Stuart Aken

Sunday, 5 August 2012

Time Slips By So Easily.

On 7 June, I blogged about procrastination; probably the writer’s biggest barrier to success. In that post, I mentioned I was keeping a chart to log my activities and see where I really spent my time. That time chart ended when I’d completed it for 68 days. Why 68 days? I just felt I’d acquired enough data for the purpose and that it was time to evaluate it.

The first shock came when I realised how little time I devoted to actual writing-related activity. I have a part time ‘day’ job that allows me to put food into the mouths of my family and keep a reasonable roof over our heads. In common with 98% of writers, I have yet to reach the stage where my writing can support rather than supplement. The day job, including attendance and travel time, takes up about 25 hours per week.

Here’s the table of results I gathered:

Hours Per cent

68 days 1632 100%

Sleep (about 7 hours per night) 476 29%

Domestic (eating, shopping, home maintenance, personal stuff,) 336 21%

Office (attendance & travel to day job) 239 15%

Relaxation (TV, music, films etc) 189 12%

Marketing (FB, Blog, Twitter, Pinterest,) 89 5%

Emails (everything that’s not Twitter or Pinterest) 74 5%

Fitness (walks, bike rides, rests) 66 4%

Reading (novels, magazines & other books) 52 3%

Editing (editing, formatting, submissions) 38 2%

Artist (morning pages, photography, drawing) 37 2%

Technical (computer updates, security, internet research) 20 1%

Writing (short stories, blog posts, reviews) 16 1%

We go through life making certain assumptions. I style myself a ‘writer’; it’s how I visualise myself, how I aim to lead my life. It came as a shock to discover how little time I’d spent in actually writing. A salutary lesson, and one I’ve taken to heart already. I’d persuaded myself I spent much of my time in front of the keyboard and screen actually placing words in documents to produce new writing. If I tell you that the time chart revealed that I spent no more than 5%, that’s FIVE per cent, of my available writing time in actually writing, I think you’ll understand my shock and dismay.

This is the modified version of the table as it relates to writing activity:

Marketing (FB, Blog, Twitter, Pinterest,) 89 27%

Emails (everything that’s not Twitter or Pinterest) 74 23%

Reading (novels, mags & other books) 52 16%

Editing (editing, formatting, submissions) 38 12%

Artist (morning pages, photography, drawing) 37 11%

Technical (comp updates, security, int research) 20 6%

Writing (short stories, blog posts, reviews) 16 5%

Total time for writing activities (34 hours per week) 326 20%

(sorry the tables aren't aligned - Blogger uses different code from MS Word and I'm damned if I know how to correct this!)

So, my total working week involves 59 hours; hardly that of a sluggard, I think.

I was completing Julia Cameron’s course, The Artist’s Way, at the start of the measuring period; in fact the course was a material influence on my decision to carry out the assessment. So, thank you, Julia! She suggests a series of writing exercises, called ‘morning pages’ and also says all creatives should make an artist’s date with themselves for at least 2 hours per week, which is why those activitiesare included in the table.

I don’t need to explain the rest; it’s patently obvious. But it seems I had fallen into that trap so much lauded on the internet by various groups, organisations and ‘experts’: A writer must develop an ‘Author Platform’ on the web in order to become visible.

Most of my valuable writing time had been spent in building that platform, using social media such as Twitter (3,570 followers), Facebook Author page (244 ‘likes’), Facebook itself (1,524 friends), Goodreads (1,491 friends), LinkedIn (1,926 connections), and, more recently, Pinterest (278 followers). The activity to sustain a presence on these sites is time-consuming and some, especially Pinterest, can be addictive (be warned!). Had this time resulted in substantial book sales? The simple answer is, ‘NO’. Add to this, my other activities on such sites as Digg, a site under significant re-development, StumbleUpon (242 connections), and Klout a system intended to measure influence on the web, but one I find confusing and not at all user friendly, and where I have a score of 50 (the average is 20, apparently). I’m also involved in Foursquare (12 friends) and Tripadvisor (970 friends). Enough said!

So, to the outcome. It’s always been my aim to write something new every day. Not always easy, as I have to rise at 06:30 Monday to Wednesday in order to get to the day job on time, and mornings are by far my most creatively productive times. I suffered from ME for 8 years and am still in the recovery phase, so I need to rest after physical activity, and that includes attendance at the office. So, I’m occasionally restricted. But that’s no excuse for not writing as a priority. What’s happened is that priorities have become distorted by activity undertaken to build a presence on the web.

