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Alan Rain

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic Brexit dismay in the forum Coffee Shop 4 years, 2 months ago

    @bellam Happy new year to you, too.
    Those rifts are very deep and go way beyond mere viewpoints. Because of various issues that I won’t mention here, I don’t expect to see any healing in our society for the foreseeable future.
    I wish I could share your optimism, but I can’t.
    Good luck with your writing.

    @Richardb Regarding politics, I did…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain started the topic Brexit dismay in the forum Coffee Shop 4 years, 2 months ago

    Hello all,
    No, I’m not looking for debate or argument about it; I’ve had enough of that on Twitter, where the antagonism is toxic. For me, the whole thing, from June 2016 to the present, has been a huge and totally negative distraction, and there’s no doubt my writing has suffered. At the moment I have a rambling mess of 106k words, and I’m just…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain posted an update 4 years, 2 months ago

    Just calling in to see if there’s any activity.
    What’s happened?

  • @Bellam, Have you thought of Molly’s slippers?

  • @Daedalus Many thanks for these posts. It really is a serious warning, and an antidote to starry eyes.

  • Alan Rain posted a new activity comment 5 years, 1 month ago

    Tick. I’ve learned that money spent on courses, assessments, etc isn’t necessarily well-spent. I’ve already wasted too much.

  • Alan Rain posted a new activity comment 5 years, 1 month ago

    I read ‘The Little Stranger’ and thought if Sarah Waters tells me one more time that Dr Faraday does things gently, I’d rip the book up. I couldn’t though, because it was a library book.

  • Alan Rain posted a new activity comment 5 years, 1 month ago

    Thing is, a bad attitude towards a newbie writer from a ‘serious’ agent could shatter confidence. I don’t know if anyone from Jericho writers reads these comments, but I do feel they should be aware of the perils of employing such a negative person.
    I shrugged it off as meaningless, because my feeling as I approached her at the 1-1 table was that…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain posted a new activity comment 5 years, 1 month ago

    That’s interesting. I thought it might just have been me. And my other 1-1 was fine. It could suggest the real problem is with SS, but it’s not for me to speculate.

    • Slightly hesitant to pile on as I have not met her personally, but she was on a Jericho Writers slush pile live webinar and was on the whole negative.

    • Thing is, a bad attitude towards a newbie writer from a ‘serious’ agent could shatter confidence. I don’t know if anyone from Jericho writers reads these comments, but I do feel they should be aware of the perils of employing such a negative person.
      I shrugged it off as meaningless, because my feeling as I approached her at the 1-1 table was that…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain posted a new activity comment 5 years, 1 month ago

    I met Sandra Sawicka at York last year. Sad to say, but she was dismissive to the point of bluntness. Not pleasant. And I wouldn’t recognise her from that photo.
    Thanks, Philippa, for the link.

    • Alan, I had the same experience of SW – she spent 5 of my 10 minutes saying how she hated my title (which my next 1-1 liked!) and was dismissive and unpleasant. I would never recommend her.
      … but thanks for the link, Philippa.

      • That’s interesting. I thought it might just have been me. And my other 1-1 was fine. It could suggest the real problem is with SS, but it’s not for me to speculate.

        • Slightly hesitant to pile on as I have not met her personally, but she was on a Jericho Writers slush pile live webinar and was on the whole negative.

        • Thing is, a bad attitude towards a newbie writer from a ‘serious’ agent could shatter confidence. I don’t know if anyone from Jericho writers reads these comments, but I do feel they should be aware of the perils of employing such a negative person.
          I shrugged it off as meaningless, because my feeling as I approached her at the 1-1 table was that…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic Entering the Citadel in the forum Blogs 5 years, 1 month ago

    @Philippaeast This is brilliant. I’ve only just caught up with the news. I’ve really been in a self-imposed bubble for the last 3 months.
    I’ve read the last few paras of you blog, and can now understand what a strain you’ve been through. But you’ve come through it with honours. So interested to keep following your journey.
    Again, congrats and…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    Wiki: Procrastination is defined as the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished.

    It’s not the same as lack of preparedness, or planning, or simply taking time out to think, or refresh – it’s creative avoidance. It’s deciding other tasks are more important than the thing you claim to enjoy. And if you do that, you are uncommitted.

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    Yes, but struggle and procrastination aren’t the same, are they? All committed writers struggle, but (the way I see it) only the uncommitted procrastinate.

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    @janeshuff I don’t feel guilt at all. Maybe I’m the odd one out?
    What does baffle me are writers who admit to not enjoying the actual writing, and that includes all aspects of it, particularly editing. They procrastinate and actually seem proud of it. Or is it all a bluff? If not, Wtf?

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    Yes, @richardb, valid point.

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    Yes, real life. Obvious. <eye-roll at myself>
    So, anything not connected with writing, or that stops you doing it, is ‘real’. Hmmm.
    Passed 26k now. Feels really real to me.
    This whole novel is based on a falsehood, and I’m having fun seeing how long I can keep it up.

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    What’s RL @Raine? Relaxation? (Genuine question)

    My first – Ang Gal – took 8 years, including false starts, numerous rewrites, and a mid-boggling number of edits. I want this new novel to take no more than 8 months. half that, if I can get a good run at it.

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    My novella-for-novel crisis is sorted now. I was putting a scene that’s integral to the resolution far too early. There needs to be several tension-building stages that lead up to that scene.
    It’s a result of being over-hasty. And it’s a result of not being a ‘planner’.
    Trust in your characters to show the way …
    Now over 21k and possibilities…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    I do have an outline, but it isn’t detailed, and maybe I should have developed it more before starting. I’ll have to stop now, anyway, and fix a couple of plot holes. If I was a true Nano’er, I suppose I would plough on regardless and fix the mess at the end of the month. But I can’t work like that. I see no point in writing that I know will be…[Read more]

  • Alan Rain replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 4 months ago

    Thanks for the positive feedback on the title. Still motoring: Just passed 16k. The problem: I’m too far into the plot. Maybe it’s too simple? In danger of being a novella.

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