Greetings from the edge,
Well, if you are reading this, it means I can still be found.
I had a bit of a SNAFU with the web address. The way I keep the lights on here in the broom cupboard is by fixing computers. Oddly enough, being a caffeine-fuelled Gollum who rants about horror, roleplaying games, and eclectic nonsense does not pay especially well.
My professional life lives over at Rob the Computer Guy, and I had a bit of a nightmare trying to transfer that site to a different provider without taking this one down with it.
It was a pain in the coccyx, but I had to move from .co.uk to .com. Thankfully, I managed to do that before the whole thing rattled down the drain for all eternity.
I have now finished On Writing, and I have my own personal takeaways listed, here, here, here, here, and now here:
- Research should stay in the background. Use it to add flavour and believability, but never let it take over the story like an overeager tour guide armed with a laser pointer.
- Readers care far more about characters and story than they do about how much research you did. A few carefully chosen details will usually do more work than pages of technical explanation.
- Writing classes and seminars can be useful for encouragement, motivation, and meeting other writers, but they are not magic beans. The real work still comes from reading a lot and writing a lot.
- Everyday life is not the enemy of writing. Interruptions, jobs, family obligations, and the general chaos of being alive do not automatically destroy creativity. Sometimes they even feed it.
- If you want to get published, study the market before you submit. Sending work out blindly is like throwing darts in the dark and hoping one lands in the bullseye.
- Presentation matters. A clean manuscript, a polite cover letter, and a bit of research into agents, publishers, or magazines can make it much easier for people to give your work a fair shot.
So there you have it, my friends.
Also, check out Generation Four when you get a moment. It is my take on a love story.
For now, though, I need to go and put the finishing touches on my D&D game.
See you in the margins,
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