#wpad July challenge - Next month I will....

NEXT MONTH I WILL..........

*be decorating the hall and landing.  I have already cleared the porch of cobwebs and tidied.  I'm hoping to     have the carpet up by the end of the week.  Yes, we're getting a new carpet!

*continue typing up the story of my family.  I started this a few years ago after looking into the family tree so   that I could pass it down to my kids one day.  I went back to it yesterday and am making great progress.  I   am determined to finish it now;

*look into poetry writing courses to begin in September;

*think about putting a pamphlet together and research publishers;

*sort out some poems for two publications I regularly submit to and send my comments to OU Poets on  the   workbook;

*have a few days away from the decorating and the writing to enjoy myself (there are plans out there that    just need a bit of finalising!)

Thanks for reading my posts over the last month.  I hope you've enjoyed them and I hope you will continue to drop by in the future.

#wpad July challenge - My current project

MY CURRENT PROJECT

The recommended book

Some posts ago I mentioned that I started my creative life off through songwriting.  Life is strange because as it happens a friend who knows how I continually enjoy learning recommended the website coursera to me. It's an American site but all the courses are free and taught through video lectures, quizzes and assignments. I decided to take a look.  There are a multitude of subjects, several I fancied but some were twenty weeks long and I didn't want to commit to that right now, especially when I hadn't done anything with them before and wasn't sure how much time I would need to study. Then up popped a course in songwriting over six weeks.  I read all the blurb and on impulse I signed up!

I am now attempting my second assignment (week two) and evaluating the first assignment of five fellow students (anonymously).  I am doing it not to form a career in songwriting but for pleasure.  However, I am also finding it useful for my writing because a lot of the techniques in songwriting are similar to techniques for poetry.  There are chances for students to upload a song and I will need help with that (enter IT techie son from stage right!).  

I have found with this course that I have had to unlearn some of my methods of lyric writing.  That's been hard.  I always studied songs and then use my instinct, but one thing I have got right is song structure which I've been using since I was eighteen.  Week two has been very informative and this morning I have written a verse and chorus!  Maybe I'll even be tempted to did out my guitar again.

(this is in response to a prompt from the writesofluid website)

#wpad July challenge - A piece of my writing

A PIECE OF MY WRITING

I wrote this as part of The Poetry School online course in Villanelles.  The object of this exercise was to use enjambment.

I Cannot Play the Waiting Game

I cannot play the waiting game with you

while roads remain unchartered out of here,

for when the sun is shining cares are few.

I want excitement! Everything that’s new

is like a boat that’s meant for me to steer.

I cannot play the waiting game with you

when chances beckon, call and coax and woo.

I can’t hold back; my pulses race and cheer,

for when the sun is shining cares are few.

My heart begins to stir and that’s my cue;

then morning skies come creeping blue and clear.

I cannot play the waiting game with you.

Nor can I stay when all within my view

are rainbow wishes leading me from here,

for when the sun is shining cares are few.

I know that to myself I must be true

and wasted chances fill heart with fear.

I cannot play the waiting game with you,

for when the sun is shining cares are few.

#wpad July challenge - Marketing strategy

MARKETING STRATEGY

Do I need one yet?  I don't have a book or pamphlet out in the big wide world, just some poems published in various magazines and anthologies which I do mention here when I blog.  Until I do have something people can actually buy I just share my successes here, on Facebook and sometimes on Twitter.

The other day I re-sorted one my shelves and in the process sorted through my writing stuff.  Bits of paper had got filed in the wrong place so I went through it all.  I was amazed that I had more for my 'success' file than I remembered.  Stuff from the early days, readers letters, an article, poems I'd forgotten about.  It made me feel rather good!  My ideas file is now completely separate.  This also contains articles ripped from magazines on how to write a novel (well, you never know I might have a go one day!) and the articles from the Daily Mail with their offer of having your own book published. I spoke about this in a post recently.

In the meantime I have done a little self promotion on the writesofulid web site as I was kindly asked if I would be an interviewee for July.  To read it go to the website and click on interviews.

#wpad July challenge - My bio

MY BIO

I live with my husband, two grown up sons and two mad guinea pigs south west of London.  I have always written but began submitting bits and pieces while taking a general writing course with The Writers' Bureau - which I never completed - in 1990/91, though I did have several readers letters and an article published.

I switched mainly to poetry after my father died in 1996 and since then have been published in various anthologies and small press magazines.  Lately I have been dipping a toe into flash fiction and have been published on paragraph planet.

I find my writing ideas from the world around me.  I write about nature, religious verse, relationships and  the darker side.  There are no boundaries.  If I think I can write about it I do.

When not writing I read avidly and indulge in my passion for music in all its forms.  I also sing in a community choir, enjoy art history and being a tourist in London.

(prompt from writesofluid)

#wpad July challenge - Social media

Social Media

I put off joining any social media sites for as long as possible but then a friend said look at my pictures on Facebook.  That's the only place I could view them so reluctantly I signed up.  It took me ages to understand how it all worked.  I even bought an idiots guide!  I have far fewer 'friends' than most other people but I am picky and 'old school'.  I don't just add everyone I know or come into contact with....you know acquaintances you speak to once in a blue moon.  I don't have dedicated writers page there but use Facebook for my friends.  I do belong to a few groups which is entirely different.  These are groups for writing and other interests I have and they are very useful and informative.

I now also have a Twitter account but don't use it a great deal (though during this blog challenge I have tweeted a few times).  I recently joined Google+ but I have no idea what its all about!  I need an instruction book for using it!

I know social media is good for promoting yourself and that's one of the reasons I use it but I am sure I am not getting the best out of it.  I much prefer blogging!  I expect it's down to my age as the kids get to grips with social media so fast.  It's all a learning curve but it's also time consuming.  Sometimes I fear I spend too long on Facebook (and blogging) than actually writing.  A writer is well able to find excuses for not getting down to business!

