Forgot to say…

I wrote that blasted third last scene. \o/ It went along with my plan; included intrigue, foreshadowing, sarcasm and Latin. Hmm. There’s a lot of that in the trilogy. I will need a Latin expert to look over my phrases before I show anything to a prospective publisher.

Er… Next two scenes are relatively simple rewrites. I’ll have to toss some characters around, but the focus of the scenes will remain the same. There will also be intrigue, foreshadowing and – considering there will be sword-passing – Latin will likely be a factor. I also expect some sarcasm.

Yep, that’s how my trilogy rolls.

Writing Exercise #1

First session of “Creative Flow” course (actually called The Art & Soul of Writing) was this morning. We did five creative exercises; one was verbal. I’ll say something about that in another post [if I remember to do so].

This was the first written exercise: Write something starting with the words “I like”. Doesn’t matter what you write about; doesn’t matter if you write words that don’t exist; you can write about a few things you like… Apart from those initial two words, we had the freedom to write whatever we liked, and we had five minutes to write it.

Here’s what I wrote. Obviously, I was feeling the need for sugar at the time.

I like slate pencils – the aniseedy, licoricy sticks of sugary grey goodness. Most people think they look like chalk or maybe that stick used in the old toothpaste ads where the lady broke it in half to show how bad teeth get… or something. I don’t know. I don’t care.

I like slate pencils. They’re good to suck when you have a sore throat, or just when you need to keep your mouth busy while you’re reading or writing or watching TV. They’re okay to chew too, but they disappear quicker that way – I prefer to keep the taste around as long as possible.

I’ve liked slate pencils since I was 17: I bought a packet in Morpeth, while I was on an aniseed kick, and wow… they were just awesome. I’ve called them “the love child of aniseed and licorice” because they taste like both, yet are neither too sweet nor too… aniseedy. As much as I’d like to keep them all to myself, I will promote their goodness so the demand continues.

So, yeah…
Slate Pencils
Morpeth

The second exercise started with “I don’t like”, but as mine was practically a rant about my least favourite episode of Supernatural, I’ll just let that slide… Unless one of you (three) requests a read of it.

I’ll post again with exercises three & four from today. They continue the love for the sugary grey goodness.

Writing, dogs, and stuff…

Finished Chapter 10! Actually, I’m very close to finishing Chapter 11 now. I just obviously forgot about this place (again).

One very sad thing happened since last post – my darling Bennerman-dog  passed away on Friday 3 July. He’d just gotten to that stage where I couldn’t really “allow” him to suffer the pain he had. He’d done okay, coping with the no walking and moving himself around the floor. However, over the course of a weekend he acquired some kind of ulcer on his top lip – which must’ve then been bitten through (leaving an awful hole) – and his front legs stopped cooperating, which meant he could no longer get himself up from lying down on his side. We’d put Ben outside in the glorious winter sun, where he just fell asleep, and when the vet came he woke for a little while, and then closed his eyes again. I was an absolute mess, and mum couldn’t stop the tears coming either. He’d been with us for 16 years. He was a very special dog – I put him in two of my novels – and nearly seven weeks later, I’m still grieving his loss.

Yet, I believe I’m very ready for another dog. I need something to distract me from Ben’s absence, and something to keep me looking forward to a future (where Ben won’t be). I love all dogs, even the annoying little terriers. Yet I much prefer big dogs. I’d much rather sit beside a big furry dog and put my arms around them. Great Danes are probably too big, though.

Back to writing…

I’m starting a course on “Creative Flow” this Friday. It runs for six weeks (Friday mornings), & it’s at the NSW Writers Centre. Hopefully it’ll help me get the words out of my head and into some substantial sentences for my trilogy. I’m currently stuck on the third last scene in Chapter 11. Despite it being the 2nd draft, this scene is all-new, and therefore all kinds of scary. I’m also introducing someone much earlier than the 1st draft did… But I’ve been doing that for a lot of characters, actually. I’ve now had seven characters show up earlier than they originally did. One character wasn’t supposed to show his face until Book 3! *shrugs* I think it’s much better this way. The “enemy” is still a mystery, even though there are clearly some corrupt folk around, & all the main Goodies should be known by the reader by the end of Book 1.

