The art of story telling

We are all storytellers.  When we meet with friends we like to tell them what we have been doing.  Maybe we have just return from a holiday which went perfectly; we tried different foods, listened to different music tried different dances, experienced wonderful scenery, saw magnificent architecture.  Everything was wonderfully exciting.  Conversely, everything went badly.  The car broke down and we were stranded miles from nowhere in the rain.  The hotel was a dump and the staff rude and unhelpful and the food bad.  My companion was ill, we had to find a doctor and spent many hours in a hospital waiting room.  But there was one common factor with both scenarios.  We loved talking about it.

Life itself brings up its own challenges.  It never runs smoothly.  Like the holiday it can be enjoyable and rewarding.  We meet someone we love, set up home, maybe have children natural or adopted.  Get a job, buy or rent a house.  Make friends who we meet regularly.  But sometimes the opposite happens.  We loose loved ones, loose our house, loose our job.  Make enemies, fall out with the boss.  Again we need to talk about it.

Talking about it is therapeutic but can be mandatory as we often have to recount our experiences to a prospective employer to get a job.  We need to say why we studied for different qualifications and how successful we were at obtaining them.  Above all we have to self censorship as we have to be careful what we say as our careers may depend on it.

Literature provides us with skills to embellish our stories.  It is a source of colourful words which are tools we can use to describe our experiences, what we have achieved and what we hope to achieve.  The wider read we are the better equipped we become to convey our lives to others.

Literature provides us with hope.  There are wonderful stories out there written by brilliant wordsmiths.  Even better are those that are passed down over time.  Many are classical tales told to us by unknown authors whose identities are hidden in the past.  Such stories maybe thought of as fairy stories told to delight children.  Mixed within these are cautionary tales told as warnings in case we over reach our aspirations and become too greedy and thoughtless, paying little heed to others.  The list of folk tales are countless, told originally in the oral tradition but then become written down by enthusiastic collectors.

Then come the authors, poets and song writers with the gift to put stories into words that go down on paper.  They make the words sing by adding descriptions and metaphors to delight and enlighten us.  Such words can be acted out on stage, in the cinema or broadcasted in sound on radios.  Modern technology has given us tools to put these words in magical settings.  The use of CGI has created enchanting worlds that could not have been visualised in the past.

But nothing can surpass the magic of the original words.

 

Keep the Literature Fires Burning

Read widely.  Do not limit yourself to what is universally regarded as the Classics or a particular genera.  Encourage students to do the same.  Read to young children to stimulate their interest in stories, story telling and story tellers.  Get students to write down their own stories and own ideas about story telling.  Get them writing.  Everyone has a story within their own lives.  Talk to older generations as when they are gone their stories might be lost.  Read poems out loud to get use to the sound of words.  Quote the works of past and present famous writers.

Movie makers are story tellers.  Find out how they get their ideas.  It is usually from books and literature.  There is no original story.  Most stories have already been written.  New stories are re-workings of past tales with spins on them to make them look fresh and appealing to modern audiences.  A reader can draw significance, relevance or profundity out of a story when it understands the deeper implications, reasonings and causes behind it.  The meaning of a story depends on the standpoint, which is  the mental attitude from which a person views and judges things.

When writing get your words down on paper first and worry about spelling and grammar later.  Then check rewrite and revise so that it makes sense to yourself.  Do not let the reader anticipate the outcome of a plot.  Get at least three to five people whose opinions you trust to read your work.  Any more becomes difficult to manage.  If one makes a highly critical point, take note and move on.  If two or more make the same point, make changes.  If you wish to publish your work employ a professional editor.

I like to read the works of lesser known writers.  I review every thing I read and post my reviews on my blog and, if they are published, on Amazon and Goodreads.com.  I do not post bad reviews.  My reviews tend to be rated four or five stars.  I know how hurtful bad reviews can be.  In my view anyone who writes and finishes a novel is a heroin or hero.  If I consider that it is below par I will try to contact the author directly and give my views privately.  I get sent many stories to read and my reading list is long.  I am a slow reader and an even slower writer.  But if I feel a narrative may have merit I will get to it in the end.

