Bruce Beckham's Blog, page 8
April 26, 2014
Kindle pros and cons
Quite a lot of people contact me to say they don’t own (or don’t even want to own) a Kindle, or similar.
Mostly this is because they love the sensory experience of real books, and the pride and pleasure of being surrounded by their personal collection.
I’m in accord.
Plus, you don’t have to switch off real books for take-off and landing.
My daytime reading is always a printed book.
However, there are some pros of the Kindle.
As an author, you can reach anyone, pretty much anywhere in the world, instantly. The breaking of the stranglehold held by publishers has struck a great blow for freedom and enterprise.
More prosaically, you can read in the dark without disturbing your partner, and in the bath without fear of falling asleep.
And, finally (though this is not intended to be an exhaustive list), there is the built-in dictionary.
Touch a word and up comes the meaning.
I’m reading Sherlock Holmes at the moment. Not only was Conan Doyle writing in the idiom of his time, but also he clearly possessed a vocabulary the size of a planet. Every few pages a word comes up that I just don’t know.
Last night it was barouche: “a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers”.
Fact and fiction in one fell swoop!
Mostly this is because they love the sensory experience of real books, and the pride and pleasure of being surrounded by their personal collection.
I’m in accord.
Plus, you don’t have to switch off real books for take-off and landing.
My daytime reading is always a printed book.
However, there are some pros of the Kindle.
As an author, you can reach anyone, pretty much anywhere in the world, instantly. The breaking of the stranglehold held by publishers has struck a great blow for freedom and enterprise.
More prosaically, you can read in the dark without disturbing your partner, and in the bath without fear of falling asleep.
And, finally (though this is not intended to be an exhaustive list), there is the built-in dictionary.
Touch a word and up comes the meaning.
I’m reading Sherlock Holmes at the moment. Not only was Conan Doyle writing in the idiom of his time, but also he clearly possessed a vocabulary the size of a planet. Every few pages a word comes up that I just don’t know.
Last night it was barouche: “a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers”.
Fact and fiction in one fell swoop!
April 17, 2014
Fog Index
I'm reading A Coat of Varnish by CP Snow.
I've been wondering why I'm finding it slightly slow going.
I'm enjoying the subject (set in upper-middle-class London, in the baking summer of 1976) and, at page 62, the story is just beginning to get going.
So that only leaves the style.
One of the copywriting training sessions I run concerns the Fog Index. This is a simple arithmetical formula which can be applied to a block of text - say for an ad or a promotional offer.
The formula produces a number. The lower the number, the more digestible the copy (ie. it sells better).
Good copy is reckoned to have a Fog Index between 9 and 12. Some tabloid newspapers go as low as 5. (Sir Walter Scott in Rob Roy hovered around the 20 mark!)
I tested the fog index on a sample of sections from A Coat of Varnish.
To my surprise, nowhere did it come out higher than 11.
On reflection, CP Snow used short sentences, and few long words (the twin secrets of digestibility).
Which leaves me scratching my head.
The only thing I can out it down to is that - in the early part of the book, at least - the author has adopted a rather pedantic style, carefully explaining each circumstance and situation.
I think it's growing on me, however!
I've been wondering why I'm finding it slightly slow going.
I'm enjoying the subject (set in upper-middle-class London, in the baking summer of 1976) and, at page 62, the story is just beginning to get going.
So that only leaves the style.
One of the copywriting training sessions I run concerns the Fog Index. This is a simple arithmetical formula which can be applied to a block of text - say for an ad or a promotional offer.
The formula produces a number. The lower the number, the more digestible the copy (ie. it sells better).
Good copy is reckoned to have a Fog Index between 9 and 12. Some tabloid newspapers go as low as 5. (Sir Walter Scott in Rob Roy hovered around the 20 mark!)
I tested the fog index on a sample of sections from A Coat of Varnish.
To my surprise, nowhere did it come out higher than 11.
On reflection, CP Snow used short sentences, and few long words (the twin secrets of digestibility).
Which leaves me scratching my head.
The only thing I can out it down to is that - in the early part of the book, at least - the author has adopted a rather pedantic style, carefully explaining each circumstance and situation.
I think it's growing on me, however!
April 15, 2014
Hemingway, away
I feel rather like the boy in the tale of the Emperor's New Clothes. I've just tried and failed to finish The Snows of Kilimanjaro. (And it's only 29 pages long.)
It was top of a slush pile I've accumulated while logging all of my books onto Goodreads - paperbacks I didn't realise I owned (where did they come from?) but figured I really ought to read.
On reflection, I can't believe I've not come across Hemingway before - and it was with some anticipation that I set to.
But I have so little time that I apply a 10-page rule to reading - if the story or style or subject doesn't grab me, I move on.
So, while I fully intend to obtain a copy of For Whom The Bell Tolls, on this occasion it's on to the next one in the heap: A Coat of Varnish by CP Snow.
It was top of a slush pile I've accumulated while logging all of my books onto Goodreads - paperbacks I didn't realise I owned (where did they come from?) but figured I really ought to read.
On reflection, I can't believe I've not come across Hemingway before - and it was with some anticipation that I set to.
But I have so little time that I apply a 10-page rule to reading - if the story or style or subject doesn't grab me, I move on.
So, while I fully intend to obtain a copy of For Whom The Bell Tolls, on this occasion it's on to the next one in the heap: A Coat of Varnish by CP Snow.
April 13, 2014
Window on the world
So I finished The Murder of Roger Ackroyd today - and, as I suspected, at an early stage I had correctly guessed the identity of the killer.
