Iain Broome

I was asked by Mary Clark on Twitter if I would share a synopsis of my novel. I realised it's something I haven't really done, despite having my own little corner of the blogosphere.

So I recorded this.

Rest assured the novel itself sports a considerable amount more clarity and order.

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After buggering about with WordPress for ages I've now officially, as in forever, as in definitely not going to change again in a hurry, moved my blog over to Posterous. That's here.

I love WordPress and it's great for my other blogs, Write for Your Life and Websites for writers. But for, you know, my own personal comings and goings, it's just a bit much.

So what I've done is move my blog and all its old posts over here to this Posterous site. Posterous is great by the way. I've used Tumblr for a couple of years and that's great too, but more as a scrapbook for hanging on to 'stuff that I find on the internet'. Posterous is perfect for actual blogging on the fly. Which is nonsense-talk for quickly.

Of course, you'll have noticed (no?) that the URL to this blog is blog.iainbroome.com, which no doubt leads you to wondering where the old iainbroome.com takes you. Well, I'll tell you. Because that's changed too.

On my travels I discovered a delightful new start-up called Flavors.me, which allows you to create a smashing looking website that pulls in all your social media streams and updates it all for you, including this blog. It's great and hassle-free, like a nice shampoo.

Anyway, the point is this...

To look at a massive picture of me with a chin that's larger than it is in real life and to check me out in general, go to iainbroome.com. If you want to ignore all that and stick to updates about my writing and all things writing-related, stay here and subscribe via RSS or even by email.

That's it!

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Now I'm by no means a photographer and this blog is by no means a place for me to share photos willy-nilly.

However, after spending the weekend at the future folks-in-laws taking some snaps of 'where the marquee might go' (and a weird tractor), and being curious about Posterous' image gallery function, here I am pretending to be a photographer and doing some photo sharing.

Note that I've made the images black and white to give the impression that I know what I'm doing.

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Permission please to push you towards this wonderful new article by Manuela Boyle that was published yesterday on my big blog, Write for Your Life. 

It's a great look at the difficulty of being a copywriter by day and a novelist, scriptwriter or poet by night. It's a tough old line to tread, but one that I believe can be, well, trodden.

In fact, my creative writing definitely improved when I first started copywriting. It gave me skillz and know-how that I simply didn't have before. Like how to structure a long piece of work and how to approach research.

So yeah, to answer my own question, I think copywriters can also be creative writers. But then I do both. So I would.

Let me know what you think, either here or over at Manuela's post, which is much more interesting and detailed.

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Yeah, so I've spent the day editing my novel and going over bits and pieces what was actually writ quite some time ago and I thought, you know what, why not share some of it? Only a bit, like, because it's a novel and extracts always lack context and I haven't got the wherewithal to explain myself. And also it's the weekend, so who's looking anyway, right?

Anydoodles, here's a paragraph made up of words that came from my nutcase:

Kipling is 85 dog years old. A brown and white Springer spaniel with large floppy ears that look like a pair of socks draped over his head. He arrived just two days before Georgina told me she wanted us to stop trying for children. It never felt like a coincidence. We’d wanted children for so many years. I’d make charts and graphs and Georgina would attach them to the fridge with magnets. We called them our baby papers. She kept me informed and I kept them up to date. On the day we stopped trying, Kipling climbed on to the kitchen table, leapt across the room and pulled them off with his teeth. He’d only been with us a week. I collected the torn pieces of paper and put them in the bin. We never spoke about children again. We had Kipling. That’s all that mattered. He would have to do.

That's it!

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Now, I know it's quite common for writers to light up the candles in an attempt to create some kind of zen-like atmosphere that helps fuel their creativity. But I've never really bought all that. In fact, my writing 'space' has always been kind of, you know, officey.

However, having struggled recently to make that always tricky switch from copywriting in the day to writing fiction at night, yesterday I decided to go all low tech. I got the weird fairy light-filled lampshade from downstairs and lit a few tea lights.

And you know what, it worked!

I can't explain why, but the lower light really seemed to help me 'get my head down'. I suspect it's more to do with the light I normally use being ludicrously bright and off putting, but like a superstitious footballer who always puts his kit on in a certain order, I'm sticking with it while it's working.

Funny isn't it, how our environment can directly affect the way our brainbox works?

Anyway, the most interesting thing about this picture is not my candle arrangements, but the full screen preview of the new Write for Your Life that's pinned to my notice board. A little treat for you zoomer-inners.

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If you live in and around Sheffield, like me, then there's a fair chance you already know about We Live Here, the completely marvellous gallery and store of Sheffield-based artist and designer, Jonathan Wilkinson. If you don't, then by goodness it's time you did.

I have three pieces of his work (including the one of the now no more Tinsley cooling towers, pictured above) and would really rather like to have his latest print, which is of the iconic Sheffield University building, the Arts Tower. Even though I studied at Hallam!

Anyway, if you like what you see, We Live Here also do commissions. In fact, you might as well get the lowdown straight from the We Live Here website:

The works vary from limited edition runs to open editions, produced as striking lithographic prints. All the pieces on show are my own depiction of the buildings featured and are 'constructed' from my own observations and sketches. As well as the series of works available on this website I also work to commission and have a portfolio of client based work, that is available upon request.

I mention all this partly because I genuinely think Johnny's (yes, I know him) work is brillopads, but also because if (no, when!) my novel gets published, I shall be doing everything I can to persuade all parties into creating We Live Here stylee cover art.

