Monthly Archives: January 2012

Time

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I was reading today about time, well, lack of it to be precise……

Victoria Moran says “When you take control of your time, you take control of your life” Hmmmm, ok, I can see what she’s saying, but how? 😦 I never seem to have enough hours in the day. I started yesterday morning with a to do list, and I only managed half of the things on it lol.

Now, Moran says “To gain this control you sometimes have to stand up to time and call its bluff. Time will intimidate you if you give it a chance. It will try to convince you that there isn’t enough of it and that it’s racing past you at warp speed. You won’t win by arguing. Just say thanks for the information. I’m still going to sit here with this novel or notebook or newspaper and savour every minute.”

I think I get it lol 😉

“In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite potential. You get to live in this idyllic state when you refrain from worry and regret. Most of us adore worry and regret: they’re so dramatic. Lamenting the dreadful thing that might happen or the awful thing that did is as good as watching a soap opera, and the characters are easier to keep track of.”

Woah…..stop right there…..isn’t that like saying there’s no consequence? My assignment is due on the 20th but hey, I’ll just sit here and read my book lol….. What about deadlines? What about real life? Kids needing picking up, dinner needing to be ready? Oh, if only I lived a life like Victoria Morans 😉

Soooooo, in my effort to kill birds 😉 my prompt yesterday (about silence) I used as part of The Write Place homework which I then extended with today’s prompt about the stars. All I have to do now is type it up as a short story and I can use it as my OCA assignment 🙂 Oh yes!

Today’s prompt is write about falling asleep

Lol, something I’m rather an expert on, or not 😦

£10 in 10 Minutes

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Had news today that the wonderful Linda Lewis has just published another of her writing guides. This one, entitled How to Make £10 in 10 Minutes is now available for Kindle at the bargain price of 89p

The book is based on Linda’s workshop she did at Swanwick back in August, which, I have to say was one of the highlights of my week there 🙂

All Linda’s books are available at Lulu (and some on Kindle) and I can highly recommend them 🙂

Yesterday’s prompt about silence went well. I decided to tackle The Write Place homework and found that it tied in nicely with the prompt…..I’m now thinking that I can use it for my assignment, which is due on the 20th. I’ve got to do a 2500 to 3000 word story paying attention to:

the development of my voice
the persona I use for my character
the imagery I use

I’m determined to start it today……but first, today’s prompt shapes like stars

Hmmmmm, that’ll be interesting 😉

What If?

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I managed to do my story regarding the horizon. I wrote about a woman who presents on breakfast TV, The Horizon Show. Ratings are falling and the producers have bought in a young, attractive blonde to take over……she ends up pushing the bimbo down the stairs 😉

I’ve enrolled with The Write Place but unfortunately i couldn’t make it to the first meeting 😦 However, the lovely Elaine sent me the notes from last weeks class 🙂 Every week she sets some homework and this weeks was centred around a ‘what if?’ situation.

I love What Ifs? Been using them for quite a while now, for times when I get stuck 🙂 You can completely change a story by applying one and my note books are full of What if scenarios.

She also sent me info on a Lesley Pearse talk which is happening in a couple of weeks. I’m not really a fan, but, I always find it interesting to hear what successful published authors have to say, so I’ll definitely be booking tickets for that.

Then there’s Sally Quilfords Pocket Novel Workshop which I want to attend, and Peter Jones at the Essex Book Festival. I’ve applied to be a ‘giver’ for World Book Night and I’m also considering the Ian Rankin talk at the University of Sussex.

Phew…..the diary is filling up! Lol

Today, I will be trying to do some work on my course. My assignment is due in on the 20th *gulp* and I’ve not started it yet 😦 Plus, I need to do today’s prompt, which is the sound of silence (after Simon & Garfunkel). My brain feels a bit fuzzy this morning so I’ve no idea as yet what I’m going to write about 😉

Damn & Blast

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Why is it that I always come up with ideas for stories when I’m in bed trying to get to sleep?

They say you should have a notebook next to your bed, which is all very well if you want to sit up, turn the light on, and completely lose that sleepy feeling lol…..but, if you suffer from insomnia like me and you feel yourself finally drifting off, there is no way you’re gunna jump up and write an idea down in your note book 😉

So Friday night/Saturday morning (I think it was gone midnight) I came up with the first couple of lines for a story…..but, do you think I could remember it by 6am when I woke up? 😦

Yesterday’s prompt, where the road leads was ok. I wrote about a woman who is a bully. She marries a man who’s life she dominates. The tables turn when she discovers she’s infertile and her husband blackmails her with the promise of IVF treatment (I’m such a happy soul).

