Update

So, I haven't posted here in over a year and a half. Oops.

An update on how my life's changed since I wrote the last post, since I think it would be rather incomplete without it; it being this blog, and it being an explanation.

Last September, 2012, I packed up my things and drove to University. Which one? you're asking with bated breath. (If you're not, then pretend).

Bangor University!

It was my first choice, and I was so damn happy when they accepted me, I could barely believe it. The colleges and teachers of the country all seem to try and crush your hopes for university as much as they can, just because they're afraid that someone won't get in and blame them.

Yeah, it's awful that some people don't get in to places... but if you choose your course and university right, do decently in your A Levels and put effort into your application, you're going to be fine. That's the most advice I'm giving gratis today. You can't blame me, either, if you don't get to university. It's not my fault.

Well, anyway. I got in. So, I moved out here (Wales), and subjected myself to about six months of rain, and one of glorious sunshine. It's been AWESOME.

So, I don't mind telling you that my A Level results were good, but not the best, and that the work I've done at uni so far has been, mostly, good but not the best. However, there's a huge difference between the two.

I've heard that A Levels are harder than University in general. I agree, but not because of the level of work, but the awful way they treat you: halfway between a kid and an adult. Uni doesn't, all adult. Hard to get used to at first, believe me.

And whilst 'good' at college is not that great, 'good' at university is good. Getting an A at A Level means something completely different to getting an A, or a First, at University. An A at college was expected. I mean, really badly expected. Here? A's are legendary. You feel awesome when you're given them.

Side note: I'm getting bored of this post. Sssh, don't tell anyone.

Okay, so... wrapping up this long post. I'm in a relationship with someone I met here; I have a house with six other friends for next year; I'm doing well at uni; I'm not depressed like last year; I've written lots of new things, including scripts and poetry; I'm happy.

See you later.

Okay, so I got a little sidetracked there...

It's almost been a month since I last posted on here, and there's a few reasons as to why...

Firstly, NaNoWriMo began on the 1st of November. I managed to adhere to the schedule for a total of 5 days before I succumbed to the pain of writer's block. Sigh.

Next year, I'll do better.

If I'm honest, I wasn't too enthralled with my plot, such as it was.

That's a topic for another day - but I did get some good writing done on something that wasn't my previous NaNovel, which was healthy of me.

I am currently in the middle of the waiting stage of my UCAS application. I have two offers already, Conditionals for Edge Hill and Sheffield Hallam, and I have an interview at Manchester Metropolitan University's Crewe campus at the beginning of December - Bangor have received my portfolio and are currently (I assume) in the middle of reading through all of their applicants this year.

I am currently working on the portfolio I shall be taking to the MMU interview; they asked for specific things in their portfolio so I have to write a second one (the other two Uni's decided against portfolios). 

MMU asked for three paragraphs in first person which capture the voice of three different types of character: a child, a homeless person and an executive.

 Each of these people are looking into a fire: what do they see?

That was my prompt, and I shan't be divulging my paragraphs for copyright reasons - if they did an internet search and they found the work online they may reject my application, regardless that I've posted them myself. It's much simpler if they simply find nothing when/if they search.

To go along with this small task they asked for a small personal statement in which I talk about why I want to study Creative Writing at degree level - which will arguably be the hardest part, for me. I hate writing to sell myself... urgh.

However, the upside to MMUs approach to the portfolio is that they offer us candidates a chance to include a sample of original creative writing work of our own choice; a maximum of 1000 words, or 3 poems. But let's face it, my poetry is horrid (something I wouldn't mind remedying at University, mind).

I have something in mind which I think shall do the job quite nicely. It's also 200 words under their limit, which is nice. If I can prove my writing worth with 800, why not do it in 800? Those extra 200 words would probably ruin it, anyway.

Fake mercies and I think it's time to leave it be...

Okay, so the last post was about how I had recovered a PDF file which was the latest version of my story?

Lies.

When I checked the file properly, I found out that it was in fact a slightly older version - though not as old as the backup - and I don't have a lot of words I obviously added later.

I'm pretty annoyed at myself, but I'm forcing myself to ignore the situation and roll with it.