So, now I'm finished here I'm hopping off to Facebook after which I have my shelves to re-sort!

(prompt from www.writesofluid.com )

#wpad July challenge - Ways to get motivated

WAYS TO GET MOTIVATED

I could say see post for day 20 (What motivates me!) because a lot of that applies.  As it happens today I have been to a workshop at The Poetry School in London on the theme Poetry of Place with Ann Sansom. The morning session was devoted to writing and Ann got us writing from the first moment by giving us a sentence to start us off.  We wrote poems with various prompts - from postcards that we'd been asked to take with us, from prompts Ann gave us and we shared these if we wanted to with the rest of the class. After lunch we gathered to share a poem we had written either in class or one we had prepared earlier.  We shared firstly with the person next to us, getting feedback, editing in necessary and then we shared our poem with the whole class discussing what changes, if any, were made.   I came away with lots of draft poems and ideas for others.  These I can now develop at home.

So, attending a workshop or course is a great way to get you motivated.  I tend to schedule my writing to the academic year and begin collecting brochures - physically or online - before the start of new terms.  Then I look through them all and see what I feel is right for me at this point.  Courses and workshops are great ways to generate new work.  I can only speak for poetry here, though recently I did attend a workshop at Morley College on flash fiction which was good fun (and I came away with some hand-out sheets).  So go for it, learn what you can, get feedback and above all write!

(Promp from http://www.writesofluid.com/wpad/#.UfGJ1Y3VA54)

#wpad July challenge - Write what you know

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

(It was a dark and stormy night. The wind blew against the lantern.  I gripped it tighter between wet fingers. Back and forth it swung. It's yellow beam cast random light across the muddy grass.  The howl was nearer this time and behind me, getting closer, closer.....)

You may be better reading a post from someone who regularly writes fiction!  Though even in poetry I have done research!  So from my limited experience these are my comments.

Writing what you know is one of the first poinst stated in every book or course you attend on writing.  And it seems logical.  After all how can you write about what you don't know with any conviction?  However, sometimes it seems hard to find something original because we all think our lives are too boring, but we all experience similar things in life.  Maeve Binchy wrote about the ordinary, everyday lives most of us live and she made a great living at it.  I loved her books.  We all have hobbies and jobs, background we can delve into.  Why make it hard and choose to write about an era and place we haven't lived in when there is so much in our own lives and environment to tackle?

However, there will come a time (maybe) when you want to try your hand at writing something else and that is where real research comes in.  Those who write detective or historical novels have to do their research because there is always someone out there who will pick holes because they are 'in the know'.  Writing has to be authentic to readers.  I know when I read a book that is set somewhere I have been I feel that much closer to it as I recognise landmarks and remember the layout or feel of the place.  I am sure there are books and courses you can take to guide you in research.  Better still, if you know someone 'in the know' you can pick their brains (if they are willing) or they may put you in touch with the right person.  If you can visit a place where your story is set then go there.  There's lots you can do, loads of resources available in libraries and local history associations, online, books.

For short stories it's probably easier to stick with places you know.  You don't want to spend ages researching for a few thousands words or less.  Novels are different.  Read lots of books in the genre you want to write, see how others do it. (Actually reading for any type of writing is a must)

Whatever you write don't be restricted in your characters, subject, place and era if you have a great idea and that's what you want to do. Just bone up on your research, get advice and write it.

#wpad July challenge - All time favourite book

ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOK

I had to really think about this because there are always certain books that stand out but I'm going back.....way back to the first book I ever bought with my own money at a school fair when I was about fourteen or fifteen.  It cost me the princely sum of 6d, yes folks, that's old money!  The books is The Hundred and One Dalmations by Dodie Smith.  I have read this so many times.

I'm sure everyone knows the story of how Pongo and Missis fifteen Dalmatian puppies are stolen by Cruella de Vil  and how they are rescued by a posse of other dogs (twilight barking being the communication route - I guess dogs these days might use social media...sorry!) and escape across country with all the rest of the Dalmatian puppies waiting to be turned into a fur coat for Cruella .  They encounter many obstacles and once even disguise themselves by rolling in coal dust before they finally arrive home.

My paperback version is littered with little black and white illustrations, including a double page 'twilight barking' picture. Though the book has become dog-eared and some of the pages have come loose I cannot part with it. Over the years I have seen the film versions (Meryl Streep making a great Cruella) and I bought my kids the storybook and cassette tape version, but the original book is still the best, the one and only.

#wpad July challenge - Advice to aspiring writers

ADVICE TO ASPIRING WRITERS

1.  Write every day.  It doesn't matter what, just write.  Try 'morning pages' where you write for about ten minutes on anything that comes into your head.  Sometimes this will lead to ideas that can be used for a story or poem.  It's amazing how the mind works.  Go back over your written pages from time to time and see what you can use.

2.  Read.  A writer cannot write if they don't read.  Read the sort of thing you want to write, the specific genre, soak it up.  Seek out different poets.  Read as widely as possible for pleasure and for research.

3.  If you encounter writer's block, try going for a walk or do something different away from writing. If that doesn't work try exercises (writing exercises not press-ups, though you never know!) to get the imagination going again.  If it's new ideas you are wanting to generate delve into self-help books for ideas.  For stories have a card system for character, plot and conflict.  Use different coloured card and then write several characters, plots and conflict.  Mix them all up and choose one from each pile at random.  Now write.
There are many ways to generate writing.
.
4.  Always have a notebook and pen to record things wherever you are.  I once stood in the street to write something down!

