Getting in touch with my Gok Wan alterego

I am quite happy at the moment. I have made some progress in the past few days. I now have four more chapters to write, but for the mean time, I am leaving them alone for this week. I’m sure many of you are wondering why, and here is the answer. After much pondering, I have decided to include a new character.

At first I was reluctant to do it, as I have gotten used to the original story. But it had to be done. There were two suspects and it was becoming too predictable as to who was behind the murder of one of the characters. Yes, I know my readers are not dumb.
So I spent a very enjoyable Friday and Saturday writing a new chapter. And no, I am not being sarcastic, it really was very enjoyable. I got to create a new character and show his personality, which was easy as he was a mixture of my dad, nephew, ex, my mates ex and me. Yes, that is an eclectic range of inspiration, but to be honest, it all naturally happened. It was only when I re-read the chapter that I was like “Huh, that’s like him and that’s like her…”

Currently, I am including this character in places where he could be. After all, I cannot have him in one chapter and have him forgotten in the rest. He really does need to come into contact with the protagonist…I can’t explain why, but it just feels natural that he should. That is another thing with writing. You really do need to trust your guts and write things that feel right.

Other than that, my week has been busy, what with writing and job hunting, but I did take the Sunday off. I played personal shopper with my friend Rupal, who needed someone to assist her with clothes shopping at Merry Hill. She needed some new clothes for university (she starts today – YAY!) and like all women, needed a second opinion as to what looked great on her. Even though I have not done Textiles in four years and I’ve neglected fashion since starting university, I must say, I really enjoyed giving advice as to what colours suited her and what items accentuated her hourglass figure. In fact, fashion may well be something I need to be reacquainted with, as I’ve sent an application off for a journalism job in Birmingham. It’s for Indian Mirror magazine, which is very similar to Asian and Asian Bride. I have some experience in writing fashion and make-up articles at university, most of which I’ve written on my own accord to be sent off to MSN. Unfortunately, the website did not publish any of my articles, probably because the angle was not right for the readership. But nevertheless, the articles were very well written and demonstrate my enthusiasm for writing and style. Fingers crossed that I will get a reply from Indian Mirror very soon :)

Being a Dickhead's Cool

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

This blog is called ‘The Writer’s Journal’, not ‘The Bitch’s Journal’. But, I am going to break the rule, by uploading this video and commenting on it.

Thanks to my friend Brighton David (who’s sarcastic blogs always make my day), I came across this epic video called ‘Being a Dickhead’s Cool’, which pokes fun at hipsters donning bright skinnies and lens-less ‘Where’s Wally’ glasses. Yes, the latter are truly awful.

To some people who consider themselves trendy or normal, this video may come across as being nasty to bohemians and alternatives in general. But alas, it is NOT. There is nothing wrong with being different. In fact, being different is good. But there is a difference between someone who is genuinely bohemian and someone who isn’t but is either trying very hard to be one, or is trying to heighten their ‘hipster status’.

What is meant by ‘heighten hipster status’, is that some of these people will consume certain beliefs, religions and items, just to show off. For example, my ex knew a few people at university who joined Buddhism and took a feverish interest in the Mighty Boosh, just to show how cool and “with it” they were. I try not to judge, after all they could be very pleasant people. But if I must be honest, doing certain things to prove you’re worth/superiority to others is a minor pet peeve of mine. But that is not the point.

The true problem I have with many of these hipsters is that, many of them are horrifyingly fake. I have known some of these “dickheads” in the past. In fact, one of them was a horrid girl I despised at school. When I accepted her friend request (after all, she seems to have put her grudge behind her), I found that she was now into bands such as ‘The Horrors’ and ‘The Arctic Monkeys’. At school, she loved Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. She now dresses like a nerd in checked shirts, cardis and converses. At school, she called me a “swot” for being too studious. And she now favours that scruffy look that she accused me of having at school (even though my hair was Barbie Doll sleek and I dressed neatly). I’m sorry, but her new image screams of desperation to be in with “what’s cool and trendy”. And no, I am not being judgemental here, she even said on her page that she wants to go to Brighton "where all the cool kids are".

