tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-152743256254750492024-03-06T18:22:36.323+13:00A blog to encourage, empower and envigorateUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-8855062035334930632011-04-01T11:43:00.002+13:002011-04-01T11:48:43.527+13:00Hi,<br /><br />Well things have been a little slow. <br /><br />The Blunt answer is this: we need sponsors!<br /><br />Disabled authors are few and far between. I honestly believe that one day we will be acknowledged as the outsanding writers we are.<br /><br />Write Disability needs someone with deep pockets, a love of the arts and the empathy to progress our cause.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-62335025378389300132011-04-01T10:27:00.009+13:002011-04-01T11:04:38.037+13:00Several <em>thousand</em> people have read my ebooks; they are listed on <strong>Apple</strong>, <strong>Sony</strong>, <strong>Smashwords</strong>, <strong>Barnes & Noble</strong>, <strong>Diesel</strong> & <strong>Kobo</strong> (Negotions are currently underway with <strong>Amazon</strong>). Have a look at the links, download a copy and you'll see my cover artwork too. I did it all with Adobe Photoshop CS3 & CoolEdit 3D!<br /><BR><br /><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9804">1012</a> <br /><blockquote>911 was an event burned into the retina of the world's mind's eye. In this well researched novel; truth is mixed with hunches, hunches are mixed with theory lastly cloak and dagger is mixed with smoke and mirrors so the truth becomes less about what you can see and more about what you cannot see... and why... This novel, 1012, presents truths that hitherto have only been whispered by shadows.. </blockquote><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9765">Ancient Future</a> <br /><blockquote>Based on a true story; the past meets the future. A young Maori boy saves the dignity of his tribe and in the process learns about his place in life. Fooled by the tyranny of history he is confronted with the invaluable mass of the truth. In coming to grips with his past he solidifies his steps into the future... </blockquote><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/12406">Paint Or Be Painted</a> <br /><blockquote>How cool would it be if you got back at those that "did you wrong"? Well, Jim (the main character) sets out to do exactly that, to show that Occam's razor will eventually just slit the throat of those that hide behind it. Using his brains to counter brawn he "paints" his nemeses into a corner of their own making! </blockquote><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35989">Super-Duper Dog Day</a> <br /><blockquote>Based on a memory from when I was 5 and had just started school. Although a few minor details have been changed: the story follows what I did. I remeber crawling on the grass verges as the concrete footpaths hurt my knees. I even remember chasing a cat at one stage! Not bad for 35 year-old memory! </blockquote>Now, a piece of gossip only for readers of this blog: I'm working on a new novel that is going to be my best yet!<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-5582918499954554352011-04-01T10:24:00.002+13:002011-04-01T10:27:27.381+13:00You sent an email to me recently, I accidentally deleted it, could you re-send it please?<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-30245083274898702352008-07-17T11:14:00.003+12:002008-07-22T23:38:12.470+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);font-size:180%;" >That Interweb thingy...</span><br /></div><br /><br />To change tack a little, I would like to talk about a more technical issue regarding this blog.<br /><br />I know that there is a very limited readership of this blog. That is why we really enjoy when people take the time to leave comments. Having a disability often limits our social interaction. This is one reason we believe that the Internet is a huge boon to disabled people.<br /><br />As a wee aside; A lot is often made of the concept of anonymity on the Internet. As someone who is fairly computer literate, I can categorically state that this is a myth. While it is technically possible to obscure your true identity, there are always traces left behind. However, it may take the resources of law enforcement agency, a country's government or a wealthy corporation to access those traces.<br /><br />But to get back on subject: Having a relatively anonymous outlet to respond to the world is a prize that shouldn't be underestimated.<br /><br />A lot is made of the 'seedy' side of the Internet and while this cannot be denied, it is an 'easy target' for lazy journalists and sensation seeking commentators. One need only look at newspapers, television or radio to easily see the same 'seedy' behavior there.<br /><br />I honestly enjoy the opportunity of having this blog 'out there' 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - WORLDWIDE! So that someone looking for something such as <span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Write Disability</span> can find it.<br /><br />...And it is our goal to make <span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Write Disability</span> even more well known.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-66869857557274051522008-07-10T12:50:00.001+12:002008-07-10T12:56:53.518+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);font-size:180%;" >10/12</span><br /></div><br />I thought it was about time I introduced you to my novel, which has the working title of "10/12". 