Ben Westerham's Blog, page 3
June 10, 2017
That's Entertainment
I always had it in mind for my David Good books to be a pretty light and entertaining read.
I have tried a few times to come up with something that has a harder edge to it, though is still not overly aggressive or unpleasant. I know I have something inside me of the sort, just waiting to get out; something more serious and sombre.
But I also know that when I do write such a piece, it won't be devoid of humour. For one thing, real life isn't devoid of humour, so you couldn’t write such a book without it’s presence.
Visiting the darker side of humanity isn't out of the question, it just needs, it seems, to be a step or two removed from what we see as real life. It can be fantastical or perhaps veer towards horror; that seems to me to be OK, in part because it isn't real.
Oddly, I don't mind too much reading or watching the harder edged, unpleasant stuff (a little Scandi Noir is OK). I just don't want to write it. The difference? When you're writing this sort of thing, you are drawn in very deep, for an extended period of time, months even. You are not just an observer, you are more like a participant. That matters. It makes a difference.
So, there we go, I like to entertain readers with my books and I also like to entertain myself when I am writing them, which, for now at least, seems to mean no heavy-weight, grisly, gritty stuff from me.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
I have tried a few times to come up with something that has a harder edge to it, though is still not overly aggressive or unpleasant. I know I have something inside me of the sort, just waiting to get out; something more serious and sombre.
But I also know that when I do write such a piece, it won't be devoid of humour. For one thing, real life isn't devoid of humour, so you couldn’t write such a book without it’s presence.
Visiting the darker side of humanity isn't out of the question, it just needs, it seems, to be a step or two removed from what we see as real life. It can be fantastical or perhaps veer towards horror; that seems to me to be OK, in part because it isn't real.
Oddly, I don't mind too much reading or watching the harder edged, unpleasant stuff (a little Scandi Noir is OK). I just don't want to write it. The difference? When you're writing this sort of thing, you are drawn in very deep, for an extended period of time, months even. You are not just an observer, you are more like a participant. That matters. It makes a difference.
So, there we go, I like to entertain readers with my books and I also like to entertain myself when I am writing them, which, for now at least, seems to mean no heavy-weight, grisly, gritty stuff from me.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
May 10, 2017
Writing in the Past, it's a Blast
I was clear from the off that my David Good books would be set in the past. When you’ve made a decision like that it can be easy to ignore the potential pitfalls that face you. But just what pitfalls I have had to negotiate my way around, so far?
The reasons I wanted to set these books in the past were technology focused. I was adamant that I wanted to write about a time before the internet and the wide availability of the mobile phone. On the other hand, I very much did want to write about a time that I was fully familiar with, mainly so that I could deliver authenticity and do so without the need for endless hours of meticulous research. This has though presented me with both opportunities and difficulties.
One area that I have particularly enjoyed reliving is the clothes that people wore. Women flaunted often over-sized hair-dos along with ridiculously enormous shoulder pads in jackets and even blouses. Make-up was, how can I say, often liberally applied and often worn by the blokes as much as it was the girls.
Of course, music, films and TV not only differed in terms of what we watched and listened to, but also the channels available to us. For anyone born in the last twenty years or so this might seem barely believable when options now are almost limitless.
Another interesting area has been the built environment. My recollection of south London is not photographic and I am never going to be able to recognise every change that has taken place over the decades in between then and now, but changes there will of course have been.
This problem I have in part overcome by giving myself a free hand to manipulate the built environment in any way I see fit. So, I might move a pub from one street to another and re-name it along the way, or site a cafe where there never was one etc. But the overall result must always deliver a true sense of what it was like to be living and working in that part of London at the time.
Perhaps the hardest challenge of all has been the language. In part this is making sure I recall the correct ways of talking, any words or phrases that were common at the time but not now. However, it has in some ways been more difficult to avoid falling into the trap of using words and phrases that hadn’t appeared at that time.
There is one final challenge in writing about a period in your past and that is the tendency every once in a while to feel old. At the time of writing this, the 1980s came to an end over 25 years ago; such a key period in my own life can occasionally seem like a very, very long time ago!
