Colin Ward's Blog, page 3

Writing the “F” word

Why you shouldn’t rush to say your work is “f___ed”The F Word

Until you’ve made the step and entered the world of writing a novel, it is very hard for people to understand what is involved in the process. There are the obvious things such as coming up with a story and characters that readers will enjoy. Most people would also understand that there must be some effort put into designing the cover. But how many people really known what the process is?

To be honest…this time last year I was preparing to release my debut novel, after over two years of work, and a very steep learning curve.

The “F” word
When I was a teacher, one of my favourite things to teach — when I got the rare chance to teach it — was writing. And I mean the joy of writing stories to engage readers, not the boring, mechanical nonsense on the SATs exams. I used to give my pupils one rule, and that was never to use the “F” word. Yes, it got some giggles at first, and I’d spend some time saying as many words beginning with an “ffffffff…” sound just to see their little faces wonder if Mr Ward as actually going to say THAT word in a lesson.

And eventually…I always did. I’d reach a point of frustration never fathomed before, flying off the handle, a frown consuming my furrowed brow, flaming with with fury, I would scream: “FINISHED.”

The forbidden word.

I’d train my little proteges that the worst thing to do as a writer is to rush towards that word. They could put their hands up for anything else, but never to say they’d “finished.” They were told I would rather they warned or informed me of a fart than a “finish.” Instead, they could say:

I’ve completed this stageI need to move onCan you read what I have?Shall I share what I have written?Please can I go to lunch now? I haven’t eaten in a week…

The reason for this rule was simple: if you take away the need to finish and shift the focus to the desire to move on, you help them refocus on wanting to always raise the bar. Could they use more creative adjectives? Could they reduce the number of times they wrote “said”? Were there chances to to add more creative verbs? Could they get their characters to DO one more thing rather than have the narrator just TELLING us about it? They were learning as much about editing their work — and that of their peers — as they were writing it.

The Process of writing
Even after months of research and writing, when finally reaching that glorious first draft, there is a momentary elation. it would be too easy to rush out and scream the “F Word” at that stage. Truth be told, whenever I write a book, story or play, no-one is allowed to read my draft 1. Usually I leave it for at least week, often a month, just to let it settle in my mind. When I come back to it I bring a sledgehammer, an axe, a chainsaw, and a JCB. By the time I have fin….. — whoa, that was close — completed my work, I have usually slashed a good 10% out of the initial text. After I’ve kicked out the crap, lopped off the lofty language, and discarded the detritus, it is at that point where the rest of the process can begin:

Developmental Edit — getting other experienced editors or writers to mentor you through what improvements could be made to the story as a whole, which might involve some major changes or structural rearrangement (Often this is a good thing to pay a professional for).Re-writing — putting the time into going through the whole thing again and tweaking it, shoving it around, deleting words, lines, paragraphs, pages…even whole chapters if needs be. This phase might be something you repeat more than once, and it might require more research, depending on your book or project.Reading — sometimes referred to as an “Alpha” read, it is time to get people to read your work as a “reader” — so pick people who like and know your genre. Try to avoid friends and family, as they are less likely to be honest with you about the weaker parts — and there will be weaker parts — which doesn’t help you in the long run.Re-re-writing — yup, it’s back to the grindstone again, knocking out maybe draft 3 or 4 by now. It might require more research, plugging plot holes, and balancing contrasting opinions. Be careful not to be swayed by a reader’s opinion if they simply disagree with you. It is your book, your voice, don’t be afraid to hold onto that.Copy Editing — this is something that I personally believe you MUST get a professional to do, and it will cost you. For a full-length novel, expect to pay at least £500 or more for a professional. If you choose to go cheap…you will regret it. My debut novel had a superb editor whose work really gave my book a nice polishing in ways I simply couldn’t see. The voice of the book, the story, all still mine. Just sharper, bad habits zapped, and in the end a much more professional product.Re-re-re-writing — oh yes, indeed. Even after a pro has edited, you will have a to-do list. Be careful not to change much, though, as you risk adding in errors that had been removed by the editor. But this final re-write phase is where you start to draw a line under this book as F… (but not yet!)Formatting — now you are turning it into a book, preparing it for production, turning it from a “manuscript” into a “book.” Some people are confident in doing this, and I must say that when it comes to text that is all black and white, when you know what you are doing even in MS Word, this doesn’t NEED a pro, but be honest with yourself about your own skill level. This work includes making decisions about fonts, font sizes, layout, and lots of little jobs that the inexperienced won’t know about. By all means seek advice, but don’t expect that advice to be free — formatting is a skill.Design — you might have started this some time ago, but by now you need to get your cover design. “Never judge a book by its cover” is one of the most illogical and untrue statements. Your book will absolutely be judged as a “Yes/Maybe/No” with seconds by readers. Some will look at the front, some of those people might turn it over to read the back blurb, and some of those people might buy a copy. If you go cheap on design your book will stand out as “amateur” and look like a cheap book. If you aren’t confident with design, get a pro to do it. But make sure you get someone who is open to revisions, and get a fixed fee.Beta-Readers, Proofreaders and ARC Readers— lots of people reading your book before you publish it. Each of these have their roles. Beta readers will look at a virtually finished piece, still allowing you a final nudge of details here and there. But they should know they are reading a close to final piece, unlike the much earlier Alpha readers. Proofreaders are another stage of skilled work you might want to pay someone for. They d on’t just read the book, they look out for typing or formatting errors, check things like margins and page numbers, and the practical side, as well as the words. They will point out typo and errors missed by editing, but hopefully there won’t be too many by now. ARC readers pretty much read your final book before release. This is where good ARC readers can give great comments and reviews for you to hit the market.Can I use the F word now?