The solution?

I’ve developed a new time chart, measuring only those activities to do with writing, so that I can keep a constant eye on where my time goes. I’ve decided, and this post is an example, to make writing my first activity every day that I enter my study. So far today I haven’t looked at my emails and my only activity online has been to obtain links for this post. Will the discipline, combined with a new awareness, allow me to spend more time on those writing activities that really matter: creating, editing, submitting and reading? Only time will tell. And I’ll let you know in a couple of months how I’m getting on. I invite you to undertake a similar assessment and see whether you’re using your available time to best advantage. It might surprise, shock or delight you; who knows?

Those uninterested in the technical aspects of the exercise can stop here. For those who want to emulate the process, however, please read on:

I’d set up my time chart on MS Excel, with columns for date, activity name, activity code, start time, end time and, using a simple formula, time spent. This allowed me to modify the spread sheet so that I could create totals for each of the specific tasks I’d nominated. I had headings to cover Domestic, Office, Marketing, Email, Fitness, Reading, Editing, Artist, Technical and Writing. These were ‘group’ headings that allowed me to include all those various jobs we undertake in our daily lives. I’ve attached a sample below to indicate what this actually looked like. If you decide to do something similar, and I strongly advise you to do so, this might act as a guide for you.

I’m no expert with MS Excel, so it took me a little time to understand how I could use formulae to work out how much total time had been spent on each of the specified tasks. But the Help menu actually came to the rescue on this occasion (it appears that, when trying to total ‘time’ the straightforward ∑ autosum function won’t work, it merely returns a value that states a time of day. To arrive at the total time, you use ∑autosum and then right click on the cell where the total will be created, select ‘format cells’ then ‘custom’ from the drop down ‘number’ list and pick ‘[h]:mm:ss’ from the list presented. I hope that helps!

Dissecting and evaluating the data was a little tedious, but worth the effort, I think. And here’s the promised sample of my original spread sheet. Good luck.

Thursday, 2 August 2012

Writer’s Block; What’s That?

Cover of "The Artist's Way: A Course in D...

Cover via Amazon

The following piece was written in a single session, using techniques taken from Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. The modern tendency toward scepticism will prevent many believing that I present this piece exactly as it was first written. Nevertheless, that’s the case. I haven’t edited the piece in any way. It remains precisely as it came from the ends of my fingers. I don’t present this to illustrate anything other than the assertion that it’s possible to sit down in front of a blank piece of paper with no idea what you want to write and come up with something that is, at least, a basis for some better, more polished and edited piece. It was started to get my own creative juices going. That it turned into this illustration is a combination of good fortune and my determination not to allow the inner policeman to place barriers in my way whilst creating.

I have subsequently read through the piece, but I’ve made no alterations at all. None. If you have ever suffered from any form of writer’s block, I urge you to read on. It shows, demonstrates, the reality of the process of enabling your inner artist. Oh, and by the way, I note that at one stage it says it took about twenty minutes. That was a guestimate, written at that point in the piece. It actually took forty six minutes in total. I know this because I’m currently keeping a time chart of my activities so I know how I really spend my time.

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Sometimes it’s necessary simply to place words on paper, with no knowledge of where they will take you. Being blocked, lacking ideas, is often no more than a failure to be brave. That blank page can become a barrier. Filling it with words, no matter what they say, can break that barrier and set off the writer on a journey of adventure, romance, fantasy, or whatever direction the subconscious decides to take you.

The point is not to be afraid, not to allow the unknown to govern your creativity. Allow that inner creative voice its head, give it freedom. Ignore all the rules and laws and advice about sentence structure, planning and genre. This is a way to free your spirit and allow the creative artist inside you to soar.

Sometimes, faced with such a blank space, you will indulge in utter rubbish for a while. The words will mean nothing, even when you look at them later, and especially as you place them in lines on the page. But that isn’t important. The very act of writing results in more writing. If you’re a writer, if you’re an artist, a creator, the ideas will eventually come to you. They’ll sneak up when you’re not looking and suddenly you’ll have the germ of a story. I don’t know how this will work for everyone, I only know that it does work in varying degrees for all those who have any creative urge.

