Search This Blog

23 Jun 2012

What the Dickens?!?

So, I began reading the Pickwick Papers a while back and am making slow progress (partly because of the ten other books I'm reading as well as the ten other books I'm writing). I'm around ten chapters in and it's been okay so far. The plot has been moving at a snail's pace, but I didn't really mind that because this was a perfect example to show off Dickens' dry sense of humour. Some moments are just downright hilarious. Especially Mr. Jingle; his way of speaking has me in fits.
Anyway, aside from the humour, I didn't think much of it, until I got to the Madman's Manuscript.

WOW!

Now that is a piece of writing! I don't think I can put my finger on why I liked it so much, but I could just imagine the madman saying all that and it just blew me away with how good it was. This is the kind of writing every writer dreams of producing. And it was Dickens' first novel!

I have always praised Dickens for being able to write about nothing, and yet still keep me entertained, but this is probably the best thing I've ever read from him. Maybe even better than the opening scene to Great Expectations.

This guy deserves every bit of praise put on him.

11 Jun 2012

12 years work

So it's been a busy week for me. Had the time off work and spent it writing. Ended up staying awake all night on Saturday just to format it properly. There's dedication for ya.
It has been a long process. I first put pencil to paper almost twelve years ago and the story has changed so much since then. But not only that, I have learned even more about writing. I'm embarrassed to even read my early stuff.
There are certainly a few things I'm not happy with, but there always will be, and if I tried to fix them all, I'd be here for another twelve years. And even then, I'd still find some things to improve on. I'll leave the constant tinkering to George Lucas.
At the end of the day, I needed to get it out while I was still happy with it, before any subsequent revisions ruined what I originally had.
Even though I'm not happy with some things, that doesn't mean I dislike them, they're adequate. I do, however, really like certain portions of it. Pretty much any scene with Linda/the Emissary in is my best writing so far. I also really enjoy the ending, it's just seems so epic.
Wow, I didn't realise this was going to turn into a simultaneously egotistical and depreciatory review of my, as yet, unpublished work.
Still, I hope y'all enjoy it. I'm currently working on a much shorter thing at the mo. It's called Gwiné A'Lhed Aebnydae, which means the Chronicle of the Sovereigns and is a list of all rulers of Calnis with relevant details and short biographies. It can be accessed only by those who own a copy of 'Allison's Defeat', and will be the first in a few other nonessential writings I'll publish through out the run of the series. My next major work will be an episodic novel consisting of a few short stories which I plan to publish over the course of one a month, starting in September.