Well, that depends…

At some point you will need to STOP. You will need to finish your writing work on the book. But that doesn’t mean your work is finished…because in truth, writing a book is but a minor, fleeting part of its journey. Marketing it…getting people to buy it…

…that’s a whole other blog to write…

I currently have my debut novel To Die For and my debut poetry collection Ripples for sale and I am soon publishing two new books.

Writing the “F” word was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Support Independent Writers

Trying to level the playing fieldIndependent Authors and Self-Publishers

Independent authors and Self-publishers have been growing in numbers and skills over the recent years and many platforms have sprouted up to support them. Whether it is via the Kindle Direct Pushing route (Amazon) or CreateSpace (also Amazon) or many of the other popular companies, such as Ingram Spark, there are many more ways to achieve it.

We have moved beyond the dominance of Vanity publishing, which was primarily dominated by companies charging large sums to publish our work. Now there are more Print On Demand (POD) companies who — as the name on the tin says — only print your book when one is ordered. This has solved the problem of Indie Authors having to foot the cost of getting copies printed up front.

I have learnt a huge amount about self-publishing in the last year, and can now confidently self-publish my books. This time last year I felt totally lost, but now I have published two books, and about to publish two more, I have got the hang of many of the nitty gritty aspects of self-publishing. But that’s a story for another time.

Levelling the Playing Field with Traditional publishing
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges Indie authors face is simply getting their books noticed amongst the millions, and getting them distributed. A traditionally published book can be pre-ordered in the Tens of Thousands of copies, dropping mass printing costs, and therefore UNIT costs lower. Indie authors can’t afford to do that, which is why my paperback has to hang at £9.49, despite the fact I earn less than 75p on each copy, and I am simply not allowed to drop the price below £8.49.

How can I compete with leading authors charging £9.99 for an ebook, and then after months charging just £6.99 or so for a paperback?

To level the playing field, we need to make more noise. We need to celebrate the work of many superb authors whose books are often as good as many traditionally published ones. The simple problem is one of maths; of quantity over quality. So, is there a solution?

No, there isn’t one solution, but of the many possibilities, one to try is clubbing together as Indie Writers and drawing people to look at a bookshelf populated with fewer titles, but of a higher proportion — or complete dominance, even an exclusivity — of Indie books.

“Independents Day”
That is the purpose of my promotion week. A page on my website acting as a bookshelf for Indie Authors, driving readers to come and look. Authors having their own space for 1 to 6 books, set up ready with links to sales channels, their own websites, or wherever. Blogs, Interviews and Q&As with authors; links to articles on Indie writing issues, and so much more.

And why that date? It’s significance links to the release of my play No Smoke, and I’ll be discussing the date in another blog.

I’ll also be releasing a short story — which includes a bonus short story, and an excerpt from my debut novel To Die For — that will be priced at just 99p.

I want other writers to share their work, regardless of genre or price. As long as it is written by an Indie Author and self-published, it is welcome on the page, with or without its own special offer. The only thing I am discouraging is offering “Free” books because I want people to pay for what they read. Why should Indie authors have to expect no payment merely to get seen?

I put my novel on “Free” back in November 2017, and 196 downloaded the ebook. Besides one or two, no-one even left a review.

