Skip to main content

I hate proposals

I'm just in the process of writing a proposal for a new book. I'd say that this is possibly the worst thing that writers have to do (with the possible exception of anything involving accountants - sorry Ian).

In part, the pain is similar to that of putting together a business plan in the real world. It's hard work, yet of itself it isn't a true product. It's just a pale reflection of something that might happen in the future.

There's also the need to constantly suppress the urge to woffle. A good proposal has to be concrete, to interest the reader, even though it's not the real thing. For some reason, the brain is constantly trying to output woffle when writing a proposal (probably to avoid having to do some serious work).

Finally, it's something that triggers a period of agonized waiting. Will they like it? What will they say? It's like doing exams all over again. What joy. But it'll be worth it in the end if the publisher goes for it. And they will go for it. Won't they?...
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous30 January 2009 at 17:32

    ..and what is it that accountants hate doing? It's writing, of course...which is why so many are avid readers - of almost anything that doesn't smack of fiction!

    Keep up the good work and remember that accountants only paint in numbers what others see in colour.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brian Clegg31 January 2009 at 12:00

    Ian, it wasn't aimed at you (my accountant is also called Ian) - I really enjoy talking to the accountants I know, but doing my accounts is a different matter!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I hate opera

If I'm honest, the title of this post is an exaggeration to make a point. I don't really hate opera. There are a couple of operas - notably Monteverdi's Incoranazione di Poppea and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas - that I quite like. But what I do find truly sickening is the reverence with which opera is treated, as if it were some particularly great art form. Nowhere was this more obvious than in ITV's recent gut-wrenchingly awful series Pop Star to Opera Star , where the likes of Alan Tichmarsh treated the real opera singers as if they were fragile pieces on Antiques Roadshow, and the music as if it were a gift of the gods. In my opinion - and I know not everyone agrees - opera is: Mediocre music Melodramatic plots Amateurishly hammy acting A forced and unpleasant singing style Ridiculously over-supported by public funds I won't even bother to go into any detail on the plots and the acting - this is just self-evident. But the other aspects need some ex
114 comments
Read more

Is 5x3 the same as 3x5?

The Internet has gone mildly bonkers over a child in America who was marked down in a test because when asked to work out 5x3 by repeated addition he/she used 5+5+5 instead of 3+3+3+3+3. Those who support the teacher say that 5x3 means 'five lots of 3' where the complainants say that 'times' is commutative (reversible) so the distinction is meaningless as 5x3 and 3x5 are indistinguishable. It's certainly true that not all mathematical operations are commutative. I think we are all comfortable that 5-3 is not the same as 3-5.  However. This not true of multiplication (of numbers). And so if there is to be any distinction, it has to be in the use of English to interpret the 'x' sign. Unfortunately, even here there is no logical way of coming up with a definitive answer. I suspect most primary school teachers would expands 'times' as 'lots of' as mentioned above. So we get 5 x 3 as '5 lots of 3'. Unfortunately that only wor
24 comments
Read more

Which idiot came up with percentage-based gradient signs

Rant warning: the contents of this post could sound like something produced by UKIP. I wish to make it clear that I do not in any way support or endorse that political party. In fact it gives me the creeps. Once upon a time, the signs for a steep hill on British roads displayed the gradient in a simple, easy-to-understand form. If the hill went up, say, one yard for every three yards forward it said '1 in 3'. Then some bureaucrat came along and decided that it would be a good idea to state the slope as a percentage. So now the sign for (say) a 1 in 10 slope says 10% (I think). That 'I think' is because the percentage-based slope is so unnatural. There are two ways we conventionally measure slopes. Either on X/Y coordiates (as in 1 in 4) or using degrees - say at a 15° angle. We don't measure them in percentages. It's easy to visualize a 1 in 3 slope, or a 30 degree angle. Much less obvious what a 33.333 recurring percent slope is. And what's a 100% slope
22 comments
Read more