Spent most of Thursday catching up with office stuff, sorting through mail, replying to emails that needed replying, chasing up some bits and pieces. Today I started another edit of City of the Snakes, the third book in my D B Shan The City series. I haven't written a lot of new material this year (just one new first draft so far), but I've done a LOT of editing, and for me that's vital. By staying on top of the editing, and giving myself plenty of time to work on books ahead of their publication schedule, it allows me to ensure quality control -- I never get in a position where I have to rush a book to meet a deadline. City of the Snakes won't be released until March 2010, but by getting in a couple of edits this year, it means it'll be in good shape in mid-2009 when it's time to do my final draft, so i won't have anything to panic about!!!

I started to reply to fan mail tonight. I have a quite a bit pile at home, and I'm sure I'll be collecting another towering stack of letters from Pablo when I meet him at the weekend. I'll do my best to get through everything that's here before I head out on tour later this month, but, as ever, if you've written to me and are waiting for a reply, please be patient -- I do reply to every letter, but it can sometimes be a lengthy wait!!!

I was delighted to get tickets to a performance of Hamlet in London in December, starring David Tennant (of Dr Who fame) and Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation). These are currently the hottest tickets in town -- the two stars are a big draw, and it's been getting rave reviews from its current run in Stratford. Tickets went on sale to the general public today, and there was a mad rush to secure the last remaining seats. I'd pretty much resigned myself to having to buy seats through eBay. Tickets for popular shows or concerts are very hard to come by legitimately in London, and good seats are like stardust! Touts buy up almost every seat going, especially those close to the stage, and then charge whatever the market will support. I'd love it if the situation was sorted out, e.g. by introducing ID measures so that the person buying the ticket has to be the one who uses it, eliminating the possibility of re-sales. But until that happens, like everyone else who wants a good seat at a top venue, I usually have to go through a tout and pay way over the odds. But today, somehow, I got lucky, and managed to get two seats in a very good position, on the date that I wanted -- RESULT!!!!! I practically bounded up the stairs to tell Bas, I was so surprised and delighted!!

Speaking of Dr Who, I started watching Torchwood yesterday, the spin-off series for older viewers. I'm surprised by just how "mature" it is -- extremely explicit, especially when compared with the family-friendly Dr Who. It's the sexiest sci-fi show I've yet to see, certainly in terms of shows made in the UK!!! I've only seen two episodes so far, but I've been impressed by what I've seen, and I'm looking forward to the rest. Though I think the "climaxes" of the second episode (those who've seen it will know what I'm talking about) will be hard to top. I was laughing out loud at several points!!!! Naughty but hilarious fun!!!!!!

Went to see The Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci in Milan. WOW!!! As with David, I thought that something so familiar from photos and TV couldn't be overly impressive in the flesh. Again I was wrong. Big-time wrong. This is simply one of the most impressive paintings ever, a magical work. Knowing about it certainly adds to its allure, sure -- its importance to the history of art, the way it began to degrade almost as soon as it was painted, its miraculous survival in WWII when the building was bombed and only the wall on which it stood was left standing. And, yes, the intrigue created by The DaVinci Code adds a touch of spice to proceedings (the officials there don't talk about the book, and it isn't on sale in the shop, which made me smile!!). But I think this is one of those works that would blow you away even if you'd never heard of it. It's just an incredible piece of wondrous marvel, captured for us to admire all these centuries later, and even in its battered, decayed form, it still takes your breath away.

After Milan, we headed up to Lake Como for the final leg of the holiday. For the first time in the trip we ran into rain -- it bucketed down when we arrived!!! Our hotel was lovely, with incredible views over the lake and mountains, but it was hard to get too enthused when the weather was so bad!! But luckily it cleared enough that evening for us to walk around, get a feel for the town (we stayed in Bellagio), and go for dinner. There's a lot to do in and around Lake Como, so after weighing up our options, we devised a rough itinerary. Our first decision was to make a round trip to Switzerland. It's a lovely-sounding day excursion, where you get a boat down the lake to Como, then a bus and train to Lugarno in Switzerland, which you can explore for a few hours, then a boat across Lugarno lake, and finally a bus and boat back home. We rose early, before 07.30, on Sunday and trotted down to the dock. We paid for our tickets, then asked where the boat went from. The guy behind the desk frowned, then checked his itinerary ... and re-checked ... and re-checked!! Eventually he told us that there was no early boat to Como on Sundays!!!! So that was the end of that plan! We decided to do it on Monday instead, then did a couple of walks over the course of the day, one around the hills of Bellagio, the other around Varenna. Both very beautiful -- it's a lovely part of the world.