That's it. Go buy art!

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Okay, so this picture doesn't include the inevitable laptop, but that aside a writer can't go too wrong with a range of Post-it notes, a cup of tea and a printed manuscript.

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What with work and my novel and this that and the other I sometimes find myself with something to say, but without the time to say it. And that's why I've started using AudioBoo, the iPhone and web-based application that lets you quickly record and publish audio clips.

I'm not going to talk too much about it here, because I've done so over at Write for Your Life, my blog for writers. Needless to say, I think it's a rather snazzy service and one that writers can really take advantage of.

I'm going to use it in addition to my more traditional, fingers and keyboard style blogging. But in time I also expect to use it to chat about what I'm up to with my own writing.

If you'd like to hear what I've been saying so far, you can head over to my AudioBoo stream. While you're there, I can recommend signing up and giving it a go yourself.

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Permission to point you towards the ever-excellent Bubblecow and their latest post on how writers can use StumbleUpon to get more traffic. I too have used StumbleUpon and it's very easy to lose half an hour as you search for 'writing' and get weird, wacky and often useful websites thrown at you left, right and centre. As a shameless sharer of writing websites myself, I know what it's like to come across hidden gems containing all manner of handy titbits. StumbleUpon is a rather fun way of doing such a thing.

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It's very much the same, but very much different
Last month I posted here to say that I was going to be updating the look and feel of my side project, Websites for writers, and adding a few new features to boot. Well, I'm posting again now to let you know the deed has been done. There are still a few things I need to sort out (and by that I mean get someone else to do it because it's too technical for my writerly sensibilities), but for the most part, it's there. So what are you waiting for, head on over. And if you have a site of your own, feel free to submit it. Oh, and if you have a site or product that you'd like to advertise, get in touch!

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Well, 2009 has been a memorable year with lots going on and plenty of challenges. I’ll be spending Christmas in Dublin with my notepad and pencil, scribbling ideas for a new novel, amongst other things. Until I return, farewell.

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Websites for writers is an independent directory of online writing resources. I set the site up in May this year and have been blown away by how popular it's been - it's received well over 100,000 page views up to now. I've always said the site is in 'Beta', because I've known that at some point I wanted to improve its functionality and make more features available. Well now's the time! Over the next couple of weeks Websites for writers will undergo a minor makeover and gain the following features:

• Site-wide search facility to help you find specific sites or browse by keywords.
• Larger thumbnails on the homepage with a preview tooltip on mouseover.
• Recommended articles in the sidebar - not just sites now, but good articles for writers too!
• 'Favourite sites' - register and login to keep track of your favourite sites for writers.
• Breadcrumb trail to help you move around the site quickly and easily.

If you visit the site over the next week or two you might be met with a 'Sorry, I'm working on the site' message. But don't worry. I'm just working on the site. The main thing is, when I'm finished, Websites for writers will be much easier to use and considerably better in many other ways too. I'm looking forward to it. Hope you are too.

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A snapshot of my bookshelf at The Workshop
We recently published a post on The Workshop blog (where I work as a copywriter) called 5 super style guides for writers, editors and proofreaders. I didn't write it, but it's a smashing post and very handy if you're, well, any of the above. I always have a style guide nearby, whether I'm working on my novel or pumping out copy. In fact, if I spin around in my chair I can see the The Oxford Manual of Style and a load of other writing-related titbits, ready and waiting for me (see image above). When writing for clients, they'll often have their own style quirks. You know, sentence case for every item on a bulleted list, that kind of thing. I might think that kind of thing is insane, but if it's what the client wants, then it's what the client shall receive. But you'll always need a default. You'll always need a set of standards that you come back to again and again to make sure your writing is consistent.

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Noel Williams is a smashing writer and was a regular performer at the spoken word night I used to run in Sheffield, called Words Aloud. He got in touch with me recently to ask if I'd like to spread the word about a fascinating collaborative project he's currently working on. It sounds great and you should seriously consider getting involved. You can find out more, including how to contribute by visiting this page on Poetry Off the Page. Here's the gist though:

The heart of poetry is speech. My plan is to create several audio files with different slants on the core theme of “Women and War”, then pitch them against each other.

So, if you're a budding or experienced poet and would like to get involved with what sounds like a very interesting project, head over now and see if it's for you.

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As you might know, I've done a fair bit of podcasting, both video and audio, on this site and over at Write for Your Life. We also used to record and publish all the live audio performances from Words Aloud, the spoken word night I ran with pals and colleagues. And to be perfectly honest, I really rather enjoy getting multi- with my media. It's good fun and provides a way of getting your personality and message, dare I say brand, across that just wasn't possible before. Truth is, writers, whether published or not, have far more marketing muscle at their fingertips these days. Recording a podcast is surprisingly simple given the right equipment. And even that's easy to find and inexpensive.

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It's so easy peasy!
While the online writing community is frantically falling over itself to take part in National Novel Writing Month, why not kick back, relax and learn how to hand-make your very own book instead? I saw this guide over the weekend and fairly shrieked with delight at finding some straighforward, practical book-making instructions. Of course, this process will no doubt take forever and prove positively frustrating for much of the time, but what joy at the end results! So, if you're after a winter project that doesn't involve the mildy questionable value (aside from the money raised for charity) of speed-writing a novel, I recommend heading over to and bookmarking this wonderful book-making tutorial. Go on. Off you pop.

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