New Moves!
I’ve been having a lot of fun recently and it’s getting better.
Some of you will have occasionally sprinted over to writerlywitterings on YouTube and seen some of my videos on my books and on writing. Not yet? Go and check it out.
The videos seem to have interested a lot of people, and because of that I’ve decided I’m going to do a bit more working with the channel.
I’ve finished my series of reviews about all my books, but there was one aspect missing. While I was talking about the books, I didn’t manage to go out and film locations. Not because I’m bone idle and welded to this desk (well, not only that), but because the microphones on the two cameras we were using just weren’t up to coping with the wind howling over the moors. The roaring sounded like a steam engine in terminal decline rushing at me. Not a good noise at all. So, as a result I’ve invested in a professional mic, which seems to have cured all those problems. It means I can return to some of the more atmospheric locations from the books. And you, dear reader, can help. Let me know which you’d most like to have filmed and I’ll go over and look at them.
Second, I have been talking about more book reviews for a while now, and finally I’ve got an idea about video recording book interviews which I think will work. It’s going to involve YouTube videos where I talk about the books, and then Q&A sessions in writing here. The reason is, the interviews are easier to conduct over time via email, rather than me trying to sort out how to interview. And yes, while most of the problem is my own incompetence in sorting out how to use and record a two-way conversation on Skype, it’s also a fact that other writers are no better than me! Trying to get two authors to liaise, fix time in their diaries and then record a chat is going to be harder than herding frogs across a desert.
Third, I am looking at a series of videos that will be more focused on tools. Initially this will involve my own ancient tools: pens and pencils going back forty five years and more (which is terrifying!), then looking at more modern tools for writing. Why? Well, I’m fed up with seeing reports that suggest that handwriting is dead. I like handwriting, and I want to talk and show how pens and different inks can help people communicate and also how it can help organise their own thinking and their work. Yes, I will also talk about mind mapping software, the editors I use, the planning software and other things that really excite me about computers, but that won’t detract from my main focus: pens and handwriting. Hopefully I may inspire one or two people to look at picking up pens again.
Fourth, of course, I’ll still be planning and thinking about new issues that could help people who want to write for a living or merely for fun, whether it’s to do with planning a story, figuring out how to plot a murder, or what to do when preparing to go to speak publicly for the first time – there are so many aspects that I need to cover still.
Do please let me know what you would best like to see talked about either on YouTube or here on writerlywitterings. All ideas will be very gratefully received!
Don’t forget: if you want to pick up a free read, go to my The Boy’s Revenge and click on the link for a short story based on my Vintener series. Or go look at Amazon for Headline’s Michael Jecks Compendium!
Tagged: authors, books, Future, plans, reviews, talking, writing, YouTube
