Tag: my opinion

In your face plot hole!

Posted on by Jerra

Hi Friends,

So guess what happened to me this week? I was merrily writing, in the yellow room, coffee on the go, birds singing outside, when all of a sudden I stopped. I literally just stopped. I was half way through a scene and realised there is a plot hole so big in my book I could probably fit 3 elephants and 2 trains through it, all at the same time!! (Cue blank stares and the occasional eye twitch).

Why did my character do that? Why didn’t they stop me from continuing? What the hell is wring with them? – All seemed like valid questions at the time, along with a small amount of self doubt and an edge of hatred – What is wrong with me? How did I not see that? Idiot! Moron! Grrrrrr! – Literally things that happened!

Then I sat back and thought, well, this happens to us all at some point and so I figured I would tell you what I did to get over it, that seemed more productive than stomping round the house saying words that should not come from a sailor, let alone a lady!

I wrote a timeline. Yep. It was that simple. Ridiculous right? They are my new favourite thing ever. I am a pantser (Someone who doesn’t manically plot, I have an idea of characters and story and I just write, I write what they tell me to write!) but having a timeline was really helpful. I could add to it as necessary and I could tract the main plot, the sub plots and relationships as I write them.

Here is an example of a timeline, its not the actual one, that’s super top secret!

Timeline
Timeline

So you can see where I have tracked the basics, that’s how it starts, the orange lines are the main story and the yellow lines are the sub plot, the romantic relationship between hero and village idiot. It gets messy, and you have to let it. Go where the story takes you my friend.

This REALLY helped me sort out the massive plot hole I had in my book and I hope it helps you too, if you want more information on it, or you just want to chat, you know where to find me!

See you soon…ā€¦.

Talking with Psychopaths and Savages – A book review

Posted on by Jerra

This is my first book review on the blog, something I will be doing each time I finish a book. I don’t have schedules stating that I will do one a week or one a month because I am a slow reader, I like to enjoy the books I read, not skim through them. Therefore, I shall simply review them when I have finished reading them.

On with the review. This book ‘Talking with Psychopaths and Savages’ by Christopher Berry-Dee was a fascinating read, you are taken into the minds of some of the worlds most notorious psychos and savages. As an added bonus you also get a great explanation of the difference between them.

There are some descriptions of grizzly crimes but not enough to put those with a weak stomach off. Someone with the authors obvious talents for pen-palling will recognise that engaging someone in correspondence is a great way to get into someone’s mind. Although I wonder if the author realises that at times he sounds a little like the people he writes about, he boasts the ability to use ‘mind control’ techniques and even goes as far as saying that he can manipulate them into telling him their secrets and that he ‘knows them better than they know themselves’.

As long as you overlook the occasional typo and weird dates that are either set in the future or change as the story progresses, you are in for a good read. We must remember that this is snippets of these evil peoples lives, not full length books about them and I believe that given the short word count the author did a very good job of letting you into their lives. He is not afraid to speak he truth and will give his opinion, no matter how controversial. This impressed me as we live in a world of people too scared to say anything. He invites you to think of how many ordinary people these psychos and savages are able to fool, not just in their social lives but their family lives too.

He makes a lot of references to his other books, something that begins to get a little tedious towards the end. I am sure his other books are as intriguing as this but I am left with the question of wether this book is more about the psychos and savages or the authors manipulation skills. I of course say this tongue in cheek as the work the author does in getting closure for the families is outstanding.

Overall I would recommend this book, it is one you can pick up and put down as you wish, it is full of interesting snippets on the minds of these maniacs and offers you the opportunity to almost sit and have a cuppa and a chat with the author.

See you soon…..

(I have no affiliation to the author or publisher, all views are my own and I was not paid for this review)

Self doubt ā€˜vā€™ Iā€™m a genius moments

Posted on by Jerra

We all have self doubt, that’s a given, no one is so super confident that they think they are great all the time. But a lot of people talk about self doubt and how to get over it and in my opinion the truth of the matter is that you can’t. There, I said it. Controversial I know. But hear me out.

Self doubt is what keep’s you going, sounds backwards right? No! It’s really not! Because you strive for perfection and you feel that you are not good enough which means you will continue to write, your writing will improve and you will get better. So embrace your self doubt, it’s what helps to spur you on.

Genius moments on the other hand. Can be a total double edge sword. On the one hand you may have actually written something that is clearly a work of genius that needs to be recognised by the whole world over and will probably secure your name in history along with Shakespeare and Stephen King. You feel that swell of pride and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. And on very few occasions, it really is that good, however if you leave it for a couple of days and then re-read it you will often wonder how you thought that was acceptable. Did a deranged ferret break in during the night and mess with your work? Is this some kind of cruel joke?

The answer my friends is no, you were just high on the little piece of magic I like to call ‘finishing a piece of work!’ But you enjoy that feeling, revel in it, bathe in it and make it your own. But remember, after the ferrets have broken in and you come to reread it, please remember that self doubt can be your friend too.

Obviously you are all geniuses who don’t need to rewrite your work, I know this cos you hang out here with me! šŸ˜‰

See you soon…….