Disappointing Revelation

I’ve been thinking long and hard – my current projects are for the most part a complete waste of time. As of today I declare these; abandoned!

This wasn’t an easy decision as each produced a degree of potential, the problem is this: as mentioned in a previous blog entry, my writing style has changed in the last year I’ve grown, my demographic is no longer the same and strengths are not they what they once were.

So am I giving up before I’ve even begun?

Hell no!

I’m taking a different approach, seven poems codenamed “The Seven Deadly Sonnets”, each exploring the obvious themes but rather cleverly linked to current British societies and politics. This is who I am now and what best represents my talents. I've even picked a shortlist of three magazines perfect for the material.

The way into writing is forward, not backwards…

Speak soon!

9 - 5? I wish!

It’s the end of the workweek and I can’t help but wonder what have I achieved?

Two successful re-writes pummelled out in-between work breaks and hectic evenings, all in all quite chaotic to say the least especially if you bare in mind that these two projects have both undergone several different variations.

So what have I learned? Structure! It’s the only way to manage work, love, family and writing. My advice to any budding writers/authors reading this is to dedicate time fairly amongst the various aspects of your life. Otherwise you’ll either achieve nothing or worse still run yourself into the ground. Not cool!

For example:
I work 08:00 – 18:00 with an hour break at 13:00 and so an organised day would look something like this for me.

08:00 – 13:00 Work
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch and Writing
14:00 – 18:00 Work
18:30 – 19:00 Writing
19:00 – 21:00 Dinner and Family Time
21:00 – 23:30 Writing
23:00 – 07:00 Bed

As you can see my schedule is pretty tight but at least its not chaotic (during the past week, family time and writing had collided a number of times as had work and writing) and although I wouldn’t recommending cramming so much into your day as myself it certainly is a good idea to dedicate periods of the day to certain activities. Of course this would all be easier if writing was my actual job, maybe I should consider journalism instead?

Projects Galore

So much writing to do, so little time to do it in...

Since I decided to get back into writing I've probably given myself one too many projects to handle. I currently have two new poetry writes in progress, a short story and some old articles being renewed (much like the recently mentioned “Love over Gold”).

I’ve decided to clear the article projects first and one at a time, after all with work during the day I simply cannot have so many small projects dominating my free time.

For now guys, adios!

Total PC Gaming Magazine

Today my Letter of the Month is finally published in Total PC Gaming, although I can't wait for the 4GB RAM to arrive that’s not really what I’m excited about. So what am I excited about then? Well, to be honest I’m just happy to have my opinion heard and deemed relevant by a published magazine.

Sonnet IV (4)

What of the children who starve every day,
Those so deprived who can not go play,
All the families who're brought to their knees
And those without medicine to fulfil their own needs?

What of the cancer which kills every day,
Maybe with research we'll ease the decay?
What of the poor dying alone,
Wasting away to skin and bone?

What of war so horrific and mad,
The people who've died; the lives they once had?
So what of this world as bad as it seems?
Don't yet despair! Have hope, have dreams.

We are all people born of one race,
In these dark times I bid you: embrace!

Love Over Gold (2008 re-write)

Last night I finally completed the first edition re-write of "Love over Gold", a short story/article feature in which a family's love for their pet must outweigh financial ruin after a horrific act of animal cruelty occurs. This particular segment of my work has not been published yet but I hope to see a change in that front soon. Of course this is only the first daft, Love over Gold is subject to grammer checks, editing and possible re-writes before it is to be sent.

The piece will be a magazine submission; fortunately the selection of animal magazines in the UK is broad and varied, unfortunately the competition is intense.

Aspiration 1 - 0 Publification

It's dawned on me that despite the fact that I was previously a published writer, after the year out I no longer am... all I have is my aspirations and to be quite honest most of my previous works are now outdated and irrelevant. I’ve spent a whole day writing today and when I compare what I’ve done to that of last year, I can see a noticeable difference. Is it the world that’s grown in that time or me? I don’t know, but it’s going to be a pretty exciting journey.

Well, I’d better get back to work; I’ve got a previous story in need of a total remix.

Rowling Wins Court Photo Appeal

I’m not exactly a fan of J. K. Rowling. Of course I respect the lady and what she’s achieved in the last few years but her novels don’t appeal to me, I’ve read the Harry Potter series from start to finish and failed to fall in love with the stories like some did.

There’s been an increased media interest in the 42 year old author lately; this has been mostly due to a number of court appearances. Some I agree with and some I do not, however I cannot help feeling sorry for Ms Rowling (or Mrs Murray if we’re to assume her married name) after the 2004 fiasco involving Big Pictures Photo Agency intruding upon her family’s privacy which she lost last year.

Defensive of her 18 month old boy (of whom the picture had been taken) Joanne Rowling opted for an appeal recently in which Sir Anthony Clarke (the Judge) supportively made the following comment:

"It is at least arguable that a child of 'ordinary' parents could reasonably expect that the press would not target him and publish photographs of him"

Needless to say Rowling won the appeal, still I can’t help wonder what the world is coming to, it seems even writers are now subject to “celebrity culture” and the madness which accompanies it.

Microsoft Office Document Imaging

If you ever lose the digital copies of your poems, short stories or articles but have printed backup versions filed, there is a little gem within MS Office that will stop you having to type the work up from scratch - Microsoft Office Document Imaging.

Of course you'll need a scanner but if you're interested visit: About Microsoft Office Document Imaging now.

ePublishing

"Electronic publishing is increasingly popular in works of fiction as well as with scientific articles. Electronic publishers are able to provide quick gratification for late-night readers, books that customers might not be able to find in standard book retailers (erotica is especially popular in eBook format), and books by new authors that would be unlikely to be profitable for traditional publishers." - Wikipedia

E-Publishing it seems has grown into quite a popular format, I currently have a sci-fi project that might fit the build. Electronic publishing has higher royalty rates but lower sales unfortunately and so I find myself unsure whether to risk a story with the model or not. Certainly worth considering.