Lists

I read an interview with Neil Gaiman a while ago that was helpfully included in the copy of Neverwhere I've got lying around. In it, he suggested that probably the most fun part of the whole process was putting together the stalls at the floating market; coming up with random things that might be sold without it having any particular impact on the plot. More recently, I got to play much the same game, coming up with some random bits of backstory for one character, then coming up with some interesting shops of my own for a very short part of one of the novels. I came to one simple conclusion:

Making Lists is Fun.

Um... before anyone accuses me of being some sort of train spotter, I should probably point out that I mean that it's quite fun to do those parts of writing that involve making up groups of things without them particularly impacting upon the story, rather than that I derive any particular pleasure from compiling my shopping lists. Accordingly, and because I thought I'd like to spread the fun a little, I thought I'd make a list of lists the writers among you might like to try for yourselves. Or not, or a list of your own devising. In fact, that can be point one, can't it...

1. A list of odd lists someone might make. Either as a starting point for then writing those lists, or simply because some odd character might have a thing for writing lists. Though what sort of person might want to do that?
   
2. A series of shops, market stalls, or other places for acquiring things. Well, it is where this whole rambling thought started, after all.
3. A list of inherently unlikely jobs, along with some suitably unlikely candidates for them.
4. A list of the contents of someone's pockets. (The particular someone I had in mind for this habitually wears one of those coats that has more pockets than material. Rather like one of my coats, come to think of it)
5. A list of all the people that a double glazing (or encyclopedia, or unicycle) salesperson has attempted to sell things to so far today.
6. A list of things that the official "greatest thief in the universe ever" has stolen. Fire and the crown jewels have been done, but don't let that stop you.
   
7. A list of places that a pair of rather elderly friends have travelled, having decided that they want some excitement, along with things they might have done there.
8. A list of places someone might look for someone else, whether lost, avoiding them, or simply not met yet.
9. A list of slightly odd things the fortune teller might really have seen in the cards/crystal ball/tea leaves.
10. A list of stories that a particular character might tell, which has the amusing twist of forcing you to try and boil a story down to just a few words.
    

Long Term Thinking

One of my short pieces has just been accepted for publication in July of next year. That's quite a lead time, so I'll have to make sure I put a sufficiently obvious note on the computer file in question, just so I don't forget that it's already taken.

Today is the last day that it's possible to pre-order semaphore's anthology with no P&P, if anyone should wish to do so. I just thought I'd mention it, and attempt to apply my mental powers to any passing brains.

I'm toying with re-writing at least one piece in script form, which just goes to show what a damp sponge my brain can be at times. One little book by a well known script writer, and suddenly I have the urge to play around with that format. It's as bad as the "all sonnets, all the time" phase Shakespeare sent me through. I must get more of a grip, or at least a good book on the technicalities of scriptwriting.

You know what I've read today? Nothing. That's right. Nothing. It's the first time in I don't know how long, and I suspect it isn't going to last much longer. More Hamlet, I think.

More edits

Another burst of editing on the comic fantasy novel. It's funny how, no matter how much you do, there's always something that can be tightened up or improved. It's a bit like DIY in that respect. I've also finished my short story about antiques, and am currently resisting the urge towards a bad pun as title. (It has turning-people-into-frogs and antiques in it. If British TV watchers don't get the pun in question, I'll be very surprised).

I might be fencing the british student sabre again after all. Someone from the fencing club asked, and Hull's Athletic Union agreed that I am indeed still enough of a student to do so. Now I only have to work out if it's a good idea. And if I want an early start to get to a fencing tournament.

I'm reading Hamlet at the moment. Wyrd Sisters makes so much more sense now. Oh, if this seems quite short, I'm typing this with one hand. Another bout of two hand tapping.

The Characters that Aren't

Following on from my earlier thought on the sudden injection of Catherine Tate into Dr Who for a full series, I've been thinking about the character who sort of disappeared to make way for her. It must be odd, that; creating a character, getting to know it, maybe imagining all the adventures it might have, and then, just like that, it's gone. (Is it just me or did I fit about a year's worth of commas in that sentence?)

