I have decided to stop posting my Vocal writing on SevendaysIn. I will continue posting on both platforms but this will be less focussed that the Vocal posts , and more just to record what is happening and to share music and links to books , and not to be too bothered about how many words I am posting.
This week is mainly not doing anything in Thirsk, and spending time away from work, although I have had a nice Whatsapp chat with my lovely boss.
The place I am staying is excellent and has a smart TV that is allowing me to watch whatever I want to, so I have re picked up "Better Call Saul". I find it amazing that now you can go on holiday and take the minimum of entertainment with you because ereaders mean you can take books on a device and it's the same with music and films and TV thanks to streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and All4, so I'm not short of anything to watch although I took an age to work out how to get rid of subtitles off iPlayer. You need to pause the program and then the subtitles icon appears on the pause screen.
So I'm not writing for Vocal so I can share the semi appropriate "Holiday Road" from "Nationl Lampoon's Vacation" by the genius Lindsey Buckingham. I call also reign back my posting on here although my Vocal posts may continue on an almost daily basis.
Another take away from me on writing on Vocal. As I have said I saw the original adverts for it saying that it would improve your writing discipline and I am always wary of claims like that, but willing to give things a try. A similar thing was with the NOOM diet plan which I eventually found too intrusive with the number of things that I was expected to take on, although I did take a couple of positive things from it and know people who are on the NOOM course and losing weight , but I found it too intrusive.
I was half expecting this from Vocal , but it just seems to be a supportive network and is full of articles about anything you need to know , a bit like the Internet search engines except that the articles are foul articles and not full of pop up adverts and misleading links.
I find the areas to post in is not always obvious and Vocal always manages to file them in a suitable area. I also find the tags not always perfect for what I have written about, but publishing is relatively simple.
The only rules that need to be followed is that your article needs to be at least six hundred words long and it needs to be readable. I once tried an article that I had done by dictating into my phone and it was, quite rightly, rejected.
I have been blogging for fifteen years on SevenDaysIn which I started as a travel diary but is has been taken over by my love for music and anything else that I want to remember. I do publish my articles there , as well as on Vocal as some readers prefer that platform and at the moment I get more visits there than I do here , but I have only been on here for less than a month, but published (when this is live) 32 articles.
This year I had said I would scale down my writing , but Vocal has actually caused me to write a lot more. The other thing is that my articles on SevenDaysIn were mostly around 250 words but obviously to appear on Vocal they need to be longer, so I have not only increased the number of articles I have written , but also increased the content of those articles and I hope the quality is still good enough for an audience to read.
I don’t think in all my time on SevenDaysIn I actually wrote about writing, but here I am on Vocal doing that.
So after this big preamble I now have a system that allows me to produce articles with interesting content in a relatively simple fashion.
I now do not type straight into the blogging interface. I did use Microsoft Word , but now have moved to Google Docs as it is fast , responsive , and lightweight and your documents are always available online, and it is free. I do find it amazing that with the processing power of our computers and devices certain software is so bloated with extra stuff it slows down the device to an unusable state.
When I have finished the article in Docs I choose a header video or picture for the Vocal story and paste the text in to give me the basic article.
When I was looking at Vocal articles I couldn’t work out how to put in links and pictures and videos into the article, but a little experimentation , showed me that if, at the start of a paragraph, I press an up arrow (sometimes twice) followed by the return key a plus sign (+) appears on the left hand side of where the cursor is and you can then add your link to enhance your article.
I had also seen text links and wasn’t sure how to do that, but if you select text you are given the option of changing it to a basic link , as well as a lot of other options.
I hope this points will help you if you are new to Vocal and I am certainly becoming more impressed with the interface and the platform.
As I am writing this I am listening to Fatboy Slim’s “Greatest Hits” and across the front it states “Why Try Harder?” from the cover guy’s T-Shirt , and really when we work we should be smarter so we don’t have to work harder, which means that after work we wil have energy for the things in life that we really want to do. I never knew until today that "Weapon of Choice" with the crazy dashing Christopher Walken video also features Bootsy Collins.
Incidentally I have found this piece easy to write and it has clocked it at more than 800 words. I recently read an article by Adrian Cruce about freelancing which stated the writer was paid $1.50 per 500 in 2001 which they rated a slave labour but now charge ten times that, but the rates still seem very low but that is the nature of the economy at the moment but hopefully we can change that.
I am constantly surprised at the number of people who do not not read books. They give excuses that they are too busy , they can’t concentrate and it’s easier to watch the film or TV series. I was saddened when my mother gave two sets of encyclopaedias to my brother and sister because she decided she didn’t like books. She taught me to read before I hit primary school when I was 4 , so she was well aware of how important reading was, and I am thankful for that. I also did the same for my daughters, much to the chagrin of some of their teachers.