For me, it’s possible to sit down at the keyboard with absolutely no preconceived ideas, no knowledge of a character, no story thread, and end up with a short story at a single sitting./ Sometimes, I need longer, more sessions, but I frequently end up with a story at the end of the process. The important thing is not to think about what you’re writing, not to allow the search for the right word to get in the way. If this means that you put down the same word seventeen times in a row, it’s not important. The exercise is about getting over that block that’s preventing you from creating. Ignore grammar, spelling, syntax and appropriate language. If expletives come to you use them, or, more accurately, allow them space on the page. You can always remove them when you go back to do your edit.

And that’s the real point here. What you’re doing is allowing the creative side of your brain to play without that irritatingly perfectionist editing policeman to look over your shoulder with his corrections and insistence on proper sentence formation. If you seek perfection at the moment of creativity, you’ll never create a thing. Do you suppose Michelangelo produced his works without error, Did Da Vinci make no mistakes along the path to genius? Were Shakespeare’s first drafts the works you now see performed on stage and screen the world over? Of course not. You see the finished article, the polished piece, from all published artists. What you don’t see is the stumbles and wrong paths, the mistakes and glaring errors of grammar they made along the route to that brilliant perfect work. If you insist on comparing your fledgling work with the final output of an accomplished master, you’ll always be poor by comparison. Wait until you’ve finished the piece before you start to make comparisons, if you must.

This piece started off as an exercise to write a new story. Seriously, that is what I had in mind when I sat at the keyboard. That it turned into this piece is simply an illustration of my point. That allowing your creative self to take ascendency will eventually produce a piece of written work with some value. It may need some work; it may need completely re-writing. It may be no more than the germ of a story that you can later turn into the work you envisaged at the start. But it will be a piece of writing that has carried you over the block. It’s because I’ve used this technique almost all my writing life that I’ve never actually suffered writer’s block. There have been odd times when I’ve turned out something like this rather than a piece of fiction, but I’ve always been able to place words on paper.

It’s about taking the plunge, being brave. It’s about ignoring that ingrained school lesson that everything must be right. It’s about trusting your inner artist. As Julia Cameron says in The Artist’s Way, you need to treat your inner artist as a child. Allow it to play. Give it the freedom to make mistakes, we learn from such mistakes. And, in the end, when it comes to writing, what has been lost if you produce a page that’s mostly gobbledegook? A few moments of your time? Nothing more. But the gains that are possible form such an exercise are enormous.

I set out with a blank sheet this morning. These words, exactly as they are now, took me about twenty minutes to write. But only because I deliberately refused to allow my inner policeman to interfere as I produced the idea. Of course, I did correct the odd typo as I went along, but I’ve been doing this for years. If it’s your first time, I suggest you avoid even looking at the screen or the piece of paper, if you’re writing by hand. That way you have no reason to backtrack. I have the excuse that, as time went past, I realised I had a piece for my blog. But, I want to be as honest as convention permits. So, I’m making the decision now not to edit this piece, but to publish it as it came from my finger ends. If I can do this, knowing that it will be read by many people, surely you can do it, knowing you can go back at a later date and make your words perfect, correct any syntactical or grammatical errors, remove any repetitions.

So, that’s my challenge to you. Start off your day with that blank sheet of paper and just write those words that flow, regardless of order, grammar, syntax, spelling or even sense. These are words to get your creative spirit out into the open. Consider them the same as those first strokes of preparation painters make on their blank canvass. But remember that, for most painters, they have the advantage of a subject actually before them. You, as a writer, may have no more than the accumulated experience of your lifetime and the words you’ve read from others. By allowing your inner artist to overcome the inner policeman, you might just turn out the foundation of a piece that you can turn into that work of genius.

So. There you have it. I’ve probably repeated myself, used inappropriate words, missed out words here and there. But, truthfully, this piece has not been edited. It would be worthless if I’d done that. It is, after all, intended as an illustration of what can be achieved by getting that damned policeman off your shoulder and letting your artist out to play.

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Cover of BECOMING A WRITER

I blush at the errors in the piece, but I hope this has been useful for you. I’d welcome your comments. Thanks for reading this.

