I’m stuck in a mental dispute between my attitude towards the reading experience and the reality of reading. I want to read. A lot. My attitude towards reading is that any-when and anywhere should be a potential opportunity to consume something, be it poetry, fan fiction or the latest Gaiman novel. At rock concerts, under water, and in active war zones, while admittedly less than suitable for an optimal reading experience, should all be options. I bought a Kindle specifically to carry a substantial library with me without destroying my spine. But has my Kindle seen much use outside my living room? In a word: NO. Continue reading Where to Read
The Deification of Books
Books influence my reality. Or at least my perception of reality. It becomes more intensely packed with potential excitement, packed with elements of joy and hope, and sorrow and shock, and promises to fill me with truth. The content of any given book might not be the truth in a philosophical sense, but the book itself and the printed letters inside promise something that is true. Whether it’s true, as in aligned with reality, is a different question. It’s the inherent a promise that resonates with my inner self. Continue reading The Deification of Books
Enter the Sucker Punch!
I wrote a fight (no relation to this cinematic travesty). It was a good fight; a highly stylised action sequence, gorgeously executed in prose, our protagonist cutting through swathes of cookie cutter henchmen with the grace of Summer Glau and the efficiency of Germans.
It was masterful. It was epic.It was fraking boring. Continue reading Enter the Sucker Punch!
Writing Challenges
I recently incorporated a Daily Writing Challenge to boost my creativity and daily output. And yes, I apologize for the lack of posts since Christmas, but personal issues, travel and reevaluating the direction of my life kinda took up a lot of time and energy, so the blog went on the back burner for a while. That while ended today.The concept of a Daily Writing challenge is to try and work with as many aspects of the written word as possible, to gain insight into different perspectives,prose, genre and sub genres, types of narratives, with the purpose of building skill, understanding and enhancing the creative juices. Continue reading Writing Challenges
The Muse Myth
I recently met someone who considered the idea of being able to write creatively on demand, i.e. without being inspired, at set times or in any (reasonable) location, was somehow wrong. Not only that it is impossible to attain the correct “attitude” or “mindset” to writing, but that creativity is something more esoteric that flows into you when you least expect it. And by now I know, that is simply not the case. There is no real secret to writing. Sure, there is research to be done, structure to be built and writing blocks to be destroyed with giant metal hammers infused with the souls of old typewriters; but the act of creating a work of fiction, an article or a proper blog post comes out of the writer’s knowledge, experience and skill. And you can build those. Continue reading The Muse Myth
Book Project Update #6 – Working in Bursts
Working Title: Dave’s Hammer.
Current Word Count: 12091 words
Goal for next Monday: Another 3000 new words!
So… That worked pretty well. I actually managed to add the promised 3000 words to the book. Alas, I must disappoint you since I will refrain from sharing any finished work, simply because its not finished. Its the first version of the first draft. Getting from draft to an actual product is going to be interesting. The most likely outcome would be a quick giggle at my expense due to lack of proper (refined/finished) grammar and a confused narrative. Giggles my well-shaped posterior.
It was refreshing (and surprising) that I managed to actually get 3000 words on the page this week, five hundred of which were generated while waiting for my flight out of Stansted. While I have been in worse airports, Stansted is notoriously boring. After visiting the whiskey store and annoying the Super car Salesperson, who seems to think that “wanting to make all my friends jealous by winning a Super-car” was a prospect worth pursuing, there really is nothing to do. Unless you like shopping and eating crappy food. So its a good environment to focus on some writing and brainstorming.
So the conclusion this week: I do my best work in short controlled bursts.
And tagged on to that: Inspiration comes from the strangest of places. Like my wall pictured above. Oh, and London probably helped.
Until next week….
Oh…
And I changed the structure/format. The narrative is much more plastic now.
Cheers!
Book Project Update #5 – Killing Darlings
Working Title: Dave’s Hammer.
Current Word Count: 8701 words
Goal for next Monday: 3000 new words plus more structure, structure and structure!
The past two weeks were tough, just look how I am slumped over. The narrative took over my brain and the tone was set for a stronger and more engaging plot. As words appeared on screen and notes were taken, the story was pruned for unnecessary b-plots, erroneous ideas and stale characters. Today we mourn the loss of Mary and Molly (their fictional identities are being withheld for the sake of their non-existing loved ones), two characters that were conceived as opposites of personality, origins and intent. Two characters that should have seen both sides of the conflict, seen the fear and joy of winning and losing the fight from so divergent perspectives, that their stories could have filled their own separate books. But the narrative has taken Joshua and his colleague to places I didn’t expect, so for the sake of the story, Molly and Mary have to go.
I have conceded to myself that the issue probably lies less with the ability of the characters and more with my lack of skill writing a convincing female character and complicated plots. Currently my protagonists are (dimwitted) males, an old mean hag, and a dog (it’s a very good dog, mind you). I’m pretty sure I have the dog and the males down, and the hag is just a hag. An old bitter woman assigned to a job or task, that she fulfills to satisfaction but doesn’t really like. Not central in the way that Mary could have been. For now she and Molly have been placed in the “Potential” bag of ideas.
I have also taken to use Evernote extensively for on-the-fly research. For anyone with a smartphone/computer, it makes it simple to quickly create a notebook for your project and organize your notes, links, pics, research, not-entirely-thought-out plots and ideas. Just a thought!
Next week I might post an excerpt from my opening scene. In any case there will definitely be an update of a fascinating and engaging variety.
Sidetracked in Edinburgh
No book update this week. I will however share some of the thoughts I had on life and opportunity, while being stuck at Edinburgh airport.
My flight got cancelled 2-3 hours after I was supposed to have been soaring over the British Isles. This was somewhat surprising, since the delay had been announced 12 hours prior, so you would have expected that the problem would have been solved by then or alternatives proposed. Alas, I got the opportunity to watch some 100 passengers scramble to the check-in desk in a mad dash to get a seat on the next time flight, get alternative travel arrangements in place, etc. And initially I thought “crap” followed by “really?” and replaced a general sense of uneasiness. This, and I assume for many others, was taking me out of their comfort zone. That mental space where you’re in control, where everything fits into their little niches and where there are no real surprises.
Why am I feeling uneasy? The comfort zone is just that, it’s comfortable and non-threatening. It’s safe and secure. It’s a place where nobody is challenging you. And I feel stuck in it right now. And apparently a little fearful of leaving it. Why else would the uneasiness be there. And the sentiment was shared by the crowd. “This is not their comfort zone, do something airline personal to put me back there.”
So I decided to see this break from my plan to do something interesting. I went to check out this view (since I’m posting this via the mobile app, I hope there is going to be a picture). And then I’m going to evaluate some lifestyle choices.
Next week I will update you all on how the writing is going. Until then…
Torben Jensen 
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