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Archive | stuff I write

linked…in?

April 14, 2012 by stuff I write

With the explosion of Social Media in the last few years, it appears there is a channel for everything.  I guess it’s a bit like exploding the saying ‘a place for everything, and everything in its place’.  We’re all on Facebook (well if the 7 billion people world wide figure is to be believed), more and more of us are on twitter and if you’ve got any kind of professional job, chances are, you’re on LinkedIn.

So why am I getting on my high horse about LinkedIn?  Well it was a tweet that I read the other day, about people adding people who they don’t know.  And do you know what? it really got me thinking – why do people add people they don’t know to their professional network?

I think I’m one of those people who are a bit trepidatious about adding people I don’t know to what is essentially a private network.  I only really want to add people that I truly know.  I’ve gone through spates of removing people from Facebook, because, well – just because I went to school with you 19 years ago – it doesn’t mean that I really want to be friends with you now.  So, I’m a bit more reserved about adding people.

I guess this is why my LinkedIn profile only has something like 70 contacts and my Facebook one 80ish.  There is of course that prime number that suggests you can only know so many people before the number becomes un-manageable.  Even so, I’m more about the quality than I am about the quantity when it comes to these two channels.

The thing with LinkedIn is that many people now seem to use it to find jobs, they don’t from what I can tell seem to use it as a method to keep in contact with people professionally.  So what purpose does it serve?  I get very confused by these people who have over 400 contacts on LinkedIn, and yet they don’t really communicate with anyone, and what they do, within LinkedIn is just seem to lurk.

Someone I used to know said to me that they didn’t use twitter because they didn’t have anything to say, I’m inclined to disagree everyone has something to say in one way or another – it’s what makes us interesting as people.  The little nuggets that this person used to come up with were hilarious and it felt like the rest of the world was being robbed because nobody else got to hear them.  So if you just collect contacts like they’re a digital rolodex then what does it say to the people you follow?

If you’re going to put together a social network, it seems to me, that you’ve got to have a really good mission for what you’re trying to do.  Look at Friend’s Reunited – it effectively got ousted from the social sphere because Facebook does it bigger, and it does it better (I felt dirty saying that).  Friend’s Reunited is too niche – and their attempts to make it less so have fallen rather flat on its face (this is a story for another time).  Perhaps LinkedIn will go the same way?

The thing about LinkedIn is that there’s too much going on, too much choice and there’s very little in the way of it being helpful.  If you work in a creative field – it doesn’t show case your work.  If you work in the UX field, it doesn’t reflect how good you might be.  Yes, I know they’ve gone public in America, but I think potentially they need to slim down their offering, and try to scale back on something they’re not.

So I’m wondering, how long is it before twitter and Facebook overtake LinkedIn as the place to go to find your next job, or your next employee?  If you think about it, twitter and Facebook can give you a better view of the person behind that formal CV.  When you’re on either channel, chances are that you’re talking about things that aren’t just work related.  You’re talking about what you like, what you read, what you’ve seen, you share the good times, and sometimes the bad.  You get a view for what the person is really like.  LinkedIn? well, it’s all about the career.

voice

October 7, 2011 by stuff I write

A writers ‘voice’ defines them.  It tells the reader a lot about the tone of the story and how it will unfold.  Is it serious? Is it comical? is it… well that’s the problem.  What is it?

When working on my coursework, I’m marked on the voice I use.  Mainly is it identifiable, is it right for the story that I’m telling? This is something I’ve been pondering today while sitting here (on a day off).  If I were to write a novel, what kind of voice would I use?  I’m torn between the serious and the comical.  Something with a little bit of humour wouldn’t go amis I feel, but that can be tricky in itself.  How do you manage to get the voice across?

Would a story be funnier if it was told in the first person, or in the omniscient narrator?  I love the style that Robert Crais uses when he’s writing his Elvis Cole novels, mainly because he manages to weave serious with comical to great effect.  It can’t be easy, but I wonder how plausible it actually is when trying to write something.

Perhaps I should just stop pondering and actually get on with it, and see how it comes out.

make hay while the sunshines

October 3, 2011 by stuff I write

Yes I know, it’s bee a little quiet over the last few days.  I’ll admit it’s because I’ve been overly engrossed in a couple of good books, and the weather has been far too good to sit inside.  Poor excuse I know, but with the last day of summer clearly now passing away like the leaves falling from trees, I’ve got no more excuses.

