The good news for those of us who prefer just to write than to be multimedia producers is that consumers in the UK have shown a marked lack of interest in so-called “enhanced” ebooks.I’ve been prompted to ask this question because I recently picked up, in a second-hand bookshop, a book called “No plot? No problem!”. The author is Chris Baty, who started the "Write a novel in a month” competition, otherwise known as “Nanowrimo”.
I haven’t read very much of it yet, but from what I have read I’m impressed.
The biggest problem facing the would-be writer is getting commissions. I think we all know what it’s like to receive rejection slips. Some of us could even paper our walls with them. The second biggest problem is how to organise yourself to not miss a deadline once you do start to get commissions. The best way, I’ve found, is to use a spreadsheet.
I always try to follow my intuition. Thus it was that a couple of weeks ago, with deadlines pressing on me, and pressure from all sides, I decided to ignore my intellectual protestations and listen to my inner voice.
That voice whispered to me:
You haven’t looked at The Atlantic for a while, have you? Go check it out.”
So I did, and I came across an interview with a writer I’d never heard of, Sherman Alexie.
Alexie is a Native American writer, which is why I suppose I’d never come across his work. Interestingly, he refers to himself as “Indian”, which we are told is politically incorrect. I think I’d rather take Alexie’s word for that. But anyway….
There is a “law”:
Ninety-nine Rule of Project Schedules
The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of the time, the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent.
I never really understood this in the context of “projects” as normally understood. But in the context of a writing project or assignment, it makes perfect sense.
It is almost a year since I suggested 7 reasons writers should blog. I’ve recently discovered another one.
How do you know if you are, objectively speaking, a success as a writer?
Although I may be accused of taking too simplistic an approach to this question, I really do think that it comes down to just one thing.
Well, in practice, of course, there are many potential indications of success. For example, people telling you they like what you write. People asking when your next book is coming out. That sort of thing.
However, nice as such accolades are, they don’t pay the rent, and talk is, or can be, cheap.
What do you need to be a successful writer? Here are my thoughts on the seven main attributes you need to have in order to make it as a writer – or at least, to give yourself a fighting chance! I believe these hold true for any genre, and any form (ie book or article).
What are the characteristics of writing that is enjoyable to read? Is enjoyment purely a subjective thing, or are there some objective criteria? I don’t know! But here is my thinking aloud on the matter.
If, like me, you have a love of language, you should explore the strange world of the cryptic crossword. Unlike the plain crossword, the cryptic variety requires more than providing a synonym for a word or phrase. Rather, it involves working out what the clue is getting at.
That sounds much more difficult than the task facing you in an ordinary crossword, doesn't it? In fact, much of the time it's easier, for one simple reason.
New words are always interesting, I think, and not just the ones that have been inspired by technology. But before I say any more about that, I feel the need to get something off my chest. Don’t worry, I won’t make this a long post: the last thing I want is people tweeting me to say TL;DR (too long; didn’t read).
According to newspaper reports, the educational academic Sugatra Mitra, lessons in spelling 'have no place in 21st century schools'. His view is that the technology will sort it out for you.
I suppose he is thinking of things like predictive text, because he says:
Here are a couple of odd uses of language I came across recently. At least, they made me sit up and take notice, and perhaps that was the point.
Books of quotations are important, I think, for those odd occasions you need to have one. And that phrase “odd occasions” is the rub: do you actually need to buy a reference book for occasional use when there is so much available on the web these days?
Heaven for me is being ensconced in a bookshop, later followed by my supping a latté while exploring my new-found gems. Second-hand bookshops are by far the best kind, because you never know what you might come across that you would almost certainly not happen upon in a new bookshop or on Amazon. After all, it was in a second-hand bookshop that I came across a copy of a writers’ magazine published in 1937 – and it didn’t cost me the earth either!I may be experimenting with a new look to this blog, so try not to be alarmed if it looks different in the near future.
It may happen several times!
There are two broad kinds of style guide. There is the generic type, containing advice on such things as whether to use “different from” or “different than”. And there is the specific type, ie specific to a particular publication. For example, should “internet” be spelled with a lower case “i”, or as “Internet”?. The specific style guide will tell you.
You need both types, of course, but unfortunately it’s not quite as simple as your needing only two books or two documents.
Before anyone tells me that the plural of “thesaurus” should “thesauri” rather than “thesauruses”, which is what I’d have thought myself, apparently it can be either, according to the Oxford dictionary.
I find a thesaurus to be indispensable on those occasions when the most appropriate word is on the tip of my tongue,