scribo ergo sum

Gender, honesty, and descrimination in the publishing industry

2012-01-26T08:03:00.001Z

That is probably the scariest title I’ve ever given a blog post.

October 2010 an author wrote about his difficulties selling his romantic comedy. He claimed he was turned down by publishers because he was (and still is, presumably) a man. He goes on to state “some of the reasons from the editors”:

‘Men writing about romance and relationships doesn’t appeal to the reading public.’

‘Women readers feel that women writers cover this area far more convincingly.’

Two reasons, then, and both equate to the same thing: romances written by men don't appeal to the usual audience for romance, which is women. Whether you believe that or not, this is what he was told.

He goes on to say,

In the meantime I suppose I’ll have to work on a new novel about war, or crime, or cars, as apparently these are the only subjects on which men are able to write.

Coming from the only gender allowed to write anything at all for most of human history, this is a pretty funny statement. However, I understand his frustration. I’m confused by his reception as he says that his romance is from a male perspective and there’s precedent for this (High Fidelity comes to mind.) I didn’t think women would have a problem with a man writing a romance from a man’s perspective. I'd think they'd be interested. My gut instinct was that a man trying to write a romance from a woman’s perspective would be the difficult scenario. But even as a woman I don’t know all women.

We do care about gender, though, don’t we? I do. I’m reading a fairly vicious book right now by an author named “Jesse,” and I find myself hoping it’s a female Jesse because I really want to read a book this dark and disturbing by a women author. There’s no good reason for that. I just want it. I want that precedent.

I’ve also recently finished Caitlan Moran’s How to be a Woman, a memoir that examines the author’s life with a view to define what a woman is, what it isn’t, and whether it’s all that important anyway. It’s funny, relevant to the world, allegedly honest, and if I found out it was written by a man it wouldn’t negate any of the great points within but I might have read it with a lot of skepticism. As it is, I offered it to my husband and he laughed. Pointing out that it would help him understand his wife inspired a slightly better reaction, but still. Readers care about gender. Publishers know it. They want to make money, and if the market is sexist, their selection process is also.

And readers care about honesty. I had a great conversation in a book club about whether it mattered that James Frey never actually experienced a good part of A Million Little Pieces. One reader said it didn’t matter because someone in the world had experienced these things and the book presented them as they would have been. For others (including Oprah) it mattered immensely: they felt cheated because they’d bonded with a real person who turned out to be a liar. Interestingly, if it had been presented as fiction rather than a memoir we might have all happily bonded with the character and not cared that it was a lie. But even more interestingly, the reason it was presented as a memoir was because Frey tried to publish it as fiction and failed.

So there we are again.

Readers care what we’re getting, and whether we’re getting the full story. We also recognize the difference between fiction and lying.

The author who can’t publish his romance refuses to use a pseudonym, saying it would be “conceding to the discrimination,” and “attitudes should be changed as opposed to my name.” I think that’s admirable. When it comes to feeling discriminated against I support standing up for yourself rather than lying down. However, in this case it amounts to the same thing: his book disappears, unread.

The end.

Sketch: Man, woman by Yehohan92100, & Photo: vintage crossdressing by Foxtongue, both on flickr

Limitations of the Unlimited

2012-01-23T09:44:00.000Z

I received a semi-literate text message from my phone carrier the other day:

We've noticed you're using a lot of data. And it's affecting the service for other customers. Please cut down your use or connect over Wi-Fi. Or we may have to stop your data until your next bill date.

I’m on an unlimited data plan, of course.

Further research into my carrier’s “unlimited” plan (for both mobile & broadband) reveals:

You can download as much as you like – within reason. Like most other broadband providers, we have a policy on acceptable use. The policy is there to stop people overloading the system. And slowing it down for everyone else. You won't have any problem downloading films and music or watching videos online. But if you download large files at peak times every day, we might ask you to cut down. And if you keep overdoing it, we could close your account.

Again, semi-literate, but it’s understandable, albeit contradictory (to itself.) Essentially they misadvertise their service to their own ends. I’m unimpressed.

Nothing that a little tinkering can't fix.

What’s the non-computer equivalent of this? An all-you-can-eat-buffet? You can imagine a situation where a restaurant owner approaches a diner and says, “Excuse me ma’am. I realize it says ‘All you can eat,’ but you’ve devoured four chickens and thirteen lobsters by yourself. I think this is beyond reasonable. Please stop.”

The diner can argue about the absence of “reasonable” from the statement “All you can eat,” but they’ve certainly eaten more than a human body should usually eat without becoming ill, so the restaurant owner has a bit of a point. They have “reasonable” on their side.

Data on the internet doesn’t work this way. I can’t, say, consume so much YouTube in a month that I’m actually making myself sick. Well, probably not anyway. If I want to watch YouTube videos of a big cat jumping into a small box all the way home from work every day, and I’m on an unlimited plan, that should be just fine. What they could have done to echo the familiar all-you-can-eat example would be to tell me I've used ten times more data than they could have predicted, and even then I wouldn't have been very receptive. It doesn't equate.

