Welcome


Hello you strange and quite possibly scary internet person you!

What you will find here is a sample of my creative mind hard at sleep along, possibly some updates on my other hobbies, interests, and of course my never ending periods of writers block.

Hopefully something here will interest you. If not...well. Sod off!

Herein you will find links to my stories, and possibly some abortive attempts at writing. Most are too long to paste into these boxes, so links and updates will have to suffice!


Phill

Saturday 10 November 2012

I'm slack, leave me be!

Bugger me it's been a while since I posted here!

I'm editing like mad now, it's going slowly though. Writing in a hurry made a large number of mistakes and hilariously tangled paragraphs!

Having said that, I'm glad that I didn't focus on fixing these things whilst I was actually writing the thing initially or I'd have gone insane and got caught up in endless loops of fixing and making it 'just right'.

Word count keeps fluctuation as I add and take away. I don't expect it to raise beyond 180k though. Having said that, I do know that the end is very shoddy currently. However, that's still 250 pages away from my current editing position, so I can worry about that later!

Conveniently, this time of year is great for writing. it's so utterly miserable outside that there's less distractions keeping me from doing the bloody thing!

In the world of smut, I've actually written two stories since my last update here. Moderately decent ones at that. They can be found in the usual places.

Phill

Sunday 23 September 2012

Electric Heart: Chapter 7

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Thursday 20 September 2012

Electric Heart

In case anyone actually cares about this story, I'm currently writing chapter 7. Hurrah!

Phill

Sunday 16 September 2012

Hoooo Boy!

Well, that's the first draft of the novel complete.

Weighing in at 163,421 words...holy crap. I need to take a break before I start editing and changing everything. But holy shit, I can't believe I've managed to write so much coherent narative!

I'm going to let my brain vegetate a little now. Need to just...take a breather.

Mrrrh.

So happy!

Phill

Thursday 6 September 2012

One more milestone

Oh dearie me. I really should post more updates than I currently do. I blame numerous things, including Guild Wars 2. I wish things like that didn't absorb my free time so much. Shame I enjoy it really.

Anyways, there's a more important reason for posting this update. As of today, I've written 150,000 words worth of Steampunk fantasy adventure. I'm estimating that there's perhaps another 20-30,000 words left to go of the initial draft. I can't quite believe it!

I look back to when I started, where 20,000 words was a massive milestone. Even back then I couldn't really believe that I'd managed to write so much without it coming in instalments, like my writing for Darknest or Hentai Foundry. Even then, when I smashed past the word count of even my longest serials I didn't quite believe it.

Then it was 50k, 75k...100,000 words. I know you shouldn't really judge how well you've done by how many words you've written, but it actually feels like I've managed to make something. I've created a whole world and put it to paper. I'm not blowing my own trumpet, but I feel thrilled and excited to have achieved this much.

Even if it's crap, and it more than likely is (I've never taken a literature class in my life, and don't intend to either), at least I've done something that feels meaningful.

So, here's to the next few weeks. I want to get this first draft nailed down. Then the real work will begin...after I've written an update to Electric Heart that is. Itching to bring some life back into those characters too!

Mwah!

Phill


P.S. Today's song...don't hate me for it, but it's Coldplay. I thought I hated Coldplay (to be fair, I still don't like them), but then I came across this track. I love the intro!

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Map of the Odyesa

One map of the Odyesa and her various districts! Courtesy of Matt from an original doodle by me!

 
(Click for larger version)
 
 

Monday 6 August 2012

A busy weekend

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Friday 3 August 2012

Cue Mister Productivity.

Mr. Productivity is a hard bastard to get a hold of these days it seems. I've been calling him and leaving little notes all over the place, but it seems that he just isn't around at the moment. However, having said that, this weekend we're meeting up for the first time in a while and we're going to catch up, spend some time together. I may even be forced to kidnap the bastard.

I've been incredibly slack, not least in keeping up blog posts, but moreso in writing. So many distractions and general lack of effort on my part. I'm a bad person.

