| Author | Message | ||
     Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Feeling chuffed. Just finished a new novel called ON THE OTHER SIDE. I had the idea for this one 20 years ago and that's one helluva germination period. Now I just need somewhere to send the fucker.  | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.84.247 |
Yay!!! Congrats. Give us an outline. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Put some zombies in it and send it to Abaddon. That Jonathan Oliver, he'll publish any old tat. Even McMahon.  | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Seriously, mate- congrats. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Thanks, all. I haven't written a blurb. Perhaps I should. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
A bit rough 'n' ready, but here's a flavour of it: ON THE OTHER SIDE In the small Yorkshire village of Hitherton, a Christmas like no other is about to unfold for many of its residents. Take Tom Young - his independent bookshop has been struggling since the opening of a new commercial park nearby. And his brother Graham? Since being awarded his PhD last year, he still hasn't decided what he wants to do with his life. There's also Sally Jenkins who's tried every diet on the market and each to no advantage; Martin Pickup who simply desires the perfect home; Billy Freedman, the dot-com businessman, who wants to 'get rich quick'; Maliha Khan who really, really needs to live in a perfect place; and Kevin Potter, the eight-year-old boy who believes he has a monster in his closet... Then one morning, a few days shy of the big day, something arrives in the mail of a number of "specially selected" Hithertonians. And their wishes are all about to come true...well, kind of. Despite all the unseasonable sunshine in the village, the nights are longer now and things are beginning to rouse that surely ought not to...no, not in a million years. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.53 |
Sounds great, Gary. Congratulations, and good luck with it. Can't wait to see it in the light of day. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
One of my literary ambitions was to write a small-town horror novel like 'Salem's Lot or Needful Things. I think this is it! At any rate, it's good to get it out of my system. It's been sitting in my back-brain for years, nagging and nagging. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Good work, fella. And you finished before me - bastard! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
That's because you watch too much telly, mate. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.11.221 |
'One of my literary ambitions was to write a small-town horror novel like 'Salem's Lot or Needful Things. I think this is it!' It does sound good Gary. How many words - I'm obsessed with k count. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
93,000. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.241.252 |
Sounds good Gary - looking forward to the day I can hold it in my hand, if you'll pardon the expression (ooh no vicar). | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.211 |
Get thee to a monastery Mr Curtis. And not one of those crumbling Jean Rollin ones filled with girls in skimpy nighties and misty sunlight. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.6.23 |
The Hollywood critique...? Great set-up, don't get a flavor of what the horror is, though - we can make surmises - echoes of NEEDFUL THINGS, yes, and that story about the press-button-box-someone-you-don't-know-dies, "The Monkey's Paw," etc. - gifts that are bad, with dire consequences - something along those lines, the reader assumes. This is a Xmas tale, after all. An agent once told me the magic word for any logline is "struggles" - denotes conflict, and gives the reader an idea of the story's form, goal-structure, etc. (templates, anyone?...). After "... a million years" it should go something like: "Now the seven 'specially selected' residents of Hitherton must struggle to/against..."[etc.] And the title's soft: it's not immediately alluring, grabby, sexy. "Specially Selected" is better, but it's too awkward, and assonance... uh, -y. Riff off of gifts, Xmas, being "specially selected," etc.... You didn't want it, you don't deserve it (i.e., your blurb is quite good as it is: I know I'd want to read this book, reading that on the back cover), and it wasn't worth it... but you got it.... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I quite like your alternative title, Craig. Trouble is, the book's based on that old saying about the grass looking greener on the other side, and I was hoping that the title as it stands would hint towards that as well as the supernatural. What do folk think? You're right, however, about the lack of horror element in that blurb. I will do a better one. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
What really drives the book is envy - the perceived discrepancy between one's own life and the imagined lives of others. Maybe that could be the struggle you're referring to? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.6.23 |
