Rod Duncan's Blog, page 2
August 7, 2018
The Outlaw and the Upstart King
Editing. When I started writing seriously, I had a vague idea that it was part of the process. But I imagined it was a quick read-through accompanied by a few minor corrections. Something done after the book was finished.
There was no single moment when I realised my mistake. But over the years of writing, the amount of time I spent editing grew. Now I spend probably twice as much time editing as I do in the raw writing process. (Though the editing hours are concentrated in a smaller number of months.)
Having edited the Outlaw and the Upstart King, in March I sent it off to the publisher and got on with writing the novel after that. It came back to me in June with editorial comments. I have spent the time since working through it again. I actually edited it through twice in that time, once reading it aloud and once listening as the computer read it to me.
Yesterday I sent it off again. I am really pleased with the improvements. It is all entirely subjective, of course. But it seems to me that this period of work has made the book significantly stronger. (It will come back to me one more time after the copy edit. But that doesn’t usually require me to do much work.)
So that is it! I am having a couple of days off before plunging back into the writing. But I thought I should pop back into 'the office’ to share a few more facts about the Outlaw and the Upstart King. And another short extract.
1)This is the first time I have written a novel of over 100,000 words. Being dyslexic, I struggle to read long books. For that reason, I try to make mine as to-the-point as possible. My previous novels have been around 90,000 words. This one just wanted to be a shade longer.
2) This is the first time I’ve written a novel that seemed to need a map. So a map is being drafted. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.
3) This book made me cry a lot. Some during the writing. But mostly during the edit, when all the strands came together. I cry easily. Almost always from sudden and unexpected moments of intense sincerity or happiness.
4) The strand of this story that made me cry was not planned. When I found it first, I thought how interesting and fun it was. It grew and developed as I wrote. It became important in the climax and resolution. But only during the last edit did I feel that I understood it properly. I want to tell you all more about it, but that would be a big spoiler.
5) I had to do a fair amount of chemistry and medical reading during my research.
And here is another short extract:
In Labrador they joked that more Newfoundlanders had been killed in arguments over fish than had ever been killed over women. But what did they know? Feudal Newfoundland was a place apart, even in the wilds. The thing they fought for, died for, was to hold a stretch of coast. Fish, seals and seaweed would be part of it. Whales too if the gods were kind. But the meat of it was this: someone might try to smuggle weapons across. Without a harbour at his command, a Patron could do nothing to stop such a crime. Nor could he try to do it himself.
They were dangerous waters.
More articles can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire/
There was no single moment when I realised my mistake. But over the years of writing, the amount of time I spent editing grew. Now I spend probably twice as much time editing as I do in the raw writing process. (Though the editing hours are concentrated in a smaller number of months.)
Having edited the Outlaw and the Upstart King, in March I sent it off to the publisher and got on with writing the novel after that. It came back to me in June with editorial comments. I have spent the time since working through it again. I actually edited it through twice in that time, once reading it aloud and once listening as the computer read it to me.
Yesterday I sent it off again. I am really pleased with the improvements. It is all entirely subjective, of course. But it seems to me that this period of work has made the book significantly stronger. (It will come back to me one more time after the copy edit. But that doesn’t usually require me to do much work.)
So that is it! I am having a couple of days off before plunging back into the writing. But I thought I should pop back into 'the office’ to share a few more facts about the Outlaw and the Upstart King. And another short extract.
1)This is the first time I have written a novel of over 100,000 words. Being dyslexic, I struggle to read long books. For that reason, I try to make mine as to-the-point as possible. My previous novels have been around 90,000 words. This one just wanted to be a shade longer.
2) This is the first time I’ve written a novel that seemed to need a map. So a map is being drafted. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.
3) This book made me cry a lot. Some during the writing. But mostly during the edit, when all the strands came together. I cry easily. Almost always from sudden and unexpected moments of intense sincerity or happiness.
4) The strand of this story that made me cry was not planned. When I found it first, I thought how interesting and fun it was. It grew and developed as I wrote. It became important in the climax and resolution. But only during the last edit did I feel that I understood it properly. I want to tell you all more about it, but that would be a big spoiler.
5) I had to do a fair amount of chemistry and medical reading during my research.
And here is another short extract:
In Labrador they joked that more Newfoundlanders had been killed in arguments over fish than had ever been killed over women. But what did they know? Feudal Newfoundland was a place apart, even in the wilds. The thing they fought for, died for, was to hold a stretch of coast. Fish, seals and seaweed would be part of it. Whales too if the gods were kind. But the meat of it was this: someone might try to smuggle weapons across. Without a harbour at his command, a Patron could do nothing to stop such a crime. Nor could he try to do it himself.
