Nick Kyme

I’m in the middle of watching episode something of the new incarnation of Nikita. It’s no Dexter or Mad Men (in my opinion, the best two shows on TV right now), but it’s easy, palatable viewing. It takes about as much mental capacity as Burn Notice to watch but has plenty of action and the odd pithy one-liner.

Going back to Dexter what a fantastic finale double-bill on FX last night. If you haven’t watched it yet, do so as soon as possible – it’s great, shocking stuff. I think Dexter is one of those shows that is so consistent in its quality and season four didn’t disappoint. Mad Men was on cracking form this week too. Also in its four season, Don Draper was trying to put together the broken mirror that is his life. There were some frankly superb bits of dialogue and Draper’s journal entries (delivered in monologue) were thought-provoking and genuinely moving. Of all the TV shows I’ve ever seen, I think this one is probably my favourite.

I’m in my living room at the mo. Nikita is about to end with some ludicrous cheesy rock track - I missed a fair bit but I reckon I’ll pick it up. Shakespeare’s sat on the sofa just behind me, while I drink coffee and eat oatmeal and raisin cookies – yum. 

I’m procrastinating, of course – you do realise that, right? I’m at the 91,000 word mark on Fall of Damnos and am putting off the last 5,000 or so words. It’s tough finishing a book. It’s that moment where you’ve almost reached the end and everything (hopefully) is coming together. It’s a stark moment of reality when you can see the book for a whole and whether or not you think it’s any good. I’m liking how Damnos is turning out but I want to make sure the ending is strong that it works and the writing is up to scratch. It’s one thing I think about a lot – writing.

What I mean is the actual nuts and bolts of it. I analyse a LOT. My training was in media and cultural analyse, I deconstructed films and scripts at college, did the same to novels using narratological tools as uni – I guess I just like taking things apart to figure out how they tick.

It’s the same with the writing. I have a style for sure. I know that I’ve done enough that I’m talking with my own voice and not emulating someone else’s. But I analyse and hone that style all the time. I like to cut words out; trim to perfection, hopefully. I think using the right kinds of words are important. It’s not about digging out a thesaurus and having at it. No, that’s not a good way to go. Words are subtle in meaning and application; some are right for the occasion and some are wrong. I think every writer has certain words they like to use; you’ll see them crop up time and again in their novels and short stories. They’ll also have words they don’t like; harder to spot because it’s the absence of them that gives these words away. Certain words in certain stories just feel right. It can be about the characters and the dialogue, but it’s also about what flavour or mood that word evokes. I think about this a lot.

Structure and pace are at the forefront of my mind as well. I like to use curt sentences in action scenes and flick between PoVs. I’m also a fan of juxta positioning. Done well, this technique can be incredible for providing pace and tension. In Fall of Damnos and Firedrake there are multiple story threads all heading off at once. Some of the threads are separated by viewpoint, others by chronology. Handling them together, making them work and punctuating each with the right frequency is something I look at too.

My bookcase is full of books on writing. I’m talking Writer’s Digest stuff, here. I have just read Save the Cat a book about script writing of all things (thanks, Aaron) and that was massively interesting concerning words of wisdom about structure. I was talking to an aspiring writer yesterday about this very thing. There are lots of books out there about writing. Read if you want, there’s no shame in that. But remember this: they’re not bibles nor are they a sure fire way to succeed as a writer. Take stuff from them, even if it’s just a small section or a sentence that makes you think differently about doing a certain thing or thinking in a certain way. Absorb what’s in them, think about it and apply what’s useful to you. Modify if you like. Key thing to remember is you’re learning all the time, adding to your knowledge, expanding your horizons – we all are.

Well, those are my thoughts for the day anyway. Granted, they’re a bit rambling but those are the best kind.

Have fun, peeps and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Straight from the blogosphere, two reviews: My Favourite Books has written a lovely piece about Firedrake and Mr Digressius reviews Salamander (I think – it doesn’t specify, but again it’s very nice).

Thanks to both for the kind words. I’d also like to extend that to all the folks who’ve been getting in touch via Facebook about Firedrake and Grimblades. Much appreciate the support.

Finally, a shout out to Dan Sharp for his review of Firedrake in the Lincolnshire Echo. Loving your words, man.

Yes, I know I said I was going to stop procrastinating and get on with some writing but this was too good not to blog about.

As anyone who knows me will know, I am a HUGE Batman fan. Let’s just say there’s been a lot of talk about the sequel to The Dark Knight with precious little but rumour and conjecture to go on. Boring.

