Tag Archives: Short story

The Write Place Homework

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Just quickly……I have to show you this……Kelly Rae Roberts desk *squeals*……how gorgeous is that? *looks around the house to see if there are any spare cupboards*

Yesterday’s prompt, in the distance, went well. I wrote a short piece about a girl getting lost in the woods and stumbling across an old cottage…..a huge cliche I know, but I just fancied writing something a bit creepy 😉

At The Write Place class we were discussing openings, the beginnings of short stories, and how they have to grab the reader. As I said yesterday I failed miserably in the actual class lol, but I’m hoping I’ll be better at the actual homework, because I’m not feeling so pressured. Although, I know I will have to read it out next Wednesday *gulp*

So the prompt is…… ‘Sara! I never thought you could do such a thing.’

I sat there yesterday evening, trying to come up with something (it needs to be about 300 words) that resembles a story. On my 3rd attempt I got further than the first 20 words lol….so I’m hoping today I’ll be able to turn it into something readable. Might have to practice reading it out loud to the hubby a few times though lol

Plan for today…..try to get my assignment sorted, or rather typed up and finish the homework, oh, and of course, there’s today’s prompt……when she looked up

Looks like its going to be a busy day 😉

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 🙂

Is That It Then?

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Is it over now? All that Christmas and New Year malarkey ;o) Can I take the tree down?

So today, a return to normality? I do hope so 🙂

I managed quite well with my first writing prompt yesterday. I want to use them to inspire short stories. Yesterday’s one ended up being about a woman waiting for her son to come home from a New Years Eve party. Only, he’ll never return……no matter how many News Years Eve’s she waits for him. A bit sad and morbid I know, but what can I say…..it’s what came to me 😉

Today’s prompt is write about ashes

No ideas springing to me immediately, so I guess I’ll just start writing and see what comes up.

I haven’t done any work on my course these last couple of days, so I really should try to get some done….I’m just not feeling very motivated at the moment. Oh well, perhaps that’s to do with the holidays 😦

I made my first entry in my Mslexia Diary yesterday and had a quick flick through all the competitions, see which ones I want to enter…. There are loads so I better pull my finger out lol

I made my first post to the FaceBook Group Status Stories yesterday….You have to write a short story of less than 100 words. I’m determined to upload one every week 😉

And just quickly before I go…. A great quote I read yesterday regarding the New Year and resolutions…… “all manner of wondrous things are possible” Victoria Moran….2012 is gunna be a good year…. I’m excited 😉

Four Days To Go…..

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Until I come to the end of my Project 365 journey. On January the 2nd 2011 I downloaded the Project 365 App to my iPhone and began to take a photo a day, uploading them to FaceBook and the iPhone Project 365 Website

I’m feeling a little sad that it’s all coming to an end…..I didn’t miss one day 🙂 But it’s often been very hard, especially when you’re ill or just not in the mood to go out anywhere lol. A lot of the photos I’ve taken have ended up in my writing notebooks, to use as prompts for stories and character sketches.

Now, the question is…..do I do it again in 2012? Lol…..I haven’t decided yet 😉

I managed to get a couple of early morning hours yesterday to do some writing. I ended up with 3 short plays, a short story and a character sketch. Not a bad mornings work eh? 😉

So, I’ve been thinking a lot over the last couple of days about my new years resolutions. I make them every year, and every year I don’t stick to them (I think I made it to June with one a couple of years ago lol). This year, things will be different. This year I’m only going to make a couple, and maybe, actually have a chance of keeping them 😉

One of the resolutions I’m considering is the 100k in 100 days challenge. I’m not too sure I can manage it, I’ve never really counted how many words on average I write every day…….

*goes off to count how many words excluding this blog and FaceBook status updates she’s written today*

Wow so far today I’ve written just under 1500 words….. But, do I want the pressure of having to do 1000 words every single day? Is that just a little bit too much?

All I Want For Christmas………

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…….is……..actually, I’m not sure lol….. J K Rowlings life? A room of my own like Virginias? To look like Cheryl Cole? Ha ha ha…..yeah, I’d love all that, but….I am a realist 😉

I managed to get some early morning writing done yesterday. A couple of short stories that could possibly be turned into longer pieces at some stage. I tried my hand at a bit of chick lit, but, I dunno, I’m not sure I can really pull that off. Didn’t I read somewhere recently that chick lit is dying out? Let’s face it, it’s been done to death 😉 When I was 14 I wrote a bit of erotica (don’t look so shocked, I was full of hormones lol) but I’m not sure I could write stuff like that today…..Now, i shy away from sex scenes lol…..Its not something i enjoy writing, and I’m a firm believer in writing something you enjoy (which is why i could never write horror or sci-fi). If you enjoy writing the story, that will come across on the page. My hubby said a couple of days ago that most of my stuff is quite dark…..is that a bad thing? What does that say about me d’ya think? Lol 😉

I was up in time this morning (as I am most mornings) to watch the sun rise. I love this time of the day… So quiet. Its the time I write my Blog and make notes in my notebook. I re-read anything I’ve written the day before and make notes on any characters I’m developing. But being Christmas morning, it’s even quieter, not even the sound of a car going past, and I’m feeling a bit uninspired.

