Fanfare! Trumpets! Announcing new blog title

I'm thrilled by the response to this competition - not only by the number of responses, but also the many thoughtful and reflective suggestions made and the few that made me laugh out loud. There were also a few I didn't 'get' and I can't help feeling, dear reader, that the fault was in me. 

In true competition tradition, I'll give you the ones that didn't make it, but deserve an honourable mention.

UNDERTOW - suggested by Elizabeth who was inspired by a line in a Seamus Heaney poem. It's good, isn't it?  An undertow is a strong current that flows  away from the shore, going literally against the tide - something that writers have to be prepared to do. In the end though it didn't make it because, although it works as a title, as a blog title it wouldn't attract casual readers interested in writing.

THE FIVE RULES OF WRITING - suggested by Maria. I'd read a blog called that. I might not agree with it, but I would definitely read it. I haven't chosen it because I don't know what the five rules are...

THE INFINITE MONKEY THEOREM- suggested by Jill. She also supplied this helpful illustrative quote is from Wikipedia

Mr Burns states: "This is a thousand monkeys working at a thousand typewriters. Soon they'll have written the greatest novel known to man. Let's see. (reading) 'It was the best of times, it was the "blurst" of times'? You stupid monkey!"

Why didn't I choose it? It's good, it's very good but it's not quite me. Jill, you can have it back on one condition: use for the title for your own writing blog -  I'll be the first to follow.

THE WRITER'S BLOCK - suggested by Chuqua. Almost went with this - the only reason I didn't was because I found a very good and active blog with that title. (Difficult this title business, isn't it?) 

FRIPPERY - suggested by Stephen because "Frippery is a word that is just not being used these days but I hope it conveys the ephemeral nature of blogging...".

He's right, frippery and blogging go together and it is a word that deserves to be part of our vocabulary.  Still, it doesn't have that immediate writerly quality.... so reluctantly no...

INVENTING THE WHELAN - suggested by Heather. Love it. Love it. May use it (or a variation) somehow someway soon.

There were a lot of very good ones that nearly made. THE DIGITAL INKWELL from Maggi, WRITING BY-WAYS and WORDS TO WRITERS from Vic, WRITE UP YOUR STREET from Alice and no less than 11 from Jazz including WORD CATCHER, ADDICTED TO THE WORD and FOR THE LOVE OF THE WORD.

But finally I've made up my mind....no more flaphing around...

Da-da! Da-dum!I've gone for Eileen's CONNECTING THE POETRY AND PROSE....

-- because I've loved E.M.Forester's Howard's End since I studied it for A level 
-- because I'm a prose writer who enjoys poetry, (when you're writing a novel read poetry - you don't want to get immersed in someone else's story but you do want to surround yourself with rich language used with precision...)
-- because I think it works. Hope you do too.

Although I said there would be no second prize, Jazz offered so many good ideas - all of them workable - that I really feel she deserves a reward. So if she emails me her address I'll send a copy of A GOOD CONFESSION to her too....

 

Tonight in Brighton...there's only one place to be....

A SPORTING CHANCE 

Poetry, prose and LOL comedy. 7.30 pm Iambic Arts Theatre in Regent Street in the North Laines. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll have a drink. You'll be in good company and you'll be supporting a great cause...

Choosing a new name for this blog

is hard. Even with 40 suggestions - thank you everyone for joining in the competition - had many more good ideas to consider than I expected.

Do I go for the funny or the accurate?

The intelligent or lyrical...?

Hmmm. Will announce the winner on Monday. Not to prolong it unnecessarily but...

a) because tomorrow will be taken up with Sunday lunch which for once will be roughly at lunch time and preparing for A SPORTING CHANCE tomorrow night (not only reading, but also compering....wish me luck)

b) will run a few of the contenders by the family at said lunch. Completely unbiased as they've never read blog and unlikely to do so in the future. Come to think of it, only one of them has read my novel and the one that did said, and I quote, that it was 'surprisingly good'.  (Excellent example of why adverbs should be avoided.)

Another word for the person you're with...

...discussions centred on the topic at celebrations to mark a soon-to-be-awarded doctorate in poetry and with a gathering of wordsmiths you'd think we'd be able to come up with something, if not original than at least strange and memorable, but we came a bit unstuck. 
There was a general consensus against partner and in favour of the Anglo Saxon simplicity of: this is my man; this is my woman. But it needs a certain aplomb to carry it off and it's not suitable for all occasions.  
I'm fond of the Irish equivalents: Himself and Herself (as in the phrase Himself says he's watching the football tonight but I've hidden the remote.) I can't think of anything to beat John Mortimer's she who must be obeyed (taken in turn from Rider Haggard's She) but there must be a phrase more redolent of the times in which we live...even if it is only suitable for the pages of fiction and can't be used when  making introductions at the office Christmas party. Any suggestions?

The next big thing in Romance Fiction: THE BONNETT

According to USA Today, Amish romance is going to replace Vampire Romance. I wonder what the equivalent this side of the Atlantic could be...click on the title of this post to read USA Today's article.

Booker Shortlist offers

The short list was announced yesterday and the news is that it's a feel good list for these dark, depressing days.  So if you always said you'd read them all before the winner is announced (October 12th) maybe this is the year to do it. Here they are

Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America
Emma Donoghue Room
Damon Galgut In a Strange Room 
Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question
Andrea Levy The Long Song
Tom McCarthy C

If you live in an Apple house (and gradually our's is becoming more Apple inclined after years of resistance - current tally one big glossy computer, one less glossy Macbook and a very precious iPod)  The Man Booker Prize App is now free to download from the App Store to an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch and is the UK's first app for a literary prize. I'm not sure what you do with it - my technical understanding is way behind the gadgets lying around - but I am guessing that you get extracts and other goodies. 