Instead of this, perhaps realizing it wouldn't work, they chose the “human” aspect to pick on and tried to make me responsible for other people’s experience--which clearly I am not. They said the computer-equivalent of, “Excuse me ma’am, I know it says ‘All you can eat’ but you’re eating all the food and the other diners won’t have any left! Think of the other diners!”

To which I would like to say, “Buy more food!”

Photo: Troubleshooting the phone system, by Solarbotics on flickr

Dear Delightful Dewey

2012-01-19T08:08:00.002Z

Let us take a moment to appreciate the mighty Dewey Decimal System.

Some things are never appreciated to the extent they deserve. You could visit a library a thousand times, browsing the shelves for what you want and never realizing that the reason you can browse at all is the Dewey Decimal System and its greatness. Unlike when you visit the Pyramids or the Parthenon, you don't realize the thought and effort of the design process in the final Dewey experience.

Of course, Dewey isn't the best for every collection. Leaving aside the Library of Congress classification scheme or simple alphabetization by author, some libraries choose to organize more like bookstores, to make themselves appear more user-friendly. I don't subscribe to the idea that placing a number on the side of the book makes it unfriendly (I love numbers. Numbers are our friends!) but I do appreciate the drive to make libraries more welcoming for everyone.

The other day a woman came into the library and asked me the difference between Dewey and a Faceted Classification System. The gist is that Dewey is hierarchical: cows are in the mammals section of the living things section, basically, and that's the only place cows are put. By contrast, a Faceted system allows several ways to get at the same information: jewellery is divided into gold, silver, and platinum, which is a “Materials” facet, but it’s also divided into bracelets, earrings, and necklaces, which is a “Type” category, and also an “Artists” facet, a “Price” facet, and so on. So each item can be in more than one facet, making it absolutely non-hierarchical and nearly impossible to place on a ordered shelf, but more easily found using a non-physical (computer-based) classification system (because it’s put in more places on the computer, essentially.) You see this type of classification at eBay, on Amazon, and other websites that want to give you the most hits for your search (Buy this! Buy it all!)

This wouldn’t really work for my library. An item cannot be in more than one place in a public library, unless you have more than one of the same item, and in that case you’d end up looking everywhere for one thing. So Dewey is still better, here. All hail Dewey!

Particularly when you're looking for a narrow subject in a collection of thousands. Whew.

Photo: Dewey or don't we? by scampion on flickr

WriteAnything: "The Full Spectrum"

2012-01-17T09:20:00.000Z

I was cooking breakfast this morning, unsuccessfully trying to flip over my omelette, and I thought, Wow, how easily an omelette becomes scrambled eggs. I considered how this phrase applies to writing, and then how everything applies to writing when you have writing constantly on your mind. Like me. I wonder what other people think about? Football and shopping, I suppose.

My first article of the new year has been published over at Write Anything, and it explores how useful it is to consider other points of view, particularly regarding writing. Because writing writing writing.

Writing.

Photo: Mushroom omelette by Stephen Rees on flickr

Waterstones: Thats odd.

2012-01-12T10:48:00.002Z

Some people love grammar. Really, really adore it. They can be called grammar whores, a term that sounds cruel out of context but is often used by those who feel the term applies to themselves. Although depending on how much you love grammar you might think of yourself simply as "literate."

In any case, you have to know your crowd. For example, you'd think that people who read widely might be more likely to care about things like grammar. People who frequent bookstores, for instance.

Which must be why Waterstone's has decided to drop the apostrophe from their name and present themselves as Waterstones--a word that means "more than one Waterstone" rather than "the bookshop that was started by Mr. Waterstone."

Wait, no. That makes no sense. A bookstore would cater to the literate, not defy them. Right? Hmm.

I can't judge them too harshly. A search of my blog reveals that more often than not I have spelled it "Waterstones." To be fair I didn't realize it was incorrect, having never heard of Mr. Waterstone until now, but for those who realize the error (ie. those in charge of the company) you'd think they'd make an effort. At least as much of an effort as McDonald's, which is not known for its grammar whores and could have changed its name to Mickey Deez years ago. Oh well.

In loosely-related news, the BBC has published a list of 100 year old predictions that did and did not come true. One of the losers was "No more C, X, or Q." So they thought the apostrophe would survive, but not the letters C, X, or Q. Interesting.

For the record, there are 39 Cs in this post, 4 Qs... and 1 X. (plus that one.)

Photo: www apostrophe by Rob Watling on flickr

Gmail and Visual Accessibility

2012-01-09T09:57:00.000Z

Visual accessibility is incredibly important online because the majority of internet users access everything with our eyes: we watch, see, read the internet, and we're a long way from the Matrix (Probably, though conspiracy theorists can disagree.) And you don't have to have a visual impairment to know that grey-on-black text is difficult to read no matter how nice it looks. The only reason this blog is grey-on-white and not something more cool is because I have learned too much about visual accessibility to justify creating a library-themed site that destroys eyesight worldwide.