5.  Sign up for a course, workshop or online course.  Relish the feedback, even the bad.  You will learn from it and move forward.  You also get to meet people who are all like you.  You realise that you are no longer alone! Challenge yourself with your writing and your vision.  Step out of your comfort zone!

6.  Join a writers' group, look at writers' websites, blogs and Facebook pages, writing magazine websites.  See what's out there and sign up for free newsletters, follow a blog, start your own blog (it's easier than you might think), enter into conversations with other writers and potential writers.  Network.

7.  Do not get downhearted.  We've all had rejection slips and that is part and parcel of writing.  When you get them allow yourself to grieve, get angry, tell yourself 'never again'.  Do whatever you need to for a few days then go back to your piece of work and see if there is anything you could change to improve it.  It may be perfect as it is.  Not all rejections are because its badly written.  Whatever you do don't ditch it.  Edit (if necessary) and submit it somewhere else.

8.  Do your research and read the rules.  Make sure you are sending the right sort of work to a publisher/competition.  If they say no poetry, don't send poetry.  And always read the rules and follow them, Many people are disqualified just for that reason alone - that includes deadlines!

9.  Always have something out there.  Don't wait for one piece to come back before you send out something else.  Send out many pieces to different publishers/competitions/magazines.  Whatever you do no send the same piece to everyone at the same time because if one person does accept it you have to withdraw it from everyone else.  Not good!

10.  Keep going.  Persistence pays off.  Keep writing, keep submitting, keep improving, keep reading etc. And keep looking for new outlets (online is becoming more and more popular) and share your knowledge with others.  Listen to advice and go out there.  Go to writing conferences, live reading events anything that will help you get a foot in the door.

  NEVER GIVE UP!

#wpad July challenge - Second hand or new

Second hand or new

Not sure to what this relates.  If it's books then I buy both new and second hand.  I trawl charity shops for titles I'm after (if I cannot first find them in them library).  If I can't find what I want I look at Amazon and often buy used.  I will purposely wait for new books I want to be released in paperback, though sometimes I might have a title on my Christmas or birthday list which will be in hardback if I can't wait!

I love going around independent book shops, though they seem few and far between now.  They often stock books you don't find in chain store bookshops.  I'm always on the lookout for something different.

Last week, to kill time before a choir rehearsal, I visited the Oxfam bookshop and sought out the poetry section.  I picked up The Ice Age by Paul Farley for £2.49.  I think this is his second collection.  I am really enjoying his poems and took his book with me on the train on Friday and wondered how many people read poetry on a train.  Perhaps there should be spontaneous poetry reading 'flash mobs' on trains to promote the act of poetry reading!

Finally, the prompt for second hand or new gave me another idea.  In writing we are always searching for an original idea, a new angle, but on the whole we are recycling words and situations.  There is even an exercise in poetry called found poetry or cut-up poetry.  What you do is look for an article or any other writing source and cut up or highlight words and phrases (or even write them out) at random from the source and use these to form a poem.  You can use them in the order found, in another order or use them as a tool and edit them into a complete poem.  This is a fun exercise to try and can result in some interesting results.
I had a go at this when I took an online course with The Poetry School.  We all compared our writing (which we did not edit except to use the lines in an order that might make some sense).  It caused a lot of laughs as some of the poetry was very strange and off the wall.  Here is a verse from my 'found poem' (lines taken from several different sources).  I called it Surreal Images:

Unfortunate Fr Grandier was the chaplain

the year after my father looked back.

People had speculated on where we,

not used to keeping the house tidy,

sparked a global economic downturn.

Looking at the whole poem there are parts that could be taken out and formed into several poems.  These exercises are great for generating new poems.  There is an article in the latest  New Writer  on this particular exercise. Why not have a go yourself.

#wpad July challenge - What motivates me

WHAT MOTIVATES ME

1.  Reading poetry by other people.
2.  Attending a course or workshop.
3.  Receiving an acceptance for a piece of work.
4.  Place - usually the view from my lounge patio doors first thing in the morning over a cup of tea!
5.  Music.

#wpad July challenge - Can writing be taught?

CAN WRITING BE TAUGHT?

Ah! this question comes up time and time again.  The answer?  A lot can be taught.  You can learn from teachers on courses and workshops or online about how to find characters, develop plot introduce conflict, the structure of story and forms of verse and all the other technical stuff that goes into story writing and poetry through exercises and games (prompts).  You can even read about it in books but the actual writing is what counts.  Feedback is essential and goes a long way to finding out if you are on the right track.

You need imagination, the desire to tell a story or write poetry.  Some people seem born to write.  It's like it's in their blood but even so they need to learn some techniques.  I think also that most people will have been writing a while before they take a course because they love to do it.  If you suddenly wake up one morning and think 'I'll learn to write' when you've never had an interest before, it's probably not for you.

This teaching question usually goes with another one - do you need to a degree in creative writing?  Even though I don't have a degree my opinion is that it must help because people who win competitions and generally get themselves into print  nearly all seem to be either studying or have a degree.

So (and sorry this is brief tonight), I think writing can be taught but there also needs to be a spark and a desire to express yourself on paper (or laptop).  I liken it to photography.  You can have the best camera in the world but it won't necessarily make you a good photographer even with lessons if you still cut heads of people.  If, however, you are good at taking pictures you will be able to produce brilliant photos with a simple compact digital set on 'easy' because you have the eye for it.  Does this analogy work???  Blame it on the heat!

#wpad July challenge - word counts

WORD COUNTS

Ah yes, very important.  One piece of advice - stick to them!

If you are entering a competition or submitting to a magazine and they have a word count, don't go over it. When I was studying for my Humanities Certificate with Open University all our assignments had word counts.  In this instance tutors allowed us a 10% 'over-spill' but even then some people couldn't keep to it saying they couldn't write all they wanted in that set word count.  That's where the technique of editing comes in - cut those useless words, the ramble, the line that says the same thing but just in a different way.  I found it good practice and I only once or twice went over into the extra 10% by a matter of words a couple of times.

