I’m a huge fan of writing books, in fact, I’m an addict lol. It all started with The Five Minute Writer last year, which I worked my way through over the course of a few months. Great book (IMO) and I thoroughly enjoyed the exercises.

At the moment I’m using The Writers Workbook by Caroline Sharp. It’s pretty good, but some of the exercises are a bit long winded lol.

I’m currently practicing research…..the task is to pick a place and a year, then ask yourself 20 questions regarding life in that time at that place. I’ve always been fascinated with the Victorian period, since I was a teenager…..I tend to be drawn to Victorian antiques and jewellery and love Victorian architecture (my house was built in 1891). When I was growing up people use to joke that it had something to do with my name ;o) So, it was inevitable that I chose London (my home town) and 1850 for my research project.

Initially I thought that would be pretty easy……ha ha ha, oh I’m so naive lol…..it’s proving to be a little more difficult than I thought lol. the Internet is a wealth of information, but it’s so easy to end up 20 web sites later a million miles away from what you originally started reading.

Here’s my 20 questions>>>>>>

The first 7 were given in the book, the rest are my own. It’s been an interesting task and I’ve learnt a lot……but the main lesson has been that I won’t be setting my next novel in a small town in Kansas in 1934 lol

After our TGIO party in Maidstone yesterday I have decided that I really do need to have a pen name lol…..pompous I know, but hold on, hear me out ;o)

At the moment there is an American author who seems to be very successful (cosy crime I think) who shares my full name…..hmmmm, not good, she even has the domain names I’d need *pout*

If I call myself by the name I usually go by, ie shortened first name, I share it with a very famous murder victim who was killed at the side of a motorway about 12 years ago……even worse! 😦

Sooooo, what name? It needs to still feel like me (IMO), I need to feel comfortable with it and be available for domain names lol. I’ve come up with 2 options that I like, that I could live with, that incorporate my husbands name as a surname (that way I can get him to help me…sneaky huh?).

Problem? Stella Whitelaw’s words of advice are still ringing in my ears. She told me that if I was going to have a pen name, to choose something that is at the beginning of the alphabet, so that my books would always be at the front, and she should know, being a “W” lol. She said looking back now, she wishes she’d chose an “A” surname.

So that leaves me with a dilemma doesnt it….my husband being an “R” lol

Why oh why couldn’t I have married an Alan 😉

I spent yesterday doing the exercise with the list…..very scary but an eye opener, as it made me realise what elements were missing (internal dialogue for example) and how, by adding those, I can make my writing sound and appear so much better 🙂

I went to Tunbridge Wells yesterday as my daughter had to do a training session, so I sat in Starbucks for an hour, with my notepad and did a few character sketches. Thoroughly enjoyable, especially the lady I christened “Maggie” a retired air stewardess, who, on the outside is vivacious, always smiling and up for a laugh…..trouble is, she never married, and now, the loneliness has crept in and the house is too quiet, so she avoids going home.

Then I went in Waterstones (has to be done!) and bought yet another writing book…..whoops!

Today I’m going to a TGIO Nano Party in Maidstone (that’s Thank God It’s Over for non Wrimos) so we can celebrate our success/failure lol. I spent over an hour last night doing a spell check on my Novella and still only got up to page 54 of 67 lol…..will have to finish that at the weekend *slump* as I’m using part of it for my assignment……which is:

A short story or extract from a longer story that makes extensive use of direct speech, as well as some internal monologue

2500 to 3000 words……. So I need to do a bit of editing, add some internal monologue and submit by the 20th. Piece of cake? Ha ha ha……we’ll see 😉

Ok, so what little time I had available yesterday was spent procrastinating lol….. I spent about an hour fiddling with my Blogger Blog, uploaded my Nano novella to get verification on the word count, and chose a section of my Nano Novella to use for my current exercise on the course.

Plan for today? Supermarket shopping then crack on and get those bloody questions nailed lol….so that I can actually start the assignment tomorrow *grin*

Yesterday I had to go up to Surbiton with my daughter, well, I didn’t have to go, but I enjoy the hustle and bustle of London, I like to people watch 😉 There are some pretty strange people on trains and as I take my notebook everywhere, I write anything I see down 🙂 Like, the man who was already on the train when we got on……he only looked about 35 facially, but his hair was nearly all grey…… He was dressed like a builder but had a large black bucket and a shovel. Or the young girl, about 20 in the fur jacket, who got on where we got on and spend the whole 1 hour journey preening herself until getting off at London Bridge.