Usually I'm happy with Google's products, and I've often been impressed by their designs, but the latest Gmail change has me up in arms. They've changed the buttons at the top of the page from text-based to simple icons so they can use the same icon internationally, regardless of user language. And although I like to think of myself as a pretty brainy individual, these icons hurt my poor little brain. They're blocky, uniform, and give my mind no hint as to what they mean until I stare at each individually for a moment--every time I use my email. I can't seem to automatically recognize any of them. Is this because they're designed away from culture bias? I don't know. Maybe I have an impairment I didn't realize. But it drives my eyes crazy and it makes accessing my email a chore.

I've left a lot of feedback about this issue, and a little searching shows I'm not the only one. I'm not surprised that Google hasn't immediately given us the option to show text on the buttons but I am disappointed. If a lot of people complain because they don't like the look of a new system, there's not much you can expect: you can't please everyone. But if a company deliberately steps away from visual accessibility online and has that pointed out again and again, I would hope they'd take a step back.

Please? For the sake of my eyes and my brain. Don't drive me back to Hotmail!*

* Bluff called. I'll never go back to Hotmail.

Photo: Easy to read keyboard by Ingo Meyer on flickr

Storytime: The Princess Bride

2012-01-05T08:31:00.000Z

I hope you took my advice here and thought about a favourite story--or many--over the last few days. I wracked my own brain about which favourite I was going to mention first, but when the right one came to mind I knew it immediately.

It's The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's classic tale of true love and high adventure, the 'good parts' version by William Goldman, better known to the world as a movie that came out in 1987. And what a movie. As his Grandpa says to Fred Savage, it's got "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..." What else could you want?

So why do I think of it as a book, when most of the world knows the movie best? When I was 7 years old my Dad came home from a trip and said he'd seen a great film called "The Princess Bride." He told me a bit about it, and when I seemed interested he got the book from the library and read it to me. He read me the whole novel. Before I'd ever seen the movie, I was Fred Savage. Er, you know what I mean. And I loved it. Loved it loved it loved it.

Why is it one of my favourite stories? Well, the Grandpa was right: It has love, mysteries, narrow escapes and seemingly impossible odds. And it has a happy ending. Looking closer, it has everything I'd want to put into my own stories.

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father. Prepare to die.

First of all, its characters are brilliant. Every one who appears on screen (or on the page) is memorable. Our princess is kidnapped, and the leader of the kidnappers (Vizzini) is a study in how you can be too smart for your own good. The giant (Fezzik) is simple and sweet, but also loves rhymes ("No more rhyming, and I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?") and is well loved by the swordsman (Inigo) who is on a lifelong search for a six-fingered man who murdered his father. None of them are the stereotype of the evil henchman. The evil prince himself (Humperdinck--take a moment to appreciate that name) is a whining coward who fools us for most of the film. To say nothing of the torturer, the Court Rugen, a scientist and sadist... who has six fingers on one hand.

Then there are the good guys. Farm boy Wesley, the Dread Pirate Roberts, and The Man in Black. Each of these would be something on their own. Together? What a hero. Buttercup is unfortunately the least interesting of the bunch, but if you're looking for a heroine look no further than Valerie, Mad Max's witchy wife, who assesses the situation and whips her husband into shape so our hero doesn't have to stay mostly dead any longer than necessary.

People make mistakes in this story. They lose hope and their friends have to prop them up for a while. People die, and sometimes the wrong people die. Their backdrop is a world that's part-fantasy and part-history, so it doesn't intrude on the plot--Of course we believe that the prince of Florin wants to murder his bride and frame Guilder to start a war. That just makes sense. There's magic of a sort without any wizard battles and at the end of the day it's difficult to walk well if you've been mostly dead most of the day. It's all very reasonable.

I would like to say that the happy ending is what makes this one of my favourite stories, but it isn't: it's the journey. Across the water and up the Cliffs of Insanity, through the Fire Swamp and into the Pit of Despair. At no point does this story stop to indulge the author's love with his own words, or the filmmaker's love of their own sets. It just continues, and the characters draw it forward until its brilliant, inevitable, happy ending.

I'd love to hear about your own favourite stories, though I'll also understand if you want to keep them to yourself. It's easy for me to talk about The Princess Bride because I know it's well loved. Some stories I adore are less known, or less liked. And those are just for me.

Storytime: An Introduction

2012-01-01T11:35:00.001Z

After my Alternatives to Christmas list you might think I’m going to give you an Alternatives to New Year post today. The New Year is a pretty arbitrary holiday, after all—celebrating the moment when one arbitrary unit of time becomes the next arbitrary unit, totally beyond experiencing by our clumsy senses.

But no. Instead of that, which is a subject that sounds more grim all the time, I’m going to tell you about the next year of your life. Ready?

This is a year for stories. Every year is for stories, sure, but this year we’re going to appreciate them. We’re going to get at the core of the very best stories the world (and everyone in it) has ever offered.

