h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

liked your subject heading so i thought i'd pop in and say hi. so, hi.

have aand sometoo.

xx

I'm glad you stopped by I'll take mug of expresso.

I dropped by your page the other day to have a look around, which is what led to my subject heading. As you might have seen from my entry, I'm fascinated by writing -- so, tell me what you write.

- emc

glad you like the page. sugar with that expresso?

i haven't been writing a lot lately, but i tend to veer towards the paranormal/supernatural side of fiction. i write either short stories, or just a page of bumpf that i think is ok, or occasionally a paragraph. i never plan what i'm going to write either. i just sit there and it all flows out of the pen. without the whole automatic/trance writing thing.

the one i'm most proud of is one about a charaltan medium, making a good living out of widows in golders green, until(twist in tail alert)he comes down with a good old fashioned case of precognition.

i like reading a lot of short stories, fave authors are roald dahl, e.m. forster and pg wodehouse. well, there are loads i like.

who are your main influences in horror?

xx
ps can i pop you onto my friends list so it's easier to find you?

xx

Feel free to include me in your list; I have no problem being found.

Espresso should be served bitter -- if it shrivels the tongue, intimidates the gag reflex, and holds the gut hostage, it's perfect. Purists toss back one shot at a time; I treat espresso more like coffee, having a mug with six to eight shots and drinking that over the course of three or four hours.

I've PG Wodehouse in my list of people to read -- along with Kinky Friedman and some others. My major influences aren't even horror authors: Lawrence Block (mystery writer), Orson Scott Card (sci-fi, fantasy and horror), and Jack Bickham (mystery/thriller). The people I look up to are Neil Gaiman, Mort Castle, Stephen King, Geoff Cooper and Tina Jens (to name the ones that come to mind first).

You say that when you write, you work intuitively. Have you in the past worked with plans and structures?

- emc

intuitively. i like that. hmmm, yes. the last time i wrote anything structured, planned or in anyway thought out was when i was back on school(oh god, how many years ago................er 8........ouch.........age moment). even then, i would find it very difficult to keep to the plan. i would have one section worked out, and then when it came to writing it, it would change the story completely. when i wrote the dodgy medium piece(how journo?), i didn't even know he would end up being precog. i just had this opening paragraph appear in the ol' grey matter, and went from there.
a bit like this reply in fact. i don't know how jeeves would cope with me. probably in the same way he copes with bertie, i suppose.
i like neil gaiman too. i am going to get my hands on a copy of coraline at some point, it's had rave reviews all round. i recently read the graphic novel, the crow. that was fantastic. i have only recently got into graphic novels. it started with the x-men, and a mate bought me a preacher g.n. for my birthday.
i've just realised what a long reply this is, and i do get self concious about babbling on, even over the net.
hope i've not been too boring or babbling. thank goodness for smilies. i can be quite sharp and at least thelets me get away with most of it....

xx

I draw a distinction between writing by intuition -- "It just feels right that way, I don't know how the story works" -- and by cognition -- "I did this for that reason, that for this reason, to make this effect." Writing solely one way or another seems doomed to failure, as far as I've seen: a purely intuitive writer will run into blocks and dry spells, won't be able to spot the rough spot in the story when it's done, and can't kick start the writing process with tricks; a purely cognitive writer will waste time trying different combinations until they work, won't be able to find inspiration, and will have to fight the urge to endless, perfectionist revision.

I tend to write cognitively -- I don't trust my intuitive side much -- and I run into problems when I can't explain exactly how something should work in a piece. I find joy in structure and wish that I had better blueprints for story design.

I spent over one year studying the structure of plot. Now I'm focused on the formulation of characters. All the while, I find that I need to remember to let go of what I learn so that I can be inspired a bit.

I'll have to post to Coop's message board to see where the others fall on this scale. That could be instructive....

Coraline, by the way, deserves rave reviews. I also recommend Stardust.

- emc