10/12 is based on the events of September the 11th, 2001 (9/11); where Al Qeada terrorists' flew full passenger airliners into the twin towers of the U.S. World Trade Center; the Pentagon and finally crashed a fourth passenger airliner into Pennsylvania farm land. <br /><br />At the time of the actual attacks, we had a guest asleep in the spare room and I could not sleep so I hopped on my computer and went into a chatroom. Someone typed that a plane had flown into a building, thinking it was an accident I took no further notice. A while later another person said that a second plane had also been flown into another building, with another 27 planes thought to be hijacked too; America was under attack! In fact, some people went one step further and were saying that World War 3 had begun.<br /><br />It took another three hours of searching for media outlets outside the U.S. to verify the attacks and while there were only four plane involved the destruction was mind numbing. The footage of the World Trade Centers' collapsing are a sight I will never forget. It is an iconoclastic image, like U.S. President John F. Kennedy being so publically assassinated.<br /><br />The basis for the novel takes a simple premise: What if?<br /><br />The novel itself entailed a massive amount of research. Out of respect for the over 3000 men and women that died because of the attacks, I fealt it was extremely important to get the indisputable facts as accurate as possible.<br /><br />The novel weaves many sub-plots into the main plot. For example, the main character, Ben Asher, was a secret service agent, one sub-plot describes how he left 'the service' and how it shaped the personality he has. Another sub-plot describes how Ben and his sister Diane are reunited after years of estrangement. <br /><br />I don't want to give away the entire plot of 10/12 but the novel throws in several twists that will leave you guessing until the very end... Maybe even beyond...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-65146798672383597442008-07-08T12:06:00.002+12:002008-07-08T12:39:22.222+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);font-size:180%;" >Oh yeah...</span><br /></div><br /><br />I think I should tell you something very simple, but 'kept me going' when writing my novel.<br /><br />As I have written, having an outline was an absolute must. Not only was it a quick way to improve my novel, it was also a way to remind me of where I wanted to go with it.<br /><br />But the thing that really pushed me, the thing that made me keep to it, was the end of the novel, the final story, the thing that would tie it all together.<br /><br />I didn't just skip to the end and write from that point backwards, even though I wanted to at times, I didn't.<br /><br />I am glad I didn't too, because it made the process much more dynamic, much more fluid, easily being able to change the book.<br /><br />That is important because had I started by writing the end of the novel, I may have limited myself to an ending which could have been better.<br /><br />Re-writing the ending is one way to go, I guess you could say I have done that anyway, but the outline is only a tool to keep you on target, not a definitive manuscript.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-78719009775424335782008-07-02T09:01:00.011+12:002008-07-17T10:30:10.619+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">How to outline a novel</span><br /></span></div><br /><br /><br />Some time ago I wrote this piece for another blog, because I feel it is pretty good (if I do say so for myself), I think it is time to re-publish it.<br /><br /><blockquote><b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Swahili proverb</b><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Q.</span> How do you eat an elephant?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">A.</span> One bite at a time.</blockquote> When I speak to people, often the conversation will drift to writing, they usually say something to the effect of how they have been thinking of writing a book for years. Before I wrote my <a href="http://writedisability.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html">book</a> I thought that too.<br /><br />One day, spurred on by a idea that excited me, I just sat down and wrote an outline for the book I was thinking of.<br /><br />There are several different techniques for writing a book, this is mine, it's called 'The Watson method'. This method focuses on writing a novel, a work of fiction.<br /><br />Ok, you have an idea, but that only takes up half a page at best, how on earth do you get an even halfway decent book out of that? Writing a book can seem a daunting, herculean task, but like all journeys (and that's what it is) it must begin with a single step.<br /><br />One of the biggest problems I've noticed with starting writers is the fact that they just don't know where, or how, to begin. Or more to the point, they THINK they don't know.<br /><br />You see, one of the most fundamental hurdles to overcome is to put pen to paper (or finger to key) and keep it there. Like most things, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. So let's start with the basics.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">Start: The idea stage:</span><br /><br /><center>My idea is to write a book about a man that goes to live on Jupiter.</center><br /><br /><b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">That's a start, now we need to break that idea down further:</b><br /><br /><ol><li>Define your main character (we'll call the hero 'Joe')</li><li>Background</li><li>Goal</li><li>Doing it</li><li>Wrapping the story up</li></ol><br /><br /><b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Now you've written down the skeleton of your idea, now to put some muscles on those bones:<br /><br />Don't forget the basics, who, what, when, why and how, answer these questions and you'll help the reader 'get their mind around' the book.