People’s lives fascinate me, I love characterisation, it’s my favourite part of writing….. I can sit for hours (and often do lol) with my notebook, making up characters. There’s a book, and I wish I could remember its title or the author 😦 The title is a number. The author wrote about a tube train he gets everyday where he sees the same people sitting in the carriage, so it’s like little cameos of people/characters…….I must try and find out what it’s called, would love to read it. Apparently, I found out a few days ago Jonathan Kemps new book, entitled 26 is in a similar vein, so I’m looking forward to that 😉

Right, must crack on, but before I go……At Waterloo Station yesterday I spotted this>>>>>>

I love words, and something like that just had me smiling for the rest of the journey 🙂

I’m posting today’s update from my iPad, thought I’d download the App and give it a go. Hmmmm, not bad so far lol, we’ll see what it looks like when it’s published 😉

This kinda got me thinking about my recent Nano Novella (I’m calling it a novella rather than a novel at the moment lol) and the fact that with 3 under 25’s in it, there is no reference to modern technology other than the MC checking her mobile for e mails. Something that needs sorting in the re-write I think 😉 Perhaps I’m just so use to all the kit we have around us now that I didn’t feel the need to refer to it specifically? Or is it because I am a certain age it doesn’t really orbit my world?

And talking of modern technology, what an abundance of options are available to the write now, who wants to publish…..it’s a minefield……give me a traditional book any day! Lol.

Today will consist of taking a piece of my writing (that is narration and dialogue and applying some questions…..these questions>>>>>

Not sure exactly if that worked, I guess I’ll see when I publish this……anyway, yesterday I had to use the question on a piece by Nina Milton, an author I’m unfamiliar with (my Amazon wish list has grown significantly since starting this course lol) which was a simple enough task…..but applying it to my own writing *gulp* will highlight just how crap it really is LMAO

Oh well, wish me luck 😉

I finished Nano last night…..28 days and I produced 50100 words, but more importantly, to me, is the fact that I actually have a finished story….a beginning, a middle and an end. I am so pleased with myself, but now, it’s back to work on the course.

My current task? Writing for TV/Films…..to turn an already written extract into something that resembles part of a screenplay. I’m beginning to think this script writing is much easier than novel writing. I’m a visual person, always have been, I can see something in my mind, but then try to describe it in words, get it down on paper *shudders*, that’s where I tend to fall flat 😦

I chose to do a scene from my current Nano story, where the MC, middle aged and overweight Christine meets the love interest Harry (who just happens to be considerably younger and very attractive) for a coffee, which culminates in fish and chips and wine from plastic cups consumed on a park bench (he couldn’t afford Champers darling, he’s unemployed and a bit of a nutter as it turns out but I digress). A sweet little scene which I can picture in my mind very easily. I’m not too sure that it comes across as well in the actual story (something to try to sort out in the re-write).

So this morning I finally typed it up, which means I can now move on to the next section of the course which is about Balanced Narrative…..1 exercise to go and then it’s assignment time. I’m hoping to have left myself 19 days to do it, which sounds like a lot, but with Christmas looming I can see a few late nights on the horizon 😉

I was supposed to be using this blog to keep a record of my studies on my course, my general musings on what I’ve learnt so far, but, yet again, I’ve neglected it :o(

Sooooo, after I’ve got Nano out of the way I will try to post more regularly (famous last words) and see how we go…..

It seems that my whole life revolves around writing these days, not a day goes by that I don’t put pen to paper, which is absolutely crazy! If someone had said to me 2 years ago what my life would be like now I would have laughed!

Ive spent the last couple of days trying to turn a scene from a book into a radio play (or rather part of a radio play). It was an interesting task but a nightmare trying to choose the book. I’d recently read Iain McEwans Saturday and prior to that Anne Tyler’s Ladder Of Years, but being the BookCrosser that I am at heart, once I’ve read a book it’s straight out the door, so neitheroff these were in my possession. I finally decided on Angela Carters Love, a pretty morbid book to be honest lol. Found a section of dialogue between the main character and a psychiatrist and turned it into a radio play. Quite pleased with the result although my husbands comment……there’s not enough background noise, its too quiet……ummmmm, it’s a psychiatrists consulting room? *head desk*