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
The reasons I wanted to set these books in the past were technology focused. I was adamant that I wanted to write about a time before the internet and the wide availability of the mobile phone. On the other hand, I very much did want to write about a time that I was fully familiar with, mainly so that I could deliver authenticity and do so without the need for endless hours of meticulous research. This has though presented me with both opportunities and difficulties.
One area that I have particularly enjoyed reliving is the clothes that people wore. Women flaunted often over-sized hair-dos along with ridiculously enormous shoulder pads in jackets and even blouses. Make-up was, how can I say, often liberally applied and often worn by the blokes as much as it was the girls.
Of course, music, films and TV not only differed in terms of what we watched and listened to, but also the channels available to us. For anyone born in the last twenty years or so this might seem barely believable when options now are almost limitless.
Another interesting area has been the built environment. My recollection of south London is not photographic and I am never going to be able to recognise every change that has taken place over the decades in between then and now, but changes there will of course have been.
This problem I have in part overcome by giving myself a free hand to manipulate the built environment in any way I see fit. So, I might move a pub from one street to another and re-name it along the way, or site a cafe where there never was one etc. But the overall result must always deliver a true sense of what it was like to be living and working in that part of London at the time.
Perhaps the hardest challenge of all has been the language. In part this is making sure I recall the correct ways of talking, any words or phrases that were common at the time but not now. However, it has in some ways been more difficult to avoid falling into the trap of using words and phrases that hadn’t appeared at that time.
There is one final challenge in writing about a period in your past and that is the tendency every once in a while to feel old. At the time of writing this, the 1980s came to an end over 25 years ago; such a key period in my own life can occasionally seem like a very, very long time ago!
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
April 10, 2017
Cosy Mysteries and Other Stories
In this article I take a look at the emergence of new sub-genres in the crime/mystery section of the book store.
As a writer of crime and mystery fiction, I have been intrigued with some of the new sub-genres that have emerged in this space in recent times. The indie publishing revolution has allowed readers to express their desire for more focused sub-genres that weren’t necessarily being catered for previously.
As a UK based writer whose readers are mostly based in the USA, I have had to adapt and learn as my readership there has grown. Even the term ‘mystery read’ wasn’t something I was all that familiar with.
One of the sub-genres that has emerged in this space is the cosy mystery. Again, it took me a while to fathom just what this involves, but for those of you not familiar with these books, the basic idea is an engaging mystery read without blood and gore, overly sexual content and bad language.
The number of these books you can find on sites such as Amazon is large and growing, whilst any marketing service worth its salt that is used by writers will offer this as a targeted category, which says a lot about the level of demand.
Similarly, I’ve started noticing a growing demand for and supply of books that combine crime/mystery and romance, with some writers even highlighting this combination in their book blurbs and other marketing material.
Any writer who wants to produce books that people actually read needs to maintain an awareness of the changes taking place in the market, particularly in the genre(s) in which they are active, otherwise you could soon find yourself marooned on a sparsely populated island with no way off.
In such a dynamic marketplace it is hard not to see this process of new sub-genres continuing to develop. It is great for readers and represents an opportunity for writers. I will continue to watch with interest as developments unfold and hope that for me it is more an opportunity than a challenge.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
As a writer of crime and mystery fiction, I have been intrigued with some of the new sub-genres that have emerged in this space in recent times. The indie publishing revolution has allowed readers to express their desire for more focused sub-genres that weren’t necessarily being catered for previously.
As a UK based writer whose readers are mostly based in the USA, I have had to adapt and learn as my readership there has grown. Even the term ‘mystery read’ wasn’t something I was all that familiar with.
One of the sub-genres that has emerged in this space is the cosy mystery. Again, it took me a while to fathom just what this involves, but for those of you not familiar with these books, the basic idea is an engaging mystery read without blood and gore, overly sexual content and bad language.
The number of these books you can find on sites such as Amazon is large and growing, whilst any marketing service worth its salt that is used by writers will offer this as a targeted category, which says a lot about the level of demand.
