The new academic year and writing

 There is something about September that drives me to think about next steps, a bit like returning to school after the summer holidays. I think, too, that as the days shorten and become chilly, we batten down to things that can be done indoors. In the summer I write less. I am a spring/summer person and want to be out when the weather is good, not stuck in stuffy room writing. When I do write in the summer, it's usually earlier in the morning when the sun is rising. I love sunrises and sunsets, and I love early morning when no one much is around.

So, now we have slipped into October, I feel autumn knocking at the door, and while I love those bright sunny days of autumn with all those beautiful russet colours, I sink into myself when the sun doesn't shine and the skies are grey. I'm even worse when it rains! This is the time to plan. I have signed up for an online workshop in November on writing gothic/ghost stories. I've dabbled a bit with them in the past, but it will be good to get some pointers and advice and spread my wings a little.

Book with new notebook

I have also begun working with the book 52: Write a Poem a Week. Start Now. Keep Going  by Jo Bell. And yesterday was my research day. After having no time (holiday and family stuff) in the last month, I can now begin to devote more time to writing. I spent breakfast time yesterday going through the Mslexia Indie Press Guide and highlighting potential places to send my manuscript. Later that morning, I visited the library and looked through the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, jotting down things of interest (publishers, agents and websites/blogs) that could be of use to me. Now to narrow things down and actually send my manuscript out!

Research!

While I've been concentrating on a longer piece of work, I have missed submitting. Maybe this is the time to rectify that. I know it's silly because I have worked my socks off this year, but I have so little to show for it in terms of submissions/acceptances. This year was always going to be different, but I didn't realise how much it would impact on any new writing and submissions. I feel so out of the loop.

The one place I have submitted to now and then is Visual Verse, and I was rewarded with having my poem Night Away published there last month. Look under my name (Heather Walker) which is in alphabetical order in the archive. They list it by first names! I think Visual Verse have one more month of publication before the site closes. I shall miss the prompts, as often it is my go-to place to kick-start writing.

Now is the time to lean back on my old faithfuls of poetry and short fiction and get back to submitting. It might start with stutter, but I look forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Books

I chose a book to take on holiday with me, and then started it a few days before I left! With only a quarter of it to go, I had to take a second book with me. The original book was Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach. This was the follow-up to The Ex-Wives Club, which I didn't realise at the time, but had in fact read. It was a fun book, with lots of romantic encounters as Buffy, retired actor, is left a B&B by a lady friend from the past. The people who come to the courses he has arranged (like car maintenance) pair up. The book is funny and has the feel-good factor. A nice easy read.

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid was the other book I took away with me because it was small and easy to pack. I've read a couple by this author before. They are always thought provoking, but often the endings leave me a little unsatisfied. I chose this book for the subject matter, and indeed it was an interesting read. The ending also satisfied! Anders wakes to find his skin has turned brown overnight. He hides, and when he goes out he covers up as much as possible. He hardly recognises himself in the mirror. Eventually he tells his girlfriend and at first she doesn't know how to react. But Anders is not the only one to turn brown. It is happening all over. Suddenly they are treated differently. There are riots. While all this happening Anders is looking after his dying father, while his relationship with his girlfriend deepens. This is an interesting subject on how we treat people not like ourselves. We often make judgements based on colour and race. A satisfying read, one I would recommend.

While I was on holiday, and a friend and I slipped into a bookshop (as you do), I bought Holy Island by LJ Ross. This is the first in a long series of crime novels. It was big and bulky, but I left my other two novels at the hotel, having read both by now. (They had a bookcase just waiting!). Set on Holy Island (Lindisfarne), a girl is murdered, and it looks like a ritual killing. The DCI is on a sabbatical on the island after his last case become personal, and decides now is the time to return. Soon there are two more murders. Is it a serial killer or more than one person? Ramping up the tension was good. With an island where the causeway is only accessible at certain times, makes this an ideal location. (I have been here, and longed to walk across the causeway, but we went by bus!). There are suspects, red herrings, tension. I thought I knew who was involved, but was only partly right. If you like your crime gritty, this is pretty good. Thinking about this book afterwards I did wonder if some of it was believable, but hey, I enjoyed it. The love interest was a little predictable, but most are really. A faced paced page turner. What's not to like?

