Jamie C. Pritchard's Blog, page 2

Book Review: We Have Always Lived in The Castle (Shirley Jackson)

Braindead Dairy #17: Hiking & Creating

Booking hotels, trains, buses, figuring out distances, holidays can be a pain in the ass, but it’s gotta be done, especially when it’s for a greater purpose. There’s a big mountain in my book. I must CLIMB a mountain, scale the harsh rock, admire the vistas, maybe endure rough weather, all first-hand things that will help shape my story – give it some texture…hmm…I like that expression…

With book 2 having a WHOLE LOTTA mountain in it I’ve got to convey what the conditions are like. Sometimes good writing can only take you so far. The kind of physical toil and thought process must be accurately captured if this is going to be as gritty as I’d like it to be. It might even be spiritual. :0

That will take place next month when, hopefully, the weather isn’t so bad I’ll get stranded and have to be rescued.

Generally speaking, from a creative standpoint, walking/hiking has been one of the classis staples for creative minds. Philosopher Immanuel Kant used to walk every day in his former town of Konigsberg, Charles Dickens took in the shady scenes of 19th century London, and Friedrich Nietzsche marched around the swiss Alps with a green booklet, believing (as many did) that his best thoughts came when out and about.   

I’m not expecting to have a Godly epiphany up there, but I’m giving the respect this story deserves.

 

 

 

 

Braindead Dairy #16: Method Writing

A big part of good writing is good editing. There’s not much of that going on with these dairy updates, but while it may affect the quality of the sentences, it helps give you an idea of one’s stream of consciousness. There’s honesty in the rawness. Just had another Siggi’s yoghurt. I recommend!

While editing book 2 (and realising I need a holiday), something dawned on me. I need to do some mountain climbing. I’m thinking more England than Tibet, nothing crazy, but as there is a character on a mountain in the story I think it would be a great opportunity to get some method writing on the go!

Ernest Hemingway said that you should write about what you know. That may sound obvious but when writing fiction there is a lot of guesswork – trying to capture the lunacy of battles in a high fantasy series, or what it would be like to infiltrate a high security building in some crime mystery. My point is – where possible – it’s probably a good idea to try and get a flavour of what some of these things would be like.

There is a particular mountain (the second highest) called Helvellyn which looks pretty badass, and if I can sample and then inject some of that rugged terrain and those strong winds into the story – even if it amounts to a small paragraph – ANYTHING TO SUCK THE READER IN MORE – then it’s a win!

 

Braindead Dairy #15: In The Zone!

With a stomach full of chilli con carne, and some hot water to aid digestion, it’s time to chart my progress on a trilogy about a huge creature that lives on a mountain and thinks everyone is tasty!   

Things are going real smooth. I’ve begun the re-edit of book two, the first chapter of which needed a lot of changing, but it was done with a couple of days, and it reads FAR better. It’s amazing what a few changes can do. Part of this is book II is much simpler than book I – Less characters, less things to balance, a more basic theme. The classic rickety bridge second entry to this trilogy is more about survival.

What this means though is the prose needs to have WEIGHT to it. I want to convey a hard life taking its toll, the elements, the cold, high winds, a lack of food, psychological trauma, bodily aches and pains, the whole nine yards. It’s may be the most intense of the three books. It will also be the shortest and then may slightly pardon the fact it is kinda limited in terms of location and activities. I want to give people a flavour of living in a harsh environment – but in no way do I want anyone to feel they are stuck there as well!

Book two intends to crack you on the jaw.

Book three will definitely be the longest. This means it will be a similar structure to The Lord of The Rings which I’m guessing is probably the most common template. I guess the rationale is if you’ve made it that far you want to know the end and it has to be EPIC!  

Just thinking of the editing book III will need is intimidating…but I’ll deal with that later. 

Right now I’m in the zone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Braindead Dairy #14: WTF Did I Write?