But! This weekend will see me cut off from the timesinks, and will provide some proper writing time.

Here goes nothing!

Phill

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Over the hump

Cor it wasn't half a sucky couple of weeks in terms of writing (and bowel - damn you poisoned baklava) progress.

But, there's good news. I managed to write myself out of that damned hole I had crawled into. Fuck me it sucked, just opening the page up, staring at it for 5 minutes before going 'Fuck it' and going to do something else.

But, we're back on a role now! Wrote some 12k words over the weekend, productivity you are my bitch! Just in time for me to go on holiday to Spain wooo! Wait, what's that...I don't have a decent laptop to write on out there...? feck.

Question is I guess...can I be bothered with pad and pen? :O


Phill

P.S. Kiki Dee <3 ow's about this fer feel good!


Sunday 24 June 2012

Vestae: Bringer of hope, lover of animals. (no, not in that way >=[ )

Another fabulous concept painting completed by Dan Warren, hope you like Vestae, the one true goddess.

Sunday 10 June 2012

Writers Block

Nrgh! For the first real time since starting to write this damned thing I've managed to get writers block. Barely written a word in two weeks (in my defence, four days were birthday celebration stuff!). Now I've got toothache on top of it all. Pah, I say, Pah!

Finding it hard to get back on track, the blank page is taunting me :(

Phill

Friday 1 June 2012

Olesya: The Portrait of an Antagonist

Well here she is in all her growly glory. Olesya!


Lock up your menfolk!

Phill

Friday 11 May 2012

Ooof. lazy Phill is Lazy.

After hitting that ubermilestone on Wednesday, I decided that I should take a couple of days off from writing, you know, to relax and such.

...consequently I discovered that SAIGA 12k + Flechette rounds in Battlefield 3 is delightfully mean.

I think I might need to get back to grips with what exactly "relaxation" is!

However, the weekend beckons now. I'm expecting to get back to it again. It's hard to believe just how eager to keep writing I am. In the past I used to be reliant on the crutch of 'comments' on forums. I don't know if this is some grand epiphany, or maybe even me maturing as a person/author/hack. I just don't feel like I need that shot in the arm anymore.

And you know what?

I couldn't be happier!

Phill

Wednesday 9 May 2012

100,000!

Phew, I made it to the massive 100,000 word mark!

I'm even surprising myself by this. Sooooo many pages of text! But so fun!

Happy, happy days.

Plus, another treat on the way soon!

Phill

Tuesday 24 April 2012

I am a dirty bastard

It's occurred to me on the bus home tonight (I was too lazy/tired to walk) that I love dirty literature...not that kind of dirty literature! (although I'll be honest and say I'm partial to that too...)

To be precise filth, squalor, decay and rust. Mouldering stonework, water stains, reeking cess pits, disease and depressive situations. I love corruption and fallen empires and particularly faded grandeur there's just something about it that I love to imagine and embrace. Let the pervasive stink of those horribly downbeat locales wash over me.

I find them the perfect origin for characters to wallow in and rise above.

The only time I like a utopia is when I have the option of bringing it crashing to its knees. Looking back over the vast majority of things I've written in the past I see a great deal of oppression and suffering. It's not a nice setting I like to create  by any stretch of the imagination.

But that's the weird part of it. To me, there is a great deal of beauty in the perverse and ghastly. At least when it comes to literature. The things I describe are not the sorts of things I want to see happen today in the world, this is strictly imagination based.

Having said that, suffering as a literary concept intrigues me. I want to hurt my characters, to truly make them suffer and bleed. I want to break them and see them come crawling through on bloodied palms before giving them the reward they need.

Through suffering and pain comes true character in fantasy literature. The noble lord on his shiny charger...that's the kind of character that I'd have gutted and used as a latrine by some filthy brigand as soon as possible.

My characters will have to earn their place in the world, or be snuffed out by it.

However, I suspect I need to find a balance between relentlessly miserable, and something which is also entertaining for other people...

