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Writing fiction on a regular basis

November 9, 2012 David Stringer

I’ve been writing something for NaNoWriMo.Although I’ve been plotting and doing background work on character motivations for a while, I started actually writing quite late. It was the 4th (Sunday) when I started, and I feel like I’m picking up a little speed in my overall daily word count.

I do get bizarrely self-conscious in my writing, and, though it’s a cliche, it makes next to no sense. It’s something I enjoy, messing around in created worlds with created characters is probably my equivalent of gaming. (I’m atrociously bad at games like Skyrim and the like – in two different games in the past few months, when attacked, I’ve accidentally managed to switch camera angles when trying to hit back. It’s not a very effective fighting method.)

The format won’t end in a 50k novel at the end of the month; more a series of short stories based on an existing fictional world. (Classic Simpsons did it with movies, West Side Story is based on Romeo & Juliet, so I will accept no criticism of my plagiarism.)

I think I’m writing about 1,000 words a day now (albeit not all of them originally mine), and with a bit more focus, sitting down to speed write for half an hour or an hour, I’m sure I can up this.

But the little bit of nagging remains – that what I’m doing is daft, a waste of time. But I’ve already written one scene – entirely my own – that I think is pretty cool, and I’ve got a couple more that I’m excited to get to.

Writing is fun. That’s pretty much the most important thing to remember.

Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler — Writing – tis an act which brings great happiness and much joy

Recaps

A Very Late Monday Recap

February 1, 2012March 4, 2012 David Stringer

I’ve said that I intend to recap everything I’ve written, and the best of the sites I’m associated with, once a week on Monday. I’ve been away over the weekend, on an extravegant holiday full of sunshine and beaches, so I have a limited excuse for missing my self-set deadline this time.
On the assumption that it’s better late than never, I’m going to recap the previous week’s writing now.

Before leaving for my glamorous getaway I’d witten the latest edition of the Lower League Week, as well as a review of Robert Harris’ novel The Ghost. The latter is here on the blog, the former is linked from a previous post.

Born Offside has extended the series of weekly recaps. As well as the continuing English round-up, there’s a new Scottish weekly column, and one following the Dutch league.

Over at The Leaky Wiki, David-Troi Sweatt reported on the reason Facebook didn’t join the SOPA strike, and Matthew Kahn reported that a new Drug Abuse Resistance Education programme gives kids bad trips, which generated debate over journalistic accuracy in the comments.

Recaps

Monday Recap 23/1

January 23, 2012March 4, 2012 David Stringer

I’ve promised to start recapping the week on Monday morning, and I am sort of true to my word, when I finally get around to it.
I’ve reviewed The Afrika Reich and The Valley of Fear here on the blog, and linked to my previous Lower League Week over at Born Offside.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed I’ve not linked to any articles posted over at The Leaky Wiki for a while.
There’s a reason for this, and it’s not that I’ve been lazy and not thought of anything to write, oh no.
The fact is, I have been suspended for a serious breach of journalistic ethics – I took more than my share of biscuits from the communal tin.
I have apologised deeply to my colleagues and employer, and, having spent my month of suspension on full pay ~~getting blind drunk~~ reflecting on my errors. I will soon be returning to action.

While I’ve been suspended (on full pay! Can you believe that?) my colleague Chris Switzer broke the story that a new study (a very controversial new study) which hints that the creation of babies may be linked to sex.
Matt Upchuck covered the launch of The UK Space Agency’s probe to Mars, or possibly France.
And there was news of a revolutionary new political debating technique to be introduced in forthcoming American debates. The next Republican debate will be settled not with words – which have failed the political process for so long – but with hammers.

I’d also like to draw your attention towards an interview on Born Offside with Mark McAllister, the ‘video coach’ for Gillingham FC. Personally, I found it an interesting look at a part of professional football most fans wouldn’t think about. Okay, technically it went up longer than a week ago, but for a football fan, it’s definitely worth reading.

Also at Born Offside, the African Cup of Nations has just begun over the weekend, and my colleagues at Born Offside have previewed every team, and covered the matches so far.

That’s pretty much all I’ve written on the internet this past week, and what I consider the best of what my colleagues have wrote. Watch this space, as there should be a bit more later today…

Egotism, Review

52 Weeks, 52 Books

January 3, 2012January 18, 2013 David Stringer

Something I intend to do more of during the next year, is read more books. That feels like it’s an obvious thing for an aspiring writer to do, but I have a bad habit of getting distracted by television, internet and news sites.
It’s easy to think of news articles and TV programmes produced the previous month as being more relevant to my life than a 19th century book about 17th century French soldiers.
But I find books more absorbing and, as a result, a superior form of escapism. Unfortunately, they also demand more, compared to vegging out in front of the telly or laptop, which are essentially passive forms of entertainment.

