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      "body": "Off to see *War for the Planet of the Apes* tonight, so I thought that today I'd delve into the archives for this little beauty...\n\n![pota#1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVwGd5GSr5hDUqKdyinWf2khKKr1TXrcosJP93o93CGND/pota%231.jpg)\n\nWhether by chance or design (probably a little of both), Marvel Comics launched their UK reprint of their adaptation of the first *Planet of the Apes* movie in October 1974, only a couple of weeks after the *Planet of the Apes* TV show started airing in the UK.\n\nThe first *Planet of the Apes* movie (co-written by Rod Serling, creator of *The Twilight Zone*) is a classic. It's based on the novel *La Planète des Singes* by Pierre Boulle but deviates quite a lot plot-wise. In the book, the apes have a much more technologically advanced civilisation: in the movie they have guns, but no electricity. Their world is all ropes and dust and hand-carved wooden benches. (Even the ape plasterers lack the skill to properly render a wall. Tch!)\n\nYes, the science is a tad ropey and the Shocking Revelation at the end is signposted all the way through*, but it's got that absolutely iconic first shot of the apes on horseback, plus that Shocking Revelation itself is still moving after all these years - I didn't know about that twist when I saw the movie as an eight-year-old: it blew me away!\n\nSubsequent *POTA* movies suffered from a steady drop in quality, and the series was cancelled after the fifth in 1973. The TV show only ran for for fourteen episodes.\n\nHowever, Marvel UK's *POTA* comic was a huge hit. That first issue featured only the *POTA* strip (25 pages, uncredited but written by Doug Moench with art by George Tuska, John Romita and Mike Eposito) and an article on the movie apes' make-up. \n\n![pota#1a.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmexm46PnADfc9r8UmJLriddwWir77cFY4fEPBbTXCGxab/pota%231a.jpg)\nInside the front cover of *POTA* #1: Stan Lee personally introduces the comic for us!\n\nSubsequent issues featured fewer Apes pages, but added other reprint strips: #2 featured *Warrior of Mars* (adapted from Edwin L. Arnold's novel *Lt. Gulliver Jones*) and *Ka-Zar* (Marvel's take on the \"white man raised in the jungle\" character).\n\nThe reduced page-count for the Apes strip meant that its source material, the twenty-nine issues of the Marvel's American *POTA* title, could be stretched out into many more issues, but even that was in danger of running out so Marvel's *Killraven* title (an unofficial sort-of sequel to H.Q. Wells' *The War of the Worlds*) was adapted to fit by renaming the character \"Apeslayer\" and replacing the martians with apes. Yes, that really happened.\n\n![pota#1b.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYJuWVJBcf6GYS7WpmKqf89d3YfnbAuy3vn4h9so8vkRc/pota%231b.jpg)\nThe back cover of *Planet of the Apes* #1... Dracula Lives lasted a not-too-bad eighty-eight issues before *POTA* absorbed it. (An aside: Marvel's Dracula character was, at times, the \"good guy\" in his comics, which in my opinion makes Dracula the first ever superhero created by an Irish person. Others may disagree, and I wouldn't put it past them.\n\nAfter two years (123 issues) *POTA* was merged with *The Mighty World of Marvel* to become *The Mighty World of Marvel featuring The Incredible Hulk and Planet of the Apes*, which is surely a contender for the most awkward comic-book title ever.\n\nThe *Planet of the Apes* franchise subsequently sparked an animated TV show, more comics from an assortment of publishers, a Tim Burton \"reimagining\" that didn't star Johnny Depp and yet still managed to be disappointing, and - in 2011 - the first of the \"reboot\" series of movies, *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*, which is one of my favourite movies of the past decade. Its first sequel, *Dawn of the Planet of the Apes*, is perhaps not quite as good, but it's still great fun. Advance word on the new one is very positive, so I am optimistic!\n\n-------\n* Spoilers!\n\nAs far as I recall, in the book the apes don't speak any known human languages. In the movies, the apes speak English. That alone should have been a pretty strong clue to Taylor (Charlton Heston's character) that the planet has been Earth all along, but somehow he misses that (possibly because he was distracted by rifles the apes were carrying).\n\nIn the book, it's always cloudy at night: this is given as an explanation as to why the protagonist doesn't see the moon and go \"Oh, this planet's moon looks identical to Earth's moon, therefore this is Earth.\" Clever get-out, that... Except, of course, Monsieur Boulle didn't twig that the moon is visible during the day just as often as it's visible at night.",
