More reading, writing and lost stuff

27 September

Nice sight on the scales this morning, I was down another 4lbs to 15st 7lbs. Heyhey, meks me ‘appy terday.

It looks like all my old edited photos are lost, although I do have the originals, so all is not lost. What I will now have to do is to work my way through them all again; that will be slow work, but it will get done eventually. I’m not looking forward to it though, there are several thousands of them. It becomes even more clear for the need to back up your projects continually, a lesson I will one day learn properly.

We writers are told time and time again not to use the word ‘very’ in our work. So there I was yesterday reading through one of Rowling’s latest efforts and that very same word kept on appearing fairly often. So I’m left wondering if ‘don not use’ rule is on for beginner writers; once we are established perhaps the rules don’t matter? I was never one for following rules anyway and yet for once this is one I have done for some reason. There’s a tutor about somewhere who hates to see the word ‘replied’ during dialogue passages. Why? That one makes no sense to me at all. ‘Very well,’ I replied, ‘forgive me for ignoring you then!’      

Twins used as a plot twist in the end of a story is one we are advised not to use. Apparently, it’s far too easy to see coming half way through. Actually, this one makes sense. One of Peter James’ Roy Grace does exactly this and yes, I could see it coming from fairly early on. As I’ve just said, I’m not one for following rules at the best of times, so in my House of Pain book I have used a set of twins. However, I brought them into the story right at the ‘very’ beginning. That one seemed to work well too.       

A lottery win is another one we are told not use as a way out of a sticky end. In my book Finding Our Way, I have used a Euro lottery win early on the story, not at the end. It works too. The thing is with rules, they are there for a reason which usually makes sense. Use of twins and a lottery win as a way out of trouble are far too obvious aren’t they. So if a writer wants to use those two ideas, find a way of doing so where which isn’t either obvious, or just plain lazy. Anyway …

There I was lying in bed last night reading HP5 for the third time, and it occurred to me that maybe I don’t really want to go to Hogwarts anymore. ‘Why?’ you might ask. Well, it seems that the students there only read for class and exam reasons. Those who know the books/films may have noticed that apart from ‘The Tales of Beadle the Bard’, there are no pleasure reading books, no fiction at all, unless you want to claim that Lockhart’s stuff was fiction. Now where would any decent reading addict get and keep their TBR pile? Not their truck cos that’s full of school stuff anyway. Which brings to continuity issues …

YouTube is full of vids about mistakes in films. I’ve not seen them all of course but here’s a few that I have picked up in films; take Independence Day, for example; Will Smith is dressed in his uniform to return to his base after the aliens arrived. Did you ever notice that the epaulets on his jacket keep changing? One scene it’s up above the collar, next its down, then both or up, then as it was to start with. Not the sort of error that should have been made in such a high budget film at all.

Jan has wanting to watch the Game of Thrones DVDs again began, so we them last night before we went through for a lie down read. And there’s a continuity issue in there too. This one relates to the dire-wolf puppies the Stark kids have. Bran climbs a wall; sees something he shouldn’t then is pushed out of a top window. His pup is still very much a pup. Yet only a month or so later when an assassin arrives, he’s killed by a fully grown dog. How does that work then? Perhaps the writers have been to Hogwarts and learn an aging potion, maybe the one Weasley twines (again, see), tried to use. Or perhaps they think we are all stupid and won’t notice.

Today’s photo …

Jan’s nodding dog in the car.

Today’s funny …

Yo momma's so ugly, even Rice Krispies won't talk to her!