READ IRELAND (a kind of Irish Amazon but more cuddly) has a special offer. Order three shortlisted books and they will send them anywhere in the world free of charge.  Order them all and you also get  10% discount. And because it's READ IRELAND and not Amazon and you get the feeling that they've read the books they're selling and like them, you are allowed to substitute one or more of the books left languishing on the long list. (It's happened to me and I know how it feels: you get invited to the party but no one remembers who you are...early night.) Click on the title of this post to go to READ IRELAND'S website. I haven't any connection with them - just bought a few books over the years and like their reviews on the regular email newsletter.

Brighton Charity Performance this Sunday

SPORTING CHANCE is an evening of poetry and prose, comedy and music...all on the theme of sport from penalty shoot out highs to please-sir-the-dog-ate-my-PE-kit lows.
Sunday Sept 12 7.30 pm Iambic Arts Theatre in Regent Street, North Laines, Brighton Tickets £5/4
Featuring: John O' Donoghue - winner of MIND book of 201...0
Outstanding performance poet Naomi Foyle
LOL funny Yvo Luna
Bernadette Cremin - who can hush a room with one word
Biographer Derek Watts
Novelist Bridget Whelan
and many more....all telling sporty tales of one kind or another.
It is a fundraiser in aid of Dan Field's trip to Rwanda for Cricket Without Boundaries - a charity that empowers local communities while spreading AIDS awareness.
Dan is 22 years old and registered blind. A passionate believer in the merits of running, falling down and getting up again he has been capped 27 times for his country and is now regarded as probably the best blind wicket keeper in the world...He's also my nephew and I am very, very proud of him.  

A great day for the Daily Mail

headline writers (click on the title to see why)

More reflections on twitter

Just found the Scottish author Sara Sheridan on twitter (correction she found me) and just a brief scan of her recent tweets revealed how valuable a resource this is for writers.

For example she directed readers to:

http://thequackdoctor.com

Go there if you are interested in writing history - fiction or non fiction. Go there for ideas. Go there to prove that twitter is ot a waste of a writer's time...

Twitter up date

Early days but so far it's fun and I've certainly learned from the experience. Tried before but this time is much more rewarding -- I am even beginning to see the point of it. The key is to link up with like minded people from the start - for me that's readers and writers anywhere .

Romance writers

Mills & Boon are running a New Voices competition that will give one budding author the chance to get published. All writers have to do is to visit the website and submit the first chapter of their own Mills & Boon. (Click on the title of this post to go there.)

Deadline September 22nd. 

The top ten writers will have their work showcased on the website and each will be given a mentor in the form of an established Mills & Boon author. Then the public will vote for their favourite of the ten and the winner will crowned in November.

If you want to enter remember that cynicism shows on the page as clearly as a spelling mistake. And  read a Mills and Boon. Better still read several. Research. Do your homework. And then do your best work. There's no other way with competitions...

Everything but still no cigar?

You've written a novel that you love. You've found an agent that has fallen in love with it? Lots of people have said nice things about it but still no publishing contract? The To Hell with Publishing: Award was made for you.

It was set up to support debut fiction.  It is a unique prize aimed at authors who have a UK literary agent but are not yet published. First prize is £5,000 (more than many publishers would even consider as an advance in these hard times) and the hope is that this will help the winner’s chances of securing a publishing deal. All first works of fiction written by a UK resident will be eligible but the author must be represented by a UK literary agency and must be unpublished up until the point of the longlist announcement in December. 

Deadline November 4th 2010.

Got a Camera? Got 330 words?

Of course you have!  Just combine the two and submit to this short fiction website. (Click on the title of this post to go there) Poets love the freedom that rules can give and it's good for prose writers too. I always think the worst thing you can say to a writer is that you can write about anything, for as long as you like and there's no deadline. Here the picture you take is your subject - go anywhere you want with it within that restricted word limit. There's no deadline so give yourself one: submit before the kids go back to school, by next Friday, by October....

Looking for Scottish writers

New Writing Scotland publishes works by writers resident in Scotland or Scots by birth, upbringing or inclination. (I love that last one....who do they mean? I am guessing people with Scottish roots for whom Scotland is an important part of their mental make up but in the end it must be a self defining category.) They are looking for all forms of unpublished writing: autobiography and memoirs; creative responses to events and experiences; drama; graphic artwork (monochrome only); poetry; political and cultural commentary and satire; short fiction; travel writing or any other creative prose may be submitted, but not full-length plays or novels, though self-contained extracts are acceptable. 

Submission deadline September 30 2010:
Click on the title to go to New Writing Scotland find out more.

When one person speaks

Just come across The Good Ear Review US based website dedicated to publishing original monologues that show "quality writing".Worth reading and worth submitting to as well. If you haven't written one already look at a secondary character in a short story you're working on or novel-in-progress and give them a voice. You will unearth new depths to that character and perhaps a new story.

A good monologue (in my very fallible opinion) should have

1. A distinctive voice
2. Give a sense of time and place
3. Drip feed information
4. Sound like a real person

It seems to me that writing a succesful monologue you have to navigate two major challenges -- FIRST: making it feel natural even though it may not be clear who the character is addressing or why and SECOND: providing information that the reader needs to have but that the character would not realistically tell her or himself. We don't look in the bathroom mirror thinking: I am a 34 year old  advertising copywriter worried about my current relationship and still jealous of my younger brother who...We look in the bathroom mirror and think: bad hair job and is that a spot? At my age?!
Click on the title of this post to go to The Good Ear Review