They were dangerous waters.
More articles can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire/
July 27, 2018
A Tangle of Strands
A painter, a writer and a film maker walk into a barn... But I can’t start there. That’s the problem. This whole thing is a tangle of strands. And there’s no ordered way to lay them out.
A few months before the incident in the barn, I was in Leicester, sitting in the cafe at Phoenix Square, talking to a man called Gordon Kerr, who’d just flown in from Macau. He was trying to explain the concept of a creative circle and the aims of the Dazzling Sparks Foundation.
“You want to bring artists together?” I asked. It was the one thing I’d understood.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s my experience,” he said, “that when you put the right mix of people together, with the right motivation, things happen.”
“What sort of things?”
Instead of answering, he said: “The theme will be Writing the Future.”
The more questions I put to him, the more confused I became. Only in the aftermath did I begin to suspect that this very vagueness was deliberate. He was creating a fertile meeting point.
Did I agree to go? Well, Gordon had flown half way across the world, so it seemed important. And according to its Facebook page, the Dazzling Sparks Arts Foundation was created ‘to foster excellence in the arts in service to humanity’. How could anyone refuse?
Northumberland. I should pull that strand from the tangle. Its northern edge marks the border between Scotland and England. Hadrian’s Wall cuts across it. I had a vague recollection from history books that armies had marched through from century to century, on the way to do battle in one country or the other.
“It’s a Bestle House,” said our host, Garry Villiers-Stuart. “A farm building fortified against border raids.” As he showed us around the cluster of ancient buildings that make up Burnlaw, I could see the evidence of that history: arrow slit windows set deep in thick stone walls.
Great change has come over the centuries. The Burnlaw Centre today is a peaceful place: a small, loose-knit community based in an organic farm, informed by Baha’i, Buddhist, environmental and co-operative thinking. And it has the facilities to host residential events. For six days, it would be the venue for our creative circle.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m a novelist. Somehow I’d been invited to a gathering of artists. I must lay that strand out as well.
A few years ago, I might have drawn a distinction between art and my work, which is producing novels. But taking photographs informs that process. And walking. And teaching, performing, podcasting...
The full article and photographs can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
A few months before the incident in the barn, I was in Leicester, sitting in the cafe at Phoenix Square, talking to a man called Gordon Kerr, who’d just flown in from Macau. He was trying to explain the concept of a creative circle and the aims of the Dazzling Sparks Foundation.
“You want to bring artists together?” I asked. It was the one thing I’d understood.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s my experience,” he said, “that when you put the right mix of people together, with the right motivation, things happen.”
“What sort of things?”
Instead of answering, he said: “The theme will be Writing the Future.”
The more questions I put to him, the more confused I became. Only in the aftermath did I begin to suspect that this very vagueness was deliberate. He was creating a fertile meeting point.
Did I agree to go? Well, Gordon had flown half way across the world, so it seemed important. And according to its Facebook page, the Dazzling Sparks Arts Foundation was created ‘to foster excellence in the arts in service to humanity’. How could anyone refuse?
Northumberland. I should pull that strand from the tangle. Its northern edge marks the border between Scotland and England. Hadrian’s Wall cuts across it. I had a vague recollection from history books that armies had marched through from century to century, on the way to do battle in one country or the other.
“It’s a Bestle House,” said our host, Garry Villiers-Stuart. “A farm building fortified against border raids.” As he showed us around the cluster of ancient buildings that make up Burnlaw, I could see the evidence of that history: arrow slit windows set deep in thick stone walls.
Great change has come over the centuries. The Burnlaw Centre today is a peaceful place: a small, loose-knit community based in an organic farm, informed by Baha’i, Buddhist, environmental and co-operative thinking. And it has the facilities to host residential events. For six days, it would be the venue for our creative circle.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m a novelist. Somehow I’d been invited to a gathering of artists. I must lay that strand out as well.
A few years ago, I might have drawn a distinction between art and my work, which is producing novels. But taking photographs informs that process. And walking. And teaching, performing, podcasting...
The full article and photographs can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
June 13, 2018
Leicester Book of the Year 2018
The Queen of All Crows just won the Leicester Book of the Year Award 2018.
There is a short article on it and photograph here: https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
There is a short article on it and photograph here: https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
June 12, 2018
On Metaphor
Some things can be said in straightforward language. For example: The sun is shining. I have a headache. I'm thirsty.
But other statements can carry meanings below the obvious. For example: The sun is shining.I have a headache. I'm thirsty.
Which is where the whole thing starts to get complicated. Because of the way the human mind works, statements are simultaneously simple and layered with other meanings. Some of which you may have meant...
