Writing but not Reading:

For those of you expecting to see a featured author in this spot, just a note to let you know I've finished that series for the time being. I'm working on a new series with more directed questions and featuring only those authors whose work I have read. Watch this space.

Writing but not Reading:

Most readers harbour no wish to write, perhaps feeling that the ability is a mix of gift and application they may not possess and happy to enjoy the fruits of others' efforts. But, and here lies the shame; many writers display no wish to read, justifying their attitude with the feeble excuse that they have no time: they have time only to write.

The output of most of these non-reading writers is, at best, poor, and often unreadable for any discerning reader. The idea that a craft so complex can be properly learned without reference to those who've gone before is, to me, inexplicable. Would a reliable plumber or electrician consider himself a skilled artisan without the rigour of a time-served apprenticeship? Would a painter exhibit his canvasses without at least an initial study of the masters who preceded him? Would a fashion designer deck her models to propel her clothes along the catwalk without first demonstrating an interest in the garments worn by her potential customers?

Of course, the answer to all these questions isn't a firm or unconditional 'no'. But we all know that anyone who fails to learn from those who have preceded them is destined to repeat their mistakes. It takes a certain type of arrogant ignorance to believe that you can perfect a skill alone and without instruction.

Such ignorance is responsible for poorly developed characters, plots that mirror the works of others, and the depiction of situations identical to those already well known to readers. It's insulting to those who'll read your work not to be aware of what's already been written in the genre. Of course it's not possible to read everything: with too many books published every year, it would require more time than is available to absorb all that's been written in our chosen genre. But it's quite possible and, I'd argue, essential, to glean an idea, a flavour, of what's already been done.

Those who have no wish to read, but who would write, do their readers no favours by their cavalier attitude. They almost invariably produce work of a poor standard. Their refusal to sample other stories, far from ensuring uniqueness, generally results in poor versions of tales already well told. How can a writer learn to construct sentences, to bend the rules of language effectively, to express an idea succinctly yet evocatively, if he's never exposed himself to the work of others? And those who believe themselves natural geniuses are, almost without exception, deluded fools who merely clog up the works with their poorly made pieces. They make it all the more difficult for the real artists to be heard, drowning the unique voices with their ill-devised and poorly-executed offerings.

So, if you want to write, please make sure you read. Read extensively within the area in which you wish to excel, or risk mediocrity and unintented repetition. There; that's another irritation off my chest.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Unreliable narrator

Unreliable narrator: A literary term for a narrator who, out of ignorance, bias, limited viewpoint, simple self-interest or through inability to tell the truth, cannot be trusted. Generally, this character appears in first person stories, of course. Probably the most well-know is Humbert Humbert, the wicked teller of Vladimir Nabokov’s tale, Lolita.

In my own romantic thriller, Breaking Faith, I employed the device of paired narrators, allowing the reader to see things from the points of view of both the male and female protagonists. I did this to illustrate that even the most well-meaning and honest of narrators can sometimes be unreliable and mislead the reader, even if unintentionally.

Other examples of unreliable narrators are:

Wuthering Heights - Lockwood and Nelly Dean.

Wilkie Collins’ detective story The Moonstone (1868), in which the plot unfolds through different characters, who contradict each other and reveal their biases.

In Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest  the narrator, "Chief" Bromden suffers from schizophrenia.  Since his telling of events includes people growing or shrinking, walls oozing with slime, and other bizarre events, the reader quickly recognises that this story teller is not to be trusted.

In Sebastian Faulks’ Engleby, the narrator, Mike Engleby, leads the reader to believe a version of events that’s increasingly at odds with reality.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Vacant

Image via Wikipedia

Vacant: adjective – an office or position unfilled or unoccupied; containing nothing, empty, uninhabited, untenanted; either occupied nor in use; devoid of or lacking something, entirely free from; showing inattention, lack of intelligence, or thought, empty-headed, expressionless, inane.

'Her expression entirely vacant, Clarissa stared across the vacant lot to where the house stood with its windows broken, doors open and rooms all vacant, as the occupiers had left it when the bomb had dropped.'

Editing in Progress

Image via WikipediaTonight's television seduced me with promises of features about books. So, two hours of goggle-box watching have shown me that best sellers are not literary novels, which came as a great surprise, of course. I've also learned that literary novels are necessarily obscure, plotless and rarely linear in structure; something else that shocked me to the core. But I'm being unfair. It was interesting to watch a presenter steeped in literary works take a voyage of discovery around the world of best selling books and realise that, actually, some of these were not only very well written but actually had something interesting and enlightening to say about the human condition. The false premise for the snobbery in the world of 'literature' exposed for all to see. And, in watching the piece on the next generation of British literary novelists, I found stimulus toward the idea of actually writing such a volume. For fun? For recognition? No, simply because I'd like to see whether it's something I can do.
However, I digress.
The edit continues. This afternoon saw me complete 2 chapters, so I'm now ready to start chapter 48, page 457.  The two chapters, in common with those preceding them, have needed little alteration. Of course, this is not the first edit; I've read and visited the MS at least four times previously. But this is supposed to be the final before I present the piece to professional eyes for their scrutiny.
Also, today, I've updated the competition page of this blog. This is a task that takes longer than the result might suggest. If you're interested in entering writing competitions, have a look at the tab above and see if there's anything there that takes your fancy. I try to keep it up to date, but it's by no means comprehensive and the sites I include on the page will take you to many more contests, if you care to do a bit of surfing there.