Treasure of Khan, by Clive Cussler, Reviewed

Cover of Treasure of Khan (Dirk Pitt)

As a writer, I don’t read in the same way as a general reader, so my comments here may not be as helpful as they might otherwise be. Clive Cussler is, of course, a well-known thriller writer with a large number of sales to his name. If Treasure of Khan is representative of his style, however, I have to ask the simple question; why?

In common with most people these days, I have a limited amount of time, and my reading choices are therefore important: I’ve no desire to spend time reading something which is poorly written, when there’s such a wealth of well-written work out there. This book is supposed to be a thriller. The genre has the reputation of racing the reader through events, using action to drive interest. Character is, understandably, a less vital part of such books and I took up this book knowing such would be the case.

The story starts in 13th century Japan, moves in the next chapter to China during its war with Japan and then travels to Siberia in 2007. In 3 chapters we have travelled a vast region of an area with which most readers have no connection and little knowledge. There’s no apparent link between the events described in these opening chapters, but, hey, this is supposed to be an adventure story and, eventually, the back story will hopefully appear relevant. I’ll never know, however, because, although the action has already started by this point, I’ve lost all interest. I’m not hooked. I don’t care about what might or might not happen next. I have better things to do than invest more time in this particular pot-boiler.

There will be Cussler fans who will, no doubt, accuse me of blindness or some unspecified bias. But the simple fact is that this thriller failed to thrill, in any sense of the word. I was bored by the multitude of apparently unlinked facts, uninterested in any of the characters, confused by the apparent lack of any actual story thread and unmoved by the action scenes. These, the very essence of the thriller, were tedious and written in a style more suited to a factual report than to the presentation of exciting fiction.

I expected the characters to be two-dimensional, but not as cardboard as I found them. I expected to be moved to the edge of my seat and not bored into lethargy and total indifference, as I was. In defence of Cussler, I gather this is the umpteenth volume in a series starring the same major character; that, however, doesn’t excuse inadequate characterisation for those new to the series. Certainly, on the evidence of this book, I shan’t waste my time picking up another by the same author.

Ironically, this was one of four novels enclosed in a single volume I received free as a sampler from a book club. The other three books were excellent, so this piece stood out like the proverbial thumb; sore and in need of amputation.

So, sorry Cussler fans, I shan’t be joining your ranks. I hope you enjoy your fiction by this author but I seriously hope he, in turn, rewards your devotion by producing books of a far better quality than I found in Treasure of Khan. Unless someone tells me, I shall never know what that treasure was, and, to tell the truth, I really couldn’t care less. Need I say more?

Sunday, 29 July 2012

Savings of 50% Through Smashwords Sale

Along with other authors, I've joined Smashwords' Summer Sale. This means you can buy two of my books for half their usual price. Breaking Faith, my romantic thriller (see My Books tab for reviews) is now avail;able for $1.50, £0.95, or Euro 1.18. Similarly, my anthology of 8 hot erotic stories, Sensuous Touches, has also been reduced to $1.50, £0.95, or Euro 1.18. You will need to use the links shown and enter the promotional code of SSW50 to obtain your discount. And please take advantage sooner rather than later. This is a limited time offer.

My other books, Ten Tales for Tomorrow, The Methuselah Strain and Ten Love Tales are already priced only at $0.99, £0.63 or Euro 0.78, so they can't be included in this special offer.

And, of course, But Baby it's Cold Outside, the seasonal short story, is already free anyway.

If you have a look at the tab above, labelled 'My Books', you can get a
flavour of all the books before you plunge in and spend these huge sums; this way, the risk will be singularly reduced.

These are all ebooks, of course. Though Breaking Faith can also be read as a paperback edition, available through Amazon and other retail outlets. Because of the publishing arrangements, I'm unable to alter the price on the paperback, but it represents very good value at $14.95 or £7.99 for 340 pages of tense, exciting and emotionally packed romance.

The ebooks can be downloaded to be read on any ereader platform through Smashwords. If you don't have an ereader, you can read them as PDFs using the link for the free Adobe software to the right or using any one of the many free ereader software packages available online.

Thursday, 26 July 2012

A Plea for Uniformity in the Presentation of Writing for Editorial.

Typographic quotation marks (top) versus straight quotation marks, or "dumb quotes" (bottom). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’re a writer, you’ll understand my frustration at the multitude of different formats we’re required to adopt in presenting our work to various different organisations, I’m sure. You may even share it.

