Adventures in Writing…my debt to the good Doctor

After watching the BRILLIANT 50th Anniversary Dr Who, I am reminded of the tremendous debt I owe this iconic show.
I was six years old and the weather outside was bleak. In our living room, the black and white television flickered away in the corner, Grandstand having finished, and ‘Tomahawk’ gracing the screen with yet another great episode. When it ended, I got up to get ready for my tea and a strange, unworldly sound invaded my senses. The TV screen blurred and changed, mystical white shapes ebbing to and fro as music the like of which I had never heard before drew me in. The opening credits of the very first Dr Who. From that moment I was gripped.
Some years later, with everyone at school still buzzing with the wonder of the time-traveller’s adventures, a competition was launched to write a storyline for the Doctor. At the core of this tale was to be a new monster, to test our hero to the upmost.
Well, I wrote a story and from that point, with my imagination soaring, I became a writer.
I was eight.
I can’t remember what happened, or even where the story is now. I think I have some drawings I made of the monster, in the bottom of a box somewhere, but I can’t be sure.
For me, writing enables me, like the Doctor, to travel to new worlds, to populate stories with characters and events that did not exist before I put down the words. Creating, utilising my imagination, this is what gives me purpose and direction. I’m bombarded as I look through all the various social network sites about how to do this, how to achieve that; advice, seminars, books all about ‘how to’ write, ‘how to’ achieve success. The keys to marketing, the secrets of becoming a best-selling author. I used to read some of these. Not any more. Now, I scan over them all, not taking a blind bit of notice. Why is that?
I don’t know.
I’m not convinced by all the hype. Never will be. The screams of the self-published, that traditional publishing is dead, that paperbacks are a thing of the past…Well, I don’t believe it. None of it. Sorry, maybe I too am a dinosaur. E-books are great fun, and it is so easy to browse through the pages of Amazon picking out something new. To then download it (often free!) and have it sitting there, ready to read in a matter of minutes. So convenient and, in many ways, exciting. The anticipation…something akin to wandering inside a sweetshop and choosing the most delicious confectionary to devour with glee.
Mmm…
I buy books, Of course I do. However, almost 90 percent of them are paperbacks, especially non-fiction which I buy regularly to aid in my research.
I do use social networks, I do TRY to promote, because to have strangers – even one – reading my books, the feelings generated by that knowledge is beyond words. I am honoured people enjoy my work and say such lovely things about my stories. It humbles me. But I’m not seduced; I do not make many sales and am nowhere near to becoming ‘known’ and won’t be until I manage to break through into the world of traditional publishing. Because it is only there that success (awful word) will be achieved. That’s my opinion, and I’ll stick with it.
E-books? Yes, they are wonderful, and they do wonders for the environment…I think. Most of my books are e-books, as well as being in paperback. Varangian is receiving good reviews, as indeed are my others.

The problem is, unlike sweets, most of those ‘books’ we download stay in the e-reader unread. How many of us have dozens, perhaps hundreds of free books simply lying there unlooked at? I myself have a number, but I’ve stopped now. What is the point? I’d rather have a book I know I will read. I also like books on shelves. I have all of George Martin’s in paperback, and I wouldn’t swap them for anything. I think, in all honesty, once all the hullabaloo has settled, we will do what we have always done. We will buys books, and read them. Both as e-books and paperbacks. We are not about to witness the demise of traditional books. No way. What will happen is we will be presented with choice. And that has to be a good thing.
But writing itself, the constant striving to succeed? Well, I write because I love it, not to make millions. I won’t be a best-seller, I won’t ever walk into Waterstones and see my books gracing the shelves. There are millions of authors out there, hawking their wares. I am lost in the digital universe. Depressing? Perhaps. But the joy of creating keeps me going and every time I finish a book (and I have written well over thirty) my mind conjures up a new adventure. Because that is what it is – an adventure. My adventure. And, thanks to Dr Who, the journey has been one full of wonder.
Thanks for dropping by, and please go over to my website to check out some news, and read a few sample chapters of Varangian.
http://www.stuartgyates.com
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Adventures in Writing – a personal journey by Stuart G Yates…5 things a new writer should know

I had a great evening yesterday, talking with the reviewer Fran Lewis on her radio show…You can listen to it here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork/2013/06/06/book-discussion–host-fran-lewis

Together with three other authors, the show featured us all talking about our influences, how we develop characters, etc. It was great fun. I had a great time, helped enormously by the wonderful fellow-authors who shared air-time with me.