Oh Dear, Maria by Abigale Ted was a very different read. To start with it's set in Regency times. Maria is married off my her father to Sidney Jackson, a man she had met before but known as Mr King. Maria is temperamental and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her own way. Mr Jackson (as she mostly calls him) is patient and thinks he's married someone unhinged. This is a funny story, but also sad. Maria has been manipulated by others all her life and does not seem to know how to make any decision herself, down to what to wear. She can also faint to order. This comes in handy when she is faced with things she doesn't know or want to deal with. But this has tragic consequences later in the story. The story includes some domestic violence, race and other subjects. Marie is not liked by some for her loud and inappropriate speech. She is still such a girl and has a lot of growing up to do, though she does make some good points on love! It took me a while to get into this book as it's so different to what I normally read, but the humour comes through, as do the attitudes of the time.

On location - a writer's research tool

 

Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough

I made the decision to visit the location where I have set a few scenes for my next book. Although the majority of the scenes take place in a fictional place, this place is set a few miles outside Peterborough. Of course I did some research on the internet, but you can't beat visiting the place yourself. So, I booked three nights away to check out various locations.

Why Peterborough? Well, I've never been there, but it had been on my list for a while. It wasn't my first choice, but then I realised I'd already set a story in my original choice (unpublished as yet), so I didn't want to repeat it. Peterborough wasn't that far from my original choice, as the crow flies.

Being in Peterborough has helped me sort those few scenes that take place in the centre of Peterborough. I soon realised one scene wouldn't work in its present form. The location was wrong. A few other scenes would also need tweaking. It was good to know what other buildings were nearby and the various entrances/exits of shopping centres. This visit was a good chance to fix the place in my mind and see my characters there. I took photos of the locations and I can still picture the places in my head.

Exit onto Green Square (Queensgate)

Rivergate Shopping Centre leading to Asda (to the left)

I enjoyed Peterborough and visited a number of other places in the city. These might also come in handy should I ever write a sequel! The trip has allowed me now to set one scene in a place (thought not visited...I do have a map) I can now describe, thanks to the Tourist Information Centre.

I've yet to make the amendments to the manuscript. However, before I left for Peterborough, I had completed the first BIG edit, sorting out the plot (I hope) and making other edits that needed to be made. The manuscript is also longer by approximately 15,000 words. The next phase is to read through the whole document and see if still gels together while adding the amendments from my location visit. After that I think I shall run off the pages and do another read through to see if I need to make any other changes.

This particular work has been something like five years in the making. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get it finished. I've written an 80,000 word draft novel in less time. However, I really believe in this, so however long it takes doesn't matter.

Queensgate

Rivergate

And just so you don't think I spent all my time photographing shopping centres, here are a few other photos I took. I think I may well have a return visit sometime, because I had a good time and found a couple of great cafes!

Thorpe Meadow

Guildhall (detail)

Stained glass window, Peterborough Cathedral

Central Library and theatre

The best bits of 2018

Hello everyone. On this last day of 2018 I should really be doing a review of my year in writing, but I'm not! I'm just going to stick to the highlights. These were having three poems published by The People's Friend and having a poem published in Light Through The Mist Anthology late in the year. I also made a few appearances on the website of Visual Verse and Paragraph Planet. I am not dwelling on the rejections!

On location

Best workshop was the one I attended at CityLit on dealing with negativity/rejection in the writing world run by the most excellent Helen Cox, also the workshop on Flash Fiction by Michael Loveday at the Hastings LitFest.

At present I am editing a novel ! wrote three years ago and recently I went off to do a little research in the area where the house my character lives in is set. I had to clear up a few things that looking online doesn't really sort out. If the place you set a short or novel in is made up then you don't have to worry about this. However, if you set your piece in a real village, town or city then you need to get certain facts right. Of course the writer does have licence to alter some facts to suit the story, but otherwise it is great to have some first hand knowledge of the place you are setting your story in.