If I don't get it back, well then, it serves me right for not backing up properly and I will either re-write the story or leave it and write something else (not the highest chances for that).

I've worked on this since last November, when I began NaNoWriMo for the first time. It has become my "beloved" story, and I have a bit of an impression that I'm trying to start too big.

As of this very moment, I've completed 1 short story, of around 4,300 words (which I can retrieve, sent it in an email recently) and - completed, mind you, with a clear goal and finished quality - 2 shorter pieces.

That's right. Three.

I have so many beginnings it's unbelievable and these three finished stories, and yet I'm sat here worried about another unfinished work?

Pretty pathetic, really. Who was it, King? That said you have a million practice words in you?

My novel-to-be has 17,000/18,000 words in it... and these shorter pieces mostly come to around the 2000 mark.

These are all, apparently, horrible compared to what I will produce some day -- as I keep practising and improving.

Though, I recently realised that the advice writers tend to give you is actually true, cause dammit I never really listened...

Write every day,

Doesn't matter what you write, and you can't help but improve as you go. Your word choices become ever more varied, blending together more fluidly, your style becomes more apparent and you feel good about writing.

I think it's time to leave my novel on the back burner. I'll return eventually, but for now... this ship has sailed.

Small mercies...

Thank God for small mercies...

I recently lost my memory stick, and the last time I backed it up fully was July. Not good.

Luckily, thanks to an upload of a PDF version of my work in progress to Lulu I have a copy of the story and can reproduce it in Word if needs be!

Hopefully, I'll be able to find my USB at college - there's a chance I've left it at the library.... Oh, how I hope that is true.

Engage with conflict sooner rather than later...

I had a problem with my work in progress novel last week. I didn't know how I would get from the beginning to the end. I have the two figured out. I know what I want to happen. It just didn't bridge after a certain point.

A friend of mine offered his services as a wall for my idea bouncing session - oh alright, so there wasn't much free will involved...

Either way, he brought up a very good point to contest one of my own.

I had said: "Novels, these days, are either stand-alone, trilogies or four-plus multiple volume deals."

Because, I was worried that everything I want to write about wouldn't fit into a single novel without becoming too unwieldy.

He replied with: "Well, either remove the huge war you have planned, condense it, or make it happen sooner."

Of course, he was right... I had to edit the plot - obviously. The events for the middle haven't changed in a year. This is ridiculous!

So, changes were made and steps were taken to ensure that clichéd horror would not occur. Mainly about the gender of characters.

My plotting sucks. I shall have to improve. I am on the way, though.

It begins...

The waiting is the worst part of this process, isn't it my fellow university applicants? And for those of you who haven't and/or don't want to and/or won't get the chance, it is the worst part of applying to university.

This morning at 9:36am, my UCAS form was sent away. Now I wait. Possibly for a long time.

I shall pass the time by writing various coursework pieces, and fantasy stories, and reading books. Yes, that sounds nice.

Prepare your quills, ladies and gentlemen...

Preparations for NaNoWriMo 2011 have begun!

An A3 piece of paper with a diagram detailing the scenes I shall add daily.

I don't know why I never thought of it this way before, but 50,000 words into 30 days is 1,667 a day, rounding up... and that is everyone's daily word goal... so why not have 30 scenes of 1,667 words each?

It's simple, and easily organisable. So, I currently stand at twenty-two scenes planned.

However, I don't usually plan, and this is mirrored in this plan by the "plans" being sentences like:

Public hate the elitist mages for their power. Uprising. Mobs.

Not sure about you, but that's just about as ambiguous as it can get.

I've actually worked backwards, this time, too. Started with the end scene, and so this way I can work back to a logical starting point and not worry that it won't come to a cohesive ending.

Here's to success!
Happy writing, all.

O brave new world, O brave new world...

I've just finished reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley... and it's quite strange.

The main character is nebulous - I get the impression that the true main character changes at different points in the novel.

I'd be very interested to find if this was the first novel which used voice as Huxley did... in chapter 3 and again in a later chapter which I am at a loss to find right now, he decends into a maelstrom of character:

"'Well, all I can say is that I'm going to accept his invitation.'

Bernard hated them, hated them. But they were two, they were large, they were strong.

'The Nine Years' War began in A.F 141.'

