Words!

I like words.

I like their shapes, their sounds and their use to convey meaning and concepts (I know that’s their purpose but still, well done them!).

And it’s not just the big words I like, like lackadaisical or discombobulated, but the funny little ones too, like svelte, lithe, and my favourite of all time (for now) louche.

I realised how much I liked words when I did my life coaching session recently. I mean I already knew I liked them, but even I could hear the enthusiasm in my voice as I was telling my friend about the book I was writing and the few little gems of text that had come out of it.

These are what I gave as examples of “…a sentence that glows.”

NB: It’s a fantasy novel, written in a noir style, so don’t be surprised if it just sounds silly out of context. And the text below is more or less unedited, so there’s likely to be a grammatical error here and there (at least that’s what Word tells me anyway).

This first paragraph occurs at the end of a robbery, where the robbers offer their inside man a full share and a chance to come with them rather than stay and carry on as normal.

Scrud considered his options. What was there to stay for? Hard work and the odd beating now and then. Not much of a choice really. There was Lita of course. She was the only person who’d ever shown him any kindness, and he had a real soft spot for her. He’d even thought about marrying her one day. And now he had the money to do it right. He could buy their freedom, set them up in a small holding, buy a cow, plant some crops, see if they could make a go of it. It might work. But then again, with a huge pile of cash, soppy housemaids were ten-a-penny.

And this one, my favourite so far, is how a character sums up his current situation, on the verge of a new career after his last one was cut short when he was caught in flagrante with the Shah’s fourth wife.

Well well, he mused silently, perhaps the hand of fate had been between Zarina’s thighs after all.

They just make me smile, not just because they’re good, but because I did them and yet they came out of nowhere. That to me is when you know you’re really onto something; not when you impress other people, but when you impress even yourself, lol.

And likewise bad writing sends a shiver down my spine. Check out this post from slushpilehell, a tumblr blog done by a weary literary agent (and looking at some of the stuff they get sent, who can blame them for being weary!).

slushpilehell:

Hello, I am A Christian woman that recently has been lead by the Lord to write books for little childrens and teensagers. I beleive these are blessings from above and I am convinced the Lord will will lead me to the write agent/pupblisher/illustrator.

I’m no theologian, but I wonder if the Lord should first lead you to a dictionary.

Some people just shouldn’t be allowed near a keyboard. And if they are, they should at least learn how to spell check. I mean, everyone make nistakes , but c’mon!

As One Who Writes…

…this made me laugh out loud!

from xkcd.com

(as you can tell, I’m getting a lot done today too)

If You Write It, They Will Come

It’s not easy being a would be author. First off you have all the time and effort you have to put into creating your work, which you do for free in your spare time since the publishing industry is only interested in finished novels (if you’re writing fiction that is). And then when you want to try and get it published you come up against the great machine that is the publishing industry itself which, like pretty much every other industry in the world, has been designed to protect the people investing the money, producing the highest yield for the least amount of risk.

Now I’m not saying it’s unfair. It is what it is, and so mote it be. But! it does result in the same old overly pessimistic advice being given to authors who are starting out, and after a while this can be a little wearing.

I recently read this blog post, How To Turn Your Blog Into A Book, which lead me to this one, How To Get Your Book Published, an excellent post which pretty much encapsulates the viewpoint of the industry in general.

Now I’m no industry insider. I haven’t got an agent, had a book published, or anything like that. But this is a subject I have studied since I was eight and first dreamed of becoming an author, so I flatter myself I know a little something on the subject. And yes, whilst in general the advice is sound, and well meaning, it is also very general indeed, and studiously ignores the exceptions that prove the rule.

Yes the – write and re-write, get help, find an agent, approach them in the right way, don’t be precious, keep trying – approach is a good one, but it’s all too easy to become discouraged when faced with such an arduous, and limited, journey.

The advice is understandably cautious, and maybe hopes to stop people wasting their time pursuing a career that might never happen, but it is also a bit of a downer. Like the news it focuses on the negative side of things, and offers very little encouragement. It reminds me of things like the Dragon’s Den, which people might watch and think “My idea would never make a good business”, just because it doesn’t fit into the very narrow criteria of what this small group of people will invest in.