The full article and photos can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
But other statements can carry meanings below the obvious. For example: The sun is shining.I have a headache. I'm thirsty.
Which is where the whole thing starts to get complicated. Because of the way the human mind works, statements are simultaneously simple and layered with other meanings. Some of which you may have meant...
The full article and photos can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
May 29, 2018
The name of the next novel will be...
And the title is...
For some months I've been teasing you about the name of the next novel in the Map of Unknown Things trilogy. And before that, I was teasing myself about the same question. My cover sheet on the manuscript had a list of possible titles. New ones kept coming to me as I wrote. But there comes a moment when you need to choose.
I was waiting for the right moment to announce it. But looking on Amazon today, I discovered that book has been listed. So...
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
For some months I've been teasing you about the name of the next novel in the Map of Unknown Things trilogy. And before that, I was teasing myself about the same question. My cover sheet on the manuscript had a list of possible titles. New ones kept coming to me as I wrote. But there comes a moment when you need to choose.
I was waiting for the right moment to announce it. But looking on Amazon today, I discovered that book has been listed. So...
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
May 12, 2018
Experiments in Self Publishing
There's a problem with novel writing. The novel is never really finished. It just reaches its deadline and there is nothing more that can be done with it. So we tell ourselves 'It IS done!' And our brains kind of accept that. We put it behind ourselves. Perhaps the tyranny of the deadline is a blessing after all.
But short stories often don't have deadlines. Two months ago, I wrote about my first self-publishing venture, a short story called 'Tricks of the Light'.
This story had been on my mind and bugging me for many years. I could never quite finish it. Just when I thought it was done, it would evolve into a different form. From screenplay to prose story, from prose to performance, from performance to collaborative audio project.
So I decided to print it as a booklet, giving myself the deadline of the States of Independence conference to get it done. But has the deadline helped me?
Yes. That's the simple answer. The story that had been bugging me for years has now settled down and accepted its new role as a finished thing. That's not to say I won't do more with it. But I now feel at peace. It isn't an itch that needs to be scratched.
I can also report that as of this week, my publishing venture has covered its costs and has started to make a small profit. A few pounds will never pay back all the years of work I put into it, of course. Not in a financial sense. But in covering its costs, it has at least shifted over from 'expensive and time-consuming hobby' to 'gainful employment'. It may even go on to yield a small but helpful income stream.
People attending talks I've given have been happy to spend £5 to take away a copy of the booklet. Though it is small, it is a pleasing object and they seem to feel richer having it than having the money in their pocket. Everyone wins.
More than that, I have learned much from the process of making a book. Some of that has been about storycraft - which came as a surprise...
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
But short stories often don't have deadlines. Two months ago, I wrote about my first self-publishing venture, a short story called 'Tricks of the Light'.
This story had been on my mind and bugging me for many years. I could never quite finish it. Just when I thought it was done, it would evolve into a different form. From screenplay to prose story, from prose to performance, from performance to collaborative audio project.
So I decided to print it as a booklet, giving myself the deadline of the States of Independence conference to get it done. But has the deadline helped me?
Yes. That's the simple answer. The story that had been bugging me for years has now settled down and accepted its new role as a finished thing. That's not to say I won't do more with it. But I now feel at peace. It isn't an itch that needs to be scratched.
I can also report that as of this week, my publishing venture has covered its costs and has started to make a small profit. A few pounds will never pay back all the years of work I put into it, of course. Not in a financial sense. But in covering its costs, it has at least shifted over from 'expensive and time-consuming hobby' to 'gainful employment'. It may even go on to yield a small but helpful income stream.
People attending talks I've given have been happy to spend £5 to take away a copy of the booklet. Though it is small, it is a pleasing object and they seem to feel richer having it than having the money in their pocket. Everyone wins.
More than that, I have learned much from the process of making a book. Some of that has been about storycraft - which came as a surprise...
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
May 9, 2018
This is Not a Manifesto
This is Not a Manifesto
1. My job is to respond to the world and to the promptings of my mind. It requires no validation beyond the sense of calm that it gives me.
2. Sporadic creative acts can be useful. But a sustained practice goes deeper.
3. It happens that I have settled on writing fiction. But I’ve come to see other areas of creativity as connected to the same central endeavour. For example, poetry, walking, photography, filmmaking, typography and storytelling performance.
4. In writing fiction, I am focussed on the effect my work will have on its audience. Since every person reacts to a story in a different way, I consider my readers to be collaborators in the creative process.