</b><br /><br /><ol><li>Boring old life, dead-end job, has always wanted to go to space.</li><br /><li>Firmly believes, contrary to common opinion, that Jupiter is habitable. As a boy, he and his father were keen astronomers. Joe realizes although his Dad loved space, he was always too scared to follow his dream. Joe sees himself becoming like his father.</li><br /><li>His Dad dies, starts Joe thinking, he starts to build his spaceship after work and in the weekend</li><br /><li>Neighbors, family think he is crazy, the Government starts to poke around</li><br /><li>A few people start to take him seriously, he is interviewed on TV/magazines</li><br /><li>Joe gets a crew (describe each crew member), prepares for life on Jupiter (describe the preparations)</li><br /><li>Day of launch, sabotage by a Government agent, Joe looks like a fool. Needs to make expensive and time consuming repairs.He has quit his job and has little in the way of money. A the last moment a secret benefactor comes forward and gives him all they money he needs.</li><br /><li>New take-off, again the press, citizens are gathered around. The newly invented anti-gravity engines hum into life. The scene switches to a reporter describing the scene for a radio station, the large, spherical spaceship (dubbed, 'the Baseball') lifts off. It raises a meter into the air then crashes back down into the ground. Doing considerable damage. The failure is confusing, a part is missing, an important part that Joe remembers placing in the guidance system himself. There is a saboteur around, in the crew, Joe finds the saboteur and kicks him off the team. The billionaire benefactor hires a professional security team to guard the site all day every day.</li><br /><li>A lot of scientist come forward to show how anti-gravity drives could never work. The third launch is done in secret, a night and with no spectators or media. Joe reveals a secret that was given to him by the benefactor, a cloaking devise that not only renders the 'baseball' invisible to the human eye, but also any sort of tracking. They take-off and go into geo-synchronous orbit. Next destination, the Moon. To build a base, as practice for Jupiter. You build the base in secret, returning to earth each second day to not arouse suspicions.</li><br /><li>The moonbase is easily completed, a secret second team is to man the base. You proceed to Jupiter where you fond it is not a gas giant, but it has an atmosphere which is like 'one way glass' The atmosphere is breathable and you easily set-up your base, your second in command pilots the 'baseball' back to the moonbase, to pick-up the last load of supplies. Joe explores around some of Jupiter. He discovers an alien race living there, they are peaceful, utopian.</li><br /><li>Joe falls in love with the planet but he knows that if he goes back to Earth and tells people, they will come to Jupiter and exploit it and cause the same types of problems there are on earth. He discusses it with 'Team 1', they agree, so he gives the order for both teams to come to Jupiter and after everyone agrees, they blow-up the moonbase with remote controlled bombs. They set up a little community on Jupiter, trading with the Aliens, then living happily ever after... or do they?</li></ol><br /><br />See? it's not that hard is it? Writing is a process, it is not a static, once-only, hurculean task but a dynamic editable process.<br /><br />This is where your imagination becomes a powerful ally.<br /><br />You know the old cliché that a picture says a thousand words? Well guess what? it's not as fanciful as it sounds.<br /><br />Still think it sounds too hard?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">Try this:</span><br /><br />Think of a memory from your life, now write it down, in as much detail as you can, I bet you'll be surprised by what you write down.<br /><br />Now go to it, you <b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">can</b> do it, <b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">you just have to decide that you want to</b>.<br /><br />This is the stage where a word limit, or goal, is useful, try for around 6000 words a chapter, it sounds an almost impossible target, but I think you will be surprised at how easily it can be reached. The size of the book is up to you and there are a number of tools you can use to make your book more interesting. Your hero might have a love interest, you may want to increase the tension of a chapter by having, for example, a bomb on board that has to be discovered before a certain time. Remember, you want to build a picture in the readers mind, the better you describe that picture,the better the reader will be able to picture it themselves. In saying that the writer is often tempted to put in too much information.<br /><br />I have laid all this out for you and hopefully made the process easier but there is one inevitable thing: Eventually you're going to have to put 'pen to paper' (or finger to key).<br /><br />To paraphrase Albert Einstein;<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >'...</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Genius is 99% <span style="font-style: italic;">perspiration</span> and 1% <span style="font-style: italic;">inspiration</span></span>...'</span><br /></div><br />I have one last piece of advice.<br /><br />What helped me when I was writing my book was to have a "movie" running in my mind, with each chapter, even with each scene in the chapter, I'd have a picture in my mind. Once that scene was in my mind, I'd then describe it.