FAVORITE BOOKS

Homer’s The Odyssey.

I have read this several times and consider this the best story about the human condition ever written.

Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon.

I do not read many travel books but this one inspired me to write about my experiences motor cycle travelling.

The Double Helix by James D Watson.

It is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.  It is controversial due to Watson’s willingness to appropriate data surreptitiously from others and his sexist attitude towards scientist Rosalind Franklin who, because of the harmful nature of the X-rays she worked with, died early and therefore could not share the Nobel Prize.  Despite these flaws, I found the story fascinating.  It is probably the greatest medical discovery of all time which has lead and is still leading to momentous breakthroughs in modern medicine.  It is the best detective story I have read and is the main reason why I followed a career in biological science.

The Invisible Man by H G Wells.

A classic tale of what can happen when a scientific experiment produces an irreversible result.  Wells was a Master of Science Fiction.  Wells goes into great detail about how to change a body’s refractive index and become invisible  He describes the science of visibility in great detail so that his protagonist’s experiment becomes believable. What I liked about the story was that Wells skill in explaining the science behind the plot makes it seem entirely plausible.  The attempts of the protagonist to regain normality are cautionary and shocking.  This is a tale that has been imitated many times on film and TV but the original outshines all these and remains well worth reading.

The War of the Worlds by H G Wells

It fires the imagination about what may exist out in space and also is representative of an outstanding piece of literature. The author, H. G. Wells, lived in Woking and his nocturnal trips to the nearby common inspired this great story and created a new literary genre.  Like me he was a student of biology which he studied at Imperial College London.  Bacteria have an important role in the plot.  There is a magnicent sculpture in the centre of the town of Woking in Surrey, UK where I lived for over 40 years.  Next to this, is one of The Invisible Man.

 

 

 

Enhanced Ebooks

Back in the mid 1990s I visited the London Book Fair.  I had written my first novel, “Cogrill’s Mill” and although there was some interest from a few agents and publishers none of them were willing to take a chance on an unknown writer.  I downloaded a pdf to a CD, labelled it with a book cover I designed and set off to promote it at the book fair.  No one was interested because during this time no one had heard of Ebooks.  So I gave up on the idea, formed my own publishing company and went down the print-on-demand route and began printing my own paperbacks.  A few years later someone approached me and asked if I had any Ebooks for sale.  I had not as I was busy promoting my paperbacks.  Then low and behold the Ebook phenomenon took off.

I was still promoting my paperbacks but it was not difficult to produce them simultaneously as ebooks.  Initially, I posted them on Amazon in Mobi format which was being used by Amazon for their electronic Kindle readers.  Then other platforms were developed, notably by Kobo.com, Google and Apple.  I visited a gathering of ebook enthusiasts at a Soho café in London where I met someone who told me that the way to go was with the epub format as Apple was using this to produce interactive ebooks.  He pointed me to Apple’s interactive version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which featured videos embedded in to the text.  I checked it out and remembered one featuring a caterpillar on a toadstool smoking a cigarette.  Later I vivited the London Book Fair once more and found a small number of publishers producing epub books with videos embedded in the text mostly used as promotional tools.  I was smitten.

Amazon was sticking to its mobi format so I began to produce my own enhanced epub ebook to showcase on Apple as what were then called ibooks but are now called Apple books.  I decided to utilise a book of short stories as a few of these I had turned into audio books.  So I inserted two audio books into the text at the beginning of two short stories and embedded a video trailer advertising the whole collection before the contents page.