I trod on my glasses, lost holidays at work, and just sliced my thumb cutting onions, but it doesn’t matter because I am doing what I always do on a Monday evening – writing about where I’m up to with Legend of Simidae.

A milestone has been reached – the re-edit of book 1 is complete! Yes, there’s much more editing to be done, but knowing I have ironed out lots of creases is like receiving a brain massage. It’s a sight better than it was which reminds me of the most important aspect of any kind of writing – IT HAS TO BE GOOD – whether you intend to catch the eye of a publishing house or purely to know it’s close to your best effort.

Quality is King.

And so it’s onto book two, the so-called rickety bridge to the finale, and right away I can tell there’s gonna to be all kinds of crap that will needs binning. It’s funny looking back at well-structured sentences, wondering what kind of point you were trying to make, that now come across as needless waffle – but that’s the beauty of editing! Death to bullshit! 

You may sometimes feel the need to try to make it a more epic/poetic because it’s the start of a new book, but you must ask yourself is it necessary, because you don’t want your reader to start frowning on the first page. Especially at the start of a book each sentence should act like a aperitif, charming them towards the main, not overblown passages that go down like a bucket of oatmeal.

You can quote me on that.

Macabre Minds: M.R. James

Braindead Dairy #13: Waffling Can Be Good!

Almost forgot to do this. It is a matter of principle dammit! Whether anyone reads or not is irrelevant. Each one strengthens discipline. Armed with a cup of tea I am going to talk about my progress over the last week and what (if anything) I’ve learned!

I’m almost up to the epilogue now – none of which I’ve written but know what happens. Generally speaking, editing has been good. It’s a lot like ironing. Sure, you may accidently cause new creases as you go about your work but, ultimately, you get rid of far more. Poor sentences, underused characters – whatever it may be – are corrected, the product as a whole becomes better – and then you have more faith in it.

Boom!

I’ve also noticed there’s a BIG difference between telling a good story and every chapter being good. There’s a lot of pages in novels that you endure to get to the good stuff. Well, the more mundane stuff is a great time to put a lot of yourself into the story, your opinions about life, and I don’t always mean those finer sentiments about love or nature. Think random things – how you feel about school, processed food, whether clowns really deserve the bad rap they get. Things like this may seem trivial but (when successfully added), can add that realistic flavour, increase the chance of relating to your audience.

Stories are more than just having a cool idea then making it easy to read.

Especially when your story is spread over three books!

 

 

 

Bloody Good Quote: Brundlefly

“I’m an insect who dreamt he was a man, and loved it. But now the dream is over…and the insect is awake.”

 

Origins: David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986) was supposedly a remake to the 1958 sci-fi film. It’s more a reconstruction. Jeff Goldblum delivered his greatest lead performance as telepod-building Seth Brundle. Geena Davis wasn’t half-bad either as the love interest and between them they experience the horror of a man slowly, painfully, gorily, become a man-fly.

The quote speaks of the film’s visceral nastiness – the idea that something is already alive inside – that something is gonna break out. There’s an element of sadness to it, but the WTF factor quickly outweighs that.

Braindead Dairy #12: Epilogues

They call it Blue Monday. It’s when you’re most likely to be in debt, curse the weather, and give up on your new year resolutions. I’m happy to say none of that applies to me. It was actually nice when it snowed on the way to the gym, and no booze January is child’s play – especially when you know you’re going to raise a glass in Feb…

Bloody Good Quote: Captain Spaulding

“If you ain’t got a reason why you hate clowns, I’m gonna kill your whole fucking family.”

 

Origins: The Devils Rejects (2005) Rob Zombie’s sequel to his first foray into cinema has aged nicely. It’s fast-paced, it has nasty scenes, and memorable quotes. Captain Spaulding (played brilliantly by Sid Haig), is a juke box of crude vulgarities, but in particular his threat to a young boy after knocking out his mommy is both hilarious and cruel.

Apparently, he loved playing the character…and it shows!