Category: Language & Writing

On resurrecting the dead

The Guardian reported this morning that there is to be a new Hercule Poirot novel, written by Sophie Hannah. Poirot is a Belgian detective created by Dame Agatha Christie who featured in thirty-three novels and more than fifty short stories. The character died in the novel Curtain which was published in 1975.

When Curtain was published The New York Times ran a full-page obituary in Poirot’s honour, and he remains the only fictional character to get such treatment.

Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was unknown. Mr. Poirot achieved fame as a private investigator after he retired as a member of the Belgian police force in 1904. His career, as chronicled in the novels of Dame Agatha Christie, was one of the most illustrious in fiction.

— You can read the full obituary here

David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
Source – Wikipedia

Reviving deceased characters is nothing new. Continue reading “On resurrecting the dead” →

Some more Dan Brown…the last time…I promise

I don’t hate Dan Brown. I honestly don’t. I own four of his books, after all (okay, five, but I got the last one for free, so it doesn’t count). I have contributed, at least in part, to his current wealth. I didn’t like Inferno, I’ve said so, and I was happy to let the matter lie, even after I coincidentally discovered a factual error.

But yesterday I typed “Dan Brown Inferno” into Quora.com, to see if people were discussing the novel, just out of curiosity, you know? There I came across one question which exposed a plot hole…make that the plot hole, a plot hole so big that I didn’t even spot it because the entire novel was inside it.

(At this point it would again be pertinent to issue a spoiler alert, but does it make any difference?) Continue reading “Some more Dan Brown…the last time…I promise” →

I write like…

My Facebook feed delivered the most marvellous link yesterday to a site called I write like. What this site does (or at least claims to do) is analyse your writing according to word choice and overall writing style.

I ran a few of my pieces through it and got some very interesting results, from Anne Rice and Margaret Mitchell, to Lewis Carrol and JRR Tolkien (and that in pieces that don’t closely resemble anything they’ve written, that I know of, in terms of content – in fact, I haven’t even read anything by either Rice or Mitchell). One of my pieces are even in the style of Dan Brown (but seeing as literary types don’t like him very much we’ll not say that too loudly).

The first chapter of my novel is apparently in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle (not complaining) and my two short stories about Elephant and Perry the field mouse are in the style of Rudyard Kipling (but that could also just be because of all the animals).

I’m of course taking this with a pinch of salt, and just because one writes like Tolkien (that is, in the same style), it does not naturally mean that one’s writing is as good as his. Still, I’ve bookmarked the site – it’s one hell of an ego boost to be told your work is in the style of one of your favourite authors.

On the other hand, I’m very self-critical (I blame my piano teacher), and another conclusion I’m drawing from this exercise is that I have not yet developed my own consistent style. And style, along with voice (I’ve been told), is ultimately what makes one writer unique from the next. I guess I still have some way to go as a writer, but that’s true of any new endeavour we attempt.

In the meantime, here’s one more author I write like. I got this one on the second chapter of my novel and am singling her out as, not only was she a great author, but we also share a birthday.

Ladies and gentlemen:

I write like
Agatha Christie

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

On Writing

No, this is not a review of Stephen King’s book (though that’s coming, once I’m done reading it). I merely wanted to write something about writing and most post titles on my blog begins with ‘On’. Not much you can do with that. Maybe I should start thinking up more creative post titles…

But what I wanted to say is, writing is hard. I was told when I started out that it took discipline and perseverance, and that I must develop a thick skin to deal with critique, criticism and rejection, and that it’s a lonely road, and that success isn’t guaranteed, but no one actually said it’s hard. Even if you enjoy it, it’s hard.

I finally finished the second chapter of my novel yesterday. In fact, I wrote most of it yesterday. I had started with it in the middle of February. Many days passed when I wrote not a single word; when I did not even open the file on my computer. Continue reading “On Writing” →

On Characters

I just got my tenth follower on WordPress.com. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal to all you bigwigs with hundreds of followers, but I haven’t been doing this for long and I’m still coming to terms with it that there are people who actually enjoy reading what I write, so welcome to Kayleigh from A World of Words. I hope you enjoy my ramblings. Of course, this has made me realise that I haven’t posted anything in a while, so let’s remedy that, shall we?

I received Snuff by Sir Terry Pratchett in my stocking this Christmas. I’m a big fan of the Discworld and of Sir Samuel Vimes in particular, and I thoroughly enjoyed the newest instalment. When I finished that one, I decided to re-read Guards! Guards! This was the first Discworld book I had ever read, way back in high school. It has also remained one of my favourites (surpassed only by Thief of Time and Lords and Ladies). It is also the first Discworld novel in which Sir Samuel appears, though there he is merely Captain Vimes of the run-down Ankh-Morpork city watch. Continue reading “On Characters” →