'Not even if it were true about the alcohol in his blood-surrogate.'"

And so on and so forth, a strange and confusing medley of conversation rampaging around the page. I admit it was hard to follow, at times, but overall a very exciting read. It's actually a short novel, 230 pages or there abouts.

I'd say that the most interesting character is that of John, the Savage.

I don't want to spoil youir enjoyment of it though, read it for yourself. Make your own mind up.

The chill air of autumnal nights...

It's a quarter to the second hour of the new day, fifth of this month of October.

I sit at my desk, huddled against the chill. My pencil held in fingers growing ever colder. An itch threatens to dispel my hard-earned concentration, it's worming into my eyes. Under my lids, scampering across my skin. An even deeper sensation stems from this itch, an ache - burrowing into my skull. Centred on my eyes, hidden behind my forehead.

Time passes like sand through my fingers, slipping away without end.

It's ten to the second hour of the new day, fifth of this month of October.

Distractions, everywhere. They invade, pervading my senses, subjugating my mind and taking hostage my free will. Oh, how I loathe them.

To meander...

This blog is called Meandering Thoughts, and if you read my posts you'll probably see why I decided upon that name.

I meander.

A lot.

meander
intr.v.  meandered, meandering, meanders
            1. To follow a winding and turning course:
                Streams tend to meander through level land.
            2. To move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction:
                vagabonds meandering through life.

n.
            1. meanders Circuitous windings or sinuosities, as of a stream or path.
            2. A circuitous journey or excursion; ramble./ Often used in the plural.
            3. An ornamental pattern of winding or intertwining lines, used in art and architecture.

Taken from thefreedictionary.com and I particularly like the second example for the intransitive verb:
         
         vagabonds meandering through life.

This is the definition of my blog. Vagabond. For the adjective, it means
adj.
         1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer; nomadic.
         2. Aimless; drifting.
         3. Irregular in course or behaviour; unpredictable.

I'll tell you why Meandering Thoughts is a vagabond.

1. There is no 'home' for this blog. It has no set genre or code to relate to. 
2. Of course intrinsic to the first point, I do not have an 'aim' as such, for my blog. It drifts from topic to topic, and I rarely adhere to the rules I set out.
3. And again, inherent in the result of the first two points, I am unpredictable in terms of scheduling posts, what point I shall make and whether I will ever mention it again.

And there you have it, the vagabond blog: Meandering Thoughts.

Female writers Vs. Male writers...

Okay, so I'm curious about the general consensus to these queries:

Does the work produced by female authors consistently differ from the work produced by males in a significant way?

And,

In what ways would you, personally, be able to identify a text as written by a female or male?

And also,

In your experience, do female authors write female character more sympathetically than male characters, and vice versa for male authors?

Twitter: @JCGlendenning

The reason I ask, my fellow fictioners*, is that it would tie into my language investigation nicely. Like a glove, some might say. You'd be doing me a huge favour if you took the time to even reply quickly!

I would be even more ecstatically interested if anyone would answer with fantasy specifically in mind, because as a genre is has a stereotype of female authors - yet a vast majority of everything I read in fantasy is by male authors. I don't take the gender of the writer into consideration when reading... until I remember their name as good or bad. I have a good mix of gender in my favourite authors, mind.

Robin Hobb,
Naomi Novik
Tolkien,
Jim Butcher,
Trudi Canavan,
Diana Wynne Jones (more so in the past than now)
Garth Nix...

And looking at this list... I see that female authors of fantasy are more numerous than I remembered. Either way, I still need to know other opinions on the matter!

Gender in writers doesn't bother me, unless something occurs which brings their gender into light... like spouting crap and throwing in our faces when really, all we're trying to do is escape this blessed place for a few hours.

Reply either on here, or through Twitter @JCGlendenning

Thanks!

*fictioners: collective noun for readers and writers of fiction.

Language investigation part two...

Okay, so I had my first lesson of English Language after the summer break today. Spoke to my teacher about my question and hypothesis and received some feedback on my ideas.

Basically... I have to be extremely careful that I don't tread into Literature territory, and because I'm using fiction as the basis for my investigation that's going to be a major pitfall I have to guard against.

