See earlier post – WRITING THROUGH THE APOCALYPSE – ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE

In the Zombie survival guide I suggested creating a media network for the survivors. But what to broadcast…? Here’s a few suggestions:

Voice of the Damned – Your Ultimate Anti-Zombie Network

Image via wikipedia

Programme Listings:

• The Morning Zombie Watch – A bit like the morning news but the field reporter‘s job requires a very brave individual. Several are lost in the making of the morning news so positions are frequently available for new field reporters.
  
• The `Zombie’ Factor - A talent show with a twist
• You, Me and the Undead - Off-beat amateur sitcom about two survivors and an undead ex-boyfriend.
• Death Valley – Naturally!
• The Evil Dead – For Survival Tips.
• Dead Ringer – A spin-off from the TV show Ringer.
• One Foot in the Grave Again - Reality show about a grumpy old man and his battle with the zombies next door.
• CSI – Apocalypse – A crime drama for the new era.

Other programmes include:

• Dog the Zombie Hunter
  
• One Grave Hill
  
• Waking the Undead
  
• Desperate Widow
• Wheel of Torture
  
• Apocalypse Break
  
• Downtown Alley
  
• The Dead Files
• Zombie Wipeout
• WWE – Viral

Of course the network is always open to new programme suggestions. Please leave any ideas in the comments box below.

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It’s only been a few months since my last time so I’ll keep this one brief. As per the rules I need to pass on the award and nominate a few blogs. Here are my choices.

http://inkspeare.wordpress.com/

A personal and often philosophical blog touching on a variety of topics including creative writing.

http://stigmatascript.com/

Great writing blog, lots of no-nonsense, practical advice.

http://kennethmarkhoover.me

A great creative writing blog with lots of helpful advice and ideas.

http://mazeaday.wordpress.com/

A fun, beautiful blog with daily mazes and quotes.

http://thinspiralnotebook.wordpress.com/

Another great creative writing blog that I’ve followed for a while. A wonderful mix of creative writing and personal photography.

http://storytellingnomad.wordpress.com/

A fantastic blog full of personal experiences, travel and creative writing. Always worth a look.

In keeping with the VBA rules I also need to tell you all 7 things about myself. So here we go:

1. I was born at Midnight.
2. My date of birth is symmetrical backwards and forwards.
3. I’m left-handed (although I do most things with my right hand)
4. I am older than most people think I am, I am just short.
5. My favourite English food is chips and gravy.
6. I love my telly, especially American TV shows.
7. I’m a natural blonde (dark blonde).

Image via Wikipedia

Some writers aim to keep their dialogue as realistic as possible, using pauses and dialogue which mimics real speech, almost like a script but this, like everything in writing, has its ups and downs. While it is good to try to write natural-sounding dialogue, fiction is not real life and the purpose of dialogue in a sceneis usually very specific. The trick is to try and balance this. Too realistic can include too much while too contrived can reduce the overall effect of your scene.

For example: Brendan and his girlfriend are fugitives in a sci-fi novel, who are having an argument. You want the argument to seem realistic and to also reveal a secret but you also want the scene to be emotionally charged. There are (at least) 3 ways to do this:

1. The Contrived/Forced Way (not recommended) – You write the scene and during the course of the argument the girlfriend spills a secret she has been hiding in a long, detailed sentence that just happens to detail everything the reader needs to know. This is the less subtle way of revealing the secret.

Image via Wikipedia

Example 1

Why did you do it? Why?” he screamed.
“Because if I hadn’t they would have arrested you. The magistrate knows where we are and blackmailed me into doing this errand for him or else he would take us in and send us to the outer colonies.

Style Pitfalls – This may seem the easiest and most natural way to write plot and dialogue but this is often too noticeable.

Think of a film where the dialogue seems very unnatural. How many times have you watched a film and thought that no one would ever talk that way? The same goes for dialogue. Think about what people would really react like. Do the same for your dialogue.

2. Extreme Realism – This version uses the revelation of the secret as a last thought, spending a great deal of time on showing the ins and outs of the argument and highlighting absolutely everything, including pauses, false starts in conversation and pronunciations.

Example 2

Why did you dooooo it?” he screamed.
“I-I,”
“Teeeeell meee whyyyy!”
“[pause]Err, ohh – uh.”
“You! You…!”

Style Pitfalls – This is great for characterization and realism but it draws away from one of the main focusses of the scene which is the secret. Add to that all the conversational features and this can be very difficult to pull off in that your reader’s attention may drift. The reader may not find it easy to read conversational features and may switch off too early to get into the plot. This really depends on the type of fiction you are writing and the way you want to present your character but take care not to overdo it.

3. Balanced approach – This version has the best of both worlds. It tries to keep the argument realistic and yet still leads up to scene focal point which is the revelation of the secret. This can be done by removing the extra conversational features and revealing the secret in parts. People rarely reveal a secret all in one long speech, though I suppose it could happen.

Example 3

Heated Argument (Photo credit: kurichan+)

Why did you do it?” he screamed.
“I-I…”
“Tell me why!”
“Because I had to!”
She turned away, lowering her voice.
“Because the magistrate told me to.”