Reading is a very useful habit and tool to have in your armoury to help you through lie. It can help you understand things , tell you how to accomplish things , although I mostly use it to go on adventures and to experience other worlds that are not my own.
As I have said people say they would rather watch a film , but that is the film makers take on that particular story and, especially since CGI became the norm, anything can be rendered on the cinema or TV screen, and that is no bad thing.
For instance “The Lord of The Rings” and “The Hobbit” films last about twelve hours altogether and people complain that Frodo or Aragorn was not how they imagined and places were not the same, but this was Peter Jackson’s take on the story, it was not Tolkien’s , or mine, or yours , it was his.
Also despite the work that goes into making a film, the resultant film is about two hours long. Jackson managed to compress the six books of “Lord of the Rings” into three two hour films , but managed to spread the single book of “The Hobbit” over the same amount of film, therefore trimming a lot less from the original story. My friend Keith Mole also had a bit part in “The Hobbit” movies.
I suppose what I am working towards is saying that to enjoy a book you do need a decent imagination to be able to go where the words in the book intend to take you. There are, of course reference books and encyclopaedias that you will dip in to find facts but I am talking about books that you will read start to finish, these are the ones that you need your imagination to be fully immersed in the experience. Maybe some people don’t , or can’t read because their imagination can work with what the book tells us.
We see lots of examples of people unable to watch a program, eat a whole meal, or listen to a song or an album from start to finish, and the thought of a book becomes a brick wall to them. Sometimes I see large books as a challenge, same with long pieces of music and long films, but I immerse myself and often find I do not want the book to end.
My favourite book is “Imajica” by Clive Barker which clocks in at around 1200 pages. I gave my paper copy to a friend and am revisiting it on my Kindle Fire, and I still love it when I drop into it and explore and experience the characters , places and events in there. As I write this I think I may get “Lord of the Rings” on my device and enjoy that in the same way.
I am also revisiting the Adversary Cycle by F Paul Wilson which is basically six books at around 400 pages each , so the whop lot is twice the length of “Lord of The Rings”, and last rear I revisited some of the “Eternal Champion” books by Michael Moorcock which are usually trilogies or quadrilogies with each book 150-250 pages so a little shorter but still some wonderful adventures, although the only book that Moorcock wrote that resulted in a film was “The Final Program” which was “Eternal Champion” related but based on another Armageddon scenario.
The Philip Pullman series “His Dark Materials” was started as a film “The Golden Compass” but the American Christian right were against it’s anti religious sentiments so no more films were made , but HBO and the BBC came out with a stunning take on it, and although they are a TV series and have created a very believable rendition of the books for me there are many who don’t like it because it’s not their rendition.
So basically before you read a full book , prime your imagination before you take the plunge.
My last few posts have been more focussed on single item although this is more about where I am at the moment.
I had been playing Scrabble on Facebook with a few friends but it became less stable to the point of often not being able to play , and so I went back to Words With Friends which I had left about eight years back due to the number of pop up adverts that stopped me from playing, or at least slowed it down.
Although it’s on Facebook and requires a Facebook login for the phone version, if I tried to play it on Facebook it did not link with what I was playing on the phone. Again there were the adverts which I discovered you could exit early , but the worst thing was how the app drained the phone battery especially if you did not close the app when you were finished. Also loading the app was very slow but I could live with it, but I checked the battery usage and it would drop significantly when I was playing the game. I have a Google Pixel 2XL. The other was people who wanted to chat, some were actually fine, but most were trying to sell me bitcoin and forex stuff despite me saying I wasn’t at all interested, then there were people demanding my email and hangouts address so they could chat (I pointed out they could chat in the app) , but it was a final nail in Words With Friends for me. I informed my two Facebook friends who I played with and removed it from my phone, and the performance and battery life have improved no end.
The main battery drainage is my sharing video on Instagram and converting it using the excellent YouCut but I am fine with that , processing does take power.
I am intending to share this on Vocal but at this point this article is only half the required length so now I am going on to what I am reading at the moment. Also as I am writing this I am listening to the excellent “Bastards” the third disc of the “Orphans” set by Tom Waits and that has been my listening yesterday and this morning after his surprisingly good collaboration with Crystal Gayle on the soundtrack of the Francis Ford Coppola film “One From The Heart”, although with Tom Waits the unexpected is almost always expected.
I have just gone to cast my Local Council vote and the temperature is 1 degree Centigrade , cars and roofs are iced and there is black ice on the footpaths.
So Repairman Jack. I am reading “The Tomb” , the second book in The Adversary Cycle. It bears no resemblance to “The Keep” , the first book which was based in the second World War in Romania with two supernatural opponents , Nazis and Holocaust references , and it is an excellent read although the film was less successful , but a film has a limited time span to tell the story whereas a book can last as long as you want.
