Tag: Reading

Writing a book in 365 days – My story 11

More about my story

…

So…

The conference is also having a dinner the night before it all gets under way, with dancing.  Someone had this notion that an orchestra should be supplied and play classics from the Glenn Miller/Benny Goodman/Dorsey Brothers era.

The idea behind this interesting development was intriguing, to say the least, after I watched a late-night movie that had Glenn Miller and his band in it, and the music was amazing.  I’ve always been a fan of it, and I have countless recordings of nearly all the big bands of the era.

It’s also a time when our protagonist will get a look at all of the participants and decide which people are going to be a problem or not.  It is also the first time he gets to meet the head of the secret police, and the description he was given was far kinder than the reality.  And, the evil man has more interest in his partner, one of the younger and more attractive of the women present.

But it’s more about what’s going to happen when our protagonist happened to notice some odd activity at the rear of the building near the kitchens and goes to investigate.

It goes from a friendly enquiry to a hostage situation to a shootout, to getting injured and sent to hospital.  Our protagonist is not carrying an injury.

But, the silver lining, he now knows who is the leader of the rebels.

Writing a book in 365 days – 87

Day 87

Synonyms

…

Or, more to the point, we all want to use words that will emphasise the description or the point we want to make.

The trick is not to make it so obscure that we send the readers to the Thesaurus too many times before they get bored.

Then there is that other problem of using the same word over and over and that too gets boring.

Such a word is said. But you have to be careful not to use too flowery a description of what is being said, or the manner in which is being imparted.

Gushed – I mean, who gushes these days?

Snapped – that’s what alligators do, and they don’t speak.

Quietly, whispered, demanding, spitefully, angrily. Try to think of how you would impart the words if you were in the place of your character.

How would you feel on the other end of a verbal barrage?

Perhaps therein lies a possible solution to the problem of describing conversations, arguments, heated exchanges, or what do they call them these day, robust discussions.

How would you react?

Searching for locations: From Zhengzhou to Suzhou by train, and the Snowy Sea Hotel, Suzhou, China

For the first time on this trip, we encounter problems with Chinese officialdom at the railway station, though we were warned that this might occur.

We had a major problem with the security staff when they pulled everyone over with aerosols and confiscated them. We lost styling mousse, others lost hair spray, and the men, their shaving cream.  But, to her credit, the tour guide did warn us they were stricter here, but her suggestion to be angry they were taking our stuff was probably not the right thing to do.

As with previous train bookings, the Chinese method of placing people in seats didn’t quite manage to keep couples traveling together, together on the train.  It was an odd peculiarity which few of the passengers understood, nor did they conform, swapping seat allocations.

This train ride did not seem the same as the last two and I don’t think we had the same type of high-speed train type that we had for the last two.  The carriages were different, there was only one toilet per carriage, and I don’t think we were going as fast.

But aside from that, we had 753 kilometers to travel with six stops before ours, two of which were very large cities, and then our stop, about four and a half hours later.  With two minutes this time, to get the baggage off the team managed it in 40 seconds, a new record.

After slight disorientation getting off the train, we locate our guide, easily found by looking for the Trip-A-Deal flag.  From there it’s a matter of getting into our respective groups and finding the bus.

As usual, the trip to the hotel was a long one, but we were traveling through a much brighter, and well lit, city.

As for our guide, we have him from now until the end of the tour.  There are no more train rides, we will be taking the bus from city to city until we reach Shanghai.  Good thing then that the bus is brand new, with that new car smell.  Only issue, no USB charging point.

The Snowy Sea hotel.  

It is finally a joy to get a room that is nothing short of great.  It has a bathroom and thus privacy.

Everyone had to go find a supermarket to purchase replacements for the confiscated items.  Luckily there was a huge supermarket just up from the hotel that had everything but the kitchen sink.

But, unlike where we live, the carpark is more of a scooter park!

It is also a small microcosm of Chinese life for the new more capitalistic oriented Chinese.

The next morning we get some idea of the scope of high-density living, though here, the buildings are not 30 stories tall, but still just as impressive.

These look like the medium density houses, but to the right of these are much larger buildings

The remarkable thing about this is those buildings stretch as far as the eye can see.

Writing a book in 365 days – 87

Day 87

Synonyms

…

Or, more to the point, we all want to use words that will emphasise the description or the point we want to make.

The trick is not to make it so obscure that we send the readers to the Thesaurus too many times before they get bored.

Then there is that other problem of using the same word over and over and that too gets boring.

Such a word is said. But you have to be careful not to use too flowery a description of what is being said, or the manner in which is being imparted.

