simonledow.bsky.social
I don't write. The characters in my head merely hold me hostage until I follow their demands. All responsibility lies with them.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Simon-Le-Dow/author/B0DHKYW7SJ
There is #NoAI used in production of any of my works.
132 posts
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2 following
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My father-in-law used something in one of his books that turned out to be a song lyric without realising. Dionne Warwick's agents sued the publisher for £10,000's for ONE LINE. Nowadays, they also hit places like Amazon with a strike that can see you permanently banned from selling books on there.
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Works that technically exist (in theory, as a concept, in my head) and aren't yet completely abandoned (because I regretfully remember them occasionally and say "One day").
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Don't spend it all at once!
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One of my twists popped out of the story and I thought "Well, I didn't see that coming".
Then I remembered that I'm the sole author.
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Why do so many people think your area of study's only purpose is to make money?
We have convinced our children that the only thing of worth in their education is future money.
I studied maths. Because I love maths. I do not work with maths and probably never would. I still love maths.
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Quite. Never let a silent one get a speaking part - they go from being an extra to being an unionised actor and then start demanding that their part be enlarged...
If only I could CGI those characters in my head...
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The book is in your head, but the pages need the glue to bind them together.
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"And for a moment the atmosphere was palpable, but not palatable, with tension."
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Transcribe the movie in my head into words. Later, make sure the words reproduce the movie as it was originally conceived.
Let the characters take control (even if you herd them back into order later).
Forget about the technicalities of writing (e.g. chapters, etc.) and don't be too rigid.
#NoAI
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My Google Keep planning notes, that I moved out of the original document to keep them separate from the writing, and in which everything is sparse, terse and abbreviated ("C implies to G here about M", etc.) recently forced me to promote it to a full Google Doc because of the length.
Bad sign.
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I cannot have a character called Brian because I will always type Brain.
I have several embarrassing work incidents where my email to a colleague sounds like some kind of self-motivation speech.
"Hi Brain, can we meet at 12 to discuss progress, I think we've come far and just want to check in..."
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I look forward to the day when they stop bothering with the word "Future" on that cup.
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This is one of the reasons why I turn off autocorrect and grammar suggestions.
You can red-squiggle me to death, computer, I don't care that you think it's wrong (often it's deliberately wrong, or a partial word, or casual speech or even British English!).
But don't try and change what I'm writing.
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Jump forward so you're not trying to write linearly. Choose the bit you know is going to happen, and write that instead, and glue them together later.
Some parts are SO MUCH MORE FUN to write - write those first. Even if you end up ripping them apart later.
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Doesn't sound out of place at all.
Consider that names like The Nebuchadnezzar, The Millennium Falcon, Battlestar Galactica, etc. have been used in fiction without issue.
It may be something that the characters abbreviate on occasion ("DHW" or "The Hale" or whatever) but it's fine for a name.
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A long time ago, that happened to me.
Years later, that dream has evolved from "the best movie I've ever seen" (literally in the space of one night) to an absolute blockbuster in my head / on paper.
So glad I wrote it down immediately.
I need to write it so that I can "watch that movie" again.
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My writing characters are apparently all budding actors, vying for a larger part, arguing with the producer/director, improvising lines, going off on tangents, revealing surprise abilities, playing to the camera, critiquing my work..
I just herd those characters where they seem to want to go.
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Same.
If speed of thought = 100, my speed of typing = ~50, speed of writing = ~10 and speed of speaking (even with a very rapid accent) = ~8.
My handwriting is terrible as I realised this as a child & stopped trying to write out everything, which hurt my hand.
I only sign with a pen, never write.
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Writing is the art of pouring a thousand hours of effort and self-criticism into a sentence that takes someone a second to read.
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There are various places to buy "pre-made" cover art and adjust to your needs.
I refuse to use AI - you cannot guarantee what it was sourced/based on and have no accountability if it turns out to be based on someone else's work.
Mine came from:
thebookcoverdesigner.com/designers/wa...
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If you don't feel your own story, I would wonder how you ever intended the reader to feel it?
If you don't feel for your characters, are they actually characters or just words on a page?
(The best parts of my writing are when my writing wakes up and shocks/affects ME, the writer!)
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I had an entire story in my head, front to back, beginning to end, every twist, reveal, secret, link & foreshadow, from day one... and then added in a dozen "cool scenes" in later years.
