Help this clown write a book~!

Rjd2

It’s always been something of a pipe dream like many to write a book!:o

Many have the same ambition, but never act on it. I don’t blame them really, it’s very time consuming and even if you do there is no guarantee that major money will be made!

However, I have been thinking about trying to write a book myself recently. I admit I don’t have a concrete idea of what to do (its early stages ~!) so that’s why this thread is in existence. :eek:

I want you sexy, intelligent, heroic, iconic people to brain storm a little with me. I was initially thinking of writing a biography on one of the players, but I have also been thinking about doing a history of Irish cricket. The timeframe? Again not sure? It’s at the early stages!:eek:

I was thinking maybe the last 25 years? Or should I do something more recent?


Apologies if this sounds random and unfocussed but as I stress its early days~!

So any ideas how to kick-start my glorious career as Irish cricket book writer?!

KevIRL

Rjd2 wrote: »

I want you sexy, intelligent, heroic, iconic people to brain storm a little with me. I was initially thinking of writing a biography on one of the players, but I have also been thinking about doing a history of Irish cricket. The timeframe? Again not sure? It’s at the early stages!:eek:

I was thinking maybe the last 25 years? Or should I do something more recent?


!

Sorry I cant help in terms of what to do or where to go but I'd be really interested in reading such a book. I'd go a bit further back if I were you, maybe start at the Windies game in the sixties right up to present day. There's a lot of stuff about recent years about but not so much before that. It would be fascinating imo.

Beasty

If you are looking to do something on the history of Irish cricket don't restrict it in any way time-wise. I for one would want the complete picture - with these things there is obviously a lot more recent information, but a chapter covering the origins of the game in Ireland and perhaps another taking it up to the "modern era" (say the last 25 years or so) would be positive in my mind. Most fans already have an idea of the recent past, and it's the evolution-type stuff that can capture the imagination

The good news is I think the information is likely to be out there in different forms, from the archives of individual clubs to the annual Wisden almanack - it would "simply" be a matter of bringing it all together!

TrueDub

This is an interesting one.

There's been quite a few books on Irish cricket published in the last while, from the scholarly ("History of cricket in Tipperary") to the character/bio type ("Ireland's Top 100 cricketers") to the diary-type (Trent Johnston's excellent Carribbean Diary).

The question is: what sort of book do you want to write? There's no point in us saying "write a general history of Irish cricket" if that's not what interests you. Here's my take on the different types:

History type

The level of research required in this would be more than significant - while a lot of it is available through Wisdens and the like, to make a saleable book you need to produce more than just summarising the available information, and it needs to be authoritative i.e. your research needs to be bullet-proof. Lots & lots of work required.

Character type/biography

There's no doubt Ireland has had it's fair share of cricketing characters, but are any of them worthy of a book on their own? You could focus on someone who played a lot of Irish cricket, say Alan Lewis or Kyle McCallan, or someone who was beyond the standard in Irish cricket at the time, e.g. Jimmy Boucher or Dermot Monteith. A compendium of these people might work, but then you're rehashing Ger Siggins' work in the Greatest Irish Cricketers.

You could take another tack, and talk about the stories of Irish cricket - beating the WI in 1969, dressing-room punch-ups during international competitions, going from losing to minor counties to beating Pakistan etc. Or on the people behind the stories - call it "Ireland's greatest Cricketing Chancers", in which case I expect a chapter all to myself! You'd need a lot of research to separate the myth from the fact, and, I suspect, a decent coterie of lawyers to ensure you don't end up in trouble with libel.

Diary Type

Fun to read, but unless you're a superb writer * or have a unique perspective (player, coach, extremo-nerdy fan who attends every match and obsessively notes every detail), diary books have been done to death.

* you may be a superb writer, with an amazing turn of phrase and a funny outlook on life - if so, write about something other than cricket, you'll make much more money.

My essential point is: you need to decide how much work you're prepared to put in, and what type of work you're prepared to do. If you love historical research, do the history. If you like leaning against a bar listening to stories and then trying to figure out if they're bullsh*t, do the character thing. If you have a new hook for a diary book, go for that.

One final thing: I've always wanted to be able to say I've written a book. I'm not prepared to do the hard work of doing it though. Do not underestimate how tough a process this is.

Good luck with it, let us know how you get on, and feel free to ask for help here!

RoyMcC

Another idea to add to the mix - pick an era that particularly interests you and write a historical or biographical novel based on the game around that time. It will give you a lot more scope in your writing and you need not be obsessed with the accuracy of every last detail.

Oh, and do it because you want to - because unless you're very good or very lucky there's no money in it.

Best of luck.

College Park

I like the idea of a book on the "legends" that surround the game.

If you're thinking of doing a history though, its been done. Ger Siggins wrote "Green Days 1792-2005" just after the ICC Trophy win and its a fantastic book.

delta_bravo

College Park wrote: »

I like the idea of a book on the "legends" that surround the game.

If you're thinking of doing a history though, its been done. Ger Siggins wrote "Green Days 1792-2005" just after the ICC Trophy win and its a fantastic book.

Yeah i agree with that. Siggins' books read really well. Even if you werent a cricket fan it would be a good book