Similarly, I’ve started noticing a growing demand for and supply of books that combine crime/mystery and romance, with some writers even highlighting this combination in their book blurbs and other marketing material.
Any writer who wants to produce books that people actually read needs to maintain an awareness of the changes taking place in the market, particularly in the genre(s) in which they are active, otherwise you could soon find yourself marooned on a sparsely populated island with no way off.
In such a dynamic marketplace it is hard not to see this process of new sub-genres continuing to develop. It is great for readers and represents an opportunity for writers. I will continue to watch with interest as developments unfold and hope that for me it is more an opportunity than a challenge.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
March 10, 2017
Writer Yes, Perfectionist No
Today, I am going to take a look at the very real risk many writers face of falling into the trap of perfectionism. It i something I’m familiar with myself and I know just how damaging it can be.
It might seem odd to think that striving for perfection is in anyway wrong, after all, aren’t all writers trying their hardest to produce the best work they can? Well, yes we are, but there is more in that sentence than you might think.
For one thing, if you take the attitude that you are never going to release your work into the world until it is absolutely perfect then the world is always going to have to go without because perfection is unachievable.
In her highly enjoyable book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert, commenting on the dangers of perfectionism, comes up with a great line that paraphrases General Patton, “A good-enough novel violently written now is better than a perfect novel meticulously written never”.
And, what’s more, this endless search for perfection will eventually drive you absolutely loopy as the frustration nibbles away at your sanity day after day.
In my first entry for this blog, ‘The First Novel’, I spoke about the process I went through in getting that very first, complete novel written. I was clear that my goal was simply to get from the beginning to the end, to show myself I could do it. If I had gunned for quality, let alone perfection, I would never have finished that first novel.
Now when I am writing, I just get on with it. I can see errors dropping on to the page as I go along, but I don’t allow it to slow me down. I simply write and write some more. I don’t burden myself with any notions of achieving perfection.
And you want to know something? This approach leaves me a happy writer.
So, if perfectionism isn’t achievable, isn’t good for your sanity and isn’t necessary, then why beat yourself up striving for it? You will be a happier and more productive writer setting aside any such notions.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
It might seem odd to think that striving for perfection is in anyway wrong, after all, aren’t all writers trying their hardest to produce the best work they can? Well, yes we are, but there is more in that sentence than you might think.
For one thing, if you take the attitude that you are never going to release your work into the world until it is absolutely perfect then the world is always going to have to go without because perfection is unachievable.
In her highly enjoyable book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert, commenting on the dangers of perfectionism, comes up with a great line that paraphrases General Patton, “A good-enough novel violently written now is better than a perfect novel meticulously written never”.
And, what’s more, this endless search for perfection will eventually drive you absolutely loopy as the frustration nibbles away at your sanity day after day.
In my first entry for this blog, ‘The First Novel’, I spoke about the process I went through in getting that very first, complete novel written. I was clear that my goal was simply to get from the beginning to the end, to show myself I could do it. If I had gunned for quality, let alone perfection, I would never have finished that first novel.
Now when I am writing, I just get on with it. I can see errors dropping on to the page as I go along, but I don’t allow it to slow me down. I simply write and write some more. I don’t burden myself with any notions of achieving perfection.
And you want to know something? This approach leaves me a happy writer.
So, if perfectionism isn’t achievable, isn’t good for your sanity and isn’t necessary, then why beat yourself up striving for it? You will be a happier and more productive writer setting aside any such notions.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
February 10, 2017
Continuity
I’ve been having another long think about the place of continuity in my books, specifically my David Good books. When you are writing a series this is something that is bound to exercise your mind sooner or later.
There was never any doubt when I started writing my first David Good novel that it would be the first of several. For starters, that was a conscious decision I made right up front. And, in any case, I quickly found myself tripping over a growing pile of ideas for more stories involving my private investigator.
What I didn’t give any thought to as I wrote that first book, Good Investigations, was the matter of continuity. But I couldn’t avoid thinking about it once I started work on book two.
This can seem the obvious thing to do and perhaps makes it easier for the reader if they choose to work their way through the series starting with book one. I suppose it can possibly make things easier too for the author.
