Some Writing Success

It appears that - in terms of competition wins, places etc - 2017 was a horrible year for Tim Robson, the Writer. (Yes, that one. Not the other one.) Basically, although as active on the Apple MacBook keyboard as ever, seemingly nothing tangible came out of 2017.

"It's cause you're shit, Tim."

Maybe, maybe. 

Anyway, if you take a look at my Roll of Honour page, you'll see that 2018 has started with a brace of third places in literary competitions. Yes, if that sounds like some Monopoly £10 second prize in a beauty contest Chance card, you'd be right. But I'd rather be third than fourth, eighteenth rather than thirty-second, praised rather than ignored, rewarded as opposed to not.

All publications are special, but I wanted to shout out Hit and Run Lover. This was a novel I wrote over several years. I spent ages on it; editing, rewriting, printing out, deleting, rewriting again. A real labour of love. And all for nothing. So, I'm particularly glad that the opening chapter is being published by those doyens of style, Grindstone. 

What next?

As I think I've hinted before, I'm back writing another novel. It's contemporary, London-based, and benefits - I think - from lessons I've learnt the hard way about how to pace, add style and characterisation, plot. The more mature Tim Robson.

"What a pompous arse you've become."

Yeah.

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A Sort of Update

I commute up to London everyday. Which gives me time to read and time to write. I don't know whether it's because I'm older but I don't seem to sleep on trains the way I used to. 

I've got two or three short stories on the go at the moment. They inch forward everyday; a changed word here, a scrubbed sentence there, a plot development sometimes. Mainly though I edit on trains. I leave inspiration for snatched moments, scribbled notes in forgotten pockets.

I've also started reading again. Just finished The Dubliners by Joyce and The Well Beloved by Hardy. For my recent birthday - thank you all for the cards and gifts - I got some notable short story writers. I'm at a stage where I think I have my own voice, but it's always useful to check back to see how others have done it, to see how they undermined or subverted conventions (or not).

So, I've finally got around to reading Charles Buchowski. I'm reading Hardy's short stories, and collections of shorter works by Balzac and Maupassant. I do it because I like them and get pleasure from them and, if an attractive lady, sat opposite me on the train, thinks I'm well read and interesting by my choice of reading material, who am I to disabuse her?

(Normandy brown cows, in orchards, eating buttercups and long grass before making camembert. Classic image. In the rain.)

Night

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A Veneer of Success!

Do you remember my blogpost about how to write Dystopian Fiction? (July 12th) It was one of most viewed blogs (right up there with my thoughts on Autumn and how to cook beef ragu). Anyway, my thoughts must have meant something because the short story I submitted - A Veneer of Civilisation - has been placed and will be published in an anthology of like-minded stories next year.

Read all about it here. 

I'm getting regularly placed in competitions now. You should see what I'm working on at the moment! Sure-fire winners...

And there's a Xmas treat for this blog coming up next week!

Laters

Tim

What's In A Name?

I've been writing short stories. Profound, aching, searching for empathetic truisms short stories. The sort that make brave men cry and women smile that there are males who so understand the human condition.

Puppies weep, kittens frolic and I hit the 'bollocks' button by mistake.

Anyway - titles. Here are some I've been using recently. 

• The Song of Vivien
• The Twenty-Pound Note
• In Between Days
• The Four Twelves

I debated calling one Karen Carpenter's Last Meal but decided against it as it was offensive and I'm a closet Carpenters fan (Goodbye to Love has to be best power ballad, ever).

Whether these will be the Wuthering Heights, Trumpet Major, Old Geriot of the later 21st Century I'll leave for posterity to decide. Personally though, my writing has now reached heights unknown since I drunkenly penned a Martin Amis parody in 1993 and won £500 quid for my troubles. A future blogpost perhaps? Maybe. My public need to understand I wasn't always pressed against the glass watching the dance from without.

Off to buy some cat litter bags.

Tim

* Do you like the photo of a younger Tim, buff and hirsute, standing next to Oscar Wilde's tomb in Paris? 

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Number 11 is better than Number 1

Someone asked me what my writing strategy is the other day. "Scattergun," was my response.