Um… Still out of work, though I had a consultation with a recruitment company today (well, yesterday as it’s nearly 3am). Did some typing/data entry tests. Haven’t done any for about five years. Data entry speeds are OK, but typing speed was lower than my average. *shrugs*

I won’t say that I’ll return after “so & so” because I’ll more than likely not. However, I think I might attempt to end each post, from hereon, with a writing quote:

One of the problems we have as writers is we don’t take ourselves seriously while writing: being serious is setting aside a time and saying if it comes, good; if it doesn’t come, good, I’ll just sit here.
— Maya Angelou

Hi…

I’m still around, still writing, still… dizzy. Yep, the blasted thing has been annoying me for eight months now. I’ve seen two balance specialists about it; the latest one gave me options to deal with it. So, there’s that.

I just finished the ninth chapter of the Trilogy rewrite (aka 2nd draft). It’s fun writing better stuff for the story. I’ve certainly evolved in my writing since I started the tale in July 2003… By golly! It’ll be six years next month! Ouch. Muse better get a wriggle on. I want this first book to be ready for publishing ASAP.

Er… So, I’m not really updating this blog much. I’m actually more frequent on Twitter – joined it at the start of May, got addicted – and I do talk a bit about the writing gig there. It’s actually more fun than I thought it would be.

And, that’s all for now. [Hopefully] I’ll come back when I’ve completed Chapter 10.

Four months later…

Hello! Guess what? Dizzy feeling still here. It was rather bad in December/January, and my writing suffered because of it. However, there might be a ray of sunlight on the horizon… More on that later.

Over the next two days I’ll be getting some tests done to discover what’s causing the dizziness. In the meantime, the doctor’s asked told me to stop consuming caffeine, salt, cheese and alcohol for two months. No caffeine means no coffee, no cola, no chocolate…. It’ll be a hard two months of writing, let me tell you. Thanks for letting me tell you. Now… On with the writing talk.

Two weeks ago I began an online course – Storytelling for Film & Television. It’s been a lot more intense than I was expecting (for an online course), and honestly, work is getting in the way of my future career. In more ways than that, but I’ll now give the details for the course. It’s run by the Australian, Film, Television & Radio School [AFTRS]; it runs for five weeks; I paid a week’s wages to be educated. Let’s hope it’s worth it.

Oh, and… I’ve signed up for Script Frenzy. It’s run by the same (kind of) folk who run NaNoWriMo, but it’s focused on producing scripts – whether for film, TV or plays. I have half a tale written that I’ve been trying to put into screenplay format for yonks. I made things extra hard for myself with the multiple flashbacks, but they’re an integral part of telling (& showing) the story.

And there go the dizzies. Fun stuff, really. It’s like I’m on a dinghy bobbing up and down on the waves…

PS: Both novel & short story competitions went nowhere. I haven’t entered anything since.

Update? Why not…

What have I done for the last month and a bit? Well, not much writing sadly. There’s been a family visit, work stress, dog stress, normal stress, stressing about the future… And then last week I started doing this weird dizzy thing every time I sat down for more than 15 minutes. ONE CANNOT WORK UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES!

Wow, capslock… Okay, truthfully it was the Shift key.

I’m desperately waiting for some information on that Genre Fiction Award. There were some delays in the competition, and I read last weekend that shortlisted entries would be contacted by the end of October… Well, it’s now November 1st and I’m uncontacted. Does that mean I wasn’t shortlisted? It’s very possible. But, I’m also under the suspicion that there have been further delays. Call me optimistic, but, really, how could anyone pass up the opportunity to publish my fabulous story?

I did not enter that short story competition run by the Port Stephens Examiner… I found a better offer in the form of The Age (national newspaper) asking for the same deal but with much more prize money. Deadline was also two weeks later than the PSE, so that gave me some more time to come up with a reasonable title. I’m still not happy with it, but it’ll do. I won’t hear anything about that competition until December.

Am I doing NaNoWriMo? Yes, but I’m not writing a novel. Well, I am, but I’ll be surprised if I get much writing done for it this month. The Muse is on a fun Supernatural fanfic kick. So, hey! I thought I’d use NaNoWriMo to just get as many words as possible for all my writing projects! [I have five on the go! - two are badly neglected roleplays].

I wrote hundreds of words on the train to work today. They’re mostly plot details, though, so I’ve still got to flesh out the story on the laptop. Who knows, I might get 1500 words done this weekend… if this friggin’ dizzy feeling would just GO AWAY!

Blah.

Writing comps

Lessee… I’ve entered one, and am thinking about entering another.

