Jason Ward

Working as a freelance writer

2020-03-31T23:30:00.001-07:00

I have taken the plunge to write freelance. It is a tad intimidating after a lifetime of writing for publications or institutions but now seems like a good time to give this a try. I have worked freelance before but it was usually with multiple clients in place. For the last 5 years, I have been writing for 'the man' doing marketing, editing, press releases and things of that nature. It was fine as it was varied but the whole virus and self-isolation excitement has made me realise I want to try something new. Sadly, all the publications I used to write for are now out of print.

I have started writing for Medium, which is fun but starting tomorrow, I will be branching out. I have been going solo since the 31st March, so am taking a couple of days to chill out and read books. If you want to check out my Medium profile click on this. Please check it out and feel free to clap or follow or whatever takes your fancy. My most recent article is The Most Famous Ghost in Thailand.

This blogger account gets a surprising number of readers but nothing like my main two. The plan to start a website solely for showing writing samples. I will add the website address here once it is set up, in case someone stumbles on this and wants me to write or edit something. Alternatively, for now, most of my info is on my main website, www.thewordofward.co.uk.

Wish me luck and if anyone has anything they want to know or just wants to get in touch, I can be contacted via thewordofward@gmail.com. No spam or offers of exposure (in any sense!) please. Good luck and stay safe from the pernicious virus.

Writing for the Medium Platform

2020-02-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

I have been a member of Medium for a while now. Initially because it had some interesting articles but then it soon became obvious that it can, theoretically, be a nice little earner. I have been reticent until now because I previously tried out some other sites and the pay was awful compared to normal freelancing for magazines.

Medium seems different and I am completely aware that this sounds like some kind of sponsored post. It isn't though, I promise, and can prove it in three ways. One - I don't think Medium even has an affiliate program. Two - I have had millions of quite well paid offers to host a sponsored post on my websites (mostly gambling) and have always said no. The final and most convincing is that I have never read a sponsored post that said fuck.

The main issue is that I can never think of anything to write that would match what they seem to publish most. My expertise is basically writing and science fiction. There are a million posts already about writing and even writing for Medium and how to be more productive when writing for Medium and so on.

So my plan is to write a wide variety of things and see what sticks. If it starts to make a bit of cash then I will devote more time to it. I am currently writing a novel and working a full time writing job, so time is of the essence and I occasionally might want to not be in front of a laptop.

I will see how things go and will mention how it pans out when something has actually panned out. Fingers crossed.

Haunted Thailand ebook is finally here!

2019-12-05T03:04:00.000-08:00

I keep mentioning here and at www.scifiward.com and www.thewordofward.co.uk that I have writing like a man possessed of late. However, aside from a few banal (just kidding they're great) posts on the above sites, a bit of freelance work and my daytime writing job, it might seem to an outside that I am lazy bastard who talks a lot. Which, to be fair, I also am.

But I do occasionally finish something a little longer. Like this ebook on ghosts and spirits that live in Thailand. I could elaborate more and explain what this fascinating book is about (although the clue is in the title), but fortunately I have already done that. But before the blurb, some links.

For those in the US click on this.

For those in the UK, this is the bad boy you want to click on.

Ok, that is the housekeeping done. Thanks. Here is the blurb:

In sunny Thailand there are a lot of things that go bump in the night. Ranging from grotesque to seductive, disgusting to cute, malevolent to benevolent, in the ‘Land of Smiles’ ghosts and spirits are everywhere. Although predominantly Buddhist, Thais strongly believe in spirit worship and this, combined with the love of a good grisly tale means there are some fascinating undead wandering around. As a journalist based in Bangkok, Jason R Ward had been hired to write an article on Thai ghosts and hauntings but after a bit of research realized an 800 word piece was, frankly, not going to cut it.

Read about some of the more famous spirits such as the bloodthirsty Mae Nak, an undead woman who won’t take her death lying down and is willing to kill to keep her secret; a Krasue – a surprisingly attractive flying female head with dangling entrails and a truly disgusting diet; or a Praet, a twenty-foot tall invisible entity with colossal hands, a minuscule mouth, and a raging hunger. As if they weren’t enough, there are other stories, including hauntings at the international airport, pretty women who are actually seductive tree spirits and even a ghost who lives in the toilet that helps out with nightmares. Add to the mix spells, rituals, the occult and it is a wonder Thais leave the house at night.