What YOU can do to support
You don’t need to be an author or publisher to support this. Readers are the lifeblood of the work we do, so I want them to also join the event — click HERE — and show their support. Let’s make a concerted effort to come and look at the books on offer and red the articles and blogs. For a whole week, let’s have these books shining the brightest, and not swallowed amongst the millions.

Let us not go quietly into the dark night of depending on chance stumbles, let’s put the spotlight on the hidden talent…

Let us celebrate.. our #IndependentsDay!

#IndependentsDay

How to Support Independent Writers was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Writing with Grace

Novel and poetry of Patricia M Osborne

One of the greatest pleasures of writing is the people you meet and share your work with. Obviously there are the readers, but it is fellow authors, poets and creatives that can bring vibrancy, energy, and much valued support along the way.

Writing is hard work. Of course, it’s great fun — but it is a stupendous commitment, and especially when working as a self-published writer, facing a massive market of books out in the world. Patricia M Osborne is a creative writer, penning novels, poetry and much more. We met some time ago online, but also had the pleasure of sharing a stall at the Southern Book show back in March this year.

I wanted to interview her for my blog because although I have many contacts who share in my Crime Writing addiction, she has interests in other genres and her style of poetry differs from mine. I find that refreshing and engaging, just like her work.

So, enough waffle from me…

Patricia M Osborne

Author Biography
Patricia M Osborne is married with grown-up children and grandchildren. She was born in Liverpool and spent time in Bolton as a child and now lives in West Sussex. Patricia is a novelist, she also writes poetry and short fiction. Many of her poems and short stories have been published in various literary magazines and anthologies. She is studying for an MA in Creative Writing with University of Brighton. Her debut novel, House of Grace, A Family Saga, set in the 1950s/60s was released in March 2017.

Tell us about you, your writing…

“I love writing in any shape or form. I’ve been writing since a child but it was only in my later years that I decided to study it. At first it was difficult because as I learned the technical details my creativity became stifled. Luckily that didn’t last for too long.

I pride myself on being a novelist and poet but I do sometimes write short stories and flash fiction. I’ve written screenplays as part of my advanced creative writing course with the Open University and last year I wrote a play for the stage and I’d like to attempt a radio play at some point.”

Your novel “House of Grace” is now just over a year old — congrats for that. Tell us a bit about the book, what it’s about and so on.

“House of Grace is a family saga that opens in 1950 with my protagonist, Grace Granville, as a sixteen-year-old. She dreams of being a successful fashion designer but her father, Lord Granville, has other ideas. The reader travels through two decades with Grace as she struggles with family conflict, poverty and tragedy.”

House of Grace — Patricia M Osborne

Where did the book come from? What was the inspiration behind it?

“House of Grace was born as a screenplay for my OU Advanced Creative Writing dissertation. Inspiration was derived from George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier, Mr Selfridge and House of Elliott.”

Your readers have been loving it, loads of great reviews. Congrats for that. Which reviews have stood out for you the most? Have there been any surprises in what people enjoy the most?

“One review states, ‘it’s the kind of book to curl up with, in an armchair,’ and it is. It’s an easy read with small chapters that you can stop and start with ease. I was very flattered by another that includes, ‘Patricia Osborne’s debut novel is a delightful read, with elements reminiscent of early Barbara Bradford Taylor.’ I love Barbara Bradford Taylor’s early writing.”

What’s next in the Grace story line?

“The Coal Miner’s Son follows on from House of Grace and is a work in progress. It can also be read as a stand-alone. The reader learns more about George and Elizabeth, Grace’s sister, and it is told by dual narrators, George and Elizabeth.”

You’re also a keen poet, and I understand you have a couple of collections in the pipeline. What can you tell us about those?

“Yes, I have two collections that I hope to release shortly. The first is told mostly in the narrative style and is based on research from my recent role as Poet in Residence at the local park. I’ve taken available historic facts and written a fictional anthology titled, In a Delightful Country.

The Second is an anthology which includes nature, a lost identity theme, and some darker poems. This collection will be titled White Wings Fall.”

I’d love to share a taste of your poetry to my readers here — can we have a sneaky snippet?

“Here’s my Seagull Sequence which is written in three separate poems. I was inspired to write this after watching the birds on my local lake over three consecutive weeks.”

Seagull Sequence

Wrong Turn
Seagulls flock
in snow coats
above the jewelled lake,

a wrong turn
inland
away from the sea.

High amongst clouds,
formations dance
without sound

flip up and down,
stop, turn around, split,
aim for invasion.

White wings fall
like tissue paper
on rippled waves.

Invasion from Brighton
Gallant geese evacuate,
driven out by snowy invaders,
seagulls squawk to claim their victory.