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      "body": "Off to see *War for the Planet of the Apes* tonight, so I thought that today I'd delve into the archives for this little beauty...\n\n![pota#1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVwGd5GSr5hDUqKdyinWf2khKKr1TXrcosJP93o93CGND/pota%231.jpg)\n\nWhether by chance or design (probably a little of both), Marvel Comics launched their UK reprint of their adaptation of the first *Planet of the Apes* movie in October 1974, only a couple of weeks after the *Planet of the Apes* TV show started airing in the UK.\n\nThe first *Planet of the Apes* movie (co-written by Rod Serling, creator of *The Twilight Zone*) is a classic. It's based on the novel *La Planète des Singes* by Pierre Boulle but deviates quite a lot plot-wise. In the book, the apes have a much more technologically advanced civilisation: in the movie they have guns, but no electricity. Their world is all ropes and dust and hand-carved wooden benches. (Even the ape plasterers lack the skill to properly render a wall. Tch!)\n\nYes, the science is a tad ropey and the Shocking Revelation at the end is signposted all the way through*, but it's got that absolutely iconic first shot of the apes on horseback, plus that Shocking Revelation itself is still moving after all these years - I didn't know about that twist when I saw the movie as an eight-year-old: it blew me away!\n\nSubsequent *POTA* movies suffered from a steady drop in quality, and the series was cancelled after the fifth in 1973. The TV show only ran for for fourteen episodes.\n\nHowever, Marvel UK's *POTA* comic was a huge hit. That first issue featured only the *POTA* strip (25 pages, uncredited by written by Doug Moench with art by George Tuska, John Romita and Mike Eposito) and an article on the movie apes' make-up. \n\n![pota#1a.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmexm46PnADfc9r8UmJLriddwWir77cFY4fEPBbTXCGxab/pota%231a.jpg)\nInside the front cover of *POTA* #1: Stan Lee personally introduces the comic for us!\n\nSubsequent issues featured fewer Apes pages, but added other reprint strips: #2 featured *Warrior of Mars* (adapted from Edwin L. Arnold's novel *Lt. Gulliver Jones*) and *Ka-Zar* (Marvel's take on the \"white man raised in the jungle\" character).\n\nThe reduced page-count for the Apes strip meant that its source material, the twenty-nine issues of the Marvel's American *POTA* title, could be stretched out into many more issues, but even that was in danger of running out so Marvel's *Killraven* title (an unofficial sort-of sequel to H.Q. Wells' *The War of the Worlds*) was adapted to fit by renaming the character \"Apeslayer\" and replacing the martians with apes. Yes, that really happened.\n\n![pota#1b.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYJuWVJBcf6GYS7WpmKqf89d3YfnbAuy3vn4h9so8vkRc/pota%231b.jpg)\nThe back cover of *Planet of the Apes* #1... Dracula Lives lasted a not-too-bad eighty-eight issues before *POTA* absorbed it. (An aside: Marvel's Dracula character was, at times, the \"good guy\" in his comics, which in my opinion makes Dracula the first ever superhero created by an Irish person. Others may disagree, and I wouldn't put it past them.\n\nAfter two years (123 issues) *POTA* was merged with *The Mighty World of Marvel* to become *The Mighty World of Marvel featuring The Incredible Hulk and Planet of the Apes*, which is surely a contender for the most awkward comic-book title ever.\n\nThe *Planet of the Apes* franchise subsequently sparked an animated TV show, more comics from an assortment of publishers, a Tim Burton \"reimagining\" that didn't star Johnny Depp and yet still managed to be disappointing, and - in 2011 - the first of the \"reboot\" series of movies, *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*, which is one of my favourite movies of the past decade. Its first sequel, *Dawn of the Planet of the Apes*, is perhaps not quite as good, but it's still great fun. Advance word on the new one is very positive, so I am optimistic!\n\n-------\n* Spoilers!\n\nAs far as I recall, in the book the apes don't speak any known human languages. In the movies, the apes speak English. That alone should have been a pretty strong clue to Taylor (Charlton Heston's character) that the planet has been Earth all along, but somehow he misses that (possibly because he was distracted by rifles the apes were carrying).\n\nIn the book, it's always cloudy at night: this is given as an explanation as to why the protagonist doesn't see the moon and go \"Oh, this planet's moon looks identical to Earth's moon, therefore this is Earth.\" Clever get-out, that... Except, of course, Monsieur Boulle didn't twig that the moon is visible during the day just as often as it's visible at night.",
