How do these bestsellers compare to my new novel?

I recently read two books, both of them featuring two main characters and both switching between each person's perspective. I wanted to read Gone Girl and One Day because they'd both been recommended to me as entertaining books. I also hoped to learn how my book, The Election, compares and how I could improve my future writing.

One Day has on my bookshelf for a couple of years. I was forced to watch the film before reading the book, and it was marginally entertaining romantic drama. I assumed the book was for women but actually when I read the first few pages what appealed to me was the way David Nicholls had characterised Dexter and Emma and captured their experiences from the 1980s the 2000s. It was a wonderful book from beginning to end and I followed the language of characters with great interest. I was also fascinated to see how David Nicholls writes tragedy into light-hearted drama. Dexter comes across as a spoilt rich kid at the start and the reader really grows with him in his journey over 20 years. Emma is completely different from Dexter but she needs him and he needs her. There is that ever-present tension between the two of them when they are together and I found myself willing them to get together.

What did I learn from One Day? The importance of creating distinct characters with separate points of view and ways of thinking. At times, I feel my characters don’t always distinguish enough from one another. Perhaps I need to work harder to develop my own voice and put myself in the bodies of the characters that I am writing.

Gone Girl was a thrilling read. I remember seeing posters everywhere on the London tube a couple of years ago. Nothing really gave away the story and nothing really prompted me to read the book, but after heavy marketing and of course an all-star movie, I was really intrigued to find out what it was about. I was also keen not to watch the movie first as I did with One Day, as I didn't want it spoiling my experience of reading the story. Just as with One Day this book flicks between the two main characters’ perceptions. Gone Girl seems to distinguish the characters even more starkly than in One Day where the characters tends to flick between perspectives even within the same paragraph.

Nick Dunne is neither hero nor villain but simply a man who has made mistakes and neglected his wife. Amy is the more complicated character, who at first appears to be something that soon changes later in the novel. It's hard to write much without giving the plot away but it was fascinating to see the interplay between two characters. There's an element of tension throughout which keeps people guessing until the end of the book. I really admired Gillian Flynn’s way with words as she, for example, described Nick smashing a glass and experiencing the sound and the smell of the whiskey with the words "I experienced rage in all five senses". These kind of sentences made me think that I still have an awfully long way to go as a writer but maybe it’s the plight of every author to doubt themselves.

I hope that the more I read of this kind of fiction, the more I will absorb the best techniques of successful and talented writers. Anyone who enjoyed Gone Girl or One Day would find my book, The Election, of interest. I would also be keen for other people's recommendations of similar books.

A woman's place is in the...

I recently met a lady called Emma on Twitter, who has produced some fantastic t shirts stating “A woman’s place is in the House of Commons” (link to purchase below). Feminism and politics is too big an issue to cover in one blog post, but I wanted to explain why I’ve written “The Election” with a female politician protagonist.

Zoe Fletcher is one of the two main characters in my novel. She starts off as a student debater at Durham University and quickly fights her way to the top of her student society to become President. Right from the outset she faces misogyny and sexism from the “old boys” of the club. However, Zoe triumphs at university and she quickly rises up the ladder of a political career in Westminster. Of course, she faces some opposition along the way but I haven’t painted too stark a picture for what it’s like for women in politics.

The thing is, I don’t think women of my generation are as encumbered as previous generations. In 2015, women leaving school and university have exactly the same opportunities as men of the same age.  Somewhere along the way a gap appears and perhaps there is still a glass ceiling. But I think the ceiling is beginning to crack. Just look at the recent General Election leaders’ debates featuring Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood – they have made David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband look decidedly dated. The men strain to assert their authority and credentials as leaders, but the women seem confident in their style of consensual politics and appear as far more natural leaders. I’ve also been in contact with some fantastic female parliamentary candidates on Twitter who I’m certain will make a massive positive difference to government if elected.