It was a complete "movie" in my head, which basically forced me to write it - so that I could "watch" it again!
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So long as I remember what I wrote.
My biggest problem is coming up with an INCREDIBLE phrase, line, description, scene - and then struggling to recall the details when I next get somewhere I can write it down.
(Driving is the worst, I will not touch my phone while driving)
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First they came for the...
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Did you write it? Then you're a writer.
If you got published, then you're a published writer.
An unpublished writer is a writer - they wrote.
If you painted a picture but haven't sold it, you're still a painter. If you play an instrument but haven't performed in public, you're still a musician.
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Sometimes the characters revolt and adlib, and sometimes they need to be herded back, and sometimes they resist.
It's one of the wonderful things about human writing, that even the author isn't actually in control of the narrative.
The story is alive and wants to be told.
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You just appeared on the #writingcommunity feed.
Whenever I pass by someone there, I like/follow.
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"Waiting for Doggo".
😀
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I am currently in two minds as to whether include a particular twist in my book.
It fits *perfectly*, people won't see it coming (I didn't!), it will explain a lot (and leave lots more questions!), but I just wonder if it's going too far.
It can be left out, and it was never planned.
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Agatha Christie has some doozies.
I think she got bored and hence ended up with stories where every possible option had been utilised, including: "nobody did it", "nobody was actually killed", and "absolutely everyone did it".
I won't ruin The Mousetrap for people, but that was another.
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Why are the covers there, with synopsis, reviews, plot outlines and illustrations, if not to judge them by?
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I don't like my data being thrown through AI without any consent or consideration whatsoever.
#NoAI
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The purpose of a first draft is to exist.
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I would never participate in such crass commercialism...
:-)
Available for pre-order:
Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHH7D7DM
Amazon US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHH7D7DM
Amazon CA: www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DHH7D7DM
Amazon AU: www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DHH7D7DM
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Gah UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHH7D7DM
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- A leader, a man of extraordinary capability, guarded and secretive and revered by his people, brings her into the spotlight of their people, attaching an importance to her that neither she nor they understand.
- Can she now escape the attention of their enemy - and should she do so?
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- Trust. Operating outside the reach of our people, with no higher authority to turn to, which of the factions should she put her faith in? And what price might that incur?
- Even inside the complex lives of her captors (or rescuers), she is a risk to them, treated warily. She may be their downfall.
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It's the same with music - I'm sure a skilled classicist can tell you exactly why that music makes you think of autumn rain, or impending doom, and why they keychange is so crucial and why it has to be that key. But most people - and many musicians - just "feel" it instead of trying to describe it.
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I feel it's more familiarity with the language, which gives you an unconscious "feel" for the rules. Those who study it can pinpoint exactly - in terms of speech, grammar, etymology, etc. - but I think almost everyone "knows" when something is wrong even if they can't express it rigorously.
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I had no idea what a Discovery/Gardener writer was until a quick Google when I read this.
But I can safely saw that I'm far more of a Herder. The characters run off and do what they like and I somehow have to constrain them and pin them to the page.
Sometimes it's like herding cats.
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There are thousands of grammatical rules. Unconsciously you're aware of them all (in your native language).
People often ask me to proofread things for them, and when I make a correction it's because it *sounds* better in my head. There's often a grammatical reason but things can just sound wrong.
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A twist isn't a twist if it's completely unforeseeable, a deus ex machina (something literally inserted only to make "magic" happen so the story fixes itself), doesn't feel viable, or doesn't change what you've previously read.
X was the villain all along? Okay, show me where you hinted at that.
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As many as it takes between one major scene change and the next.
Chapters are just the camera-cuts of the book world. If, as a movie, it would completely switch scene or jump to a point in the future (even with the same characters in the same location) at that point... that's probably a chapter.
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Stealth of a Nation because I have spent many years coming up with a title, singularly failed (the front page of my document tracks word count & my various attempts at a title, and that's the only viable one - play on "Wealth of nations/a nation). Internally, it's been called "Hidden Civ" for years.
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It is a fact that I have had a dozen ideas "stolen" out of my head by Hollywood.
I had never seen them before, then I watch a movie and *my idea* is right there, despite never telling anyone ever about it. Sometimes extremely specific too.
They have access to my brain / computer, I'm sure of it.