I am still promoting this ebook.  The problem I found was that the files I made available to download are much larger than text only ebooks.  This may be off putting to the average reader.  In addition Apple has proved difficult for a small independent publisher such as me to work with so now I have made this epub book available free of charge on Google Play and Kobo.com.  Readers can download this themselves by following the link below or it can be open to read on line without downloading it at

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Luke_Johnson_Crime_and_Passion?id=YvK0DwAAQBAJ

 

Keith Jahans

Crime and Passion enhanced ebook is available at:
http://peatmore.com/crimeandpassion.HTM

Writing Sex Scenes

Writing sex scenes is a special skill which I do not have.  I have used such scenes sparingly in two of my novels and only when I felt they fit with the plot and when added they clarified the motivations behind some characters.  But sex sells.  One only has to look at the success of “Fifty Shades of Grey” and the popularity of erotic films and porn sites on the internet.  I must admit marketing was partly behind the decision I made when adding them to my novel “Victim of Compromise” but I still maintain that the scenes played a greater part in making the central characters more rounded.

The sales of DH Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” sky rocketed during a famous court case to overturn its ban and, more especially, after it became legal to buy in the UK.  On reading it I feel it would be a much lesser book if the explicit sex scenes and the language used to describe them were omitted.  Now that the Lady Chatterley milestone judgement has passed there are many contemporary writers who excel in the genre of modern erotic fiction.  One such author is Harmony Kent whose novel “Back Stage” I reviewed in my last blog.  I confess that, despite my past endeavours, I am not one of them.

Keith Jahans

Kindle Edition

The worst thing that can happen to a writer

The worst thing that can happen to writers is that nobody reads their work.  I used to get upset when I found some of my books were being pirated, but then I realised that I was getting free publicity.  Many readers, when they finish a book they have enjoyed, pass it to friends or family members.  The book often ends up in a second hand or charity shop.  Authors have no choice but to accept this, but what is unacceptable is that there are unscrupulous individuals out there who exploit the endeavours of an author for their own gain.

Sometimes a reader will not like a book and may leave an unfavourable or even a bad review.  It happens as a writer cannot please everyone and hopefully those occasions will be very few.  But at least this person will have read the book.  Of course, if it happens too much then the author must seriously rethink how they go about their trade.  A new author or even an establish author will give away free copies of a new book in exchange for a review.  It is very unusual for a reviewer to take advantage of this and sell the book on, but it can happen.

I have been surprised to find some of my books for sale online for far more money than they are advertised by my own website or reputable book stores.  There is a market for early editions, especially those signed by the author.  Some early copies of my first books, complete with typing and formatting errors, have even ended up online for exorbitant amounts.  There is nothing an author can do about this.  But it is publicity and how much income authors can loose must be offset against the free publicity they get.

Most authors earn little from selling their work.  I know very few who earn a living from their writing full time.  They write because they enjoy their craft, but above all they love to bring enjoyment to readers.  The best thing that can happen to a writer is when a reader who you have never met picks up your book and writes to you to say how much they have enjoyed it.  Those are the moments I savour.

Keith Jahans

Book Excerpt ‒ Cogrill’s Mill by Jack Lindsey

He stood glumly on the pavement and stared at the shop window.  It contained prominently displayed photographs of weddings as well as portraits of an assortment of people, children and domestic animals.  He agonised for ten minutes and then with great determination strode to the door, opened it and walked inside.

A bell sounded as it swung shut behind him.  The shop was deserted.  In front of him was a small counter, behind which was a stack of filing cabinets.  He approached the counter and looked around him.  More photographs, similar to those in the window, adorned the walls.  To the left of the counter a small door led to a back room and to its right, a wooden flight of stairs led upwards.  There was a clatter of feet on the stairs and a very pretty golden-haired girl descended.  She stepped behind the counter.  “Can I help you?” she asked in a polite soft voice.  Her eyes were bright blue and her smile sparkled.

George was mesmerised by her beauty but he managed to summon up some words. “I … I wish to speak to Mr Gloam,” he stammered.

“There is no Mr Gloam,” she replied.

George was confused but he blustered on. “The sign says V. Gloam.”

She nodded, still smiling.  “That’s me … Victoria Gloam.”

“I was looking for Victor Gloam,” George continued.

“Victor Gloam was my father. He died two years ago.”

George felt a surge of relief.  “Oh really,” he breathed.  Fate was on his side again.