But that didn’t suit me. I was very clear in my own mind that I wanted to be able to jump around in my chosen window of time, the 1980s. I wanted the freedom that comes with that.
There does need to be consistency and continuity all the same. You can’t, for example go bumping off a character in one book, only for them to do a resurrection shuffle and re-appears in a book that is set later in time. You need to keep things credible.
So, where has that left me. Well, I do jump around in time from book to book and I will continue to do so. It suits me and I hope it’s fine with my readers. However, it has now got to the point where I am going to have to draw up a time-line, capturing key events and the movements and appearances of recurring characters. A little more work for me, maybe, but worth it all the same and I am not going to change my approach now.
What do you think? Do you prefer things in ordered squence or is a more adventurous and unpredictable approach the thing for you?
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
There was never any doubt when I started writing my first David Good novel that it would be the first of several. For starters, that was a conscious decision I made right up front. And, in any case, I quickly found myself tripping over a growing pile of ideas for more stories involving my private investigator.
What I didn’t give any thought to as I wrote that first book, Good Investigations, was the matter of continuity. But I couldn’t avoid thinking about it once I started work on book two.
This can seem the obvious thing to do and perhaps makes it easier for the reader if they choose to work their way through the series starting with book one. I suppose it can possibly make things easier too for the author.
But that didn’t suit me. I was very clear in my own mind that I wanted to be able to jump around in my chosen window of time, the 1980s. I wanted the freedom that comes with that.
There does need to be consistency and continuity all the same. You can’t, for example go bumping off a character in one book, only for them to do a resurrection shuffle and re-appears in a book that is set later in time. You need to keep things credible.
So, where has that left me. Well, I do jump around in time from book to book and I will continue to do so. It suits me and I hope it’s fine with my readers. However, it has now got to the point where I am going to have to draw up a time-line, capturing key events and the movements and appearances of recurring characters. A little more work for me, maybe, but worth it all the same and I am not going to change my approach now.
What do you think? Do you prefer things in ordered squence or is a more adventurous and unpredictable approach the thing for you?
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
January 10, 2017
Character Assassination
Since my David Good stories are light and entertaining, I need the reader to find the main characters are people they can buy in to. Usually, I don’t have a lot of trouble developing these characters, but occasionally things start to go wrong. In this blog article, I will take a look at a recent experience I have had with this and how at times it left me feeling like I wanted to bump off the troublesome individual.
I love writing about David Good, climbing inside his head and following him wherever he wants to take me. From the very start, I have felt I’ve had a strong, clear grasp on who he is, his motives and foibles. My relationship with him has rarely wavered and it’s hard to see right now how things will ever be any different.
However, Dave does not live in a world of his own. It is his relationships with other people that sits at the heart of the books. Which means that for each book, I always need to develop a number of characters that he can interact with and these too need to have their own appeal to the reader. Fortunately, most of the time these other characters take shape, if not smoothly, then successfully.
But sometimes, it all goes pear-shaped, I find myself at a point where I’ve lost touch with the character. When this happens, I’m stuck, because I simply can’t continue to develop the story without it becoming inconsistent, even plain wrong. When this unwelcome state of affairs happens, I’ve even gone as far as considering character assassination, bumping off the individual concerned and starting over again. Death by delete button.
This happened recently with the third novel in the David Good series. I was about two-thirds of the way through the initial draft when I lost touch with Dave’s chief adversary, a strong-willed woman by the name of Lydia. It all seemed so clear, her motives, her chief characteristics and the inter-play between her and Dave were all there in my head, rolling out beautifully on the page and then, one day, I had to stop. I’d lost touch with her.
In the end, I found a solution and got back inside the head of Lydia. I had been developing an idea for a slightly different ending to the one I’d had in mind for a while and, whilst working this up, things fell back in to place. It was as if I re-established my own relationship with Lydia. That re-modelled ending to the story opened up a line to the woman that I hadn’t previously known.
