Writing: 7 things I've learned so far.

I've been writing for about eighteen months now. I've finished one book, am in he midst of finishing another in the same series, and have got about half way through a completely different book.

This is what I learned so far.

1. Never stop learning

I started to write about 20 years ago. I sat at my desk and bashed out a novel in three months. It was a mess. Oh , sure it had words and they were in the right order. There was even a structure to  it. But I hadn't learnt the art of writing. Nor the science. It's a skill just like plumbing, carpentry or advertising. I needed to learn about character arcs and flow, settings and punctuation, narrative voice and point of view. And the funny thing was, the more I learnt, the more I needed to learn. It's still true today. I'll never stop learning how to write. 

2. Writing is a process.

You have to sit down in front of a desk. Or in coffee shop. Or on a tropical island. Wherever you feel comfortable. You have to sit there and get out 90,000 words to tell a story. There has to be a beginning, a middle and an end. But they don't have to be in that order. There has to be characters. But they don't have to be human. There has to be a setting. But it doesn't have to exist. At the end of the process, you have a book It might not be any good. Nobody might read it. But you have a book. Well done. Pat yourself on the back and read number three.

3. Writing is re-writing

Nobody, not even Stephen King, gets it right first time. Re-writing and editing wis where a book comes alive. The themes get emphasised and clarified. The words get clearer or more beautiful. The commas, full stops, hyphens and speech marks all get put in the right place. The book begins to make sense. Re-write and re-write again. Eventually you will stop. In the year 2203.

4. Write every day.

Even if it's a blog. Or a letter to the milkman. Or a not to yourself. But write. and then write some more. The only way you get better at writing is by writing some more. It's like riding a bike. Only more fun.

5. Know your genre.

Go to a bookshop. It's one of those lovely places where your competition is lined up on shelves. There are lots of shelves and even more competition. But the one thing a bookshop does is make it easy for readers to find the books they like. The classify them. And unless you are writing the world's best book, write in a genre that a publisher, a bookshop and a reader will understand. If you don't, you will make it very hard to find somebody to publish your work. I know this from experience. I've still got the manuscript on my desk. Sitting there, staring at me. reminding me every day to write in a genre.

6. Find a method of writing that works for you.

I'm a pantser. That means I fly by the seat of my pants. Usually, I have a beginning, a middle and en end, but I don't know where I'm going when I sit down to write every day. It means I have to spend a lot of time re-writing to make it all make sense. But I don't mind. Stephen King is the same. So is Ian McEwen. The opposite is a planner. Like John Grisham. Jo Nesbo. Jeffery Deaver. These writers don't lift a finger to the keyboards until they know exactly where they are going with the book. Find your method. It could be a mixture of the two, Who cares. As long as it works for you.

7. Have fun.

Each day, I sit at my keyboard and go somewhere new.  I learn something about the process of writing. I learn about myself as a person. I think I've got better at writing. I've certainly got quicker. And now I recognise when I've written something that's crap and I've learnt how to fix it. But the most important thing I've learnt is that, if I'm having fun when I write, it shows on the page. It's simply more enjoyable for the reader.

I hope these are helpful. Next time, I'll talk about the more specific stuff and technical stuff, I've learnt as a writer.

Five ways to avoid writing.

If I could give myself marks for procrastination, I think I'd score an 11. Since coming back to the UK, I've discovered even more ways to postpone the time when I actually sit down at my Mac and start to type my novel.

1. The House needs cleaning.

Well it does. But it doesn't have to be done all in one go and it doesn't have to include cleaning all the shelves in the every cupboard. Plus washing and scrubbing that Magimix that you were given ten years ago and have used just once. Ah, you tell yourself, I might use it this time. Yes, and rats might make ratatouille.

2. The Garden needs .......(fill in the blanks)

The Garden always needs something done to it. That's the whole point of gardens. They grow. And they never stop growing. Maybe you should just buy plants that never need pruning, never grow, never die and never need watering. Like plastic plants.

3. That cup of tea needs making.

And whilst you are there, might as well make a bacon butty to go with it. Of course, you'll have to sit down to eat it with the telly on. Ah there's an interesting programme on the sex life of the Andean cockroach. Big Brother's on next too, goody. (Five hours later, the Mac is till unopened and untouched.)

4. I need to blog.

My website is calling my name. Feed me with words Stroke me with your eloquence. Satisfy me with sentences. So, here I am, writing here and not writing there. So it goes. At least, this is now finished. So maybe I can return to the novel. But then, I hear some washing calling my name......