Your first task is to think about your favourite story. It might be from a nursery rhyme, a horror novel, a video game or anything else—the medium is unimportant. The story is the thing. Don’t worry if you think of a dozen and can’t decide. Don’t worry if you can’t think of any. Give it a try, and come back here in a few days and read about one of my favourite stories. We’ll move forward from there and by the end of the year you’ll have more than a good idea about the stories that have moved you, and appreciate them all over again.

Happy New Year!

Photo: Fireworks by Matthew Sullivan on flickr

Other than Christmas

2011-12-24T15:52:00.000Z

As I mentioned in my WriteAnything article this month, not everyone adores Christmas. Some people downright loathe it. I think it’s fine, mostly because I don’t force myself to do things like sing in a choir or overindulge. I eat exactly the right amount of baked salmon and chocolate (which is admittedly quite a lot) and I don’t pretend the magical season means I can suddenly sing. So it’s ok.

For those who hate it, though, I have some suggestions that might help you shake things up.

Christmas alternatives

A zombie movie marathon. Or, if you prefer, some other kind of horror movie marathon. Horror movies make me happy, so this one works for me. See what you think. Another alternative would be clown movies. Clowns are freaking horrifying.
A fast. Yes, a fast at Christmastime. Try NOT eating everything in sight. If you’re at “home” for the holidays with family that wants to feed you this one might be particularly exciting. Try not to offend Grandma.
Read a non-Christmas-themed book. Maybe check out the banned books list from the ALA. Many of them were banned due to Christian ideals, so it's relevant.
If you’re a writer, write a summertime story. Really non-seasonal. Make sure there’s a lot of sun and watermelons. Aussies, write something based on another planet.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for those attempting to avoid this unavoidable season. Otherwise, Merry Christmas!

WriteAnything: "Happy Merry Xmas Scrooge-Time"

2011-12-19T08:05:00.000Z

Happy Christmas! Or is it?

"Christmas" doesn't inspire thoughts of spiced wine and good will for everyone. Head over to WriteAnything to read my take on the personal nature of words, and how to add truth to your writing by giving your character an honest human perspective rather than something written by the Disney Channel.

Photo: MERRY CHRISTMAS!! by Paula Steele on flickr

"How To Write" by Jen

2011-12-15T09:56:00.001Z

There is a lot of advice out there teaching you How To Write. But the literature is clearly incomplete because I have not yet written my version of the How To Write post/article/book. So here it is. Finally. Definitively. Life-changingly.

How To Write

By Jen

First, you will need to be familiar with a language. English is fine, but you might also choose French, Japanese, or Urdu. It doesn't matter which so long as you know it well enough to communicate using this language. You must also know how to record this language, ie. what it looks like when it's written down or otherwise presented in a visual manner rather than vocally.

Then, you need the tools to record the language visually. The simplest method is pen and paper. Actually, the simplest method is quill and parchment. You might also upgrade the parchment to a Moleskine LEGENDARY notebook and the quill to something like this:

But that isn't necessary. Anything will do, even a brand new Macbook Pro laptop computer with 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 6MB shared L3 cache (as long as it has a keyboard.)

Next, you will need space and time. The Doctor is a useful ally in this quest, as long as he trusts you with his TARDIS, but in a pinch you can organize your own space and time so for instance you have half an hour at your kitchen table after work, or an hour in your public library on the weekend.

The last elements you need are all inside your head. Be careful with this one because it could get messy. You will need two of the following: a character, a setting, and a plot. Three is great, but two is all that's necessary. Be sure to be specific, too. For example, "a dog" is not a character, but "the dog Rex" is a character. "A boat" is not a setting but "The cruise ship Princess Petulance" is a setting. Specificity is very helpful for later.

If you're having trouble with a plot, just remember that it is a sequence of events that leads from one thing to another. For example, the sequence of events between getting married and having a baby, or the sequence of events between being born and dying of malaria. This is where specificity will really help you out, because if your character is "a guy called Alexander the Great," your plot is "dying of malaria," and your setting is "the city-state Babylon," you have a pretty epic story going on that people will believe.

So now you have all the elements required to write, and now you know how to write. Well done. If you have all these elements and you'd still like more guidance, you're actually looking for advice on How To Write WELL, and this is not the guide for you. Sorry. But I can give you a hint based on everything I've heard from writers around the world:

All the news that's fit to print

2011-12-12T10:18:00.000Z

I was going to post about how there'd been some good news for Britain's libraries lately. I was inspired by the announcement that Somerset Council has reversed its library cuts after a court ruling that it had breached equalities legislation. It's also nice that there's a "Libraries are great!" book being published and its contributors include Stephen Fry and other celebrities people adore.

Then I started searching for the other good news things I'd seen lately and I couldn't find any. Actually, I found bad news all over the place. Too much to link to, as if every news source is determined to report on every failed protest and potential volunteer programme, and anyway, why would I link to that? People still walk into my library and accuse staff of not providing the quality service they've come to expect because there aren't enough staff or there aren't as many magazine subscriptions as there used to be or the newest books are getting too old--seemingly oblivious that library cuts mean a worse library service no matter how hard we try. All in all, I am no longer inspired to write about how the future of Britain's libraries are looking up.

