Always Chris

Writing? Of course I too can write when unemployed

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:03:30 +0000

Why is it that people believe that anybody can become a writer? Why is it that people believe that a person who uses the term writer to describe his or her occupation is unemployed? I notice this drastic shift in the thought process of the masses especially when the economy faces a recession. The moment unemployment increases, the number of writers in the market go up drastically. Of course, this is a counterproductive process because the price that the customer is prepared to pay for quality writing services automatically comes down.

A large number of individuals decide to become freelance writers and think that they can become the next sensation on the Internet by writing ghost blogs for others. The funny thing is that nobody sets up a new data cleaning services firm because they feel this is a technical field and yet they try becoming a writer. They invariably believe that anybody can become a writer and start offering their services online.

Of course, very few individuals have the ability to run a business. The process of finding new clients when you are a writer can be a very difficult task. If you are of the artistic and temperamental type, then you will find it very difficult to mollycoddle clients who believe that they know everything. The irony is that these large number of freelance writers would have no hesitation walking out of the market once the economy improves and the job position becomes better.

This is something that I have noticed in the travel forum that I moderate. The number of entrepreneurs who are obviously submitting paid posts increases drastically. When I point out that I have been doing this for many years and that I understand what they are doing, these individuals feign ignorance and create a big fuss. I have to throw them out and only then do they realize that I was serious about my intentions to keep my forum free of silly writers.

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It doesn’t always have to seem exciting, you know

admin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:03:04 +0000

You’d think the answer to the question in the title would be Yes.

In fact, it’s not that easy…to answer or write a book, I mean!

Here’s an example, though, of how literally anything can be made into an exciting read. You don’t have to write about vampires and the undead to satisfy a reader’s craving!

1) Sarah had an idea for a book…the only problem was, it was a bit unconventional…it was about roller banners . Sarah’s problem was that she knew what she wanted to write, but wasn’t sure that there was a market for it. After a while, she got an idea: she’d join the local writer’s group and see if she could get inspired enough to pen this idea.

2) Sarah turned up and was immediately happy; she felt like this was the perfect situation to give her inspiration. The only problem was, there was too much talk of writing and not enough writing! After a few weeks she dropped out, but at least she now had some idea of what was good and what was bad, and now she knew what a plot was she could get started on her great idea.

…In almost all scenarios, by the end of the book or film, the characters have learned something…

3) She began by changing the mundane into something menacing. OK, so these banner things weren’t devilish or anything, but what if they could come to life and eat people? Hmm, this got her mind racing, and soon she had come up with the characters who would live out this nightmare.

4) What Sarah learned in the first draft was that the dull and ordinary can be just as frightening as anything else! She read a few books, Stephen King in particular, and before long she knew just how much gore to use and where humour was appropriate.

The point of this example, of course, is that it isn’t really about the subject. That may sound strange, but in fact, the horror in most films and books comes not from the monsters, but the effect they have on the world around them. In almost all scenarios, by the end of the book or film, the characters have learned something, and this usually means they have become stronger or weaker.

So if you have an idea which is a bit unconventional – roller blinds which grow razor-toothed mouths, maybe or something to do with a sinister toilet that has a very powerful flush – then don’t be afraid to turn it into something special on paper. You never know, you just might scare a few people in the process…

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Virtual Writers Group

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:33:03 +0000

Localism can sometimes be a lie. It is good to have friends around that are close by that you can talk to, but as a writer, you need other people that understand and sympathize with your work, and you won’t necessarily find them around the corner. As you know, I spend a lot of time online moderating forums, and it was at a writer’s forum that I had a huge brain wave; why not start a hard working online writers group.

The problem with getting all of your support as a writer from an online forum or discussion board, is that there is no sense of commitment. A writers group is 4-6 writers that are committed to a professional career that want to critique each others'work. We meet fortnightly for a 45 minute video chat. Before the meeting we circulate writing. It is a good thing that we have mathematical minds, because we have worked out a very specific formula that allows us to manage our burden of reading while at the same time make sure that everybody gets an equal amount of time for feedback.

Each member takes a turn in order to moderate the group. When a writer has something to submit, they send it off to the moderator. Every Monday we check in about how much time people have to devote to reading in that week. The moderator takes an average of all the times and sends out reading from the top of the list. Each week the order of the list is adjusted so that the writers are in order of how many pages of writing they have submitted up to that date. We have members in 4 different continents so sometimes working out the best time for our meeting can be difficult. Again we alternate so its not always in the middle of the night.

