Some years ago I worked for a company that created theme park rides and visitor attractions. While there, I wrote a multimedia "history and myth" show called Beneath the Loch, aimed at families and children. The show used triptych video, surround-sound and animatronics to tell the story of a young otter who embarks on a quest into the depths of Loch Lomond to find the lost village of Camstradden. On the way, the otter plunges through a whirlpool of history and myth, finally discovering the Guardian of the Loch, who collects "all the stories that run down the glens and into the loch".
I've just put a page about the show on my website here. I've included links to some of the many people who contributed to the project, which was led by Nick Farmer. If you were part of the project and I've missed you out, feel free to comment on this post and I'll remedy the situation!
Meanwhile, you can watch a complete video of the show on YouTube here!
Monday, 15 February 2010
Friday, 12 February 2010
Time Machine creates alternate reality
The University of California, Riverside is allowing scholars to study a rare US first edition of HG Wells's The Time Machine, which differs from the 'official' UK version. Up for debate is whether this 1895 edition was dumbed down for the US market ... or just maybe it was Wells's earlier version of the manuscript. If that's the case, it'd be like finding an extra disc in your DVD box set with a previously undiscovered director's cut (or rejected first draft). Wow!
Check out the whole story over at io9.com. And while you're digging through your shelves for your copy of Wells's original, don't forget to order a copy of Stephen Baxter's awesome - and official - sequel The Time Ships, which Arthur C Clarke, no less, suggested was 'better than the original'!
Check out the whole story over at io9.com. And while you're digging through your shelves for your copy of Wells's original, don't forget to order a copy of Stephen Baxter's awesome - and official - sequel The Time Ships, which Arthur C Clarke, no less, suggested was 'better than the original'!
Thursday, 11 February 2010
The long and solitary trip
Dani Shapiro's hit the nail on the head in her article in the LA Times. Titled "A writing career becomes harder to scale", it's a true insight into the "long and solitary trip" that is writing. I was particularly moved by her line, "Each time we sit down to create something, we are risking our whole selves." So true.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Setting the story aside
This afternoon I finished writing a 7,500 word short story. And now I've got to set it aside. Tempting though it is to wrap up the manuscript and fire it off to my agent, I know that would be a mistake.
Most of the story's still just in first draft, you see. So, happy as I am with it now, I can guarantee several things. First, it'll be about 500 words too long. Second, it'll have at least one continuity error. Third, there'll be half a dozen places where I missed the chance to thread themes all the way through the narrative instead of just dropping them in when they occured to me. Fourth, for every metaphor that works there'll be another that either falls flat or come over as way too laboured. And so on. All these things will become apparent next time I read the story, but here's the catch: only if I wait. If I re-read it now, I wouldn't see any problems at all.
I don't know what causes this temporary blindness. Maybe it's a side-effect of that punch-drunk feeling you get when the tale you're telling is finally told. Maybe it's just about letting the wine mature before you uncork the bottle. Whatever the reason, this much I know: the best thing I can do now is set the story aside for at least a week, preferably two, before I read it again. By that time, my vision will have cleared enough for me to see all its faults - in Technicolour. With luck, I won't groan and dump it in the trash. With luck, I'll give it the loving nip and tuck it undoubtedly needs, enabling it to become the story I really originally set out to write.
And for those of you who are interested, yes, this is another story in my ongoing series about a private investigator who's good with dimensions. The working title is Missing, which is a terrible title and certainly won't be the one I try to sell it under. The story's a little different to the others in the series, but I'm not going to tell you why. All I will say is that it involves a trip to the zoo. If you want to know more, I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient.
Like me, for now at least, you'll have to set the story aside.
Most of the story's still just in first draft, you see. So, happy as I am with it now, I can guarantee several things. First, it'll be about 500 words too long. Second, it'll have at least one continuity error. Third, there'll be half a dozen places where I missed the chance to thread themes all the way through the narrative instead of just dropping them in when they occured to me. Fourth, for every metaphor that works there'll be another that either falls flat or come over as way too laboured. And so on. All these things will become apparent next time I read the story, but here's the catch: only if I wait. If I re-read it now, I wouldn't see any problems at all.
I don't know what causes this temporary blindness. Maybe it's a side-effect of that punch-drunk feeling you get when the tale you're telling is finally told. Maybe it's just about letting the wine mature before you uncork the bottle. Whatever the reason, this much I know: the best thing I can do now is set the story aside for at least a week, preferably two, before I read it again. By that time, my vision will have cleared enough for me to see all its faults - in Technicolour. With luck, I won't groan and dump it in the trash. With luck, I'll give it the loving nip and tuck it undoubtedly needs, enabling it to become the story I really originally set out to write.
And for those of you who are interested, yes, this is another story in my ongoing series about a private investigator who's good with dimensions. The working title is Missing, which is a terrible title and certainly won't be the one I try to sell it under. The story's a little different to the others in the series, but I'm not going to tell you why. All I will say is that it involves a trip to the zoo. If you want to know more, I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient.
Like me, for now at least, you'll have to set the story aside.
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