Not only that, but some of these dickheads are grotesquely arrogant. My friends, all of whom are alternatives, have met many of them and have complained about them being very sneering and aloof. Unfortunately, I met one when I went out clubbing once. She was many of the things described in the video…pretentiously dressed, on the dole and up her own arse. The worst thing was that she was shallow, taking excessive pride in the fact that she was “fit” and hated anyone who took attention away from her. Don’t get me wrong, there are conformist girls who do behave like this. But this sort of behaviour is coming from someone who claims to be Indie, a type of person who isn’t shallow at all. It is like a “Punk” stressing about not having an Aston Martin.

I must stress that I do NOT have anything against hipsters who are genuinely hipster and most importantly, down-to-earth about it. My friend Robbie is considered an Indie kid, but he genuinely loves Vintage clothes and bands as much as I do and is not doing so to be purely “cool” or to “show off”. Moreover, he is one of the nicest, carefree people I know.

But these pretentious ones are no better than the chavs, fashionistas and ‘Wagtastic’ plastics and jocks who think they are above everyone else; just because they wear gold jewellery from Argos, weird “on trend” shoes and they shag footballers/glamour models respectively.

Excitement…and no, it is not an Orgasm

I’m brimming with excitement at the moment. I only have five more chapters to write and the first draft of the novel is complete. But what I’m most happy about is the passion that has come back to me regarding this novel. For the past couple of weeks, I have lost interest in this project, simply because I thought I had written a steaming pile of crap and it was going to take a ridiculous amount of time to rectify. I knew I needed feedback from someone else to see what exactly needed to be improved for the novel to be successful to its target audience. So I sent the first few chapters to my friend Chris.

To my surprise, he loved it, calling it “excellent”. He said the characters are well fleshed out and that there are exciting incidents and surprises, as well as tension, heartbreak and motives. He couldn’t find fault, which for me was a shame because I really wanted to improve and raise it to exceptional. But alas, I can’t improve if people reading it give no reason for me to improve. I will however, read the entire thing when all the chapters are done and then try and expand and elaborate on some parts.

So far, I added a new chapter after the 2nd and then tweaked the following chapters here and there. Unfortunately, I have a feeling the entire thing will add up to roughly 70,000 words, which is a bad thing as I intend for it to be at least 80,000. But I do have ideas for the beginning bit, as I feel it could be expanded, for the travellers are being followed and I have not really shown that. The part where the enemy turns up suddenly is too abrupt and vague and the beginning bit can do with some parts that lead up to the surprise.

Other than that, I’ve been applying for more jobs. Annoyingly, I got an email from the University of Birmingham, who informed me that I have not got the library job. Drat. Seriously, what does it take to beat competition in the job hunting field? Well, I suppose it’s the almighty bastard…Experience, something that is rarely handed out to job hunting virgins. Not that I have never worked before, I have during the summer holidays. But not a lot of it, unfortunately.

I have also spent my spare time watching Entourage with my older brother. I’m not sure how he got the DVDs of the first and second seasons…he either borrowed it from my cousin or randomly bought them. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I’m addicted to the show.

Of course, the L.A look is all exciting with it sun-polished beaches, glossy skyscrapers and Motor Show cars. But what draws me to the show is the chemistry between the actors, their pranks and name-calling all too characteristic of typical male friendships (Yes, I should know as I have a lot of male friends) Not to mention the hilarious performances from Jeremy Priven who plays the agent and Kevin Dillon, who plays the actor’s brother. I would highly recommend it. Although, if you dislike nudity, promiscuous girls and player behaviour, I suggest you keep away. And if you have seriously low self esteem regarding your appearance or lifestyle; then definitely keep away.

For those who are interested, I included a clip of Jeremy Piven aka Ari Gold's best moments from Entourage. Enjoy!

Cinema and Progress

I am really proud of myself. I managed to write an entire chapter this weekend AND managed to brush up the 4rd chapter to perfection. Okay, for a lot of enthusiastic writers that is not something to be elated about, but considering how difficult it was for me to get back into a project that I had neglected for so long, it is amazing progress!

During the past week, I have been putting off writing. I had promised myself that I would get to work on it after the day of the interview. But that night my best friend Jason called me to tell me that he has just moved into his halls and asked me if I wanted to catch up in Wolverhampton. Of course I went along, as it has been several months since I had last seen him. To be precise, it was just before I finished university. We went for some milkshakes in the Quadrant Lounge, an Art Deco bar in Wolverhampton.

