Genius

If you've not yet come across this amazing website dedicated to Caine Monroy whose arcade is just so elaborate and ingenius it will make you smile, I wholeheartedly recommend you watch this and you donate at least a dollar or a pound to his college fund. Watch it. You won't be sorry!

Diversity and Prizes

I found it interesting to read this article in the Guardian today when only a few posts ago, I provided a comment about British society and unemployment among those from ethnic minorities. I may not have contributed to the research from Manchester University that is cited in this article, but I think I  must really be in touch with what's going on in the UK, don't you think? (She says rather self assuredly). Once again some of the comments from readers in response to the article are just plain ignorant but otherwise I'd say have a read: the Guardian has produced a really worthwhile article which says exactly what I and I'm sure many see. We need more diversity in the professional workplace. I live in the South East and there is a marked absence of it in many arenas, I can tell you. My view is the world (and workplace) would be a boring place if we were all the same, now wouldn't it?

Speaking of diversity (and this is really the reason I'm posting), I thought I would share the news that I have shockingly and rather excitedly been shortlisted for the Commonword Children's Diversity Writing Prize. Cause for celebration methinks, so off I trot to spread the happy news. 

A quiet novel

What is a quiet book? Someone used this term a while ago to describe my writing and since then I 've contemplated exactly what this means? I think the term is highly subjective but some people would say as indeed Jan O'Hara does in her wonderful post on this topic that a quiet novel presents us with well drawn characters and beautiful prose that remind us what it is to be human. Others suggest that quiet novels are character rather than plot driven. I personally love books that remind me what it's like to be human and yes, I'd say I do try to create well drawn characters and yes I'd like to think my prose is beautiful but I'm not sure my writing is entirely character driven. However my research into this term 'quiet novel' has highlighted that quiet books aren't necessarily the ones that marketeers find easy to sell or promote -perhaps because they offer something that goes beyond the public face of books or perhaps because they speak to the private in us all and maybe because they aren't  easy to describe. I don't know, I'm just guessing. I think these buzz words can become meaningless after a while.

But here's another buzz word- high concept. High concept novels are apparently what sell. So what's high concept? Well apparently unlike the term suggests, these books aren't necessarily sophisticated (don't shoot me down) - this is what I read somewhere- and they are pretty easy to describe in one attention grabbing sentence: I'm thinking girl meets boy who turns out to be vampire. Or something along those lines.

Personally I think there's much merit in a quiet novel and as Jenny Bent says sometimes readers' tastes differ from publishers... which leads me to believe that quiet books do indeed sell if they are published.

Writers like Elizabeth Laird writes lovely books in this vein and I'd say some of Jodie Picoult's novels are also what we might describe as 'quiet'. Rather than being about fast paced adventure and constant drama her novels are about human interactions, feelings and universal themes. And as one reader of Jan O'Hara's points out, the queen of writing- Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, could well be described as a quiet book. Some of the works that we might call classics aren't what people might define as high concept but rather they are more about characters, perhaps even quiet. Perhaps this is what makes them timeless?

For me, after reading up on this subject,  I'd define a quiet novel as a book that tells a story about normal people in an extraordinary way, so I take it as a compliment when my writing, rightly or wrongly, is likened to a quiet novel because for me that's praise indeed. And I reckon I'm in good company if it turns out to be the case that I do indeed write quietly.

Now shush I'm writing. 

Writing Today

The state of writing today is an interesting thing to consider. Where exactly is writing headed? I think we are in an age of emails and electronic text. Ebooks are aplenty so what does this all mean for traditional publishers? Will ebooks replace paper books? Apple has joined the market in ebooks and Amazon too offers an easy programme to create kindle books so is this the death of the traditional books that we all know and love or is it all hype? I'm not sure anyone has the answer to this but I certainly prefer flicking through real paper pages to looking at a screen, and I'm sure there are many of us who do.

Margaret Carey Foundation

Whilst writing my last post I came across a charity which offers interesting opportunities for prisoners to engage in projects that provide them with skills and that provide much needed support to those in need. The extent to which such charities or workshops exist or actually run in the increasingly over crowded prisons of today, I do not know. All I know is that I don't believe prison is the answer to today's ills. Brandishing everyone with the same brush is a crude form of self regulation for society. In the same way that one would not use a detention system in school time and again for every student if it wasn't working, surely society should look at the way it deals with apparent criminals. In light of what have been seen as very harsh recent punishments, I do have to question the motives behind them. Is it a sign of the stresses of today's society or of power crazed individuals? Are people trying to stamp their authority? I say this because frankly I don't understand.