5. All my writing decisions are informed by four goals, which come from four things I hope readers will experience.
6. The first goal is to create narrative drive sufficient to keep them turning the pages.
7. The second goal...
The full not manifesto can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
1. My job is to respond to the world and to the promptings of my mind. It requires no validation beyond the sense of calm that it gives me.
2. Sporadic creative acts can be useful. But a sustained practice goes deeper.
3. It happens that I have settled on writing fiction. But I’ve come to see other areas of creativity as connected to the same central endeavour. For example, poetry, walking, photography, filmmaking, typography and storytelling performance.
4. In writing fiction, I am focussed on the effect my work will have on its audience. Since every person reacts to a story in a different way, I consider my readers to be collaborators in the creative process.
5. All my writing decisions are informed by four goals, which come from four things I hope readers will experience.
6. The first goal is to create narrative drive sufficient to keep them turning the pages.
7. The second goal...
The full not manifesto can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
April 27, 2018
Does Narration have a Gender Identity?
Not to give too much away, but in the last year, I found myself in the unfamiliar position of writing from a male point of view and alternating that with a female point of view. But is there even such a thing?
First there is the issue of genetic difference. Do the different chromosomes lead to the development of different personality characteristics? People used to talk about male and female virtues. Could such things arise from genetics? Or might differences spring from experiences of reproduction and parenthood? What about environmental differences - the fact that from their earliest years boys and girls tend to be treated differently? (If you doubt this, have a walk around any toy shop or children's clothing outlet.) And then we have the question of gender itself. Is it a social construct? An inherent state? Is it a binary? Is it fixed?
I have read and listened to many opinions on these questions. The arguments have evolved over the years. But they show no sign of being fully resolved.
From a writers' point of view, I don't need to provide an answer. But I do need to keep my stories 'believable'. Happily, believably is not a binary. And it is most definitely fluid...
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
First there is the issue of genetic difference. Do the different chromosomes lead to the development of different personality characteristics? People used to talk about male and female virtues. Could such things arise from genetics? Or might differences spring from experiences of reproduction and parenthood? What about environmental differences - the fact that from their earliest years boys and girls tend to be treated differently? (If you doubt this, have a walk around any toy shop or children's clothing outlet.) And then we have the question of gender itself. Is it a social construct? An inherent state? Is it a binary? Is it fixed?
I have read and listened to many opinions on these questions. The arguments have evolved over the years. But they show no sign of being fully resolved.
From a writers' point of view, I don't need to provide an answer. But I do need to keep my stories 'believable'. Happily, believably is not a binary. And it is most definitely fluid...
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
April 17, 2018
Footnotes
Whilst writing this book - the third in the Map of Unknown Things, I have decided to keep track of my thought processes by leaving footnotes for myself. Otherwise I tend to forget how it was I came to make decisions.
And I can share some of them with you. I will try to keep major spoilers out of them, but there are some thingy will discover if you do choose to read on. Chiefly, I mention certain characters, who you then my assume have survived the episodes that have come before. Perhaps you will be right. Or perhaps wrong - since I do sometimes mix up the time sequence.
I will leave it up to you to decide. But if you don’t mind that small risk...
...do...
...read...
...on:
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
And I can share some of them with you. I will try to keep major spoilers out of them, but there are some thingy will discover if you do choose to read on. Chiefly, I mention certain characters, who you then my assume have survived the episodes that have come before. Perhaps you will be right. Or perhaps wrong - since I do sometimes mix up the time sequence.
I will leave it up to you to decide. But if you don’t mind that small risk...
...do...
...read...
...on:
The full article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
April 15, 2018
Editing Editing Editing
Here are two versions of a paragraph from book 2 of The Map of Unknown Things:
“She began probing inside the keyhole with the tip of the nail. The crudeness of finish suggested something easy to pick. A simple ward lock perhaps. But locks could be as deceptive as people."
and
"She began probing inside the keyhole with the tip of the nail. The crudeness of finish suggested something easy to pick. A simple ward lock perhaps. But locks can be as deceptive as people."
One word has been changed: 'could' for 'can'. The difference in meaning is slight. But there is something interesting about the way each version positions the narrator. Are they inside the story or outside it?
Read the full article here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
“She began probing inside the keyhole with the tip of the nail. The crudeness of finish suggested something easy to pick. A simple ward lock perhaps. But locks could be as deceptive as people."
and
"She began probing inside the keyhole with the tip of the nail. The crudeness of finish suggested something easy to pick. A simple ward lock perhaps. But locks can be as deceptive as people."
One word has been changed: 'could' for 'can'. The difference in meaning is slight. But there is something interesting about the way each version positions the narrator. Are they inside the story or outside it?
Read the full article here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...