When you look at a piece its always possible to cut.  Afterwards you can actually see/hear the difference.
It's tighter and more readable.

In poetry writing word count doesn't really crop up......it's all down to lines.  The same rules applies  You already know how many lines you are allowed so you aren't going to try writing some epic saga.

So, word counts are good editing practice and always stick to the rules!

#wpad July challenge - Traditional or DIY

TRADITIONAL OR DIY

This kind of carries on from what I was saying yesterday, though  I was talking about vanity publishing not self-publishing (very different).  I would like to go down the traditional route, in fact that is my aim.  There is a lot you need to know if you self-publish.  At a conferences I attended a couple of years ago there was a workshop on self-publishing and I still have all the hand-out sheets.  You can get a lot of help with self-publishing these days but there is also the marketing and publicity which I think I'd find too daunting to tackle.

I would like to think that my poetry is good enough for a publisher to take on one day.  At least I haven't given up hope yet!  I'm not saying I'd never go down the DIY route but as a last resort....maybe.

#wpad July challenge - Genre

GENRE

In poetry there are no subjects I wouldn't tackle.  I've written about pregnancy through to death, relationships, religion/faith, murder, violence, the dark side/gothic, dreams, justice and nature.

There must be 1000's of  books out there with
 the same dreadful cover!

The few stories I have written always seem to have a sci-fi/supernatural/futuristic slant - not actually in an alien world, more when they visit us.  And now I will admit something.  Some years ago the Daily Mail newspaper offered to publish readers books - two copies of the book  for something like £19.99. They would not read it, edit or change anything so it would be published as it was sent in.  You could add a photo and some blurb.  This is vanity publishing, nothing illegal and the Daily Mail were upfront about what was possible and I don't remember there being an offer to buy extra copies.  There might have been but I didn't do that.  I knew exactly what this was and I also knew that the story I was going to send in was no masterpiece.  Even so I decided to edit it but with a deadline before the offer ran out I wondered if I could do it.  I did and in fact I ended up with four copies for some reason but I didn't pay extra.  This book just served a purpose and I knew what I was doing.  I just wanted to see what it would look like to have a book in print.  Reading it now (it's from 2005...well the final edit!) I'm embarrassed.  If I'd had the time it might have been easier to re-write the whole thing.  The idea was good but some of the writing is bad!  I think I originally wrote it in the early/mid '80's.  Anyway, it was exciting in a self-indulgent way. I still hope to see a book of mine in print but this time I hope it will be poetry......and published through a proper publisher.

#wpad July challenge - worthy writery websites

WORTHY WRITERY WEBSITES

There are many good websites out there and I list a few on my blog.  Having thought about it thought there are websites for the many stages of writing and a lot in between but here are some suggestions:

1.  The Poetry Kit lists magazines, poets, courses, blogs and a lot more.  I've hardly scratched the surface.
2.  The Poetry Library at the Southbank, London.  Lots online but if you can visit, all the better.
3.  writesofluid offer prompts for writers on a monthly basis - choose the one you want to do and take the challenge.
4.  The Write Attitude which I found recently has some great inspiring quotes to keep you going when times are tough and to celebrate what you write.  There are other pages worth browsing too.
5.  Writing Our Way Home  run e-courses on mindful writing and I spent January writing 'small stone' poetry with them.

Have a browse on the net and see what sites you find.  If there is one you particularly like why not share it in 'comments'.

#wpad July challenge - Writing Mascot

WRITING MASCOT

I've never had a writing mascot.  Even at school when other kids had bears and stuff they took into exams I didn't really have anything.  I recall that at that time I used to have a troll; remember those?  But they are long gone.  What was the attraction?!  I am partial to meerkats (good roasted, no, no!) and I have a small collection including Maiya of Compare the....you know THAT website!  I have also collected a few other soft toys but none of these or anything else is a mascot for writing.

Here I am with some Christmas additions to my soft toy collection

(written as part of the writesofluid.com July challenge)

#wpad July challenge - Editing tips

EDITING TIPS

NB. These tips are for poetry writing, though some may be useful for fiction writing too.

1.  Once your piece is written go through it and take out any words that don't need to be there.  If a piece works without the word then it's likely it doesn't belong.  You can always put it back again!  It should become obvious which are the 'culling words' the better you get at it. Words that repeat a lot like 'and', 'the' come into this category.  I love culling!

2.  Is it concise?  Does it ramble trying to do too much or do you actually need more to express what you want?

3.  What about line structure and pattern.  I find that once I have edited so far by hand I need to type it up. This gives me a feel for the poem on the page - how it looks.  It is often at this stage that I might change the shape by splitting into stanzas, trying different combinations and line breaks.  Again you can change it back if it doesn't work.

4.  How does your poem sound?  Read it aloud see where it flows, where it stutters.  What is it's rhythm? Where are the rhymes?  Are you using end rhymes?  If so, do they feel forced or cliched?  Internal rhymes work well (my favourite).  How about metre?  Is it working or is trying to break out into something else? Sometimes as I write I find that a poem tells me where it wants to go, whether it wants to have end line rhymes or go 'freestyle', or follow a form like a sonnet or villanelle.  I've learnt to go with it.  However, there is no harm in trying several ways (or forms) to write a poem and see which one works best.

5.  Perspectives - whose point of view is your poem putting across?  Try changing third person to first person or even second person.  Does it sound better or worse?

