Best Article I’ve Read In A Long Time ;)

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been reading Kirsten Lambs Blog for a while now, but this post is great. Although, the idea of calling myself a writer? Perhaps when I’ve had something published eh? Lol 😉 I totally see where she’s coming from, but I dunno, personally, I just can’t do it lol

Aspiring is for Pansies–Tough Love & Being a Writer.

Yesterday I was awake at 4.45am….I only went to sleep at 12.30 for gods sake! Still, it did mean that I had some nice quiet time to catch up with other peoples Blogs and make a start on my “mundane task” description 🙂 I completed that and then started to tackle the next exercise.

I have to write a piece that describes some sort of fast action. Initially, I’m thinking, ahhhhh, that’s not too hard, but I’ve gone a bit blank. Ended up getting about 400 words into a piece and giving up with it as there wasn’t enough action. Back to the start again today then 😉

I also completed and sent off another competition entry. A 2000 worder this time. Over the next couple of days I’ll be working on a 3000 word short story for another comp. It feels pretty damn good to have 2 stories now that are complete…..finished and edited (hopefully) to a fairly decent standard…..although, I’m sure if my OCA tutor saw them, she’d have a fit lol

Weekend Writing

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Vikki Thompson

It’s so hard to get any writing done at the weekends. With hubby at home, if I don’t get up early, ie before him, I don’t tend to get much writing done lol.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s very supportive. I just feel bad, like I’m neglecting him 😦 Friday night he watched a film and I was able to finish my current short story. It needs a bit of editing (something I’m hoping to get done today) and then I’ll submit it 😉

He’s not feeling very well at the moment, so I sent him to bed for a couple of hours this afternoon, which gave me enough time to work my way through the next section of the course, and make some notes on the next exercise.

I have to write a piece in my own voice, about something mundane I do every day. After making a list of all the mind numbingly boring things I do every day. I’ve finally chosen to write about tidying the house, something I do every morning.

So now I have the subject, I guess I better crack on and write about it lol. I did consider writing about the daily ‘de-pooing’ of the garden, but thought that would probably be going a bit too far 😉

No Longer A Competition Virgin ;)

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve entered my very first writing competition….go me! I’m quite proud of myself but I’m under no illusions….so I don’t expect to hear anything back from it.

It’s a 500 word short story entitled “Keep You” which is about a woman who’s baby son was abducted by her ex husband. The 500 words describe the scene where she actually sees her son for the first time in 4.5 years (who said I don’t do happy stories?). At a later date I’d like to elaborate it and extend it so that we see her get her son back. The whole thing was inspired by a photo I saw of a woman who had her head in her hands crying.

Plan for today will be to get at least 1 of the exercises done for my course, 2 if I can manage it 🙂 I also want to do some work on another short story I’m working on for another competition. It’s about a woman who’s husband is a famous author. I have just over 1000 words, but can submit up to 2000. Most of the competitions offer a critique service. I didn’t bother asking for one with “Miss You” but I think I will with this one 😉

I have this idea……at some stage in the future I’m sure I will have piles and piles of rejection letters….so I’ve promised myself that when I do, I will decorate a wall in my dressing room with them. I know I have to develop a thick skin, I know that I’ll have to get use to “thank you, but no thank you” on a regular basis….and that’s ok, I know that often, being a successful writer doesnt necessarily go hand in hand with talent. I’ve read books by famous authors that, to be quite honest, are complete shite! Likewise, the writing of amateurs that I’ve thought is amazing but they never get that break.

At the moment, I’m happy to just keep plodding along, learning all that I can, and tentatively dipping my toe 😉

Assignment 3 – Feedback

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Vikki Thompson

I didn’t get much writing done today, well, saying that, I did type up a short story from one of my notebooks for use, hopefully, as a competition entry……if I can double the word count. Will see how I go with that over the weekend 🙂

I received my tutors feedback today on my 3rd OCA Assignment. Very pleased with her comments although, re-reading the piece I submitted, I did manage to miss some really silly mistakes. The odd piece of tense (one of my major weaknesses) and some punctuation 😦 Hopefully, things I will get better at with more practice.

I also need to stop stating the obvious, ie, let the reader fill in the blanks and concentrate more on my show…..stop telling lol 😉

As I’ve decided to enter a few competitions and perhaps send out some submissions, I did a bit of research. It seems that most of them want work that hasn’t been available anywhere else, inc being published on Blogs, unless they’re private. So, I decided to start a notebook, specifically for subs and competition entries, so I can keep track on what I’ve submitted where.

Looking for a title for my current short story idea I ended up surrounded by all my notebooks….. It’s a good job I do my writing on a 6 foot dining table! Lol

The top 4 are the ones I’m currently working with. I love flicking through them and playing with the ideas I’ve jotted down over the last 14 months 🙂

Sooooo, I now have a date for my next Assignment……30th January…..but I have to work through the next set of exercises first 😉

Comparing Is Never Good

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Vikki Thompson

You should never compare your writing to someone else’s, that’s a given…..but when you see the work of others who are doing the same course as you, you can’t help it can you 😦 So yesterday I found myself totally disillusioned and self critical, to the point where I just about managed to finish my character work, but that was it lol

I will pick myself back up…..you have to don’t you 🙂

Today I’m going to see a play…… 3 Days In May It’s probably not my normal sort of thing, but, as hubby gets dragged along I thought it might interest him from the story point of view. For me, having recently done some work on my course regarding play writing, I’ll be there to analyse 😉 So I’ll enjoy it no matter what!

I joined Mslexia a couple of days ago and noticed they are running a short story competition. I really must pull my finger out in the New Year. I said, just after returning from Swanwick last year, that I was determined to go back in 2012 with something published. So I think I will try my hand at the Mslexia competition 🙂

My problem is, I have so many ideas, so many stories written in rough 1st draft form, but I never get any further with them lol…… They just seem to stay in rough form and then I’m moving onto the next lol.

I treated myself to a Mslexia diary…..love it! 🙂