Phill

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Meet Mariya

Weeee, say hello to our heroine, Mariya!



Art by the fantastic Daniel Warren, if you like, go shower him with your money: http://goldendaniel.deviantart.com/

Phill

Monday 16 April 2012

Mixed news

Last week, at the end of my fab long weekend I received news of a bereavement of a very close family member. I'm still not entirely sure how to feel. I'm not exactly the best person in the world for being able to handle grief, so maybe I'll only find out in time.

Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly it has been difficult to write in the week following the news. My usually scatological brain has been at best slapdash and at worst...nonconstructive to say the least. Things have been picking up however. On Saturday I think my brain decided to catch up with the rest of my body and I ended churning out roughly seven thousand words.

I guess I was in the right mental state for the subject matter, pain, death and regret.

It does indeed seem to eased things up again, focus is still poor, but I'm writing again at least. Hit 70,000 words at lunch today. A cursory glance reveals that I need to sit down and re-read and re-shape some of what I've been churning out over the last couple of days, but for the most part, at least to my eyes, it's solid enough work.

I certainly need to go back to the dark section too. It's not...harsh enough. I need to stop treating my characters as if they were made of china. I want y'all to feel the pain, mental and physical that the people involved are going through. Without pain there can be no change, and one character is going to be going through an awful lot of change.

There's some other good news too, to counter all that negativity. Pretty soon I should have something truly amazing to show you.

Phill

Monday 9 April 2012

So yeah.

I tried LARP for the first time yesterday. I don't particularly think I'm very good at it, but fun nevertheless!

And in other news, 60,000 words, hurrah!

Happiness.

Phill

Saturday 7 April 2012

Hurrah for viruses!

Somehow managed to contracted a virus which did a real number on my pc.  Was forced to re-install windows yesterday, and I lost a good deal of stuff. Ended up spending what should have been a 'write-happy' day turned into a grumbling, fucking about day getting my computer back into working order.

Such fun times I have!

Thankfully, the virus was lying about the hardware damage. Be on the look-out for a malicious piece of shit called S.M.A.R.T. HDD checker, or something like that. There is apparently, a legit program of the same name, but I certainly didn't install it!

Best part of a day wasted. Pleh. Especially when I was so geared up for writing. Karma? Fuck you! it's sod's law.

Hopefully today will be somewhat more productive :(

Phill

Thursday 5 April 2012

Long Weekend

Ah, it's a Friday morning and I'm not heading into work! Forgot to turn off my alarm, but, hey, that's not such a bad thing.

Long weekend beckons, here's hoping I can find it in my to write like an absolute demon. Admittedly, my back is totally knackered and my brain is like mush, but I've still got a good feeling about this.

Also, I'm a terrible person for not writing any blog posts for a week. Bad Phill.

Anyways. I'm going to grab myself a coffee and put some clothes on (that's right, naked Phill. Take a moment to picture that gorgeous image) and get writing!

Much love

Phill

Thursday 29 March 2012

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

That's right, in his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.

Just thought I would share a wonderful treasure trove of horror writing with you, thanks to the wonderful Project Gutenberg.

The complete works of H.P. Lovecraft, widely regarded as the father of modern horror writing all collected in one, free place. Hurrah for public domain books!

Go get your Lovecraft on!    <-------

Can be hard going at times, but hell, the man had a way with words I am seriously jealous of!

Phill

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Phew!

Wooooo! 50,000 words and counting. It's been a productive few days.

Buuut...I think I also might have been writing too fast. I've got a horrible feeling that I'm going to have to go through a lot of re-writing of...stuff. I'm in two minds as to wait until I'm done with everything, then come back, or do it as I go along. Choices, choices.

Phill

Saturday 24 March 2012

Feeling somewhat more...

...professional.

I don't know if it's this most recent milestone in terms of word count, but I'm certainly feeling more like what I would consider to be an author than ever before.

