Storytime

Yep, that time of the year when folks everywhere are panicking and asking 'so what do you want?' As a gardener there a million things I dream over. Oh and ah over. Drool and imagine over. As a writer, it gets a bit more difficult. I have pens, in fact a LOT of pens. The really cute and quirky ones magically disappear and I'm left with those 'buy a packet of 20' ones that still work. When used. Notepads and notebooks are always nice to receive. I have a few writing friends who I envy because their novel ideas are neatly put into these A4 notepads. They have images and pictures, they have maps and terrains marked out. I dream of someday doing this. But what to get me as a writer?  How about a place to write...perhaps a cabin in the woods? Hmmm actually I live in a log cabin, in a forested area. A place by the beach so I can wander the shores while dreaming of my characters? This could be a contender folks! Watch this space... Actual...

My writing group has a different member hosting each month, which is a great way of running a group. There is variety, different perspectives etc. I was the host for our January meeting. January and November/ December meetings are different to our usual monthly meetings. The end of year one is a celebration of all that has been achieved. We look back on the year, reminisce over goals met and unmet, celebrate the successes and the near misses. Our January meeting is the one where we try to focus on what we would like to achieve for the upcoming year. Some members already have their goals planned and waiting to be achieved. Others, like myself, have no bloody idea...   The year is a blank page and I have to think on what I would like to do for the year. What I want to work on, continue with, experiment with etc... Often in January we do a goal setting exercise or three. This year I wanted to begin the year on a positive and (hopefully) beneficial vibe. I wanted us...

My writing style lately , if you can call it such, is a tad scattergun. Lots of small pieces being created, going anywhere and everywhere...and hitting nothing. I have no focus. I do a bit of this...and oh that's an idea. Start writing a poem, get the very basic first draft then...oh....idea for a picture book. I do it in 'real' life as well. Find something I want to make, and give it ago. Then I attempt a unicorn sock puppet.... Bake a biscuit or two.... Knit some baby stuff... Do a cross stitch and turn it into a cushion... Bake for a birthday... Make a hat for Storytime... Knit something else I haven't tried before... Interspersed with gardening of course. I'm all over the shop. Don't have a favourite. I just like doing, or attempting, different things. That, I think is (ONE) of my problems. It's like I lose my focus, spot something shiny and I head in that direction. I decide that this is the one I wan...

At the beginning of September I decided to give one of the, many and varied, writing software programs a trial. I signed up and thought, yep in 30 days I will have an idea if I want to purchase it, or whether it is not for me. I had heard rave reviews and even though I ummed and ahhhed and debated, I decided to have a go. What could I lose? I had, after my 'success' with finishing the Shillong edit in August, decided that I would give another manuscript a go in September. And that the software program would aid in this rejiggery. However.... Five days in and I knew it wasn't for me. Not at the moment at least. Mainly because I am not a planner. I tend to have an idea, I may nut it out a bit here and there (mostly in my brain, not on paper) and then I go for it. Now this could be a reason why so little actually gets done...but this, as I have discovered and now had reinforced, is how I write. I began well....that was after watching the tutorial. Just one, ther...

Another year, another writing retreat. It was all it was meant to be. I'm not saying I began a novel, wrote twenty seven poems or even two short stories... But...I did edit seven poems, read one poem out for workshopping and edited my junior novel. Work was done. As usual we walked... When we walk, we talk. Sometimes about our families and our home life, but mostly it's about our writing, our process, our dreams, aspirations and goals. It is often interesting how a different location, getting out of our comfort zones, can make us realise many truths. Do we really want what we say we want? Cryptic but so apt....does that person REALLY want to write short stories or are they now more poetry focused. We do tend to end up down Philip Island way---usually very close to the beach. This time we landed a bit more rurally bucolic. More rolling green hills than surf--but lots of nice cows to look out and admire. Even when we were locked in while a farmer went to get hi...

Just came back from a long weekend with my writing group- and once again it was a relaxing, nurturing, that much needed push in the right direction. Once again we found ourselves at the beach. As usual I went for walks (although this time no koalas were found - I had to make do with the odd wallaby or two, or four), took photos, talked and dreamed. There were great ocean views and stunning sunsets. We ventured further--- found some friendly faces some wonderful trees. And we wrote, we pondered, we discussed and debated. We workshopped and wrangled synopsis, edited and queried the joys of social media and which was right for us. I edited a whole manuscript while away---mind you it was hard work as the photo here clearly shows. I came home reluctant to face the real world. I wanted to stay and write, and think writerly thoughts. Be with people who know that talking about a book in process is like talking about family. But I also came back with a stronger focus...

Recently I've looked at a wedding venue or two (for baby girl)- and even though the date is a little way in the future, finding the right place is very very important. Not only does it have to sum them up as a couple, not too rustic, not too urban, not too city, not too country. It also has to make a great first impression and then a good lasting impression. It's something I endeavour to remember when I send my work out there. Having been on the 'other side', as in on the editorial committee for Page Seventeen  for several years, I know what I 'looked' for when considering pieces. When you read so many entries (in many years, hundreds) they have to stand out. First impressions count.... But that is not enough....it could be an intriguing title, great opening line....something that captures your attention and makes you want more. Should be easy shouldn't it? But I remember so many stories, articles and poems simply dropped. After this initial ...

A few Saturday's ago I did a day long basic photography course. It was good. I learnt a lot - once I got my head around unfamiliar words and phrases such as aperture, shutter speed, readings and bracketing. More importantly we had a field trip so we could put into practice what we had learnt---hopefully. It was also interesting to see what the others in our group saw when they took their photographs (there were only four of us- nice and intimate group). We were all at the same place - stood alongside each other for most of the session - yet what we focused on was different. Some wanted the buildings, some the reflections in the Yarra - and that is what they concentrated on. It's a lot like writing. One of the writing groups I go to has a topic or 'theme' each meeting. Sometimes a phrase, sometimes only a word, and sometimes it's a style of writing as well as a word -such as " two person dialogue with the word soprano". You would think impossib...