You can equate it to the music industry, for example, where all eyes are concentrated on pop music and all advice is given on how to make it big in that one genre. Yes, the advice given is ‘the truth’, but also there are many other types of music out there, and many other ways to become successful, and those stories are equally as true as the ‘tried and tested’.

For example:

* The book The Horse Whisperer attracted a lot of interest and even got a six figure deal when the author took just the first 100 pages to the Frankfurt Book Fair and showed them to Robert Redford (who subsequently agreed to do the movie).

* L. Frank Baum had to invest his own money in publishing The Wizard Of Oz just to get it off the ground.

* Recently Fifty Shades Of Grey, a piece of New Moon saga fan fiction, became a number one bestseller and the subject of a Hollywood bidding war despite being a self published e-book.

* And finally, JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was turned down by 12 publishers before finally finding a home at Bloomsbury (and even they advised her to get a day job as she’d “…never make any money in children’s fiction.”

Now I’m not suggesting you pin your hopes on something like this happening to you, or that you rush out and start self-publishing right away, just remember how general ‘general’ advice really is, and how there’s still room in this world for something new and dramatic to happen.

Don’t get weighed down by other people’s pessimism. Deal with their well meaning and knowledgeable advice the same way you deal with both compliments and criticism; with a warm smile and a polite “Thank you very much.”

As ever, these are just my thoughts on the subject, garnered through many years of trying and failing. Like so many others before me I’ve sat for hours in the coffee shop trying to come up with ideas. I’ve spent my nights writing, and my weekends editing. I’ve written to publishers and cold called agents, read the trade magazines and spoken to people ‘in the know’ at events, all just to find a way to get me started in the industry. And y’know what, after all that effort the best advice I ever got was in a standard rejection letter sent to me by an agent years ago.

Would that I could remember it word for word, but it went something like this:

“It is a myth that there are hundreds of great, unpublished works out there. 99% of them are rubbish. So if you have something that’s really good, keep at it. Eventually you will get published.”

This was proven to me when, about a week later, another agent accidentally returned to me two other would be authors’ submissions along with my own. I couldn’t resist, I had to read them. They were terrible. The ideas were bad, the description poor, the grammar awful. I hate to admit it, but it gave me hope.

Of course you have to make sure that you’re not one of that 99%, but as long as you work at it, take advice, be self critical, but above all don’t lose hope, there’s no reason why one day you can’t become a published author too.

And if it never happens then for God’s sake make sure you enjoy yourself along the way, because there’s no point chasing after your dreams if you’re going to be miserable about it. That really would be a waste of time.

Where To’s That Then?

(brace yourselves, this is a long ‘un – oo-err missus! )

Oh Spring, where have you been? Away for so long, I thought you’d never get here!

But now finally the equinox has come and gone, the days are longer, the nights shorter, the sun is out, and we’re about to go into summer time for 2012. Oh yes, things are looking up! That’s up as far as the weather is concerned anyway. Elsewhere the forecast is not so bright.

Work are humming and harring a little about giving me a sabbatical. They’ve sent me a list of questions, the general gist of which is “How will this effect the company?” and “What’s in it for us?” Now of course I’ll answer their questions in detail, but I just get the feeling they’re gearing themselves up to say no.

If they do though I’m pretty sure I’m going to take some time off work anyway (ie: hand in my notice). I mean if it’s a choice between that and my gravestone reading:

Here’s Lies Keith Dickinson
He Kept His Job

I know which one I’d prefer!
 

 
Ok, so never mind spring, where the hell have I been? 2 weeks it’s been since my last post. I feel bad for neglecting my blog like that (don’t take it personally, it’s taking me a week just to respond to personal e-mails at the moment). I’ve just been working constantly, trying to make a bit of money to help pay for future shenanigans.

I have been doing other stuff too though, things more in line with My Brand New Life!

For one thing I met up with a friend of many years, Rakka, who I’ve actually never met before in real life. She’s a Flickr Friend, someone I’ve followed for 44 months (literally the third person I started following on there), and a very creative artist and photographer. It was her ‘My Name Is…’ Diego Montoya that caught my attention, and I’ve been an avid fan ever since.