5. Twitter hasn't heard from me for a while.

Definitely my favourite way to procrastinate. Twitter misses me. It misses my unique blend of charm and wit. It needs the careful way I retweet, adding just a word or two of well-chosen bonhomie to an otherwise boring tweet on the sex lives of Andean cockroaches. I need to read about other writers pushing their exciting books on the sex life of the Andean cockroach. Even more important, I need to read every tweet from every spam bot in Russia. Cyrillic always looks so pretty, don't you agree?

Finally, after a couple of hours, I may get down to writing. But I glance at my cup of tea. It's gone cold. Maybe a fresh one would lubricate the words. And a bacon butty.....

Procrastination is an art form that I have raised to the levels of Picasso. What's your favourite diversion from writing?

Final thoughts. What's the way forward for Labour? →

The Labour Party is in the middle of that act of self-immolation that always follows from a defeat at the polls.

The Blairites have come out and said let's return to New Labour. The right wingers have said the manifesto was too left wing. The Left that it was too right wing. And so it goes on and on.

Even worse, Labour is now going on an extended four month election for a leader which will result in even more navel gazing. 

Did nobody learn the lessons of 2010?

Then Labour spent six months electing Ed Miliband whilst the Tories and the Media quietly went about creating a new narrative: it wasn't the profligacy of the bankers that created the depression but Labour's profligacy on social spending. 

A narrative that cost them the election in 2015.

So far Chuka Umunna, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendell have thrown their hats into the ring. Not a list that's going to excite a plumber in Nuneaton. Or any other undecided voter.

All are from that class of career politicians that got Labour in trouble in the first place.

And whilst they are squabbling over who is going to lead the party, the Tories will be happily restricting freedom, rewarding their hedge fund backers, instituting more cuts to the NHS, Social Services, and Childcare, and constructing a new narrative about how 'they saved Britain'.

The one shining light in this maelstrom of incompetence is that, since the election, 30,000 people have joined the Labour Party. In them, lies hope for the future.

A future based on a party with a vision for the future based on community, caring and consideration for all. Regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual preference. A future where the entrenched unfairness of British society is replaced by a sense of equality, working together and giving, where people can aspire and achieve in their lives.

A return to what Labour stood for when it was founded in 1906. Not new or old Labour.

A return to the politics of hope. Not the politics of despair.

A return to the politics of the people. Not the people of politics.

A better Britain for all. Not for a few.

The General Election 2015. My thoughts #3

Why did the pollsters get it so wrong?

Until the day of the election, all the pollsters were predicting a hung parliament. 

Labour and the Conservatives were tied on 34%

The Scots Nats would win some seats in Scotland.

UKIP's share of the vote was falling.

The Lib Dems were hurting but they would still be a force in the next parliament.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Only in the exit polls on the day of the election, did the researchers get a true picture.

The Conservatives won a comfortable majority.

The Scots Nats devastated Labour in Scotland, winning 56 out of 59 seats.

UKIP's share of the vote increased particularly in the working class North.

The Lib Dems were trashed everywhere, probably bringing about the demise of their party as a political force for the next 20 years.

How did they all get it so wrong? 

Having worked in advertising for over 20 years and suffered the 'opinions' of 'research' for most of that time, it's not surprising. Here's three reasons why;

People tell you what they think you want to hear.

The way you frame the question creates the answer.

The pollsters themselves are not politically neutral. they are looking for a way to interpret the research that appeals to their clients. The political parties and the newspapers.

This is why 99.9% of all new product launches are total failures, despite reams of research. 

People don't tell the truth. And they lie more often and more believably to pollsters than anybody else.

When you add this to faulty methodology;

Interviewing people by phone. They use home phone numbers. How many of us now use our home phones? It tends to skew the interviewees to the older and the less affluent.

Interviewing people online. It tends to skew the results towards the younger, newer voter.

The combination of faulty methodology and people not telling the truth led to the failure of the pollsters.

Did it influence the election?

Definitely. Encouraging the Conservative voter to get out to counteract a supposed Labour resurgence that didn't actually exist.

So far none of these 'experts' have admitted their mistakes. They don't when a product launch goes wrong either. Then they blame the advertising.

But, somehow, they still manage to have a job.

There are lies, damn lies and research. Just look at the statistics.

The General Election 2015. My thoughts #2

It's the economy, stupid.

