Andrew Toynbee's Blog, page 17
March 25, 2013
Veronca Sicoe’s Ultimate POV Guide
Veronica Sicoe recently posted this very worthwhile guide on Facebook.
It’s very instructive for newbies and a handy reference for those who have blunted fingertips. 
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http://www.veronicasicoe.com/blog/2013/03/my-ultimate-pov-guide-with-graphics-and-examples
March 23, 2013
Blog overload? Sheer indulgence? Why not both?
Today, WordPress sent me this notifcation;
It’s a milestone. Thank you to lindaghill, my 100th follower and to my 103 other friends in the blogsphere. You have made my (relatively short) journey a pleasure!
I say relatively short – I’ve been blogging since May 2010 but only sent out my first post in July 2012. I’m sure there are other writers, artists and photographers who have been here for considerably longer.
My early blogging was mainly a journal was was retrospectively filled in to cover my early work back to 1999 -when records began. :)
Before that, my writing was random and tended to drift from project to project. I’d often lose focus or interest before anything of worth emerged from the pages – with one exception. The germ of the idea that eventually evolved into Homeworld began during my senior school years (when they still used Roman numerals) and was always present in the back of my mind. One day, I WILL go back to those 43,000 words and complete them – now that I know how the story is going to conclude. Regular readers will know that’s always been an Achillean failing of mine – not being able to conclude a story – but I’m aiming to change that now that I’ve finally managed to (self) publish my first novel.
The title of this post may infer that I have doubts about following so many blogs.
Not at all. I may not have the time to read each and every post in the same, leisurely manner that I did when I was following fifty bloggers, but that doesn’t mean that opening my ‘Blogs I follow’ tab isn’t a thrill and a pleasure. It does mean that I sometimes have to skim a little more than I used to, but I’m soon pulled in by an intriguing headline or an amusing title and find simple joy in reading the wisdom of others – plus sharing what I’ve learned so far.
I follow in the footsteps of those who are wiser and more experienced than I am.
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Huffington Post article about self-publishing
Huffington Post article about self-publishing
This post was shared on Facebook. Very interesting, it discusses the credibility of today’s self-publishing authors, pricing and lists successes amongst some of the luckier writers.
Huffingtom Post article about self-publishing
Huffingtom Post article about self-publishing
This post was shared on Facebook. Very interesting, it discusses the credibility of today’s self-publishing authors, pricing and lists successes amongst some of the luckier writers.
March 22, 2013
The Evolution of my Animus ~ how he grows and changes as I do
Reblogged from Zen and the art of tightrope walking:
The Evolution of my Animus ~ how he grows and changes as I do
During a conversation on Twitter with Marc Nash I made a throwaway comment about having hero/animus issues. What I'd meant was how the hero (or if you prefer 'main character') of one of my novels reflected my own animus. If you are not familiar with the concept of animus/anima then do have a bit of a read.
A fascinating look at the Anima and Animus..otherwise known as our collective unconscious which can be male or female, though to be opposite to our physical gender. This could go some way to explaining why I consider my Muse to be feminine! Read...and be intrigued?
March 21, 2013
The Story Spine: Pixar's 4th Rule of Storytelling
Reblogged from Aerogramme Writers' Studio:
In 2012 Pixar Story Artist Emma Coats tweeted 22 storytelling tips using the hashtag #storybasics. The list circulated the internet for months gaining the popular title 'Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling'. We reposted this list two weeks ago and the response has been phenomenal with thousands of likes, shares, comments and emails.
Since posting the story, a number of people have contacted us regarding rule number 4 on the list, also know as 'The Story Spine':
Very, very interesting...well worth reading the seven points that Brian McDonald lists...
March 20, 2013
Bookmark – this page.
A little while ago, I was asked by Ryan Casey for feedback on how well my (home-made) bookmarks were being received. Well, I can tell you that since November – a period of four and a half months - I’ve given out every one of the 500 I made in those first exciting days.
Last Thursday I had to open up my next batch of 600, which I’d made back in January. Five days later, I’ve already given out thirty or so.
I mentioned a while ago that my day job keeps me busy, sending me (randomly, it seems) to all parts of England, Scotland and Ireland. This gives me the opportunity to meet a great many people, from engineers to office workers, and allows me to (tentatively) offer my book to those that seem receptive to the idea of a supernatural romance novel.
The conversation, always a work in progress, usually opens like this;
‘Do you read much?’
‘Me? Yes.’
‘Well, can I give you one of these?’ *Hands over bookmark.*
‘Oh, what is it?’
‘Just my little contribution to literature.’
‘You wrote this?’
‘I did.’
‘What’s it about?’
And so the conversation begins. For my thoughts on how to best describe a book, click here.
Today, I hit gold. I asked one lady if she read supernatural romance and her reply was ‘My Kindle is absolutely stuffed with it!’ If I hadn’t intrigued her with a bookmark, she wouldn’t have gone on to BUY IT!!! Woot, as so many people are fond of saying.
My job also, as I circle the country and begin to pop up in places I haven’t visited for months (or even years), allows me to chat to old friends who automatically ask me ‘what have you been doing?’ What a gift! Immediately, I drop a bookmark onto the table and tell them that I’ve been writing a book.
‘You wrote this?’
‘I did.’
‘What’s it about?’
and so on…
The point of all this reminiscing is that swag – even home-made swag – is a conversation starter, an ice-breaker, a way of introducing the fact that the person opposite the conversationalistee (IS a word, so there! And if it isn’t, it ought to be) is a bona-fide author and that the said conversationalistee (I’m not so sure it is a word now) ought to be bowing and scraping and muttering ‘I’m not worthy O Great One.’
