Category: Diary Page 4 of 47

(June 1 – 7)

Minor writing update this week: started a new chapter of the novel. This one’s inspired by children’s stories (fairy tales, primarily) and is another one I’ve been pretty excited about starting. In any case, it’s always good to have a fresh section of the story to get stuck into.

One good thing

This week I watched two films which helped cement a few good lessons on the relationship between character and drama. The first was the very excellent Sexy Beast, which is always a treat and gives us Ben Kingsley playing arguably one of the most terrifying characters ever committed to screen. 

This movie reminded me about two key aspects of building character. The first is that the way a character speaks can give you a great insight into who they are. Sexy Beast is, perhaps, infamous for its almost Shakespearean approach to expletive-riddled language (mostly coming from Ben Kingsley’s character, no less) but it’s not simply that the character swears that makes him stand out; it’s how he swears, and when. It’s in the moments when Ben Kinglsey is at his most dangerous that the expletives flow (and, oh, do they flow!) 

The second, and equally obvious, point is that the way that characters react to another character will do a huge amount of heavy lifting for you. We spend a reasonable amount of time in Sexy Beast with characters we’ve already gotten to know, watching them react to the mere prospect of Ben Kinglsey’s character arriving. The sheer dread reflected on their faces does a lot of the work building his character, but once he appears on screen we learn for ourselves that this initial reaction was more than warranted.

The second movie was Vast Of Night, which has received a lot of well-earned hype surrounding its release on Prime Video. It could hardly be more different from Sexy Beast, but it also takes its time developing its characters. In fact, we’re easily twenty minutes into the film before the main plot kicks off. 

The reason Vast Of Night gets away with this is because the characters are so well developed; they’re idiosyncratic and have very distinct voices; in fact they’re so good we could probably spend a whole movie just listening to them (which is handy, since these two do largely carry the movie).

There’s also another aspect to this highly dialogue-driven movie, which relies on various (occasionally unseen) characters relating their stories. Again, in a similar way to Sexy Beast, Vast Of Night puts a lot of work into the build-up: we know that the characters we get introduced to have something important to tell us, something that will move the plot forward, but the script very skilfully keeps us waiting for it. The result is a superb sense of tension derived from not much more than people sitting in rooms and talking to each other.

One bad thing

I’ve realised that I’m spending a lot of time on my phone in the mornings before I get stuck into my writing, having somehow convinced myself that checking Twitter, Facebook, etc first thing is what I need to do to get my brain in gear. Given the morning schedule is already curtailed due to school stuff, this isn’t helping. Funny thing is, I didn’t really think about it until I saw John Scalzi tweet that he doesn’t ‘log on’ until he’s done his writing for the day. I think I shall have to try that …

(May 25 – 31)

Hurrah! I finished the horror chapter! All in, it took six weeks to get this first draft down, but the story did what it needed to do, so it’s all good.I also dabbled with a short story idea this, although didn’t write much more than a few lines as I’m trying to save my creative juices for the novel. We’re now two chapters (and an epilogue) away from the end, my friends.

In another positive development, my new bedroom heater arrived this week (my bedroom being my main writing space btw). This one’s a smart heater which, among other things, means I can set a timer for it to come on in the mornings and warm up the room ready for me to get out. I also had the bright idea (lol, accidental pun!) of setting my bedside lamp ( which is also smart) to come on at 6am and wake me the fuck up. Why it took me this long to figure this one out I can’t imagine.

Thus far it’s all working splendidly. I can’t claim that my word counts are seeing a dramatic increase, but I am at least managing to get up just after 6am instead of loitering until 6:30 or beyond.

One good thing

The (other) big positive of my week this week was Friday, which shall henceforth be known as the Big Day Of Adulting. I had a number of relatively boring and/or tedious tasks to get done, which included:

• Cancelling my overpriced car insurance renewal, and finding a better deal
• Cancelling my overpriced web hosting renewal, finding a better deal and migrating my blog (and, of course, backing up all my websites first);
• Food shopping;
• Cleaning the house;
• Making some roast tomato sauce with my excess of tomatoes

Long story short is that I, unbelievably, got it all done! In the process I saved a third on my car insurance (and then got a bonus 20% off my contents insurance too). Even more impressively, I got my web hosting down from $300 a year to $150 for three years. Pretty nice saving there.

Just once in a while it pays to Adult (oh, accidental pun again!).

(May 18 – 24)

In a twist which hasn’t really surprised me, but of course seems bloody typical, the horror chapter—the chapter that was supposed to be the easiest one to write—is hella dragging. Perhaps dragging isn’t quite the right term: it’s just taking a long time to get out.

Naturally, it doesn’t help that the kinderbesten being back at school has completely destroyed my comfortable lockdown morning routine. The new colder, darker mornings mean I’m getting up a bit later now, which gives me less than half an hour before I have to start haranguing the elderbeast to rise from his slumber—and once my flow is broken, that’s pretty much it for the writing.