6.  Titles are important but sometimes the most difficult to choose.  Do you give it all away by the title or use some subtle word/s for your masterpiece.  Does it reflect the poem and relate to content?  I remember once in a class everyone loved my poem but some didn't like the title (which I was stuck on).  Someone suggested that I just left it untitled but the best suggestion was using the first few words of the first sentence as the title and that's what I went with.

7.  The most important part of editing is to put your poem away for a few days or a week, maybe longer because when you next look at it all those niggly things stand out and the second edit has begun.  Continue doing this until you are completely satisfied that there is nothing else you can do to improve it.  Sometimes a poem just won't come right.  Put it away and leave it for a long time.  Come back to it now and then and have another go. Maybe it needs a complete re-write.  Maybe the form is wrong.  Whatever you do don't throw it away. Maybe you can use some good lines or phrases somewhere else.

8.  Is editing every over?  Ha!  I think not!  I have seen poems I've had published and thought....'Mmmm, that's not the best word I could have used.'  But writing is a journey and over the years our writing changes with experience.  There is also the tendency to over-edit which is also frustrating because you get to the point where nothing is left of the original.

These are just the editing tips I've learnt, read and tried over the years.  Writing good poetry means reading it too.  Read different poets.  What makes their poetry sing for you?  Take their poems apart and analyse them.  One of the best books I have come across on understanding poetry is 52 Ways of Looking at a Poem by Ruth Padel.  This was a real eye-opener for me in understanding how poetry works.  Greatly recommended.

#wpad July Challenge - Stationery, friend or fiend

STATIONERY, FRIEND OR FIEND

A selection of notelets/cards I could lay my hands on

I love notelets and cards.  The trouble is that I write too much to fit on one, so I begin with a notelet or card and then move over to paper.  Now I used to enjoy collecting different designs of writing paper but then I went all green and began buying recycled which was plain and rather boring.  So I brightened it up with felt pen designs or rubber stamps.  Years ago I even used some ink drawings I'd done (copied from art books), had them photo reduced and made into notelets.  I still have some.

However, when I switch to paper what I end up using is from old exercise books that the kids had at school. Before they got thrown away I'd rip out the unused sheets.  The last of my kids left school/college three years ago and I'm still using them!  I feel embarrassed turning up for a writing class with my son's name and English Book written on it!  Ah! but I hate waste.

My ink drawn notelets

The books I write in (when I'm not using up leftovers and odd envelopes) tend to be Pukka Pad recycled spiral bound A4 notebooks.  I love them.  Hubby bought me two hard backed A4 notebooks for Christmas but they don't bend well. They are not meant to but I managed it!

I hate the Reporter notebooks - so damn confusing, I can never find where I am!  I spend ages flipping the pages to find a poem, find the start then can't find the end!  So I don't use them anymore.  I sometimes use a smaller notebook but I prefer A4 so I can spread my thoughts out and if necessary rip the page out if jottings are getting too many edits over pages and I don't want to keep turning back.

When I'm outside in the garden I use a board underneath  (hubby's idea) so that the notebook (the one that isn't hard back) stays rigid.  You following me so far?  Keep up!

You can never have enough notebooks and paper (likewise pens and pencils).  My main problem is that I usually have at least two on the go and still haven't made an index of where certain poems are.  They are on my laptop but the original with all edits (apart from the ones I make on the laptop at the last minute) are there.  One of these days I WILL sort it all out.

I also have a box file with the notebooks in it (but that's now full) and that also includes odd sheets of typed poems and other writing related stuff.

My shelf is a mess, again, and I need to sort that sometime.  It contain all my files on writing, course work and a lot else beside, including rather too many files full of Art of Knitting magazines.  When will I ever have time to move beyond scarf knitting!

My writing stuff plus other bits!

#wpad July challenge - Best non-fiction read

BEST NON-FICTION READ

I read a great many books over a year and possibly a quarter of them may be non-fiction.  I read a lot of faith-based books and some of those have been really thought provoking but I could not pick out one book from the non-fiction genre as a 'best'.  In fact it's hard enough picking one best fiction book!

There have been many inspirational books on writing where I have tried new exercises in writing and I dip in and out of these from time to time, especially when I get in a rut.

So there are no recommendations, nothing that has stayed in the brain that I can offer you.  I do prefer fiction  and get withdrawal symptoms without one on the go but often I will read a fiction and non-fiction at the same time.  At present I am in the between stage as I have just finished Monsoon Memories, a first fiction book  by Renita D'Silva.  Her descriptions of India are filled with exotic aromas of spices and cooking, colours and sounds, the plants and trees.  I can imagine being there.  I very  much enjoy books set in India or the Middle East and this one did not disappoint.  The story is full of secrets, family loyalty and a mystery to be solved.  I have one non-fiction book I've recently started but I also have a book at the library waiting for me to collect which is non-fiction, Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Maye.  Having been to Italy this year I am into everything Italian and picked up the second book at a charity shop for 50p but would rather like to read the first book first.  The library have had to search around other libraries to get a copy but now it has arrived so I may go down today and pick it up.

Do let me know what your favourite non-fiction book is if you have one.

Just a thought - does anyone else keep a list of the books they've read?  I used to just write them down in an exercise book but now I have graduated to a folder with alphabetical tabs for authors.  Tell me I'm not weird!

#wpad July challenge - Where I write

WHERE I WRITE

The garden bench

I write mainly on the sofa where I feel comfortable, with or without the laptop, or at the table with the laptop.  Sometimes I will go off to a cafe and find a corner to write in for an hour (recently discovered the quietness of the B&Q cafe!)

When the weather is nice I go outdoors and I have two places in the garden where I mainly write. The first is the bench outside the back door  where it is good for days when it isn't quite warm enough to peel off the sweater.  It is sheltered so I can sit there on a sunny day in October or in early spring.  This is a recent addition to the garden and is also a nice place to sit in the evening but not in full sun light in the recent temperatures we've had.  When the sun is on the bench I need a blanket laid on it as the heat would strip the skin off!