Haunted Thailand brings together some of the better known tales of the region and a few that even the locals may not know. Dim the lights and enjoy…

Where has the time gone? A year of solid writing

2019-11-21T00:06:00.001-08:00

I have a reminder to write here set up on an app and when it pops up I think, "Right, I'll do that next." Unfortunately, I then proceeded to forget. For a year! Apologies to anyone who may have toyed with following me here. That will change.

So what has happened over the past year?
Quite a lot, although if you look at my actual output, it would appear to be bugger all. Which is a shame. But great things are afoot! For previous books check out this link you are looking at right now.

The Fantasy novel
I am still writing my epic fantasy story and am currently at around 500,000 words. I have identified a point where book one would end and am now well into book two. But I have had to pause. I have a couple of ebooks out but nowhere near the following or presence that would persuade many people to buy such a huge novel. Also, it is huge and not finished and will need almost a complete rewrite - well not complete as the world and characters and general events are good, it is just most of the words that will need altering.
So I decided that I would write some shorter books - scifi to start with - and will then finish the fantasy and publish to international acclaim.

Shorter ebooks
I have mentioned before that I intend to write some non-fiction shorter ebooks. My background is journalism, so I thought I might as well publish something relating to previous writings. I have one ready to go called "Haunted Thailand - Ghosts and Spirits in the Land of Smiles". Pretty cool title right? The cover is done. I need to go over it once more, write the blurb and it is good to go. I will share it here imminently. I promise.

A scifi novel
I am also writing a light-hearted science fiction novel that will be a damn sight shorter than my fantasy one. I am currently about 9000 words in which doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a lot nearer the end than the fantasy. So that is relatively exciting. Potentially. Soonish.

Other websites
My other websites are doing well and I have been focusing more on them than this. My bad. If you're a bit bored, please check them out. www.scifiward.com is all about... well you can probably guess. My other is www.thewordofward.co.uk and is about everything in existence that is not science fiction.

I will be back soon with the exciting news of my new Thai ebook. Excitement!

Nanowrimo is upon us!

2018-11-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

Every year I keep meaning to do the Nanowrimo event / challenge. In case you have never heard of it, the idea is to write 2000 words of a novel every day for the month of November. At the end of the month, you have a 60,000-word book! Good for you. It stands for 'National Novel Writing Month' and is a kind of mutual support online program and challenge for budding authors. It is now a global thing, so frankly it should be renamed.

Last year, I thought that I was definitely going to sign up for it and went to the website only to find that I had signed up several years previous and had logged in every year since. Good intentions and all that. Well, it starts today and although I have an idea for a scifi book that would be roughly that length, I haven't plotted it out yet and while I am not a strict plotter, in this case, I think it might be a good idea.

If you are hearing about all this for the first time, then I encourage you to get going. I know from bitter experience that if you fall behind a day, it is ridiculously difficult to catch up. The website is here. Good luck!

From short stories to epic fantasy

2018-05-01T01:21:00.001-07:00

I think I have made a mistake in the way I am working toward writing fiction. I started with short stories, which is great. Some were published elsewhere and then I was able to bundle them all into a couple of small collections. I also wrote a longer short story called Cooperworld which I self-published. Unless you are famous, there really isn't much of a market for a 17000-word story.

So essentially I went from something which was a standard 2000-5000 words in length, to something 100,000 words and up. I am currently at 130,000 words and although the end is in sight, I am still having to squint to see it.

I keep feeling tempted to write a quick scifi novel but know that if I stop, I will never finish the epic fantasy book. If there is one thing I have read numerous times, it is that you should always plough on until you are done, otherwise you never will. This is good advice and I fully agree. So additional advice would be - start something shorter and finish that because there is a mild feeling of despair when you look ahead and see the story stretching away into the dim distance.

I'd better get back to it...

Plotting vs Pantsing debate. Do what you want.

2018-03-02T00:48:00.001-08:00

If you have written, thought about writing, or are currently writing a novel, you have probably come across the slightly daft debate of whether to 'pants' or 'plot'. If you haven't then:

'Pantsing' is when you write 'by the seat of your pants'. In other words, you make shit up as you go along. Stephen King is a famous 'pantser'.

'Plotting' is when you plot everything out to a greater or lesser extent. You probably guessed that by its self-explanatory name. James Patterson is a famous 'plotter'.

To be honest, I think it just depends on the author and, to an extent, the genre. An epic fantasy novel could be 'pantsed' as could a lot of contemporary character-based fiction, with just a vague ending in mind. A thriller or ideas-based science fiction novel would be harder, as the ending pretty much has to be known so that it can be worked towards.

