Who Are They?

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

To give my brain a rest on a Sunday, from now on, (ha bloody ha….like my brain will rest, I’ll probably spend most of the day thinking up blog posts for next week lol). Sundays will be photo sharing day. I take a lot of photos and most of them I use as writing prompts

So grab a pen, your notebook, and a coffee….and see what you can one up with for this?

Who are this couple? Why are they there? Do they live there? Work there?

What’s the story? I’d love to hear your ideas.

I’ll share my ideas tomorrow 🙂

Chapters

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

can you think of anything else that needs to be added to the list?

Character Sketch – Say Hi To Shirley & Daniel

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Shirley is a single mum who has brought up her son Daniel with no support from her family. Her ex, Daniels father, is in prison for murder. When their relationship broke down because he was violent towards her, he stalked her for 3 years before finally stabbing to death Shirley’s next door neighbour Tom. He thought the guy was her new boyfriend.

All that happened 10 years ago now and Shirley is scared about his release. Daniel is now 15 and remembers little of the events. He is a quiet boy, caring and sensitive, not at all like his father. Shirley is very proud of him. He’s doing well at school and wants to be a policeman.

Shirley works part time as a receptionist at a local vets, within walking distance of her home. She enjoys it, as she loves the animals, but they’re not allowed any in their rented flat. As Daniel is still at school she claims benefits, so although they can’t afford luxuries, they manage. Daniel has been looking for a Saturday job to help out but can’t find one.

Shirley sometimes gets lonely, the other receptionists at work have set her up on several blind dates, but she finds it hard to trust anyone now, seeing all men as bullies and possible psychopaths. Daniel hasn’t had a girlfriend yet and Shirley is petrified of losing her little boy.

At 5 foot 6 she is painfully thin (but not through choice) and often looks pale and drawn. Her hair is a natural golden colour. Daniel looks like her and is also painfully thin, but has his fathers dark hair and eyes.

Shirley loves to do cross stitch and has started making them into cards, which she gives to the local Cats Protection League shop in town. She volunteers there every Saturday morning after walking to the library with Daniel where he uses the Internet, as they can’t afford access at home. Shirley feels guilty that she can’t give Daniel the things he wants.

Daniel is a loner, he doesn’t have any close friends that he sees outside school. He enjoys reading and playing on his games console (one of the other receptionists at Shirley’s work gave it to her when her son got the newer model). He loves his mum to bits but there’s a little piece of him that hopes he’ll see his dad again when he is released…..

Awwwww, poor Shirley & Daniel, I so want them to be happy 🙂 But, in the life of a fictional character, things are never easy. Will the ex track them down? I have a sneaky suspicion he will 😉

A-Z Reflections

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Yay, I’m an A-Z Survivor lol 😉

The guys over at the A-Z Challenge would like all the participants to do a reflection post. Well, Ive kinda done that already, when I did my Cast List post a couple of days after finishing.

But, what I didn’t talk about was:

What were the highlights of my April Challenge?
Ooooo, there were loads, every single day! It was a great experience, hard work, but fun! 🙂

What i learned?
I learned to plan, schedule, and make sure I was ahead of myself for at least a couple of days. I started out writing the characters daily, but that was madness. I did however do the last one, Zac the dog, “live” as it just felt right to 🙂

What changes i might make next time?
Hmmmm, that’s a hard one lol, to what I did, nothing, but to the A-Z Challenge? I tried my best to visit as many participants as possible, but I think I only managed about 700 in total. Next time it would be great if the organisers had the blogs separated into different categories, so that I could support my fellow writers 🙂

What surprised me most?
That I stuck it out! Lol, no, seriously, probably how much people enjoyed reading my character sketches 🙂

Special bloggers i met in my A to Z journey or a post/posts that especially moved or impressed me?
I met some lovely bloggers through the challenge, picked up some great new followers, and added to my own following list…..but, the blog I enjoyed reading the most throughout the month was Tale Spinning by Stuart Nager. I can’t wait to see Stuarts work on the Swan Rise Apartments in book form. If you get the chance, go and have a read before he removes all the stories at the end of this month. You won’t be disappointed 🙂

So that’s definitely it til next year now…..how sad 😦 I hope I’m still around next year to participate 😉

Did you take part in the A-Z Challenge? and if you didn’t, will I see you there next year? 😉

Because We All Need Ideas

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been a huge fan of Linda Lewis since I met her and attended a workshop she ran at Swanwick last year. She’s a talented writer of fiction, writes a column for Writers Forum magazine, is entertaining as a tutor and on top of all that, she’s a lovely lady 🙂

So I was thrilled to discover she was publishing another writing guide.

I love this book. It’s the type of writing guide you will return to again and again and again. You will never have an excuse for having writers block with this one on your desk 😉

But don’t just take my word for it…..there’s an excellent interview with Linda here, at Female First and even more recommendations over at the Womag Blog.

