A-Z part 2
 |
| A stretch of the River Thames - Kew to Hammersmith walk (north bank) (see W below) |
N – is for never. I never say never now because things
change, viewpoints, interests. It may be ‘not now’, but never‘ say never’. I
once said I’d never write a novel. Ha!
O – is for opinion. Everyone has one and everyone is
entitled to it. When it comes to writing and feedback I find this hard – giving
it and sometimes accepting it. However, if more than one person points out the
same thing I am inclined to listen and review my writing. Like anything
creative everyone has likes and dislikes. If I don’t like a particular piece of
writing I have to feedback on, I try and find some positive points to express.
Slating someone’s work does their confidence no good at all. I wish I had the
knack of constructive feedback!
P – is for planning. I was hopeless at this for a long time in my writing. I am getting better. The reason my early fiction died and was put away was
because of lack of planning. Some of those early offerings have been pulled out
and have had ‘the treatment’ – character profiles, proper plots, notes, even
maps – and now have a second life. I am a splurger, and when my head is full I
can’t get words down fast enough, I go with it. Plans are loose and subject to
change. I cannot be rigid. I feel that interferes with the creativeness. I am
still learning and hopefully will get better at it.
Q – is for quest. The quest to be published. Say no more!
R - is for research. Writing tutors advise you to write what
you know. My first thought was – my life is too boring. What the heck do I
know? Actually quite a lot. We all have hobbies; maybe we’ve taken a degree in
a subject, been somewhere interesting or have someone in the family who has led
a fascinating life. These things help but do NOT be put off by what you don’t
know. There are libraries with tons of informative books, the Internet; maybe
we have a connection with someone, or they do, someone you can nobble for
insider information. Write what you know from experience and then research the
rest. The sky is the limit. One piece of advice, try to visit any place you are
writing about. You can get away with it but there is nothing like being there
because it brings the place alive, and you can see your characters mingling
with shoppers, walking by that river, going to that pub.
S - is for sport. As a child I enjoyed running and netball.
My netball skills as Goal Shooter came in handy when we took the kids to fairs.
I always got them enough tickets for a prize by doing the ‘shooting the hoops’!
In my time (that makes me sound old) I have played tennis, squash and badminton.
These days I belong to an over 50’s sport group and play badminton and short
tennis on a Friday morning. I watch lots of sports. It’s probably easier to
list what I don’t watch (golf, rugby, Formula 1, darts). I’m a big footie fan
and have supported Tottenham Hotspur since 1967. I’ve been to a few football
matches, Epsom Derby (and Sandown races) Wimbledon Tennis and Hickstead (show
jumping). When it’s the World Cup we have a poster stuck to our lounge door to record all the matches and scores!
T – is for timing. Things come to you at the right time –
that is my belief. It may be an incident, a book; some things come at the wrong
time and you have to revisit them when the time is right. I often think about,
my writing. I’ve always loved writing, in all its forms, since I was a child,
and I wonder why did I not pursue it when I was younger. I might be published
by now! The truth is I didn’t have the confidence, the experience, or the
desire you need. I look back at my early work and smile at the naivety and
sheer innocence, but they were the building blocks to what I do now. Something
changed. I feel the time is now…or at least is on its way. Stories have been in
my head for years. To live in a parallel universe with my characters seems
natural.
U – is for Universe. We live on a wonderful planet, and
despite all the horrors we read and see there is much good in the world. We are
one planet in the huge realm of space. We have one chance to get it right. Look
at the trees, the sunrise, wildlife, the diversity of humankind, the seas and
power of the natural world. It is brilliant and we must try and keep it that
way for every living thing. Everything we do has an impact on others and the
environment.
V – is for vision. What I see, how I see, influences what I
write. We come at writing through our own experiences, background, environment
and people we come into contact with. As soon as we leave the protection of
family and start school others influence us. We soak up knowledge and
information and assimilate it. We go on learning throughout our life. This is all
good for the writer! What is your vision?
W - is for walking. Walking is good for my writing. It is my
thinking time. I work through plots, think about my characters. When I’m stuck
with a piece of writing I walk away from it and do something else (occasionally
I even write something completely different as a distraction). However, I enjoy
walking for its own sake. We don’t own a car (though hubby and I can both drive
– I haven’t for many years now) so I go everywhere on foot, by bus or train. I
love it. A year or so ago I decided it would be great to walk the length of the
Thames from source to its end. We (hubby and I) have made a big dent in that
and have walked great lengths of the River Thames London sections. We don’t
walk sections in any order but we have now ‘filled in the gaps’. Depending on
how we feel we walk anything from four to eight miles at a time. We often break
off to explore things en-route. I have a particular interest in churches,
gardens, houses and galleries. I write about my walks on my other blog and post
a few photos.
X – is for xylophone. This was an instrument I played once
at school, though we called it a glockenspiel. A glockenspiel has metal plates
and a xylophone has wooden ones – that’s the only difference, so it was a
glockenspiel I played but for the letter ‘X’ it fitted, so there! What I really
wanted to play at school was the drums but I was too shy and didn’t have the
confidence to ask. Music lessons at junior school were pretty awful, well the
singing was. I still remember the ‘Dirty little coaster with a salt-caked smoke
stack’ which we sang. God, I hated it. Why not some decent pop songs? It’s a
wonder I survived and found my love of music! But then junior school also introduced
me to the Planet Suite by Gustav
Holst, especially ‘Jupiter’, for which I will be forever grateful. Oh, yes, the
nearest I got to drums was with my son’s game Rock Band, or something. I was
hopeless! I’d still like a go because I do have natural rhythm. I’ve considered
a short course an Africa Drumming…..watch this space!
Y – is for yellow. This colour dominates my house. It is
vibrant, sunny and light. Summer is my favourite season and light is terribly
important to me. I fling curtains wide to maximise light, I don’t like it when
darkness falls early in autumn and winter (the idea of Christmas keeps me going
one side of the year and the thought of spring the other).
Z – is for Zodiac. I am the twins, the one with multiple
personalities, mercurial. I am a Gemini (with Aries rising). For a while I
studied astrology and drew up birth charts for friends and family. I’m not so
hooked on horoscopes because they are so general, but personality types is
quite revealing. When you look at compatibilities with people of other signs,
that is also interesting. I certainly click with certain signs as opposed to
others. What I find funny is that others of my sign can really annoy me and I
wonder if I come across as annoying as that to them! Having said that, for a while
I had lots of friends of the same sign as me. One still is a friend of mine – a
very good one at that. Our vicar is Gemini and you can never pin the man down.
I know that one! So which person will you get today? I never know because I
change like the wind!