<br /><br />Now, a book that methodically describes every little detail in a room is going to be about exciting as watching grass grow; very boring. So you have to decide what to put in and what to leave out. Read other books, see how other authors have done it (By-the-way; don't steal their work, that is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism">PLAGIARISM</a> and is a big deal, avoid doing that like the plague).<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-10460702309964108762008-06-09T09:25:00.008+12:002008-06-23T11:12:32.274+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;" >Children of a lesser god</span><br /></div><br /><br />Writing is a joy, it is, or rather it can be, as expressive as you let yourself be. Think back to when you started driving, remember how exhausting it was... Checking the road, mirrors, pedestrians, your dashboard, other cars... it was all just so exhausting.<br /><br />Now, years later, it is almost automatic. Heck, there are probably times when you can't even remember the trip!<br /><br />Well writing is like that, the more you write, the easier it becomes.<br /><br />I accept that some people have a head-start in their writings, some people are just 'switched on' to writing from a young age. But writing is not a skill you are born with and it can be taught or learned.<br /><br />Just as I believe that some people have a head-start, I also believe that some people have a handicap (quite funny. but no pun intended). Dyslexia, muscular difficulties, visual problems can all hinder a person's ability to write. I can definitely attest that this is the case with me, but the opportunity to express yourself is such an empowering, cathartic process that people with those difficulties have (arguably) more to gain from writing than the average bear.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-78064739473918557462008-04-05T02:28:00.006+13:002008-06-20T11:56:01.829+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;" >The three stages of life</span><br /><br /></div><br /><ul><li>I am busy being human</li><li>but I'm still a human being</li><li>Maybe I'm just being busy?</li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-13202694682493673372007-07-14T13:53:00.007+12:002008-07-02T08:46:38.209+12:00<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:180%;" >Request</span><br /></div><br />Hi People,<br /><br />I have a request to ask of you....<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> is a small blog with big ambitions and we are not kidding ourselves; we know that we have a long way to go yet.<br /><br />How you could help is by putting a link to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> on your blog or website. That will help us in two ways, firstly it will help us to get a better ranking with search engines, secondly bBut just as importantly it will allow people that are just casually surfing around to see our link, visit us and who knows; maybe start the process to write a best-seller.<br /><br />If you don't have a blog or a website you could still help us just by telling people about us! So I guess that makes three ways... oh well, this is a writing blog not a math blog!<br /><br />Ed.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-3949858794325378212007-07-13T13:44:00.003+12:002008-07-02T08:48:50.261+12:00<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Writing the wrongs</span><br /></span></div><br />I really have enjoyed reading this blog, now I know it's here I'll be checking in on it daily!<br /><br />Being disabled, I have a few issues with 'things' that I'd like to talk about and the anonymity offered by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> makes it a perfect place to do just that!<br /><br />But before I get into what annoys me, let me say this: Where I live the Government has made HUGE strides forward in regards to reducing physical barriers<br /><br />When I was a boy, you never met a disabled person, they were either secreted away in a 'home' somewhere or kept quietly in a room. Don't even talk about access! Were we brave (and strong) enough to venture out by ourselves there was literally no chance of us being able to get into anywhere else, steps and narrow doorways made sure of that!<br /><br />But spurred on by the brave few, physical access was starting to be addressed (made more urgent by the large amount of disabled soldiers coming back from the Vietnam 'war' and needing to be integrated back into society). Disabled rights activists took the battle to the United Nations (a misnomer if ever I heard one) and didn't take 'no' for an answer. 1990 saw the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which was a turning point for many countries, although things had been changing up till that point, after that peice of legislation was enacted many other countries made it a higher priority to enact their own legislation. The changes were decisive (helped along by technological changes might I add).<br /><br />I've mentioned all this because I feel that if we loose sight of where we have come from, we will loose sight of where we are going to. Make no mistake - we still have quite a way to go!<br /><br />Now, on to the thing that bugs me most!<br /><br />Jobs... we are at a huge disadvantage, I just can't believe that there is so much ignorance and sterotyping by a employers (who like to think they are smarter than the rest of society). You can see it in their eyes as soon as you enter the room; they don't care that you can do X, Y and Z, all they see is a retard staring back at them, they will make all the right noises (usually compossed by their Human resources department), wind-up the interview with a big patronising smile, then put your application on the bottom of the pile. Bigotry now has political correctness to hide behind like never before.