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Moderating

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:03:16 +0000

It happens to all of us who work as forum moderators. A dispute breaks out and we need to resolve it. Sometimes, it does actually get a bit ugly, and I personally tend to lose sleep at this point. There is something about the anonymity of online communication that allows people to be more horrible than they would otherwise. Last week Global Pal got a nasty and it was up to me to sort it out.

I had to do two things at the same time: sort through the hurt feelings to create a sense of resolution and figure out who was saying what to whom and if they were using any additional aliases. The whole thing started with somebody being accused of being a racist. I am sure it is entirely possible to do by hand, but when I moderate forums, I use high end HR software. When problems arise, I am able to track the most frequent writers, what they write about, and certain key phrases that they are likely to use. By doing this on a consistent basis, I have an excellent data base of people who use the forums I moderate. This is important, because if I block somebody for being racist, I am able to identify if any additional posts are aliases of the original writer.

It is relatively easy, you simply create a profile for each of your frequent contributors as you would for an employee. A frequent writer will usually identify personal details such as location, family status, age, profession, and places travelled. Just note them down on their profile. This has really helped me deal with the current conflict, as the original writer did return under an alias and tried to stir up more dissent. My bosses were so pleased with my work, I got a raise.

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Grammar – A Sturdy Pillar On Which Language And Communication Stand

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:03:09 +0000

Do you know what is loreal majirel? I guess very few blog posts that you have read till date would have had such a muddled beginning. The word loreal sounds familiar but one just cannot be sure, right? Well, what if I rephrase the query? Do you know what is L’Oréal Majirel? You may not be very hot on make up and fashion accessories but you probably have heard about L’Oréal, right? Now, you can take the logical leap and conclude that it is probably a make up product offered by the famous company L’Oréal.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a 95 word crash course on the importance of grammar. Language is the primary tool we use for communication. Grammar happens to be one of the pillars on which language stands. Remove grammar and language will collapse taking communication along with it.

Needless to say, I take my grammar very seriously because I wish to become a professional writer. Not only do I need to communicate stuff to my readers but I need to do it in such a manner that they are encouraged to open their wallets and pay me to write more.

One reason why people are afraid of grammar is that it is a hydra headed monster that just cannot be controlled. Focus on punctuation and you may trip on the voice. Cover voice and you may have an awkward sentence structure. Take care of that as well and you may end up messing up with transitive verbs without even knowing what that is.

Most individuals do not like to think that language can be such a complex thing. That is why grammar is left alone even if it implies one will never become an expert in the language in question. All said and done, there is no denying that mastering grammar helps one explore all facets of the language with supreme skill and expertise.

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How much is luck and how much is skill?

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:09:03 +0000

Growing up, my Grandmother put a lot of emphasis on luck. To Gran, luck was something amazing that some lucky people had and others didn’t have. Those who had it were blessed. Those who didn’t have it…well, it’s probably best not to talk about them…

The point is, listening to Gran go on about luck made me believe that luck was all there was to it. Until I was about ten, when I discovered that actually, someone could possess plenty of skill and not much luck.

Take James Michael, for example. We didn’t trust him for two reasons. 1) He had a Surname which was really a first name and 2) He could juggle. Juggling to us was a bit strange and a little bit mystical. This combination, along with the fact that James Michael had ginger hair, made us kids steer well clear of him!

All you can do, really, is do your best and hope that things work out for you. If you have a good bit of skill then that’s no bad thing either

This was totally and completely unfair, of course. In reality James Michael was just a lad with redder than average hair who also could juggle really well (which would later lead him to have some surprising success with a certain number of red-hair-loving-ladies). The point was that James was really very unlucky, yet he possessed this amazing skill that no other boy in school had. So that was when I started to think that maybe luck and skill were totally different entities.

Gran didn’t help much, of course. She still believed in her luck and wouldn’t have it any other way.

All this pondering about skill and luck made things confusing growing up. Even now it makes me wonder how much is skill and how much is luck?

Well, the truth, me thinks, is that the answer is unexplainable. Things happen for reasons unknown to us and it isn’t always easy to tell why one person is successful when another person – no matter how much they try – isn’t.