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      "permlink": "marvel-uk-s-planet-of-the-apes",
      "title": "Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes",
      "body": "Off to see *War for the Planet of the Apes* tonight, so I thought that today I'd delve into the archives for this little beauty...\n\n![pota#1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVwGd5GSr5hDUqKdyinWf2khKKr1TXrcosJP93o93CGND/pota%231.jpg)\n\nWhether by chance or design (probably a little of both), Marvel Comics launched their UK reprint of their adaptation of the first *Planet of the Apes* movie in October 1974, only a couple of weeks after the *Planet of the Apes* TV show started airing in the UK.\n\nThe first *Planet of the Apes* movie (co-written by Rod Serling, creator of *The Twilight Zone*) is a classic. It's based on the novel *La Planète des Singes* by Pierre Boulle but deviates quite a lot plot-wise. In the book, the apes have a much more technologically advanced civilisation: in the movie they have guns, but no electricity. Their world is all ropes and dust and hand-carved wooden benches. (Even the ape plasterers lack the skill to properly render a wall. Tch!)\n\nYes, the science is a tad ropey and the Shocking Revelation at the end is signposted all the way through*, but it's got that absolutely iconic first shot of the apes on horseback, plus that Shocking Revelation itself is still moving after all these years - I didn't know about that twist when I saw the movie as an eight-year-old: it blew me away!\n\nSubsequent *POTA* movies suffered from a steady drop in quality, and the series was cancelled after the fifth in 1973. The TV show only ran for for fourteen episodes.\n\nHowever, Marvel UK's *POTA* comic was a huge hit. That first issue featured only the *POTA* strip (25 pages, uncredited by written by Doug Moench with art by George Tuska, John Romita and Mike Eposito) and an article on the movie apes' make-up. \n\n![pota#1a.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmexm46PnADfc9r8UmJLriddwWir77cFY4fEPBbTXCGxab/pota%231a.jpg)\nInside the front cover of *POTA* #1: Stan Lee personally introduces the comic for us!\n\nSubsequent issues featured fewer Apes pages, but added other reprint strips: #2 featured *Warrior of Mars* (adapted from Edwin L. Arnold's novel *Lt. Gulliver Jones*) and *Ka-Zar* (Marvel's take on the \"white man raised in the jungle\" character).\n\nThe reduced page-count for the Apes strip meant that its source material, the twenty-nine issues of the Marvel's American *POTA* title, could be stretched out into many more issues, but even that was in danger of running out so Marvel's *Killraven* title (an unofficial sort-of sequel to H.Q. Wells' *The War of the Worlds*) was adapted to fit by renaming the character \"Apeslayer\" and replacing the martians with apes. Yes, that really happened.\n\n![pota#1b.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYJuWVJBcf6GYS7WpmKqf89d3YfnbAuy3vn4h9so8vkRc/pota%231b.jpg)\nThe back cover of *Planet of the Apes* #1... Dracula Lives lasted a not-too-bad eighty-eight issues before *POTA* absorbed it. (An aside: Marvel's Dracula character was, at times, the \"good guy\" in his comics, which in my opinion makes Dracula the first ever superhero created by an Irish person. Others may disagree, and I wouldn't put it past them.\n\nAfter two years (123 issues) *POTA* was merged with *The Mighty World of Marvel* to become *The Mighty World of Marvel featuring The Incredible Hulk and Planet of the Apes*, which is surely a contender for the most awkward comic-book title ever.\n\nThe *Planet of the Apes* franchise subsequently sparked an animated TV show, more comics from an assortment of publishers, a Tim Burton \"reimagining\" that didn't star Johnny Depp and yet still managed to be disappointing, and - in 2011 - the first of the \"reboot\" series of movies, *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*, which is one of my favourite movies of the past decade. Its first sequel, *Dawn of the Planet of the Apes*, is perhaps not quite as good, but it's still great fun. Advance word on the new one is very positive, so I am optimistic!\n\n-------\n* Spoilers!\n\nAs far as I recall, in the book the apes don't speak any known human languages. In the movies, the apes speak English. That alone should have been a pretty strong clue to Taylor (Charlton Heston's character) that the planet has been Earth all along, but somehow he misses that (possibly because he was distracted by rifles the apes were carrying).\n\nIn the book, it's always cloudy at night: this is given as an explanation as to why the protagonist doesn't see the moon and go \"Oh, this planet's moon looks identical to Earth's moon, therefore this is Earth.\" Clever get-out, that... Except, of course, Monsieur Boulle didn't twig that the moon is visible during the day just as often as it's visible at night.",