On Monday we got up bright and early again, bought our tickets, and this time -- success -- the boat arrived!!! We headed down the lake to Como, where we got off, had a bite to eat, then explored a little bit. Como isn't the prettiest town on the lake, so we weren't too bothered about spending much time there. After a quick look around, we went to the bus stop and waited ... and waited ... and waited. No buses came. There was no one to ask for help, no way of fidning out what was going on. Eventually a local guy told us that there was a bus strike!!!! We had come unstuck again, and had to make our sad way back up the lake to home. I guess Switzerland will just have to wait for another time...

Anyway, we enjoyed our time there even with the disappointment and frustration of the Swiss miss(es), and were sad to leave on Tuesday, when we caught the boat and train over to Bergamo. We had a little wander around the town, then enjoyed a quiet night -- we stayed in and watched National Treasure 2 in our hotel room!!! On Wednesday morning we packed our bags and caught the flight home. I spent most of the rest of the day going through my post and catching up with emails, then watched Ireland draw away to Montenegro in their second qualifying game for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Not a bad result, though a win would have been a lot sweeter. It's back to normal now for the next couple of weeks, before I hit the road for the first of my mega autumn tours. Enjoy me while you have me, folks -- soon I'll be back in intermittent contact again!!!!!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but I've been having too much fun!! Florence was lovely. We went to see David by Michelangelo, of course, and it was absolutely stunning! I would have thought, having seen so many reproductions of it over the years, that it wouldn't have much of an impact on me (familiarity breeds contempt...), but in the flesh it's simply stunning, one of those rare works that seems to belong to a different zone than most of the other art one comes across in life. It's wonderfully displayed too, with lots of space to walk around and admire it from different angles. A definite must-see -- it should be on evrybody's list of things to do before you die!!!

We went to the Ufizzi Gallery as well. That didn't impress us as much, though we pretty much knew it wouldn't -- as I said in my last post, we're not that bothered about Renaissance Art. Having said that, there were some lovely works by Botticelli, and a couple of top-notch paintings by Da Vinci. Still, to be honest, we much preffered two other "museums" that we visited. One was a fun museum where they have on display recreations of machines designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. You can touch most of them and even play with some. The scope of what he got up to is incredible -- I don't think the word "genius" even comes close to describing him!!! Everything there was pretty amazing, but when I saw a design he had to tap into the power of the sun and generate the equivalent of today's high-tech solar panels, I just burst out laughing and shook my head in wonder!!!! On rather less lofty lines was the Serial Killer museum!!! The Italians love bloodshed, and torture museums are common all across the country. But the Florentines have gone one better and dedicated a museum to the works and minds of serial killers!!! There wasn't much to look at, mostly just pretty dodgy waxwork displays of the like of Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper, but the audio guide was fascinating (if a bit on the long side). It's pretty gruesome, a museum like this, but it does provide a morbidly intriguing look into the workings of the world's more abhorrently inclined villains...

Next up was beautiful Siena, where we mostly just wandered around, enjoying the ancient streets and buildings. We had a fun night where we found a bar overlooking their main Campo square, and sat out on a balcony quaffing beer and watching local life pass us by. The next day we went on a tour of Tuscany and visited a vineyard. Neither of us are strong wine drinkers, but we gave it a go. I'm still to be convinced by wine. I've tried lots of different types, and liked quite a few of them, but I've yet to find anything that makes me want to become a regular wine drinker. Which is probably a good thing!!!!!