Gushed – I mean, who gushes these days?

Snapped – that’s what alligators do, and they don’t speak.

Quietly, whispered, demanding, spitefully, angrily. Try to think of how you would impart the words if you were in the place of your character.

How would you feel on the other end of a verbal barrage?

Perhaps therein lies a possible solution to the problem of describing conversations, arguments, heated exchanges, or what do they call them these day, robust discussions.

How would you react?

Writing a book in 365 days – 86

Day 86

Is there a story that matters to you?

…

Is there a reason why you would not want to tell it or that if you did, some people might find it uncomfortable?

The problem is, no matter what you write someone out there isn’t going to like it.

And there is a raft of subjects to write about that causes concern, but these are sometimes stories that have to be told.

I have one such story, and to me, the telling of it would not fit the mainstream opinion because people are very divided over it. There are reasons for this, and they are being, in my opinion, sensationalised to polarise a particular stance.

The subject: Transgenders.

Like I said, it’s a story I would like to write about, but I know what the response is going to be.

And that isn’t to say that I do not have my own biases, the baggage that we are given when we are younger, where schools and teachers teach us what is supposedly the norms they will need to work within for the rest of their lives.

In my day it was that the man went to work to earn the living that provided a house, food, and everything else, while the woman stayed home, had children and looked after the man.

Yes, I can hear 50 percent of the population laughing at that one, but how different is that societal norm to that where we are now taught that transgenders are sub humans that should be scorned and abandoned because they don’t fit the definition of man or woman?

Thankfully, I grew out of that, and women can vote, work, drive cars, and do anything they desire, though it seems there is a new movement that wants to take away all those rights and go back to the Stone Age.

Again, another very touchy subject, and that will eventually prevent the possibility of writers putting forward the various viewpoints for larger discussion.

Try going back another hundred years, when women were the sub-human species, little more than a man’s possession.

This is probably the only time I will raise the subject, as an instance of what writers may or may not write about, a highlight that public opinion fueled by people in power does eventually affect what can be written.

It’s something that we should all be mindful of, as well as keeping an open mind.

Searching for locations: From Zhengzhou to Suzhou by train, and the Snowy Sea Hotel, Suzhou, China

For the first time on this trip, we encounter problems with Chinese officialdom at the railway station, though we were warned that this might occur.

We had a major problem with the security staff when they pulled everyone over with aerosols and confiscated them. We lost styling mousse, others lost hair spray, and the men, their shaving cream.  But, to her credit, the tour guide did warn us they were stricter here, but her suggestion to be angry they were taking our stuff was probably not the right thing to do.

As with previous train bookings, the Chinese method of placing people in seats didn’t quite manage to keep couples traveling together, together on the train.  It was an odd peculiarity which few of the passengers understood, nor did they conform, swapping seat allocations.

This train ride did not seem the same as the last two and I don’t think we had the same type of high-speed train type that we had for the last two.  The carriages were different, there was only one toilet per carriage, and I don’t think we were going as fast.

But aside from that, we had 753 kilometers to travel with six stops before ours, two of which were very large cities, and then our stop, about four and a half hours later.  With two minutes this time, to get the baggage off the team managed it in 40 seconds, a new record.

After slight disorientation getting off the train, we locate our guide, easily found by looking for the Trip-A-Deal flag.  From there it’s a matter of getting into our respective groups and finding the bus.

As usual, the trip to the hotel was a long one, but we were traveling through a much brighter, and well lit, city.

As for our guide, we have him from now until the end of the tour.  There are no more train rides, we will be taking the bus from city to city until we reach Shanghai.  Good thing then that the bus is brand new, with that new car smell.  Only issue, no USB charging point.

The Snowy Sea hotel.  

It is finally a joy to get a room that is nothing short of great.  It has a bathroom and thus privacy.

Everyone had to go find a supermarket to purchase replacements for the confiscated items.  Luckily there was a huge supermarket just up from the hotel that had everything but the kitchen sink.

But, unlike where we live, the carpark is more of a scooter park!

It is also a small microcosm of Chinese life for the new more capitalistic oriented Chinese.

The next morning we get some idea of the scope of high-density living, though here, the buildings are not 30 stories tall, but still just as impressive.

These look like the medium density houses, but to the right of these are much larger buildings

The remarkable thing about this is those buildings stretch as far as the eye can see.

Writing a book in 365 days – 86

Day 86

Is there a story that matters to you?

…

Is there a reason why you would not want to tell it or that if you did, some people might find it uncomfortable?

