Adam Croft's Blog, page 28

There’s nothing quite like a really good, juicy crime thriller, and I think that one of the things that makes them so good is the antagonist. If a crime novel doesn’t have a good antagonist, the book as a whole will struggle to succeed.

Of course, the reader might not know who the antagonist/criminal is until the very end of the book, but that doesn’t stop them from being vital and interesting right from the start. In many ways, they are the character that really prompts the story – without their actions, there wouldn’t be a crime to solve. Here are some of the best reasons antagonists are so vital to crime fiction.

The construction of the crime

It almost goes without saying that one of the reasons the antagonist matters is because the construction of the crime hinges on them. Whether you are a writer who starts with the plot or with the character, the antagonist will help to shape the crime.

If you start with the plot, you have to ask yourself what kind of person would commit that crime, and what would drive them to it. If you start with the character, you have to ask what kind of crime they would commit, and how and why. Two different angles there, but they both come back to the importance of the antagonist.

And everything runs from there, really.

The continuation of the story

While much of the plot of a crime novel will undoubtedly be driven by the protagonist – generally a detective – uncovering clues and trying to find out what happened, it will also be heavily influenced by the antagonist.

If we consider that once they have committed the crime, the aim of most antagonists (but not all of them) will be to evade capture, we can easily see their influence on the rest of the plot. Maybe they will try and deflect attention elsewhere, or appear cooperative while manipulating things behind the scenes. Maybe they will commit a further crime that demands action and drives the narrative on.

Coming to the resolution

Just as they matter in the beginning and middle of a crime novel, the antagonist is also crucial at the end. Do they make a mistake that leads to their capture, or is it the brilliance of the detective that leads to their arrest? How do they react in the face of defeat? Or do they get away with it? However your crime novel ends, it’s the actions and intent of the antagonist that adds so much of the drama and makes the story so compelling right to the very end.

What do you think?

Whether or not you are in the camp of people who believe that writers should write every day, it is likely that you will think writing regularly is important. Usually, this isn’t a problem – but what about when you are finding creative inspiration hard to come by? In short, can you force yourself to be creative?

On the one hand, there is an argument to be made that you can make yourself be creative. If you are writing on a regular basis, the process of it will become familiar and, with any luck, it will be easier to get down to work. Being creative will start to become second nature.

There is also the argument that we are naturally creative, and the hard bit is transferring that creativity to the page. I think there’s something in that; having great ideas is one part of the battle, but getting them how you want them to be in reality is a different matter entirely. I don’t think it’s unusual for writers to have fantastically creative ideas but then struggle to get them across in words – that’s often the bit that takes the time.

However, it’s also worth taking a look at the counter-argument. I’m sure we’ve all had periods in our writing where we’ve struggled for ideas but have tried to force it anyway – any not been all that satisfied with the outcome as a result. Sometimes, it makes more sense to step away and take a break from writing rather than trying to make yourself be creative. We might write something perfectly functional, but it will be missing that wow factor we’re all after.

I think this all just goes to show how closely creativity is linked to other aspects of writing. We might have the ideas, but find it hard to express them. Similarly, we might be able to write for hours and hours without much of a coherent thought in there at all. The trick is getting that balance right, and getting it right on a regular basis.

After a time, a lot of this becomes second nature. We learn the tricks and processes that work for us, we learn how to tell when an idea is good, and what to do with it once we’ve thought of it. However, we also learn that sometimes, if the creativity isn’t there, it generally isn’t worth trying to force it.

What do you think? Can you make yourself be creative when you’re not really feeling it, or is there something to be said for temporarily stepping away?

Even the most continually inspired of us need a bit of prompting from time to time, whether it’s to get the creative juices flowing in the first place or to provide a new challenge. So in that spirit – and in the spirit of the season – here are a few festive writing prompts to get you thinking. If you write anything based on any of them, do feel free to share.

1)      The mince pie that the children left out for Father Christmas is gone on Christmas morning – but it wasn’t Mum or Dad who ate it.