Sorry. I will try again soon.

Of course, a bit of scandal always lightens the mood: the National Library of Wales has accepted 300,000GBP from a Nazi collaborator, so that's interesting. But can Nazis ever lighten the mood? You tell me.

Photo: finally...some good news! by debaird at flickr

What dreams may come

2011-12-09T08:37:00.005Z

Last night I dreamed I was hosting a dinner party for a lot of people from high school that I didn't like. Don't get me wrong: I didn't loathe anyone in high school, but there were a fair number of people to whom I was viciously indifferent. They were all in my house: sitting, staring, and they all had high school hair. You know, high school hair: alarmingly dated and full of product to make sure that not a hair is out of place. Hours go into these awkward hairstyles, time that would have been better spent with soap and water, but never is, creating helmet-head acne-ridden weirdos who think they're Tiffany. Ah, high school.

So there we were, in my enormous dream house, and they were all having a terrible time because of two things I'd done wrong. One, I'd sat them separately or in couples around the place, at little tables with candles, as if I wanted them all to date each other. I have no excuse for this. I can't explain it. And two, it was freezing, and the only way to warm up was to pump on a massive bellows attached to a fire pit at one end of the hall. I'm not sure how I could have fixed this to make a better dinner party, to be honest. If this was the way I'd heated my home, they should have damned well dealt with it. I also heard a rumour floating around that they didn't like the red wine, which had been specially made by leaving seeds in very stiff grapes and slicing them in a particular way. It sounds good to me, but I guess my guests were assholes.

My point is: wow, dreams are crazy, and they arrive in very much the same way that writing ideas arrive (for those of you who incessantly ask writers "Where do you get your ideas?" this is for you.) Not from dreams, but from the same crazy place, where the experiences of your day are tossed with memories you didn't know you had, and then vigorously shaken through with imaginative elements that no one can predict.

I wish I could try that wine.

Photo: Tapas basement restaurant by Matt DeTurck on flickr

Viva le revolution!

2011-12-06T09:51:00.000Z

I've been away.

Well those photos don't match up, but you get the idea. I've been away in the City of Love (supposedly.) I can't say I paid attention to how much love anyone else was getting, and I'll keep the details of my own holiday to myself, but that's just not how I'd describe Paris, France. City of History, possibly, or City of Museums and Monuments, or maybe City of the Most Beautiful Church on a Small Hill that You'll Ever See. And of course City of Inspiration.

The first time I visited Paris I arrived dragging a large backpack with a small Canadian flag patch sewn on it. This time I was less of a cliche, and more mature. Honestly.

Darth Does DaVinci

But I still wouldn't mind forgetting about home, my job, and everything else and finding a tiny apartment somewhere in the shadow of le Sacre Coeur, setting up with a typewriter (or let's face it: I'd still need my laptop) and writing my little Bohemian heart out.

For the love of a good book

2011-11-29T08:57:00.001Z

My dad recently got a Sony Reader and has been enjoying library ebooks. He uses B.C. libraries and he has a good selection to choose from. My aunt, his sister, isn't as mobile as she used to be, so my dad recommended she use her local library to download ebooks from home. She wasn't sure, so he went to her library's website to make sure it would work.

And there he ran headfirst into an issue I touched on in my Library Guide for Writers: when it comes to ebooks, not all libraries are created equal.

Where my aunt lives (in California, and not Los Angeles or San Francisco) the only ebooks her library offers are via links to Project Gutenberg and the Gale Virtual Reference Library. There's no system for checking out ebooks like regular books, and so choice is extremely limited and they'll never see new fiction.

My dad was flabbergasted, which made me happy. This is the kind of flabbergasted someone should be: that the service isn't available. I feel sad for all the people like my aunt who don't have access to these things, and don't even know it's possible to have access.

We usually think that the digital divide refers to differences in massive areas or whole cultures, but here it is between just a few small towns in North America.

Photo: California Sunset by Lars Schmidt on flickr

Massive Ego and Tiny Voice

2011-11-25T08:06:00.000Z

A conversation with a good friend led to an evaluation of our writing psyches. We realized that a writer must have multiple personalities, and not just to put themselves in the mind-set of all their characters. There are two very important aspects of your psyche you must develop if you're going to be a successful, happy writer.

They are the Massive Ego and the Tiny Voice.

I'll start with the latter, because it's the easiest. Most writers already have the Tiny Voice down very well:

Oh God. Oh God, my writing sucks. I'm awful. This is awful. This is no doubt the worst thing I've ever written, so I'm getting worse. I wasn't great to begin with, and I'm actually worse now. Should I quit?

Pretty pathetic. And it doesn't sound useful, but actually the Tiny Voice at its most reasonable is the part of ourselves that knows we can do better, and wants to do better, so that's incredible important. It recognizes flaws in our writing, tells us we must fix them and not leave them be. It accepts that others have a better understanding of some things, and so accepts criticism--usually gracefully, because if a Master tells you what to do, you listen, because they know.

