March - submissions and edits

This month I've been concentrating on editing and submissions as well as honing an agent pitch. The latter has caused me sleepless nights as time runs down and I think 'What am I doing?' and I feel my novel is not worthy.

I met up with the ladies from book club last week and they were so supportive. One lady even gave me some strategies and good advice on changing my negative thoughts. All she is right and sometimes I even manage it. I know when I speak about my writing I light up because people have told me that. If only I can do it when pitching. Maybe I should take the book group with me!

I've agonised over the pitch (I'm meeting two agents in two week time). I sent it to a friend and she came back with an important point. I needed to hook the agent in the first line and mine was a bit....stereotypical. I did some more researching and re-wrote it and sent it to her again stating a couple of books mine were similar to. Between us we decided I needed that in. Otherwise she thought it was good. Well, I think it's the best it can be. At least I finally understood what the story was actually about.

This month I've also been published twice online - Visual Verse and Paragraph Planet and I'm still considering a couple more submissions for this month.

I've been doing some writing exercises using Bridget Whelan's book Back to Creative Writing School. I've managed to get two short stories out of it so far. I'm enjoying the prompts. I also asked my Facebook friends for some ideas, like give me a name and setting etc. Two people responded and I ended up with two stories which I shared - I like to give back! One is set in Italy (the friend lives there) and I did a little research using maps of the city she mentioned. I wanted to have some sort of authenticity to it, though I've never been there. It was fun to do.

I've been making notes for a potential new novel but I'm not in the right place to write it yet. I have too many other things that need wrapping up and dealing with. Still, you can never have too many ideas in the pipeline.

Well, that's me for now.

Visual writing prompt

Still Life

Writing 201: Poetry (day 4)

The prompt from Writing 201 has got me this time. The object of today's poem is an animal written in the 'concrete form' using enjambment. I have already spend too long on this today and basically have given up!

Concrete poems are basically a picture poem, the words are set out in the form of the object they are portraying. I have done this once before using the Christmas tree as my concrete form and it worked really well. But this time I'm stuck. I found a poem written many years ago which I edited a little about a pet my kids had but forming this into a picture proved impossible. I tried an outline of the critter, then the wheel it used and back again to the outline. It was awful and unrecognizable as anything! So my poem isn't a concrete poem but it is about an animal and has enjambment. Two out of three can't be bad!

Chelsea

There is silence now.

I look across at the empty cage

washed clean, packed, ready

to be stored

and I expect to see her

rampaging from food to drink,

her marble grey fur sleek

against her tiny form.

I still listen for the clatter-

clatter of the exercise wheel

in the night but the life

of a Russian Dwarf hamster

is short and now all is quiet.

Writing 201: Day 3

Feeling a bit more with it today for writing. The prompt for today caused me to sigh - acrostic. I do struggle with those. Still it turned out better and more inspirational than the limerick yesterday! There were three elements to this one as well:

Trust (theme) – acrostic – internal rhyme. Oh joy. My mind went into overdrive and to tackle it I needed a title. I rarely have titles for my poems until the end and even then I struggle! But I needed something to work with and then commandeered the Thesaurus!

Strangely (or not you might say after reading it) this poem was written quickly. There was a line I didn't like but changing a word, which was always the one used for the internal rhyme, I had to change another! This happened three times as I sought words that I felt worked better. For a poem that took perhaps half an hour to write, maybe a little more, I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Reasonable Doubt

Right from the start you had the art of pulling me in

Easing your way through layers of brick and cement

Able to split the cracks, pouring in charm by the sack full,

Seasoned with laughter and promises of ever after.

Overtures thundered through me yet even as hope wondered

Naivety never consumed me; I knew what was at stake

And still let you breeze in so much did I want to believe.

But base instinct had me mentally re-erecting the walls

Long before the door shut on your retreating back

Ego still intact, me on the attack, filling in the blessed cracks.

Doubtless you are still being careless with your love,

Omitting to say that this is a carefree game you play.

Unfaithful hearts will break and yours is damn near fake.

Bewitch and beguile while you can, it won’t last,

Taste the pleasure now for pain will possess you at its leisure.