2)      A family Christmas party takes a turn for the worse when one relative spills someone else’s secret.

3)      Write a story involving an accident with some tinsel, the dog being in the doghouse for some tree-related antics, and a real-life angel.

4)      Father Christmas is real.

5)      It’s the night before Christmas and many, many creatures are stirring – especially the mice.

6)      The Christmas tree is on fire.

7)      Boxing Day sales shopping.

8)      Write about what everyone really thinks of all those gifts they received.

9)      Write a story about Christmas without using the word Christmas.

10)  There’s a mishap involving the turkey.

So you’ve self-published a book and think you’ve got the whole process down pretty well. Yet no matter how expert you are at the various aspects of self-publishing, there is always something new to learn. It’s an industry that is growing and changing all the time, and it’s important that we keep up with the developments that occur in it. Here are 5 reasons why.

Firstly, and obviously, it helps to keep up to date. If, for instance, a new e-book platform is due to be launched, it pays to know about it. You could be missing out on opportunities if you don’t keep an eye out for independent publishing news.
Keeping up with developments can also help set you apart from many other self-published authors. With the industry changing so much and so fast, you want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to stand out rather than get lost in the crowd.
It also makes sense to keep up with developments when you consider how much competition there is out there. More and more authors are turning to self-publishing, including some big names who have previously been traditionally published, so it’s more crucial than ever to make sure you’re doing all you can to match or better the competition.
Add to your skill set. It also pays to stay on top of developments as, with independent publishing, it’s all down to you. If you don’t do the work, no one else will do it for you (unless, of course, you pay them and/or have very nice and talented friends). If you want to take advantage of the latest technologies and opportunities, you’re going to have to learn about them.
Finally, it can help you to keep improving. All authors hope that their next book will be better than their last, and that includes the publication of it as well as the actual content. Taking note of the latest self-publishing developments will make sure the quality of your work continues to rise.

I don’t think there is a serious writer out there who wouldn’t love to write for a career. Writing for a living is a dream come true, but it’s also something of a rarity. Plenty of writers’ reality is that, for them, writing is something of a second job on top of the day job that pays most of the bills.

This brings with it its own special challenges – after all, it’s much harder to fit in all those crucial aspects of being a professional writer (afternoon daydreaming, regular Twitter breaks, working at odd hours of the night) when you’re busy trying to do a ‘proper’ job as well.

With this in mind, here are some of the things to consider when writing as a second job.

Time

Without doubt, time is one of the biggest factors here. Writing takes a lot of time. Whether we’re talking about the time it takes to write a draft of a book or to edit it or even come up with a good, workable idea in the first place, you usually need a lot of it in order to write well.

And time is in short supply. Working out how to balance a day job with writing is crucial; getting the balance between not neglecting your career and giving your passion for writing enough time is tricky to master, but it’s something we can’t avoid.

Work commitments

There’s no getting away from the fact that if you write on top of doing a day job, that day job is likely to have to take precedent from time to time. It might not be to your liking, and it probably won’t be ideal, but knowing when to focus on one or the other is an important skill.

Developing goals

Something else to consider is how you want things to develop in the future. For instance, if you are hoping to spend more of your time writing in the future, how will you make this happen? What will you do about your day job if you start to have more success with your writing?

This is something that it can be easy to think you’ll just deal with if it ever happens, but having some sort of action plan will certainly make the transition easier.

The opportunities

It can be tempting to see a ‘proper’ job as something of a hindrance to our passion for writing. However, having a day job could provide opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise get. Going out to work brings us into contact with more people and situations than we would experience if we spent all day writing in the spare bedroom. It introduces us to different worlds and scenarios and reactions to events – all useful material that could be helpful in our writing.

What do you think are the most important things to think about when writing as a second job?

As we’re so close to the end of the year, with just over two weeks to go until 2013, it seems like an apt time to discuss the idea of the final push.

Not just the final push at work before you leave the office for Christmas, but the final push that can occur at any time of the year – those final stages of writing a book, where finally finishing it still seems a struggle yet you are so close to the end.