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      "body": "![books 20170629.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNgC1GTLMVqpMfYrWaJiEgM2CgB4JjBa4zQcssW9CLAn2/books%2020170629.jpg)\n\nA Farewell to New Heroes\nMichael Carroll, 20170629\n\nAs I write this, I’m just a few hours away from revealing the cover and title for the ninth (and last!) novel in the New Heroes / Quantum Prophecy saga. That’s going to happen around midnight, UTC (that’s about 17:00 on the east coast of America, 14:00 on the west coast). Not too long after that, all going well, the book will be available for purchase.\n\nFor those not in the know (or not in the care!), the New Heroes saga is my series of superhero novels for the Young Adult market. \n\nThis isn’t the place or the time to go into a long, detailed discussion of the series’ convoluted – and often maddeningly frustrating – publishing history, so I’ll just say for now that I started developing the story and characters in 2002 (back then, there were no original superhero prose novels for the YA market: within a couple of years of my first one being published, there were dozens!). Pretty much from the start I knew how it was going to end.\n\nWill the readers like the book? Will they be happy with how it all wraps up? Will they feel that I’ve given their favourite characters the right sort of ending?\n\nI have no clue. Maybe they’ll hate it, maybe they’ll love it... Time will tell. Me, I’m happy with how it’s turned out. I think I’ve done a good job. There’s a lot of action, a touch of drama, a couple of Big Revelations and even a little humour. (Oh, and one of the most shocking and unsettling escape scenes I’ve ever written! But don’t worry, it’s all still YA-friendly!)\n\nTo all those who’ve come along for the ride, even if it was only for a short time, thank you! Thanks to everyone who has supported this series over the years: my friends and family, my fellow creators, the publishers, readers, booksellers, librarians, reviewers... It’s been fun!\n\nI’ve been waiting for – and working towards – this day for fifteen years. Exciting, eh? These characters have been living in my head for a decade and a half and have spent most of that time subtly reminding me that I need to get a move on with the next book in the series, and now it’s all done... There is no longer a Next Book hanging over me! \n\nHooray! I’m free!\n\n[Want to know more? Visit the Quantum Prophecy website!](http://www.quantumprophecy.com)",
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      "body": "Hold on, I'll check... OK, I've played 1135 hours on the standard edition, plus 2 hours on the special edition (haven't really played it since the SE came out!).  How about you?",
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      "body": "I introduced Turbo Pascal to Optimal Software where I worked at the time (can't remember if that was before you joined up). Before that we were using a really crappy version of basic on the Husky Hunters. So did you discover Turbo Pascal before or after you joined O.S.?",
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      "body": "You're welcomed",
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      "body": "Well said, Cyntechtic!",
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      "body": "Good one! I think most persons that lack ideas could simply look around and follow a trend an area of interest and build up from there by sharing their own experiences. This will go a long in preparing and opening their mind and developing into a good write.",
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      "title": "Do-It-Yourself Writing!",
