Happy New Swear.

This post is going to contain a fair amount of profanity. If that isn't your thing, or you're offended by such words, then you might want to skip this one.

I recently started reading the book Fuck It by John C. Parkin. It's quite good. The humour is a bit hit and miss and the language deviates from the point occasionally, but the message buried within the Fuck-laden prose is positive and serves to reinforce the message; Things aren't quite as important as we make them out to be.

I've not had a great month. I won't go into too many details here because this is supposed to be a blog focusing on writing, but let's just say things haven't really gone my way in December. I've spent a lot of time dwelling on things which seem huge and impossible to get through. I read a quote once which said 'The broader the imagination, the greater the fear'. I'm not saying I'm somehow blessed with a fantastic imagination, but I think people who explore their creative sides do tend to think about things a little more honestly. For better or worse.

So this book essentially says Fuck It. Fuck the problems, fuck the worry and fuck whatever might happen. I can relate to that. I tend to say Fuck It to quite a lot of things in my life. Always have. Worrying about things you can't change doesn't help. If a problem is out of your hands - or even a potential boon - then you might as well just wait for things to unfold by themselves. Saying Fuck It out loud does give a nice little boost.

I thought I'd borrow a very small part of the concept and apply it to writing, since it isn't directly addressed in the book (as far as I know). Writers can be incredibly good at procrastination. We look at the work we need to do and say 'Fuck it, I'll just make a coffee first.' Then we check our emails while we're drinking it. Then we quickly look at an article we've been linked. Then check our local writing forum. Soon we're browsing YouTube or talking to a friend on Facebook. Hours pass. We look at that writing and think 'Fuck it, I'll do the work tomorrow.' Check any writing site for forum posts or articles - it won't be hard to find one asking for advice on how to just get on with the work instead of avoiding it.

So try saying Fuck It. Fuck It, I'll just start. Fuck It, I don't need a coffee. Fuck It, I can look at videos of kittens later. I've done this a few times even before I started reading this book and it does help. I feel that mindset of avoidance sneaking up on me and then I have to force myself to just sit down, open the laptop, load Word and just get typing. As I'm sure many of you will agree, writing is much easier once you've started. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Even if you manage to write one sentence, it's still one sentence more than you had when you started.

I'm not usually one for self help books or life counselling or all that jazz - I'm a guy from Essex after all, where we often deal with our problems with alcohol and loud music. But the concept Parkin utilises is pretty straightforward. Things aren't really as bad as we think they are as long as we're willing to accept that.

Fuck It.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all have a very positive year, full of success and enjoyment and stress-free living. I also hope you're all as excited about this summer's release of Queen of the World as I am. -sniggers-

I CAN'T EVEN SPEEL!

Writing is hard.

No, really. Ritin iz harrd. The nuts and bolts of actually writing a full novel is very tricky. I mean, I could probably throw out a thousand words in ten minutes if I wanted to discuss why I dislike Nickleback or how important it is to eat fajitas once a week. Writing stuff which is funny and stupid and honest is a breeze. Think about your current partner. Think about people at work. Think about that time in Amsterdam you got really messed up. You could probably write quite a lot about them easily and enjoy doing it.

Writing a long piece of work, especially fiction, is difficult. Not only does it have to remain interesting but it has to make sense. Well, technically it doesn't but that probably won't result in anything great. I've read plenty of books where stuff just happened with no real rhyme or reason. "I'm a reserved, insecure young woman but I just had to sleep with that guy to express my sense of freedom!"

Really? Or did you sleep with that guy because he happened to be an undercover agent, and if you hadn't there wouldn't be a book?

(That isn't aimed at anything specific, by the way. I'm hardly one to start criticising other works before I've had a single word printed.)

But yeah. Writing Queen of the World was hard. It's a matter of motivation and self-doubt. Does this character work? Why am I writing this scene? Is anyone going to be interested in this plot? Why did that character do that? What could I be doing instead? Isn't YouTube more fun that this?

When I hit a scene in my work that I really enjoy, or have been looking forward to reaching - it's usually one where action happens, or where some plots merge and things start to make sense - then it's good fun. I can plough through that like a tractor tearing up a plot of particularly soft mushrooms. But when it's something else, and where I need to do some research or work out character motivation, then it can be a drag. I can write the same paragraph for hours and still end up chucking it. It's the problem of being someone who believes in character progression over plot dictation. Sometimes my characters simply wouldn't do something I need them to do, so I need to work out a way around it. An intelligent and skilled man trying to avoid detection by his enemies isn't going to suddenly decide that a two-week shopping holiday in New York is a good idea, even if I really need to get that character to a New York shopping mall.

The self doubt in me sometimes exploits this and just yells at me. My inner critic sounds like Alan Rickman. His heavy, drawling tones will whisper in my ear "This is futile. It's too slow, the writing is boring and the characters aren't likeable. What's the point? You might as well go back to playing World of Warcraft and stop trying to make a career of this."

Usually a can of Red Bull and a cigarette shuts him up. Usually.

It's kind of stressful at the moment because not only am I trying to write a follow-up to Queen of the World but I'm also trying to learn Norwegian and earn money. Writing another hundred thousand words just seems like trying to cut down a redwood with a piece of cheese. But I'll get there. I love writing even when it's hard, and I love the characters and the world I have so far.

Wouldn't it be great is all jobs were like that?

Other updates - no reponse from the publisher I did a full submission to(yet), so at least I haven't been turned down (yet). I've joined Twitter - find me @HennessyWrites . It's pretty addicitve. Also, I've got a craving for hamburgers which I'm judiciously encouraging. There's worse things to be addicted to.

If you're considering being a writer then read this. Read it if you like reading things which make you laugh, as well. Then buy his book.