Completing those last little bits can be surprisingly hard. You might think that once you’ve got over the challenge of writing a whole draft of a novel and then editing it more times than you can count, putting a few final touches to the manuscript would be easy.

Yet it isn’t always. I think one of the reasons for this is that once you’ve made that final push and got to the very end of the novel, it will be finished. There’ll be nothing else to do to it. In many ways, this is one of the amazing bits of being a writer. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction and achievement of having written a whole proper book, whether or not you decide you want to publish it.

But this time is also scary. What if you finish the book and then decide that, actually, you don’t like it after all? Declaring a book done can be nerve-wracking, because once you’ve done that you have to start thinking properly about what comes next – publication, promotion, starting the next book…

It can also be easy to leave those final little touches undone for long periods of time. After all, you’re so nearly there and there’re only a few tiny things left to do on the novel; they won’t take long, so why do them now? You’ll still be able to finish it tomorrow.

True enough, but dangerous. It’s all too easy to leave your novel for so long that going back to it in any form eventually becomes all but impossible. Staying with it now, when you’ve already spent so many months and hours slaving over the manuscript, might be difficult, but it’s much easier than coming back to it months later.

So, if you’re at that stage in your novel where you’re nearly there but not quite, don’t give up. The final push can be draining, but keep yourself focused on the prize. Just as the prize at the end of the year is, with any luck, a jolly good time and a few beverages, the prize at the end of your novel is the joy of having written a novel. Embrace the season and push on to the end.

What are your tips for keeping yourself engaged right through to the end of your book?

Getting to the end of the first draft of your novel has to be one of the hardest things about writing. It takes a huge amount of stamina, commitment and drive to do it, and it’s something that beats many people – even those who want nothing more than to write. With this in mind, here are a few tips for getting to the end of your first draft.

Blitz it

One option is simply to blitz through the draft and get it done as quickly as possible so it doesn’t drag out for months with very little progress being made. Events such as National Novel Writing Month can be good for this; it gives you a target and a deadline by which to do it. Your writing might not be amazing if you’re doing it so fast, but at least you’ll then have something there to work with.

Make it a routine

Building your writing into your daily routine can take some of the spontaneity out of it, but when it comes to making progress, sometimes this is necessary. Give yourself half an hour a day (more if you can manage it) where you do nothing but write. Even if you only do 300 words a day, it all adds up eventually.

Skip bits

There’s no rule that says you have to write a complete draft straight away. If a scene is giving you trouble, skip it for now. You can come back to it later, but for now, all you need to do is get to the end of the story. If that means sketching things in briefly so you can sort them out properly later, so be it.

Arrange a reading

Think when you’d like to get your draft done. Set a date. Arrange an event for that date. Invite all your friends and family and tell them you’ll be reading your new work to them. The pressure of having to get it done by that date will hopefully spur you on to the finish.

Go to a writers’ group

Writers’ groups are good because you can support each other and drive each other forward. Plus, they’re more useful when you have new work to share, which can give you the push you need to make progress with your first draft. The feedback you get can be useful too.

What are your tips for getting to the end of the first draft?

If you’re in need of writing inspiration this Christmas, there are plenty of places you can look.

The 12 days of Christmas. We all know the song, right? Schoolchildren up and down the land are probably blaring out ‘fiiiiiiiive go-oooold riiiiiiiings’ as you read this. It can be a brilliant source of inspiration. For instance, write a story to go with it, or a poem based on it, or write the backstory to why someone’s ‘true love’ was giving them all that stuff in the first place.
The office Christmas party. A time filled with wine and ill-judged misadventures, it’s a great place to look for ideas. Take a notebook and an open mind.
The big family do. Whether your inspiration comes from your family dramas or the beverages that are inevitably imbibed at such shindigs, it’s sure to loosen your creative muscles a little bit.
The Christmas TV schedules. TV goes a bit (more bonkers than usual) over Christmas. Mad specials, quality dramas and odd advertising jingles abound. There’s sure to be something in there to inspire you. Or if nothing else, you’ll eventually need to do something to get away from it all, and writing something is as good a solution as any.
The wrapping paper strewn living room. A thousand stories could be written about the mess on the floor after you’ve ripped into all the presents. If only because writing means you might get out of the cleaning up.
The weather. Cold, dark, crisp, wet, dry, snowy, bright, fresh. The great British weather is always a topic of conversation so if you’re stuck for ideas, why not incorporate it into your writing? There’s always something to say about it.
The Christmas tree. Write a poem about how lovely it looks. Write a rant about how much of a pain the fairy lights are. Write a humorous short story about that time your cat tried to climb up the tree to snag that ornament that looks like a robin and bought the whole thing crashing to the ground.
The day after. Ah, Boxing Day. It’s a bit of an odd day, really, and it always feels like something of a lull. Fill it with writing.