      "body": "![diy writing.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRcVVwaw2bgqbxMZq7fHvazo7eWsboCrRU89zJwUYVSgm/diy%20writing.jpg)\n<p>\n<i>(Note: If you've ever had the urge to write but just can't seem to get any writing done, then you might find some useful tips herein... It's been almost a decade since I wrote this article, and in that time many people have told me that they've found it helped them to clarify their reasons for wanting to write, and to motivate themselves into </i>actually writing<i>, as opposed to just talking about it!)</i>\n</p>\n\n<p>\nA lot of people over the years have asked me about writing. Actually, in most cases what they've \nsaid is, \"I've always wanted to write.\"\n</p>\n<p>\nMy internal reaction is usually, \"So?\"\n</p>\n<p>\nY'see, I too had always wanted to write. Oh yes. Always. Until one day I decided to trade \"wanting \nto write\" for \"writing.\" Wanting to write won't get the words down on the page. Writing will.\n</p>\n<p>\nIf you're still not sure what I mean, replace \"write\" with \"swim\" and it should become clearer... \nIf someone was constantly telling you that they'd always wanted to swim, but somehow they hadn't \never actually lowered themselves into the water, then the chances are you'd think they were nuts.\n</p>\n<p>\nIt's the same with writing. You want to write? Then write.\n</p>\n<p>\nThere are always plenty of reasons to <i>not</i> write. Can't think of any ideas. Haven't got the \ntime. I'm not good enough. I'm still only learning. I can't find my pen.\n</p>\n<p>\nLet's look at those reasons one-by-one:\n</p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n<b>Can't think of any ideas.</b>\n</p>\n<p>\nReally? You're a human being and you can't think of any ideas? Rubbish! Of course you can. Ever \ntold a lie? That's fiction. Ever found yourself wondering \"What would happen if...?\" That's also \nfiction. Remember the other day when you were expecting an argument with someone and in advance you \nran the conversation in your head so that you'd be more prepared? \"If he says this, then I'll say \nthat...\"\n</p>\n<p>\nYou want ideas? Look around you. Read the newspapers. Talk to your friends and family. \n<i>Listen</i> to your friends and family. Think of a story you read recently but didn't really like \n- there's an idea right there. Rewrite the story the way you would have told it.\n</p>\n<p>\nPick a scenario at random and imagine that some terrible thing has happened. Now imagine a way out \nof it.\n</p>\n<p>\nImagine what you would be like if you were evil. (Or, if you already <i>are</i> evil, imagine what \nyou would be like if you were good.)\n</p>\n<p>\nWhat would you be like if you were someone else - someone you know? What if you got into trouble \nfor something you didn't do? What if you got into trouble for something you <i>did</i> do? What if \nsomeone asked you do to something that went against your nature? Say you had no choice in the \nmatter. How would you react? How would you get out of it?\n</p>\n<p>\nRead the first half of a story, put it down and write the second half of the story. Now go back and \nwrite a completely new first half to fit your story.\n</p>\n<p>\nGo to the library, pick any book at random and open it somewhere in the middle. Write down the \nfirst line of dialogue you see, then go home and write a story that begins with that line. Now \nwrite a completely different story that <i>ends</i> with that line.\n</p>\n<p>\nKeep a diary. Write in it every day.\n</p>\n<p>\nKeep a notebook. Write down every idea you have, everything you've thought of that might be a good \nstory, or a character name, or a line of dialogue, or just a cool phrase you want to use.\n</p>\n<p>\nAnd all that's just for starters... There are ideas all around you, all the time. A writer learns \nto recognise them, twist them around, exploit them, look at them from every possible angle.\n</p>\n<p>\nAccept nothing at face value. If someone tells you an interesting fact, think about it from their point \nof view. What's their motive for telling you? Why did they choose those particular words?\n</p>\n<p>\nAre they \ntrying to manipulate your feelings and opinions, steer you around to their way of thinking?\n</p>\n<p>\nYes, of course they are. People do that all the time. I'm even doing it to you right now.\n</p>\n<p>\nA writer learns to put himself or herself in other people's shoes, to see a story from every \nviewpoint.\n</p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n<b>Haven't got the time.</b>\n</p>\n<p>\nRemember last week when you spent an hour or two watching television or playing computer games? Why \ndid you do that instead of writing? Because it's easier, that's why.\n</p>\n<p>\nSet aside one hour every day to write. One hour. That's not much time at all. And during that hour, \nwrite. Don't do anything else. Don't allow yourself to become distracted. If something interrupts \nthat hour, then make up the time as soon as possible.\n</p>\n<p>\nNever, <i>ever</i>, say to yourself, \"I'll do twice as much tomorrow.\" Because you won't. Do it now.\n</p>\n<p>\nDon't feel like it? Do it anyway.\n</p>\n<p>\n<i>Really</i> don't feel like it? Well, that's tough. Do it.\n</p>\n<p>\n\"I can't do it today because I have exams, and a ton of homework, and I have to wash the dishes / \ncar / dog / carpet.