Or at the very least, they should say ‘Sure, I’ll buy your book. I realise how difficult it must be to have applied that much dedication to your art and produce something of worth.’
‘Oh, thanks,’ is nice too, although not often productive in a salesy way. I DID get my hand shaken in a congratulatory manner not so long ago (for getting published), so that was a boost for me and my oft-perforated ego.
Anyway, enough of the self-worship. I’m not worthy of it. But you are. If you have spent a lot of time creating a complete story or poem and want to publish / have published it, then why on Terra shouldn’t you advertise? There are other methods of introducing your work to people. Mine is a simple free giveaway that starts a conversation. It’s a must for me…someone who’s essentially a non-people person.
And it’s captured a few extra sales along the way. The product of a bit of graphic manipulation, a colour printer, laminator and a cheap guillotine, it’s a low-budget method of shifting a few extra books.
Don’t walk amongst potential punters in silence – be interesting, be something a little bit special. One day you may just introduce yourself to a literary agent or publisher. Or Steven Spielberg.
Okay, that last one was a bit of a stretch, but you don’t know who his friends’ friends are, do you?
Tell the world that you’re out there – and write on!
P.S. In the interests of balance, I feel that I should say this; I may have handed out over 500 bookmarks – but I have yet to sell 500 books. Not every one strikes gold. However, the bookmarks might lie around for months or even years before triggering someones curiosity – whereas a fleeting memory is pretty much gone for good and is very unlikely to result in a sale.
March 16, 2013
Six Sentence Sunday – the battle
This week’s extract is from ‘A Construct of Angels’ and describes the impromptu angel Michael’s battle against the self-named Damocles, an Anakim, or demon’s offspring.
At this point, Michael is only just beginning to realise his powers and has very little to time to explore them before Damocles attacks him with deadly force.
White light exploded across Michael’s vision as a hurricane of force roared about him; the world spun away in a dizzying blur and the ground hurled itself aside to give way to a vast body of water. Something dark slammed into Michael’s chest, smashing the breath out of him.
Spinning wildly, he ripped across the sky, supersonic shockwaves exploding from his arms and legs, but Michael willed his hurtling body to stop and the shockwaves instantly vanished from his limbs – but even as he slowed, a dark blur rocketed straight towards him.
This time Michael’s reactions were faster – he spun around, avoiding the hurtling shape just as he had side-stepped the black sword and watched as Damocles exploded past him like a missile, already turning to strike again. Watching the black dot grow larger by the second, Michael’s determination resolved - he would no longer be pushed around by the approaching Anakim.
Damocles cannoned into him faster than a fighter jet.
March 13, 2013
Jack versus Einstein
The question I am posing this week is this;
As writers, does it serve us better to be an expert – an absolute genius within a limited field…
…or a multi-skilled ‘Jack of all Trades’?
Having asked that, I will immediately concede that in order to write non-fiction and instructional works, a high degree of skill or expert knowledge is desirable. But what about we writers of fictional works?
It took me a long time to reach my own conclusion on this. Throughout my twenties and thirties (oh, such a long, long time ago) I harboured a mild, jealous resentment towards those who constantly excelled in their field of choice, grudgingly wishing them well whilst questioning those that administrated the Universe why it was that I struggled to master tasks, gaining only a limited skill (consistently in the top 1/3) in anything that I attempted. I had immersed myself in many disciplines (mechanics, electronics, motor racing, sketching, painting, computer programming and numerous others) during those distant sepia-tinged decades, emerging each time without the satisfaction of having truly mastered the necessary skills.
It took me a long time to realise that whilst I couldn’t proclaim myself to be fully skilled in anything I attempted, I was able to turn my hand to a great many tasks – and take some pride at being reasonably competent at most of them.
Then I remembered a story my father told me about a pathologist he’d worked with. The man in question was an expert in human anatomy. He could dissect a body and proclaim cause of death without error time after time. Often he could estimate the cause before he’d even touched the body (no, really!). He would teach class after class of young proto-pathologists, leaving them staggered and wondering how they could ever match up to this great man.
He was an undoubted expert in his field.
But one day, following some car trouble and a rather large repair bill, he took my father (a mortuary manager and owner of a series of self-maintained cars at the time) aside, showed him the mechanic’s invoice and in a low voice he asked; ‘What exactly IS a spark plug?’
It turned out that he was super-brilliant, but also limited in scope.
I have since learned to content myself with the notion that whilst I know very little about a great many things, I do know about a great many things. The difference here is that, like a contestant on ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ one who still has their ‘phone-a-friend’ option, I know that there many people, reference sites and numerous sources of information available to me in the world today.
I don’t need to be expert in any particular subject - I just need to know that the subject exists and where to find out about it. Then I can research it thoroughly enough to weave the facts discreetly into a story.
I have finally concluded that knowing even a little about a great many things is a very useful position to be in.
Makes me wonder if I’d been born with an ‘expert’ brain – would I have ever embraced writing?
How do you view this? Are you particularly skilled and able to use that skill to your advantage in your writing? Or are you happy to be a ‘trawler’ like me, sweeping the internet for information, happy to leave the specialism to other people?
I’d be very interested to know if I’m alone in this…
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Write on!
March 12, 2013
Are You a Handwriter or a Typer?
Reblogged from boy with a hat:
Handwriting is like making love; typing, like having sex. It’s essentially the same enjoyable activity, but the approach is slightly different.
I make no apologies for reblogging this post - this writer packs so many thought-provoking ideas into one page that it's hard to ignore. If you don't already follow him...well, I will leave that decision to you.