Locking people up and forgetting about them will not, in my opinion, remove society's problems. It will merely exacerbate them. Reform and genuine engagement and care are what cause change. Punishment may result in obedience and submission but genuine care, education and opportunity enable loyalty and motivation for change.

In my opinion it is short sighted to think otherwise. But as I said, I'm no expert. 

Riots report: society today

With news of the leaked report on the reasons behind the riots I thought it would be interesting to post my views on the subject which don't just encompass the riots but offer a comment on British society. I am not an expert by any means but merely an observer of and participant in society.

My view is that riots happen because those who riot are unhappy about some aspect of their lives or something in society that they feel they cannot change through other means. Riots are used as a last resort. Now on a message board this evening, I saw comments that many rioters were black teens, and I have to say some people had  a good old rant about this and unsurprisingly made typically small minded comments about race and about teenage mothers.

However, my view that riots happen because people are unhappy about some aspect of their lives that they feel they have no control over would fit quite well with this higher proportion of ethnic minority participants and with them being young. Why? Well, I don't know whether the statistic is true but if it were and hypothetically you were a black person and you lived in a society where opportunities were denied you time and again- not of course because of your colour- that would never happen in a civilised society such as Britain, but let's just say for argument's sake by some strange coincidence, opportunities were denied you time and again, people were hostile towards you, you were passed over for promotion or failed at job interviews and were offered jobs below your calibre, accusations were thrown at you and you were just generally made to feel unwelcome, - just for argument's sake - if all this happened to you and on top of that the police stopped you more often than others, charged you or cautioned you and let others off scott free, then I think you might feel a little unhappy mightn't you? And this might lead you to lash out a little if those you spoke to were in complete denial and thought it was just plain coincidence, or life. I'm just saying hypothetically that is a possibility isn't it? It would take a very level headed person to maintain one's calm in the face of such adversity, and no doubt some people do but as the riots showed not everyone does. Then again with unemployment as it is and fewer youngsters leaving school / college with a job to go to, if you were a youth or a teen, then I think this hypothetically might also lead you to feel a little unhappy mightn't it? I mean it is a possibility isn't it?

Now, as I say, I'm no expert and before you ask, no I didn't contribute to the report.... and I have to admit that the riots happened when I was abroad so in all fairness who am I to debate the reasons behind them? I'm just an observer making comments, as I said. 

Writers' Forum and Educational Writing

Those keen writers among you may well subscribe to or buy the magazine Writers' Forum . Well, in the May edition, which is out now at W H Smiths, there is a two page spread on how to break into educational writing. I am happy to say I'm one of four writers who features here, having been interviewed about my educational writing. I'm really happy with how the article has turned out.  Although my blog isn't listed, my linkedin presence is which will point people towards here.

As my advice says, for those wishing to break into educational writing- don't expect to make a living from it and make sure you enjoy it.

Having had some less than happy news recently, I was pleased to see the article in print and hope it's a sign of more positive things to come for everyone.

Too many cooks spoil the broth

Today I am discussing how too many people involved in one piece of writing can change it immeasurably and often not for the better. This explains my post title of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Have you ever written anything which was clear and accurate - only to have someone else interfere and change it - making it worse?

If you have, then you will no doubt relate to just how annoying it is. For a start, who wants to have his/ her name attributed to something that bears no relation to the original written piece, or that has errors that were not in the original? I'm all for constructive criticism if it enhances something but not if it doesn't.

Sometimes I am left wondering whether individuals deliberately sabotage one`s efforts or whether individuals are just plain unwitting in their destructiveness?

In the publishing world, we have copywriters, proofs which are proof read multiple times and options to change any errors on second print runs if any errors have been found. In other arenas this is not the case so when someone blithely changes something with complete disregard it frankly makes my blood boil.

I am all for making something better but who ever heard of improving the quality of something by making it worse. I am currently experiencing a classic case of too many cooks spoil the broth.