As ever, when he could keep his dick in his pants, Bill Clinton got it right.

Labour in 2015 got it wrong.

But the mistake happened not during the election but way back in 2010. Then, as they concentrated on electing Ed Miliband as their leader, the Conservatives, with the help of the media, concentrated on creating a lie.

The lie was; Labour's profligate social spending cause the economic depression.

It was a bit lie. And like all big lies, the more you repeat it, the truer it gets.

Ignore the avariciousness oft the bankers, desperate for their bonuses.

Forget that the economic collapse started in America.

Don't bother with reading any of the major world economists on why the economy slumped.

Just blame Labour for spending too much.

It's a brilliant lie because it works on so many levels.

Politically, it calls into doubt Labour's management of the economy, despite 13 years of non-stop growth.

Economically, it allows them to introduce austerity. A policy that 99% of economists agree is the wrong way to combat a slump.

Idealogically, it allows them to roll back the state, reducing spending on social services, the poor, schools, hospitals, libraries, and all the rest of the stuff that civilised societies provide.

They created a narrative, a story, that people believed. And still believed in 2015.

So, come the election, it's too late for Ed Miliband to defend the economic record of Labour. it was too late. Far, far too late. All the damage had already been done.

It's the economy, stupid.

The General Election 2015. My thoughts # 1

Today I woke expecting a long day listening to the ups and downs of an English election. Some seats lost. Some seats won. Tears. Laughter. Pain.

Instead, I woke up to a Conservative trouncing of Labour.

I had been expecting this since I watched John Harris from the Guardian interviewing voters in Nuneaton. They all talked about Scotland and the England being held to ransom by the Scots Nats. An agenda created and marshalled by the Tory Press and media.

Classic fear marketing. Create a possibility based on a visceral fear - the loss of English identity. It doesn't matter how outrageous or improbable it is. Then sell the hell how of it.

It could have been the fear of bad breath.

Or B.O. Or  wrinkles. Or dandruff. Or bicycle helmets. Or Volvos

It doesn't really matter. It's a tried and trusted technique used in advertising for years. Fear, not sex has always sold. Proctor and Gamble have always known that. So have the Conservatives.

The ZInoviev letter in 1924 was a classic example. Nearly 100 years later and we're still falling for the same tricks.

Shame it's going to mean five more years of the Tories in power. 

But that's advertising for you. It can sell the fear but can't provide the solution

And eventually you have to pay for it.

The Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year

Here's the long list for this prestigious competition. During this year, I'll try to get round to reading all of these, posting reviews as I go. Good luck to all those nominated. There are some great names here.

 

Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge, Michael Joseph
The Facts Of Life And Death by Belinda Bauer, Black Swan
The Ghost Runner by Parker Bilal, Bloomsbury
The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter, Fig Tree
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin, Mantle
Personal by Lee Child, Bantam
The Killing Season by Mason Cross, Orion Fiction
Bryant & May - The Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler, Bantam
The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths, Quercus
The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah, Hodder & Stoughton
Darkness, Darkness by John Harvey, Arrow
Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary, Headline
The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson, Hodder & Stoughton
Entry Island by Peter May, Quercus
Disappeared by Anthony Quinn, Head of Zeus
Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin, Orion Fiction
The Farm by Tom Rob Smith, Simon & Schuster
A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh, John Murray Publishers

 

Which are your favourites? Let me know who you think will win.

How to be a good writer. Five tips from somebody who's still trying to work it out.

The good folks at Carina UK have asked me to come up with a few tips to help aspiring writers. Hell, I thought, that should be easy. I switched on the Mac, pulled up a Word page, rested my fingers on the keyboard and...nothing. 

Nada, Zilch. Zero. A big, fat round zero. The only thing I could see on the page were little black spots of dust where I had forgotten to clean my screen.

Thirty minutes of procrastination later; after making a cup tea, checking my emails, doing the washing up, checking emails again, posting on twitter, re-posting on twitter, and realising that I desperately needed a hair cut and a bacon sandwich, I sat own once again and wrote.

1. Write.

The most important tip for any writer is to keep writing. Write on those days when the words tumble over themselves in confusion. Write on those times when Grammar is a place in Essex. Write on the days when you feel like banging your head against the Rock of Gibraltar. Write in the wee small hours when your child is snoring in the bed next to you. Write on the nights when you husband/wife/partner/dog is snoring in the bed next you. Write when the world is about to end. Write when the world is about to begin. Write when you are having sex. Write more when you're not having sex.