Sure, I've been telling stories for years, be they on paper or the spoken word. My head has constantly been spinning with fantasy and horror in equal measure since I was a young sproglet. Multiple causes I think. I think it's my parents that bred this into me.

From a very  young age I've been exposed to a varied mix of different, fantastical subject matter. At times, it really affected me to a negative degree. One of my earliest memories of something vaguely fantastical was my dad wheeling me out his LPs of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. On one hand, this has led me to a life-long love of HG Wells and the various crap movies made from the story. On the other hand, it gave me nightmares - for years, and a fear of Alien invaders which lasted into my mid-teens (even independence day made me scared...sad, huh?).

Not only is the music nerve tinglingly creepy at some points, combined with Richard Burton's throaty tones, it came with an artwork book that opened into A3 panoramas of scenes from the book. For example:


or



I was always a sensitive little git. However, in addition to early exposures to now cult and amazing films such as the Dark Crystal, Willow, Jason and the Argonauts, Wrath of the Titans etc. I think led me down the path of the fantasist.

Cue me 20 years later. I feel like I'm starting to contribute to the medium I was weaned on. It's an exciting prospect. Hell, I might be shit at the task in hand, but at least I'm enjoying the process!

I'll be honest, I suspect I might be falling into tropes of the genre. I don't know how though. I honestly have not read a fantasy book outside of the Warhammer setting for years. The last book of a vaguely fantastic nature I read was a series circling around my favourite anti-hero, Thomas Covenant. The one-time rapist leper constantly sucked into his own delusions/alternate reality.

I guess that's another admission I might explore later. Someone who loves fantasy but doesn't read it...perhaps I'm afraid that the presence of better writers will put me off.

I'm rambling. Damnit.

Yes, I was talking about feeling like being a writer. I've been writing porn for years now. (Phill's Filthy Porno. Go there, enjoy it, even if you've never read or had interest in erotica before! My favourite is Electric Heart...) At first, just a laugh to see if I could do it...then. Well, then I kept going. I don't think I ever felt like an author, especially when my plot heavy stories fell upon more or less deaf ears. Not enough sex was usually the negative feedback. Perhaps a bit too complex for what is more-or-less wank-material.

I like to think that I can see an evolution in the quality of my writing from my first foray into erotica to where I am now. Yes, I was writing in instalments, which meant I had to shoehorn sexual scenes into the plot where there really should have been none, but...I didn't have anywhere else to post in order to entertain people. Soooo...cater to the market!

Now however, I'm writing with enthusiasm, without a sex scene in sight! (yet...who knows, at least I know I can write them now!). As of this moment, I've got 43,000 words down. And I'm massively proud of myself. I've never poured this much effort into anything. It's a really exciting, and pleasant experience.

More importantly perhaps, I'm still writing without the crutch I always used to need. I never got anywhere without comments on my instalments...then if I got a negative one, I'd go into a dismal funk and take me weeks to crawl out of it...if ever. I'll admit, I do feel a bit lost without positive affirmation that 'The boy dun gud', but...I don't dwell on that too much anymore.

That about wraps up my rambling for the moment. I dearly hope that even if I don't turn out to be good enough to be published, I can post this stuff online somewhere for people to enjoy regardless. It's the only thing I really care about...making something which entertains and makes people hungry for more!

And today's song is (actually a surprise to me, didn't know I had it!)...



All the best!

Phill

Thursday 22 March 2012

Another milestone!

Hit 40,000 words today. Officially longer than anything else I've ever written!

Huzzah!

Saturday 17 March 2012

Some Details

Right.

I thought it was about time that I actually talked about what it is I have been working on. I keep mentioning word counts, crashing laptops, writers block etc, but I've yet to actually note what it is that I'm actually writing!

So without further ado, and without any spoilers,I hope...ta-daaaa!

Phill's Genre of Choice: A mish-mashed combination of Steampunk and Dieselpunk with a healthy dollop of gritty, low fantasy adventure all lightly dusted with some horror-esque and emotional elements.