Mottled mallard and widgeon
scatter to sheltered bays,
concealed from flocks of snow-white birds
that hover above the storm-kissed lake.

Red-beaked moorhens veiled from view,
bide their time for militant gulls to rocket away
and evacuees return.

Water Harmony
Triumphant geese
return to fold,
wings spread,
joyful gabble.

Yellow croci spring
up in green,
pink camellias cluster
the circle of sun-washed water.

Coots and moorhens
boasting red and white beaks
chug along
creating ripples.

Mallard and widgeon
emerge from hiding,
a pure white
feathered duck in tow.

I know you’re very like me for having plenty of ideas and plans. What else can we look forward to over the next year or so?

“Well definitely The Coal Miner’s Son and the two poetry collections, but I’m also working on another poetry collection for my MA dissertation. This consists of fairy and folklore study to complete an anthology of that theme. I’m also looking at maybe publishing a short story collection and of course I hope to have started work on Book 3 in The House of Grace series too.”

Find Patricia online at the following places

Patriciamosbornewriter.wordpress.com

patricia.m.osbornewriter@gmail.com

Facebook: Patricia M Osborne, Writer

Twitter: @PMOsborneWriter

chindi-authors.co.uk

Find House of Grace http://mybook.to/HouseofGrace

Writing with Grace was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Do Women Want more Violence and Gore?

We often discuss the gender of the writer — what about the reader?Bloody Keyboard

The debate about the prevalence of violence in modern books, TV and film is always burning. I’ve seen the changes over the last twenty or so years as I can clearly remember what it was like to watch a 12 or 15 rated film. Then there was the extra level of violence and sexual content reserved for 18 films.

However, the cultural shift has meant that most of what used to be in 18s can now be found in 15s — and the market for films for 18+ has all but disappeared. There are few that cross that boundary. Understandably so, since including the under 18 market massively increases potential profit.

Is it the same in Books?
But with reading, it is a very different because the images are created between the writer and the reader — or at least that is my philosophy. A writer can pack description in right down to the tiniest detail, or the extremities of gratuity. Some writers are all for getting the most violent images and scenes described as if the only possibly goal is to swamp the reader with it.

When I write gore and violence I try to stick to including only what is necessary in order to leave the reader’s imagination. I find too much violence quite damaging to the pace. It’s a like joke that is only funny if you were at the originally telling. I am sure it was hilarious when grandpa fell off his chair, but it does lose something in the retelling. Equally, I am sure the violent fight looks cool in the writer’s mind, but by the time it’s gone down on paper and been picked up by the reader, it begins to go stale.

What Women Want?
I recently joined in a conversation on Facebook about this issue and the discussion developed into the question over whether male and female readers respond the same to violence in books. The discussion seemed to centre around the idea that women were really up for reading crime thrillers with bloody, gory scenes, including more horrifying issues of rape as well.

When I wrote my debut novel “To Die For” I didn’t aim it at women or men specifically but given the details of the crimes I assumed it would be something that female readers would be shocked or disgusted by. Certainly quite naive of me, given what was said in the discussion: it turns out that it might be more appealing to female readers, not less.

It’s fair to say that when it comes to crime fiction and thrillers, especially involving serial killers, the criminals are more often men, and the victims are more often women. What’s your view on it?

Do you think women enjoy the gore in books more than men?How much gore and violence is “too much”?Do you have a line that you think should never be crossed?What is the most violent or gory book you have read and still enjoyed?

Please note: I want people to feel free to comment and join in the discussion. By all means disagree, but please do so about the issue, not about the people. Book recommendations are totally welcome, and where possible I will add a link to them. Let’s not use this as an opportunity to be negative about fellow author’s books, so if you are to give a specific example, please do so when citing a “success.”

Do Women Want more Violence and Gore? was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Two Towers Circle of Writers

Values and ambitions for the group

Starting a new social group of any kind is something that can be filled with excitement and trepidation in equal measure, especially when it is something that matters to you.

And more so when it is something that you claim to be good at!

The aims of the new Circle of Writers are set out in a kind of mission statement, or collection of values, if you will. The main focus is all about creativity, community and control. These are the three main values of In As Many Words. Creating new work, building a community of like-minded people, and working to publish without being slaves to the endless waiting for someone else’s subjective opinion to give it the nod.

