Keeping it small

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I’ve never been very good at writing short stories. The smallness of the idea never seems to last. Choose your future started life as a fairly simple idea about a woman having a melt down in a supermarket because she couldn’t cope with the perfection of the genetically modified tomatoes. Once I started to write it though, it very quickly grew to the current 60000 words of a novel. The universe very quickly expanded outwards – like universes tend to do, I suppose. Because it is set in the future, I suppose there are details and ideas that I wouldn’t have to deal with if this was set in the normal reality of everyday life and this is pushing up the word count.

Now I am concerned that I have too many ideas. I’m already thinking that my first edit will be a drastic one, hacking away all the ideas and characters that do not work or are unnecessary. At the minute though, I am willing to let it expand. It might sound ridiculous  that I would let it grow to untold size in order to crop it at some point in the future. All I can say is I cannot tell at the minute which branches it will be that are culled and which will be allowed to stay. I have to let it sprout with absolute freedom. Only when I have seen the whole will I know about the various parts.

 

 

Eclectic Reader Challenge 2013 – Action Adventure – The Zombie Room – R D Donald

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51zwoI7vcmL._AA160_This is a genre I am not really familiar with, I must admit and I didn’t really know what to pick when I decided to do The Eclectic Reader Challenge. The Zombie Room sounded interesting – it was about human trafficking and I expected it to be a traumatic read. I expected it to be difficult. That would have made it more interesting.

There was certainly a lot of action. The events never really stopped happening. However, somehow this didn’t make it into a page turner. There was no tension and I didn’t feel compelled to read this at all. In fact, if I hadn’t been reading it as part of this challenge. I doubt I would have made it to the end.

There are traumatic events in this book. But they are described in such a flat way that I did not feel effected by them at all. That was the main problem. I felt no connection to the characters, to the events. In short, I did not care. And it seemed that most of the characters did not care either. Nothing seemed to really effect them either.

Ultimately, I think this was the problem for me. I write psychological stories and I like to read them as well. This story was the very antithesis of a psychological story. There was no knowing the inside of the character’s heads. They didn’t seem to have emotions or even points of view.

It may be that this is typical of the genre. After all, action adventure does suggest events rather than anything else. If so, I’m not sure that I will want to read any further into it.

Typical Girls Don’t Rebel*

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(From The Slits song Typical Girl)

I think it is probably because I have always been quite tomboyish that I have always been suspicious of the idea that gender might be hardwired in some way. I’ve always been more into the idea of gender as something that you do, something that you acquire or learn, rather than something that you have or are born with. As Judith Butler suggests ‘Gender is a kind of persistent imitation that passes as the real.’ It’s a role we all play. And, of course, it always seems that this hardwiring just happens to support traditional gender roles. How very handy.

As part of my research for Choose Your Future I have been looking into this idea. Are men really incapable of reading emotions or do we just not encourage them to learn? Are women really no good at reading maps or does the social belief that they are stop them from even thinking that they are. After all, if you are that person who doesn’t fit the stereotype, do you admit it or do you downplay your own ability in order to fit in.

It is surely far too difficult to separate nature and nurture. One of the first things that children pick up is what is expected from their gender. Parents are also so very concerned with their child fitting in. Even now, my mother expresses dismay at my fashion choices and tries to encourage me into things that she thinks are more feminine. As well as pointing out babies to me in the hope that I’ll find them so cute I won’t be able to resist my urge to get pregnant.

At the minute, I’m reading Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine. It could not be a more apt title. The relationship between the social and biological is extremely complicated and who can say which came first. Does our brain effect how we behave socially or does society effect the way our brain functions? What does the fact that some male brains process emotions in a different place to some female brains really mean? Can we really make judgements about behaviour from looking at which parts of the brain light up? It is not as obvious as you might think.

It certainly does seem true that social factors can effect our perceptions of our own and others’ genders. For example, women given a talk about women who achieve well in maths and science did better on the maths test that followed than women told the opposite. (It goes without saying that the ability of all women was, in actual fact, about the same.) Similarly, women tend to rate their ability at socially unacceptable traits such as being good at maths as being worse than it actually is.

