The Readers Write: ‘Carry On' Submissions Flood In!

My call for your submissions of anecdotes and memories of all things Carry On, was a phenomenal success. Seemingly Sid, Kenneth, Babs, Peter, Joan, Hattie, Jim and all left a positive mark on many lives. There’s still time for those who wish to submit to the forthcoming book, A Write Carry On (Wholepoint Publications) .. For more info CLICK HERE.

Since my last post, first drafts of the introduction, prologue and first chapter have been completed. A structure for the whole story is in place and a contact has agreed to open up an archive of material that will add great weight to my argument that more than one person should read A Write Carry On!

Having sussed my angles, reasons and motivations for writing the book, I’m now at the stage where the characters are successful in having their own identities. Now is the time for them to interact, so it’s also time for dialogue!


Dialog is one of the most important components of story, for many reasons:

It relays important information and moves the story forward

It shows what a character is thinking, feeling, doing

It can be funny, scary, sad, dramatic

It breaks up the visual monotony of large, clunky paragraphs

It reads quickly

It can be the most memorable part of a narrative
(Joe Konrath) http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2006/04/elements-of-dialog.html


He said/she said is needed but not every line which can be distracting. But be careful of the opposite extreme so the reader loses sense of who is speaking:

Often, dialogue can be the most underwritten or overwritten part of your story. It can be underwritten when the words you choose aren’t strong enough; when your dialogue is weak. It needs the constant use of adverbs, such as quietly, excitedly, and angrily in order to convey what the dialogue itself should be conveying.
(Vanessa Di Gregorio) http://letthewordsflow.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/dialogue-woes-writing-tips-and-tricks/


So, by the next post I’ll give you an idea of how A Write Carry On dialogue is coming along. If you want to add your dialogue input, just email editor@brighton.co.uk
　

The Brighton Magazine’s forthcoming ebook:

People, Places and Memories 

Submission guidelines.

Short Stories or Poems

Please send no more than one short story or poem at a time to editor@brighton.co.uk. In the subject line of your email put ‘The Dream Catcher Project’. I will endeavour to reply within one working week

We have no word limit, but the story/poem topic should be either ‘people, places or memories’. If it is good, we will publish it!

Please send your work in the body of the e-mail. Attachments will not be opened.

Contact the Dream Catcher Project via: editor@brighton.co.uk - or check-us out at The Brighton Magazine.

‘I’m Gonna Do This If It Kills Me ..’

The last few days have been taken up with constructing an introduction to A Write Carry On. No, the book’s not finished; half-written chapters lay forlorn waiting to be knitted together into something cohesive, entertaining and informative! So why concentrate on the introduction now?

The introduction is a good way for the author to get to know his/her book. You’ll find by stating in the introduction ‘this book is being written because ..’ that you will truly put your motives for writing the book to the test. Also, your knowledge of your subject may well come into question, especially if you read aloud your introduction and imagine that you, the reader, are hearing it for the first time.

'The problem is that writing a book takes a long time, and involves a lot of hard work. People often think that writing a book will be fun. They often sit down and enjoy zipping through the first chapter. They might even get into the third chapter before it starts to bog down, before they begin to think, “where was I going with this?' Michael J. Sullivan (Dealing With Failure) http://www.riyria.blogspot.com/

Before putting my finger anywhere near a keyboard, I read every other introduction on my chosen subject. I made a note of their differing angles, reasons and motivations. But I have one thing none of them could boast about; I grew up alongside my subject. From birth to marriage he was there and most of my childhood memories feature him prominently.

'It is difficult now to imagine how some of the great turning points in Western history could have been achieved without [the book]. The Renaissance, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment all relied on the printed word for their spread and permanent influence. For two and a half millennia, humanity used the book, in its manuscript or printed form, to record, to administer, to worship and to educate.” ~ Martyn Lyon (Books A Living History) http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/10/26/books-a-living-history/  

As promised in my last blog, here’s some brief submission guidelines for The Brighton Magazine’s forthcoming ebook People, Places and Memories:

Short Stories or Poems

Please send no more than one short story or poem at a time to editor@brighton.co.uk. In the subject line of your email put ‘The Dream Catcher Project’. I will endeavour to reply within one working week

We have no word limit, but the story/poem topic should be either ‘people, places or memories’. If it is good, we will publish it!

Please send your work in the body of the e-mail. Attachments will not be opened.

Contact the Dream Catcher Project via: editor@brighton.co.uk - or check-us out at The Brighton Magazine.

Writing the Wrongs: Getting Your Ebook Off The Starting Blocks

Writing a book is, for me, like standing in a large room surrounded by fifty-or-so identical plain-white doors. For the novel's plot and structure to fall into place, the doors all need to unlocked, and still you need to guess the combination to the big black door that lies within.

Dramatic as the above may sound, its pretty much a truism for all writers undertaking a major project. But though the doors may be locked, there's plenty of fine advice on the net from those who have located the keys on more than one occasion.

In the course of research for my A Write Carry On book, it's been a pleasure to reconnect with the great talents of British comedy.

