A quick message about some forthcoming Tonto books:

‘Disrepute: Revie’s England’ is available on a special price promotion on the website. You can pre-order for £5.99 with free postage. Release date is 10 June, rrp £7.99 plus postage.

‘The Road To Hell’ paperback is now in stock and available on special price promotion too. Pre-order price is £4.99 with free postage. And as if that wasn’t enough, if you haven’t got the hardback version, you can buy on the website with a massive £10 OFF rrp (while stocks last). Not many left, so when they’re gone, that’s it.

Look out for signings to be confirmed for both authors.

We use subtext all the time without even knowing it, so why don’t we use it in our work properly? Why not put it to good use and turn our dialogue into multi-layered works of genius?

I remember the days when I used to watch Eastenders. Middle-finger-sucking Dirty Den was probably still in it. You’d always get a closing scene with two people ‘making up’ and one of them say something like, ‘Course I luv you, innit. You’re family.’ And then they’d smile, hug and the one who delivered the line’s face would be in frame and the smile would switch to ‘stoney face’. Subtext … No, I don’t love you. I hate you. I’m saying I love you but the real meaning of what I’ve just said has been revealed by my expression to the camera … those watching it know, but you don’t. Just to reiterate, I hate you.

I haven’t seen Eastenders since my bezzy mate’s missus was in it around 10 years ago, but I’m sure that example still goes on all the time.

Subtext is the meaning behind the text – saying something without saying it …

An unfaithful girlfriend talking to a new acquaintance and dropping in that she attends parties alone, cooks TV dinners for one and has nothing much to do on a weekend is giving signals away and is letting him know she’s available without actually saying it. Add to that some non-verbal communication, a bit of playing with hair as she talks and the scene is starting to develop. And there can be twists … does her boyfriend turn up and how does she introduce him? Does it turn out that the boyfriend and the new acquaintance already know each other and he enters the scene with ‘You’ve met my girlfriend, then.’

A hitman talking to his soon-to-be victim about what happened to his last one gives scope for subtext. Telling about how they screamed, delivering the dialogue while examining the detail of the gun, maybe saying the last victim offered money (to see if this one will) … or have a hitwoman and play with the gender role and expectations too. Threats are always more menacing when implied rather than ‘I’m going to poke you in the eye because I’m not a nice person.’

Not that these are the best h-examples in the world and have been done to death, but just to get the idea across. Remember – it’s all about drama and conflict, obstacles and overcoming them.

Man: ‘Oh, Christ. Chicken. Chicken again. We just had chicken.’

Woman: ‘I thought you liked chicken.’

Man: ‘I’m not that arsed about chicken anymore.’

But they sit down and start to eat their lovely meal …

Woman: ‘How is it then?’

Man: ‘Well …’

Woman: ‘Yes?’

Man: ‘A bit bland, really. A bit dry.’

Woman: ‘Maybe I could add some spices to it or something next time.’

Man: ‘Whatever. Is there owt on telly tonight?’

You get the drift.

Last rant of the week. Honest. x

We Didn\’t Burn Him!

Coming from a moving image background, I always use film and TV as examples of storytelling simply because that’s how my head works. I see novels and stories playing out as I read them … and Shirley that’s the intention of the writer as well, whatever their name is. When I write, I like to cast my characters. As mentioned in my earlier rant, if your characters cannot deliver their lines properly or they turn round and tell you their character wouldn’t say that, it may be time to rethink those lines – give them better dialogue to play with, cos if your characters are revolting, then so is your novel (b-boom … ching!).

Like so many other actors, if yours ask what their motivation is for this scene, could it be that there’s nothing driving it and the narrative forward? If so – take a look at it. What’s the purpose of the scene and the dialogue within it? Who are the characters and what do they represent? Whack some metaphor and subtext in there and give it a kick in the pants. Is the entire scene believable? Does it move the story on? If it moves it on – that’s a take – head over to the next scene. Remember that you’re in control of it, you’re directing the piece and you call the shots.

Do you read your own words out? I remember a brill doco about Bruce Robinson and how he wrote ‘Withnail’ – all with loads of red wine and a good voice. He slurred his way through the script and, to me, it was more like method writing. He knew the dialogue worked because he was acting it as he went. Fair enough, he may not have remembered that much of it by the end of the day, but it worked for him. Find out what works for you and go with it. Of course you’ll feel a right dufus at first, but soon you’ll be sat there like Billy Shakespeare laughing at your own jokes and telling the cat how brilliant you are, slurring your way through three bottles of red and staggering around in your pyjamas half an hour before your other half gets in to look as though you did some housework before collapsing on the settee as Emmerdale starts. We’ve all been there.

I was talking to a writer recently and she said she writes everything without a plan … it all just comes out. ‘You don’t plan any of the plot or dialogue?’ I asked.

Shirley not, I thought. And she wasn’t even called Shirley either.

I’ve pondered this one so many times from different perspectives. As a writer I find it impossible to write anything without planning it first. Would I go on a journey without looking at a map first? Well I probably would, but I’d still set the SatNav before driving off. As a tutor, I always go into ways of writing – some people can write without a plan, others can’t. I always encourage having a plan. As a publisher I struggle to understand how anyone can write without a plan. All this can be explained by any writer if they tell you they know their characters, story, what each would say and it’s all stored in their head.