What I think when I hear about research that suggests gender differences are hardwired is what’s in it for them. Why would it be good if these differences were hardwired. And of course, the answer to that is in the title of the blog. Typical girls don’t rebel; they are polite, demure, do the housework, stay in their place. And typical boys keep all the power for themselves.

Choose Your Future – New Project Excitement

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Blimey, it has been busy these last few days. What with exam papers to mark and supply work going haywire, I seem to have been nowhere near my computer lately. At the same time, I am enthusiastically scribbling chapters of a new novel at any spare moment – on the tram or train, before I go to sleep and over breakfast. No moment can go to waste.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this will be a different genre and style from Shattered Reflections although some of the concerns are the same – sexuality, gender, power and violence – but also adding in other of my pet concerns such as the nanny state, reality TV and the class system. It will be set about 150 years in the future which is fun as it allows me to create a whole new world. In fact, as I am grumpy and given to moaning about everything, it is definitely not an issue finding things to write about. In fact, it is more difficult trying to rein myself and keep to the subjects that I have so far planned for.

I am toying with the name Choose Your Future but this has already changed a couple of times and will probably again. (I didn’t settle on Shattered Reflections until quite near the end of the writing process.) Certainly, it will be a title about choice as that is a major theme. I have written about 40000 words so far (more, actually, as that is the total from what I have had time to type up. There are notebooks waiting for that privilege).  At the current rate, it shouldn’t be too long before I have a first draft although that is just the first step in a long process of editing and reading, it is still quite exciting.

The joy of teaching Literature to teenagers

On By kepagewriterIn Culture4 Comments

It is always entertaining trying to teach novels to 15/16 year olds whose attention span can just about manage a go on the x-box or to watch a video on Youtube before getting bored. A book is not very exciting in and off itself and it takes far too much concentration (from their point of view) to make it come alive. The first thing, on studying a new book, is always cries of ‘When will we be watching the film.’ (I once made the mistake of choosing Catcher in the Rye for my GCSE text for which there is no film and during which the kids sulked for the entire term. I was the meanest teacher in the world.)

Previously, I have taught Of Mice and Men and there is always some excitement at the first time that George calls Lennie a bastard. Especially if I am reading. It is funny how appalled pupils are at this swearing considering the fact that you hear them yelling fuck and cunt at almost random intervals when you make your way down the corridor. it’s hard to know which they find worse – that swearing is written down in a book or the fact that I would read it out as if it was perfectly normal. In fact, I always read it with a suitable amount of anger, which only adds to their astonishment.

This year, we are studying Lord of the Flies and there was a similar bit of joy to be had when Jack says ‘Bollocks to the rules.’ I wasn’t reading and the poor kid who was nearly died a death at having to say such a thing. Especially when I made him read it again, ‘with more feeling.’

Lord of the Flies has brought up a problem to do with language change. The use of the words ‘gay’ and ‘queer’ in this novel is very confusing for them. Especially as Simon is called both gay and queer in the same chapter. I could see that my explanations of what these words could also mean – happy or bright and odd or strange – were not cutting it. Regardless of what I have said to them, I would wager that at least one of them will write that in the exam that Simon was homosexual.

They are at least, starting to appreciate the storyline and I have really enjoyed reading it again. It still resonates, I think although I’m sure we all believe that we are so cultured now. You only have to watch some people in a crowd – say at the riots a couple of years ago – to know that civilisation is a very thin sheen indeed.

New Challenge Needed

On By kepagewriterIn 30 Day Book Challenge, Updates and informationLeave a comment

Well, the 30 day book challenge is finally over. A sigh of relief then, definitely. But also the certain knowledge that I would like to keep up the blogging pace and I would now have to think of my own subject matter. No fun, this having to think lark.

So I would like to say two things in this blog. The first is a great big thanks to all of you who have liked my posts and those who have started to follow me during this last month. It is incredibly flattering and always a surprise when people like my posts and I never really expect it. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to see the inside of my head on the page. Sometimes I don’t even like it in there all that much. So, thank you all.

