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.

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.