It seems that Chris Nolan (aka the Legend) has announced the title of the third movie in his trilogy (dude, you could make fifty films if they were all as good as the first two) to be ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Cool. I can live with that. In addition, despite the aforementioned rumour mills (which is why you should never listen to this crap – fun though it might be to speculate), the Riddler will not be appearing. I greet this news with some cheer as although the Riddler would present an interesting cerebral challenge for Batman and fits in nicely with Nolan’s grittier, more real world, view of Batman, I wasn’t that bothered about seeing this character again. I’m still getting the memory of that awful Jim Carey effort in Batman Forever – what a steaming dump of a film that was.

So, somebody new then, and here I am doing the one thing that I told myself I wouldn’t do and fuelling the f*!king rumour mill – gah! Well, apparently Tom Hardy (who was awesome in Inception) is getting a role though whether or not he’s going to be one of the Rogues Gallery, I have no clue (maybe the Riddler could help out here with a cryptic one???). It’s also alleged that Nolan is looking for a female lead for the movie as well. Obviously, folks will point to Catwoman but I like the idea of Talia Head (Ras Al Ghul’s daughter) to connect the third movie and the first. Harlequin is another possibility, but I can’t see that happening to be honest.

For the main Rogue, I like the idea of Black Mask and I know this has been touted around a bit, or even Penguin.

Time will tell. For the full story, check out IGN.com.

I work hard. Seems like an odd thing to open a post with but it’s something that’s been on my mind of late. Right now, I’m shattered. Mentally and physically, I’m at what some people might call ‘a low ebb’.

You see, I have lots of responsibilities: my own house, a car, a rabbit, a good job and I write freelance. It’s a lot to do all by yourself, and sometimes the responsibility of all that weighs pretty heavily. I think that’s why I’ve been so tired. Promoting takes it out of me too, especially when you factor in all of the other stuff. I went to Games Day UK, GW Oxford and Uxbridge and Games Day Italy all in the space of a few weeks. I was writing Fall of Damnos on the train, the tube and in my hotel room. Barring Italy, all of these events had early starts and were long, long days.

It takes it out of you, it really does.

I’m going to keep working hard but I’m also going to rest a little more too. I can’t do it all solo. I’ve tried and it’s okay for a bit but try and sustain over more than a few weeks and I just fall over. I don’t want to fall over. What happens if I do that and don’t get up again? Not good. I guess what I’m saying is I recognise the fact that I need some down time. It’s part of the reason I had a serious conversation with my editor about my writing schedule. I mentioned it in an earlier post – I’m taking December off. I have two jobs to do before I can make that promise to myself a reality: one, finish Fall of Damnos and two, make the changes to my Horus Heresy short story.

There’s other things I want to do too. I want to get running again and have resolved to join a club. Writing is quite a solitary hobby, and I like to be around people. Too long is isolation and I start to go a bit nuts. I think to find folks of a similar mind with a similar hobby would be good and motivational. I also want to join a bowling league. Yup, that’s right, ten-pin bowling. When I lived in Humberston I used to go to the Cleethorpes Bowl all the time (well, a lot) and while I don’t want to return to the sport with anything like that amount of frequency, I do want to start playing again. I used really like it. I was pretty good, too.

And I want to take a holiday. It has been ages since I went on a proper holiday that wasn’t affiliated with work in any way. I need it, I think.

All of that said, I’m trying to make the most of today in terms of writing. I’ve set myself a modest target of 2,000 words as that’ll take me up to the 90,000 word mark. I reckon the book will be somewhere in the region of 95,000 and that’s just fine – it means by Sunday, all being well, I’ll have a finished rough draft. Then I can take a sigh of relief.

I usually write in the mornings but today I ventured out to the hardware emporium to buy some loft ladders and paint testers. Two reasons: I need to clear out my loft. There’s some old crap in there that needs to get thrown out or sold. The paint testers I need because I’m repainting my house (on the inside, of course). It’s about time and now that (well, soon at least) I have some more time I can do it. Feels like I need to freshen the place up and make it new again. It’ll be good for me.

The early part of this afternoon (after clearing out some of the loft and taking Shakespeare to the vet for his booster shot), was taken up eating a salad bowl from the supermarket, drinking coffee and watching the latest episode of Mad Men (why do I sometimes feel an affinity with Don Draper?). Good times.

Anyway, I think I’ve probably procrastinated enough. It’s time I shut this down and opened up the Word file with Fall of Damnos on it. First job is reading through what I did yesterday. I always find that’s a good place to begin and it helps to get me in the zone as it were. So, 88,000 words and counting then. Wish me luck…

Two updates today! Why, aren’t you all lucky things.

Just returned from Nottingham town having reached the 88,000 word mark on Fall of Damnos. It’s getting there but I’m fighting off distraction from other projects. People keep asking me about Vulkan…

Oh, check out the Black Library Bolthole too – just posted an update there as well. Pretty knacked now (still suffering from cold) so it’s cup of tea, snuggle up with the house rabbit and last night’s Fringe. Boo-ya.