I spent Friday night (while hubby was watching 24 lol) looking at all the possible competitions I could enter. There’s actually 4 I’ve got my eye on, all with closing dates before the 1st February. I’m building up a nice collection of stories, but most will need elaborating on (and some major editing) before they can be submitted….so that’s the aim over the next week. So what with the writing and the fact that I promised I’d start decluttering the house, and start cooking healthy meals, it looks like its going to be a busy week lol

Today’s prompt is on the horizon

I’m gunna try to think outside the box with this one. So far, I’ve been taking these prompts pretty literal, so I’m going to push myself a bit more. I did come up with an idea in bed last night, and I’ve actually remembered it lol 😉

Emotional Response

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I had a bit of a shock Thursday night……

I went out to BlueWater with my friend J for a coffee and a chin wag. J is also an aspiring writer and has also been following Judy Reeves Book of Days. I took my note book with me, to share some of the stories I’d written over the last few days, which she read. When it came to the one prompted by “things that enter through way of silence’ she burst into tears. Bless her 🙂 In the middle of Carluccio’s *snigger* We had to explain to the waitress what was going on 😉

Sorry J, if you’re reading this, it was quite funny. The waitress commented that my story must be good if it reduced my friend to tears. The subject struck a raw nerve with J…. A mother sitting in the darkness, waiting for her son to return from a New Years Eve party…..only he’ll never return because he’s been killed…..but still, every New Years Eve, she sits and waits…….

This got me thinking about my own emotional responses to the books I read. I’m not really a weepy person, although I do get upset about things on TV and in films…..but, I don’t think I’ve ever been reduced to tears by a book….oh, no, wait…..I think I shed a tear when I read Kes a couple of years ago.

So isn’t that what every writer wants? To illicit an emotional response in their readers? Should I be happy that J was so upset by my story? To be honest, I felt really bad.

Yesterday’s prompt about the hours was hard as I just couldn’t get Mrs Dalloway out of my head lol…..I’ve got a copy on my TBR (to be read…..what can I say, I’m a BookCrosser) pile….I think I’ll read it after I’ve finished the Maeve Binchy…… Anyway, yes, it was hard 😦 its funny how some have been so easy, and others I think will be easy, aren’t lol. I finally managed to write a story about a girl waiting for her date to arrive, watching the clock, but he never arrives.

Today’s prompt is write where the road leads

I think I’ll be having fun with that one 😉

WOW! :)

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I am so chuffed right now! I’ve just received a Kreativ Blogger Award thanks to Sandra Madeira

Thank you sooooo much Sandra :o) When I started this Blog I didn’t expect anyone to read my ramblings, so it’s nice to know that someone does, and actually enjoys it!!!!! 🙂

So, I will play the game 🙂

The Kreativ Blogger award rules are:

1. Share 10 things about yourself that readers may find interesting
2. Pass the award on to 6 other Bloggers. Be sure to leave a comment on their blogs to let them know.

So here goes 😉

10 Things About Myself

1 I’ve only been writing since October 2010. Prior to that I hadn’t wrote any fiction since being at school, a gap of approx 20, ahem, years.
2 I’m a Face Book addict lol
3 I am a yo-yo dieter 😦
4 I attended Swanwick for the first time last year, and will definitely be going again this year, and probably for ever more lol
5 I am a BookCrosser
6 I’m a huge Oasis fan (the band not the drink lol)
7 Dom Perignon is my favourite champagne (expensive taste lol)
8 I work (occasionally) with my husband. We have our own printing business.
9 My favourite authors are Fay Weldon, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Haynes and Linda Gillard.
10 My daughter is a hairdresser (lucky me) 😉

Blogs I’m Nominating (in no particular order)

Quillers Place A great blog by Sally Quilford, a Pocket Novel author. Always something interesting to read on her blog 🙂

Curly Mum A blog by Beccah, who I met through Nanowrimo. I love hearing about her family life, the perils of a young mum trying to write.

Libro This blog is by a lady called Liz Broomfield who I’ve known for, ooooo, quite a few years 😉 She’s now a full time editor/proof reader and her blog is full of little snippets regarding grammar etc that all us writers really should already know about 🙂

Two Moons I haven’t been reading Jenny’s blog long, but, what I have seen so far is very entertaining.

Strangling My Muse I love Sandy Ackers blog 🙂 If I’m ever stuck for something to write about, this is the place to go!

The Writing Calendar Sally Quilford has put together a calendar of Writing Competitions…..a great resource :o)

That’s it! I would have nominated Sandra’s Place but we don’t want her to get too big headed now do we 😉

Edited to add…… Oh, go on then…..Sandra gets a nomination for the link above, so my list is actually 7 😉

Again, thank you Sandra, I feel very honoured 🙂

More Choice…..