The problem is, no matter what you write someone out there isn’t going to like it.

And there is a raft of subjects to write about that causes concern, but these are sometimes stories that have to be told.

I have one such story, and to me, the telling of it would not fit the mainstream opinion because people are very divided over it. There are reasons for this, and they are being, in my opinion, sensationalised to polarise a particular stance.

The subject: Transgenders.

Like I said, it’s a story I would like to write about, but I know what the response is going to be.

And that isn’t to say that I do not have my own biases, the baggage that we are given when we are younger, where schools and teachers teach us what is supposedly the norms they will need to work within for the rest of their lives.

In my day it was that the man went to work to earn the living that provided a house, food, and everything else, while the woman stayed home, had children and looked after the man.

Yes, I can hear 50 percent of the population laughing at that one, but how different is that societal norm to that where we are now taught that transgenders are sub humans that should be scorned and abandoned because they don’t fit the definition of man or woman?

Thankfully, I grew out of that, and women can vote, work, drive cars, and do anything they desire, though it seems there is a new movement that wants to take away all those rights and go back to the Stone Age.

Again, another very touchy subject, and that will eventually prevent the possibility of writers putting forward the various viewpoints for larger discussion.

Try going back another hundred years, when women were the sub-human species, little more than a man’s possession.

This is probably the only time I will raise the subject, as an instance of what writers may or may not write about, a highlight that public opinion fueled by people in power does eventually affect what can be written.

It’s something that we should all be mindful of, as well as keeping an open mind.

Writing a book in 365 days – 85

Day 85

Do you seek feedback from other authors?

….

So, here’s the thing. If I thought I could get James Patterson’s opinion on one of my novels, I would try, but I don’t think, given the prolific output he maintains, that he would have the time to put an amateur like me on the straight and narrow.

But…

Who’s to say that if I found another struggling author like me who was of a mind to offer an opinion, I wouldn’t take it?

I would have to say the best critic would be someone who writes similar genre stories to yours.

So…

Here’s the deal, minus the steak knives.

Join a writing group, a bunch of fellow writers who write the same stuff, and take on board contemporary reviews.

Something else that might help, in the absence of those great authors who probably have no time to look over our work, is to get the opinions of beta readers. I’ve been looking, but it seems a lot of them want payment. I guess there’s a good living out there, but they would have to be both reputable and good at it.

Other than that, there’s always a possibility that one day…

Searching for locations: The Henan Museum, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China

The Henan Museum is one of the oldest museums in China.  In June 1927, General Feng Yuxiang proposed that a museum be built, and it was completed the next year.  In 1961, along with the move of the provincial capital, Henan Museum moved from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou.

It currently holds about 130,000 individual pieces, more of which are mostly cultural relics, bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and pottery and porcelain wares of the various dynasties.

Eventually, we arrive at the museum and get off the bus adjacent to a scooter track and despite the efforts of the guide, there’s no stopping them from nearly running us over.

We arrive to find the museum has been moved to a different and somewhat smaller building nearby as the existing, and rather distinctively designed, building is being renovated.

While we are waiting for the tickets to enter, we are given another view of industrial life in that there is nothing that resembles proper health and safety on worksites in this country, and the workers are basically standing on what looks to be a flimsy bamboo ladder with nothing to stop them from falling off.

The museum itself has exhibits dating back a few thousand years and consist of bronze and ceramic items.  One of the highlights was a tortoiseshell with reportedly the oldest know writing ever found.

Other than that it was a series of cooking utensils, a table, and ceramic pots, some in very good condition considering their age.

 
There were also small sculptures

an array of small figures

and a model of a settlement

20 minutes was long enough.

Writing a book in 365 days – 85

Day 85

Do you seek feedback from other authors?

….

So, here’s the thing. If I thought I could get James Patterson’s opinion on one of my novels, I would try, but I don’t think, given the prolific output he maintains, that he would have the time to put an amateur like me on the straight and narrow.

But…

Who’s to say that if I found another struggling author like me who was of a mind to offer an opinion, I wouldn’t take it?

I would have to say the best critic would be someone who writes similar genre stories to yours.

So…

Here’s the deal, minus the steak knives.

Join a writing group, a bunch of fellow writers who write the same stuff, and take on board contemporary reviews.

Something else that might help, in the absence of those great authors who probably have no time to look over our work, is to get the opinions of beta readers. I’ve been looking, but it seems a lot of them want payment. I guess there’s a good living out there, but they would have to be both reputable and good at it.

Other than that, there’s always a possibility that one day…