<br /><br />But I'm not just going to write about the problems, I am going to go one step further and offer solutions!<br /><br />Take the country I live in (New Zealand), they could:<br /><br /><ul><li>Give disabled workers a tax-free status,</li><li>Allow <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALL</span> disabled workers (not just the blindies) to keep their core benefit while working,<br /></li><li>Give employers a 0.25% tax-break for every percentage of their workforce that is disabled,</li><li>Subsidsed tele-working situations for disabled employees,</li><li>FULLY inform disabled people of their rights regarding employment,</li><li>Government needs to <span style="font-weight: bold;">immediately</span> buy any assistive technology needed for work (and enforce IT departments to put any needed software on their server) all of which follows the disabled employee from job to job,</li><li>A central repository of jobs which a disabled employee would suit.</li></ul>Call me naive, but I can't see why these wouldn't help... and as far as the tax-free status goes; why is it Jamaica can afford it but New Zealand can't?<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">You make some very interesting points [Name witheld as requested] - Ed.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-17607402627499325822007-07-10T13:46:00.002+12:002008-07-02T08:50:34.594+12:00<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Thank you!<br /></span></div><br />Thank-you for leaving encouraging comments/E-mails, they are all greatly appreciated.<br /><br />But what would be even nicer is helping us to get the message of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> out there.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-13783866414597953722007-07-10T11:53:00.001+12:002008-07-02T08:53:47.259+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Jason's journey</span><br /></span></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVB4XGOYrCHdv-_FNZnsnSa8qj9BwOQTERZtuaSiA_m9iJSFZ8jgwomXOp4WQrcNrHjRKgnNi6mlx2T2uKX5xRHvXyj8Qu5NTU7AjiGa1gTzg1D0h8W88F1EvmnyGfGykPaVfrlkjOA/s1600-h/me160.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVB4XGOYrCHdv-_FNZnsnSa8qj9BwOQTERZtuaSiA_m9iJSFZ8jgwomXOp4WQrcNrHjRKgnNi6mlx2T2uKX5xRHvXyj8Qu5NTU7AjiGa1gTzg1D0h8W88F1EvmnyGfGykPaVfrlkjOA/s320/me160.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5085374057908656882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />"...My mamma always said; Life is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get...", reflected Forrest Gump while sitting; child-like; at a bus stop. Do I think Jason Watson is New Zealand's version of the 'special' movie character played so well by Tom Hanks? In some ways... but more than anything I thought it would be a fun way to start this article.<br /><br />Until he was 16 Jason didn't have a disability but rather suddenly; as it is prone to do; life went 'pear-shaped'. "No-one likes to think too much about the possibility that one day they could be walking around without a care in the world, the next they could be living a life with all the hallmarks of a made-for-TV movie".<br /><br />In 1986 Jason went to his local doctor complaining of headaches and double vision; thinking that all he would need was glasses, Jason wasn't too surprised when he was referred to a eye specialist at Wellington hospital (the fact that the appointment was the same day should have tipped Jason off that things were a bit more urgent than just poor eye-sight).<br /><br />For Jason, that was when things started getting absolutely surreal and after some surprisingly thorough examinations, the eye-specialist led Jason to a small room with a newly acquired device sitting; imposingly; in the middle of it; the machine was a C.A.T. (Computer Aided Tomography) scanner. The younger brother of the modern M.R.I. (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner, the C.A.T. scanner is a device that takes three-dimensional x-rays of inside the body; in this case Jason's head. But the 'fun' was only starting; Jason had to be injected with a rather warm radioactive dye that would highlight the exact location of any 'anomaly'.<br /><br />The 'anomaly' was a brain tumour about the size of a chicken's egg and situated at the back of the brain where balance is controlled. Of course it had to be removed; but before they could do that they had to equalise the pressure inside Jason's head with the world outside his head. As Murphey's law dictates; "If something can go wrong it will"; and in this case we can blame Jason's appetite.<br /><br />On the way to the hospital Jason stopped into a Fish and Chip shop to feed his adolescent hunger-pains and in doing so unwittingly delayed the surgery twelve hours while his meal digested. Food and anaesthetics don't mix and if they do the result is invariably vomiting while unconscious, choking and death. Seeing as Jason was only given a fifty percent chance of surviving the brain surgery anyway, the surgeons wisely chose not to reduce the odds any further!<br /><br />What followed the surgery was; to Jason; a haze of dream-like sequences as he was given powerful drugs to keep him in a comatose state while his brain recovered enough to begin to heal itself. "Imagine having a non-stop nightmare for six weeks and to make matters worse, nothing you do will wake yourself up"; that's how Jason describes the time immediately after his brain surgery.