This time (because the house is most important) I have floorplans and have enjoyed placing the furniture on the plans! In fact it is so easy to get carried away with the research that it can interfere with the writing. I find I go off in all directions when I find something of interest which probably has nothing to do with the story.

Taking photos when out on location is essential. That's no hardship for me as I love taking photos. It's another thing I get carried away with it.

Wishing you all a very  HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope you will join me again in the next.

Poetry & Diaries

Booking a poetry workshop so close after the Winchester Writers' Festival was probably a mistake, yet things come when they come. The 'Dear Diary' workshop (poetry & diaries) was originally due to be held at The Billingsgate Institute with a chance to look at the collection there. I was quite excited by this - the idea of looking at the diaries of ordinary people not normally available (well, you can actually go and look at them). However, due to the Institute being told they had to make money, the hire fee became too steep for The Poetry School to afford, so we met at the School's usual venue in Lambeth Walk.

We were asked to take along a published diary, and me being short of time ended up with the 'Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole' (which I didn't end up using but am having a good laugh reading it!). One the table was a collection of diaries in book form belonging to Julia Bird from The Poetry School (I never knew there were so many of them). Laura, who is working on the Diary Project at the Billingsgate Institute, brought along books from there carefully wrapped in tissue paper and boxes or in cellophane sleeves. We were allowed to handle these wonderful works of art. Wafting through the room was that wonderful smell of old books.

The earliest diary was from the 1700's written by a preacher visiting churches around the country, and one of the most weird was by a man who drew his face every day and made notes around it on the weather or about what he was doing. There was also a group of photos of items collected and kept in an attic room - everything from flattened Kodak film boxes to toothbrushes and brown medicine bottles. Everything was recorded in tiny writing.

These diaries gave an idea of the life these people led - from school children who kept dairies from aged eight to single women in wartime. Some were very funny, others stark. I have to say that I was far more fascinated by the books than the act of writing poetry from them. The first exercise was writing from the point of view of a teenager and I just couldn't get into that. We also tried an exercise using some part of a diary entry and putting ourselves into it. I couldn't get into that one either because I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing. I began looking at Virginia Woolf's diary for ideas but I really can't relate to her as a person and I remember giving up on her book 'To The Lighthouse' very early on - too much waffle for me. So by the end of the morning session I'd written nothing and spent the time reading extracts from some of the diaries.

Doodling instead of writing!

I do think that I really wasn't in the right frame of mind for this workshop (the writing aspect) but thankfully after lunch I finally managed to write one piece which I shared before I again drifted off and ended up doodling on my notebook! The subject matter was fascinating and that's what drew me and if I'm honest I'd really rather have spent the day looking at the diaries in more detail and discussing them. I can see they might be very useful as a resource for poetry but I would need more time to read and get a feel for them for that to work for me.

There is one diary I think I will have to read by Joan Wyndham ('Love Letters') described on Wikipedia as 'a latterday Pepys in camiknickers.' Her writing is funny. One entry (from 1939) describes how when her mother and Sid (not quite sure who he is) go to church, she gets drunk for the very first time on rum. She says that..... 'it was a very nice experience indeed. I no longer cared a damn what happened to anybody.

This is what I'm doing

I have been obsessively writing over the last two weeks. I have gone back to an earlier project and aim to finish it by the end of summer, hopefully. More on that at a future time.

This lunchtime I actually wrote a short poem. It's been some time since I did that as poetry has taken a back seat lately. It's just a wee little thing:

Untitled

I seek the light place
where sun streams,
warming skin,
bringing life to flesh and bone.
Blood bubbles and flows
as I unravel, stretch like a cat,
settle like a lizard, heating up.


I have subscribed to two magazines to get an insight into what is being written and published in the small press, getting to know new writers. Bare Fiction is one, Brittle Star is the other. I have to admit that to save money I opted for the online version of Bare Fiction. This could be a mistake as I tend to forget about them and find the next issue comes along and I've not read the last. I much prefer something to hold and take with me, to snuggle up with. But I must make the effort.