As writers, the Tiny Voice develops naturally, as we want more and more to share our work. But it can't operate on its own. If it did, we'd never develop our own voice. We'd just be copying our favourite writers, and saying to those who criticize us, Yeah, you're right, I'll quit. If it was up to the Tiny Voice we probably already would have quit.

Enter the Massive Ego:

Whatever. I don't care what you say, because I'm the best. You might not see it, but I know it without your guidance. My writing is good. It's better than good. It demonstrates skills you don't even understand. You think I should change the dialogue so it focusses on so and so? You're mad. I shouldn't. It's fine the way it is, because I Am Great.

You go, Massive Ego. *high five*

Another seemingly out-of-proportion perspective, and yet absolutely important when paired with Tiny Voice. Massive Ego allows us to evaluate the criticism given to us to determine if it's something we need to care about. Everyone has had feedback from a group or a first reader they weren't sure about: a word change they don't approve of, or an issue with the theme that they didn't think was an issue. Tiny Voice would just change it and lose their original story, but Massive Ego has enough confidence to step back and think, Actually, my way is better. And writers need that confidence if they ever want to develop their writing beyond emulation and delusion.

Make sure you can identify what aspects of your psyche are reacting to the criticism you receive. Are you rolling over and crying because someone told you to change a sentence? Or are you disregarding every recommendation? There needs to be a balance.

It might help to imagine the aspects of your psyche (if it doesn't make you feel too insane.) You could think of your Tiny Voice as a small version of you and your Massive Ego as giant, or your Tiny Voice as a frail old man and your Massive Ego as a sports superstar. Me, I imagine my Tiny Voice as a nearly-invisible creature who whispers and whines, and my Massive Ego looks a lot like Cate Blanchett. Go figure.

Photo: Split Personality by 1llustr4t0r.com on flickr

Jen, in front of the television

2011-11-22T09:10:00.001Z

Lately I've been playing a bit* of Skyrim. It's a fantasy RPG set in a snowy world where dragons are appearing, and you're the chosen one to save the world, etc. It's great fun. And if you wander into a little town in the southeast you meet a woman named Temba Wide-Arms.

The name meant nothing to me until someone mentioned that there's a Star Trek: The Next Generation easter egg in the game. "You know, from Darmock..."

Aha!

Darmock is an episode of ST:TNG where Picard is marooned on an alien planet (no, not that one, the other one) with an alien he can't understand, fighting another alien. And now I've mentioned a fantasy RPG video game, and a science fiction television show, and you still have no idea what I'm getting at.

I grew up with ST:TNG and many of its stories have stuck with me into adulthood: the episode where they judge whether Data is a life form, and whether they can take him apart and make more Datas; the episode where they're stuck in the time loop that keeps blowing up the ship; the episode where Picard lives out his life again, this time without being a foolish youth, and ends up being too careful and never becoming captain of the Enterprise--These stories are some of the favourites of my life, and even when they've been done before this is how I was introduced to them first. I had no idea that ideas could be so amazing until ST:TNG got to me.

And then there's the episode Darmock. Yes, Picard is marooned with an alien to defeat another alien, but what makes this a memorable story is the way they can't understand each other. The other alien--Dathon--speaks a language based on metaphor. You have to know the references he's making to understand what he's trying to say. Sort of like if a Star Trek fan were to say, "Kirk and Spock at Vulcan." Or if a Monty Python fan muttered, "It's only a model."

So instead of saying, "We're in a bit of a pickle here trying to defeat this alien together," Dathon says, "Darmock and Jalad at Tanagra." Instead of saying, "Epic fail," he says, "Shaka, when the walls fell." And instead of saying, "Hey Picard, I got you a present," he says, "Temba, his arms wide."

Temba Wide-Arms!

Two things here: first, how marvellous language is because of how we use it, how our words come together and how the very same words can mean something totally different to someone else, or exactly the same: obviously the Skyrim writers and I have a love of that episode in common. And second, how marvellous language is because just a few words can remind us of something that means so much more than the words themselves express: Temba Wide-Arms, Picard, Camelot, dragons, whatever. Who says a picture is worth a thousand words? One word can be worth a thousand memories.

* It has consumed my every waking moment. Okay, I jest. But it has tried.

Write Anything: "Tough Perspective"

2011-11-14T08:25:00.001Z

The first year I did NaNoWriMo I knew two other people in the world who were trying it, and that was all. I knew no one in real life and I didn't realize they even had meet-ups. It was a little bit lonely.

It's no longer lonely. In the last decade a lot of people I know online and off have started to participate. Others have been at it since before me, and it's great to find out we've had this in common for so long, even if we didn't realize. Some, I've introduced to NaNoWriMo, and that's always interesting: fun and exciting, because I hope they enjoy it, and a little bit nerve-wracking, like when you recommend a book or game that you love. It's not for everyone. I know this.

I also know that sometimes it would be just fine if the person would put their head down and get to it, and if they didn't let themselves get discouraged and distracted. There's a big difference between quitting NaNoWriMo because it's not for you, and quitting because you're giving up.