She comes over to the UK once a year or so to get her fix of Britishness (a wee bit of an anglophile she is) and so we reckoned it was high time we met up. Actually we tried to meet last year but she was so ill we had to call it off.

Anyway, we met up in Islington where she and the guy she came over with, Leff, were going to be meeting a famous cat (?). Hey, who am I to judge, lol.

I took my friend Amanda along coz she works in the area and she was highly amused by the idea of meeting up with someone you only know through the online world. Rakka also invited along another online friend of hers, Nathalie, to meet for the first time, as well as another guy they know from the States, Chris, who just happened to be over here, so all told it was a pretty mixed bunch!

I have to say I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Who knows how you’ll get along when you know someone one way and then meet them in an entirely different context. But I needn’t have been worried. She’s lovely, her friends were lovely, my friend got on with her and her friends, and all in all we managed to prove that the world is indeed just a great big onion, lol.

We had a right laugh once we were comfortably ensconced in the pub (alcohol helps in these kinds of situations, though I’m glad to say the fact that I don’t drink anymore didn’t prove to be a hindrance). Topics of conversation included (but weren’t limited to):

* Which parts of the UK are like which parts of America? – The North of England is like the Deep South (apparently, though I contest this a little), London and Edinburgh are like New York and L.A., and Leicestershire is like Ohio (ie: boring, hehehe )

* Icelandic Emo Ponies (or Ice Po’s, as we called them) – check out this link if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

* Portlandia – “It’s true. It’s all true!! They think they’re making a joke but they’re not, that’s what it’s like!!!“

And…

* Sexy Neaderthals – Which is just so (unintentionally) hilarious! You’ve got to check it out. Just be sure to stick with it to the end.

 
As you can tell, we had fun. It was so great meeting up with everyone, I’m so glad we did it, and it just goes to prove the old adage -

‘There’s no such thing as strangers, just friends you’ve not yet met.’

 
So, apart from that, what else is going on? I’ve been writing a bit, which is nice. Actually coming up with some good stuff at the moment. The hard part is finding the time to write. For example I haven’t had time to do anything yet today, it’s nearly midnight, and I’ve got work tomorrow. Not conducive to good output. But that’s just an excuse. I need to make the time, and come Monday I will! It’s all good.

I’ve got a 10 day residential meditation course coming up which I’m really looking forward to. It should be amazing. Very intensive, quite hardcore (up at 4:30am!), but definitely worth it. Can’t wait to see what I learn from it.

Between now and then it’s just work work work. Might get some cooking done, in fact I better! I’ve bought the domain name http://www.myveganlife.co.uk (which you can type into your browser but it just leads you back here at the moment, lol) and I’m going to start an all vegan blog which I’ll be launching in a month or two (haven’t even started building it yet!). It’ll be the public face for all my cooking shenanigans.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep this little baby going. This is where I come to share silly things, make dick jokes, and talk about all the weird stuff I got going on. I just need somewhere I can build into a ‘proper’ foody site that people can really enjoy (and that might lead somewhere in the future). Coz that’s the one thing all this faffing about with work has taught me, that not only does no one get rich working for other people, and if you always do what you’ve always done then you’ll always get what you’ve already got, but if you don’t do it now, then when?

So it’s time to crack on! Who’s with me???

And So It Goes

First of all, if you haven’t seen Crazy, Stupid, Love, do! It’s really well made, well written, has some genuine laughs, and Ryan Gosling is brilliant in it. Very cool, very sexy, with some of the best lines in the movie. But anyway, enough of that…

So I’ve asked work for a year off, from September to next August. Just got to wait and see if they’ll go for it now. Not sure what I’ll do if they don’t. Will deal with that bridge when I come to it. For now it just feels like there’s this big boulder on top of a hill and I’ve just given it a nudge towards the edge.

The month of no chocolate is over so expect a perfected vegan swiss roll some time soon. Just need to find the time to do some cooking. Doing so much overtime this month, to help pay for upcoming shenanigans, that I’m in work more days than I’m not (which I know most people do, but when you’re doing 12 hour shifts that’s something else).

So my days off in March are just that, days off. I’m not going to fill them with junk. Taking it easy for the next 30 days or so, The only thing I do want to do is write. I’ve neglected the book and it’s time to get back on it and get it finished. I want it done before I go away, and six months is more than enough time.