The blurb on the back says:
This book aims to answer the BIG question. Where do writers get their ideas? Ideas are tricky things. They’re ephemeral. You can’t see them, or take hold of them. They’re also invisible, but like radio waves, they’re everywhere.

The truth is that ideas rain down on us, mostly when we aren’t expecting them. The problem that most people face is that they have very big umbrellas. Ideas simply bounce off them, without being noticed. So if you need to capture them, then this book is for you. It’s an insight into the ways and means, some simple, some straightforward, and others, downright devious, that writers use to generate ideas.

So if you often find yourself stuck for ideas I highly recommend you get this one….trust me, you won’t be disappointed 🙂

Have you got a favourite writing book/guide? One you find yourself always going back to? Would love to hear your recommendations….not sure my husband would agree, because I have a nasty feeling my Amazon Wishlist will be affected lol

The Work In Progress

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Affectionately referred to as WIP 😉

I haven’t exactly told you anything about it have I? Oh dear, me bad lol. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t a WIP until recently, it was more like an WNP (work not progressing) lol

Back in 2010 I decided to take part in Nano, which, at the time, was a ridiculous task to undertake, as I’d only been to a couple of creative writing lessons at my local Adult Ed and hadn’t written a thing (fictional) since leaving school (and no, I’m not telling you how many years ago that was lol). But, always up for a challenge, I threw myself into Nano, and wrote 65,000 words in just under 2 weeks. Once I’d started, I couldn’t stop 🙂

But, once I did stop, I couldn’t start again, and the poor little MS ended up languishing on my Netbook, unfinished, until last month.

My success at Nano (I’ve completed both 2010 & 2011) I put down to the fact that I don’t edit, at all, not in the slightest. So there are spelling mistakes, full stops missing, capital letters that have wandered off, you name it. I find it very easy to write like that, but, the mammoth editing task has meant that summoning up the strength and courage to attempt to edit has been my downfall 😦

So with the encouragement of my tutor at writing classes, last month, I tentatively opened the file for the first time in, ooooo, 16months lol. It did have an outing in August 2011, where the first 2 chapters were printed off and given to Emma Darwin for a critique. Her comments and thoughts about it were pretty positive (thank heavens) so why wasn’t that enough to get me fired up to finish it?

To be honest, it’s my age old problem…..I don’t know how to finish it, I don’t know how I want it to end lol. I even did a poll on FaceBook, asking my friends, do you prefer a happy ending? The general consensus was yes, but, that as long as it was “satisfying” it didn’t necessarily need to be happy. Oh, come on guys, you’re no help, I wanted a definitive yes or no answer!!!! Lol

Sooooo, anyway, I have now edited the prologue, changed it from 3rd person to 1st person at Emma Darwin’s suggestion, and I’m just about to start editing the first chapter *gulp*

So now you know the title 😉 as for genre, that’s a hard one. I haven’t written a synopsis yet (something else that needs doing lol) so the only way I can describe it is by saying its a family saga about 2 brothers and it’s written in the omniscient POV (each chapter is in 3rd person centring around a different character). It starts with a suicide, theres murder, corruption, love, sadness and a young woman who discovers the father she thought was her father was actually her uncle lol. When my husband read it he said it was like reading a film, ie different scenes. Sounds confusing I know, but I guess, once I finish it and get a couple of Beta readers, we’ll see if it really is readable 😉

So how about that ending? do you agree with my Facebook friends? Do you prefer a happy ending?

This Weeks Goals 7-13th May

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I started working with daily goals last week, and I have to say I failed miserably. So this week I’m going to try working to a weekly list 🙂

So what’s on the agenda this week?…..

My aim this week is to have the whole of my WIP spellchecked, set out properly and printed off for the next stage of editing (from 1 to 5). I’ve decided not to write any more short stories for the time being, I’m determined to get this novel into some kind of finished state before I start the next one in November.

Sooooo, the to do list with the novel is:

1. Finish the spell check (and do it again incase there’s something I’ve missed).
2. Check that’s it’s set out correctly (ie paragraphing and indenting dialogue).
3. Check punctuation (I have a tendency to forget all about it during dialogue).
4. Change tense where needed (one of my worst habits, I tend to flit between past and present during a longer piece lol).
5. Print off to start the re-write (I’ve decided to change a few things quite considerably).
6. Do the research needed.
7. Write the ending (GULP).
8. Write a synopsis.
9. Decide who to pick on as Beta readers lol (edited to add: Think of questions to ask Beta readers)
10. Think about what to do with it next (depending on Beta readers comments, I could be starting back at number 1 lol).

So, any advice? Is there anything I’ve missed?

