Storytime

I had last week off work. Mainly because I was told I had too much leave accrued and had to take some...NOW. So I did.  My main aim for the week (apart from not thinking of work) was to read. I was going to hit that pile of books that wait patiently for me to get to them. In fact I thought my week would look a lot like this... That was the idea. However the first two days were lovely and sunny - so of course I spent them in the garden. I gave up books for trowels and trugs and...managed to get quite a lot done. Garden wise, but not reading wise. Then the weather turned and I did manage to catch up with a friend for lunch. And make a block for the National Year of Reading quilt that we are attempting to make at work. As this was my first 'proper' quilting attempt (I've appliquéd and crazy patchworked and even hand patched before) and I was using an 'idea' from the net, this took quite a few hours...but it was finally accomplished and has been sent on its...

I do have the best intentions (sure there is a proverb about this and the way to Hell) but I do. I get my copy of The Victorian Writer .I browse through the articles and then I begin to read the opportunities and competitions page. I ponder, circle a few that I feel are relevant, put a star against ones that I know I have a suitable piece just waiting. If needed, I go to the necessary website, check out submission details or entry forms, find out more requirements. In an ideal world this is then placed on my list. Yes I'm a list girl...it seems the only way to make any sense of what I hope to get done in a day/week/month. And I do love that feeling when something is crossed off my list. A sense of achievement, accomplishment. Knowledge that I have not wasted my day. Yet this year in particular I have missed so many deadlines. Firstly - because my list cleverly avoided many of these deadlines. Freudian perhaps? Secondly - I became very good this year at heading off on tangent...

Well I surprised myself. I actually finished NANOWRIMO.. .. And yes at the end of the month I had over 50, 000 words. Not brilliant words, not even particularly good words, but words that when put together do have at their crux...and idea. It was an interesting experience. I'm not going to say it was fun. It wasn't. I found it challenging, frustrating, at times damned annoying and lots of hard work. Which is why I attempted it in the first place. I wanted the challenge. I wanted to dare myself. I had the 'idea' the night before I began. So when I did begin to write, I had no character sketches, no names, no plot details. It was writing into the darkness. Not really knowing what to say until I sat at the computer, and then going where the story was taking me. I didn't stop to edit, did't try to second guess myself. First week went okay. I was getting excited about a new piece of work. Second week...yuck. But I kept on. Giving up is too damned easy, I...

I have a friend, Tiggy Johnson, who for a few years now urged me each November to have a go at Nanowrimo. Each year I said 'no way.' Which explains of course why Monday morning about 7.30 am before heading off to work I decided, spur of the moment, to sign up. Now of course it's panic time. Why on earth did I decide to say that yes I would write a novel, 50,000 words in the month of November? Why? I do like a challenge, and this is a big one, but where to begin? Especially as I had no idea what I wanted to write. Looking at a few forums I discovered that a lot of people have actual plans. Yes plans. Complete with character sketches, plot outlines, themes and carefully planned metaphors to sprinkle throughout this work, even a title. Hmmm- did I say I liked a challenge? People have offered up advice. A- You must write every day. B- Try and stay ahead of the word count. C- Include anything you write in the body, your blog, your poetry.... D- Don't car...

Mostly it's fingers to keyboard, but yes I am actually writing. YEAH! That was meant to be the idea for this week or so, a major push in the right (or should that be write) direction. :) After the YA Masterclass with Libby Hathorn on the weekend I felt inspired enough to go back to my YA novel - work on a chapter - and even think back to the verse novel I never quite finished. Surprisingly enough I'm still interested in my characters, still want to know the journey they take. I also am writing a poem a day for my nod to those doing the Nanowrimo - so here we are on day ten and I have ten poems down. Or put it more correctly ten ideas for poems. Some will never see the light of day, some I've already worked on and there was a bit of a theme for awhile. My daughter has left home, my baby, so there were a few poems based on the emotional roller coaster that entails. (including visits to hospital emergency departments, blood and stitches) For added inspiration I went to...

Sometimes it's easy - ideas flow, words run through your mind, twist and turn into wonderful phrases, stanzas and after time spent in front of the computer a poem / short story/ article/ chapter is created. Other times, the world gets in the way. That's where I am at the moment and it's in these moments that I give myself that kick-start to forward my writing and provide motivation. Firstly - this month is Nanowrimo - for those not in the know this is when - world wide- people are given the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in November. I have friends that did it last year and are doing it this year, encouraging me to give it a go. No. I don't need the extra pressure of finding the time (and inclination) to write like that. BUT ....I have given myself the challenge of writing a poem a day for the month of November. I have done this before- a poem a day for a month. I'm not saying each poem will be brilliant, or even good, but at the end of those 30 or...