Today we caught the train to Milan. We had a walk around the Duomo and its surrounds. You can go up onto the roof of the Duomo and it's lovely up there. We've gone up several towers and viewpoints in Italy since we arrived, and while they're all satisfying in their own way, this was a league apart -- it's like strolling through some architectural playground in the sky!! There was also an incredibly cool statue inside the church, of a man who has been stripped of his skin -- he stand with his bones and veins exposed, holding his skin like a cloak -- awsome!!! It was like an early prototype for the works of Gunter Von Haagens (spelling??). Anyway, we're off out soon for dinner -- we've been eating like lords here, and pretty much every meal has been delicious! We're going for simple pizza tonight, but I've no doubt even that will be special!!! I'll try and blog again before we leave on Wednesday, but if I don't get a chance, I'll bring you all up to date once I get back home.

Ciao!!!!

This will have to be brief -- it's 7.20pm here in Florence, Italy, and I haven't had dinner yet!!! The holiday in Italy has gone fabulously so far. We flew to Venice, where we'd been before, and had a couple of relaxing, enjoyable days. We visited the cemetery island (you can't beat a good graveyard when you're on holiday!!), had some great food, including a dinner in the famous Cipriani Restaurant (expensive, but a delicious treat!), popped over to see the Lido (the Venice Film Festival was in full swing; I might have been interested in that another time, but I watch loads of films when I'm at home, so I resisted the urge to check out the programme and go see a few films!), and just wandered around a lot. That's one of the best things to do on holiday, but particularly in Venice, which is a wanderer's delight -- it's one of my favourite cities in the world to stroll around.

We caught the train over to Florence on Monday. It's my first time here. It's a quaint, lovely little town, although it seems like a buzzing cosmipolitan compared to teeny Venice!! We had a nice stroll around when we got here, and explored more of the town today, including a few museums -- it's musuem heaven!!! I've got to be honest -- a lot of the art here isn't to my personal liking, since most of it's of the Renaissance variety, very religiously related. I kow how important the Renaissance was, and I love the work of Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but a lot of the rest of the stuff doesn't float my boat. I'm much more of an Impressionist and modern art kind of guy! Having said that, some of the work blew me away, particularly Michelangelo's Pieta, and a stunning wooden statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello. In fact, the Donatello piece is one of the most amazing pieces of art I've ever seen. It doesn't really look like anything else that I've seen from that time period, and could easily have come from Rodin or any 20th century artisan. It was one of those few pieces that made my jaw drop, up there with Starry Night by Van Gogh, or the best of Picasso. While the statue has a strong reputation, it doesn't really draw the huge crowds that some of the more famous (stodgy!!) Renaissance work here does, so we were able to examine it without anyone else around. Incredible!!! The masses don't know what they're missing!!!!!!

Right -- I'm off to track down something to eat, which, thankfully, is never a problem in Italy -- this is my favourite country in the world to eat in!!! We had a great meal in a place caleld Il Latini (I think) last night -- it's famous for its meant, and we had a big platter of mouthwatering cuts, along with other courses recommended by the waiters. It wasn't fancy, but it's one of the best meals I've had in a long time. It'll be hard to top, but I have faith in the restaurants of Florence!!!! Ciao!!

On my way to cach my plane, but I had to respond to this email which came in this morning:

Hi Darren, it is Mark xxxxxxxxx here again (Galwayman and aspiring author!). I really need your advice. My agent has got my novel in to a big publisher, who are keen on it but are insisting on major changes, so much so that it would change the essence of the book. I already revised once for them, so I am not afraid to do it, but now they want more. My agent says another publisher is waiting to see it, but they are not as big a publisher as the one my book is at now. So, I am in a quadry. My agent says it is up to me. If I have the book shown to the other publisher, will the current one drop out altogether? Are major changes always inevitable for first time  authors? I really would appreciate any advice.

This is how I responded to Mark, and how I would respond to any author in that situation:

Only you can decide whether the changes will work for the book or not. In my experience, my editors are usually right when they suggest changes -- but not always. Normally we can reach a compromise -- but, again, not always. A publisher wanted to publish one of my early books many years ago (before I'd sold any of my other work), but I couldn't accept the changes they wanted me to implement, so I said no to them. The odd thing is, looking back at it now, I think they were probably right!!! I hated having to say no at the time -- there was no guarantee that any of my other books would sell; maybe this was my one big chance, and if I blew it, I was finished as a writer. But I couldn't bring myself to do what they wanted me to do, so I went ahead, ignored my fears, and made what I believed was the right decision for the story.