The girl’s smile changed to a frown.  “Well there’s no need to look so pleased about it,” she said.

George’s face reddened.  “I’m extremely sorry, I didn’t mean …”

“What did you wish to see my father about, Mr … er … um?  What did you say your name was?”

“Oh, er … um … Smith,” replied George and added hastily, “I was asked to look your father up.  I’m sorry to have troubled you, good-bye!”  He turned quickly for the door.

“Good-bye, Mr Smith!”  Victoria Gloam called after him.

Once outside, George hurried across the road to a telephone box.  Life was pleasant once more. He could hardly contain himself.   He snatched open the door, grabbed the telephone receiver and quickly dialled his aunt’s number.  His call was answered by the butler. “Hello, Gumage,” said George, “is my aunt there?”

“I will see if I can find her, Master George.”

Some moments passed and then Aunt Jane’s harsh voice sounded at the end of the line.  “Hello, George,” she said.

“Hello, Aunt Jane!” George said breezily.  She would be pleased that he had acted so speedily and successfully.  “I’m calling from Tidburn!”

“Oh yes.”

“Yes.” Then George remembered to lower his voice and tried to sound not so joyful.  “I’m afraid Victor Gloam is dead.”  There was silence at the other end of the telephone.

“Did you hear me, Aunt Jane?” asked George

“I heard you, George.”

“So I can’t give him half my inheritance.”

“I realise that, George.”

“Well, I thought I ought to let you know as soon as possible.  Now I had better be going as I am phoning from a call box and I haven’t much change.  Good-bye, Aunt Jane.”

“George!”

“Yes, Aunt Jane?”

“Did he leave any family?”

George felt his heart sink. “Family, Aunt Jane?”

“Yes, George, a wife, children.”

George began to stammer. “I’m … I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean, you’re not sure?”

“I’ll … I’ll have to check.”

“Well make sure that you do, because if there are any relatives then they’re entitled to get what should have gone to Victor Gloam.  Is that clear, George?”

“Yes, Aunt Jane,” said George sadly. “Good-bye.”

“Good-bye, George.”

George slowly put the receiver down.  Well that was that.  He would have to see the girl again.  It was now clear that his quiet comfortable life would definitely change.  Well, it could not be helped.  He crossed the road and entered the shop once more.

http://peatmore.com/cogrills.htm

Photograph : 123RF konstantin32

Independent Book Seller Needs Help

I received the following message via Linkedin and am posting it below as an example of the challenges faced by independent book sellers.

Keith Jahans

 

Jim Hart 1:09 AM

Keith, thank you for being part of my LinkedIn circle. You are one of an

exclusive group who value the written word, art, learning, and

community, a group of thinkers, creators, doers of deeds.  I value and

respect you and your connection.

Connye & I founded The Published Page Bookshop for and because of

people like you. For decades we have worked to build a truly unique

“old school” bookstore, where creativity, passion, ideas, and

excitement flow from the shelves and fill the air. Where new authors

are introduced to the public, and old treasures are preserved and

shared with new generations, a place of community. I think we have

succeeded. You can see far more of our shop in pictures and videos by

clicking on the link below.

But our wonderful shop is facing a crisis. Unless we can meet our

mortgage holder’s demands, we are in eminent danger of foreclosure,

and closing the doors of this wonderful bookstore.

Your contribution of $5.00 will help us keep the doors open.  And if

you can share this request with your own friends and acquaintances,

thank you.

We believe it is important to have physical bookstores, where

neighborhoods meet, where children discover the love of books and

reading, where authors and poets can meet and interact with their

readers, where literature and culture fill the air.

If you believe in these things also, we would love to have your help

keeping them alive. Connye and I have invested everything we have

toward those goals. We think they are worth fighting for, and hope you

agree.

Far more information about our shop and about Connye and me is shown

on our GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/ThePublishedPage

If you would like to discuss this in person you can reach me by email

at jimhart@publishedpage.com

My personal cell for text or voice is 817-217-0656

Connye & I both hate to ask for help. If we didn’t believe this shop

was worthy of being saved we would not ask. If you can help, thank

you.