You get the message. Just write. And don't forget to punctuate. It helps.

2. Read.

When you're not writing, read. How can you be writer without reading?  Read the classics. Read the classifieds. Read the ads. Read the posters. Read the latest book of the week. Read the 1871 book of the year  (it was Middlemarch by George Eliot, well worth reading). Read the back of cornflake packets ( I may have written it. I know more that anybody should know about fibre). Read when you are having sex. Read more when you are not having sex.

You get the message. Just read. And don't forget to breathe. It helps.

3. Know your genre.

Are you writing crime? Or romance? Is it a poisoning set in a chocolate box village? Or a fast paced thriller set in a slow-moving train? Is it a mystery set in outer space. Or a YA set in Outer Mongolia? Does the hero keep his boots on or does the heroine have her bodice ripped off? Know the genre and then break the rules. Have a young girl as your heroine in a fight to the death (The Hunger Games) Romance a vampire.(Twilight) Make a villain, a hero (Wolf Hall). But to break the rules, you have to know them.

Know your genre. Even if you're writing the sequel to 50 Shades of Grey. Especially, if you re writing the sequel to 50 Shades of Grey.

4. Know the craft.

If you've spent time on the first three, use it well. Examine how Dan Brown keeps the pace going. See how Jeffery Deaver uses time to create tension. Research how Bernard Cornwall marshals historical facts to create historical stories. Watch how Muriel Spark blocks her novels (blocking is moving characters in a scene). See how Stephen King builds the beats in the opening of Mr Mercedes - brilliant work from a writer at the top of his profession.  There a pages of great writers out there, who have done it all before and done it well.

Learn from them. And never stop learning.

5. Have fun.

Writing is the best thing you can do with your clothes on. Open you mind. Use your imagination. Create an amazing world for the reader. Create an different world for yourself. Fall in love with your characters. Fall out of love with your characters. Kill them off. And resurrect them. But whatever you write, have fun doing it. Because the reader can sense when you are not. Haven't we all read a book and felt the writer had just been going through the motions? Don't let that happen. Writing is too much fun to do it badly. And even better, Carina UK will pay you for doing it.

So what's stopping you? Pick up your pen and start today. You have nothing to lose but your clothes.

The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

I'm now nearing the end of my structural re-write. Tomorrow should see it done.

Plot holes have all been filled in with a mixture of words and polyfilla. Characters arcs have been described, detailed and delineated. Whole sections that I laboured over, choosing the words with the scrutiny of Scrooge spending a farthing, have been excised. Never to see the light of day. Or the darkness of a reader's mind.

I'm nearing the end and I don't want to let go.

Because once it's out there, it can be changed any more. It can't be fiddled. Or played with. Or coaxed into shape. It's done. And dusted. Like one of Mary Berry's victoria sponges.

I'm sure I'll still want to change things. That line on page 216 still looks ropey. The way I describe Danilov's reaction on page 306 could be improved. Strachan's thoughts on page 67 might be a little clearer and less wooly.

But I won't be able to.

Goodbye, City of Shadows.

You've been a good friend through many a re-write.

I'll hate reading it later, I know. Because all I'll see are the mistakes.

As Mr Vonnegut said so precisely. So it goes.

By tomorrow, City of Shadows will have gone and went.  And if that's an example of the rest of the syntax in the book, I'm in for a lot of trouble. 

So to goes.

It's time to take play seriously.

I play with my daughter every morning. She's two years and five months old. Without fail, she will come and find me at my desk, take me by the hand, and lead me to her play room.

Once we're there, she surveys her toys, working out which one she wants to play with this morning. This is an important time for her. A time to make a choice.

Sometimes, its her dolls. Sometimes, she plays at being a doctor. Sometimes she wants me to be a shopkeeper and she's the customer. Sometimes, it's just pulling a cart across the floor, with her toys thrown inside haphazardly.

It's an important time for her. But, it's a more important time for me.

Eve Lee. Playing with my phone. 

A time to switch off. Relax. and watch my daughter taking immense pleasure in something so simple.

Play.

We don't play for long. Perhaps, thirty minutes. But it's a break from my morning writing which I need so much. I always return to my desk full of ideas and raring to go.

It's almost as if my daughter knows this, She understands the importance of play and realises that daddy needs more of it in his life.

These thirty minute play sessions interrupt my writing, but I wouldn't miss them for the world.

Because when I get back to my desk, I'm a much better writer.

And I play with my words.