So, the next time you are reading a book, you might like to consider how close the author might have come to carrying out a character assassination of their own, because I know I won’t be the only author to ‘enjoy’ this kind of experience. I just hope it’s a long time until I go through that again.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
I love writing about David Good, climbing inside his head and following him wherever he wants to take me. From the very start, I have felt I’ve had a strong, clear grasp on who he is, his motives and foibles. My relationship with him has rarely wavered and it’s hard to see right now how things will ever be any different.
However, Dave does not live in a world of his own. It is his relationships with other people that sits at the heart of the books. Which means that for each book, I always need to develop a number of characters that he can interact with and these too need to have their own appeal to the reader. Fortunately, most of the time these other characters take shape, if not smoothly, then successfully.
But sometimes, it all goes pear-shaped, I find myself at a point where I’ve lost touch with the character. When this happens, I’m stuck, because I simply can’t continue to develop the story without it becoming inconsistent, even plain wrong. When this unwelcome state of affairs happens, I’ve even gone as far as considering character assassination, bumping off the individual concerned and starting over again. Death by delete button.
This happened recently with the third novel in the David Good series. I was about two-thirds of the way through the initial draft when I lost touch with Dave’s chief adversary, a strong-willed woman by the name of Lydia. It all seemed so clear, her motives, her chief characteristics and the inter-play between her and Dave were all there in my head, rolling out beautifully on the page and then, one day, I had to stop. I’d lost touch with her.
In the end, I found a solution and got back inside the head of Lydia. I had been developing an idea for a slightly different ending to the one I’d had in mind for a while and, whilst working this up, things fell back in to place. It was as if I re-established my own relationship with Lydia. That re-modelled ending to the story opened up a line to the woman that I hadn’t previously known.
So, the next time you are reading a book, you might like to consider how close the author might have come to carrying out a character assassination of their own, because I know I won’t be the only author to ‘enjoy’ this kind of experience. I just hope it’s a long time until I go through that again.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
December 10, 2016
Ouch! That Hurt. (Unhappy Reviews).
Criticism is part and parcel of life as an author and is a really valuable source of input that can help you improve your writing. That doesn’t, though, mean it is always a pleasant experience and in this piece, I am going to talk about an author’s options when it comes to negative reviews and how I’ve dealt with some of the unhappy feedback I’ve had in reviews.
Any author probably has two choices when it comes to deciding how to respond to a poor review. You can ignore it, pretend it never appeared on the screen in front of your unbelieving eyes, or you can learn to live with such things and, should you feel so inclined, even go a step further and look for the positives to be taken from the experience.
One thing that an author would be wise to avoid doing is hitting back at the source of the poor review. There is likely to be but one outcome to such an exchange and it won’t be a happy one.
When you are mulling over how you feel about a poor review, then bear in mind that few people are going to go to the trouble of writing it in the first place just for the heck of it. Also, take in to account that old adage about not being able to please all of the people all of the time.
Any author will know that just getting your hands on a review is a serious challenge, so my view is that any feedback, whether it is good, bad or indifferent is most welcome.
In my David Good books, I include a fair amount of slang knowing full well this might cause a bit of an issue for some readers. I have had criticism that the slang is too impenetrable and for me, this sort of thing is really welcome because its helps me to gauge where to draw the line and ensure I don’t make life too hard for my readers.
Sometimes we will find ourselves on the receiving end of praise and other times the feedback will be poor. If it is, then consider whether or not there is anything there for you to take away and help make you a better writer. If there isn’t, then do not let it get you down, just move on, tapping away at that keyboard doing the thing you’ve always longed to do, writing.
So, what do you think about this article? How about leaving me a little honest feedback?
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
Any author probably has two choices when it comes to deciding how to respond to a poor review. You can ignore it, pretend it never appeared on the screen in front of your unbelieving eyes, or you can learn to live with such things and, should you feel so inclined, even go a step further and look for the positives to be taken from the experience.
One thing that an author would be wise to avoid doing is hitting back at the source of the poor review. There is likely to be but one outcome to such an exchange and it won’t be a happy one.
When you are mulling over how you feel about a poor review, then bear in mind that few people are going to go to the trouble of writing it in the first place just for the heck of it. Also, take in to account that old adage about not being able to please all of the people all of the time.