You write a story and want to send it to a British magazine. So: wide margins, double spaced lines, double, curly quotes for speech, indented paragraphs without space between, a standard proportional font like Times New Roman or Ariel, and, of course, British English spelling and idiom. The latter two are understandable; though, more on that later.

You then decide to send it to an American magazine. So: wide margins, double spaced lines, single, straight quotes for speech, no indents for paragraphs, but each separated by a line space, a non-proportional font like Courier, which makes the piece look as though it’s been produced on an old-fashioned typewriter, and, depending on editorial policy, either your original or American spelling and idiom.

Next, you wish to produce it as an ebook. So: strip out all formatting, reduce margins, single line spacing, use straight quotes and avoid any ‘special’ characters, paragraph formatting again requires an indent, but a smaller one than for the printed text, and a proportional font again. Here, it’s a personal choice which linguistic idiosyncrasies you choose to adopt, though consistency throughout the work is advisable, of course.

These are just three of the varied styles we’re required to adopt. There are many small variations, dependent on the house style of the publication chosen. And, as the writers, we’re expected to adapt to each individual set of requirements. The fact that we are the creators, the originators, of the material is immaterial as far as the publications are concerned. It is we who have adapt to their specific peculiarities.

Almost without exception, the reasons for these idiosyncrasies of presentation are based on simple tradition. The publishers have always done it this way; therefore, that is the ‘right’ way for it to be done. I’ve argued, in a previous post, that tradition is not always a good thing. In fact, it can frequently be a very bad thing. It’s tradition, after all, that maintains the custom, prevalent amongst certain ill-educated and socially backward clans, of violating their women by the horrendous imposition of female circumcision. I doubt there’s a single modern individual who would uphold such a tradition.

Is there, in reality, any reason why there should not be a single, straightforward style of presentation that could be used for all manuscripts submitted to journals, publishers and ebook producers? I can think of no technical reason. The oddities of ebook formatting requirements are largely down to lazy and/or non-standard software programming; something that could so easily be changed. Such standardisation would be of benefit to readers as well, since it would make it very straightforward for them to read their purchased books on any given ereader.

All the individual publishers, publishing organisations, national bodies and organisations would no doubt come up with reasons why their particular style should be the one adopted, of course. Such is the nature of tradition and habit. But such objections could be negotiated into a sensible solution and, in reality, once a standard form of presentation was adopted, users would very quickly become familiar with it. We, the writers, the creators, the originators, would then be left free to get on with our job of making instead of having to mess around with all the variations we’re currently required to deal with.

The linguistic elements I alluded to earlier represent a more difficult area of change. However, it’s clear from current developments that English will be the language most widely spoken (and, perhaps, written) for the foreseeable future. Perhaps, instead of allowing it to deteriorate organically into the more or less incomprehensible Panglish that is the predicted outcome, we should organise ourselves into a guiding role and consciously modify the language to make it more understandable by the majority? Clearly, the use of phonetic spelling would help non-native speakers to learn and use the language; a plus in the spread of our means of communication. There will always be a need for irregulars, of course. But, surely, we could determine that plow is a more sensible version than plough. I’d even argue for the more sensible thru to replace through.

I know the purists will hate the very idea. But we live in a world with a growing population and shrinking borders. Surely it makes sense to help our decedents get along with each other and remove one of the many barriers to cooperation and mutual understanding. It’s been said, with some justification, that wars have been started because of linguistic misunderstandings. Let’s actually do something to avoid future incomprehension rather than allow events and tradition to dictate ever increasing chaos in our methods of communication. Language is how we swap ideas. Let’s work to make the exchange easier, rather than increasingly difficult.

Or am I being idealistic here? What do you think?

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes, Reviewed

Jojo Moyes has produced a superb piece of modern fiction in Silver Bay. Set mostly in Australia, with some action taking place in London, UK, the story deals with the effects of threatened development on the tranquil eponymous location of the title. But it is the relationships and interactions of the protagonists that drive this story of tragedy, romance, coming of age and redemption.

Presented in 3 parts, with a short prologue and epilogue, Jojo uses first person narration by five of the major characters, four female and one male, to explore emotional, motivational, mental and spiritual aspects of her protagonists. Her research has clearly been thorough and the novel displays the author’s deep knowledge of the subjects she uses for theme and background. The book starts slowly but builds relentlessly until the denouement is reached in a way unflagged and unexpected.