\" Aw. Shame. My heart goes out to you. Write.\n</p>\n<p>\nDo you see what I'm getting at here? A writer <i>makes</i> the time to write. The universe is not \ngoing to just present you with a useful slice of extra time every day in which to get your writing \ndone. You have to find that time for yourself.\n</p>\n<p>\nI wrote a dozen novels, three times as many short stories and hundreds of articles when I was also \nworking full-time. How? Because I made the time to write. It wasn't always easy - in fact it was almost \nnever easy - but I did it anyway.\n</p>\n<p>\nPicture yourself one year ago. Think back to the stories you wanted to write then, but you haven't \nwritten them yet. It's not a nice feeling. Now picture yourself one year in the future. Be honest: \nHave you written those stories yet? Any of them? Even one?\n</p>\n<p>\nIf you haven't written them in the past year, what's going to change in the coming year that you'll \nget the stories written?\n</p>\n<p>\nWell, something will have to change if those stories are ever going to be written, correct? And \nthat something is you. Because you don't really have any control over anything else.\n</p>\n<p>\nAs a friend of mine once said, \"If you only do what you've always done, you'll only get what you've \nalways got.\"\n</p>\n<p>\nSo if you spend all your time talking about the books and stories you're going to write, then you \nmight as well give up on the idea of being a writer because you're not going to make it.\n</p>\n<p>\nBut if you divert the time and energy from \"talking about writing\" into \"writing\" then, eventually, \nyou <i>will</i> make it.\n</p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n<b>I'm not good enough.</b>\n</p>\n<p>\nThat's the wrong attitude. If you don't think you're good enough, then you're never going to be. \nYou have to believe that you can do it, because it's <i>only</i> that belief that will keep you \nwriting long enough to learn how to do it.\n</p>\n<p>\nLook at it like this: You're right.\n</p>\n<p>\nIf you believe you can't do something, you're right. If you believe you <i>can</i>, you're right.\n</p>\n<p>\nAt the most basic level writing is only words. You already know the words - you're not expected to \ninvent new ones. All you have to do is put the words down in the correct order. And the more you \nwrite the more you learn what the correct order is.\n</p>\n<p>\nEver meet one of those people who just can't tell jokes? Someone who can ruin even the funniest \ngag? And I'm sure you've met at least one person who can have you rolling around the floor laughing \nat stuff that isn't really that funny?\n</p>\n<p>\nComedian Frank Carson's catchphrase was, \"It's the way I tell 'em!\"\n</p>\n<p>\nHe's right. Some people are naturally good with words and timing. Others aren't. But it's a skill \nthat can be learned by most people - if they're willing to put in the time.\n</p>\n<p>\nTake this example:\n</p>\n<ul>\n<p>\nI knew the house was haunted the minute I walked through the door. Even though I couldn't see it, \nthe ghost of the old man was still present. There was a chill in the air and at night the windows \nrattled even when there was no wind.\n</p>\n</ul>\n<p>\nIt's not particularly scary, is it? Now read it again, carefully. Examine the words I've used, the \nway I've put them together.\n</p>\n<p>\n\"I knew the house was haunted...\" Well, that's a signpost: Look - a haunted house! Prepare to be \nterrified!\n</p>\n<p>\nWe don't need to put up signposts. The readers should <i>discover</i> that the house is haunted - \nit's not good enough that we tell them.\n</p>\n<p>\nAnd there's a ghost too. We know there's a ghost because the narrator told us so.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe narrator also tells us there's a chill in the air and that the windows rattled \"even when there was no wind.\"\n</p>\n<p>\nThat is the key thing about writing. Show, don't tell. Allow the reader to experience the events, rather than just read about them...\n</p>\n<ul>\n<p>\nI placed my hand against the rough surface of the heavy door and it opened easily and silently on\nhinges that probably hadn't seen oil in a hundred years. I stepped through, into the darkness and \nthe musty smell of old, damp timber and decomposing carpets. The heavy, still air clung about me \nlike a shroud, and I struggled against the urge to turn and run and never look back. But I couldn't \ndo that. There was nothing here. I knew that. The old man was long dead. All that remained of him \nwas his decaying home.\n</p>\n<p>\nAs I climbed the stairs - each footfall a solid, deadened thump on the bare boards - I told myself \nthat it was only the dust in the air that dried my throat and made me want to swallow.