This week: the Oscars and why awards give me the ick; an update on my writing; The Spike-related links; and being inspired by The Dark Knight soundtrack.
unrewarding
It was the Oscars last weekend and I’ve never been less interested in them.
In the era of the internet, and with the tools to make art much more widely available, there is too much released for anyone to read/see/hear all of it.
There are over four million books published per year worldwide.
There were over twelve hundred films released in the UK alone in 2024.
And I’ve looked, but I can’t find a count of how many albums were released in the UK in 2024. The best I was able to come up with was Wikipedia’s list of over nine hundred “notable” albums, EPs or mixtapes.
Who’s to say an indie musician with poor marketing skills didn’t record the best song of the year? Some will claim if a creation is good enough, it will find its audience, but that depends on the people who know about it having a wide reach and spreading the word.
This isn’t leading up to me asserting the only reason my novel didn’t win an award was because not enough people knew about it. This is where the other major issue I have with awards comes in.
Other than metric-based prizes (e.g. sales), awards for creative arts are based on opinions.
I’ve written previously about opinions and their value, or lack thereof. Opinions of people you respect can be useful, but too many award shows are tainted by commercial interests.
Industry awards, like the Brits, are often used as a promotional tool for artists who need a bump in popularity to sell more records.
Media awards, like the Golden Globes or any newspaper/magazine/website award, can be tainted by promises/threats re advertising revenue or access to exclusive features etc.
Public polls are coloured by the type of audience the organiser has. For example, if MTV plays mostly pop and hip-hop, you can’t expect a jazz band to win an MTV award. They are open to outside interference too (see the Brexit vote).
Even if a vote is untainted, deciding one creation is “better” than another is subjective and reductive.
I have a favourite album and a favourite song, but I wouldn’t argue they’re the “best” ever made. I have a personal, emotional connection to them that means, even if I hear something objectively better, they are unlikely to ever be replaced.
I couldn’t narrow down what my favourite movie or book is. My feelings on them fluctuate, and which film I would most like to watch at any given time can depend on my mood.
This is why you didn’t see me doing end of year awards on my blog.
As for receiving an award, if I were to ever be nominated, I would probably be pleased that someone else liked my work, but I would also be uncomfortable to be judged against others. The idea of there being a “winner” gives me the ick.
I’ll leave the final word to Nick Cave who, as usual, puts it more eloquently than I ever could.
progress_report
I didn’t get as much done this week as I would have liked. The day job was worse than expected, and I’m also not feeling my best at the moment; I’ll go into why another time, maybe next week.
The writing I managed to do was tricky. I rewrote chapter 32 of part 3 from scratch because the corresponding chapter it crosses over with in part 2 changed completely for the second draft. I needed to strip it down, re-outline the scene, and make sure the causes and effects lined up.
The next couple of chapters need to change too, but not as heavily. I’ve already done some work on that.
I’m delighted to have another week off now, and intend to get deep into my writing. Hopefully I’ll have some good news to report on the next blog.
status.vol2
The Spike Volume 2 will contain three separate books from the perspective of seven characters.
Part 1 – draft 2 complete; further chapters to add.
Part 2 – draft 2 complete!
Part 3 – draft 2 written up to chapter 32; thirty-four chapters to go.
The intention is to complete draft 2 of part 3 by the end of March.
Part 1 is currently much shorter than the others, and I want them to be closer in length, so I will need to decide how to tighten parts 2 and 3 slightly, and add more to part 1 – I have some exciting ideas to expand it.
Then a readthrough of all parts will determine how much revision is required.
The ultimate aim is to have Volume 2 finished by the end of 2025 for publication early 2026.
connecting_links
The Spike is set in our world, incorporating real events; the links below are relevant to the themes and overarching storyline, and may or may not provide clues to the direction of the series.
I do not necessarily agree with or endorse any of the views within.
How the risk of AI weapons could spiral out of control
Cheap ‘n’ simple sign trickery will bamboozle self-driving cars, fresh research claims
AI deepfakes threaten democracy and people’s identities. ‘Personality rights’ could help
How AI can achieve human-level intelligence: researchers call for change in tack
Almost no one uses Bitcoin as currency, new data proves. It’s actually more like gambling
weekly_inspiration
Every week I share something that’s inspired my creativity.
This week, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for The Dark Knight by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. I like listening to film soundtracks as I write, as there’s no lyrics to distract me, and I try to pick music with a tone that suits what I’m working on.
This is a clue to what kind of scene I was writing this week…
What’s inspired you this week? Please share in the comments.
See you next week.
Arrowmaker Books 