GETTING INTO THE GROOVE

Current Work: Drafting short story, outlining new novel, queries
Listening to: The dog whining at the window
Reading: Tripwire A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Losing Momentum
The one thing I'm learning fast about the writers life is that it's very easy to become distracted. I'm sure this is true of many 'proper' jobs but as a writer I think the tendency for distraction is probably a natural trait. So this morning I have changed my routine a little. Yesterday I became very distracted by a little domestic job I needed to do. It was so banal I can't even mention it here, but it took up a good couple of hours and then I didn't end up with the result I wanted! What I did get was cross. Cross with myself and extremly infuriated that I didn't do the things I wanted to do - WRITING!
I still suffer from this guilt thing when it comes to writing. But this morning I have banished the gremlin on my shoulder and have set out my tasks for the morning which are writing tasks, this blog being one of them. Then when, and only when, I have completed those will I allow myself the other distracting bits. It's working so far, but then it's only been 2 and a bit hours since I began.

Looking Ahead
We have a friend coming to stay for a few days next week, so I may be a little more than distracted, but in preparation I have already written and submitted an article for Suite 101 on Hans Christian Anderson. I just love his stories even now and if I lived closer to my granddaughter would really enjoy reading them to her.

PERSEVERANCE PAYS

Current Work: Planning, Editing and Celebrating

Listening to: Silence

Reading: Bad Luck and Trouble (Lee Child), Psychologies Magazine

First Thought for the Day:

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809-1865)

Sweet Success

As you know, I have been plugging away at building a writing career for a long time, seriously for the last year or so. Well, at the end of last year I had a couple of short pieces published which really bolstered my writing ego and I felt bold enough to call my self a writer. This morning, following a couple of follow ups on Friday, I found two emails confirming commissions for pieces I have done. Yes, two! Just need a third now to make it really magical. But it just goes to show that the publishing business is a slow business (one of the pieces I submitted last November) and that as writers we have to keep on with the business of writing whilst waiting for publication. It’s a great feeling, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a buzz and I don’t think I’ll stop feeling that either. So keep on plugging away, patience really does pay off. That along with a heap of self-belief which for me, is mainly thanks to my Man Friday.

Book Worm

I’m on a Lee Childs book at the moment. It’s the first I’ve read (my Man Friday is a huge fan) and I’m really enjoying it. It has about 50 odd chapters of about 2-3 pages each so it flows quickly and has pace. Its not really my favourite genre, but it is very intriguing and its teaching me a lot about pace and plot and most particularly dialogue. There is a lot of dialogue, something I struggle with to sound ‘right’.

Goggle Box

At the moment its dominated by the Rugby (Six Nations), which has been fantastic with our UK subscription allowing us to see British telly. I never thought I would miss it but the Italian stuff is oh so terrible (and I think many of them would agree with me!

And Finally, the Last Word of the Day:

fool's gold

PRONUNCIATION:

(foolz gold)

MEANING:

noun: Something that appears valuable but is worthless.

ETYMOLOGY:

Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice, "All that glisters is not gold." Fool's gold is another name for pyrite, also known as iron pyrite or iron sulfide. Its shiny yellow luster has many fooled into believing they have struck gold while holding a mineral of little value.

The name pyrite is from Greek pyrites (of fire), from pyr (fire) because it produces sparks when struck against a hard surface. Some related words are fire, pyre, pyrosis (heartburn), pyromania (an irresistible impulse to set things on fire), and empyreal (relating to the sky or heaven, believed to contain pure light or fire.).

USAGE:

"Although the old rust-belt industries of the 20th century had to go, Britain turned its back on industry rather too readily. We were bedazzled by financial services: fool's gold from the City."

Matthew Parris; There's No New Motor to Drive the Economy; The Times (London, UK); Jan 24, 2009.

EXCUSES AND EXPLANATIONS

Obscure Word of the Week

Dandify v. (-ies,-ied) ‘make a dandy’

The Good and the Bad

Journal Jottings - 5,250 words approximately

Short Stories - 1 edited (Chasing Rainbows) and 1 draft (Stale Mate)

Queries and Pitches - Followed up a couple of leads

Articles Articulated - 2 both to Suite 101 (Business Coaching and Umberto I King of Italy)

Rejections Received - 0

Time-wasting activity level - 5/10

As I write this week’s blog, it seems to me that I spend most of my time considering why I haven’t done something, rather than on what I have achieved. This is so like many writers I would imagine, who think more about the words they haven’t written when they probably should be looking at the ones they have.

Having waved goodbye to the last lot of family visitors, I have a three-week space before the next arrive. Not that they distract me at all, I distract me, writers like distractions. I would like to confess that these distractions provide fodder for the pen and ink, but alas, I believe it is so I can pass the buck. Nevertheless, this week I have penned more words but certainly not made up for the paltry show of the last blog.

Anyway, the Creative School of Writing at the University of Bath recommends three submissions per week, so that will be my new target. It can include reader’s letters, short stories, articles and the long awaited for novel so plenty of opportunity.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

There is a dog barking, somewhere in the valley, sometime during the night (usually about an hour after I’ve drifted off) and it’s been going on forever. It cannot be at someone’s house, because I’m sure it would have been shot by now. The animal is probably guarding something or been spooked by the wild pigs, but it is impossible to locate the boring monotonous but irritating yelps as it resounds around the hills. It would be all right if it soothed me back to sleep, but I’ve tried counting, suffocating myself with the pillow and even asked my Man Friday to shout something rude out of the window. And therein in lies the other problem – we can’t shut the window because it is too hot and we would expire in the night. So night after night I toss and turn and then wake in some under slept state at around 8am cursing myself because I haven’t been up and ‘journalled’.

However, I am learning (yes, I know I’m a slow learner) that I can write at any time, and anywhere, if I really want to. I know there are many writers, many indeed who have claims to fame and who swear by particular a writing ritual or certain conditions, which leads to their success. But my life isn’t as clear-cut as that, maybe I’m just not organised enough. If I am to treat writing like other ‘work’ then I must be able to just get on and do it. So I’m experimenting with my journal at the moment though I can’t quite accept that 2am is a good time, whatever the dog thinks.

Bedside Table

I have put Joseph O’Connor to one side (sorry Joseph). My sister left me a copy of ‘The Outcast’ by Sadie Jones. It’s on the Richard and Judy Book List and I could not put it down. I read it in one sitting last Sunday, when the weather was a bit stormy. I haven’t read a book in one go since I was a young girl, but it was highly satisfying. It seemed to tick all the boxes although the actual plot wasn’t anything particularly unusual. I got hooked into the main character Lewis immediately (when you read it I’m sure you will understand why) and I needed to know what happened to him so I had to get to the end. It’s a story about loss and misunderstanding and about young love and its very simple and touching at the same time. I loved it - beautifully observed and presented. I want to write just like that…

I have not reconnected with Star of the Sea (apologies to Joseph again) but am reading a light tale ‘Living Dangerously’ by Katie Fforde which has me laughing aloud. I wonder if it includes the demise of a barking dog. More about that later….