September 8, 2014
People who don't write usually don't understand how those who do can agonise over a word. Would it be better to use a name or a pronoun? Is 'indicate' a better choice than 'show'? It isn't only a matter of getting the grammar right, or even of making sense, but a need to convey a mood, capture character or to be beautiful or striking. Does a word have the right rhythm? Will it maintain the pace and flow?
A single word might have to fulfil several functions, such as showing a character's attitude and carrying the action forward or describing the setting. Yes, it is possible. Here's an example: a character emerges from a tunnel and sees the landscape laid out before him. 'Strewth!" he says. That 'strewth' means the character is likely to be British or Australian, probably middle-aged (unless it's set in the past) and working class. It also shows that the landscape is impressive. Look at any successful novel or poem and you'll no doubt find better examples, but you get the idea.
The trouble with soul-searching to find exactly the right word is that it can leave you blocked. Looking in a dictionary or thesaurus doesn't always help, and can tempt you to stray off into other paths. My method for avoiding the problem is to leave a space and go back to it once I've finished the first draft. I can either find the word I want, or rewrite the sentence or the entire paragraph if need be.
It doesn't make sense to interrupt the flow. Think how annoying it would be, if after pondering for hours to find the perfect word, you end up having to edit that section out!
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
September 2, 2014
The good news this week, is that my entry was a runner-up in the Haynet and Lavender & White Equestrian Short Story competition. 'Horse Sense' is about a man who tries to reignite the spark in his marriage by taking his wife on holiday in a horse-drawn caravan. When things go wrong, it takes horse sense to save the day. All the runners-up will be published on the organiser's site at
http://www.hay-net.co.uk in the near future, and you can already enjoy the winner, 'Be Careful What you Wish Fo...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
August 25, 2014
One of the drawbacks of the school holidays is that the choice of films in the cinemas is restricted to blockbuster action movies targeted at teenagers, or animations aimed at children. There's little depth or humour, and when these are used, there's a tendency to batter the audience over the head with them.
On the face of it, Guardians of the Galaxy is no different, and my expectations of it were low. I looked forward to 90 minutes of fairly mindless action and noise with caricatures inst...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews
August 18, 2014
I've had one of those weeks where I feel I've been rushing around without really getting anywhere. I think everyone has them from time to time. They're frustrating because you think you've achieved nothing, but is that really true? I've made a list of what I've been doing since last Monday.
I've written: blogs - 3
tweets - 6
notes for features - 3
doggy diary (the things my bichons get up to) - 2 A4 sheets
Discord's Appren...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
August 11, 2014
Twiction Addiction has accepted another two of my tweets in response to its regular prompts. The most recent one went online on 9th August. So far, I've submitted tweets on paper, custard, collar and congregation. Not only has the man behind Twiction Addiction, Mark Connors, invited me to be its featured author for October, he's also introduced me as "the fabulous Karla Dearsley". I'm dead chuffed. Now, all I have to do is live up to it.
Check out @TwictionAddict to read lots of twiction fro...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
August 4, 2014
Having recently been to Florence, I took the opportunity on a sunny afternoon to sit in the garden and read E. M. Forster's
A Room with a View. I watched the film again the night before I went away, and I'm glad to say that it's very faithful to the book. That's quite remarkable, especially for a novel of that period (early 1900s).
Usually, novels have to be pared down for the screen, but Merchant-Ivory's adaptation has kept every character and scene. Practically every line of dialogue in ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews
July 28, 2014
It's been almost too hot to think. It's hard to plot stories or craft beautiful sentences when you're wilting. Not that I'm complaining. Who knows how long the lovely weather will last? I would encourage everyone to avoid spending all day at their computer, if they can. Slap on the suncreen, don your sunglasses and possibly a hat, and set your chair up in a shady spot outside.
You can write just as well with paper and a pencil. Should the piece you intended to work on become a sluggish tri...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 20, 2014
Researching a novel can be fun or frustrating, but it's always time consuming and, all too often, the facts that you find the most fascinating never make it into the finished work. That doesn't mean that the hours spent checking websites, hunting out books and talking to experts are wasted.
The more background information you have, the more confidently you can write. You'll know your characters better and won't have to waste time rewriting because you've placed them in impossible situatio...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 14, 2014
When you go on holiday, it isn't unusual to see people taking photo after photo, barely taking the time to focus. In fact, they're so intent on getting the shot that they don't even really look at the things they're taking photos of. When they look at them afterwards they probably have trouble remembering that they were there.
Writers are always told to carry a notebook with them, and I second that, but there's a danger of becoming like those photographers. Somehow a balance needs to be found...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 5, 2014
There'll be no blog next week. I shall be hard at it carrying out research, interviewing people, trudging around the heart of the city... okay, I'll come clean, I shall actually be eating ice-cream and sampling the local vino. Who could pretend that visiting Florence will be anything other than a joy? However, I shall be taking my notebook and camera and hope to return inspired by acres of art, wonderful architecture and glimpses of characters who could people any number of works of fiction, ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