<br /><br />Jason describes his first conscious month as; "Like a big reset button for my life had been pushed". It was a time when he had to learn to do everything again; talk, feed himself, even the more obvious: toilet. For Jason it was a roller coaster ride, one moment he would be filled with the joys of learning to do a task again, the next moment he would be savagely confronted with the memory of what he had lost. Eventually he learnt to use that sensation, but that sense of loss was never going to go away totally.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><br />"It's not easy being disabled, it is made a lot harder when the disabled person knows what it is like to not have a disability"; says Jason with a distant look in his eyes; "becoming disabled is a bit like quitting smoking or drinking, but you can't just start it again if you find quitting too hard; you don't even get the benefit of your health improving"</blockquote><br /><br />Jason walks with the aid of two elbow-crutches (which had to be specifically made to meet the demands of his 6 foot 5 inch frame), his gait is a little mechanical and he jokes that for every two steps forward he takes one step backwards; maybe you've seen him walking around town?<br /><br />It is hard to understand the immense effort that it has taken Jason to come to the point where he can live a relatively independent life. He doesn't complain about the limitations of his disability or the isolation that his disability can bring, instead he prefers to be optimistic about what his future holds.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7Mi705tOV8YPq23Fo1Ysa7rUL8UYowYm7Pbacnlg1sgYPRwYrdpYU1UQ31dfdjB0xH1lrvZYuSEjI_fJuS_A3v8Lk6kkFJVqmLUIrxS51DvRKSo6cGZZWcInkWybQEQIAIIjUywu2A/s1600-h/WD_award.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7Mi705tOV8YPq23Fo1Ysa7rUL8UYowYm7Pbacnlg1sgYPRwYrdpYU1UQ31dfdjB0xH1lrvZYuSEjI_fJuS_A3v8Lk6kkFJVqmLUIrxS51DvRKSo6cGZZWcInkWybQEQIAIIjUywu2A/s320/WD_award.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5085374663499045634" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Our first-ever prize winner! [name witheld as requested]- Ed.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-44244977691153677492007-04-01T16:44:00.001+12:002008-07-02T08:55:53.377+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">What is the purpose of write disability?</span><br /></span></div><br /><br />Well, you know who we are, I have told you already, but I guess I should tell you the goals of <b>Write Disability</b>.<br /><br />Our goal is to establish a Charitable Trust, the goal of which is to support disabled writers in their writing endeavours. There will be three main phases to implementing <b>Write Disability</b>: Anyone, of any age is eligible for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> prize, however, writers younger than twenty-one years of age will be ineligible for the phase three prize but will remain eligible for phases one and two prizes.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Phase One</span>: This is the phase we are currently achieving; in this phase we hope to develop a web presence and inform people as to the aims/goals of <b>Write Disability </b>and to develop a “following”.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Phase Two</span>: This stage is contingent to funding. Until now we have established <b>Write Disability</b> without external funding, to realise this phase we would need funding. Firstly we would become a registered Charitable Trust then we would like to design and print our own brochures about <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> and advertise it widely.We would continue to award a prize to those that have entered our writing competition, however we would print a certificate and also offer a small cash honorarium along with it.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Phase Three</span>: This is the most cash intensive phase for <b>Write Disability</b>. This phase would see the Charitable Trust purchase a property and building an accessible house.The award would then be significantly upgraded. Along with the phase Two prize, the successful writer would win a stay as the “Write Disability Charitable Trust Writer-in-residence”.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We would dearly love to see all three phases to fruition and will be working “behind the scenes” to make this happen. What we NEED is for you to become involved, send us your writing, let’s do this thing!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-41012849140221917462007-03-25T11:20:00.001+12:002008-07-02T08:59:50.606+12:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">How to outline a novel</span><br /></span></div><br /><br /><blockquote><b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Swahili proverb</b><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Q.</span> How do you eat an elephant?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">A.</span> One bite at a time.</blockquote> When I speak to people, often the conversation will drift to writing, they will often tell me how they have been thinking of writing a book for years. Before I wrote my <a href="http://jwatson@kol.co.nz/books.html">book</a> I thought that too.<br /><br />One day, spurred on by a idea that excited me, I just sat down and wrote an outline for the book I was thinking of.<br /><br />There are several different techniques for writing a book, this is mine, it's called 'The Watson method'. This method focuses on writing a novel, a work of fiction.<br /><br />Ok, you have an idea, but that only takes up half a page at best, how on earth do you get an even halfway decent book out of that? Writing a book can seem a daunting, herculean task, but like all journeys (and that's what it is) it must begin with a single step.