There’s no denying that self-publishing can be something of a challenge. For most of us getting into it for the first time, it’s a steep learning curve and can sometimes seem like too much to take in all at once. However, it’s a challenge that is definitely worth it. Here are six reasons why self-publishing is worth the effort.

Do it in your own time

It might be hard sometimes, but at least you can do it in your own time. The only deadlines you’ll have are those that you set yourself and, since you’re in charge, you can move them if you want. Even though you might be eager to get your work published, you can still afford the luxury of taking your time to get things right.

Build up your skill base

Independent publishing is also an excellent opportunity to increase your skills, and this is something that we should never waste. You never know when you might need those skills again and, even if you never use them outside of self-publishing, it will still be something else to add to your list of achievements.

The satisfaction of a job well done

It’s also enormously satisfying when you finally get your self-published book out there. There’s nothing like seeing your own name in print and knowing you’ve got there under your own steam only makes it better.

Potential for success

Plus you never know, you could be the next big success story. There are plenty of self-published authors out there who are currently doing rather nicely for themselves and while success is never guaranteed, even just the prospect of it makes all the effort worth it.

Build your network

Self-publishing is a good way to build up a network of contacts. Those contacts might help you with your writing, your publishing, your ‘other’ career, or end up becoming your friends. Whatever they end up being, they’ll be immensely valuable.

Develop the writing career you want

Finally, self-publishing will always be worth the effort as it allows you to develop the writing career you want. You don’t have to meet anyone else’s standards or aims but your own. Unlike traditional publishing, where you are likely to be guided by what publishers want, with self-publishing you can do things entirely your own way. The freedom is amazing and it makes the whole process and all the hard work worth it.

For someone who almost never talks about his feelings, this is very difficult to say. I apologise wholeheartedly for doing it in this way.

For a large part of my life I have been living with clinical depression and anxiety disorder. I have been on medication and receiving treatment for two-and-a-half years, but have not spoken to any of my friends or family about it. It’s time I opened up.

It has always affected me, as far as I can remember. It affects me in all walks of life and in everyday situations, no matter how much I might outwardly appear to be fine. Behind closed doors, quite often, I’m a wreck.

My ‘secret’ book which is published next week is an autobiographical account of my lifelong battle with depression. I hope it will give some insight into what life has been like living with this dark cloud over me, especially one which has been so secretive and personal. I will be donating proceeds from the book to mental health charities. The book is titled We Need to Talk About Adam, a tongue-in-cheek attempt at self-deprecation.

Your first reaction after reading this might be that it’s bizarre to post it on my blog. It’s not, and for one simple reason: it’s perfectly normal and no big deal. Why should I need to sit down and tell people one-to-one? It doesn’t change me and it doesn’t change us. I’ve been living with it most of my life and doing so in silence, but now it needs talking about. We should not be afraid to be who we are. This is who I am. Besides, it’s far more personal than reading it in a book. Newspapers will be covering it next week, so I’d rather you find out directly from me.

This is a massive step for me, and one I have considered and battled with for a long time. Saying this has taken a huge amount of courage. I’m shitting bricks. I hope I don’t sound conceited in saying that your words of support, as friends, are much needed right now.

Adam x