Thursday, June 9, 2011

Lethargy

I was outside just a few minutes ago polluting the atmosphere with cigarette smoke. Nasty things! A half-moon levitated in a sky sprinkled with stars and it was bluer than it has been all damn day. There's a chance of a slight ground frost they reckon. I'm hoping it doesn't get down to choke the roots of the plants I put in the garden last weekend. It's almost the middle of June, but when it comes to the weather these days, like everything else, who knows anymore?

There's been a lot of writing lately but mainly of the re-writing type. Writers will understand. With each one that comes and goes, I find niggling doubts regarding quality and if I didn't like doing it so much, it would certainly test the will at times.
I've never been great when it came to judgement calls, but advice is often to varied to make sense of and in any case, it's in short supply from people who dabble themselves in any area that brings a book together. Trust me I've tried, and if I ever get around to writing that sorry tale someday it throws a dark shadow over how Ireland is letting down its people who want to stay here and make a difference not only for themselves, but maybe around the place as well.

There's considerable strain when one tries to get projects off the ground against the backdrop of unemployment. There's no budgets for film projects and I'm not exactly encouraged when I see quality Irish filmmakers have to scrap the barrel just to get a shot at making a film.
With those constraints in mind, I've had to simplify the Booker's World web series somewhat, but i think it serves it's original goal a little better now. There's a few loose ends to be tied up, but all going to plan, we shoot in early July. The cast is great so it is something to look forward too. Maybe a flood of book sales will come my way. To date its been catastrophic and I don't use that word lightly. Good job I went for a small run. Then again, I really didn't have much of a choice.

There's work to be done on the ebook version which is going to take another little time, but perhaps with a visual and digital presence more people will get to read it eventually. Outside of the expected praise from family and friends I have managed to get a few more views from other sources who's opinions I know I can count on to be critical, but in the best meaning terms.
Some found the book dark and the humour dry. That put a smile on my face. Typos were found and there can be no excuse for that. There's not many, but enough to cause a sigh. They will be corrected pre-ebook launch.
With so many eyes helping with the proofread that was a disappointment, but then again, I've seen them in more 'professional' circles. All who offered their critique felt satisfied by the end, though some admitted the early pages were difficult, but I expected that.
For me it was important to to take my reader into Don Booker's mindset as it was in August 2009, just as things began to go belly up in Ireland. Against the backdrop of his social woes it was never going to be easy to take Booker through to where the book ended up. There were other nice comments but the ones that mean the most are those mentioned above. There the ones I'll learn from so thanks to those who deemed my book worthy of some of their time.

There's many an article written by writers for writers dealing with the importance of getting your reader in the first five pages. It's not something that swayed me when I was writing Booker's World. Though fiction, it had to be honest and that meant not attempting to blow readers away with an awesome opening only to put them asleep by the end.
The one thing I'd dearly love would be the viewpoint of a professional editor. I think there would be much to be learned from that. I'll definitely seek someone in that field when I have the first draft of my second book finished in 2027. The thicker skin will surely have grown and matured enough by then.

I get my reasons for the need to keep plugging away from the endeavor of others who are involved in writing or filmmaking these days. It must be tough to know you have the talent and yet it is still being denied. I'm not even at that stage yet. I'm not sure what the draw is for us all. It's definitely a PhD area for someone.
The one thing it seems we all have in common is we have something to say. Some say it louder than others. And there lies my heroes of the day, because I am of the opinion that if these people got half a break, the Ireland of tomorrow would be better than the land of today. Perhaps the person undertaking that PhD someday can equate that into their writing while trying to figure out how it is not that way.

Time to go out and pollute the air a little more. Sorry Planet. And for those of political sway, I'm sure Fine Gael's spin doctor of the evening on Vincent Browne, Peter what's his face, might have made a boo-boo tonight. Watch out for a contraction in the economy soon... could be mini-budget time... i'm just saying!

Oh yeah... blue skies...

2 comments:

  1. Noel,

    Typos are easy to miss. I just finished reading Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton and there is a typo in the first paragraph. And she's with a major publishing house. And it wasn't the last typo, either. :( I do so enjoy the Anita Blake Series, even with the typos.

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  2. I've seen them myself in many places but when they are your own... you know what i mean. :)

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