Good afternoon!
Yes, it has been a long time since I entered a post on this blog. I've been incredibly busy and not disposed to spend much time actually writing anything to speak of.
I have entered one of my novels in a competition and while I don't expect to win anything, like anybody else, I have high hopes or I wouldn't have entered the contest.
It's odd, but I have encountered more support from people that I have barely known than I have from people that are supposed to be my closest friends. Members of my family have been supportive, but it's the people who have claimed to be my best friends that have disappointed me the most. If you can imagine, people that I knew but who rarely noticed me in school, and haven't seen for forty years have displayed more support for my writing career than 'friends' that I see on a regular basis. It makes me wonder if jealousy has reared its head. I have noticed that they evince more support form people that they barely know than they have for me, and I believe that it's the old familiarity thing. You know, "familiarity breeds contempt". All I can say to any of that is that if they are jealous, they had their chance to attempt to make a name for themselves. If it's contempt they feel, then if I am successful, they will have missed their chance to be a part of my life that has been rewarding for me.
It just goes to show that it takes all kinds to make a world.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Coincidences within a plot
Good afternoon!
So, you pick up a book and find coincidences in it that are unbelievable? Examine your own life and you'll find that coincidences are much more common than you thought. I have traveled, not widely, but enough that I was in places where the last thing I expected was to encounter someone from my hometown; but that is exactly what happened. Not just once, but several times. And, I have met people who at first glance seemed to have nothing in common with me, but on getting to know them, found that they were well-acquainted with people that I had known my entire life. Then there are the people I have met who turned out to be related to me in ways that I could never have imagined. How did these people manage to find me among all the millions of people they had a chance to encounter. Coincidence. Bit in the butt by fate.
By putting coincidences in a plot, you make a nod to the unexplainable in life. Coincidence is a part of "real life", and I try to write in a realistic manner. There is no reason to make apologies for such things, or, really, to try to explain them. The reader either gets it or he/she doesn't. Life is full of coincidences and those of us who ignore them are doomed to live in a world that is dimmed by the absence of the wonder that they can produce.
Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies and others.
Available on Kindle
So, you pick up a book and find coincidences in it that are unbelievable? Examine your own life and you'll find that coincidences are much more common than you thought. I have traveled, not widely, but enough that I was in places where the last thing I expected was to encounter someone from my hometown; but that is exactly what happened. Not just once, but several times. And, I have met people who at first glance seemed to have nothing in common with me, but on getting to know them, found that they were well-acquainted with people that I had known my entire life. Then there are the people I have met who turned out to be related to me in ways that I could never have imagined. How did these people manage to find me among all the millions of people they had a chance to encounter. Coincidence. Bit in the butt by fate.
By putting coincidences in a plot, you make a nod to the unexplainable in life. Coincidence is a part of "real life", and I try to write in a realistic manner. There is no reason to make apologies for such things, or, really, to try to explain them. The reader either gets it or he/she doesn't. Life is full of coincidences and those of us who ignore them are doomed to live in a world that is dimmed by the absence of the wonder that they can produce.
Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies and others.
Available on Kindle
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
How much attention do you pay to critics?
Good morning!
I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted on this blog. Things happen and I get distracted and am unable to post. If this was my actual job and I was paid to do this, I would be more diligent. As it is, this is just what I do in my off-time.
Back to the title of this post. I pay little attention to critics. It's their job to criticize and they get paid to do it, so they criticize other people's work. Too many of them take it to heart and simply work at finding fault with the work of others who may or may not deserve some of the crappy reviews they receive. I would hate to think that my livelihood depended on being negative about the creative efforts of others. I mean, how can anyone keep their mind and attitude on an even keel when they spend their lives looking for the bad in works that they may not even comprehend or understand? How much of a toll can such unrelenting negativity take on a person's life? Never mind the effect it may have on the writer who may believe that he or she has written the next Great American Novel. Bad reviews can be a soul-crushing blow that some people cannot recover from, and to think that a reviewer may simply have written such a bad review because they thought the phrases they came up with sounded 'cute' or tripped lightly from the tongue, is simply too cruel a thing to think of. Maybe the critic thinks that by ripping the work of others to shreds, they can catapult themselves into 'stardom' the way that a well known 'judge' on one of my least favorite talent contest/reality shows did. (I don't like reality shows because they bear little or no resemblance to reality and deprive writers of opportunities to make a living.)
So, just how much attention should one pay to critics? However much you can stomach. Just keep in mind that the only effort critics make at being creative is what they put into tearing the heart out of writers who have come under their eye. And that's not creative, that's just being cruel. They know no more than you or I and earn a living from being negative and cruel with a drop of actual appreciation for the efforts of others now and then. Anyone you meet on the street can do as well.
No. I have not received a bad review from anyone regarding any of my works as yet, so this post is not a reaction to such a review. It's simply the way I feel about the topic.
Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies, Taken Apart and others.
Available on Kindle
I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted on this blog. Things happen and I get distracted and am unable to post. If this was my actual job and I was paid to do this, I would be more diligent. As it is, this is just what I do in my off-time.
Back to the title of this post. I pay little attention to critics. It's their job to criticize and they get paid to do it, so they criticize other people's work. Too many of them take it to heart and simply work at finding fault with the work of others who may or may not deserve some of the crappy reviews they receive. I would hate to think that my livelihood depended on being negative about the creative efforts of others. I mean, how can anyone keep their mind and attitude on an even keel when they spend their lives looking for the bad in works that they may not even comprehend or understand? How much of a toll can such unrelenting negativity take on a person's life? Never mind the effect it may have on the writer who may believe that he or she has written the next Great American Novel. Bad reviews can be a soul-crushing blow that some people cannot recover from, and to think that a reviewer may simply have written such a bad review because they thought the phrases they came up with sounded 'cute' or tripped lightly from the tongue, is simply too cruel a thing to think of. Maybe the critic thinks that by ripping the work of others to shreds, they can catapult themselves into 'stardom' the way that a well known 'judge' on one of my least favorite talent contest/reality shows did. (I don't like reality shows because they bear little or no resemblance to reality and deprive writers of opportunities to make a living.)
So, just how much attention should one pay to critics? However much you can stomach. Just keep in mind that the only effort critics make at being creative is what they put into tearing the heart out of writers who have come under their eye. And that's not creative, that's just being cruel. They know no more than you or I and earn a living from being negative and cruel with a drop of actual appreciation for the efforts of others now and then. Anyone you meet on the street can do as well.
No. I have not received a bad review from anyone regarding any of my works as yet, so this post is not a reaction to such a review. It's simply the way I feel about the topic.
Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies, Taken Apart and others.
Available on Kindle
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