# “Maybe that's how books get written, maybe that's why songs get sung...” # - Ben Folds (with Nick Hornby)
It's taken me longer than I'd hoped back in January to write up my Preview post for 2012, but the new year has well and truly begun now and as the winter cold has receded and the spring air is beginning to penetrate my brain, I'm attempting more and more to lay out my writing plot for the 12 months that will make up 2012...
As ever, I've tried to kick-start the new year with a new update to my blog's title picture above... Each year since 2010 I've been adding another object to the collage and for 2012, a rather 'bookish' gnome has appeared. What's different about this year's object is that it bears next year's date...
It's all to prepare the way for the book I'm planning to begin work on next year, but why jump ahead now? Well, it's because for 2012, I'm returning to concentrate my writing efforts on a book I've already begun, and it's the big one.... In novel terms it's my first love, and by next year I'll have been working on it for a total of 10 years, so I'm giving myself the next 12 months to finally turn the last page on my first adventure novel... So my "new" writing news might go a little quiet for a while during 2012 as I knuckle down to the task at hand, imagining the many adventures in a tiny forgotten village somewhere up north...
But there'll be other writing distractions for me during this year... Soon, across on my Official Writing Homepage there'll be a revamped "Story Starts" page where I reserve a space to *attempt* to pass on some minor pearls of wisdom to other wannabe writers in the form of tips and tricks of the trade that I've learned myself since beginning my own writing life, as well as providing some form of inspiration with story beginnings which YOU are invited to finish to practice you're own scribble skills...
It's taken me longer than I'd hoped back in January to write up my Preview post for 2012, but the new year has well and truly begun now and as the winter cold has receded and the spring air is beginning to penetrate my brain, I'm attempting more and more to lay out my writing plot for the 12 months that will make up 2012...
As ever, I've tried to kick-start the new year with a new update to my blog's title picture above... Each year since 2010 I've been adding another object to the collage and for 2012, a rather 'bookish' gnome has appeared. What's different about this year's object is that it bears next year's date...
But there'll be other writing distractions for me during this year... Soon, across on my Official Writing Homepage there'll be a revamped "Story Starts" page where I reserve a space to *attempt* to pass on some minor pearls of wisdom to other wannabe writers in the form of tips and tricks of the trade that I've learned myself since beginning my own writing life, as well as providing some form of inspiration with story beginnings which YOU are invited to finish to practice you're own scribble skills...
So! You'll have noticed some familiar-looking doodles in the slideshow above... And as part of my new new-look "Story Starts" page for 2012, I'm launching an ongoing STORY CONTEST for my Official Writing Website – the idea is for readers to study the doodles that I've littered in the background of all pages on the site and use them to create their own stories... You can use the contact email on the site's intro page to send in stories and as I get more and more they'll be displayed and showcased. It's an exciting prospect wondering what other writers might make of the sketches because they make up the basis of my first adventure novel, so I'm hoping seeing someone else's take on how to use them to craft a story will make for a pretty cool creative project.... (I've talked in the past about wanting to begin my own writing podcast at some point in the future too, and part of that would be to invite other writers on to chat about all things writing so another prize for this "Great Scribble-Doodle Contest" will be to get the chance to appear on a future podcast with myself and be interviewed about your own writing…)
This year too, I really want to finish off all the other "enhancements" I began in 2011 on my writing homepage too. Already new for 2012 is one of the last "Feature Fiction" page revamps in the form of my "Dark Sci-Fi" page (click on an object on the site that might time you during a game on the beach...). There's also my "Mini Epics" Feature Fiction page to redo this year and this will be 'Coming Soon'... with a special launch as I work towards my first proper "Public Reading" of some of my Nano Fiction in Newcastle upon Tyne through being published online just at the turn of the year by "Springheeled Jack" (a weirdly wonderful new fiction website!) At present, I have a story called The Thirst for Knowledge being showcased om Springheeled but soon there'll also be Blood Hunt and Many Happy Returns which are two of my most recent (and I think best!) attempts at "Flash Fiction"...
