Second draft...

It has been a manic time here in Old Llantrisant. With Christmas and NY out of the way it is time to get my head back into the world of words...

I have just read a wonderful book called The Winter Garden and it total blew me away... it also (surprisingly) helped me with my novel. The book is based around a WWII story in Russia and it helped me see true poverty and destruction  in the form of words... this has been a great inspiration for half of the world I am creating in The Moss Garden.

I am currently working through the book chapter by chapter and have just finished a re-draft of my prologue... I should hopefully get chapter one finished next week and then I can get my lovely hubby to read it and correct any errors...

I am glad to be back at the desk and using my imagination after a break in December... although I didn't reach my 50k goal for NaNoWriMo, I am so chuffed that I wrote over 30k in a month... so my total word count at present is 82k :)

Now I need to add a few chapters and edit the existing ones... slowly but surely...

:)

NaNoWriMo

Well it has been a while since I did this and that's because I have been very busy indeed.

Firstly, we are moving house. It was decided at the end of October and we move on 1st December. I cannot wait! The house is half the size, but currently we are being plagued with severe damp and to be honest it is quite depressing! Wet clothes and mouldy shoes... yum!

Secondly, I have been taking part in NaNoWriMo... the aim? To write a novel (or part of one) of 50k words or more!!! Argh, I know- crazy!

Well I am on day 19 and I am waaaay behind... but for some reason I don't feel disheartened... because I have written 21k words in two weeks and that is awesome!!!! I am so proud of myself for sitting and writing most days (minus weekends when the kiddies are home all day...) and I can see my writing has become stronger and more fluent. It has made me realsie that writing every day (if possible) makes a massive difference to the quality of writing. 

I know that I am just piecing together the bones of the novel right now, but at this rate I will be fleshing it out from January!

I have decided to take December off... unless the urge arises... I will put my book away and enjoy sorting out the new house, getting ready for Christmas and generally enjoying a break so that I can feel refreshed and clear headed in January to pick that book back up again and smash it!

So yeah, on a high because I'm trying my best and it is paying off... to all those NaNo-ers out there, here is one big high five!!! Keep writing! xxx

Time

So, I have had a conversation with a friend several times... always about the same thing...

Basically we both do art-based work (I write, she paints) and both of us wonder whether people think we do much all day when we have 'free' time (child-free). I always wondering whether people think I drop the kids off and go and watch Jeremy Kyle, or whether I just go back to bed, or watch a movie or go shopping...

I worry a lot about what people think about me, something I am learning to change... but it does make me wonder, am I alone? Does everyone writing their first book have these thoughts? They are of course coupled with feeling like a fraud (not being paid to write the book kinda puts a dampner on things) but what I am doing I am doing out of love-

Love for writing.
Love for my story.
Love for the chance to be able to write whilst my husband works all the hours he can...
Love for myself to follow MY dream.

As it happens, I don't have the tv on in the day, I also only tend to spend time catching up with facebook/emails etc when I am eating lunch...

I drop the kids off, take the dog out (this week the morning dog walk has been accompanied by a hot cuppa with my mother who has just moved bakc to the village), go home, tidy (a tiny bit), then do one or more of the following: read my novelicious book, write my novel, plan my novel, read a book for my novel, read emails, enter writing comps, research my novel, fit in lunch... then I go for a second dog walk and then it's time to collect the kids.

The days seem to fly by so I am now only at 45k, but I am still going... I have to work out part of the plot soon so will probably be doing less writing and more scribbling and planning in a notepad... I love handwritten stuff more than typing and I find a good long walk can settle the ideas and thoughts that are all jumbled in my head.... anyway, I digress...