I still haven’t done the 3000 word competition entry….and the closing date is the 31st December! I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get it done. I still haven’t even decided exactly which short story to expand for it lol

Oh well, i must love you and leave you now…..I want to open my pressies…..ESP as hubby has let slip that I have rather a large amount of books 😉

Merry Christmas…..have a good one 🙂

It’s Christmas Time

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It’s Christmas Eve today 🙂

Yesterday I didn’t really get much writing done…… I’ve given up on adjectives until after the ‘holidays’ so I just did some work in my notebook (tidying it up basically, adding some quotes, observations etc) and finishing a couple of short stories I had on the back burner. I hate having things unfinished lol I’m a bit anal like that 😉

I stumbled across a quote by Horace….. “Never a day without a line’ My 2012 motto?

A friend asked me yesterday what my New Year resolution is…..but I didn’t really have one. Soooo, I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve decided that it will be something along the lines of ‘get something published’…….anything in fact lol…..and…….make sure I go out once a week, on my own, an artists date (or more like a writers date) to just see things, and experience life outside my 4 walls and the supermarket 🙂

Right, I must crack on…..so all that’s left for me to say isMerry Christmas! see you on the other side 😉

In my search for a Santa pic to use on Face Book I came across this cartoon. Love it! Hmmmmm…..I feel a short story idea coming on 😉

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Action!

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Well, I finally finished my action piece today. It’s taken me ages lol…. I wrote 3 short stories trying to get it right, the balance between dialogue and things actually happening. Anyway, all I have to do now is type it up and I’ll post it to my other blog later today 😉 I’m thinking I might use it for this 3000 word story comp i keep meaning to do, but, the trouble is it doesn’t really go anywhere, it’s just a scene about domestic violence. There I go again not writing the happy stuff lol

In my attempts to get my action piece done I did a lot of faffing (I love that word lol) about with my notebook…..and one of the things I did was an exercise on Quests….what is it that people/characters seek? Here’s my list so far…….

Money
Success
Power
Fame
A Different Life
A Soul Mate/Love
A Cure For A Disease
Adventure
Excitement
A Purpose
Spiritual Enlightenment
Fullfillment
Companionship
Happiness
Salvation
Peace & Quiet
Community
Support
Strength
Good Physical Health
Good Mental Health
Knowledge/Education
Change
Immortality
Faith
A Perfect Body
Youthfulness
Friendship
To Be Liked
A New Start
Freedom
To Be Needed
To Win
To Be The Best

I’m sure there must be hundreds…..so this is a page that will definitely get added to over time. Something will suddenly come to me when I least expect it lol (I’ve even added 3 more since I’ve been typing this lol). All characters are seeking something aren’t they? It’s what drives the story.

I won’t get much writing done today as I’m out later, with a friend for afternoon tea….I don’t think she’d appreciate me whipping out my notebook do you? Lol 😉

Where Do The Hours Go?

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Last Christmas hubby bought me a book…….this book >>>>>>>>

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I have an enormous Amazon wish list and every year he picks some off the list and buys them for me 🙂 Soooo, last Christmas I had this one (amongst many others lol). At the time I just kinda flicked through it. Picked it up again in the summer, and had another flick……Fast forward to October and I came across it again, only this time, I made a diary entry on my phone instructing my future self to start this book on January 1st 2012

Judy Reeves has a great web site. So much stuff to read and I’m really excited about working with the book next year 🙂 I’m just so gutted I don’t live in San Diego *pouts*

So yes, thanks for that Judy……your web site is a complete time suck lol 😉 I should have been working on my 3000 word short story, I should have been writing my “action” piece for my course. But instead, all I’ve done is read Judy’s web site.

No, tell a lie…..i did make some notes on basic plots. The common ones that crop up all the time. You know, like Quest, Rags To Riches, Voyage, Rebirth, Revenge, etc etc. I’ve managed to compile a list of 25……I wonder if I could write a short story for each one? Hmmmmm…….

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

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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