Other than that... I guess that I am on the right track at least. I wanted to focus on the characters, and the way they are described by the authors, the language used to show their actions, the way they are active or passive in sentence construction, if they perform stereotypical roles or not...

And, by Jove, I never thought I'd ever want to do a study on gender issues. Damn.

Oh well. Roll with it.

Language investigation...

Hey guys, or gals, how are things?

I'm currently writing for my English Language investigation coursework. I've found a "hypothesis" to go with, it's really a question, and I'm enjoying it... but I have no idea if my teacher's going to like it at all. Ah well.

So, the reason I'm blogging is to tell you all that I will think about posting up the finished thing once I've gotten it finalised - in small amounts, it's a monster!

I'll tell you the gist of it now.

WARNING: Subject to frequent, swift and unannounced changes!

“How do the ways female authors of fantasy use language in their first chapter differ from the ways male authors of fantasy use language in their first chapter?”

Oh, and yeah... I realise that it's a general statement of vagueness... but that's kind of what you're supposed to have.

I'll be analysing lexis, semantics, pragmatics and possibly grammar. I've started on the semantics/grammar/structure side of things.

No idea when it's going to be finished, but hey, it's for college, and they love deadlines!

The northern hemisphere...

You may be interested to know that out of everyone who has visited my blog... zero hits have been from the southern hemisphere.

Probably something to do with the water there.

Have a good few days, everyone.

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher - A review

Ghost Story is the thirteenth novel in The Dresden Files, and is written by American author Jim Butcher.

The previous book, Changes, was the catalyst for the series to become something else entirely to what it began life as. It was insane, a little, towards the end. Dresden was almost transformed into something we, as readers, were unsure of... shocked at this direction the novel was taking. Afraid that the character we veterans of the series know and love.

I’ve seen some people’s reactions to the book, and then the response from other readers who were telling them that the narrator does not equal the author. Because there was obviously something about the book which made them so upset.

It was probably the cold-blooded murder of Dresden’s once-lover, mother of his child, the love of his life. That kind of thing can shake people a little bit. Dresden took the time to rationalise his decision, give himself a way out of being a murderer. After all, it took care of the huge problem they’d been dealing with for years on end. What some didn’t realise was that the author can write about something and present it in a way in which they don’t necessarily agree. I’m damn sure Mr Butcher doesn’t stand around advocating the use of murder to get what you want.

Now, enter Ghost Story. In this novel we see the culminating effects of this earth-shattering event, the results of leaving people behind without protection, the outcome of a war ended with a single curse, the direction some characters have been forced to go because of this vacuum left in Dresden’s wake.

It has almost destroyed them. These people, who were once good, unspoiled, unsullied by the darkness that populates the Dresden universe, have been turned and thrust into a world where the weak are assimilated into the ever-growing shadow streaking across the world. They have to be strong; they have to throw a facade into everyone’s face. Show them that they aren’t weak; they can’t be shoved around and told what to do. Otherwise, they’ll fall by the way side, and never get up again. The Dresden world has taken another turn towards “damned”, and Dresden can’t sit by and watch as the people he loves go down with it.

Dresden is in a unique position to see these events occur, and he’s powerless to stop them. His character was put through so much turmoil in the last book, and he can see now what that did to him and his judgement. He realises that his decisions weren’t made in the best frame of mind, but were still inherently wrong.

Throughout most of the novel, the initial premise stands loud and clear: Dresden is finding out who his killer is, so that he can rest in peace. Go through to the Beyond. He’s also tasked with protecting three of his friends who will be hurt if he doesn’t. The twist comes when he remembers his killer. When he remembers what happened to him. The knife is plunged in deeper when we realise that Harry’s apprentice, Molly, is so much more vulnerable than she lets on – and his Faerie godmother has taken on her training, and particularly not in ways Harry is comfortable with.

Harry connects with Molly like never before. It’s brutal, but honest. This novel sheds light on so many things from the last book. Characters have changed throughout this series; there is no doubt of that. Some changed in ways that might be non-refundable when they get to the checkout. They’ve paid the boatman, and they’re on the way to the other side of that river dividing “good” from “bad”, and there is no turning back; they are stuck in a fast flowing current of events; spiralling ever downwards, ever onwards. They will not like what is on the other side.