Brittle Star arrived this morning. I love it's size. I could stick it in my handbag. I've already started reading it. It contains fiction, poetry and articles and I like what I see.

I've subscribed to a couple of blogs too, but the biggest thing I've done lately is to book a place at the Winchester Writer's Festival in June. I've wanted to go along for years, but it is only in the last year that I have started writing fiction again, so it didn't seem worth it before. There was little for poets. Of course in September was the fantastic inaugural Winchester Poetry Festival which I attended. I'm pleased to say that is back for this year. Anyway, I decided that this was the year to try the Writer's Festival. Am I ready, I ask myself. Hopefully. I've booked two workshops and a full programme of talks. I have also taken the step of booking two one-to-ones (very scary). The first is with an agent, the second with a poet. I am now frantically putting together a synopsis for my first novel (still in editing mode) and a covering letter. I've had to research both as I've never done them before. These things have to be submitted before the festival. I also have to submit a poem in advance. All this is new to me and I am, to say the least, very nervous.

If you are going to the festival too, let me know.

Finally, I have found a competition for my piece of writing that has so far fallen between the categories, due to its word count. The Penny Dreadful is running a Novella competition (open for entries on 1st June). I shall be submitting!

See you next time.

On location

I had intended to do some research for my so-called novel last week but things didn't pan out that way so I chose yesterday to go off and take photos and suss out places I'd used so far. I had up until then been reliant on a city map and the internet. The trip certainly helped. There will have to be a few edits but nothing drastic. There was so much to see as well and I will have to make a return visit at some point to do those things I didn't have time for yesterday.

Now I wonder how many of you have been trying to work out where I have been? From what I have just said you know it's a city.  Here are some photo clues. Anyone know or want to guess? Don't be shy.

A little success and sharing the baby!

I heard last week that one of my poems is to appear in an Anthology entitled Spooky Tales, a publication from What the Dickens? It will come out as an eBook and printed copy. See here. That was a nice a piece of news and made my day. My friend Lynda Bullock will be appearing along side me. Well done Lynda!

Last time I spoke about the story I was writing. Well, it's still going strong and I even have a routine going. I write when I get up before anyone else is around. I manage around 1,000 to 1,500 words, though sometimes less. But as long as I write something I am happy. Later in the day I try to type up what I have written, although that's not always possible and then things lag a bit. Still, today I am finally up to date.

My hubby's friend who stayed with us one night last week let it slip that he had an idea for a story himself. I can't even remember how we got round to talking about writing....oh I know we were half watching Stargate! He told me his idea which I liked and he even drew a little map to explain how his idea would work. But he says he knows he will never write it because he gets bored easily. I think it's a shame because it has potential. There'd need to be a lot of research but that's part of the fun. He asked to read some of my story. Now I NEVER let anyone read my stories (few though they are) especially in rough draft form but I relented. I explained that this was a really rough draft and when I came to type it I began the process of editing but even then it's still a first draft. I already knew there were discrepancies, spelling was a bit hit and miss at times because I write as it flows. I don't correct because that stops the flow. We had a discussion over sentence structure! He wanted to write in school English and I said I write how people speak. We clashed on a few points but he was complementary about the way I expressed certain scenes. Basically we were coming from two different places but it was interesting to hear what he said. This is my baby so I am very protective of it and I told him how privileged he was to see it! He only read snatches so I had to explain some things because they were taken out of context. I said that next time I saw him I'd be asking him how his writing was going. He just said it wouldn't get done.

Anyway, I've now got just over 12,500 words under my belt. There was a lull when I wondered how to bring the next bit into play but then suddenly the opportunity presented itself like magic as I wrote. So now I'm gearing up for another good run.

I've also decided that I need a research trip! One of the places where the story is set is somewhere I have been through but never visited. There is a scene I need to back up with facts because this is a real place not fictional. Where is it you ask? Well, think Susan Hill...her crime novels. While her setting is fictional she gives an idea of places it is similar to. However, I'm not writing about either of them.  Now go off and research that one folks!

So I am aiming to take a day out next week to soak up the atmosphere. I'm really excited about it. I hope to return fully immersed and ready to write.