I guess what I am trying to say is if you meet a writer who is writing their first book, or who has very little published, don't treat them like a fraud. They already feel like one anyway... Ask them how it's going... ask them what they're writing is about... don't presume they lie in bed all day with pizza boxes scattered across the floor... just be kind... we don't get paid or pushed by our boss to do it, yet we keep doing it in the hope that one day we will see our book on the shelf in Waterstones... in the hope that it might just change one person's life... we have hope... all we need now is support, love and understanding. A hug now and again would also help :)

To those friends that ask me questions, that show a deep interest, that say positive things- thank you!!!! I need it and I appreciate it.... always xxx

43k and counting

So although it has been a slow burner sicne the kids returned to school, I am getting there. Even though the work count isn't as high as I hoped, my characters are becoming more and more real...

I wanted to share a film I watched last night, it's called 'Stuck in Love' about a family that has fallen apart, writing, love, music and trust. I totally fell in love with this film and suggest that everyone watch it! You will be truly moved.

It made me love writing even more... there is a scene when Greg Kinnear is typing away so so fast and in the moment, and I was like "I love that feeling!" When everything else around you disappears and the worlds is the story, the words, the poem... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So, I guess the bug is back and I need to get a move on, because in November I am taking part on NaNoWriMo and writing a different book in a month... arghhhh

Keep writing dudes... x

Well...

Well indeed. What a summer... how fast did that go? Guess what? I didn't do much writing at all... do I feel bad? No, of course not! I had a blast and spent quality time with the little ones... Also, I realised something over the summer and it was thanks to my children in a way...

I realised that a break from the project (my novel in this case) actually helps... I noticed that by the end of the hols my son was choosing to write words, of his own accord, as if the break had allowed all the information from the previous term to sink in... and I think the same happened to me! It gave my brain a rest to think and for ideas to form and for thoughts and words to sink in and now... well, now I am back..!

I have spent a week helping the house recover from two kiddies, yet it still looks a bit unkempt I know it was a lot worse pre-September term.. I have had to catch up on odd jobs and letter writing and today I had a cuppa with some lovely mums...

So, this afternoon I have written a little, thought a lot and also felt very sleepy (I blame the poverty challenge!) and since my fingers began tap-tapping away this afternoon, I realsie I have broken the block that is 'starting up again after a break'... which logically means on Monday I will write my ass off... doesn't it?

Let's hope so...

xxxxx

Holiday time...

Well, today the kiddies break up from school for the summer hols... and I have reached 38k!!! Wahooooooooooooo!!

I really thought that over the summer I would just leave my book to one side, but this week I have realised something, I can't not write it ... even if it's five hundred words here or there, I am writing every day and I love it!

So what's my plan with the kiddies home everyday? Well, I think I am going to do an activity with them in the morning (crafts, baking, reading whatever) and then set them up with their own activity or let them watch tv (has to be done!) whilst I write for an hour, then I am all theirs (minus housework hahaha) and I am hoping this will work... if not, I will make sure I am keepnig notes of any ideas and write them up in the evening! :)

Hopefully by the end of the Summer I will be on at least 50k...

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!

Happy holidays!!!

Focus at last..

So, finally the word count is picking up and I couldn't be happier. On the downside, our house is a tip. I wonder how other writers with children do it? Is there a daily balance or is it a case of winging it? I feel as though my writing is my main priority once the kiddes are in school and the dog has been walked, but my house does look like world war 3.... does this matter?

I do find it harder to work in a messy space, but if there is one thing I learnt from the book 'What Milo Saw', it was that tunnel vision is a great thing when all you want is to concentrate on what is in front of you... This and advice and tips from the lovely Helen Redfern  means I am concentrating most of my energies on my laptop :)

I do have to have a break now and again and go in the garden or tae the dog for a walk but that's just me...  I get too sleepy if I am sat in front of a computer all day haha!

This far into my word count I feel that at least one of my characters is real (which is why I a sticknig with her storylnie for now)... I feel that she is out there somewhere, that I know how she ticks and what she feels, how she dresses and her smell (that sounds weird, but you get what I mean???) This is a goooooooooooood feeling!

I am aiming to be at 40k by the end of the week, but we'll see, maybe 35 is more realistic...

mwah xxx