

And now, for added multi-media content points, here’s a book trailer thingy I found for Cuckoo In The Nest whilst googling for the above cover image.

The Age Atomic by Adam Christopher – Book Review

May 8, 2013 by Nick Bryan

If you enjoy novels that mash up their genres, smooshing a range of aesthetics together into a weird whole, then Adam Christopher’s The Age Atomic could be for you. At last count, it combines parallel universes, steampunk airships, superheroes, 50s nuclear paranoia and a noirish private dick together into one bizarre soup.

So, to really strain this metaphor to pieces, how tasty is that soup? Is it the same sickly green as the book cover?

Difficult Second Book?

The Age Atomic is actually the second book by Christopher in the world of the Empire State – the first one, simply entitled Empire State, sets up the premise and many characters. If you were lured in by Age Atomic’s lovely cover, I’d strongly recommend making a short detour to check out the previous book first. Don’t worry – its cover is equally lovely.

Not that The Age Atomic is new-reader unfriendly – I think you could get everything that happens easily enough, but it will have more resonance and interest if you’re familiar with everyone. Also, you’ll have appreciation for the improvement between the two: the second book worked a bit better for me.

The fun, runalong, comic-booky tone is the main strength here, and the quicker these books moved, the more I enjoyed them. Empire State has a whole first half which runs a bit slow, whereas The Age Atomic only has the spell in the middle where lead detective Rad Bradley is stuck in a warehouse for ages.

Look, I Just Love Comics, Okay?

“Comic-booky” doesn’t mean silly though – the sad journey of villain Evelyn McHale during the second book is one of the strong points, and her emotional finish brings a little grounding to a climax that might otherwise have been too broad and zappy.

Since the mysteries behind the universe are revealed in Empire State, this sequel is free to explore, flick between the two and show us some different sides to the worlds, especially the “real” New York. That was interesting, it felt more of a living, breathing place this time, like the range of influences fitted together more seamlessly.

I must admit though: after two books, I’m growing restless with Rad Bradley as lead character – his point of view and emotional range seem restrictive; I can detect my enjoyment rising when reading a chapter from someone else’s perspective. Is this intentional? Are the people in the “pocket” universe meant to feel more like fictional characters?

But yes, if you want to see all these genre ideas side to side, in a way that has clearly had thought put into it, these are two decent books and The Age Atomic is the best one. It’s seventy pages shorter than Empire State, and I’d be fine with the next one being shorter still – the more tense and fast-moving the scenes, the better this worked for me. Not life-changing, but enjoyable – if you like comics, they might particularly work for you.