This is a rereading of “The Tomb” but it’s based in the eighties , dated by Jack’s Betamax collection and the fact he can live easily off grid in New York. Jack fixes wrongs. This book flashes between the British Raj and Sepoy rebellion in 19th Century India and 1980s New York with a Religious fundamentalist and some “demons” under his control. The “demons” are trained creatures and mortal, so not necessarily supernatural.
As yet there seems to be no link with “The Keep” , in particular the Adversary Molasar/Rasalom , but I’m only 140 pages in which is just over a third through the book, so there is plenty of time yet for an appearance. This is where not having a perfect memory is a benefit, I know the books are good , I know the basic overall story but the details are missing. Also F Paul Wilson is an extremely engaging writer and knows how to reel you in, or he knows how to reel me in.
I will no doubt add more as I work through the book , but it’s just the second of six books so I have a long way to go, and I’m not sure if Jack appears in all the books. I could research but I am happy just reading and enjoying “The Tomb”.
When I saw the ads for Vocal , I was a bit wary although my interest was piqued. It posited that you would become more disciplined with your writing and therefore be able to write better and more often and maybe even get paid for it. Anything that says you can make money is another red flag, very often the first thing that happens is that you are asked for money, then you don’t make enough to cover what you have paid out and the only people who profit are the people that you have paid.
Vocal allows you to join and post for free and receive rewards but for $10 a month you get significantly improved rewards plus extras such as free entry to paid writing competitions where you can win up to $1,000 which is fairly tempting.
I am still on the free pass seeing if I can potentially start making money from this platform.
One of the main benefits is that your pieces are exposed to the membership and you are rewarded when they read them and that in turn makes you want to write more.
This year I was intending to cut back on my blog writing , but since I joined Vocal I have posted about 15 pieces since I started on the 18th of April.
Prior to joining I would write on my blog, each post being around 250-300 words, but Vocal requires a minimum of 600 words for an article so that is something that I need to be aware of when I am writing.
This was my first ever blog post on sevendaysin.co.uk on 18th February 2007:
This is just a start. Everyone seems to be blogging , so it’s just to set down some thoughts and observations.
The aim of the blog is to
Tell you about my website
Post articles on things
Make comments on stuff that I've seen and heard”
So that was less than fifty words and for a long time I thought that was acceptable.
Eventually it grew and my posts were usually directly into the blogger but with Vocal I realised I needed a new discipline , which I am following as I write this.
I tried actually dictating my posts but this required so much post editing and formatting , any time I saved, was lost getting the post into an acceptable format.
Next I thought I would use Microsoft Word so I could see a word count as I typed but it seemed slow and cumbersome to create the posts. I also like to include links to relevant products and an appropriate music video , as music is probably my most indulged with hobby as you would know if you follow my Instagram or Twitter channels @mikeydred96.
As I type this I am listening to a “Best Of” Spooky Tooth. Music often makes words flow from my fingertips and certainly makes writing easier, but others may prefer quiet.
Although isolation is best for writing , you cannot be totally isolated in life otherwise it is unlikely you could write about anything.
Even if you are writing fiction you need some form of inspiration , a Muse , contact and experience. These all provide inspiration for what you are going to put on your electronic page.
We are in a far better place for creativity than ever before. I am writing this using free online software and publishing on a free platform where others can read for free.
Even if I didn't have a home and computer I could use a local library to put this together. That probably wouldn’t have been an option even ten years ago , although to be honest we could have done it as I have been blogging since 2007.
Google Docs, which I am using to write this while listening to “I Am The Walrus” by Spooky Tooth, has a lot of helpful tools to make your writing easier , and the document is stored online so you can find it anywhere and it has just let me know I have it 675 words which is more than I need to actually submit this for publication on Vocal.
This is another thing , I would nether have thought about writing about writing before I joined Vocal, so it has instilled a bit of discipline in me that I don’t think I had before.
So I will finish this by sharing “The Weight” written by Robbie Robertson for The Band , covered by Smith on the “Easy Rider” soundtrack album but this cover is by Spooky Tooth.
This is essentially a diatribe on how copyright law is applied when you share on social media platforms such as Youtube , Facebook and Instagram . As yet I have had no issues with Twitter. The thing is I understand if the artist is not getting any benefit for my share , or I am being disrespectful, but where I can I share a link to buy the CD or digital copy.
Instagram and Facebook seem to be the worst, I was under the impression that you could share under thirsty seconds of a song , so I tend to keep the snips to 15-20 seconds although I make it up to minute long in the video sampling multiple songs. This is just like me playing a record for friends and saying “How good is this , take a listen and if you like it buy it”. I am providing the artist and therefore the record company and copyright owner with free advertising.
