Writing to The Chiefs

Nothing like a looming deadline to get the writing juices going. Self imposed targets are nice, but the repercussions from missing one never really has much impact. Am I going to forbid myself from a reward, such as buying a CD or watching a movie, because I missed my self imposed deadline? No, not really. So a deadline with a little more weight to it is always a good thing.

It’s festival time again and no, I’m not talking about the music variety where you watch big name bands in the rain or find nice little nuggets on the seat of the portaloo or try to sleep in a tent with a rock digging into your back through your sleeping bag. No, I’m talking about The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (formerly known and more commonly referred to as the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival). Yes, it’s on again – three days of seminars, readings, panels and entertainment from some of the big names in UK and ROW crime writing.

Creative Thursday is on again too – one day (before the official festivities begin) of informal talks about all things crime writery, delivered by authors, publishers and agents in the field. Very entertaining and full of little nuggets of information and advice (and I’m not talking about the music festival type nuggets).

And, as with last year, I’ve signed up for a One-on-One session with Greg Mosse, another opportunity to present my work in front of the experts and get some free advice.

This is where the deadline comes into it: 3,000 words by July 7. Not self-imposed at all; if I don't hit this one, I miss out on a great opportunity for constructive advice and I'm sure to receive a raised eyebrow from Mr Mosse himself.

What to submit? Well, last time, I submitted a 3,000 word synopsis of the novel I am working on and spent a very worthwhile 20 minutes going through it with Mr Mosse. This time around, I am submitting 3,000 words of prose. The first time, it was about seeing whether my idea for a novel would be worth pursuing. This time, it’s about whether I have the skill to write it.

I plan to submit the first two chapters of my novel, restricted by the word count. At this stage, this involves re-writing the first chapter and writing another from scratch. The novel has been written slightly out of sequence so far, but coincidentally, I have reached the stage where I need to write that second chapter. Good timing indeed.

This type of feedback is gold, especially when you are a first time writer halfway through a novel. Greg Mosse is very enthusiastic but gives good critical advice: encouragement and guidance, two things any good writer can do with from time to time.

The deadline is approaching and I will get more than just a CD as a reward if I meet it.

That said, I am thinking about Kaiser Chiefs.

Best Laid Plans

You would be forgiven for thinking that my lack of activity on this blog over the past six months is due to an extraordinary amount of progress on my novel: hours and hours of sitting at my desk, churning out brilliantly written prose, hurtling through the chapters and finally finishing the first draft.

My total dedication to finishing the novel would definitely explain my lack of presence on the web, both here and on the numerous forums and communities that I usually gravitate to.

If only that were so. Unfortunately, there are a few other reasons why I have been a little bit “quiet” lately and none of them revolve around completing my novel (and none of them are all that exciting either).

At the start of the year, I listed my intentions for the first six months, identifying my priorities and putting together a battle plan. Completing the first draft of my novel was the first priority.

It was my intention to have a completed first draft and three polished chapters to take with me to Harrogate Crime Festival 2008. There was no expectation that anyone would be asking for them at the festival, but I hoped to make contact with agents and / or publishers, grab a business card or two. Then, as the battle plan dictated, I would make a submission to these nice people, while my face and name were still fresh in their mind. I would have three chapters ready to go and a completed draft behind me, not only for the off chance that someone would like to see a partial or full manuscript but for confidence and practicality. Consensus says that it is best to approach agents and publishers when you’ve got a completed novel to hand over if so requested to do so. Nothing worse than being asked for something you don’t have.

Sound battle plan.

Then came reality. The goal with the lowest priority, performing well in my temporary promotion at work, took over and monopolised my time. The new position equated to long hours and mountains of frustration. Sure the experience was worth a lot, I don’t begrudge that, but ultimately, my true calling suffered.

In short, the first draft isn’t complete. Not by a long shot. And to tell you the truth, as I sit and type this, I am at my most frustrated and lowest point as a writer thus far. And what’s even more frustrating is that my disappointment doesn’t come from producing a piece of writing I’m not happy with or finding out that I’m not much of a writer after all, but it’s the fact that I haven’t had the chance to do what I set out to do. I haven’t had the time and the consistency that I believe I need to get this novel completed. Writing a few thousand words one day and then nothing for a week is not an efficient or effective writing approach. For one whole month in March/April, I hardly sat in front of the computer at all.

Depressing.

But I must look forward and I must stay focused and positive. I won’t be able to do what I had planned for Harrogate and I don’t propose to take short cuts like submitting chapters without a full draft backing it up – that’s not the approach I want to take. So, instead, I have to regroup and get back into a routine of writing and not worry about a potential wasted opportunity.

And really, it won’t be wasted at all. Harrogate will be a blast no matter what – it is such a great experience for any budding writer. You talk to people, listen to what they have to say, soak up information and advice from the best in the business; and you have a bit of fun. It all makes a difference. I might even take a few chapters along with me; just in case.

You never know.

John Connolly - A Top Bloke

Last night, I attended a book signing at Borders Oxford Street for John Connolly’s new book, The Reapers. From my readings of blogs and websites and after seeing him at Harrogate a few years ago, I knew him to be the type of author who is admired by his fans and respected by his peers. I had also read two of his books, Every Dead Thing and The Book of Lost Things, both very entertaining novels. When I saw posters advertising his bookstore appearance, I penned it in my diary to attend, expecting an entertaining hour of readings, questions and signings. What I got was a lot more.