The lesson here, I think, is that it doesn’t matter if you work with hybrid cars or train monkeys for a living (that’s monkey-training not monkeys who live specifically on trains!): life is full of chance and random possibility and there are still plenty of things we don’t understand about how the world works. All you can do, really, is do your best and hope that things work out for you. If you have a good bit of skill then that’s no bad thing either, as really, skill can only ever increase your chances or being where you want to be.

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Organise your desk

admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:13:49 +0000

One thing I’ve learned over the last couple of years – the hard way, I might add – is that organisation is key. It really does matter. When my desk is a total mess, I can’t function and my working day revolves around trying to find lost paper – a serious nightmare. But, when my desk is organised well, everything is so much easier. You may not believe me, but that’s fine, because now I will tell you how you can do the same. Try it out for yourself and then we’ll see who’s laughing!

1) Clear your desk and I mean CLEAR IT. That means removing the Ascis Gel Kayano from it, and all those notes which are actually just nonsense gibberish which you will never look at again. We need to start from scratch here, so make sure you clear it properly. Be harsh!

2) Now, place your laptop or computer more to one side than the other. For some reason, this helps me. I now have a small space on my right for pens and stationery, and a bigger space on the left which is ideal for my diary and a few sheets of paper to make notes on as and when I need to.

3) You’re not done. Now you need to organise a place for your mug of tea or coffee. Do this and you won’t end up sticking it in any old place. Like I said, organisation is the key!

4) We’re almost there, but not quite: at the end of the working day, you’ll need to have a quick tidy up. Put your notes face down and write the date on the back of them. Then the next day simply file them away under that date. Easy? Yes. A good solution: indeed!

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Organise your desk

admin — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:24:41 +0000

3) You’re not done. Now you need to organise a place for your mug of tea or coffee. Do this and you won’t end up sticking it in any old place. Like I said, organisation is the key!

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Consistency Issues

admin — Sat, 28 May 2011 16:33:11 +0000

Today I thought I’d write about consistency in novels and short stories, because to my mind, it’s the second biggest problem (after the first: not having a good enough story / not being good enough yet at writing).

Look at this paragraph as an example.

Helen went shopping. Her red hair was very bright today, as she had had a bad accident with her home hair-dying kit. This put Helen in a stinker of a mood!

Now look at this paragraph, written by the same author 2 days later.

Helen finished her shopping and her hair was all frazzled and not as red as she had wanted it. She was also starting to feel in a slightly better mood because of the text she had just received.

Okay, let’s give the writer the benefit of the doubt and say that he or she remembered to put something in in-between these paragraphs about the text. There is still an issue, isn’t there? Yes…Helen’s hair is now frazzled and not died bright red. She is also in a good mood, which you would not expect after the end of the first paragraph.

And this demonstrates how hard novel writing / short story writing truly is. Not only must the words be compression short and the plot perfect, but you must constantly remember how each and every character feels at all times. It’s a headache but you should consider making a “mood chart”. That way, at least you won’t have to keep all that info up there in your head.

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Healthy Starchy Foods

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:33:05 +0000

A good friend of mine who is into beauty PR was giving me some tips on healthy starchy foods recently. Here is some of what she said.

Healthy starchy foods are complex carbohydrates and are found to be very rich in fibre which means that you will feel full for a longer period of time. These foods also assist in burning calories and will energise you. Healthy starchy foods are known to help in the reduction in the levels of cholesterol and are heart healthy.

There is a list of healthy Carbohydrates that should be consumed on a regular basis, for good health. Here are some of the foods on that list.

1. Wheat and its products

2. Rice, especially Brown Rice

3. Barley

4. Brown bread

5. Oats

6. Potatoes

7. Green bananas

8. Couscous

9. Quinoa

10. Beans

A complete list of items for consumption can be obtained from a nutritionist or from a food website. The beneficial Carbohydrates do not have calories in greater amounts. Therefore, they will not contribute greatly to an increase in your weight. They are not a burden on your stomach, and are absorbed easily.

Many people believe that they should avoid carbohydrates in an effort to lose weight. This is one of the main mistakes people who want to lose weight desperately make. Healthy starchy foods must form a part of any diet and eliminating them from your diet means that you will be losing out on the needed nutrients they contain.

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