I sense the tide of politics is changing in favour of equal representation for men and women (but still only around 25% of female PPC though, which needs to change). I wanted to write a political story from a woman’s point of view as I don’t think there’s too much of that out there at the moment. Of course, I am a man writing from woman’s perspective so how can I really know what I am writing about?

Judge for yourself by downloading my book from Kindle! - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE

If you want to buy Emma’s t shirt, here’s the link - https://www.etsy.com/shop/finprint

Why does a novel need a soundtrack?

When I wrote The Election I set out to tell the story of two characters who pursue very different career paths but constantly find themselves being pulled together. Zoe is a fledgling debater at university who goes on to pursue a successful parliamentary career. Adam discovers a talent for writing songs and becomes a successful musician.

It has been said that politics is rock music for ugly people. Regardless of the veracity of that statement I do think there is an element of attraction for politicians to the celebrity of pop music. Sometimes this has disastrous consequences, such as John Prescott’s attendance at the Brit awards in the 90s, and sometimes it can become cringeworthy such as Tony Blair’s appropriation of Noel Gallagher for Cool Britannia. On the flip side, musicians are often drawn towards politics in the hope that they can truly make a difference to the world.

And so when I wrote my novel about these two characters, it seemed right to include lyrics of songs for Adam to sing. After all, I have included excerpts of Zoe’s speeches during debates. The songs that Adam sings have been written and recorded. As part of the experience of reading the novel, I want people to listen to these songs to get an understanding of where the characters are coming from and I hope it enhances the storytelling.

Finally, I’ve discovered that when it comes to promoting a book nothing is very easy or fast paced. It takes several days if not weeks to read a novel. Even the prospect of downloading a novel is scary for a lot of people. Hopefully, by listening to the songs associated with the novel, people will become more interested in the story and even if they don’t read the novel itself they will understand what I am trying to tell. And, after all, telling stories is the ultimate goal.

You can listen to the tracks on my sound cloud page – www.soundcloud.com/phil-sidney

Why I wrote a political romance novel

I've just published my first novel on Kindle. I've styled it as a political romance story, which may seem like an oxymoron. These are the reasons why I've chosen to write my story:

Cynicism - There's too much bad feeling towards politics in the UK at the moment. A lot of people think the main parties are all the same and it's still male-dominated. I wanted to introduce a new female political character, Zoe Fletcher, who is different from the same old names we've seen before and wants to make the country a better place. I've taken her back to her student days and tried to show what motivated her to become involved in politics in the first place.

Apathy - Despite the recent advent of election fever it remains true that real life politics just isn't as exciting as fiction. One of my lead characters is a musician and I've tried to create a story that links the real world to politics. It's not just a political story set in the closed halls of Westminster. 

Opportunity - I'm not a marketing expert but you've got to agree that if I was going to write a novel about politics, then the UK General Election is the time to release it. While it's not all about politics, I hope that this story will gain some traction during an important time. It also gave me a vital deadline to aim for when I started the book in January, as I knew it had to be ready by now. Deadlines are important to me, just ask my wife. 

Challenge - I can't think of a political story in fiction or real life that's ever been a straightforward love story about two people. If you can, please let me know. It's too easy to descend into smut and intrigue, which I think has it's place (and there's a bit of it in the book) but I wanted to see if my characters operate beyond that. You can decide if I've achieved that. 

My first novel, The Election, is out now and can be downloaded (currently for free) at this link - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE 

I'm genuinely interested in feedback so please read and let me know what you think. 

Best wishes, Phil

I’ve just written my first novel and this is what I learned…

After many years of writing short stories and starting longer novels, I have finally finished writing my first full length novel called “The Election”. It will soon be available for sale on Kindle. Here are the top things I learned:

Goals and deadlines are important

It’s not enough to simply want to write
a story. You need support in getting to the end. I’ve started several stories and stalled after around 30,000 words. With this one, I set a goal of writing 1,000 words per day until my story was done. I also set a deadline – my story is focused on the UK General Election and it had to be done in time for the start of the campaign, otherwise I would have to wait another five years before telling it.

