Monday 11 February 2013

A new world

I have moved my blog!!

After over a year of people telling me they wanted to comment on posts but couldn't because they weren't registered with Blogger, I decided to give Wordpress a go.

My new blog is here; http://jenicewriter.wordpress.com/

Hopefully it will be brighter, overall better and you will all be able to leave me comments!

See you over there...

Friday 8 February 2013

Ethical inspiration

Is it wrong to take inspiration from tragic real life events?

Of course not!  What about Titanic?  Or The Impossible?

All dramatic situations in fiction are based on something rooted in fact.  Theft, domestic abuse, rape and murder are all unfortunately very real.  However, when someone, somewhere can put a name to the event (as with the above examples) it becomes an even more sensitive subject.

Today, while wolfing down my lunch, I happened across a new website and the story of a woman sat dead in her flat surrounded by unopened Christmas presents and the television still on for a full two years.  I was shocked. 
Even worse was that my first thought was what a great story that would make.

Shame on me.

There is a programme on this story which is currently being advertised.  The first time I saw this advert I thought it was for a new gritty one-off drama.

Some true life stories just lend themselves to a dramatic fictional tale.  Except, it isn't fiction is it?  Does this fall under the saying of 'you can't make this stuff up?'

Often when I come across an interesting story in this way, I print it off and scribble ideas over it before putting it in an appropriate file for later use in a story.  It crossed my mind today to print off the story of this poor woman but I just couldn't do it.

This woman was a person.  The woman had a family (who obviously thought nothing of her two year silence).  They wouldn't know that I had printed off the news story and written ideas on how to adapt it to hide the reality and turn it into fiction.  But I would know.

Will this stop me from using this woman's tragic demise in my fiction one day?  Probably not.  Perhaps it could be ethical to use elements of this news story in my fiction one day in the far off future, when enough time has elapsed...in which case the more likely reason for me not to parts of this story is because I'll have forgotten it.


If you look in the bookshops and Amazon you will find so many books cashing in on tragic real life stories.  There is a real market for it but I can't help but feel a bit sickened by it.
So when and how does it becomes ethical to use a real life tragic story in fiction?

Wednesday 6 February 2013

The dreaded block



I have spent the last half an hour scouring the internet for inspiration on what this blog post should be about.  I’ve spent the whole day thinking about it off and on.  Nothing.

So, while trying hard not to watch One Born Every Minute which freaks me out but for some reason I still haven’t changed the channel, I posted on Facebook that I’m in need of help.
My lovely cousin pointed out the obvious subject to me – lack of inspiration.

Well, yes, I thought.  That does make sense.  Except that I don’t suffer from writer’s block.  I don’t.  I’m very proud of the fact that I haven’t suffered from writer’s block since 2001.  Not since I discovered fantasy.

And then this blog came along...

What do you do when you hit writer’s block?

I wish I could write a list of ways around writer’s block off the top of my head but having not suffered from it for over ten years, I struggle to remember what I used to do!

One thing I do remember is that I used to read about writing.  Reading articles about how to find my voice, how to structure, create characters and world build would always inspire me.  It never failed.
So that was what I did this evening.  It didn’t work.

I looked up articles but they all say the same thing.  I went onto forums but the more I read the more annoyed I became with people’s responses.

I have the same problems with writing courses – every course I’ve been on is simply a duplication of the articles I’ve read, which brings me back to the theory that writers actually make out that writing is harder than it is.

So my old and trusted technique doesn’t work anymore.  It must be time to find some new ways of overcoming writer’s block, if only to keep this blog populated!

So what ways do you overcome lack of inspiration?  Leave a comment below, tweet me or leave me a message on Facebook!

In the meantime, I’m going to shut down social media before the world puts me in a bad mood and I’m definitely going to turn off One Born Every Minute!

Note: When medical professionals say ‘this might be uncomfortable’ that means ‘it’s going to hurt.  A lot!’

Monday 4 February 2013

The Hobbit...finally

Yesterday I finished reading Snuff by Terry Pratchett and started reading The Hobbit.  So far, all thirteen dwarfs have arrived at Bilbo's and have eaten him out of house and home.  They're about to start singing.

My first impression is good.  It's fast paced and interesting, unlike The Fellowship of the Ring which I found very slow going.  The Hobbit marks Tolkien's first steps into Middle Earth so it makes sense that there may be more action than description at this stage.  In fact, at first it's questionable that it is set in Middle Earth as the narrator speaks directly to the reader as if hobbits live in our world.  What description there is, is vibrant.  I can easily picture the hobbits and believe I could still have the same image in my mind without having spent so many years embroiled in Peter Jackson's Middle Earth.

I find myself having to remember that this is an old book.  Tolkien seemed to be very fond of exclamation marks in dialogue which is already starting to bother me.
This actually gave me a little hope as an aspiring writer.  I know that things have changed dramatically in the world of publishing since Tolkien but his work is still accepted and appreciated, so it feels alright to use this as hope that the rules of writing can be broken.

Being utterly in love with the film, An Unexpected Journey, I can't help but make comparisons.  I have always stuck to the rule that the book is better than the film, however, while I'm enjoying The Hobbit, I can't help but prefer the film so far.  This is down to characterisation.
While I think that, so far, Martin Freeman has got Bilbo spot on, the dwarfs feel quite different.  I loved the dwarfs in the film and, ok, so I've only just met them in the book but already they seem a little less fun, a little less exubrant and Thorin is a little less imposing.

Still, these are only first impressions and I can't wait to continue reading...