Your novel setting can be very important, sometimes rivalling a character. You probably know what I mean - the exotic for romance or spy/intrigue, the dark urban sprawl for detectives, gangsters and serial killers. And graveyards and Gothic mansions for horror. But some of these border on the cliché.
Now, I like horror, but this doesn't mean monsters, vampires, ghosts, werewolves etc need be present. Think for a moment about how vile people can be to each other. What secret might a respected businessman hide? What about bent police and lawyers? What might ordinary people believe or be members of? What could be worse than some violent and pernicious organisation operating right under your nose in a small, picturesque village? Disappearances, strange symbols, a derelict building, a dead tree, hidden mine-workings etc might be relevant, as might be computer hacking, phone tapping or internet trolls. All this can be particularly bad for your characters if they can't trust the authorities...
It also pays to use places you know. Of course you call them something else and take a few liberties with their geography. And look into their history - you never know what you can dig up.
Jack Orchison,
March 23, 2014
Sunday, 23 March 2014
My biographical bit, part 10 : University 3
My time at University was an academic success (I got a first class honours degree where I came fourth in the year), though rather less so in terms of accommodation chosen or relationship-wise. With the latter I was a fool and should have tried harder. Caroline, sorry for being an idiot - I really didn't have the words.
It's funny what else you do remember, though. In Cripps Hall we had a tuck shop (a place you could buy snack foods), and there was one guy called Paul Jackson who was obsessed with a type of chocolate bar, called Cabana, which was chewy and cherry flavoured. He was a chemist, too. We must be a strange lot. Gerry Pattenden's Tomato Lecturs was proof of that. And Lynne Frost hiding stark naked in her boyfriend's bed when the cleaner came in. Then there were the old sticks of sodium that went boom in the campus lake - the same place they used to hold the Raft Race.
Each Hall in the Fresher's Week built a raft out of what they could find and though there was much sinking and cheating there was one genuine (and stunning) victory by Willoughby Hall who romped away from the field like they were professionals.
These were also the days of Fortran 77 and an early computer game (on mainframe only) called Dungeon (a derivative of Dungeons and Dragons, I guess) where many a student and postgraduate with access to a terminal wasted a great deal of time. Then there was Sargon II, a very crude (and extremely bad) chess programme. I can tell you Sargon II was a better ruler of the Kingdom of Akkadia than a chess player.
Which brings me to the chess adventures I'll go into next time.
Jack Orchison,
March 23, 2014
It's funny what else you do remember, though. In Cripps Hall we had a tuck shop (a place you could buy snack foods), and there was one guy called Paul Jackson who was obsessed with a type of chocolate bar, called Cabana, which was chewy and cherry flavoured. He was a chemist, too. We must be a strange lot. Gerry Pattenden's Tomato Lecturs was proof of that. And Lynne Frost hiding stark naked in her boyfriend's bed when the cleaner came in. Then there were the old sticks of sodium that went boom in the campus lake - the same place they used to hold the Raft Race.
Each Hall in the Fresher's Week built a raft out of what they could find and though there was much sinking and cheating there was one genuine (and stunning) victory by Willoughby Hall who romped away from the field like they were professionals.
These were also the days of Fortran 77 and an early computer game (on mainframe only) called Dungeon (a derivative of Dungeons and Dragons, I guess) where many a student and postgraduate with access to a terminal wasted a great deal of time. Then there was Sargon II, a very crude (and extremely bad) chess programme. I can tell you Sargon II was a better ruler of the Kingdom of Akkadia than a chess player.
Which brings me to the chess adventures I'll go into next time.
Jack Orchison,
March 23, 2014
Sunday, 16 March 2014
My biographical bit, part 9: University 2
Back in my University days (people took more pride in what it was and didn't call it 'Uni'), it was a time for joining clubs and societies because there wasn't the distraction of computers, mobile phones, game consoles or wall-to-wall television. These clubs were joined in Freshers' Week ('Week One')and I joined those for chess (more of that another time), snooker (I was rubbish at that: the best break I ever had was 18), backgammon and, surprisingly for a boring git like me, the Badminton Club.
This was the biggest mixed society on the campus and was extremely successful and popular. Because of this you had to play doubles or mixed doubles and it was great for meeting girls (that weird, unattainable species I knew little about). I had friendships of sorts with two girls called Anna and Elaine, although they didn't seem too interested, and then there was Sarah Binner who insisted on sticking her tits out at any guy with a pulse...I wasn't that cheap or desperate, even if she was. This club was also where I first encountered a guy called Kevin Maughan (an older fellow chemist, it turned out) and he was just awesome. He even played in international events. Some people joked he was really studying for a joint honours degree in Chemistry with Badminton.
With the backgammon, our team got to play others (by arrangement rather than in a league) and there was one time we were in Sheffield near where serial killer Peter Sutcliffe (better known as the Yorkshire Ripper) had struck - and he was still at large! We were glad to get home, even if he only murdered women.