***

The Setting: Welcome to the Odyesa, a vast airship city flying above the oceans of the Abandoned Lands. The Odyesa (formerly the Odessa before I decided to go make clearer distinctions between the real world and this) and her sister ships were built in the dying days of the Golden Age as a means of escaping the dangers of the ground. Built to last, these vast flying citadels are still going strong some two and a half thousand years after their launch.

***

Notable features: The mostly benevolent goddess Vestae, whose faith was all but snuffed out during the Abandonment is slowly returning in power. Vestae once took an active part in the shaping of mankind's future, but for various reasons faith in her was lost and without worship she became all but a non-entity. Unable to yet form a physical manifestation in the world, she uses other means to aid the flock that attempted to forget her.

Pirates! The rich and the successful were not the only ones to flee the ground when the time came. Other vessels were launched and populated, but fell to infighting and eventually piracy in order to sustain themselves. These airborne freebooters are an ever-present threat to the security of the well established ships such as the Odyesa.

Why the sea, why not the land? The Airships mostly drift above the oceans, this is no coincidence. Firstly, above the land comes the airborne threat of gryphones and other winged nasties. Secondly, the sea provides almost everything they need to function. Water for drinking and producing hydrogen to stay afloat, fish for food, sharks and whales for leather and other materials.  

***

The Characters: I don't want to get too deep into this, as I would rather some people remain a surprise, including their motives. Here's a rundown of some of them and their quirks!

Mariya Katherina Gregova Paulus - Our erstwhile police inspector heroine. Much of the book is due to focus on her. She is a very flawed character, successful in her chosen career but often at the expense of others skills. Prone to indecision, near-alcoholism and selfishness Mariya is not the first call for a hero, nor would it be something she would ever describe herself as being. Regardless, she usually acts in the best interests of her friends and colleagues, has a healthy respect for the law and split loyalties between the ship of her birth, the Paulus and her home vessel, the Odyesa.

Olesya Mariele Gregova Paulus - Sister to Mariya, Olesya represents several polar opposites. A free spirited salvager (sifts through the dangerous ruins of the golden age) she comes and goes as she pleases. Whilst seeming aloof and daring, she actually has a very level head on her shoulders and is quite capable of being extremely mercenary in attitude and application. Olesya is responsible for some of the most important rediscoveries of art and technology, and intends to play a large part in the future of the Odyesa and the other skyships.

Alina Ulrika Samarin Odyesa and Vadim Alfred Poushkin Odyesa - Lover and loather of Mariya respectively. These two characters are Mariya's 'minions' and serve under her in the police force. Throughout the story, these characters will rarely stray from Mariya's side and their juxtaposing relationships with her serve to strengthen her resolve.

Stepan Adolfus Tarasova Odyesa - Stepan is the chief engineer of the Odyesa, knowing the vessel better than anyone else aboard. Events of the story will bring him into frequent contact with our heroine.

Sasha Angelika Engle Eugen - Part time teacher, part time opium addict and full time history buff. Sasha is one of the rare Vestaen believers and will lend her services to our main cast with varied results.

Erika Katalin Ulyanov - A captain in the House Ulyanov militia. A bitch of epic proportions. Can't say more than that!

Maxim 'Bjoern' Altman Mashchenko Odyesa - Sergeant in the Odyesian military. Responsible for the safety of our heroes and villains alike. A dedicated, well-built man frequently motivated by patriotic fervour and the safety of those serving under him. Likable, tough and despite his size, a master of tunnel fighting thanks to a career fending of pirate incursions.

Well, that should be enough for now. I hope I've piqued your interest!

Phill


P.S. Would still like to get some images of certain characters drawn up, if you know anyone good, do let me know!




Wednesday 14 March 2012

Back to...

...where I started.

The damned laptop crashed again today. Thankfully I only lost about 15 minutes of work. It's a bit concerning that the thing I am relying on to keep me focused and writing when not sat on my arse at home is possibly on the fritz.