Continue reading “52 Weeks, 52 Books” →

Comedy

The Leaky Wiki

January 2, 2012July 11, 2014 David Stringer

In the past few months I’ve been working as a ‘journalist’ for the prestigious news website The Leaky Wiki.
I’ve had four articles published so far.
As I’ve said before, I will start writing an introductory blog post to each article I write at The Leaky Wiki, complete with any backstory the reader may need to understand the sloppy, badly written jokes I’m trying to make.
The line written in bold will be the link to The Leaky Wiki.

Continue reading “The Leaky Wiki” →

Egotism

Plans for 2012

January 2, 2012January 18, 2013 David Stringer

It seems I’ve let things slip a bit on the blogging. I started off relatively well, but fell away after a few weeks – before this post I’d not written since December 9th.

I’ve not just been sitting on my backside staring out the window though – at least not all the time – I’ve been looking into writing for a few different sites.

Woman staring out of the window — If I say this is me in real life, will my hit numbers increase?

Continue reading “Plans for 2012” →

Comedy, Egotism

‘Journalism’ on the LeakyWiki.

December 1, 2011July 3, 2014 David Stringer

I’ve recently branched out my writing, and have started to do a little bit of journalism, on the up and coming American news website The Leaky Wiki.
Already I’ve covered the scandalous emails showing that the Qatar World Cup was not chosen as the result of corruption, and sat down with a leading member of the American Tea Party.
Hopefully there’ll be more to come in the coming weeks, I’ll do my best to keep up the habit of regularly updating my blog and twitter accounts when a new edition goes up.

Journalism lesson number one - place your laptop at a jaunty angle, not solidly on the desk. The possibility of it falling and breaking will keep you on edge, and keep the thoughts flowing — Me at work

There are two editions a week at present, Monday and Thursday, if anyone reading wants to bookmark the site and check back regularly. The site has just started up over the past few months, and is becoming a very good site, which already has a lot of entertaining articles.

The LeakyWiki.com

Egotism

My use of NaNoWriMo

November 24, 2011January 18, 2013 David Stringer

Like many across the world who want to be writers but keep putting it off, I’ve been taking part in NaNoWriMo.
But rather than using the month, as intended, to get an entire novel written, I’ve used the thing for two different purposes – to get a short story written, and to get started with writing a blog.
The blog so far has been a partial success I’d say – got a fair few things down there, starting to get into a rhythm.

The short story, a science fiction story set on a space ship in the distant future (I never said it was anything profound) is something I’ve went back to on and off for a few years.
I’ve had greater problems with this. Mainly around self-consciousness – I tend to feel, when I’m writing, ‘did I do this right? Does this work?’
So I’ll obsess over whether jokes are funny, action sequences are exciting enough, and so on.

An actual line from the opening infodump in Phantom Menace. I may have changed the punctuation. — The taxation of trade routes to outlaying star systems is in dispute!

Continue reading “My use of NaNoWriMo” →

Egotism

Self Doubt & My Writer’s Contract

November 11, 2011January 18, 2013 David Stringer

I started writing a blog with the intent of getting myself writing regularly. The idea was that if I blog regularly, take a look at different stories from an analytical point of view, as well as finally completing a version of a story I’ve referred back to a few times over the past couple of years, giving me the momentum to keep myself writing regularly.

I’ve been looking at an old TV programme, an old sitcom episode, analysing and applying the various bits of story structure I’ve picked up over the years.
I’ve more or less written notes out, but I feel like I’ve got nothing new or interesting to say, and take a long time saying it.
So yeah, my habitual, ingrained self-doubt is still there, nagging away at me.

Continue reading “Self Doubt & My Writer’s Contract” →

Egotism

About the Name

November 8, 2011January 18, 2013 David Stringer

You may recognise that my blog name is a paraphrasing of a Samuel Johnson quote – ‘No man but a blockhead ever wrote, but for money.’

I first came across this quote, probably when I was a teenager, in a ‘Thought for the Day’ section in a local paper. I accepted this as being correct, despite how easily it falls apart under scrutiny.

I’m not completely sure what connotations the word ‘blockhead’ will have held in the 18th century, but I think it’s fairly safe to assume it means foolish, stupid, and so on.