A lot of the stories on my writing website feature drawings by a wide range of talented artists and in 2012, that tradition will continue and it'll largely be a family affair as I plan to feature both my father's haunting sketches and brother's amazing photograph alongside future releases of my "Featured Fiction" stories...
My present day job working in the broadcast media keeps providing new writing opportunities too and this year it's going to be all about the animals... wild and tame... I can't really say much more at the moment but take a look at my Twitpics for February 2012 for a sneak peak into some new worlds and adventures I'm attempting to craft using some friendly, furry, feathered (and some not-so-feathered!) friends...
Among the many other plots in the planning stages, I'm also hatching a hair-brained scheme for once all my "Featured Fiction" pages are finished and that's to begin making some "story trailers" to launch on my YouTube channel, which is a little lacking in content at the moment...
And I guess that's probably enough work to give myself for this year... It's set to be an action-adventure packed 12 months ahead... The final thing that's always on my mind though is 2012 as well as being a mega writing year also should be a mega reading one for me too – I've been an avid writer for some time but have always been a “reluctant reader”, so I'm going to try to resolve this by attempting to pass on the reading bug this year in my spare time via multimedia to family and friends alike - one such way for myself (and you too!) could be to sign up to and pledge to "Bookstart's 20 books for 2012" campaign... Take some time to stop by their site and READ, READ, READ - cos as they always say, reading a wide variety of styles and voices improves your own writing and on this scribble journey we all need to keep looking ahead, practising and improving on our craft as we go...
This year too, I really want to finish off all the other "enhancements" I began in 2011 on my writing homepage too. Already new for 2012 is one of the last "Feature Fiction" page revamps in the form of my "Dark Sci-Fi" page (click on an object on the site that might time you during a game on the beach...). There's also my "Mini Epics" Feature Fiction page to redo this year and this will be 'Coming Soon'... with a special launch as I work towards my first proper "Public Reading" of some of my Nano Fiction in Newcastle upon Tyne through being published online just at the turn of the year by "Springheeled Jack" (a weirdly wonderful new fiction website!) At present, I have a story called The Thirst for Knowledge being showcased om Springheeled but soon there'll also be Blood Hunt and Many Happy Returns which are two of my most recent (and I think best!) attempts at "Flash Fiction"...A lot of the stories on my writing website feature drawings by a wide range of talented artists and in 2012, that tradition will continue and it'll largely be a family affair as I plan to feature both my father's haunting sketches and brother's amazing photograph alongside future releases of my "Featured Fiction" stories...
My present day job working in the broadcast media keeps providing new writing opportunities too and this year it's going to be all about the animals... wild and tame... I can't really say much more at the moment but take a look at my Twitpics for February 2012 for a sneak peak into some new worlds and adventures I'm attempting to craft using some friendly, furry, feathered (and some not-so-feathered!) friends...Among the many other plots in the planning stages, I'm also hatching a hair-brained scheme for once all my "Featured Fiction" pages are finished and that's to begin making some "story trailers" to launch on my YouTube channel, which is a little lacking in content at the moment...
And I guess that's probably enough work to give myself for this year... It's set to be an action-adventure packed 12 months ahead... The final thing that's always on my mind though is 2012 as well as being a mega writing year also should be a mega reading one for me too – I've been an avid writer for some time but have always been a “reluctant reader”, so I'm going to try to resolve this by attempting to pass on the reading bug this year in my spare time via multimedia to family and friends alike - one such way for myself (and you too!) could be to sign up to and pledge to "Bookstart's 20 books for 2012" campaign... Take some time to stop by their site and READ, READ, READ - cos as they always say, reading a wide variety of styles and voices improves your own writing and on this scribble journey we all need to keep looking ahead, practising and improving on our craft as we go...
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