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?

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? 😉

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 🙂

Critiquing With Confidence

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’m part of an all female writing group, called The Mermaids. But, from what I now know about writing groups this is in fact, a critique group. We submit our work via e mail and then meet up once a month to give critiques. This months meeting is on the 14th and I have a whole folder of stuff I have to read and use the red pen on lol

I read a post a couple of weeks ago over at 4am Writer entitled The Power of a Critique which has prompted this post 🙂

I use to hate critiquing…..all I ever use to write on my fellow writers work was “really liked this well done” lol. Probably because (a) I didn’t want to upset them, put them off writing or come across as, oh, what’s the word? Superior? Especially when (IMO) my writing was probably worse. And (b) because really, I didn’t know how to critique.

That all changed when I started attending classes at The Write Place where Elaine gave us slips of paper to use when we critique. The slips contained a list of questions to apply to the work we were critiquing and now, I use this set of questions all the time. I hope they’re helpful to any of you who struggle (as I did) when asked to critique a fellow writers work 🙂

(1) Did the title grab you?
(2) How about the opening paragraphs?
(3) Characters: Were they believable?
(4) Was there a strong plot?
(5) How about the ending, was it satisfying?
(6) Does it suit the market that the writer is aiming for?

I’d also like to add my own one that’s not on Elaine’s list……
(7) Did the dialogue work?

We use these questions in class to critique short stories, so I’m not sure how they would relate to a novel, or one chapter of a novel.

How do you feel about critiquing? Love it? Hate it? Muddle through? 😉

As a side note…..yesterday I read on Clarbojahn’s Blog about the OREO method of critiquing. Some good advice *nods in agreement* 🙂

Notebooks – Finding What Works For You

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Firstly, thank you so much, everyone, for your suggestions yesterday on how to get myself motivated, I really appreciate it 🙂 One thing I realised (along with many others!) is that I need to be more organised lol…..so I’m hoping this will help 🙂

I usually skim read The Writers Forum magazine when it thuds onto the doormat…..stick it in my pile of TBR magazines and then forget about it for 3 months. But this month, an article by Simon Whaley caught my eye so I just had to read it 🙂

In Notebook Know How, Simon explains how he has different notebooks for different things. Now, I’ve always been the one notebook for everything kinda gal. But reading Simons article made me realise that yep, he’s right, I can never find anything lol. I’m now on my 13th notebook, and though I can mostly remember what was in a previous book, I haven’t got a clue what was in say, book 4 lol

So as from the beginning of May I started working with 7 notebooks, all at the same time. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, 7 is a bit excessive, but, I can’t seem to cut it down to any less than that (Simon himself says that he has 6). Here are the books I’ll be working with:

Ideas Book – Where I’ll put ideas for stories, titles, articles I’m interested in, name ideas for characters, blog ideas and useful web site addys.
Prompts Book – Where I do my daily prompts.
Characters Book – As you know, I do a lot of characters, so a notebook dedicated to them will make it a lot easier when I’m trying to find one.
Goals/To Do List Book – I’ve decided to start each week with a set of goals, so a notebook dedicated to them would make sense.
Novel Notebook – A notebook dedicated to my current WIP novel, anything and everything that relates to it.
Dumping Book – The book that I take to my writing class and take out and about with me for free writing sessions.
Nano 2012- I’ve prepared a notebook for my A-Z characters, so I can add stuff that I come across which might be useful.

Simon says (i lovethat!) he uses his dumping book and then at the end of every day transfers the information into the categorised books. He says the transfer process also gives him an opportunity to develop the ideas further. Yeah, I can see that, extra work yes, but good to go over stuff I think.

How many notebooks do you work with and why?

I’ll let you know whether it was a good idea or a bad one in a couple of months LMAO 🙂

Insecure Writers Day, Or Help, Somebody Kick Me

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Today is Insecure Writers day (see the tab at the top for more info). A day where members spill their guts on their writing fears, concerns, worries, and hopefully receive sympathy from the other members.

So how am I feeling about my writing at the moment? Pretty shit to be honest lol. I’m really struggling with motivation and I don’t know why lol. I need a boost 😉

My out there’s have dropped considerably (down to about 10 now) and although I was Long Listed in the Flash500 Competition (my entry was titled “Ashes”) it wasn’t really enough to give me that kick up the arse I seem to need right now. So what will it take?

I need to be more organised, I know that, and I’m fed up writing at my dining room table. The room is so cluttered now, I can’t get to my books, can’t easily access my notebooks and have to keep moving my piles when we have dinner *deep sigh* I know, logically, there’s nothing I can do about it, but I feel pretty sulky and low about the whole situation *pouts*

I’m not suffering from writers block, far from it! I have ideas coming out of my ears, what I don’t have is the motivation to sit down and write….I potter, tidy up, sort the washing, shop for food, cook (occasionally lol), blog, check e mails and FaceBook and then watch a film lol.

I know I am so lucky to have the time to write, that I don’t really have any commitments, and that my husband is very supportive, so what’s my problem right?

Am I in a writing slump? anyone have any suggestions on how to fire me up? 😉

Blog Schedule

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Now that the April A-Z Challenge is finished (which I’m so chuffed at completing by the way lol, but you already knew that didn’t you lol) it’s about time I became a bit more organised lol.

I didn’t realise how much people would enjoy my characters, and although I will kinda miss creating so many, I’ll still get my fix, because I do them in my notebook on a regular basis. So from now on, I’ll share one, once a week 🙂

I’ve been trying to find my feet since I started this blog, so now I’m ready to work to a routine, so I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to include…..

A Characterisation – Along the lines of what I did for the challenge.
WIP – I don’t often talk about my work(s) in progress, but I’m ready to share 😉
A Film Review – From a writers perspective of course lol. You can learn so much from films IMO, and I watch loads.
Silent Day – That’s gunna be hard, as I can chat for England! But I need a day off. Sooooo, as I’m doing a 365 photo project, I’ll post a pic that i think may give you a story idea.
A Book Review – Again, from a writers perspective. There will be a lot of talk about Writing Books, as I’m an addict! 😉
Free Writing Day – I really enjoyed my “Place” experiment last month. So I intend to do a Freewriting session every week from now on.
Ideas & Notes – I’m always coming across ideas, stuff to improve my writing and most of it gets scribbled down in my Note Book….so I’ll share stuff I think we could all do with knowing, or being reminded about 😉 Will probably include links to other blogs that I think are useful.
Weekly Goals List – I spend most of my week procrastinating, and not really achieving much. Perhaps, if I write my goals down each week I’ll have more chance of actually getting something done lol
Prompt Talk – I do a prompt a day, but I don’t go into much detail about them do I lol

Ok, so perhaps a pattern will emerge, a set day for each type of post? I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers do that. so what do you think? I want my blog to have purpose, at the moment (pre A-Z Challenge) it just seems to amble along without any form of direction lol. I need to focus on a single topic with each post, not ramble away like I normally do lol.

So pull up a chair, grab a coffee and I’ll begin…..