Always in the past I've held my tongue and murmured sympathy and told whoever it was that it was okay if they had to give up, I understood. Not today! Today I say what I really think in my Write Anything article "Tough Perspective."

Beware: it isn't for the fragile.

Photo: Rocky path by Mary & Dan on flickr

Human volunteers at the library

2011-11-12T08:00:00.000Z

On Wednesday a woman came to the reference desk where I was working and yelled at me for talking about her and telling her what to do, even though I hadn't yet spoken to her (or about her.) On Thursday a man began to shout at his computer, and when I went to investigate he said he was tired of being surrounded by white people, and he thought I was being a racist. I wonder what today will bring?

I took these events stride, as I usually do, though I can't say they never bother me. It's just that they happen a lot. A public library is a place where the customers are often stressed. People come to study, for job searching, to research legal matters, plan their child's schooling, figure out their bills, wrangle new technology, or track down information they can't find elsewhere. Customers are often frustrated, confused, worried, or generally tired and wishing they could work it out themselves. So tensions can be high. On the reference desk I get yelled at when the internet doesn't work correctly, if I can't find the correct information quickly enough, or the information no longer exists in the form the customer requires. And of course also when the photocopier acts up, when the customer and I have a misunderstanding, or when the customer is just a little bit crazy. It's unusual for a week to go by when I'm not yelled at, or at least spoken to like I'm a lower form of life.

I'm not complaining. This is just how it is. But I would like wonder out loud why anyone would allow themselves to be treated this way without compensation? Because if libraries become staffed entirely by volunteers, it won't just be that there are no trained professionals as far as information retrieval and organization. It will also be a situation where people are volunteering to be treated poorly on a regular basis. And honestly, I don't know that they'll do it. Why would you come back to that day after day? Why wouldn't you say: Screw it, I'm going to volunteer at the RSPCA, where at least the cats treat me like I'm human?

Photo: Approaching menace by Ewan Bellamy on flickr

"Every Sunday" at Every Day Fiction

2011-11-08T09:46:00.001Z

In the summer of 2009 Ev Bishop and I were looking for inspiration. We each devised some writing exercises, chose a few locations in and around the small town where we lived, and we took each other out on a one day writing retreat. It was just about one of the most wonderful things I've done in my writing life.

One of the places she took me was the tiny chapel at Usk.

Although this chapel is on the side of Highway 16 and visible every time you drive the main (the only) route east, I'd never stopped to take a look. We didn't just look, we went inside. We sat down. And we wrote.

From that time and place, the low ceiling, wood benches and the pulpit watching us from the front, came my story "Every Sunday" that has been published today by Every Day Fiction. You can read it there at the website if you like, or if you've already subscribed you'll get it in your inbox.

As writers we're always looking for that situation where time, place, and emotion come together in inspiration. I don't know what would happen if I revisited Usk Chapel, but at least I had that one day when Felicity came alive.

Killing You Softly with Your Own Words

2011-11-07T11:07:00.001Z

Writing chair

The second week of NaNoWriMo is just around the corner and it's difficult. Very difficult.

The first week has that great initial buzz and excitement. A lot of people are involved, enthusiastic and supportive. But in the second week, people you know have dropped out and you don't always know why. The buzz has faded, chores are piling up, people are starting to complain, and the novel has manifested itself as something different than you intended. You've been working hard and yet have three times as long to continue working hard before you're finished. Too much caffeine and not enough sleep. Gah.

To combat this second week chaos I find it useful to go back to my original novel idea and remember why it caught my attention. I like to take a breath and recognize how much work I've done, and how much time I've put aside to write that I would have squandered if I hadn't been trying for this goal. It's also useful to re-examine my intentions for participating this time. This year I wanted to "approach NaNoWriMo as a rest and a writing exercise, a time to stretch my skills and experiment, and remind myself of what mad genius can appear when I let go of my inner critic."

This reminds me that before November I was struggling with my novel writing because I had gotten stuck in the trap of taking everything seriously and not having fun, so I wasn't letting the story flow. I'd also forgotten that you have to take the time to meditate on your ideas, think about the story, and consider what's going to happen next. That non-writing brainstorming time is essential or writing becomes a dreary, soulless exercise. I wasn't giving myself that time, and so I wasn't bonding with my characters beyond as a prop for my story. That's a recipe for an uninspired novel.

So during this tough second week, I'm going to make sure I'm thinking about the story even when I'm not writing. I'm going to converse with my characters and let them have the final say. I'm going to write things I wouldn't normally dare, whether it's within a new genre, or more graphic or more emotional than I usually attempt. I might dare myself to write for an audience I usually ignore. Or I might chicken out. I promise you nothing, except that I will write. And I promise myself that I will learn from this exercise.

Good luck to everyone!

Photo: Torture Museum 4525 by Sandeep Singh Thukral on flickr

Science Fiction and Proud

2011-11-04T08:00:00.006Z

Two things from The Bookseller today suggesting revolution. First of all, Charlotte Williams warns that “Mainstream publishers can ‘no longer ignore’ science fiction and fantasy projects, with genre tropes now perceived as an ‘advantage’ in general fiction.” I have no idea who she’s quoting there, but they’re on to something big.