This was a book I would have read at one sitting, had I been able. As it is, my life being a little hectic at present, I was obliged to fit in reading between many other commitments. It’s testament to the quality of the writing and storytelling that I found myself looking forward to my occasional bus journeys, as they are opportunities to read. Normally I dislike this necessary part of my working day, but I was eager to get on that bus and have the chance to read. In fact, had I not finished the book shortly before the end of my journey, I suspect I’d have missed my stop.

Jojo has drawn her characters with skill, care, and love. This is appropriate, since the love stories that run through the narrative form a major thread of the tale. Each passage is in the voice of the chosen character and the author manages to make each unique and totally credible. She has managed to get as squarely inside the mind of her male characters as she has her females.

The main setting for the book, Silver Bay itself, performs the role of an additional character and the reader is immersed in the tranquil location to the extent that he feels all the anxiety, fear, resentment and disgust at proposals that will alter the place beyond recognition. Wales and dolphins, and the occasional shark, play interesting and informative roles along the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this moving novel and have no hesitation in recommending it to readers of all types.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

Cutting Through the Academic Crap, by April Taylor, Reviewed.

Are you a university student, or the parent, best friend, trusted sibling or confidante of such a student? If so, I strongly advise you to read this little book. It took me 40 minutes, that’s all. So, it’s hardly an imposition, is it?

Written in a friendly, approachable style, it details the methods, pitfalls, techniques and crucial points in the process of writing that all-important dissertation. I learned a good deal I didn’t know about this specialist academic topic and was prompted to read the book because my daughter is currently attending university and will be required to produce a dissertation in her final year.

The book is presented in easily digested bites, each of which deals with a specific aspect of the whole. Breaking it down in this way makes a difficult subject more easily understood. The author has personal experience of the needs, having two degrees herself. She demonstrates empathy with the lot of the student and uses some vernacular with which the student should be familiar. But she provides her advice in an authoritative manner without that off-putting arrogance and superiority that defines so much academic writing.

Students who follow her advice and take account of the various pitfalls and distractions she highlights will stand a very good chance of not only completing the dissertation on time, but also of gaining maximum marks. Such a chance to increase the success of all that hard work and study that exemplifies the lot of the student must surely be worth the short time and attention that this essential little book deserves.

So, if you’re studying for that degree, or supporting someone involved in that demanding task, I unconditionally recommend the reading of this book: BEFORE you start.

BTW: this is an ebook, available on Smashwords , Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Uninterested or disinterested?

Okay, so this is an old bugbear of mine. But usage seems to be a growing problem, even for supposed professionals, especially amongst those broadcasting on TV and radio, who should be ashamed of themselves!

It’s really quite straightforward, you know.

If you’re not interested, the term is uninterested, in line with most similar opposites. You’re either dressed or undressed, moved or unmoved, reasonable or unreasonable, so, similarly, you’re either interested or you’re uninterested.

If, however, you’re politically neutral, you are disinterested. If you’re making a judgement without bias, you need to be disinterested. Disinterested means without bias, impartial, neutral.

So:

‘Jennifer was uninterested in football, so didn’t care which side won.’

But:

‘The referee was disinterested in the outcome of the match and remained neutral throughout.’

Does that help?

We have such a subtle and comprehensive vocabulary in English; it seems a shame not to use the right word, when perfectly good examples are available, don’t you think?

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

Losing You, by Nicci French, Reviewed

In Losing You, Nicci French has woven a tale bursting with emotional impact. The book reads like a personal experience, such is the depth of detail and intensity of feeling in the writing. And, for the reader, this is not so much a read as a personal trip taken with the extraordinary mother on her search for her missing daughter. I will say no more about the plot, as I have no wish to inflict spoilers on potential readers.

In common with many of today’s writers, I have a day job. Because I share the family car with my daughter, I sometimes travel to work by bus. I’m willing to put up with the inconvenience because it’s better for the environment and it gives me time to read. I tell you this only because this particular book made me miss my stop; twice! I was so absorbed by the characters and the tale that I was past my normal disembarkation point before I realised it. It was one of those books that, had I had the practical opportunity, I would’ve read from cover to cover without pause. Unputdownable.