I also think, taking the above examples, that the effect can be noticeable. I like both King and Patterson. I think Stephen King has better ideas and explores them and his characters a bit more in-depth but I often find the endings a bit of a letdown. Like 'It', for example, had a bollocks ending. Whereas Patterson writes a more complete and satisfying story but the characters and writing are a bit more fixed and less appealing. Just my opinion and I will probably never sell as many books as either.

My background is in print journalism and that comes with its own structures and rules that can be learnt. I have yet to write a single book but am working on a fantasy novel right now. I had some vague ideas but it was only once I was 100,000 words in that I realised I needed to work out a bit more lore and background. Also, the central premise didn't quite work and the story ground to a stop. So I decided to plot the rest and it has worked out brilliantly. If I had plotted it all out from the start, however, I doubt the characters and mood of the book would have come across in the way they have. It would have been too structured and certain characters just wouldn't have happened.

So now I have the whole plot but basically, I need to rewrite the whole beginning section again. I have to insert characters and gods and backstory. But without having written 100,000 words by 'pantsing' I am not sure I would have been able to plot the story I have.

So what is the point of this post? I guess it is just that you don't have to be one or the other. I read something about Neil Gaiman who said he has a vague idea of where it is all going but that is all. Stephen King says he just 'pants' it but he has already written a ton of books and probably has an idea of where it is all going to go - a killer car or dog story for example, already has something of a structure built in. Patterson, on the other hand, writes such a detailed plot that he has essentially just 'pantsed' a short story which is then fleshed out. I don't think anyone is entirely in one camp or the other. At least, no one I like as a writer.

In summary then - do what works for you and keep doing it.

Another tendency I have is to procrastinate with other writing. So for now, that is all. Write on and good luck.

Apps to help with productivity

2017-06-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

I have been writing a lot recently, for both business and pleasure. It can be hard to keep track of everything as my day job requires a completely different type of journalism and scribing skills than my more shallow and considerably more fun websites. I am also writing a book, which is a completely different mindset.

Consequently, when I sit down to start every morning, I frequently draw a blank and just feel an urge to look at Facebook. That is where apps come in. Before smartphones and the internet (I am old), I used to have notebooks and post-its everywhere reminding me to do things. Now I have apps. For example, Wunderlist just reminded me to post on this blog. (It has been reminding me for a while, apologies.)

In case you are a similar procrastinator, here are some apps that help me to focus and get more done.

Wunderlist
This is probably my main 'To Do' list. It is what I look at first and notifications pop up throughout the day reminding me of things I have to do. Not just writing, but everything. It's an awesome app that pretty much runs my daily life. Wunderlist works and syncs across my MacAir, iPad, and Samsung phone.

Evernote
This is where I keep all my notes, ideas, links to everything and everyone I write for. Like Wunderlist, it syncs across all devices and is superb for jotting down anything.

Habitbull
Because I am an idle bastard, I need more general prodding. Habitbull is where I set vague targets for the day - write 1000 words of fiction, write a website article, do some press ups, practice another language (I am learning Thai), and so on. It lets me know how well I am doing as a kind of overview.

Focus Keeper
This is great for bursts of work. It uses the Pomodoro technique where you turn off everything and just focus on one particular task for 25 minutes. For someone who is easily distracted, this is pretty essential.

White noise
There are quite a few apps that just block out noise and replace it with something less distracting and constant. My personal favourite is a blend of heavy rain and light traffic. Not sure what that says about me. I spend a lot of time in coffee shops and white noise combined with the Pomodoro technique help me be very productive.

I use a couple of other apps occasionally but these are my main ones. If you are an easily distracted person such as myself, I hope this helps. Now I am just going to- Look a squirrel!

The trouble with selling short stories, even with Duotrope.

2016-08-19T01:42:00.004-07:00

I recently wrote a short story that was 7000 words long and was military science fiction. I don't normally write that particular sub-genre but the idea I had made it necessary to be all about shooting aliens with guns. But then, once it was finished, I found I was a bit stuck with what to do with it.

I am a big fan of Duotrope. (https://duotrope.com) You have to pay but it has a lot of listings that are well organised and easy to filter, they are regularly updated, and they have a really good section for tracking your submissions. You also get options to see minor stats you wouldn't otherwise discover. Such what percentage of submissions to a particular magazine get rejected and even if that rejection was a personalised letter or a generic form. Not hugely important I guess, but if you are going to be rejected it is nice to know it was in the 10% that got a personal email saying "No thanks, that was crap" as opposed to all the other losers who had a template.