It struck me while sitting in the garden on Saturday and Sunday, that the noises you hear in the village are so entertaining.  OK, so the church bells and the neighbours cat on Sunday morning were not entertaining (as they woke me up).  No, what is entertaining is listening to the sounds.  What were people up to making all those noises?

I think I was struck by the noise of what was either an electric saw, or a hedge trimmer.  I spent a good deal of time trying to work it out (because the sound by this point had started to invade my head more than I wanted it to).  What was someone doing out there on a nice sunny day?  Were they shaping a bush into a nice tidy hedge, ready for the impending winter?  Were they building some shelves to house the books they’d stocked up on for the rainy days ahead? I just couldn’t decide.

Then there were the birds, chirping around.  The sound reminded me of the spring days, that blossomed into summer.  Of waking up to the birds outside my window before I moved.  There seem to be fewer birds and a lot more cows.  Cows that moo at 2 in the morning.  What on earth is that all about? Were they mooing instead of snoring? I couldn’t decide.

The last thing that struck me was the number of people out cutting their lawns.  I bet it’s going to be the last good cut of the year.  As the days wind down, the grass slumbers.  I’ve noticed it do it.  Not that I sit here and watch grass grow, clearly I’ve got better things to do.  Whatever the case, it was just the little mundanities that build up into the soundtrack to the last day of summer.  I didn’t want to believe that the sunshine that warmed me so much yesterday would be giving into gales and rain (which looking out the window appears to have happened).

How on earth do you layer these little details of everyday life into a story? It is the richness of this existence that reminds us that we’re part of the world.

oppressor

September 22, 2011 by stuff I write

In this great wide world of ours, there are people who, for whatever reason believe that they have the right to control others.  It doesn’t matter whether that’s on the scale of a single person or an entire country.  The personalities of these people are, by and large ruled by insecurities.  I’m sure that you’ve all come across someone like this in your lives.  Essentially, I’m talking about subjugation by an oppressor.

An oppressor can take many forms, a tyrant, a bully, a despot, a dictator to name just a few.  The oppressor feels the overwhelming need to control someone.  I believe that this personality is driven by insecurity, and the overwhelming need to prove everything in their lives.  They need to rule the lives of others, because they are incapable of ruling just their own.  From observing these people at close quarters, I think the number one thing that drives them down this sad road, are insecurities.  Everyone has insecurities, it doesn’t matter what someone says, and there are always little insecurities that ripple through lives.  They can be small, or they can engulf a life and take it over letting it rule the way a life is lived.

Very recently my path crossed with someone, who I have known for a very long time.  More and more, I’ve noticed that this person is a bully.  They express instant dis-satisfaction with any element of my life, if it is not to their high standards.  When something like this happens, they are rude and say some reasonably nasty things.  Yesterday was pretty much the final straw.  Instead of lying down like a demure debutant and taking what’s thrown and me, and agreeing with it (something I don’t do anyway, I normally ignore them), I pushed back.  So, somewhat childishly, they ran for the hills crying and hurling obscenities at me.  Clearly, this is their prerogative, but it’s just not something I’m tolerating any more.

I won’t try to understand why this person feels the need to talk to me the way they have.  I have now (I hope) removed them from my life permanently.  So, what can I take from this situation? Well, I can strip them bare of their every facet and trait, and then store them away for safe keeping when I come to craft a story.

So what will I be taking away? I think the venom that I could imagine they spat from their mouth when typing in fury their apparent hatred for me.  I’d also like to explore the ‘oppressor’ and ‘victim’ dynamic a lot more.  It’s one area that could be tricky to develop, but it would also allow me to get my teeth into some of the more challenging aspects of writing, namely, dialogue, voice and personality.  Perhaps the challenge for me would be to create a clichéd view of the ‘oppressor’ and ‘victim’ relationship, then turn it around somehow into something a little bit more interesting.

the problem with publicity

September 14, 2011 by stuff I write

OK, so I seem to be woefully neglecting to blog on here.  It’s not that I don’t have anything to write, I do.  It’s just that I’m finding that I’m having to censure myself a lot.  Obviously people who know me can find this blog (’cause like, dur, it’s got my name in it), so I can’t say anything about people I know, or my job, or anything like that.  It’s just hugely liable to do something like that.