That’s it for now. Nothing dramatic, and no pictures. Just checking in. Should have some more interesting stuff soon though. I have a side project on the go for March that may bear fruit. Stay tuned for further results.

Until then…

“…what I wrote I wrote on purpose.”

There’s an excellent website called Letters Of Note. They reproduce, as you might expect, letters people have written (Where will such websites get their material in the future, in this age of e-mail and text, I wonder?) that are special, or significant, or just plain fascinating in one way or another. Trust me, go there and you’ll be there all day.

I was just reading a letter written by the ad executive David Ogilvy to someone seeking advice on the art of copywriting, and one sentence really stood out for me. It sums up, I think, how all writers must feel when presented with well meaning advice, expert opinion, or (more often than not) ignorant utterances from those who see only their own world in your writing without first trying to see yours. It was this:
 

“If the client changes the copy, I get angry — because I took a lot of trouble writing it, and what I wrote I wrote on purpose.”

 
If people could only remember the unseen effort people put into the things they do then who knows, perhaps they would not make their little ‘helpful suggestions’ so lightly? Now wouldn’t that be nice.

Disaster Recovery

Ok, “Disaster Recovery” is probably a bit over dramatic. It’s just a phrase you hear often in TV for dealing with any number of transmission problems – power cuts, terrorist attacks, a plane landing on top of you – and I just like the sound of it.

I’ve been dealing with my own ‘disaster’ recently, what with the whole ear thing. Man, you wouldn’t believe how debilitating it is not being able to balance! (or maybe you would) When it happened I couldn’t even roll over in bed without feeling like I was going to fall over, and going to the shops was an interesting experience to say the least. I felt like I was walking on marshmallows a lot of the time, and I had to be extra careful to keep my head level and not look around too quickly just in case.

I had over a week off work and even when I went back I still wasn’t quite right. In fact it was just yesterday, 2 weeks after it came on, that I finally felt like my old self once again. So far today there’s been no sign of it but I’m watching out to be sure I’m not just being overly optimistic.

All set for Christmas? I’ve got all my presents (well, I’ve ordered all my presents – still waiting for 2 of them to get delivered). As always I’m working Christmas Day itself, so I’ll be heading up to Carlisle on the 17th for a few days to see the family. Plan on driving up which will be epic (about 5-6 hours) but it’ll be so good to have my own car when I’m there. My parents live in a village so if I want to go anywhere I have to get a lift or public transport, and that sucks, so this year I’m going vehicular, lol. You know it makes sense.

I just realised that I finished part 2 of my book over 2 months ago and I’ve done almost nothing since! (a couple of pages but that’s it) This is not good. I mean, I can account for about 3 weeks of that with the meditation course and felling ill, but still I should have done more in the time I’ve had. Time to pull my finger out methinks.

I’m in the process of figuring out what I want to do for my sabbatical. Work have agreed to it in principal, now I just need to decide when I want it for how long. The plan in general is 1 month doing the Sivananda Teacher Training Course in Austria, followed by a month or two just working and practicing at one of their Ashrams (though which one is the big question), then I might take some time off and travel a wee bit. I’m thinking maybe Australia as I’ve got some friends and family down there, and it’d be a good jumping off point for hitting Thailand.

There’s two things I really want to do in life – see the northern lights and ride an elephant – and if I’m in Oz then Thailand seems to be the place to do it (ride an heffalump that is, obviously). Just found out I’ve got the offer of somewhere to stay out there for the next year so it’s a golden opportunity. And it ties in quite nicely with heading back this way from the Land of Milk and Honey. And that brings me back to Europe just in time for Aurora Borealis season.

So I’m thinking:

August – TTC
September – Ashram work
October – Ashram work
November – Australia
December – Australia/Thailand
January – Aurora Borealis

It’s still a little sketchy as I don’t really want to spend 2 months traveling (being somewhere without something specific to do bores me). The question is where do I want to spend Christmas? How long do I want to be away really? And what do I want to do when I get back? (ok, that’s 3 questions)

I might take a year off, spend 5-6 months away, then come back, find somewhere cheap to rent, and spend 6 months just writing and see if I can make a go of that. Back in the UK in the middle of winter with nowhere to live? Not very tempting.