There are of course many variations of the way in which this conversation can be presented. You can change almost everything, the place, the characters, the way in which it is revealed but whichever way you will do it, try to balance whatever effects you use. The aim is to try to sound realistic but keep on track with the plot too. Whichever style of dialogue you use will change how your reader follows the scene so always consider whether a person would really say what you are writing. There is always some room for poetic licence with dialogue but try to keep it balanced.

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There are a few things to remember when writing description:

1. Speed/Pacing

Description changes the speed of a scene. It you spend a long part of your scene describing the surrounding scenery your story slows down whereas limited or brief description can speed up or dismiss the extra details. Neither technique is wrong. Just take care that the description is necessary and not excessive.

Image via Wikipedia

Tip – Sometimes slowing down an action scene with description actually heightens the drama instead of impedes it. This can create a sense of timelessness in an extreme plot situation. The key word here is context. There is no rule to say that an action scene must be fast or that a conversation scene must be slow.

Example 1 – `She couldn’t see through the surrounding mists , the sounds of clashing swords only a distant note, muffled by the claustrophobic hills. An arrow struck her left shoulder forcing her back with the impact and she fell in what seemed like slow motion to the ground.’

The above example could be written in either a descriptive or sparse form. If you want this to appear as happening very quickly you could write:

Example 2 - `She couldn’t see anything for the mist. In the distance swords clanged and clashed with fury but before she could do anything an arrow hit her in the shoulder and knocked her down to the ground.

This is a faster version which tells, rather than shows the impact but sometimes they are sufficient to get across the speed. Short sentences and listed sequences tend to help speed whereas added description and long sentences tend to slow the action.

2. Passive vs Active

One thing you’ll undoubtedly come across when reading about creative writing is the notion of always using the active voice.

• The Active Voice example – `Joan ripped open the files.’
• The Passive Voice example – `The file was opened by Joan.’

Image via Wikipedia

There’s a strong debate for always using the active voice. On the whole it does tend to work better as it creates a stronger sense of protagonist and action, but I wouldn’t rule out the passive voice altogether. There may be some times when it works with the type of scene you are creating, particularly if you want to describe something as `being done’ to someone rather than someone `doing’ something.

This could particularly work when trying to depict someone as a victim of something so  never rule it completely out!

3 – Dialogue and description

Image via Wikipedia

Dialogue and description is a particularly tricky area. You want to create a sense of character and add description of settings and movement but you don’t want it to seem forced or excessive. Do too much description of movements in-between dialogue and it seems as if your character is fidgeting all the time, too little and they are like a statue. The best rule here is less is more. Try to keep this to only what you feel is necessary, sometimes you’ll have to rewrite to reposition or rethink the positioning of you characters during dialogue.

Example 1
She shifted over to the kitchen counter, placing her drink down.
“Hello,” she said, picking her drink back up again and motioning towards him.
“Hiya,” he replied, taking his coat off and hanging it up on the back of the kitchen door.

The above example has an odd pace. If you read it aloud it sounds more like a sports or news commentary. There is too much movement. This could be condensed to:

Example 2

“Hello,” she said.
She moved over to the kitchen counter, picking up her drink and motioning towards him.“Hiya.”
He took off his coat and hung it up on the back of the kitchen door.

The second example is far from perfect and more detail could be added in but you’ll often have to choose which actions you think are actually needed and resist the urge to add in too many movements in between dialogue.

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These are the days to free yourself up. People often emphasise hard work and routine with writing yet it’s also important to have free time and play. Your mind may figure out the problem while you are working on something else. When you are really struggling do something else for a while and then return to it later. This can be frustrating but get yourself back into the right frame of mind before getting back on the horse.

Above all, try to keep your mind relatively free from restrictions when thinking about writing. This isn’t always easy but the right frame of mind can make a difference to what you write and when.

Here’s a few tips for downtime and getting your focus back:

1. Puzzles – I’ve mentioned this before, one’s that you can do but will challenge you a bit. A book/magazine with a variety of puzzles is usually better.

2. Video games – This may seem an odd one to some people but games that have really good gameplay can be great for your attention span. Many games challenge lateral thinking, quick-thinking and focus.

3. Reading – Currently I have a book that I read a bit more of just every now and then so I have something else to focus on in downtime.

4. Friends – Taking a night out/off to meet up with friends or even just to chat for a while can be a great way to get yourself back into focus.

5. Input/All of the above – I was watching that old film Short Circuit 2 the other day with the robot that loves new input. He wanders the city reading everything and sightseeing. Take heed, writers need this too. More Input! 

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Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,100 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Ten Festive Film Treats

Image via Wikipedia

1. A Muppet Christmas Carol – Not just for the kids!

2. Scrooged – To combat the inner grump

3. Oliver Twist – To make us thankful.

4. Great Expectations (BBC) NEW! - TV adaptation of the novel. So far not 100% accurate but keeps a lot of the original tone.

5. The Grinch (Any version) – Another for combatting the inner grump but also great fun. 

6. The Snowman – Such a shame this wonderful film hasn’t been on this year.

7. Gremlins – Nostalgia for the 80′s child but also still fun.

8. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – More nostalgia but it doesn’t seem like the holidays without it.