The other favourite place in the garden is, my little grotto, or as my son calls it, my Zen zone.  It is a shady nook and ideal to escape to away from the glaring sun.  Not only do I write in these places but I also read and write letters and today I had a friend round and we sat in the Zen zone with our tea and biscuits.

Here are a few photos:

The grotto or Zen zone

....

In the Zen zone

#wpad July challenge - Inspiring Quotes

"             "

INSPIRING QUOTE 

This will be short.......I don't have one!  I don't collect them, though I might read one and think, wow, but then I forget them.

However, not to leave my readers without something.....I have found a sight with some nice quotes for writers.  Click here and enjoy. There are some inspiring ones which we all need whether we are still struggling to make it or for those who have.

#wpad July challenge - A Day in the life of me

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ME

Really you must be a sad lot if you want to know what I do all day!  Life is pretty mundane with stuff everyone does, washing, ironing, shopping, cleaning, appointments, family, other must-do stuff and things I need to be at.  Oh and there's writing which fits in with everything else but sometimes I actually make a date with it.

My days are never the same and in this hot weather (finally!) I am disinclined to do anything.  Sorry to disappoint.

I had an afterthought about yesterday's post on writing fuel which has nothing to do with food.  I'd consider music a good fuel.  I use it sometimes to take me out of the world when there are other distractions around me like stuff outside (there is someone currently drilling and sawing all day and has been for the last few days - it gets annoying).  Also it enables me to write when  the TV is on and I'm not watching. It excludes noise from the kitchen as everyone makes cups of tea, bangs plates etc.  It has to be the right sort of music, usually instrumental and something that is just there and I don't have to follow.  I used ear phones, naturally.  I also use music as an energy boost and it fires up the imagination.  I used to moan at the kids for playing music while studying....I am eating my own words now!  Music won't always work and if I have to really concentrate it is a distraction but there is a use for it in my writing and it works for me.

(inspired by prompts from http://www.writesofluid.com)

#wpad July Challenge - Writing Fuel

Writing Fuel

Maybe I am unique but when I am 'in the zone', food is the last thing I actually want because it takes time out to cook it and to eat it!  So, left to my own devices I will go as long a possible (though snacking helps - see last paragraph).  When I get desperate and cannot ignore the rumbling of my stomach any longer I go for what's quickest and not necessarily healthy.  I resort to a cheese sandwich or I have a spicy tomato paste (veg/vegan) which I have in a sandwich, with cucumber if I have any.

Other foods that are quick are beans on toast with a little curry powder added, if I remember, and black pepper.  I love black pepper and add it to virtually everything.  One more quickie is fried sliced tomatoes with garlic and oregano (topped with black pepper, of course).

There is also the stare into the fridge to see what left overs there are that can be reheated in the mircowave!

Having a family it isn't so easy to get out of the cooking so I have to stop and cook a meal at night and to be honest I do most of my writing in the morning so it isn't a problem.  When I was doing assignments for my Open University course the family got used to last minute meals of pasta and sauce and whatever ready meal there was in the fridge/freezer.  They learned not to question it after a few adult tantrums on deadlines and no time of my own!  No, I'm not that fierce really, they just know when I'm in a mood and keep clear.  My moods pass swiftly.  I've never been able to keep up a mood for long even as a child - it's such a waste of time!

I'm not a chocolate person as a rule.  I can leave a box unopened from Christmas to Easter but once it's open I try to limit myself to two a day - heck I can be strong.  A bar of chocolate once opened doesn't fare so well!  So I don't buy it normally.  What I have is usually what others have bought me and I am generous - I share. However, if I need a quick boost when I'm out I'll for a Snickers bar, always my favourite and the bigger bars are like a meal in itself.

I guess food for me is something that is essential in life.  I'd rather be doing something else rather than cook.  I'm not into dinner parties or eating out in general except as a treat.  That's not what I'm about.  I hate spending hours preparing and cooking (then there's all the washing up) and then it's gone.  I do, however, quite like baking cakes, perhaps more to the point...eating them!  I bake for Church events and I love baking at Christmas.

When I'm writing what I fuel up on most is probably cups of tea or water, though if there is a bag of peanuts close by I'll have those.  Cereal is a good quick easy snack if you are up against the wall for a deadline! Oh....and Starburst, I'm rather partial to those - the lime green ones are my favourite followed by orange, strawberry then blackcurrant.  There, I've even rated them for you!

Self Evaluation

Self Evaluation

In my writing life it is hard to know where exactly I am.  With my poetry I would fall into the 'intermediate' category if I was attending a course.  I don't think I could consider myself an advanced writer until I'd won a big competition or had a book published, or at least poems published in one of the more literary magazines.

With story writing I am a beginner. I haven't attended any courses or workshops in story writing.  Oh, yes I did one term at adult education classes which covered general creative writing.  For a long time I lost the interest in writing stories. My stories didn't fit the usual women's magazines criteria and I didn't want to write romance in particular anyway.  So I stopped.  When I do write stories now I write what I want to write and for my own pleasure.  At present I don't see me submitting them anywhere, partly because I don't feel I have all the 'tools' in place to write something that will hold others interest.  And I am not ready for classes and workshops on story writing.  Poetry is what interests me the most and that's what I concentrate on.  Anything else is just a little bonus and break from poetry.

Flash fiction does interest me and I am beginning to write a few. I'll come back to this in an other post.

I am on a journey with my writing and I feel I have passed the first two crossroads (though I'm not sure how many crossroads there are but probably another three or four until I get to where I want to be).  It's strange because sometimes I'll go ages without anything happening and then all at once I get three acceptances.  It's a funny old life!