My advice, if you can, is to take some time to think about this. Give yourself a little break from the novel. Try and push it from your thoughts. Then, when you come back to it, look at it with a fresh eye. You might find that the suggested changes (or some of them) will actually improve it -- as I said above, suggestions from editors are normally pretty accurate on the whole, and they see things that readers are going to see -- sometimes writers get too close to their work and need a third party to tell them that it isn't working as perfectly as they think it is. But if you still can't live with the suggested changes, and can't find a compromise that wll keep both sides happy... Well, difficult as it would be, you might have to say no to them. But only YOU can decide that -- you have to weigh up the pros and cons, look deep into your heart, make a decision, and be prepared to be happy with that decision afterwards. I would suggest you not let fear dictate your answer, but that you do what you believe is best for the book. Ultimately, it's all any author in your position can do.

Right -- that's it -- gotta dash -- HOLD THAT PLANE!!!!!!

Went to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre on Monday night to see a new production of the musical, Gigi, starring Topol (who starred in the movie of Fiddler on the Roof all those years ago). This is probably my favourite theatre in London. It's set in a lovely, green section of a beautiful park, and the stage is surrounded by trees, which sway hypnotically throughout the the play. On a nice night, it's a magical place to be, and luckily for us, the rain held off when we were there. I actually prefer this theatre to the Globe, London's other open air theatre, partly because it's more comfortable, but also because they generally stage very nice, easy-going plays or musicals!!! You won't find cutting-edge theatre here, but on long summer nights, it's often better to just be entertained. Gigi was perfect on that front, and it was like stepping back in time to a simpler, more colourful period. You haven't really experienced London at its whimsical best until you've tried out the famous Regent's Park theatre of dreams...

On Tuesday I went to see Hancock at the cinema. Very uneven, though it had its good moments. Ultimately it as too befuddled to work -- in the big climax, the rules seemed to change every minute!! A failure, but an interesting failure. Later I went to see a play called Fat Pig, which was excellently acted. A cutting look at our society of the thin, where people are not only actively encouraged to keep their weight down, but also to avoid people who break with the norm and carry a few (or a lot of) extra pounds. It had a very good point to make, though it fudged things a bit at the end, and failed to deliver the fireworks that it seemed to be leading up to.

Today was a major pain in the backside!!! I decided a while back to install a foldaway bed in my London flat, for visitors to use when they come. I went ahead and ordered it to be delivered on Tuesday, and arranged for a handyman to put it together today, Wednesday. But the bed didn't come on time -- I was told it would arrive this morning before 09.00. When it didn't, I had a hell of a time trying to find out where it was and when I could expect it, and eventually the handyman had to leave and come back again in the evening. It all worked out fine in the end, but my ears were read with frustration earlier in the day!!!! Anyway, in between the aggro I popped out to see a new film called Somers Town, a sweet little black-and-white British film by Shane Meadows, one of my favourite UK directors of recent years. This short flick (70 minutes) was funded by Eurotunnel, and is very modest in its ambitions, but works perfectly for what it is. Lovely.

And that's about it for my London break. In the morning Bas and I are heading for Italy, where we plan to see lots of amazing sights, wanders several incredible towns and cities, catch some staggering artwork (The Last Supper! David!!), and eat lots of many fine meals!!!! Oh, the bliss!!!! You probably won't hear too much frm me over the next couple of weeks, but I'll try to post a few blogs as and when I can... in between main courses and dessert!! Ciao!!!!

Finally got to see The Dark Knight yesterday, at the IMAX cinema in London. Hoo boy!!! A hot film, but the screen was even hotter!! I've been to the IMAX a few times before, but rarely have I been as impressed as I was this time -- the screen perfectly suited the huge scope of the movie, and I really felt as if I was slap-bang in the middle of Gotham city!! I don't think the film is quite as good as the hype suggests, but only because the hype has been blown all out of proportion -- at one stage this was the top ranked movie of all time in IMDB, and that was just a crazy bit of positioning for a movie that's just come out!! When the dust settles, I think this will be respected as one of the best superhero movies of all time, just as Batman Begins was, but one of the VERY best films, EVER?!? I think not.