<br /><br />One of the biggest problems I've noticed with starting writers is the fact that they just don't know where, or how, to begin. Or more to the point, they THINK they don't know.<br /><br />You see, one of the most fundamental hurdles to overcome is to put pen to paper (or finger to key) and keep it there. Like most things, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. So let's start with the basics.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Start: The idea stage:</span><br /><br /><center>My idea is to write a book about a man that goes to live on Jupiter.</center><br /><br /><b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">That's a start, now we need to break that idea down further:</b><br /><br /><ol><li>Define your main character (we'll call the hero 'Joe')</li><li>Background</li><li>Goal</li><li>Doing it</li><li>Wrapping the story up</li></ol><br /><br /><b style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Now you've written down the skeleton of your idea, now to put some muscles on those bones:<br /><br />Don't forget the basics, who, what, when, why and how, answer these questions and you'll help the reader 'get their mind around' the book.</b><br /><br /><ol><li>Boring old life, dead-end job, has always wanted to go to space.</li><br /><li>Firmly believes, contrary to common opinion, that Jupiter is habitable. As a boy, he and his father were keen astronomers. Joe realizes although his Dad loved space, he was always too scared to follow his dream. Joe sees himself becoming like his father.</li><br /><li>His Dad dies, starts Joe thinking, he starts to build his spaceship after work and in the weekend</li><br /><li>Neighbors, family think he is crazy, the Government starts to poke around</li><br /><li>A few people start to take him seriously, he is interviewed on TV/magazines</li><br /><li>Joe gets a crew (describe each crew member), prepares for life on Jupiter (describe the preparations)</li><br /><li>Day of launch, sabotage by a Government agent, Joe looks like a fool. Needs to make expensive and time consuming repairs.He has quit his job and has little in the way of money. A the last moment a secret benefactor comes forward and gives him all they money he needs.</li><br /><li>New take-off, again the press, citizens are gathered around. The newly invented anti-gravity engines hum into life. The scene switches to a reporter describing the scene for a radio station, the large, spherical spaceship (dubbed, 'the Baseball') lifts off. It raises a meter into the air then crashes back down into the ground. Doing considerable damage. The failure is confusing, a part is missing, an important part that Joe remembers placing in the guidance system himself. There is a saboteur around, in the crew, Joe finds the saboteur and kicks him off the team. The billionaire benefactor hires a professional security team to guard the site all day every day.</li><br /><li>A lot of scientist come forward to show how anti-gravity drives could never work. The third launch is done in secret, a night and with no spectators or media. Joe reveals a secret that was given to him by the benefactor, a cloaking devise that not only renders the 'baseball' invisible to the human eye, but also any sort of tracking. They take-off and go into geo-synchronous orbit. Next destination, the Moon. To build a base, as practice for Jupiter. You build the base in secret, returning to earth each second day to not arouse suspicions.</li><br /><li>The moonbase is easily completed, a secret second team is to man the base. You proceed to Jupiter where you fond it is not a gas giant, but it has an atmosphere which is like 'one way glass' The atmosphere is breathable and you easily set-up your base, your second in command pilots the 'baseball' back to the moonbase, to pick-up the last load of supplies. Joe explores around some of Jupiter. He discovers an alien race living there, they are peaceful, utopian.</li><br /><li>Joe falls in love with the planet but he knows that if he goes back to Earth and tells people, they will come to Jupiter and exploit it and cause the same types of problems there are on earth. He discusses it with 'Team 1', they agree, so he gives the order for both teams to come to Jupiter and after everyone agrees, they blow-up the moonbase with remote controlled bombs. They set up a little community on Jupiter, trading with the Aliens, then living happily ever after... or do they?</li></ol><br /><br />See? it's not that hard is it? Writing is a process, it is not a static, once-only, hurculean task but a dynamic editable process.<br /><br />This is where your imagination becomes a powerful ally.<br /><br />You know the old cliché that a picture says a thousand words? Well guess what? it's not as fanciful as it sounds.<br /><br />Still think it sounds too hard?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">Try this:</span><br /><br />Think of a memory from your life, now write it down, in as much detail as you can, I bet you'll be surprised by what you write down.<br /><br />Now go to it, you <b>can</b> do it, <b>you just have to decide that you want to</b>.<br /><br />This is the stage where a word limit, or goal, is useful, try for around 6000 words a chapter, it sounds an almost impossible target, but I think you will be surprised at how easily it can be reached. The size of the book is up to you and there are a number of tools you can use to make your book more interesting. Your hero might have a love interest, you may want to increase the tension of a chapter by having, for example, a bomb on board that has to be discovered before a certain time. Remember, you want to build a picture in the readers mind, the better you describe that picture,the better the reader will be able to picture it themselves. In saying that the writer is often tempted to put in too much information.