Again, looking at it through my scriptwriting 101 goggles, which shouldn't be applied to novels, but.... The themes don't go together: Xmas is a powerful setting/theme all its own. "The other side" divorced of that full specific context, "The grass is always greener on," has of course many other contexts: "I'll see you on the other side" is a saying that's common, and has chilling connotations in horror... but it doesn't in and of itself denote envy. Also, I really like that you set up deliciously rich themes of "desire" in the blurb - desires apart from envy, though, which I didn't get from reading it. (Even Kevin Potter, who believes he has the monster in his closet, has a strong desire, clearly - to be rid of it!) Tangent: it's funny, because this reminds me of an old, little-seen Jimmy Stewart movie I actually want to try and pitch as a remake, called THE JACKPOT - anyone see it? He's a normal guy living in the suburbs (early 50's), and he gets a call from a radio show, who ask him a question; he gets it right, wins the "jackpot," which is a long list of prizes - that of course, turn his life upside-down. Comedy, a tad dated, but rich in potential if it were updated. I think your struggle, as I see it naturally progressing - my mind tripping ahead of your words (templates! get your templates, hot and ready!) - is that the struggle will be against the consequences of having gratified their desires. Or, perhaps you're setting up a struggle to have the ability to gratify their desires, and the awful consequences that will result?... That almost seems less horror, than dramatic. Depends on how they can achieve this - SAW anyone?... So horror is certainly possible; maybe more info is needed here?... Just stuff to chew over and think about - the blurb promises the novel more appealing, each time I read it! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
me being the title king, I'd simply call it THE OTHER SIDE. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I did consider The Other Side, but there's an 80s horror nov called that: The Other Syde. Thanks for comments, Craig. I'll mull them over. The title and the blurb are certainly up for variation. | ||
| Mark West (Mark_west) Username: Mark_west Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.39.177.173 |
Sounds good, Gary and well done! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
How about "From the other side"? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.185.160 |
Congrats, Gary - that's quite an achievement whatever the title! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
What about bringing in an alcoholism plot and calling it The Other Cider | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.240.86 |
Congrats Gary! How mant novels have you completed now? I'm sure you have mentioned several titles. gcw | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Four, mate. I WITNESS, GOD'S EYE VIEW, THE HOUSE OF CANTED STEPS, and ON THE OTHER SIDE WHICH MIGHT NOT BE CALLED THAT YET. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.240.86 |
..Think the last title is a bit long... gcw | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Could be! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
New blurb: better? ON THE OTHER SIDE "Tell us what you want..." That's the message that many residents of Hitherton village receive in the mail, a few mornings shy of Christmas Day. And of course everyone has their wants... Take Tom Young - his independent bookshop has been struggling lately, and he simply wants to it survive. And his brother Graham? Since being awarded his PhD, he still hasn't decided what he wants to do with his life - surely someone can offer him direction. Then there's Sally Jenkins who's tried every diet on the market and each to no avail; Billy Freedman, the dot-com businessman, who wants to 'get rich quick'; and Kevin Potter, an eight-year-old boy who believes he has a monster in his closet. These and many other desperate people are about to make a wish that could change their lives forever...but not in any desirable way. Because despite all the unseasonable sunshine in Hitherton, the nights come far earlier now and are much longer. And things are beginning to rouse there that surely ought never to. Can the residents survive the dark forces amassing... ...On The Other Side? | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
Congrats. With a 20 year gestation period, how long did it take you to write it Gary? - if its cool I ask. BTW 'The House of Canted Steps' is also an excellent title. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Ahem. Six weeks first draft. Two months in total. I'm writing like a looney at the moment. I plan to go back to it for further edits after a drying off period. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
Six weeks! Great that you have the inspiration to push through a project that intensly! That is fast! - unless you then spend another twenty years editing it! - So I suppose this means then that you don't stop after a chapter and do an edit and then move on and so forth? - but you push on in a burst, and then go back and start the editing?- (if you don't mind me asking) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I started out by writing a chapter, editing it, and then writing another, editing it...and so on. But halfway through the book, I just put my head down and kept writing without looking back. I have to finish quickly, even if it means working 14-hour sessions on weekend days (and it always does). | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I wrote The House of Canted Steps in five weeks flat. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I suffer from OCD, btw.  | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