I will say, at least, that the horror chapter has evolved during the writing and is hopefully  turning out nicely, with a few fun twists and turns along the way. Fingers crossed the slog is worth it.

(May 11 – 17)

Not much of an update this week. I’ve finished tinkering (i.e. editing) the first half of the horror chapter, and am now back into writing the rest of it. Happily, along the way I’ve also had a few handy flashes of inspiration that have helped add some fun twists and turns to the chapter.

Pandemic Lyfe

The kinderbesten have finally returned to school this week (the Elderbeast wanted to go, while the Kinderbeast was happy to continue homeschooling—however, kids are required to be back at school as of next week so he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter). 

This means I’ve had my first day or two in months of having the house completely to myself. It’s a slightly strange thing to reflect on: this pandemic means that people have been thrown into each other’s spaces on a much longer term basis than most would be used to. I’ve personally not found this a problem—I quite enjoy being holed up at home with my family–but now we have to shift back into part-time solitude. Ultimately, I’m also pretty comfortable with my own company, so I guess this week didn’t end up feeling quite as strange as it might have.

(May 4 – 10)

Still immersed in the initial edit of the horror chapter. One interesting shift I’m starting to notice is that I’ve stopped keeping a close eye on the word counts. When I started on this project, my very vague word target was based around having a certain number of words per chapter; while I’ve not concerned myself too much with the overall word count, I have been making sure there’s at least a certain number of words going in there.

Initially the drive was to make sure I’d written the Minimum Required number of words for each chapter. Now that I’ve taken my eye off the ball a little, I’m noticing that the word counts are heading somewhat north of the initial chapters. Hopefully this means that I’m comfortable with these characters, and this scenario, and the words are simply flowing much more easily now … and not that these later chapters are going to end up being a tedious slog for readers.

(April 27 – May 3)

Still working on the ‘horror’ chapter and, in what is fast becoming standard practice, the story has already taken a slight twist of its own. Accordingly, I have gone back to re-edit the first half.

This process of swift rewriting has highlighted one nagging concern with my writing, which perhaps stems from the fact that the first draft (for me, at least) is always about just getting the damn story down. As such, my first drafts typically suffer from excessive dialogue tags. I always pay attention to how other authors avoid this, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t seem to come naturally to me; and, therefore, one of things that requires significant work in the subsequent edits.

However, there’s no point having beautifully crafted dialogue tags, or alternatives, if there’s no story in the first place, so I’m trying not to let this distract me too much.

One good thing

This week marks the end of the Easter holidays. While schools are open, I’ve decided to keep the Kinderbesten at home for at least the next two weeks. My one good thing this week is how generously the teachers have prepared for this (in spite of having the rug pulled out from beneath them mid-break, with the surprise announcement that schools would be open after all for all parents who ‘choose’ to send their kids in). It allows for a bit more structure in the learning-from-home day and ensures that my Kinderbesten are able to keep up with their peers in the classroom.

One bad thing

The above being said, I find that having a lesson plan to follow (and assignments to monitor) does require a lot more organisation on my part. I clearly need to put some more time into organising and managing the Kinderbesten’s work, which will be my main focus area for improvement next week …

(April 20 – 26)

I finally started the chapter that I’ve probably been most excited about in the novel: the ‘horror’ chapter. This is, obviously, a genre I feel very comfortable about playing around in. However, I do feel a certain amount of trepidation—after all, if there’s any chapter in the book that absolutely *needs* to work, it’s surely this one. I suspect this will end up being a harder write than the others.

One good thing

This week, for horror Fridate, we watched The Stone Tape. I saw this for the first time some years back, and have been keen for a rewatch ever since. I have to say I was a little dismayed that I didn’t find it anywhere near as creepy as I did the first time around, but that doesn’t mean the rewatch was in any way a disappointment.

What I took away from it was a reminder that genre (and themes) can be merged to great effect. Nigel Kneale, after all, effectively made a career out of exploring horror in science fiction terms. Rather than merely telling a scary science-fiction story, Kneale’s relatively simple technique is to place science-fiction characters in a horror setting which instantly delivers a classic science vs supernatural theme. Obviously, these are two genres that already sit very comfortably together, but some day I’d like to explore whether there are any other genres which can be used to interrogate each other in a similar way.

One bad thing

I continue to be surprised by how relatively ‘empty’ my afternoons are. I’m working part-time for now, which takes up my mornings, but the kindergestalt have gotten in the habit of spending their afternoons constructing elaborate Minecraft worlds, which leaves them requiring minimal supervision from me. I feel like I should be making more use of this time, but it turns out I’m not very practised any more in the use of free time.