Blessings,

Jim Hart, Owner

Games in Fiction

I have played games throughout my life.  I think that this is the same for most people.  I have also followed many sports which is true for many people but not all.  Nowadays there is too much money invested in some sports but those sports where it is invested are very selective.

A great deal of invested money is derived from gambling but those that invest do so to make money and are not interested in sport.  Some sports have become so money orientated that winning is the be all and end all.  I used to follow rugby football but I do not now.  The players are so big and bulky that the small fast players I liked to watch in the 1960s and 1970s are no longer evident.  There seem to be more injuries these days because as they crash into each other more players are hurt.  There was a time when sport was an enjoyable social pastime but sadly this does not seem as apparent as it used to be.  But despite this the elements within it still make good story telling.

Whether the game you indulge in is sedentary (Board games, video and computer games) or physically active (football, athletics etc.) the intrinsic element of competiveness is stimulating.  I included some of these elements in my novel, Gifford’s Games, written under the penname Jack Lindsey and hope that I have produced a narrative that is enjoyable to read.

 

Keith Jahans

The ebook is available at http://amazon.com/dp/B00K2ACUOW and
the paperback via http://peatmore.com/giffordsgames.htm

Putting emotion into Fiction

A good way to grab readers’ attention is to tap into their emotions.  One way is to include humour in a narrative, even if you do not set out to write a funny story.  I have written two humorous novels under the penname, Jack Lindsey and hope those that read them found them entertaining.

I have also written two thrillers under the pennames of Luke Johnson and Keith Jahans (my real name).  By using these names I could distinguish between my comic writing and these last two novels.  But there was a great temptation to insert a little humour into even these, which I did sparingly as I think, in the instances where I used it, it served to flesh out some of the characters and to relieve tension to give the reader a chance to draw breath.  This device is used by some truly great writers and arguably the greatest writer of all, Shakespeare, used humour in his tragedies (The grave diggers in Hamlet and the porter in Macbeth).

Making a reader cry is the hardest emotion to evoke.  I have experienced this when watching movies directed by expert storytellers.  I was moved to tears by the impending possible death of Spielberg’s character ET who was not and did not even look human and did not in the end die.  But I have rarely experienced this emotion when reading novels.  But perhaps this is just me.

A few of my readers have contacted me to say that they were upset about the death of two characters in my first novel, Cogrill’s Mill.  But I think this may be because they thought that I had wasted further comic potential of characters they had grown to identify with rather than morning their loss.  This was a surprise in what I had planned to be a comedy and not a tragedy.  But I suppose this only serves to show that a writer can forget that comedy often turns out to be tragic.

Keith Jahans

Genera/categories

Deciding on which genre or category your book fits into can be a difficult decision for any author.  Of course the easiest way is to decide this before beginning writing but it is not always that easy as the book evolves during its creation.  Yet this decision is important for anyone who is serious about its marketing as it is the means by which any bookseller, librarian or online marketer places it on their shelves.

The largest online seller is Amazon and, if you use this outlet, it will place a book into one of its categories if you decide not to do this yourself when completing its online submission form and sometimes it can get this wrong.  The best way to seek this out yourself is to search for a book which is similar in subject matter, style and tone to your own and look at the category Amazon fits it into or how other booksellers and libraries place it in their catalogues.  Concentrate on those which top the best seller lists and try to identify the key words used in searches.

This method is not necessary foolproof as I have found that sometimes Amazon alters the categories even after you have listed them using its KDP direct website.  It may have even found a better slot than you first envisaged so make sure you keep this under review.  Amazon allows authors/publishers a chance to choose two categories for its KDP publications so it is better to slot your book into two different subgenres to help prospective readers find it (see example below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This comedy thriller ebook is available at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K2ACUOW.
The paperback can be found via
http://peatmore.com/giffordsgames.htm

Keith Jahans