First! The Genre Fiction Award, hosted by the NSW Writers’ Centre and New Holland Publishers. The aim is to get a book developed for publishing. First prize is 20-hr development (worth approx $1200), second a 15-hr development (approx $1000), third a 10-hr development (approx $700). Shortlisted entries may also be in the running for publication.

I sent off the entry last Tuesday, deadline was last Friday… Got confirmation of their receipt yesterday. Just waiting to see if I’m shortlisted, because then I’ll need to send in the whole damn book. Yet, I’m still working on the second draft – but I’m at a point where I really only need to write two more newish scenes, and then the rest of the book will flow somewhat nicely.

Other comp? It’s for short stories – something I don’t normally attempt, because my imagination runs wild and I usually go over the word limit. However, somewhere back in January I wrote the introduction to a piece of fanfiction, and the introduction works perfectly on its own… Plus, the introduction does not include any characters created by anyone other than moi. Ergo, I can show it off as my own because it is all my own.

The Port Stephens Examiner Literature Awards – looking for short stories up to 2500 words. My fanfic intro is 1200 words. NIce fit. There is no preferred theme, which is good because my tale is mixed with suspense and horror. And that’s probably why I could write a short story. I should try to write another one (or three).

I’ll need to come up with a title before I enter that comp, though. That’s the hardest part.

Competitions & Seminars…

Okay, just one of each.

I’m planning to enter this comp – Genre Fiction Award (the prize values are in the wrong order) – but I’m having a lot of trouble writing the synopsis… Which is where tomorrow’s seminar could help.

The Australian Society of Authors (of which I’m a member) has been holding a vast range of professional development seminars this year. I went to the “Working With Your Publisher” seminar in February; ’twas very informative, though as yet I haven’t really been able to utilise anything that I learned. Tomorrow I’m going to the ASA’s “Marketing: The Author As Brand Name” seminar.

With these details:

This seminar is designed for authors either self-published or working with a mainstream publisher, and will assist you in building a high author profile. Topics covered include:

• Designing a marketing plan/strategy
• Identifying markets
• Putting together your promotional kit
• Launching your book
• Handling media interviews
• When should you hire your own publicist?
• E-marketing – your website presence
• Other publicity ideas
• Networking

Well, I couldn’t possibly miss out on it. I’ll see how the discussion goes before I bring up the synopsis stuff. Hopefully I’ll get some ideas for it while I’m there.

Hmm… I might also try this seminar: “Voice Skills: Reading & Performing Poetry“. It would be a unique way for me to build up my voice-confidence, and I could also show off my poetry talents (which comes very infrequently these days, but I know it’s still there!).

Well, that’s it, I guess. Back to the grind.

Update…

Yes,

-I’m still alive.

-I’m still writing.

-It has been too long.

May & June were months of blah – barely anything got done, on or off paper. I worked. I went out a few nights. I did bugger all the rest of the time. My muse went AWOL, and my trilogy suffered.

But! July saw a new start: a silly little Supernatural fanfic, which has strangely helped me out of a rut. I think I need to write more silly stuff, to counteract the serious stuff of the trilogy.

Where is the trilogy up to? I’ve shelved the 1st draft of Book Two for a while to concentrate on the 2nd draft of Book One. Now, this is not just a simple editing/revising job. The whole tale has changed dramatically since I started (all those years ago). Before I started this 2nd draft, Book Two looked more like a sequel to Book One than a continuing story. And Book One sucked so badly because (essentially) nothing had happened. Okay, stuff happened, but it didn’t go anywhere very fast… and I’m horribly reminded of the 2nd Matrix film. Thank goodness they brought the 3rd one out six months later.

Digress over.

Look at me and my non-existence…

That’s what most of April and May felt like. Why? Barely any writing. I think I can safely say that 100-words-per-day goal has been ditched. These days I’d be lucky to get 500-words-per-week… and yes, that is my current, but not totally official, writing goal.

What happened? LIFE. Living In Family’s Evilness… Yes, that’s what I’ll call it. They like to creep in and disturb my joy. I can’t go into the problems here – they’re far too personal and, should I be famous one day, not something I necessarily want posted in the trivia section at IMDb.

My Muse… went AWOL. At a time I really needed her to lift up my spirits, she ditched me! She’s most definitely a fickle bitch – probably a friend of Destiny (thanks, Ben Linus).

Eh, I have returned to say I have managed to get some writing done in the last two weeks, thankfully. I just finished scene 3 in my first ever actual fanfic… Geez, only took me four months!