And we're speaking something around 90K for both! That's impressive. The 'drying-off' period must then be between one novel and the next? I believe King says that he writes a first draft- puts it away- and then he starts a new one only to return to the first novel after some time. I suppose it's good to get some distance and then look at everything with fresh eyes. Jeff Vandermeer did something similar for his predator novelisation for Dark Horse. I think he wrote it in 6 weeks as well. I actually think he mentions that he is publishing a non-fiction book about writing a novel in 2 months. He does mention the amount of preparation he goes into: first the planning of each chapter- sketching the character development pretty intensly and so forth,- for this process to work for him. So do you plan everything in advance or do you just have sketches in your head guiding your decisions as regards to where everything is heading? (if you don't mind me asking.) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Well, 20 years of percolation probably helped! No, really, I do believe that over the last 20 years, I've struggled so hard to write at such distance and have often floundered because I'm an obsessive nit-picker. More recently, all those days and days of struggle have served me well in the sense that I know where all the potholes are, and can intuitively stay clear of them. That's a rational explanation, but it sometimes feels more mysterious than that. In truth, it really is a paradigm shift. One day you can't write at novel length, and then the next you can. I dunno what really happens - whether it's self-belief, competence, the fact that I'm not getting any younger, sheer recklessness, easing up on the perfectionism, or a combination of any or all of the above. It just clicks. And my reasoning is that if you're putting the hours in - I mean, lots each day - then it doesn't matter whether you take two months or two years writing a book, cos in the former case, it's still the same length of investment, just compacted into a shorter timespan. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
It helps having a flexible job and no kids, I should certainly add. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
>>>So do you plan everything in advance or do you just have sketches in your head guiding your decisions as regards to where everything is heading? I pre-plan, yes, but not as rigidly as I used to. I now try to 'story-tell' rather than 'plot' (King again). | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Gary and I were having a race to see who finished their novel first. I'm 10,000 words short of the ending so the bugger beat me...still, I'll have finished a first draft in 10 weeks, which isn't bad going when I have a young son and an inflexible day job. Now I have two or three months of editing ahead of me...call me a sad bastard, but the process is just so much fun. As Gary says, the secret is to just get your head down and write, write, write. And have faith in the second draft, where you can sort out any problems. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
I can see how inhabiting a certain narrative space in your head for a considerable amount of time before the actual writing starts to be useful when approaching the novel in that way. And practice certainly helps the craft. Recently in a feature in the Guardian, they were asking different writers to comment on their processes- how they spent their creative day, and they varied, but in a considerable number of cases there was a difference between younger and older writers. The younger writers preferred to work in long intense bursts, while the older writers liked to approach their desk every single morning and work for maybe 2-3 hours. Then they would spend some of the afternoon either editing that morning's work, or they would work on other stuff, like short stories etc. But I can see how a writer's immediate situation effects the process. (With a full time job and kids I can see how writing then is reserved for the evening and nights.) I can't remember who it was, but he or she would wake up early in the morning, maybe two hours early and write before going to work. Some critics complain that the computer has created too many novels that are too long.(Ha) Do you write in long hand or on a computer? Do you think that writing on a computer does in fact facilitate these longer creative bursts? An easier flow from the mind to the page (if you feel you want to comment) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
On computer. I grew up with them. Never known any other way. Mind you, when I worked in a bookstore, I used to scribble down tales on bits of notepaper which I could fold quickly into my pocket when the boss crept up. But all told, I love word processors. Greatest invention ever. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Once more thing, as Columbo used to say: I started writing seriously when I hit 30 years old, realising that I couldn't keep pissing about pretending that one day I'd be a writer. So I did lots of short stories. Now I'm approaching 40 (well, kind of), I had to crack novels. Time is an enemy when you feel that you have stuff to say (even if it turns out to be a pile of donkey mass ). | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>had the idea for this one 20 years ago 20 years ago my idea for a novel was to have a group of evil snowmen killing folk in a small community in the Dales. Lead characters were a young, very nubile couple who had sex a lot. Very Guy N Smith it all was. Congrats on scribbling a new novel, Gary! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>the dot-com businessman Very prescient of you to foresee this 20 years ago, Gary! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