Borders had set up a section on the first floor for about 20-30 people in front of a podium with a microphone and numerous stands displaying John Connolly’s books. John arrived and spent a good twenty minutes talking through aspects and elements of his new novel, The Reapers, in a quite informal, informative and entertaining fashion. The next 20 was taken up by Q&A. I really enjoyed it all and took away many good pointers about writing. John also talked about some of the elements contained in his new book, including male heterosexual relationships and what drives someone to kill. We were also treated to a reading from loose sheets of paper constituting an extract from Draft 1 of John’s novel in progress, The Lovers. All very good stuff.

As I was lining up to have my copy of The Reapers signed by John, he announced to the audience that if they were so inclined, we could all head to a local bar for a beer and a more informal chat. This sounded wonderful, a great chance to meet John and a handful of his many fans (including Sarah Higgins, a fellow Harrogate attendee and BTZ forum member). It was an invitation I wasn’t expecting and something I had never encountered before. I was pleasantly surprised.

After the books were signed, nice of us, including John and his publisher, headed to a reserved area in a pub off Oxford Street and John most generously shouted us some drinks. We chatted and mingled, talking about anything and everything, not just centred on his novels and had a great laugh. It was a very informal get together that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I was floored again by John’s generosity when he invited us all to dinner. How about that? I couldn’t believe it! It was a nice gesture to his devout fans and something, I could tell, he really wanted to do for them.

The seven of us who had dinner with John included three fans who had travelled from Iceland, Belgium and Spain just to be at this book signing. Everyone was known to John through the forum on his website and through meetings at crime writing festivals and previous readings; they were all very dedicated followers of his work. Ultimately, though, his invitation was open to everyone who had turned up at the signing and I was lucky enough to be able to tag along.

It was a lovely evening, very entertaining and informative and a great experience. I also got to know more about John Connolly, who proved himself to be a real generous and nice guy.

Or in Aussie parlance – a top bloke.

Thanks John!

London Marathon 2008

Here's one of the reasons why blog activity has been at an all time low: I'm running the London Marathon.

Yes, this weekend, I will be joining many thousands running 26.2 miles through the streets of London.

And yes, I will be doing it for a good cause: raising money for Sense, the national voluntary organisation working with and supporting people of all ages who are deafblind or have associated disabilities.

Please use the website below if you would like to make a donation:

http://www.justgiving.com/darylnilbett

I will let you know how I went and then return the blog to its normal content and the long wait for an update will be over!!!

Sorry? An update. On my novel. The one that I'm writing.

Yeah, that one.

The Corner: A Year In The Life Of An Inner-City Neighbourhood by David Simon & Ed Burns

David Simon and Ed Burns are currently well known for the creation of their hit television show, The Wire - a drama about drugs, the people that sell them and the people that fight against them, all played out in the streets of Baltimore.

Long before the hit HBO show, David Simon was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He took time off as a reporter to spend a year with the Homicide unit of the Baltimore Police Department, spawning the excellent Homicide: A Year on the Killing Street, which was subsequently made into a critically acclaimed television series of the same name. Ed Burns was one of the detectives who worked during that year so vividly described in David Simon's book.

Persuaded by his editor, David Simon joined forces with Ed Burn to spend over a year experiencing Baltimore from the other side of the fence - with the dealers in the street and the victims of drug addiction.

What resulted is this intricate and emotional account of a handful of lives living in the heart of the drug problem in West Baltimore. The Corner: A Year In The Life Of An Inner-City Neighbourhood tracks the hopes and dreams, the disappointments and failures, and the addictions and deaths of the everyday people who are slaves to the corner.

Real life characters such as DeAndre, a teenager pulled towards the vice of drug dealing for purposes of money and status, or his mother, Fran, who tries so hard to raise her kids properly while fighting an uphill battle with addiction, or his father, Gary, once an established entrepreneur, reduced to a dribbling drug fiend by the corner, conjuring up capers in order to get his next blast, despite the purity of his heart, or Ella, a mother trying to make a difference on Fayette Street, working hard at the Martin Luther King Jr Recreation Centre, battling to guide those kids who attend towards a better life, knowing in her heart that the pull of the corner is stronger than her resolve.

These are people whose successes and failures have an emotional impact that strikes with greater strength than any well developed fictional character - these are real people going through real hardship on an unforgiving landscape.

Their personal struggles are traumatic and heartbreaking, but the battle of the system on a national level is just as disheartening. The authors tackle both aspects with the utmost care and skill - episodes of individual drama read like a first hand account (which is the case in most instances), bringing the reader into the reality of the character's lives, fears and dreams, written in an intimate and personal way; much more than just a matter-of-fact account of their struggle. Chapters dedicated to the broader issues aren't preachy and do not attempt to find solutions; instead, they are accounts of the state of play, conveying successfully the helplessness of the situation, the relevance of which is referenced back to the real lives of The Corner's many characters.

Reading The Corner is like experiencing a well researched piece of crime fiction, one that creates a strong, emotional connection between reader and character, while highlighting dramatic circumstances in a visceral and thought-provoking way, adding realism to the struggles and outcomes of the downtrodden on Fayette Street.

But this is not fiction, this is reality, and The Corner is more powerful because of it.

Nothing short of an important masterpiece.