Writing is not easy
We often hear people say that “everyone has a novel in them” and this is something I absolutely don’t believe in. Writing is more skilled than that, and the fact that our education system gives almost all of us the basic skills of functional writing does not mean we all have the ability to produce finely written novels, poetry, and so on. Anyone can learn the basics of a musical instrument, but only a few will ever be good enough to be in a national or international level orchestra.

It is not about elitism, it is about the recognition of talent. But even talent is not enough. We still need a toolbox, and that is what TTCW is going to be all about.

A common misconception can easily be found in the way people review writing that they have read. Offering your personal opinion and how you felt about a book, what your experience was like and whether you would recommend it, is exactly what is needed when you give feedback on Amazon.

Being able to give a constructive and developmental critique of someone’s work, and being able to take that critique and put it to good use, takes skill and practise. I am a teacher with many years’ experience reading a wide variety of work. Of course, as a lot of it was written by children and young people, it was never fit for public consumption, so comparing it to professional writing would be unfair. But even within the scope of potential achievement for a child’s ability level, there is good and there is poor work. Knowing the difference is not enough.

The same goes for working with adults of all ability and experience. Offering a flippant flourish of opinion is not the same as knowing how to scaffold each individual’s attempts to allow them to develop their work further. That doesn’t mean wrapping them in cotton wool and saying “well done” regardless of how dreadful it is.

Critique is about asking the right questions
Many of the best writers will nod emphatically when we say that in order to be a good writer you need to read, read, and read some more. Then you need to write, write, write, keep writing, keep on writing…and then rewrite…

Being a good writer in any form is not about being the best you can be as a writer, it is about building the skills to allow and help you reader be the best reader they can be. It’s got to be all about the reader. I wrote a short blog the other day “Writing Forgettable Memoirs: Why I think your own story is the worst one to write.” Our own stories are seldom interesting enough to hold a reader, and there is great skill in turning any story into something that kind engage a reader.

One of the biggest skills is knowing when an idea is not working, and having the strength to put the idea down, and move on, without being so precious. Challenging ourselves, and each other, to make that plot twist a bit sharper, darken that horror scene, remove more description, increase the pace of a scene — and to do this buy asking tough questions as objectively as possible. Although we are always expressing an opinion, it is important that opinion is underpinned by the objectivity that focuses on readers in general, not on whether we personally “like” something or not.

“I think you slowed the pace too much in this scene, and used too much description.”

2. “Why did you choose to focus on description in this scene, and slow the pace down?”

Option 2 isn’t just about avoiding sounding judgemental, it is about getting a writer to be reflective. Option 2 also starts a dialogue which will invariably be more productive than the result of option 1, which is a judgement that a writer will feel they must either concede to, or to defend.

The Long Term Goals of TTCW
I’m not sure I can fully describe this as it will be something that the group shares together, and organically develops. It is my intention that we will be producing work. We will be supporting one another and our own projects, but also as a group. TTCW will produce collections of stories, poetry, collections and a variety of other projects.

TTCW will be mutually supporting of its members, continuing to discuss, share and develop between monthly meetings. We will be a skills-sharing group where no-one is expected to be a master of all trades. If there are some who love to read aloud to audiences, they might do this for each other. Writers who want their work heard but lack the skills in presentation to do it can ask someone else. In return, that person might need some support with design. And so on. This idea has come from many years of sitting through too many readings where the work being read suffers because the writer — although fantastic at crafting their work — is a bloody awful public speaker.

Above all, I want TTCW to be a group with ambition, taking on challenges and pushing boundaries.

Special thanks to Two Towers Brewery & The Gunmakers Arms
It is important to acknowledge the partnership with Two Towers and the Gunmakers — hence the name. The venue is not only one of Birmingham’s finest drinking holes, as recognised by CAMRA, it is also fast becoming a major central creative and cultural hub in the city. In addition to writing, Artists, Photographers, Musicians, Film makers, and many more can be found filling up the events time table. It seems fitting, too, that it is a brewery as one of the other arts is…beer!

Links
More information from my website.
The Two Towers Brewery
The Gunmakers Arms

Two Towers Circle of Writers was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Writing Forgettable Memoirs

Why I think your own story is the worst one to write

I get to speak to a lot of writers and aspiring writers in the work that I do, and I would say that there are a fair number of the latter who first decide to put pen to paper and write…

THEIR STORY.

Every time someone tells me they plan on writing their story I shudder. I don’t mind admitting I have strong views on the matter, but in short, unless you really are someone of fame or significance in a field, all I can think is: well, who the hell are you?

That might sound cruel, but far too many people make the misguided assumptions that:

Their personal story is of great interest to other people;People will want to read it.