Alongside the Carry Ons were the Pythons, the Goons and the Goodies. Their talents, both as individuals and a team, are seemingly sadly lacking from today’s advertising-heavy multi-channel television schedules.

But back to the book (see, this is the trouble with writing, distractions) and Amazon-bestseller Joanna Penn has wise words on how she finds time to write.

Once you are writing what stimulous do you turn to feed the muse? Not as way of encouragement, but here’s a list of the top fifteen successful alcoholic writers:

Now on to The Brighton Magazine's ebook People, Places and Memories, which continues to evolve, with many of you asking about submission deadlines and criteria. On the former, a rough guideline of 1st February 2012 seems viable, with the following month set aside for any re-writes and layout.

A submissions guideline will follow in the next post.

Contact the Dream Catcher Project via: editor@brighton.co.uk - or check-us out at The Brighton Magazine.

A Write Carry On - Readers Invited To Appear In New Carry On Book!

Some musicians ask their fanbase to financially contribute towards the making of an album in return for a mere mention on the sleeve. Not much of a payback, we say!

So here’s a better offer. We are offering you, the reader, the chance to get your name and anecdote in a forthcoming book to be published, in 2012, by the good people at Wholepoint Publications.

The book, A Write Carry On (The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows), is a fictional tale of a memoir from the pen of one of the ‘great unsung heroes of British comedy writing.’ Talbot ’Tolly’ Rothwell was responsible for screenwriting twenty Carry On films, as well as writing scripts for The Crazy Gang, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray and Terry-Thomas.

We are looking for anecdotes or memories for all things Carry On. Did you meet or know any of the cast? Maybe, like me, attended filming? Or have an interesting tale to tell about what the Carry Ons mean to you? In fact, anything Carry On related.

If you do them send them to: editor@brighton.co.uk and the most interesting will get both their name and anecdote included in all ebook copies of 'A Write Carry On (The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows)'.

A Write Carry On - The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

Coming 2012

Author: Mike Cobley

Publisher: Wholepoint Publications

‘The spine of the book lists his name. The title looks familiar. Even the dust jacket speaks of ideas that had once come so easily to him. But here, in this now unfamiliar room, his past belongs to another and the present holds few clues to his self. Fear takes a grip.’ ('A Write Carry On')

This was the moment when one of the great unsung heroes of British comedy writing knew the game was up. Having been responsible for a rollercoaster half-decade of screenwriting twenty Carry On films, as well as Up Pompeii and The Crazy Gang, Talbot ’Tolly’ Rothwell could no longer recognise the keys on his typewriter. His past had caught up with him.

Talbot went on to receive an OBE - yet still managed to be 'A Man In The Shadows’.

This forthcoming book will form a fictional account of what might have happened if Talbot Rothwell had sat down at his typewriter one last time and catalogued, via a work of fiction, his extraordinary life and the amazingly talented people he came into contact with.

With the likes of Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Frankie Howerd, Hattie Jacques et al, this gripping tale will take the reader deep into the complex characters who have, even after their passing, become a mainstay of British comedy.

‘A Write Carry On’ will also take you behind enemy lines during the Second World War, when Talbot was incarcerated in the notorious Stalag Luft III. There he teamed up with Peter Butterworth to produce camp concerts which aided tunnelling escape efforts.

"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!" 'A Write Carry On' coming soon!

When One Becomes Two! A New Ebook Is Born ..

Alongside The Brighton Magazine’s People, Places and Memories ebook (submissions welcome) I have now tied-up with an ebook publisher to write a novel based on the life and times of one of the great unsung British comedy scriptwriters. A link to the book's title, blurb and expected ETA will be posted here shortly.

Although I’ve no wish to reveal, at this early stage, plotlines and characters, I do think it will be a worthwhile undertaking to use this blog to track the progress and pitfalls of the project. Also those currently writing for our People, Places and Memories ebook will especially find it beneficial, and feedback to editor@brighton.co.uk is most welcome.

So it’s first draft time for both books. Outlining should be your port of call, and I’d be happy to hear which method works best for you. Personally, I’ve started using post-it notes and am working on creating five major scenes and then going back to link them together before completing the draft.

Contact the Dream Catcher Project via: editor@brighton.co.uk

Poets & Writers: More From The Dream Catcher Learning Hub

Back on board the Dream Catcher Project learning hub, and many of you have asked about moving on from story writing to paid freelance work. A good place to start is the article - How To Be A Freelance Writer - just follow the embedded links in the article.

Are you a writer? To help you decide what to answer the next time someone questions your popularity or proficiency in the field of literature, best read - And What Exactly Is It You Do - first!

You may also want to sign-up to Poets & Writers 'the nation’s largest non-profit organisation serving creative writers’. Their forum is a good and safe way to meet writers of all abilities.

Submissions are rolling in for the Dream Catcher Project. We are getting a high number from overseas - Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and more - so may open up part of the 'People, Places and Memories' ebook to overseas writers.

If you want to be a part of the project keep checking this blog, or email editor@brighton.co.uk -- be seeing you!