Writing On Writing... On Writing

(x-posted to This Is Where The Voices Go)

The easiest and most unique thing to write is a writing guide.

No other how-to guide can be so full of regrets and failed expectations, and still be taken seriously.

An unpublished writer can tell you what you should do, tell you the best way to get something published, how difficult that is, and common traps to avoid, while an unemployed bricklayer will have to tell you exactly what to do to get all the bricks in the right place, and will be forced to avoid cliches such as "Don't drop the bricks on your feet." and "Don't let yourself judge the wall until it is finished, silence your inner wall-critic."

Also the act of writing about writing is... well, writing. No other task or profession has such a loophole or get-out clause. Talking about baking is not baking. Writing about train driving is not driving a train. Looking at flowers arranged by others is not flower arranging. Most writing guides like to stress how important it is to just get down and write, no matter what. Builders don't suggest that you lob masonry around until something that looks a bit like a house starts to form.

Nick
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Crap-Looking Books Of Which I've Never Heard

The first thing is something I noticed while smashing my head against the screen and keyboard in an attempt to finish Nanowrimo on time was just how hard it is to write good fiction, and how easy it is to write bad fiction.

The second thing is my attempt in 2010 to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Currently that count stands somewhere at 18, without much chance of getting far into the 20s. I blame my propensity towards epic fantasy tomes and historical nonsense novels.

The third thing is a feeling of sameness to most of my bookshelves, as I follow genres and authors and judge books by the sweeping spacescapes and or curvy swords emblazoned on the covers

The fourth thing is an increasing lack of funds and the increasing price of new literature.

All these things combined seem to have given birth to my new project for 2011, admittedly inspired in part by Robin Ince's Bad Book Club:

Crap-Looking Books That I've Never Heard Of

Which is, of course, terrible grammar. So:

Crap-Looking Books Of Which I've Never Heard

All my new books are to come from market stalls, home clearances, book sales and charity shops. I'm going to favour books that looks unbelievably cheesy, or like they were shat out in a heartbeat. I'm going to persevere cover-to-cover and I'm going to let you know how it goes with reviews alongside my usual blogging.

Watch this space!

Nick
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