Any author will know that just getting your hands on a review is a serious challenge, so my view is that any feedback, whether it is good, bad or indifferent is most welcome.
In my David Good books, I include a fair amount of slang knowing full well this might cause a bit of an issue for some readers. I have had criticism that the slang is too impenetrable and for me, this sort of thing is really welcome because its helps me to gauge where to draw the line and ensure I don’t make life too hard for my readers.
Sometimes we will find ourselves on the receiving end of praise and other times the feedback will be poor. If it is, then consider whether or not there is anything there for you to take away and help make you a better writer. If there isn’t, then do not let it get you down, just move on, tapping away at that keyboard doing the thing you’ve always longed to do, writing.
So, what do you think about this article? How about leaving me a little honest feedback?
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
November 10, 2016
My Unseen Friend
It's over four years now since I started writing stories about my London based PI, David Good. One of the more important decisions I had to make at the outset was whether to write in the first or third person. It didn't take long to determine that the first person was the way forward this time.
The main attraction has been that the first person has given me the means of presenting my stories fully through the eyes of the main man himself, which is precisely where I wanted to be. I think it's worked and now, it goes without saying, I'm committed; I can't go changing direction part way through.
The trouble is, as time has gone by my blast from the past, Mr Good, has begun to feature as an almost ever present 'person' in my life. It often feels more like he's right there alongside me. In fact, more accurately still, if feels like I am right there alongside him. And this can feel a little unnerving. After all, he's fictional, not real. Should I be worried, I've started asking myself.
I believe part of the reason things have developed in this way is because as each story is completed I get to know my fictional P.I. a little better. And, it seems to me, the more believable Good becomes, the easier it is for me to perceive him as real.
What I've also found is that I really do want to know what he's getting up to. In reality I decide that for myself, but very often it doesn't feel like that's the case. It often feels like he's making decisions and doing things for himself.
When I consider this latter situation, I recognise that in part this is down to the way that I write. I am an author who writes largely without a plan. With this approach to writing, you simply make a start, then just see whether things go. The characters steer you in the direction they want to go. This, I think, helps to bring about that feeling that my fictional P.I. is more real than not.
Interestingly, Good has never gone so far as to talk to me directly. Nothing along the lines of 'Oih, Ben, how's it going?' I think if this kind of thing was to start happening then I really would be in trouble.
Now I'm wondering just how far this notion of David Good being a real, live person will go. Should I be planning an extra place at the dinner table each day, or will I gradually come to terms with the sense of having an ever present unseen friend?
“What's that, Dave? You've got me a nice cup of tea? Marvellous...”
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get your free copy of the Ben Westerham starter library here http://www.benwesterham.com/subscribe....
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
The main attraction has been that the first person has given me the means of presenting my stories fully through the eyes of the main man himself, which is precisely where I wanted to be. I think it's worked and now, it goes without saying, I'm committed; I can't go changing direction part way through.
The trouble is, as time has gone by my blast from the past, Mr Good, has begun to feature as an almost ever present 'person' in my life. It often feels more like he's right there alongside me. In fact, more accurately still, if feels like I am right there alongside him. And this can feel a little unnerving. After all, he's fictional, not real. Should I be worried, I've started asking myself.
I believe part of the reason things have developed in this way is because as each story is completed I get to know my fictional P.I. a little better. And, it seems to me, the more believable Good becomes, the easier it is for me to perceive him as real.
What I've also found is that I really do want to know what he's getting up to. In reality I decide that for myself, but very often it doesn't feel like that's the case. It often feels like he's making decisions and doing things for himself.
When I consider this latter situation, I recognise that in part this is down to the way that I write. I am an author who writes largely without a plan. With this approach to writing, you simply make a start, then just see whether things go. The characters steer you in the direction they want to go. This, I think, helps to bring about that feeling that my fictional P.I. is more real than not.
Interestingly, Good has never gone so far as to talk to me directly. Nothing along the lines of 'Oih, Ben, how's it going?' I think if this kind of thing was to start happening then I really would be in trouble.