One of the questions we didn’t really have time for was  – what would be the 5 most important things you would advise a beginning writer to do. This got me to thinking, and here is my list. You can embellish or reject as you so desire, but these are what I think as being ‘important’:

1. Writing is hard work. Damned hard work. As I’ve said many times, it’s not ‘a get rich quick scheme’. It requires dedication, toil, soul-searching and heartaches. It’s also a lot of fun, but be prepared for the long haul. That first draft may take you only three weeks to get down, but the re-writes and the edits, that is where the time is spent.
2. As soon as you have written that book, or perhaps even before it is completed, be thinking of your next one. This is essential for an author. To create, to be consumed by stories, that is the guiding principle. Stephen King famously talked about Salinger, and the fact that he never followed up ‘Catcher in the Rye’. King couldn’t believe how anyone could call themselves ‘a writer’ if that person didn’t write, and I agree wholeheartedly. I write, it is what I do,. Simple as. I can’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t write. I have lots of projects all bubbling away at the same time, and as soon as I finish one, I move on to the next exciting chapter!
3. Always keep a notebook close at hand. You never know when that inspirational smack in the mouth is going to strike. It might be in the middle of the night, whilst you’re showering, or whilst you’re driving to work, but if you don’t write it down, you’ll forget. Trust me, this happens, as I know to my cost.
4. It’s fun. Enjoy it. You are creating worlds, filling a blank screen with your imagination, creating something that didn’t exist until a few moments ago. Relish in that knowledge and smile. This is not a ‘job’, it is life.
5. Never, ever give up. If that first book is rejected, submit the next. And keep going. If you’re good enough, someone will pick you up. I’m not talking about self-publishing, I’m talking about your work being validated by people who know what they are talking about – be that traditional publishers, or small independent presses. If somebody likes your work enough to commit a substantial investment, there are few better feelings that I know of.

 

Writing is not easy, and it isn’t always financially rewarding, but it is such an incredible magical experience to see your book in print that I simply wouldn’t want to do anything else.

 

Fran said my latest work ‘Roadkill’ frightened her to death within the first couple of pages.

 

What a compliment that was! She is reading it right now and I can’t wait for her review. To catch your own copy, it is available on all formats, either from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. Here’s a link, and I hope you will see what my philosophy helps me to create. Damned good stories!

http://www.amazon.com/Roadkill-ebook/dp/B00CWPQC8A/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1370628699&sr=8-2&keywords=stuart+g+yates

 

Thanks for dropping by, and keeping reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventures in writing – a personal journey by Stuart G Yates: submitting my work, part 2.

Thinking back to those years, long, long ago when I would bash away on my old Olivetti (actually, to be absolutely accurate, my brother’s Olivetti!) it brings a smile to my face as I compare the process I go through now. In those days, the idea of ‘editors’, proof-readers, etc just simply didn’t exist. Or, if they did, I had no knowledge of them. My only ‘proof-reader’ was a friend of mine. Sitting hour after hour and dreaming up scenes, I would then pass them over to her, and she would make useful comments, always encouraging me, and eventually I would arrive at a piece of work that was half-descent. The rewrites were a nightmare. Remember, personal computers of any kind were another decade away, so it was simply a case of using the typewriter once again, to restructure, alter, delete and add.

It took forever.

So, as I began work on my next book, I enlisted the services of a typist.

However, this wasn’t until much later. When I began university, naturally part of my studies required me to submit theses. They had to be professionally produced. The amazing Amstrad word-processors had just come out but, being a poor student, I could not afford one. A typist was cheaper, and she did a great job. She had one of those electronic golf-ball thingies, and I would stand in her study, waiting to pick up my long-essay, and drool over that most beautiful of machines.

Talking to her one day, I drummed up the courage to ask her if she’d be willing to prepare parts of my novel. She seemed happy enough, so I delivered the first three chapters. Even in those days, submissions to publishers and agents required the first three chapters, packed away in a padded envelope and sent by recorded delivery.

So, armed with said words, I dropped them off and waited.

I’m still waiting.

I think that perhaps she found the language a little too coarse. Who knows? Perhaps it was too violent, gritty, real. I never saw those chapters and they could well be sitting on her desk right now.

Contrast with today. I finished a novel, Roadkill recently and after I’d gone through it a number of times, used ‘Autocrit’ to good effect, I submitted it and it was accepted. Then I began work on the editing process with the publishers. This was a long process, going through every line, checking, rewriting, sometimes arguing over some things. In the end, even going through the cover, I am left with a book that I am justly proud.

A contemporary thriller, Roadkill is about a somewhat warped individual who lives a dull, pointless life on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. One evening, whilst driving home from work, Ralph hits a deer by accident. When he gets out of his car, he sees it is dead. He takes it home and cooks it, serves it to his wife, and she loves it. Naturally, he doesn’t tell her how he came by it, but something changes inside. So begins his gradual spiral into madness. He has always been a little ‘unhinged’ but this random event totally rips the last vestiges of sanity apart. He begins to take ‘road kill’ from the highway, brings that home too, and prepares it all for the pot. When his wife begins to suspect, she is sickened, refuses to partake anymore of this ‘free bounty’. When there is a road accident on the same highway, and a woman manages to drag herself free, Ralph kills her and takes her back to…Yes, you’ve guessed it.

What happens to Ralph as he plunges into insanity, you’ll have to find out by buying the book. It will very shortly be available on all devices, and in paperback. If you like thrillers, murders, modern-day horrors, then you’ll love this.

I wonder how it would have fared back then, created on my Olivetti. Who knows, it may have made it. Or, it may simply have remained on that woman’s desk, gathering dust along with my earlier effort. My hope is that many, many people pick it up and read it. Perhaps, even that typist!

Please visit my blog to find out more about what I do, with details of where to find my books:

www.stuartgyates.com

Thanks for dropping by, and keep reading.