This comes from a misunderstanding that “real life” is at all interesting. Sure, I’ve read a biography of Eric Clapton, Dave Jones, and various other pieces about great people of the past. But that was because they have influence the world or had a story to tell that is bigger than themselves. I noted my general opinion as such…

It is not enough to merely depict what is real because we live real each and every day. All of our lives are real and we reach out to stories and books and films, and so on, in order to escape the mundane. We want to enter into someone and somewhere else where “some” is anything “other” than ourselves.

That is when the depiction of reality is not enough. It needs to be framed within a context, form, or perhaps narrative that lifts it to something more enriched than life itself. Attenborough is one of the masters of such a trade. He can take what is nothing more than footage of real life itself and together with great camera work, weave it into the most luxurious and exotic of feasts that leaves the natural world without his voice-over feel like old stale bread. That is to say it’s not dangerous enough to harm you, but unpalatable nonetheless.

We watch soaps en masse because, besides their attempt at verisimilitude, they are constructed drama snapshots which present the hyper real so that we might escape the mediocrity of our own ‘real’. They can also push limits much further, take greater risks, and make us laugh freely at the darkest of humour and cry just as freely at a tragedy with true risk to our own well being. After all, these are the building blocks of catharsis.

So, I beg of aspiring writers to think about this the next time they consider writing their memoirs. That they find themselves, their own lives, so frequently inadequate enough to keep them entertained that they must seek solace in other people’s lives. The hyper real framing of the world, or even the entirely fictional world. That’s when they should question why they think a book about them will be enough to entertain anyone else. If an individual isn’t entertained enough by themselves such that they never seek other interaction with the world and its stories, how do they expect the rest of us to be so interested in them?

The simple truth is that if anything in your life was fantastic enough to be of interest to a bunch of readers who don’t know you, it won’t matter whether it happened to you or the next person. Most of the world — as the saying goes — don’t know you from Adam. When that’s the case, you might as well let Adam tell the story so he can use all the darker secrets you would never dare include.

It might raise the question of just how narcissistic one must be to presume that their is an audience for our lives.

These are just some rambling thoughts of mine. Please do jump in to make it a discussion.

Writing Forgettable Memoirs was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Business, Bars & Brides

My Review of The Bride’s Trail by AA AbbottBride’s Trail, A A Abbott

Addictive Characters; great research; fascinating web of a story.
The Bride’s Trail is a thoroughly interesting, exciting, and involving book which puts an entire story onto the focus of the characters. That might seem an obvious thing to say, but each chapter is switched from one character’s view to another, and it works so well. It’s not just the physical appearance of the characters that works, it is their behaviour, mannerisms, idiosyncrasies that the author chips in, layering more and more as the novel progress. There’s a really strong feeling of “yeh, I know someone just like that” throughout the story.

From their first introduction, we meet and learn about each key character on their own, appearing to be in isolation at first, but them Abbott weaves them all together in a fascinating web of business, and crime. They all come from a mixture of the corporate world in London, to the darker, seedy criminal underworld, and then off to Birmingham as the story expands.

The recognisable locations bring an extra energy to the story and I found myself smiling at those I knew, and looking other ones up — the book has inspired me to look something up about one of the key cities which sounds fascinating, and is a testament to some great writer’s research having taken place for this book to be penned.

We often hear how books are so good they “just can’t be put down” — what I loved about this book was how easy it was to pick up. I nearly gave it a big 5 star, but for my personal preference for more fast-paced crime focus where the criminal element and police procedure is more involved and at the centre — but that’s more just my own proclivity.

A highly recommended book, and I will definitely be picking up the next ones in the series very soon.

Read this review on Good Reads

Business, Bars & Brides was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My First Wave of Poems

Ripples: a collection of poetryRipples: Poetry by Colin Ward

I’ve been writing creatively in one capacity or another for around twenty years ,and in that time I’ve explored poetry in many ways. Most notably, having written and staged two musicals, and composed a great number of songs, the expression in language is something I have really grown to enjoy.

It has only been over more recent years that I have really started putting pen to paper specifically to write poetry. In 2015, one of the members of a Facebook group I am a member of did a month of poetry where they set a daily challenge of poems in different forms or starting points. Some of those poems have found their way into Ripples. There’s a great resource on a Young Writers website that can take you through lots of weird and wonderful poem formats.

House of Grace, P M Osbourne

I had a great chat-Blog with fellow writer Patricia M Osbourne whose debut novel House of Grace is proving to be a very popular family saga, gathering consistently impressive reviews. She also edited Ripples, so she is a writer of some talent and I look forward to her forthcoming poetry work (watch this space on that note…wink wink). Having a proper writer’s chin-wag was a good experience and I highly recommend checking it out HERE.