So the only things I can think of to write about is my writing, but then now I tend to find myself actually writing, rather than actually talking about it.  So I think my opportunities here are to either turn this into less of a blog, and more of a website.  Or I need to find something I can write about that isn’t going to get me into a mountain of trouble.

Parchment and pen

July 9, 2011 by stuff I write

Well… after 14 years (ish) I am now officially single.  I have moved to my new home, and I am pretty much unpacked.  So in the process of unpacking, I came across a bundle of letters that I exchanged with friends when I was at school / college / early 20s.  It got me to thinking.  Nobody exchanges letters anymore.  I mean, why would we, when it’s so easy to type out a nice email and send it without really thinking about it.  Does anybody send letters any more?

As a teenager, I longed for a love letter or a real valentines card.  It took 34 years, but this year I finally got a proper valentines card this year.  I have no idea who it was from, but it was sent to work.  I don’t actually know who sent it.  The only potential sender swears blind it wasn’t him… so I’m out of luck and guesses.

Regardless, it would be nice to exchange proper letters with someone again.  I’d love to be all romantic and have an exchange of letters with someone special, but I guess the thoughts of doing something like that isn’t going to be happening any time soon.  You see in this day and age, our privacy is so heavily guarded, it’s like we want to keep it locked up and hidden away from everyone.  So sharing your home address isn’t something that anyone would readily do.  You’re email address? doesn’t seem to be a bit of a problem.

It wasn’t just the effort of writing a letter to someone who was your friend, I mean back then, it was the only real way to communicate.  Now we have text messages, emails, twitter, facebook etc.  Communicating is so easy. No, back then you took the time to go to the shops and pick out the nicest paper you could find to send to your friends.  Then you sat down and really thought about what you wanted to write, and you did so in long hand.  It really sucked when you made a mistake.  There wasn’t any backspace keys to remove the offending remark.

I’d love to find someone to exchange proper letters with.  Ones where I can pour my heart and emotions into it.  To really think about what it is that I’m saying.  To have a smile on my face when I get home from work to find the hand written envelope on my door mat.  I guess the hopeless romantic in me is still there, it’s just become somewhat cynical with the age of time, and damage of other people.

Marmite

June 7, 2011 by stuff I write

So someone said to me at the weekend, “I knew she would be like Marmite, people would either love her, or hate her, there would be no middle ground”.  I just love that expression.  Simply because if you’re British, then you know exactly what someone says when they say something or someone is like Marmite.  You will love it or hate it…

Which has got me thinking, about similes in general.  I love a good simile.  Why? because it’s such a good tool for getting someone to understand what something is like.  The problem with them however is coming up with one that is unique.  You could have one that gets over-used and as such it becomes a bit of a cliche, which, when writing is apparently a bad thing.

My favourite simile is “couldn’t hit a barn door with a shovel”, which pretty much describes my aim when throwing anything.  There’s also the rather controversial ”like a fat kid on a smartie”… which, I know is wrong on so many levels but I burst out laughing whenever I hear anyone say it.

So I challenge you lot, what’s your favourite simile, and why?

 

loose hands

May 4, 2011 by stuff I write

I’ve just been reading a news article on the new series of the Apprentice, I don’t watch the programme as it gets on my nerves, but one of the contestants said  ”a limp handshake is unforgivable’. I find this an interesting thing to say, because there is a lot you can tell about a person from their handshake.  It’s a psychological tactic to either un-nerve you, or make you feel welcome.

I’ve shaken a few hands in my time.  Meeting clients it’s part of the socially acceptable norm to shake a hand by way of a greeting.  I find it quite interesting to see how someone approaches it.  I dislike the handshake that is either to weak or too strong.  I’m not sure which one I dislike the most.

The bone crushing handshake that takes your palm into a vice like grip and says, I’m in control.  You kind of wonder if the person is over compensating for something unforeseen.  I don’t really find it a confidence boosting exercise.  Far from it in fact.

Then there is the hand that drapes itself into yours like a dishtowel.  It’s weak and doesn’t inspire confidence.  Perhaps a handshake is somewhere akin to Goldilocks and the porridge, too strong, too weak or just right.  It’s the handshake that is just right that instills confidence in me.  Something that says I know who I am, and I’m happy with that.  So I think I’d extend the sentiment to ‘a limp handshake or a vice like grip is unforgivable’ why do you need it?

steam

April 28, 2011 by stuff I write

Sunday I went to Didcot with my dad to look at steam engines.  Wandering around, nostalgia hit me in such a huge way.  I remember being dragged from one part of the country to another to look at and go on steam engines.  I didn’t enjoy it much at the time, as it normally involved a long car ride which I found rather dull.