Once rebooted, and slapped about a bit to show it who was boss, I got the bugger working again. So I'm back on 30,000 words or so. Things are about to start getting exciting! The set-up is roughly complete.

In other news, I read about some rejigged Twilight Fapfiction is now cruising around on the top spot of the New York Times best sellers list (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17332129). It comes I'll admit as a bit of surprise to me, and possibly with a bit of annoyance [read: jealousy] that erotica is now becoming almost respectable. Right when I've decided to shift my attention away from erotica!

Maybe I'll continue with some short stories in the meantime...I mean...I've got to be better than Twishite fapfiction...I hope :D

Phill

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Graaaaaaaaaah!

I beat my 30k marker today during a lunchbreak at work. Then my laptop crashed and lost an hours worth of writing, so back down to 29k now. Damnit.

Got to keep remembering to save more often. Sigh!

Phill

Monday 5 March 2012

Writing at work

Today, for the first time, I took my laptop in to work with me and wrote.

I sat down in one of our comfy client rooms, the soundproofed ones, and tapped out a couple of pages in an hour. Very satisfying indeed! I plan to do this every day to get in some additional writing time. Not to mention lugging this hunk of junk to work every day will do wonders for my upper back strength, lose calories whilst gaining words. I can live with this!

Phill

Thursday 23 February 2012

Birthdays, cakes and notes

Finally getting into the swing of things again. I've had my sister's birthday to get through, with cake, roller skates, food and good chums to share it all with. I even dyed my hair black! That's a good enough reason to have taken time away from writing...right?

No, 'spose not...but writing oodles of notes and getting sick of the computer screen at work, now that's a bit more like it. Spending full days staring mindlessly into MS Word whilst listening to people talk is manageable, but it doesn't make me want to come home and open up my story documents.

That bit is done with for the time being, and I'm back at the desk.

I also have some hopeful news in that a friend of mine is interested somewhat in designing some of the uniforms and civilian clothing styles in my little world.

Which reminds me, I'll post a few bits and bobs about the world and story I'm writing soon...promise!

Phill

Saturday 11 February 2012

Damn you TOR!

I'm clearly far too easily distracted. I keep sitting down and instead of my cursor travelling over to OpenOffice it scoots over to the TOR quick launch button instead. I'm a terrible, terrible person. I'm sort of praying for the the time when I get bored  with it so I can stop losing hour upon hour to the Empire (screw you pansy Jedi!).

In other news, things nearly took a very disastrous turn for the worse last week when, during one of my cleverer moments, I managed to spill the best part of a pint of cider over my computer tower and mouse.

It went fzzzzt. pop.

I went...shit. Actually I went a lot more abusive and ranty, but no one wants a transcript of that do they!

Had to nick my sibling's hairdryer and sat praying that I hadn't screwed it totally. That didn't work! So I took it all apart, hairdryer'd the living hell out of it again, checked all the wiring...fun stuff. Miraculously however, doing this seemed to kick the git back to life and thankfully it now lives. Sadly the mouse did not survive the drenching, and has had to be replaced (expense I could have done without).

I have now started backing up what I write! I nearly shat a brick when I thought, fuck, I might have lost my writing progress - yes, I know hard drives can be salvaged, but what if it was the drive that got a drenching, the horror!

Still, things are moving in generally the right direction now. I've broken the 22,000 word mark, making this the longest thing I have continuously written without the focus being shagging. Even then I think it's longer than any of the instalment based erotica I've churned out over the years.

Anyways, hope you're all doing well, have another song!:



Phill

Monday 30 January 2012

Back from another trip

Had to travel back to Lincolnshire this weekend. I didn't mind doing it, for my grandma is very ill. Living in London means with the excception of my sister and uncle all of my family is a long way away. It can be hard and expensive to see people, but this was a much needed and completley unbegrudged visit.

However, Lincolnshire and London are not particularly close. Long train journeys are the dish of the day. There is an upside to this however, I can take my laptop (...liberated from sister) laptop with me and get on with some hearty writing!