The narrator, Nina, is so well drawn that the first person account propels the reader through the roller-coaster emotional ride with consummate ease. Every other character, no matter how insignificant, is drawn with care and attention, so that each is a believable person; rounded and complete. The story builds slowly at first, with subtle hints pointing at a potential disaster on the far horizon. But, as the various elements of the drama are revealed, the tension builds and builds, making the pages turn with increasing speed as the reader lives through the growing terror with Nina: a woman who sees herself as ordinary but who demonstrates that we all, in the necessary circumstances, have the potential to be extraordinary.

All the barriers placed before the lead character are utterly credible and Nina’s response to them illustrates our mix of frustration with authority and our incomprehension of the need for seemingly pointless protocols when these prevent us acting in ways that seem obvious to us. The urgency of the need for action instead of talk slowly increases as time passes and all the possible outcomes flood Nina’s mind with their horror and dread.

I think you’ll glean from the above that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It carried me with it on the breathless ride, involving me emotionally in every step and misstep along the road to the tortuous conclusion. The denouement is brilliantly written and constructed with such detail that the reader feels the author must have suffered something similar to bring such feelings and actions to the page.

I’ve read only one other novel by Nicci French but I shall be reading more. Just as soon as I’ve completed my self-imposed trawl through the 180 odd titles still on my ‘to read’ list. I have no hesitation in recommending this piece of superb writing to all and sundry.

Sunday, 1 July 2012

Bad Luck and Trouble, by Lee Child, Reviewed.

Bad Luck and Trouble is one of a series of thrillers starring the heroic loner, Reacher. I have never read anything by Lee Child before and only came across this as it was part of a compilation of 4 novels in a free book I received via a book club as part of the introductory offer. Sometimes, such gifts prove more serendipitous than expected. This was one such occasion.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and found it difficult to put down. I’ve never lived in the USA, have no experience of the US military, don’t gamble in casinos, and I live a happily married life with a wonderful wife and daughter. So, on the face of it, I have no points of contact with the protagonist. But Child has a way of making his hero into a well-rounded human, almost in spite of his rough tough exterior. This isn’t the formulaic easiness of the soft-centred giant. Reacher is considerably more complex. He’s a man with principles and, although he can act with necessary brutality and kill in ways that seem almost casual, beneath this toughness lies a moral mind and heart that takes a no-nonsense approach to the realities of life. He is an honest hero, honest even with himself most of the time, an unusual human trait.

I won’t attempt to give a synopsis of the novel, though the plot could be outlined in a page. The whole point of a thriller is the way the plot takes the reader through the various barriers to success, or failure, and pits the hero against odds most would find impossible. It’s a piece of fun escapism. But, in common with many of the better written thrillers, this one has an underlying theme of morality, a concern with right and wrong. Child avoids those excesses so prevalent in the genre; the easy solutions to complex problems, the ready subjugation of moral considerations in the name of expediency or plot development. He eschews such lazy routes to denouement and instead employs real dilemmas and proper human concerns in resolving the issues raised by the story.

His characters, the protagonists, are well drawn and we know enough about them to understand their motives and actions. The villains could be seen as a little stereotypical, a little lacking in depth of development. But, hell, we’re reading this to root for the good guys, aren’t we? So bad villains are acceptable. I don’t read thrillers for detailed explanation of character; like most readers, I pick up a thriller to be entertained, to be taken on a wild ride of escapism. And Child delivers.

Would I recommend the book? Without doubt. And I’ll be reading more of this author’s work, once I’ve read the 180 titles in my ‘to read’ list!

The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, Reviewed

Subtitled A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self and A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, this is not merely a book, but an instruction manual about how to become the artist you truly are.

Okay, so I may already have alienated the pragmatists and those for whom the idea of artistic creativity is anathema. But stay with me. You, too, will benefit.

The book is the culmination of a number of years of work Julia has undertaken first to release her own creativity and then that of friends, and, ultimately, paying students. She is, of course, a well-known film director, amongst other talents. She lives in a world populated by people who use their creative talent to earn their living and to produce many of those things we take for granted in our daily lives. Creativity is not the sole preserve of the isolated artist living in a dream, after all. It is an element in the everyday experience of most of us, if we’re willing to discover it. So, there’s something here for everyone. And I do mean everyone, regardless of the type of life and the nature of the work undertaken.