And can I afford all that (without spend all my savings)? As you can see there’s a lot to figure out. But I’ll get there, I have to, because if there’s one things all this being ill has taught me recently it’s you’ve got to go out there and enjoy what you do! Because no one is immortal, and people who stay home, stay safe, pay all their bills and plan for the future die just as often as people who go out there, have fun, and enjoy themselves.

Some General Reflections

What a weird week it’s been.

Back to work after the week of meditation. That was a bit of a shock. But, they did agree in principal to a sabbatical, which is good. I just need to decide when I want it (and ergo, what I want to do) and we can sort it out (hopefully).

Then I got ill, which was/is dry as a bone. I hate being stuck indoors not being able to go do stuff. I’m watching back to back Big Bang Theory but still… BORED! Thankfully my ears are sorting themselves out slowly. I’m still a bit trippy on my feet, but at least it’s to a lesser extent than it was when it started.

I had high hopes for the coming week. I’d finally cleared my To Do list, and I fully intended on spending as much time as possible writing as I haven’t done any work on my book in ages. But now I don’t feel up to it, which sucks, so I’m just trying not to go crazy in the meantime.

And I’m not doing any meditation for the same reasons. I’m just drained, lethargic, and utterly unmotivated. The change in weather (ie: less daylight hours) doesn’t help either. Winter and me don’t get on.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’ve done a wee playlist for you guys to download if you fancy. It’s called Dustbowl Americana, and I think the title speaks for itself. Hope you enjoy these slightly countrified haunting melodies. Makes me dream of faraway lands where the horizon goes on for miles and there ain’t no rush to go nowhere.

A Week Off

I can fill an entire evening looking at stuff online, downloading pictures, blogging, creating playlists, watching movies, etc., etc.

It’s fun, but it is a bit of a waste of time. I’m not getting any writing done. I’ve been on a major baking tip these past weeks, trying to get recipes done for the recipe cards I want to do. And when I’ve not been baking I’ve been sleeping, thanks to two weeks of lovely night shifts, so there’s not been much else going on. Hence I’ve decided to take a week off.

That means no internet, no DVDs, no music – just me, my thoughts, a word processor, and a good book now and then (it’s an anti-electronic entertainment thing).

I did it last year and it was a revelation. Remove the distractions and you suddenly have a hell of a lot of time on your hands. Plus it’s when I discovered reading again. I’d forgotten how good it was to read, can you believe that. My week off reawakened my joy of words, and I’m hoping this one will have a similar effect.

Of course it’s a little bit of a misnomer, in that I will be working for 5 of those 7 days – with computers and TV screens everywhere – but as long as I don’t watch anything outside of the parameters of my job, and I stay away from the internet, I’ll still be staying within the spirit of the idea.

So, starting tomorrow expect 7 days of quiet.

See you all on the other side.

Aches and Growing Pains

I tell you what, being holed up for 4 days with the flu really gives you a new perspective on things.

For one thing I’m sick to death of being stuck indoors all the time. And that includes work as well as at home. I’ve had the last 2 days off work as they were night shifts and I just couldn’t face them, but even so the thought of going back to sitting in a dark room for 12 hours a day just fills me with dread.

This is in contrast to my writing, which I would like to do for a living. But that would be during the day, regular, with a window, and only from about 10am ’til 3pm (if I’m disciplined enough) leaving me ample time to do/teach yoga, or run a retreat centre, or something like that.

I feel more energised today than I have all week, partly due to some physical recovery, and partly due to recent inspirational communications with the very lovely Rikki Cupcake, who has just set up her own vegan cupcake business after her own work situation became a little ‘intolerable’ (NB: if you live in Arizona and want some cupcakes you should definitely give her a call!). It’s time to move on with things. I’ve stagnated for too long.

So I’ve finished typing up the re-writes for my script (103 pages, thank you very much) and I’m going to print them out today once I get a new ink cartridge. Then once my muscles stop complaining I’m going to get back on the yoga bus and ride it all the way to Teacher Town, lol. Come the summer I should be ready to make some serious moves into a new life. A real new life. One worth getting up for in the morning.

Om shanti, y’awl.