Sunday 30 November 2014

Sort of like a journal (1) - 30/Nov/2014

I read this book called "If You Want to Write" and the author kept going on and on about the use of letting your creativity pour out whether on paper or canvas or keyboard. And one important piece of advice she kept repeating that would be a great outlet for this supposed out-pour of creativity is keeping a journal. So, I decided to do it and see what happens.

I quickly decided that I will keep this journal in the form of daily blog posts, and once I made that decision I started struggling with the idea that if I want it to be genuine then I should not bother if anyone will read it or not. This thought drove me to the next decision which is that I won't share these posts or actively try to propagate them; I'll just post them on the blog and let nature take its course.

But then came the next issue; if I want to be genuine and true to my decisions, shouldn't I make sure that the style of my writing isn't speaking to someone? Shouldn't be like myself talking to myself not to someone else? I thought of this for a few days and convinced myself that this is the way I speak to myself; as if I'm talking to someone else. But again, I think I'm just kidding myself, and the fact that I am typing in a keyboard and that I will press PUBLISH after I finish has its effect on the way I write and that it would differ greatly than if I was writing with a pen in an actual journal. But, wait a second, I know that the couple of entries I wrote in an old travel journal still sounded as if I am preparing my writing for others to read, probably my kids after I am long dead, or my fans also after I am long dead. And famous, hopefully.

Anyway, I'm not going to reread what I wrote but I'm pretty sure that this last paragraph makes me sound neurotic or psychotic or whatever mental disease it's called. But that's good, because this is me, outpouring and being creative. Probably also boring, or for some people, interesting. In any case, it's me, and I'll try to maintain this sort of journal for as long as I can.

Just one last confession, I will share these posts on my Facebook page. Who knows, maybe someone will pick it up and it goes viral, and yes, probably this will mean that my tone will take on the form of talking to someone. I don't care. I'm vain. And may my vanity be entertaining to you. There, I said it, I'm speaking to someone.

I think how this outpouring works is to just flow from one thought to the other. Might be even interesting for myself or someone else to look at it and deduce what kind of person I am from the way my thinking flows. Anyway, the next thought that I want to move on to is that I noticed how many times I used the word "probably" up till now. I haven't counted but I have a feeling it's more than the average article. And that probably...see what I did there, says something about who I am. Always possibilities and probabilities and rarely something conclusive. I say rarely because eventually I reach conclusions. I've even learned to reach them quickly when needed, but here it's not needed. Here I am outpouring and inconclusive. Also, it's because I don't want to force my conclusions on the reader. God make there be a reader and he/she likes this.

Next thought: Am I the only person who has this longing to be noticed and have their words celebrated even if just a little bit? Probably... probably I'm not. And you know what, screw probabilities, I know I'm not the only one. But the more interesting question here is Why, Why do I need to be noticed and have my words celebrated? I will not attempt now to understand why others seek the same, not because I don't care. I very much care and I think about these things all the time, but for now, I'll focus on me, why do I need it? I'll think of it and let you know next time...or not, it will depend on the creative flow.

Monday 3 November 2014

Let the Game, of Thrones, begin







I know, it's cheeky. Just had to be done.

Now, I haven't updated this blog for a while now. Between the job, relocating to a different country and working on a new novel in Arabic, there was just no time for the blog. But twenty pages into A Game of Thrones and I was moved once again to speak up, or write down. Sorry again for that!

I've always read about how in order to garner more readers for your blog you should write about topics that interest your target demographic and stuff like that. I'm sure the advice is true, but I still find more pleasure in putting down what comes to mind when I am moved to write and hoping that a like-minded soul will find it, enjoy it, and that it might make the few minutes of their day it will take him or her to read it just a little bit better. And yes, I don't intend to keep you reading for more than a few minutes.

So, A Game of Thrones. I've watched all four seasons of the TV show and I have read about the books a lot. One of the reviews said, quoting loosely, that "it grips you from the first page and never lets go". Or something like that. But when I began to read it, keeping that quote and many others like it, in mind, and expecting to enjoy the ride, I did not expect it to be THIS good. Reviews usually exaggerate. But not these ones. A few pages in and I was like WHAAAAAAAT! I must tell it to the whole world. And here I am telling it to you. Could you please share it with the whole of your world? I need more views on this thing. Just kidding. Not really. (cue awkward laugh)

Those who read the books will relate
Back to A Song of Ice and Fire. After watching a few episodes of the show, being the book addict that I am (you can check how addicted I am by reading my other posts here and here), I decided I must read the books. I was trapped in the age-old dilemma of book lovers "Book first or TV show/movie first? And will one ruin the other?". It's not really age-old, just as old as the age when they started making books into TV shows and movies.

But nonetheless, I had started watching and I was hooked and from what I understood the books were so much grander in scale, I was bound to have fresh surprises anyway. I went ahead and did my research (again, book addict, some would say, nerd, but that is neither here nor there) and decided I wanted the hardcover Bantam copies and in the part of the world where I live they were not available. So I ordered them online from a bookstore in Dubai. Kinokuniya, if you must know. Visit if you are ever in this part of the world and you won't regret it. I picked them up myself after giving them strict instructions to store them well and keep the books in mint condition. I handled the books as a careful cargo should be and they travelled with me on three flights till they landed safely on my bookshelves, all set next to each other taking up almost half the space on that shelf. They look beautiful. And the sheer size of them is a clear indication that there is A LOT to enjoy in these tomes even if one has watched the show. It didn't take much to realize that. As I said, twenty pages.

The great thing I liked is that watching the show first is actually helping keep all the characters, Houses and geography a little clearer than it would have been if I were reading the books first. And although all the scenes in the few pages I have just read are all included in the opening fifteen minutes of the show, the prose itself is enjoyable; savory; melts in your mouth and goes down smoothly. Again, addict, what do you expect!

The other thing is realizing that if the writing and the story is this good on the first few pages, how great will it be when we get to the parts where people start to get their heads, and hands, chopped off. Reading a story when you know nothing about it is a journey of discovery and is so much better when the story is actually good. But I think it's safe to say that with the scale of this epic fantasy, George R.R. Martin, created a work that is so grand that no matter how good the show is, you can still be excited about the book. And knowing what is yet to come within the next pages and be anticipating it is another great feeling I only felt once before when I read The Godfather.

I promised to only keep you for a few minutes and thanks for sticking around. Go see the show if you haven't. But more importantly, go read the books, even if you have. I have started a series of blogs called Project: Ulysses about my plan to prepare myself for, then actually, reading Joyce's classic novel. Yes, as you expected, there is only one post in that so-called series, but I will update it, after I finish A Game of Thrones. And in the meantime, I am thinking of beginning a Project: Game of Thrones series. Go to your local independent bookstore, buy a copy of A Game of Thrones, then come back and tell me what you think. Maybe we can do this project together.