The first week at University was one for organised trips into Nottingham. One of these was to the ice rink where Torvill and Dean used to practice. Regrettably, I was not on a par with them - my first (and last) attempt to skate ended prematurely when I fell over, tripped up a number of other people, and ended beneath them all, rather like in a collapsed rugby scrum!
More University adventures next time.
Jack Orchison
March 16, 2014.
This was the biggest mixed society on the campus and was extremely successful and popular. Because of this you had to play doubles or mixed doubles and it was great for meeting girls (that weird, unattainable species I knew little about). I had friendships of sorts with two girls called Anna and Elaine, although they didn't seem too interested, and then there was Sarah Binner who insisted on sticking her tits out at any guy with a pulse...I wasn't that cheap or desperate, even if she was. This club was also where I first encountered a guy called Kevin Maughan (an older fellow chemist, it turned out) and he was just awesome. He even played in international events. Some people joked he was really studying for a joint honours degree in Chemistry with Badminton.
With the backgammon, our team got to play others (by arrangement rather than in a league) and there was one time we were in Sheffield near where serial killer Peter Sutcliffe (better known as the Yorkshire Ripper) had struck - and he was still at large! We were glad to get home, even if he only murdered women.
The first week at University was one for organised trips into Nottingham. One of these was to the ice rink where Torvill and Dean used to practice. Regrettably, I was not on a par with them - my first (and last) attempt to skate ended prematurely when I fell over, tripped up a number of other people, and ended beneath them all, rather like in a collapsed rugby scrum!
More University adventures next time.
Jack Orchison
March 16, 2014.
Being a writer, part 7: Sequels, trilogies and series
It might seem a bit odd to consider future stories before you've even written one, but it's an important aspect nevertheless.
First of all, it tests your main character(s). How strong are they? How pro-active are they? Is the enemy hard to take down in one go? Can they develop even further than envisaged for the first story? And, will readers still be excited by the new situations you create later on? You must also consider the time period between stories - whether that is nine months or seventeen years, for instance. Adulthood, generations, babies and children, change of work or location or friends or attitudes, vigilance or complacency etc, not to mention the rise or recuperation of the bad guys, can all change things dramatically and for the good of the overall concept. However, I don't recommend a string of seven books like Harry Potter, or the six of Jean Auel's Children of the Earth - readers will get fed up and not read them all. I think any collection should be four at the most.
The seoond thing to remember is that more than one book changes how you approach the first - more things can be left unresolved and there can be more subplots and more characters (which might be introduced late, or even not all, in the first book - think of Will in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy). You will find yourself coming up with bits for later books as you do the first and, hey presto, they will be part done when you come to them.
So, is your story self-contained, or does your concept have 'legs' - the ability to go further?
Jack Orchison
March 16, 2014
First of all, it tests your main character(s). How strong are they? How pro-active are they? Is the enemy hard to take down in one go? Can they develop even further than envisaged for the first story? And, will readers still be excited by the new situations you create later on? You must also consider the time period between stories - whether that is nine months or seventeen years, for instance. Adulthood, generations, babies and children, change of work or location or friends or attitudes, vigilance or complacency etc, not to mention the rise or recuperation of the bad guys, can all change things dramatically and for the good of the overall concept. However, I don't recommend a string of seven books like Harry Potter, or the six of Jean Auel's Children of the Earth - readers will get fed up and not read them all. I think any collection should be four at the most.
The seoond thing to remember is that more than one book changes how you approach the first - more things can be left unresolved and there can be more subplots and more characters (which might be introduced late, or even not all, in the first book - think of Will in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy). You will find yourself coming up with bits for later books as you do the first and, hey presto, they will be part done when you come to them.
So, is your story self-contained, or does your concept have 'legs' - the ability to go further?
Jack Orchison
March 16, 2014
Friday, 28 February 2014
Being a writer, part 6: Milestones
Milestones are very important. I'm not talking about those in life, or even your job or writing career, but rather those to be found within your story itself. Let me explain.
In your notes, or in your head, you will have your beginning (where, when and with whom the story starts), an ending (if not the definitive one) and a number of scenes that simply have to be in your story (you may even write these first). Taken together, these are your milestones.
Imagine now you have a flat surface in front of you and your milestones are threadable plastic beads you have glued to the surface in the right order. Now consider your story as a long piece of string. Thread the string through the beads and knot the two ends. Now you will notice two things: the important bits are anchored in place, but the string can go where it likes between the milestones. This is why I hate rigid planning - it kills off the ability to introduce new and better ideas, especially those that paint the hero into yet another corner - there is no safety of a wiggly piece of string, just a some taut tightrope you are likely to fall off. Yet with the milestones we can do what we like and yet never lose sight of what really matters.
Jack Orchison
February 28, 2014.
In your notes, or in your head, you will have your beginning (where, when and with whom the story starts), an ending (if not the definitive one) and a number of scenes that simply have to be in your story (you may even write these first). Taken together, these are your milestones.