However, I have been entering short story competitions fairly regularly. Usually I enter the day before the deadline and frantically push myself to knock stories into shape (usually editing down). I find the pressure concentrates the mind and sharpens the pen.

I'm pleased to say my (excellent) story 'In Between Days' was placed in the top 32 of the 'To Hull and Back' competition. Added to this I was in the Top 11 of the Ifanca Helene James Short Story Competition.

Obviously winning is an over-rated concept, man! Top 32 - it doesn't get better than that!

More news from the literary front line soon. Has anyone bought my book recently? I hear it's really cheap these days! Christmas is coming. Just saying'.

Cheers

Tim

* The ruined gatehouse at Bramber Castle subtly suggests a more honest aspiration.

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How to write Dystopian Fiction

File under 'Random'.

In my quest for world domination of writing contests, I recently entered a competition whose theme was the end of the world. It was run by some online dystopian website.

I'll try my hand at anything - even a genre populated by adolescent boys and nerdy men (my people, my people!). All writing ultimately is good writing as the mere process improves your technique and destroys the blank page. So I entered. Having knocked out 4000 words, here is my guide on how to write Dystopian fiction:

1) Dystopian is basically a long word that tries to hide its sci-fi origins. Think Star Wars where the evil Empire wins. And it's cold and bleak and everyone dies a rat infested and lonely death.

2) Chuck in some cod philosophy. It may be gobbledegook and intellectually incoherent but don't worry about that. For example, here's one I've been working on:

"Like all misanthropes, Tim was exceedingly good company."

3) Forget morality. In some dystopian future, all people are essentially amoral. Clearly genre convention dictates that as mankind heads towards its doom, morality will go the way of my C90 home mix tapes from the 90's. Yes, into the bin.

4) Shove in a bit of sex. Hey! Your target readership is adolescent boys and nerdy men after all.

5) Like every self-authored teenage story, all endings should be a variant of "And then I went to bed and the universe blew up." (*see below)

6) For extra credibility, write a blog post slagging off the genre. Man, that's just like so subversive. Yep - that's me, a rule bending, guitar wielding, couplet writing, ex financial services professional with a specialism in payment systems technology. Hi ladies!

7) There is no seven. (Christ, that joke never gets old).

8) Lists are lame; the refuge of a bad writer using an artificial structure to cohere random thoughts in place of a good writing style.

Well, I hope that helps. I'll let you know if I win. I probably get a free black T-Shirt with some heavy rock band's logo emblazoned on the front as my prize. I wonder if it will go with pressed chinos and shiny purple shoes? Hope so.

Laters

Tim

* @Tim Robson circa 1983.

'Yes or No' Short Story tops UK's premier peer reviewed site

March ended with my short story Yes or No topping YouWriteOn's peer reviewed chart. My story was rated highest amongst all the stories on the website which allows authors to submit pieces of work for review by fellow writers. YouWriteOn is generally acknowleged to be the premier site for peer review in the the UK. I certainly (now) think so!

To celebrate I'm going to meet my fan-base down in Brighton this weekend. Look out for me in The Basket Makers or Hotel du Vin. I'll probably be surrounded by groupies and hangers-on but if you're patient I'm sure my pint will need refilling at some point!

Hope to see you there. 

Cheers

Tim

New Writings

My quietness on the website recently could be an indication of inactivity. It's a theory and a good one. But it's also not true.

I've been writing three new short stories, alternating between them, trying out new ideas, plot lines and, for one, cooking Spanish recipes.

Yes - in order to write a story ostensibly about cooking, I've been buying Spanish ingredients and making a delicious mixture of food from that country. Catalan Cannelloni, lemon chicken with white wine, serrano ham and onions; chickpeas with chorizo and spinach. And sherry (iced dry fino) which always helps. Even when I'm not writing. This drink also turns up a lot in Franco's Fiesta. Funny that.

Anyway, once my broadband problems mentioned in the post below are fixed - tomorrow apparently - I'll be posting new material.

Welcome also to everyone in Brighton who, unwittingly perhaps, became part of my never ending author tour on Friday night. 

Cheers, Tim