\n</p>\n<p>\nA thick mass of cobwebs blocked the door to the master bedroom and I tried not to think about what \nhad created them as I pushed my way through, the strands clinging to my hands, sticking to my hair. \nI didn't like spiders and I reassured myself that it was only a trickle of sweat running down my \nback, and nothing else.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe bedroom was empty, as I'd expected. In the old days, it was customary to burn a bed in which \nsomeone had died. But only the bed. Not the room itself\n</p>\n<p>\nThe windows had been shattered long ago, the lace curtains now age-yellowed and scarred with holes \nand tears. The flaking wooden shutters banged gently as though played with by a light breeze.\n</p>\n<p>\nBut the curtains did not move.\n</p>\n</ul>\n<p>\nOkay, so that's all a bit over the top (and probably quite a bit over-written), but compare it with\nthe first example. Both examples relate the same events, but the first one tells you what's going \non. The second one allows you to experience it.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe second example doesn't say that the house is haunted, nor does it say that there's a ghost. \nBoth are implied, but never said.\n</p>\n<p>\nLook at some of the words I've used: \"darkness\", \"decomposing\", \"shroud\", \"struggled\", \"dead\", \n\"decaying\". And that's just the first paragraph.\n</p>\n<p>\nThere are countless ways of using words and phrases to give a story texture and atmosphere. So \nexperiment: do what I've just done and write a short paragraph, then expand it, add layers to it. \nSmells, sounds, taste, touch - all the ways we experience the real world.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe final two sentences are an example of how to pace the text. By placing a line-break between the \nsentences, I've made the second one more important. Suppose that I'd left them as one sentence...\n</p>\n<ul>\n<p>\nThe flaking wooden shutters banged gently as though played with by a light breeze, but the curtains \ndid not move.\n</p>\n</ul>\n<p>\nNot nearly as disturbing, is it? Breaking up the sentence gives the reader time to pause, time to \ntake in the first part. Then the second part takes on a deeper meaning: the shutters are moving but \nthe curtains aren't. We've already established there's no glass in the windows, so it's not the \nwind that's causing the shutters to move.\n</p>\n<p>\nAnd for a complete turn-about, you could go back to the first sentence of the first example and \nchange it to this:\n</p>\n<ul>\n<p>\nI knew the house was haunted the minute I walked through the wall.\n</p>\n</ul>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n<b>I'm still only learning.</b>\n</p>\n<p>\nLet's go back to the swimming analogy: if you want to learn how to swim, you're going to have to \nget in the water at some point, and the sooner the better.\n</p>\n<p>\nA good number of would-be writers never get around to writing because they're too busy attending \ntheir \"Creative Writing\" classes or reading their \"How to Write\" books. There's nothing wrong with \nthose classes or those books, but they're not a substitute for writing.\n</p>\n<p>\nThere has never been - and there never will be - a champion swimmer who spends all of his or her \ntime reading about swimming or sitting in classes learning the history of swimming or all the names \nof the different styles.\n</p>\n<p>\nBy all means attend the classes and read the books. You will learn a tremendous amount about \nwriting from them. But classes and self-help books are tools. Like all tools the only way you'll \nmaster them is by actually using them for their intended task.\n</p>\n<p>\nIn a similar vein to this, some people put off writing because they believe they don't have a \nstrong enough basic knowledge of grammar or punctuation, or they have a poor vocabulary.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe latter is easily solved. Buy a dictionary and a thesaurus. Next time you encounter a word you \ndon't fully understand, write it down in that little notebook you always have with you (and you do \nalways have a little notebook with you, don't you? If not, why not?). Look up the word when you get \nhome.\n</p>\n<p>\nAs for grammar and punctuation... Learn from other published works. Go to your local bookstore and \ncheck out the school books - there's bound to be a kids' book on basic grammar and punctuation. \nCan't find one? Ask the assistant for help, that's what they're there for. Too embarrassed to ask? \nWell, get over it.