For your viewing pleasure, these are my piles of “working” writing stuff on my dining room table lol

It was only 2 piles until I decided to start all those extra notebooks lol

So, I’m hoping, that sharing my plans for the week with you guys will mean that I’ll stick to them. You have my permission to beat me with a large stick if I post next Monday that I failed 😉

What are you writing plans for the week? Do I need to find a large stick to use on you? 😉

I’m A Beautiful Blogger blush

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Brigitte said so, so it must be true 😉

Thank you so much honey, for this award 🙂

The rules are:

The Beautiful Blogger Award is for those blogs that are creative, original and add to the blogging community. You’re supposed to bestow it on seven people and here’s the “rules:” I say, no worries if you’re a rule-breaker, then just put the award on your blog.

Link to the creative, beautiful genius that bestowed it upon you. (see above)
List seven random things about yourself. (see below)
Send said award to seven (or how ever many you want) other creative, beautiful geniuses. (see below after the random things).
Tell those lucky people that you’ve done this and give em’ the rules. (I’m telling you now.)

So, another 7 things about me…… (you’ll all be getting bored of this soon lol).

1. I have a reading chair in my bedroom, but I don’t use it much….the pets seem to like it though.

2. I sometimes work in the office with my husband, and when I do, this is my desk.

3. My Netbook (with all my writing on) is red with a Nano sticker on it 🙂

4. I’m a huge fan of Simons Cat

5. I use a bag covered in butterflies for my writing class

6. I’m a chess widow….my hubby plays for the County

7. My favourite colour is red 🙂

So I will nominate the following 7 beautiful ladies….sorry guys, you miss out this time, this is strictly one for the girlies in my book 😉

Virginia @ poetaofficium
Rebecca @ A Word Or More
Melanie @ Feather Pens Tartan Dreams
Kathryn @ 4am Writer
Sara @ Sara Flowers Blog
Gail @ The Writer is a Lonely Hunter
Kirsten @ Write A Book With Me

These 7 ladies are all doing beautiful things on their blogs….please go and have a peek 🙂

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Me!!!!!! Well, ok, I was, but not now lol

I’d been avoiding watching this film for years and I’m not sure why. Did I think it would be too intellectual for me? Probably……I actually thought it was about Virginia Woolf lol….the power of a title eh? 😉

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that actually, it’s a character driven plot (if you can call it a plot per se) that centres on just 4 characters. Two married couples. Martha & George (Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) the older couple, have a volatile relationship (lots of conflict, I like that!) and poor Nick & Honey, the younger couple (George Segal and Sandy Dennis) who get dragged into a night of merciless personal attacks. It’s basically 2 hours of screaming, fighting and general mud slinging lol.

That makes it sound very simplistic doesn’t it? But trust me, if you haven’t seen it, it’s not. It’s full of mind games and very clever manipulation. I am in awe of Edward Albee who wrote the original script for the play. Its a fascinating piece, that’s given me quite a few ideas for my own stories, especially the way the characters interact. A bit too complex for a short story though.

And as for the title? The one I was so scared of for all these years? It’s actually a pun on the Disney song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” from the Three Little Pigs. Here’s a quote from Albee, explaining the title:

‘I was in there having a beer one night, and I saw “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” scrawled in soap, I suppose, on this mirror. When I started to write the play it cropped up in my mind again. And of course, who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf means who’s afraid of the big bad wolf….who’s afraid of living life without false illusions. And it did strike me as being a rather typical, university intellectual joke.’

Now that’s what I call inspiration!!!!!! Something scrawled on a restroom mirror *laughs* incredible. So it just goes to show, you must take your notebook everywhere! 😉

Have you ever found something inspiring on a restroom mirror? Or in any other interesting places? I found this on the back of a toilet door in Cafe Nero once, but I don’t have a clue what to do with it lol 😉

Be My Guest, Or Not ;o)

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

There seems to be a lot of “Guest Posts” flying around at the moment (have you noticed or is it just me? Lol)

I read with interest fellow blogger Joe Pineda’s (The Bard of Steel) post entitled “Spotlight” where he wanted to showcase fellow writers. Unfortunately, he realised that the only person who was actually benefitting from this was himself. He has now decided to scrap the idea. Read all about his thoughts here as its a very interesting post, with some thought provoking comments.

Also, recently, another blogger I follow, Chris at Write To Perfect, requested people come forward to be guests on his blog (that’s where we had the discussion about me not being a writer lol) and you can find that post here

Both these guys (do go and read the very interesting posts!) have big hearts, and want to showcase people that they themselves like, which IMHO is a great idea, I love it….. But, there does seem to be a downside * wags finger* you readers don’t seem to click the linky things, so, like Joe said, who does it actually benefit?

I would love to have people doing guest posts on my blog, I know a few authors. But, would my readers be interested? If I was asked to do a guest post on someone else’s blog, would you follow the link, would you read it?

So now I’m torn….to have guests, or not to have guests? that is the question…..
Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions. Have you had a guest? Been a guest? Perhaps I should do a poll lol 🙂