As of this moment, I am 80 words shy of 20,000! Not a huge amount, I know. But it's getting towards the longest thing I've ever continuously written. Exciting times!

Phill

Sunday 22 January 2012

Eeeek

Taking a couple of days break from writing. I've dispatched my first few chapters to an unlucky friend to guage his reaction.

Biting my nails now!

Bleeeeeh. I hate suspense!

Phill

Thursday 19 January 2012

A logo!

Weeeee. A logo!

Thanks Matt :D

phill

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Searching for a concept artist

I'm looking for a concept artist to help finalise some ideas in my head for uniforms and appearance of several of the characters in the novel I am writing about. I'm not looking for a hand-out here, but I'm also not swimming Scrooge McDuck style in cash right now.

If anyone knows someone who would be interested in giving me a hand with this side project, or could point me in the right direction I would be very grateful. One thing is for sure however, the anime style art is a no-go. I'm not writing light-hearted fluff, but gritty, dirty, fuctional and realist prose. As such, the art styles I'm looking for need to reflect that tone.

S'not going to stop me writing, it's just something I would like to pursue at the same time!

Phill

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Oh my!

The Elizabeth: The Golden Age soundtrack is utterly perfect for writing. Admittedly, it's heavily hallmarked with all of what I've come to expect from Craig Armstrong's 'classical' music, but the highs and lows are pitch perfect.

There's some seriously stirring stuff on it. For example:


Weee, I'm on a roll now! Back to the desk I go!

Phill

Monday 16 January 2012

I just...

...read what I wrote last night after drinking a bit too much absinthe (...I bought it, so I gotta drink it. Foul stuff). Suffice to say, there is a bucketload to delete now!

Gah.

Phill

Sunday 15 January 2012

Writer's...um...weir?

Been struggling to be creative recently, but it doesn't amount to a complete 'writer's block', so I guess I'll call it 'writer's weir'! I seem to be able to manage a couple of hundred words per sitting, but then run out of steam, very annoying.

Perhaps I should look into methods of loosening my mind up (some might say it's already as loose as can be...barely hanging on even!) in order to open the floodgates. Or perhaps it's merely a phase, I never know with my writing.

I wonder if it's a lack of positive confirmation from a reader that's holding me back. I'm so used to writing in instalments and receiving a confidence boost in the form of comments (or at least an indication of what's going wrong) before moving on to the next chapter/segment.

With this, the actually attempt at novel writing, I don't have the same sort of confidence boost in dribs and drabs. I have to rely on my own opinion, which isn't the best of moves - what with me being massively self-critical and my own worst enemy when it comes to the written word!

Dare I say it, but opinions anyone? (go on, don't be shy!)




Also, some more tracks selected in this order by my random play all music machine!:




Phill



Thursday 5 January 2012

Writing is a musical journey

I've realised that I don't think I've ever actually written anything in silence. There's always something playing from my collection. I've been doing an experiment with myself this evening, writing without music and I find inspiration is strangely lacking.

I hope I'm not sponging off of other people's creativity!

Either way, I thought it would be nice to share more of my favourite tracks, maybe I can share some of the vibes somehow!

I'll start with a varied collection...(I usually put my playlist on random play-all and I've got a very eclectic collection!)







Phill

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Back to work

Amazing. I come back from holiday, spend a day at work and I'm instantly writing the moment I get home. Sheesh. Holidays are clearly bad for my writing brain!

Ah well, I'm back and alive and kicking after the ritual stuffing period. Hope everyone had a somewhat pleasant time over the festive period!

I was thinking about sharing some details of what I'm actually writing. And decided why not.

I'm lending my hand to my own combination of steam and diesel punk fantasy. No, there's no dwarfes or goblins to be seen I'm afraid, just humans at thei most debased and primordial. There's a powder keg about to explode aboard the setting I have chosen, The Odyesa. I'm hoping that not only will this grab people's attention, but be something actually worthy of keeping it!

Phill