The Leveson Enquiry...

As I've been staying indoors due to the cold air making me cough so much, I've seen some on the Sky and BBC News coverage of the Leveson Enquiry in the afternoons.

As a writer, freedom of speech is important. We're all aware that there are writers in the world who are imprisoned, even tortured or killed for writing the truth, having an opinion or just disagreeing with those in power.

So I suppose you could say the fact that the Leveson enquiry is taking place and is broadcast on national tv, shows our country is reasonably healthy in the freedom issue.

Most writers- whatever their form of media- know the rules. Admittedly, one writer's personal red line won't necessarily be the same as the next man or woman. Individual moral codes can't be legislated...

I was speaking to a freelance journalist earlier this year, and our conversation moved to phone hacking as it was in the news at the time.

The view expressed was that it was not just the one newspaper, and that laziness was a contributing issue.

Today there are databases. Information can be gathered with a few clicks of the computer mouse. There's no longer any need or time for journalists to go out into the community and look for the news.

In fact many local newspapers have either closed down, or are satellites of the big newspaper groups.

Celebrity sells. Publishers wouldn't pay millions for the biography of an ex-politician, reality star, or high profile actor, if they couldn't guarantee sales in the hundred thousands... Nor would the shelves of  newsagents be littered with magazines, emblazoned with lurid celebrity related headlines, that keep being bought.

The people who have given evidence to the enquiry- both ordinary and well-known (including Harry Potter author JK Rowling) have clearly suffered from abuse by a minority.

When it is all over and the recommendations are made for the future, I hope it doesn't go too far in restricting what can be written. Investigative journalism is very important in uncovering misdeeds and bad practise.

But something must be done- good journalists should not be tarred with the same brush as the bad journalists.

Being Realistic About Your Writing...

As I write it is 12 days to Awards Night at Nottingham Writers' Club, combined with the annual  restrained Christmas party... I've had a slight relapse on the health front and now need an inhaler for a short while, so hopefully I'll be feeling 100% by the party.

After the awards we have finger food and a few quizzes with chocolate type prizes for the winner/s or the winning table. And this is truly when the hidden competitive streak comes out in all of us- in a good natured way of course. :-)

Chocolate and writers just seem to go together...

It's also the evening I should be getting the comments on my romance trophy entry returned to me. This year it was judged by writer Sue Moorcroft (who is also one of the judges in the Fiction Workshop section in Writers Forum magazine).

So I'm looking forward to seeing what Sue thought about my entry. I am prepared for good news and bad. Though I won't read the comments properly until the cold light of day when I can calmly absorb them.

Once my novella in progress is completed I'll go back to the novel- as I've been contemplating it for the past year and learning more about my characters- and think I'm ready to proceed with it...

I'm realistic enough to know I need to be honest about my writing, and need to make clinical judgements about it, as a well-known novelist suggests.

A L Kennedy in the Guardian has written an article on looking closely at your work and seeing not only it's good points, but the weak areas as well. There are some interesting suggestions included.

We all have areas of writing that we are better at, but it doesn't mean we will always see all those weak spots, so honest but supportive writer friends can be invaluable.

So on Awards Night I'll be clapping the winners, and looking forward to the prospect of another writing year, learning more and steadily improving...