Storytime

In their flying machines. Well actually it was one daring husband and one daring not so young any more Vicki. Last weekend, we donned leather jackets, gloves, hat and goggles (combination of his birthday present and my Christmas present -  doesn't everyone give flights to each other?)  I began to channel my inner Snoopy as we soared in the wild blue yonder....in our Tiger Moths. That is me in the red plane, red modes of transport, as everyone knows are faster than other colours.  So we zoomed through the skies. Actually there were several times when I wondered how on earth we were up in the air at all. It really defies belief that we put ourselves into these machines and actually leave the ground. But heh it was fun. Great fun. We left Point Cook and headed to the city, over Albert Park Lake and St Kilda beach just as the clouds gave way and some sun made an entrance. Melbourne really is a beautiful city.  Then we headed over water for the ...

Characters that is. Honestly who would have thought that after creating them it would be so much work to really understand them? I'm reworking my YA novel (based on feedback received) and while a lot of the story works...more understanding of several of the characters was needed. Which of course made me think. Long and hard about the story as a whole.....does it work? Where is it headed? Is it believable? What does she want? What is stopping her from getting it? All the basics really...but then I had to think deeper.... And of course that is where tangents lie. Because the more I thought about characters and setting and plot and storyline- I then thought of timelines and subplots - secondary characters, point of view, landscape as character, context, theme etc etc etc. Thinking about your work is vital. But where do you draw the line and decide okay, that's enough time to get on with it (yet again). And often the thinking, the planning and to some people the research ...

Perseverance. One of the most important aspects of writing. If you want to send your work out, be published. Which is what I want to do. Am determined to do. But this year has definitely been a learning curve. Twice, by two different publishers, I have been asked to send my entire novel(s) - one a children's novel, one a young adult. One I reworked according to the feedback and as suggested sent back- and after months and months of waiting- got the 'sorry but not right for us in the end'. It is frustrating. It is depressing. It really makes me wonder why bother...in my bad moments. Which like most of us that write, out number the good moments. Sometimes you wonder if there will ever be another good moment....that the bad- the rejections, the silences, the 'getting nowhere' seem to be in abundance. And all thoughts of writing seem fanciful, and spun in daydreams. But if you look at it in a positive light- (which some days is just so difficult) it means both...

Last weekend my writing group  ran a writing workshop with Phillipa Martin , who writes crime as PD Martin. Actually it was more of a masterclass than a workshop. Phillipa gave us so much information, so much to think about. It was an intense day, but one that left us really thinking about the writing process. Not only did we look at the basics of writing- character, dialogue, plot - we also looked at what makes good writing. We discussed research,writing styles, genre writing, and then the nuts and bolts of getting published. Definitely a masterclass. One of those where you go home to debrief and thoughts scurry round and round in your head till the early hours. Phillipa said that she would go over a wide variety of information, some of which we would know, some would be new to at least one of us. And as long as we went home with five new pieces of information it was worth it. Frankly I think we all went home with more than five. I for one am not big on research, unless...

Writing. Well that's the idea. I have Wednesdays off ( If I say no to extra work and don't go in for training or meetings) so it is ideal to have this day dedicated to writing. And in theory it works well. In the morning I work on the blog, send it off into the ether- I then do tend to go out for an hour to do all those errands (my electric beater died last week mid burr and there is a child's birthday coming up this weekend and I'm working so ....). But I do return and head for the computer. List at the ready (my list of what to work on - dead lines to meet etc) and I begin...only to find myself... talking to Tigger (who so gets me I'm sure) or else... feeding those that drop in. I return to my desk, begin work on that poem I'm struggling with, or the short story to edit. Again. But my mind drifts....there is a load of washing to do (and the washing machine is thumping away as I type) but more importantly it is a beautiful day and the garden is ca...