Threads which began in other novels, I know I forgot about them and probably many others did too, were picked up and thrown into the mix. Not to mention how the book ends. These threads go almost all of the way back to the beginning.

Butcher has, once again, done an amazing job. He has provided us with a story gripping from beginning to end – action, humour, magic and awesome-packed for good measure. If you’re not a fan yet, why the hell not? Pick up a book, read it, and join with us – the legion of fans Butcher has at his command. Be sucked into the vortex of his creation as fully as I, and revel in the joys of the characters, the sorrows, the revelations and the obscurities. Be prepared for a heart-stopping, heart-warming and heart-wrenching story of love, hate, betrayal and titanic struggle against enemies that seem almost impossible to overcome.

 It’s one hell of a ride, and I promise you’ll never look back.

Results day...

Oh, I didn't post about my AS results. We got them last week, was it last week? Yes, it was... Time melds into a single unit when you do not have school or college to go to. Stupid mind.

Anyways, so... I had four exams, or five if you count Philosophy and Ethics as two, which they really are.

English Literature, English Language, Media Studies, Philosophy and Ethics.

I got two As, a B and an E.

The E was an overall grade for Phil & Ethics, which was a D and E respectively, brought to an overall E.

An A in both Language and Media Studies, and a B for Literature.

Hey, if you've read the other posts from back when... you'll have seen the one where I went into the Literature exam a little bit. I also said that I wasn't sure how well I'd done, but that I did okay. Which I did. Grade Bs are respectable, and nice. Hopefully it can be upped to a low A, which is still an A, next year. Or, stay at B, I don't mind. It is a high B, and if I am lucky next year, I'll get some decent grades and bump it up.

Language and Media were nice exams, in the end. My media coursework was strong, and it has been entered into a regional... competition, if you would call the Catholic colleges in the region coming together to give awards to the best products in their categories a competition. It probably waived the right to be called that when they didn't mention at the very beginning that this would happen at the end of the year though. Sneaked that one onto us, didn't they?
Still... Should be fun.

What was intended to be a discussion on rationalising, turned into a rant about covers...

Okay, so there's a disparity between the covers for the first twelve books of the Dresden Files on my shelf, and that of the thirteenth, Ghost Story.

This annoys the little OCD Meanderer stuck inside my head. Greatly.

Hell, if we're talking about annoying little changes... even the fact that Changes is a hardcover, when the rest are small paperbacks really, really irks me.

However, as you all know, the name of that novel is Changes. It would be resoundingly stupid of me to say that the people who make the decisions on covers made a huge mistake by changing it.

Except... well, then again the cover for Changes is kind of following the whole scheme of "case file" covers like the previous books. But then you look at Ghost Story.

It's despicable.

I've posted the cover before as a part of the "it's coming!" overjoyment post. But here it is again.

This change in style is disappointing. It's very reminiscent of usual American covers... and by the way, this is the US cover, but the one over here is exactly the same, with a different font for Jim's name and the title... and they're both at the bottom and Jim's name is red. Okay, okay... so it's not exactly the same. But, it might as well be.

US book covers are not the type of thing I like on my books. I think that the UK covers are much nicer. Sure, there isn't usually as much going on as an American cover, but I like it that way dammit!

Oh, hey, I found the UK cover:

Well, look at that! I didn't see it last time. Right, so, as you see... not a huge difference. The image is closer, and the font is both red and blockier. Also, the colour is different. Which makes me sound like I know nothing about it... but the image has a cyan overlay for some reason. Perhaps it's to oppose the red "JIM BUTCHER" more?

But, then again... wait, I see. I see the reason. Okay, look at the covers again. You can see that in the US cover, the plant is green, the gravestones black/grey/white and Dresden is wearing a black duster and has a wooden staff and has skin... but does he? Nope. In this book, Harry is a ghost. As readers of the previous book will know, and people who can see into meanings behind titles even just a little bit.

Now, look at the UK cover. The blue tint to the image can be seen as an attempt to show the scene in an "otherworldly" light. Literally, they are trying to show that Harry is now a ghost by using a colour that we have all seen ghosts appear in... on TV and in films. You know the thing I mean, where the character appears and is transparent and has a highly cyan colour scheme going on?