And second, the BBC itself is “broadcasting an item on ‘The Culture Show’ about science fiction next month, in the wake of a row about the broadcaster’s approach to genre fiction.”

One thing that pleases me is that both these articles use the words science fiction as if there’s nothing wrong with the term. This is in a climate where people would rather say speculative fiction, or like the SyFy channel spell it in a completely stupid way to distance themselves from geeky stereotyping.

I love science fiction. The more people who admit that great science fiction includes more than hard sci fi in space ships with interstellar battles, and that being a fan doesn’t mean you live in your parents’ basement, the more great science fiction will be readily available.

My favourite science fiction novels lately include Tess Gerritsen’s Gravity (yes, sci fi—She wrote it before she became known for the Rizzoli & Isles books, and admits it’s her own favourite of her books,) Mira Grant’s Feed series, and John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. For a classic bit of weirdness read Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which is nothing like Bladerunner. I didn’t make it through Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood but the previous book, Oryx & Crake, is wonderful. And a book I thoroughly disliked was Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. Give that a try and tell me I’m wrong.

There’s a lot of great fiction out there, and a lot of great science fiction out there. And it's becoming more cool to love it. Huzzah! Not that we care if we're cool. *cough*

Photo: Amazing stories by Jonathan Taglione on flickr

NaNoWriMo versus Proper Writing

2011-11-01T11:27:00.001Z

Read, and the whole world reads with you: friends, family, libraries, book clubs, Oprah Winfrey, Richard & Judy, LibraryThing, Goodreads, Amazon, wherever.

Write, and you write alone.

And what is a writer? Someone who writes, however much or however briefly? Someone who writes and submits their work and attempts publication? Someone who is already published?

Everyone has a definition, either outwardly stated or lodged as an unconscious bias. Occasionally you get the situation where people who love you will cheerfully dismiss your time spent writing if you aren't well published, no matter how much that writing time means to you. It's the old hobby problem. Because if writing is a hobby, it's about as important as painting miniatures in your basement. And you should probably keep that to yourself.

NaNoWriMo is a strange illuminator of these kinds of biases. In the last few years the start of November hasn't just seen an explosion of wordcount updates and writers gone crazy, but also an explosion of loathing for the event. The usual arguments against it are that 50,000 words is not a novel, writing is about more than just high output, and writing a lot of crap all at once does not make you a writer.

Write, and you write alone. This is why it blows my mind that anyone else feels comfortable judging what is and isn't "proper writing." People who aren't participating become angry that anyone would call themselves a writer for the wrong reasons, and use the support from the NaNoWriMo community to prop up their delusions. Fake writers could be screwing it up for the rest of the year, too, but during November they talk about it, and that's just wrong.

It doesn't bother me. I'm nearly certain that all these fake writers are not going to dupe agents and publishers and take proper writers' places on the bestsellers lists. And all the extra words are not going to dilute world literature and make proper writers' suffering less worthwhile.

I won't be spamming my blog with NaNoWriMo all month. Instead, I'll be spamming my Google+ account. You can head over there for a daily update about how my writing sessions are going, or ignore it, and pretend that a couple hundred thousand fake writers aren't wasting their time just out of sight.

Photo: Typewriter by TheGiantVermin on flickr

What time is it, Mr. Wolf?

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

It's that time again! National Novel Writing Month, when crazy people around the world try for a 50,000 word novel in just thirty days. I started in 2002 and I haven't looked back. I'm that crazy.

Last year was a success for me. My novel was a series of short stories, largely interconnected, and I had a lot of fun. More than that, two of the short stories I produced that month have since been published.

This year I'd planned to do the same thing. Then yesterday I walked into my library after a few weeks away. I was smacked in the head with a novella idea that didn't stop babbling all day. It's ridiculous and I love it.

A librarian finds herself travelling between worlds, discovering libraries she'd never imagined possible. But each is threatened in some way or another, by forces natural or divine. She will have to understand the threats before she can save the libraries and find out what (or who) has been pushing her along.

Dr. Sam Beckett meets Agent Olivia Dunham. In the library. With the candlestick.

So much for the short stories. Maybe I'll get a few in here and there, in books my heroine finds while she's exploring the libraries. Maybe I won't have the space. In any case, whatever story appears, I'm going to approach NaNoWriMo as a rest and a writing exercise, a time to stretch my skills and experiment, and remind myself of what mad genius can appear when I let go of my inner critic.

Who's with me?

Write Anything: "Area 51"

2011-10-25T09:35:00.000+01:00

If you're interested in hearing about the darker side of public libraries, head over to the Write Anything blog where my October article 'Area 51' has just been posted. I reveal a little bit of what we're all afraid of, and it's much more Mein Kampf and American Psycho than it is Conservative whingers who want to shut us down.

Of course, I also connect it back to my writing and how I address the darker aspects of humanity. I suspect I could connect nearly everything back to my writing, somehow.