The basic idea I had 20 years ago - when I was about 17 - involved a small town beset by a form of evil elicited by a letter delivered to various people's homes just before Xmas. Everyone would make a wish and then have their desires inverted. That's all it was. The details came more recently. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Having said that, there are two scenes that I made up all those years ago that I've kept in. One is the blackest joke you're ever likely to read. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
Fun to read that you and Zed were speeding to the finish. I think I read somewhere that Chuck Palahniuk wrote a considerable amount of Fight Club at work. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I think he said that he literally scribbled considerable sections of the book during the time when he was lying under cars, fixing their engines. I also think that Zed recently did mention that he had worked right through a 14,000 word novella over a pretty short period of time. I can see how working this way can be really interesting and fun.(or if you just must-you must) I believe King did work in bursts in his early career, and now dedicates a set amount of time in the morning for the novel writing and does other stuff in the afternoon. Was it Joe Haldeman who had once written a novel in 12 days? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
King sez he wrote The Running Man in about 10 days. I can believe it. Think about it: if you do 1000 words a day for a year, you've got 365,000 for the year. That's three or four novels. 1000 words a day isn't onerous. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>One is the blackest joke you're ever likely to read. Racist.  | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
>>>20 years ago my idea for a novel was to have a group of evil snowmen killing folk in a small community in the Dales. I don't believe this for a moment, Mark. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>I can't remember who it was, but he or she would wake up early in the morning, maybe two hours early and write before going to work. Nearly everyone, I think! My favourite story is about Elmore Leonard who took up this approach when he got a full time job. He says he set the alarm clock early for abot a year before he finally managed to get out of bed any earlier and do more writing! PS James used to do it in the still hours before dawn, as she'd a disabled husband to look after, kids, and then a full time job. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
I can see how the age thing might be an issue and obviously there are some immensly talented writers who are publishing stuff in their teens. I mean koontz was 17 when he published his first book. Different stuff works for different people. There are some writers who first find their voices in their 40's, others like the landlord are publishing stuff when they are 16. I remember a film professor at Bard was always telling his students that they needed to take lots and lots of other classes other than their film studies so that they would have stuff to make films about. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Kudos to her. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
>>I don't believe this for a moment, Mark. I'm afraid it's actually true. Wrote about 20,000 words of it in longhand, but jacked it for a comedy werewolf novel of which I managed 37,000 words of before reason prevailed and I started sending poor old David Langford the odd science fiction short story, single-spaced when I got a typewriter to save paper, with hand-written corrections when I'd run out of tipex. First of them was called "Treano and the Spaceship" and I feear I have a copy somewhere. It was about a spcaeship that landed in the middle of Leeds for repairs, and as it was an organic spaceship it "exuded" tentacles and sucked up the bodies of people (and an unfortunate dog, I suspect) in a square for use as "remoulds." Then I decided I should be the Yorkshire T Coraghesan Boyle, but that didn't work out either. Oh to be a teenager again . . . | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.211.237 |
Pringle, sorry. Not Langford. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
Mark'' My favourite story is about Elmore Leonard who took up this approach when he got a full time job. He says he set the alarm clock early for abot a year before he finally managed to get out of bed any earlier and do more writing! The mind is just sharper and fresher in the morning- which is why I suppose a too stressing day job just kills the creativity in the evening-Damn clerks for robbing us of more Kafka! :-) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Still, 37K at 17 is a good haul! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.202.64 |
By the way, Gary, the werewolf novel started with a prologue . . . in ITALICS! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.202.64 |
I'd've been 18 for the werewolf, 16/17 for the snowmen disaster (ever tried writing about driving a car when you've no idea, or putting fuel in it, living away form home? Sheesh, that shold've been the comedy novel . . .). The short stories I wrote them were all about 8 or 12,000 words long too, I seem to recall, because I thought all modern short stories should be as long as Stephen King's. Fuckwit, huh? No idea why I thought that. I mean, I was reading Ramsey then . . . Boyle's tales were long, though, too; so maybe my thinking lay there. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