\n</p>\n<p>\nThere is another approach... It's less useful in the long run but it'll keep you writing: If you \ndon't know how to use a particular punctuation mark, then rewrite the sentence so that you don't \nneed it. If you're not sure what \"discombobulated\" means, use a different word.\n</p>\n<p>\nStuck because you can't think of how to write down what you want to say? Just write it down as \nclear as you can and then move on - you can always change it later.\n</p>\n<p>\n</p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n<b>I can't find my pen.</b>\n</p>\n<p>\nNo, this isn't a joke excuse for not writing. People genuinely do come up with stuff like that - \nand worse. Someone once told me that he intended to begin writing his novel as soon as his wife was \nable to remember the name of the shop in which she'd seen those really good notebooks.\n</p>\n<p>\nThat guy is never going to be a writer.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe dog needs to be walked. The cat needs to be fed. I have to study this for school. I need to \nhave a bath. My toe hurts. My eyelashes are the wrong colour. It's raining. It's sunny.\n</p>\n<p>\nAll of these great excuses boil down to one simple thing: I don't want to write.\n</p>\n<p>\nAnd that is the crux of the matter. A lot of people want to have written, but they don't want to \nwrite.\n</p>\n<p>\nThey want the result without putting in the work.\n</p>\n<p>\nNow, it would be a lie to say that \"proper\" writers love the work more than the result. Most of us \ndon't. We wake up in the morning and think, \"Gaah! Got to get this blasted book written!\" And we \ntrudge blearily to our computers, switch them on, and start working.\n</p>\n<p>\nThose last three words highlight the difference between writers and non-writers. Even when the \ngoing is tough and the story isn't working out quite the way we want, we sit down and we write.\n</p>\n<p>\n</p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n<b>This is the summing-up part:</b>\n</p>\n<p>\nIf you've read this far and you haven't been put off the noble art of writing, then good for you. \nThere's a chance you're going to make it!\n</p>\n<p>\nRead books, especially books that are outside your preferred genre. If you want to write a western, \nread romances, and horror, and science fiction. Read the classics. Shakespeare, Dickens, HG Wells, \nAustin, the Brontes, Twain, Graham Green, Oscar Wilde... Don't just read westerns: you won't \ndiscover much that you haven't already found.\n</p>\n<p>\nNever dismiss a genre because it's not what interests you. That sort of closed-minded approach will \nonly teach you how to create the same stories over and over. Sure, there are plenty of writers who \nhave no interest in anything other than their own genre and some of them are quite successful. But \nthey are greatly outnumbered by the unsuccessful ones.\n</p>\n<p>\nA writer must learn to adopt a wider view of the world. And to do that, he or she must be immersed \nin that world. So part of your training is to get out there, have a life, make friends and enjoy \nyourself. Don't completely isolate yourself from the real world because you need to get some \nwriting done: the writing should reflect your life, not <i>be</i> your life.\n</p>\n<p>\nThere is an old saying: \"Write what you know.\" Well, that's a good place to start, but that's not \nwhere it ends. You should also write what you <i>don't</i> know, and learn it as you go.\n</p>\n<p>\nYou can't really appreciate a sculpture by looking at a photograph of it. You need to move around, \nduck up and down, tilt your head left and right, lean right in and step way back.\n</p>\n<p>\nLikewise, when writing a story you need to think like a sculptor. Craft the whole thing, not just \none side of it, not just the bits that people see at first glance. Add details that might not be \nnoticed without closer examination.\n</p>\n<p>\nIt sounds like a lot of work, and there's a good reason for that. It <i>is</i> a lot of work. But \nMichelangelo didn't create his statue of David by scribbling the words \"A muscular guy with his naughty bits \nhanging out\" on a slab of marble.\n</p>\n<p>\nHe studied anatomy, learned how to use a chisel. Spent years practising. Knew what he wanted to \ncreate before he started.\n</p>\n<p>\nThat slab of marble could have been used by anyone else, for any other purpose. Michelangelo could \nhave used a different piece of marble to create his masterpiece.\n</p>\n<p>\nThe marble itself isn't what makes the statue great.\n</p>\n<p>\nIt's what he did with it.\n</p>\n<p>\n&nbsp;\n</p>\n<p>\n&copy; Michael Carroll 2007\n</p>",
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