I am certainly moving forward but I know I also have to be more actively involved in the writing world.   I do have a plan which is a work in progress.

My writing has peaks and troughs.  There are times when I can't seem to get a thought on paper.  I'll go round it for days and it just won't work so I leave it.  Another time the whole piece seems to write itself, like I'm on fire and I am so proud of it and cannot believe I've actually written it.  Then I have days when I seem to write nothing but rubbish, cliches all over the place.  Not that I throw anything way because even in the rubbish there may be one line or phrase that I like and will use elsewhere.

Reading poetry by others can often get me back to writing.  An acceptance gets me back to writing. Certain things do happen that will help me get back on track when I'm down about rejection or am not able to string a sentence together.  Thank God for those times! If I look back over the last two/three years I know I have come a long way but I also know I have a long way to go!

#wpad July Challenge - plan or spontaneous

PLAN OR SPONTANEOUS

I do both!  I do sit down with the aim to write.  Sometimes this doesn’t work because I have too many distractions at home. So sometimes I will choose a day when I am free and go out to somewhere quiet to write (usually a coffee shop).  I take books and notepad (the books contain kick-start prompts). 

When I was editing a story some years ago I took it with me to my brother’s and while he was at work I sat in the garden to work.  It was the only way I could see me doing it.

But I love being spontaneous.  An idea will hit and I will stop and write it down.  I remember dusting and words coming to me for a poem so I had stop the dusting (a great hardship!) to write the words down and then I carried on writing until I finished it.  I’ve written on backs of envelopes, my diary, toilet paper (don’t ask…and it’s not easy to do), anything I can get my hands on.  Words or ideas come at night, on the bus/train, walking and when I was working and bored I’d stare out the window and write about what I saw out there or in my head.

I should carry a note book (recommended this to you my readers ages ago) but my bag is so tiny there’s no room so that’s where my diary comes in.  If I’m on a journey or going on holiday I take paper and plenty of pens and I do have a notebook by the bed, though I can’t put the light on once hubby comes to bed so I either have to try and memorise my words until morning (which strangely I can often do) or I get up and write downstairs.

Planning is good for me because otherwise I might go for a week or more and not write.  Once I’m out of the habit I have to drag myself back.  Planning makes me write, though I grumble about doing it.  Both spontaneous writing and planned writing work for me.  Both produce good work, though planned writing does add structure and can produce some unexpected surprises.

Planned writing is better for story writing I think (maybe someone can confirm this?).  Short stories and novels need longer blocks of time spent on them.  A poem idea can be drafted in minutes, fleshing out a plot must need longer.  That has been my experience the times I have written stories.  I think that is why I rarely write stories because it is harder to find longer periods of time to write and when I do get caught up in a story I want to keep going and then there’s all that editing!

#wpad July challenge - Favourite Film Character

My hero

FAVOURITE FILM CHARACTER

I had to think about this one but in the end I was swayed by who plays the character.  Okay, I'll admit that it's John McClane, the Die Hard character played by Bruce Willis.  Why?  Well apart from the fact that I first drooled over him in the US series Moonlighting (anyone remember that?) and I had a picture of him on my wall at work (Oh it's all coming out now,) you have to admit that you would want him in your corner in a tricky situation! He never gives up, despite going through windows, being shot at, doing totally impossible things and surviving.  Throughout all this he manages to keep his sense of humour and still look sexy!

The first Die Hard film also starred Alan Rickman....who I also drooled over.  Loved the German accent!
I haven't seen the latest Die Hard film, but my son says it's not very good.  But if I want I can watch one of the Die Hard movies on TV virtually every night.  When Christmas comes around and I hear Let it Snow, it's Happy Die Hard Season!  Mentally I go back there. I cannot hear that song without thinking of Bruce Willis.

There you go.  So, want to share your favourite film character?

Aspirations #wpad July challenge

ASPIRATIONS 

I would like to think that someday I might have a book of poetry published.  That at least is the aim.  However, I still feel that I have a way to go yet, a few steps to be taken on the way.  I am submitting my poetry to different magazines and hope that one of the 'top' ones might publish me eventually.  Last year I submitted poems to a competition for a pamphlet publication.  I had never done that before and it was a real learning curve and sometime I will do that again and hopefully better!

I guess I would like to think I might have the guts to stand up and read at an open mic session but I suffer with anxiety.  At heart I am a shy person, an introvert with an extrovert trying to escape!  I know I should put myself out there more but it's hard.  I am getting better but if I feel too anxious I will back off.  Some days I can handle it others not.  My friends don't see me that way and say that I am confident - huh!  I must hide it well.  I'm sure I am not the only one who feels this, especially when your words are on show.

So, I have my stages to work through, well a strategy anyway.  And I aspire to being the best writer I can be by continually learning and reading and practicing to edge forward to that book.  And I hope that others will identify with my writing and enjoy it, get from it what I did on writing it.

Why I write - July #wpad challenge

WHY I WRITE

Heck....why I write.  All writers say they just have to write that they cannot stop themselves, it's a compulsion.  That is right.  I feel all those things.  I didn't realise that when I first began writing.  I knew I liked doing it and I'd spend all day writing stories up in my bedroom and only come out (reluctantly) to eat.  When I'm into something eating or anything else is not important.  I eat because I know I should.  I'll snack on unhealthy things and quickly so I can get back to it - or eat while I'm writing.  When the momentum  is there, while I'm 'in the zone' I don't want to break it or the bubble might burst.

I write also because I have ideas that I must put on paper even if they don't go anywhere afterwards.  Sometimes they are too personal to share but writing helps me to express how I feel and it gets it out of the system.  These writings sometimes end up in something else, perhaps a line or a word.  They may lead to other writing but not always.

