Beatless • 30 January 2009 • The SnowBlog
Beatless
I'm never quite sure what to blog about these days. The reason I like the idea of publishing is not so much that I like books (though goodness knows I own enough of them) but that I like what's inside books. I like escaping into a story and I love learning things. But that's storytelling and the whole wide world of knowledge; most of it has little or nothing to do with the art and act of publishing and so isn't necessarily of direct interest to anyone who comes to this page. Most of it has nothing to do with any of our titles; it's much more to do with what's going on in my head. And the feedback we get often focuses on what people don't like rather than what they do which puts tentative crosses against a few of my regular topics but doesn't add any. That's not to say I don't have facts and theories to share about publishing, but because of the way my brain works they tend to be either unashamedly* technical explorations of publishing processes or highly abstract musings on how the strategy of media industries might evolve. And these aren't things that light most people's fires. In fact that sort of thing might even be driving some of you away, which would make it a very questionable use of my time.
But I do think some visitors are interested in the mechanics of storytelling, so I might continue to kick that subject around. I'm particularly wrapped up in learning about screenwriting at the moment and I think that world has a lot to teach mainstream novel writers, both by positive example and by cautionary tale. Otherwise, I think I'm probably without blogging portfolio at the moment. So if any of the things I've written about in the last few years suddenly gives you an idea of what you'd like to encounter more of here, then please comment away. In the meantime, it's time to start a new post and share with you my feelings about the TV show Demons.
*OK, slightly ashamedly
Rob
I'm never quite sure what to blog about these days. The reason I like the idea of publishing is not so much that I like books (though goodness knows I own enough of them) but that I like what's inside books. I like escaping into a story and I love learning things. But that's storytelling and the whole wide world of knowledge; most of it has little or nothing to do with the art and act of publishing and so isn't necessarily of direct interest to anyone who comes to this page. Most of it has nothing to do with any of our titles; it's much more to do with what's going on in my head. And the feedback we get often focuses on what people don't like rather than what they do which puts tentative crosses against a few of my regular topics but doesn't add any. That's not to say I don't have facts and theories to share about publishing, but because of the way my brain works they tend to be either unashamedly* technical explorations of publishing processes or highly abstract musings on how the strategy of media industries might evolve. And these aren't things that light most people's fires. In fact that sort of thing might even be driving some of you away, which would make it a very questionable use of my time.
But I do think some visitors are interested in the mechanics of storytelling, so I might continue to kick that subject around. I'm particularly wrapped up in learning about screenwriting at the moment and I think that world has a lot to teach mainstream novel writers, both by positive example and by cautionary tale. Otherwise, I think I'm probably without blogging portfolio at the moment. So if any of the things I've written about in the last few years suddenly gives you an idea of what you'd like to encounter more of here, then please comment away. In the meantime, it's time to start a new post and share with you my feelings about the TV show Demons.
*OK, slightly ashamedly