I've been trying to work out if this made reading the novel more or less enjoyable - but I think my conclusion is there was no difference; I really liked it, and it was still necessary to wait until the denouement to be certain.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, what I most love about Agatha Christie's writing is its window on the inter-war world of upper middle class England - perhaps unintentional on her behalf, but fascinating nonetheless.
Bring on the next one!
I've been trying to work out if this made reading the novel more or less enjoyable - but I think my conclusion is there was no difference; I really liked it, and it was still necessary to wait until the denouement to be certain.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, what I most love about Agatha Christie's writing is its window on the inter-war world of upper middle class England - perhaps unintentional on her behalf, but fascinating nonetheless.
Bring on the next one!
April 5, 2014
Roger and Out
I'm currently reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, widely regarded as Agatha Christie's masterpiece.
I love her books - though more out of curiosity and sentimental nostalgia for the interwar era than for their plots.
Down the years I've worked my way through most of the collection - but rarely have I guessed the identity of the guilty party prior to the denouement.
Indeed, this is not something I strive for - I'm content to leave the sleuthing to Monsieur Poirot et al.
However, for some reason in this case, by the end of Chapter 4 (of 27), I feel certain about 'whodunit'.
Perhaps I've struck lucky with a stray observation - but based on my hypothesis the 'Queen of Crime' appears over-generous with her clues.
Of course, she's also the Queen of Red Herrings, so maybe I've taken the bait!
I love her books - though more out of curiosity and sentimental nostalgia for the interwar era than for their plots.
Down the years I've worked my way through most of the collection - but rarely have I guessed the identity of the guilty party prior to the denouement.
Indeed, this is not something I strive for - I'm content to leave the sleuthing to Monsieur Poirot et al.
However, for some reason in this case, by the end of Chapter 4 (of 27), I feel certain about 'whodunit'.
Perhaps I've struck lucky with a stray observation - but based on my hypothesis the 'Queen of Crime' appears over-generous with her clues.
Of course, she's also the Queen of Red Herrings, so maybe I've taken the bait!
March 24, 2014
March 22, 2014
Erica Jong on marriage
A quote that made me laugh, at the beginning of chapter one of Fear of Flying by Erica Jong:
Bigamy is having one husband too many. Monogamy is the same.
- Anonymous (a woman)
Bigamy is having one husband too many. Monogamy is the same.
- Anonymous (a woman)
March 17, 2014
Lancia or Jaguar?
Currently re-reading a couple of the Inspector Morse novels, I have been intrigued to note how their writing was influenced by the advent, mid stream, of the television adaptation.
Apart from Lewis starting out older than Morse (noted in an earlier post), and subtly changing to assume a younger and more Kevin Whately-like persona, I have now come across a small matter of car continuity (or lack of).
In the first Morse novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, the said Inspector eulogises his faithful Lancia. This, of course, quietly morphs into a Jaguar, following the Director's decision to place the donnish Morse behind the wheel of a more apposite English classic.
Apart from Lewis starting out older than Morse (noted in an earlier post), and subtly changing to assume a younger and more Kevin Whately-like persona, I have now come across a small matter of car continuity (or lack of).
In the first Morse novel, Last Bus to Woodstock, the said Inspector eulogises his faithful Lancia. This, of course, quietly morphs into a Jaguar, following the Director's decision to place the donnish Morse behind the wheel of a more apposite English classic.
March 6, 2014
The present tense
I'm currently reading How Novels Work by John Mullan.
It's a detailed treatise on structure and style and that sort of thing. Quite interesting though.
Something I've come around to is writing in the present tense. Not everyone's favourite, I know, but it's such a relief as a writer not to know the outcome!
Of course, you might know the outcome - but in past tense narration it's obvious to the reader that you must. Writing (and reading) in the present tense is a more filmic experience - events unfold in real time and can take both parties by surprise.
Mullan refers to this 'much rarer' tense, and cites as a good example John Updike's Rabbit novels - near the top of my all-time favourites list, and a collection I must now revisit.
It's a detailed treatise on structure and style and that sort of thing. Quite interesting though.
Something I've come around to is writing in the present tense. Not everyone's favourite, I know, but it's such a relief as a writer not to know the outcome!
Of course, you might know the outcome - but in past tense narration it's obvious to the reader that you must. Writing (and reading) in the present tense is a more filmic experience - events unfold in real time and can take both parties by surprise.
Mullan refers to this 'much rarer' tense, and cites as a good example John Updike's Rabbit novels - near the top of my all-time favourites list, and a collection I must now revisit.
March 1, 2014
The Bridge
In the last couple of weeks I've had to crowbar 10 episodes of The Bridge (series 2) into my schedule, before they expired on my iPlayer.
I don't watch much TV, but quickly found myself addicted (having missed series 1 in its entirety).
Richard Bacon (FiveLive) commented that the plot is pretty far-fetched. I've largely ignored the story, but instead have been gripped by the characters and the muted downbeat gloom of the Copenhagen-Malmo axis. (And the almost understandable Old English.)
I'm also wondering why I have absolutely no awareness of an original novel. Does it exist? Has it been translated? If yes, how come Amazon haven't told me?!
I don't watch much TV, but quickly found myself addicted (having missed series 1 in its entirety).
Richard Bacon (FiveLive) commented that the plot is pretty far-fetched. I've largely ignored the story, but instead have been gripped by the characters and the muted downbeat gloom of the Copenhagen-Malmo axis. (And the almost understandable Old English.)
I'm also wondering why I have absolutely no awareness of an original novel. Does it exist? Has it been translated? If yes, how come Amazon haven't told me?!