Also I love playing with words, trying to express myself differently, from a new angle or someone elses point of view.  I may choose a subject that is new to me.  This is where all these books I've gathered come in useful....the 'how to's' of poetry.  They contain exercises which take me into new areas and that is refreshing for me.

I began writing for me and it was later, much later that I wondered if anyone would like what I wrote.  While I was happy in my teens and early twenties to take my latest song to Mum and Dad and say 'hey listen' (poor them what could they say!) I didn't share my poetry with them.  It was only after I'd been published in more than one magazine that I thought I might actually be not bad at this.So I kept going, trying to improve, reading other people's poetry, taking classes and courses.  But it can be a lonely process.  I have one friend who likes to write and though we write different things we can commiserate, discuss and exchange information relevant to each of us. But a lot of my friends aren't interested so apart from maybe saying the odd thing they don't understand and quickly lose interest.

It is hard for me to take it seriously.  I often feel guilty when I'm writing as everything else gets left.  There is that tendency to think of writing as a hobby, something you indulge in now and then.  I guess that's how it started.  I'm not sure when I began to think of it as something more and think of myself as a writer.  Who else feels that way?  How do we overcome that?  Do let me know.

At the end of the day I'd still say that I write because I love doing it and despite the frustrations there is something great about the completed piece, a satisfaction of words coming together that I feel proud of or that expresses that image, feeling and situation just the way I want.  After countless edits it all falls into place and I wonder why I agonised over it for so long because the finished product seems so simple.

So, why do you write?  What gets the adrenalin pounding to take up a pen and pour words onto paper? Please share.

What I write - #wordpad blog challenge

WHAT I WRITE

I have decided to take the July challenge from the www.writesofluid.com  website and today's prompt is what I write.

Those of you who have been following me for a while will know that I write mainly poetry but it hasn't always been the case and bear with me if some of what follows you have read before in another post.

When I first began my creativity with words I wrote little songs (around 10 years of age into teenage years). I made up songs in my head and memorised them until I bought my first guitar at 16 or 18 (I forget) and began working out how to play the tunes and then taped them onto cassette!  I have to say at this stage that my bibles for guitar playing were Alfred's Chord Fingerline Dictionary and my hero Dan Morgan whose book Guitar cost me 30p (full price!).  I still have these books and it was Dan Morgan who gave me the idea of multiple recordings - very basic......playing the first recording back through the hi-fi and using a second cassette recorder to record a harmony or other instrument.  By 'eck did I have fun with that.  I cannot tell you how many hours I spent in my bedroom with my brother's Sony mono cassette recorder so I could add some harmony to the songs I wrote (somewhere along the way I upgraded to a stereo recorder). Sad person or what?  Ah but fun!

I used to write with some of my penpals and I'd always have to do the tunes as no one else could so I put others' lyrics to music.  It was great fun and I even sent a few out......one went to Mickey Most.  I always got nice 'compliments slips' back with my tape.

While I was busy making....er.....music (by then I had a Casio keyboard but am a hopeless player!) I also wrote a few poems.  They mainly rhymed and were quite simple.  I did get one published in a teenage magazine but they left out one of the lines grrrr! I also began writing stories which for some reason always swung towards science fiction (perhaps a diet of Dr. Who and the original Stark Trek series was to blame).  I still have these stories written in exercise books which sometimes I take a look at for the nostalgia!

Someone then said 'give up the songwriting and write poems but I didn't want to.  I loved writing songs but was hampered by my ability not to be able to play more complex chords and I didn't write or read music.  I was influenced by The Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers because of their harmonies which I listened to and learnt, finding that I could work out harmonies for my own songs.  I loved listening to Karen Carpenter sing.

Eventually when I married and had kids the songwriting stopped as did the guitar playing and the dreadful keyboard attempts.  The guitar came out maybe once a year perhaps to play song Carols at Christmas and to teach my kids that classic line from Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple.

At some point I began writing poetry again.  When my father died it was poetry that expressed all my feelings.  It helped me.  Things went from there.  I wrote more and began looking into where I might get it published.  I fell for the 'vanity press' for a while but I began to learn.  I went to a few workshops, had a few poems published in small press magazines, joined a class, went to an open mic session (no I didn't read - I went to see what it was like).  I am still learning, networking, blogging, getting into all this new technology stuff and enjoying myself.

I haven't written a song for 15 or so years maybe.  I have written a few short stories and I am beginning to challenge myself with flash fiction.  I can't imagine a time when I won't write something.  When I've been down and thought of giving up (and I have many times) I find that something will get inside my head and I have to write it down.  I still get disappointed, have days when I won't write while I get over the stages of emotion that a rejection has on me but I come back to it.  There seems to be nothing I can do about it.

So what I write these days is mainly poetry.  I play with forms but write mainly free-verse.  I write about anything that interests me.  Recently a lot of darker stuff has been coming out!  I begin to see a pattern in what I write but I often need prompts to kick start the creative process.  Yesterday I was doing an exercise where I had to write a poem about another world that had rules but I was not to actually state what they were.  It should be possible to work it out from the poem.  Not easy but I found myself warming to the subject and could see a story developing rather than a poem (er...it's a bit sci-fi, surprise, surprise!).  I never know where my writing will lead.  Sometimes it will start as one thing and develop into something else.  That's the exciting part and I have to learn to let that go where it wants.

I also have a toe in flash fiction.  I will stir the waters and see where it leads!

If you are a writer reading this how did you get started? Please comment.

Finally, my poem Bluebells has been published in Openings 30 - The Poetry Society of the Open University. This is their 2013 anthology.  It arrived in the post today and there I am on page 11.

July’s #wpad blog challenge prompts: Want blog content? More followers? Take part!

July’s #wpad blog challenge prompts: Want blog content? More followers? Take part!