Now I'm wondering just how far this notion of David Good being a real, live person will go. Should I be planning an extra place at the dinner table each day, or will I gradually come to terms with the sense of having an ever present unseen friend?
“What's that, Dave? You've got me a nice cup of tea? Marvellous...”
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
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Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
October 10, 2016
So I’ve Written a Load of Rubbish
I want to turn my hand in this blog to a subject I’m sure must force its way in the consciousness of all writers every once in a while. This is the realisation you sometimes get that what you’ve written is, quite frankly, crap.
It’s happened to me more than once. It ain’t nice. It can be more than a little bit frustrating and it can eat away at your reservoirs of self-confidence. For me just getting to the end of the first draft of a novel typically takes nine to twelve months. That’s a lot of work and a sizeable emotional commitment. To read that completed first draft and face the undeniable truth that it’s a pile of pants can leave you feeling mentally and emotionally drained. It hurts.
I am willing to take risks with my writing, which is precisely what I did with a novel I wrote during the course of 2013. It went well to begin with, but as I reached out in to the final quarter of the book there began to develop within me a fear that I would find no way to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion. Those fears turned out to be well grounded and as I brought things to a close I did so without the usual sense of satisfaction and completion.
Whenever I have looked at why things have gone so wrong, the problem, in most cases, is down to an underlying flaw in the story itself. Frankly, sometimes it just isn’t interesting enough; it can even be downright boring. Or, you can just lose your way and end up scratching around for some means of bringing things to a conclusion. This is exactly what happened with that story I wrote during 2013; I finished up bringing things to a contrived and unsatisfactory conclusion because I’d lost my way earlier on.
As writers, we never stop learning and part of this process of learning is finding out for ourselves what does and does not work. We also need to push ourselves, trying new things, in order to develop our skills. This will inevitably deliver to us the occasional unhappy experience as we realise that what we have written is rubbish, but when it does we should accept, learn and move on.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get your free copy of the Ben Westerham starter library here http://www.benwesterham.com/subscribe....
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
It’s happened to me more than once. It ain’t nice. It can be more than a little bit frustrating and it can eat away at your reservoirs of self-confidence. For me just getting to the end of the first draft of a novel typically takes nine to twelve months. That’s a lot of work and a sizeable emotional commitment. To read that completed first draft and face the undeniable truth that it’s a pile of pants can leave you feeling mentally and emotionally drained. It hurts.
I am willing to take risks with my writing, which is precisely what I did with a novel I wrote during the course of 2013. It went well to begin with, but as I reached out in to the final quarter of the book there began to develop within me a fear that I would find no way to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion. Those fears turned out to be well grounded and as I brought things to a close I did so without the usual sense of satisfaction and completion.
Whenever I have looked at why things have gone so wrong, the problem, in most cases, is down to an underlying flaw in the story itself. Frankly, sometimes it just isn’t interesting enough; it can even be downright boring. Or, you can just lose your way and end up scratching around for some means of bringing things to a conclusion. This is exactly what happened with that story I wrote during 2013; I finished up bringing things to a contrived and unsatisfactory conclusion because I’d lost my way earlier on.
As writers, we never stop learning and part of this process of learning is finding out for ourselves what does and does not work. We also need to push ourselves, trying new things, in order to develop our skills. This will inevitably deliver to us the occasional unhappy experience as we realise that what we have written is rubbish, but when it does we should accept, learn and move on.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get your free copy of the Ben Westerham starter library here http://www.benwesterham.com/subscribe....
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
September 10, 2016
The Anti-Hero
There is a type of character in literature who manages to successfully fulfil what can seem at first sight a contradictory role, one which both readers and writers seem to turn to with great relish. The character of whom I speak is the anti-hero.
In this article, I’ll explore what it is about the anti-hero that appeals so strongly to both writer and reader alike, whilst also looking at the approach I take to my own example of the type, David Good, the protagonist in my private investigator series.
All definitions of the anti-hero boil down to describing a protagonist who possesses some major flaw in their make-up, such as being dishonest or violent, and who usually does good things because it is in their own self-interest rather than out of some sense of what is right and wrong.