The second thing is I am looking for a new blogging challenge. Something similar to the 30 day book challenge which was good because it wasn’t reliant on my finishing a book under a time scale. If you know of anything like this, please let me know and I will consider doing it.

DAY 30. – Book you couldn’t put down.

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First of all, I would just like to say that I’m not sure that not being able to put a book down is necessarily a mark of quality. I read The Da Vinci Code really quickly because I wanted to find out what happened but afterwards it felt a little unsatisfying – like snacking rather than having a proper meal. Sometimes books that are a little more difficult to deal with or slower to start are often ultimately more satisfying.

I find when I read detective fiction, they are always quite difficult to put down as there is always a mystery to be solved. Most recently, I read Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon and read it really quickly. There was real depth to this book and I will certainly be reading more by that author. Currently I am reading The Moonstone and that is quite hard to put down and I am certainly curious about what will happen.

DAY 29. – A book you hated.

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I’m not really into hating books. Some books I don’t like obviously. But hate seems dreadfully harsh. Reserved, in fact only for books that offend in some way. Books that are blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic would be deserving of my hatred. Thankfully, I have not read many books that are.

There is only one book that I can think of that i have read recently that I have found offensive in this way. In my mind, Fifty Shades of Grey is anti-feminist. I know a lot of people claim that the ending of the first book is a feminist ending because she leaves him but the next two books obviously put a damper on this.

There are many annoying things about this book, not least that it really should be called Christian Grey and his ever-ready erection. I’m sure this is one of the things that women like about this book. Christian is always ready, no matter how recently he has already had an orgasm. That and the fact  that Ana has amazing wonderful orgasms right from the first. Every time. Then there is all the talk of Christians ‘considerable length.’ Actually that’s not offensive, it’s laughable. I’d have been happier if she had said Christian has an enormous cock. I find euphemisms much more cringe worthy for some reason. All the talk of inner goddesses had me cringing in much the same way. So far, so annoying but not quite enough to warrant hatred.

So here are two things that I really hated about this book. (I could choose more but these are the two that stand out.) Ana gives Christian a blow job in the bath. In fact, she deep throats him then he praises her lack of gag reflex. Really! Because they’re the words every woman is just waiting to hear. If a man had written this scene I am sure that women would have been appalled. Well, the fact that a woman wrote it doesn’t make it any less dubious as far as I am concerned.

The other thing that Christian says that should have women screaming in outrage is “You’ve had six orgasms so far and all of them belong to me.” So Ana is not even allowed to own the pleasure of her own body. Was this book really written in these last few years? To me, it seems hard to believe because the sexual politics in this book are so ridiculously old fashioned. It would be amusing if so many women didn’t love this book.

I’m not even going to comment on the whole s/m thing. Enough words have been shed over this book already. I am told that I should read the other books because they explain Christian’s background but to be honest I do not need to know because there is no excuse for the way he makes Ana act and the things that he does to her. That is as true in fiction as it is in real life.

 

DAY 28. – Favorite quote from a book.

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One of my favourite quotes is from The Passion by Jeanette Winterson. “I’m telling you stories. Trust me” is a wonderful oxymoron. Telling stories implies lying, implies make believe and that is the very opposite of trust. However, this sums up perfectly the relationship between the reader and the writer. We put our trust in them even though we know that they are telling stories, possibly even playing games with us. If they are very good at their job of telling stories, the more we trust them. We allow them to take us through their make believe world.

Day 27 the book that has been on your to read list the longest.

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As I mentioned earlier in this challenge, I have been trying to knock off some of the longer residents on my bookshelves. Earlier this year, I read The Story of the Eye by Gearge Bataille. I bought this when I was at university. Only twenty years ago. Pretty appalling really, especially as it is classic erotica. Forget 50 Shades of Grey, this book was genuinely shocking.

Books that are still on my shelf from this time are:

  1. Death comes for theArchbishop – Willa Catha
  2. Dead Souls – Nikolai Gogol
  3. The Well of Loneliness – Radclyffe Hall.

It makes me feel a little guilty. As if I was somehow hurting their feelings. I will have to read at least one of them this year.