The results of the survey are in, and they're...

...inconclusive.

Thanks to all of you who took part in my "What do I write next?" survey. Out of six votes, the numbers for the four ideas are as follows:

Idea 2: 2 votes.
Idea 3: 2 votes.
Idea 4: 1 vote.
Idea 1: 1 vote.

Now, some of you folks actually ranked the four ideas, and in light of that, Idea 4 got a couple of second preferences, as did Ideas 3 and 2. So, whether I use the first-past-the-post system, or proportional representation, my little experiment in democracy has failed to produce a clear winner.

While the experiment didn't provide a conclusive result, it did illustrate just how slippery the matter of personal taste can be. You all gave reasoned arguments for your preferences, and while there were some consistencies that I've taken on board, there was also wide variation in opinion. Idea 1 was clearly the weakest, though possibly more because of my half-arsed pitch than anything else, and Idea 4 did much better than I thought it would. Idea 2 was the most divisive, which I suppose is hardly surprising given the emotive and dark subject matter.

All this goes to show that when pitching a novel to an agent or editor, one person's meat is another's poison. A rejection or offer could very well hinge on the nebulous vagaries of that individual's own personal likes and dislikes. This is something we all know in our conscious minds, but deep down, we don't believe it. A form rejection will likely read "Not right for us", but the writer sees the words "Not good enough" in their place. No matter how often blogging agents or editors tell us it's about getting the right fit with their own tastes, I don't think we'll ever truly believe that. We take a rejection as "Not good enough" regardless of the true reasons for passing. But this experiment shows that half a dozen writers, all with good experience and judgement, saw entirely different strengths and weaknesses in the ideas pitched.

So, there is one conclusion: "Not right for us" means exactly what it says.

Anyway, so which idea am I going to go with? It was always between ideas 2 and 3, and the results have confirmed that. Idea 2 has more personal resonance for me, while Idea 3 is a more deliberate attempt at something commercial. And I still don't know which one to go with. Grrr. In the meantime, I'll be seeing if I can push some of these short stories I've got hanging about my hard drive...

About Belfast

I'm a regular visitor to Belfast, but it's been ages since I've been able to stop and have a look around there. I spent a lot of time there in my twenties when various friends were at university, and can recall (sort of) many good nights spent staggering round the city. Yesterday evening, I had a gig there, and for a couple of reasons I wound up being about an hour early. The venue was close to the university area and I found a place to park my car nearby (I was meeting my partner in crime at the venue later). Having a bit of time to kill, I decided to take a walk around the streets of what is locally known as the Holylands (because of local place names like Jerusalem Street, Palestine Street, Damascus Street etc). It was a beautiful spring evening, the sun was out, I was feeling good cos I was dressed up, and I spent a very pleasant hour exploring the streets I used to know, watching people go about their business - particularly the ladies. :)

I was reminded of something I haven't consciously thought of for a while - Belfast can be a lovely city at times.

Also, I was able to scout two of the locations from my current novel that are in the vicinity, and it's good that I did because a house I described as being three storey is actually only two.

In other news...

That venture I mentioned in my last post - I've given it more thought, and the more I look at it, the more I think it's a good idea.