All Barker's stories were novellettes really and they never found any homes in magazines- they were written in an 18 month burst- and he was 33 when they came out. (but he was of course writing lots of theatre plays) | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.225.209.36 |
>>The mind is just sharper and fresher in the morning- Yeah, I think so. Though late nights can be good sometimes. I don't know that Clive Barker ever tried selling his short stories to magazines. Acording to Doug Winter's biography he wrote them mainly to entertain his friends, as distractions really. Was only when he showed his theatrical manager them that they sought out a publisher, got some "bloke" to produce a great introduction! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I almost lost my mind recently because I was writing too intensely. This was my method for producing a chapter a day: Start chapter in my lunch hour at work Finish chapter at night, when everyone went to bed (sometimes staying up till 3 a.m.) Print and put in folder Start again the next day. I did this for 8 weeks and felt like I was going bonkers. I lost my focus in real life, started phasing out in mid-conversation and thinking about my narrative. I also wrote that 14,000-word novella in less than a week. I had to stp and rest. Took a week off and started again this week, but taking it slower. Oddly enough, the stuff I was producing in my madness was much better than the stuff I'm doing now. :-/ | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.23.231 |
You need to go a bit mad. The zone lies there. Also, is it me or is Neil Gaiman 'medium' while early Barker was 'extra hot'? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.23.231 |
I write my best stuff in noisy cafes. Somehow the focus happens, something that doesn't happen in a big empty house. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Also, is it me or is Neil Gaiman 'medium' while early Barker was 'extra hot'? I'm with you there. Gaiman's never really done it for me. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.215.207 |
Yeah, so smug. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Zed, I know exactly what you mean, mate. A complete first draft in two months, especially when fitted in around a day job... it's intense to say the least. It takes over and crowds out real life, or threatens to. I'm deliberately giving myself the rest of the year off before I go back to do the second draft. Reminding myself that there's a world out there. And people. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.241.252 |
Reminding myself that there's a world out there. And people. Only us weird ones though, Simon - I'd stay indoors if I were you, mate. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
Ye big pussies! It helps being a schizoid lunatic. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 204.104.55.243 |
Zed that is an intense working schedule. Not much space for sleep. Someone told me once that it was important to try and catch up on sleep every three weeks or so, otherwise you kind of 'lose' those hours forever. The notion made a big impression on me and I try to do that after insane work schedules. If you are directing films, and on film sets- consecutive 18 hour work days in the weekends happen and then you have to go to the day job monday... | ||
| Simon Strantzas (Nomis) Username: Nomis Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 99.225.111.224 |
I rarely stay up late working. I dislike the act of writing so much I'm usually looking for the first opportunity to bail and do something else (though I'll admit I've become better at keeping on track). The fact is that if I stay up late one night to get a little further I'll be too tired the next day to resume work, which means I'll have lost a lot more time than I've gained. That's my fear, anyway. That said, I usually wait until the heat is at a low ebb, and try to leave myself something interesting to say next as that helps me getting back into the swing of things. But, jimminy, I'd rather be watching telly than writing. It's soooo much easier. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 204.104.55.243 |
Mark: According to Doug Winter's biography he wrote them mainly to entertain his friends, as distractions really. Was only when he showed his theatrical manager them that they sought out a publisher, got some "bloke" to produce a great introduction! Actually in his pretty comprehensive interview with Rick Kleffel, Barker speaks of the pressure he was under to publish fiction. He was broke, seeking government benefits at the time, and in his early thirties. He had never held a 'regular' job and he was under immense pressure. But I'm sure he enjoyed writing them and reading them for friends. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I guess I'm just lucky in that I love writing and hate telly. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
I love all Neil Gaiman's novels. Just thought I'd mention that. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
I started reading Neverwhere. Got bored. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
American Gods and Anansi boys are classics IMHO. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
My partner loves them all. I quite liked the film of Stardust. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 204.104.55.241 |
I think Coraline is his best novel. And I enjoy his older work in comics immensly. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.185.160 |
I liked Neverwhere a lot, and thought the first half of American Gods was promising but the story just sort of petered out after that. I love his Sandman series. I must read Coraline. |