It got me thinking about those characters of mine who end up disappearing from the final drafts of things, or who change so much they're unrecognisable. Between the two versions of the novel I finished the first couple of drafts on recently, I changed perhaps three major characters so much that they might as well not exist. One of them, a sort of worldly wize monster hunting chap, disappeared completely. Another went from being the central character to a supporting role. A third remained similar only in the broadest description, and now I'm wondering if I can use the original character somewhere else in the future.

I tend not to do it so much with short stories, perhaps because there's less of a temptation to put in extra characters just to see what will happen, or to run a sub-plot. There's rarely time for sub-plot. Even so, in one story recently I took out the father of a couple of the characters, or at least made it clear he was dead, since the memory of him was probably more effective. In another, I reduced a potential cast of about five to just three, simply to tighten things up as much as possible.

There's invariably a temptation to see if it's possible to write something specifically for them, but usually that doesn't work. They're mostly minor characters, and they can't sustain a story on their own. Even so, I find myself keeping an eye out for moments that might possibly need these cast off characters, and I think on the whole they're happier for it.

Notebooks are Killing the Epic

I've been writing poetry in the last few days, getting it down in one of those tatty notebooks that are the inevitable home of all poetry while it's being written. Though it does raise one obvious point. The great greek and roman writers were notorious for epic poetry, right? But they didn't have tatty notebooks, only stone, clay tablets, and papyrus. Even for the likes of Milton, Byron, etc. paper and writing materials would have been quite expensive, and again- epic poetry. So, has the cheap A5 notebook killed off epic poetry?

I've also started a short story about antiques. Well, sort of antiques. Well, more the sort of magic thingamies that adventures seem to pick up, really. But also antiques. Mostly because a friend mentioned that he was writing a story about antiques, and I wanted to see how different the two would end up from that one shared point. Possibly I should look around for some of those zines that use themes for short stories, and see what I can do with those.

I currently have more pieces of work submitted than at any other time ever. Now, if only that came to double figures.

At some point in the next few days I must remember to print out a spare copy of my PhD, so that I've got something to refer to in the viva. Presumably, that's going to mean all the fun with my various printers that I had the first time around. (They seem to have something against medieval history).

Monologue

Well yes, it usually is, isn't it? But this is actually a reference to the fact that I wrote a monologue this afternoon, after starting it some time last night in a notebook. It's odd how little I write into notebooks these days, though perhaps that's because I actually prefer the computer. Maybe it has something to do with typing rather faster than I can write, and with achieving legible results afterwards.

Before that, I dropped a form round to volunteer at my local community museum. It seems slightly odd that you have to do so much to be allowed to volunteer, including filling in a section about hobbies and interests. Surely, so long as I don't list mine as axe-murder and the destruction of historic buildings, it shouldn't matter that much.

While in town, I ended up in the library, reading through a book about Russell T Davies' (Dr Who writer) creative process, constructed from e-mails sent about his thoughts as he was working on the last series. Very few writers ever seem to go that deeply into their process, so it was quite enlightening. Also rather funny at the point where he had to scrap the idea for the new Doctor's Assistant he'd been working tirelessly on after Catherine Tate agreed to do the series, if only for the speed with which he got enthusiastic about completely scrapping a character.

My article is away to the journal I'm hoping will accept it, though it does rather rely on nice people in Limerick A: having heard of obscure parts of Nottinghamshire, and B: caring.

England have just hit 202 in 20 overs against South Africa. If I were Ireland, I'd be asking for Eoin Morgan back.

Semaphore anthology 2009

Semaphore Magazine's second anthology has just started taking pre-orders. It contains, among other slightly more sensible things, a couple of my short stories in the form of "A Madder Scientist" and "The Apocalypse Factor". You can find more details of what's inside here

Apparently there are also three copies of the first anthology still unsold. Get them while they're, um... still rectangular things with pretty covers.