What do you have to refer to though? If your brain is anything like mine, it’ll be reworking the story all the time. Can you check through your memory and read through a previous version of a dialogue exchange you had in mind for your characters? Not that well – and definitely not if you’re me - but you can if it’s saved in a file on your computer. You are taking a bunch of people on a journey and you owe it to them to plan it so you all don’t get lost along the way. It’s a generalisation, I know. It’s always a case of finding a balance: if you can write like a maniac all day without a plan and it all works and you don’t get stuck … then great. If you plan it all and stick to it and it guides you along to the end … then also great. Writers who just spew it all out will argue that you cannot plan creativity, Mike Leigh gets funding for films without a script, one of my favourite actors couldn’t care less about his character backstory and is only interested in the words on the page. Whatever works.

I’m reading ‘Hollywood Animal’ by Joe Eszterhas at the moment. Joe is the genius writer of Basic Instinct and Showgirls, the most infamous screenwriter in Hollywood. His story is such a mad journey and, although he’s a bit of a maverick who enjoyed the seedier side of the industry (is there one? Please tell me there’s one), his life story is very h-interesting, indeed:

Evans, the producer of Sliver, liked my Sliver script so much that he sent a voluptuous redhead wearing only a mink coat over to my hotel. She pulled a note out of a certain intimate body part.

“Best first draft I’ve ever read,” the note said. “Love, Evans.”

I might turn up on Mr Endeacott’s doorstep one day wearing only my parka and Clarks Originals just to scare him into meeting his next deadline on time.

 At chateau Tonto this week we’re putting the finishing touches to Rob Endeacott’s next best-seller and ‘The Road To Hell’ paperback is in print with a snazzy new cover. We’ve also got a final design for ‘We Are Not Manslaughterers’ by Martin Knight and roughs for ‘The Fifth Pillar’ and ‘The Change Agent’. I’ve added them to this post, but it seems to have squared them off to look like album covers. They’ll be up on the website soon.

Should we make it that far, then Disrepute: Revie’s England will be out on 12 June and The Road To Hell will be out on 17 June. As usual, if Amazon has any other dates up, they are incorrect.

Anyone in the Liverpool area make sure to turn up to Tonto mate Caroline Smailes’ launch gig at Waterstone’s L1 tomorrow night. She’s got some book out about bees or something, but there’ll be free drink to make it worthwhile and probably cake.

Laters!

Good afternoon. Not been blogging that often as there’s quite a few projects in development at the moment.

We’ve added most of the 2010 frontlist to the website now, but still have a couple more covers to have finalised before going up. It’s never an easy job trying to do everything … sure we’ll get there in the end. We’ve also had to reschedule a couple of titles – for various reasons, but generally to get those with more pre-orders out than less commercial ones and avoid having to sell my record collection to fund them. Again, I’m sure we’ll get there in the end.

The past few weeks have been interesting. Robert Endeacott has been developing his latest novel DisRepute: Revie’s England. East Leeds Mag has just published his feature here. We’re currently setting up some signing sessions and the launch and will post details up as they are confirmed. I’m also working on a few other fiction projects until they go into the edit and have really enjoyed getting back into ‘the process’. As a writer, it’s so easy to get lost in your own work and sometimes you cannot see the faults that would perhaps get flagged up and go against you in publication decision-making.

The Guardian did a really helpful list for writers- definitely worth reading, and has wa link to part two at the top of the page. Roddy Doyle dishes out some sound words of wisdom in there. Makes me think about revisiting the novel I was developing during my MA … annoyingly five years on and completely out of date. Still, the thought was there and it was worth paying two and a half grand to become a Master of Arts. There’s a list of tips from Stephen King online somewhere. I used to use it when teaching Creative Writing – one of the most useful lists ever. Here’s a link on a writing blog.

I did a couple of online interviews last year where I was asked my top tip for writers. It’s mainly the usual one – write and don’t give up. Hang on, that’s two. You know what I mean.

What I’m working on at the moment – Dialogue: Listen to how people talk, read your work out – if it is clunky to ‘act’ then it is clunky for anyone to read. Don’t have huge chunks of dialogue, don’t repeat – make every word count. Do you say ‘Get your hands off my beer’ the same way if you repeat it in conversation? Of course not – so don’t write it as so. If you need to repeat something, firstly ask yourself if you REALLY need to, then secondly … deliver it differently. Does ‘No, no’ say anything more than ‘no’? If not, it shouldn’t be there. See De Niro in Goodfellas – I’m sure he says ‘What did I tell you?’ to a few people. It gets more and more menacing in the delivery.

Watch films – see how lines of dialogue are delivered. What makes them more interesting? What are the actors doing – acting, reacting? Who does the camera (narrator?) favour during the exchange? What is their posture, expression? If it’s someone like Brad Pitt, he’ll no doubt scratch the back of his head when he’s agitated – in everything – it’s a tick … give your characters some and bring your dialogue to life! Give them some props … these are the kind of things like the glass of water in The English Patient or Pacino’s bottle of beer early on in Carlito’s Way that sometimes become continuity mistakes. Does your character play with the label of a beer when talking, avoiding eye contact? Does he slam it down to emphasise a point? Props can work well in dialogue and can be useful in conveying subtext … and can also be used as a weapon, should the scene need a bit of violence.

Dialogue is difficult to master, but is one of the most enjoyable aspects about writing, in my opinion. Have fun with it. Think about what you are trying to say … use subtext and say it without saying it … say it in four words rather than ten … make it count. It’s a construction of reality – it isn’t reality. Don’t waste space with a million ummms and errrms.

And like, get writing …