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…..means the harder it is to choose lol. Well, that’s what I discovered yesterday when I was still sitting there at lunch time not having a clue what to write for the someone cheated prompt lol. I finally had a brain wave and managed to write a short story….phew 😉

Yesterday was the first day of normality…..hubby went back to work…..the house was so quiet. It felt odd. The diet starts on Saturday, the house cleaning starts on Monday, so I really should take the opportunity to put my feet up and eat chocolate shouldn’t I? He he he

Stumbled across this website today. Well, I say stumbled, it was actually a link on another blog I read 😉 Anyway, looks interesting…. One to keep an eye on me thinks 😉

Sent my cheque off yesterday, so i guess I’m now officially enrolled with The Write Place where you will find me on Wednesday evenings from now on 🙂 Really looking forward to my first session next week. I’m going to go to the later sessions, as I think they will be more beneficial to me, where my writing is, at the moment.

I did think that I was a ‘novel’ writing person. But, the more I practice writing short stories, the easier I’m finding it, and the more enjoyable its becoming. Unfortunately, at the moment, most of them seem to be under 500 words. I guess that’s ‘flash fiction’ then isn’t it? Is there a market for that? Most magazines seems to want around the 2000 word mark.

Today’s prompt is write about the passing of hours and, through word association, what sprang to mind was Michael Cunningham and Mrs Dalloway lol 😉 I went to see Cunningham at The Southbank Centre in the summer. He was doing a talk as part of their Literary Festival….lovely man 🙂

To round off, I have a quote from Roddy Doyle……”Regard every new page as a small triumph”

I do try to 😉

Another One Added

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Oh dear lol….. My Amazon Wish List is getting longer and longer 😉

I read A Round Heeled Woman back in 2007, so although I knew the basic story, I had forgotten all the references to Trollope lol…..so now, I’m thinking, perhaps I should actually read some Trollope lol

Yesterdays prompt, walls the colour of tears was hard. I’ve really struggled I have to say 😦 But, I managed to come up with a story about a guy who is so obsessed with decorating his house that he isn’t with his wife when she dies. I do like my drama’s lol.

Today’s prompt is someone cheated Now that’s gunna be pretty easy 😉

I had an e mail today, the January Newsletter from Judy Reeves. She talks about setting goals for your writing and says “setting goals is a way to accomplish specific projects and create a discipline for your writing” So, regardless of the daily goal (one sentence, two hours, 250 words, two pages) the important thing is for it to be realistic, achievable for you. There’s no point setting goals you haven’t got a chance in hell of sticking to.

Also in the newsletter Judy refers to the Don’t Break The Chain Calendar which you can down load for free. I’ve printed my copy off and have put a very satisfying cross on each of the first 5 days 🙂

So as I originally started this post referring to my Amazon wish list I shouldn’t be surprised to end on a similar note 😉 In Judy’s newsletter she recommends a book by Carolyn See Oh dear, so that’s Vikki 0 Amazon 713 😉

Memories Of Childhood

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Yesterday’s prompt, the courtyard, brought back memories of Hever Castle in Kent. A place I visited many times when I was a child, and then as an adult with my own children. My grandmother made costumes for my mum (who was a dancer) and the one I always wanted to wear was the Ann Boleyn dress. All that red velvet, lace and satin. It was a beautiful dress and had taken my grandmother hours to sew….but I digress 😉

Soooo, Hever Castle, I couldn’t get it out of my head, the courtyard as you go through the entrance, my childhood fascination for Ann Boleyn (although I have to say all my illusions were shattered when I watched The Other Boleyn Girl)….. I guess it was inevitable that my courtyard story would be set there 🙂

I ended up writing a story about an artist who goes to sketch the courtyard. A man who looks familiar is watching her and it’s only when she gets home that she see’s she has sketched him and that actually, it appears to be Henry.

I’m so sorry I’m not posting my stories, but if I want to use them for subs to magazines I can’t put them up on the net 😦

We went to see A Round Heeled Woman last night…..absolutely brilliant!!!! With a set stage set they used the ‘room’ for every single scene….. Very clever and Sharon Gless was amazing. Even my hubby thoroughly enjoyed it 🙂 Disappointed that there wasn’t a script available as it would have been nice to see how the use of the stage set was written in the script.

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Today’s prompt is walls the colour of tears

Should be interesting 😉

Screenwriting

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I managed to get another short story written yesterday, around the ashes prompt. A happy little tale about a woman in her car on the motorway, crashing into the back of a Sainsburys lorry *snigger*……I’m so sadistic 😉

Today’s prompt is you’re in a courtyard

I’m hoping I can come up with something a bit happier this time 😉

A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of The London Screenwriters Festival web site and I’ve signed up to be on their mailing list. The first e mail they send you is a link to a video that was filmed at the festival last year, entitled 50 Ways Into The Business. After watching that video I’m not so sure I’m cut out for script writing, it all sounds so scary lol. I took 2 pages of notes during the 1.5 hour video….some very interesting information that can equally be applied to other forms of writing.

I don’t know who the guy is who’s leading the panel, but, I love his theory….. The Success Triangle 🙂

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He says the more you take action, the luckier you’ll get and your experience then grows. Those 3 things working in harmony will get you to the top of the triangle…..and to success 🙂

Tonight we’re going up London to see a play…..I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow 🙂