Well, the colour change is cracked. Now, just to figure out why they changed the series' style half the bloody-well way through?

Anyways... have a gander at the cover difference between an earlier book's US and UK editions.

The UK one, above, and the US, below.

Alrighty then. So, I never realised that the Ghost Story cover is basically just the US scheme... and by the way, I have no idea if the Storm Front cover I have is the first edition, or whatever. But, you can see by the UK cover that it's vastly different. And, in my opinion, much better.

The simple style, a single tag line that could be used as a slogan, minimal use of colour, strategic placement of the blood splatter (there's a different addition to each cover, usually relating to the story), and a signature-style font for Jim's name... all makes for a simply interesting book cover. You can do a similar kind of thing for the Codex Alera books by Jim too, the US covers have guys dressed in Roman Legion armour doing some scene from the book... Whereas the UK covers have a symbol for whichever element is being used for that book (there are six elements in the magic system, fire, water, air, earth, wood and metal - coincidently, there are six books), and there's a small image across the top... but the majority of the cover is black, with coloured writing related to the element. Very nice.

OH, and pet peeve number one thousand... DO NOT use images on the front covers of books when they have not FULLY complied with the image of the character as portrayed by the creator. In this case, Jim Butcher created Harry Dresden and Harry does NOT wear a cowboy hat. However, the marketing guys know that he looks "cooler" to the masses that way, so they give him one on the covers.

In Ghost Story, Jim even mentions the hat thing... and both he and Harry reject it, again!

Argh.

I hate how they impose these character images onto us. Especially as the artist isn't Jim Butcher. Some authors don't even like giving concrete images of characters, because they know that some readers prefer their own creations in their own minds. Obviously, you need traits and some tags for characters, but that's more of a writer's job than reader's... and I'm getting well away from my point.

Ghost Story changed the scheme. I do not like this. But, the book is amazing. I'll write the review now and either put it up today or tomorrow after a little edit.

Sorry for the rant-like post... but, we all have things we don't like. This is one of those things for me. I'm sure other people don't like it too. I'm sure there are some American readers who hate British covers, cause they aren't eye catching enough. But, I don't think the whole "OH PICK ME!" type of covers are good for the book. In general. But, that's another topic, for another day.

Read well, folks.

Wordle - The Themes from my current WIP...

If you're interested, take a look at the Wordle I created the other day. It's made from the poem lines which feature at the beginning of my current WIPs chapters. I think it captures the themes of the novel quite sufficiently. I like it.

Mr. Butcher has outdone himself, yet again...

Ghost Story was as excellent as I knew it would be, and now I need to wait for another year to read the next instalment. Maybe I should read slower?

I shall write a review and post it here.

I shall also have to review more books, so that it doesn't look like Butcher is the only author I read.

I am almost there, but I don't think I want to be...

So, I'm currently on page 407 of Ghost Story... there's barely 50 pages or so to go until the end, and I have a feeling that I won't enjoy being there. You know, at the end of another book... waiting for the next one. Waiting a year. A whole year.

I can't do it.

So instead, I'll have to busy myself with things that will take up a lot of time. English Literature and Language investigations anyone?

Huh, the US and UK covers are almost identical
this time around... Strange.

I am adamant that I will choose fiction as the basis of my language investigation, and I hope to God that I can manage a topic around science-fiction, or possibly fantasy. Mainly because my Literature teacher will be taking half of my Language lessons next year, as she teaches the higher level course, and she hates science-fiction. In fact, she even admitted as such to us, but there have been a few incidents where she's seen that possibly science-fiction isn't as bad as she's mistaken it for.

That opportunity comes in the form of dystopian fiction and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. And boy, is she going to get a shock when I hand in my Literature coursework and I've used a novel by very famous science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick! Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, is set in a dystopian setting... which will allow me to compare it to The Handmaid's Tale.


Ah, I seem to have gone on a tangent... oh, well, never mind.

I do not want to finish Ghost Story, yet.
But I must know what happens!

I'm going to scurry away and read now.

Hopefully I'll get a decent review posted on here soon.

No. I will post an awesome review.