Time can be squeezed from the most unlikely of places

Looking back to my days as a student I can’t believe how much free time I squandered. Now I have a full time job and a 2 year old daughter. I spent a lot of time researching procrastinating about how top executives and leaders get the most out of their days. A lot of people get up really early and I’ve read all sorts about delegation, outsourcing, etc. At the end of the day it’s important to find a routine that works for you and I managed to carve out a daily writing habit.

Stop when you’ve still got enough steam to carry on

I think this is a tip from Ernest Hemingway, who suggested that we should always stop writing when we’ve got enough interest to come back to the work the next day. It’s incredibly demoralising to exhaust myself writing 10,000 words and then completely run out of energy or inclination to go on.

Enjoy the process

At the end of the day, how many authors actually sell millions of books and make a living by writing? Very few. I wouldn’t want to rely on writing as a full time job and I’ve got other interests. Writing is a part of me. It’s something that I enjoy doing as often as possible. With a bit of discipline I could call myself a writer but I’ve heard from too many authors who feel jaded and unappreciated. Even if no one else reads my books, at least I enjoy writing them. Write for yourself, not for anyone else.

My book, The Election, is currently on Kindle. Get it on Amazon now - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VJ39ILE 

Introducing... a new name.

What if you walked into a bar and introduced yourself with the wrong name? What would you do differently if you spoke to a girl and gave her another name? What would you do if you started a new job not as you but as someone else?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. You see, I want people to read my writing. This is my opportunity to introduce myself as someone completely new.

My name means a lot to me, to my family and friends. But it’s not suitable now. I want to be a writer but there is someone else out there, a great American writer, who I cannot share such a similar name with, nor even the same shelf space in a bookshop. I won’t dwell on him now because he’s had enough promotion in his time and, in any case, he’s stopped writing now. But I don’t want to live in his shadow however great he is.

Bob Dylan did it. George Michael did it. Elton John and even Cliff Richard did it. They all created a new persona that started from a simple name. So what about it? If you changed your name? Would you act differently in that bar, would you talk to the opposite sex differently, would you change the way you act if you could become someone else entirely?

I suppose the answer is we can never really escape who we are. And a name is just a name. But for my purposes I needed a new name to become a writer that people want to read. And who am I?

My name is Phil Sidney.

I don’t know how many Phil Sidneys there are in the world. But the one I’m thinking of when I chose my name lived 400 years ago and he was one of the greatest poets of his generation. I think that enough time has passed that I can use his name with some reverence to forge my own career. But to pay the piper, so to speak, I want to give one of his poems a little airing in the light the 21^st-century world. It’s one of my favourite passages and is as true today as it was all those years ago, which just goes to show that the human condition never really changes but the shit in the streets gets swept away.

Sonnets and Poetical Translations
XXI. If I could think how these my thoughts to leave
Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
IF I could think how these my thoughts to leave;
Or thinking still my thoughts might have good end:
If rebel sense would reason’s law receive;
Or reason foiled would not in vain contend:
Then might I think what thoughts were best to think;	5
Then might I wisely swim, or gladly sink.
If either you would change your cruel heart;
Or cruel still, time did your beauty stain;
If from my soul, this love would once depart;
Or for my love, some love I might obtain:	10
Then might I hope a change or ease of mind;
By your good help, or in myself to find.
But since my thoughts in thinking still are spent,
With reason’s strife, by sense’s overthrow;
You fairer still, and still more cruel bent;	15
I loving still a love, that loveth none:
I yield and strive; I kiss and curse the pain,
Thought, reason, sense, time, you and I maintain.

So, that’s it. My name is Phil Sidney and I’m a writer. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and all the other platforms you can think of. I hope this doesn’t detract from my writing. I want to use this blog to share my thoughts and occasionally my short stories. I hope that other people will find this blog and read my stories and enjoy them. That’s as much as anyone can ask for.