Even with all the options available, I keep finding myself falling through the cracks of having somewhere to submit something. Most magazines want less than 5000 words, or they don't pay, or only the big magazines will publish that length and genre but you aren't a known name. Even if you find one that ticks all the right boxes, you might not hear back for months which effectively puts that story in a limbo as multiple submissions are usually a no-no. You can always send things out for free, but I write professionally (non-fiction), and would never sell my stuff cheap, so it is painful to do so when I switch to fiction.

I have mostly been relying on Amazon Kindle which has actually been pretty good and has made me more money than most paying magazines would have done. It is also good practice for when I finally finish a novel and are wondering what the hell to do with it.

One thing I am going to try however, is writing for anthologies. Again, this is helped by Duotrope (I promise I am not being paid for this but I should), as they have a list of upcoming anthologies which are normally based around a theme. Such as - apocalypse brought on by environmental disaster or horny ghosts or comedy stories set at sea, or whatever. This provides a writing prompt, payment and visibility. I will see how it goes and will update here. It will be a while though, these things take months just to read the stories, let alone publish. We shall see.

New story imminent!

2016-07-13T21:52:00.001-07:00

I have been strangely productive recently. I think it is a combination of being a bit healthier, more focused, fish oil and gingko tablets, or magic. Possibly biorhythms, if I believed in that. Maybe it is to do with Jupiter's alignment with Pluto or something.

I am currently writing a fantasy novel and am growing concerned at the length already. I am at 25,000 words and we haven't even met the main protagonist yet. Why do fantasy novels always become so epic? Most strange.

In other reasonably exciting news, I have written a science fiction short story called 'The Next Giant Leap'. I am working on the cover and will publish soon.

In the meantime, if you stumbled on this page by accident, (hello!) you can check out some of my short stories. If you are bored. They are science fiction and travel stories and are on amazon. Links and descriptions can be found here: http://thewordofward.co.uk/my-books/

Writing more productively

2016-06-09T01:02:00.002-07:00

I feel that I have been falling behind a bit on the whole writing fiction thing. Which is bad as it is what I have wanted to do for a living since I was 10. Part of the problem is that I write full time for my job, so when it comes to having some relaxing 'down time' I can't be bothered to write more. But I have downloaded some apps to prompt me to write more. Nearly all problems can be solved with apps and targets. Plus coffee and beer.

Consequently, I have another story written called 'The Next Giant Leap'. It is going through the editing process as I write this. So keep your eyes peeled if you like a bit of military scifi action. If you don't, feel free to try something else. Pretty please.

Cooperworld is out!

2016-03-28T00:31:00.002-07:00

Ok, I will admit I have been a bit negligent when it comes to updating this webpage. In my defence, I have been writing. For example, I wrote Cooperworld. Check it out: Cooperworld This is a 17,000 word short story. Which is quite a long short story, I'll grant you. Here is the blurb: In the near future, AI research is strictly controlled by paranoid governments. When a renowned Artificial Intelligence expert illegally decides to create digital life in an simulated universe, he doesn't at first realise the implications of what he has done. Implications not just for him, but for everyone. In this short story, journalist and writer Jason R. Ward has a light-hearted but fairly philosophical look at what constitutes consciousness and has a good hard look at how we perceive reality.

For US customers: For UK customers:

Australia, Morocco, and Thailand. Three True Travel Stories.

2014-04-05T20:48:00.003-07:00

The book is called 'Australia, Morocco, and Thailand. Three True Travel Stories'. Not the catchiest of titles, I'll admit, but I want people to know what they're getting. Three true travel stories where yours truly was in peril. In three different places.

Here's the blurb:

Jason Ward tells three true stories of fairly perilous travel.

While backpacking in Australia in his early twenties, he decides to give fruit picking a go. Even without the spiders, snakes, and a plague of locusts, things turn out pretty badly.

A trip into Morocco's Atlas Mountains with his girlfriend turns out less than romantic when flash floods threaten to wipe out the town. The only escape option is a van full of Berber tribesmen and a waterlogged road on the edge of a cliff.

After moving to the peaceful paradise of Thailand, Ward goes to a local pub near his Bangkok flat. That evening there is a military coup. In Bangkok. So why can't he see anything?