… oh boy, we’re way behind aren’t we?! Don’t worry, more posts are coming …

(April 13 – 19)

Another welcome milestone with the novel this week. I finished the current chapter and started a new one. I’m now on the final stretch of the novel—the last three chapters—which feels good, having wrapped up the first draft of a potentially challenging set of chapters.I have a pretty good feeling that I’m going to finish this novel without any great stress or delays (unlike my previous attempts) and I’m already looking forward to going back through it for the edit/rewrite.

One good thing

This week my partner and her two children have temporarily moved in, so we can share the load while in what semi-lockdown this is over here. This biggest bonuses of this are that we can support each other a lot more easily (two parents, one household) and the Kinderbeast now has two people to play with all day, which he is absolutely loving. The Elderbeast is more or less living in his room, shacking up with the PS4, but that’s no major change. Overall it’s been working out super-well and is at least something positive that’s come out of this pandemic.

One bad thing

Ironically, far from having my hands full with twice the number of kids in the house, I’ve found myself sitting on my hands a lot of the time. I’ve arranged to work half-days for the next month or two, mostly to enable my partner to disappear and focus entirely on her studied for the other half of the day. However, we allow the kids to have screen time in the afternoons (when I’m not working) and they’ve kept themselves entirely occupied building (and occasionally destroying) worlds in Minecraft.

As a result I’ve had more time on my hands the last few days than I’ve had in years. And, naturally, I have no idea what to do with it. I’ve kept myself busy revisiting Half Life 2 (having discovered I can play it on the big TV), but I’m finding it’s more of a diversion than a fulfilling use of my time.

Consequently, I’ve decided I need to use this time for reading, or for practising guitar, or even for watching things. Anything, basically, that engages my brain a little more than I am presently.

(April 6-12)

It’s been another reasonably good writing week. The words have come slowly, but I’ve reached that special, delightful point in the new chapter where the story has decided to find it’s own way, and is clearly having some fun. In other words, things aren’t quite going to plan and I love it.

I feel a bit like I’m on the home strait now, even though I still have three chapters to go (plus the rest of this chapter, a likely epilogue, and the infinite rewrites). I’ve been really looking forward to these last three chapters in particular, as I have some very clear ideas for them, which of course means they’ll end up being the hardest chapters to write.

One good thing

Since Pandemic Lyfe is much the same as it was last week, I’m going to revert to the One Good Thing section for this week—and this week’s One Good Thing is Clever Dick Films, a channel that YouTube randomly showed me last weekend, and which I’ve been devouring all this week. 

Clever Dick Films is a production of Richard D. Carrier who has put some enviable research, presentation and production skills to good use with a series of in-depth analyses of Doctor Who; one episode per Doctor. Because I can never seem to do things in order, I started with the 4th Doctor, worked my way up to the 9th Doctor (the latest available episode) and subsequently went back to the first three. I can comfortably say that each installment could sit alongside anything that’s been included on the official DVDs or Blu-rays, and offer a really well-considered overview of each Doctor’s tenure. Also, they seem to keep getting better and better, so I’m already looking forward to the next few instalments.

One bad thing

My one bad thing this week is more related to Pandemic Lyfe, and it’s a recognition that there really aren’t enough hours in the day to manage homeschooling, working from home, and the general household duties. I’m lucky that the Kinderbesten are reasonably self-sufficient, but it’s next to impossible to find enough hours to make lunches, do laundry, take some exercise, help out with assignments, and do a full day’s work.

Luckily I have Easter week completely off, and I’ll be going part-time for a few months after that which should help considerably.

On the flip side, I do recognise that having kids around constantly does somewhat stave off the inevitable loneliness that some people must be suffering during this period of enforced isolation.

(March 30 – April 5)

The writing has very much slipped into a predictable cycle now. Last week I embarked on the first draft of a new chapter in the novel, getting a little over halfway through. Once again, I’ve spent this week going back and re-editing that chapter.

It’s not a particularly heavy rewrite—just a bit more descriptive prose here and a touch more character development there. I already know what the story is and where it’s going; what I’m finding is that the shape of that journey firms up as I write that first draft, and eventually I reach a point where I feel compelled to go back to the start to make sure everything is consistent. Again, it’s probably a relatively inefficient way of writing, but I’m enjoying letting the story have a little room to breathe so it can tell me how it wants to be told.

Pandemic Lyfe

Despite my relative success at developing a routine for the kids, and for myself, I’m consistently failing to get the kids to brush their teeth in the morning. It was such a part of the Getting Ready For School routine that it seems to have gotten itself locked away in the past. I’ll need to find some other part of the established new routine to attach it to.

Meanwhile, I find myself starting to look ahead to when this is all over. We’ll have become so used to locking ourselves down and staying indoors that something as simple as meeting up with friends (and being able to hug them again), or eating dinner in a crowded restaurant, is going to seem like completely alien behaviour. I know we’ll adapt back to ‘normal’ life once again, but I wonder how many of these new tiny changes we’ll carry over into our everyday ‘normal’ behaviour.