Imagine now you have a flat surface in front of you and your milestones are threadable plastic beads you have glued to the surface in the right order. Now consider your story as a long piece of string. Thread the string through the beads and knot the two ends. Now you will notice two things: the important bits are anchored in place, but the string can go where it likes between the milestones. This is why I hate rigid planning - it kills off the ability to introduce new and better ideas, especially those that paint the hero into yet another corner - there is no safety of a wiggly piece of string, just a some taut tightrope you are likely to fall off. Yet with the milestones we can do what we like and yet never lose sight of what really matters.
Jack Orchison
February 28, 2014.
My biographical bit, part 8: University 1
In the UK you apply to five Universities, go to interviews, get offers and then hold two of the latter, awaiting your results. My choices back in 1978 were:
Birmingham (UK, not Alabama)
Nottingham
Leeds
Newcastle (upon Tyne)
Southampton
I got offers from all of them, held onto Birmingham and Nottingham, but it was Nottingham I went for because it was (and still is) a lovely campus University. I got in easily and I was there for six years - I did a degree and PhD in Chemistry. My elder son is there now, studying Physics.
For the first two years I was in Cripps hall of residence, which was luckily the nearest to the Chemistry department so I could almost roll out of bed and down the hill to lectures in the morning. I have some notable memories from there: such as Dave Brown, the biology student who lived next door to me, who had dope-cake in his room (I never had any, by the way!). Then there was the mystery person that threw up one night in our shared bathroom - I have my suspicions that it was one of the medics from upstairs. They were responsible for the sour milk fight in our block that so affronted the cleaning lady, the feisty Vera Irwin, that she demanded a written apology before she'd even start to clean up the stinking mess. Tea time was always great and we had competitions to see who could eat the most toast, especially on Saturdays when piling into the TV room was a must to watch Dr Who and then, later, football (soccer) on Match of the Day.
More University next time.
Jack Orchison
February 28, 2014.
Birmingham (UK, not Alabama)
Nottingham
Leeds
Newcastle (upon Tyne)
Southampton
I got offers from all of them, held onto Birmingham and Nottingham, but it was Nottingham I went for because it was (and still is) a lovely campus University. I got in easily and I was there for six years - I did a degree and PhD in Chemistry. My elder son is there now, studying Physics.
For the first two years I was in Cripps hall of residence, which was luckily the nearest to the Chemistry department so I could almost roll out of bed and down the hill to lectures in the morning. I have some notable memories from there: such as Dave Brown, the biology student who lived next door to me, who had dope-cake in his room (I never had any, by the way!). Then there was the mystery person that threw up one night in our shared bathroom - I have my suspicions that it was one of the medics from upstairs. They were responsible for the sour milk fight in our block that so affronted the cleaning lady, the feisty Vera Irwin, that she demanded a written apology before she'd even start to clean up the stinking mess. Tea time was always great and we had competitions to see who could eat the most toast, especially on Saturdays when piling into the TV room was a must to watch Dr Who and then, later, football (soccer) on Match of the Day.
More University next time.
Jack Orchison
February 28, 2014.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Being a Writer, Part 5: Writing time, place and method
So, you're ready to start writing your novel. You have enough material. You know the genre. You're excited about it. But you need to make time for it, and that means when you won't be disturbed by your partner or kids. Let them know the time is yours. Regular application is the key, so don't worry about some massive word count per session you've heard other people achieving. Set your own and keep to it even if you are uninspired or ill or bored or worried. Writers write, remember!
Carve out little places for yourself where you work best and feel the most comfortable. This could be at the dining table, on the bed, or in the car at lunchtime (all favourites of mine), but you need to try things out to see what works for you.
And you have to get the words down. It doesn't matter if you hand-write it first and type it up later (as I do) of if you type it directly onto your computer. Just get that pesky story down somehow! And you don't need to worry about those things called style and voice. These come from writing your story, your way. They come from being honest, from being you. It stands to reason that copying another's style or following some recent fad is a bad idea. It's your story that matters, and that can only come from you. The real you. So get out there and sock it to them, and believe in your idea because it will be as good as anyone else's. And probably a whole lot better.
Jack Orchison, February 23, 2014.
Carve out little places for yourself where you work best and feel the most comfortable. This could be at the dining table, on the bed, or in the car at lunchtime (all favourites of mine), but you need to try things out to see what works for you.
And you have to get the words down. It doesn't matter if you hand-write it first and type it up later (as I do) of if you type it directly onto your computer. Just get that pesky story down somehow! And you don't need to worry about those things called style and voice. These come from writing your story, your way. They come from being honest, from being you. It stands to reason that copying another's style or following some recent fad is a bad idea. It's your story that matters, and that can only come from you. The real you. So get out there and sock it to them, and believe in your idea because it will be as good as anyone else's. And probably a whole lot better.
Jack Orchison, February 23, 2014.
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