Also saw Hellboy II, today, and that was good dark fun, just like the first flick. I'm a fan of the comics -- I've only read a few volumes so far, but I have them all, along with all the BPRD comics. I particularly liked the dark humour of this film, along with the genuine darkness of the main story. In many ways the underlying themes were the same as what I explore in many of my books, particularly The Saga of Darren Shan -- the loneliness of being an outsider, but how you can still find a place in this world, no matter what people think of you, or how hard it might be. I've said it here before, but it bears saying again -- good fantasy is always about a lot more than just the fantastical.

Speaking of darkness, there was no grimmer a 90 minutes for me over the weekend than White Hart Lane on Saturday -- that was a TRUE horror show!!! I went along to see Tottenham Hotspur (my team) play Sunderland (a fairly weak side, who just about avoided relegation last year, and will probably be scrapped for their lives again this season). It was our first home game of the season, coming on the back of a bad 2-1 loss away from home last week. The manager added several new players to the team over the summer, so I was hoping for a bright new show and a convincing win. Instead I saw a team in chaos -- the players didn't seem to know their role in the new set-up, nobody looked like they knew how to win, there was an air of desperation to everything they did. I think this could be a long, hard season for Spurs fans, and I'm bracing myself for the worst. I've been coming to watch games regularly at the Lane for 6 or so years now, and this was the worst I've seen. Yet.

But enough of the doom and gloom!!! Here's a very charming email I received a few days ago from a fan called Daniel:

I’m seventeen now but when I was younger I used to hate reading. I absolutely despised it! And then I began year six and was taken into the world of Darren Shan. The teacher at the time noticed that I, and a few others had trouble with reading. When I had to read to the teacher my mouth would go so dry that I literally couldn’t talk, and so got out of the reading. She decided to try and help us by reading to us every day to build up our confidence and fondness of books. So out comes a book called Cirque Du Freak.

As soon as she began we were captivated. By the time we left the Cirque's first showing I had dragged my mam to a book shop to buy my first proper book, Cirque Du Freak. I think this is the part where I am traditionally meant to thank you for CDF, but I won’t. Instead I will go on to say that I bought and read every book in the saga and repeatedly flew through them. It was at this point that I tried to find new book, different books. This was going to be a hard thing for someone like me, but guess what; I found them, thanks to Darren Shan.

So now I will thank you. Not only for the saga, or the Demonata books which I am eagerly waiting for (Wolf Island better be good, HA! As if it won’t be), not for making me wait for ages for Hell's Horizon, nor for making me trawl through your blog, finding out about this new book and that, and then nothing more, FRUSTRATING!!! Instead I thank you for a number of much bigger, more significant matters such as:
1.    Opening up the world of books and reading to me;
2.    for hours of time spent in your crazy worlds;
3.    for inspiring me and partially giving me the ability to write my own stories;
4.    and most importantly of all for helping me develop my writing ability and imagination in a way that no teacher could, and helping me receive the good grades at GCSE and A level that I have achieved.

So thank you, Darren Shan.

Awwww... you guys always know how to make me well up with tears of pride!!!! But what I particularly liked about Daniel's email was that he went on to try other books. This is something I probably don't stress enough here -- reading shouldn't begin and end with Darren Shan, or with any writer for that matter. The great thing about reading is that there are so many great books out there, waiting to be discovered. We all have our favourite writers, but we shouldn't stick to them to the exclusion of all else. Reading should be like a treasure hunt -- when you find a book you love, cherish it, certainly, but then go on and try to find one that's even better!! Even if you don't find one that hits all of your buttons the way your favourite does, you'll find loads which will affect you in a whole variety of ways, and provide you with a lifetime's worth of relatively cheap entertainment at the same time!!!!

