julesjones | (no subject)

2000 words on Friday; today was mostly catching up on administrivia, so only 150 words.

The writing/publishing blogosphere has been pointing and laughing at various iterations of "I have the secret of publishing success, and for this week only I'm slashing the price to *you* lucky people!" As lots of people who do know what they're talking about have said, there's only one formula for success: write it, send it out. Or as one or two of my friends prefer to put it: arse on chair, fingers on keyboard. Then put it in the post. Repeat as necessary.

Charlie Stross talks about future shock and becoming a Google junkie in his latest blog entry. I understand that one. If I get arse off chair and fingers off keybord, and go for a stroll to the end of the block, I can see a small box atop a lamp post that in the next month or two will provide me with free wifi internet access, courtesy of everyone's favourite search engine. Google's latest aren't-we-cute-and-adorable embrace-and-extend is the provision of free wifi access to its home town. This might change my life (although it probably won't). I've never done the "take laptop to the coffee shop to write" thing, and one of the reasons is quite simply that nowadays I really don't like being cut off from Google and Wikipedia while I'm writing. I only realised how dependent I'd become when I Googled for something a couple of years ago instead of walking to the bookshelf all of six feet away to look it up in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Soon I will be able to take a wifi-equipped laptop to my local bookshop, and sit in their coffee lounge, browsing Amazon and then taking the laptop downstairs to the till where I can say, "I want one of these. But from you, because I support my local bookshop."

The democratic genre: Fan Fiction in a Literary Context got a namecheck in the Making Light fanfic thread. I do believe I may know the namechecker... (For those in a different circle of my friends - I know the author, as do a number of people on my flist. She knows what she's talking about, and it's an excellent book.) Also mentioned - new book by Jenkins, due out Sept: Fans, Bloggers, And Gamers.

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I really don't like being cut off from Google and Wikipedia while I'm writing.

Now that's interesting. The main reason I went for a wired network around the house when we got broadband instead of wireless was so that I would be able to write in the sitting room, free from the distractions of the Internet. *g*

Unless my brain is totally failing me, isn't the author of the book on fanfic a tutor on the creative writing course of a university in South Wales? If so, it's the one I applied to when I thought I wanted to do an MA in creative writing. I didn't get on the course, for which I'm now grateful. Thinking it would be a good thing was a momentary aberration and I'm now glad I didn't end up committed to it.

The Internet is indeed a distraction, but mail and usenet are my main problems. (And blogs.) Google and Wikipedia are very useful - the main problem there is refraining from following all those interesting looking links.

As for the fanfic book:
"About the Author
Sheenagh Pugh has published 10 collections of poems and translations and two novels. She is a reader in Creative Writing st the University of Glamorgan and lives in Cardiff."

They must be doing something right, because some of her students have books out with Real Publishers. And that's one course where they won't be told that genre is beneath them. :-)

Yes, that's the course. I was a bit miffed at having my application rejected at the time, but perhaps they're after younger students? There are very few places. Or perhaps my novel just didn't appeal? Though that was worrying because it's off out looking for a home right now.

But Sheelagh Pugh was one reason I applied there because I thought they would surely be genre friendly. The other reason being that my offspring live down in South Wales and I could have combined visits to see them with the tutorial sessions.

A course that only takes 8 students a year is always going to be hard to get on to, but it's nowt to do with age - that course has loads of mature students - or genre; a proposal which was in effect an AU sequel to Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice has been accepted in the past. I can't guess why yours didn't make it, cos I don't directly do the selecting, but you couls always try again... I know he's full for this year but he might still want a back-up list because people do sometimes drop out for business or personal reasons.

(this is Sheenagh being anonymous)

it's nowt to do with age

Well, there's mature and there's mature. *g* I'm in my early 50s and I wouldn't blame any college for giving preference to someone 20 years younger when places are so limited.

It's nice to know that it wasn't anything to do with genre though. Many universities do tend to favour more literary writers, so I think it's really good that you're more open to different kinds of fiction. I tutor on the OU's Start Writing Fiction course and I really enjoy that, but I didn't apply to tutor their second level course because a lot of the students who will be doing it have Literary Aspirations and I'm much better with genre writing, SF and fantasy in particular, because that's what I mostly read.

Re your suggestion that I try again. I actually applied 18 months ago and whilst in one way I would love to do a masters, I've recently been forced to accept that I just don't have the time. I have, however, finished the novel that I sent a sample of and it's out doing the rounds trying to find a publisher and agent.

I suspect that one reason I didn't make it onto the course was that the synopsis I sent didn't do the novel justice. I have a much better synopsis now which actually manages to mention the young married couple's relationship problems and therefore indicates that though a comedy, the novel does have it's more serious moments.

Anyway, rather regretfully, I've put aside thoughts of doing fiction writing courses and I'll just keep working away on my own, because then I can fit writing in around the other stuff I have to do. Which is just as well, because there is currently a funding crisis in FE and my best chance of ensuring that I keep my job is to improve my Welsh so I can teach bilingually. That's what my college is pushing for right now, so I need to focus on that. In the meantime I'm making a start on another novel -- based on my FE teaching experiences. Very loosely based... *g*