I don’t share the whole song , although I did in one instance recently “The Son of Noah’s Brother” by The Incredible String Band from “The Big Huge” is only seventeen seconds long. I have not had any problems with that share.
I will admit that more often than not companies are OK.. One of my most viewed Youtube videos is a slideshow featuring the artwork of Dr Faustus portraying the Nick Cave song “Red Right Hand” (the first piece of outside music used in the “X-Files” and later resurfaced in “Peaky Blinders”) in the style of Dr, Seuss.
I contacted Dr Faustus to see if he was OK using the art work but never received a reply , but I included a link in my Youtube post. I have not had a complaint from Nick Cave or his representatives and a lot of people seem to like it from the comments that I get on the post.
However in 2014 I was listening to 6Music and the DJ (which may have been Shaun Keaveny) mentioned that Christopher Lee was 90 and had been making heavy metal albums. I checked this out and was amazed to find that Christopher Lee was descended from Charlemagne , was a Nazi hunter , has appeared in more films that anyone else and much much more. Watch my slideshow to find out.
Anyway this got over 8K views on the first day and was pulled. It turns out it was Youtube and not the copyright owner , Charlemagne productions. I contacted them about it and they said they were fine with it but couldn;t do anything about what Youtube did. I was disappointed because Youtube would not reinstate it despite having the OK from Charlemagne productions.
I therefore uploaded it to my blog , which is part of the same organisation that owns Youtube and it stayed there.
When Christopher Lee died I noticed some static copies of “My Way” on Youtube , so reloaded my Christopher Lee slideshow and this time it actually stayed up and has eventually become my most watched Youtube video. I am always wary of putting something on Youtube as often videos or slideshows take time to put together and you may publish it and then find it immediately taken down, although I do try to use more obscure music mainly with the aim of getting the music to a much wider audience.
Another thing is that often Instagram / Facebook videos are removed , sometimes years after the original post , then reinstated saying that my appeal has been successful . I never appeal because they never listen when I have appealed before. Also it’s not worth my time , but it's their club , it's their rules.
So I share because I want others to be exposed to good music and I think copyright owners should take this is into account because it will probably increase their sales.
It is an incredibly bright and sunny morning, though as I am writing this I am not sure what the temperature is like outside , although I will know by the time I finish this. I have been out and though it is clouding over it seems that winter has truly been banished and spring is moving towards summer, so weatherwise we are in a more clement atmosphere although there are still some dark clouds overhead , but as long as they wait until tonight before drenching us that will be fine.
I have to amidst that my new writing regime using Google Docs to create the skeleton document before publishing it on Vocal and Sevendaysin seems to be functioning very well. I did try using my voice to create posts while I was out walking but that didn’t really work out as there was too much editing , but it is good for capturing ideas.and doing short posts. I tried it before when I was working for EE in Darlington and voice recognition has improved a heck of a lot but you still have to be very disciplined to produce a readable document without too much editing.
Today is Beltane which is the Gaelic May Day and marks the beginning of summer.
The name, Beltane, loosely means “bright fire” possibly referring to the Celtic God Belenus.
It is one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Lughnasadh.
Beltane has also been observed for centuries in Europe and is embraced by some Pagans, who mark the occasion with the lighting of bonfires, dance and rituals.
Celebrations included the lighting of bonfires, with rituals including both cattle and people walking around or jumping over the fires.It was thought that the flames had protective powers, and some communities got the smoke of the fires to blow over them and their livestock or brushed the ash onto themselves and their cattle.
Food was also sometimes cooked over the fire to form a feast. Other customs included decorating homes with flowers including primrose, hawthorn and rowan. As well as hanging them in windows and doorways, the blooms were often attached to cows.
For some reason I picked up my signed copy of “Bardo” by Jordan Reyne who is one one of the most original artists I have ever heard, and although at one point she was going to retire from music, she came back and her music is as original as ever , darkly gothic , celtic and pagan , all her music iis available on her Bandcamp site and worth every penny. Plus if you buy from Bandcamp the artists get a fair remuneration for their work unlike other sources especially the main streaming platforms.
I think I have all her output and it is all well worth listening to , and her videos for her songs are incredible too. As well as the Celtic influence there is a definite Eastern European feel to a lot of her videos and she is worth following on Youtube.
Here is a link to when I first saw her at Think Tank in Newcastle supporting The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing in November 2014 .
I will share the video for “Then They Came For You” the very title showing her darker side and from it you can really experience the dark and amazing world of Jordan Reyne.
There has been a lot happening today but I have a lot more to write about but don’t want to end up with a huge war and peace type post which people look at and thing “Whoa that’s too much”, I do like to provide bite size pieces for your enjoyment.