Bas and I went to see The Killers in Marlay Park in Dublin on Thursday. They put on a damn fine show, and the day worked out perfectly for us -- having heard that there were crowd issues the day before, we got out there nice and early, so we got pit passes; we had a nice bit of food and a couple of drinks before the show; we raced from the pit at the end, and got on one of the first buses out, so we were back at our hotel just after 11.30pm -- no hassles anywhere, a great view of the band -- top notch!!!! Although, having said that, I must admit it won't stand as one of my favourite concerts. What I've found in recent years is that I love gigs from long-established bands more than any others, bands like REM, Nick Cave, David Byrne, The Rolling Stones ... bands who have loads of albums to draw from, and loads of great songs to choose from ... and especially bands that I've listened to for several years or more. One of my biggest thrills when I saw REM at Oxygen was when they played some of their songs from the 1980s, songs that are 20 years old, but which I was listening to back when they were fresh -- it brought back scores of memories, and I yelled along like a teenager!!! I still like new bands, and trying new types of music, but I think by the time you hit your 30s, you've built up a huge database of favourites inside your brain, whether they're movies, books, songs or whatever, and as hard as you try to get enthused about new material, secretly all you REALLY want to do is tap back into those old faves, to transport yourself back to a time when everything in the world was new to you, and songs or movies hit you extra hard because you hadn't seen or heard anything like them before. It's hard not to get a bit jaded as you get older, and I don't think it's a bad thing if you do -- vitality belongs to the young, and I don't think anyone wants to live life at quite the hectic pace that they face it when they're in their teens and full of energy. The trick is not to retreat completely into the stuff that you know you like, to keep trying new things. Hence I went to see The Killers and their support, Bloc Party, even knowing that I wouldn't like them as much as REM or the Stones. That's why I try to watch lots of new movies each year, and read new books, limiting myself to an occasional blast-from-the-past treat just every now and then. Nostalgia's important, more so when you advance past your 20s and 30s, but it shouldn't be the whole of your life, or you just become a shadow of a person.

If all of that makes you frown and mutter to yourself, "What's that old codger rambling on about now?!?", don't worry -- it'll all make sense one day. And one day sooner than you can probably imagine. Time passes swiftly, folks. Enjoy your youth while you can, even if it's a crazy, turbulent, emotionally unlevel kind of time. Because one day you'll look up and it'll be gone and all you'll have left of it are your memories.

And on that downer of a note -- happy weekend, everybody!!!!!!

I was delighted today to learn that Kristen Schaal (the actress who plays Gertha Teeth in the Cirque Du Freak movie) and her comedy partner Kurt Braunohler have been nominated for the if.comedy award in Edinburgh this year!! The if award (previously known as the Perrier award) is the best known award for comedy in the UK, and very few acts ever get shortlisted. Kristen and Kurt are one of 4 acts to be nominated this year, the others being David O'Doherty, Russell Kane and Rhod Gilbert. I've seen them all except for Rhod Gilbert, and I think she stands a good chance, though you can never tell with things like this. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for her!!

I received a very nice email from a teacher called Debbie last week, which I came across again today while going through my mail folder:

I wanted to let you know how much your Cirque Du Freak books mean to me and my students. I am a fifth grade teacher in Mantua, NJ, USA, and for the past 6 or 7 years, I've been reading the first Cirque Du Freak book to my class. I have the others in my classroom library and they are constantly "off the shelf," being read by my students and their parents. I've even had students (and parents) ask if they may borrow them over the summer. When I first started reading them myself, I had to order some of the books from amazon.co.uk because they weren't published in the U.S. yet. I have some children in my classroom with learning disabilities; however, this past school year, two of these children read the entire series. Their parents (one with tears in her eyes) thanked me profusely for getting their sons to enjoy reading again. It wasn't me, it was you! I just helped them find the right book/s. (In fact, one of the boys wrote to you and when you responded, he was ecstatic! We wanted to photocopy his letter from you, but he wouldn't let the classroom aide take it to the office machine; he had to carry it himself!) Other years, I've had parents ask for a recommendation for another book after their children finished the series. They were so happy their children were reading, they didn't want that enjoyment of books to stop. In closing, I just wanted you to know how much of a positive impact you're having on our children. Thanks so much!

Awwww ... how sweet is that!!! I always feel a bit awkward when I publish an email like this, in case people think that I'm showing off or clapping myself on the back. But, hell, you need to treat yourself every so often in life by spreading the love around and sharing the joy!! Many thanks for brightening up my day, Debbie!