There are, of course, plenty of well written examples to explore if you want to see just how appealing a character the anti-hero can be. I particularly like those created by Patricia Highsmith, whose Tom Ripley is a fabulous example of the type. Highsmith possessed an enviable ability to develop characters who continually blur the boundary between good and evil and do so in such a way that you can’t stop yourself from being drawn to them.
And it is this blurring of boundaries that begins to steer us towards what it is about such characters that appeals to writers and readers in equal measure. Straightforward heroes are not by definition without lasting appeal, but they can sometimes seem predictable and, frankly, even a little boring.
With the anti-hero, on the other hand, the writer has at their disposal the opportunity to develop a far more complex, less predictable and therefore more deeply engaging individual. What's more, there are times, such as in Highsmith’s books, we find ourselves actually liking such a character, even in the full knowledge that he or she does some bad, even downright unpleasant things. This can, in turn, engender a feeling of discomfort, even guilt, which draws us in even closer.
This blurring of good and bad within a character is something I look to explore with David Good in ‘Good Investigations’ and other books. I have focused on bringing this conflicting aspect of his make-up to the fore through his relationships with women. We find a man who casually, and only rarely with any sense of remorse, takes the various women in his life for granted. In fact, he frequently comes across as a sexiest git. Despite his lack of consideration, there is still an erratic flow of women who find him attractive, often to his own not inconsiderable surprise.
Whilst Good is an impressive operator when it comes to identifying what makes other people tick, he is pretty inept at understanding himself and, for one thing, fails to recognise what it is in his character that appeals to some women. Which brings us back to where we started, namely just how strong can be the appeal when we find someone with a conflicting set of characteristics.
Why not let us know who your own favourite anti-hero is and what it is about them that appeals so strongly.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get your free copy of the Ben Westerham starter library here http://www.benwesterham.com/subscribe....
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
In this article, I’ll explore what it is about the anti-hero that appeals so strongly to both writer and reader alike, whilst also looking at the approach I take to my own example of the type, David Good, the protagonist in my private investigator series.
All definitions of the anti-hero boil down to describing a protagonist who possesses some major flaw in their make-up, such as being dishonest or violent, and who usually does good things because it is in their own self-interest rather than out of some sense of what is right and wrong.
There are, of course, plenty of well written examples to explore if you want to see just how appealing a character the anti-hero can be. I particularly like those created by Patricia Highsmith, whose Tom Ripley is a fabulous example of the type. Highsmith possessed an enviable ability to develop characters who continually blur the boundary between good and evil and do so in such a way that you can’t stop yourself from being drawn to them.
And it is this blurring of boundaries that begins to steer us towards what it is about such characters that appeals to writers and readers in equal measure. Straightforward heroes are not by definition without lasting appeal, but they can sometimes seem predictable and, frankly, even a little boring.
With the anti-hero, on the other hand, the writer has at their disposal the opportunity to develop a far more complex, less predictable and therefore more deeply engaging individual. What's more, there are times, such as in Highsmith’s books, we find ourselves actually liking such a character, even in the full knowledge that he or she does some bad, even downright unpleasant things. This can, in turn, engender a feeling of discomfort, even guilt, which draws us in even closer.
This blurring of good and bad within a character is something I look to explore with David Good in ‘Good Investigations’ and other books. I have focused on bringing this conflicting aspect of his make-up to the fore through his relationships with women. We find a man who casually, and only rarely with any sense of remorse, takes the various women in his life for granted. In fact, he frequently comes across as a sexiest git. Despite his lack of consideration, there is still an erratic flow of women who find him attractive, often to his own not inconsiderable surprise.
Whilst Good is an impressive operator when it comes to identifying what makes other people tick, he is pretty inept at understanding himself and, for one thing, fails to recognise what it is in his character that appeals to some women. Which brings us back to where we started, namely just how strong can be the appeal when we find someone with a conflicting set of characteristics.
Why not let us know who your own favourite anti-hero is and what it is about them that appeals so strongly.
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get your free copy of the Ben Westerham starter library here http://www.benwesterham.com/subscribe....
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