9. Look Who’s Talking Now – A Christmassy atmosphere and talking animals!

10. Heidi – There’s a 2005 version but the classic version was always excellent too.

What’s your Holiday Favourites? What films do you prefer in the holidays to get you festive?

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Image by ylacarmoberg via Flickr

Image via Wikipedia

Fading Lights,

Are loud bells of terror.

Indescribable.

Yet we try.

How can time stand still,

And change at the same time?

Inspired by the poem `Ambulances’ by Philip Larkin.

Copyright (c) bardicblogger / a thinker never sleeps / Teri Montague 2011

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Contrary to what people may think about the brain, focus is not something which you should push yourself to do excessively as this can cause overload and even push you away from writing because your mind has focussed too much on the same thing or on too many things at the same time.

There are some easy ways to keep this skill in shape:

1. Writing by hand.

Image via Wikipedia

I like working on computers. They bring a lot of benefits to creative writing but when I remember the days of writing down on a pad, there’s a lot of benefit to that too. For one thing there is no constant internet distraction when I’m sat with a pen and a pad. There’s nothing but me and the writing. Whereas when I’m writing on a computer, I can get drawn into googling everything, checking email or doing something else. You don’t need to remove technology completely, just spend regular time with pen and paper too. Put a notepad and a pen near your bed or keep a handwritten journal. Keep it free but regular. Make it a collaborative effort between computers and handwriting.

2. Puzzles

Image via Wikipedia

Again, I would advocate getting an actual magazine of varying puzzles and doing this manually. Games and electronics or fine but they tend to have extra features which can detract from the simplicity of focussing hard on one puzzle. This can be hard to get back into if you’ve not done it for a long while but once you do you’ll wonder why you ever stopped. Again, don’t make it a chore, just keep it reasonably regular.

3. Old Games

Remember the old computer games that had a beginning, middle and end instead of 5 million levels or so. They either took a long time to complete or had three levels and you were finished in a day but they were much more fulfilling despite the lack of speed and graphics. Again, this is more focussed than competitive and has less extra features for distraction. Older games often required patience and focussed problem-solving, relying on gameplay over graphics.

Why the Nostalgia?

I love technology but I’ve become aware of how multi-tasking it seems to be now. While on one hand this is great, on the other hand, focussing can become split between several tasks at once on too regular a basis. Think about the internet. At one time if you wanted to know something, you had to read a book or to ask someone. You might have got back a few sources of information and then had time to think about it. Now, you can google it and get millions of varying answers back in seconds. While this is useful, the immediacy seems to draw away from reflection in that its such a fast process. Try limiting the search engine process except when in need of quick answers. 

4. Blogging

This is a very specific type of writing and in doing regular blogs on a particular subject you keep a good focus on it while allowing freedom to look at other areas. This can be great, especially if you’re struggling to fit writing around a busy schedule.

and finally…

5. Keep things down-to-earth

Image via Wikipedia

It can be tempting as writers to start wanting to turn things into a crusade. You think that you need to improve your concentration and go on a huge trawl for any and all techniques to do so. Yet in doing this you are actually turning it into a mission. This can work but sometimes it’s better just to keep the changes to a minimum. Tell yourself you’re just going to get a puzzle book and do the odd one from time to time and you’ve done something to improve your concentration without it become a dominant direction in your mindset. 

So if you are struggling with your concentration try one of these tips and see if it helps. Think of when your writing was its best and what you did at that time. Did you watch a lot of films? Did you read a lot of books? Chances are that something you thought may have just been fun was something that helped you to concentrate.

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finalé

Image via Wikipedia

Through the mirror-like image they travelled once more and appeared back in the first few passages of the maze. Only this time its complexities seemed simpler, one path leading them straight to the centre, where they sat down in the café and drank cappuccinos.

Diana and Danni were both silent for a time, enjoying the sense of relief they felt.

Danni turned around to glance back at the green mass of hedges behind them. She touched her fingers to the necklace. It felt funny around her neck, as if something not quite human charged through it. Some sort of mystery.

“I wonder how many tourists get lost in that place every year,” said Diana, finally breaking the silence.

“Not too many, I think.”

“Really?”

Danni looked up at her. “Somehow, I think that, it only takes certain people to that place. Not everyone is meant to see it.”

“Well I’ll be glad if I never see it again.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Danni was still looking deep in thought. She seemed different to Diana now. She seemed different. Diana had seen a new strength in her, a sense of wide-eyed curiosity that she hadn’t noticed was there before. Her quiet sister. Thirteen minutes younger than her. Something had changed.

“Come on,” said Danni, finally returning to reality. “Let’s get out of here.”

Diana smiled and they both gulped down their drinks before leaving.

A few feet away, in the café, a woman was talking to her friends and checking her cell phone.

“He hasn’t texted back and he’s not answering when I ring. How long can it take to meet us here?”

The twins looked at each, having overheard the woman, before following the straight path, riddled with tourists, out of the maze.

Copyright (c) bardicblogger / a thinker never sleeps / Teri Montague 2011

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