Recently there’s been a resurgence in classic programmes, re-filmed or set during or just after the second world war.  A lot of these have got steam engines in them, and it has a part of me wishing that we could go back to the time when travelling by steam was fashionable again.  There’s just something so romantic about it.  It probably wasn’t at the time, but now, I think there is.

It’s the sound, of the boiler as it chuffs out large plumes of steam when it pulls out of a station.  The steam whistle blowing loud and clear and the click clack of the carriages on the rails.  The smell as well.  Every autumn when the first of the fires are lit in the village, you get a heady smell of coal fire mixed with crisp fresh air and it reminds me of steam engines.  It fills the pit of my stomach with happiness and my head full of ideas.

Then you could move back to the classic, Agatha Christie novels.  That woman was a genius, and so ahead of her time.  You open the pages of her books and you dive straight into the time they were set.  Whether it was the roaring twenties or the glamorous fifties her ability to put you into that era was unequivocally brilliant.  I think it’s the thought of The Murder on the Orient Express or the 4:50 From Paddington both with heavy emphasis on steam travel.

It’s funny how one thing can make you think of so many things.  Can create a picture in your mind and can make you feel a certain way about things.  Trying to recreate a sense of nostalgia can’t be easy, but I think I will give it a try.

what’s in a bag?

April 26, 2011 by stuff I write

In the Sunday Times Style magazine, there was a piece about the ‘handbag mafia’ that seems to be invading school playgrounds.  Where girls in cliques mark their territory by having certain types of handbags.  The thing that really captured my attention was where a girl said ‘My bag changes my posture.  It’s funny, I stand much more proudly; I feel older’.  That really got my attention.

I know that a trick to creating a character is to put yourself in their shoes.  To think like the person who would be wearing a certain type of shoes.  So I’m wondering if the same could be said for a woman’s handbag?  Does a choice of handbag really define a woman?  Does it make them stand taller? Do they hide behind it?  Is it their shield against the world that they can wield to protect them? Think of the woman up north who stopped some would be thieves by battering them with her handbag.  To a lot of woman, it’s more than just ‘a bag’.

Men always bemoan ‘women, with their shoes and handbags’.  This pisses me off slightly.  Why?  Well I know men who spend a fortune on gadgets or watches.  So why can’t we spend a fortune on handbags and shoes?  OK so the woman who has been in both Marie Claire and the Style magazine who owns two flats, one for her and one for her clothes / accessories should and must be excluded from that statement.  I’m talking about everyday women.  The selection of a bag is quite important.

So, back to my question about being the woman with that type of handbag?  Does the woman pick the handbag because it’s utilitarian?  Do they pick it because they could sit there for hours and stare at it?  Do they pick the handbag because whilst beautiful, it’s also functional?  You see… there are a lot of different reasons a woman might pick a handbag, and this is before we even get onto what colour they might choose.

Being a female, I know what motivates me to pick a certain type of handbag, and yes I do covet them.  For example, my ultimate dream would be to own a Hermes Berkin.  In black.  It’s such a beautiful bag to look at, and you know it’s handmade to order.  I also know chances of owning one are nil (it’s the £10k price tag that does me in).  Also it’s not entirely practical for me, I tend to carry my laptop around with me a lot so it needs to be big enough (and strong enough) to carry that around.

I’ve seen women who have bags which I don’t think are particularly stylish or (for lack of a better word here) oomph about them.  So I do consider what motivated them to buy it.  Whether they think it’s stunning, or did they just grab it from a shelf in a department store?  Did they spend weeks saving for it, and going into the shop to steal a look at it, hoping that it would still be there by the time they could afford to pay for it?  I’m a bit strange, yes, but I like my curious mind.  It keeps me on my toes.

Incidentally, my current choice of bag is a canvas number from ASOS, I coveted it for months, it kept going out of stock, then I managed to grab one.  All for the bargain price of £35.  I love it, and will do until it falls to pieces.  So what does my choice of bag say about me?