Received the following email from a fan called Georgia:

I'm currently writing a book right now and I've got it to just over 17,000 words only now I cant help but feel slightly bored of the book. How do you keep your writing entertaining to write? I realise if I'm finding it boring to write it's going to be boring to read. I introduce new ideas to keep it exciting but then the plot seems to change and I have to re-think everything again. It's like the books never going to end. Do you come across this problem or is it just me? And if it is just me do you have any idea what-so-ever of how to overcome it?

The bad news is -- writing CAN be boring, especially when you're first learning how to do it!!! As much as I love writing, to do it well, I have to treat it like a job, and all jobs have their downsides and stretches of dullness. There are times when I feel lethargic, when a story doesn't seem to be going anywhere, when I'm restless and bored and just want to do anything in the world except write!! When I was starting out in my teens, I used to find it even more boring -- I'd often find excuses to drag myself away from my typewriter, just so that I wouldn't have to draw more words out of myself. Writing's difficult. It requires a lot of time and concentration. Unlike most office jobs, where you can cruise through a lot of the working day on auto-pilot, writing demands that you be "ON" for every minute that you sit there. There's no hiding in this business -- if you drift through an afternoon, looking like you're working but not really doing anything, you won't have any work to show for it, and the only person you'll be fooling is yourself.

The problem is that a lot of would-be writers think it's easy, that it's something you should be able to spit out when the muse takes you, without having to work hard to make it happen. One of the things I'm constantly pointing out in this blog is how difficult it actually is to produce high-quality stories. Films and TV shows make it look simple -- you'll often see a scene where a writer is struck by inspiration and speeds through his novel or poem or play in record-breaking time, and every word's perfect. Well, that's bull!!! Good stories need to be dragged uo from deep inside you and beaten into shape. Some come easier than others, it's true, but all require hard work and oodles of dedication. You need to think of writing in football terms -- footballers have to spend a lot of boring time training and travelling around in order to play 90 minutes of top-flight footie. People accept that -- every one of you KNOWS that you can't just turn up and play for your favourite team on a whim, that professional footballers are highly trained athletes who have to dedicate themselves body and soul to their sport. Well, writers have to do the same. This is a vocation, not just a job -- since you're your own boss, you have to force yourself to do the work. If you put in the hours and weeks and months and years, you'll reap the rewards. If you don't, you'll always be one of those people who "wants" to write, and thinks and believes they can write -- but who never actually gets around to doing it.

I know some people frown when I talk about the realities of writing, because they think I'm trying to put young writers off. But I'm not. I just think you have to know what you're letting yourself in for. This is a hard, ruthless business, and you need to go into it with your eyes open. You need to know that hard work is required, and if you're a true writer, that will actually lift your spirits, not dampen them, because you'll realise that YOU can do what writers you admire are doing. When I was starting out, I was frustrated that I couldn't write to the level of Stephen King or Clive Barker or any of my idols. But when I realised that THEY couldn't write to that standard either when they were beginning, that they'd had to work hard to get where they were, I was filled with hope -- because if they could work hard and succeed, then so could I. The difference between an established writer and a beginner isn't usually talent, but experience. We all start out full of potential -- those of us who put the hard work in will realise that potential. Those who don't, won't.

But to finish on an upper, I will say that the more work you put into writing, the more you'll get out of it, and the more you'll start to enjoy it. I know it can be frutrating early on, because the ideas will be clear in your head, but you won't be able to bring them to life they way you want. Over time (and it's normally years as opposed to weeks or months, so be patient!!), if you work hard, you'll find yourself able to do more, and the stories you create will be far beyond anything you thought you could do when you were 16, 17, 18. And at that stage you'll probably enjoy the process a whole lot more -- although, as with any job, there will of course be "bad hair days"!!!

One final point -- just because you're not having much excitement writing, it doesn't mean what you're writing is boring! It's hard to be objective when you're in the middle of a story. Some of my best scenes have been the hardest and dullest to write. Action scenes, for instance, are often incredibly tedious, because I have to describe so many details and angles and blows. They read fast and snappy, but they're a pain in the ass to create!!! Don't ever judge your story negatively just because you're not having fun with it. Take it to the end. See the process out. Give yourself a break. Then have a look at it again. Chances are, you'll find the story you hated so much bringing into the world will impress you much more now that you've brought it to life!!!