This time, we decided to go and watch a film. We had planned this for several months, but never got round to it. The last time we agreed to watch a film, I had to cancel on him for the EDL were campaigning in Dudley Town, where I always catch my bus to Wolverhampton. Yes, the joys of living in Dudley. Luckily, few of the campaigners got run over and badly injured the last time they came here and it seems likely they won’t come back.

Anyways, Jason quite liked the sound of ‘Dinner for Schmucks’ and since I had an Orange phone AND it was Wednesday, we had the luxury of paying for one ticket. YAY indeed. Considering that I had watched an advert for the film in which rave reviews flashed every few seconds, I had expected the film to laugh out loud hilarious and perhaps a little quirky. Instead I got a “comedy” that only made me chuckle once or twice. The script was far too reliant on silly scenarios that were supposed to make us laugh. They didn’t. It also was too reliant on Steve Carrel and although he was likable in his role, it was apparent the writer was confident that he would act goofily enough to make us laugh. It didn’t happen. No offense to the man, he was very funny in the Office, particularly the flasher scene. But like all comedy actors, he needs witty lines and jokes to be funny.

I left the theatre, wondering if I was the only one who thought the film was rubbish. Luckily, I was not alone, for Jason was equally unimpressed and the girl in front of us pulled a face at her partner and shook her head in disapproval. So, memo to all of you, keep away. Far away.

At the moment, I am trying to brush up on the 5th chapter, even though my enthusiasm is dying down a little. That is the problem with spending too much time on one project and re-reading the chapters to the point where it becomes boring. It actually does become boring. But rest assured, I am determined to get all of this done as I did not spend the entire summer writing for nothing.

Oh and by the way, I couldn't find the flasher scene annoyingly. But to make up for it, I decided to include an equally funny Steve Carell moment. Enjoy!

The (Non) Graduate

Now that my headache has waned, I think I’ll be able to update in this again. I just got back from a job interview. Yes, YAY indeed. Better still, it was an interview for a respectable organisation, not a scam one like the previous interview I skived.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I will get a job. Prior to the interview, I was pondering why an organisation like Walsall Lifelong Learning Alliance would want to consider me when I have little marketing experience. I have now learned that I was invited at last minute, which probably means that a better applicant must have cancelled on them. I gave it my all and tried to ‘sell myself’ as well as I could. I pointed out my strengths and tried to explain some ideas I had for some of the campaigns they had going. Unfortunately, some of the questions caught me off guard and I gave some weak answers that might affect my consideration for a second interview. Looks like I will be back on the vacancies sites.

Because I have spent the last few days researching the company and preparing for my interview, there has been no writing progress. In fact, I am finding it really difficult to get back into it as I’ve left it alone for so long. Even the idea of re-writing chapter 3 is pretty daunting. I think it’s because I’ve been going on this journey with the protagonist and going back in time to change something seems very unnatural to me. It would be like getting inside the DeLorien and going back to some time in my past and influencing the 18 year old me to take a gap year before applying for the Creative Writing course, instead of going straight to UCE. Actually, would that be so much of a bad thing? That way, I would never have wasted 1K on one useless semester and I would never have met some of the most two-faced ugliest bastards I had the misfortune to meet. But then, I don’t really regret meeting them, as it’s made me a stronger, more resilient person.
Anyways, that aside, I don’t really like the idea of dragging my story out, but as my lecturer said, some of the surprises in my story are too vague and abrupt and I must say, do agree. They do come across as random. So yes, it will be back to the earlier stage of my novel.

At the moment, I am pondering how graduation is going. I had to cancel mine because of the interview. Although the interview was in the morning and the graduation in the afternoon, it takes about an hour and three quarters to travel from Dudley to Walsall. This means that I would get to Dudley by 1 o clock, which is when we need to arrive at Wolverhampton Grand theatre to put on our gowns. To be honest, I’m not too upset. The idea of graduating was all too scary for me because it would mean 3 hours of sitting down, only to walk awkwardly on stage to collect my degree. Not only that, but the whole thing was too costly. Gowns cost £30 to hire and pictures are ridiculously priced as well. I just don’t have that much money to spare.

On the upside, I will be looking forward to getting my degree by post :)