Groundhog Day!

•February 2, 2010 • Leave a Comment

We don’t have groundhogs in Australia, and it’s Summer, not Winter, so this day means little to me… Except that Lost is coming back this day (in North America), and to celebrate I rewatched the pilot tonight. Not much has changed in five & a half years. Sure, several characters are dead, and there’s been some kind of time-space confusion, but Jack still annoys me, Kate’s still brunette, and I keep wondering where Vincent is. Not much difference at all.

It looks like I may post here once a month – which is far more frequent than last year, so this is a good thought. Plus, until I finish the second draft of Book 1 and start looking for a literary agent, I won’t have much in the way of writing talk to, well, talk about.

However, in the last month, my writing has gone at full speed. I finished Chapter 14 before the end of January. It was a very difficult chapter – eight out of twelve scenes were new. New. As in, they weren’t in the first draft. These new scenes still had the same characters from Draft 1, though. I just changed their storylines around so much that new scenarios were created and therefore new dialogue was necessary, and… It was tough. There was also a lot of geographical research that I apparently failed to do while writing the first draft.

Eg. Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) is HUGE!

Yes, I’m Aussie, but I’ve never been in the middle states. The only major rock formation I’ve seen in this country is Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. And yeah, I knew it was big, but I didn’t realise it was THAT BIG until I looked at it on the Google satellite picture. So, um, I had to rethink some parts of that particular storyline… Thankfully this story is mostly fantasy/sci-fi, and it’s set in the future, so some things can be set outside the realms of reality. But I still want to make sure it’s as real as it possibly can be.

Of course that was totally vague. I’m not telling you why Uluru is a part of my book. You’ll have to wait until it’s published. :P

But, anyway, yes. Lots of good writing in January. My daily goal was 200 words, but I managed to squeeze in another 2.5 days’ worth of writing. I’ll keep the same wordcount goal for February, just to keep my brain in check, but I’d like to write 1.5 chapters this month. I have less days in February, unfortunately, and not writing yesterday didn’t help – I think my muse was taking a well-earned rest – but I feel more focused now that I achieved so much the month before. I’ve planned the scenes for Chapter 15. Most of them are, again, new, but I feel less burdened by them this time. At the start of last chapter, I was embarking on new sets of storylines. In this chapter, I’ll just be continuing them. That’s much easier to do. :)

Less blogging, more writing, or else today will be a repeat of Monday. Hmm, I should rewatch that episode of The X Files. The late Kim Manners directed that one; Supernatural’s Mystery Spot too. I’ll watch them on the 4th, after Lost.

New Year, new goals

•January 1, 2010 • Leave a Comment

After welcoming 2010, and greeting a few people online with new year wishes, I settled back into my chair and thought about writing.

Then I put my music player on to ALL, SHUFFLE, played a random instrumental (The Corrs’ Erin Shore), and then clicked NEXT. That next song was to be my song of the coming year…

I’m waiting for something new
The rain washes my thoughts away
I’m longing to sing this song
To show you, to hold you
I’m so nervous, so excited
You make me feel I’m not alone
It’s you, just you

“JJ”, Snow Patrol

So, um… The first two lines make some kind of sense. But what about the rest? Here are my thoughts:

  • Longing to sing this song ~ I’m longing to get this book written & published.
  • To show you, to hold you ~ Who is this ‘you’? I have no romantic attachments & I’m not looking for any. I do know that I desperately want another dog though. Is the ‘you’ a dog? Or is the ‘you’ my potential readers? I sure would like to hold onto them. ;)
  • I’m so nervous, so excited ~ That’s what I feel like at the start of every year.
  • You make me feel I’m not alone ~ That’d be the dog thing again.

Okay, it’s book & dog related. I can work with that. :)

After listening to a few more songs, I finally kicked my muse back into gear and I finished the scene I’d started the day (or, year) before. That was the first scene of Chapter 14 in the second draft of Book 1. Are we understanding me?

My BIG goal for this year is to get Book 1 second draft completed, but I really want that done by March. What then for the rest of the year? Well, get close to finishing the second draft of Book 2 would also be good. Oh, and find a literary agent and possibly a publisher willing to take on this trilogy thing.

Networking-related: When I do finish the second draft of Book 1, I’ll be setting up a second Twitter account. It’ll focus on the business side of my writing. My current Twitter account had intended some of that, but it spiralled into a social network. Eh, that’s okay too.

Income-related: My only goal here is to get some. I’d like it to be close to home, but then I don’t know where home will be for the rest of the year. With mother’s current ban on me getting another dog, I’ll need to move out so I can get some mental health back. But that requires more money than I have. Working from home would be very good, but there aren’t many companies that allow this and the ones that advertise as such appear scammy. Setting up my own online business sounds good, but that requires more motivation than I think I have right now. I’m praying for more. ;)

Speaking of motivation, this blog post is becoming less interesting…

Back to the writing talk. I’ve planned the whole of Chapter 14. There are more “new” scenes than I thought there would be. The original chapter involved many minor characters that I’ve decided to let go. They’re just not important to the plot and had no lasting effect on any of my main characters. Sorry Einar. Sorry Balfor, Marcus & Cardew. Sorry Arlen, Mazel & Amariah. Sorry Rodor & Leof.

Actually, only one minor character from that particular plotline has kept his spot. And he’s one of my tribute-characters, so that’s just as well.

Dinner time now, and then my Creative-Awareness session (ie. TV). Followed by writing. Oh, yes. Another goal: get a schedule going where I start writing before midnight.

Anyone out there have particular writing goals for the year? Or, maybe you have other suggestions for the meaning of my 2010 Song… :)

I’m so lax…

•December 23, 2009 • Leave a Comment

New Year’s Resolutions?

  • Do more on this blog.
  • Write (obviously).
  • Get a puppy (if Santa doesn’t bring me one).

And on the job front, I’m idly looking at different options – virtual assisting, self-employment, etc. Basically, anything that doesn’t require me to leave the house. It seems the world copes better when I stay home. ;)

It’s late. I have interview skills training in eight hours. Should probably sleep.

Oh, yeah. I’m leaving the house in seven hours. Watch yourselves.

Forgot to say…

•August 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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

•August 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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.

[Edit: 23Dec09 ~ or, y'know, not]

Writing, dogs, and stuff…

•August 19, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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! :D *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

[Edit 23Dec09 ~ or, y'know, not]

Hi…

•June 11, 2009 • 1 Comment

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…

•March 4, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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…

•November 1, 2008 • Leave a Comment

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? :P

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

•September 12, 2008 • Leave a Comment

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.