The book guides the reader through a series of exercises and explorations of self over a period that is suggested to be 12 weeks. I took a little longer, as I had 2 weeks of holiday already planned and those weeks interrupted the flow. The exercises, or tasks as she calls them, are essential to the course.

Before you make a decision to experience this book - it is more an experience than a reading exercise - I should warn you that you’ll need to approach it with commitment. A partial, casual approach will not work. You must be willing to immerse yourself in all that it entails, if you’re to gain from it the lasting and increasing benefits it promises.

As you proceed, you’ll find all sorts of excuses not to do certain things, all manner of reasons why you, in particular, shouldn’t bother with some aspects. You’re too experienced, you’re too creative already, you’re simply too busy, you’re above such considerations, you don’t have that sort of problem, etc, etc. But allowing yourself to fail, permitting yourself to face those fears you have buried, will, if my experience is any guide, free you from self-destructive influences you’re unaware you have acquired.

I learned a good deal about myself during the course of the weeks. Not all of it was good. But most of what I learned was positive in its influence on my development. There were painful recollections, shameful admissions, abortive attempts at justification and some unexpected unpleasant revelations. But these are all part of the healing process that permits the inner artist to develop and flourish in the materialistic age we live in. To compensate for the unpleasant, there were many unexpected plusses along the way. I discovered really good things about myself, came to understand why I have held certain beliefs, why I have been unable to take full advantage of my gifts and talents, why I have rejected certain helping hands, why I have wasted so much time and effort; even, perhaps, why I became ill for so many years.

Sound a little over the top?

That’s what I thought when I started. But I grow daily more certain about what I’ve learned during these few, important, weeks of my life. I’ve discovered that I have true gifts, real talents, a fantastic imagination, a unique way of seeing and being. Sometimes the journey has been frightening, sometimes it’s been tedious, but often it’s been exhilarating, exciting, vital, and full of fun.

I never considered myself a ‘blocked’ artist. I seemed to be moving along with my creative life quite nicely, thank you. But the honesty this course forces upon its students woke me to the real reality (yes, I know, a tautology, but a deliberate one). We spend so much of our lives under the cloud of self-deception that escape is not only considered difficult, for many it is never considered at all, since these individuals have no consciousness of their self-imposed imprisonment.

I think it is clear that I would recommend this book to everybody.

There is a ‘but’; there is always a ‘but’.

One aspect of the narrative and underlying philosophy of the book threatened, from the start, to undermine the effectiveness of the course for me. I am a committed and self-defined, one might almost say passionate, agnostic. I’ll explain what I mean by that, since it’s important to your understanding of my position and argument. I believe that if there is a God, such a force, being, presence - call it what you will - is so far above our understanding as to be incomprehensible. I believe any attempt to define a God must, by definition, be an insult to such a concept and result in a counterfeit rather than the real thing. Since I understand the concept to be ineffable, I am left with the only logical alternative; i.e. I remain open to the possibility of a God but can make no description of such a power and, by logical extension, cannot accept any of the orthodox deities currently worshipped by the many religions that exist. These are, patently, constructs of man in a quest to answer the unanswerable questions and, no doubt, serve a useful, if often divisive, purpose in providing a sort of comfort for those who prefer not to think about such issues for themselves.

So, when Julia Cameron talks about accepting that there is an external creative being, that she calls God (using the ‘Good Orderly Direction’ tag to reduce the objections of the sceptics) I find myself resistant. Initially, this very insertion of the idea of faith into the course formed a barrier for me. But I persevered, putting that aspect on the back burner until I could examine it and find a replacement philosophy. And I’m glad I did that. Persevered, that is. Had I allowed my objection to stop me completing the course, I would have missed out on a very positive experience and failed to arrive at the new place I now find myself, creatively speaking.

As to what alternative philosophy I discovered along the way to replace the God aspect: this isn’t the place to detail it. Suffice to say that I found such a concept and am happy to employ that in place of the God facet.

So, again, would I recommend this book? Only to everybody on the planet. Go out and buy, borrow, or beg the volume. Make a commitment to do the tasks and exercises. Make a commitment to complete the course, however long it takes. If you follow it with the required open mind and the necessary effort you will come out on the other side a more creative, balanced and happier person.

Sunday, 5 August 2012

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