Ask the Author: Carroll Grabham
Answered Questions (6)
Carroll Grabham
Remember there are worse things you can be doing. A bit of privation, physical exertion or simply a change of environment always dynarods the block out, I find.
Also, throw a spanner into it, if you are struggling with a draft. If it is a blank page staring back at you, bung together some variables. Get a bit mathematical. Index cards are good. Write a list of subjects that interest you but don't just google them. Google is for the half-arsed writer - a good starting place but get out there and see the places, people, smells. Feel the dirt of your locations.
If you've nowt to write about by then, then go work in a bank or something because you are just fannying around.
Also, throw a spanner into it, if you are struggling with a draft. If it is a blank page staring back at you, bung together some variables. Get a bit mathematical. Index cards are good. Write a list of subjects that interest you but don't just google them. Google is for the half-arsed writer - a good starting place but get out there and see the places, people, smells. Feel the dirt of your locations.
If you've nowt to write about by then, then go work in a bank or something because you are just fannying around.
Carroll Grabham
You'll hear a load of things about appearing professional and doing the marketing well etc. Well, I'm not going to dispute that - it is something I am learning myself but compared to the real gold of writing it's just me arse.
It is all to do with exploring innerspace and I don't mean some semi-shit eighties film with Denny Quaid n Meg Ryan. I mean externalising the external. Literature is a whopping great metaphor, wrapped in a convincing lie. At best, it is an articulation of your soul amounting to infinitely more than the sum of its parts. Words? Pah, no. Words are just the bricks, the building materials. The Grand Design is that Palace in your head and writing makes that happen.
If that doesn't make it all a wee bit moist then I don't think its your bag.
It is all to do with exploring innerspace and I don't mean some semi-shit eighties film with Denny Quaid n Meg Ryan. I mean externalising the external. Literature is a whopping great metaphor, wrapped in a convincing lie. At best, it is an articulation of your soul amounting to infinitely more than the sum of its parts. Words? Pah, no. Words are just the bricks, the building materials. The Grand Design is that Palace in your head and writing makes that happen.
If that doesn't make it all a wee bit moist then I don't think its your bag.
Carroll Grabham
Keep aspiring. The minute you lose that and get cynical, you're banjaxed. I know, I've done it myself and it stinks/sucks. The air goes out of your balloon and your soul deflates, all because you want to live the idealised life of an author. Many years back, under a different pen name, I had a London agent and a close, close run with a bunch of major publishers. When I got blackballed it felt like I'd been dipped head first in a barrel of shit. It took me a quarter of a century to get over myself.
Love the writing and the reading.
Love the writing and the reading.
Carroll Grabham
PodPlays - dramatic readings with movie style sound effects. 23rd CENTURY is my first serialised adaptation. They're cute, ego-comfy and the pilot will be available soon on Audible and iTunes, inshallah.
Naturlich there is a second TechNoir book in the world, looking backwards though not necessarily a prequel. Riddle me this.
Naturlich there is a second TechNoir book in the world, looking backwards though not necessarily a prequel. Riddle me this.
Carroll Grabham
It used to involve illicit substances but the kick back just wasn't worth it. Also, for one nice nugget of literary reward, I'd churn out a hundred parts of cackola. So, a park run, a space to daydream and a good old rant normally does the trick these days. Better major organ function too, I hope.
Carroll Grabham
In the mid 90s I read THE WEB OF LIFE by Fritjof Capra, a scholarly physicist who found correlations between the behaviour of particles to that of galaxies. Heavy, chaos theory stuff. The bizarre antics of quantum objects seems to be the next logical step of ours in terms of computing power and the inevitable consequence will be that we reengineer ourselves and the world around us. We'll probably fuck it all up too.
Good material for a book. 25 years later and with the emergence of social networks, the human race's slobdom takes on new, antisocial levels. It sates the need for contact while removing normal social interaction. This all equals the Hell Mess of 23rd CENTURY. So at least you can read about it before future generations suffer the consequences. You're welcome.
Good material for a book. 25 years later and with the emergence of social networks, the human race's slobdom takes on new, antisocial levels. It sates the need for contact while removing normal social interaction. This all equals the Hell Mess of 23rd CENTURY. So at least you can read about it before future generations suffer the consequences. You're welcome.
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