<br /><br />I guess I have one last piece of advice.<br /><br />What helped me when I was writing my book was to have a "movie" running in my mind, with each chapter, even with each scene in the chapter, I'd have a picture in my mind. Once that scene was in my mind, I'd then describe it.<br /><br />Now, a book that methodically describes every little detail in a room is going to be about exciting as watching grass grow; very boring. So you have to decide what to put in and what to leave out. Read other books, see how other authors have done it (By-the-way; don't steal their work, that is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism">PLAGIARISM</a> and is a big deal, avoid doing that like the plague).<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-42578919007502064932007-03-21T08:31:00.000+12:002007-03-22T07:53:12.226+12:00More on us...Well to start off I must say that we are really nice guys, so nice that we want to get to know you all and the good news is that you can do it <a href="mailto:writer@kol.co.nz"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span>Here</span></span></a>.<br /><br />As you will undoubtably know, there isn't an organisation like <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> out there. We are a <span style="font-weight: bold;">world first!!!</span> Made by disabled writers for disabled writers. Make no mistake: <span>THIS IS NOT A "SPECIAL" AWARD FOR ANYONE WHO CAN PRESS A KEY ON A KEYBOARD OR PUT PEN TO PAPER</span>. In saying that I mean no disrespect for those who have literacy problems, but I must stress that this is probably not the most rewarding forum for you.<br /><br />The prize is awarded like this:<br /><br />You send us your story/poem/article, we read them all then award the prize to the writer we mutally agree has done the best work.<br /><br />We need contributions, both writing and financial to make this site a success. You see, our goal is to be in a situation where we can provide a small prize, an honorarium to a worthy writer. So let's start that award now shall we?<br /><br />So, for now (and I must remind you that we are poor struggling authors too) we will award you with the below prize:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUwdRCQBiU8wcLKYgXc2DRfq2proq4CU7dfZ33S-RwOM-f_UV56WryKorCH1rPfXQyK_qip3-RP9mlRSkoPRXz2FRwRZvvyx00vzYUUmvKJ5cHJZAPWFdNhMSvg_xHcWBH24hTbKXew/s1600-h/WD_award.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUwdRCQBiU8wcLKYgXc2DRfq2proq4CU7dfZ33S-RwOM-f_UV56WryKorCH1rPfXQyK_qip3-RP9mlRSkoPRXz2FRwRZvvyx00vzYUUmvKJ5cHJZAPWFdNhMSvg_xHcWBH24hTbKXew/s320/WD_award.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044176545625629122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Which you can print out or place on your own website, not to mention the fact that your writing will get world-wide exposure!<br /><br />Of course, as funds come online we will award more substantial prizes, the nature of which will be revealed closer to that date.<br /><br />As an incentive for you to send us your writings we will be advertising this blog to Literary Agents, Publishers, Disability groups and other organisations to get you started.<br /><br />It is easiest and cheapest to E-mail us your writings, but if you want to post them to us via snail-mail, they will be treated exactly the same as electronic copies,<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">E-mail us </span><a href="mailto:writer@kol.co.nz"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >here</span></a>.<br /></div><br />Or our postal address is:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability<br />94G Savage Crescent</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Palmerston North</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New Zealand</span></span><br /></div><br />But you don't have to enter for the prize, you may simply wish to write a book review, a movie review, comment on an item of interest, this is your place!<br /><br />Oh yes, I nearly forgot.... Any accessible format is fine; E-mail, Floppy disk, CD-Rom, Audio casette, paper, just send then in!<br /><br />We really look forward to hearing from you, from our experience we know that there are a huge amount of talented disabled writers out there. Until now you haven't had a voice, now you do, now you have <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> to be your voice!<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15274325625475049.post-48376211652718627612007-03-21T00:33:00.000+12:002007-03-21T00:55:42.658+12:00In the beginning...You are probably asking yourself; Who or what is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span>?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> is a group that is seeking to bring a voice to disabled writers, to encourage them to continue writing or to envigorate them into writing.<br /><br />We at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Write Disability</span> are not Islands, we need your support to help us to help you, we are you, we both disabled, one a novelist, one a poet.<br /><br />We need your help to build this blog, we want it to be more than just a static, unchanging website, but a dynamic, growing place where disabled writers can display their talent to a <span style="font-weight: bold;">world-wide audience</span>!<br /><br />We will do our best to make sure that Literary agents/Publishers will be reading this blog too.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a Write Disability RSS feed.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0