We discuss many things in her Blog — writing poetry, the process of writing, and even self-publishing. The more I self-publish, the more confident I get. This time last year I would not have said I can format the interior of a book, let alone to the interior, exterior design, send files in to printers, and all that comes with it.

“Self-Publishing is not about cutting corners: great books need great editors, proofreaders, designers and so on, all in addition to them being written well by a good writer in the first place. But as a self-publisher you take control of the timeline you work to. You are the project manager.”

I totally agree with this sentiment. Well…I said it! (Yeh, that’s right…I have just quoted myself — how crazy is that?).

It’s exciting to be sitting here with a novel and a book of poetry that I wrote, formatted and published. It is my achievement — but not a solitary one. I have had people edit and proofread my work. Readers have prodded it and poked it, waved errors under my nose with a cheeky glee. And although as an unknown and very new writer the sales are slow to grow, it is an achievement in itself. I did it. And I have much more to do.

What’s Next?

I have a big pipeline — put your dirty minds away — and numerous projects on the way, including:

Innocent Lies  — DI Stone, Book 2 No Smoke: the Play  — my biggest theatrical work to date needs a script publishing. No Smoke: the Novel  — I am working on a concept of adapting the play into a novel or novella. Short Stories Collection  — in planning stages, a number of crime-themed short stories Non-Fiction  — currently planning a book exploring the trials and torments of those affected by false allegations. True life cases, not just of the accused, but of their families. Current news stories about the likes of Liam Allan are really bringing the issues to light. Poetry  — yes there are more poems to be written and explored along a range of themes.

Why not pop over to my website and subscribe in order to keep up to date with all the developments. In the meantime, please do follow the links below for all collected material.

Ripples: a collection of poetry on Amazon

To Die For (DI Stone: book 1) on Amazon

Patricia M Osbourne’s Blog — Writing with Grace

My First Wave of Poems was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

NaNoWriMo Turns up the Temperature.

Writing a second novel under pressure.

There is no mistaking the sheer challenge that NaNoWrimo is. Fifty-Thousand words in thirty days is a huge undertaking, especially when there is simply no room or space to work around it. Just missing a day here or there can knock you off target, and with writers being some of the most disbelieving people in creativity, keeping the motivation positive is all part of that battle.

The Challenge
I first took on the challenge in 2014, spending the whole of October planning, and then thrashing out some 88k words. It was a great success, but it had drawbacks. Having hit it so hard in the month I presented myself with what felt like an insurmountable and scary beast to begin redrafting. Then came the marketing, finding a professional editor, my battles with the cover design and Createspace…

… “Baptism of fire” is an understatement.

This time it is different. I have a much looser definition of the story I am writing, and this has its pros and cons. The benefit is the spontaneity, which is exciting. Having already written the characters into one novel I am finding that some of the ideas come from them. I know I need to explore more depth in some of the characters, and that’s really informing the scenes that I am experimenting with as I write.

On the other hand, with less of the research I need to do already under my belt, there are many scenes I’m not too confident on writing. In some cases I have been able to leave myself research notes, or end-notes to look up later. However, at times the lack of knowledge affects the way the scene can work, so I have to leave the scene or chapter altogether.

The Pressure
For some reason, this time I feel a lot more pressure to write a book that lives up to the successes of To Die For. I only have about fourteen reviews to go on so far, but they are all very positive, and the majority of them call for the next book. I should be excited by that, buoyed on, and inspired. But instead it also fills me with a bit of trepidation. I feel t he need to write a second book that is as good, if not better than the first.

And the last thing writers need is any more pressure to put themselves under. As the new story weaves its way, I wonder if it is pacey enough, if it has enough action, and so on. It’s a bit silly really, because even when I do ht the 50k for the month, that is pretty much only half of the novel, so there is so much more to get written.

Themes and ideas continue to sprout, and even though the issues of child trafficking and police corruption are beginning to form as planned, themes such as religion are gaining strength. Something I hadn’t expected, but when it came along it really does seem natural to the book. I have Reg Walters to thank for that!

The most important thing to do is to keep a flow of writing going. Let the mistakes happen, and build on them. Expect things to go wrong an need editing, as that is an inevitable, anyway. Of course, we can always try to pen t he perfect story first time around, but it is not going to happen.

The irony is that the harder you try, the hotter you fry. What NaNoWriMo is all about turning up the temperature at the start to sear the meat, so the juicy bits can get locked inside.