These stories are filled with humour and dollops of fear. Recommended for those who enjoy travel stories or just like reading about someone being mildly terrified in foreign countries. If you like travel stories please give them a go. Also, if you like them, please leave a review, they really help and I need to eat. If you don't like them, then move along, nothing to see here.
For UK customers:

For our American cousins:

Australia, Morocco, and Thailand. Three True Travel Stories is also available anywhere there is an Amazon. The book costs a pittance. Which is a bargain in any currency.

My travel stories are almost ready.

2012-03-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Thailand and Laos were awesome. If you want to see some pictures, check out http://thewordofward.co.uk/?p=1849. It is just part 1 of a tale of our trip down the Mekong to Luang Prabang.

I spent more time travelling than writing, sadly. Having said that, I have found time to edit a trio of travel stories. They are almost ready to go. All I need now is a title and a cover.

I am also going to publish some articles I wrote for magazines in Thailand. They might be of interest to someone somewhere.

So it is all full steam ahead. Except for today. As I have a hangover.

Be prepared for a writing onslaught!

2012-02-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

I'm flying to Thailand and Laos on the 9th of February. I'm hoping this will result in a colossal writing surge. I feel there are a few things holding me back right now.
I work freelance in TV and I'm currently in the middle of an 84 hour week. This is a good thing as I am going away for 5 weeks and won't get paid while I am away. The work obviously uses up a lot of time when you factor in sleeping, eating, and toilet breaks as well.
While doing all this, I am also studying for a degree in English Language and Literature. Even though I have worked as a journalist on and off for 20 years, I intend to return to Asia at some point, where it is almost impossible to work full time without a degree these days.
The final thing is that it is absolutely freezing in Britain and our heating has just packed up. Consequently it is a struggle to focus and be creative in any way. What with all the shivering and impending frostbite.
I am currently working on some non-fiction travel stories. They are almost done but I feel it will enhance the writing if I am in a tropical country as the stories are set in Morocco, Thailand, and Australia.
After that, there are some more short fiction tales and two books in the pipeline.
So brace yourself.

The Uneven Passage of Time

2012-02-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a collection of three Science Fiction short stories. Think Twilight Zone with an emphasis on the way we travel through time. Here is a picture and the blurb.

Time, famously, is relative. In this trio of short stories journalist and fiction writer Jason R. Ward looks at three individuals and their unorthodox journeys through time. These entertaining tales blend the themes of psychology and perception with classic science fiction.

Stephen Hawking once sent out dinner invitations to all future time travellers. No one turned up. But what if one had? In ‘A Date to Remember’ a young physicist is convinced he has worked out the secret to building a time travel device. Lacking the resources to construct the machine he sets a time and date for a meeting with his future self.

It is a truism that people remember the big events in life and forget the repetitive. For most people, their year skips by unnoticed, punctuated by birthdays, world events, big personal milestones or traumatic events. As you age life seems to speed up and you find that the years seem to fly past. ‘As Time Goes By’ is the story of Frank Gilbert who is experiencing this to the extreme. His time seems to be accelerating at an abnormal rate. Years of his repetitive life seem to go by in days. Can he break the cycle in time?

The final and longest short story is ‘The Man Who Loved Statues’. Captain Michael Pike is a man who has taken a bit of hammering in life. With nothing much to live for he volunteers for an experiment that is going to attempt to alter his passage through time and put him in stasis. Things don’t go quite according to plan.

For US readers: http://www.amazon.com/Uneven-Passage-Time-ebook/dp/B006MHSWI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324264158&sr=8-1

For UK readers: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Uneven-Passage-Time-ebook/dp/B006MHSWI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324258518&sr=8-1

Go on, give them a try and leave a lovely review (if the mood takes you).

Welcome!

2012-02-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hello, good evening and welcome to my new website. This exists so that I can I can keep you informed about my superb works of fiction. First, in case you care, a little bit about myself.

I am a journalist and a fiction writer. I also write two humorous websites. www.thewordofward.co.uk is a review site of almost everything I see, read, or visit. It is very tongue in cheek. My other site is similarly fun but deals purely with glorious Science Fiction. www.scifiward.com

Although I started writing fiction when I was 10, I have only now gotten round to actually allowing the public to read my fiction. My first book is a trio of short stories called 'The Uneven Passage of Time'. There will be more to follow. I hope that the more I write fiction the less I will have to write non-fiction. Enjoy!