Buy To Die For in ebook or Paperback versions in the Christmas deal.

NaNoWriMo Turns up the Temperature. was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Mythos Masterclass

Stephen Fry — Symphony Hall, Birmingham 07/11/17

I had been looking forward to seeing Stephen Fry’s “Mythos” for weeks because I knew I was going to enjoy it. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be. A blank stage — but for a chair and maybe a table or lecturn — and just Stephen Fry.

He was met with uproarious applause as he walk on stage. Hardly surprising — the man truly is one of our national treasures. A genuinely funny man, an amazing right, a spell-binding story-teller, and a fabulously smart chap. But he carries it with such a genuinely humble demeanour that one cannot help but be swept up into his world. The way he brims with enthusiasm is not an act, but it is easy to appreciate the extraordinary performance. It’s not just the sheer memory for a monologue of that length, but it is the ease of presence with which he carries it which is so awe inspiring.

The Master Orator
Symphony Hall in Birmingham is no small venue, and even though Fry is no small man in stature, to stand alone on that giant stage would be daunting for even the most experience of performer. He didn’t even have a mic stand to hide behind or a hand held mic to use as a prop. But he also didn’t come on to a loud music track and dazzling sound track. Even his outfit was typically him — pastel coloured, smart of casual. Everything either happening by design or his influence, was simple casual. Downplayed.

There’s something about his intelligence that gives whatever he says an extra level of credence. When he speaks he is trusted. What he says — although Gospel would be an ironic overstatement — can be presumed to carry with it academic, intellectual, scientific or any other source of qualification. His speech falls on listening ears, with baited breath — a choice not to listen would be as complete an act of ignorance as you could get.

The Hypnotist
I wonder sometimes if he really knows the power he has over his audience. I don’t use that would lightly, or in a fickle sense. He has a power. He wanders about apparently as if lost in an inner monologue, waving and circling his hands in gestures that are fluid and completely sincere. Fry is the opposite of a politician. They try their hardest to constantly fake their way through lies, deceit and full on bullshit. Fry orchestrates his audience as if he is conducting his favourite Wagner composition. Even his spontaneity, and his response to the audience is done with such comfort it is as if you are his only listener. But at the same time, he does everything to he can to include everyone.

As he takes you on this journey of story-telling the time just seems to vanish — just like he placed you under a spell. I am sure part of it is his voice. His quality of speech, the softness of his tone, but also the correctness of his language all form a part of that.

The Role Model
Fry has been open about his mental health for some time now. He bravely shared all in a TV programme on Bi-Polar disorder, laying his cards on the table in full view. When someone with his popularity and public influence stands with confidence and says “I suffer profoundly and every day with mental health issues” it challenges our understanding. We never seem him without a smile. We always here him speak up for what he believes in. He simultaneously stands up for what he believes in — be it his views on religion or his support for his local football team — and behaves in such a humble manner that we can do no more than to trust him.

And perhaps that is what it is. He carries an air of trust. If he said he could help, we’d listen. If he says he disagrees, we’ll hear him. If he says we should fight, we’ll follow. Above all, I think it’s because he carries an air about him that makes us think that making a mistake is no big deal. Perhaps that was one of the best things his long time on QI achieved, supported by Alan Davies. He helped to make it fun, even desirable to get things wrong, shrug it off, and carry on.

The Story Teller
Mythos is an amazing book because it comes from the very heart of a genuine storyteller. The ancient Greek myths are a whole world of magic, creation and worship — worship of humanity itself. They don’t order a doctrine of dutiful submission or compliance like the Bible, and they don’t presume to state that humans are born with sin and must spend their lives repenting and begging for the acceptance of a single deity.

The Ancient Greek Myths are a source of so much of our language that even hearing the stories retold is like listening the modern dictionary unfurl right before you. And when you have a storyteller like Fry doing that job its like being taken on this stirring journey of literature, culture, and life in all its linguistic beauty.

Stephen Fry is a world class performer. Like with all the very best storytellers, it is his generosity, the way he revels in giving the gift that is a story, that makes him so goo.

He is the master orator, the hypnotist, the role model: the story teller.

In my own attempts to be a storyteller, I am working on my second novel. The first rough draft is coming out of NaNoWriMo and alongside that I am fundraising for Barnardos.

Please visit the Just Giving page and be as generous as you can.

DONATE HERE

You can also donate by text — just £1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 10.

Text: INLI50 £xx to 70070

The Mythos Masterclass was originally published in In As Many Words on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.